On the Second Day of Christmas...

Blessings to you and your families throughout this Christmas season, and always!

Baby Shower Gifts!

A few finished items that I've finally sent to the recipient...

A little Owl Sleep Sack for Gunnar...

Aren't those owl cables just adorable?!

 And of course, some Big Sister gifts for the girls... these little owl hair clips are sooooo cute! And super easy to make. It only took a few hours from starting the cables to gluing them onto the hair clips.

Everyone was happy to receive their gifts, and I can't wait to meet little Gunnar!

D and I also contributed the altar flowers a few Sundays ago in honor of my father-in-law's birthday. I enjoyed putting the arrangement together, and think it turned out pretty well. Being the first Sunday in Advent, our chancel was awash in beautiful blues, and I wanted to incorporate some of that blue, but not overwhelm everything else. I think they turned out rather nice, don't you?

I've been busy decorating for Christmas, and I think it's time to finally put the tree up! Sounds like a perfect afternoon for some hot chocolate, too. :)

Reflections

It's the end of an era. Literally.

Shortly after noon today, I submitted my very last final project for graduate school.

It's such a weird feeling. I'm done. With a Master's degree. But it hasn't fully sunk in yet. It will. Probably this weekend when I walk across that stage and receive my fake diploma, shake some important people's hands, and get my picture taken multiple times.

Wow.

I run in two polar opposite circles these days. On the one hand, it's very much expected that grad school is normal.... like it's very natural that I went on to graduate school right out of undergrad... and in a way, I feel like a quitter for not going on to get my Ph.D, or another master's degree, or... something.

On the other hand, it's a huge deal that I'm receiving my Master's, much less right after college. Being in the academic bubble for so long, I'd honestly forgotten what an accomplishment this is, because well..... it's what I've always expected from myself. I mean, I've been talking about getting a Master's degree since before college started.

And this past week, as I've completed 20 years of formal, fairly rigorous education, I've been so incredibly thankful for those who reminded me that yes, this is a Master's degree, and yes, this is really impressive.

It's been a long road these past two and a half years. Full of tears, anxiety, confusion, exhilaration, purpose, and questioning. Add in all those personal life changes, and it's been quite a ride.

Landing my first post-college, rock-your-socks-off-awesome, career-related job.
Getting married.
Quitting that fantastic job (and the heartbreak to go along with it).
Moving to a different city.
Meeting new people. Finding my place in the adult world.
Adjusting to my husband's somewhat public-eye career.
Community volunteering. Fieldwork. Comprehensive Exams.
And all those little things in-between.

But you know what? Now that I'm through, and stepping out of academia into the working world, it's been worth it. The memories and experiences, good and bad, have all helped shape me into the librarian I am today.
The librarian that will continue to encourage people to research, study, be the best scholars they can be.
The librarian who will still not-so-secretly nerd out about cataloging and metadata.
The librarian who will continue to connect people with the vast world of information and help them navigate it.

But really, I'll still be in academia. Because home is home, no matter where I am or what I'm doing.

Sankt Nikolaus Tag!

Today, we celebrate St. Nicholas' Day. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Last night, we put our shoes by the front door, and sure enough, St. Nicholas visited!

Presents from St. Nick! Also, notice the hilarious difference in shoe sizes... 

Originally a German tradition, Sankt Nikolaus Tag celebrates the life of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, who died on December 6, 343. He is best remembered for his generosity toward those in need, especially children, which is where our tradition of giving presents at Christmas time began.

For more information on St. Nicholas, you can go here: St. Nicholas Center.

In Which I Fail at Fondant... Mostly

{Tasty Thursday | Cupcakes!}

Recipes, Tips, and Inspiration from my kitchen to yours.

It's been a busy few weeks, full of baking, cooking, and food! Here's some photos of this past week's cupcake adventure...

Earlier this week, we planned on having a baby shower for a friend of mine. Well, as things are wont to happen, our shower was postponed after I had made the cupcakes. I wasn't too upset about the sudden excess of cupcakes around my house, as the fondant just didn't turn out to my liking. I thought it dried out too fast, but was still too sticky. Oh well. This was also the first time I used self-rising flour, because I didn't have time to convert my recipe to regular flour and include the other baking ingredients. I'll admit, aside from how cute they turned out, the peppermint cream cheese frosting was probably my favorite part. :)

Here's the fondant mess I made... Never again.
I'm definitely not meant to be a professional cake decorator with this stuff.

Little fondant bluebirds... I was so excited that they actually looked like birds!

All put together and ready for taste-testing!

 Because there is no way I can eat 14 cupcakes by myself, I took these little bluebird creations to my knitting friends anyway. The rest of the cupcakes received a more festive makeover.

Now, I'm not normally one to celebrate seasons way ahead of time (and it's not even Advent yet!), but I am one to work with what I have. This is the result:

Thanks to Pinterest, I learned of this super easy way to package and transport cupcakes!

Christmas sprinkles to make the peppermint cream cheese more festive!!

Christmas-themed cello gift bags to wrap up the festive cupcakes.

I brought them to my Bible study Tuesday night and gave them out to everyone there. Now I only have a few cupcakes left in the fridge, and it's a much more manageable number to eat!

*****
Baby Shower Update: We did wind up holding the baby shower, but I had to miss it. Of course hubby decided to get sick right before, and I didn't want to risk transmitting The Plague. Pictures of our knitted creations coming soon!

*****
P.P.S. This is officially post #100! Let's all celebrate by eating a cupcake, k? :)

In Which There is Crazy

There is the light at the end of the tunnel... and I'm afraid it may be a freight train at this point. Seriously, things are getting finished, the end of school is closer each day, but I feel like it's a frantic rush to the finish line.

This week in particular has become even busier than expected. I'm playing catch up and get ahead all at the same time. Apparently I can't say up until 2 and work off of 5-6 hours of sleep each day anymore... didn't think I was that old yet! ;) Add Thanksgiving into the mix, Christmas preparations are right around the corner, and then there's my hubby, just as busy as I am as it's gearing up to be his "busy season" at work... ah, the life of a pastor! To put it bluntly, things are crazy around here right now.

And here I am, writing a blog post while formulating my thoughts for discussion posts... and the only thing I really wanted to say right now is this: I can't wait to do some selfish knitting and take a nap at 10 am without guilt. Less than a month of crazy left! LET'S DO THIS! :)

Random Thoughts on a Thursday

- There is so incredibly much to accomplish in the next month.
- I GRADUATE IN A MONTH! WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE!
- I am not British, but certainly enjoy my daily tea time lately.
- The more I work with it, the more I realize just how much I'm loving metadata {the course, and the topic}.
- Autumn Leaves is one of my new favorite scents of Yankee Candle. :)
- It's so much easier to concentrate on homework when the apartment is clean and (mostly) tidy.
- What happens to the bad batches of cookies in a cookie factory? Do the employees get to take them home?