the olympics make me want to be canadian.

Like everyone else, I've been watching a lot of the Olympics.

A lot.

While watching people win gold medals despite injuries, and hearing about the 8 million jobs each athlete holds down to fund their training, and listening to the story of the athlete who lived in a tent so she could afford to train, and seeing the looks of determination on each person's face, it amazes me the lengths that these competitors go to in order to be the best. They sacrifice time with family and friends, push their bodies beyond their limits, endure pain that would confine me to my bed for its duration, and receive more defeats and bruises than championships and gold medals.

I couldn't imagine what would cause someone to make such extreme sacrifices. It seems absurd to me to give up all of that just to do one thing. But then I realized that they do it because they just love their sport, and competing, so much. Most athletes-- especially these ones in the winter games-- don't get significant money from their sport. Many are struggling to make ends meet just like we are. But they do it all-- spend time away from home, race with broken ribs, train for hours and hours-- because they love their sport and want to be the best that they can be.

I don't really understand that mentality, because I have yet to find the thing in my life that I would be willing to pour my heart and soul into. But I want to. I want to find that one thing that clicks so much that I want to work harder at it than anything else. I want to be the best, but I can never be the best until I find something worth being the best at.

Ugh. This post seems very narcissistic and ridiculous. I should probably post it anyway.

felty felt felt.

I thought I'd show you all some projects I've been working on. These are actually from a while ago, but I don't have any pictures of my more recent creations.

These guys are my favorite! Meet Adam and Jamie, named for the stars of the Mythbusters marathon I watched while making them. They make a great team, except for when they are violently arguing or attempting to walk in opposite directions.

This is Adam and Jamie's friend, The Captain. He's a veteran of the open seas, and despises anything and everything on land. Including you.

I made this camera case a while ago, and sadly I cannot take credit for the design. I found it here. There are new cute camera cases up in her shop now!

This is from a project at work, where the kids were supposed to make their own flags. This was mine. I have no idea what to do with it now, haha.

So there you go. I'll post pictures of more when I get them uploaded!

new.

It's been a while. I tend to forget about this poor little blog for long periods of time, and then I come back and its all neglected and full of weeds and raccoons are living under the porch. My apologies.

I feel like things in life have been in a constant upheaval since I graduated in 2007. That's almost three years of what seems like constant change and discomfort, but I find it is actually bothering me less and less as time goes on. I suppose this is good, since in the last year almost everything has changed once again. This time, though, instead of panic simmering beneath the surface, I almost feel a sense of tired resignation. It's like my mind and heart finally realized that change is just going to come, no matter what, and I had better just deal with it or I'll go crazy. That's not to say that I am not excited about some of the change in my life, of course. But change of any sort, good OR bad, is hard on me. I'm happy that I'm finally learning how to deal with it, however slowly.

In the last year:

I got married.

I applied for grad school, was accepted into two schools, completed one quarter, and left the program.

I decided to apply for a completely different grad program at a different school.

I started a garden.

I left a job, started a new one, and am planning to leave it soon to go back to the first job.

I started baking our sandwich bread, and am working toward baking all of our bread.

Husband and I have tried a lot of new foods: I now eat squash, asparagus, any kind of bean, and Indian food (among other things).

We're starting to bike.

We went on our first camping trip (and got rained out!).

I've decided to become a vegetarian.

We're moving to a different city in a few weeks.

I went from working full-time to part-time.

So those are just some of the changes I've been dealing with! As you can see, there is a LOT of good in there. Most of it, actually. So I'm focusing on the good, and I'm learning to appreciate the unknowns of life. A year ago, I wouldn't have pictured myself in this particular situation, but I feel like I am headed in a great direction. I feel calm. And for me, calm is the feeling I have sought for a long, long time.