Mitten Accomplished!

With just 9 days left until our trip to Washington, I've finished Bella's Mittens! You probably remember that I was a bit skeptical about this pattern—but with the help of Tasha and YouTube—I managed to complete them just in time!

This project was a lot of fun. I love knitting things that I'll love to wear—and these mittens are just that. They're soft, chunky, and a little different. They reach almost to my elbow, and can fit under or over a jacket. This project was ideal because it was easy, didn't take much yarn, and knitted up pretty quickly. Once I made the first mitten, the rest were a breeze. This is a project than can be started and completed in a weekend—and is great for Christmas gifts.

My beautiful/wonderful/amazing mother volunteered to model these great mitts for me—here they are!

Fudpucker's Recap

Okay, let me start by saying that beach volleyball is so much harder than it looks!


Friday: We got on the road around 1:30 and made it down to Destin just in time for the rain. We planned to check in to the hotel before heading over to Fudpucker's (restaurant) for the tournament check-in and a late dinner. Let me just say, the hotel was a disaster—we quickly realized why it was so inexpensive! We requested a new room once we determined that a previous guest had relieved him/herself on the carpet. After a bunch of moving around and settling into a new room, we headed out. We got to Fuds and checked-in, but as we were entering the restaurant, another Atlanta team that we knew called for us to meet them at another restaurant for dinner. After a quick drive and an adventure parking the minivan in a narrow alley we made it in to the restaurant only to find that the waiting list was an hour long. At that point everyone was too hungry to wait, so we headed back out onto the road and spotted an $9.95 all-you-can-eat Sushi/Hibachi place. We dashed inside and after the first round agreed that, unfortunately, we were getting what we paid for. When the bill came we were shocked to see that we were charged $19.95 per person! Sure that there was a typo, Merriah double checked the sign outside—this time seeing the "fine print" that we'd missed while entering in the rain. We decided to cut our losses, pay the bill, and get back to the hotel.

Saturday: We got an early start and headed over to The Boardwalk for the captains meeting at 8:30. We spent the next thirty minutes or so dragging coolers, bags, tents, and chairs across the sand and to our court—which was a bit further than we expected. After a quick rest, we started the tournament. Our first game didn't last long, and we were defeated 11-0. We regrouped and decided that in our second match we'd do two things: have fun, and score at least one point—and we did! We lost again, but it was closer. The third and fourth games got a little easier, and we got a quick taste of victory before losing our final match of the day.

We went down the beach a bit to watch our friends play before heading back to the hotel. They finished just as gloomy, windy, overcast day turned to rain and thunderstorms, eventually resulting in tornado warnings.

We rested for a few hours, caught up on homework and took naps. Around 7 we got ready for dinner. As players, we received tickets for the tournament party being held at The Boardwalk—the tickets were good for the buffet-style dinner and free beer from 7 til 9. We had a quick bite to eat and got ready to party!

After a live band and lots of dancing, we retreated back to the hotel for some rest—the playoffs started early Sunday! On the way back to the hotel we made a quick stop at Wal-Mart (Lesley had been the day before and saw two $1 racks with Twilight merchandise—so the team humored me and let me run in—all in all, it was disappointing, and I didn't buy anything).

Sunday: We got up bright and early Sunday morning for the playoffs. Unfortunately we didn't make it past the first round, but neither did our friends (who happened to be on the next court) so we spent a few hours out on the beach with them laying out and playing ball. That afternoon we packed up the car and headed back to Atlanta.

All in all, I had a great time! The weather wasn't totally cooperative, but we had a blast anyway. I couldn't have asked for a better team or group of girls to make my first sand volleyball/Fudpucker's experience all that I hoped it would be! Love y'all! ♥

I ♥ Photography

I have always loved photography. Although I'm not formally trained, my father taught my about composition and framing from a very young age, and I've always loved taking pretty pictures.

As a part of my Thirty before 30, I decided that I'd like to take a photography class. This is something I've wanted to do for a while, but had never taken the time to look into, and had never previously had the money to invest in.

To make a long story short, I found a local class that I was interested in, but learned from the website that a DSLR camera was required. The class is not available to students with "regular" point and shoot cameras. I knew immediately that I was willing to make the investment into the camera, so the research began. I picked the brains of a few photographers that I knew, and along with my friend Kara (who is also interested in photography), researched and decided upon the Nikon D5000.

I've had the camera for about two weeks and have really enjoyed experimenting with it. My friend Andrea (pictured below) and I have spent the past two Sundays playing with our cameras, and also experimenting with HDR (which stands for High Dynamic Range). To do HDR, you take a series of three photographs at varying exposures, then combine them in Photoshop to create a final image with greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image. The first photo is the true image, followed by a couple of variances. Click them to enlarge:

Cirque Du Soleil is coming to Atlanta!

Last week Cirque Du Soleil announced their fall tour schedule, and Atlanta made the list! Ovo will open on November 4, 2010, and since they generally only visit every other year, I'll be sure to get my tickets early!

According to the official Cirque website:
OVO is a headlong rush into a colourful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement. The insects' home is a world of biodiversity and beauty filled with noisy action and moments of quiet emotion.

When a mysterious egg appears in their midst, the insects are awestruck and intensely curious about this iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives.

It’s love at first sight when a gawky, quirky insect arrives in this bustling community and a fabulous ladybug catches his eye – and the feeling is mutual.

OVO is overflowing with contrasts. The hidden, secret world at our feet is revealed as tender and torrid, noisy and quiet, peaceful and chaotic. And as the sun rises on a bright new day the vibrant cycle of insect life begins anew.

I wasn't able to embed a good quality trailer, but if you're interested click here to view one.

Washington Update: 30 Days Away!

One month from tomorrow we'll be on our way to the Olympic Peninsula! I am truly excited for this trip—it's a great chance to explore someplace new, and spend some quality time with Breena. Because it's a scarcely populated area, I knew it was important to plan our itinerary ahead of time. Right now we have a basic idea of where we'll be each day—of course you never know how things will work out, maybe we'll love something and spend extra time, or not care much about the next thing and skim over it—but at least we have an idea of what direction we're headed, and a place to stay each night.

Here's the plan so far, each day is highlighted a different color on the map. Day 1 (Pink): We'll start in Seattle, take a ferry to Bainbridge Island and head toward Port Angeles. Day 2 (Green): Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Marymere Falls, Sol Duc Hot Springs, and a drive to Neah Bay. Day 3 (Yellow): Exploration of Neah Bay and Cape Flattery (the northwesternmost top of the continental United States) and a drive to Forks, La Push, First Beach, and Rialto Beach. Day 4 (Blue): Hiking in the Hoh Rainforest, Ruby Beach, then a drive to Lake Quinault. Day 5 (Yellow): Hiking in the Quinault Rainforest and a three-hour drive back to the Seattle airport.

(Click the image for a larger version)

Countdown to Destin!

I am getting really excited about the Fudpucker's volleyball tournament. It's just under three weeks away, and it looks like my foot is going to heal in time for me to play. My team is going to be amazing—I'm playing with three other women that I coached with, Suzanne, Lesley, and Yvett—we are the Hard Hittin' Beach Babes!

I'm also super excited to see Destin. I've never been, but people tell me it's absolutely beautiful. I keep hearing that the sand is pure white, and that the water is green—I'm accustomed to the other coast of Florida, with dirty beaches and murky water—I'm really looking forward to something new.

More mittens!

Well, I've gone mitten crazy! I really got the hang of the pattern, so when the first pair turned out a little small (and delicate) for me, I found a different weight yarn and tried again. The second pair (on the right) are going to be more what I had in mind—nice, big, chunky mittens.

This will be my last update until I learn how to finish the thumbs and post my finished product(s). I'm so excited to be so close to marking this item off the list! I only wish that it wasn't 80 degrees outside so I could wear them...