No matter how many times I take a Jane Austen character quiz or how many different quizzes I take, the result is the same: Marianne Dashwood. Not that I'm complaining -- Marianne is actually my favorite Austen character -- I just think it's funny. I think I am a lot more practical than Marianne is. But, since every single time I take an Austen quiz the result says that I am Marianne, it must somewhat accurate. :)
Anyway, here's step 1: Stirring the dry mix, oil, water, and eggs together. This step is also a reminder that even box mixes can be messed up. Once when I made brownies, I didn't notice that it clearly says "stir 50 times" and used a hand mixer. Big mistake! Those brownies turned out so tough that they could have been used as a substitute for rubber. Now, I stir, no matter how long it takes to get all that dry mix incorporated.
Step 2: spread evenly in pan. 
Finished brownies! Always wait for brownies to cool completely before you take them out of the pan, because they will crumble. These brownies turned out pretty good. They were a dark chocolate flavor, which I really liked, only next time I think I'll make them "cake-like" instead of "fudge-like" so they will be just a little fluffier.
I began this quilt last year, May of last year to be exact. It began with a large stack of scraps I had left over from other quilt projects that I had to use up. I decided to make a double wedding ring pattern with them. That was the first decision. Then I began searching online to get ideas for color schemes. My very favorite palette is blue-and-white, but I had so many beautiful materials I wanted to use that I decided I would incorporate lots of different colors. The problem was to do this neatly, in such a way that all the fabrics would work well together. I came across a quilt online that used the wedding ring like a color prism. Their colors were much more vibrant than mine, but they gave me the basis for my idea. I would use blue, pink, green, and yellow like a prism, with my favorite colors, pink and blue, as the primary colors.
I had a lot of blue, and green fabrics to work with, but I had to buy a few extra yellows and pinks to complete the necessary number of sections. I also decided I wanted to make smaller rings than most double wedding ring patterns call for. I pieced all the rings together completely by hand in just a few months, then stitched the rings onto the white border. Now it was time for the big decision -- how to quilt it. I had made three full-sized and two small quilts before, but I hadn't done complicated quilting on any of them. I searched dozens of books at library before I came up with my final plan: intricate heart in the center of the rings, cross-hatching on the white border, a single row of hearts on the blue border, and simple zig-zagging on the outside white border. I did get side tracked for a few weeks considering the idea of an appliqued border, but gave that up finally as just too complicated.
I began the quilting process. All the quilting was done by hand. Some books recommended pencil instead of disappearing ink for marking quilt designs, but that would have made washing necessary once the quilt was complete. I just couldn't take the idea of washing it and possibly ruining seams that I had worked so hard on, so I used a disappearing ink quilter's marking pen and saturated each place with water as I completed it. I did have trouble getting the ink to disappear a few times and almost had a panic attack, but if I let the marks soak in enough cold water or used ice, they eventually came off.
Here you see the finished project, completed this May almost exactly a year after I began it. I did cheat and attached all those long borders by machine; otherwise I can say the quilt is completely handmade. What did I learn from this experience? A lot about quilting, but most importantly, I WILL NEVER DO ANYTHING THIS COMPLICATED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is me just before the bridge.
And here is me and Gabrielle on top of the bridge. After we had stayed up there a little while, we started back down to find my mom. We really expected to find her waiting on a bench about halfway down because she has never climbed all the way to the top before. She's been close, but has always stopped just short of the top. On our way back down, we met her in almost the same place where I'd met my dad and sister before and she said she was going to the top this time. So, we turned around and climbed that same tenth of a mile again.
We decided to take the original trail back down. That involves going through this tiny space in between two rock walls. Not great if you're afraid of small spaces. I think it's kind of fun.
I was really hoping I could get a good picture of the bridge at a distance. I was able to one year, but that was before I had a digital camera so the picture is not the greatest. This shot was the best I could do. I think the trees have grown up so much around it that it couldn't be seen clearly in the distance like before.
This is the way back down. Again, I was by myself. I quickly remembered that the original trail has problems, too. The new trail has lots (and lots) of really steep stairs -- not fun going up. The old trail has very few steps, but it's really steep -- not fun going down. You have to pretty much brace your feet and slide down the mountain. Last time I jogged all the way down just to keep from sliding. This time I just walked fast and slid. : )
Sunlight at last! My camera couldn't capture the beautiful panoramic view of the mountains I had here, especially because the closet trees were always in the way of my lens. I was really feeling lost now, though, because I knew I'd never seen a view like that until I got to the top before.
Here's my dad and Gabrielle climbing some really rocky steps just before we reach the bridge. After that top step, we walked straight out onto it and realized we weren't on the wrong trail -- just an entirely different one than we had taken before. Usually, we take the original trail, which goes straight under the bridge, around, and then onto it. Somehow, we had taken a newer trail that led way out to the side of the bridge and then directly out onto it.
Our view from the top.
Looking over the side (as close as I get!).
It didn't take long before I was hiking by myself. My mom told me not to wait for her because she might just sit down for a while on one of the benches along the way and my dad and sister got way ahead of me. They didn't want to stop and wait for photographs. : ) I really loved all the staircases like this one. They were little, narrow stone steps and covered with slippery leaves. That's not even mentioning how steep they were.
The picture doesn't so this justice. I was walking beside this tall mountainside and came to this place where it hollows out deep and narrow inside into a cave.
Just past the cave were huge boulders.
More steps. It was really, really dark in these areas because the thick tree coverage blocked out most of the sunlight. I was also beginning to wonder to myself if I'd take the wrong turn somewhere. Nothing looked familiar and I didn't remember all these stairs. There weren't any little gazebos along the way to stop and rest in like I was sure I remembered before, and most incredible, there were hardly any people. Usually it's so crowded that you pass people constantly. I hadn't passed more than ten people.
This was like walking through the jungle. I was really beginning to think I'd turned the wrong way and ended up on one of the other hiking trails. I kept looking up and around me for the bridge, because, after so much walking, I thought I should be able to see it through the trees. Couldn't see it or anything familiar.
Yesterday, we drove to the mountains and hiked up a trail to the natural bridge. The leaves haven't changed colors completely yet, but the weather was perfect -- just a little cool with warm sunlight. When we first arrived at the park, I saw this pretty creek with all the trees reflected in it and had to get a few pictures.
A little bridge goes across the creek. It really wobbles when you try to cross it!
We've hiked this trail a few times before, but it's been two years since the last time we were here.
This is the first set of stairs in a very long series as we start on our way to the bridge!
Here's a picture of my finished pirate ship. I've been wanting to draw a picture of a ship for a long time (years) but I haven't been able to find any reference photos that weren't copyrighted. One of my friends at church got married this summer and went to Aruba on her honeymoon. While they were there, she saw this ship sailing on the ocean and took pictures of it! Isn't that neat? I was so glad she let me copy the picture to draw. The rocky background is something I put in myself. I wanted to add something in the distance to break up the monotony of the water, so I looked up pictures of cliffs online to get a general idea for these. I still need to work on them a little more, put in more shadows, etc.
I managed to get a lot of artwork done while we were away. This was the first time I'd actually taken the trouble to pack up all my art supplies and bring them. I'm so glad I did because I managed to finish TWO 8x10 drawings last week. My art show is coming up at the beginning of November and I still have a lot of work to do. To be exact, I have at least five projects that I'd like to finish before then. So, finishing those two pictures was a big relief. One project that I want to do is a series of musical drawings. I've already photographed my dad's guitar, now I need to take some shots of the piano keys, and I'm hoping that my cousin Kristen will be able to photograph her flute for me and email the picture. If she can't, I can work with the guitar/piano theme. I also want to draw the picture of the bridge that I took when we went to the aquarium. I can't decide if I should make it large or small, though. The main problem now is that my camera charger is not working, so I can't take any pictures until I get a new one. The drawing of Princess above is one I finished this summer. I'll post pictures of my new drawings as soon as I can get my camera charged.
She was totally surprised. She hadn't even suspected anything. And she loved the orange cake.
Friday night Aunt Sherry took Gabrielle and I to the mall, then to a movie and dinner. We spend a day doing fun stuff like that every time we visit. The next Sunday my mom cooked dinner for her side of the family and all my aunts, uncles and cousins -- twenty-six people altogether!-- came over. Yesterday we came back home. Thanksgiving is the next time we're supposed to travel back and it's not very far away.
