Nichole D.
Albuquerque, New Mexico

I currently live in New Mexico with my boyfriend and beautiful daughter in The Retro Palace. I'm currently a student double-majoring in Cosmetology and Architectural Drafting. I spend what little free time I have knitting, crocheting, sewing, and almost any other project I have time for. I do occasionally eat and shower, but only if there is no knitting to be done.

SavingNine on Ravelry

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Monday, November 30, 2009

What Ever Happened to the Meme?

When I first started blogging, meme's were all the rage. What ever happened to them? I kind of liked them.

Anyways. It was So. Hard. To get up for class this morning. It was so nice to just sit around all day for a few days. Winter break is so close I can taste it! It'll be a welcome break, especially with my class load next term.

Oh, next term. I have a feeling I am over loading myself, but I am determined to do it. I'm all registered and I am planning on taking five classes next term. Really, not that many, but they are going to be pretty homework heavy, and I've been pretty spoiled my last few terms with not having a lot of homework. In addition to trying to get into the work study program (basically working for the college) next term, I am taking Intro to Physics (should be a breeze for me), Western Civilization, Architectural History, Building Materials and Methods II, and an honors class- Legacies of Color. I'm also registered for Intro to Chemistry, which would give me 18 credit hours next term. I'm not sure yet if I am going to drop Chemistry or not.

Hopefully my winter break provides enough R&R for me to tackle everything. I'll be rewarding myself, if I make it through, with a nice and mellow summer term. That should be good motivation!

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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Nerd Sadness

So, yesterday I was messing around (where I probably shouldn't have been messing around) on my computer, trying to get a game to work, and apparently did something wonky. After I restarted my computer, I couldn't log in. It was all, well, wonky. So, I ended up reinstalling Ubuntu from scratch. I didn't really lose anything, since Pretty much everything is still on my external hard drive, but I spent a lot of time making it look all pretty and installing programs and stuff. So, mild sadness. Oh well. Lessons learned the hard way, I guess. Also? need to look in to how to make a restore disc or something. Kind of bummed, though, because I would rather be knitting instead of messing around with my computer crap all over again. I really need to get cranking on the knitting- it's almost December!

Are you knitting Christmas gifts this year?

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Saturday, November 28, 2009

Cop Out

Too busy knitting, watching chick flicks (Nights in Rodanthe is first on the list), and eating leftover pie to blog right now. If you haven't checked out Cake Wrecks, go, now! Laugh! Subscribe!

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Friday, November 27, 2009

Friday Fill-ins

1. Wait! Wait, don't forget to remember what you are thankful for every day.
2. Thanksgiving dinner was followed at once by getting a wretched cold.
3. The trouble is that I just got over having bronchitis a few weeks ago.
4.My great family is many miles away.
5. With a faint pop ???.
6. The books I am reading, "The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, are shadowy and ominous.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward torelaxing, knitting, and recovering, tomorrow my plans include more of the same and Sunday, I want to throw a little football in the mix!

Any post-Thanksgiving weekend plans?

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Again, a few things I am thankful for today:

- My first homemade Thanksgiving dinner was a success!
- Spending the afternoon with my wonderful boyfriend
- Monsterette being a great this morning before going with her dad- she played in the leaves, helped me cook, and looked super cute in a new outfit and after a bath.
- Comcast now includes the NFL Network, and I can watch my team tonight! Woot!
- Ubuntu!

Hope that everyone out there has a wonderful day filled with love, family, friends, and good food!

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Three Thousand Words

Pile of Leaves 01

Pile of Leaves 02

Me & Doc

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ten on Tuesday

Ten Things I am Thankful For

1. My amazing daughter. Every day she does something that makes me smile.
2. My wonderful boyfriend.
3. The fact that said boyfriend is an excellent cook.
4. My friends.
5. My awesome family. I am really blessed to have such great people in my life.
6. The opportunity to go to college.
7. Vacation!
8. Time to knit, sew, read, craft, bake, or just RELAX.
9. Bloglines. I seriously would probably never read the blogs I love without some sort of feed subscriber.
10. Ravelry. This has become an indispensable tool for knitting and crocheting.

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Monday, November 23, 2009

Random Thoughts 11.23.09

- WHY do they call it "word verification" when it is just a random string of letters and NOT a word? That bugs the hell out of me.

- It really sucks that they put the Thursday night football game on the NFL Network and the Monday night game on ESPN. I don't really think that is fair for those people who don't have cable or satellite.

- The Monsterette has been quite excited lately that she is finally wiping her own butt. She runs around the house declaring it, and every time I giggle because it reminds me of that Adam Sandler movie.

- I hate doing homework in my house. It is SO HARD for me to focus and it takes me forever. In a crazy coffee shop, though, no problem. I know, it doesn't make any sense.

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Mosaic Bag

I made this over the summer. It's a little bag for stuff. I use it all the time, actually. I really love the organicness that is created with the combination of the tweed yarn and the pattern:

Mosiac Bag 02

The pattern is from the book 1000 Knitting Motifs, which a really excellent book if you find yourself wanting to add some colorwork to a project, but not sure what. I've used it a few times, and will definitely use it again. I love that it is spiral bound so it lays flat, and that the motifs are organized by origin. some close-up pictures:

Mosaic Bag 01

Mosiac Bag 01

The cord is just a braid made from the blue yarn. The yarn is Plymouth Tweed, which is my favorite tweed because the tweedy bits match the color of the yarn. I love that! I'm really happy with the way this bag came out.

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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Blah.

Feeling a little blah today, so not really in a mood to post much. Here's a few things I'm thankful for today.

- The Monsterette cleaning her room.
- Having ALL of the laundry done.
- My wonderful mom. She is so sweet, and such a great woman. I have a ton of respect and love for her.

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Friday Fill-ins

1. We need a nice long vacation.
2. Doc made me pancakes this morning and it made me smile.
3. If you want things done right, you got to do them yourself.
4. I have been really tired lately because I can't seem to get to bed before 11.
5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think that is a brilliant idea.
6. Family and freinds makes for a happy holiday.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hopefully getting some knitting done, tomorrow my plans include relax, relax, relax and Sunday, I want to watch football and make some chili!

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

LINUX

A few days ago I decided to switch to a LINUX operating system called Ubuntu. (non-nerds, this isn't going to get any less nerdy, so feel free to vacate if you want to, guilt-free. Promise. Knitting content tomorrow.) Actually, let me backtrack a little bit, because I really do not make major decisions like this on whims.

About a month and a half ago, a friend told me about this "great operating system! it's LINUX! I'ts fast and pretty and awesome!" (Okay, that might not be his EXACT words. Sue me.) I checked out the website repeatedly for about two weeks. By "repeatedly" I mean that I probably wasted at least 10 hours of my life just researching this silly thing. Then I took a week or two off, and did that all over. About a week before I decided to make the change, I was looking up all kinds of crap. What programs could I not live without that don't have equivalents? What the bloody hell is an emulator? What makes LINUX so special? You get the picture. Finally, one day, I decided to make the leap. I carefully scoured my computer for anything that needed to be be backed up onto the external hard drive and did so. Then I started installation. (My first thought was to partition hard drives, just in case, but decided to just go for the fresh start.)

So, now we are back where we started. I installed Ubuntu, blah blah blah. So far, though, I really like it. I think it is pretty user friendly, even for a non-nerd. There are TONS of helpful resources out there whenever I get stuck doing something. It is super-duper fast, and I found out how to customize and make pretty much everything a lovely shade of bubblegum pink. There is NOTHING on my desktop. (SQUEEEE!) the only major snag that I have run into (and yes, this is pretty major) is that I can't seem to get my printer to work with the OS. Sadly, Lexmark (my printer manufacturer) doesn't really have printer support for LINUX operating systems. Which, really, is just sad. I searched briefly for a workaround of some sort, but gave up pretty quickly, since I had homework to do.

Anyways, besides the whole printer thing, I really, really like it. I am looking forward to spending more time in the Terminal (kind of like DOS) and playing around there. I think I am forever a LINUX convert already, though, and you would have to have some pretty compelling stuff to get me to go back to Windows or to shell out the major bucks for a Mac.

I'm off to look for LINUX related knitting patterns. Tee Hee!

Any of you use LINUX?

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Knitting!

I know I've been promising some knitting content, and I finally got around to taking some pictures today! Woohoo!

Today I'm going to share a hat I made sometime last year, I'm pretty sure in the fall:

Opis Spicatum 003

The pattern is called Opus Spicatum, and it was a lot of fun to knit:

Opis Spicatum 001

The yarn I used was either Paton's Classic Merino or Lion's Wool. It might even be both, but I'm really not sure. The pattern was a simple fair isle knit, and went pretty quickly. I absolutely love the cast-on in the second color:

Opis Spicatum 002

This hat is so, so cozy. There are definitely more colorwork hats in my future. Probably somewhere down the road, I'll make another one of these! I also want to make matching mittens and a matching scarf. The herringbone pattern is so simple, but looks so great! I really love this hat.

Do you have a favorite hat pattern?

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Ten on Tuesday

No new T.O.T. this week, so I went and found an old one that I never did.

Ten Favorite Things to do During "Me" Time

1. Knit, crochet, sew...
2. Give myself a pedicure
3. Waste time on the internet
4. Sims 3
5. Take a long hot bath...often preceding number 2
6. Talk on the phone for hours
7. Curl up with a good book
8. Crank up the music!
9. Organize stuff (I know this sounds a lot like cleaning, but I really like to organize)
10. Browse the craft/fabric store

What is your favorite "me time" activity?

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Thankful

A few things I am thankful for today:

-My amazing daughter. Every day she puts a smile on my face.
-My wonderful boyfriend. I am so blessed to have him in my life.
-College! Even though it is stressful at times, I really love being a student, and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity.

What are you thankful for today?

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Weekends are Never Long Enough

It's Sunday already! Gah! I hate how fast the weekends go.

Doc and I had a great time in Santa Fe for our anniversary. Drinks, dinner, and much love and fun was had. He really is a great guy. I took him to one of my favorite places for breakfast this morning, and that was really yummy. I wish we didn't live an hour from there!

Today is just a mellow day, watching football, doing some knitting. Hope you all had a good weekend!

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Since I was out of town on Saturday and no internet, I hand-wrote my post. Here's what I wrote:

Happy anniversary to me and my wonderful boyfriend! I can't believe it has already been one year. it's been a crazy wonderful adventure so far, and I cannot wait for the years to come. Hopefully there is lots of them! He makes me so happy, and is such a wonderful man. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful guy in my life!

We are up in Santa Fe celebrating, and I am starting on my first drink- a yummy margarita in the hotel room. I'm sure there will be much more drinking, some yummy food, and lots of fun! See you guys back on the interwebs tomorrow.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Friday Fill-Ins

Sara does this, and I'm going to start doing it, as well! Here is the site if you would like to do it, too! The part that is in bold is what I have filled in.

1. The last band I saw live was TOOL a few months ago.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is being with my family and friends.
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is barely started.
4. Thoughts of knitting fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear pajamas all day, every day.
6. Bagpipes are cool.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting and girl movies, tomorrow my plans include our one year anniversary celebration in Santa Fe and Sunday, I want to go to the bar and watch football all day!

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Hmmmm.

Not really sure what to blog about tonight. I have a quiet night at home tonight, planning to watch Across the Universe and have some yummy pizza. There may be ice cream, too. We'll see. Ah, who am I kidding, there will definitely be ice cream. There will definitely be knitting, too. And even though it's lame, I'm kind of looking forward to getting to bed at a decent hour tonight.

Oh, and something worth mentioning! I found Grace in Small Things through Donyale's blog, Indulging my Inner Thinker. I think it is a fantastic idea to reflect at the end of the day on the things that bring you joy. I think we tend to get lost in the negative a lot of the time. I know I definitely do! I don't think I will be posting my "small things" here every day, but maybe once a week. I did grab a cute little journal from the $1 bins at Micheals the other day, though, that would be perfect to keep bedside for just this purpose. I would love to know if any of you get into this!

See you tomorrow!

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veteran's Day

First off, a huge thanks to those who have served or continue to serve our country. We would not be the nation that we are without those who chose to lay their lives on the line for us. For that, we are truly blessed.

This is the first year that my grandpa, a Korean War veteran, is not here to be thanked. I didn't really even think about it until I tried to go to the bank. I really, really miss my grandpa, and I wish he was still here.

Knitting content soon!

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