Fixing My First Knitting Project

Last November I took a "Learn to Knit" class at the local knit shop. Feeling quite accomplished I purchased my first balls of yarn and knitting needles in hopes of completing a scarf. However, within the fifteen minute walk back to my house, I had forgotten nearly everything I had learned. So the beginning of the scarf more closely resembles something that got caught in a blender than anything else. This bothered me, until I had seen lots of patterns for Cowls lately, and had a brilliant idea. (I actually knitted two Cowls for our mothers for Christmas, but they look nothing like the above picture, sorry for the tangent...) Well I decided to knit the two ends together to form a circle and voila, a new knit project without actually knitting anything.

Aspen Get Pretty Day

Due to my dog's inability to stay posed in a position before I snap a picture, I have no proof of how pretty Aspen got today. We took her to the doggie groomers and had her made all fancy. She smells lovely and all her wooliness is perfectly fluffed.

We are having family portraits done on Wednesday and we needed our baby to look her best.

(I know its rather annoying to have little "pet" names for Aspen, like doggie oggie woggie, but at least I don't refer to Will as my hubby.)

Dracula. Pumpkin Patch. Hike.

I forgot to mention that Will was out of town last week for a few days. He was in Salt Lake City at a Wildlife Conference. He has been doing research for a professor at MSU and presented a poster he made that represents the paper he has been writing. He is hoping to get the paper published, which is pretty big deal for a Masters student. I think that the conference was refreshing for him because he got to meet people who enjoy and are employed doing what he wants to do (and they would want to hire him). I had some quality alone time while he was away. You know, cooked, deep cleaned the studio, exercised the doggie, all the wife stuff I should be doing while he is home. So this weekend we tried to make up for a week spent apart.

On Friday night, I decided to take us to Dracula, a play at a small theater. I was hopeful that it would indeed be as scary as they advertised, but regretfully must say it was quite awful. I applaud actors in the theater setting because it is difficult to pull off quality acting, but this was rough to watch. We had a good laugh though. I also baked salmon for us before hand (I keep telling Will I should get some award this week for being such an A+ wife, no award yet...)

Saturday, I had a volleyball game against the other defeated middle school team. We lost. Lame, I know, but my girls played the best they have all season. It really is neat to watch girls improve at a sport because of my instruction. That sounds arrogant, but I think it shows we should be giving back in some aspect the skills we have been given. We also went to the local Pumpkin Patch here. I do believe we were the ONLY ones with out children, but we rode that hay ride and had just as much fun as any toddler. We "picked pumpkins," (I say pick, but really they had dumped all the pumpkins in some random field far enough away to justify a hay ride to get there) made a caramel apple, bought two ears of corn, and squealed at the animals ride along with the children.

Today we took the baby Aspen hiking. It was a wonderful hike. Aspen got completely muddy and only batted around one Jack Russel Terrier. We also saw some evidence of a wild animal. Can you guess which one based on the pictures??? (Don't worry Dad, we survived.)

I finally received the jacket I was supposed to receive from the running group I signed up for. Will also made breakfast this morning. Those are homemade biscuits. We are planning on grilling pork chops and the corn tonight. My plan is to feel extra large this week and use that to keep running next weekend.

A week from today we will be on a plane back to Bozeman after (hopefully) completing our marathon. I am nervous, but Will says we are more than prepared.

Tomorrow is, "Aspen get pretty day." If you are wondering what the heck that even means, you will just have to wait.

done.

With my "Ladies Shrug."

I squeezed the last bits of my third ball of yarn to finish this sucker because I was much too stubborn to go to the knit shop and buy another ball. I was determined to finish. So here it is...

I was also determined to get a picture, which explains the still wet hair from my shower.

Finally an answer to the question...

What does one wear while coaching volleyball???

(See picture and description of picture below)

Well, I am glad you asked. I had the lovely husband snap a few photos (ok, just two) before my last game just for this inquiry.

First, one must wear the necklace an adoring player gives you. Especially since it will be nearly impossible to find another occasion suitable for such an accessory.

Second, must throw on all the brightest colors one can find. (Bright red TOMS, not pictured) Also wear the Sevens jeans that you have worn continuously since they were purchased.

Thirdly, MOST IMPORTANTLY, have a game face on. (Or in this case an uncomfortable, don't know what to do with my hands because I have no friends, oh, you are taking the picture now? face.)

Once all steps are completed, one is fully equipped to go and coach their team to victory. These steps also aid in successfully avoiding all parents whose great joy is to suck all of yours away. The end.

Oktober Fest 10K

I signed us up for a 10k this past Friday night. I mean any race that is advertised as Run, Polka, Beer, should be fun right??

There were a little over 300 people who signed up. I really get a kick out of doing things, especially active things, in the Bozeman community. I love being able to recognize people that I have seen at other races, at Farmer's markets, or running around town. Its sort of creepy, but I like guessing their "story" with out actually knowing them. For example, I will recognize a mom I saw at the library during Books and Babies and then see her running in a 10k.

So back to the actual race... It was freaking hard. Hills, hills, and more hills. 6 miles worth of hills to be exact. It is somewhat bothersome to me how I was dreading running 6 miles when less than a week ago I ran 18, how is that possible? I broke no records during the race, but I was very proud I did not stop to walk up any hills. Will later told me he kept looking behind him and was surprised to always see me there. I was not sure whether or not that was a compliment.

Once we finished, my legs were wobbly and we picked up our free beer token and neon colored shirt. At first I thought they were hideous, but Will reminded me they would be great for running at night. Which makes sense considering it was a night race.

We did not get a chance to get the free bratwurst because I had to head up to the high school to set up nets for the girl's volleyball tournament on Saturday. But we did buy some of our own, they were fantastic!!

And the bow, that was a fail. It was way too big and reminded me of something Minnie mouse would wear.