Crafting the Summer Away

The summer is definitely gone. I had my first day of school today, and while that was full of adventure I really wanted to post about my craft/projects this summer.

After my internship ended I had two weeks of "free time." It was really nice because I things done in the yard (mainly mulching) and was able to come inside when it got too hot and play with my sewing machine.

I made a purse/tote... and it's really cute. Steven is still making fun of me because it's big... but it's wonderful for school (as I discovered today). I got the inspiration while in Colorado. I found a really cute purse in one of the shops... but I would have used the rest of my free spending money to get it. So when we got back I went to a neat little place here in town (Lone Star Quiltworks) and got all the supplies to make it for cheaper than it would have cost me to purchase it in Colorado. In addition, I added a really handy water bottle holder. I need to add a pocket for keys and phones, because they sink to the bottom and are hard to get to when you need them... but I will get to that later. Here is a picture.

I also made a bible cover for my quiet time bible. A few weeks ago I started a new bibles study method. It's called the Color Study system and you can probably figure out what that means. You basically color different parts of the passage according to what you think they are referring to. Here is the color guide...

Yellow: The character of God, the glory of God, coming of Christ

Green: The grace of God, all salvation verses

Red: The death, cross, blood, suffering of Christ

Blue: The person and work of the Holy Spirit

Brown: Judgment, temptation and sin

Purple: Prayer, promises, commands, examples and instructions

Orange: The Word, Scriptures, anything referring to the Word

So I made a bible cover that could hold the 7 different colors. I used a bible that we had in the back room that no one had opened so it was perfect for coloring. It's been working out great and I think it's really cute.

Quarter Collection

Last week Steven found the final quarter (Arizona) for my 50 states quarter collection. I WAS SO EXCITED!



I know it sounds nerdy, but the collection is quite sentimental for me. My Dad started the collection for me when they first came out (1999). His originally intent was to collect the quarters himself and then give me the full set when it was completed. I was of course able to look at them or even help him out if I wanted to... but he kept them "safe" for me.

My Dad died of cancer December 2003. It was a long battle and when the time came I was thankful my Dad was able to rest. After his death, I received the quarter collection. I felt determined at that point! I knew it was something my Dad wanted for me so I wanted to make sure I completed it.

It was quite perfect because I was starting my first year in college. Since my roommates and I had to do laundry in the dorms or at a laundry facility, I was able to search through many quarter jars and trade. It wasn't very difficult... I just had to remember to do it.

When 2008 started I couldn't believe it! The last five quarters were coming out and I was going to complete my quarter collection by the end of the year!!! .... ... ... Then, Steven and I got a washer and dryer. So we had to be a little more diligent about checking quarters. We didn't finish exactly on time, but it's done! It really blessed me.

After dealing with the initial shock of losing a love one, the hardest part (at least for me) is moving on with your life even though they aren't a part of it. The wedding wasn't hard on the day of the wedding, but looking back on it and remembering that my Dad wasn't there... that was hard. I wish my Dad could see our silly quarter collection, but the Lord had other plans. I have memories and I'm very grateful for those.

Pretty soon, I will graduate and that is another thing my Dad would have been proud of, and so it stirs up emotions. Some days I can't believe he's gone... and has been for so long... it's helping me understand how short and precious our lives are.

C is for COLORADO!!!!!

This will be a long post. I wrote a little bit about each day, but add that up for seven days and well... here ya go...

Travel to Colorado
Sunday, August 2, 2009

We arrived safely, PRAISE GOD! After we made it through the plane flight and waiting on a rental car we were able to embrace the scenery. We ate lunch and drove to our destination… Estes Park, Colorado! It was so beautiful… even better than the best pictures! I don’t understand how God did it or even why He did, but I am so thankful for His stunning creation.

The Padres found a lovely place for us to stay. The young marrieds were upstairs, the Padres on the first floor and Christine had the lowest level. The Big Thompson River was right behind our place… a fifty food wide fast flowing stream. After exploring all the nooks and crannies of the lodge we jumped into the river and began exploring it (only knee deep because the water was ICE cold)! I definitely slipped and got soaked up to my waist.

We had dinner downtown and went grocery shopping to stock the lodge. Hanging out with the entire family was so much fun and it was wonderful to catch up. We had a blast and it was only the first day!

Hello 11000+ feet!
Monday, August 3, 2009

Michael had a wonderful idea to get up early and begin hiking. We left the lodge around 6:30am and headed to the Rocky Mountain National Park. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! I’m not sure that this blog or even my pictures can do it justice. God is glorious…. that’s all I have to say. We hiked for about 3 hours there, had lunch back at the lodge and made some arrangements for the rest of the week... fishing, rafting, etc.

For the afternoon we headed toward Rocky Mountain National Park again, but this time to ride the Trail Ridge Road. There were several scenic outlooks and we stop at just about all of them. We also got to see Elk! It was wild how close they got. We had prayed all day to see some wild life and God provided! When we first spotted them Steven yelled, “ELK! ... ELK!!! … HEARDS OF ELK…. GET YOUR CAMERA’S READY!!!” It was really funny.

At the top we shopped in the Alpine Visitor Center. We got hats for our rafting and fishing trips. We headed back to the lodge for a dinner of chicken and veggies. We ate on the deck and had wonderful conversation as usual! I love our family.

A Gneiss River
Tuesday, August 4, 2009

This morning we headed for out for our rafting trip. The drive was about one and a half hours… but it was mostly through mountains, so you just can’t complain! We rafted the Poudre River for about two hours. Our guide’s name was Chris. He was really entertaining and smart! I had wondered if the rock in that area of mountain was granite because it look very similar to our pink granite in Texas (just add elevation and pine trees). Chris told us that it was gneiss (pronounced “nice”) which is a metamorphosed rock from granite (if you haven’t had geology 101 recently, metamorphosed means changing the type of rock with time and pressure… think baking). My geology professor would be so proud! The entire time we were rafting any time anyone said “nice job” or “that was a nice rapid” … I was dying to make a really cheesy geology joke.

The afternoon was laid back and a lot of fun. On the way back most of us fell asleep in the car (except the driver… te he). Back at the lodge Steven and I hung out with Jim and Christine. We discovered that the dude ranch that Jim worked on for three summers was now a Christian Family Camp. Jim told us stories while we looked at the pictures.

Ann, Michael and Cathy returned from shopping and we played a few rounds of NERTZ (Swindell kid’s FAVORITE game) before heading out to a BBQ dinner. Let me tell you, I was very skeptical of BBQ in Colorado… I am Texan after all… BUT, this place was pretty good. It had a big variety (as in Kansas sweet sauce vs. Texas brisket vs. Carolina pulled pork) but what we tried was all pretty good. With seven of us, we had a good variety of meats and we all shared so everyone could taste the different options (I love families). My favorite was the Texas Brisket, of course! We had such a big meal and so many laughs over dinner that when we returned to the lodge we pretty much all hit the sack!

Fishy Adventures
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

When I first woke up, I had some trouble sitting up. We had hiked the first day and rafted the second and I definitely felt it. If you want a full body workout… come to Colorado. My abs were especially soar from rafting. After I stretched, I headed down stairs to meet up with everyone.

This morning was our fly fishing trip. Five of us went, but we split up into two groups. I was with Steven and Christine. We geared up and our guide, Ryan, took us into the National Park. We practiced our technique in a small river then we found some pools of water in a faster paced river. Christine caught the first fish and I caught the second (catch and release, so we only have pictures). Steven had some good bites and the water was so clear that you could see the trout go after the flies… it was so cool! Christine and I had just as much fun watching Steven’s flies as we did pulling in our own fish. We waded through streams about a foot deep and I definitely felt like a fly fisher. It was a really good morning.

After lunch we drove to Jim’s old dude ranch (Wind River Ranch) and Cathy’s old summer camp (Cheley). Jim worked as a summer hand on the dude ranch during college. The views were INCRDIBLE from the ranch. Cathy’s camp was a little further away but fun to see. When she was there she slept in a covered wagon for six weeks… and they still had the wagons! It was wild… and neat. The director of the camp gave us a tour and it brought back many memories for Cathy. They had a summer camp going on and we were able to meet a few girls that were attending. It was an afternoon down memory lane.

For dinner we had Italian! It was fun because we all got dressed up and the place was close by so we were able to walk! After dinner we relaxed at the house with a good old game of nertz! We looked (and sounded) so goofy when we played. We get nertzy… that’s the best way to describe it. It was good to bond with everyone because it was the last time (for a while) that we would all share an evening together… Christine would leave the next day for Impact!

Relaxation Station
Thursday, August 6, 2009

We got up at about 8am and headed out to visit the Aunt and Uncle in Loveland, Colorado. They had a great little place near the foot hills of the Rockies. We visited with their three dogs and two goats before we ate lunch. We played one last game of Nertz before Aunt Cindy took Christine to the airport. It was good to visit with Cindy and Warren.

Back at the lodge we all decided to relax. Let’s face it… we were pretty busy up till this point. We took advantage of the cable TV and laid around until about 5pm. After that we headed to a wine tasting in at a local winery. We were able to taste five wines for three dollars… we just couldn’t pass it up. My favorite was the Pinot Noir and the Oso Red (or white Merlot), and Steven’s was the Riesling. Back at the lodge we had hamburgers and watch Gladiator. It was a very refreshing evening.

Rockin’ the Rockies
Friday, August 7, 2009

Steven and I had a little date in the Rockies on the last day. We rode horses for two hours in Moraine Park. My horse’s name was Moses and Steven was on Matilda. They were calm and very easy to ride. We traveled onto a small ridge and down into a meadow. It was quiet and peaceful… a good time to meditate on the beauty and thank God for this trip. Being on horses was great because we probably saw 50% more scenery without the soreness of an intense hike.

After lunch we re-joined the family. We went on a six mile hike to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake in the park. Aside from the lakes being beautiful, there was a good amount of goofiness on the trail. We thought of ‘Rocky Mountain’ names for the entire crew…

Golden Falcon – Me… how’d you guess?
Eagle Scout – Steven… another no-brainer
Mountain Lioness – Ann
Rocky Mountain Ram – Michael
Elk the Elder – Jim (Padre)
She-Bear – Cathy (Madre)
Beloved Beaver – Christine
(in spirit) Manly Marmot – Manly… Christine’s BF… not on trip

When we got to the final lake (Emerald Lake) we decided to do some off-trailing. We walked/climbed across large boulders to get closer to the waterfall that fed the lake. Even though the boys helped me on and off of a few boulders, I felt adventurous. It was a good final hike. For dinner we went to a nice pizza place. Our time in Colorado was over and we had all had a wonderful vacation!

Unexpected Blessings
Saturday, August 8, 2009

We I initially thought about Saturday, I thought I wouldn’t blog anything. I thought it would be the same old story of pack, check in, wait, get on a plane, pick up luggage and drive home. However, the Lord had a little surprise for us.

We have wanted to visit Michael and Ann in Chicago for a while… but the day to day of school, work and church usually interfered. On the trip we decided that we really wanted to visit them because they recently purchased a home! So we looked up prices for flying vs. driving vs. Amtrak just to know how much to save if we took a trip in December after I graduated. Okay, store that knowledge in your brain for a bit.

So… we did wake up and pack and clean and eat and drive to the airport, however, when we were checking in our luggage the lady asked us if we could be “flexible” and post-pone our flight to make room for some people who needed to connect to an international flight. They were going to feed us, put us in a hotel overnight and get us the first flight out… AND give us a voucher for an additional flight later. We all kinda looked at each other and said, “Na… we really ought to get back.”

So we checked in our luggage and headed for security. Then Steven started thinking and turned to me and said, “What about our trip to Chicago?” I thought about it and was like, “Sure, why not!” So when we got to our gate we let our let an attendant know. She mentioned that there was another deal. We could wait two hours and catch a flight that was delayed and receive meal vouchers and additional flight vouchers! We were like, “We’re in!”
So we waited, ate at a fancy restaurant in the airport and boarded two hours later… all with a free trip to Chicago in our pockets. What an AMAZING vacation! I think this will be a hard vacation to top in the future.

That baby cake I couldn't post about... till now :)

So last Saturday was also busy because I was making a cake the same day we went to Messina Hof. I had planned ahead (like making the cake and icing before hand) so when the time came to decorate (after the winery visit) I put the entire thing together in just over one hour. God truly gets the credit, I have no idea why these cakes turn out so cute.

My inspiration for design came from the bedding the mother pick out. It was so cute! I looked for patterns that were simple... after all, I was going to have to put this on a cake. Color inspiration was easy. I loved the colors of the bedding, but there was no guarantee that the bedding would be at the party. I used a napkin given to me by a fellow hostess.

When I was making the icing for the second time (I did a practice last week) I was a little worried about the colors. But it turned out it was the prefect hue for the room we were in! See what I mean... God really makes these cakes. Here it is! I think it is adorable!

Here is a picture of the sides with the coordinating napkins.

I threw this picture in so that everyone could see how talented the hostesses are that I play with. They made this food look so good! A friend also framed (in coordinating colors, of course) some information about the baby's name for the mother. It was pretty.

And finally, for comparison. This was the practice cake. When it came time to make the actual cake I put it together quickly because I had... well, practiced! The major differences are that the yellow and light pink are different hues and that the practice cake was only two layers.