Time off...so time for everything else (maybe)

Off of work for the next two weeks, so I'm hoping to get some writing and photography done. Of course, there is this little thing called the holidays that are upon us, and there is only one week left before Christmas (how did that happen???). So, even with my best intentions, I'm hoping that I can get an article written, another queried or submitted, and to get some photos submitted and accepted to a stock agency.

That's my best Christmas wish... :)

Camping pics

So, I just thought I'd add some pictures about our recent camping adventure. Even though it was only one day out, we found a nice spot next to a rushing, high-level creek just below Red Cone Pass near Bailey. This was at sunset...



We also went on a very small part of the Colorado Trail, a 420+ mile route stretching from outside Denver to Durango. R talks about going on his bike someday and riding the entire length of it. Personally, I'd love to see him do it, but I just don't know if he could handle it.





Because of the snow and all the precipitation, wildflowers blanketed the ground everywhere - including the state flower, the columbine...






Next week, it's on to Durango. Later on, I'll be writing about our little weekend jaunt to Colorado Springs (really, Manitou Springs, which is just five miles west). I didn't realize this before, but we're doing a lot of traveling around this summer! :)

Horsing Around

Continuing with the cruise...

We went to St. Maarten as part of the last stop on the cruise. Here, we thought we were being clever and rented a Jeep. But as it turned out, we had limited time and sometimes didn't know where to go (traffic circles can be such as pain in you-know-where). So once we found this Seaside Nature Park - right next to an oil refinery/power plant, ick - they had a mix up with our reservations, and we ended up waiting 1 1/2 hours to get on the horses. You can imagine how gumpy the girls (and I) were.

Once we got on, though, it was quite enjoyable, even with the industrial structure at our backs...



Another "must-do" on St. Maarten is Maho Beach. Here, just yards away from the main landing runway of the island's airport, people can watch - and feel - jumbo jets going overhead, despite ear-splitting noise and find sand stinging their faces.



Of course, there are some foolish individuals who try to REALLY experience what jet wash feels like. We didn't see anyone doing that, but I guess enough people attempt to do just that. Hence the government warning...



The last thing we attempted was to go to the French side of the island and the town of Marigot. But since we couldn't find parking, we just headed back to the port and to the ship.

Lesson learned - when you're on a cruise and have very limited time, take a tour instead!

More about the cruise...

So as I tried to write yesterday, J and N really enjoyed their time on Freedom of the Seas. Case in point...


When we set sail, they had a Dreamworks party with the "Madagascar" and "Shrek" characters. The girls couldn't help themselves and joined the party.

And yet another...



N took part in a circus parade and was a tiger. She also was part of a pirate parade. Personally, I think she enjoyed the massive attention she got from crowds.

We also took an awesome snorkel charter to a cove with sea turtles. Of course, N really enjoyed that trip. And because we took a leisurely sail from St. Thomas, it was fun for all of us

Finally back from vacation

So...I didn't get to blog on our trip like I wanted to. Even in the few days we spent in Florida (with free wi-fi access), time didn't seem to cooperate with me.

I will say that we had a fantastic vacation! Cruising is something we'll likely do again, and the girls really enjoyed their time on it, too. So did R's parents. But I think next time, we'll either go to Alaska or Europe. While I do want to visit other places in the Caribbean, it's time to see other places in the world.

Now that we've gotten laundry and our carpet cleaning out of the way, pictures and my travel log are definitely forthcoming! Stay tuned....

Knit one, two, three

Not too long of a post today...I need to get a lot of stuff done between now and the next 24 hours before we take off for Orlando. I need to figure out what I want to take. Now I have to think about what I'd like to take for knitting.

This blog used to be a strictly knitting and fiber-arts related one. I decided to move away from that, but I still knit. I am getting projects done Unfortunately, I've been terrible about documenting my knitting endeavors, but my aim is to get that remedied when we return on the 26th. My Ravelry page will look completely different when I'm done with it.

Maybe I'll write from the airport tomorrow morning, or when we get into Florida. I'm on a roll now! :)

This must be some kind of record...

So...I don't know if I've ever written four blog entries four straight days. Must be something in my water. :)

Right now, I'm just getting ready for my vacation. Highly uncharacteristic of me, but I'm the last one to pack. Maybe I'm a little intimidated with having to get 10 days of clothes ready, and 7 of those days mean we can't do any laundry - unless we want to shell out $25 a bag for Royal Caribbean to do it. No thanks.

I'm also trying to figure out what to do with my articles. I've written about 5-6 of them that, with a little polish, could be ready for submission to a website, maybe a publication. Now I just have to find the right ones - that's the tough part. There are so many out there, and I guess I fear that anything I've written is not suitable for any of them. I also have to think about what to submit to stock agencies, too. I've applied to Fotolia, Dreamstime and Shutterstock, but haven't submitted anything. There's also Bigstock Photo and iStockphoto (this one I did submit stuff, and got rejected).

Those are my somewhat modest goals for the summer: have my photos accepted for stock and have an article published. Also finish my NYIP course, which I have to do by September.

Who said my summer wasn't full??

Wow, it's been WAAAAY too long!!!

Still here, still alive.... :)

My regular work this year was in a word, nutty. As a result, I have really neglected this blog, and my intention is to not do so this summer. I have plenty to still do - writing and photography in particular, and also learning about web copywriting (things that I'm hoping will provide some supplemental income over these next few months).

And yes, I'm still knitting, trying to get about ten projects done at once...eek

Another thing is trying to stay in shape for our upcoming vacation next week. We are going on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, heading to the Bahamas, St Thomas and St. Maarten. I can't describe the excitement I'm feeling, Everyone is going - kids, in-laws and of course hubby.

I'll try to see if I can blog from the ship, but it may cost us quite a bit. I'll at least get an entry or two off in Florida, before we set sail.

Until the next time...(which won't be in 10 months!)

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth...

So, it's been a while - almost two months. But like I said in the last post, I'm trying to figure out where to go with my non-school psych life. I threw out a few options: freelance writing, photography, knitting design, maybe even some travel stuff thrown in there for good measure. So I don't know if this is going to be a strictly knitting and crochet blog anymore. But I will start with what I've been doing, fiber arts-wise.

I've gotten plenty of knittting projects done since February. Jenna's dress is finally done - although now, it doesn't belong to Jenna. She has declared that she doesn't like dresses anymore - too girly, I suppose. Now it's Nicole's, and luckily she loves it. I'm also making here next one, and another after that. Jenna's willing to wear sweaters, though.

What have I done for myself lately? Well, there's this pullover from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard (one of the best knitting books around, IMHO):



And now the emphasis is on vacation and gift knitting. At least two of my projects are aimed at having something for our trip to Hawaii in late July, and I'm making three different gifts for friends and family. One is actually a combination of vacation and gift - a table runner for my friend in Kauai. More pictures will be forthcoming!