My Sister is Sew Fun!

Kelly received a sewing machine for her birthday and so we set out on sister fun day to make skirts out of t-shirts based on some online directions (Sew like my mom) I will attempt to recall all the different steps... but would recommend checking out the website above if you want to hear directions from someone who as any kind of sewing expertise. However, I will attempt to regal you with our step by step process using a combination of photos and descriptions that make sense to me.
1. Get a bunch of thread from your mom.
2. Go to Value Village or such charity shop and find extra large t-shirts that you like. (these decisions can be based on colour, texture, and price... often all three)

3. Cut the t-shirt at the arm pits to avoid the pockets. If you didn't have pockets? Well done you. cut the sleeves off directly then and try not to botch it up when you sew the arm holes together for a longer skirt.

4. Take a before picture of what you are hoping the skirt will look like. This will give you an idea of how long it will be and how many little rows of elastic thread and regular thread you want to sew on the top to make it all puckery.

5. Ask your sister for help (I didn't even have to ask, my sister had the machine all ready to go with the bobbin loaded with the elastic white thread and the green thread matching the colour of my skirtshirt on the top bit that comes through the front of the needle. Which is great because I am terrible at threading bobbins and all that stuff. I always put it in the wrong direction. hence-ask for help! ) :)

6. Make the first row on the side of the fabric that is not the lovely already hemmed bottom of the shirt. make sense? No? well look at the photo below:
7. continue going around the skirt until you have anywhere from 7 to 20 rows, sky is the limit, do the whole thing if you want a tight tube skirt. I didn't. So we did ten. Enough for a fashionable waistband.

8. It helps to keep the skirt fabric relaxed and calm if you wear the top half of its former self. Make sure you hold the fabric tight through the machine. As you can see below, you simply follow the line of the previous row with the foot until you have as many rows as you fancy.

TA-DA! a skirt! I think this literally took us less than 45 minutes. (not counting the trip to the store to buy the fabric) With summer just around the corner... so I have heard... I hope to bust this guy out all the time. :) Before you embark on your adventure I would recommend looking at the other website at the beginning of the blog because I am sure I missed some steps out when making it.... but it turned out! So there you. fashion forward. hippie music festivals here I come. Bring your sunshine and lavender to trade for magical t-shirt skirts.

BellX1 at the Crocodile Cafe

Fantastic. I haven't been to a gig in ages and managed to get a tip about this band from a friend of mine in the UK. They are Irish upbeat and a heck of a lot of fun: BELLX1. I managed to wrangle my friend, Sarah (above) to join me on the adventure. We snagged a fairly good vantage point as you can see from the pictures. :)

I really like the crocodile cafe in belltown as a venue. It is not nearly as pretentious as the other establishments nestled around it... seems to have saved itself from the tragically hip crowd which moves into that area of town on Friday nights. The stage was accessible, there is enough room to dance, the band was dynamic and interactive, the beer is cheap and by all accounts the pizza is meant to be delicious. I believe next time I head here, eating pizza will be on the to-do list!

The Great Defector is one of my favorite songs of BellX1, though it is not from their new album (bloodless coup) it always gets my hips moving and my feet tapping and by the time he loves the colour of it all, I am in full octopus dance of appreciation. :) Give them a listen:

The Great Defector Live in Dublin

Family Fun Day!

Before starting my internship this summer I had one week off and was very lucky to have a chance to spend, at least part of it, with my sister and niece! We went to the Children's Museum and IKEA. I think Beatrice loved both equally. Work has been fairly busy since that week and have seen Beatrice and Kelly a few times since. Beatrice learns more words everyday and I especially like her concentration face when she wants to understand the word I am saying. My niece is a bit of a baby genius as she was able to say "Auntie Rachel" within 36 hours! Incredible.

Beatrice planting flowers

Still a big fan of ducks

Who doesn't love a giant lightbright?

Hiya!

Adorable. All ready to head out for the day of adventure! If you can't read the top Bea is wearing, it says: "I love my Aunt." :)

Summary of my Summer as a Chaplain Intern on a Yogi Tea bag.

Tomorrow I start my third week of of CPE and tonight as I settled in for the evening with a cup of tea. This was my on my tea bag. Leave it to yogi tea to have affirming words for a summer chaplaincy internship program! CPE is not easy, but I am learning about myself and the world and the way that God can work through me with a steeper learning curve than I thought possible to climb.

Last night was my first over-night on call duty and I was anxious and scared before it started. However, I found that the night pace was really great. I am not sure what it is but I liked the variety of visiting all the floors and listening to different patients and staff. I am grateful for the prayers and words of support which carried me through.

Thanks to all those who have taken the time to listen to help guide me further along the journey.

The Big Yes on Little Si!

That would be the the title of the blog post that I would use if I was writing about a proposal for marriage. But the case is that four friends happened to be free and all up for a hike on a Sunday afternoon. We said yes to great weather and mother nature. :) This is a picture of Eryn and I on the top of Little Si. The weather was muggy and we were all a bit sweaty. Great time for hugs.

If there is something I have learned in the past few weeks with my family and friends in Washington is that there are few substitutes in life for those who have known you at your worst and your pretty darn close to the best. The group rendezvoused in North Bend and we hoped in Eryn's jeep-o-fun for a trip to the trail head. Luckily, because we were going fairly last minute and ended up starting the walk around 2pm we easily found parking and the trail wasn't too terribly crowded.

As we walked along I tried to balance my visual time between enjoying the lush greenery and not tripping on the tree roots.

We stopped for a bit of a rest along the way. Eryn is doing well in true buzz light year style. Brian is exhausted and Dave looks incredibly normal. Quite an achievement in this crowd!
Eryn and I at the top of Little Si! It was a fantastic day, albeit a bit warm. I love the time in the great outdoors and it is about time I went hiking in Washington State again.

After the hike we went to Snoqualmie Brewery and Taproom. I would recommend the pizza. The sandwich I ordered was tasty, but the pizza looked delicious. I did enjoy the selection of brews on tap- impressive. Perfect post-hike stop!

Adventures with the Book of Concord

Once upon a time there was a beautiful and intelligent woman who was trapped in the highest tower of DormCastle in the countryside of PLTS high in the hills of Berkeleyland. The woman, Lehcar, loved to study and to make practical applications of classroom theology in the way that she lived her life and interacted with people. One day, while she was reading her enchanted Book of Concord, she came across this statement related to the definition of adiaphra which gave her pause:

"Analogously, if the style of German clothing is not an act of devotion to God necessary for righteousness before God, it follows that it is possible to be righteous and children of God and the church of Christ even if they wear not German, but French clothing."

Lehcar laughed and laughed and remembered watching episodes of 'Allo 'Allo which indiscriminately made fun of Germans, Englishman and the French ad nauseam. So Lechar thought it would be a good time to take a break from writing papers and reading theology to utilize the communication of magical spiders to share her message and and her laughter to lands far and wide via the world-wide-web. She knew that her new understanding of adiophra had radically altered her views on liturgy and church tradition and was excited to share these new-to-her insights with the world. Alas, being under the spell of finals she is unable to communicate clearly for any purpose other than writing her essays and what she wants to eat for dinner. However, there will be a time soon when Lechar breaks free of her tower and is sent to the Land of Green, Washington State, where she will recover with her family and hopefully be able to better articulate her theological development by the time she needs to write her endorsement essay in August. The End.

I'm going to be an aunty (again) !! :)

Spending time in Connecticut each year is wonderful, full stop. However, this time was particularly lovely on account of the company of my good friend and soul sister, Tracey. I only with I had more time to spend with Tracey and her little growing friend.; our busy work schedules did not allow for much down time.

I am grateful to be part of the experience of her pregnancy. I fear that because I am relatively in-eloquent and not the best photographer, I this meager blog post does not do justice to my enthusiasm for Russel and Tracey and their little wee baby to be!! Ah, but look at that photo, she is glowing more than the light shining through the kitchen window... pure sunshine. Congratulations Tracey and Russel. <3