Sorry for the long delay in posting. So much has been happening! The best of which is this...(click on the picture to make it bigger)
I'm gonna be a grandma! :) Although the timing could have been better (i.e. marriage before pregnancy and a little more financially stable), I'm very happy that I'm going to have a grandbaby. He or she is due November 17th. Here is a picture of Chey and Will (baby's daddy).
And I've already started knitting baby things! I started this blanket the day I found out Chey was pregnant.
I love making Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ), so I already had one of those knitted and put back for "someday" grandbabies. I made a pair of socks...they turned out a little bigger than I thought they were going to...
Guess we'll have some socks for when the baby gets a little older! I've made one bib in a neutral color, since we can't find out the sex of the baby until the 18th week of pregnancy.
And I've just about got another bib finished in another colorway.
Now I just have to figure out what to cast on for next! I think it's going to be some of EZ's "longies" or baby leggings and another BSJ to match.
Rich hasn't been getting a full work-week because of the economical downturn. We're limping along budget-wise, but hanging in there. I'm sure glad that we started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace program when we did. We've paid off several debts so far, but we still have a ways to go. Rich thinks things are going to pick up soon where he works, so hopefully we'll be able to start paying extra on debts again soon and get even more paid off. We are trying to live as frugally as possible. We haven't been successful in trying to get vegetables to grow in the clay soil we have here at home. We've tried multiple times. So this year we decided to build raised garden beds. To save money, we used 8-10" diameter cedar trees for the sides of the beds and then used 2x8's for the ends to hold the logs together. The beds are 4 feet across so that I can reach them from either side to weed, pick things, etc.
The smaller one in the back is a strawberry bed. I can't wait for fresh strawberries next year! We bought some dirt that was $20 per truckload and mixed in some "miracle grow" style enriched garden soil with fertilizer, and some manure. I invested in a $15 soil tester, and the numbers look pretty good. I think this might work really good! We are planning to do "square foot gardening" and "companion planting" - putting plants together that benefit each other. We're going to try growing green beans, cucumbers, peas, sweet corn, leaf lettuce, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers for salsa, and tomatoes. Then we're going to try to put some small cantaloupe, pumpkins, and watermelon in the ground to see if we can get them to grow. I'd really like to make some pumpkin butter and freeze some pumpkin for pies. Our apple trees are growing...hopefully one day we'll have apples for apple butter. Our dwarf peach tree is doing well, and we planted another one last year. We won't get peaches off of it for another couple of years probably, but I can't wait to have peaches. Next year we're planning on building a chicken house so we can raise our own eggs. We're thinking of raising some rabbits for meat, too. We have a rabbit hutch. That would help to supplement the deer meat we have each year.
Rich is as handsome as ever...although beginning to get a few gray hairs in the mustache and sideburns. You can't see his gray like you can in my hair (thank goodness for Loreal! LOL). Our 20th wedding anniversary is this September - I can't believe it's been 20 years already. Seems like just yesterday we were getting married! As they say...time flies when you're having fun!
Dakota is doing great...she's a beautiful young lady. She's a freshman, and I know she will be graduating high school before it seems possible. Time sure flies. She has a boyfriend right now named Anthony. He seems to be a good kid. She's not allowed to "date" yet, but he comes out and plays video games, goes to church with us sometimes, etc.
I got baptized on February 22nd in my new church. Although I was raised in the Nazarene church, I've found a new home in a small, country, Lutheran church. I really like it. The pastor is great, as are the members. Rich has been going with me nearly every Sunday (YEAH!!!), and Dakota is going more frequently all the time. We went to the sunrise service on Easter. They are starting a new bible study tonight, using The Shack. I'm going. I think it will be very interesting.
I also just completed a 3 month course as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). Completing the course makes me a forensic nurse examiner for our hospital. I will take the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner certification exam this Fall. I'm spending a lot of time right now getting our hospital's SANE program up and running. I was our hospital's first Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) and I hope to become their first SANE. It is very fulfilling nursing work. I've completed 5 cases now, and each one has made me more glad that I invested the time in the course and this program.
I took an ABATE riding class and learned how to operate my own motorcycle. I am the proud owner of a used Harley Davidson Sportster 1200. It is soooo fun to ride! It's cold and rainy outside today so I don't want to get it out. Here is a picture of it...I'll post another one once I can get it out in the sunlight.
I also asked for quilting supplies for Christmas 2008. Santa obliged, and I was blessed with a new sewing machine, quilting supplies, and enough material to make my first quilt. Here is one of my first quilt blocks.
I haven't had any time to work on quilting since right after Christmas, because I started the SANE class. I'm hoping to get back to it soon, but right now, my priority is knitting baby clothes.
Well, I need to get working on some things here at home, work on the SANE policy for work, KNIT BABY STUFF, and re-read my chapters for the bible study tonight.
few - but it has some!
