Crazy Quilt/Afghan

I can't believe I haven't shared this with you before.  I have a list of Blog Ideas and this idea has been sitting there for about eight months and I haven't posted it!  I actually had to go searching for the pictures.  Now that I have you all annoyed and impatient to see what it is, let me warn you that I apparently only took two pictures.

I wanted to make something awesome for my sister Chloe for Christmas (yes, last year) and so I thought I'd try to make a crazy quilt.  Except I can't quilt, so out of crocheted squares.  I had tons and tons of little odd scraps of yarn, so I started crocheting them into squares and rectangles.  When I had a pile, I put them on the floor in a pleasing pattern and whip stitched them together with either the end of the yarn or some yellow yarn.  At first I was hoping for a lap blanket, but when I realized how easy it was and how quickly it was going, I decided to go for something that could cover a whole person.

I worked my way down and across from the top left corner until it was as wide as I wanted, and then I worked down from there.  I basically made a pile of pieces any shape and size, laid them on the floor with the rest of the blanket until I liked how it looked, and then stitched them in.  Towards the end, I had to make maybe about 10 pieces a certain size to finish off nicely, but that was very simple.

Finally, I made a simple green border all the way around - just single crochet.

And good news - she loved it!  And I think she still does, though how I'm ever going to top that this Christmas, I have no idea!

Here's the full blanket - laid out diagonally on our bed.  (Ours is a queen, if that gives you an idea of the size of this blanket.)

And here's a close-up (complete with annoying camera spot) of one section.  You can see that not everything fit perfectly.  Some squares got pulled wonky like this one.  At first it bothered me, but it all kind of works together to make it more crazy.

The fun part is that I used all different kinds and colors of yarn.  There's fun fur, cotton, acrylic, and even some angora-knock-off stuff.  We also had fun going through and seeing what pieces we recognized from the yarn's original purpose.  (Hey, there's Mom's hat! And Grandma's scarf! And those really ugly wrist warmers you made!)

Chloe decided to try making her own.  I think she's probably finished by now because I haven't seen her working on it in a while and that was like six months ago.  Hers is way prettier than this one.

Do you have leftover scraps of yarn?  Go try your own!  It's really fun!

Do you have any other project ideas for leftover scraps?  Share them in the comments!

Love and Lemonade,
Leah Joy

P.S.  Since it's about the end of August, it's time for me to start planning Christmas presents!

Tuesday Rant: The House Edition

Because I was busy doing other things yesterday, I didn't blog.  Yes, my friends and readers (all three of you), the summer is over, I had a week of vacation/house-sitting (hey, anywhere was better than here!), and now I'm looking to get back into a normal daily/weekly routine.  Because I love routine.  It's sacred.  And I'm anal-retentive.

So if you are friends with me on Facebook (which the three people who actually read this blog [of whom I know] are) then you've probably seen some drama about a house.  It's amazing how fast rumors start and spread and grow (LIKE THE RUMOR WEED!).  So here is my blog post to sum up our process so far, let you know where we are, and clear up the fog induced by so many rumors.

It begins with us deciding that it might be time to move.  A lot of doors had been closing for Caleb at camp and opening at church, and as much as he hated to choose between the two, he knew we had to.  It seemed pretty clear that church would be the more logical option.  Which means moving, because most of Caleb's camp salary (except in the summer) is in housing.

Caleb called our credit union and we got pre-approved for a conventional loan and then we called up our friendly local Midwest Properties agent (my dad) and started looking at some houses.  We looked at a couple pretty hilarious ones.  One was 600 sq ft.  If you don't know what that means, just know it's smaller than our current apartment.  Caleb could have stretched out on the floor and touched the front wall and the back wall.  Another one was huge, but needed SO much work; it was disgusting.  We found an awesome one in Sparta we'd have loved to have, but the day we looked at it, it sold.

Finally we found one in a perfect location.  2.1 miles from church, so Caleb could even bike if he wanted to. Still only a 20 minute drive to camp, so not bad for me.  The lot is 1.27 acres, so tons of space.  The house has so much charm and is a great size for us.  It's in our price range, but there was enough work to do to it that we thought a "Home Improvement Loan" might be a good idea.

[Home Improvement Loan is my term for the 203(k) loan.  It means that as long as we hire a contractor to do the work, we can roll any repair costs into our mortgage.  This is nice for when a house has a lot of work to do up front, but the buyer can't afford those costs out of pocket.  It means a bigger mortgage, but it can be more manageable.]

Our credit union doesn't do Home Improvement Loans, so we called this guy my dad recommended and he said he'd look it over.  (At this point we should note that I have a credit score (thanks to student loans) but a small income, and Caleb has no credit (how dare he never go into debt?! /sarcasm) and a bigger income.  For some reason, the banks don't see us as one person, despite us being that way in God's eyes.)

The next day, my dad called and told us two other people had put in offers on the house, and we'd better get ours in right away.  Caleb called the bank about the loan, and the guy said, "Yeah, I was able to work it out."  So we put in an offer and then waited impatiently for two days.

This is when the rumors first started at camp.  And it was horrible, because Caleb was talking to a group of staff on the day we thought we'd find out and they saw me coming and one of them said, "You got a house?" And I freaked out and about dropped my lunch because I was so excited, and then it turns out that they just don't understand the process of home-buying at all and how many steps there are to it, and so we still hadn't heard.

We finally heard that they accepted our offer!  At this point, I was so thrilled, because even though I do know the home-buying process is lengthy, I figured this would be our biggest hurdle.

Hah.  Hah.

This is also when I posted "Eeeep!" as a Facebook status, so the people who knew what was going on would know the offer had been accepted, and those who didn't could just know I was excited about something and then die of curiosity.  And then my sister-in-law posted "I heard the good news!  Congrats on the house!" and LET THE FREAKING FLOOD OF RUMORS BEGIN.  By the time we got to church on Sunday, people apparently thought we were moving the next day!  (By the way, I'm not upset at all with my sister-in-law.  Her comment was completely valid, but was merely taken out of context by millions of crazed relatives and church-goers.)

And then the home-buying process reared its ugly head.  The bank said they couldn't find any records on Caleb; he's a 'ghost'; he doesn't exist.  (Not true, by the way.)  They couldn't do anything for us.  We tried another bank; they said they'd get the ball rolling.  They called back and said that since Caleb doesn't have credit, we'd have to put together a portfolio of sorts including receipt of rent payments, tax returns, W-2s, pay stubs, and bank statements for the last two years.  Which wouldn't be so bad except we don't have receipt of rent payment.  Because it comes out of Caleb's paycheck.  Which the bank says is impossible.

Then there was the home inspection.  We knew the electrical was shot and needed to be completely redone, and we knew we needed some new windows, but we didn't know the garage needed to be torn down and replaced.  We didn't know the freaking well had E Coli.  Etc.  Etc.  Etc.

Where are we now?

We're looking at still going with a conventional loan (no Home Improvements rolled into the mortgage) but opening up a 203(b) account so we can legally make the house livable before closing.  We still really like the location and the house.  (And it may someday become a commercial lot, so we could, as Caleb's dad said, "Make a pretty penny off of it.")  Before we move in, we'll need to get the well and the electric fixed (and get a stove, fridge, washer, and dryer), and before winter, we need to either get new windows up or plastic sheeting to keep the heat in.  We also have a door to replace (because we don't have doggies) to keep some heat in.

We're still really interested, especially since we've already put some money into it, but we're being, as Caleb said, "Cautiously optimistic."

And now for some FAQs:

What's next?
Getting the 203(b) account set up and approved; fixing the well, electrical, and garage; then hopefully closing; a lot of cleaning; painting; and moving.

When are you moving?
I don't know.

When are you closing?
I don't know.

What color is the house?
Mix gray, blue, and white and there you have it.

Will you shop at Ric's?
Heck no.  That place is expensive.

What color will you paint the walls?
Holy crap, can we just take care of the crumbling garage and crappy electrical first?  Give us a break!

When are you having kids?
Here's $10; go buy some manners.

Would you like a free couch?
Most likely.

Have you found any Pinterest projects to spruce up the place?
Duh.

Do you have any pictures of the house to show us?
No.  They're on Caleb's phone.

Are there sprinkles under certain keys in your keyboard?
Why yes, yes there are.

Love and Breezeways,
Leah Joy

Thoughts on Boredom

Dear Readers,

I grew up with a mother who did not tolerate boredom.  And boy did we learn quickly.  The second one of us whined, “I’m bored,” we were sentenced to vacuum the living room, wash the dishes, or weed the garden.  (Not that we didn’t regularly do these chores, mind you; I'm talking extras.)  We learned to either find something to do or be content being bored without anyone else knowing of our plight.

As I got a bit older and got an AOL Instant Messenger account (I know, right?) I had so many conversations along these lines:

Friend: ‘Sup?

Me: Not much, just playing Solitaire/listening to Plus One/reading a book.  How about you?

Friend: Bored.

Me: Why don’t you do something about it?

Friend: What?

Me: Go play with chalk.  Dye your hair.  Read a book.  Invent a language.  Quit whining.

Friend: Whatever.  I’m bored.

And I simply couldn’t understand.  Why wouldn’t you do something else – or at least shut up about it?  Because if you’re whining to me, I’m going to assume that you’d like my advice on how to better your situation – and by golly, I’m going to give you my advice.

But now with my current job, I’m experiencing a little boredom.  In fact, someone asked me today if I was bored, and I actually said yes.  My job this summer goes like this:

Monday – panic panic panic hurry panic hurry 5:00

Tuesday – do stuff, 1:00 sit around and answer phones until 5:00

Wednesday – Friday -    sit around and answer phones, maybe have 1 hour of actual tasks a day.

Okay, it’s a slight exaggeration, but I seem to spend so much time just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.  My usual boredom busters don’t work.  I can’t go play with chalk because I couldn’t hear the phone from outside.  I can’t dye my hair because the smell would make Caleb sick and hair dye is expensive.  I can’t read a book because honestly?  If you walked in the office and saw your employee reading a book while getting paid hourly – what would you do?  Yeah… and that’s the reason I can’t do a lot of other things to fill my time, either: knit/crochet, make jewelry, color, Facebook, Pinterest, blog, etc.  Oh wait…  (Shh… I’m actually at work as I write this, emailing this from my work email to my personal email to post later.) 

And who knows – maybe my boss wouldn’t mind.  But … yeah… that’s not how Momma raised me.

And I hate being bored because it’s such a waste of time!

Actually I just remembered a project I wanted to try (Pinterest) that involves the big office cutter (the one  you’re always afraid people will accidentally use to cut off their fingers)… maybe I’ll go get that.  J

Love and Boredom,

Leah Joy

Pieces of Thoughts Too Long to Tweet

My great-grandma (or someone like that) apparently had a box in her attic labeled "Pieces of String Too Short to Save".  "Why save them?" you may ask, and rightly so.  Because it was the Great Depression and she was Dutch, that's why.

Anyway, sometimes I have pithy thoughts (whatever that means) but they're longer than 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation.  So I thought I'd write a few of them here.

Some people will never be happy.  No matter what the circumstance or what you tell them, they will still find something about which to complain.

I once told someone I always check pockets before doing laundry and she told me she didn't have time to do that because she had so many kids and so much laundry.  I still don't understand this, because one tissue or pen can cause you to have a do a whole load over, if not ruin the clothes entirely, meaning you have to go shopping for more underwear or jeans or whatever, thereby taking up more time than it would have taken to just check the five pockets or whatever.  I figure you don't have time to NOT check the pockets.

Who decided that red and green are Christmas colors?  And then why do other people make home decor in those colors when it's not strictly Christmas decor?  I mean, really, why would you make an owl egg timer in red and green?  Is it supposed to be your Christmas owl?  Is this just a ploy to get me to buy two egg timers so I have one for Christmas and one for other seasons?

And now it's so definitely bedtime.

I made a mug for Zoe today using my new Pebeo Porcelaine pen.  I'm going to bake it in the morning and then fill it with Jell-O tomorrow night, so I'll let you know how it goes!

Love and Graham Crackers,
Leah Joy

Posting From My Own Laptop??

The page opened!  This is so exciting because it hasn't been able to for a long time now!

This summer is very crazy for me!  This is the first job I've ever had in the summer like this.  My first few summers of work involved nannying, which didn't really feel like work (well, sometimes, but not like a desk job or something).  Then I worked a summer of housekeeping at Cornerstone which involved lots and lots of cleaning, which I really enjoyed, actually.  It was 8 hours a day, but we started at 6 in the morning, so I still had lots of free time after work.  The next summer I worked as a cashier at Salvation Army and I only got 6-hour shifts there, so I had lots and lots of free time!  And then this past summer, I worked in the office at the warehouse, and while it was definitely full-time, once I left work, I was done with work.

Now, however, I work 9-5 in the office, and then 5pm-9am live under the office.  I'm always here and it's sometimes really hard to detach from work.  Plus, since most of the other staff are salaried (weekly, but still salaried) and I'm hourly, many of them don't understand that I'm only hourly.  When it's not 9-5, I'm just staff family; I just live here.  I don't mind helping, but I also don't want it to become completely invasive and make me a stressed-out ball of tears, because that's what over-committing does to me.

So, my house isn't the tidiest, but I'm discovering that I can't have that in the summer.  Certainly not if I want to do well at work, spend time with my husband, and be a good friend.

In closing, I may post more now that I actually can (fingers crossed), but not every day.  And here's a fun story.  We had a one-night camp for kids entering 1st grade, so they're all 5 or 6.  We only had 9 campers (which is typical - and fun, because then they get to do everything!) and so they all registered up in my office.  One girl came bouncing in and when I asked her name, she said, "My name's Isabel but I go by Izzie but I changed it to Ariel."

Love and Lemonade,
Leah Joy

I Stole My Husband's Laptop

Hi Friends,

Now that I haven't been blogging most of the summer, thoughts are flooding my mind.  There's so much about which I'd love to write.  I really should start writing them down so that when I do have time to blog, I don't run out of topics.

Anyway, I only have a few minutes, so I wanted to let you know that since Blogger updated their format, it doesn't work on my computer.  I don't know if it's the camp's internet security or just that my laptop isn't a spring chicken anymore.  Either way, it works on Caleb's, so I may start stealing that until they find a way to make it more old-chicken-laptop friendly.  Or something.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great rest of the summer!  And I hope I get to write more soon!

Love and Arby's Mozzarella Sticks (guess where we went for dinner!),
Leah Joy

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

This might be my favorite vlog ever, even if it's only a retelling of Pride and Prejudice.  Here's episode 1, and they just keep getting better (hey, just like the book!).  They've done 11 now, and upload them every Monday and Thursday.



Enjoy!

Love and Jane Austen,
Leah Joy