these are not resolutions

these are ten things I would like to am going to accomplish by the new year:

1. design and sew three new children's garments for spring

2. get back into the habit of drinking lots o' water

3. sort through my wardrobe, toss what I hate, keep what I love, mend what needs fixing

4. buy some flowers or something--anything alive--for our home

5. bake cookies

6. put my [online] portfolio together

7. map out my one [maybe two?] year plan; for my hair

8. get rid of the chocolate in the freezer--by any means possible

9. create an inspiration board for my craft room my studio that room I do all my creative business in [?]

10. do something nice for someone random

there you have it

my ten before '10

working

Eleven things I'm working on [or at least plan to be working on soon?]?

I'm so glad you asked...

+I'm [we're--Chris is helping; even with the sewing!] still working on these mustaches.
+And I started working on some headbands for little girl [+myself] Christmas gifts!
More on these later, but I promise they're really cool.+I haven't actually started, but lately I have the desire to design & sew up some simple baby/toddler clothes. I'll probably have something to show off by Monday.

+Finals! There is a 90 question take home final sitting about 6 feet away from me that needs to be completed by Thursday. I also need to read 3 more really long and boring chapters for a final exam on Thursday. Blah blah blah.

+That huge pile of dirty dishes. I did some today...as in eight--maybe.

+Christmas shopping! I'm supposed to buy for Chris' sister, Kim, this year. Chris said she wants an apron that doesn't hang around the neck. I browsed around on Etsy and only found one that might work.

I should probably just make it... except that I'm not in the mood to sew adult sized things. Chris is supposed to buy for Cassi, which really won't be that difficult. Then there's all the kids [who are pretty much covered] and then my parents & my brother + his girlfriend. Annnd any special friends that deserve gifts. Well...all friends deserve gifts--but that doesn't mean they all get one.

+I downloaded Google SketchUp last week, and Chris has played with it more than I have. SO...I'm in the process [read: very early stages [read: have drawn a couple boxes]] of learning the program. It's pretty rad. And free. You can't beat free!

+I'm also working on the potato soup I made this afternoon. It didn't turn out as good as usual--but just add cheese + bacon bits and, well....who cares what the soup tastes like!

+I'm slowly catching up to Chris with my 1vs100 score on xbox live. He's 100,000 points ahead of me. Must. Catch. Up.

+Something I can definitely improve upon: dressing for the cold weather. It's really hard to stay warm when you want to wear skirts but don't have any tights or leggings. ANY! It's a tragedy, really. Today I wore a skirt and my navy blue almost-to-the-knee socks; they're probably meant to be thigh highs, or at least over-the-knee...but on my legs? Not so much...

+I'm working on a very important decision that must be made. To grow or not to grow?--my hair that is. And by "not to grow," I most definitely mean "cut." Chris wants me to cut it--I kind of want to see it long long again. Any suggestions?

it's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas! It's finally arrived in the Early home!
Enjoy these [12] photos, and get a feel for an Early Christmas.
This year, Christmas around here is all about [all the regular Christmas stuff +] mustaches and, apparently, really crazy bed head hair [+ very silly photo frames; Scorpios represent!], and--if I could have it MY way...a lovely little ring...

isn't this ring by sparklethots great?

I will be very happy when all 42 mustaches are finished!
[I ran out of elastic! Ah!]

Thirteen

You probably already read about it on Caty's blog, but she and I totally made Bakerella's fourteen layer cake...

except that we ran out of cake batter and just BARELY made it to 14 layers. Phew! It was a very long and difficult task, but we did it! It actually wasn't that bad. I don't know if I'd make it again--that is a LOT of cake for just four people!--but I would definitely make that dribbly liquidy icing again. Nomnomnom!

Chris' Christmas Wishlist

Here it is!
I must say it was a real struggle for Chris to make a list of so many things he "wants."

Left 4 Dead 2
a 46" Sony Bravia television
laser tag helicopters
new all black Converse All Stars
humping USB dog
Lego evolution t-shirt
Toyota ball cap
Flight of the Conchords; Seasons 1&2
messenger bag for school
stove-top grill with press
T-Mobile's myTouch with Google
Curses! board game
a hunting bow
a Glock 22

So that's it! Fourteen things that Chris struggled to list would just LOVE to have for Christmas!!

random

I'm trying to catch up from this weekend...which in all honesty consisted of a whole lot of nothing. Anyway, here are fifteen random facts, thoughts, links &... reasons.

One tiny reason I love Christopher Early so much:
He surprised me with Christmas! I came home on Friday and there were lights, and trees, and a wreath, even! My Christmas hero!

Fact: Mustaches.
We're in the process of making 42 felt mustaches--6 for each niece/nephew/brother/sister in the under 8 crowd.

Links: Giveaways!
Get your entries in!
Stephanie Toland::: 12 Days of Christmas--AMAZING!
Grosgrain Fabulous::: ALWAYS great giveaways...good luck winning, though.
BloesemKids::: currently hosting 10 giveaways for little ones.

Thought: Viruses
Who would've thought that a computer virus could jump ship so easily?
Friend's thumbdrive + computer + other friend's computer + mp3 player. Really? ALL the same bad, bad file.

Links: Even more things I would LOVE to have need...
Boots & booties. Really. I went to my favorite defect warehouse and saw a great pair, but they didn't have my size. I can't even find them in my size online!
New shoes are all I can THINK about lately! Okay, that's not completely true, but there are so many different shoes I'd love to have:
These, or actually nearly any shoe from Anthropologie.
Hunter Wellies, short, in merlot red.
And while we're at Toast, how about these beautiful boots...in my dreams.

Fact: Bad Habits
I've been eating so poorly lately, but I just can't help it! Everything that sounds so good is everything that is bad for me. But I'm still going to eat a Christmas cake when I'm through with this post!

Reason: To go to Humansville
There aren't MANY reasons to make the drive to Humansville, but [she] is definitely one of them.
Marley Moak is the cutest baby!
Really, I want to steal her away and keep her forever. I love her.

Thought: Monday
It's finals week, which means no classes on Monday.
Monday will be filled with chores+ cleaning + cooking, whether anyone likes it or not--myself included...
Hopefully it's cold enough to really want to make potato soup.

Links: Blogs
Two of my newest blog crushes:::
fieldguided
minor details

ornaments, garland, & tinsel

There are only 15 days until Christmas. We still don't have a tree up. This can not be tolerated any longer. Here are sixteen ways I would/will decorate (not just the tree) this year--if & when I ever get around to it...

I would love love love to have an aluminum tree--not happening.
Instead, I'll have to settle with a plain jane green tree. Hmph.

On my plain jane tree, I'm envisioning blue & yellow...actually I'm envisioning blue & yellow everywhere! But for my tree:

blue lights!

yellow glass ball ornaments!

handmade blue & yellow bunting!

And then, of course,

a wreath with a BIG bow,

and coordinating stockings!
(in my dreams on both counts)

And THEN, I would love to stage something lovely & whimsical like Kelly McCaleb did.

And if I had millions of dollars, I'd skip the whole handmade blue & yellow--instead I'd pick:
this felt ball garland--and the wreath, too, if it were for sale
paper trees!
super hip felt ornaments
this stocking! Perfect!
a tree skirt. Who has time for a tree skirt? Not me, but I really like this one.
a spectacular "vintage" wreath. I'm in love.
real vintage ornaments
doily table runner. Definitely not just for Christmas.
wall vinyl advent calendar Christmas tree! Too late for that; maybe next year...

It's pretty pathetic that 90% of the neat things I found on Etsy are things that I could just make myself. Maybe I should forget about Christmas 2009 and just jump straight into planning for 2010...

[17] photos you've never seen

It seems like so much has been happening lately, but the recent photos I have don't so much reflect it all. Here's a bit of what's been up!

We carpooled with Alan & LaDawn up to St. Louis...

because....

Chris & Kristian got married!
It was a fun (but verrry fast paced) weekend. We drove up Friday evening, shared a hotel room, went to the wedding in the morning, ate lunch (at Five Guys...SOOO good), and drove back to Willard for the 7:30pm reception. Phew!

Our new computer finally arrived! We've been having a lot of fun with the webcam. And I promise that's not all it can do...I just don't have pictures of anything else. Yet.

I finished my HUGE project and displayed/presented it at our Winter show last Friday. It was great! A lot of people said they really loved my design, but I can't help but feel like what they really loved was my board--I constructed this big foam core board system that held my elevations, so they could pull out! Everyone seemed really impressed by that...

Anyway... as you can probably tell, my project was a home design. It was for two classes--Environmental Living & Residential Design II. There was a huge list of requirements, but in general the project required incorporating sustainability, energy efficiency, and accessibility.
The plan shown is the first level (we weren't required to color our second level).

I was really proud of the coloring/rendering job I did on this project (if you think it's crappy, PLEASE don't say anything--this is a huge improvement for me!).

I thought my elevations looked pretty bad-A, too. I spent a lot of time experimenting with AutoCAD's materials and rendering capabilities, and was able to print my elevations in color, and then just add a little marker and pencil to add some depth.

It's really a shame that none of our classes teach us how to take advantage of the more advanced features of AutoCAD--being able to print in color made my project much easier to color; and I think it looked pretty nice, too.


I plan to build a model of this house for my senior show--complete with a working water wall, oooooooh!