Monday, December 26, 2011

A Carrot Colored Bunny

Now that Christmas is over I must start posting all of the lovely gifts that I made. If I made them myself I will start doing tutorials but if I used a pattern I will just post the finished product.
My earliest gift that I got finished was a knitted carrot colored bunny that I made my (gonna be 3 years old next week) little niece who from here on out I will call Bug. So here you go....
 This is what the finished bunny was SUPPOSED to look like from the book "Knitted Toys", I got the book from the library and finished the bunny in about 2 weeks. The picture below is me working on the separate pieces. Also below is the finished bunny. I messed up on a few things, I'm pretty sure the weight of the yarn was bigger so my bunny got long and skinny. Also, some of the directions were a little confusing for an amateur knitter like myself. But all in all I am pretty proud of the finished bunny. Bug sure likes the bunny too.
~Live and Love

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Sign Language in Use

In High School and College, I took Spanish as my foreign language and yes I still remember some of it. As I was growing up I also picked up a little bit American Sign Language (ASL). Some of it I taught myself, like the alphabet, and most of the song "Jesus Loves Me". Other signs I picked up from a high school friend who knew a lot of it including some of the pleasantries, like "thank you" and "please". Well, getting to the point....

I work retail at a fabric store, and occasionally I have to use my limited knowledge of Spanish and/or ASL. Today while I was at work, I had a deaf couple walk up to the cutting counter at my job.. I must say the fact that we both were in very good moods and I didn't have a line to cut fabric made it quite a good time. She only needed a couple of inches of a fuzzy purple trim cut to decorate her husbands pen. After a couple of misinterpretations, for example, me signing "h-a-l-f....y-a-r-d" and her frantically signing "no no no h-a-l-f....i-n-c-h" She ended up getting 3 inches because I can't sell by the half inch and she wanted a little bit extra. At this point I took out pen and paper because she was wondering if we had aqua blue instead of purple. I doubt it is really necessary to write out my entire conversation with her, I think you are getting the point.

For being only a .17 cent sale, it will probably be one of my most memorable sales. She left the store happy, laughing, and with exactly what she needed. I was happy that I made myself understood and I was able to use my limited ASL. Something tells me that the next time that I am sitting in a retail interview and they ask the question "Tell me about a time that you provided exceptional customer service." (I have always hated this question, they expect me to rack my brain on the SPOT?!?) I will remember this sale. Sure it was only a .17 cent sale, but something tells me that this customer will be back because she knows that we will make the attempt to understand her.

Actually having to use Spanish and ASL in the real world just makes me realize just how little I know. It also gives me more incentive to learn more. Right now I am just happy that I know the pleasantries and some basics.
But for now.............


Vivir y

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Fun Fact! Amount of water you need to drink daily.

Fun Fact!
The amount of water you need to drink daily.
Your weight (for example, mine is 135) divided by 2 = How many ounces of water you need to drink daily (67.5)
That is only a little more than 4 tall (16 oz.) drinking glasses for me. Completely possible, especially for a healthier, stronger, less tired, glowing, happy me!


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Eggs.... A staple in my home.


One of the staples in my home are eggs. Raw eggs can last up to four weeks in the fridge, if you are not sure if they are good you can do the 'float' test. When we grocery shop we usually buy eggs by the flat (2 1/2 doz.) because we go through them like crazy. A flat is about $3.19 which makes it about .10 cents an egg. Such a good frugal food, especially when there is just me and my husband in our home.

Hard boiled eggs are also a staple in my home. When I bring the flat of eggs home, I immediately boil 12 of them for hard boiled eggs. Hard boiled eggs last up to a week in the fridge but they are usually all eaten before that in my fridge. I send an egg in my husbands lunch every day and sometimes he eats another one as soon as he gets home. I found that hard boiled eggs are perfect for lunches because when I am packing the lunch at 5:00 in the morning I can just open the 4 oz. tupperware, set the egg in and throw it in the box. I use the tupperware to prevent it getting crushed in his lunch box.

Another reason we buy eggs by the flat is so that we will remember to eat them, they are so yummy and good for us. They only have 70 calories an egg (that's less than those silly 100 calorie packs and at only ten cents an egg....Score!) and are full of protein so they fill you up and keep you full for longer.

Some more reasons we always have lots of them around. Baking. I love to bake and most of my favorite recipes have eggs in them. Also, Cooking. French toast, pancakes, omelets, scrambled eggs, quiche, fried rice, yada yada yada you get the picture. All of those yummy breakfast foods that you are supposed to make for breakfast but at 5:00 in the morning breakfast is the last thing I want to make. I usually end up making them for supper, or brunch on the weekend. So my husband has gotten into the habit of microwaving an egg (in a bowl for about one minute till its not runny), adding a slice of cheese and jelly on top of a piece of toast. It's a quick, easy, healthy, yummy egg sandwich for breakfast.

Well, that is my rambling about how much I love eggs. Guess what, there just happens to be a pot of eggs hard boiling on the stove right now. :)

Live and Love