An Afternoon of Cards

A few weekends ago, I spent an afternoon making cards.  It had been quite a while since I'd made any - probably since Christmas.  It was so much fun! 

It's hard having so many crafts to keep up with.  But it's fun when you can take time, without any pressure, to make some cute things. 

Habemus Papam

I haven't said anything about the pope, mostly because I've been learning about him.  All in all, I think the bishops made a good choice in Francis I.  Why?

- He's not Italian - or European! 
- He's a humble man and one who cares deeply for the poor.  A true Christian.
- He's a Jesuit. He's taken the vows of a monk.
- He's the exact opposite of Ratzinger.
- He's conservative.

He's no John Paul II and part of me thinks that is what the Church really needs right now.  But those popes come around once in hundreds of years, unfortunately.  Francis I will be a nice change from the last pope and that will suffice.

The Jesuits were created very late in the game, so to speak - in the 1500s - by Ignatius of Loyola.  They became very powerful in the Church but Francis I is the first Jesuit pope.  As of now, the Jesuits - brothers and clergy - are the largest religious order in the Church.  

I do not think this pope will allow for female priests, gay marriage, or the marriage of priests.  It's hard for a Catholic to explain why this just won't happen...  But, as a Catholic, I know none of it will.  

I look forward to seeing how Francis I does as the Vicar of Christ. 

DIY Project

This is not a crafty thing, per se, but it is a DIY project.  

My parents came up over the weekend and we built this - a box valance!  I bought the fabric and my mom sewed the two pieces together.  She, my dad, and I (but mostly the two of them) built the box.  Mom and I put the fabric on....and dad and I hung it up.  

Mr. Higgins has been bugging me to do something about the windows in our living room and I'm super happy this project is finally done.  It only took two years to make it happen!

Traveling Kitteh

For a bit of comic relief, I just had to post this. 



While packing for a trip to see my parents, Sidious decided she wanted to go, too.  Mind you, this is the cat who hates me for stealing her dad.  So why get into my bag?!  Ha!

I love the cats!  The world is such a better place with these furry ones around!

Banana Bread with a Twist

I tried a new recipe last week and it was delicious: Skinny Chocolate-Caramel Banana Bread.

Oh, boy, is it good!  I knew Mr. Higgins liked anything with banana and he loved this!  In fact, he said this was one of his favorite desserts that I've ever made.  (I've made a lot of desserts!)  Wow!  I loved it because it had chocolate in it.  Ha!

I found the Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters on the candy aisle...and I'll have to go buy more ASAP so I can make this bread whenever I have ripe bananas around.  

Lately, I've been looking for low-fat dessert options.  I gained a bit of weight in December and I've been anxious to get it off and keep it off.  Thanks to a calorie-counter app (Lose It!) and crazy-insane workouts, I've lost the weight.  Now I just have to keep it off!  

Let me know if you come across any tasty desserts that are around 100 calories! 

Filling in the Gaps

Recently, I took a day and devoted it to my writing.  

Every since I did NaNoWriMo a few years ago (or more - eek!), I've had some holes in my novel.  You see, for NaNoWriMo, I worked on part two of my novel.....after having not quite finished part one.  This may not have been the best of strategies but it got me a lot of good written material, so I'm not complaining. 

I've obviously worked on the novel since then.  But I still had holes.  Over the past year, I've worked on filling those gaps and, as of this week, they're done.  Yay!!

Now comes the hard part: the conclusion.  

Ironically, for someone so OCD and organized as myself, I rarely follow an outline when writing.  I usually begin with one but the characters have a say in the story....and they take me on tangents I cannot anticipate.  It's great when it happens.....not so great when I forget the outline. With the best of intentions, I'm working on an outline for the conclusion.  

I have to get this done.  I have the name of an agent who will look at it.  I have to finish.  I have to!

March Page

I can't believe it's March!!  Here is the page I did for my Creative Memories frame.  I love the birds from the Graphic 45 month line.  So cute!  

Amazingly, I've already done the page for April!  How's that for being proactive!  Ha!  

Battlestar Galactica

In graduate school, I started hearing my friends talk of this show, "Battlestar Galactica" - or, BSG.  They kept saying how great it was, how it was Rome in outer space (and, as a historian, I would love it).  I'm no stranger to sci-fi but I had little interest in this show.

Fast forward seven (!!!?!) years and Mr. Higgins told me it was the best written drama he had ever seen.  I argued that "West Wing" was TV's best drama ever(....well, this is not counting HBO, Showtime, etc, shows).  To Mr. Higgins' credit, he watched all seven seasons of "West Wing" and he mostly enjoyed it.

When we finished with that, he insisted we watch BSG.  The only reason I went along - besides the fact that I mostly trust his taste - is that he compared it to one of our favorite little shows of all time, "Firefly." 

So, off we went with BSG.  And...I was hooked in the first episode.  I was so hooked that we watched the first season in a week.  I was so hooked that Mr. Higgins had to insist we not watch it just so I had to suffer as he did, when it originally aired.  Ha!

"Wow," is all I can say about this show.  It's sci-fi but not really.  There are no aliens, no creepy critters lurking in outer space, and the technology is completely believable.  It's like we suddenly started building space ships because we can....but we haven't got everything figured out.  Make no mistake, this is no "Star Trek."  This is a sophisticated "Firefly" that will blow your mind.  

I had no idea there was a BSG that originally aired in the late '70s.  I was appalled to hear that Starbuck and Boomer were originally men.  Ugh!  This BSG is much better.  

As for comparing it to "West Wing"....  Well, no one beats Aaron Sorkin in dialogue.  But BSG, the pure nature of it, leads to more drama.....and that drama is executed in a way that TV had never seen at that time: brilliantly.     

(And...if you're into soundtracks like me and Mr. Higgins....  BSG has some of the best written music ever written for TV.)

I highly recommend it.  Actually, just go buy the Blu-Ray.  You won't regret it.

Crafting, Baking, and Knitting

I would like to tell you about all the wonderful books I'm reading these days....but reading has fallen by the wayside.  As have a lot of things such as card-making and scrapbooking.   

However, I am very diligent in my Project Life every week.  I'm getting better at remembering to take pictures of all kinds of normal day-to-day things.  And I've gotten into the routine of printing off pictures once a week.  

And I can't say enough about just how much I like Project Life.  Mr. Higgins and I have started looking back at last year's album....to see what we were doing in February 2012.  It's amazing seeing things that seem like they just happened yesterday....or forever ago.  And it's fun to see how my crafty style has evolved through the year.  All in all, it's been great and I'm so happy I've kept up with it.

Besides Project Life, I've been doing a lot of cooking and baking.  My recent trial of Cooking Light's Cocoa Fudge Cookies was a success.  These are so fudgy they're almost like brownies!  Just be sure to not overbake them!  They're so good, they're now my favorite cookies. Plus, these are super easy to make!

And, of course, I've been knitting, as you saw in my last post.  I like that I'm now done with my time-sensitive project.  Now, on to other things! 

More tomorrow!

Lucy's Bonnet

I finally - finally! - finished the hat for Baby Lucy.  I think it's adorable and I'm quite proud of the flower....though it doesn't really flatten out.  You'll remember I knitted some socks to go with this.  Now to get the set to Lucy before she outgrows them!  

Pattern: Bonnet by Erika Knight (in Natural Nursery Knits)
Yarn: Kertzer's Down to Earth Cotton
Needles: US 2
Made for: Lucy
Time to completion: a while

St. Croix

Our spot for the day with Brilliance of the Seas close by.

 The last stop on our cruise was St. Croix.  It was our very first visit to the largest of the United States Virgin islands and we were surprised by it.   We expected it to be more commercialized and industrialized...  But Frekeriksted, where we docked, was a nice, small town.  

Once we got off the ship, we headed only a little ways down the coast to Rainbow Beach, where we spent a lovely day looking at the water, with Brilliance always in our sights.

We had so much fun swimming here!

I loved this beach.  The sand was perfect, there was a bar/restaurant handy with restrooms.  The water....oh, the water was magnificent.  Standing up, with water up to my chin, I could clearly see my toes...and little fish swimming around.  I hadn't seen water this good since St. John!

True, blue Caribbean water!

Sadly, we had to leave beautiful St. Croix.  As the ship pulled away, we admired the water, the lush green hills.....  

We'll have to come back here!

Antigua

Here's another travel journal for you, this time from Antigua (An-tee-ga).   
 

 

We got off the ship and headed to (via taxi) the other side of the island, to the lookout of Shirley Heights.  I couldn't believe the view.  This is English Harbour, where the British navy was headquartered in the eighteenth century.  Horatio Nelson called this home.  

We decided to stay in the area and do a long hike that Mr. Higgins had found online.  It meant getting all the way down from the lookout to the beach.  I was game; too much time on the ship had made me stir-crazy.

This hike was incredible.  The trail was a bit overgrown - and seldom used - which made us feel like true explorers.  We got to see sights like the one above.  And miles and miles of amazingly blue ocean. 

We made the turn toward English Harbour and were confronted with clear, turquoise water.  Wow!  That little speck of white (mid center, slightly left) in the picture above is someone snorkeling. 

We ended our hike at Galleon Beach.  Sitting and watching the boats and yachts was very neat.  

It was a good day.

Cat Scare

We recently had a health scare with one of our cats.  It made this post all the more relevant.  

It's so easy to take our pets for granted, to see only what they destroy or mess up instead of all the love and happiness they bring into our lives.  When we were almost certain one of them would die, we forgot all those things.  We forgot that she wakes us up licking at all times of the night.  We forget the furniture she claws at.  Instead, we remember how happy she makes us. 

I vow not to forget how precious our little furry friends are.

St. Lucia

Brilliance docked at Castries, St. Lucia.

The second stop on our cruise was Castries, St. Lucia.  We booked a tour and the first stop on the tour was a view of the harbor and our ship, Brilliance of the Seas.  Such a pretty ship! 

Beautiful St. Lucia.

A lookout over an idyllic village on St. Lucia.

The Pitons and Soufriere, St. Lucia.

 After a winding hour-long drive, we arrived at the town of Soufriere. It is dominated by the Pitons, two volcanic peaks half a mile tall.  We hopped on a boat in Soufriere and went to the beach between the Pitons: Jalousie (Jealousy) Beach. 

It was a bit surreal to be at the beach, surrounded by such lush vegetation and the Pitons.  We only spent an hour here but it was great.  

On the way back to Castries, we stopped at the world's only drive-in volcano.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We drove into the caldera of an active volcano, got out of the car, breathed in the rotten-egg smell of sulphur, and walked around.  The pools above are just water - heated to a crazy high temperature.  

This was a great day, though a bit tiring.  We were so looking forward to seeing St. Lucia.  The only downside was that we were put in a group which included three boys....one of whom kept getting carsick.  Oy.  

St. John, USVI

We've returned from our cruise and it was great.  Truly, one of the best cruises ever.  One thing that made it so special was our first port: St. Thomas.

Boats in the harbor at Charlotte-Amelie, St. Thomas, USVI.

We debated staying on St. Thomas since we were the only ship in port that day.  But....St. John was too close to resist the ferry over.  

An overlook of Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI.

Cruz Bay, above, was just as we remembered - perfectly idyllic.  We hopped in a taxi and headed to our favorite beach on St. John, Cinnamon Bay.

Cinnamon Bay.

Really, this is the best beach I've ever been to.  Crystal clear water, perfect sand...  It's magical.  I loved the time we spent there.

Joe's Rum Hut, at Wharfside Village, Cruz Bay, St. John.

After a few hours, we headed back to Cruz Bay to visit some of our favorite places in town, including our favorite bar.  There, we got a small pizza, which we had twice on our  honeymoon, and bushwackers - basically an alcoholic Frosty.  Sooooo good!  And the view of Cruz Bay isn't bad either.

I'll try not to overwhelm you with posts of the trip.  But I'd like to share with you a few more places in the coming days.  

Skillet Potatoes

My mother never made breakfast potatoes growing up.  I'd never really heard of them until I was an adult.  And I can't say I really ate them as an adult.  Until I came across a recipe in Savory Sweet Life's cookbook, Savory Sweet Life by Alice Currah.  I love anything that I can dip in ketchup and I got to use my brand-new cast-iron skillet.  Awesome!

The recipe is simple: potatoes, olive oil and your choices of spices, a bit of oil for the skillet.  Let the skillet warm with the oil.  Once warm, throw in the potatoes (diced small).  Stir and flip them every minute or so until done - about 12 minutes.  

So good!  Not terribly healthy...but a lot better than french fries or a loaded baked potato.  I like making them once a month or so for a treat.  I made these for dinner and paired them with some beans for protein.  Not exactly fancy, but easy and delicious!

February Page

As promised, here is the February page for the scrapbook frame.  I really like how it turned out.  For Christmas, I got some vintage-y monthly paper (from Graphic 45) and that's where a lot of the little pictures come from. (I'm sorry that it's hard to see a lot of the details...my flash would not cooperate.)

The picture is of me and Mr. Higgins at The Loch, in Rocky Mountain National Park, taken in October (on our hike to Sky Pond).  We stopped for snacks and Mr. Higgins set up the tripod so we could get some good pictures.  I love this one. 

Our Loyal Friends

Even though I'm away on vacation, I'm not lacking in topics today....

In the past five months, three dogs of my acquaintance have died.  One I knew very well and I will sincerely miss him and the joy he brought to my best friend's home.  The other two dogs belonged to neighbors.  

Just the other night we got word that our next door neighbor's dog had passed away.  I was sitting, painting my toenails in preparation for the cruise, so Mr. Higgins got the door when they knocked.  I could hear most of what was said. It was a sad story and I know very well how hard it is to lose a pet.

But two things struck me as I sat there and listened...

1.  I realized just how introverted Mr. Higgins and I are.  The last thing we would do if one of the cats died is knock on the neighbors' door to let them know.  True, they haven't really spent time with our cats; we had petted their dog on numerous occasions.  But we're just not the type who would go out of our way to seek consolation from a near-stranger.  If we passed the neighbors in the street, we may tell them then, but we would not dream of knocking on their door to tell them.  

That being said, I know where they're coming from.  Perhaps they just wanted to talk to someone who had known - in passing - their dog.  Perhaps this was a step in their grieving process.  Either way, it struck me as a bit odd.

2.  Even if we passed neighbors on the street and told them of the death of one of our cats, they would hardly care.  Cats, after all, are not out and about in the neighborhood (unless they are outdoor cats - and ours are not).  Cats get such a bad rap for being antisocial.  This may be true, but I am antisocial.  It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round.  

Cats are deeply loyal pets.  Our cat, Sidious, is so loyal to Mr. Higgins that after three years of knowing me, she hardly lets me pet her.  Her affection is for her owner alone.  There's something to be said for that, even when she annoys me!  Cats are such a calming influence, they lower blood pressure.  Please find a dog that calm!

-------------

I grew up around dogs.  I love dogs!  We seem so determined to classify everyone as a "dog-person" or "cat-person," it really is ridiculous.  I'd actually say I'm both.  I'm also an introvert who, on very rare occasions, has the need to be slightly extroverted.   

I've lost two cats now - two dear pets - and it's heartbreaking even to this day.  I saw dogs pass away growing up...  Losing a pet in any way is extremely difficult.  Perhaps it's because it's hard to find a person as loyal as a pet....and we should not take any of them for granted.

R.I.P.  Colby, Winter, and Molly. 

Travel Prep and Reflection

We're off on cruise #1 for 2013 today.  Unlike the last one - in the midst of the holiday season and with DisneyWorld tacked on at the end - I'm ecstatic to go on this trip. 

Mr. Higgins, my cruise-loving husband, gets to step foot on four new islands - a rarity for him these days!  We're quickly running out of "new" islands!  These islands are new to me, as well, and I can't wait to see them: St. Croix, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, and Antigua.  Another perk: we dock in St. Thomas so we're going to hop on over to St. John, USVI - our favorite island and the place of our honeymoon.  We'll spend a few hours at a great beach there, and then visit our favorite shops and restaurants. 

I'm so looking forward to letting go and just having fun.  I couldn't quite do that on the last trip.  There were too many obstacles just a few days ahead; my  mind wouldn't stop worrying about the next step.  On this next cruise, there are so many ports, I won't have time to worry about what to do next.  Cruising like this gives new meaning to "go with the flow."  If you stop to think about what's going on, you'll be left behind!

Looking forward to 2013, there probably won't be as many trips as in 2012.  Really, 2012 was a wonderful, crazy, blessed year.  We didn't think we would top 2011 - and all the fun of the wedding - but we did!  It was also a very difficult year professionally, for us both.  I have a new boss and the transition has not be easy for him or for me.  Let's just say I'm eager to leave him - and all things work - behind for a week to sail the Caribbean. 

Seeing as how there will be fewer trips this year, we have to make the most of the ones we have!

Lacy Baby Socks

It seems everyone around me is having babies.  It's very odd to me.  The babies are all very cute...especially when I have a mama to hand them off to when the screaming starts!  The best part of all these babies, though, is knitting little presents for them!  The baby socks above are for Baby Lucy.  She was born a few weeks ago and is just precious.  These socks were made with a border to match a bonnet I've started....but not yet finished. 

Here are the sock details...
Pattern: Baby Socks by Joelle Hoverson
Lace Pattern:  the bonnet lace pattern from Erika Knight's Natural Nursery Knits
Yarn: Kertzer's Down to Earth Cotton
Needles: US 3 dpns
Made for: Lucy
Time to completion: a month

The bonnet that this lace comes from is knit on straight needles.  It was hard for me to tranfer that pattern onto dpns - or knitting in the round.  As a result, the lace is not perfect.  But at least it adds a little something to these little socks.  And it will match - mostly - the bonnet, soon to come!