A Project and a Part

Recently, I've been working on putting together my knitting journal. 

The very first project is from my copy of Vogue Knitting: the Ultimate Hat Book, a Rising Vines Beret. I've finally gotten past the brim after about four separate attempts at beginning it, one of which ended in me knitting four rows before realizing they had gotten twisted. 

Anyway, it's a charted lace pattern that I've managed to copy into my journal

As of right now I'm only on the middle of the third row, but it's coming along nicely

It's the first project I've ever taken my gauge for. Pretty proud that I took that first step. I know it's good for you but I just wanna dive into the project. It's so boring to knit your swatch...but it was satisfying when I had it in my hand and could say that I was perfectly in sync with the pattern! Hope that continues!

I got the yarn as part of a Mystery Yarn box that I purchased for $40 on Craftsy.com. I attempted to make a shawl out of it, but eventually stopped working on it and them it fell off ye needles and, long story short, now it's a beret. Its about a 1 as far as it's weight goes. The pattern calls for this, so I thought the colors were perfect for a new hat. It's very soft and it hangs really nicely. 

The pattern calls for yarn overs and k2tog/ssk stitches to make eyelets, and the light weight of the yarn makes it easy for the yarn overs to turn into HUGE holes. Such is the downfall of lace-knitting. 

In other news, I just got cast as Salyer in Last of the Boys which will be playing locally in April. The character should be anninyereatigm challenge. I've only read through the script once, so I have a bit of work ahead of me, but what I have read gives me the impression that she's almost, stupidly clever in a way. I don't know how I feel about that yet. I suppose I shall find out more as I read on. 

I'm looking forward to being on stage again. I appreciated the audition as it was a cold reading for the part. I find cold reading to be more enjoyable than monologue my. I need to work in finding the fun in a monologue. After all, acting is acting. 

Bah. Enough philosophical acting thoughts. Onward and upward!

I bid you adieu for the evening and look forward to future updates about my projects and my roles. 

Knittings!

Good day! 

I have not been as dedicated as predicted. To make up for lost time, I present an entry of my creations over the last week or so. 

Ta da! 

This picture sucks, but I made two cozies for a friend's Mason Jars by request so she could eat homemade soup out of them! I can make more for $6 a pop. 

I finished my mom's personal over-sized mittens. I included the attached cord as a  nifty loss-prevention tool! These would be about 12 bucks. 

I made Mr. Dominic a cowl upon request as he didn't want a scarf. He's adorable with it, though it's a little large. $8. 

This I made from a pattern in the boom that I learned to knit from. I made an adult sized hat with some multi-colored yarn and in retrospect, I wish I'd made the kid sized one as I don't know what to do with it. I'm selling it for $20 or best offer. I can make matching mittens if you want. Just saying. Maybe that will be my next project :D

I've also been working on this scarf for awhile. It's in what I've seen referred to as a basket weave pattern, but it might be something different. Not quite "scarf" length yet though. 

And there we have it. I get to see the Lego movie this weekend and I'm super excited. That is all I have to report ;) have a good one!

Reboot: Emily's Contemplations: Blog Version 2.0

Good News Everyone!

I have decided that this blog needs a reboot. The topics, the look, the title...the pictures...Bottom line: I need to do some work. 

Here are the plans:

In my first post of this blog I said something about getting my "life back on track" in reference to organizing things and such. It's been a while since then and I STILL haven't done it.

So, I'm updating. I don't really know what I'll write about in the future, but the topics I've written about are all random anyway. I'll probably continue doing that.

The title is changing, but I don't know what to call it yet. Which makes me ask, well what do you want to use it for? I can answer that! I want to post patterns of projects I'm working on. I want to give recipes to things I make for food that are simple to make. I want to share my thoughts on things I see - plays, movies, TV shows, etc. in a humorous way. I want to write about my dogs because they're ridiculous and it's my blog so who cares...but this makes it hard to chose a title. For now, it will stand with the place marker [insert witty title]

I'm also updated my profile, and I would like to add some pages to the blog so I can share things like my files and patterns and such. Hopefully the more I work on it, the better it will be.

I suppose I can eventually update the layout too, but right now I'm not feeling it. 

It's been so long since the last post I never got the chance to mention I'm married now! October 12th was the magical date and I honestly don't remember much of it. It is all kind of a blur. 

The answer to the question everyone asks me when they see me, "How's married life?" is boring, but true. It's totally the same as it was before. That doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, I really like it. It has its moments where I remember, "OH YEAH. I'm married to this guy :)" which are fun to have. I enjoy my relationship because I genuinely enjoy being around my guy. 

In addition, we have a second dog, Lucy. 

And a cat, Mr. Miao. 

Lucy is a chihuahua and she is FEISTY. She and Buster get along great and we spoil her like a baby.

I also graduated college. I know have a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Acting and a Bachelor's of Music in Vocal Performance. It has not yet led to a job in my field, but that's okay as I haven't really been looking. I currently am employed by Amazon.com and I have a good time there. I recommend it if anyone in the area is looking for a job right now. 

In other news, I have started a knitting club of sorts! In reference to an episode of Bob's Burgers that I am particularly fond of, I have dubbed our group "What up my Knitta?"

In retrospect, I can understand how that could be construed as racist, but trust me, I speak strictly in irony of the fact that I may be one of the least "gansta" people out there. Moving on. 

"What up my Knitta?" meets every week (weather permitting) on Saturdays at 5 pm. We sit in a living room and watch TV and knit. I love it because it gives me a reason to work on my projects, especially if I have been unable to do so at any other time during the week. Attendance has been minimal thus far, but I have a blast every time, so there is nothing to complain about. Recently I've been teaching the two other regular attendee's how to knit. While I know I'm no expert, it is pretty cool to teach something and watch the person understand it because of how you said it. 

My most recent project:

I'm looking forward to continuing this blog this time. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to share tomorrow.

Au revoir, mon ami 

Groceries List and Then Some

It's been quite a while, clearly.

Today I bring you glad tidings from the world of "Emily's-face-feels-like-a-snot-filled-balloon-is-trying-to-expand-inside-her-skull."

It is Veteran's Day today, so I have spent the entire day hanging with my own personal vet. I even made, get this, BREAKFAST IN BED for him. Yeah. That's right. I'm awesome. 

Okay, enough patting myself on the back. He's playing Halo 4 for the next eternity, so I have sometime to hang out next to him doing randomly productive things. This means I have things to show you!

I've spent the last few hours compiling and creating a list of all the things I think I need when I go to the grocery store. See, I'm sick and tired of just writing random stuff down and forgetting half of the stuff I actually need when I go shopping. I also can't stand just spending extra money on things we don't need. So I have for you, a list that you can go through, check what you need, and take shopping with you!

Ta Da!
QuietContemplations Downloadables folder in Dropbox

That should be a link to both the .PDF and .docx files so you can print as is, or add and subtract things to fit YOUR lifestyle :D I don't think you need to have a Dropbox account to open it, but I'm not positive. Let me know if it doesn't work I guess?
Anyway, Use it as a template, or use it as a your list, I don't care! I just hope it helps people like me shop smarter and lighter or whatever.

A few things about the list:
-If there is a space after an item it is to denote what kind of item you may want. Ex: Beef:_______, you can insert the specific cut of beef after printing the list. It can also be used for a specific quantity of items
-The "fresh - frozen" and "boxed - canned," etc. are all ways of organizing the specific item(s) you need that day. For example, I might not need fresh AND frozen corn on the same day. This way you know specifics and can give it to someone else to easily pick up items that you picked out.
-I have somethings in different categories, like eggs under dairy, cuz that's really the only place they fit. However, I have ice cream under the snacks category, not under dairy. It's just the way I shop by types of food, rather than where they are located. Sorry if it's weird.

So there you have it folks. A lovely list for a lovely trip.

Cleaning...AGAIN!

I have a problem. I hate cleaning. My other problem is that my house is dirty. What am I to do?!

I may hate cleaning, but I love making lists and subsequently crossing things off said list. 

Combining both my hatred for cleaning and my love of lists I have devised a way to trick myself into cleaning as a means of reward for crossing something exciting of my newest list. 

As it stands right now, I have to clean my house from top to bottom. I've broken it down by room. It looks like this: 

CLEANING TO DO LIST: 

First Floor: 

Entry

            Sweep floor

            Mop floor

            Vacuum rugs

Organize shoes

            Dust baseboards

Basement

            Organize toys

            Re-arrange furniture and music equipment

            Vacuum floor

            Dust all surfaces (including baseboards)

            Wash blankets and pillows

            Clean fridge

Stairs (lower)  

            Collect garbage

            Organize miscellaneous stuff

            Vacuum all surfaces

            Remove all items from stairs

            Dust railings, lights and baseboards

Garage

            Open, organize and remove all boxes

            Sweep entire garage

            Reorganize contents

            Remove all unnecessary items

            Park cars accordingly

Main Floor:

Kitchen

            Dishes

                        Empty dishwasher

                        Load dishwasher

                        Get rid of mismatched/unused items

            Counters

                        Clean off

                        Put away all food

                        Find spots for

                                    -toaster

                                    -Keurig

                                    -coffee maker

                                    -espresso machine

                                    -vegetable steamer

                                    -can opener

            Stove and Oven

                        Clean stove top

                        Put away all pots and pans

                        Clean oven

            Clean out cupboards and dispose of unneeded items

            Clean out fridge and freezer

            Sweep, and mop all floors

            Clean above cupboards (dust/reorganize)

Dining Room

            Clean off table

            Wash tablecloth and placemats

            Clean birdcage

            Dust baseboards

            Clean art table

            Dust all surfaces

            Hem curtains

            Vacuum rug

Living Room

            Fold all laundry

            Clean out couch

            Put away all toys

            Organize DVDs and video games

            Dust all surfaces

            Hem curtains

            Wash pillows and blanket

            Clean off coffee table

            Vacuum floor

            Designate spot for drying rack

            Clean desk

            Give old clothes away

            Finish Laundry

            Organize knitting supplies

Main Floor Bathroom/Laundry Room

            Sweep and mop floor

            Throw anything unnecessary away

            Clean cupboards

            DO LAUNDRY

            Clean Buster’s litter box

            Get dog food

            Fix up Buster’s bed

            Put laundry away

            Clean out drawers

            Clean toilet, sink and mirror

            Dust baseboards

Second Floor:

Stairs (upper)

            Bring everything upstairs and put away

            Vacuum all floors

            Dust lamps, railings and baseboards

Upstairs Hallway and Office

            Throw away garbage

            Put all Legos in respective drawers

            Clean table

            Attach Lego boards to top of table

            Fix lamp

            Vacuum – NOTHING ON THE FLOOR

            Prep floor for carpet cleaning

            Organize Desk

            Dust all surfaces

Kids'/Guest Bathroom

            Clean sink, counter, toilet, mirror and tub

            Sweep and mop floor

            Wash all mats and towels

            Put bath toys away

            Organize linen closet

Kids' Room

            Vacuum floors

            Wash blankets, sheets and pillows

            Make beds

            Put away all toys

            Put away all DVDs

            Organize toy box

            Organize Legos

            Put away/go through clothes

            Dust all surfaces and baseboards

Master Bedroom/Closet

            Put away all clothing

            Make bed

            Wash all sheets, blankets and pillows

            Reorganize dresser

            Clean TV stand and repurpose as night stand

            Clean under the bed

            DO MORE LAUNDRY

            Vacuum floors

            Organize closet and remove unnecessary paraphernalia

            Move side table downstairs

            Hem curtains

            Rearrange the room?!

Master Bathroom

            Wash all mats and towels

            Empty trash

            Clean grout in shower

            Clean toilet, shower, shower door, mirror and sink

            Sweep and mop floor

            Clean our drawers

            Decoupage hair dryer holder


Yeah...I gotta do all of that before I can get on track with my newest cleaning regimen (which I'm hoping will stick)

Some of those things are like, well duh, but others are just on there so I can at least feel like I'm accomplishing some smaller things along the way. That's why laundry is on there so much. We have a lot of laundry.

So, regimen is next, but I think I'll make this post shorter by showing it in a different post.

Chicken Noodle Soup...In July

I made Chicken Noodle soup the other day. It's totally July, middle of summer here. The heat the day I made it was somewhere in the ninety degrees Fahrenheit range. It was a cool 68 in my house :).

But anyway, Chicken Noodle Soup is like, one of my favorite foods ever. Mostly because it's just so frickin' good. But I hate the canned stuff cuz it never tastes right. It's always to watered down and tastes way too much of celery. So here is my delicious chicken noodle soup recipe.


-Four boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized morsels.
-Two packages of gluten free fusili pasta (or one giant egg noodle bag. YUM!)
-One medium size package of baby carrots (I love carrots and noodles more than the rest of the soup)
-One full thing of celery (I get the ones that are trimmed when I buy it. I get two, what are they, hearts? in a bag and just cut the ends off and chop them up into celery pieces
-Two small or one large yellow onion (I love this part too cuz they're DELICIOUS)
-About a tablespoon of minced garlic (I use the jarred stuff cuz I'm lazy)
-Two large cartons of chicken stock, your preference
-Enough chicken bouillon to make at LEAST 8 cups of chicken stock, if not more (i made 14 cups...worth it)
-Homemade chicken stock if you've got it (I had about two cups of it in the freezer from when I boiled some leftover chicken bones a while back)
-salt and pepper to taste
-a WEE bit of oregano, don't want it overpower anything
-Some olive oil for cooking
-I think I used some garlic powder as well...idk


So, dice up your onions and heat your pot (which should be pretty big, btw) on high with about a 1/4 cup of olive oil in the bottom. You're going to add the garlic, wait for it to heat up and then sweat the onions on a lower heat setting while you cut up your celery and chicken, so you want enough oil to coat the onions pretty well. While the onions are sweating, cut up your celery and carrots (if you want to). Then add them to the pot. You might need to add a little more oil to get things evenly coated. Cook these on the low temp while you cut up your chicken. Then add the chicken and cook on a high for about four minutes, until the chicken is mostly cooked through (Not completely). While this is happening, open your chicken stock and get it ready to go. Then go ahead and pour it in. Now add water, a cup at a time, until you think you have enough liquid to compensate for all of the stuff going into the soup (remember, you still have to add noodles). Like I said, I added 14 cups...it depends on the size of your pot. Once you've done that, measure out your bouillon accordingly (mine called for 1 tsp for each cup of water I had). Stir well and let it all come to a boil. Then add your noodles and let it cook. Add spices to taste and VOILA! Chicken Noodle soup. It's actually a pretty easy meal when all is said and done. Plus, you have TONS of leftovers, which is nice if you love chicken noodle soup like I do :D


Hope you enjoy the recipes cuz I have more that I'll post up here from time to time. 

Zucchini Pizza Boats

Zucchini Pizza Boats are based off a recipe I saw online where I only looked at the thumbnail and guessed on everything else while I was buying stuff and looked at the recipe when I got home.

In any event, Ingredients:
-Two medium, or one large zucchini per adult and one small to medium per child, sliced length wise, like a hot dog bun, seeded (use a spoon for this and just scrape out a center)
-Cheese of choice. I used mozzerella and a co-jack on mine. Delicious (again, pre-shredded).
-Sauce of choice. Theoretically you could use whatever sauce you want. I got some Ragu pizza sauce, but wish I would've gone with some kind of red pasta sauce instead. I'm sure an alfredo would taste delicious on it as well. Suit your tastes
-Pizza meat. Pepperoni, sausages, what ever you like. I went vegetarian for mine.
-Other stuff you want on a pizza. Just remember, they're not huge things to build your pizza on. they're a skinny zucchini
-Olive Oil
-Salt
-Pepper
-Garlic powder




Directions:
-Set oven to 350. Gather ingredients
-Wash the zucchini and and cut off both ends
-Cut in half length wise
-Scoop out the seeds a little bit (I don't mind eating them, so I wouldn't worry about it)
-Get drizzle just a little Olive oil on each boat. Use a spoon to cover the entire top surface.
-Salt, Pepper and garlic powder to taste
-Spoon sauce on to boat
-top with cheese, meat, more cheese and whatever (I recommend cheese being the top layer
-Bake for 40 minutes
-Voila. Pizza boats


I tried making them with yellow squash as well (summer squash?) and it wasn't bad, but it definitely had a "squashier" taste to it. I liked the zucchini better, plus it cooks a bit more evenly. 


Again, no pictures cuz I ate it all up before I thought to take any. 

This week I made Chicken Noodle soup and I was supposed to make Mac and Cheese. I can upload my methods for those as well later. They're pretty easy. Aaaand delicious.


Until next time.