Grandma - 2.22.14

grandma - noun
1. the mother of one's father or mother
2. a female ancestor
source: dictionary.com

_____________________________________

Grandma

When I was little I remember watching my grandma crochet blankets, towels that hung from the oven door, pot holders, you name it.  Looking at the pieces closely, I couldn't figure out how it was done.  It seemed so complicated.  As I grew a little older she started to teach me how to crochet.  I realized the repeated slip-knot like motion was not nearly as difficult as I expected.  That evening, sitting on my grandma's couch, I created a gigantic chain of light blue yarn.  It had absolutely zero use, but I was proud of it and so was my grandma.  Unfortunately, my grandma passed away before I had the opportunity to learn how to make something more useful than a rope out of the repetitive motion.  Again, I wished to learn how to crochet, but lacked a teacher.  

My sophomore year of college I was sitting in the commons area when a friend walked up and started to crochet.  I found a teacher.  She kindly taught me how to crochet rows back and forth. I tried to make a scarf but gave up when it began to get narrower and narrower.  Time passed and I always thought about giving it another shot.  Between school and work I never really seemed to have the time.  

Recently, one of my dear friends found out she was having a baby girl.  I figured a small hat would be a good place to start trying to learn again, plus I had some really pretty lavender yarn left over from another project.  I found a fairly easy to follow YouTube video and set to work. After a few failed attempts, knots, and rewinding I finished the hat.  While I was incredibly excited to finally finish a project, it seemed a little plain.  Back to YouTube I went and found a video for an easy crochet  flower.  

I felt close to my grandma while I was creating this little hat.  I'd like to think that she would be delighted to see my little project and excited to see this tradition passed on.  

Patience - 2.15.14

patience - noun
World English Dictionary 
2. the capacity for calmly enduring pain, trying situations, etc.
source: dictionary.com

_________________________________________________

Patience

This week I don't really feel like putting out a lot of explanation for this piece.  In short, patience feels like trying to calm my mind and heart amidst everything else going on in life.  Some days I'm more successful than others.  

Here are a few close ups of the middle squares. 

Influential - 2.8.14

influential - noun
2. a person who exerts or can exert strong influence.
source: dictionary.com

_________________________________________

Influential

My childhood is filled with fantastic memories of growing up on the farm.  I remember riding to the field with my mom to bring my dad lunch or dinner during planting and harvest.   I would often ride along with my dad in the combine or fall asleep in the back of the case as the planter dropped tiny seeds into the ground.  I looked forward to the bright lights of the combine coming down our long lane like a monster in the night when my mom let me stay up way past my bed time and wait for dad. 

One spring day, when I was about eight, I was following my dad around the farm.  We were walking from the shop to the house when he turned toward the field and motioned for me to follow him. When we reached the edge of the field, dad pulled the small screwdriver that he always carries out of the pocket of his overalls and bent down towards one of the ripples of dirt in the field.  He carefully brushed the dirt away with the screwdriver and picked something up.  When he stood up he slowly opened his big, farmer hand.  In it I saw a little kernel of corn with tiny green and white sprouts growing from it. He took the time to explain how the seed grows and pushes the tiny green sprout out of the ground while the roots grow down.  

I have no idea why this particular moment has stuck with me for over twenty years.  Like the many others, I cherish it.  Growing up on the farm was a wonderful experience, however, my amazing parents are who made it one of the most influential and cherished parts of my life.  

Ristretto - 2.1.14

ristretto - a very "short" shot of espresso coffee.
source: Wikipedia

_____________________________________

Ristretto

I pulled this card and figured it had something to do with restraint or restrictions.  I was so excited to find out it had to do with coffee!  According to wikipedia, originally a ristretto meant pulling a hand press espresso machine faster than usual using the same amount of water.  Now it means an espresso shot using less water.  

Since there still is an element of restriction or restraint in the definition, I chose a butterfly as my subject.  The caterpillar restrains itself in a cocoon and morphs into a beautiful butterfly.  To include the element of coffee, I mixed the watercolors with my leftover morning coffee to give the overall piece a more muted tone.  I tried to use as little water color as possible on the actual butterfly.  I only used just enough to give the color a little variance that I wasn't achieving with coffee alone.  I also wanted to restrict the time I worked on this piece, limiting it to two days.  While I'm far from becoming a watercolor painter, these quick sketches are a fun way to explore the medium and add the element of play that I'm hoping to achieve during this project. 

Daunting - 1.25.13

daunting - adj.
1. causing fear or discouragement; intimidating

__________________________________

Daunting

Dane has this incredible ability to blindly stumble across any surprise I have brewing in my head for him.  I'm pretty sure in our five years of marriage and the three years of dating before that, I have only managed to successfully surprise him a handful of times.  The strangest thing is, he has never tried to figure out any of these surprises!

Last month I decided that for his birthday this summer I was going to take him to Chicago Music Exchange to pick out an acoustic guitar.  I knew he missed playing and would love to have an acoustic to play again.  I was going to make a day of it...lunch at DMK Burger, picking out a guitar, and then an awesome dinner somewhere. I was planning this now so I could start squirreling away money over the next few months.  It was going to be awesome....until he realized how much he missed playing and started talking about how he wanted a guitar again.  I came clean about my plan because I didn't want him to have to wait half a year to make this dream a reality.  At least I was able to surprise him by saying he should start looking for one. 

Literally the next day we were driving to Chicago Music Exchange to check out a Taylor he found on their website.  As we drove home with it in the back of the car, he looked like a kid that had free reign at a candy store.  He was downright giddy.  

Part of the deal was he had to start teaching me how to play.  That's where the daunting part comes in.  I'm not talking about fear or discouragement, I'm talking about the intimidating definition of daunting.  Music is pretty much a foreign language to me.  I'm at the can-somewhat-understand-a-normal-coversation phase of this language development, but application is a completely different story.  Bless Dane's heart, he doesn't give up trying to teach me new chords, even if I have trouble remembering the previous chord.  I asked him how I was doing he said I was getting an A in content but a B in class participation.  Apparently, I'm a little sassy.  I have not idea what he's talking about, but you know what they say...teachers make the worst students.  I'm just still hoping there isn't any truth to his threats of calling my parents for a parent-teacher conference!  

Bare Feet - 1.18.14

Bare Feet - feet without shoes.

__________________________________________

Bare Feet

Recently, our friends the Lambert's and the Yocum's, came to visit for the weekend.  The Lambert's brought their adorable two year old son, Lincoln.  Seriously, this kid is awesome.  He drums, he's incredibly happy, he loves hockey...and this kid can instantly charm you with his smile.  Dane and I often find ourselves asking the other if we saw the latest Lincoln picture or video on Facebook or Instagram.  

As I was basking in the friendship that filled our home this weekend, I noticed his adorably little shoes sitting next to the couch.  They seem so big compared to the two year old picture of Dane and I holding Little Mr. Lambert and Little Miss. Vaughn that hangs on our fridge.  I am incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to be witness to so many of the joys my wonderful friends have celebrated in the nine years we've known each other.  Their presence in my life is irreplaceable and a true treasure. 

Relax - 1.11.14

relax - verb
8. to reduce or stop work, effort, application, etc., especially for the sake of rest or relaxation
source: dictionary.com

______________________________________________

Relax

Dane and I ended our winter break with two unexpected snow days due to the extremely cold weather.  There we were, lounging on the couch and binging on the show The West Wing.  Bella, our little Boston Terrier, was curled up between us, burrowed under the blanket.  We were the purest definition of "relax."  It was absolutely wonderful.  

Eventually, Dane had to get up. When he turned around he froze and started motioning for me to get up and look at Bella. With the stealthiest, ninja-like moves I could muster, I quietly slipped off the couch and there was our sweet little dog wrapped up like E.T. with her little nose poking out.  

I started a drawing of this photo, but felt that I would need to spend way more than a week on it to do it justice. I might revisit this post in the future, but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy these small, relaxing moments with my family.