Where to begin...we'll start with 10.

Where do you being when you have been on a 6 month hiatus from your blog?  How do you get back to posting on your blog when there is just so much to say?  These are the questions that have gone through my mind over and over again the last couple months.  I haven't forgotten this space I've called home for OVER 7 years!  I've often thought about moving on and starting a new blog or finding a new theme or or or...but I keep coming back to I've been blogging here at Barknknit since I started blogging and I just can't let it go yet.

For my first post back since January, I'm going to just recap the past 6 months.  So, here are 10 important things that have happened in the Barknknit family the last 6 months:

1. My girls are both 6 months older and when it comes to little kids that is a LONG time!  Both are now going to the same preschool and are learning new things so quickly.  I feel if you look at them long enough, you can actually see them growing before your very eyes! hehe! JK.

2. Special K and I went on our first weekend away without the kids!...I may actually write an entire post about this one but for now I'll just share that it was so good for everyone.  I'm glad that Special K and I got to spend some quality time being a couple and enjoying what makes us us.  This was also the first vacation in 6 years that did not involve visiting family so there is that...

3.  Maria learned to walk(at 10 months just like her sister)...this changes the game but it's so exciting!  Again...she's just growing up too quickly!

4. My father came to visit from Panama...He spent 3 weeks with my family here and we spent most this time celebrating his 80th birthday!  The girls enjoyed every minute with him here and we miss him so much.  Looking forward to his visit this winter.

5. Carmen had her 2nd ballet recital...this one was tap and while she had a little bit of a meltdown when she saw us watching her, she did great!

6. Maria turned 1!  I can't believe the year went by so fast!  She is such a smart, happy, and loving toddler.  She talks a lot and is always trying to do what her sister is doing.  She's also my climber but I know this and do what I can to prevent major falls.  She is such a blessing.

7. Grandma Shari came to visit...Special K's mom came for a weekend visit and we had so much fun!  The girls enjoyed having her here and we all went to a Rays game...along with so much more!

8. Promotion at work into management...I was promoted earlier this year at work into a  management role.  This has been exciting/stressful and my first time managing a team of at first 20+ but thankfully now my team is 9-10 people.  I've learned so much already and learning more every day!

9. Podcasting again...yes, I've starting podcasting again!  I'm so so excited about this.  My friend Alicia and I started a new podcast Mastering the Knits!  We talk about our journey through the Master Knitter Program, beginning with the Hand Knitting Level 1.  We also talk about our life, crafting, and more.  It's been so fun and we are so happy we've had such great feedback from our listeners!

10. There has been knitting and spinning...oh has there been so much knitting in the last 6 months!  I'll have to dedicate a couple posts to update you all on all that I've finished!  Here is a snapshot of one of my finished objects...a hat for my dad modeled by Carmen.

Hope you enjoyed this list!  I look forward to talking to you all more!

Happy Catching up!

What have you all been up to in the past 6 months?  Please comment and say hello!

Maryland Sheep and Wool here I come!!

So, this weekend was full of spending time with my family and my dad and planning my upcoming fiber adventure!!!

I decided last week that I wanted to go to Maryland Sheep n Wool...the next step was making it happen. In the end, it all just seems to be working out! My plan is I'll be flying up to NC on the Friday before the Festival and my friend will pick me up from the airport, then we'll drive up and meet another friend up in the Baltimore area and stay at a hotel for Friday and Saturday night! During those two days, we'll have plenty of meeting new people and fiber fumes!! I can't wait!

Saturday, I'll be joining a couple other podcasters, when I get the final details I'll let you know, for a meet n greet at the festival from 11-1pm! It should be tons of fun...and I'm sure I'll be just as big a fan girl with the other podcasters as the people coming to meet them! :)

Sunday after shopping a bit, we plan to head back to NC and then I'll be staying there for a couple days as I spend time with my best friend from high school!

I'm looking forward to the whole weekend! If you are going to be at the Festival please let me know!! I look forward to meeting everyone! I'll be wearing my barknknit shirt on Saturday so other than my latiness..hehe..that will be a way to recognize me. If you want to pick up some barknknit apparel you can to at www.zazzle.com/barknknit.

This is a picture of me in my shirt chatting away at SAFF.
Other than planning this weekend, we did manage to get our whole house spring cleaned! It took us several hours and lots of sneezing on my part but it's done! My MIL will be arriving LATE saturday night for a weekend of fun!! I can't wait for a five day weekend and enjoying family time!

My trip to Tiny T-town.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of joining Special K on a trip to his home town...Toronto, Ohio...The Gem City.(they have a McDonald's, which is the cleanest one I think I've ever seen) We flew out friday afternoon and I must say I was pretty excited to visit his hometown and meet his mom. We got in a 6pm and much to our disappointment we weren't able to go to the Cubs vs Pirates game (long story) but oh well... His sister picked us up and within two minutes were bickering like they hadn't been away from each other for the last couple months. I enjoyed the ride home and listened to the constant banter. We stopped by his aunt Jojo's house to pick up a car and then headed to his home for 22 years. We arrived and his mom ran out and leaped onto him. She was very happy he was home. We stayed with his sister so we went in and I met his nephew Logan. He's a very cool kid and liked to call me Aunt Madalie....once it was Uncle Madalie...but that's ok. He's only 2.

We had Chinese take out for dinner and then went out to meet some of his buddies. We stopped and chatted for a bit with his friend Shawn, or Cane or whatever else Special K calls him. I don't think I understood more than two words that came out of Shawn's mouth but Special K was able to catch every word. I mostly didn't know the people he talked about so it was hard to follow.

Our next stop was his friend Steve's. We stayed there pretty much the rest of the night. At first it was Steve, Special K, and I but it quickly became a crowd. :) We played a game I had almost forgotten but remembered like it was yesterday. Moosehead...this is a drinking game using a quarter and an ice tray. My friends called it Moose. :) It was fun and I drank more that night than I had in a long time but I was good.(stay away from the robitussin jello shots) We skipped going to the Margaret's Bar(he wasn't sure he could get in due to happenings at Christmas time) because we were tired and headed home to sleep on a tiny and I mean tiny twin bed.

Saturday started with Special K making a great breakfast and then he took me on a driving tour of T-town with his mom. The tour lasted about 15 minutes to span the town but I got to see lots of places that Special K knew like the back of his hand. After our tour, Special K needed to go get measured for a tux for a wedding he's in in August. We then picked up his brother and headed to meet his Grandparent's. Big K's parents were really nice. There house was warm and welcoming and Special K recounted his favorite times in the house. On separate occasions his grandparent's each asked if a wedding would be expected soon, since we are living together and renting a house soon.(they are old fashion but that's ok) But we just said we've talked about it and moved on. :) After several Let's go's from Special K's brother we left and headed back to his sis' to relax before the evenings events.

That night we went to an annual 4th of July party thrown by his buddy, Steve. It was fun times of drinking and socializing. I don't think I have ever seen Special K socialize as much as that night. He was with friends he's known pretty much his whole life and it was nice to see. His one comment for the night is every time he went off to pee or such I would disappear. :) I didn't mean to but I was a little tipsy. (I drank more that night than I had the previous night) and I hung out with the few that I was comfortable enough to start conversations with. :) We hung out as long as we could and after one round of flip cup for me headed home. We walked the 4 blocks back to his sister's house and passed out.

Sunday we hung out and relaxed around the house. His mom made us breakfast and it was wonderful. As we headed out it was sad to leave his mom so soon but it was nice to head back to our bed. We stopped by his grandparents house on the way to Pittsburgh airport and off we went back to our puppies and our tiny garage apartment.

It was very nice to see Special K's hometown. It explains a lot about him and it was wonderful to meet his mom and get along so well. I will definitely be excited to go back....just have to be ready for some drinking. I drank more this past weekend than I have since before Special K and I started dating. :)

The Gem City.....

Weddings....

I haven't posted lately because well I haven't had time. My life has been pretty crazy. I was gone in Key West on a field trip and then came back for less than 24hrs before I was on another trip. I didn't get to spend very much time with my dogs or at home...so blogging wasn't high up on my list of things to do....anyway....about weddings.

This past weekend, Special K and I went to a big family wedding. My cousin who's be dating the same girl for 13 yrs finally was getting married. They were 15 when they met and have been going strong ever since. Kind of crazy. The wedding was out in Texas and it was a blast.

We flew out 10 strong from FL to TX. My dad, my sisters, kids, Special K and I got on a plane early thursday morning and started our adventure. When we got there we all went to lunch at one of my cousin's favorite restraunts...Then the kids and Special K headed to the house my aunt rented and swam in the pool and the lake. I went with the bride to be and my sister to get a mani and a pedi. I haven't gotten one in a while and it was nice. Later that night we went to my aunt's bosses house and had a big BBQ.....Texas BBQ. It was good food and good company. Special K met more and more of my family as the weekend past and everyone liked him and approved and he seems to like everyone as well. After the Texas BBQ, we headed back to the lake house and I went to bed and everyone else ended up staying up and doing some stuff for the wedding. I just had gotten back on wednesday from Sea Camp so I was already exhausted.

Friday breakfast was at 10am...and knowing that my aunt was making it I wanted to be on time.. And true to her style it was a wonderful mexican breakfast of eggs and sausage, or eggs and potatoe tacos....with beans and fruit salad. It was yummy. We played in the pool and swam in the lake pretty much all day. We tried to fish but nothing was caught. That night my aunt made a BIG MEXICAN FIESTA!!! There was tons of great food and even more great company. Most my family that was coming had arrived by this time so it was about 50 members of the Martinez family. Special K did great and met pretty much everyone. I ate way too much and enjoyed myself.

Saturday....the wedding day. We headed over to the big house and had breakfast again...this time made by my aunts friend who woke up really early and made some good eats. As we were heading to the pool, Special K decided to pick up some bottles by the hot tub but then went on to clean the whole porch...which was huge and a mess. Other people joined in to help but he was there from start to finish. This won over many of the women in my family.

The wedding was beautiful. It was by the lake and had a beautiful view. The ceremony itself was short but sweet. The brides dress looked great on her and the groom couldn't stop sweating. The reception was awesome with tons of good food and some great toasts. The dessert, which was a chocolate fountain and gelato, was awesome...just wish I hadn't eaten so much at dinner. Then the partying really began with some dancing and a great band... Special K actually danced with me...which was the first time we'd danced...he says he doesn't dance but it's more about him not liking to than him not being able to. He's a great dancer. Then he danced with my oldest sister and it was so cute!!!! Well..the night ended with a long drive back to the house. All in all was a great wedding.

Sunday was packing up day and a Mother's day brunch. We said our good byes and headed back to florida. I enjoyed my weekend very much. I learned more about Special K and fell more and more in love with him. I know grossy sweet....

Stay tuned for some more blogs....just need to get into it again.

PS Mr. Poopie....I went back and deleted all my :) because yes I use them A LOT!!!!!!!!!

Recent Travels...

In the last couple weeks I've been traveling more than I've been at home. It all started with a trip to Washington DC with the 8th graders that I teach. This was a Sunday to Friday adventure with Twenty-two...count them again 22... 8th graders. Most of them are great and some are naughty but they are all good kids. ;) It was my first trip to DC and I had a blast. We were on the go from 6:30am to around 11pm. We pretty much saw it all. We didn't get to tour of the White House...which was the only thing that we really missed...the guy at the Senator's office messed up. We were informed that he was no longer working there so he probably messed up way more than just us. :) We did get to tour the Capitol Bldg, which was beautiful. We got to go into the Library of Congress which I thought was an amazing bldg as well. We saw all the monuments and memorials. I think my favorite was the Iwo Jima...It had Panama on it, but that's not the only reason.

Well...after a week of traveling DC with 8th graders I got back on a Friday night and the following morning...later than we had planned but still early at 8:30...Special K, Abigail and I headed out on our Road Trip 07. :)

We drove 10 hrs to NC to Fisher's fiance's house. We spent til Monday there and had a great time. Abby and Turkish, a large German Shepard mix didn't get along and Abbs almost lost an ear but she was fine. It was great to see Fisher and finally meet her fiance.

Monday we headed off to VA. We were early so we stopped at Prince William National Park and went for a hike. Abigail got to go into Quantico Creek. I think she had a great time.....she's a true water dog. :) We got to Roro's house late afternoon and Abigail due to almost getting her ear ripped off was a bit skittish with Apollo, Roro's doberman. We took them to the dog park and they romped around and had a grand ole time. When we got back we had dinner and played a little Quiddler, only the best card game EVER!!!

The next day Special K and I got up a little later than earlier and headed to DC for the day. We had breakfast at... oh yeah... Cracker Barrel. It took us a couple U turns to get there but after we gave in a put it in the GPS we got there fine. :) Our first stop in DC..well..VA was Arlington National Park. We watched the changing of the guards and saw Kennedy's gravestone. Then we headed into the city where I quickly found out the Special K doesn't like driving in cities and when I try to point places out while he's driving in the city he gets a little frustrated. :) So...I took over the wheel and we found some parking and headed to the Holocaust Museum, which we proceeded to spend 3 hrs touring. It is an amazing place but very, very emotional. Even if you have seen movies or read things. Some of the real footage they have is more graphic than I can take. After we closed the place down we walked over to the Washington Monument, WWII memorial, Korean Mem, Lincoln Monument, and Vietnam Memorial. We then drove back to Roro's and were exhausted. Abby and Apollo at this point had become buddies and would not stop playing...it was great.

On Wednesday morning at around 6:30 am, Special K and I started our 14hr drive home. We had a great time and managed to survive spending 5 days together and not killing each other. :) I'm happy to be back in our home and not really happy to be back at work but it's nice to be back in a routine after 2 weeks. I missed my Jackjack so much and am glad to get to cuddle with him. Thanks for reading...it's kind of long and all about me. :) go figure.