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

dayz 9-14: signing a record deal...no big deal

Crafting Clock: Pretty much an hour a day all week!
Listening to: Myself! (Read on!)
Watching: Downton Abbey Season 3

So first of all...Downton Abbey....whew! I don't know if I am relieved or mortified. It somehow is both less and more of a soap opera than last season. I've basically finished the season save one episode. It has complimented my creative times puff-tasticly! Look at all the puffs I've made!

 

17 COMPLETED puffs! I'm basically just around the corner from a king-sized quilt!

Also! I have been weaving...maybe? Stuart gave me a potentially really cool beginner's hand loom for Christmas, but unfortunately the instructions that came with it were drawn with someone's foot so it's kind of hard to know if I'm doing things correctly. We *think* I'm doing it correctly, but I guess we'll only truly know when I take the piece off the loom and it either crumbles like a little cookie or ENduREs tHE TeSTs of TiME!!!! But really, most likely, it will do the crumbly cookie thing.

I also made another workout t-shirt for my lovely friend Natalie. Modeled here:

She is so ready to run all her important crazy races now!

And finally, but certainly not least awkward of all...I recorded some banjo muzik! Yes, as the wise Zach Clark pointed out, there is an entire genre of awkward hipster white girls recording music, so I guess there is nothing new and exciting about this. But I thought you might enjoy both a preview version (be warned, it's a REALLY loud recording) and a real version (not as loud a recording for no explicable reason) of me playing as awkwardly as can be. If you only listen to one, I recommend the preview version, which is astronomically more thrilling. This is how Nacho felt about it: