2014 in Review

I don't believe that I've ever done a year in review. I really should have thought about it earlier but I'll hit some major points....

February: Did 2 trips to Mammoth on back to back weekends. First weekend was blizzard conditions and the next weekend was beautiful.


I even bought photos of Hector and I shredding....hee hee.





March: I traveled to Calgary with my SIL Lupe on a LA Kings fan trip. We met lots of fun, nice people, explore Calgary and watch the LA Kings!









April: For the first time, we changed our usual spring break trip to Mammoth to 2 trips. Tyler went without us to Costa Rica with his 8th grade group. He had a great time and the memories will be special.




The remainder of our family went to Washington DC...the family dynamics were definitely different and quiet. Josh got to experience being an only child and eat lots of fattening food. It was my first time to DC and we did lots and lots of walking. We also caught the cherry blossom season which was really cool.






June: We had both kids promoted to the next level of their education. Josh to middle school and Tyler to high school.





Also if you live under a bridge, the LA Kings won their 2nd Stanley Cup in 3 years. The adults in our household were very very happy and the kids are thankful the screaming, yelling and cheering is over (for now).




July: NHL awards in Vegas with Kathy and the kids. 



 
 I head over to NYC with Lupe for 4 days which was my first trip there. It was a wonderful time and we did LOTS of walking like over 7 miles a day. My feet didn't cooperate with my shoes so I had lots of bruised toenails and blisters. 






October: Back to Vegas for Frozen Fury. Apparently I don't have many photos uploaded so just use your imagination....




My knitting production decreased although I still knit a lot. My painting increased and I learned nail art too. Maybe I'll recap those in my next post....

Ashburn

Ack, it's already December! I've done some shopping and we're still decorating the house/tree. After taking a break, this year the Christmas cards and photo calendars are back so that took up a good portion of my time. I guess it seems really hectic in addition to being my mom's assistant and driver. 

I used my anniversary  Amazon gift card to buy an Instant Pot. So far I used it to make mashed potatoes (success) and pinto beans (success). I make beans often and used the stove top method. I would just boil/simmer the heck out of them but using the Instant Pot was like night and day. WOW! I know it's just beans but married to a Hispanic can put some bit of pressure on a girl. ;)  Heh, see what I did  there unknowingly? Pressure ===> Instant Pot = electric pressure cooker. 

Okay, these beans came out really good. I'm no bean expert but after 18 years of marriage and beans, these are GOOD. And it only took about 35 minutes of cooking in the Instant Pot. I didn't have to stir every so often, check the water level or worry about burning the beans. So I'm making more today. No more fuss...I can't wait to make stew and soups.
Mmmm...

So on to the real topic, my Ashburn which is not technically correct since I knit it for someone else. It was a real labor of love and it came out just beautiful. I only had about 12 hours to enjoy it and try to take proper pictures of it before I handed it off. I hope hope hope that the recipient LOVES this to death forever and forever. It was a lot of work for someone I don't even know and I won't do that again. Too much for me.

I plan on knitting myself one next year and picking out the colors will be the most difficult part. :) This ranks right up to Color Affection in use of colors and coziness. 





Here it is laid out on the floor which you can't tell how large it is. It measures over 70 inches along the top edge so it can be a lovely shawl or as I model in the following photos a cozy scarf/bandanna.




The cool feature of this pattern is the texture created in the middle portion. It took the longest but the end result is well worth it. 




A new technique I used on this is the picot bind off. I can't recall doing this on any other project but I may be wrong. I think it adds a nice feminine touch to this. 

The weather is even cooperating so I wasn't sweltering during the photoshoot. Although now I see some strange white flecks in my hair!  Blergh..




And now for my artsy look...It's going to rain a lot tonight so since the Ashburn is gone, I will have to find my Color Affection to cozy up with during the hockey game. :)

Repurposing

Ack! It's already December! Thanksgiving flew by and now Christmas is speeding towards us! Everyone has plans, lists and shopping on their mind. We had to be more on the ball this year because we adopted a family and had to have their gifts ready for delivery today!

It was lots of fun to shop for them and I hope they're happy with their gifts. It 's nice to help others as much as possible.

Anyway, my family has now seemed to FINALLY be over the cold/flu we got last month. I just saw on the news today that this years flu shot is not that effective. Huh, that might explain a lot.

I've been knitting but this one particular project has taken up my time. I am soooo close to finishing but then I have the long bind off which may take me a day to complete. It's very pretty and I'm happy with the results.

My youngest has requested a variety of cereal to try for breakfast so I had got a variety pack at Sam's Club. The last bag was Cocoa Puffs and wouldn't you know, the kid that loves chocolate is just sort of meh about it. So I have a full bag of this stuff. 

The internet and Google to the rescue!! Reese's Pieces Cocoa Puff Bars!!!! Super easy recipe but I did substitute regular Reese's Pieces because I couldn't find the minis. I mixed the candy into the bars instead of putting them on top because they wouldn't be able to stick. Even then, some of the candy would fall off but not a big deal. 

Just had to use the microwave and mix. I offered them to the kids after school and the oldest one, who really doesn't care for chocolate ended up liking them after they were transformed with the peanut butter and Reese's Pieces. Funny kid! The youngest still refused. So 50% is not bad...I saved a few pieces and sent the rest to hubby's work. Win/win and I used up that bag of cereal, gave some people a treat and looked like a genius baker/cook. :)