mlesnapshot

So I've been waiting for some major news from the loan company for the last week, which made me refrain from posting, hoping I'd have some news for you. Since I don't yet have news, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you three fun things to do while waiting.

I've enjoyed reading Scary Go Round, which is a M-F clever serial cartoon by John Allison. If you click on my link, you'll have Blackbeard's ghost, killer rabbits, bitter narwhals, and numerous celebrity appearances including President Sarkozy and Jimmy Buffett to look forward to.

I've gotten addicted to The Archers, a BBC Radio Drama that has just emerged as a podcast on itunes. It actually has a long history, since 1952! But I've been so enjoying the 10-15 minute daily stories, that I sometimes listen to several at a time while making dinner.

I always like to check out Design*Sponge when I have a bit of time. The website is so nicely done with so much to ooo and ahh at. Plus how-tos and city-guides.

What are some fun things you like to do when waiting?

Still not sure where my camera is but in the meantime, I dug through the photos I took of Baltimore back in April and found a few I'd like to share. This one above is in Fells Point, a cute cobblestone area right by the water.

While I've not had mussels before, I almost can't resist a command like this. We've had crabcakes and hope to try fresh steamed blue crabs before too long.

As far as other food adventures, we ordered chinese yesterday and were disappointed with the char siu, which is supposed to be a sweet pork, often found in a soft steamed bun at dim sum restaurants. It was merely dyed pork. But we ordered singapore-style fried rice noodles, an old favorite of mine, and it was good! If you like spicy thin noodles with lots of good stuff mixed in, like various vegetables, pork, and shrimp, it may become of favorite for you too.

Do any of you ever listen to The Splendid Table on NPR? You can also subscribe to their podcast, which is what I do. Lynn, the host, always starts the show with Jane and Michael Stern from Roadfood.com. It's a fun site to use for restaurants not to miss for your next roadtrip or trip downtown.

I hope you all eat something memorable this weekend. If you do, I'd love to hear about it!

Isn't that a great name for this beautiful yarn? On my first excursion to a Baltimore yarn shop, intending to just pick up some needles, I found this poor little orphan and had to give it a home. I'm proud that my first yarn purchase in Baltimore was from the locally owned Maryland artist Wüllenstudio. This yarn is hand-dyed, merino, superwash sock yarn. Isn't that a great combination of things?

(  2 more pics )

I forgot how raw and insecure doing job applications and interviews makes me feel. It's been four years since I've been through this! I've sent out applications, resume, portfolio, and personalized cover letters to over 60 job opportunities. I've had three first interviews and several phone calls, and now I have a part-time job starting tomorrow. I'm semi-excited, only because we're also trying to close on our house, so we have to see if the income I receive from this pt job will be enough for an approval. So, I'm feeling raw, like a carpet burn.
( ::que the carpet photos and que the story!:: )

Well, we arrived at our destination, Baltimore! But so much is up in the air and I can't find my camera or the plug from my camera to the computer. So, I'll regale you with photos I took pre-move. This delightful bread is one of the greatest things I've ever tasted!


It's a polish bread that our good friends shared with us before their big move to the west coast. It's full of poppyseeds. And just slightly sweet.
I found a this recipe posted online. I've not tried it, but it has some nice pictures and some explanation about this roll. This one that we had the pleasure of feasting on was bought and brought back from New Jersey, I believe. I wonder if there's any here in Baltimore...

Shoots, I'm hungry! I'm going to go eat breakfast.

( goodbyes )

Sometimes it's all about perspective. For those of you that believed I'd already moved, sorry to mislead you with that airplane picture, not gone quite yet. I've got a few more weeks with friends and family before we leave here on the 16th. And that's all that I'll say about moving today.

Ryan and I took a day vacation on Memorial Day. We drove around the island and stopped where we wanted to stop, which included Waimea Valley falls and botanical garden. I had never been there so it was a real treat! There's a waterfall at the end of an easy paved stroll where you can swim, but the journey there was half the joy. All the beautiful flowers along the way! I took loads of pictures, but wanted to show you the three in my last post and a few today.

I was enthralled with these lovely little pink flowers from last post and was taking pictures from the top and side and then Ryan suggested taking one from the bottom, which resulted in a completely different image. How inspiring!



The images above show the first example of me trying to get past the usual and expected. I was taking the usual down shot of these purple flower (left) and then thinking about the blahness of the image I scrunched down and took one from the side (right).

How about you, reader? Have you ever been amazed by what you saw when your changed of perspective?

over...


under...


through...

One thing I'm learning, it takes a village to move two people and a dog. :) One couple to move anything we can live without for a few months; One super-human realtor to show us 40 homes in 2-1/2 days and guide us through the whole process; One couple to give us their guest room and tour us around the city; One dad with rental skills and paperwork for renting our home; One mom with airline privileges in order to avoid skyrocketing flight prices; One man named Craig to create a website "list" that everyone seems to check in order to buy all our furniture; And most recently, a whole host of folks trying to plug me into employment. While I know that the world is not "emily-centric," rather heliocentric, it sure has been encouraging to have all of this support and care throughout the process of cross-country moving. While I hope to have this blog return to craftiness, more frequent updates, and general frivolity, it's still a reflection of my life, which seems to be more of a group photo these days. Thank you village!

What's a better filler for pockets than flowers? I purchased these beautiful poppy hairpins from the foundling. Betsy of foundling is most accommodating; I asked if she could make a Poppy of a specific color and size and she sent me the beautiful turquoise number through the cut.
( 3 )
I am happy to say that all of my absence from here was well used and our housing here and there are now mostly settled! In the midst of my stress I've found a pocket of grace and I think I'll remain here while the whirl of moving spins around me. I'm still looking for a job in Baltimore, but I'm hoping and praying that something opens on that front soon. In the meantime, I hope this two weeks of silence doesn't occur too often. I actually have things to say, I just need the words and time.

"Squeak, squeak!" is what I heard coming from the kitchen last night as I finished up my knitting. (a post is coming!) I looked at Poki, we looked at the stove and looked at each other again. A mouse!

Ryan doesn't care for them at all. He compares his feelings about them to mine about the B-52 Cockroaches. For those of you not from Hawai‘i, B-52 refers the the flying abilities of the giant cockroaches that we have living here. So, suffice to say, that comparison helped me understand his fear. So I told him to get a trap, as humane as possible, and leave it in the kitchen while he and poki spend his day off upstairs or outside of the house.
I don't think I'll be able to read about Ralph or Nimh anytime soon.

I want to thank you all for your kind concern in my last post. I didn't mean to sound so somber, but as much as I enjoy new things and change, I also don't enjoy it. I'm very mixed about these things. ;)
Anyways, This photo makes me smile so I hope it does so for you as well. Poki loves hanging out by this big window we have in our bedroom looking out over the back yard and the hills behind that hold cows. Many times I've wondered where she was and I'd find her laying by this window with her chin on the sill. This particular day was full of the cleaning I mentioned in my last post. But I don't seem to have reached the windows yet as you can see in the upper left. :)

Today I'm meeting friends for knitting, something I haven't done in a while. Later I'll take pictures of some good stuff that I recently received. Some flowery crafts and books! To heighten your anticipation, I'll end the message here. Talk with you all soon!

When the various aspects of life come crowding in; papers need to be signed, toilets cleaned, and people called, I often find my brain checking out just to save my sanity. The images in this post give the best visual reference to my words.
They were made when I was in the midst of some deep cleaning in our house. The 5pm sun came streaming into the bathroom window and these beautiful shapes of color appeared. I ran down the hall grabbed my camera and made this and the following pictures found through the cut.

( 3 more )
These are the moments that help me survive. The moments of brilliant beauty that allow and only require breathing. No paint or fabric or yarn was needed, only light. I wonder if there's some way that I can stop and recognize beauty that I might create without struggling and trying to bring it into existence.
I think the beauty of friendship is much like this. It's the natural and casual generosity of others that is most exquisite. The shining light of God's grace blooming through the actions of everyday people.

I hope I don't sound too desperate or cheesy, but my mind is rather troubled with some big decisions so that might be coloring my words today. I am thankful, again, for this place where I can meet all of you and talk through some of the issues weighing on my mind.

I've been so tired, but things are moving forward on all fronts.
I've missed being here on LJ with you all but I just haven't had anything fun to say.
So, thus begins my series of backyard sunsets.
I always think it's a blessing when I get home early enough to get a peek of the sun setting in our backyard.
Above is the first installment.
More to come.

PS. Thank you all for your encouragement and care these last few posts.

I've actually been back for a few days but I'm still processing my trip. Thank you all for your well wishes. It was a productive trip! We saw about 40 houses. I know! Crazy, aren't we? We found a house that we really love but I don't want to talk too much about, yet. The picture above is just a sample of how much Baltimore is blooming right now.

I'm currently sending out my resume into the wide world and pulling together a portfolio. We're also fixing up this house and readying it for renting. Lots going on these days.

I think we're both a bit emotional, now, about this move. I teared up a bit just landing in Hawaii. Knowing that it might be the last time we land here for some time.

So that's a peek into my current psyche. A little muddled, but I'll make it. :)

This is what I'll be doing the next 11 hours on the plane. I'll see you all next week!

Aloha, Emily

A rainbow gracing our backyard

This weekend we packed thirty-three boxes and various pieces of furniture into a Uhaul and took them off to Kaneohe. A friend of mine answered my seemingly impossible prayer of bringing my favorite desk to Baltimore by informing me that not only was she planning on moving to DC, but since her husband was military, they had a container going and we can put as much as we can live without for a few months inside.
So this happy news brings us to this weekend with us bringing in my super-packing mother-in-law, auntie, brother, father-in-law, and two good friends to help us. There was some frustration when Ryan found that though he reserved a Uhaul, it hadn't returned yet and the manager didn't seem in the least concerned. Some sadness on my part as this work of sorting and packing made this move real. Yet there was humming of the Tetris song as we packed boxes into the Uhaul. And there was kalua pork, rice, lomi salmon, and pineapple for a late lunch.
Afterwards we went out on a favorite hike with some friends and then to a dinner party with other friends. It was a great and tiring weekend full of amazing friends and I'm not sure I'm ready for work this morning! I might need another weekend. How greedy of me!

We're going to Baltimore this weekend for house-hunting. Lots to do before then, but I hope I can give you one more post this week. Much Aloha to all of you, my readers!

I made this little soft toy months ago, but I tried to make another last weekend for a friend's shower. Oh, look at me give away the ending with that word "tried!"
Anyways, it started out well with me pressing all these cute little orange slice shapes of pinks and yellows. Then I realized that my slices were all slightly off-centered. So I just trimmed them all. Here's where smart-sewing brain should have spoken up with,, hmmm, maybe I should find that original pattern and make sure my pieces match.
But, I didn't do this, I just pinned my pieces together and was having a really nice time with it. Enjoying my sewing machine and precisely stitching each piece. Then pressing all over again just like a good seamstress should.
I started shoving in lots of stuffing and it was only after it was at least 3/4 full that I started to be concerned. I just thought I needed more stuffing to round it out, but noticed that the more stuffing I inserted the more strange it looked. I finally realized that there was a problem and, looking at the clock, that I had very little time to fix it. Initiate the panic mentioned in the title. I quickly emptied out the stuffing and turned it inside out. Rational thought had left me and I thought that all I needed to do was to sew in just a bit at the center of the curve to make it round. Smart-sewing brain was starting to yell at me, which caused more panic and less precision. And I came up with the first lovely image through the cut below.
( more pictures. )
If I learned anything from this experience, it's that patterns are important and I should finish more of my halfway finished stuff so I have a stash of gifts to choose from.

In other news, my friend is coming into town today! So I'll probably have some Hawaii tourist spot photos for you in the future. :)

Recently, most of my time spent on the internet involves filling out loan apps and looking through real estate listings, which can get old after a while. So I'm finally taking a break to talk about one good hot dog. I had read a review of Hank's Haute Dogs in Ono Kine Grindz. This perked my interest and I decided one Sunday afternoon that we should stop by. It's a cute little shop with a daily special sign listing everything from Alligator dogs to Kobe Beef dogs. We didn't bring enough cash for one of the specials, even counting the rumaging in the car for loose change, but we did have just enough for two Chicago dogs and fries with Curry Ketchup.

( 2 close-ups. )
We visited again with a larger wad of cash and two friends. This time we tried a Kobe beef dog, wow! and Garlic Aioli Sauce, another winner. I really enjoy this place, though it's a little pricey, it's fun to go every so often.
Looking back over this post, I'm a little surprised at myself. Getting so excited over a hot dog. But as Ryan can attest to, I really was muttering between bites, "wow, this really is he best hot dog I've ever had!"

So here's what you've all been waiting for. Oh what? you haven't been waiting? You forgot? Oh well, that's okay. I'll try to hype it up again. :)
While we were in Scottsdale, we had the opportunity to go on a balloon ride. We were really blessed, since the day before and the ride earlier in the day were all canceled. But our ride had beautiful clear conditions as you'll see in the following photos.

( lots of balloon ride images )