Last Day of the Month Catchup Apparently

Wow! I am so sorry for just kinda jumping ship this past month(+). Lots of things have been going on (sadly knitting hasn't really been one of them…more on that to come). I have no idea what order to talk about things in so I'm just going to kinda go as I think. Editing may occur/this may span more than one post.

One of the biggest things that was occupying my time and mental space was the 2014 Bridge Swim…11 miles down a river under 12 bridges in the beautiful Willamette River. Got up to Tacoma a few days before the race to hang out with my sister and the training team. We drove down to PDX the day before the race. Race morning the sky was beautiful, the water felt great, everybody had kayaks and kayakers (questionable for a moment on more than one account). About 2 hours in (~4.5 miles for me), lightning. We were pulled out of the water and the race was cancelled for the year.
It was an absolutely devastating experience for me. While I am so grateful to everyone made decisions to keep swimmers and kayakers and volunteers safe, it was absolutely heartbreaking to have trained for so long and worked so hard to have it all taken away. It's really taken the mojo out of working out for me and my workouts are one of the focal points of my life so I'm reeling in more way than one. I know I need to get back into…it's hard to push yourself though when you don't have such a mega event to train for. I finally wore my race shirt though yesterday…hadn't been able to look at it for awhile. Here's hoping for better luck next year…and a good chance to really work on my arms so that I can totally crush ;)

As for knitting, that mojo seems to have been lost as well. Unfortunately, while I was in the final parts of training, I was waking up early and going to bed early…cutting my knitting/Netflixing time into milli-moments. I've gained a lot of that time back-just haven't really been drawn to knitting…even though I bought some delicious yarn when I was in Portland. Hoping a few preemie hats might help boost my mojo back up…something about simple/thoughtless projects usually does the trick…especially since I have so much beautiful sock yarn!! The plan is to make socks for both my parents for Christmas this year. I have the yarn and am 99.9% sure on patterns…just have to pick the mojo back up!

Finally, a question for you wonderful knitters. I've heard of the curse of the boyfriend sweater…does the same curse apply to socks? Please, please, please…share your thoughts!

Last but not least, a dramatic Hailey picture. 

She is not enjoying hot California summer weather.

Welcome to the Grind (aka Monday Motivation)

With each step comes the decision to take another

Drown out the voice of uncertainty with your own heartbeat

Is that all you've got? Are you sure?

You're a lion in a field of lions all hunting the same elusive prey with a desperate starvation that says victory is the only thing that can keep you alive

Luck is the last dying wish of those who want to believe that winning can happen by accident; sweat on the other hand is for those who know it's a choice. So decide now because destiny waits for no man

http://youtu.be/Tzm6TEManmQ

La Copa del Mundo

Had a good time watching USA vs Portugal today with my family. Poor Hailey would get stressed out whenever we would yell for goals (she wasn't an especially big fan of the Superbowl either). Didn't get as much knitting as I would have hoped but I am still making progress…

Not gonna lie-i will be pretty stoked when these socks are done and I can wear them! Happy Sunday! Hope you have a great start to your week!

Finally, an FO!

It's been a few weeks since I've had a decent FO post. This one isn't anything too special, but I do get to cross off another item from my initial UFO list so that's quite bubbly-making!

I finally got around to finishing the Hiroshige One Plus. This little number doesn't have a home yet…I'm saving it for the right family. I love how it looks and it is so soft and snuggly!

I'm in the middle of casting on a new project…not the one I was originally planning on casting-on, but I figured it was time to start making my way through my Ravelry queue (it currently has 498 items in it…). So I used a random number generator site and came up with the number 88 which I then matched to number 88 in my queue which is the pattern Baby Fixation socks. It's kind of perfect because I was wanting to do something else baby oriented. I don't know how long I'll keep casting-on new patterns via random generator, but I'm hoping to cut my list down at least a bit before the end of summer. Hope lies eternal...

The post without a name

This is one of the random posts so if you're looking for knitting and/or swimming check back in tomorrow...I have an FO, I promise!!

If you're still here, let me first apologize as this may end up rambling.
I've been lucky to meet some amazing people in my life. People who have made me think and have helped me to grow as a human. In my second to last semester of college, I met the my perfect person. I literally felt as though I had found the other piece to me-I still generally feel as though he's my other half. We are however, over 600 miles away and I moved 8 months after we met. Needless to say-we are not together. We're still friends and we do send text messages and emails and comments on Facebook. Most of the time, I can handle it. I figure if it is really meant to be, it will all work out. Today has just been one of those days though we're I'm having a hard time. I miss seeing his face and hearing his laugh. I miss the way he gets when he's passionate about something-I miss hearing him pray. I miss being challenged by him and talking through issues with him. I miss cooking dinner and just hanging out. I even miss his family (they're amazing!). I don't mean to be whiny and self-pitying. Somedays, it just really sucks to be missing a big chunk of your heart.

Back on the Bandwagon...

Not too many WIPs this week as I finally have an FO for Friday…YAY! I have however, returned to the sock bandwagon with a vengeance. A library book due in another four days is definitely partially fueling this…

Alligator Sock

I'm not really sure why it's taken me so long to do sock number two, but now that I'm working on it, it's breezing quite nicely. This little fella will be finished in the next few days as the lib book it is from is due back and I can't renew it again without first returning it. Yes, I sometimes hoard lib books when I like a pattern, but then get bored of it…

Rainbow Latte

Not too much has changed since the last time I put up pictures…they are slowly but surely growing so yay! I'm thinking less than 30 till its time for some heels!

Linking up with Ginny and Tami…Happy Wednesday!!!!!

Milestone!

So this is a tad bit delayed because I keep forgetting to actually write about it but on Saturday I hit the 100 mile mark for the year. Yup-I've swam 100 miles since 1/1/14 (well, 105.59 as of today). Hoping to add quite a few more miles this month before the big swim...less than a month to go!

Hipster Band Names

My brother and I can be really goofy sometimes. One of our favorite games is to take random, everyday phrases and test them out as hipster band names. This game was definitely inspired by this Jimmy Kimmel video. Yesterday's winning band name was Houses with Dogs in the Windows; today's stepped up the game with the simple but definite Not the Clear One. Past runner-ups have included Cross the Street! and Gimme the Phone. Basically, if you're thinking about starting a band and want an awesome name, let me know. I've got a list going.

Six on Sunday (Round 2)

1. I am the youngest in my family…two older siblings by blood plus the greatest sister-in-law (good job, big brother!).
2. My grandmother originally taught my sister and me to knit- I then dropped it for a number of years, only picking it back up in college when endless bouts of Hulu/Netflix marathons made me crave doing something with my hands.
3. I have two tattoos…and plans for at least two more.
4. I love anchors and lighthouses. part of it is just an overwhelming love of all things ocean, part of it is strongly influenced by my mom and part of it comes from going to a great Catholic university where the anchor is a key symbol.
5. I'm half Greek.
6. It's my birthday in just under three days! Yay!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! And a very happy birthday to my mom as well! (even though she doesn't read the blog)

Wowza

No FO other than my longest swim to date (but not my longest time in the pool...yay!!). I'm exhausted so good night!