Latest Creations

I've been on a yarn binge lately. As soon as I finish one thing, I have to start another. My fingers cannot stay still. First, I finally finished knitting my green hat that I started almost a year ago. The original hat was my first ever knitted item. It's also the one I lost in London one of the first times I wore it. My second effort turned out a little short, so I added a few rows of crochet to the edge. I will not lose this one. Next, I made a stocking for my mother-in-law to match some that her mother made for her years ago. Then a brown hat for my dorm's "Dirty Santa" gift exchange. It's not like it sounds, though. It's only dirty because you can steal other people. My latest is a funny-looking hat that I might take apart. The pattern was much cuter than my final product, but at least it was fun to make! I had to get a little creative with the brim cause it initially kept flopping down over my eyes.

The Giant's Causeway Coast

A Very Windy N. Irish Day

Northern Ireland

For our 3-day Thanksgiving weekend, we flew to Ireland. We stayed at Heathfield Farm, a lovely B&B with the most hospitable hostess. Breakfast was delicious with homemade Irish bread and there was a relaxing lounge area with a fireplace (so warm), hot tea and biscuits. But the best was the bed with electrically heated matresses. It was like sleeping in a jacuzzi, but dry. We spent our two days exploring the area of the Giant's Causeway and getting wind-blown by the stormy, rainy, windy weather. So much fun!

Germany InPro

In October, we chaperoned 19 students on a trip to Germany. We started in Berlin and ended in Münich, visiting a new town practically every day in between. Our group of students was fabulous, quite the opposite of our tour guide who loved to nag, nag, nag. Here's a small taste of what we saw and experienced.

German Puppet Show

Halloween

I know. It's a long time past Halloween. It's even past Thanksgiving, but I have to show our fabulous costumes. Chavs. Hopefully, nobody takes offense to them. We just had to do it. It was way too tempting and so easy. After spending some time observing and taking notes in Staines (the nearest town for entertainment), our costumes were a cinch and I think we impressed all the 'locals' at the Halloween party. We even had our very own Staines (middle)- quite a nice surprise! My final words on Halloween: "Oy!"

A few weeks after Halloween, we had another chance to break out some costumes. It was definitely one of my least favorite themes because it's a total stereotype and I don't even know anyone who fits it. But we had no choice. Our friends at pastorate (church fellowship group) though it would be fun and funny to dress as nerds. I was very anti and couldn't think of anything to wear. Chris came up with a clever idea to wear lab coats and goggles - easy to shed after a few minutes.

Amsterdam

We took a short weekend break to beautiful Amsterdam.

We rented bikes and went on a self-guided tour of the city...One of the many canals...
Chillin' in Vondelpark...
More chillin' at the central canal...

España!

Hangin' out in Plaza del Rei.

Barcelona Sidewalk Art

One of Gaudi's CreationsSegovia in the DistanceAvila - Walled CityCuencaBull Running in PamplonaBeach in Benicarlo

Independence Day

Washington, D.C.
Fireworks
Collage by Jessica

Summer's Over

It's been way too long since I've updated and now summer's gone.
When it began...
We spent two fabulous weeks in Spain, starting in Barcelona and F with Max, Chrissy, and Pat. Then rented a car and did a loop around Madrid, stopping in Zaragoza, Pamplona, Segovia, Avila, Toledo, Cuenca, Valencia, Benicarlo, Peñiscola, and back to Barcelona.
Some highlights include...

• the beach
• a cool park in Pamplona that had deer, sheep and a wide variety of birds
• horchata in Valencia
• little kids setting off fireworks on the beach in Peñiscola
  
• Sangria in Barcelona and Tarragona

After our Spanish adventure, we flew back to London, took a train to our town, and got stranded at a pub for 6 hours cause our ride was stuck in traffic. The next day, we flew again, this time to Virginia to see Mary! Our 10 days there included hanging out with Mary's friends, a visit to Bodies...the exhibition, a day in Annapolis, a day in Philadelphia, a day in Baltimore, and July 4th in D.C. on the mall in front of the Washington Monument.

The 4th was definitely eventful. There was a woman out-of-control who claimed her space on the grass by spreading trash in the middle of the family next to us. We and they politely asked her to move out of their area. Her response was not pleasant. Over a number of hours, this woman yelled at us and our neighbors, threw their blankets, threw her trash at them, and finally threw their fancy camera. That's when the cops came by foot, horse and motorcycle to tell her to leave or they'd put her in jail. Exciting stuff. Later, Chris and I got stranded in the science museum because of a tornado and thunderstorm threat. The entire mall was evacuated, even though it only ended up raining for ten minutes. Of course, it was the ten minutes that we were out of the museum, off the metro, and walking to find my sis and her friends. In the end, we were let back onto the mall and found a gorgeous spot in front of the Lincoln Monument to watch the most amazing show of fireworks.

Then, back to the OC and work, work, work. We cleaned out our storage unit, storage closet, and all the stuff from my childhood that was stored at my parents' house. After two garage sales and loads to the thrift store, we managed to fit all of our things into a shared storage shed in my parents' yard. Other than that, Chris spent a week in Hawaii, we went on a cruise, went to the beach, visited my grandparents, hung out with the families, ate lots of Mexican food, drew & dug for sand crabs with my niece Corey, and a load of other things I can't remember at the moment. The most exciting of all was when my nephew was born!! Henry Bussjaeger, son of my brother. Candace timed it perfectly so that he was born the night before we had to leave California. He is oh, so cute!

Now summer's over and school's begun.

Birthday!!

I am now 30! The celebration has finally ended after lasting about 5 days. It began Saturday with a bbq (above). Monday my classroom had been decorated and a whole cake was sitting on my desk, so every class I taught got cake (left). I went to dinner with some friends, opened some gifts, but I couldn't find all the hidden ones. Tuesday - Travis concert!! (below) and I found a couple more gifts. Wednesday - I found the last two gifts and my birthday is officially over.

Danger!

I went for a jog on a narrow dirt road around this little lake by our house. I was about half way around the lake, dodging some weeping willows that were blocking the road when a large white object crashed into me and I went flying through the air, landing awkwardly in the dirt. It was a car. I was just hit by a car. Am I dead? I thought. No, I'm alive.

The guy, whose name I later learned was Trevor, quickly got out of his car and made sure I was okay. He kept saying he was sorry and sorry and sorry. After a few moments, the bruises on my leg started to show. Trevor drove me to a very nearby wake board park. I sat on a bench and waited for him to come over with the first aid people. My only thought was, at least I get to sit and wait in the sun. The first aid man asked if I could feel my toes, if I was dizzy, and if I wanted to go to 'emergency.' Miraculously, I felt fine. I was in shock, of course, but nothing compared to the Vespa crash.

Trevor then drove me home, apologizing pretty much the entire ride until he started making small talk, which I wasn't really in the mood for. I assured him that I was fine and walked up the gravel driveway to our cottage. I was so grateful that Chris was home. He was supposed to be at paintball, but the other guys bailed out. He put ice on my legs, cleaned the few small cuts, and took care of me for the next few hours.

What a day! I never thought I'd be hit by a car and am so thankful to God that my only injuries are some bruises and sore muscles. The real bummer is that I have to wait for the white flash to disappear every time I close my eyes, and I have to find a new jogging route.

LOtR...musical!?

So, they've made a musical of the Lord of the Rings and we saw it Friday night in London. Supposedly, it's the most expensive musical ever made, but I don't think they put the money toward the acting. Gandalf spit out his lines like Speedy Gonzalez without any emotion. The songs weren't too bad, but the choreographer got a little out of control when it came to hand movements. Every time the elves spoke, sang, or were just standing in the background, they made funky moves with their hands almost like sign language, but not quite. It was so strange and cheezy that we had to laugh, even at the most serious moments. The set was pretty cool, probably where they spent the most money. The stage revolved in just about every direction. As for other special effects, the spider was super cool - an oversized puppet on strings. Overall, we had a good time, but I definitely do not recommend the show.

Before we saw the show, we grabbed dinner at a yummy sushi restaurant and then coffee at Cafe Nero where Chris became friends with another one of nature's creatures. This time it was a ladybug.

Another Cute Little Doggie

I've just finished my third little doggie and was a bit lazy with this one. Another friend had a baby around Easter. She had seen the last little doggie I made and mentioned it every time I saw her during the last few months of her pregnancy. When I found out she had a girl, I decided to see what a variegated doggie with a pink nose and paws would look like. I also added a bow to make her look a little more feminine. Like I said before, I got a little lazy and there are quite a few flaws in this one, but I won't reveal the unfixed mistakes. I was just looking at the original link for the pattern and realized that my doggie looks completely different than the pattern creator's. Oh, well. She's still a cute little doggie.

Hever Castle

A few weekends ago, when the weather was dry (unlike the last two weeks), we took the Vespa on a mini-trip to Hever Castle, the home of Anne Boleyn, queen of King Henry VIII (until he had her head chopped off). It was about a 2 hour ride and just chilly enough for my toes to be numb by the time we got there. We sat in a cafe and drank tea until I defrosted. The sun was shining off and on for the rest of the day, so we were able to enjoy a picnic lunch of hummus, pita chips, and fruit. We wandered through the gardens and found a nice place to nap near a fountain. Well, we weren't the only ones who liked the spot. Chris awoke to a tapping on his leg. It was a duck! There was a pair of ducks who decided to keep us company. They came right up to us and were so friendly that one of them let Chris pet him. I fell asleep again and when I woke up a second time the friendly duck was sitting right between my leg and Chris's. I've never had a "wild" animal come so close and feel so comfortable. Eventually, we had to say goodbye to our cute little friends.

Hats!

Two more hats are finished!

The first is my second knitted hat, and I was pretty impressed with the finished product, even though it looks a little imperfect in the photo. The most important thing is that Chris loved it! He wore it almost every night when we were in Bulgaria. The second is for a girl in my dorm who had been asking me to make her a hat for months. I had planned to crochet on the plane to Bulgaria, hoping to finish before we arrived. I hadn't planned very well, though, because I ran out of yarn before the hat was complete. I tried it on and it somewhat resembled a yarmulke. So, it sat and waited in my suitcase for one week and then another two in my house until I finally had a chance to get to the yarn store. Then it was finished in no time and Adrianna loved it!

Wasn't meant to be...

After crocheting for a year and feeling pretty good about my progress, I acquired a desire to knit. So, during the Christmas holiday, I spent a day with my mom and sister. My mom showed us the basic stitches and we all went to work on the same hat. Of course, my mom finished first, my sis second, and I finally just finished last week. I was so proud of my first knit project and got lots of compliments when I wore it Wednesday and again on Friday.

Well, Friday night my husband and I went to London to see "The Rocky Horror Show" and it was awesome! The show was out late, so we spent the night and ran some errands the next day all around town. In the morning, I was a bit chilly, so I wore my hat. Soon it became a little too warm. I put my hat in my bag. About three hours later, I was cold again, so I reached in my bag to get my hat and IT WASN'T THERE! It was lost and I had no idea where. We had been from Holborn to Oxford to Piccadilly and Leicester Square. There was no possible way I could retrace my steps. I just hope my hat was picked up by someone who will use and appreciate it.