A Finished Project

It has been a while since you heard from me.  Patrick does a great job of entertaining you with our projects and updates.

It is finally cooling down a bit here - it was very hot, although seeing as I work in the basement of the library, it really wasn't that different for me - at least M-F.

I finally did complete a project that had been sitting near the sewing machine.

I had made one for Marisa's birthday... (my phone does not like to take clear pictures - or perhaps it is me.  The outside fabric is the same for both mine and Marisa's - even if the colors look way off.)

But I had used Christmas money to buy a full set of bamboo dpn (that is double-pointed needles for the non-knitters), and they needed a home.  So I finally finished mine.  There is still room for some more - perhaps hardwood, or metal, or some other pretty needles that decide to come home with me.

It rolls up nicely!

 

And there is a pocket!  I will eventually need a needle gauge that fits in here, as the full set of dpn's only has markings in mm instead of US sizes like I'm used to.

I also finally used my birthday money and bought a hand-thrown knitting bowl.  It is larger than I expected, but it works nicely for the larger sizes of yarn.  I still have my other little bowls to handle the smaller ones.

 At the end of June we ventured up to Rexburg to attend the Temple.  The Idaho Falls Temple is closed for renovations until next year.  Afterwards we headed to The Hickory for some lunch and were greeted by a flock of little ducks!

Patrick is doing really well.  The "new" eating has actually not been that difficult and has been enjoyable to visit the Farmer's market on Saturday to pick up some local lettuce for salads each week.  Granted we still eat enough salads and lettuce wraps that we still buy lettuce at the grocery store as well, but it is nice to have all the fresh produce around as it is the right season.  We did not plant a garden or pots this year.  It was just one more thing too much. But rest assured we still have many projects to keep us busy.  You'll be hearing about a recent $15 purchase from Patrick in the weeks to come.

I still have the dissertation staring at me.  I have gotten approval to move forward by 2 of the 3 reading committee members, now to find some more motivation!  I have also been doing more with Quality Matters and I do enjoy that work.  It gets me teaching, facilitating, and helping other create quality courses.  I have just begun facilitating the first introductory workshop offered in China!  It is all online so I don't have to go anywhere.  I have a wonderful co-facilitator and a wonderful support team to help with translations and applications specific to the Chinese educational system.  Quality Matters is in other places internationally, but this is the first where the language is more of an issue.

And when I'm having a hard time, Patrick is always good about finding something to pick me up.  Last week he gave me a happy Wednesday present :)  I love my new little purple boxes!  Now to find what is going to go in them!

Well, that is it for this week.  Other projects are in the works and I'm sure you get to hear about Patrick's new one(s) next week!

Doubtful Beginnings...

Well, I believe we are finally back on track after an interesting week or three...

I should be reporting on a regional conference I was helping organize - Quality Matters this time around, in Seattle.  I was looking forward to it...had volunteered for too many things...but excited to be able to meet up and talk with some great people.  However, it was just not in the cards...

The weekend before was also something we both look forward to - General Conference.  We get to spend the weekend listening to various talks from the general authorities of the church as we knit, work on chainmaille, and discuss the various talks.  One of the predominant themes throughout the sessions was the importance of family.  This is something we both feel is extremely important, even if we do not have children.  We are still a little family of our own, and many of the principles still apply in our home.

We were looking forward to the quiet, restful weekend.  Patrick had been sick and needed rest, and I was overly stressed with work and school and the conference.  So my body did what any normal body should and it revolted by also getting sick, followed by Patrick joining back in.

We were packed and set to leave at 8am on Wednesday morning, but after another night of not so restful sleep and much getting up, and some contemplation on my responsibilities with the conference we decided we could not go.  I was very sad.  Luckily, all my responsibilities were shared, so I wrote notes, sent emails, and made calls to make sure everything went smoothly.

But some very interesting things followed, beginning with the decision to just take the rest of the week off.  I knew I would need the time to recuperate and it took off the daily decision of whether or not to go to work.

It was the best decision.

So with days filled with rest, little stress, and lots of relaxing, we were both able to get feeling better and spend some much needed time together.

Family is important.  And with all the connections we have with family, the one person you get to choose to be in your family is your spouse.  And while each family has traditions and ways of doing things, it is the relationship with your spouse that requires a lot of nurturing and work.  We did not do anything spectacular or have any really deep conversations, but we were able to nurture our relationship and remind ourselves that we chose to be a family.

By Saturday we were definitely feeling better and took time to do some things together outside of the house.

First, we headed over to a local gardening center and made miniature gardens (a definite Lisa thing - but Patrick made one too.)  After gathering our plants and pieces we both had places that needed something, so we brought them home and added....rocks of course!

We then went to our local gem and mineral show and picked up some more pretty rocks.

Lisa's stash has some lace agate, petrified wood, moissonite, and other pretty green and purple agates.

Patrick found some great pieces of blood stone, which the camera just could not capture, and Lisa picked up the black/brown obsidian. 

Patrick picked up another amazing piece of obsidian - if you hold it up to the light there are clear pockets!  And a beautiful blue-green agate - which we are both fighting over.

It was a good week, even if it's beginnings were doubtful and stressful.  When you listen to each other and the Spirit, good decisions happen.

We have definitely reinstated that we need to make sure we take the time to spend time together and nurture our little family.

And now to do more cool stuff with our pretty rocks...

Writing, Writing and The Summer is Gone

So, I'm several days late and I missed the last time I was supposed to post.  I will get back into the swing of things.  It is difficult to believe that the summer is almost over.  The beginning of my summer was so full, it was overwhelming.  The goal now is to clear off my plate so I can focus on my dissertation.  But here are some exciting things that have happened this summer because I was working so hard.

First Publication!

I just found out today, that my first article is now available!  (You can go see it at http://jaln.sloanconsortium.org/index.php/jaln/issue/view/39/showToc - it is in the Mobile Learning section.)  I worked with some amazing friends on this paper as part of our school work. (See it down there by the smiley face!)

It feels a bit surreal, but if I decide to go the faculty route, publishing will become mandatory.

AECT Symposium

So last month, I headed to Jacksonville, FL for the AECT Symposium.  Again, I was required to submit something, somewhere.  Most of my classmates submitted to the AECT Conference which will be in November.  But with two other conferences in October, we decided that a third was just not an option.

I honestly did not know what I was in for.  This was a small conference with about 25 people.  Almost everyone had submitted a "chapter."  The days were spent providing feedback to each other and talking about cool things in instructional design.  I made some great friends and connections.  And, after another draft and revision process all the chapters will be put into the AECT 2014 Research Symposium book.  Again, a bit surreal.

August

I can't believe it is already August.  The fall term starts on the 25th so things will be crazy at work.  I worked hard to exercise responding "no" to several opportunities that came up for this next school year.  But the goal is, as I said earlier, to work on my dissertation.  

Garden News

In the meantime, the tomatoes and peppers are ready for picking.  Yellow cayennes for drying - they are perfect for Tito's shredded beef.  The little roma-grape and yellow-pear tomatoes have been going straight into salads.  A couple of jalapenos have made it to the freezer (they were ripe right before we were leaving for a short weekend trip).  The next ones will probably be headed for some fresh salsa.  There are still dragon cayennes that should be coming soon.  Unfortunately, the garlic didn't want to grow, but we will try again next year.

Well, that is my short update for this week.  Hopefully, I will do better in two weeks when it is my turn again.