Busy, busy, busy April 22, 2008

Well I have not blogged in a great while and there are many a reasons for that.  Blogging is funny.  Its kind of like a belated birthday card or call.  You forget to send a card and then 10 days later you realize your mistake.  By then you feel like crap and keep putting it off.  Well thats what I do anyways.  The same goes for blogging. I kept making excuses today why I shouldn’t blog but I decided to just go ahead and do it because the later I wait the harder it will become.

One of the reasons I was hesitant is because I have zero pictures to share.  I somehow have misplaced my camera charger and so now the thing is out of batteries and I have no way to charge it.  Could turn into serious problem if I can’t find the charger soon.

So here are some things that are new in my life.

1.  I signed a lease to an apartment that I won’t be moving into until September but I am still very excited.  My boyfriend has just moved here and will be living there and I will join him once my year of service is done.  We have been busy obtaining furniture and that sort of thing for the last couple of weeks.  People are very generous here and always willing to help out.  So far we have been given a kitchen table and chairs, microwave, coffee maker, bed, chest of drawers and have purchased at very reasonable prices a couch and a washer/dryer set.

2.  I spent the past weekend in Denver with my good friend from college enjoying my time out of rural Colorado.  On Saturday we enjoyed the sun in her neighborhood park playing wiffleball and tossing the frisbee.

3. Sunday I came home and was pleasently surprised because one of the women that I know from our local knitting group wanted to give me a loom!  It is small and portable and one that you weave bands that range in size from very thin to maybe 2.5 inches wide.  So you can make things like bracelets or guitar straps.  You can also sew the bands together for wider items like scarves, handbags etc.  Very generous gift and I am excited to get learning on it.

4.  My parents come to visit tomorrow.  This will be the first time they visit my new home and I am excited for them to see where I am living.  We plan on spending some time in the Valley and then going down to New Mexico for the weekend.  Unfortunately my brother won’t be able to join us.  He is turning 21 this weekend and felt like celebrating with his friends instead of his parents.  I can’t imagine why…

Ok so that is a brief update.  I know its not super exciting without pictures.  Hopefully I can rectify that situation soon.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Grrrr! March 6, 2008

Well it’s Thursday and I haven’t blogged since Monday, but its not because I haven’t been working on this blog. I recently discovered that unlike blogspot, wordpress does not accept flash or java script. This is bad for me because it means I can’t import my etsy mini store. Its basically a widget on the right column that displays the items in your store and provides links to them. Scroll about a third of the way down this shop and you can see what I am referring to. The forums said it was for security purposes. I don’t know much about this stuff but I will say I am pretty disappointed. I am attempting to make my own mini etsy in the right column by uploading thumbnails of my products. The problem is its not formatting the way I would like, I would prefer to columns, centered, with small spaces in between. And each thumbnail would have a link to that product in my shop. Well I am simply not that computer savvy but maybe I will figure it out sometime here…

Tag! February 27, 2008

I was tagged by emmylouhelmuth today. I’ve never been tagged before but apparently it means that I am supposed to tell everyone seven interesting facts about myself and pass on the tag to other bloggers. So here it goes…

Sangre de Cristo Mountains from the San Luis Valley

1. I grew up in Missouri, went to school in Indiana, and have finally escaped the midwest! (No offense to current midwesterners out there, I just need some time to explore other parts of the country.) I am currently living in the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado. It is a rural desert valley the size of Connecticut surrounded on all sides by mountains.

2. I was a Peace Studies major in college and am currently attempting to live in a way that is consistent with my values as working in a non-profit, restorative justice organization as a full-time volunteer. I live with 6 other volunteers working in various non-profits.

3. Another way I live out my values is by eating vegetarian. (Again, no offense to you meat eaters out there) For me maintaining a vegetarian diet is a way to reduce waste and contribute to a more healthy planet. In the United States we feed nearly 70% percent of the grains and we grow to farm animals and the UN points to raising animals for food as one of the top two or three most significant contributers to the most serious environmental problems. For environmental reasons I choose to not eat meat. I don’t think that eating meat is wrong in itself, but I do think the way the developed world has created an unsustainable food industry is inexcusable. Still I’m the first to admit that its hard resist the smell of ball park hot dogs or breakfast bacon

4. I love to create things. I have had various handicraft hobbies over the year depending on my budget and time allowances. Right now I am very much into knitting and embroidering because they are crafts I can do for a reasonable amount of money. In the past I have made pottery but am unable to do that right now as I don’t have access to a wheel, kiln, etc. I am just now starting a weaving class and was loaned a rio grande loom from a former weaving instructor that happens to be a good friend of my coworker.

5. I do not love to exercising at all but am currently training for a 10 k in May to prove to myself that I can do it.

6. I’ve never been a techy person but in the last month I have started an etsy shop, created a flick’r account, posted in numerous forums, started blogging (obviously), and learned how to use dreamweaver.

7. I love to bake all things, breads, cakes, cookies, anything. I hate that high-altitude has ruined this hobby.

I will pass the tag along to Ni-Chern Designs, FluffyFlowers, Vintage Blue Studio, AntiGenre, Pulp Sushi, Suburose, BeneathTheRowanTree

A New Home February 21, 2008

Welcome to my (kinda) new blog. I started out at hiloverde1.blogspot.com, but my good friend Brian Liloia was appalled that I was using blogspot over wordpress and he helped me get set up here instead. He is into this sort of thing so I decided to follow his advice and make a move before I got too involved over there. So here I am. As I find my way around this place I will be adding more features so be sure to check back often.

My First Post… of any kind February 18, 2008

Well I’ve never been much for personal networking or blogging sites, but I thought I would give this a go. I recently started a small business at hiloverde.etsy.com and was looking for a way to promote my goods. I thought that a blog was a good option for reaching people outside my circle of family and friends. I plan on writing about my projects, other people’s work that I appreciate, and various other topics that I am currently contemplating. Thus far any of my attempts at personal journaling have failed as I don’t write regularly. Hopefully this blog does not meet the same fate!