blogging is a funny sport

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there are good bloggers and notsogood bloggers, but was does it really matter if you’re good or no good? sure you could be making some money, but it’s not like it’s your livelihood. sure you could have a million readers, but if your family likes seeing all those cute pictures of your kids, that’s the main goal, right?

and we get so upset if people don’t read our blogs, don’t we? we’re all like, why don’t people like what i have to say? i’m going to go on strike FROM MY OWN BLOG and see if anyone notices. and then four months later we write a post laced in bitterness to our non-existant readers, starting with:

“sorry i haven’t posted in a while, not that anyone really reads this. (except you mom! love you!)”

it’s just a weird thing that we take so seriously and yet we don’t take seriously at all. we want people to read it and yet we say things like, “it’s my blog and i can say whatever i want.”

a blog can be a glorified journal, a scrapbook, a soapbox, a suggestion box to the world, a self-confidence booster or so many other things.

and because there are no rules to blogging, i find myself in doubt and in indecision. do i write a blog to please people or to please myself? how diplomatic should i be? should i write to my readers or should i write for my own pleasure and good, regardless of who reads.

i think the most difficult question i ask myself about blogging is, “what should i write about?” i’m usually asking the more specific question: “how much of my life do i share with this reader’s of mine?”

but that’s the thing, there are actually people who read this thing [i’m still amazed]. i get embarrassed by how many people read this thing. i instantly think, oh my goodness, what do they think of me? do they hate me? do i annoy them? do they expect me to be this hilarious in real life? 


i love this whole blogging business, i keep coming back to it obviously, but i find myself trying to find the purpose of all of it. because it’s just a funny thing to do when you think about it.

for now, my purpose is write about my life, to receive feedback (which so far has been good), and to enjoy the learning process. i may not do exactly what you all expect of me, like have a beautiful and well-thought out list of goals every year, month or week. but i will be honest with you and i will try my very darndest to make it funny and interesting to read. so there you have it, that’s what you can expect of me this year.

trailer park life

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you know you live in a trailer park when…

you’re driving out of the t-park at 7:45am and you see not one, or two, but SIX yellow school buses turn in to the trailer park within a three minute timespan. and at this point, you determine that at least four people in your trailer park are school bus drivers by trade.

i’m sure there are more.

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this week, i have found myself in tears multiple times. it’s hard to describe the sorrow i have felt for two beautiful families whom i hardly know. and the sadness i feel thinking of two wonderful lives ending.

jobin’s [my brother-in-law] mom died early this week. i only had the pleasure of meeting lilly twice in my life, but she was such an inspiring woman. she truly lead her life humbly, serving others to the fullest of her extent. she was beautiful and wise and everyone that knew her well didn’t hesitate to give her all the respect and honor she deserved.

eli horn was a precious almost-eight-year-old boy who died this morning. i had never met him, but his family attended cornerstone church in ames before they moved to a variety of treatment locations for eli. the community in ames and beyond that has gathered around this family since 2007 has been nothing short of a true church.

it may seem silly that i am so heartbroken over two people i don’t know, but the body of Christ has bonded us together. lilly is my sister and eli is my brother in Christ. i feel more connected with them than i do many others in this world. i weep at the thought of them being gone from this earth, it’s so upsetting to think of the feelings of those closest to them.

i’m thankful these two souls are with their Creator. i’m thankful i’ll meet them in heaven, and know them even better when we’re there together. i’m thankful that our God is rejoicing in them joining Him, but also comforting those of us left on this earth.

i just felt the need to share these stories on here today. it feels so strange that the whole world isn’t stopped right now.

so, to lilly and eli, i can’t wait to meet you in heaven!

trailer park life

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you know you live in a trailer park precinct when…

you hear this quote about newt gingerich at your caucus:

“some people say he’s an s.o.b. but i say you gotta be one to deal with ’em”

thanks, alicia, for the inspiration!

crafty christmas: herringbone cowl+how to block your knitwork

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i found this lovely pattern on one of the best knitting blogs: the purl bee. if you knit, you probably need to make it your new year’s resolution to make absolutely everything on their blog. seriously.

as soon as i saw it, i knew i wanted to make it for my sister-in-law, valerie. it just reminded me of her.

seeing as i was going to have to learn a new stitch, and this scarf is HUGE, i got started in early november. i did not anticipate that it would take me forever to complete it. sheesh. consider yourself warned, this thing is huge, and harder to knit than most projects i’ve completed. it took me three weeks and i was knitting it every time my hands were free. by the time i was ready to cast-off, i actually forgot how to cast-off, ha.

after i figured out how to cast-off [which is a little funky with this pattern anyway], i tried it on, and it was too small. and i was all, “whhhaaaaatttt?!? this thing did not just take me three weeks to knit only be too small.” i followed the pattern exactly, so it was a little frustrating.

it was at this point that i remembered the most magical thing you can do to you knitting: blocking. i had never blocked anything before, but i had heard that this extra step can make all your knits look uniform and perfect and it can help shape your work as well. and since i needed all of those things for this piece, i decided to go for it.

i googled how to block knitwork and most websites instructed the following:

  1. dampen the work with cold water
  2. lay out on a towel
  3. use t-pins to shape the work
  4. let dry completely
once it’s completely dry, the knitwork keeps the shape you want it to. 
in true lisagrace style though, i came up with my own way of blocking. : ) mostly because i really needed this scarf to be stretched out. because this was an infinity scarf, i hung it [dampened] on the rod i have over our washer and dryer. i safety-pinned the sides together so that it wouldn’t curl as much and i stuck my rolling pin through the bottom to make it nice and stretched. 
it worked like a charm! as soon as it dried completely, which took about 24 hours, it looked great and was stretched out perfectly! 

so there you have it! and if you’re wondering if all of this was worth it, i would like to officially reassure you that it absolutely was. i loved giving this to my sister-in-law! and i loved the learning process, too!

disclaimer about this herringbone stitch: this stitch is way easier to do in the round. i think it’s possible to do on straight knitting, but i don’t know how.