30 day hiatus

Wow...so, tired to do a 30 day challenge and ended up with a 30(+--yikes!!) day hiatus.  Oh, well, it happens.

Let me catch you up on things that have been happening:

The biggest thing was that Kenny and I packed up and moved across country! We decided that we missed the Ohio way of life and on October 2nd, pack up a UHaul and left Laramie. It was very bittersweet. I cried a little as we went through the little pass of mountainous terrain that lead us to Cheyenne. It was the last time that we would be driving out of our sweet little town that we had called home for the last 3 years. On one hand, I am not going to miss the snow and cold and wind and lack of shopping and such, but on the other hand...Laramie will always be a very special place to me...I feel like I found another part of myself out there and am very grateful for that experience.

So, along with moving, we got a new apartment! It's the nicest apartment I have ever lived in, and quite frankly, it scares me a little! It's got 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, a balcony, a loft, a WASHER AND DRYER and A FREAKING DISHWASHER!!! Can you tell how excited I am about this place??? We turned the extra bedroom into Kenny's music studio and the loft into my own sewing/knitting/crafty studio! I am super pumped and could probably spend DAYS up there!

And speaking of crafty, I got a job at JoAnne's! It pays like crap, but it pays, and for that, I am very grateful. Also, I get a decent discount, which helps support my yarn and fabric habit. So, it's really a win-win type of situation.

Also, when we moved back, I got straight into a show at my old community theatre. I played Serena in Legally Blonde. It was...a learning experience....kinda. It wasn't the most professional show that I have ever been a part of, but I always had a TON of fun while I was onstage. Speaking of community theater, auditions for Little Shop of Horrors and The Importance of Being Ernest are coming up pretty quickly! They are at two different theaters on the same night, but I want to try to get to both. I haven't done a straight play in a loooooong time, so Ernest would be a blast. But, I would love to play Audry in Little Shop and I don't think I would ever be considered for that role in any place besides community theater, so that would be fun too. I guess I'll just audition, give it my best and see what plays out.

There have been so many changes these past few weeks (ahem...months) and I am sorry that I have no pictures to show for it. I'll try to keep this thing updated with both words and pictures and I solemnly swear to never do a 30 challenge or hiatus ever again!

Peace out and be blessed!

30 Day challenge!!

Or "Let's see how long I can last at this!"

So, I found this 30 day writing challenge and thought it might be fun to give it a shot. Here it is:

So, I'm going to try it out!!!

Ok, Promt 1:

Weird things you do when you are alone:

Well, this is kinda lame, but I'm not actually alone enough to do weird things. I mean, don't get me wrong, I do spend time by myself, but it's not a whole bunch of time. So, when I am alone I like to watch bad movies on Netflix and bake and knit and crochet and sew. I like to pretend that I am going to do the dishes or clean and when Kenny calls and says he's on his way home, I do this sorta mad dash cleaning spree. I don't like to wear pants when I am alone. I like to sing and dance along to Pandora. (Right now I am reeeeeaaaalllllllllly digging my Ingrid Michelson radio station! It's awesome!)  Also, I like to play around on my uke. Sometimes I make lists titled "things that need to be done". They can be pages long, and I barely cross anything off. I also go from fridge to cabinet back to fridge looking for things to eat, even when I am not hungry. (Yup, I am one of those) See...not really weird stuff. Just kinda normal

aaaaand, that was actually, kinda boring. Sorry for making you all read that. Anyway, that's about it for me tonight. Sorry for the boring post. Hopefully the next will be better

busy busy busy

Ahh! It's been a long time! I am so sorry! I have been SO busy, I haven't had time to do ANYTHING!

I love putting phrases into Google Image search!

Kenny was out of town for a week and literally all I did was work, work, watch tv and work. I also made a batch of oatmeal butterscotch chip cookies. Which was the only thing I ate the whole week. It was pretty pathetic. (And delicious, I must admit)

I did, however, pick up a new book

You can buy it....here!

It's a pretty cute book full of cute knitted animals and things and cute little puns to go with them. Everything in this book is worked flat and them seamed up, which is kinda annoying, but the results are pretty cute.

The "Hot Stuff" chili pepper

He took about a half an hour to make. Which I love! Instant gratification=AWESOME. Also, Kenny thought he was pretty cute too. :)

with a fu man chu (is that how you spell that??)

Anyway, that's about it. Cute book. If you like quick, cute projects, check it out!

Peace out!


Oh! PS. Guess who I ran into today downtown. Mumford and Sons. The Band. They were buying consignment sombreros. I kid you not. I can't make that shit up! Here's a video. Check them out. They are pretty good

My Stuffed Menagerie

That title sounds kinda sick doesn't it? I tried to be clever and like, do a play on words with The Glass Menagerie, but uh, yeah...didn't work so well. So, yeah.

Annnnyway, I kinda have this thing for cute. And I also have this thing for instant gratification projects. And, when you add those two things together, it turns my house into a zoo of cute little animals (much to the dismay of the love of my life. He's not so much into them. He kinda just puts up with them because he is very into me :)  I'm a very lucky girl )

So, on to the pics? yes? yes!

(Ok, disclaimer...my camera doesn't work anymore. So, I have to take pictures with my cell phone. But yesterday, my cell phone camera lens thing broke. So, I guess what I am saying is...sorry for the shitty, broken cell phone camera pictures)


This guy was my very first creation when I got to Wyoming. My room-mate-at-the-time and I were watching Coraline almost every night. And I kinda fell in love with with the squid-kitty guy Coraline has in her bedroom. So, obviously, I needed one myself.

Pink Squid Kitty! (aka, my favorite needle holder!)

Pink Squid Kitty sits on top of my yarn basket and, yes those are needles sticking out of him and no, he is not a voodoo doll. He has just made the most perfect hand stitching needle holder ever!


Next is Baby Squid Kitty! He is crocheted and almost the right color. He's about an inch long and I absolutely LOVE him. He sits on my sewing desk and just kinda hangs out

"I wanna hug-a yo face!"

I especially love his little ears. :)  Now, that picture is actually a two-fer. See the big pink thing in the back? It's a pillow, It's a pet--It's a pillow pet! Named Pat! (That last part was sung too, just so you know)

Pat the androgynous pillow pet!

My grandma had sent me this HUGE thing of pink fluffy yarn and I was stumped as to what to do with it. But along came inspiration (or maybe I was drinking that night) and Pat just flew off my needles! (He's knit btw, my own pattern) He's super squishy, just like a Pillow Pet should be, I imagine. He sits on my couch and cuddles when I watching TV.

Oh! Up next might be my favorites!

Mini Sheep and Mini Penguin. Lot's of  Love :)

First off, sorry for the extremely crappy picture. Secondly, these two are my total favorites. Don't tell the others. I knit these two up in about an hour and a half (each). They fit perfectly into the palm of my hand. Last semester, there was a lot of crap going on at school and I was all kinds of stressed. Before I would walk out the door every morning, I would slip one of these two into my coat pocket and during the day, I would find them and just feel better. Sounds stupid, but I think being able to touch something that I had made, just calmed me right down. Now, they both sit right next to the door, on the top tier of my lamp. When I leave for the day, they are there, just in case.

And down on the bottom tier of the lamp are these two!

Knit Chocolate Bunny and Stone Stoic Anniversary Owl

The caption says it all. That's my knitted bunny.  It's supposed to look like one of those chocolate bunnies that you get at Easter. You know, the ones that you eat the heads off and then decide that it's crappy chocolate anyway and dig into the Peeps? Yeah, that one. I think he looks scared. Like "Hey! Don't eat me! I'm made out of crappy acrylic yarn and pillow stuffing!"  The owl behind him is something that I saw while shopping in Denver with Kenny on our 4 year anniversary. I saw it and fell in love and, being the wonderful man that he is, he decided that it needed to come home with us. What can I say, I'm a very lucky girl!

Ugh, this post is getting long and boring. Only a few more left! I promise!

"Who are you looking at"  "Owl tell you later"

Gotta love a good owl pun. Anyway, crocheted these babies up just for the fun of it. They sit on Kenny's music-making desk, making it look so manly and gansta'. (Kenny does rap music, btw. He's really really  good. He's also very modest about it. Maybe one of these days he'll let me post a link to his songs) Anyway, they are my own pattern and I really love them.

Which brings me to today's creation. I actually followed a pattern for this little cutie.

It's a hedgehog!!! Ahhh!!!

The link to the pattern is here. Also, check out the rest of her blog. Super super cute!

Look at that cute little face!!!

 The pattern was SUPER easy to follow!! The only thing I didn't like about it was the stupid fur I used for the spikies. Holy Cow! It got everywhere!! I am still sneezing, hours later! However, she's so darn cute, I might trying making a bigger version for the couch. You can't really see it too well, but there are gold glimmer dots on her face and belly, which just makes me love her even more!

Well, that was quite a post. Literally took me all day to write (in between cleaning, baking pretzels and cupcakes, doing the dishes and napping. Oh, and watching way too much True Blood). So there ya go. A tiny little look into my tiny little zoo. I've made more, but I really like to give them away. (Kenny really likes it too). I know there will be more, which I'll post when I get to making them. Ok, enough for now. Bye!

I used all my creativity and now can't title posts

Ahh! I have so much to talk about! It's been a rough few days for me, but sometimes when I'm feeling like this, I have to create. And create I did!

First off, Kenny and I had been out somewhere or another and came home to find a honey dew melon wedged in our front door! It was like Santa came or something. (Turns out, our next door neighbor had gone to a honey dew nursery in Colorado and thought we would like one! Sweet, right?) Anyway, this thing was RIPE! Like, it needed to be used right away! And since Kenny had to work and I can't eat a whole melon by myself, I had to figure something else to do with it. After a quick Google search for inspiration, I came up with MELON LIME SORBET!!

Um, let me just say, this shit is good. And easy! SOOO easy!  Here, let me explain the 2 or 3 recepies I frankenstiened together:


To make this you will need:

• a ripe honey dew melon (another melon might work too, but I totally recommend honey dew. It tastes AWESOME with the lime. Trust me on this)
• a lime (maybe more than one if you like it really lime-y
• honey

Pretty easy, right? Right! Now, on to the show!

First, I skinned the melon and took out all the seeds and chopped it up and put it in the blender. Simple, easy, whatever

 Next, I juiced a lime (which was a mistake, but I'll explain why in the next step) and got almost a half a cup of juice from it, which was perfect for me. You can add or subtract depending on how much you like lime.

Then, after juicing the lime, I decided to put in lime zest. Which meant zesting all the little peels. Which was a pain in the butt and I don't think I got all the zest off. However, it got about a half a tablespoon and dumped that, along with the lime juice, into the blender

See? Not much zest and an ugly picture. Oh well, it tasted good!

Next I added about a half a cup of honey to the blender and blended the whole thing together! (You could also use regular sugar or even stevia if you wanted, but I had honey on hand and so honey it was!)

Blender action shot!

Ok, so confession. Even though I am calling this sorbet, it's not. I don't have an ice cream/sorbet maker. So, after it was blended, I put it in a loaf pan. Yup, a bread baking loaf pan. And shoved it in the freezer over night. You want proof?

Proof. Bread pan Sorbet. Or really, I should just call it "Big ass bread pan melon and lime Popsicle", but I won't. Too long of a name.

Anyway, after freezing all night long, it become rock hard. So I left it on the counter to thaw a little bit and when it did HOLY COW. It was so good!! It was like a creamy melony margarita slushy. ANother confession: I really don't like honey dew melon. But crap man, this was excellent! The melon gave it a fresh creamy texture, while the lime added...whatever it is that limes add and make things taste so good. It was slightly hard to stop eating. I gave some to my neighbor (who gave me the melon in the first place) and I'm pretty sure he was impressed with my skills. 

However, if I were to do this again, I would make a few changes:

•  First off, I would zest the lime before juicing it. It might just be easier.
•  Secondly, I either a) get an actual sorbet maker, or b) freeze it in individual serving sized, like Popsicle trays or something, that way I don't have to go at it with a hack saw to enjoy the fruit (get it? haha) of my labor. 
• Thirdly, and maybe most importantly, If I were to make it in a bread pan again, I would totally add alcohol and make it more like a slushy. The bar down the street had a organic cucumber flavored vodka that I think would taste so fresh with these flavors. Or, more than likely, I would stick to my old favorite, tequila. I mean, seriously, lime and tequila? Seriously, yum.

Anyway, I am considering this a success!

But, that's not all! I also finished knitting this hat!

oh, you know, just modeling my new hat with a duck face, nbd

Wait, what do you mean you don't like duck face? 

Oh No! A Bear!

OK, there actually wasn't a bear. I know, big surprise, right? Any way, the colors are a bit washed out in these pictures, but whatevs. In real life, it's a really calming mint green/lavender/grey/cream combo. I bought the yarn from the Brown Sheep Yarn Company when I was in Nebraska. (PS< If you ever find your self trapped in Nebraska, try to get to this place. It's AWESOME. The people are super friendly and the yearn is BEAUTIFUL!)  I made up the pattern myself. Its just a k1p1 rib for about an inch and a half, then a row of purling then just straight up stocking knit and decreasing until the top. Simple, easy and my new favorite hat. Kinda love it mucho.

So, that's about all the blogging I can take for the day. I promise I have more to show and tell you. Stay tuned!

Blogging is hard...

But making applesauce isn't!! I know in my last post I said that it was burning, but it wasn't!

( I google searched "blogging is hard" and this is on of the many interesting images it came up with. Try it, it's random!)

Have I mentioned I'm not a huge fan of the stuff? Applesauce, I mean. It's good, but I'm never like "oh, man, you know what sounds good right now? Applesauce!" It's more like "Well, there's nothing else in the fridge and it's not moldy so...applesauce for dinner!"  And then to home make it? It's like, why not just go buy a bottle of the cheap stuff? Why waste time and effort on home made stuff when you can just buy a bottle of Mots for like a buck and a half? I know, I know, I sound like a crazy person, but here me out. I'm going to explain to you the hows and whys of my home made applesauce:

It was a hot sunny day. I had just left Scottsbluff, Nebraska, a horrid, humid place and had just drove back to the promise land: Laramie, Wy. (haha) My knight in shining armor, Kenny, was off slaying the hypothetical dragon that is Chili's Bar and Grill. (Which means he was at work, not jacking off, which is kinda what that last sentence made it sound like. Side note: He is my knight in shining armor. Love of my life. No joke.) Anyway, I got home, opened the fridge and found, I kid you not, 7 individually wrapped apples, on various shelves and what not. 7! (There were other things in there too; a bag of half eaten spinach, several oranges, lots of Gatorade bottles, almost a full gallon of milk that had expired the week before...) I knew immediately what had happened. In an effort to be healthy, the love of my life went to the grocery store and had bought ingredients for a green smoothie, but had absentmindedly forgotten to make said smoothie. Seven times. Seven! Annnnyway, I saw all of those apples and thought APPLE PIE! Then I realized "I don't really like apple pie too much, and Kenny had bought these to be healthy, and I'm feeling pretty lazy so, maybe not the best idea." And then it hit me; APPLESAUCE! That stuff will keep for ages and while it's not the most healthy thing you can eat, it's not horrible! And honestly, how hard can it be? Like, apples, water and cinnamon right? (right!) And then, the thought of my tiny little apartment filling with the smell of said  apples and cinnamon? Well, it made my mouth water and I got to chopping. (Sorry I don't have pictures of the process....but really? It's chopping and crockpotting. You should know what this looks like)

(Apples...I used green ones)

First off, I peeled and cored them. Just used a carrot peeler and a cheap ass knife we got in a cheap ass silverware kit. Both performed beautifully.

Second, I chopped them up into about 1 inch cubes, and put them in my crockpot. ( I LOVE my freaking crockpot) I also sampled them at this point. (What, I wanted to make sure they were still good! They were.)

Next, I added some water (about 1 and a half cups, but whose counting really?), some cinnamon (Lots), a big glug of vanilla, about a half a cup of brown sugar, and the juice of a whole lemon.

(This is a pic I found by Google searching "making applesauce". Not as interesting as "blogging is hard", but this pic is pretty awesome!)

Finally, I set the crock pot on high and let the whole mess sit there for like, 6 hours or so. And then, I had applesauce!! I did stir it a couple of times during the whole cooking process because, well, I wanted to feel like I was actually doing something. Also, as the apples cooked, stirring helped them mush up and get smoother. Chunky applesauce = vomit (to me). But creamy, yummy, smooth applesauce = freaking awesome!! And freaking awesome it was! So much better than Mots, or really, any other applesauce I have ever tasted. And so, to be cliche (pretend there is that little accent over the e; I don't know how to do it), when life hands you lemons, make lemon aid OR, more appropriate for me, when the love of your life absentmindedly buys half the apples in Safeway, make applesauce

Anyway, if you made it this far into the story, you deserve a reward! How about a picture of half cooked, home made, delicious, better than Mots, applesauce!!

Isn't it beautiful? I wish you could smell it. It was like Heaven

So, I guess that's about it for now. I've got another cooking related post I'll type up here in the next few days. And then, who knows?

The beginning of something

This is Erin saying "Hey Jackie, You should create a blog!"

.

.

.

So, I did....

I'm not sure what I will blog about...or write about...or whatever. However, I am already impressed with my vertical ellipsis, so that's cool. 

(I feel like there should be like, elevator music going on right now because I'm not super sure what to write...)

There ya go. Push play, it'll be good background music while you continue reading.

(Also, can I just say this flat out? Thank God for spell check! I have already used it about 19 times)

So, my very good friend Erin said that I should make a blog and when I resisted, she kept saying it until "The Applesauce Game" was born. (Just in case you didn't catch it, that's the name of this place) Why The Applesauce Game? I have no freaking idea. We were trying to come up with a fun name and Jackiedoesn'tblog.blogspot.com wasn't available. Also, I am currently making apple sauce. And we like the Hunger Games. So, TheApplesauceGame.blogspot.com was born. Tell your friends. I was thinking, if I really enjoy documenting and rehashing the more interesting parts of my day and continue blogging, maybe people will start calling it "the TAG blog". Ha! Acronyms are cool.

Ok, I think that's about it for tonight. I'm gonna run a spell check again (I don;t want to look like a dumb ass who can't spell!) and then probably fall asleep watching Netflix. Try not to be too jealous. Also, you should check out my friend Erin's blog:

http://www.lotstoyell.blogspot.com/

She's pretty cool and funny.

Alright, Netflix awaits! (Also, my applesauce may be burning...)