Knotted Headband

I love to crochet. It's a skill I try to hide. I've always been afraid that people judge me. It's kind of an old lady thing. But it's really easy because most of the time, if you make a mistake, it doesn't take long to fix or you can incorporate it. Crocheting is really easy to modify and improvise. I've loved making stuffed animals in the past and I'm sure I'll go back to that at some point, especially when Liam is old enough for safety eyes and small details but right now I'm pretty satisfied with projects that I can work on for an hour. I don't really have the time for multiple pieces or remembering rows and counting lots of stitches. This headband came together in an about an hour and a half because I got to row two ripped it back to the chain row and started over. This is a great beginner project. My little love loves it and I can't wait to alter the pattern a little and make it for the grand little love! Check out my pretty little love modeling her new headband below! If you have a great pattern for a simple project, send it my way because I need simple projects that aren't scarves.

Snow

You remember my complaining when I introduced my winter bucket list? Yeah, well for whatever reason I still put a walk and a snowman on there. Anyways, this week Grand Rapids got 19 inches of snow and they're saying to plan on more. It's not packing snow for a snowman so I just took some pretty picture on campus to show you how lovely the snow looks around campus. Even the though snow looks pretty, I'm not sure why they have tours of high school juniors and their parents walking around with a windchill below zero but whatever. I'm not an amazing photographer with my little digital Kodak camera and it was really cloudy but GVSU does take amazing care of it's buildings and landscaping so it is a really pretty campus and that is what drew me there so here are my pretty pictures of snow.

The Cook Carillon Tower houses 48 bronze bells that ring every 15 minutes. They are actually 2 minutes early so you know if you are eating lunch or walking slowly, speed it up because you are about to be late. They play Christmas carols in December and bring in musicians in the spring to play and you can even peek in and watch from time to time.

You can't actually see cars from the main campus. All the main parking lots are hidden by buildings or man made hills and landscaping. Even most of the residence halls are fairly removed from parking lots.

The university arborist takes care of all 4,800 trees on GVSU's campus and they are all native to Michigan. GVSU is also home to a 7 acre arboretum as well as 4 gardens.

The Cook-Dewitt Center is the auditorium that overlooks the Valley. It is home to a huge old fashioned pipe organ and there are a lot of alumni weddings here in the spring and summer. It will always hold fond memories for me because they hold freshman orientation in this building. 

Hot Tubbing

Do you know what the most relaxing thing in the world is? Sitting in a hot tub while it's snowing. Joe and I got a groupon a while ago for an hour of hot tubbing for $3 apiece. It was so relaxing and a great way to spend time with my bestie right before classes started. We went to Oasis Hot Tub Gardens in Kalamazoo. Their staff is always helpful and super nice and I've always been impressed with how clean it is.

10 Person Hot Tub for 2 :)

Fancy Fireplace!

Hot Tub Land Shark

Chicken Rice Soup

Do you know what the best part about winter is? Creamy warm soup. Soup that is so thick, it makes soup from a can look pathetic. Joe makes a delicious chicken rice soup with peas and carrots. He got the recipe from his mama so I don't particularly feel like sharing it just because it feels extra special. It cooks all day in the crock pot on low and it uses a rotisserie chicken so it's really easy. I wish I could eat this soup every day.

Holiday Movie Marathon & Hot Chocolate

Like I said when I introduced my winter bucket list, winter is a fraud. I like staying in to watch movies and drink hot chocolate. So that's what we did. Our marathon included: Home Alone 1, Home Alone 2, Home Alone 3, Die Hard, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Elf. It was a great day spent with my best friend!

Yum yum yum!

Hi Joey!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Om nom nom I love cookies! This is one goal from the winter bucket list that I have really been excited about! Joe and I chose to make oatmeal raisin cookies because we had all the ingredients on hand. I love oatmeal raisin cookies. They are chewy and soft. We used Betty Crocker's recipe because she seems to know what she is doing and they were pretty tasty!

Doctor Who Christmas Special 2012

WARNING: May contain spoilers.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special is on my winter bucket list because honestly, it wouldn't be Christmas without the Doctor Who Special. Anyways, this year's special is titled "The Snowmen". We have Matt Smith as the Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman as the new companion, Clara Oswald. It also features a new Tardis design! We have the return of Madame Vastra, Strax, and Jenny. Jenny and Madame Vastra really should have their own spin-off because the characters are just hilarious and Strax is a fun character.

The story is set in Victorian London and without giving too much away, it is definitely the scariest Christmas special in recent years. It also left some pretty big things hanging. How is Clara going to begin travelling with the Doctor? And how is the Doctor going to fix this Oswin/Clara mess? I'm really excited to see all this play out in season 8.

"I'm the clever one! You're the potato one!"

Winter Bucket List

Winter is a fraud. People say they love winter but they are frauds too. No one actually likes winter. They like Christmas. But really, after two weeks of blizzards, no one loves winter. If you think you like winter, you are deceiving yourself. Winter is all "I'm cozy! I have hot chocolate and soup and blankies and presents!" but deep down, you know that you could have all of those things by just turning the AC up.  And I'm going to help you rid yourself of that deception with a winter bucket list. Sorry I'm not sorry. But really. Winter is stupid which is why I made this great little list. It's the best parts about winter so you can stop telling yourself you like winter and actually like the cool parts of winter. Like skiing and food and Doctor Who. And then you can be grumpy about snow and ice and bad drivers without feeling like a hypocrite. You're welcome.