Ruffled Scarf - pattern included!

I found this great sparkly silver/platinum coloured wool at Michael's the other day and knew it would be absolutely perfect for a friend of mine who loves things that are "practical yet alluring!!", so I decided to make her a scarf.  She's most definitely a girly girl, and I knew the wool really needed a fun, flirty kind of pattern, so I found this great Ruffled Scarf from a lady named Maryse.

Here's the pattern if anyone is interested:

Materials:  Alpaca Ware Superfine Alpaca Yarn, 3 skeins (or approximately 540 yards of a fingering or DK weight yarn; wpi = 14).   (My wool is listed as FINE and I used approx 2 1/4 balls, so about 500 yards)

Size 4US and 7US needles.  (I used 3.5mm and 4.5mm needles)

Finished measurements:  Length:  approximately 48 inches; Width:  approximately 6 inches;

Gauge:  I didn't check gauge, I just went for a relatively drapey fabric.  You want the scarf to be soft and malleable.  (My gauge on this wool is 24 stitches x 30 rows = 4"x4" on 3.75mm needles)

Instructions:

With size 7 needles, cast on 48 stitches.  (I cast on 60 stitches because I like my scarves a little wider, and once it was done it was approx 6-8 inches wide)
Row 1, 3, 5:  Knit.
Row 2, 4, 6:  Purl.

Change to size 4 needles:
Row 7:  *Knit 2 together* 24 times (you'll end up with 24 stitches on the needles)
Row 8-12:  Knit.

Change to size 7 needles:
Row 13:  *Kfb* 24 times (you'll end up with 48 stitches again).

Repeat rows 2-13 until you've reached the length you want. 

Bind off.

And some photos of the final product!

I was very happy with how it turned out, and she loved it when I gave it to her today, so it was a win/win in every way! :)  I'm planning on making this pattern again - we just found some really great chenille wool at the dollar store of all places, so I might see how it knits up in a bit of a thicker weight wool.

Happy knitting!

When life gives you lemons....

Ahh, our story....I know for certain that Luke and I will have a lot of stories to pass along to our children someday.  About how we met, the struggles we went through, the good, the bad, the ugly, and of course the major issues we've had trying to live in the same country once again!!

We've been going through this immigration junk for 10 months now, and it's become extremely draining, to say the least.  We mailed our application in February 2010, and we were supposed to get notification a few weeks later, with our case number, etc....well it's been 10 months and we haven't heard one piece of communication with USCIS!  They hadn't even cashed our cheque yet!!  I have never been so wanting to get rid of money before!!  We had contacted Luke's local congresswoman's office, back in August, to try and get some help if we could. There was a really nice lady there who did her best to get us some info, and the only reason we had any information at all was through her - she was great.  However we just continued to get the run around - no one was able to give us any solid information as to where our application was, why it was taking so long, what had happened, how the ball had been dropped so dramatically....nothing at all!  The US went through an election and unfortunately the congresswoman wasn't re-elected, so at that point her office didn't seem too interested in helping us anymore.  I'm not sure why, but they too dropped the ball.

So we made a really difficult decision - we've canceled our application for the US, and are now pursuing Canadian PR for Luke.  It's a huge change, and one that we didn't take lightly, because we felt we were already so invested in this process, but at some point you just have to look at the signs and see where God is pointing you (and sometimes shoving you!).  It's not going to be an instantaneous thing to get PR for Luke - we still have to go through a lengthy application process, but we're hoping that it will be an easier thing to go through when we actually see SOME progress, some light at the end of the tunnel....something!!!

It's been a really hard thing for us to deal with - we love Colorado and the life we had there, and we love our house.  But when we look back on the signs that God was showing us, we really feel that this is the best decision that we can make.  Luke's job that was once really great, that he really enjoyed, has slowly gone very much downhill since the spring.  He's being persecuted for keeping the Holy days, and the situation is extremely ugly.  Some things that should have happened for us throughout these past few months haven't - and now looking back on them, I think God was showing us for sure that He didn't want us in the US.  If some of these things had worked out like WE wanted, it would have messed us up for Canada Immigration.  So it's pretty neat when you look back and see where God is directing your life.

I feel kind of dumb sometimes, that we didn't come to this conclusion earlier.  We gave all of this immigration stuff a TON of thought before we did anything - we prayed about it constantly and really wanted to make the right decision.  When we applied for the US we really couldn't see any reason why we shouldn't be in the US - everything seemed great and it was all looking positive.  So I think God really needed us to see how bad it could be, and we needed to see just how much He is directing our lives before we let go of what WE wanted and really put every ounce of trust in Him instead.

Anyway, as you are all my friends and family, I wanted to update you all on this.  We have a long road ahead of us still, but I really have faith that this is how it was supposed to be from the beginning.  When we came to this conclusion we both really felt a sense of calm and relief wash over us - I think that really made us feel more confident.  We appreciate any and all prayers you can throw our way - we know God has a lot in store for us, and we know this still isn't going to be an easy journey.  We're still looking at months of being apart unfortunately.  But we hope that with God's help we can once again be back together, and finally live as husband and wife again!  Oh, how I miss that!!

Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers - it means a lot to us :)  And feel free to email me anytime if you want more details or whatever.  We have quite the story!!

Russian Apricot Chicken Recipe

I was part of a recipe exchange a few weeks ago, and a friend of my MIL's sent me this one - it gets two thumbs way up from me!  I thought I'd share it with you, as my whole family liked it a whole lot.  I'm naming it Russian Apricot Chicken....it may have originally had another name, but this seems to work for my purposes :)

Russian Apricot Chicken

• Chicken (I used thighs, but you can really use whatever you have around, or if you prefer light meat you can use breasts, etc.  I had about 18 thighs in my pan....I really didn't pay much attention to weight!)
• Russian Salad Dressing (I used one large bottle, roughly 500 ml)
• Apricot Jam - approx 10-12 oz (300ish ml)   (Mine was just a no name brand, and I was very approximate on my measurements)
• 1 package of Onion Soup Mix

Mix the Russian dressing, Jam and Onion soup mix together.  Place chicken in a pan (I always put parchment down in my pans - makes for almost instant clean up!), pour the sauce over the chicken. 

Cook at 350 for approx 40 mins.  

I served mine with rice, and spooned the sauce over the rice.  

All in all, this heads right to the top as one of my new favourites!  The sauce has an almost asian taste - it reminded us of a not-so-sweet sweet & sour sauce.  Dad mentioned that it would be delicious as a part of a stir fry, or a beef/rice/tomatoes type dish.  It's one to experiment with for sure! 

I hope you enjoy! 

Snow Days!

We love snow days!  These are a couple of weeks late, but I figured that was okay....  These are from the first day of the snow when Jordan and I took the pups out for a walk in the yard so we could get some photos of them playing in the snow, and of course the nature ;)

These ones are from the next day when it started snowing a lot more - the first two are looking out my parent's front window and the last two are from the back of the house:

~ A Thousand Shall Fall ~

First of all, everyone please pick up a copy of this book!  It is so worth the read!  I read it in just a few days - it's not a terribly long book, but there's a lot packed into those pages, that's for sure!

Now for a little description....I read a review on Amazon that sums up everything I want to say perfectly:  

"Okay, lets imagine you have problems. No, I mean REAL problems. You're Christian, good.. But let's say you're a Christian in Germany at the beginning of WWII. HITLER's Germany! Not too bad?? Well, how about if you are one of the first to get drafted into HITLER'S ARMY?? Not bad enough?? How about if your request to be a conciencious objector is DENIED. Bad enough yet? How about facing persecution for your beliefs? Most of us in Modern America can't understand what that is. But Franz Hasel knew well. Forced to be a soldier in the front lines of Hitler's army, he vowed to stay true to his beliefs and his God. What would you do if Hitler told you that you had to fight for him and his ambitions that you believe are evil, but your God says "Thou shalt not kill" What WOULD you do? How much would you risk to avoid going against your conscience? Would you risk your life?  The more faithful he was to his God, the more faithful God was to him, protecting him, unarmed in the front lines of battle, and his family back at home as they face starvation and social persecution. This book will uplift your spirits and give you a greater faith in God. A book that you won't be able to put down once you pick it up, it is as exciting as any action flick while being 100% true. After reading this book, you'll understand what it really means to be a Christian. To risk it all and trust completely in God. Not to be missed!!"

~A Customer (Amazon)

This book is a keeper, for sure.  For me I found it to be faith strengthening.  It made me ask myself some questions - how would I react in situations like these?  Would I really have the faith to do what they did?  Would I risk my whole life in this way when faced with these types of problems?  Am I really as set and firm in my faith as I should be, when push comes to shove, when it starts to get hard?

A whole other aspect that really hit me hard... if I was to look face to face at the main character in this book, Franz Hasel, I would think he was a typical "Nazi" of the time - serving a man who thinks he's God.  But who am I to judge this man based on what he was forced to do?!  I would be misjudging him completely, when really he believes in many of the same things I do.  It gets me thinking.... Who are we to possibly look at someone and assume we know what they think and what they believe based on what they look like.  How utterly UN-Godly...I'm ashamed that I've ever let that happen.

So again, what a great book!!  It is high on my list of favourites, and I can see myself reading it again soon.  Buy it here!

I love it when the power goes out!

I remember enjoying the power going out so much when I was younger....we would cuddle under blankets and read a good book for hours and hours :)  We would light a ton of candles and set them out throughout the whole house, and the house would have the certain waxy, warm smell.  We would boil water on the wood stove downstairs and make hot chocolate, mmmm!  The fire place would be crackling, and we would all enjoy the silence and the relaxation.

We had very high winds on Monday, and the power went out at about 7:00 in the evening.  Thankfully we had all eaten dinner and the house was warm, so we were all set to hunker down and enjoy listening to the rain and the howling winds.  I had even just boiled the kettle, so I quickly made some tea for everyone while it was still hot! :)  We eventually all went to bed in the pitch blackness and silence that you just don't get when there's electricity running through a house.  Mom woke up at 4:30 the next morning to the entire upstairs of the house lit up like crazy!

Alina and Jordan trying to get the phones to work....after they finally found a corded phone! :)

Jordan and I enjoyed playing around with long exposures and one of the flashlights :)

Alina reading by candlelight

Jordan working on a crossword by candlelight :)

Remembrance Day 11/11/10 ~ Lest we forget...

I'm taking a moment today to think of, and especially thank, all the men and women who have served our countries so selflessly, giving the ultimate in service and sacrifice and going above and beyond their call of duty.  I'm thinking of both of my Grandfathers who served in 2 different branches of the Canadian military.

My Grandpa Humphreys fudged his age and enlisted when he was at the ripe old age of 16 where he was promptly sent overseas.  He was stationed in Italy, France, Germany and Africa (there may be more area, but I can't remember...), and saw action in every one of them.  There are many interesting stories that I've heard throughout the years, like when he was in the outhouse and heard machine gun fire close by, so he peeked out and saw clouds of dust spattering across the ground!  He jumped out of the outhouse just in time before the enemy splattered it full of bullet holes.  And then there was the time that he was mistaken for a German soldier and was held at knife point across his throat as he madly tried to pull out his Canadian ID :)

My Grandpa Severny was a career Submariner, making many, many trips on many, many submarines :)  He took his family overseas to England and Scotland for 4 years, and then Nova Scotia for 4 years, before they drove across Canada and settled once again in Victoria.  He retired from the Navy as Chief Petty Officer 1at Class.  He died in 2001 just a few days short of Remembrance Day, and at his funeral all of his grandchildren pinned a poppy on a heart shaped pillow with his medals attached to it.

I unfortunately don't have any photos of my Grandpa Severny in uniform, but I have plenty of my Dad's Father, my Grandpa Humphreys.  Here are some of my favourites:

And some of his medals...

I'm so proud of everything he did for our country - he didn't have to enlist, but he wanted to serve.  I'm extremely proud and thankful for both of my Grandpas.  I'll have to see if I can get some photos of my Grandpa Severny in his uniform from my Grandma.  

Alina is a Brownie leader (she's Snowy Owl...I'm sure she'd appreciate it if all of you called her that as much as possible), so she got to be a part of the candlelight ceremony at the Legion last night, as well as the Remembrance Day parade this morning.  So of course, I had to go along and be her official papparazzo ;)  These are from last night at the candlelight ceremony, where they honoured the 25 men who fought in WWI and WWII from Sooke.

Jordan joined me for the parade this morning, which I was very thankful for, as he provided me with someone to people watch with and of course laugh with ;)

On Remembrance/Veteran's Day in 2008, I was able to visit the Fort Logan National Cemetary in Colorado. It was an incredibly humbling, overwhelming experience.  If you're ever in an area that has a military cemetery, I recommend paying it a visit - it puts things into quite the perspective.  I tried to maneuver the narrow, little twisting roads with tears in my eyes, thinking with every turn I would see the end of these tiny, white, identical gravestones....but with every turn I came upon acres more.  It was heart wrenching.  To think that all these gravestones memorialize someone's father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, best friend.....I couldn't help but sit in my car and cry.  I knew none of them, but felt the weight of all of them as I sat gazing at these white plaques literally as far as my eye could see.  It was an incredible experience.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

~ John McCrae (1915)