tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43769551059141779022024-02-19T02:54:37.265-08:00On my differentialClerkship, crafts and canines.Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-54058006776478094102012-07-05T16:26:00.002-07:002012-07-06T07:55:29.739-07:00Canoeing, long john underwear and fluffy white freaks.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__yQslK4lDWkdIfXKABHVVOguQw1Qj3Hl6atpYoMfxFctd9PF93HHVRPDJOb70XOyYeXtLQR_8_kdJCOhSakt2rNQhRnb6EHzvbQOxy4vZsvW3k0-hNtPXopeBdmSoNq2nAuJe2sgcGc/s1600/let+her+sleep" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__yQslK4lDWkdIfXKABHVVOguQw1Qj3Hl6atpYoMfxFctd9PF93HHVRPDJOb70XOyYeXtLQR_8_kdJCOhSakt2rNQhRnb6EHzvbQOxy4vZsvW3k0-hNtPXopeBdmSoNq2nAuJe2sgcGc/s320/let+her+sleep" width="218" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Move mountains/try to not kill anyone in the ER.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Right now I'm deciding whether I will write this blog post or take a nap. Considering I'm already in bed under the covers, I anticipate that the nap might win. But in the meantime, I'll get started anyways.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm home for the afternoon after morning clinic with a new preceptor that I just started working with this week. We work overnight in the ER tonight and so I have a few hours between to catch some z's and relax before going in. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I figured maybe I'd take this time to update about our wicked amazing most awesome camping trip in Jasper this past weekend. So much has happened since my last blog post and I want to talk about all of it, but that would make this blog post considerably too long and so I'll try to just touch on the best parts :)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9W3Xaw2RowjPWYSsCZxbZFWDJVo5DrCxmMaIb_K8Pd-Ic5JySUSewbapF9kTwswka38Up4UHWKcBIlAsskoWr5OpiQkrtfrNGcSskGjIPVP3a5QpMmQrBx9Pj9CfCrSK-IwncYRsVDd0/s1600/P6282011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9W3Xaw2RowjPWYSsCZxbZFWDJVo5DrCxmMaIb_K8Pd-Ic5JySUSewbapF9kTwswka38Up4UHWKcBIlAsskoWr5OpiQkrtfrNGcSskGjIPVP3a5QpMmQrBx9Pj9CfCrSK-IwncYRsVDd0/s320/P6282011.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Mr/Camper Extraordinaire</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This post I will talk mostly about the camping trip, and in the next few I'll talk about all the other stuff like the crazy girls Rodeo night I had and my recent medical adventures in Small Town.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I knew we were going to have a good trip when The Mr. texted me the following:</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kz-XeOoD81l33zaz1YH5_l4JTwGHC-2zOiVzFPJcJEBHfXgQQdP5dqHfStJLdkx9M3Ig4lzs6MBhqmaAMcztRvpF6PnFmLkHNe4a84xrqux87ZzGSJs-CsHPqAoEWmjZ24Qo_mB77G0/s1600/P6271996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kz-XeOoD81l33zaz1YH5_l4JTwGHC-2zOiVzFPJcJEBHfXgQQdP5dqHfStJLdkx9M3Ig4lzs6MBhqmaAMcztRvpF6PnFmLkHNe4a84xrqux87ZzGSJs-CsHPqAoEWmjZ24Qo_mB77G0/s200/P6271996.JPG" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ugh I am so seepy</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
"I just drugged the sh*t outta Whimsey and she doesn't even know it." </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Best first words of camping trip ever.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The drugs he's referring to are the sedatives that our vet prescribed for Miss. Thing (who's most recent nicknames include Miss. Mims, Mimseltin and Delicate Princess Flower due to her penchant for being a sensitive and delicate Princess). </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let's just say Miss. Mims has a certain amount of anxiety (WHO ME IM NOT ANXIOUS WHAT DO YOU MEAN) for being in the car. For any length of time. In fact, she pants and freaks out so much that the whole car smells of her stinky dog breath and The Mr. is miserable before we've often even left the driveway. </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKoJdMCGzm-IqEtZMwipt2HJM54OUgvqT2MRxaGT87YbaLV9vs2yzTo_qGEuX7I_PFhiG35XbGbf5EWbR5iWwAIUb5Lj0bQ4GiPozGr0WVWWxN1Ueler3vt82lnliMlckrmD4FOLXellU/s1600/P6272005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKoJdMCGzm-IqEtZMwipt2HJM54OUgvqT2MRxaGT87YbaLV9vs2yzTo_qGEuX7I_PFhiG35XbGbf5EWbR5iWwAIUb5Lj0bQ4GiPozGr0WVWWxN1Ueler3vt82lnliMlckrmD4FOLXellU/s200/P6272005.JPG" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hazards of the Daddy job.<br />
(Note the face haha)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So we thought we'd call in some pharmacological reinforcements and were given the equivalent of doggy benzodiazepines. WIN.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suffice to say that she needed more than one dose, but was definitely sedated for the majority of the trip. She managed to sleep and only stink up the car with her breath for a short while in the beginning. In fact, we were struggling more with The Little Stink's toots. He's such a tooty little walrus.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">During our time living in Alberta, we have sadly yet to see a Grizzly bear (the zoo doesn't count) and decided that this would be the trip. It was going to happen. </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBb2gDqN6vJaTp1f0R5xrGUaWTeKBFGyz46xOF1UPaqmD7kQ1H4U8LjZIgg8ZscDT4xONoGe-N2PEohmavkzkFpJlW4BFwQLjur38pjyJj9s22BeHjF-eGxttB6zUzA7vy_b22ep0KL-Y/s1600/P6271998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBb2gDqN6vJaTp1f0R5xrGUaWTeKBFGyz46xOF1UPaqmD7kQ1H4U8LjZIgg8ZscDT4xONoGe-N2PEohmavkzkFpJlW4BFwQLjur38pjyJj9s22BeHjF-eGxttB6zUzA7vy_b22ep0KL-Y/s200/P6271998.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the battle with the weedwacker, <br />
I'm pretty sure the weed wacker won.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I won't leave you hanging to think that at the end of this blog post I'm going to say this happened and we saw the elusive Grizzly. In fact, this isn't like one of those good stories where at the end the wish comes true. We still haven't seen a damn Grizzly but we did see a considerable amount of mountain goats and mountain sheep, and lots and lots of caribou. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lz0nDIo_bQM_Wc95uhuBjb5buTABBgZ5xotMvxh7SY9lO732agA9-N7XAogmVMNAaUMH7apOfuU7k-wjSj0-IWgIUbedVQ7nwhrkpcJ6fF-NUC0G5tnvjHKOxffaqOMECfzg7hYovy8/s1600/P6282039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lz0nDIo_bQM_Wc95uhuBjb5buTABBgZ5xotMvxh7SY9lO732agA9-N7XAogmVMNAaUMH7apOfuU7k-wjSj0-IWgIUbedVQ7nwhrkpcJ6fF-NUC0G5tnvjHKOxffaqOMECfzg7hYovy8/s320/P6282039.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fluffy white freak. You're even <br />
missing a horn. Lame.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Those mountain goats/sheeps/fluffy white freaks sure are pests. For one, they're everywhere. They just roam around the road like they own the place, leave disgusting fluff around from their weedwacked hair-dos and are far too familiar with people. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had a picnic lunch at Miette Hot Springs one day and we had to use our big black Destructo to ward off the pesky beasts who were so bold as to come right up to your very cooler and stick their ugly heads inside. One family was fit to be tied when the freaks were not even going away despite their frantic yelling and waving of their arms trying to make them flee the scene of the crime. It didn't take much for Destructo to get them on their merry way though. Just one of the many benefits of having a big dog I guess. :)<br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_WLnc4i0jjgFryozA4QRxnVURNv6w7scQKWsMHOMFK6DTGvRGNOScJZ0AUXj5PTrVGDxUPtUWwigP4wyIvypl_XnmTNclFflSgS7yxqyb0kHmVU7dMHXpOzeF185Wv9XjMfuDt_2hdM/s1600/P6292122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_WLnc4i0jjgFryozA4QRxnVURNv6w7scQKWsMHOMFK6DTGvRGNOScJZ0AUXj5PTrVGDxUPtUWwigP4wyIvypl_XnmTNclFflSgS7yxqyb0kHmVU7dMHXpOzeF185Wv9XjMfuDt_2hdM/s320/P6292122.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Look at them just climbing on people's stuff. How rude. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So we love camping a whole lot, and a big part of why we love it is the food of course. We love coming up with new ideas of meals to make o'er the fire and we do not believe in cans of beans for meals. Alas, the majority of this post will detail the delicious meals we made this trip.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzkn-Z5oQTIk7LeZIEzRWxnZIKzDfwlgqWbWBEe2shyphenhyphenotaTcaAR-1w49LS_e5t13EZbpBTU-_C-bMRE1ovFgBjitqxdUDGcSPMLhMuJxLUhgL1SvHprYFmrOEV4r_M0OTyrf32HdFu5EU/s1600/P6282068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzkn-Z5oQTIk7LeZIEzRWxnZIKzDfwlgqWbWBEe2shyphenhyphenotaTcaAR-1w49LS_e5t13EZbpBTU-_C-bMRE1ovFgBjitqxdUDGcSPMLhMuJxLUhgL1SvHprYFmrOEV4r_M0OTyrf32HdFu5EU/s320/P6282068.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ahhh, home sweet campsite. <br />
A tarping job that even Mom C and Aunt Bev would be proud of!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The first morning we had planned to have <a href="http://www.ninthandbird.com/2011/07/campurritos-because-camping-should-be.html">these ingenious "campurritos"</a> from the Ninth and Bird Blog. They are make-ahead breakfast wraps that you can cook over the fire. The Mr. made them the day before we left and we anticipated that we would have them the first morning as we were finishing the set up of our temporary wilderness home (read: campsite). </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We filled them with Spolumbo's sausage (an Alberta classic), scrambled eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and cheese. Yummo.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLReg3IxFk6P_pfU_nmKdSYEM-3o3za88oNsq9PollHP1NRHrgooYmSH3ztmlL1_Aj24ML2ji-6kPmwTGEECcTzvdlYcwyKUejZKNeh1p2pn58UWBYS4-Pdd01J09EiJe-ou5Vc-mwYE/s1600/P6282018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLReg3IxFk6P_pfU_nmKdSYEM-3o3za88oNsq9PollHP1NRHrgooYmSH3ztmlL1_Aj24ML2ji-6kPmwTGEECcTzvdlYcwyKUejZKNeh1p2pn58UWBYS4-Pdd01J09EiJe-ou5Vc-mwYE/s320/P6282018.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Campurritos a la campfire</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Note to self and others wanting to try these: Wrap them at least 2-3 times in tin foil and only cook for maybe 10 minutes over the fire. We were upset that ours were seriously smoky tasting and some of the wrap had burned because we only wrapped them once. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YbcQXATefXXJW4sbzaa9rCzPst2V8vpqa_godm1kCpVikGm9dZQsMklCYeOXgHAsy3hiwQ8rhQa5vGM4sKz25yyrRFHfNVmLRvT-rkdKkETbv6SWzB5DXCkD_X4st25mAYoPOPy6BD0/s1600/P6282012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YbcQXATefXXJW4sbzaa9rCzPst2V8vpqa_godm1kCpVikGm9dZQsMklCYeOXgHAsy3hiwQ8rhQa5vGM4sKz25yyrRFHfNVmLRvT-rkdKkETbv6SWzB5DXCkD_X4st25mAYoPOPy6BD0/s320/P6282012.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh and let's not forget, the coffee of course. The Mr. had purchased a camping-style drip coffee maker made by GSI that we used to make coffee on the trip. Awesome idea and super easy to clean.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That day we decided to do a bit of a hike at Maligne Lake, which just happens to be the lake that is featured on some Windows PCs as desktop wallpaper (and it's one on The Mr.'s computer). What a beautiful spot!</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcbW2xvpeZM_XEFVcsm84cWFztdhkv-DaALPZIgIz79Ds7lEkWQMzJ0PKOqsuClUWkYMS5MFKTiQ6XFGmIZAA14p9tMd-gI2JBln5TSOJcVX83dwV403cYAWhpezfbM3mWssq_diRxt8/s1600/P6282044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPcbW2xvpeZM_XEFVcsm84cWFztdhkv-DaALPZIgIz79Ds7lEkWQMzJ0PKOqsuClUWkYMS5MFKTiQ6XFGmIZAA14p9tMd-gI2JBln5TSOJcVX83dwV403cYAWhpezfbM3mWssq_diRxt8/s320/P6282044.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ahhh peace</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4Px2aAQOcnMLnFZe-WsBuZhvlMMswR0hmwPvAvaiRr2NacSoyiPclg3-WQu3e7FVsUA35XHBcNJ21Sp2HUgvV11KKSablK_KrNcUqgBBFIDa3U9Liife3A5cf97DhDIOsvNCG-WN2W8/s1600/P6282048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4Px2aAQOcnMLnFZe-WsBuZhvlMMswR0hmwPvAvaiRr2NacSoyiPclg3-WQu3e7FVsUA35XHBcNJ21Sp2HUgvV11KKSablK_KrNcUqgBBFIDa3U9Liife3A5cf97DhDIOsvNCG-WN2W8/s320/P6282048.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bambi</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiS_bL-o9TV2nUNVqdwUQaU0BPc134BRME30fKxndQvox82nj_xOHZCGyDaOzM4_MS-kQZkMLmoTt-wia9VCXdWUc822VNTsViQOAStKEw2ywYuMhX6umP9OuUZNMcxDMl7shijCVgYUk/s1600/P6282055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiS_bL-o9TV2nUNVqdwUQaU0BPc134BRME30fKxndQvox82nj_xOHZCGyDaOzM4_MS-kQZkMLmoTt-wia9VCXdWUc822VNTsViQOAStKEw2ywYuMhX6umP9OuUZNMcxDMl7shijCVgYUk/s320/P6282055.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moose Lake</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMR07QcH2JFnGR9HRclfjUYCPFoZAtByAXxL36tqmVMuSz3Q4TkkhmiI9vpWCPDmSWiRfzoUgzGIEDQJywTYERya6cTGLAT3Mmyq2Aav0yYXl38ysDtDXH3WmPtjQS3Jb-pMJZzQlM1M/s1600/P6292110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZMR07QcH2JFnGR9HRclfjUYCPFoZAtByAXxL36tqmVMuSz3Q4TkkhmiI9vpWCPDmSWiRfzoUgzGIEDQJywTYERya6cTGLAT3Mmyq2Aav0yYXl38ysDtDXH3WmPtjQS3Jb-pMJZzQlM1M/s320/P6292110.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Little Stink loves hiking.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That evening's dinner was steaks, naturally. Cooked over the fire to the perfect medium rare and paired with baked potatoes with green onions and cheese. A Caesar salad makes the meal just right.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruqxN50gUO09RkI1jE9itVzsGh0z5z8ljF9lfM5aeOWiRpzNAGzabnlzk_7JneVgomVRylwn6EgJj_tcASS72yAv0Wu_hWuJTyP1kxxY5jz1EqKdbhDDAMMRhlNAjDIxnnrT-6ga66WU/s1600/P6282074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruqxN50gUO09RkI1jE9itVzsGh0z5z8ljF9lfM5aeOWiRpzNAGzabnlzk_7JneVgomVRylwn6EgJj_tcASS72yAv0Wu_hWuJTyP1kxxY5jz1EqKdbhDDAMMRhlNAjDIxnnrT-6ga66WU/s320/P6282074.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yummo.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One day on the trip we biked into the town of Jasper, with faithful Destructo running along side and only twice causing a near death dog-meets-bike collision for me. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After those two, I handed him off to The Mr. who has both more control of his bike and more control over Destructo. Miss. Thing ran most of the way alongside but about 4km in we decided it was probably far enough for her. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8B2-Gg3htGVdlDg44omanlt5c0ZByKBEvxmn558EGeMS6ByX6cKNbW-A_6luMuTjzsnGRQt4RVAdOz0kyeEtkeGTlq5QBRnCxs_Z1tKHs37ZI4c-43Qc01iBOFcL_qtYOcxI7ejQEHU/s1600/P6282020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8B2-Gg3htGVdlDg44omanlt5c0ZByKBEvxmn558EGeMS6ByX6cKNbW-A_6luMuTjzsnGRQt4RVAdOz0kyeEtkeGTlq5QBRnCxs_Z1tKHs37ZI4c-43Qc01iBOFcL_qtYOcxI7ejQEHU/s320/P6282020.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I love camping.<br />
And I am so handsome.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We walked around the town which was busy with tourists (being that it was the Canada Day long weekend) and quickly and often became our own tourist attraction. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It always happens something like this:</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIE4VMBf2fer3RG0bjo8FfCj1XtH-SsDn1TRLgwKSd7CfWfLLaRptyEUwOI_dE7lU_IwhLHvSdu6ippQPj04sJcRp4Fc9c4t6t1hmQuChkP8E6RlfEuntw8U5XCuYAPOmUcKHvEysbd8/s1600/P7012243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIE4VMBf2fer3RG0bjo8FfCj1XtH-SsDn1TRLgwKSd7CfWfLLaRptyEUwOI_dE7lU_IwhLHvSdu6ippQPj04sJcRp4Fc9c4t6t1hmQuChkP8E6RlfEuntw8U5XCuYAPOmUcKHvEysbd8/s320/P7012243.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We're quite the sight.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">People walk by and see Miss. Thing and Destructo and coo and ahh about them and how cute they are (naturals). Then they continue walking and within seconds you hear whispering, giggles and <i>"there's another one in the backpack!"</i>. The Little Stink is something like a celebrity in his backpack. Because honestly, when's the last time you've seen a 6lb (ok, 7.5lb but he's pleasantly plump) Yorkie with his tongue sticking out chilling in a backpack with one of his little sloth arms hanging out?</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFJAYVAvb6YjgIFOu2IisDjtgBRv0fHrakmAxuLNGxGIePWn2Y2yvUhGLV68qdhmviK_gdwIF6my3NZfkgSffF1spbIaLP6piF7w0Fg2yIChcAFNm6gt1fmoYwUQLEZlOitqGlp4wa50/s1600/P7012246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFJAYVAvb6YjgIFOu2IisDjtgBRv0fHrakmAxuLNGxGIePWn2Y2yvUhGLV68qdhmviK_gdwIF6my3NZfkgSffF1spbIaLP6piF7w0Fg2yIChcAFNm6gt1fmoYwUQLEZlOitqGlp4wa50/s320/P7012246.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ya. Seriously.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We had lunch in town and only got rained on once on our way back. Naturally, we saw our share of bous that we had to try to avoid Destructo seeing (since scaring away the fluffy freaks at the luncheon, he has a fetish for chasing large hooved animals- plan backfire).<br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyNVF48HV3YqA4pEXHJBZmpetAFrAX1EJrDYMcUc2B4yvxLjGZTMclqErIL1-WXwoVg1O8Wh0SfDQt6jFcQj5pX9ec7nL8nsjB_hFKdO6wx1H4Ir5xu5KxsiTWXqRIevjALGYrkvIY70/s1600/P6292132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyNVF48HV3YqA4pEXHJBZmpetAFrAX1EJrDYMcUc2B4yvxLjGZTMclqErIL1-WXwoVg1O8Wh0SfDQt6jFcQj5pX9ec7nL8nsjB_hFKdO6wx1H4Ir5xu5KxsiTWXqRIevjALGYrkvIY70/s320/P6292132.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bou</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That evening was delish chicken and pineapple shish kabobs. I had marinated the chicken prior to leaving for the trip in pineapple juice, BBQ sauce, worchestershire, onions and garlic and zipped 'em up in a plastic freezer bag. I had also cut up red peppers, onions, mushrooms and pineapple.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">With this we made Jasmine rice and reduced down the remaining marinade to have as a sauce over the rice. O.M.G. So good!<br />
</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnclOek09lFYO4uXPbEhjrZllQWbNlvrrJwQdJs0bhKPl0jhSvvNF0fvTbB3ABov23Nh2N6A0RmdwS14-CUWs9eixdkj3uHIANGw9aVURJKCvG-ihZN0mJht7fOpI-8NW5z3W2fzdq20/s1600/P6292134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnclOek09lFYO4uXPbEhjrZllQWbNlvrrJwQdJs0bhKPl0jhSvvNF0fvTbB3ABov23Nh2N6A0RmdwS14-CUWs9eixdkj3uHIANGw9aVURJKCvG-ihZN0mJht7fOpI-8NW5z3W2fzdq20/s320/P6292134.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazz02qMraNXD10GYU_sjlX1ZQQKj6di4HwEt5CDOPbaU4gu179qefI5W8KDA0C3jZKextURGRcSJs9TGC2dpmzg2HsvXC3oJCUqvTbsPPFuJcFd521gAPrFox9WrVkcmZ-njCaLLdiH8/s1600/P6292156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazz02qMraNXD10GYU_sjlX1ZQQKj6di4HwEt5CDOPbaU4gu179qefI5W8KDA0C3jZKextURGRcSJs9TGC2dpmzg2HsvXC3oJCUqvTbsPPFuJcFd521gAPrFox9WrVkcmZ-njCaLLdiH8/s320/P6292156.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Writing this blog is making me hungry.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That night was a little cool and so naturally Miss. Thing wanted to wear her best long john underwear, and The Little Stink would have felt left out without his. Destructo doesn't have any yet but we noticed him eyeing them. Next online purchase.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8X4VvgpGxh0F2cxwYKTim12-yOz8VBVv2ojPvpG7kKvhk20IEwZxSN7LwYCOgbWzso-sViKJru_0MHoLiiZ1fvLbVyShaZSiKUYOtdCkrXLdgHyw25kRQ_uH-cCwbhBg4HMBu3BVgXU/s1600/P6292165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8X4VvgpGxh0F2cxwYKTim12-yOz8VBVv2ojPvpG7kKvhk20IEwZxSN7LwYCOgbWzso-sViKJru_0MHoLiiZ1fvLbVyShaZSiKUYOtdCkrXLdgHyw25kRQ_uH-cCwbhBg4HMBu3BVgXU/s320/P6292165.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">What do you mean these aren't flattering?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncGFMKBS5dGXO7RWQZI2uCYs3Woq6tOHG1Lul6XHNF3OwsW-ClHGQF4uE8Onmzz1eLIkGpW62bSeyGpAiCtNrPcUTsUEJQCJPytpSWSZ7vkwcuJJv2dbxyqhYNfNvaJL2WfwG1p5Gy6Y/s1600/P6282087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncGFMKBS5dGXO7RWQZI2uCYs3Woq6tOHG1Lul6XHNF3OwsW-ClHGQF4uE8Onmzz1eLIkGpW62bSeyGpAiCtNrPcUTsUEJQCJPytpSWSZ7vkwcuJJv2dbxyqhYNfNvaJL2WfwG1p5Gy6Y/s200/P6282087.JPG" width="150" /></a>Desert that night was over a good game of Scrabble, with The Mr. taking the win with words like "minion" and adding a "D" to my 70+ point "require". </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I haven't come up with a name for these little gems but essentially you take 2 Chocolate Fudge Two Bite Brownies and put 2-3 Junior Mints in between them and kind of mush 'em together so they form a ball around the mints. Then you wrap them a few times in tin foil and of course, warm them over the fire.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">5-10 mins and you have some delicious little warm fudgey and minty brownie balls. Mmmmm. </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3KhNORmPQvSJQ7ATOTnOhiBunjEXbYCY6D5BcxjWX5xIjLCoFdQImZ6MxmmVl2MSOLGWqNc_1-gyY1Ak3ZkEV2z18mS8TTtRx_9CZoVqvpPgTC5lgojmTi0Wfr4PNJcGQWoVdUTo6ok/s1600/P6282085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3KhNORmPQvSJQ7ATOTnOhiBunjEXbYCY6D5BcxjWX5xIjLCoFdQImZ6MxmmVl2MSOLGWqNc_1-gyY1Ak3ZkEV2z18mS8TTtRx_9CZoVqvpPgTC5lgojmTi0Wfr4PNJcGQWoVdUTo6ok/s320/P6282085.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I want some right now.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The highlight of the trip was definitely the canoeing we did on the last day on Pyramid Lake. But it was Canada Day and so on this day of our glorious country turning 145 years old (I think, don't shoot me if that's wrong), there was a pancake breakfast in the town of Jasper. Probably the most efficient pancake breakfast I've ever been to (ok, the only one I've ever been to, but it did move awfully quick and was delish!).</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSayC6S-QhQfaQAqn5J7vxox3VVJB6_UwE6MJbvQehNWemmrUmnE7C2h7JKZaaY2mhrI8fUdPc0PhfskmyBjB2U2leVcORNAZllROyNp-xWFsLihtfh0H7jUMWO0Vt8Ng8gltO73RsM4/s1600/P7012193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSayC6S-QhQfaQAqn5J7vxox3VVJB6_UwE6MJbvQehNWemmrUmnE7C2h7JKZaaY2mhrI8fUdPc0PhfskmyBjB2U2leVcORNAZllROyNp-xWFsLihtfh0H7jUMWO0Vt8Ng8gltO73RsM4/s320/P7012193.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">How cute is he.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5IoerTJ2S8jb6AiciCFj0zb5SzMHjlGaIlPhXHJPy56Q0Jg3GAswlPKgKubpe4k2xK_tIVrbhJEzHByWTbkirxD6S8M_dJhwNU-e663mNeeX1neox9MtbDXUhDZisr43-jkiDAmbDAQ/s1600/P7012194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5IoerTJ2S8jb6AiciCFj0zb5SzMHjlGaIlPhXHJPy56Q0Jg3GAswlPKgKubpe4k2xK_tIVrbhJEzHByWTbkirxD6S8M_dJhwNU-e663mNeeX1neox9MtbDXUhDZisr43-jkiDAmbDAQ/s320/P7012194.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Flippin' flap jacks!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />
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</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6CeJFLucvMyyJAO-cJOkJaaL-e26bI2cjf4A1LwmvGVRc2WnK7SjtVSuNno3FuWwCRX-sygBe2x0nh3QHEqTk_ShZZeclhZ76iMWuBoFwe75MybaYZJqj_Lfb8JAQEO6NQjW33_tzcs/s1600/P7012195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6CeJFLucvMyyJAO-cJOkJaaL-e26bI2cjf4A1LwmvGVRc2WnK7SjtVSuNno3FuWwCRX-sygBe2x0nh3QHEqTk_ShZZeclhZ76iMWuBoFwe75MybaYZJqj_Lfb8JAQEO6NQjW33_tzcs/s320/P7012195.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Happy Birthday Canada! You're looking good for your age!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In preparation for this canoeing adventure, we were sure to purchase the boys each a fitting life jacket similar to Miss. Thing's one that Grandma gave to her. We had never canoed with our dogs before and so were excited to see how they would behave on the water.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8alkRY7qWhPmPfB2h5jAQTwL_Wu89W1sqqS6lF27tMtVcfWR06O1ExA_pdVFMa0hNyewzKPJ2FUQtF8Nu72HHbQTdMFSnbDdlLQcGNk23hT1LtOUptSXpIBNsX06I28TwLNPll1BaBac/s320/P7012196.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Looks cloudy, but the weather actually was pretty good.<br />
Until we got to the other side of the lake. </span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8alkRY7qWhPmPfB2h5jAQTwL_Wu89W1sqqS6lF27tMtVcfWR06O1ExA_pdVFMa0hNyewzKPJ2FUQtF8Nu72HHbQTdMFSnbDdlLQcGNk23hT1LtOUptSXpIBNsX06I28TwLNPll1BaBac/s1600/P7012196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFpJGZQ5lkNRhNKs4_jAuyzWTjgVM01wvIvW89s9UWPRKp2vjbU_W5YriUqY2dwq9_ZPItlOU5lYACCHrlh1X9jdtLEP1g1pCbABMmLkcnP2ac6rMfmuUX2Mzo3yuYHjhXTrcn-eiuHM/s1600/P7012241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFpJGZQ5lkNRhNKs4_jAuyzWTjgVM01wvIvW89s9UWPRKp2vjbU_W5YriUqY2dwq9_ZPItlOU5lYACCHrlh1X9jdtLEP1g1pCbABMmLkcnP2ac6rMfmuUX2Mzo3yuYHjhXTrcn-eiuHM/s320/P7012241.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Despite a few raised eyebrows and "<i>have you done this before?"</i>s from the boat rental staff, we managed to get underway with no one getting wet. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and the lake was calm and beautiful (if not a little brown because of the heavy rains). Miss. Thing was our mermaid at the helm (you know, like on pirate ships in movies) and The Little Stink hung out in his carrier, as usual. Destructo sat in the back with his Daddy (he's such a sucky Daddy's boy now). Here are some pictures of the adventure:</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImST_rcdl2_VK8ffpEjsxu4lLvAUKvhLM4pMyC5kgvpgRKHllLWindo75cIj5iEl4xnnovXOVUUmVnLZFYBj9zrIx4UEzr2MqQy_PfqiokdCADH-C9Xow1yd_vSlZBcmtTDdxRSqyrgY/s1600/P7012204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImST_rcdl2_VK8ffpEjsxu4lLvAUKvhLM4pMyC5kgvpgRKHllLWindo75cIj5iEl4xnnovXOVUUmVnLZFYBj9zrIx4UEzr2MqQy_PfqiokdCADH-C9Xow1yd_vSlZBcmtTDdxRSqyrgY/s320/P7012204.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Miss. Thing at the edge of the world!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaGCW_5fOkrkhQqxKHxyyJ0o7dgdAAdrndZjICWzENf5u0hWG0GpumTT74plc04QQtFP4ntqVoQv4Z79VsyTlRwGv54BZT5W4pQJZuIAtzYSurC45vxI6aKc-XJTeM6rzymp2k8zCSmo/s1600/P7012240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaGCW_5fOkrkhQqxKHxyyJ0o7dgdAAdrndZjICWzENf5u0hWG0GpumTT74plc04QQtFP4ntqVoQv4Z79VsyTlRwGv54BZT5W4pQJZuIAtzYSurC45vxI6aKc-XJTeM6rzymp2k8zCSmo/s320/P7012240.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'll just stay in here where it's dry and warm, kay?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpwBT5IyyYCdn6Yc-Vj9Eadp2DKkOgKp02aR-vufU-krEOgP1lwr5NrSjXXIasU9c6qEJ_z6Tim-uCyMfkSemUPfpfvX8ZwLL_uBjpzl2nTys_fY-GfImGzLavfffOdVg3U0O3-AcaeI/s1600/P7012206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpwBT5IyyYCdn6Yc-Vj9Eadp2DKkOgKp02aR-vufU-krEOgP1lwr5NrSjXXIasU9c6qEJ_z6Tim-uCyMfkSemUPfpfvX8ZwLL_uBjpzl2nTys_fY-GfImGzLavfffOdVg3U0O3-AcaeI/s320/P7012206.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Awe</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRS9WLASY7CLT7wr7CoXxI46uDjRrcYtRvv-DsACyXQ2sLN74oEgG0I_S9CylMQzl_lEZh_FYQfleVfY8PUI5OZVMVTE_lnjOuyPBYex7OtgOyLpFTWpnlR2jE-aJWbrGTpsozt9ZEIl4/s1600/P7012217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRS9WLASY7CLT7wr7CoXxI46uDjRrcYtRvv-DsACyXQ2sLN74oEgG0I_S9CylMQzl_lEZh_FYQfleVfY8PUI5OZVMVTE_lnjOuyPBYex7OtgOyLpFTWpnlR2jE-aJWbrGTpsozt9ZEIl4/s320/P7012217.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Creepy little alien in the back</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And alas, dinner on the last night was a delicious buffet style meal with assorted cheeses, meats, spreads, crackers, grapes, etc etc. One of my favourite kinds of meals. We concluded the night with our classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Smores over the new <a href="http://biolitestove.com/">BioLite</a>. Of course!</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtm0wz26SIcb6-lC353HG7eGz-zMV9FQgjjMQJNgivwn6HvfqS0AHf4LfAbXx_OEKpA_w8BRV2HED0EtaSu4VelbzYK9puxWGKABdmDYN3EfuS58-v_LULpgQlWCfHExPyK4btnfpN3Sw/s1600/P6302185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtm0wz26SIcb6-lC353HG7eGz-zMV9FQgjjMQJNgivwn6HvfqS0AHf4LfAbXx_OEKpA_w8BRV2HED0EtaSu4VelbzYK9puxWGKABdmDYN3EfuS58-v_LULpgQlWCfHExPyK4btnfpN3Sw/s320/P6302185.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fit for Kings (and Queens)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisbfbKLgE7-0TOa74dRfOerAhbkUE6zTZVbeYKtaYhfjpzExCFZYwi0LKQYY9j0F3kvF54B-DUOqJ9E_9eS8pRPe4Pz1OInCaaQS43gHpvgAeugV7-Jih7XRkmUwXGZz3lpFQU9jximo/s1600/P6302186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisbfbKLgE7-0TOa74dRfOerAhbkUE6zTZVbeYKtaYhfjpzExCFZYwi0LKQYY9j0F3kvF54B-DUOqJ9E_9eS8pRPe4Pz1OInCaaQS43gHpvgAeugV7-Jih7XRkmUwXGZz3lpFQU9jximo/s320/P6302186.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuqYNyl7Xam1-yqHewKiWdi6lmPzqJGAJnBFe6vWtTpZ63hy-0UghIcf1lTC7mtrE3LMJ_vKOGjvj3cQHwDNTXJ1s2YNdoOmRCSxfjEV7DfbP8jZuVyGQ915ueo5DxteltjufIDPnuwQ/s1600/P6302190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuqYNyl7Xam1-yqHewKiWdi6lmPzqJGAJnBFe6vWtTpZ63hy-0UghIcf1lTC7mtrE3LMJ_vKOGjvj3cQHwDNTXJ1s2YNdoOmRCSxfjEV7DfbP8jZuVyGQ915ueo5DxteltjufIDPnuwQ/s320/P6302190.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All in all, a wonderful camping trip. I'm sure The Mr. is going to read this post and tell me there is a host of things I left out, and I'll make assorted addendums. In the meantime, I'm going to take this opportunity in this silly storm we're having where the clouds have parted and it seems the sun is shining to run out and get myself a sub before starting my shift in a half hour.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, a sunny hail storm. I get it. ;)</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Until next time. Wish me luck I don't kill anyone!</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">C </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-66075477020597103222012-06-14T19:22:00.000-07:002012-06-14T19:22:53.081-07:00Dogs will tell you things in ways only they can.<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I think things like this happening to me are the universe's way of saying "Your life is not interesting enough for a blog, so here you go."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Way before I began this blog and my journey of making and creating, my very first creative project was this beautiful and functional jewellery organizer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNj9SLUt4TVy4GRpzEXpDXza58WhFHjRPAor92Ey5gb1LqNzzZha2ZhK_4eFdxggrAd9FrYDmez2RJcH_eTVCfqysww25wVf0_18tusfJZwsPWDb3gV5JueXKOi9wClnbfpPOJKuQOxZM/s1600/jewellery+organizer" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNj9SLUt4TVy4GRpzEXpDXza58WhFHjRPAor92Ey5gb1LqNzzZha2ZhK_4eFdxggrAd9FrYDmez2RJcH_eTVCfqysww25wVf0_18tusfJZwsPWDb3gV5JueXKOi9wClnbfpPOJKuQOxZM/s320/jewellery+organizer" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I love my organizer much more than my previous one (which was a shoebox) as it so beautifully displayed everything without tangles or messes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I should say, I <i>loved</i> this organizer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today my PIC and I spent a good chunk of our day studying for our exams tomorrow at the small coffee shop in town, which happens to be one of two coffee shops. Once we finished studying, we decided we would have dinner together and so down I went with my pot of pasta and box of 6 remaining Oreos, oh, about an hour or two ago.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Now since moving to Small Town, my beloved organizer was left lying on the bedroom floor as I am "not allowed" to put nails in the walls. Typically, I leave all the doors to the rooms with carpet closed while I'm away to prevent fur and whatnot from being in those rooms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This time, I apparently forgot to close my bedroom door. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'll just get right to the punchline:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do you see what I see?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS01T0n1uSYZJfgy54McB5FgPI3es1xNr169DY6q1kNLk9Z6daDLnEypoKySwQDPuVNzgpZMm-iwnEk72-1T3fc9eHZlSWfgTsjSSFAI38S3DyjvLzKDRDSKuD1sfYXe7WMdauja50v5U/s1600/IMG_0555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS01T0n1uSYZJfgy54McB5FgPI3es1xNr169DY6q1kNLk9Z6daDLnEypoKySwQDPuVNzgpZMm-iwnEk72-1T3fc9eHZlSWfgTsjSSFAI38S3DyjvLzKDRDSKuD1sfYXe7WMdauja50v5U/s320/IMG_0555.jpg" width="240" /> </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Just in case you don't see it, here's a closer view.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi997QxMqlBHYowzkb0dwkewmQZElASYs6NWd-0mF219JKvr_nndtEfL9lDEHLEZx3QwQ4sbZMRrqS2DhsRXKLMEQ2O1eW08R6j_ImCKFyXRL1WySjrBdYsHHsy5zKAQV0rANRxNEcHkgo/s1600/IMG_0554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi997QxMqlBHYowzkb0dwkewmQZElASYs6NWd-0mF219JKvr_nndtEfL9lDEHLEZx3QwQ4sbZMRrqS2DhsRXKLMEQ2O1eW08R6j_ImCKFyXRL1WySjrBdYsHHsy5zKAQV0rANRxNEcHkgo/s320/IMG_0554.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What's brown and stinky and is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY JEWELLERY RACK?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">At this point in time, I'd like to thank my two furry devil children for whoever deposited this little gem onto my beloved jewellery organizer and sealed its fate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have an idea of which furchild it was, but the other must've been an accomplice to the plan, and so I'm mad at them both for right now. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Must be their way of telling me they really don't like to be left up here while I'm happily dining with my PIC downstairs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So, the last 40 minutes or so were spent trying to both clean and detangle the majority of my necklaces and earrings that were fouled by this act of rebellion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">No big deal. Nothing I was really going to do anyways. Humph.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte irritation,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-81279073423537135462012-06-13T19:14:00.000-07:002012-06-13T19:14:09.519-07:00Butter knife = screw driver<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNDl3EkimbzHUTneoPq5k9v3BwxphQlkM7mSOWcvHG1aquLnoFMWOp4C07IorSETzCLCEYkMbimfjVJU8103mlFg16oEMA8v9vNETcBQWpS2C9TQI1qSbgUxOD6bnA8dQfkCoeIVQdtk/s1600/bitches+get+stuff+done" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNDl3EkimbzHUTneoPq5k9v3BwxphQlkM7mSOWcvHG1aquLnoFMWOp4C07IorSETzCLCEYkMbimfjVJU8103mlFg16oEMA8v9vNETcBQWpS2C9TQI1qSbgUxOD6bnA8dQfkCoeIVQdtk/s320/bitches+get+stuff+done" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">True. </span><br style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Also, unrelated to this post.</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am well aware of the fact that neither the following blog post, nor the activities described herein constitute studying in any way. (But in my defense, I really hate studying and spent much of the afternoon studying already (minus that hour I spent napping)).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have made something that is both budget friendly, practical and helps you have nice hair!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Bottom line -I have made something! YAY!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have heard more and more about these "curling <i>wands</i>" girls are using lately. I really have no idea how they are different from curling irons or if it even makes a difference, but naturally, I want one.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">However, due to the strict (and I mean really strict) budget The Mr. and I are currently trying to maintain, a $150 new <i>curling wand</i> just didn't quite make the cut.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ingenuity is the sister of budgeting however (haha, whatever that's supposed to mean). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I just happened to have this lowly little curling iron lying around, not doing a whole lot of anything. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlSWnrwol2FTHtveK4ecu95FOL-I6-QDhnFi1UdHMklUEbE2QeE_ig5ixzPX7SyugERBlTtbEF0ivhMuh-9P8q7DT3GEwZJ6XYLFh1HZJN4I-SLr3w2R7DN0tzBlG4oX0YTbkFaT1fMk/s1600/IMG_0542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlSWnrwol2FTHtveK4ecu95FOL-I6-QDhnFi1UdHMklUEbE2QeE_ig5ixzPX7SyugERBlTtbEF0ivhMuh-9P8q7DT3GEwZJ6XYLFh1HZJN4I-SLr3w2R7DN0tzBlG4oX0YTbkFaT1fMk/s320/IMG_0542.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Mission:</b> remove top holder thingy that holds the hair down. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Voila, DIY curling wand!</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Let's get started.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmvwyoO8JoSgfSsotVaI867QCMYfzBuzWnxlgNm8zfZnLxNim3Kw9iQ1wRuUh-5-0cDeJDDeJ9lr7oOuBkgJLckyjYJAQjNNHVup2hLCY9MyhNpdCa1GC_cWl1E0-lumJuIzepd40D_6w/s1600/IMG_0543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmvwyoO8JoSgfSsotVaI867QCMYfzBuzWnxlgNm8zfZnLxNim3Kw9iQ1wRuUh-5-0cDeJDDeJ9lr7oOuBkgJLckyjYJAQjNNHVup2hLCY9MyhNpdCa1GC_cWl1E0-lumJuIzepd40D_6w/s320/IMG_0543.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">First problem I encountered is the fact that I have yet to acquire my own set of handy screwdrivers (I'm sure you're surprised), and this house seems completely devoid of such tools. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So, what is a girl to do without a screwdriver or a Husband around? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Be creative of course! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Well, the big screws holding on the holder thingy came off easy enough with the infamous butter knife, in my opinion, an invaluable tool and the woman's universal screwdriver (Phillips? Flat head? Allen key? Who the heck is Allen anyways? Bah! Let's not get bogged down in the details!)<br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJ6I6zmn2g3Sev-kB1M7CRVBVcQP1XrPiEKEPMeqxDN_Fcd0dVebrwcNCkUPCAk6ZQi3N_naso5B7HW5LcabDVzUXr_rTTX9gyAk0BaEBWvqEJL4-CqO-ZZg3qLvhThDKZetDmxLDufI/s1600/IMG_0552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJ6I6zmn2g3Sev-kB1M7CRVBVcQP1XrPiEKEPMeqxDN_Fcd0dVebrwcNCkUPCAk6ZQi3N_naso5B7HW5LcabDVzUXr_rTTX9gyAk0BaEBWvqEJL4-CqO-ZZg3qLvhThDKZetDmxLDufI/s320/IMG_0552.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Next step was removal of the spring. This apparatus had a smaller, less accessible screw attaching it, so on went the hunt for an even more appropriate tool to remove said screw. However this time, despite my thorough hunt through the house for any object/utensil/tool/bobby pin/earring/steak knife/hemostats/scissors/tweezers, the spring remains. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4OKtnjfsxHqGGPQro8VTeU4qBr0Qxaj2ePPFpujXQ0R9G8tov1YNZSwz18zPELFaikSzmPosUazSMaIqnySO3OEYgI2UfoETdVidYz5zxTDtEeHIDWW96lAC-alsZleMuuSW5x4hsyM/s1600/IMG_0547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4OKtnjfsxHqGGPQro8VTeU4qBr0Qxaj2ePPFpujXQ0R9G8tov1YNZSwz18zPELFaikSzmPosUazSMaIqnySO3OEYgI2UfoETdVidYz5zxTDtEeHIDWW96lAC-alsZleMuuSW5x4hsyM/s320/IMG_0547.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You may have won the battle spring, but you won't win the war. Wait until I get The Mr. out here with a real screw driver. Then we'll see who's boss.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Again, let's not get bogged down in the details.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Of course, I needed to test out my new tool immediately, with or without the presence of the pesky spring. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Yes, I am aware that not only am I supposed to be studying, but I have absolutely no need to have beautiful curly hair for either tonight or tomorrow because I have the day off (to do the same thing I've successfully avoided tonight, which is study). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But who really needs a reason to have pretty hair anyways? Besides, this is a new innovation and who knows how it will turn out!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The first challenge to using the curling wand was learning how the heck to even curl the hair. Once I got into a rhythm however, it didn't take long until my hair was all curled :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The pictures I've included are to give you an idea of what the curls look like, and I am very aware that these are not the greatest pictures ever. You try taking photos of the back of your own head. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPgYk0Pjj11zUK3RQktYWX61-Ftr086TpsKlun7Cl-7MwJP7YD1oJxbZQ6Zj1wwCV39l6ZoBB7ePoVdLrTGTisRcu8oAnO26dMlNlrNFeqeZrRp1nf3OCuDc5RsDLhdbQwKPygYdQA4s/s1600/IMG_0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPgYk0Pjj11zUK3RQktYWX61-Ftr086TpsKlun7Cl-7MwJP7YD1oJxbZQ6Zj1wwCV39l6ZoBB7ePoVdLrTGTisRcu8oAnO26dMlNlrNFeqeZrRp1nf3OCuDc5RsDLhdbQwKPygYdQA4s/s200/IMG_0005.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgxWYviixyREn7xSHzVuFGbLVOJtz8xwzv5Ctul6dJHDJYk_VVkMGAufKqw1WFWTIplOKT4Lqi_QAnSsijnSlWzqgaLRh_BNKQnIUsYFORYLufViPbgQWIK80kpLB7ekufGSm45w55Xx8/s1600/IMG_0006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgxWYviixyREn7xSHzVuFGbLVOJtz8xwzv5Ctul6dJHDJYk_VVkMGAufKqw1WFWTIplOKT4Lqi_QAnSsijnSlWzqgaLRh_BNKQnIUsYFORYLufViPbgQWIK80kpLB7ekufGSm45w55Xx8/s200/IMG_0006.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70MxT1gNi79ojuIVhOLz6CoTBhB6q3Xu8F5LGXias-21g4MXEnMXotKmb0C1TkvW0V7M07URc6pCctK7JWKvBQzXQuGELZyPi42aBnLk_edoHUNsrso95PP2Q3sb4a-Yij9YL6yMV560/s1600/IMG_0550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70MxT1gNi79ojuIVhOLz6CoTBhB6q3Xu8F5LGXias-21g4MXEnMXotKmb0C1TkvW0V7M07URc6pCctK7JWKvBQzXQuGELZyPi42aBnLk_edoHUNsrso95PP2Q3sb4a-Yij9YL6yMV560/s200/IMG_0550.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I like it! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There are a few caveats to using this method of hair curling:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1. You are more likely to burn your fingers multiple times as you have to wrap your hair around the barrel and then hold it still while it curls. Maybe this is not how you're actually supposed to do it, but this is how I did, and I have the burned finger tips to prove it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2. You have less control over how the curls will turn out, which is both more fun and challenging. If you're looking for a picture perfect head of curls, use a normal curling iron. But if you're happy with a more loose and less organized 'do, I think this might work for you.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ahh, I can feel my creative insides loosen and breathe. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Go ahead and try it out!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(I wish I could take
credit for this idea, but I'm not a thief and so will direct you to this
wonderful beauty blog I've recently found - TheBeautyDepartment.com.
This blog is done by three ladies, one of whom is Lauren Conrad, and
they share all sorts of good hair and makeup ideas.) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Oh, and by the way - LETTY IS ALIVE!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am very happy to report that our dear lettuce is alive and thriving once again. A few days of watering and he's perked back up. Ok, Letty, I take back all those mean things I said about you being weak and I'm so happy you're growing again. YAY LETTY.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Well, now that my hair is curled and I've blogged and wasted sufficient time, I'm certain I'll be more productive now and will start studying.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Maybe with a latte.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Heck, what am I saying, of course with a latte.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">More on baby birds and Ultimate Frisbee to come! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A latte love,</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">C </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-91818667640487917272012-06-10T20:55:00.001-07:002012-06-10T20:55:08.379-07:00We are still pretty far from the homestretch.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjvjhr38cCd0bVxaBlSKU5_ykq7iuoAVIupHi7vLjQWg88eZFZE3Kh88zs9XBfKD5yHYZ445vS3gRAwZXup-tcPcf-qU9vZbCu342FI0lYFYrJ5tcCZo1Q7mclqBvtjtIAkiMjkbE5x0/s1600/adorable+dog+on+horse%27s+back" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjvjhr38cCd0bVxaBlSKU5_ykq7iuoAVIupHi7vLjQWg88eZFZE3Kh88zs9XBfKD5yHYZ445vS3gRAwZXup-tcPcf-qU9vZbCu342FI0lYFYrJ5tcCZo1Q7mclqBvtjtIAkiMjkbE5x0/s320/adorable+dog+on+horse%27s+back" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guess which one is me in this metaphor.<br />No, it's not the horse.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have just returned from my weekend rendevous with The Mr. in The Big City. This is getting to be very emotionally trying for me - living out of a suitcase in your own home, packing up every weekend and driving the hour and a quarter just so my family can be together. If it wasn't for The Mr., my rock in this ocean of life, I'd be falling right apart. He's pretty amazing, and I'm not always the easiest to love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm in a Vanilla Mint sort of mood, so I've made a cuppa tea and decided I would take this time (when I should be doing oh, a host of other important things) to write a new, hopefully entertaining blog post (you're welcome). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sorry for the dreary start. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But, the most upsetting thing has happened (OK, maybe just unfortunate). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's about Letty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">You know, my lettuce. My one and only lettuce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Recall back one blog post when I introduced you to Letty. Shortly afterwards, The Mr. made clear, "And just so you know, we <i>are going</i> to eat that lettuce." I think that put the fear of God right into Letty, and he cracked under the pressure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Here's how it went down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Despite me giving Letty a good pep talk about being responsible over the weekend and taking care of itself prior to my departure to the Big City on Thursday evening, Letty is either playing dead, sleeping or thought he'd remind me how much I suck at taking care of plants (and really kicked the bucket). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Come on, Letty, buck up. You can't handle a mere three days without water? What kind of lettuce are you. Life is hard, you're supposed to just get used to it.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0gVkUeHFkST7mYtL4GhxCyzS4ogrvHG2PUqHjKrlOnB8XfpsEjqhlawzUs55dsq8yfFI4gGMqBHgiimRXbdZejMQb3eXq61_HhDRiIyulLUW801-fspcZJWRjAceAKvs2ViBjUVVfMc/s1600/IMG_0537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0gVkUeHFkST7mYtL4GhxCyzS4ogrvHG2PUqHjKrlOnB8XfpsEjqhlawzUs55dsq8yfFI4gGMqBHgiimRXbdZejMQb3eXq61_HhDRiIyulLUW801-fspcZJWRjAceAKvs2ViBjUVVfMc/s320/IMG_0537.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think it's just sleeping.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As you can see, the herbs seemed unfazed by their mini-drought. Can't say the same thing for Letty. Pfft. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Alas, I think we may have lost Letty. I'm not calling a "code" yet, but we might need some serious resuscitation over here. I will update on his status in the coming days, and your patience is appreciated in this difficult time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What else is happening these days. Between an Emergency Medicine exam on Friday, a Family Medicine exam in two weeks and somewhere in there finishing and presenting a research project on community initiatives to decrease adolescent suicide in Small Town, working/supposedly learning every day, and trying to stay fit by evading zombie mobs (I'll get to it), my days and nights are pretty chalk full. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">All I want to do is sew something, damn it. A tea cozy. An apron. SOMETHING. I feel like my creative insides are curling up and dying. For now, I satisfy myself by scouring cute projects on Pinterest and making a list for that long awaited "When I have time to do anything besides being a medical student and sleeping" period. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I can somewhat see the light at the end of the tunnel however, and it's in the form of our Europe Trip. We started mapping out the exact locations that we have decided to visit while abroad and it's becoming more and more real. We even have a map up on the dining room wall with little pins marking our route to serve as a reminder that there is more to life than medicine (at least that's what it serves for me). Oh, what fun it will be!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And just think, by then if all goes as planned, I'll have an MD behind my name. Yet, for some reason, I can't seem to think that those letters will make me any more knowledgeable or less petrified about being a doctor. In fact, come residency, despite being called a "resident," let's face it - I'll really still be a clerk, who just got back from a 6 week European vacation. Frightening, isn't it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We helped the Oh/Cho family move into a nice new apartment this weekend as well, and concluded Saturday night playing a good ol' fashioned game of Spoons. Mix in a few wobbly pops and cut to myself lying across the living room table wrestling The Mr. for the last spoon, all four of us laughing so hard that I'm both hiccuping and burping (it happens only when I laugh really hard). Ah, I needed that. My abs hurt and my head was screaming this morning, but what a good night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For those of you who have no idea what "Spoons" is, oh come on. Google.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I must share one of my new favourite things in life. Which considering running is involved, that's saying a lot. It's not that I hate running, I'm just not very good at it. You know? You hear all those real runners, "Oh when I get to 7km, that's when I really start to get into it." No, I'm the, "Oh, when I get to 7km, I'm not even running anymore because I was dying and stopped 5km ago." Get the picture?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So what luck I am told about this amazing running app (yes, there's even an app for getting my ass running) called <a href="https://www.zombiesrungame.com/">Zombies, Run!</a> I normally do not shamelessly plug things on my blog because I believe my readers able to make good choices for their lives without me telling them what to do, but this is a good one. You gotta try this. It's $7.99 from the App store, which is steep, but I'm telling you it's worth it. Although I am too lazy to describe it right now but you have to try it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ok fine, it's called an "ultra-immersive" running game played through your iPhone headphones where you're in a post-apocalyptic Zombie infested world where the only way to escape the zombies is to run. You're "Runner 5" on various missions from Abel Township, a small clump of survivors in the middle of nowhere, and they give you directions through your headphones. A quite elaborate and well designed story unfolds between the songs on a playlist of your own choosing (your own music). The zombies even chase you and you have to speed up otherwise they eat you, or something. I've only gotten caught once and just dropped the supplies I had been "carrying" (see, ultra immersive) to distract them. Aren't I smart? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ok, the game does that for you, but just try it. I don't recommend many things so this has got to be good. If you like running or not, even if you can't run, you can walk and still evade the zombies. Your zombies are just really slow ones in that case, I guess. So far I've evaded 2 zombie mobs and have come out unscathed. Impressive. Even Destructo likes it, although being the laziest Border Collie we know (which we tell him frequently), he doesn't like running for very long (maybe it "runs" in the family...womp womp). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As an aside, I just spent the better part of 15 minutes trying to take a picture of an INCHWORM that just crawled across the table. Which begs the question, how the heck does an inchworm get all the way up on the table! Well, quite obviously, it inches it's way, but wow, talk about motivation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Puts me, my attempts at running, and Letty to shame.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Alas, here's the product of my efforts. Meet Inchie. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS22ev5DVIw8DoKsr9qWw1qTGb7iJEbVwEWp39QeXYW8578hEKO08UKZzJFJVP1HSnSKbINf3fWiqssTEaB0KqIXMBMpXwZXzPg-DnxS4gYD7itQVNYkzT6-hfgAfBdndCNkg-yaxGrvo/s1600/IMG_0540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS22ev5DVIw8DoKsr9qWw1qTGb7iJEbVwEWp39QeXYW8578hEKO08UKZzJFJVP1HSnSKbINf3fWiqssTEaB0KqIXMBMpXwZXzPg-DnxS4gYD7itQVNYkzT6-hfgAfBdndCNkg-yaxGrvo/s200/IMG_0540.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ya that's right, I'm a bad ass inchworm. <br />Be jealous of me.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Then I spent a good 5 minutes trying to coax this little feller onto a sticky note so that he could be safely transported to the back porch and out into the wilderness. Of course, I happened to be seen doing this selfless act by the husband of my Partner In Crime, who now most certainly thinks I'm even more crazy than he already knew I was. Save Inchie, look like a lunatic. I just can't win. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Maybe I should've taken The Mr.'s advice via text message after hearing about Inchie, and "Keel heeeeem." But I'm a lover, not a fighter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Maybe I should've taken Inchie as a pet, because inchworms have <i>got</i> to be more hardy than lettuces. His name is Inchie and he will be mine. He will be my Inchie. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Maybe the inchworm was a metaphor for my life. This is about to get real deep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Maybe, because inchworms turn into butterflies (OK, moths - but I <i>really hate </i>moths), this little incher crawling across my table is the universe reminding me that I will, eventually, metamorphasize into a person who feels like they actually know what they're doing, but first I have to just inch my way along these huge obstacles. The inchworm doesn't go far each step, but it sure can cover lots of ground with lots of determination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Shit, I should write hallmark cards or motivational speeches or something. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well, I think that's about enough for tonight. I feel better already, maybe its the lifesaving heroics of the inchworm, maybe it's the Vanilla Mint tea. I'd have to say it's probably the blogging too - it's one of my coping mechanisms, I told The Mr. earlier. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It seems that when you sarcastically evaluate the happenings of your own life, you realize that nothing is really as big of a deal as you are making it out to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I could be on to something here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C </span></div>
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<br /></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-14554069725909915992012-06-04T17:18:00.001-07:002012-06-04T17:36:19.989-07:00I can't think of anything creative to call this blog post.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofid4rlsqsHuFCWbNVAFZLT3fpThyBSx1legeGY01Gyw1GnZU1GM7UqBsPjmmxb4RPFukQLtpKsFR5elhyphenhyphenpo0aJWJQwmjXr1qGgqCxCTH_hvVAYKqQT_HvnbFEcB5rbFSrrecGz6gvWU/s1600/not+a+single+gram" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofid4rlsqsHuFCWbNVAFZLT3fpThyBSx1legeGY01Gyw1GnZU1GM7UqBsPjmmxb4RPFukQLtpKsFR5elhyphenhyphenpo0aJWJQwmjXr1qGgqCxCTH_hvVAYKqQT_HvnbFEcB5rbFSrrecGz6gvWU/s320/not+a+single+gram" width="246" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Har har har - pardon the curse word.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have a few important things coming up in the forms of exams and projects, but when I get home from working all day in clinic (and even more so after the ER), I really don't feel like studying right away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So why not take this time to write another blog post? Good idea!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Miss. Thing and I are currently in a fight due to her tendency towards insisting on waking me up at 4am to go outside. While I would normally forgive her for this because she may need to pee, I cannot understand how she believes it's OK to wake me at 4am to EAT GRASS.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK1Mwy5mdGH-RMQtK503cq2ap8b9_PGS60UuQoFOYsqZY9dkUTNvjLpk2yxDdeQfmUX1glhPHgGWD5qDjSXoP6_GBneDTOjl7hJea2rHWObxl5tvC5BW3tEIXy6YEF3nqyooBXG2yzlo/s1600/i'm+angry+at+you" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxK1Mwy5mdGH-RMQtK503cq2ap8b9_PGS60UuQoFOYsqZY9dkUTNvjLpk2yxDdeQfmUX1glhPHgGWD5qDjSXoP6_GBneDTOjl7hJea2rHWObxl5tvC5BW3tEIXy6YEF3nqyooBXG2yzlo/s320/i'm+angry+at+you" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Pretty much sums it up.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This may bring to mind an image of me, half asleep in my housecoat, with flip flops, out in the back yard with a tiny dim flashlight, praying no cougars/meese/deer/raccoons/bears/insert animal(s) are nearby to eat my dear Princess, cursing at Miss. Thing in a hushed angry voice, saying something along the lines of "Are you KIDDING me right now? Get inside!" between muffled grumbles and scoffs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well, much to your entertainment, that image would be pretty accurate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Furthermore, she has declared both of my pillows hers and decides right before we go to sleep is when she would like to bring every single one of her babies into the bedroom and have a crocodile-death-roll style battle on the bed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Isn't. she. cute. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We're gonna have a talk about her attitude, her and I. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I forgot to update that I've also become a gardener in the past few weeks. Or at least, I have become someone who can grow things in pots. This is a revelation for me, considering my experience with growing things has most often resulted in pots of dead things lying around my house, with a grumbling Mr shaking his head and green thumb at me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Let's face it, I only keep things alive that can actually make noise and remind me they exist. Hence, dogs. (And a Husband, I suppose). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I digress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">(You're surprised?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So I've been growing a butter lettuce, some rosemary and some parsley. And I suppose an orchid, but I can't keep those damn things alive no matter what I do (hardy, my ass).</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFqBkD3oB-jsBdIpaXTYRanihMr71dYmxphsOxt1Azd-P9Mt3lewXfBFut7Nq7Vjdn8sNRURnvYYX-uvsQnonJRb7HKgcAm7tJ73aMn6WVX73IvlV5uNKdFgNj3PkRQJHLn4jfW16QLg/s1600/IMG_0534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFqBkD3oB-jsBdIpaXTYRanihMr71dYmxphsOxt1Azd-P9Mt3lewXfBFut7Nq7Vjdn8sNRURnvYYX-uvsQnonJRb7HKgcAm7tJ73aMn6WVX73IvlV5uNKdFgNj3PkRQJHLn4jfW16QLg/s320/IMG_0534.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wow, that's a beautiful lettuce. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTN6l8OYWVAgCpkaVgkU3tpmfTTBR8mHtc_V72vtI22UKm-Rk5hLycjo3uFBwd2Ptm4yiLAD02ojdfnQuzmuyQSWFVLqlOiBbPFYVDTYR8Uj8ly2xiHWCInW_3O4zKkctek2dgkLUkOWE/s1600/IMG_0535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTN6l8OYWVAgCpkaVgkU3tpmfTTBR8mHtc_V72vtI22UKm-Rk5hLycjo3uFBwd2Ptm4yiLAD02ojdfnQuzmuyQSWFVLqlOiBbPFYVDTYR8Uj8ly2xiHWCInW_3O4zKkctek2dgkLUkOWE/s320/IMG_0535.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rose and Ley.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm having no trouble picking little pieces off of both Rose and Ley in my cooking, and they make the meals sooo aromatic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The lettuce, dubbed Letty, however, is another story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">How do people raise pigs or chickens or cows and then EAT THEM? I have become so close with my Letty, the very thought of eating it brings me sadness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Mr. assures me that it will be delicious, but all I can think of is the hours (OK, minutes) I've spent caring and loving (read: watering every third day) and the relationship we have, Letty and I. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And when does one know that it is time to cut the lettuce and turn it into just one salad to be enjoyed at just one meal? It's utter madness, if you ask me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TSDI7XY5g5JIVz5TzmdwC49HPFDu70KPMoMT6CU3sDoIawBzp6fN02Erel9z39VyZPUph44Ldobsqyx98JmVvaq9s9TtnfQU4N_qaUTb7aBh42V5HcQpIlU_Y2IfFRbGAAXF57ZnP2M/s1600/IMG_0533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TSDI7XY5g5JIVz5TzmdwC49HPFDu70KPMoMT6CU3sDoIawBzp6fN02Erel9z39VyZPUph44Ldobsqyx98JmVvaq9s9TtnfQU4N_qaUTb7aBh42V5HcQpIlU_Y2IfFRbGAAXF57ZnP2M/s200/IMG_0533.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Alright, I'm successfully on Oreo number three and the dogs are staring at me. I'm sure they're thinking, "<i>Not another night on the computer. Boring."</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Which unfortunately, it might be. My nights are about as exciting as a load of laundry, and in fact, that's usually what I'm doing each night considering how much the Mr. accumulates over one week. Yeesh, I think he makes more laundry than I do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I don't feel I've adequately discussed my recent time in the ER though, and so I thought I would share my increasingly cynical (and potentially offensive, haha) thoughts on the subject. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXh_srOJljpUCrNwQq_k5TgKNrr8pgSs16KuVSmq2VOi8RgGZ5y2LSv060k08H7_n5oB3fI4QAYekPT35tq_l73Q3GJKsVMo_YY12PHT9-LA4qAAPhtqXcrTAePqtTot31hj5fhQ61C0/s1600/waiting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXh_srOJljpUCrNwQq_k5TgKNrr8pgSs16KuVSmq2VOi8RgGZ5y2LSv060k08H7_n5oB3fI4QAYekPT35tq_l73Q3GJKsVMo_YY12PHT9-LA4qAAPhtqXcrTAePqtTot31hj5fhQ61C0/s320/waiting.jpg" width="320" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;">Here's a few things the emergency room is NOT:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. A "quicker" version of a walk-in clinic for your birth control refill or sore throat</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. A surgical-referral-providing service for your chronic hernia that has been "bothering" you by "coming out"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">3. A place to ask for an MRI for your chronic back pain</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">4. A place to go when you're drunk and feel like being an idiot to the staff</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This list could go on forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have considered beginning each encounter with:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Hi, I'm your emergency room student physician. What is your <i>emergency</i> today?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But, I thought that maybe it might come off a bit harsh? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, the oddity of presentations in the emergency room is quite entertaining at times, so I'll share a few of the choice examples from my experience:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">- Man presenting with 30 years of chronic back pain who "cannot wait any more!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">- Presenting after a loud noise at work "really got to him"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">- Three days after "a bug flew into my ear" and could we please look in the ear?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And probably the best so far, brought to you by your ever-sarcastic clinical clerk host:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">- Three day history of diarrhea and vomiting after kissing 20 horses and one dog who also had diarrhea (yes, this happened)</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So keep in mind, fellow citizens, when you next choose to utilize your emergency room at your local hospital (to which you are totally entitled), do us all a favor and consider, "<i>is this really an emergency?"</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">And for those of you thinking, "She's so cranky and bitter about the ER," it may sound that way. But in all reality, I do love working ER, and if it weren't for those somewhat silly presentations at 2am, I would only maybe get more sleep. No big deal really. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Haha, kidding. I do love it. Honest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Alright, enough about that. Venting complete. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>On a lighter note, </i>the photoshoot with the fam-damily went really really great on Saturday. The photographer was very sweet and funny, and the dogs felt right at home with her playing Jack Johnson on her iPhone during the shoot. They all smiled and sat nicely and I'm sure we're going to have great photos :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The rest of this weekend was equally as nice, and twice as relaxing as the weekends in past have been. We had a nice afternoon on Saturday drinking and sunning on our balcony, had some friends over that evening for drinks and snacks, and settled into bed at a decent hour. Sunday we went on a nice bike ride, which was actually pretty hard work with all those hills, even my teeth were tired afterwards. <i> </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I mean to keep mentioning that I've realized that clerkship does not equal crafting, sewing or doing any fun creative pursuits. This saddens me, and makes my inner creative monster sad. My sewing machine sits sadly in the office, all alone and waiting to be used. I keep telling myself I'll get to it, but between everything I'm doing and sleeping, it just hasn't made the cut so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Hence, there are no crafts discussed on the blog for the past few weeks. Hopefully, I'll get some time to do something creative soon, and then I'll return to our regularly scheduled programming of clerkship, canines AND crafts.<i> </i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, I seriously suppose I should get something productive
done this evening, and so away I go into the world of real
responsibilities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Until next time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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</div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-82476522707401627562012-05-30T20:27:00.000-07:002012-05-30T20:27:16.410-07:00When life gives you lemons, whip the lemon right back into life's eye.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjHR0SLdeZa71dcDK1fgWWgopKLrZE7ManXADsPvsUhF7YQzuDd0PN3TtybWnqq0a9isYWercCuyTB7yykUm4vVxH9dwDGQr3cBxkWc_osXK9rMhhyG0PcevSGejeXptGjwl3bIyhdis/s1600/can't+wait+to+get+home+and+take+my+bra+off" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjHR0SLdeZa71dcDK1fgWWgopKLrZE7ManXADsPvsUhF7YQzuDd0PN3TtybWnqq0a9isYWercCuyTB7yykUm4vVxH9dwDGQr3cBxkWc_osXK9rMhhyG0PcevSGejeXptGjwl3bIyhdis/s320/can't+wait+to+get+home+and+take+my+bra+off" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There's something about working in the emergency room all day that makes me feel like drinking a Caesar, eating Oreos for supper and definitely not studying. Actually, not doing anything productive at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So far, mission accomplished.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I suppose writing a way-over-delayed blog post counts as something semi-productive. As I am "serenaded" by Whimsey's shrill "I think there might be a stranger coming to kill us somewhere randomly in the neighbourhood" barks, which are different from her "I actually see someone and am certain he's coming to kill us" barks, I realize that it has been nearly a month (maybe two? I've lost track) since my last blog post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Shame, shame.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So what is new in the chaos that is our lives? I will attempt to update in a succinct medical student manner (haha, which for those of you who know medical students, you'll attest that we're rarely succinct). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUh7sh45jBUpbSjeaCwaR1Kqb-NjPWL0aKe-g2vrqacx-_KAnIR10nHVeVZWNHSeuWlJeBq0wkpI7zJyhEwn7V184USUojTnJhwukS7F3kM3986MZcJLXlr2oOU6U7Vpuw-GAjP3PllU/s1600/this+is+not+a+rehearsal" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTUh7sh45jBUpbSjeaCwaR1Kqb-NjPWL0aKe-g2vrqacx-_KAnIR10nHVeVZWNHSeuWlJeBq0wkpI7zJyhEwn7V184USUojTnJhwukS7F3kM3986MZcJLXlr2oOU6U7Vpuw-GAjP3PllU/s320/this+is+not+a+rehearsal" width="184" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">First off, this distance relationship nonsense is really losing its novelty. At first, it was all fun - yay, time to myself, no one to tell me to stop knitting/sewing/listening to my own music/crocheting, no sharing the bed (at least not with a person- the two Royal Highnesses are a different story), getting to choose what I want to watch on TV (Slice 24/7 - for the dogs, of course).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But ya, as my time in Smalltown adds up and I drive out to Calgary every weekend, or The Mr. comes out here, we're both feeling a little bit tired of this back and forth (pun completely intended). Sadly (and perhaps overdramatically), the words "how it used to be" have been heard in these walls. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Womp womp womp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, considering our journey has more or less just begun out in Smalltown (7 months left), we're looking forward to the time we have together, and making the most of our time apart. I've become more productive studying-wise, and have gotten a bit more into my beloved yoga. Whether this has anything to do with The Mr's absence, or simply my sheer boredom and loneliness, I don't know.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydb1cV3iYatwp3p01ZqBaDAbLoxCRU1vEBchDyl4DQ-pToRpL5wDuCQLnNdBnHhJuFXjOSio6t_bR7xXO_Lfh4C2e2vTlxPJK_JhM-jKA_C2JZhz-616mMjkTQDniu21TGylk-mbS1qc/s1600/IMG_0526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydb1cV3iYatwp3p01ZqBaDAbLoxCRU1vEBchDyl4DQ-pToRpL5wDuCQLnNdBnHhJuFXjOSio6t_bR7xXO_Lfh4C2e2vTlxPJK_JhM-jKA_C2JZhz-616mMjkTQDniu21TGylk-mbS1qc/s200/IMG_0526.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Sensitivity</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Destructo has been taking obedience classes (ahem, The Mr. is taking him there). As we suspected, he's the star pupil in his class. Although we're thrilled to be the lucky dog parents of such a canine Einstein (I'm a Mom, let me brag damn it), we now just know that when he <i>is</i> misbehaving, that he's doing it completely conscious of what he is supposed to be doing and not doing. This is frustrating, but he has become <b>considerably</b> more well behaved, and might I say, emotional with the recent re-arrangements of our lives. I may even consider changing his name from Destructo to Mr. Sensitive. Poor big black pumpkin. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemUo6XN7iOEuSYgScc_wrT5YvKOX65rGERi4WJ3rtphoFOeMQ3EtQjUMI2DCaW4kGIw7qq3MSA6WiYgM07uWw2twwBnifht8MhnWDztuyejoskBc7LKbfVXJCDqVPyVadb1a3PlYy2oU/s1600/IMG_0521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemUo6XN7iOEuSYgScc_wrT5YvKOX65rGERi4WJ3rtphoFOeMQ3EtQjUMI2DCaW4kGIw7qq3MSA6WiYgM07uWw2twwBnifht8MhnWDztuyejoskBc7LKbfVXJCDqVPyVadb1a3PlYy2oU/s200/IMG_0521.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I look cute but really <br />I'm rolling in a dead worm</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">If anything, Miss Thing is the one who needs the training now. Little princess is giving me grey hair. She has discovered two black dogs down the alley behind our house who look similar to Destructo and insists on visiting them nearly on the daily. And without permission, might I add. Even more than before, she has decided that my pillow is <i>really</i> hers, and oh, by the way, how dare I try to sleep in until my actual alarm wakes me? There is a minimum 20 minute window before then that she has decided is her time to bother me. Grumble. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Little Stink is ever more stinky and spunky. He is still doing way better health-wise than he had been prior to moving out here to his retirement home, and he runs around like a little crazy rabbit in the backyard. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFc-80kBsqv7Sfwu_Td6WTTCgJdCcj2IM_LNlzuJZ3GOKk-vtYkq7HwfTZVqb6Vfy4vKXsNRVCmuRkair411qzHFAAS9SEQeU9rAgEZvfEtxdo8r-_fxBlnCR0HQlB3oaSyZ1rsuca_PU/s1600/Rudy+in+grass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFc-80kBsqv7Sfwu_Td6WTTCgJdCcj2IM_LNlzuJZ3GOKk-vtYkq7HwfTZVqb6Vfy4vKXsNRVCmuRkair411qzHFAAS9SEQeU9rAgEZvfEtxdo8r-_fxBlnCR0HQlB3oaSyZ1rsuca_PU/s200/Rudy+in+grass.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loving life</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">With a busier schedule, and with The Stink being on a diuretic for his heart failure (yes, my dogs have human problems), I thought I would trial the pee-pad method of potty-ing for him because I'm often out of the house for 4-6 hours at a time, and it's unfair to make him hold it when he's on that medication. (Haha, like he would hold it anyways). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">While I have always been against this method, because I think it's silly and confuses the dog, I thought it might be beneficial in this unique situation. So off to Walmart I went for these pads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since the inception of this plan, the pee pads have become the following:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. Battle arena for Stink/Miss. Thing wrestling matches</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. Dog bed for midday naps in the sunny kitchen</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">3. Roll-around-towels for post-bath drying</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">and NOT:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. Designated places to do any business.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Believe me, I have tried to capture photographic evidence of all of the above situations but he also refuses pictures. Even while sleeping soundly, like a flattened pancake dog (you have to see it to know what I mean), if I so much as shift to snap a picture, he's standing up and acting like nothing is going on. Alas, you'll have to take my word for it:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Pee pad training does NOT work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So what else exciting has happened.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh yes, we got bikes :D With our upcoming electi-cation to Penticton in August (yippee!), and with The Mr. really wanting to be a bike commuter, we purchased two bikes recently. We have been getting a good amount of use out of them, and have been exploring different areas within both The Big City and SmallTown. I'd have to say, Smalltown takes the cake for cooler biking paths thus far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Both Destructo and Miss. Thing are excellent bike-riding dogs, and just run happily alongside. The Little Stink just hangs out like a little sloth in his backpack, of course. Destructo has learned already not to stop directly in front of Mommy's bike already (don't. ask.), and Miss. Bims usually stays pretty well out of the way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We look forward to biking in Penticton as we have heard there are wonderful wineries, I mean, bike paths there. And good wineries too, of course :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADENfKOSCpLF5DBe9T4Js52thyXrOhAMHeSgSKomSYWLSwmDSAj_c78ZGKyCHnY6ykBTHzQ4iz6fXzPtIFYr3Dfb62bunA4SpyJd4UswD6RlcAREPCqqTCOYloqYFrwggtk6L5-wc5QE/s1600/good+things+come+to+those" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADENfKOSCpLF5DBe9T4Js52thyXrOhAMHeSgSKomSYWLSwmDSAj_c78ZGKyCHnY6ykBTHzQ4iz6fXzPtIFYr3Dfb62bunA4SpyJd4UswD6RlcAREPCqqTCOYloqYFrwggtk6L5-wc5QE/s320/good+things+come+to+those" width="240" /></a>On the learning front, things have really picked up and my brain is more or less exploding on a daily basis. Things are good for the most part, my current preceptor has a crazy work ethic and probably too-high-of expectations, but we've found our common ground for the most part over our last 3 weeks working together. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And for all of my city colleagues, I bet you can't say you put an NG tube in your own preceptor for practice. RICC win. Totally his idea, and I made him swear it wouldn't go on my evaluation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm working long days, studying when I'm not there (and mostly sleeping) and trying to stay afloat. I must report though, that I love it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I really love it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Clinic, ER, deliveries (2 so far!), and sometimes even OR (against my will) - it's just crazy enough for me. I can't wait to have this be my real job. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Even saying that makes me more tired already, haha. But tonight, as promised, there will be nothing productive going on (except perhaps folding a load of laundry). Tonight is for blogging and watching Nurse Jackie, season 3. Shit, even my TV shows are about medicine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We're going to get family photos on Saturday, so I'll probably post some of the better ones here if you're lucky (we'll see how they turn out). Hopefully, they won't be like those ones on that Awkward Family Photos website (which is pretty hilarious, by the way). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm sure there is much more I could update on, but getting tired now. Will try to update sooner next time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-25672093020040579822012-05-01T20:34:00.000-07:002012-05-01T20:34:41.357-07:00Don't count the days, make the days count.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGRrYr4lLMUiha07pxdwJYpT4o8vIHSq7KAiuWuefVcTdrsb6ZdecJETkexn2fX3y8GBJR_5u4cTVdAlw_XE96Jmg3CcfM7l4b4OmJDlE6Hr-M3xBN3bgc6URLavowLqergdaz51SDh8/s1600/It%2527s+better+to+be+absolutely+ridiculous" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGRrYr4lLMUiha07pxdwJYpT4o8vIHSq7KAiuWuefVcTdrsb6ZdecJETkexn2fX3y8GBJR_5u4cTVdAlw_XE96Jmg3CcfM7l4b4OmJDlE6Hr-M3xBN3bgc6URLavowLqergdaz51SDh8/s320/It%2527s+better+to+be+absolutely+ridiculous" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">You can decide the verdict after reading this post on whether I'm ridiculous or boring, I suppose. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Supposedly, learning is the spice of life. Or was that variety. Maybe variety of learning. Learning, learning, learning. Either applies I guess.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Man, do I have a lot to learn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I feel like the learning:hour ratio is like at a maximum out here in Smalltown, which is exactly what I was hoping for, but sheesh it's tiring. If it's not an hour filled with <i>learning</i>, it's an hour scrambling up what I can for food, spending some quality time (read: studying) with the Furbabies (who are troopers, might I add - for the inconsistency of my schedule is astounding at times), or sleeping. Unfortunately probably not enough sleeping. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Multitasking has become my new norm. An example: As I type up this blog post, I'm also making a quiche and fruit salad. Haven't decided yet if I'll also make some tabouleh (spelling? tabouli? bah!). Oh, and don't forget about the two loads of laundry that are going. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm making what will hopefully be a delicious and relatively nutritious vegetable quiche. I have learned that if not in some readily consumable form (ie. above noted quiche), vegetables have found a way to sneak right out of my regular diet. Ditto for fruit, hence fruit salad. Blame it on having next to no time for food prep and being sans wonderful, culinarily-blessed Husband (and yes, I realize culinarily is not a word.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Speaking of food, I went to the local grocery store today for my 15 minute shopping trip. I still can't believe how shopping with the Mr. takes usually about an hour and costs twice as much as shopping for just myself, and the groceries last only half as long as they do for me. I suppose we now know who eats all the food usually :O)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And no, I still haven't figured out if I should be tipping the nice folks who help carry my groceries out.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTf_ZFfEysjNT9ly3BgSHOcKlGhVFopMBOtKV5o418wI3naIlPYPt0djcttsNngUH0BU3yeVWI8Uhdasp_cXyVWXoRd54cHBFkeUXks5HV6FmMfUL7vYo0kWB-YFwOJlOVsG3hmekL7o/s1600/i+never+stick+my+leg+off+the+edge+of+the+bed" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTf_ZFfEysjNT9ly3BgSHOcKlGhVFopMBOtKV5o418wI3naIlPYPt0djcttsNngUH0BU3yeVWI8Uhdasp_cXyVWXoRd54cHBFkeUXks5HV6FmMfUL7vYo0kWB-YFwOJlOVsG3hmekL7o/s1600/i+never+stick+my+leg+off+the+edge+of+the+bed" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Truth.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There are a few other things I've realized since living separately from the Mr. First, the garbage doesn't actually magically empty itself and be replaced with a new bag every day. I <i>think</i> I knew this, but it has become very apparent to me lately. Also, it's a little known fact that <i>I hate</i> cleaning out tupperware containers of food. I can attest to detesting this since I was a young girl, and what luck, I found someone who actually likes (okay, doesn't mind) to clean out the fridge and it's many mysterious containers. Alas, I was at a loss to find not one but two containers with most probably expired contents this afternoon, eyeing me as I peeked in the fridge. I couldn't ignore them any longer and since the Mr. isn't planning on visiting this week, I couldn't wait and pawn them off on him. Humph. I succumbed and emptied them. Not a fan, not a fan. And don't even think I'm investigating any creepy noises at night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This new lifestyle could take some getting used to, I say. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh, I'm making all of this food to help prevent the acute starvation crises that I have been having spending these long-ish days at the hospital/clinic with no hope of sustenance in sight. (So what if I'm a little overdramatic. Sue me.) So I am making some ready and easy-to-scarf meals and snacks. I have also compiled a clinic survival pack of instant oatmeals, granola bars, rice cakes and microwave soup thingies for any future situations similar to last night - a hunger so evil I was driven to fast food. As soon as I was freed, I fled to the one drive-thru you can be certain to find in any small town in Alberta (no matter how small) and scarfed down a meal that most certainly brought me 1 step closer to a heart attack. </span><span style="font-size: small;">I was so famished that I even forgot to take off my seatbelt before trying to get out of the truck.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Laugh if you must. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately I then suffered for the night with one seriously upset stomach (and for the night, I mean until 8:30pm when I went to bed). </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJ5O757sedYDMMAM9OrnWLeV0MjVyqBXt23E7nozRU_1MkxWuDkN6fkcVbxhi05O7QkEpZqOCUqY9f0VZoGGaD59yH6hs7XeidgLEOmVcUOFeOLNgG8fR94qUKJ-ZT5VgrFskboAKLrE/s1600/more+ideas+than+time" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJ5O757sedYDMMAM9OrnWLeV0MjVyqBXt23E7nozRU_1MkxWuDkN6fkcVbxhi05O7QkEpZqOCUqY9f0VZoGGaD59yH6hs7XeidgLEOmVcUOFeOLNgG8fR94qUKJ-ZT5VgrFskboAKLrE/s200/more+ideas+than+time" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Truth #2</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And to think, I haven't even gotten to telling you about the whole learning-how-to-be-a-real-doctor part yet. And for those of you who think maybe my thought is getting a bit tangential, please bear/bare with me (PS. Does anyone actually use those little strawberry-leaf remover thingies when they're cutting up strawberries? Hm. A definite mystery.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well, the quiche is in the oven and the salad is made, the laundry buzzed but I'm ignoring it, so I'll update on the medicine-side of my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'd have to say that if even half of the call shifts are as, should we say, fruitful as the ones I've had thus far, I'm going to be pretty kick-ass at this whole doctor costume by the end of this year. Yes, maybe my attempts at putting in IVs are so far 2:2 (2 success and 2 going interstitial), and in emergency situations perhaps all I'm useful for is keeping out of the way with eyeballs bigger than grapefruits in awe while "we" do an emergency intubation on a patient with flash pulmonary edema. Sometimes I hold an ultrasound probe or something equally as minimal, and I'm thankful they haven't yet depended on me to do anything seriously important. But that time is coming, grasshopper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But I have been seeing lots of healthy and sick little kids in clinic, which is great for perfecting my physical exam skills on sometimes happy, and sometimes screaming children. I've wondered whether exposure to so many tiny terrors is good at my vulnerable pre-procreation stage of life, and hope that not all kids are as crazy as the little constipated buggers I see in clinic. All I can say is thank goodness for flavoured tongue depressors. Totally having those in my future practice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Wishes do come true though. Yesterday, for example, I think to myself - <i>hmm, well we haven't seen much in the way of fractures or GI stuff, or deliveries yet.</i> And then some lady's horse decides to go opposite to the one she's leading after being spooked by a rogue moose, she falls off and bam! fractured humerus. A gent comes in with wicked RUQ pain and bam! acute cholecystitis. And to top it off, at the end of the shift, we have a 38 week pregnant lady come in with query labour. Ask and you shall receive.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Serious truth. #3. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to not think anything like that again, because talk about an exhausting shift. Sprinkle in a little dysfunctional uterine bleeding, casting an avulsion fracture of a lateral malleolus (read: broken ankle), debating about a pulmonary embolus when the nearest CT scanner is an hour away, and removing a metal foreign body from someone's eye. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I told you it was intense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I think that snapshot is all I can give you tonight, as I'm getting tired and The Little Stink is running around (yes, running!) doing his squeaky breathing, which tells me he either needs some mother-lovin' or to pee. It can be tough to tell, believe it or not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Until next time. Don't hold your breath for the next post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">(Although if you happened to stop breathing, I might know what to do. Maybe.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte lattes and love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-81849096683485333442012-04-15T08:02:00.000-07:002012-04-15T08:03:36.476-07:00“All great changes are preceded by chaos.” -Deepak Chopra<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I will. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'd have to say it is odd to "pack" to head to your own home for the weekend. Nonetheless, I bundled up with little Furries on Friday afternoon and made the long (ahem, one and a half hours) journey back to the Big City this weekend to finish emptying the old house into the new condo, which in comparison is sizing up to a matchbox. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">While I have a few things left at the condo, with it's greatly reduced storage spaces (<i>what do you mean there aren't three bedrooms, a large den and huge backyard?)</i>, the majority of my personal possessions and a good chunk of all that "stuff" we accumulated over the last year are causing much less frustration and cramping in their current hiding place in the house in Small Town. One of the bedrooms is more or less functioning as a free heated storage space, which is nice considering we were going to actually pay for one had we not had room to store everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since being gone a week (which keep in mind is 7 weeks in dog time), The Little Stink has really come around health-wise. He's a bunch more chipper, but perhaps a bit crankier now that we're reunited with his younger and more treacherous brother. He seems to have even less patience with Destructo's antics than he had before, which was already bordering on nil. And since his bark sounds something between a dog and a baby Orca/screaming monkey of some sort, I'm sure our new neighbours are really starting to love us. Destructo just has to walk by him and the chorus begins. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPN2X527_mxOUbc05MCb0BYZ-Mr23WYSIurd_20R5t0TggjmVaZpqTTL7eelceacrVjA7lB0-7487Wg_C25wdxYtb-_6ofoMVzE6L6LqCXt4cxm2qfw23jy5IG3DJIBDa3lYxr2vJyWvk/s1600/home+sweet+home" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPN2X527_mxOUbc05MCb0BYZ-Mr23WYSIurd_20R5t0TggjmVaZpqTTL7eelceacrVjA7lB0-7487Wg_C25wdxYtb-_6ofoMVzE6L6LqCXt4cxm2qfw23jy5IG3DJIBDa3lYxr2vJyWvk/s320/home+sweet+home" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This, while cute, would definitely not be <br />allowed in the bachelor pad.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We did manage to get quite a bit done yesterday between The Mr. and I, and the matchbox is really shaping up into a suitable place for human (and canine) life. Shelves up, closets organized. For a while the Mr was resisting anything feminine or girly in his "bachelor pad," scoffing at my cute vinyl placemats in bright spring colours and insisting on "manly" soaps from Bath and Body Works (and I quote, "Don't they have like forest smell?"). The closest thing we managed was Orchard Pear and Coconut Lime Verbena, which are at least green, haha.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Did I mention how much I love moving? We're pretty much nomads now. Three moves in 2 years. Four if you consider my recent relocation to Small Town. How nice it will be when we can build or buy a house and never. move. again. Alas, I feel this is still in the far distant future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Other good news: I was confirmed on an elective in Penticton, BC for August! YAY! The Mr. has the time off, and the dogs don't have any plans, so we're going to turn it into an elective/family vaca. Why the heck not! We're frantically trying to figure out our plans and locate a pet-friendly (that term is like the bane of my existence lately) vacation rental near the hospital for our electi-cation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So where am I spending the majority of my time lately? The hospital, obviously. With its total of 13 acute care beds, 1 trauma bed, 1 labour and delivery room and the other wing being long term care, it's my idea of a small town hospital. There are 9 total doctors and I've already met most of the staff. Can't say my colleagues in the Big City can say that ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But, I didn't take any pictures of the hospital really. So I'll have to show you the rest of the town. I have yet to take pictures of the house in Small Town (blame it on the folk concert on Thursday night - I'll get to that).</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsoeK7KuYmYidLLAVXh7CPIRhKPURhpYUNbzYLAyxrbSb5HR0e0L7UsjrQU_bkeNtznnvweOAAkcMlvRmVCqEsoHlxhts2SyyQR42OABoS9-zc7EOmpd0LlotcwOWqZB8Cqqbabaag1Y/s1600/P4111914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsoeK7KuYmYidLLAVXh7CPIRhKPURhpYUNbzYLAyxrbSb5HR0e0L7UsjrQU_bkeNtznnvweOAAkcMlvRmVCqEsoHlxhts2SyyQR42OABoS9-zc7EOmpd0LlotcwOWqZB8Cqqbabaag1Y/s320/P4111914.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ok, I lied. So there's one picture of the house. And the beautiful grass. At least this was taken pre-dumping of snow on Thursday evening. You're welcome.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8-e1P-NgSeTRlxmql0IYTEwJQoaJFDmxvRDKab6a2frayWXBOdWTLYpQWgtsBEzROatFwN6bJzYHSEzWA6Gc-m3xF5X8OXy_BXC94-ghbY6csERWC5aicRHst1Bvg7NjJXB3o6DFQ0w/s1600/P4111916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8-e1P-NgSeTRlxmql0IYTEwJQoaJFDmxvRDKab6a2frayWXBOdWTLYpQWgtsBEzROatFwN6bJzYHSEzWA6Gc-m3xF5X8OXy_BXC94-ghbY6csERWC5aicRHst1Bvg7NjJXB3o6DFQ0w/s320/P4111916.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Adorable coffee shop!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HW8T_PIzQxmsN9IY0KPTdd2w1umd83Zj0gaNaX9aiHUPVYcwIEbQ1IhR6pdhLQPj07nuvjCrWVd7MkLDGpKMqm1B0tYB1me1gU_aqFcLrwKk2HjwL9pF1mAmSgmykBcqs7BuHhcjOZQ/s1600/P4111917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3HW8T_PIzQxmsN9IY0KPTdd2w1umd83Zj0gaNaX9aiHUPVYcwIEbQ1IhR6pdhLQPj07nuvjCrWVd7MkLDGpKMqm1B0tYB1me1gU_aqFcLrwKk2HjwL9pF1mAmSgmykBcqs7BuHhcjOZQ/s320/P4111917.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Carmalato: Mocha + Caramel + Chocolate Sauce = Yes please.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk6yb_g57xMdnWVB0Ee3K_CTwmL7Q2w6BvspgBzBIf2c8SrHn-LUm3Do1FE5ut5Ubv9zWyCpkd7UDXn1RiE6BqQCf2ji_XxG_iAM8qYWMuQP5yZSiPAJ9PDSmVDnkQpJBGtySTfLWWfA/s1600/P4111919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk6yb_g57xMdnWVB0Ee3K_CTwmL7Q2w6BvspgBzBIf2c8SrHn-LUm3Do1FE5ut5Ubv9zWyCpkd7UDXn1RiE6BqQCf2ji_XxG_iAM8qYWMuQP5yZSiPAJ9PDSmVDnkQpJBGtySTfLWWfA/s320/P4111919.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like any good rural town, there are more saloons and liquor stores than anything else. This one is the Swamp Donkey. Classy establishment, even if this is a terrible picture :)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuYECF3BghTxPJcemSpnzvIMtE3wPwGwXVamAX0DbnqQTo02Agr6byTCb6qr-muoNirbI91-XjzpaAm4MbZDdRpxpCBIX7mhVUEnS9Kkjog8UKS-MA1jvb4xxbeX2prGnfkPDHcpkk7M/s1600/P4111920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuYECF3BghTxPJcemSpnzvIMtE3wPwGwXVamAX0DbnqQTo02Agr6byTCb6qr-muoNirbI91-XjzpaAm4MbZDdRpxpCBIX7mhVUEnS9Kkjog8UKS-MA1jvb4xxbeX2prGnfkPDHcpkk7M/s320/P4111920.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vintage town square - tres cute!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWlsL11H10sL2cGOaZaCwq8cfxC-l-Fdzz6vlPQrugM1tJDP9qmu3gTHqOVFnhfBYXnE69XgP-MgZ9wLmuIJmuWuohiPdtgehpIEW4YAfitxwlhW8ddQctY4GGJvk9f9h3OcgkjKCFMU/s1600/P4111923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWlsL11H10sL2cGOaZaCwq8cfxC-l-Fdzz6vlPQrugM1tJDP9qmu3gTHqOVFnhfBYXnE69XgP-MgZ9wLmuIJmuWuohiPdtgehpIEW4YAfitxwlhW8ddQctY4GGJvk9f9h3OcgkjKCFMU/s320/P4111923.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Complete with a Pharmasave, Sobeys, BBQ/Grill, <br />Telus and the Walk-In/Maternity Clinic</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Thursday night we were asked/voluntold about this folk concert being held in town, and "Would we like to come and help out?" Being the good medical students and newest residents of Small Town, we happily obliged. The concert was put on by a hilarious folk artist from Regina, Saskatchewan named Connie Kaldor, and between her comedic descriptions of life in the prairies, her Joni-Mitchell-like feel and her upbeat and original songs, we really enjoyed ourselves. <a href="http://www.conniekaldor.com/">You can check her out here.</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Mr and I will be heading back to Small Town this afternoon to hide another load in the home-away-from-home before I start my first night on call. Eek!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPHUCicdvw7JpcAcfRgEWK1Qa-VGddwp6D8aqjZAV0e5-X28y25GQtWcN6JAaPxgyMea09I-6aF7XyDmJQ8Vw7Xu2V4D7Uas6la0k0w_Pjs3sPwW9Xr1pFjxjRuGkNXfwFDuQR_mti9s/s1600/may+the+odds+be+ever+in+your+favor" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPHUCicdvw7JpcAcfRgEWK1Qa-VGddwp6D8aqjZAV0e5-X28y25GQtWcN6JAaPxgyMea09I-6aF7XyDmJQ8Vw7Xu2V4D7Uas6la0k0w_Pjs3sPwW9Xr1pFjxjRuGkNXfwFDuQR_mti9s/s320/may+the+odds+be+ever+in+your+favor" width="240" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;">I'm on ER and maternity call with my preceptor. My preceptor is really great, and is one half of a husband and wife doctor team (of which there are 2 in Small Town). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have a good feeling about working with her, and she has high expectations and plans to achieve them. In her words, "I want you to be managing the MVAs and traumas by the time you leave. I want to be able to stand in the back and just advise, while you run the team." A huge, giant, colossal role for me to fill, but encouraging (read: petrifying) nonetheless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'll be needing some odds in my favor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Aside from learning and learning and learning to supposedly become real doctors, my Partner in Crime and I have compiled somewhat of a "bucket list" for our experiences in Small Town. I'll for sure keep you updated on what we finish as we do them, and first on our list is Ultimate Frisbee (which is held in the community centre Tuesday nights) and curling (there's a women's curling league in town, although we might wait until winter to start this up). Others include white water rafting on the nearby river, seeing wild horses and hitting up the Farmer's Market May through September. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">That's enough for today. Life is short, so I'm going to go enjoy a coffee two of my favourite people. Until next time, average of 42 anonymous readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-54943661478912492212012-04-11T21:18:00.000-07:002012-04-11T21:18:51.787-07:00Just in case you're here alone and need to do a vacuum delivery or cardiovert someone.<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Famous first day quote #1: While on our bird's eye tour of the clinic and attached hospital yesterday, it went something like this:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"So here's the ER and labour room stock area. You should make sure you are familiar where everything is, so when you're here alone and if you need to say, do a vacuum delivery or cardiovert someone, you know where everything is."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gulp. Can I get a holy crap.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, excuse me Mr. Rural Doc, perhaps you forgot I'm pretty brand new. I guess there's nothing like an expectation to fill. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the bright side, the hospital is nice and tiny. I should only get lost once or twice in the total of three hallways. We've met some of the staff, and are greeted with a big smile and "well, welcome!" most of the time. I promise to learn as many names as possible, I swear.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is something really thrilling and equally petrifying about the apparent degree of autonomy we will have out here in Small Town. It's refreshing, but as my Partner in Crime and I can agree to, feels a touch soon with what feels like our very limited knowledge.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I like to think of this journey as a way to bring me along the spectrum of unconsciously incompetent to consciously competent. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That is, when starting something brand new, you're often completely unconsciously incompetent - you have no idea that you have no idea. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you're lucky, you graduate into consciously incompetent - you are so very aware of how little you know, and how much you don't know. I'd say this is where I am most of the time right now.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next, you'll get a bit more competent, but really have to work at it - you'll be consciously competent. I look forward to this stage, but think it will probably be either somewhere at the far end of this clerkship roller coaster and into residency.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally, when you've been at it for a while, you become unconsciously competent - you just know stuff, and you don't have to think about it. I'm definitely no where near this yet.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I didn't come up with this idea, but I really like it. I feel like it's really a good representation of what our dramatic learning curve in this field is like.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Other cool facts about my first few days:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. The hospital offers two types of diagnostic imaging: good old x-rays, and ultrasound. However, ultrasounds are done by us. Yes, us. We might not know how yet, but we're going to learn. How exciting! My Partner in Crime and I have planned to go ultrasound each other one night to get a feel for it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are no echocardiograms, MRIs, or CTs out here. This just got real.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. The teen birth rates and teen suicide rates are higher here then the average in the Central Zone of Alberta.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. There is an adorable coffee shop called Little Country Cappuccino that serves a great latte, has some adorable things for sale (my favourite was a sign that said "a cat is just a tiny lady in a cheap fur coat") and serves ice cream on warmer days. Only open until 6pm though, so no late night studying there. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Wednesday Wing night in a town/village/bump-in-the-road about 40 minutes away serves wings for 35 cents each. Drinks and wings put us out 22 whole dollars. Talk about cheap dates! We were greeted by again, big hearty smiles, a few sideways "these girls aren't from around here" looks, and even a tip of a cowboy hat. This is real cowboy country. How fun.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, it's getting late. We have an appointment with The Town tomorrow to get some stats and info about what services are offered. We have our first session online with our other colleagues that are scattered throughout the province on Friday and our task is to show-and-tell our new digs through a slide show. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So like tourists, we ventured out to take some pictures this afternoon. We'll be working on that tomorrow after "work". Not sure what that might entail yet, but I'll keep <i>y'all</i> updated. (See what I did there? ;) ) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,<br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">C</span></span><br />Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-86811281233180844042012-04-10T21:49:00.000-07:002012-04-10T21:49:16.391-07:00They bag your groceries and even put them in the car.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgQT_6GqGYoabfts-xx6u2Jvf-nbics9ZlwnmO6FekNWddI7SADAdvH-iNWJgWnTyKe7UiMYu01aWhTuYhm9HK7lcU_jjiSxJvlz0pC-em3X-PTp1f4Lr8EunWHU2sanTb0yfy2tvzEU/s1600/out+of+difficulty" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgQT_6GqGYoabfts-xx6u2Jvf-nbics9ZlwnmO6FekNWddI7SADAdvH-iNWJgWnTyKe7UiMYu01aWhTuYhm9HK7lcU_jjiSxJvlz0pC-em3X-PTp1f4Lr8EunWHU2sanTb0yfy2tvzEU/s320/out+of+difficulty" width="318" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It has been quite a crazy week. After my last blog post where I detailed our change of plans and the Mr. needing to find a pet-friendly rental, many many things have happened. I'll try to summarize!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had an amazing time in my low risk obstetrics elective - I really <i>really</i> love that area of medicine. There are no other areas really where someone goes to the hospital for a <i>good</i> reason and comes out (usually) with something WAY better than they went in with. It's not all good of course, and sometimes it gets complicated and scary (especially for the petrified baby doctor), but for the most part, low-risk is enjoyable because it's exactly that - low risk. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The last day of my rotation was really something. After my preceptor explained that she had "terrible call karma," karma went ahead to prove her right and delivered us quite the share of patients. SGA, oligo, HELLP and a supposedly "resolved" placenta previa. And for those of my colleagues who are thinking "holy crap, that's anything but low risk," all of this was present in <b>one</b> patient. Add that to a very unfortunate still birth, some serious dystocia, a surprise frank breech delivery and a massive post partum hemorrhage, and you've got one very tired clerk. A great learning experience, but also a good reminder of my general incompetence.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At least I got to deliver a nice uncomplicated baby girl at the end of that shift, and did a little victory "I'm not completely incompetent" dance with my preceptor afterwards. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We ended up finding a pet-friendly rental after all, a cute one at that. If not a bit small. Maybe a lot small. That's what we get for moving from a three bedroom 2-floor house with a backyard to a one bedroom condo. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We scrambled to sell all non-essential items and furniture in anticipation of this move, yet somehow still have SO MUCH STUFF. I swear I have no idea how this happened -_-. We moved the Mr. and DevilDog into the new condo this past Saturday. We rented a moving truck and with the generous help of some of our greatest friends, we were able to move a considerable amount of shtuff into the new place. Crammed it into there like a little sardine box, only to realize there is still a massive amount of stuff at the old house. Humph.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My move to Smalltown was today. Happy and sad. We started early (as if we had a choice, thank you furbabies), loaded up a considerable amount of "essential-must-haves" into both vehicles (my hobbies take up space, what can I say, I couldn't leave home without my bin of fabric), kissed DevilDog, left him with his supposedly ergonomic dog bone (yes, you read that right - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YJI69Y/ref=asc_df_B000YJI69Y1840564?smid=A2SCPK5K0I0TUQ&tag=nextagusmp0399129-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B000YJI69Y">check it out</a>) and ventured out with the Mr., Miss. Thing and The Little Stink. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Smalltown is only about an hour and a half from the Big City, so it didn't take us long to pull up to the tiny rural hospital, be greeted with big small town smiles and be handed the keys to my new second home. We excitedly drove a block or so away (admittedly, a terrible commute), and were pleasantly surprised by the accommodations, I feel so spoiled.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The house is a one-up and one-down of two separate units. My unit is the top one (as per the landlord's request due to the furbabies), and has three bedrooms. One master bedroom with a queen bed, two closets and a 4-piece ensuite bath, a spare room with two twin beds, and a third bedroom set up as an office (read: sewing and craft room). I'll be sure to post pictures soon :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My Partner in Crime showed up not long afterwards and her unit is just as nice, if not a touch smaller and with a bit more carpet. Each unit has brand new appliances, each has a stackable washer and dryer and we have a nice big deck and backyard. Spoiled is right. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Miss. Thing had a really tough time settling in. Pfft. By the time her squeakies were out, she was running around flipping them in the air like she owned the place, full of excitement at the reunion with her favourite babies (since Destructo Dog came, they had been put away for their own protection). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, The Little Stink has not been feeling the greatest since the first move on Saturday, and is having quite a bit of trouble getting around :( So he's been a little slower to adapt to the moves, and we hope he'll perk up a bit more after he settles here in what the Mr. calls his "nice quiet retirement home." With Destructo in the Big City, there will be less excitement around the house, and it might be easier on him. He seems happy and able to rest now, just needs a bit more help to get around than usual. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Naturally at least 2-3 bad or unlucky things have to happen to make this a balanced day, so I of course left my purse at Quiznos to start. This was inconvenient, because Quiznos is in a nearby town about 25 minutes away that the Mr. and I had gone into to go to Walmart. I had forgotten both pillows and a comforter (bad thing #2) and so needed to pick up those essential items. When we got back to the house and I frantically realized my purse mistake, the Mr. had to turn around and drive back, pick up my purse and turn around to come back. During that time, I had to meet my preceptor and have a tour of the clinic and hospital, and so didn't have time to go back with him. He came back to the house while I was still at the hospital, and left with my cell phone in the car (#3 unlucky thing) and drove back to the Big City to be with Destructo. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The landline doesn't call long distance. The resident loaner cell phone doesn't call long distance. Apparently, the Mr.'s cell phone is considered long distance. Bah humbug. And to top it all off, I forgot/lost the paper that told me the internet password for the house, so I couldn't even use my iPad to message him. I love when things like that happen. So without a cell phone and no access to the internet, I was sufficiently cut off and feeling like a big-city girl in a very small town. Alone. Bahhh.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The internet password has been obtained now however, as I am able to write this post. Success #1. It can only get better from here.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">No rest for us though, as I am driving back to the Big City tomorrow to help move the last of our shtuff out of the old house. I have the day off to settle in and become acquainted with my new digs. With all of the room in this place, we're planning on using the extra room as a free storage unit (yay!) and will be packing it chock-full of our random crapola. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After a nighty-night Skype session with the Mr. (you'd think we hadn't seen eachother in days), a sufficiently long blog post, and enough moving for at least three more years, I'm off to bed with my small furries in tow. We will awake for more moving (yippee). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I promise to share pictures of both of our new living spaces, as well as update on my first exposure to the hospital, the clinic and small town life. So far, I have gone grocery shopping, chatted with the friendly cashier, and had a nice conversation with a man who not only bagged my groceries, but brought them out and loaded them in the car. Talk about small town hospitality.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A latte love from a little town,</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">C </span></span>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-6701419666010213392012-03-27T19:01:00.001-07:002012-03-27T19:01:57.049-07:00"We must be willing to let go of the life we had planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6V2idKk2qXzOcuT19STMPoPR8bCpURHF1J76veuFdJkdQb-Y_HphgT9mCoHYyphwHmn-mh7IHJl_ZiVLjw4lZy6ms37mqBZJLPUIl376OFLP2BJICy7BuUugrtoxawGiY4CigkJ1VByc/s1600/mutual+wierdness" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6V2idKk2qXzOcuT19STMPoPR8bCpURHF1J76veuFdJkdQb-Y_HphgT9mCoHYyphwHmn-mh7IHJl_ZiVLjw4lZy6ms37mqBZJLPUIl376OFLP2BJICy7BuUugrtoxawGiY4CigkJ1VByc/s200/mutual+wierdness" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What a crazy few days these have been.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday was our ONE year wedding anniversary. HOLY! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It is hard to believe it has been a year already, how fast this year has gone by. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZj6_X1G_vjyoHDldMXkazVGYc4vucD5q5K1YMsiKBWTMxYcMhNWt7K1oVRIXSe1tN5fj7yIs_Oug9DsjRrEdWVZNNsUPaupXZWRj9HQdls3nHZYq_usgmKLNMmhca6Lugq5qUgOWyVE/s1600/CarlyRyan1288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLZj6_X1G_vjyoHDldMXkazVGYc4vucD5q5K1YMsiKBWTMxYcMhNWt7K1oVRIXSe1tN5fj7yIs_Oug9DsjRrEdWVZNNsUPaupXZWRj9HQdls3nHZYq_usgmKLNMmhca6Lugq5qUgOWyVE/s400/CarlyRyan1288.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our wedding day - March 26, 2011</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As promised, I will report on the "paper" themed anniversary ideas that we challenged each other to come up with (really, I came up with the challenge - the Mr. didn't really have a choice, but agreed anyways). The first year anniversary is traditionally the "paper" anniversary, and when you look it up, the interwoven fibers of paper are supposed to represent the interwoven nature of marriage. Kind of nice. The modern version of the first year anniversary is clocks. Hmmm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well, since we had already purchased iPads (expensive!) for the both of us over a month ago, the rules were that ideas had to be paper-related and budget friendly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, the Mr. came up with tickets (=paper) to The Hunger Games! What a GREAT idea, as I had read all of the books, and thought I had no chance in heck to see the movie opening weekend (blame it on poor planning). Lo-and-behold however, he had managed to get us tickets to 7pm Friday night show in IMAX :D </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We went to Chop Steakhouse for dinner (yummo) where I had Steak Oscar (delisheeous) and where we shared a scrumptious creme brulee (our favourite) and each had a glass of champagne. Before excitedly going to watch a bunch teenagers kill each other. Perfect!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The movie was very well done in my opinion, with just some minor deviations from the novel. It almost inspired me to read the books all over again, if I had time to do so. Humph.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So what was my surprise?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Mr. was working some overtime on Sunday and so I used this valuable time to execute my plan. I had written 4 love letters over the last few weeks (see, paper), and had some wife/husband IOU cards (also paper) in one of my drawers. Without further ado, a photo is worth a thousand words so:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVcxCbf2sXg1oWbX6cSzNZMw0OMSXLh7iqBL-mxQmq6uz5AS9BodT3QlI4HWxZUeDaRNoU9G2bJLQNCBsXk7fkmfvXVo_ZLut_IAbM-GyUFvRrIgWkc_oWqjMbr_LtbaURKIau12fEcI/s1600/P3251885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVcxCbf2sXg1oWbX6cSzNZMw0OMSXLh7iqBL-mxQmq6uz5AS9BodT3QlI4HWxZUeDaRNoU9G2bJLQNCBsXk7fkmfvXVo_ZLut_IAbM-GyUFvRrIgWkc_oWqjMbr_LtbaURKIau12fEcI/s320/P3251885.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Aw!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I hung the IOUs and letters from 8 helium balloons and hung them over the bed. Cute and romantic :) I love how it turned out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I also found the Coat of Arms for our name and printed it out (paper again!) in a frame. I purchased the image from House of Names (google it). They have lots of products for name heritage and coats of arms - very cool!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">(PS. I was using my camera's "pin hole camera" setting to see how it worked. I think it turned out pretty neat, if not a bit dark. The one above of the balloons was in "soft focus" mode). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> No surprise is complete without some food in my opinion, so I wasn't finished yet. We had some left over steak from the night before's dinner, and what better with steak but some eggs and potatoes, some fresh muffins, a fruit salad, and of course, a mimosa! Sunday brunch done right!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Latte bowl? Yes please!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> While out picking up a few things for the brunchy brunch, I came across these most adorable porcelain things called "latte bowls" - how genius and perfect for me. It's more or less a bowl with a handle, perfect for large lattes :) And in this case, were ideal for serving fruit salad! Yes!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">They were only $2.95, so naturally I wanted at least 6. (What can I say, I'm my Mother's daughter and she forever buys in multiples.) I settled for 2 considering the Big Move. Humph humph humph.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And what's better? They have the cutest little birds perched upon the handles. I'm particularly attracted to bird things lately - like fabric, pottery, clothing even. I have a cute blue dress with little white birds on it I plan to wear as soon as the weather is favorable, which by Calgary standards, should be never. I also have a pretty blue bird fabric I just purchased with no idea as to what I was planning to do with it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, the surprise went off great. The Mr. came home as scheduled (meaning one hour past when he said he would haha), and was surprised and thrilled to find the letters and read through them all :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">An excellent anniversary all in all. At least a good one to start with, as I'm hoping to have quite a few more!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I haven't forgotten the picture idea either, and am intending to do it but don't think it will be anytime soon :( </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Recent developments have given us a few more things on our plate (because we clearly had room...):</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnH-74jqn7vs_iCYKHmf9-qY4PzxSJ21XvVVDehKdyscnsFV5hV3idiYJpht26-nq7uqBUC2cIgJU6Yrtk_fAw02ojf51wvSmUOkJTSnIeB6epz6rt9rDMbqVfZZfNdrqrcaQUSBK72Y8/s1600/my+dog+is+family" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnH-74jqn7vs_iCYKHmf9-qY4PzxSJ21XvVVDehKdyscnsFV5hV3idiYJpht26-nq7uqBUC2cIgJU6Yrtk_fAw02ojf51wvSmUOkJTSnIeB6epz6rt9rDMbqVfZZfNdrqrcaQUSBK72Y8/s200/my+dog+is+family" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">I had been a teeny weeny bit nervous about the move to Small Town because we were moving into a fully furnished suite that previously did not allow any pets. "No pet" policies I will never understand. How does one live without a pet anyways. However, I had specified that we had 2 dogs when applying to the program, and was accepted (this was back in August of last year). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, so when I picked up the documentation about the move last week or so, dun dun dun - they're only allowing us to have the two little ones with us. Bummer. Big time. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">What does this mean for us? </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well, the Mr. is going to have to get a separate apartment back here in the Big City. That's dog friendly. Alone. :( Tres sad. We'll live separate for about 9 months.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We're seeing the silver lining of this cloud however because this means that we don't have to sell as much stuff (as we'll just move it to the new place), and he will no longer have to waste time and gas (and in my paranoid mind, probably risk his very life) commuting 1.75 hours each way every day. And it's really only 6 months premature to when we were actually planning to get another place for him in anticipation of dangerous wintery roads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So I'll be taking the little mutts and he'll have the Destructo Dog. We may even share custody of the little ones every once in a while, and I'll most likely (read: hopefully) be able to come back to the Big City at least 2-3 weekends a month to see him. Not nearly enough, but it's against our morals to get rid of one of our furry children, and so this is the sacrifice we have decided to make. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We refuse to be those pet "owners" who believe their pets are expendable, and give them up when no longer convenient.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-SbE13HN10-U0eit8LjpzLUfVFGXTr0F2u1TZiVAfDKZLuXk0UJG4XtfKgccz60CnRXFf8xAEBNvKx5XeFOtGNs0Bmg_LoLhgLZ3nZIwOX_nShppJN7FH1UUYjqHChU7Waw9JQM5y8U/s1600/everything+will+be+ok" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-SbE13HN10-U0eit8LjpzLUfVFGXTr0F2u1TZiVAfDKZLuXk0UJG4XtfKgccz60CnRXFf8xAEBNvKx5XeFOtGNs0Bmg_LoLhgLZ3nZIwOX_nShppJN7FH1UUYjqHChU7Waw9JQM5y8U/s320/everything+will+be+ok" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So that's that. An adjustment for sure. We've currently been searching the rental ads and scouring the internet for a suitable and cheap rental that will accommodate him until later this year when I'll join him with the other two furbabies. Not an easy task with all these ridiculous "no pet" policies, but I'm assured we'll prevail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Everything happens for a reason, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-63102654515556525312012-03-20T19:26:00.000-07:002012-03-20T19:26:49.684-07:00Be a warrior, not a worrier.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6eZ6ZPvGhp-GPqr4uGUuOws0zpj-QaGeZ5GeDhBMXaKYOc4JMYYlmHM5JZBkj7ZFOT_hkFbCUuV1kJzcHwafOWukl-O_ciZS6mRn2m8lHzcIhzL7rUSNvA_kpZ1Wyn5Gaktfdff5r-uc/s1600/oh+dear" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6eZ6ZPvGhp-GPqr4uGUuOws0zpj-QaGeZ5GeDhBMXaKYOc4JMYYlmHM5JZBkj7ZFOT_hkFbCUuV1kJzcHwafOWukl-O_ciZS6mRn2m8lHzcIhzL7rUSNvA_kpZ1Wyn5Gaktfdff5r-uc/s320/oh+dear" width="230" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I still might sew though. And probably yoga. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have decided to compile some rules for myself. These rules come from my experiences during the last few months, which I have jokingly (/seriously) called "my quarter life crisis".</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>C's Rules for Mental Health:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. Don't think too much. You'll create problems that never existed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. Walk the dog. Do yoga. Or both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">That's pretty much it. At least all I've come up with so far. A pretty simple prescription, I'd say. They may seem basic, but they've done wonders for me over the last few weeks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There's a lot that can be said for the practice of not thinking. Try it sometime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to work really hard on them over the next few weeks, as the Big Move is coming up soon and the majority of clerkship (major stress inducers). I <b>will </b>perfect them!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2EFc9svSz4BAKqSv6_CXH4rUCHzo6t1TTk_GnOpYEMglir-mE2XIBbX33JYtENgK4ndvt1U3WHXL8x8LGqATZqHR3HR_VeC6_FoxKpiI_TbC052vqHjaqVkWueU9caSUUhNiZmGKCWA/s1600/be+a+warrior+not+a+worrier" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2EFc9svSz4BAKqSv6_CXH4rUCHzo6t1TTk_GnOpYEMglir-mE2XIBbX33JYtENgK4ndvt1U3WHXL8x8LGqATZqHR3HR_VeC6_FoxKpiI_TbC052vqHjaqVkWueU9caSUUhNiZmGKCWA/s200/be+a+warrior+not+a+worrier" width="145" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Good idear.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Last night I did a mere 30 minutes of yoga. I forgot how good it felt to be in touch with my body and stretch out the stress. I will commit to doing this at least 3 times each week, if not every day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I found myself craving it again today, and feel it again right now. So you can pretty well guess what I'm doing after this post!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, what happened today...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Started 8am for Grand Rounds on the potential sex differences in efficacy of cardioprotective medications in patients with Diabetes. Interesting idea, and I'm curious to see if the research shows any evidence when completed. Also learned that women and men tend to "use" their physicians differently - whereas women tend to visit their physicians while healthy or in early sickness (more as preventative health care), men tend to see their doctors when they're sick only. I think I probably could have told them that. But curious, nonetheless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Then went to finish a consult on a very nice gentleman presenting with some memory problems and a tremor. I think my consult was pretty comprehensive, and I felt happy with it :) YAY for learning!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Went to Fabricland after "work" and picked up some cute coordinating fabrics for my new Christmas gift projects (that shall remain nameless!). Also bought some new double-wide bias tape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have to say that after becoming acquainted online with designer fabrics from Michael Miller, etc, I have a hard time picking out fabrics at just any old fabric store now. I've moved into the world of online fabric ordering, and it could get dangerous! I've been mostly on Fabric.com so far, and will report back with my reviews if I end up ordering from there! So far, I've been disappointed that most of the fabrics I love are out of stock :( </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">OH and I must report! This is ground breaking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I GOT MY FIRST PAYCHECK AS A PRETEND/BABY DOCTOR.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOfLwBc75EQ_EDrsTNMXGAjRkNv603KqsXGq9O8v4aABCh3TrX7-UJC9G-X9B2e5nkrkMwuwz-UudynF9ZDp7iIjtIibGB0z8-9dPqVceb-MNA2H2FIJicEUvZ8f9AyhvdbPw_fL0Wpk/s1600/but+first+coffee" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, it was only for $188. For 2 weeks. A grand sum for the hours I put in. Ya. Right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Works out to about $2.42 an hour. I believe it's supposed to cover parking, and probably life blood (read: coffee).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I might use it for something more fun. Like makeup or shoes. Those are necessities right? :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-38201045765982476702012-03-19T19:49:00.002-07:002012-03-19T19:50:25.379-07:00Pretty just got practical.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHxzgiz-SrnCnCBX6hITBJfJ8G7KAANuHbnmS3WctoRR4VTSA-7GCld8hCsfBvn0QhfHPZj0c4eGAsrGDmtQcQwqx43qBkfbCbGUSwBKA9CNhwn7KtrRHGOOj2lnVLP0TQ7_75moO49o/s1600/dear+stress" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHxzgiz-SrnCnCBX6hITBJfJ8G7KAANuHbnmS3WctoRR4VTSA-7GCld8hCsfBvn0QhfHPZj0c4eGAsrGDmtQcQwqx43qBkfbCbGUSwBKA9CNhwn7KtrRHGOOj2lnVLP0TQ7_75moO49o/s320/dear+stress" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">K? Humph.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So in follow up to my last blog post, this hospital elective hasn't improved much. I have a certain level of frustration with people who don't like to communicate properly, for example, like telling someone when to meet, where to meet or anything else important. However, I'm not sure whether it's the actual hospital I am not enjoying, or perhaps the poor communication skills of the people I am working with. One more week though, and then onto baby deliveries! Woo hoo!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4sw5Ub15Oufx-9kEIVAmFVDgN7OZE5Yve9gWXGO581Vh1UgWCel7XeujzKXmJX0urFihQ47FBsIhprq_ELvO4MjUra-Ncj2AuEbHu9KJ8EOzlFCmTv06k_8hxnBgHQdNtubaiabMY2Og/s1600/Smile+it+confuses+people" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4sw5Ub15Oufx-9kEIVAmFVDgN7OZE5Yve9gWXGO581Vh1UgWCel7XeujzKXmJX0urFihQ47FBsIhprq_ELvO4MjUra-Ncj2AuEbHu9KJ8EOzlFCmTv06k_8hxnBgHQdNtubaiabMY2Og/s200/Smile+it+confuses+people" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today was a bit better, as I feel like I'm finally settling in to this new foreign environment. I've also realized that one of the keys to belonging in a hospital is acting like you belong there, instead of being what you really are - scared shitless and with little clue as to what you're doing. I wonder (and worry) if maybe this is what most people do there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, again to remedy my overwhelming feelings of inadequacy, I took to sewing last night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We also relocated my sewing area to the dining room (genius!) with a big bar height table and great lighting all. to. my. self. Amazing! The Mr. was studying and I was just happily sewing away all at the same time! I'm going to be the most productive little sew-er for the next 2-3 weeks before we make the Big Move to Small Town, Ab. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So, I'd been meaning to make a sewing caddy for sometime. I became inspired when I was constantly losing my scissors, the lid to my tailor's marker and constantly fumbling to keep my pins from falling off my desk. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I saw this one from <a href="http://howjoyful.com/">HowJoyful.com</a> and thought I could come up with something similar. (That blog is fantastic by the way!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQRoGUmgAdJjjeLIKeMn_1L2YK97wTdD3rGjXIVmpdqr89uL0z9Mlsd0_OFZ9koMxJyrdWYjzmfRiOGsYkVZndXPBOESLWzUaVRQjKkAcbaAo1v3V9IGs2MQqDYs7YwZQSsY5kYfVk_dg/s1600/sewing+caddy" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQRoGUmgAdJjjeLIKeMn_1L2YK97wTdD3rGjXIVmpdqr89uL0z9Mlsd0_OFZ9koMxJyrdWYjzmfRiOGsYkVZndXPBOESLWzUaVRQjKkAcbaAo1v3V9IGs2MQqDYs7YwZQSsY5kYfVk_dg/s320/sewing+caddy" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So, after DD had his way with my traditional tomato pin cushion a month or so back (those are tomatoes right? Hmm...maybe they're apples or something.), I forever kept my pins locked up. I realize now that I may have just provided him with an even cuter and more tempting pin cushion, but at least now it's adorable for the time being. Nonetheless, here it is:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxOSbsRk0NI5lchzuALo5bZV6tlMN60VJ5gV49Bj-khzQbZYrFLAXAZorgmTzVp8SOnkdIpM8vdu7dBEXQiiK9yxsdvkkxmg8ugP_WzZ7T8YowBgS5ZIKheI_agaU60K0DuNspeo_440/s1600/P3181863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxOSbsRk0NI5lchzuALo5bZV6tlMN60VJ5gV49Bj-khzQbZYrFLAXAZorgmTzVp8SOnkdIpM8vdu7dBEXQiiK9yxsdvkkxmg8ugP_WzZ7T8YowBgS5ZIKheI_agaU60K0DuNspeo_440/s400/P3181863.JPG" width="300" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This was pre-sewing-move (you can see how crowded I was - ick!)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjw81MQM2NKtTr8w_UTOxpltuoERhJWykaOaE5ZCdIZ4yWanPWUSgbbQCj1CWHR-VMCyl7lUs7GguoGL19WEY0mfVNFX_YoEE_HFYZfeSLCcojGmFyNUdYZd8pd8HA1M94pG271RNWZSg/s1600/P3181864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjw81MQM2NKtTr8w_UTOxpltuoERhJWykaOaE5ZCdIZ4yWanPWUSgbbQCj1CWHR-VMCyl7lUs7GguoGL19WEY0mfVNFX_YoEE_HFYZfeSLCcojGmFyNUdYZd8pd8HA1M94pG271RNWZSg/s320/P3181864.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, hello little adorable owl pincushion.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtA010CHVghykDq9eUb32vLy2q9NqjtNrIDBQWXC1xs-RjFTmkEwIXvu2TgIuUd0YS9auSlqNlJqswSzuT5ik17fYChBpIG8TpKQ6y3QlS02hwPFesU4UFeybeQ7YuuEKL9hQVBH9lXYM/s1600/P3181865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtA010CHVghykDq9eUb32vLy2q9NqjtNrIDBQWXC1xs-RjFTmkEwIXvu2TgIuUd0YS9auSlqNlJqswSzuT5ik17fYChBpIG8TpKQ6y3QlS02hwPFesU4UFeybeQ7YuuEKL9hQVBH9lXYM/s320/P3181865.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pretty and in the words of the Mr, "practical". </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBrJbAYNLrhPxxj7r2PoCpK_-GT2iDJ4iZUkLRj6SOBaOAYELHZpvuzLaD5Z4go7R-mMlTKg1HlpJEvq4hBqHxRlQYRQE_BZtx30DCwrUo_FeEKvaDOEsfjLKp553M8jR7yoKFqPf69o/s1600/P3181866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBrJbAYNLrhPxxj7r2PoCpK_-GT2iDJ4iZUkLRj6SOBaOAYELHZpvuzLaD5Z4go7R-mMlTKg1HlpJEvq4hBqHxRlQYRQE_BZtx30DCwrUo_FeEKvaDOEsfjLKp553M8jR7yoKFqPf69o/s320/P3181866.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, is that my first use of a decorative stitch<br /> from my new machine? Oui madame!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have given up on the idea of doing tutorials on these projects because <br />1. I have no time to write them;</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. I have no patience to write them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Fair? OK, so just check out the link above and head to How Joyful's tutorial if you wanna try to make a caddy yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It has been very helpful thus far as well. The multiple pockets that are different heights work great to keep my big and small scissors, my marker, measuring tape and the little collection of accessories that came with my machine, including the walking and free quilting foot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Other projects were completed last evening as well, but I will only share one here. The other will most likely be repeated for Christmas gifts, so I can't share it here! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But, The Little Stink needed a new king-worthy bed for his crate after an unfortunate and traumatic toenail-caught-in-bed experience that caused the Mr. to promptly dispose of that treacherous crate pad. I promised a replacement in a dog-friendly fabric, stuffed to the max with cozy cotton for The Little Stink's sore joints. Voila!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEtmXyvAqWTgAMDx8zMFvde_9jzZndYCNwJjQrQw-OvM4-KvpcUpN6HQrfmQoOnaPORzZL4KoZfKz-bM9L3veYDWRiWExlZTOQMow9VRbPIyeYg2gJwNndPfmEWnTvmaKxfgYVKhjc-k/s1600/P3181867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEtmXyvAqWTgAMDx8zMFvde_9jzZndYCNwJjQrQw-OvM4-KvpcUpN6HQrfmQoOnaPORzZL4KoZfKz-bM9L3veYDWRiWExlZTOQMow9VRbPIyeYg2gJwNndPfmEWnTvmaKxfgYVKhjc-k/s320/P3181867.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Crappy picture, but you get the picture. Haha.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Xm19dOcPdoVgA0GFbupbwNfrZf7Fz3RnhAm7X2dQ3Y7L9c2kyVzIJJoR3Df1S8CpR4PXwLHJh60LfvWEygp_THxHdcM8szMlj0K8kKJBiutdsP_DCPIdT-vLmkMgPjhRdCqeb2rk7x0/s1600/P3181868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Xm19dOcPdoVgA0GFbupbwNfrZf7Fz3RnhAm7X2dQ3Y7L9c2kyVzIJJoR3Df1S8CpR4PXwLHJh60LfvWEygp_THxHdcM8szMlj0K8kKJBiutdsP_DCPIdT-vLmkMgPjhRdCqeb2rk7x0/s320/P3181868.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">King dog palace.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, I think some yoga is in order. I've been craving it for sometime now and I need to get back into it. The furries are quiet tonight, and Destructo has taken kindly to my new location in the dining room. The tile floors are nice and cool, and so he parks himself under my chair and sleeps like a baby.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I hesitate to say it and jinx it, but maybe his puppy days are coming to an end? Please?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Must go look up depression in renal transplant patients now. I mean, do yoga. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh, PS. I'm always seeing "64 visitors" or "47 visitors" but I have no idea who is visiting! So please, comment if you can :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-41014873048504936682012-03-13T19:37:00.000-07:002012-03-13T19:37:29.127-07:00Sewing saves lives. At least, mine.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BnFXzxeioWf7nxSg0i55d0H37030uGba7nkdtj2IpYWFjFztBGzZVr3SzXrH1go_9AAzL1ovSwsYImj6nqvyQJKgBBR0fHY3RojBMhcFXJaI58jES1Ug13K_TOibCRE8J1YCDxr4YWY/s1600/nothing+a+glass+of+wine+can%27t+fix" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BnFXzxeioWf7nxSg0i55d0H37030uGba7nkdtj2IpYWFjFztBGzZVr3SzXrH1go_9AAzL1ovSwsYImj6nqvyQJKgBBR0fHY3RojBMhcFXJaI58jES1Ug13K_TOibCRE8J1YCDxr4YWY/s320/nothing+a+glass+of+wine+can%27t+fix" width="229" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Addendum to above: There is nothing a glass of wine, a flat iron, and a sewing machine can't fix. Humph.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The last two days in my first hospital-based elective ever have proven what I already pretty much thought I knew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">#1. I don't hate <span style="font-size: x-small;">(because hate is a very strong word)</span> hospitals. But I do <i>strongly dislike</i> hospitals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">(And don't be all "<i>Well, I'd say you've chosen the wrong profession bla bla"</i> because I didn't say I don't like medicine, I said I don't like hospitals. Big ones. With lots of people. And lots of egos. I like small ones, and clinics. And friendly preceptors. Who know how to teach.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">#2. I am a <span style="font-size: x-small;">very little fish</span>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In a very big, wide, deep, sea with lots of sharks. And piranhas. And the occasional other nice little petrified fish too. When we see each other, we wave frantically and smile, wishing back a piece of our old lives when we were safe and sound in lecture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And the one thing I definitely already knew:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">#3. I know next to nothing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But, all is not lost my friends! Because I still have more than a whole year of this. :S </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_A2gBJUNTY9dMPK__YjMaP571eV9HYVAduIcJ1gn9XaOc_d7-V8laVMxTRryDBD-CUciOldBOErqO0xtrw_owuzzMGg44jGRdnPkXSXv8xzHfSlYpf1Aj8Klf8l2z_pGtNiqStG-6Ao/s1600/not+telling+you+its+gonna+be+easy" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_A2gBJUNTY9dMPK__YjMaP571eV9HYVAduIcJ1gn9XaOc_d7-V8laVMxTRryDBD-CUciOldBOErqO0xtrw_owuzzMGg44jGRdnPkXSXv8xzHfSlYpf1Aj8Klf8l2z_pGtNiqStG-6Ao/s200/not+telling+you+its+gonna+be+easy" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">To remedy my overwhelming feelings of self-inadequacy, I decided to bond with my new sewing machine of course (which is in desperate need of a name), get in touch with my creative side, and remind myself that there is something I know how to do. These last two days of "real" clerkship/work/hell are making me tired and so I didn't have much energy for a finicky project, and wanted to pretty much wrap it up in like oh, 20 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Medical school has given me a very little attention span. Med school ADD? "Blame it on my ADD, baby!" (For those of you wondering what that was, it was Sail by Awolnation). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, here's what I came up with. It's pretty adorable, <i>if I do say so myself.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's a knitting project bag for those of you who are wondering. Which pretty much equates to a little fabric bag. That you put a knitting project in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Hence, knitting project bag :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I've been wanting to make a project bag for sometime, considering anything that appears yarn-like or ball-like or ball-of-yarn-like is targeted for destruction by the one and only. You all know him and love him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Although I don't think the cuteness or softness of this bag will deter him from his ruinous habits, I do hope it will prevent him from knowing what's hiding inside - yarn and knitting projects. Berry sneaky, I know. :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's just about big enough for one little project. It's perfect for the blankie construction. I have been meaning to use this pretty little bird/bug/flower fabric since I purchased it from my faithful Fabricland over a month ago. I used my beloved technique of box corners to give it just a wee bit of structure.<br /><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuQrzOHARsic_3N6kZQXpT9r1Z3Pf5VeRku0tQQR3OGlwCNq_oIxTqVY_AfurR57x8UYN-_mlk4LhsCECUA2xFp6nKK38USaGoak7su3cWoSyijRWSSeYLcQrbe32MYVlANN1gKkvSz8/s1600/P3131860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuQrzOHARsic_3N6kZQXpT9r1Z3Pf5VeRku0tQQR3OGlwCNq_oIxTqVY_AfurR57x8UYN-_mlk4LhsCECUA2xFp6nKK38USaGoak7su3cWoSyijRWSSeYLcQrbe32MYVlANN1gKkvSz8/s320/P3131860.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awww....Right?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGvCsnIHcF_TpC5qbpen8MniygRHn4uStODGsNmgOIQDnQKomdTnUzk_uWFRGAHOhOdPJxADLvQ0B94mVVtuFmelYaoM6Vg3_5WT4TzIfkqIuLcir63KLwfIyRfjjANR6I50yYXcridg/s1600/P3131862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGvCsnIHcF_TpC5qbpen8MniygRHn4uStODGsNmgOIQDnQKomdTnUzk_uWFRGAHOhOdPJxADLvQ0B94mVVtuFmelYaoM6Vg3_5WT4TzIfkqIuLcir63KLwfIyRfjjANR6I50yYXcridg/s320/P3131862.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Box corners + ribbon = great project bag!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">That little project was just what I needed! The sunny little material and tiny birds (did I mention I have a new addiction to birds on fabric?) - just perfect. After this post, and with permission from DD (DestructoDog), I may even complete my mental health prescription with some yoga. Ahhhhh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, got my schedule for my low-risk obstetrics elective coming up (yippee!), and *<i>cue scary dun dun dun</i>*, I have my first <b>12 hour shift</b>. AHHH.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And on our first year anniversary! What luck!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">If I didn't love welcoming little wonders into the world, I'd be complaining more. But it's at least a really good reason to be away from the Mr. on the anniversary of our nuptials. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I've been informed of some "interesting" plans the Mr. has come up with for our anniversary celebration on the weekend prior to our One Year. I'm curious as to whether they have anything to do with paper. I'll be sure to report back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My anniversaire ideas have been slightly thwarted by the recent notice of my rotation schedule (see above paragraphs), so plans are currently being revamped :)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh055IiGtSOKoKp7hdUwN6o8eIxifMKSnoql0pm5uDCrrRdUgjZS4PmI5XXydfTT_hTEAOB-tT8_3Ca-wOjQzbmB2yotnNJDw7EAGVVz2G9iUtFuC5u9o0CwqEdVgq7o_DcepWHfbK9R1A/s1600/anniversary+photo" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh055IiGtSOKoKp7hdUwN6o8eIxifMKSnoql0pm5uDCrrRdUgjZS4PmI5XXydfTT_hTEAOB-tT8_3Ca-wOjQzbmB2yotnNJDw7EAGVVz2G9iUtFuC5u9o0CwqEdVgq7o_DcepWHfbK9R1A/s200/anniversary+photo" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ps. This is NOT my photo - <br />Kudos to the photog, <br />and please don't sue me <br />for copyright infringement.<br />K thx!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I totally love this idea that I found on Pinterest: <br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">You take a photo every year on your anniversary to show how you're changing (read: getting older and wrinklier) together. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Charming and romantic. I have to check with the Mr. if he'd want to, and perhaps we'll do this too :) </span></div>
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Cute, no?</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I also wanted to share the most adorable little Le Sportsac bag I picked up last night on a retail therapy trip with Ms. Cho. I needed something small and cross-body to carry around the bare essentials on rounds. Might as well inject a little personality into that place, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So what better than the little adorable Scotty dogs adorning this completely lovely little bag. <br />It's called the Kasey. (This picture doesn't really do the bag justice but it'll do). </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82MpeF-q0lE_SpoZlsSQ2u6Qizgk4FpreKtNkyhX_OoBBYyRb2XvhoVKfz1-sFziClxuMHxDiFcvQVMhZ3yoMCFhn76N_j0OLK8pfhhm-zrsMXO2l_8LUdsffsOBGTj2r17XsTEERyLs/s1600/Kasey+dog" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82MpeF-q0lE_SpoZlsSQ2u6Qizgk4FpreKtNkyhX_OoBBYyRb2XvhoVKfz1-sFziClxuMHxDiFcvQVMhZ3yoMCFhn76N_j0OLK8pfhhm-zrsMXO2l_8LUdsffsOBGTj2r17XsTEERyLs/s400/Kasey+dog" width="326" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love love love. Makes clerkship funner. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqIoR-GVzbDlvvwv5ap436TgeTk55CqdlUqCsgyGF08t6m0E0XOGk2AK4B6uWAdOp19yAeXqn6AOHfxZpeBtWdbFuOEVK6s4DhDfQCYgzOFAa5576bdfDAr1HIjN9zLDffbrwUZ0KnxE/s1600/Kasey+dog" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well, by the grumbling and groaning coming from the big black furry, I should probably wrap this up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-74957964254800335732012-03-11T11:59:00.000-07:002012-03-11T11:59:22.053-07:00There's something really special about Sundays.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitStf7W7EE2o9e2LxgS7B-eFissChm5HVgrunAcNe5fE37UWn0FFk75CrXYiimuZtof_aBfcG4_GajKIzgNEPS34X4uO73lnqcIgmsrNqVfpsPAG-hrQ3B8IswWci5l7rqkgTft8o5KUI/s1600/P3111849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitStf7W7EE2o9e2LxgS7B-eFissChm5HVgrunAcNe5fE37UWn0FFk75CrXYiimuZtof_aBfcG4_GajKIzgNEPS34X4uO73lnqcIgmsrNqVfpsPAG-hrQ3B8IswWci5l7rqkgTft8o5KUI/s320/P3111849.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Good morning!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ahhh, Sundays. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Little Miss. Thing felt like being especially pretty today and wanted to wear her adorable pink knitted sweater. I told her that maybe someday I would knit her another pretty sweater. That could be a long ways away though, because I only know how to knit flat things so far. Haha.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />I love Sundays. Around our house, we use Sundays for getting chores done, cleaning, laundry, etc. Sounds like no fun, but somehow it brings me a sense of calm to get ready for the week ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This upcoming week I'm starting an elective in Geriatrics. I think it's going to be a mix of hospital time and clinic time, so right up my alley. I'll be doing fall assessments and med reviews like a boss by the end of it, if all goes well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So as promised, wanted to post some pictures of the cute laptop sleeve I made for Ms. Cho. I absolutely love the pattern, and wanted to embellish it with a little jewel. And as the first project I completed with my new partner-in-crime, I believe it deserves an honorary post on the blog :)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhqfwp1EdCm2cjc21ojN2sN-a0Lh4R1i9dAnNCmpQgpx8ktp16VnbCcYVzusPkN7vCaxd-QuEjrp-lzHLpds5Z3jFCuF90sqyUfoMTLRxhoY1sWOWFebmhjrUy4qvCAXzZ9bjGfjb-DE/s1600/P3101835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhqfwp1EdCm2cjc21ojN2sN-a0Lh4R1i9dAnNCmpQgpx8ktp16VnbCcYVzusPkN7vCaxd-QuEjrp-lzHLpds5Z3jFCuF90sqyUfoMTLRxhoY1sWOWFebmhjrUy4qvCAXzZ9bjGfjb-DE/s320/P3101835.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Love love this pattern!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7i2NQ52Rci9xQy8JIbAbWB5eqPBhiSdPHR1P-53rF2kHrwpsslJDm557UTKkSh5jd95DRRjXE__oapWh3wGPMTACflP9akGRSV3AVQpTeDOidcjfLsrSZn1UGiiBvRUW8wmqoUFqxahw/s1600/P3101838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7i2NQ52Rci9xQy8JIbAbWB5eqPBhiSdPHR1P-53rF2kHrwpsslJDm557UTKkSh5jd95DRRjXE__oapWh3wGPMTACflP9akGRSV3AVQpTeDOidcjfLsrSZn1UGiiBvRUW8wmqoUFqxahw/s320/P3101838.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Old necklace bead gets new lease on life :)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">And, as per my last post, I did dig up some pictures of the iPad case I made for myself (before it became somewhat dirty and not fit for photos). Here they are:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMvZq0TP6eKjNxAGq7lmpHf4U_aWK1Vk8CNkcN8jKqFmi-dld1pveMi5QrC1Kj_pA9eQD1RepxrDrr_8tNYpkDwPUfCWfW1GRsqo7mokEL3_vvk-uwla7wg8SCHwU4kjPCs5Cz4MswFs/s1600/P2191728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMvZq0TP6eKjNxAGq7lmpHf4U_aWK1Vk8CNkcN8jKqFmi-dld1pveMi5QrC1Kj_pA9eQD1RepxrDrr_8tNYpkDwPUfCWfW1GRsqo7mokEL3_vvk-uwla7wg8SCHwU4kjPCs5Cz4MswFs/s320/P2191728.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizMItXiJu-3wWLcDJphJuq3bb1cUZEH2WsNzVHaTDXwjUVTPYBePPorgaT5gTvOJJkoTnSJRHRjELoCUeOK-7p-YAzGfODdCAea025HHh5QJZuu-TX-KKGenBopMKaSBEosBYiu1A64g/s1600/P2191729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizMItXiJu-3wWLcDJphJuq3bb1cUZEH2WsNzVHaTDXwjUVTPYBePPorgaT5gTvOJJkoTnSJRHRjELoCUeOK-7p-YAzGfODdCAea025HHh5QJZuu-TX-KKGenBopMKaSBEosBYiu1A64g/s320/P2191729.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The case had been in use for a few weeks already and so it's looking a little raggedy in the pictures. And as the prototype of this self-made design, it turned out a little less finished than I would have liked. But it's served it's function so far and protected my new little time-waster pretty well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This project was also my first attempt at buttonholes! On my last machine, there was only a four-step manual buttonhole option...On my new machine - 7 versions of AUTOMATIC 1-step buttonholes. It's just too much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So the packing is fully underway for the big move to Small Town, Ab. The days are counting down - I'm to start in clinic there on April 10th. I've sold quite a few pieces of furniture on Kijiji, but still have a bunch we need to get rid of. The photos are off the walls, there's boxes piling up in what used to be our dining room, and this move is becoming very real. Humph.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's funny that when you realize you're going to be leaving somewhere, all of a sudden, you wonder why you didn't do certain things before. For example, our dining room gets beautiful sunlight and was freshly painted in a nice mushroom shade when we moved in. WHY oh WHY did I not use it as a sewing room? I see the most beautiful sewing rooms on Pinterest (be damned!), so naturally I regret not using the space for it's potential while we were here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh well. The Mr. has promised that "we should be able to make you a nice room like that someday" after I suggested he check out some of my pins. He's really something wonderful, isn't he? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Baby blanket progress</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The blankie is well underway! I've completed about 6 squares so far in
pretty shades. Here are some pictures and info about the patterns I've
used thus far.<br /><br /><b> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqiJ9Wd-iUiCOJYztEYvA4JPq1LYv2llBdXAnqv7sBCXFVsZhYtU50GQkPRAkHfEJ2if7GHkDw_MaImyQbXeWtqaxcl7Nwo1rn1FpQ3PbEsSWhWYWuKiaqArrEcibCT5mc3E_X0I0rBc/s1600/P3111850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqiJ9Wd-iUiCOJYztEYvA4JPq1LYv2llBdXAnqv7sBCXFVsZhYtU50GQkPRAkHfEJ2if7GHkDw_MaImyQbXeWtqaxcl7Nwo1rn1FpQ3PbEsSWhWYWuKiaqArrEcibCT5mc3E_X0I0rBc/s320/P3111850.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYGsWuZpiLHYS-peWLLG2nxm79b2v7taSRxJlcA0xnk8rnsxXtSGglb_mkXgYMURaNW8f2BAUSTFwCdkwE0Kb-qufB-kYgYYuGYKHNGMczMEI03a_QumltDn9p3nxA_o834xbQFKm-uY/s1600/P3111851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYGsWuZpiLHYS-peWLLG2nxm79b2v7taSRxJlcA0xnk8rnsxXtSGglb_mkXgYMURaNW8f2BAUSTFwCdkwE0Kb-qufB-kYgYYuGYKHNGMczMEI03a_QumltDn9p3nxA_o834xbQFKm-uY/s200/P3111851.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sq #1 - Easy peasy - simply K2, P2. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tIXpyZ84pzW5EdLa7CfdFuyhY2GjQU2IIbKv8KHeYmLaU_81sB0nJ5uKSgcrpQvonDKZ73lW1yobDil2JrkthUCwBBCLP1BNV5yoB2NLGxi8YF934J_mdyyN8WylPRNy9Xagarx6zdM/s1600/P3111852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tIXpyZ84pzW5EdLa7CfdFuyhY2GjQU2IIbKv8KHeYmLaU_81sB0nJ5uKSgcrpQvonDKZ73lW1yobDil2JrkthUCwBBCLP1BNV5yoB2NLGxi8YF934J_mdyyN8WylPRNy9Xagarx6zdM/s200/P3111852.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sq #2 - R1: K. R2: K1, P1. Repeat.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjij94dYgTr9jQUIXmD5BlzUyj1uS3tU1i7mKNyIX2tMsGHg4gRxjlfz8ErBV9XeObIC7IzpXamDtxPaEg-uZcwmdxcl_sGmdzXUR5-6axPdyR5CBwwVpN2O586_pyUkXX7K3-Su7Q9MoQ/s1600/P3111853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjij94dYgTr9jQUIXmD5BlzUyj1uS3tU1i7mKNyIX2tMsGHg4gRxjlfz8ErBV9XeObIC7IzpXamDtxPaEg-uZcwmdxcl_sGmdzXUR5-6axPdyR5CBwwVpN2O586_pyUkXX7K3-Su7Q9MoQ/s200/P3111853.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sq #3 - Pennant stitch<br />R1: K ; R2: K1, P4 ; R3: K3, P2<br />R4: K3, P2 ; R5: K1, P4; R6: K</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhowZ6htPwXBmpxZ60gtN5neLiq-Y1fWBrxbWRGE828cZGTZNmtCDfckpAt4QgI8Xq75XIlK1xHb4qn7YoQkX5N1gzf3ST0fx79q6NUyvJn_1s2RMFJsOiofjxuhA6Y8y3pjCigrdpDI/s1600/P3111854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhowZ6htPwXBmpxZ60gtN5neLiq-Y1fWBrxbWRGE828cZGTZNmtCDfckpAt4QgI8Xq75XIlK1xHb4qn7YoQkX5N1gzf3ST0fx79q6NUyvJn_1s2RMFJsOiofjxuhA6Y8y3pjCigrdpDI/s200/P3111854.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sq#4 - K2, P4, K6, P4, K2</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMmaLDWzBAQwRedwk1knCDKQ4c9LMP8qiQ4GGgWm9TSml6r7IhHYGqBLBl3P82a5PkfYpufmsHXY9FlILC5VkmnOc3y_b13g2KjUCAEd_zpOoEFIXWAP0XrDizUugvtY0SIh8nQuSl6Y/s1600/P3111855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMmaLDWzBAQwRedwk1knCDKQ4c9LMP8qiQ4GGgWm9TSml6r7IhHYGqBLBl3P82a5PkfYpufmsHXY9FlILC5VkmnOc3y_b13g2KjUCAEd_zpOoEFIXWAP0XrDizUugvtY0SIh8nQuSl6Y/s200/P3111855.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sq#5 - Moss stitch (I think?). <br />R1: K1,P1. R2:P1, K1. Repeat.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaAYpMMbyEqjVrmgVxj6geeojXGIe3wXZ0qFN_K9F1MXyjUTo3ar-KfpvUSe5mK8j45rK_a2I3URhe-BYCzqiCx23iUMTYe57K-1ODbO-QrRF7nVrEZD2G5C-hHTszr1X0OoKU-xrM1U/s1600/P3111858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaAYpMMbyEqjVrmgVxj6geeojXGIe3wXZ0qFN_K9F1MXyjUTo3ar-KfpvUSe5mK8j45rK_a2I3URhe-BYCzqiCx23iUMTYe57K-1ODbO-QrRF7nVrEZD2G5C-hHTszr1X0OoKU-xrM1U/s200/P3111858.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sq#6 in progress - same as Sq#2</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I estimate I'll probably need only about 60 or so more. No big deal. -_- </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm having fun with it so far. I can't wait to use up these balls of yarn so I can get some more pretty colours to add to the blanket. I'm thinking some light purples, maybe yellows. I also found a really pretty white sparkly yarn! I don't really care for gendering babies through colour, so I'm not really paying any mind to whether it looks "boy-ish" or "girl-ish". </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh, I also completed my scarf. It's probably not as long as it should be but I got bored and wanted to start on the bebe blankie. It's also a bit itchy. Should've used a softer yarn. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, I clearly should be doing more regular blog posts because the ones I've been posting are getting longer and longer! I just have so much to catch up on I guess!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Until next time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-19570185173089436522012-03-10T17:10:00.000-08:002012-03-10T17:28:46.322-08:00Out with the old, in with the new (sewing machine, that is).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaa0rDrRQ0mpvOaVvy_oYpJJ3dqpB4aJy9r0DC6bdFmx0ZvdgIHgs-3YGysSJ6iR6U-dMDaFN8gdygaap_M3WwLb40tPhc_ETLIcWn2swIO51x8p944N_jQBh1r9Lo7YtVhbuLvALZh0E/s1600/sew+sew" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaa0rDrRQ0mpvOaVvy_oYpJJ3dqpB4aJy9r0DC6bdFmx0ZvdgIHgs-3YGysSJ6iR6U-dMDaFN8gdygaap_M3WwLb40tPhc_ETLIcWn2swIO51x8p944N_jQBh1r9Lo7YtVhbuLvALZh0E/s320/sew+sew" width="256" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So for anyone following along with my posts, one of the most recent ones described a battle with my Brother LX-3125 and its affinity for inappropriate thread tension. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since I spent so little on the machine to begin with ($115 from Walmart), and considering that it had probably <i>never</i> been designed to handle the amount of rigorous sweat-shop sewing I was asking of it, I decided that replacement (rather than repair) would be the economical option. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I consider the LX-3125 to be a great beginner mechanical machine (as far as my limited experience goes). I think it just wasn't up for the challenge of my new found sewing obsession, and hence, kicked the bucket pretty early on in our relationship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Luckily for me, Walmart has a 90 day return policy. Hard to believe I've been sewing for less than 90 days! I've done so many projects and accumulated such a collection of fabric that some would think I've been at it for years. But, no. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And despite my usual habit of losing receipts rapidly, and even despite DestructoDog's penchant for chewing important ones, I still had the golden ticket in my wallet - WIN.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Kudos to Mama C who recommended I return the machine in the first place. Great idea!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, not long after returning my faithful friend, I was rigorously scanning reviews online for who, ahem, what machine would be my replacement. My challenge was to find a reasonably affordable (I am a student after all) novice machine with some extra features than I'd been used to with my basic Brother.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The dilemma for me was choosing between Singer and Brother. While Singers have been around for soooo long, hence demonstrating their quality and appeal to the sewing masses, I had learned on a Brother, and so I hear through online reviews, they can put out a pretty mean sewing machine at a decent price. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I had my mind set on the Singer Fashion Mate 7256 when I ventured out today. But lo and behold, a new machine was there that I had not been aware of - a Brother SQ 9050. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Frantically I scanned reviews online - I had not been prepared to make additional decisions but now this option was looking quite good! Computerized, automatic needle threader (oh.my.god!), 100 built in stitches and embroidery features, quilting table AND ability to embroider letters! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The kicker - a start/stop BUTTON - forget that foot pedal!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Haha DestructoDog! Never again will you lay on my pedal and have my projects at your whim! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqb2zO2atXIcTTpdde9VZm8byjs1hyqc9N5L6o05MG4CftB_LUSGDzCZmxw5J-644sC6f07PmrjDEGOoXN8oRp_Q-hakmPnvPWGNc0p68a4lEh2K7ly5jWbqKvAiXThvtIzXR76kcvj8/s1600/new+machine" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqb2zO2atXIcTTpdde9VZm8byjs1hyqc9N5L6o05MG4CftB_LUSGDzCZmxw5J-644sC6f07PmrjDEGOoXN8oRp_Q-hakmPnvPWGNc0p68a4lEh2K7ly5jWbqKvAiXThvtIzXR76kcvj8/s320/new+machine" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Long story short, this adorable purple machine won me over (surprised?). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'm looking forward to a long and happy relationship. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on how it's going. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So far, together we have finished Ms. Cho's darling laptop sleeve that had been patiently awaiting completion. Smooth as satin and much quieter than my last machine, I see a bright future for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I must admit however, the computerized models give me some creeps because at least with my little mechanical machine, I felt like if all else failed I could take the bugger apart and fiddle with its insides. I worry this is not the case with this machine. But hopefully we will never come to that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And, with Brother's 25 year warranty and supposedly (?) good support service, I hope we won't run into any problems anytime soon. After all, there is that 90 day return policy :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I have fiddled with some of the decorative stitches and it has done nothing good for my Pinterest habit. I now have a short (ahem, long) list of projects that will have to wait until I can evict the Mr. from the office. I'll just have to sew sew sew when he's not around :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Projects on my list so far (at least a few of them):</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Adorable pin cushions (there's a few I've pinned on my Pinboards!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Sewing machine caddy (I'm thinking a purple theme to go with the machine (haha, again I'm sure most aren't surprised). However, this is not matching my current machine cover, so there may be a do-over of that.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Knitting project bags (one or two, who knows?)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">iPad case for Ms. Chaudry complete with all of her ideas for pockets and gizmos</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Earbud case</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">iPad sleeve for the Mr.</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;">That reminds me, I didn't post about my iPad case I made! I may have to make another one because the one I've been using has gotten a bit dirty now and isn't fit for photos. I'll check to see if I have any photos of it from when I was making it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The iPads were our 1st Anniversary gifts to ourselves. A little early, yes. Ok, really early. Maybe we have impulse control issues. Nonetheless, great gifts to us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Goodness gracious, that's coming up fast. Traditionally, the first anniversary is the "paper" anniversary. Kind of lame, but kind of inspirational as well. Since we've already bought our iPads, we have challenged eachother to come up with creative ideas that use the theme of paper. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Stay tuned for posts about that! I have a couple idears up my sleeve but you'll have to wait because it's a surprise for the Mr. And he obviously reads this blog, right honey? RIGHT?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-20686277273150469632012-02-28T21:12:00.001-08:002012-02-28T21:16:37.047-08:00The times, they are a-changin.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmzLdvRDFGokT9DJ2EuvuP8KHfdr03WNrWdWtsHLEtI_MXJ9nukBlcRWcwy08YZusvmeXp3R2GoQVcDXBUIvhVGrorYZ60xxb8jNQrT4yt3cLgDiJdh6YBHiP34xhD7RalIf-cyfWFdQI/s1600/change+in+routine" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmzLdvRDFGokT9DJ2EuvuP8KHfdr03WNrWdWtsHLEtI_MXJ9nukBlcRWcwy08YZusvmeXp3R2GoQVcDXBUIvhVGrorYZ60xxb8jNQrT4yt3cLgDiJdh6YBHiP34xhD7RalIf-cyfWFdQI/s1600/change+in+routine" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Life isn't quite the same without my sewing machine back in working order. I have had to find other things to do. I have emailed a repair shop and was quoted at repairs costing more than my machine originally cost. I love my Brother, but I just don't know if he's worth that much! This has been somewhat traumatizing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, starting my new elective in Family Therapy has been very exciting and so far very interesting. I feel like I can get used to this whole 9-to-5 deal (haha, except this has been more of a 10-to-4 deal - really rough, I know). Go to clinic, see patients, come home, eat dinner and socialize with the Mr., do yoga and assorted other hobbies GUILT FREE. So far, amazing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhIn_Z_w4lJu85Ju6ThdCd6Kf0wDKUi7DCrfnU0lSj0KHEKeMlHi0f6mTxJMef4y-50bipGmLfGPURHGhOEIvFLT6sSv904-HAF3-vUfjd1ojZASX2DQttEvyJ6hMoXNkVT4Yc54xPY4/s1600/If+it+kills+us" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhIn_Z_w4lJu85Ju6ThdCd6Kf0wDKUi7DCrfnU0lSj0KHEKeMlHi0f6mTxJMef4y-50bipGmLfGPURHGhOEIvFLT6sSv904-HAF3-vUfjd1ojZASX2DQttEvyJ6hMoXNkVT4Yc54xPY4/s200/If+it+kills+us" width="200" /></a>So all in all, the first two days of clerkship haven't been what they were originally predicted to be, they've been better!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I worry though that there is a serious degree of spoiling going on, and by that I mean, I'm being incredibly spoiled by this first elective. While some of my classmates are slaving away (and by slaving, I mean really, like full-on 12-14 hour shifts), being pimped relentlessly and assigned multiple "light reading" assignments (which are <b>never</b> really<i> light)</i>, I'm happily blogging, relaxing, cooking, cleaning and the activity which has been the most dreaded for me lately - packing. Ugh. Even saying it sucks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So being that my sewing machine has been under the weather (see post regarding thread tension - still grumbling) , and at a loss of what to do with myself with all of this new-found free time, I figured I needed another hobby that would make me more like a 75 year old woman. So I had Ms. Cho teach me how to knit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbx1mONBQ0c6rJFxAqSF39GC-JsLKA1OI0e4O9xoiRlQWdXcA46EXhRvAGGkI0FxFmvFbIlglVkbl03fZQe8-GdlI2ZdWpH2BOb36qP_W_l1JGzsPrF8iGtGmOH8FN9aMvXFF3sIprNNY/s1600/P2191734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbx1mONBQ0c6rJFxAqSF39GC-JsLKA1OI0e4O9xoiRlQWdXcA46EXhRvAGGkI0FxFmvFbIlglVkbl03fZQe8-GdlI2ZdWpH2BOb36qP_W_l1JGzsPrF8iGtGmOH8FN9aMvXFF3sIprNNY/s320/P2191734.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And knit I have been doing. But just knitting, no purling, no curling, no bla bla bla that I don't understand. Just knit, knit, knit, knit. Repetitive, and mindless. In my opinion, perfect for my restless mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLLDvZMCC95V6E2P4J2K5yMOudwUuDs6hvjVAKVJN5EStesm0BwkCrxIPoVZzS2zR8uFB8VaeNS7uSt6d7apLieIaz9rYoKM07BEpUjK13mxXGzR8Sa6Ocp5FbByJjE4MpMKLU3h4x8M/s1600/Where+is+the+end" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLLDvZMCC95V6E2P4J2K5yMOudwUuDs6hvjVAKVJN5EStesm0BwkCrxIPoVZzS2zR8uFB8VaeNS7uSt6d7apLieIaz9rYoKM07BEpUjK13mxXGzR8Sa6Ocp5FbByJjE4MpMKLU3h4x8M/s200/Where+is+the+end" width="200" /></a>My first "scarf" is about 2.5 feet long now, and I'm just <i>waiting</i> for the final ball of yarn to finish (<i>when will it ever ennnndddddd?)</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My next project: a baby blanket for our first born.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Haha, I figure it will take me about that long to make it, that by the time it's finished, we might actually be considering having kids.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I've already bought the yarn and I'm going to use it as a way to learn new stitches and stuff. I will post updates of this proposed blankie as it becomes a reality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Knitting is a great hobby though because you can do it while doing other things - like watching TV, waiting for the kettle to boil, listening to music, etc. And so far, the Mr. has been accepting enough of my lightly tapping needles during our new addiction to True Blood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We're on Season 2. We're addicted. It's bad. This new free time is doing nothing for my productivity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh! Also picked up the beautiful teacup sets that Seester and I painted during the surprise birthday weekend. They turned out so pretty! I'll post pictures as soon as I'm not lazy and craving a glass of wine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mr. is home now. Time to relax and unwind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-51094504620078987142012-02-20T11:34:00.000-08:002012-02-20T11:34:35.960-08:00What a stressful morning.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtnNiHmLnRxvgS37K5aKMiQRa2Crevq6KZGscasAJpFaG41dYYQbcZR1EOW5le8s-EPrfI6_HWkEFkGzh7oKIKB-H-0YBPGbK0wRyIr8Tcb75ts8ypFD8JC1JFMAoHKMocuCosMYn9z8/s1600/Thread+Tension.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtnNiHmLnRxvgS37K5aKMiQRa2Crevq6KZGscasAJpFaG41dYYQbcZR1EOW5le8s-EPrfI6_HWkEFkGzh7oKIKB-H-0YBPGbK0wRyIr8Tcb75ts8ypFD8JC1JFMAoHKMocuCosMYn9z8/s320/Thread+Tension.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Warning: the diagram above makes this whole concept seem simpler than it apparently is. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Don't laugh when I tell you that I have spent the last two hours trying to bring my faithful Brother LX3125 sewing machine back from the depths of thread tension hell.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Here I was, just happily sewing along with that mysterious dial factory set at 4, never before considering thread tension when disaster struck.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I was nearing completion of an adorable laptop sleeve for Ms. Cho when everything went haywire. Thread on the bottom flap of the sleeve began to look pulled, stitches became uneven, my life unraveled!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I speak of this in such dramatic terms because it has essentially brought creative production to a screaming halt. The laptop sleeve sits unfinished and my hair is frazzled. Help me!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I frantically have been reading articles and watching video tutorials about the mystery that is thread tension, but no life saving maneuvers have been successful thus far. This is devastating to me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If anyone knows anything about thread tension, please come to my house and save my Brother. The growth of my creative neurons is becoming stunted!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I've taken to eating Fudge-O truffles to calm my nerves. I've taken the machine apart, cleaned what I could reach, and even did what has probably sealed my fate - I adjusted the bobbin tension. I probably shouldn't have because now I can't remember where it was originally. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Brother and I might be taking a trip to a sewing repair shop soon :(</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A very sad,</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">C </span></span>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-60000981121567700262012-02-19T14:19:00.000-08:002012-02-19T14:22:09.458-08:00My floors are not dirty - it's my dogs' paw art.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE40cBINgqJztkzL_zCvZdhNSvd01bP1SPf2N-4mNJSDDqwG_vp68FxHrSSFMTAYDObrgu5og89zL5MDgP3ZnCPllo89ib1wYhfA_NMbhBFz3zB0Ty9PbC86QcRqHWlkInZiis-wfaio/s1600/keep+calm+and+love+dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE40cBINgqJztkzL_zCvZdhNSvd01bP1SPf2N-4mNJSDDqwG_vp68FxHrSSFMTAYDObrgu5og89zL5MDgP3ZnCPllo89ib1wYhfA_NMbhBFz3zB0Ty9PbC86QcRqHWlkInZiis-wfaio/s200/keep+calm+and+love+dogs.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks2yt7XYOKGDsbxCt9F_2UAl8f7sDtafAGWi0AyhMZAWiCEW4MSaZzeanGx5pTpIWBLKpxtCh8UZM3OLd7kFyBKuQ3IVPFKKutVby7bIhjoeAW1OYd25gkDzWoh1pFZEeScH20z-Kdc4/s1600/Olive+you" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ha, keep calm is right.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If I'm lucky, I'll get through this blog post without some significant grumbling and whining and pawing and chewing of socks. DevilDog's tolerance for me sitting and doing something that does not include entertaining him is very limited, usually to only one post per day/one craft project. So I must choose wisely. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This dog is giving me grey hair. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anyways, I promised I would post proof that my canine children are clearly budding Picassos. Ahem, Paw-cassos. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In fact, if you combine <i>"paw arteest</i>" with <i>"search and rescue extraordinaire (glow balls only)" </i>and <i>"ultimate destroyer of expensive things like Lulu Lemon hats"</i>, DevilDog's resume is becoming quite impressive. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Actually, with his more recent antics, his name may be upgraded to DestructoDog to more accurately characterize him.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">These projects were done when Seester was down, so I must provide credit where it's due. This is definitely a two, if not three-person job, depending on your particular canine Pawcasso.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We purchased small art canvasses from the Dollar Giant and some washable, non-toxic paint for this project. The whole thing came in under $5. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDFcJVc5gz4SxDRRjF_BedItblwggAMSpuSZ4SzzrlzEonoaaq4K0VuMVgFjU6kBb9zY-TJ1rDozePyqFkysBckOvn-MwafUbAIb3glZEXBbmc9nEb6hyphenhyphenvyBMaTnT07-Br9AnMKi2eTA/s1600/P2191725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWDFcJVc5gz4SxDRRjF_BedItblwggAMSpuSZ4SzzrlzEonoaaq4K0VuMVgFjU6kBb9zY-TJ1rDozePyqFkysBckOvn-MwafUbAIb3glZEXBbmc9nEb6hyphenhyphenvyBMaTnT07-Br9AnMKi2eTA/s320/P2191725.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1v74GOm1M9Pza5HRWkGEcgWa4ojS0e4Tb48pHlwZwEHsncvly0ZCf3fBoxQWj4EZO1-kVeQimQPbP2Xj5HxaA0kku0CJF76PxZeIuOi2ObPs1rFbssGDl8bZEqbODWcPYgEUfvmpHF9Y/s1600/P2191726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1v74GOm1M9Pza5HRWkGEcgWa4ojS0e4Tb48pHlwZwEHsncvly0ZCf3fBoxQWj4EZO1-kVeQimQPbP2Xj5HxaA0kku0CJF76PxZeIuOi2ObPs1rFbssGDl8bZEqbODWcPYgEUfvmpHF9Y/s320/P2191726.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWg4ZeGG5wN9zQdsLGueNodPM_PxdYknIT2VKNdaOJyU1yf0wPjJUdqQMG1R0pSacADt-nl545Ql0ypZCsPCgY63ANA9FFEV2MJsHlyDPpZPCDM8AN335rIhZFkoKCyEF5tRaLy52ztg/s1600/P2191727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWg4ZeGG5wN9zQdsLGueNodPM_PxdYknIT2VKNdaOJyU1yf0wPjJUdqQMG1R0pSacADt-nl545Ql0ypZCsPCgY63ANA9FFEV2MJsHlyDPpZPCDM8AN335rIhZFkoKCyEF5tRaLy52ztg/s320/P2191727.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you notice, Ruru's is a bit different. This is due to the technique that you use to produce your paw art. We found that actually painting the paint onto the pads only of the paws works best. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you just dunk the paw in the paint and then plop it down on the canvas, you get more of a reverse-paw image, where the paint is mostly in the furry in-between parts, and pushed out from underneath the actual pads. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Totally your prerogative, but I prefer the paint-on-pads technique - gives a more clear paw print.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Have fun with your own Pawcassos! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">C</span></span><br />
<br />Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-44143154021165155632012-02-19T13:57:00.000-08:002012-02-19T13:57:36.534-08:00This blog is becoming more about food than crafts.<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks2yt7XYOKGDsbxCt9F_2UAl8f7sDtafAGWi0AyhMZAWiCEW4MSaZzeanGx5pTpIWBLKpxtCh8UZM3OLd7kFyBKuQ3IVPFKKutVby7bIhjoeAW1OYd25gkDzWoh1pFZEeScH20z-Kdc4/s1600/Olive+you" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks2yt7XYOKGDsbxCt9F_2UAl8f7sDtafAGWi0AyhMZAWiCEW4MSaZzeanGx5pTpIWBLKpxtCh8UZM3OLd7kFyBKuQ3IVPFKKutVby7bIhjoeAW1OYd25gkDzWoh1pFZEeScH20z-Kdc4/s320/Olive+you" width="247" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />With clerkship literally just around the corner (first elective starts next week!), I have been using my unusually significant free time to catch up on some crafting and cooking that I've been meaning to do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It is
unbelievable to me that the whole classroom portion of medical school is
more or less finished. Could've sworn I just started a month or so ago.
Apparently, I know things now (*cue sheer panic*).<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Also, I don't think I realize how often I'm cooking and eating until I go to write a blog post, and find a collection of pictures of meals that we've made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I recommend eating before viewing this post, as it may or may not induce serious cravings! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Valentine's Day/Anti-Valentine's Day</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I thought something crafty was necessary for the Mr. on Valentine's. Good ol' Martha had <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/274866/valentines-day-crafts/@center/276967/valentines-day#/266872">this adorable idea</a>
for a spinning Valentine's message thing (not exactly sure what to call
it), so I got started. Instead of using the pictures she provides, I
added in my own funny little images to make personalized sayings. So
fun!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7o17aIi4-s32QWHxFKR45sTakKrB1Huv2h0RZvb7unwx9QjinwYY2iXVw2bqMkBDZM50yqjI0vlGbPDtWJlFtLgrbH1ohnXBU4jFlYQ1rbS6x-27h2Fq3g2iLfZ4XbRsCRkJkxXfC7NI/s1600/P2191730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7o17aIi4-s32QWHxFKR45sTakKrB1Huv2h0RZvb7unwx9QjinwYY2iXVw2bqMkBDZM50yqjI0vlGbPDtWJlFtLgrbH1ohnXBU4jFlYQ1rbS6x-27h2Fq3g2iLfZ4XbRsCRkJkxXfC7NI/s320/P2191730.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />It was a book-kind of Valentine's day apparently, as we both got eachother adorable little books for V-day. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw-pxJTIuvIDszYK8Kg0jSrdtaptG7aJSwSkchZusYz4SHEuHKshJyfchiw3HH_t_qhakYQK0Xmssl0Q7VxAnFKaYLVCvweMp29AGA9sG398nN9HHs-KUj00kplsQ4PgU1bHoivYO6pA/s1600/P2191731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw-pxJTIuvIDszYK8Kg0jSrdtaptG7aJSwSkchZusYz4SHEuHKshJyfchiw3HH_t_qhakYQK0Xmssl0Q7VxAnFKaYLVCvweMp29AGA9sG398nN9HHs-KUj00kplsQ4PgU1bHoivYO6pA/s320/P2191731.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My gift to Mr.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBq6EU39Dimdj9U8si3XBEKCAaT-ByRTAQgI19yCsAoqFfLCw5UCLfcNFXlHC8REbLz-4MbTpAMmMixP1787hJr7jo1StMkVSYoSXLg5KYj9blKjw-6LDlRWzGaeLaKhieAZslG6HFyw/s1600/P2191732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBq6EU39Dimdj9U8si3XBEKCAaT-ByRTAQgI19yCsAoqFfLCw5UCLfcNFXlHC8REbLz-4MbTpAMmMixP1787hJr7jo1StMkVSYoSXLg5KYj9blKjw-6LDlRWzGaeLaKhieAZslG6HFyw/s320/P2191732.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> This is such a cute little book. All of the pages have "something without something", like these ones - hair without do, foot without shoe. Our favourite was zoo without gnu. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd47exWWhrEz79uguIVTjhdITZG6Njtr-d0YnVqPBypIkZQn36U_eWjfOHPco9WPVNcR3HNPJXpYsLx8zZMFuoersJ40jvnrWTvQNQo1SnZGxqiFjU9JuTwmpiunirncQ_BvubSVg8evE/s1600/P2191733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd47exWWhrEz79uguIVTjhdITZG6Njtr-d0YnVqPBypIkZQn36U_eWjfOHPco9WPVNcR3HNPJXpYsLx8zZMFuoersJ40jvnrWTvQNQo1SnZGxqiFjU9JuTwmpiunirncQ_BvubSVg8evE/s320/P2191733.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">He knows me too well.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our actual Valentine's day "celebration" was post-poned by one day for the Mr. and I. </span><span style="font-size: small;">He's busy busy busy studying and working lately, and so V-day landed on one of his class nights this year.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However, with the impending doom of clerkship, I wasn't particularly feeling very lovey-dovey for Valentine's anyways. This turned out to be perfect, as I have an excellent girlfriend who was similarly in the mood for an Anti-Valentine's Day date. Combine a little wine (ok, maybe a little more than a little), an absolutely delicious meal, some quality girl talk time, and soaking in a hottub until we were raisins and you've got yourself one dandy replacement V-day celebration (ahem, I mean anti-V-day's celebration).<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I was lucky enough that the Mr. decided on our meal for our V-day do-over the next day: AAA striploin steaks and shrimp scampi over angel hair pasta. Yummo.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Here's the low down on our meal that night:<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The setting:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL14E7fG7-4ZNwSFoRqa_h6UGpzJNql9ikSMhVHfem4_uiIuGsJHNW8Co5VmbRdOhHLy3j9xBo_fjKA_suaQoGHKfx6Sl0u6Gtibxy7OXP42NEGNA7cdeKf2mQ2xmGYjJjPERjSN0YQGY/s1600/P2151716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL14E7fG7-4ZNwSFoRqa_h6UGpzJNql9ikSMhVHfem4_uiIuGsJHNW8Co5VmbRdOhHLy3j9xBo_fjKA_suaQoGHKfx6Sl0u6Gtibxy7OXP42NEGNA7cdeKf2mQ2xmGYjJjPERjSN0YQGY/s320/P2151716.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4UYM3FvO9uiBEhJ8XixYGUqAgU4_CK7_VgYqbeA-yD8MFixQbVXY3ekeLO93I0V8etK_NFURtehAjqAqxKa0tHlxvcDVyK6DC77s86rAHv5tu39-UiOw_QBqjSopfXCxFonjii2k14I/s1600/P2151717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4UYM3FvO9uiBEhJ8XixYGUqAgU4_CK7_VgYqbeA-yD8MFixQbVXY3ekeLO93I0V8etK_NFURtehAjqAqxKa0tHlxvcDVyK6DC77s86rAHv5tu39-UiOw_QBqjSopfXCxFonjii2k14I/s320/P2151717.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> A romantic meal just wouldn't be right without the perfect setting. And by setting, I mean place setting. The Mr. and I had yet to use our wedding china for a romantic dinner for just the two of us, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity. With our one year anniversary just around the corner (holy moly spicoli), I feel like the china might make a reappearance for that dinner as well :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVkKYQJDfOSrY_OVfjmF6AOt2OLc5r_iiaClCA9LaVYh2KhFsWI-Rx9dnIoTo5rrruz74bZ9EZ5mbcsufBfjoxpJA_OHZIrsM0iC-M8rQHx0-KfG3q5XukeLwlPtkEKrcxzusMDSsigg/s1600/P2151720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVkKYQJDfOSrY_OVfjmF6AOt2OLc5r_iiaClCA9LaVYh2KhFsWI-Rx9dnIoTo5rrruz74bZ9EZ5mbcsufBfjoxpJA_OHZIrsM0iC-M8rQHx0-KfG3q5XukeLwlPtkEKrcxzusMDSsigg/s320/P2151720.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> We started off with some Asparagus Bruschetta on rosemary baguette. An interesting take on one of our favourites, this recipe combines lime juice, blanched asparagus, tomatoes, fresh basil and goat cheese. As I'm not a huge fan of goat cheese, I replaced it with fresh parmesan. I also replaced the green onions with red onion. Next time, I'll reduce the amount of lime juice, as it was a little tangy for our tastes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">You can find the <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asparagus-bruschetta/detail.aspx">recipe here.</a> Be prepared for some killer garlic breath!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The main course:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aJ9JXs_9iaz2XggC9TjaHDd8LrTeAKBXcycN1TAj34hryHrauS_kzx0y4zqvxb-S1ib3obHqcYrmLWzB7ygp8whGp9L1X9TVwMvvoTJoHG_P0kdKl35C7ZZXw8iD7eZwt16KjJf34Xc/s1600/P2151721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aJ9JXs_9iaz2XggC9TjaHDd8LrTeAKBXcycN1TAj34hryHrauS_kzx0y4zqvxb-S1ib3obHqcYrmLWzB7ygp8whGp9L1X9TVwMvvoTJoHG_P0kdKl35C7ZZXw8iD7eZwt16KjJf34Xc/s320/P2151721.JPG" width="320" /></a>My mouth is watering just looking at this amazing meal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I had never made Shrimp Scampi before, but was thrilled with how easy it was to make, and also how delicious it was! The Mr. remarked that it was just like Red Lobster!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I love recipes that use just a few ingredients and you get a WOW product. <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/shrimp-scampi-iii/detail.aspx">Here's the shrimp scampi</a> recipe I used.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Addendum to the recipe however: I do not believe in "discarding" garlic, which is what this recipe recommends. In fact, I added an extra clove out of spite for the recipe. I also added some basil, and loved the bread crumbs for their ability to easily thicken the sauce. Next time, adding in some more salt and pepper. Top with fresh parmesan and voila! Magnificent! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To me, chocolate screams Valentine's Day. I had come across a recipe for easy Oreo Truffles on HowDoesShe.com, and decided to try them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And easy they are! I am going crazy imagining all of the possibilities for this recipe. I originally used Oreos as recommended, but since then have also repeated the same idea with Fudg-e-Os, and it turned out just as great!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Find this <a href="http://www.howdoesshe.com/oreo-truffles">recipe here</a>. I assumed I'd be eating more than one of these, and so took the liberty and used reduced fat cream cheese. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIjH876aUCp_td2dvHgmr2rrigtSmBNLY6lImeDVxklAN3xWlftebaz1EBRklduZ5oUr-dzHXcK2ojJkUo8GSi2lmcp8eutykN_RcmnCqds1aLzQO7dbmZmsYQ74XnkN_yG9_SbVCx50/s1600/P2151713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIjH876aUCp_td2dvHgmr2rrigtSmBNLY6lImeDVxklAN3xWlftebaz1EBRklduZ5oUr-dzHXcK2ojJkUo8GSi2lmcp8eutykN_RcmnCqds1aLzQO7dbmZmsYQ74XnkN_yG9_SbVCx50/s320/P2151713.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDL35lY84pEsd5oLLhWLc2GZeBFZk2DMSB3hNmroUhUUE2UIaYF6Rj_8eNugpKoUw7S3r_rrYI5yIPMVEE55SnfJK8yyqkF66uRHzvnEiVe0f6ruCfE3KZ8nXRM82c4c69VIBZo8fHCS0/s1600/P2151718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">No chocolate should ever be wasted, so with some lonely naked strawberries lying around, what better way to use it up?<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqtyi_7nJWn6ozw_UbylvSh8hjURslocwxhcuzp4D5l6QvgsEgzra45EGC0IfhyphenhyphenDVMU_h8mZJoBMS5PIeSWgoEuE-h_EnZsAivXZQTTWz5Okf7DRcYZtTd22252_5aM1lSPQOAbOG3A8/s1600/P2151719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqtyi_7nJWn6ozw_UbylvSh8hjURslocwxhcuzp4D5l6QvgsEgzra45EGC0IfhyphenhyphenDVMU_h8mZJoBMS5PIeSWgoEuE-h_EnZsAivXZQTTWz5Okf7DRcYZtTd22252_5aM1lSPQOAbOG3A8/s320/P2151719.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Hope you all had wonderful Valentines or Anti-Valentines celebrations this year, whichever tickles your fancy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-24700138178360566032012-02-13T18:54:00.000-08:002012-02-19T13:59:58.530-08:00How do people make it through life without a sister?<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The best weekends are unplanned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The most wonderful surprises are those you really never knew were happening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The greatest gift in life is a Sister.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Or in my case, a Seester.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I like to think that very few things get past me, but boy was I surprised when the two secret agents in my life were in cahoots for the ultimate birthday surprise - Seester flew all the way from out east for my birthday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I was so excited I cried. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What a jam packed and fun weekend it was! Despite being out to the wee hours of the morning on Friday, we were up at the crack of dawn causing trouble the next day - There's no time to waste when it's Seester time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mostly this post will detail the amazing meals we prepared during the weekend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">All of the recipes are from my new favourite addiction Pinterest, however we kind of winged it. Have fun with cooking, it's supposed to be creative right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Saturday was Pinterest Appetizer Day. Here's some deets about our delicious creations.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHRjmeW6QzFLyrLLKhQqHv7B5VlwaA8RhYaP-9ujFcYfGBBiY7LeWRt5hJpFl_Bp82Xtupw6TRu0OcufJoEDZIHpUOR7TAIXYHxXPslLeLH0-b9FwfzMEKJJlMW2xnhgUDLkfTpdDwFM/s1600/P2111679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHRjmeW6QzFLyrLLKhQqHv7B5VlwaA8RhYaP-9ujFcYfGBBiY7LeWRt5hJpFl_Bp82Xtupw6TRu0OcufJoEDZIHpUOR7TAIXYHxXPslLeLH0-b9FwfzMEKJJlMW2xnhgUDLkfTpdDwFM/s320/P2111679.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Partners in crime (with a heart)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCa1TlCq4ZElzbJnbWgha3VgC1qb8dVwcwgsgfG9aZ3mNgtB3nJLAgVQGYh82ok9E1LjGtsYyWoIKKxMYWzO2IkZ-s7x-SbwiAK3Bx6pbVWRjnXd-HaL_cVJL92JD5-gJiK2K5OCFT198/s1600/P2111687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCa1TlCq4ZElzbJnbWgha3VgC1qb8dVwcwgsgfG9aZ3mNgtB3nJLAgVQGYh82ok9E1LjGtsYyWoIKKxMYWzO2IkZ-s7x-SbwiAK3Bx6pbVWRjnXd-HaL_cVJL92JD5-gJiK2K5OCFT198/s320/P2111687.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mmmm smelly onions</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx_uHIwOapNAUVXlmGIX4vZhT5Ps1R8tXzfM9hMUbHi01eJinLytD9x3jimFYjIHTVKx9iHAqpUmH9q30uKq8NsdjRl0iYvRILe4jf71BV29fF0GWnubCtHPnafkDftYMiB1hoGTf_sE/s1600/P2111685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx_uHIwOapNAUVXlmGIX4vZhT5Ps1R8tXzfM9hMUbHi01eJinLytD9x3jimFYjIHTVKx9iHAqpUmH9q30uKq8NsdjRl0iYvRILe4jf71BV29fF0GWnubCtHPnafkDftYMiB1hoGTf_sE/s320/P2111685.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stuffed zucchini</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> We stuffed the zucchinis with ground turkey, onion and lots of garlic. If you try this at home, add salt, pepper, and maybe create a lovely sauce to go with it. Ours didn't have a sauce, but would've been nice with perhaps a marinara!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl1-43bkzlycqdE_pBFPJ2PBh9RPB_7NX14d2JBrViQz_7waB2Jf_Mn3nRZ4aiO9WuwGkIoq4pKwUHKJCrgHsv7z-1nPgy_zostOw2-gX-IXxewuwpEFZK2N9zmRPPXEP5i_Qq5itL9o/s1600/P2111686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl1-43bkzlycqdE_pBFPJ2PBh9RPB_7NX14d2JBrViQz_7waB2Jf_Mn3nRZ4aiO9WuwGkIoq4pKwUHKJCrgHsv7z-1nPgy_zostOw2-gX-IXxewuwpEFZK2N9zmRPPXEP5i_Qq5itL9o/s320/P2111686.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stuffing for Four Cheese Stuffed Portobellos</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> A combination of Ricotta cheese, Parmesan, Mozzarella and Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese for our delicious and delightful stuffed portobello mushrooms.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrP9FYeT2XfIGHHSdh1215i9pPwXkCc0FcBUASMmizcHI3cBGyMgOr3xCL2H05gqztjlU1bwkyGPiLZJgqnE3ru2HbdX68IJt6NG-_IxcBzbC0F9ejjcRHp-nUNl1GIp03PjtTHnbZjU/s1600/P2111698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrP9FYeT2XfIGHHSdh1215i9pPwXkCc0FcBUASMmizcHI3cBGyMgOr3xCL2H05gqztjlU1bwkyGPiLZJgqnE3ru2HbdX68IJt6NG-_IxcBzbC0F9ejjcRHp-nUNl1GIp03PjtTHnbZjU/s320/P2111698.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The finished products prior to cooking - YUM</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The third dish we made was probably the grand winner of all three that day. We didn't take too many pictures of it but it's an easy and very adaptable dish that has endless variations. From Rachel Ray, it's a layered casserole made with tortillas, grilled chicken, salsa, spinach and mozzarella cheese. I can envision many variations of this - especially something scrumptious like grilled chicken, parmesan, pesto and dried cranberries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Yum, that's gonna be the next version for sure!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The last night (tres sad) Seester was here, Mr. made an unbelievable meal. He used one of our favourite recipes (Slammin Salmon - AllRecipes.com) and one he found from Food Network. O.M.G. One of the best meals I've ever had.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm5UBZrOqYUXFMc6trqAVhqGhwjoeZV1uLdCU0eIjWRdCVB5UTtLybtLtGqDH3RWo-ftQKDVHQjtviA8YdN3H6Vj0bLuh7B4DqSYTzeKoDdsmP9aKeHzNLqTHoTyJZ5F4vNWKTfV-h0oc/s1600/P2121706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm5UBZrOqYUXFMc6trqAVhqGhwjoeZV1uLdCU0eIjWRdCVB5UTtLybtLtGqDH3RWo-ftQKDVHQjtviA8YdN3H6Vj0bLuh7B4DqSYTzeKoDdsmP9aKeHzNLqTHoTyJZ5F4vNWKTfV-h0oc/s320/P2121706.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Slammin' Salmon</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzdstUffotV7dQgPPnl4k_8akSj13_-M_yNCJRQLK03GgzGQiriU5pvXQBA63CSm7pQH7z4dMKUKwyRWgjpIenjebdEadh8pEhJANFUmz3MFZzyXmiO8Bsl1RCHc-Sz1X1c-6XkLiRKQ/s1600/P2121708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzdstUffotV7dQgPPnl4k_8akSj13_-M_yNCJRQLK03GgzGQiriU5pvXQBA63CSm7pQH7z4dMKUKwyRWgjpIenjebdEadh8pEhJANFUmz3MFZzyXmiO8Bsl1RCHc-Sz1X1c-6XkLiRKQ/s320/P2121708.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The most amazing mushroom risotto using arborio rice, shitake, button, and portobello mushrooms, white wine, bay leaves, thyme and a whole lot of deliciousness. AMAZING.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HpBeCpepFjwFRCgt1Nfk7zfwoaw6v2h98DiPhy-BAAA0RjwF4BNywDF9bENiUX7Y-VHXiXVYMHgxq29nSYKL4HBOwurfyFxOOuXmWzAtp1QvJxha66jV6w_vxGYMkGciOlXSTrtPc8w/s1600/P2121711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HpBeCpepFjwFRCgt1Nfk7zfwoaw6v2h98DiPhy-BAAA0RjwF4BNywDF9bENiUX7Y-VHXiXVYMHgxq29nSYKL4HBOwurfyFxOOuXmWzAtp1QvJxha66jV6w_vxGYMkGciOlXSTrtPc8w/s320/P2121711.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The finished meal complete with homemade salad dressing (of my own recipe)!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The rest of the weekend was made up of dancing, drinks, delicious meals out at restaurants, shopping (naturally), lots of warm beverages, and of course, crafting. We found adorable clothing at our favourite store Zoe's, and these adorable brass owls. $6 - what a steal. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYRLL0pVcicjH-jn9v2BdnAjCal6tpMaBBBBnSmGrvcxdx1Jl3cYCeebESvyzKq_I2gEPXgVTBrq01Ghs_LOYQqBPiWTgPwOJ7eGzTt7jqZlpbk7lXNw2250r0zv3sdCe1rQtFqc-FDc/s1600/P2131712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXYRLL0pVcicjH-jn9v2BdnAjCal6tpMaBBBBnSmGrvcxdx1Jl3cYCeebESvyzKq_I2gEPXgVTBrq01Ghs_LOYQqBPiWTgPwOJ7eGzTt7jqZlpbk7lXNw2250r0zv3sdCe1rQtFqc-FDc/s320/P2131712.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hoo, Hooty and Hooter.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I'll post the canine's new paw art that we made as soon as I get around to taking pictures of their masterpieces. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately though, like all good meals, even the best of weekends end. We go back to our respective lives and wait until we can be together again for laughs, drinks and lots of sister time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Until next time,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-74409793332010899432012-01-31T12:01:00.000-08:002012-01-31T12:07:55.910-08:00Adorable hair pins are a must-have accessory.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-L4xMpjqHc1lcgXZRwINZZsJ8-5I1yp2kTL8InUmG7G56rLsYNRyFEnZiPugGqhyuGdaIWWyYUbq9BIG1tSmuw1zCDI1ce2ieMBOkoXFCCVhuhc1avFqgad3nET4V80D8qhDk8v7OLw/s1600/Make+beautiful+things" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-L4xMpjqHc1lcgXZRwINZZsJ8-5I1yp2kTL8InUmG7G56rLsYNRyFEnZiPugGqhyuGdaIWWyYUbq9BIG1tSmuw1zCDI1ce2ieMBOkoXFCCVhuhc1avFqgad3nET4V80D8qhDk8v7OLw/s320/Make+beautiful+things" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's a sunny day. A beautiful sunny day and I decided that while I still have the choice before succumbing to the slavery of clerkship, I would blow off my adult responsibilities today and indulge my crafting appetites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I knew this was not going to happen if DevilDog was not sufficiently tuckered out for some peace and quiet to exist in this household. And considering a bizarre dream I had of him last night biting the head off of a hummingbird, I thought maybe I should drain his buckets of energy to prevent any potential decapitations.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpm0niuIDpHfTFZbCemuuZUHye7pt9_fYTFrRlkUdYuSz3OBtNWluq4UUr6WGfnXpNGM3peWmJWtR8rFuMmAEWuYvqgF1qJ4mXWFkcCm2AsSSnVIvuRrcewUffdXnV_4kne0Oc_NJAIM/s1600/P1221551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpm0niuIDpHfTFZbCemuuZUHye7pt9_fYTFrRlkUdYuSz3OBtNWluq4UUr6WGfnXpNGM3peWmJWtR8rFuMmAEWuYvqgF1qJ4mXWFkcCm2AsSSnVIvuRrcewUffdXnV_4kne0Oc_NJAIM/s320/P1221551.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Let's play! All. the. time!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our newest game is Hide and Seek. He is absolutely in love with this clear ball which glows multiple different colours - it doesn't even have to be turned on and he loves it. So I have him wait in the bedroom and I close the door. Depending on how much he has been terrorizing the house that day, I hide the ball somewhere easy, or somewhere hard. We've graduated to me hiding it anywhere in the house now. I release the beast, and the game is on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He will look frantically around the house and has gotten so good at finding the ball, that I have to hide it in progressively more difficult spots, and when he finds it I cheer and clap my hands to keep him encouraged. I think he's a search and rescue dog in the making! As long as what is being rescued is a glow ball. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is an excellent way to tire out working breeds like Border Collies, I think. Within 15 minutes, he's panting and tuckered out, and all the while I've been able to be productive in between the hidings. This is also my favourite new game - maximum results for minimum efforts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">While pinning yesterday, I came across the <a href="http://www.sew-much-ado.com/2011/04/anthro-knock-off-tutorial-brocco.html">SewMuchAdo</a> blog and her tutorial on making knock-offs of <a href="http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=19925130&catId=ACCESSORIES-HAIR&pushId=ACCESSORIES-HAIR&popId=JEWELRYACCESSORIES&navAction=top&navCount=30&color=072&isProduct=true&fromCategoryPage=true&isSubcategory=true&subCategoryId=ACCESSORIES-HAIR-CLIPS&templateType=subCategory">these adorable brocco bobbies</a> from Anthropologie. Being that I have yet to experiment making fabric yoyos, I decided to give them a shot. You can follow her great tutorial by clicking above. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What fun! I have accumulated a large assortment of fabric remnants since my love affair with sewing began, and thought this was an excellent way to use them up AND make adorable accessories :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">They're also SO easy to make. Even for you, Seester. :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Here are the ones I've made. I will put up a picture of me wearing them as soon as my hair is presentable. Which considering my mood today, probably won't be today. But stay tuned!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenrPpW78aw0rrSmLO2V0aVZAbd1dbfLwDRJHEYt4Ys2YhZ8MTCxK2uYptdbP5wQgVD8Q36Dhs3RUfifNEC6XleeXNfKOEy3vRvqSvLGk6kuNrAe2rltxTaQ1K17YiM4eQbKPDRiFL7HQ/s1600/P1311665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenrPpW78aw0rrSmLO2V0aVZAbd1dbfLwDRJHEYt4Ys2YhZ8MTCxK2uYptdbP5wQgVD8Q36Dhs3RUfifNEC6XleeXNfKOEy3vRvqSvLGk6kuNrAe2rltxTaQ1K17YiM4eQbKPDRiFL7HQ/s320/P1311665.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I also finished some great pillow covers for a girlfriend today, to match her vanity bench and storage box for her bedroom. The fabric is just great - TREES!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs4quANTt9vns05UsY9etULDCAgw3JCSQJ4lq41NUadd_aWTB1s13AmeCOtjpw1deAgR2GNyDk2UnGoqUVWPUzoSO3iWFcOtPf0WOjmiZtsQJYzKVpMjOM9hjKQeIhEzIGpkmorx927I/s1600/P1291636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs4quANTt9vns05UsY9etULDCAgw3JCSQJ4lq41NUadd_aWTB1s13AmeCOtjpw1deAgR2GNyDk2UnGoqUVWPUzoSO3iWFcOtPf0WOjmiZtsQJYzKVpMjOM9hjKQeIhEzIGpkmorx927I/s320/P1291636.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What was a lonely, bland storage bench becomes...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjOzi4ste6RgGhGW2m6oh3sjTHSGpB99nFIksfXFPLGJDGSFsM22LsK3fmsFfbCRkqd5RaQ5dcDcRzioni4_JQaD8ZeGYtQp-ZY_A3SHZMS4ydPevbemnGNHsQ-cCuCxboOwAYD1jqS8/s1600/P1311666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjOzi4ste6RgGhGW2m6oh3sjTHSGpB99nFIksfXFPLGJDGSFsM22LsK3fmsFfbCRkqd5RaQ5dcDcRzioni4_JQaD8ZeGYtQp-ZY_A3SHZMS4ydPevbemnGNHsQ-cCuCxboOwAYD1jqS8/s320/P1311666.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beautiful re-upholstered vanity seat :)</td></tr>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
I'm clearly unstoppable with a staple gun in hand. I even have a blister on my palm to prove that I didn't ask Mr. C to do it for me. My mind is spinning with what I can do with it next. <br />
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I've also begun taking pictures of my past projects to be posted on here, so keep your eyes peeled for those. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Y4ow-2UwWbe-rqJvjg5dsQvNmF8HyZMQph-Qp-f-K-rs1bEq6AWs95tvSt4FO7wAtF1jga6QKsWEBHzLASigvEBXZ2f-e5yzpKPFnwnkqaIwStpWaNNj0Kj9CUGiCnFqFX2u8uRrFUM/s1600/P1311667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Y4ow-2UwWbe-rqJvjg5dsQvNmF8HyZMQph-Qp-f-K-rs1bEq6AWs95tvSt4FO7wAtF1jga6QKsWEBHzLASigvEBXZ2f-e5yzpKPFnwnkqaIwStpWaNNj0Kj9CUGiCnFqFX2u8uRrFUM/s320/P1311667.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What should these become?</td></tr>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">C<br /> </span></div>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-78312513355581217792012-01-29T20:54:00.000-08:002012-01-29T20:54:49.529-08:00Dollar stores, vintage postcards and cedar planked salmon.<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The best shopping days are those that are unplanned, fruitful and with the best of girlfriends. Add in a dash of "we have no school work to do" and you've got a pretty dangerous combination (as The Mr will often say, "bad news bears"). </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">First stop was Dollar Giant. What a great store for crafts! $35 later, I'm stocked up for all sorts of wonderful creations. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then we moved on to My Sewing Room - Goodness me! The prettiest of prettiest fabrics and the most high tech sewing machines I've ever seen. I'll definitely be going back. But first, I should use up the mountain of fabric I have right? Right?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(Ugh, that's what I keep telling myself. But some of those fabrics were the stuff DREAMS are made of!)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Anyways, to get on to some of the fruits of my labours of today: an adorable dry-erase message board :)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFwe2sVBlend05r1euoYPHJrh3vsZNprKR9UAyt6Y0rEJgNGmLx7tmaeGL9zCA_JpAdWnPR4CqyXz_U3KLBsZb_ajVhoH59R9S1gr0Ro8Uk7pgiJgrfwe_dH4HZGofH3cr0w0dh5Mmpk/s1600/P1291662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFwe2sVBlend05r1euoYPHJrh3vsZNprKR9UAyt6Y0rEJgNGmLx7tmaeGL9zCA_JpAdWnPR4CqyXz_U3KLBsZb_ajVhoH59R9S1gr0Ro8Uk7pgiJgrfwe_dH4HZGofH3cr0w0dh5Mmpk/s320/P1291662.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> The Mr and I are always leaving notes for eachother on scrap paper left on the counter. So I modified this idea from HowDoesShe?.com (GREAT website), used an adorable vintage postcard printable and $1.25 frame from Dollar Giant (it has a plastic piece in the front, not glass) and VOILA - functional, inexpensive and adorable message board! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Just add dry erase markers and loving messages!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">These could also be great for gifts. You can use almost any image behind the plastic, or even change it up for the season. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also printed off some other great printables for frames, and even printed a lovely saying on fabric, glued it to a dollar store canvas and propped it on a little easel. All in all, a productive and fun day.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2HRMAJWFdskxysfXGnWtHaUh61PT4rz2KKTJcXTVGRLPIvUdaFrGD6gYi1Ikjzklp8Qd3t55iZ2sUdMqHzRHhyphenhyphen1KzlsNw-Zz7VfTjfSztANt3KSy0Gf4q5aoqt08ZLfeXUlQGBj2vxc/s1600/love_fairytale_quote3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2HRMAJWFdskxysfXGnWtHaUh61PT4rz2KKTJcXTVGRLPIvUdaFrGD6gYi1Ikjzklp8Qd3t55iZ2sUdMqHzRHhyphenhyphen1KzlsNw-Zz7VfTjfSztANt3KSy0Gf4q5aoqt08ZLfeXUlQGBj2vxc/s320/love_fairytale_quote3.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Becomes...</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-1Q2SC6kJPoASz7CnTwYedFpbseZ4b0Jq9oWujVItxVT3n6UsW6gB_PS-ipAsDKx12p7igOIXgIjCD1DjORDSHb95Uy2oxMg-Ei3OrxiwCGaSujUKIYUsU_BmKYgVPhk88tztr7FGXg/s1600/P1291637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-1Q2SC6kJPoASz7CnTwYedFpbseZ4b0Jq9oWujVItxVT3n6UsW6gB_PS-ipAsDKx12p7igOIXgIjCD1DjORDSHb95Uy2oxMg-Ei3OrxiwCGaSujUKIYUsU_BmKYgVPhk88tztr7FGXg/s320/P1291637.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And,</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWHeROZuGXCF24BKNCLti7axrJx5bboPzHMdO4_m2s51QGGgnicxOcK9FgjX3YmDe05vovaKZzBiZrCI5jqideObqV2XDw4Yb_iDmP2XZXbDkSHJcXEC26iBvG3vvBGGV5OHZ1ShbivE/s1600/For+me." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWHeROZuGXCF24BKNCLti7axrJx5bboPzHMdO4_m2s51QGGgnicxOcK9FgjX3YmDe05vovaKZzBiZrCI5jqideObqV2XDw4Yb_iDmP2XZXbDkSHJcXEC26iBvG3vvBGGV5OHZ1ShbivE/s320/For+me." width="246" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Becomes...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPVYmWnksrmnEbAdoL5c7bGuJ62WOHgHPdyXQya5bR5iqONqTVBfxQ4e9gGcuSw3J5QxPx9dtVk7auxyDKecqExYa1WbasUFKrbb-_9MymdD01obAzjVozAR2aoxAXbGezDmFC5F3-dU/s1600/P1291639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPVYmWnksrmnEbAdoL5c7bGuJ62WOHgHPdyXQya5bR5iqONqTVBfxQ4e9gGcuSw3J5QxPx9dtVk7auxyDKecqExYa1WbasUFKrbb-_9MymdD01obAzjVozAR2aoxAXbGezDmFC5F3-dU/s320/P1291639.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Top that off with a delicious dinner of cedar planked salmon expertly grilled by The Mr and a homemade cafe mocha and I chalk it up to a pretty awesome weekend :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Cedar plank + maple syrup + dijon mustard + lemon juice + fresh Atlantic salmon filet = mouthwatering! </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RTJtu19lzKLGxWcQkbKQhowoPj_ZX4wtTxhE3lkmVoURQ6TOalC2FlXDIrl17rbtC4YK1KZzf_SScAyjPynBXkfKDHrFjgYIxZagSKuTRb4wTwr-IdfKxPAhvmNegg6vIv4Qva0CDZo/s1600/P1291650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RTJtu19lzKLGxWcQkbKQhowoPj_ZX4wtTxhE3lkmVoURQ6TOalC2FlXDIrl17rbtC4YK1KZzf_SScAyjPynBXkfKDHrFjgYIxZagSKuTRb4wTwr-IdfKxPAhvmNegg6vIv4Qva0CDZo/s320/P1291650.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcsmACzlmnELTe4nfpeDS0p45Wso5AWq-iBfO40kUgyoEQWTiRvlL4b4BejmoilR-xtY5G9qx8nAi8uUeri5fFhTA120NCh0wALyC7Er0YtNsFaegDRWMyE4TZ9fCocAcn9pUcfQhWHw/s1600/P1291655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcsmACzlmnELTe4nfpeDS0p45Wso5AWq-iBfO40kUgyoEQWTiRvlL4b4BejmoilR-xtY5G9qx8nAi8uUeri5fFhTA120NCh0wALyC7Er0YtNsFaegDRWMyE4TZ9fCocAcn9pUcfQhWHw/s320/P1291655.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8yNkYf6lg92ZWlYxrZIYFKI5fbl8PiCjEUWAsn4ADHXDsOTEy-q3WVxNWwrCKvr8rYHVGYgPpDFSqavdReK48BYla-ljSIL5pKa8iyhoPSVModSWak_jaKLo3psFOG07iZrDkV2rrMk/s1600/P1291657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8yNkYf6lg92ZWlYxrZIYFKI5fbl8PiCjEUWAsn4ADHXDsOTEy-q3WVxNWwrCKvr8rYHVGYgPpDFSqavdReK48BYla-ljSIL5pKa8iyhoPSVModSWak_jaKLo3psFOG07iZrDkV2rrMk/s320/P1291657.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A tree? A lion? Who knows.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> A latte love,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">C</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-43623621363114968702012-01-29T20:16:00.000-08:002012-01-29T21:27:36.770-08:00I have mastered the box corner and it has changed my life.<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What a great weekend this was. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After finishing my end of second year OSCE (which I'm not sure what that even stands for - o-something standardized clinical examination?), and having a fun night out with a few of my favourite people, (but sans Mr. C - he had a climbing competition in the morning), I began a knitting needle case project for Ms. Cho.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Roll-up knitting needle case and fabric yarn basket: </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fYZibNM0heQ0L1R4wq-4_ExhXhcBHScP1FEw60z8FpNmAS0d9NfjiOnPSZN_MWmKfehqHnGGnjpvTVeEvXTRJzlmN9hr9FEpUoD8wIbmXyQaCJukXgpGRV2Rx5tHQzvtsOruQmwd5Ho/s1600/P1291633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fYZibNM0heQ0L1R4wq-4_ExhXhcBHScP1FEw60z8FpNmAS0d9NfjiOnPSZN_MWmKfehqHnGGnjpvTVeEvXTRJzlmN9hr9FEpUoD8wIbmXyQaCJukXgpGRV2Rx5tHQzvtsOruQmwd5Ho/s320/P1291633.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I tried to take some pictures while I made the case, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I based the knitting needle case off of <a href="http://madebyloulabelle.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-make-knitting-needle-roll.html" target="_blank">this one</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ms. Cho had picked out some darling fabrics for her knitting needle case. I started out by measuring/cutting:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3ziKxZnxbSuaIHZgNxV223IDkEb1A8uG5iZMZuSAVJrZ59wa6edQxpKCdYGnB7VkJSrV7GjuQ9tTQB6-RtCQQUoVzRVmj9c0z23RaP4_e3mM9M1Z5CKCkPHkpPMBOz7quJTungdx-78/s1600/P1281618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3ziKxZnxbSuaIHZgNxV223IDkEb1A8uG5iZMZuSAVJrZ59wa6edQxpKCdYGnB7VkJSrV7GjuQ9tTQB6-RtCQQUoVzRVmj9c0z23RaP4_e3mM9M1Z5CKCkPHkpPMBOz7quJTungdx-78/s200/P1281618.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From main inner and outer fabric (green in this picture) - two 16"h x 15"w panels</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From big pocket material (pink polkadots) - 8.5"h x 15"w (I doubled it for strength, so made 2 of this shape)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From small pocket material (purple polkadots) - 4"h x 15"w (again, I doubled it so for strength)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I cut a piece of medium weight iron-on interfacing 16"h x 15"h</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I decided to add a pocket on the far right side, and so measured out a small square for the pocket flap. I'm not sure what my measurements were (I have to get better at this measuring and keeping track for blog purposes!). I just kind of eyed it. I'd estimate a rectangle 4"x 2".</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4llwcg8tbWoQduthz-LXb2vGVXir4317E4slGzFaG9gFSMdLETSpzOTxILGlzBcQ_8Z6psdrTNALclc09HbZfWTS_4VdH0uVYLqrlOfviGoW4awXEPcYmrXPbb1f41oUtBiYuFWH2F-E/s1600/P1281619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4llwcg8tbWoQduthz-LXb2vGVXir4317E4slGzFaG9gFSMdLETSpzOTxILGlzBcQ_8Z6psdrTNALclc09HbZfWTS_4VdH0uVYLqrlOfviGoW4awXEPcYmrXPbb1f41oUtBiYuFWH2F-E/s200/P1281619.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From the lavender double-sided bias tape pictured here, I covered the tops of both pocket panels.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I lined up the pink and purple (big and small pocket materials) to find out where the flap of the pocket should go. You can see what I mean below.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You need to sew the pocket flap on the big pocket material BEFORE you sew the big pocket to the main lining material. You can see here (it looks like the pink is attached to the green fabric, but it's only pinned in anticipation of the next step). You also need to affix one side of a velcro strip to the flap of the pocket.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItIbs7LaUuZ7nHeGT2ZJGhqx9UIRtQWfp9sZ8l1_BBrfhvr5bw9t5upbOx6SX6ZMITF7wY69F682Y0e-uj_xDZAALQASoxGdHcwbqQYqE-RWEnPX__A5ReBWyU5pBQFcrN50SFoyvZQc/s1600/P1291621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItIbs7LaUuZ7nHeGT2ZJGhqx9UIRtQWfp9sZ8l1_BBrfhvr5bw9t5upbOx6SX6ZMITF7wY69F682Y0e-uj_xDZAALQASoxGdHcwbqQYqE-RWEnPX__A5ReBWyU5pBQFcrN50SFoyvZQc/s320/P1291621.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next, I sewed the large pocket to the inner main fabric on the sides and bottom.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I used the measurements from the link above to draw on the needle sleeves. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The measurements I used were:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">[2 1/2"] [2 1/2"] [1"] [1"] [1"] [1 1/2"] [1 1/2"] [1 1/2"] [2 1/2"]</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(I feel like you can mix this up based on what needles you have and their widths.)<br />I drew lines on as straight as possible with my vanishing fabric marker and stitched them up:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45sGMARR9wlx1LZ-z8XL5mJrIP2VHLuDQbQFjk1EiWH1Aqf7LWewFjoWLBTxsxyttC6BB1p-SbfshBZ7LNj9z4Od3pplrTigtdQrQ1Kz8Lv85dglqjfkiG2lzkEWIHyq3juDiWsvpw9I/s1600/P1291622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45sGMARR9wlx1LZ-z8XL5mJrIP2VHLuDQbQFjk1EiWH1Aqf7LWewFjoWLBTxsxyttC6BB1p-SbfshBZ7LNj9z4Od3pplrTigtdQrQ1Kz8Lv85dglqjfkiG2lzkEWIHyq3juDiWsvpw9I/s320/P1291622.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I didn't take a picture of when I sewed the pockets over the pocket flap. This part was a bit complicated. But essentially, I sewed down to where the flap was and stopped, then flipped the flap up and started a new line of stitching below the pocket flap. (Sorry if that's confusing!)</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp0fXU3gfBF_fKxEyNAfyw0KqQ990Kjqt-U-9v4JExHHbZ-EUAG3i1ZIYFRyE__872KKOdz3bLqD3QQr6JEWMCuk8-OuGINyYIy9a55qgmBcqJy8pc4x16uJalq5HZGNT05klhh9n2CY/s1600/P1291623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp0fXU3gfBF_fKxEyNAfyw0KqQ990Kjqt-U-9v4JExHHbZ-EUAG3i1ZIYFRyE__872KKOdz3bLqD3QQr6JEWMCuk8-OuGINyYIy9a55qgmBcqJy8pc4x16uJalq5HZGNT05klhh9n2CY/s200/P1291623.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At this point, I added the other side of the velcro strip on the right spot on the small pocket fabric. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next, I added the smaller pocket and followed the lines of stitching from the larger pocket sleeves down through the purple fabric. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There were a few more steps I didn't take pictures of (give me a break, this is my first "tutorial"!).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After completing the main body of the case, I sewed a 1/2 yard of white ribbon to the center of the backing fabric (the 2nd piece of the green fabric featured here). I also ironed the interfacing onto the back piece for some more stability for the project. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I took a small length of the main fabric and folded it over at the top of the case so that any needle ends can be tucked in and prevented from sliding out the top of the case. You can see what I'm talking about in the picture below. I joined this to the case with some more purple bias tape, which I put all the way around the case.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And, the knitting needle case was complete. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYE352a3w_bcqNbKeaysStmnnnQZMG5b6PpIyDUioFTyZ2lcanq-PW0mQr7K8woUVz35oz6lAN9yw0l4I8PdlVQ9FA58zPGM-Q9RQ2D0OYUXMflGQdeHHMbS0OYpN48o3rG46rFyjxqI/s1600/P1291625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYE352a3w_bcqNbKeaysStmnnnQZMG5b6PpIyDUioFTyZ2lcanq-PW0mQr7K8woUVz35oz6lAN9yw0l4I8PdlVQ9FA58zPGM-Q9RQ2D0OYUXMflGQdeHHMbS0OYpN48o3rG46rFyjxqI/s320/P1291625.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BtyISMzISAFKhNgEemPN1YiylHqL19adYQrgrWYapGirQOLHltEXUv56ejqjcuLRI5a7Az2NTLFAnSFNvXH4lws9ygal4XDyOZZ8IN49EFfyZA9bltPDk3nxRDG0R8RgXxEEoycyKBQ/s1600/P1291626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BtyISMzISAFKhNgEemPN1YiylHqL19adYQrgrWYapGirQOLHltEXUv56ejqjcuLRI5a7Az2NTLFAnSFNvXH4lws9ygal4XDyOZZ8IN49EFfyZA9bltPDk3nxRDG0R8RgXxEEoycyKBQ/s200/P1291626.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's the completed project all rolled up. Really happy with how it turned out.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If these instructions are confusing (not surprising), please feel free to see the tutorial my project was loosely based on <a href="http://madebyloulabelle.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-make-knitting-needle-roll.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So considering I make my sewing room into a sweat shop once I get on a roll, and being that I had extra fabric left over, I thought <i>why not</i> make a fabric nesting bag as well for the bestie to put her yarn in?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I found a great tutorial for fabric nesting baskets on <a href="http://sew4home.com/projects/storage-solutions/1055-re-imagine-a-renovate-structured-fabric-baskets-become-boho-nesting-duo">Sew4Home.com</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And this my friends, is when I mastered (or at least did for the first time) box corners. Be. still. my. heart.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wonderfully easy, and perfectly functional. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's a picture of my first "boxing" of my corner. So much simpler than I'd ever imagined. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfRDsyTJaM6eML8ZS0t2Ol1QxxP2WwAtqQKPDT-myGDlt368WG4o6wyitnkQIsKiGdkD82IWFs664DsvRnZCoWh-r4DKSbVcdW-ecNKCcbppudG_mxZ9tdLeZSkkGc_VkbLWf_n7G-rHc/s1600/P1291627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfRDsyTJaM6eML8ZS0t2Ol1QxxP2WwAtqQKPDT-myGDlt368WG4o6wyitnkQIsKiGdkD82IWFs664DsvRnZCoWh-r4DKSbVcdW-ecNKCcbppudG_mxZ9tdLeZSkkGc_VkbLWf_n7G-rHc/s200/P1291627.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'll be terrible at any attempt at explaining this process, but don't hesitate to read the true experts' version at Sew4Home.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For this project, I used:</span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Two exterior fabric panels measuring 12"h x 17"w</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Two pieces of medium-weight sew-in interfacing measuring the same as above</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Two interior lining panels (pink polkadots) measuring the same as above</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Two pieces of quilt batting with the same measurements as above</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Two pieces measuring 6"x2" of each of the handle fabrics you are using (so you need a total of 4 pieces - two of each side of the handle). Confused yet?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One 35" l x 4"w of coordinating fabric for the top rim of the nesting basket</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I really recommend you reading the tutorial from Sew4Home for these baskets because I'm a bit atrocious at explaining this process :S</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqat2l-FZq8uE1C5XN1UPGyTRYS9B-hm8ig8KN0KDYzDWkakwGpZaZNcygelFloSZJan3T9NCauKEwiGAZI-f-l1U4CjRjxAKcjdM-JyYaEDlAdm1DAVl9bAJm5rxY0zYMQ3NeXMSR6M/s1600/P1291628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqat2l-FZq8uE1C5XN1UPGyTRYS9B-hm8ig8KN0KDYzDWkakwGpZaZNcygelFloSZJan3T9NCauKEwiGAZI-f-l1U4CjRjxAKcjdM-JyYaEDlAdm1DAVl9bAJm5rxY0zYMQ3NeXMSR6M/s200/P1291628.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Anyways, I ironed the interfacing to the wrong sides of each exterior material (the green in this example). I then joined them right sides in and sewed along the sides and bottom. Then did the magical box-corner trick, where you slightly pull the two sides apart, line up the long seams on the inside, form a triangle at the corner (mine measured 6" across). Sew this triangle, and cut it off. You can see what you end up with in the picture on the right.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Once the exterior was done, I repeated the process with the lining fabric, only using the quilt batting in the place of the interfacing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Once you have that all done, nest the lining in the exterior, and stitch around the top to secure.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDy2-8EcNTdyZlZZoRAGUZDYjG_Vzy1UPS22HmVoh88VBc3qxvnT8wx1os2cg9Cg6i-JyQxwWjjHJjl77t1XQqpGPaF7CofRewVV4mhsxOGWtR8qobA3RqiU1gvQaWuSok3iXE-V325I/s1600/P1291629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDy2-8EcNTdyZlZZoRAGUZDYjG_Vzy1UPS22HmVoh88VBc3qxvnT8wx1os2cg9Cg6i-JyQxwWjjHJjl77t1XQqpGPaF7CofRewVV4mhsxOGWtR8qobA3RqiU1gvQaWuSok3iXE-V325I/s320/P1291629.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Use the long piece of fabric (35"x4") and iron it into a large version of a double sided bias tape. Sew to the top rim of the basket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">With the handle strips, sew them right sides together on three sides. Turn inside out, iron flat, sew closed and sew a seam all the way around them. Join them to the basket as seen in this photo.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2PeQMOGkPlv0F-QnqNTTENfuU95ksYuHL-BjQDOLo_3TVqjSeNNKoGYREgMNsXMLCFxF-gHFU0EBJAxIcx8TXIyMuyB_VFd4geS8aIfZosj22xFDqJRGAvJGaWllA9u-kkKZ56UWHaI/s1600/P1291632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2PeQMOGkPlv0F-QnqNTTENfuU95ksYuHL-BjQDOLo_3TVqjSeNNKoGYREgMNsXMLCFxF-gHFU0EBJAxIcx8TXIyMuyB_VFd4geS8aIfZosj22xFDqJRGAvJGaWllA9u-kkKZ56UWHaI/s320/P1291632.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> VOILA! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you're still with me, here's the completed projects :) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU57lITMiacvos523f7rHggB1qYJ90mzP0V6xJj1u6Lo9fzjBZhmyPRZyUm9rBQl56z9tehjn5WWu5WTPID4f5JQgXIB4TTFwxlWR9l6Ww10-SiYgv2zkQ_dloaqtgqLjETqshy5ZhgvE/s1600/P1291634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU57lITMiacvos523f7rHggB1qYJ90mzP0V6xJj1u6Lo9fzjBZhmyPRZyUm9rBQl56z9tehjn5WWu5WTPID4f5JQgXIB4TTFwxlWR9l6Ww10-SiYgv2zkQ_dloaqtgqLjETqshy5ZhgvE/s320/P1291634.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Please don't hesitate to email if you have any questions about my super-confusing directions. As this is my first attempt at tutorial, I will try to improve!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A latte love,</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">C</span></span><br />
<br />Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4376955105914177902.post-79416180262872401022012-01-26T17:44:00.000-08:002012-01-26T17:44:53.830-08:00Challenge: Take pretty pictures of my crafts<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So this being my first venture into serious blogging, and the fact that I want to showcase my early sewing projects on the blog to share with the wide world, I need to learn how to capture their true essence on film. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In other words, I need to take better pictures than what I have of them now. I simply cannot post them here for the world to scrutinize when they are not showing their true potential.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is going to take some work however. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of my favourite blogs, <i>Dog Under My Desk</i> has a post about photo lighting and how to use your camera, where she offers some awesome tips about getting that perfect picture. You can read that post <a href="http://erinerickson.com/2011/11/photo-lighting-and-how-to-use-your-camera/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDePaDsdANFnHQDCdznjClEqx589ZEhZZZx9vk2Swi_j-0je6IUClrk39MewYdK_zACPF0roOxUeXb3k-n5IdKos1fb_5D9dfZManbDci6GE879lyM_6SnBY3Trf3IYk4pWpJ73jIch5s/s1600/Wine+flu" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDePaDsdANFnHQDCdznjClEqx589ZEhZZZx9vk2Swi_j-0je6IUClrk39MewYdK_zACPF0roOxUeXb3k-n5IdKos1fb_5D9dfZManbDci6GE879lyM_6SnBY3Trf3IYk4pWpJ73jIch5s/s200/Wine+flu" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So until I have mastered these beautiful photos, you will not be seeing any of my past crafts on the blog. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> However, it is my intention to get them up asap - probably this weekend, after all of the OSCE madness is gone and I've recovered from my post-exam wine flu. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now for my first London Fog, made by Essa.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span>Carlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09514143832310285080noreply@blogger.com0