Books I've Read This Year

Since I do a lot of things that don't require much brain power (art, crafts, homework, cooking, cleaning, staring off in to space...) I've taken to listening to many books on cd recently. I try to find good children's novels, since I am planning on teaching the upper elementary grades. I have found many that I love so far. Sometimes a grown-up novel finds its way into my playlist, too. Here are all the books I can remember either reading or listening to this year. Most of them are sci-fi/fantasy books, as I love crazy imaginations! I'll probably have many more books read before the year is over (as I can get through a whole book in one day this way!)

1. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
2. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
3. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
4. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
5. Austenland by Shannon Hale
6. Powers by Ursula K. LeGuin
7. Voices by Ursula K. LeGuin
8. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin
9. Enchantress from the Stars by
10. On the Road by Jack Keruoac
11. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
12. The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
13. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
14. MacBeth by William Shakespeare
15. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
16. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
17. Dragon Blood Tattoo, book 1 by
18. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinnley
19. Teaching Art to Children by
20. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
21. Deeper by Rodderick Gordan and Brian Williams
22. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Patterson
23. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
24. The Wild Girls by Pat Murphey
25. I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
26. Naked by David Sedaris
27. Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
28. The Pleasure of my Company by Steve Martin

To: The North Pole, From: Me!

Dearest Santa,

I hope you're not too stressed preparing for the big night. Although I just recieved a bunch of wonderful things for my birthday on Thanksgiving, here are a few more things I've been hankering for these days:

• A harmonica, mandolin, and/or accordian
• Scrabble Slam card game and Dungeons and Dragons game
• A nice, soft pretty, colorful scarf and a furry bomber hat
• ipod earbuds and arm band for running
• Book on identifying plants/wildflowers
• Cool vintage patchwork quilt and/or granny square quilt
• Camp Stove, sleeping bag liner, tent, backpack
• Clip-on full-spectrum lamp, illustration markers
• Digital camcorder, camera tri-pod, cool laptop case
• Clinique "Happy" perfume, polka-dot teal-colored tights, cool necklace, stylish UofU sweatshirt, t-shirt from www.threadless.com
• Anything from www.fredflare.com
• Anything quirky/kitschy/funny/beautiful from any thriftstore
• Surprise me! I'm actually quite easy to please and can find a use and place in my heart for just about anything!

Thanks, Santa. See you on the 24th! Oh, and say hi to the missus!

Hugs, and lots of cookies!

~Lindsey

I'm just wishin' y'all a....

***Merry Christmas!!!***

I must say it has been hard focusing on Finals these first few weeks of December. I love to celebrate things. I've just been itching to pick up some scissors and cut a few snowflakes, crochet some hats, and put Christmas lights on everything. Luckily, I never got around to putting away most of last year's Christmas decorations, so they keep me company now as I study late into the night.

I also was able to spend time with my family and relatives making cookies because of the topic I chose for my science fair project for my Science Methods class: "Why Baking Recipes Don't Always Turn Out." It was fascinating and fun, and completely worth all the work I put into it. I won first place out of my class of about 25, so it was pretty exciting. And, now I can make my mom's chocolate chip cookies almost perfectly! It's amazing how many things go into making the perfect cookie- it's no wonder I've not tasted a cookie like her's from anyone else's hand. She's had years of experience and experiment! I'm starting to see the scientific things all around me, and I am feeling excited about investigating other problems and conducting more experiments for fun. I am still full of misconceptions about science and don't know much besides that, but at least I'm excited to learn!

Later, when I get my poster back, I'll add a picture of it here- I made it look like a giant cookie sheet with cookies on it. I also brought a batch of cookies to the science fair to help illustrate how delicious they are and why it would be interesting to know how to make them. It has secretly been nagging me that that was what won me the trophy. But I think I did a great job on everything else and I'm proud of my work. The funny thing is that usually I think I'm underachieving on school projects and am worried I won't pass, but then I show up to class and the teacher just raves on and on about my work. It's actually a little frustrating, because when I do go into class thinking I am prepared and will do a great job, it seems it's only ho-hum to others. So, hmmm... I don't know what to do about that!

I am planning on going to Ballet West's production of "The Nutcracker Ballet" next week with some friends. I love Tchaikovsky's music and I love the story of the Nutcracker. Tie that in with some great dancing and beautiful costume work and I am in Heaven! I've seen many versions of this ballet over the years and have started making it my own personal holiday tradition, whether anyone wants to go with me or not. I also started collecting nutcrackers a few years ago (I look for either very nice-looking/handsome ones, or very funny/creative or creepy/wierd ones). I also watched the cartoon version of it, which I grew up with, tonight and laughed quite hard at the slapsticky cartoon parts about Princess Perlapants and the Rat Queen. So, yep I'm excited for next week!

(The Images above are: The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies!!! (Some of the felt dolls I sewed this summer)

Girl's Night in October

I hosted the October Girl's Night, and I intended it to be on how to make sock animals, but... all three girls ended up wanting to make different things.













Daniela made a crazy/creepy/cute looking sock elephant; Sarah made a cute felt owl pillow; and Abi began making a felt doll like the kind I made over the summer, but to look like one of the little old Argentinian grandmas she knew on her mission.














It was a little crazy running around trying to show them each what they needed to do and to consult with them on their designs and color choices, but it was fun, and each girl got to make something they wanted to. I think we had a pretty good time, even though it took a lot longer than we thought it would. I forget that I've had a lot more crafting experience than most people, and so some things that seem simple and easy to me can be quite tricky for those who haven't fiddled around with them before.

My mom, being so wonderful, bought us pizza and pop to enjoy while we made our crafts. I also lit my Christmas lights around the wall to make it magical!I'm so glad I hosted this, because it forced me to do some much needed cleaning and organizing in my studio, and now it feels great in there! With just a few more decorating adjustments I'll be able to say I am satisfied with how it looks.

Scratch one off of the Ole Bucket List!

So, I walk/jogged through my first race- the 5k Turkey Trot- with half of my family the weekend before Thanksgiving. I've wanted to be a runner for awhile now, even though I would do harm to my body in it's current state if I tried to start running (versus losing weight through lower impact activities). I must admit, though, that I only signed up because the race was only $5, and I was hoping it would give me motivation to ignore my excuses to not go to the gym during the busy end of the semester. Well, that didn't work, and although I was a bit frightened of coming in very last, I decided to go for the free t-shirt I would recieve, and because I knew I'd regret woosing-out if I didn't. It turned out to be a lot of fun and a great family shared experience. I didn't come in last, either, and I beat my own personal walking speed, too! I walked 3 miles in 50 minutes (I usually walk 2 miles in 45 minutes). I also made a new acquaintance with a nice, fun lady that I walked with. Our family took 2nd place overall, with some of my family member winning 1st place in their age divisions! Afterwards we made a big, delicious breakfast and watched Jim Gaffigan's take on bacon and cake (look it up on YouTube!!!) as we engorged our bellies with the same. It was quite the delightful experience, I must say. And I look forward to having more in the future. Maybe at next year's Turkey Trot, I will end up running the whole thing!

Okay, so I'm going in a new direction with this blog. I finally got a laptop to aide me in the gaining of education at the University of Utah, so there will be more time/comfortable places/fewer distractions for me to write! Yippee!!! So, I'm going to stop trying to post under sections and just post random things. We'll see how it goes. I am up to a lot more crafting projects these days, so I have so many fun things I want to show off!

Also, my sisters-in-law, a few friends and I have begun a little bi-monthly DIY club, where we each take a turn teaching each other how to do something. So far it's been really fun! We got together for the first time a few weeks ago and Abi (my brother's girlfriend) taught us how to make some meaty empanadas, fried plantanos, and delicious, nutritious salad-o. Having seven brothers, it was good for me to just hang out with some girls for once! I get to teach the next club how-to in a few weeks. I think we'll have a "where the wild things are" party and I'll teach them how to make stuffed monsters and animals out of socks, amongst other things. I have a million ideas that I absolutely look forward to following through with. I'll soon post some pics of our club meetings and pics of what I did over the summer break :) For now, I just have a picture of the first felt doll I ever made:

Since she looks so much like my little cousin, I named her "Natalie". So far, I have 3 other dolls I've made (each a little less shabby than the last), 3 more more in the works, and a variety of clothes and accessories for each doll. I had a lot of fun learning how to embroider with these and I think they turned out cute. I just have to take pictures of the others now!