No, I didn't die....

I'm still here. I decided it was time to write a new post NOW after a conversation I had this morning..

Me: "I really like the dresses you posted on your blog."

Friend: "Thanks. I started following your blog."

Me: "Oh really? Cool. I don't post very often though. *sheepish grin*"

Friend: "Yeah, I think your last post was like October of 2012."


Um.....

So apparently it's time I do a new post. I mean, I know I'm bad at this whole blogging thing, but I didn't think I was that bad.....

Actually, my main problem is not writing out the posts; I write posts all the time that never get published. My problem is pictures. I have so many I want to post, but it's such a pain to get the pictures onto the laptop because it's SO slow. I can do it on my phone, but if I do that, it won't let me put any text after the pictures. So basically if I do that I have to do all the talking first, and then end all the posts with the pictures. And I'm not that big of a fan of that idea. I'll have to spend some time tomorrow working on getting pictures on here.

Danielle is a year old now! I can't believe it. Her birthday was January 17th. I love her more than words can describe. She not only walks, she runs around like nobody's business. If you tickle her she laughs. If you ask her for a kiss she'll lean her head in so you can kiss it. She eats real food all the time now, and hopefully it won't be long before she's off formula. I have a million and one pictures of her, and like I said before, I'll have to work tomorrow on getting them on the laptop and posting them.

So I found out about a month ago that in March I get to go to Las Vegas! Me, my grandma and my great-great aunt are going to Las Vegas for 6 days for the Pac-12 basketball tournament right before March Madness. I'm so excited!!!! I haven't really been anywhere since our California trip in 2011, so it'll be nice to be out of Arizona. Normally my great aunt and cousin go with Nana and Aunt Suzie, but they couldn't make it this year, so I get to go instead! Like I said, we'll be gone 6 days. I think we leave Tuesday the 11th or 12th and come back that Sunday. Again, I'm so excited! Hannah says that since I'll be coming back right before her 13th birthday (the 26th), that I'll have to get her a birthday present while I'm there. And she hasn't let me forget it either. :D Oh, have I mentioned that I'm excited?!?!?!?

Music lessons still continue as usual. Voice is going really, really well, which I'm so thankful for. I had such a hard time for such a long time, and more than once I wanted to give up. I think after my voice recital last September, when I screwed up SO badly on my song, I think something clicked. Things just started making sense, and I guess... I don't know... I had a new resolve. I've been working extra hard at it, and it's finally making sense. I still have a hard time with quite a bit of it, but it's getting better.

Violin is going well. I did special music for church 2 weeks ago, and that went so well. I was a little nervous, but that was before. Once I got up there and started playing, I just got totally lost in the song, and forgot anyone was there. I actually think that was the best performance I've ever had, thank the Lord. Right now I'm working on another long song. This one's a lot harder than the one I did in that it's got a lot of double notes, which are so hard for me. In the 4 years that I've been playing violin, I've taught myself to only play one string. If you're hitting 2 strings, it's bad. So this song is killing me because I have to hit 2 string constantly, and it's really hard for me. I'm gonna have to train myself to do it, which isn't easy. Oh well, it'll come.

My business has been CRAZY since the new year. I think since the beginning of the year I've had almost 100 sales. Now, not all of them are blankets, quite a few have been patterns, but still. God has blessed me greatly with it. I have a couple of really cool orders right now. One is for a queen size blanket! This lady ordered a queen size for her, and then a regular size matching one for the baby. I haven't gotten to work on it too much lately, but right now I've got a couple days between due dates, so I can work on it a little before I get back to work on other orders. I have until the end of the month, which is good. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get it done. If not she said it's ok, because she still has other blankets to use for the baby until it's done.

I also have a different kind of order. This one is for a blanket that isn't mine. I had a lady contact me, asking me to make this blanket she'd seen on Etsy. She found the pattern, but the seller wouldn't actually make one for her, so she asked me to. I think it's going to be fun, but it's going to take awhile. This blanket has 700 motifs. Yes, that's right. 700. The good thing is that they're small, and that I can crochet them together as I go, instead of having to sew them all together at the end. That'll make things easier.

I was going to make a blanket for the fair this year, but I just don't think it's going to happen. It was the cutest blanket, with alternating bobble squares and squares that have owls on them. I'm not into the owl trend that's going on right now, but this was just SO cute. I chose aqua, turquoise, light pink, bright pink, amethyst and lavender for my colors. I'm still planning on finishing it, but with how busy I've been, I just don't think I'll be able to get it done by the time I need to (March 8th or something). Besides, I needed to learn a new stitch for the owls anyway, and I just wasn't sure I could do it in time. Oh well. Maybe I'll make it for the Cochise county fair in September instead....

On the way home today Dad and I were watching/listening (I was watching, he was listening) to a debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye. I think it's still going on right now, but I'm not watching it anymore. It was certainly interesting to listen to. They both had 30 minute presentations, and now I think they're debating. It was interesting to listen to Bill Nye (the evolutionist obviously). He made a comment about one of Ken Ham's statements, and I don't remember exactly what it was, but he was like "I need more" or "That doesn't cut it" or something like that. And I was thinking "Yeah, and your explanation that an explosion randomly happened in space millions of years ago that made EVERYTHING doesn't cut it for me either." Seriously. I just don't see how so many people can see the obvious proof for a Creator everywhere they look, and yet they just don't believe. There's this formation on the way into town called Texas Canyon. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. I got some pictures off the internet to show you.

 

 

Isn't it absolutely beautiful? I drive past this (If you take into consideration there and back) 6 times a week, and truthfully, after a year of living here, plus all the time before we moved here, sometimes I lose sight of just how amazing this really is. But sometimes I just sit back and look at it, and I think "Wow, God. This truly is amazing." I think I miss God's handiwork way too often. And it's just shocking to me how so many people look at this, and say that 'random chance' made our world. It's something I will truly never understand...

 

Alright, I've got work to do on blankets, so I'd better go now. Tomorrow I hope to redo my 103 in 2013 (obviously making it 104 in 2014), so look out for that! It took me forever to come up with 103 things... Now I've got to come up with 104!!! Holy cow. By the time I'm like 25 I'd have 220 things. Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work........