Chunky & Warm Checkered Scarf

     I just love the feeling of finishing up a project. This morning I finally got around to putting the fringe on a scarf that I made around Christmas. I'm really please with how it turned out. Another plus is that it was super fast to make (it took three days and maybe five hours total, if that long) and it's probably the easiest pattern I've followed thus far, just because  you're making your stitches in the empty spaces instead of having to put them directly into a chain. It's also super warm, and I think that the colors I chose are going to be easy to wear. I used this pattern from the Fiber Flux blog for the Fiona scarf. I tweaked it just a tad- I chained 184 to make it a bit longer and because I wanted to incorporate a colored pattern, I have two more rows. Instead of adding buttons I put fringe on my scarf using the instructions here. I had  quite a bit of colored yarn left over, so I'm going to make the smaller scarf out of one of those and add buttons to it- I think the purple one featured on the blog is just adorable! 

I was able to grab him before he started playing to model for me ;) 

     The colors I used for my scarf are Fisherman, Spice, and Denim. I do recommend that you use the Thick and Quick or a similarly thick yarn- I tried using a thinner yarn and it just didn't work out well. Happy hooking! 

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

     I don't know about anyone else out there, but I looove Pinterest. It is such a nice way of finding new things, especially crochet patterns and recipes. I found a link to the blog Stacy Makes Cents through a pin for her crock pot chicken fajitas recipe. I tried the recipe last week on a day I wanted to study and not have to get distracted by making dinner... and let me tell you, the smells from the kitchen were making it pretty hard to concentrate! They turned out great- this was the first recipe I've made using the crock pot (Matt usually takes over making BBQ and roasts) and I was so pleased with the results, I'm trying more recipes. Yesterday I made creamy lemon pepper chicken (which was BOMB), and I have the makings on a cube steak recipe she has on her blog, too. Most of the recipes are pretty flexible, too- for example, I just used a McCormick spice packet instead of adding cumin and chili powder, and I left out green peppers... because they're yucky :P 

     It was so simple to make and sooo yummy! This will definitely be a repeat meal for us. When it was finished cooking in the crock pot the chicken was super tender- I ran a fork over it and it just fell apart. Mmmmm, yum :)

    I hope that everyone has a very merry and safe Christmas! 

Getting into the Holiday Spirit with Jingle Belle

     A little while back, the hubs and I were in Radford and decided to go into one of the few comic shops in the area- Game Quest. It is more of a game shop than a comic shop, but they do carry some new issues and have tables set up with long boxes full of comics to rifle through. On this particular visit I scored some Harley Quinns and two Jingle Belles. I had never heard of Jingle Belle before, but the comics were a little 2- part Christmas special, so I figured I would see what they were all about. Plus, they were written by Paul Dini *squee!!!* After my Anatomy final today, I was ready to read some comics to get my mind off of how awful it was and since Christmas is fast approaching, I decided these two would be perfect. 
     The first thing you gotta love about these is that this girl is cute, from her design and demeanor to her pet muskox that she rides. She is the spoiled teenage daughter of Santa Claus, on a mission to do a good job and win the approval of her dad her way. Some of her schemes are a bit short-sighted and she tends to not take things very seriously, faults that so many teenagers usually have. Despite all of their arguing, she does love her dad and her heart is in the right place. 
     I definitely recommend these if you are looking a sweet, funny comic to read around the holidays. The retelling of the Santa myth is interesting and to see him with a family and issues that almost everyone can relate to is refreshing.  One of these days I'm going to have to try to get my hands on the other Jingle Belle comics out there to see the rest of the mischief she gets into!

Paul Dini's Jingle Belle, issues #1 & #2, 1999

Mind-numbing

     I don't know about the rest of you, but for me today has just been one of those days that I wish could have turned out different. After waking up a bit early to do some grocery shopping with the hubs I had to go take a final exam for Personal Financial Planning. Which wasn't too bad, but now that it's out of the way, the next exam up is the one that's going to be the hardest- thank goodness it's Monday and I have the whole weekend to try to prepare! But of course, I'm still stressing out about it, because hey, that's just what I do. But now, on top of all of the static already in my head, my heart is sunk from the news about the school shooting in Connecticut. I know people who have lost children, and I know that it is a horrible, horrible pain to have to bear. I can't fathom how hard it is for that community to try to pick up the pieces of what happened this morning.
     My heart also can't help but ache for the shooter himself. He had no excuse for his actions, but if anyone can rationalize killing their own mother, other school workers, and young children so that it is not only acceptable, but necessary, then they have some serious issues. If only he had had some one to talk to or perhaps even therapy, this may have never happened. Maybe he could have lived a normal life and been a functioning member of society. I've read so many posts on social media calling the shooter names and saying that he deserves to rot in Hell,  but I can't do that myself. Yes, his actions made him a monster, and if he had survived, I would have been all for capitol punishment for his actions. However, monsters are made. This young man was once his mother's son, a brother. In today's society it is so easy to feel distanced from people that when some one starts having mental instabilities and lapses in judgement, either no one notices or the person retreats farther into themselves. The shooter was 20, the same age that I am for another week, which gives me shivers; I just can't picture anyone being able to do what he did, regardless of whatever he was trying to deal with. I am curious about how his brother is doing, and I feel so horrible for him- I can only imagine what he is having to deal with himself. I am interested to know what provoked the shooter's  attack- but the world may never know. 
    My heart goes out to the people of Sandy Hook and I hope that God covers their hearts like a balm in this confusing, despairing time. There are no words that can bring back any of those who were lost, but hopefully some of the confusion about what happened can be cleared and those who were lost can be honored.  

Brains....

     Hello, all! It's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog- I'd been so busy that I felt a bit like a zombie sometimes. That's what happens when there's a lot of work and not enough play! But, here in the last couple of months I've been gaining a bit of free time, so I started messing around with the idea of blogging again and actually sticking with it instead of going MIA every so often (I've wimped out on this resolution a few times, but maybe this time will be different.) 
     I've had a ton of major life stuff happen since I last blogged. I finally got my Associate's Degree and transferred to Virginia Tech. Since I don't work anymore I have a little more time to do what I want to (like play Pokemon and collect Catwoman comics.) I've taken up crochet and I play Darksiders on my husband's Xbox like a madwoman. Yes, my husband's, I'm now married :) If you didn't see that coming, don't worry, I didn't either. We got married in August after deciding that we wanted our relationship to keep growing and didn't want to try to do long- distance. We had originally been planning on getting married next Spring, but having the wedding sooner didn't feel rushed. Matthew is really a fabulous husband, and I feel so blessed that he entered my life when he did. 
     I think I'll probably still do makeup posts, but I'm pretty sure that in order to keep myself on the blogging track I'm going to branch out and write about other things, too, just like a general blog.  These things will probably include crochet, cooking, ferrets (we adopted another one!), and geekery at large.  So, hopefully I'll be posting again soon, and I hope everyone has a great day! 

Everyone say "Hi!" to the newest member of the family- Odin!