2 months? not 2 bad!

well, february was not 2 awesome, but actually, i've been hanging in there. i am the first to admit that i haven't been doing the best job of posting or even staying true to my goal everyday, but here's what's been going on (aka excuses):
1. i went on vacation! so sue me! it's hard getting back into the swing of things, and i was pacing myself while on vacation doing some puffs here and there. mom told me she was surprised by how *few* puffs i had made in the end (thanks for the cheerleading), but a) you (whoever you are) are lucky i did anything on vacation (because i do it all for "you") and b) i ran out of stuffing, so how much puffing can you do when there's no stuffing to stuff with? i rest my case.
2. i am trying to do other things! believe it or not, i also try to have a social life, work out, and find the motivation to clean the bathroom every once in a while. and most importantly, i like to spend a lot of time doing absolutely nothing but serve as a heated mattress for nacho and walt. i live a balanced life, people!
3. i've been reading! i just finished the golden compass by philip pullman, and it was awesome. i didn't like the voice at first, but i got sucked in very quickly. i enjoyed it the whole way through mostly because one of the prominent characters in the book is a giant, talking polar bear warrior. nuf said.

excuses aside, though, here is what i've been up to:
i made paper airplanes! i babysat for my favorite little tike last weekend, and stuart led us in a paper airplane instructional course. unfortunately, the little friend's airplane didn't fly best of the three of us, and this makes me think that we are really setting kids up for failure when we teach them to make paper airplanes so young because they just do not have the height or grace to succeed at the same level as an adult, and i imagine it is disappointing to see your plane crash like 6 inches in front of you while the grown up's plane soars into the kitchen. we should really re-think this, grown ups.

i've been cooking a lot! this week, i made this recipe, an old standby, but i added chicken (sorry, Vegetarian Times. to be honest, i prefer it with tofu). also, i am proud to say that after my first attempt at making rice, the second attempt went much more smoothly. go team!

finally, i've been learning "farther on" by jackson brown (and covered by denison witmer). my execution is horrible and not really worth listening to, but i am posting it because it helps me stay accountable to practicing and improving, because while i don't mind you suffering a little, i don't want you to suffer *too* much. at any rate, Mom, this recording is for you!

also, here are some important youtube videos that have made my life better recently:
the world's most adorable squeaky frog
jennifer lawrence bein' real
pin up girls clothing. i will take one of everything, thank you

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

February: Catching Up!

Wow...so it turns out when you go on vacation for a week, you shirk duties for a month! Don't worry, my darlings, I have only shirked the duty of posting on this blog. That does not mean I have been unfaithful to my goal of doing something creative each day.

So first off, prior to flying far away, I spent most of the week working on my happy afghan: 

I'm really happy with how quickly this is knitting up. I think I started with either 10 or 12 skeins, and now I'm down to just 4. This is the largest afghan I've ever knit, and I decided all the pattern repeats and edging myself, so that is a little baby step in the right direction toward making my own pattern...someday. Completing this project will be incredibly satisfying, not only for the final product but also because it makes a huge dent in my yarn stash. Of course, I'm pretending that there aren't eight pounds of yarn from Peru in my closet...

So you may have heard I went to Hawaii for a week. That was...fun? Let's just say three rounds of airport security with two women in wheelchairs, one walker, a ton (more or less) of carry on, and - oh yes - an oxygen tank is enough to make anyone tired, but when your luggage is lost for two days on top of it, any trip becomes a bit of a bummer. However! I did see some very cute sea turtles, a million humpback whales (including a cow calf escort pod which we kayaked next to for about half an hour...dreams DO come true!), and even an eagle ray! If you would like to help me achieve my singular bucket list goal, please send funds so that I might ride with the manta rays (don't worry, I would not actually touch the magical creature!). 

Turns out that Hawaii isn't really the ideal place to take a lot of photos...at least when all you're doing is water activities. But we did make it up to Haleakala one day. So here are just a few photos from my trip, representing about 90% of the total photos I took.

Haleakala! Volcano land.

Poke, the most delicious discovery of Hawaii. It's sushi meets salsa. Nom nom nom.

Mom was a real trooper and made it to the beach!

She also made it to the top of Haleakala, but was totally school by Grandma the speed demon.

I really liked the windows in the observation deck.

I took the girls out for dinner at Mama's. Probably the most expensive meal I will ever pay for, and this "Polynesian Black Pearl" of chocolate mousse in a pastry shell demonstrates why it was worth every penny. 

The view from our hotel balcony. I've seen worse sunsets.

Doesn't it look like Hawaii!?! Total score for a quintessential vacation experience! Also, while on vacation, I did my best to stay on top of crafting. I knit many, many puffs. Now I have a PILE of puffs.

If I could complete 100 puffs by the end of April, that would be a nice sub-challenge. I will probably be putting the knitting away once the spring starts melting into summer when I can focus on outside projects, so I'd like to think I'd achieved some notable puff status before moving in other directions.

Also! I read a book! "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller. I like Donald Miller. His books are always a good, quick read with a warm challenge inside. I don't think he's a particularly talented writer, but I always feel a heightened level of self-reflection after turning the final page. This book is a reflection on the Story of life and how we must find meaning and how God is the greatest story teller. Nothing particularly new, but it was a nice reminder that if I want life to be more satisfying and challenging, it is up to me to pursue a better path. So naturally I'm getting all restless again, and the folk art school I've been dreaming about for years is FINALLY hiring...

Life right now is good, though. Things at the planetarium are very interesting. I find myself doing a lot of evaluation and program development, which I love. It's nice to know that I can name something and say, "Yes, I know I enjoy doing this. This is what I'm looking for in a job." It has taken me more jobs than I expected to be able to nail something like that down. And apart from work, many friends are engaged, pregnant, and just wonderful to be near. Chicago is home and home is warm, supportive, rich, and deep. And gosh, there are some cute cats in this apartment! 

xo

Kaitlyn

P.S. Valentine's Day taught me a very valuable lesson: it is NOT a Good Day to Die Hard, unfortunately. Biggest disappointment of my adult life. 

Days Um...Shoot...through 25: It's Curtains for You, Buster!

Creative Clock: Ruh Roh...

Listening to: Townes Van Zandt

I confess, I have been slipping in keeping track of my creative time, which means I honestly can't remember what I did this week! I think I knit, but I'm not sure if there's much evidence of it! Turns out this was a really busy and stressful week at work and I have started physical therapy and saw a personal trainer and had lots of special dates and friend times and not that those are excuses, but in looking back on this week, I can hardly remember a thing!

In an effort to remedy this backsliding, I am going to try to post more regularly. Blogging seems to be the only thing truly keeping me somewhat accountable to this project. Also Shelly, my inspiration for this blog, who posts everyday. How does she do it?!

So that being said, yesterday I took the day off work to catch up on some sleep, enjoy some Hot Doug's, and take care of some crafting. My roommate bought fabric ages ago to make curtains for our dining room, so I finally volunteered to sew some up. This should have taken approximately five minutes, but ended up taking like two hours when you factor in all the folding, unfolding, ironing, refolding, thinking, worrying, fear of cutting, confusion about squaring up edges, calling Mom for advice, researching DIY curtain patterns (not that you really need a lesson on sewing a seam straight across a rectangle), etc. etc. etc. But after an unnecessarily long process, we've got curtains!

 

Sorry the reveal photo has terrible lighting. I am still figuring out indoor photography and felt the important thing here was that you see how lovely Nacho can be when he chooses to model for you. Can you tell me how to take an indoor photo looking out the window while actually achieving good lighting instead of something super dark and shadowy?