The Dye Job

So, I've never dyed my hair before. I've had it highlighted in the salon lots of times and I've had it dyed all over a shade of brown one time. That time it had too much red in it, though, and for a while now I have just wanted a dark chestnut brown for my hair color.

So, today I was at Target and looking at hair colors and just decided to go for it and try dying it myself and see how that turned out.

So, here's how it all started... You can see that my roots are a light ash brown with blonde highlights that are SUPER old. Like probably almost a year old? I don't know, but I know it's been a really long time since I've had highlights put in.

This is the brand and color I chose... Loreal Feria... Espresso... Deeply Brown #40

This is when I got it all on. I was scared I was doing something wrong, so I did a fast SOS text to my mom, who came over promptly and made sure I wasn't causing disaster.

This is the finished product. I have to say I am THRILLED! It is EXACTLY what I wanted. Deep, Chestnut brown and it actually has some gold shimmers in the light. I LOVE it!!!! :):):)

I've been a blonde my entire life and suddenly I feel more... sophisticated. ;)

p.s. please excuse the after pictures, I was straight out of the shower, not a stitch of make-up on. ;)

No Place Like Home

This week I had a photography seminar and workshop in Charlotte with the AMAZING photographers, Justin and Mary Marantz. I registered for this back in November and have been so anxious ever since for this week to come. Initially, I had planned for Emma to stay with my mom so she wouldn't miss any school and for Noah to stay with my dad and for Tony and I to just go and have a few days away. Well, things rarely seem to go as planned around here and my dad ended up getting several jobs that needed to be started this week. He's a landscaper and spring is here in NC and the work is officially starting for him. So, I couldn't deny him the opportunity for new clients, so Tony and I just took Noah with us. It made for a more stressful trip and we almost took Emma with us regardless of school, because it was so sad to think of going on a trip minus her. :(

And it was even sadder to come home today and look at the work in her folder and see things like this...

And this...

We got back from Charlotte just in time today to pick her up from school. I'm pretty sure there's never been a sweeter reunion in the carpool line.

Sweet Sleep

Last night I worked on the computer for 5+ hours trying to get caught up on work so I don't have to worry about unfinished business here at home while we're in Charlotte for the week.

While I was working, Tony and Emma were supposed to be on the couch watching Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

This is what I found when I was done working.

So sweet.

Daddy's Home!!

Tony's home! Woo Hoo! :)

So nice to be a family again as opposed to single mom to two rowdy little people, business owner, house keeper, freelancer, car pooler, and daughter, grand daughter, neice, and cousin. Many, many roles that all become remarkably easier and more managable once the other adult returns home. ;)

I'm not going to make this a long one for obvious reason, but here are a few of my favorite pictures from our reunion day today.

Enjoy! ;)

What I love about Kindergarten

The back of the above pictures reads: "For: you the one I am tocabhou (talking about) is mom I love hr (her) and my dad Emma."

This picture reads: "I love my mom and I love love love hr (her). I love my dad and I love love love my dad. I love Noah."

She is so stinkin precious. I guess Noah's naughtiness is what earned him only one love since Tony and I each got four and he only got the one. Poor naughty Noah.

I'm not sure if it's her age or just HER, but Emma is constantly and I do mean CONSTANTLY drawing pictures like this. Every single school assignment she has where she has to draw something and write sentences about what she drew has to do with me, Tony, and Noah. It is the sweetest thing. I just love seeing what she brings home each day. I have so many drawings that are all about us... her family.

And as if the ones she does at school aren't enough, she also draws them for us at home. At the end of each week, I have a huge new stack of beautiful drawings that she's made for me and written how much she loves me on all of them. I am going to miss these days so much as she grows older and grows to love things other than just us... her family.

A Discovery of Witches

I know that books on the subject of vampires and witches are quite controversial among some, but I am not one of those people. Please excuse me for a minute if you are one of those who do not like them and please don't judge me, because I LOVE THEM! Oh my gosh. NOT all of them, though. But THIS book. Wow.

My new favorite.

Of. All. Time.

Seriously.

If you liked Twilight, you will be madly in love with this. Before this, I thought the Twilight series was one of the best stories I'd ever read, but this. Oh this surpasses it in such a humongous way. I know I sound dramatic and I wish I knew how to keep that at bay, but I just don't. This book completely took over my brain and now I'm pretty much grieving that it's over and the next installment is probably not going to be released until this time next year.

So much sadness.

In a nutshell, though, this is the story of Diana (witch) and Matthew (vampire). They end up in love and it is completely against the law of 'creatures' for different species (such as vampire and witch) to come together as a couple. They face so much controversy and there is so much HEAT without it being raunchy. And on top of that, there is so much history involved in this book... REAL history. And the characters are just THE BEST and SO well developed.

I'm considering re-reading it again. Now. And then again and... again...

And the only books I've ever read more than once were... the Twilight books.

I really enjoy books about subjects such as this because it's SO outside of my life and REALITY and for me, that's comforting. Sometimes I just need a little bit of fantasy. However, I love fantasy that seems like it could really be reality. And THAT is just one more thing that I loved so much about this book.

Read it! You will not regret it!

My Gentle Soul

Emma is a rare soul. And I'm not just saying that because she's mine. She cares about every single living thing on the planet. She gets tears in her eyes when my dad mows over the weeds in our yard... you know... the ones that look like flowers? She ran into my room one night recently with one of her books on wildlife (she loves animals) and I could tell she was on the verge of a breakdown and I asked her what was wrong... that's when she showed me what she was reading about in this book. It was a section on lions. And there were pictures of lions hunting. And a lion taking down a zebra. As soon as I saw it, she burst into tears saying that poor sweet zebra, why was that lion doing that? She just could not understand why that lion would kill that poor zebra just to eat. Couldn't it eat something that was already dead?

And she's really like that about everything. Thank goodness she's okay with me killing flies and wasps, because I do that often around here. And she's not a fan of snakes and spiders. But pretty much everything else... if it's alive, she loves it. And that includes flowers. She brought me a beautiful buttercup from my grandma's yard last week and I put it in a cup of water and it was beautiful for several days, but finally yesterday, it was slimy and dying and she got very sad and all she could say was how beautiful it was and she couldn't believe we had to now throw it away. She has a heart of gold and she's so very gentle.

My grandma has a bunch of cats. We live on a farm and the cats are a plenty. They just multiply around here. There is one cat, however, that is so precious. We love him. He follows us home every time we go to my grandma's house and he just loves both my kids and they love him. I wish he would stay at our house, because I have a feeling he would end up being a house cat and that's what he wants most... to be a house cat. He's the one who jets in the door every time you open it, but you can't get mad because he's just so sweet. My cousins call him Tanji, but we call him Garfield. My kids love Garfield and that's what he looks like, so that's what we call him! :) Friday, I had a photo shoot and we went over to my grandma's because she has that gorgeous yellow bush you see down there and it's already blooming, and I wanted to use it! :)

While we were waiting Emma and Garfield were loving on each other and I just couldn't resist.

You can see that Emma is so gentle. Garfield was loving all the attention Emma was paying to him. And toward the end, he actually started licking Emma's hand. It was the most precious thing. And I think it truly personifies how very gentle Emma is. Inside and out.

I am so lucky that God chose me to be her mother. I only hope that I always nurture that beautiful spirit of hers.

***

I wrote the post for Noah's second birthday today also, if you'd like to read it, click here! :)

Baby Fever!!!

I would like to know how I'm supposed to keep the baby fever at bay when people close to me keep popping out newborns that look like this???

This is baby Joshua Arnold. He's my brother-in-law's new baby. Emma and I drove to Darlington to meet him and take his newborn pictures a couple of weeks ago and I was dyyying to bring him home with me!!

And then today, my cousin Colton brought his new baby, Carey, to my house for me to take his newborn pictures. I mean, COME ON!!! I am sure I ovulated about 20 times today while taking these pictures.

It's really a good thing I am not a "newborn photographer" because all I want to do when these babies are in my presence is kiss them and love them and talk in a squeaky voice to them. Parents who aren't related to me would probably be very disturbed and run screaming from my house.

So Disappointed in ME!!!

Right now I am kicking myself and cursing myself (in my head) for being such a slacker on my blog last year. I love writing, I obviously love taking pictures of my family and I love journaling my thoughts and the accomplishments and daily happenings of my life here on my blog. So WHY did I skip every important happening in our lives last year?

why????

I am about to print my blog for 2009-2010 into a book so I have it for our memories and so that this actually serves as a source of history for our family and while sorting through my archives on here and deleting things that weren't relevant or worthy of printing into our book I realized just how little I really blogged last year and just how rarely I blogged anything! I didn't even blog Emma's first day of Kindergarten!!! What in the WORLD???? So, this next week I am going to spend writing all the blogs that I did not write last year.

Fear not.

They will not be visible in your current readers because I'm going to back date them. Hopefully by punishing myself like this (it's not really punishment, I just refuse to print a book without all these amazing events that I IGNORED documented in it!) I will not fall off the wagon as my life gets busier this year (during my wedding season) and quit blogging again.

Close friends of mine, please give me a swift kick in the arse if I become lame blogger of the year again.

K?

Thanks.

Interview with a 6 Year Old

Yesterday I engaged Emma in an interview. I don't want to forget these lovely things about my children as they grown older, so I decided to journal their answers to the things that we talk about all the time.

Emma goes first, because... well, she came first. I'll probably wait until Noah's birthday in May to try to interview him because yesterday when I was asking him questions, every answer was MOMMY. While that's incredibly flattering... I'm going to wait until he's three and then if every answer is still Mommy... well, that will be A OKAY! ;)

This interview consisted mostly of questions about her favorites. And this, I'm sure, is much more interesting for me than it is for you guys, so just indulge me. ;)

All of Emma's answers are in... what else... Pink!

What is your favorite thing about Kindergarten?

Doing choice centers and my favorite one is ART!

Oh yeah?!? What's your favorite thing about art?

Drawing and coloring and my favorite thing to draw is CATS!

What's your favorite color?

Mooommmm!! It's Pink!

What's your favorite day of the week?

Sunday, because I don't get tired on that day. (She's a sleeper like her Mama and she likes that she gets to sleep as much as she wants on the weekends.)

**Emma just asked me to please add that her favorite day is also... Tuesday because it's my ballet day!!!!

What's your favorite thing to do after school?

Going to McDonalds and getting some nuggets and fries with Ranch and a sprite or a milkshake!

Who's your best friend?

Garrett... and Kora... and at school it's Lana and Alex!

What's your favorite thing to do with your family?

Play on the trampoline!!

Your favorite movie?

Wall-E!

Favorite Cartoon?

Pink Panther cuz he's PINK and I like him.

What's your favorite store to shop at?

Target!

What do you want to be when you grow up and are big like Mommy and Daddy?

Ummmm..... a doctor!!!!

Really?? What kind??

Oh Mommy... I don't know, I just wanna be a doctor!!

Okay.... which books are your favorites?

Go Dog Go and Green Eggs and Ham

What's your favorite game to play?

Super Mario Brothers

What's your favorite thing to do with your Daddy when he's home?

Hug him and play with him.

What's your favorite place in the whole world??

The beach cuz we can play in the sand and swim in the pool and it's warm outside!

I know you love the beach, Mommy does too. What's your favorite animal?

Horseys!

What's your favorite song?

Boom Boom Pow! (she's a big Fergie and Black Eyed Peas fan)

*Then I asked Emma what her favorite things were about the people she sees all the time.

Noah: He loves me

Mimi: She lets me sleep over at her house.

Granny: She hugs me

Daddy: He plays with me

Papa: He likes me

Mommy: You take care of me and you love me

Cody: He lets me play ball with him and watch Garfield

Amber: She comes over to our house and she loves me.

Pepper (the dog): She gets so excited about everything

Mama Peggy: She cooks for us and I love that beef and rice stuff she makes!

*Last question cracked me up!

Okay, Emma, this is the last one... What is your favorite thing about your life?

My heart because I can feel it *beeping*.

An Aversion to 7-9

I was telling Tony earlier that my sleeping habits are just so strange.

Just to clarify, sleeping IS one of my very favorite things. However, I fight it at night. I love my nights. With being a "single mom" most of the time, my only alone time is after the kids are in bed. And really, that's a very loose statement, because Emma is also a night owl and she loves to hang out with me at night. So, sometimes I only get an hour after Emma finally falls asleep to have some quiet time. And quiet time is something I treasure because I had SO much of it growing up. Being an only child and most of the time it was just my mom and I, our house was a very quiet place. We could nap when we wanted... whatever we wanted... because it was always very peaceful. It was great. I probably thought it was boring at the time, but now as an adult with two very LOUD children, I think... wow, those quiet days when I could just lay on my bed and read and watch a movie or nap whenever I wanted and not have any disruptive noises or people... needing (bothering) you... those were good days. ;)

So, at night, I fight sleep by knitting while watching tv or a movie in bed and then once I cut the light off, I turn the iPad on and read until my little eyes just cannot hold themselves open any longer. I love night time. I wish nights were much longer than they are. But oh well, I don't think that's anything that's ever going to change.

So, the past two mornings, I've woke up at 5am. Yesterday it was because Noah woke up sick, which makes me go from passed out to wide awake instantly (it's a mom thing, right?). And yesterday, I went back to sleep when he fell back asleep and slept for a few hours. It was great.

And again, today I woke up at 5 am for no reason and just couldn't go back asleep and here I sit... still awake. However, right now I would love a nap, but I can't because I have to go to an appointment I have at 11 am.

Most days, though, I go back to sleep after Emma goes to school just because I cannot stand to be awake between 7 and 9 am. Crazy, right? I told Tony I'm pretty sure it's just pure rebellion on the part of my brain from all those years of HAVING to wake up during those hours and hating every second of it. So now, I have to either wake up before 7 or well after 9 to be happy and want to stay awake.

I'm weird? Probably.

And a rebel.

A Day of Ballet

Emma is a dancing queen, for those of you who don't know her well. Emma is one of those girls that will probably take dance classes throughout her childhood and adolescent years. She loves it and savors every minute.

As much as it sometimes inconveniences my Tuesday schedule and Noah's nap schedule, I truly do enjoy watching her. She is in her element and she loves it.

Yesterday was parent observation day for us parents to come and sit in on the class and watch as they practice their recital routines. Emma was so excited about mommy sitting there and watching her for the entire hour and a half. She was just giddy with excitement the whole way there.

When we first arrived, I had to get a shot of her getting out of the car, because she was just too cute in her ballet outfit, North Face jacket, and cowgirl boots. I mean... REALLY. Could she BE any cuter? She's mine, I'm allowed to think she's the cutest thing to ever grace the floor of a ballet studio. ;)

Contrary to the way these pictures appear, Emma is NOT in private lessons, there are other girls in her class. I was just hesitant to take a lot of pictures of the other girls, because I knew they were coming straight here... to the blog.

Emma takes Jazz, Tap, and Ballet, so that's why the shoes change in the pictures. ;)

The picture on the right is such an Emma look, so that's why it HAD to come to the blog.

Here's one with some of the other girls pictured. There are other girls on the other side of Emma as well, it's just a really big room so they have lots of room to spread out.

Of course, I took tons more pictures, these were just some of my favorites. I'm sure I'll do a more lengthy post on my photography blog later in the week. :)

What's on my Phone THIS WEEK??

Go on over and link up with Ms. Jessica!

When you're a sweet little fella in a world full of women, you are very much in touch with your feminine side. And unfortunately, your mom thinks it's the cutest thing ever!

One thing about Kindergarten I don't understand? Emma comes home every day with a sticker on her forehead.

When your husband is only home sporadically throughout the year, the children most often occupy the other half of your bed. At least if you're me.

But I love it and think they're so adorable all snuggled up together and they make my bed smell like them, which is the yummiest smell ever. ;)

Mischievous, sneaky Noah. I walked in to him playing the other day. Playing WITH MY CHECKS!!! He's all blurry, because he was trying to get the heck outta Dodge before I captured his naughtiness with the camera.

What's on YOUR phone this week friends???

Mary Jane Slippers :: Newest Item on Etsy!

These precious slippers are the newest item in my Etsy Store!!

These are all the colors that can be chosen from for these custom made Mary Jane Slippers!

Those are my Mama's legs up there. She's my slipper model. ;)

"Life is messy, God is love"

... that is a quote often used by Bonnie Grove, the author of the novel I just finished,

Talking to the Dead. It is, in fact, the tagline to her website.

Talking to the Dead is my book club's first book choice for March. I was very excited to start reading this one, there were many excellent reviews for it online and just the synopsis of the book made me want to read it immediately.

The book is difficult, though. It starts off a little slow, but when it picks up, it really picks up. The story made me so angry at times. I'm pretty sure if I was reading it on anything other than my iPad, I would've thrown it across the room several times.

It's the story of Kate. And she's just lost her husband, completely unexpectedly to a heart condition, much like what happened to John Ritter. And, like anyone would be, she is stunned.

Following his funeral, when everyone finally clears out of her house and she's left on her own, she starts hearing Kevin, her dead husband, talking to her. Nothing spectacular, such as describing heaven, or what it's like to die, just everyday, mundane facts. Such as, "You always burn the toast". At first she takes comfort in this, his voice, talking to her, but then she realizes that she has lost a significant part of her memory. She has no idea what happened on the day of his death. She doesn't remember what she was doing before she found out and she also realizes that she doesn't recall much of the events in the weeks and months leading up to his death.

As the story progresses and she sees a shrink or two, some of the memories start coming back and Kevin's voices changes from speaking to her to shouting at her. And not shouting nice things, either.

It's very disturbing and what Kate has to go through to find a place of healing is very difficult to read and to imagine.

I read a review that a reader had written on Barnes and Noble online and the author of the review wrote that Bonnie Grove "never takes the easy way out" in this story. She never sugar coats things and makes them easier and lighthearted for the reader.

I am so glad I read this novel. It was a real eye-opener and I feel like just knowing this story brought me a little bit closer to God.

I definitely recommend it!

The Handwriting Game

My sweet friend, Hillary, did this and I thought it was such a cute idea, I decided I had to do it too!! :)

And Ummm... I do not have the greatest handwriting ever, it used to be better when I did it more. Now I type everything so my handwriting is not that good. It is a cute way to get to know each other better, though, right?

So, here it is....

If you want to participate and do this too, here are the questions you answer! :)

1. What’s your name / blogger name?

2. What’s your blogs URL?

3. Write, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.

4. Favorite quote?

5. Your favorite song?

6. Your favorite band / singers?

7. Anything else you want to say?

8. Tag 3 bloggers to participate.

Even if I didn't tag you, please feel free to do this too! It's such a cute idea, everyone should totally do it! :)

The Source of the Stress

A few weeks ago I blogged about how terrified I was about something that's about to happen in our lives and so many of you guys (that I love so much!) expressed concern and love, which I appreciate immensely.

So, here's what's going on...

Most of you know that Tony works in Iraq and has since 2006. Last summer, he switched to a new company so that he would be on a better schedule as far as coming home more frequently. This was an awesome development for us, because from 2006 until last summer (2010) he was only home for 6 weeks out of the whole year.

You can imagine how much that sucked. He would come home one time for 4 weeks and then another time for 2 weeks and that is ALL that we saw of him. For the whole YEAR.

Yeah, that was a difficult 4 years. We loved each other, we hated each other. It was crazy at times.

But we persevered and I think now our relationship is stronger than it's ever been. Like. Ever. Since we met.

So, when he got on with this new company last summer, it was such an exciting change for us, because the schedule was that he would work three months in Iraq and come home for a month. Big change. Way better. For me and the kids, this is like a 100% improvement over the way things were. Three months away is nothing when he's home for a whole month, and it's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when he is here. No work during time home, except, of course, the ever growing honey-do list that I make the whole time he's gone.

Two weeks ago Tony got word that this new company's contract was up for renewal in March and it was in danger of not being renewed. He was scared to tell me this, because let's face it. I'm a spaz and my mind immediately jumps to the worst possible scenario and suddenly I need a valium.

So, the company decided to start sending it's workers home in preparation for the contract not being renewed. Tony's initial date to come home was March 4th... today. Two weeks after they found out about this.

Terrified. Horrified. Panic-Striken.

Those are the best ways to describe by state of mind for the past two weeks.

Then he was due to arrive home on the 6th, this Sunday and just the other day it was postponed another week, the 13th.

I have great faith in him and his abilities to do what he does. I know he's a great worker and very dependable and his resume is so great that I hardly understand a word of it. Ha! He already has a potential opportunity, but it is still quite stressful, because the situation still remains a very large unknown.

So, friends, please say some prayers for us that Tony quickly is offered a new job or that his current company is offered a new contract. If he ends up moving to a new company, I just pray that it's with a company that offers a great schedule that allows him to come home and be a family with us as often as possible. He tells me not to worry and that everything will be fine and it'll all work out and while I'm sure that will be the case, I still can't help but be a ball of nerves and worry until that moment comes. Something about the fear of unpaid bills and having to choose whether to pay those bills or feed your children just terrifies the living crap outta me.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, up there in that picture, he's the last one on the right... the one who looks really mean. What is up with that?

The Kitchen House

This book is one of my new all-time favorites.

I love historical fiction and this book was absolute perfection. It's about a little girl who comes over on a ship with her family from Ireland and ends up being an indentured servant on a plantation in southern Virginia. The slaves on the plantation take her in and she becomes one of them in every sense. They are her family, regardless of color. The love those slaves give to Lavinia (the girl) is boundless and true.

The story is of these characters and it spans a period of 19 years. There is never a dull moment in this novel. There are many moments of tragedy, some of them very much unspeakable and there are also many moments of joy and happiness.

It left me yearning for a sequel. It's the story you wish would never end.

March : Favorite Things

I thought I would share some more of my favorite things since it's been two months since the last time and all.

Frozen Fruit by Great Value. You get this stuff at Wal-Mart and while I know many of you probably either love or hate Wal-Mart... if you love smoothies as we do in this house, you are really missing out if you don't go to Wal-Mart for your fruit. Last week, when I first learned to make smoothies, I bought all fresh fruit (which is pretty expensive) or the frozen fruit by Dole.

The frozen fruit sold by Dole is great, but it's pretty pricy. You get a very small bag for somewhere around $3. That small bag probably will make 6 smoothies.

However, when I went to Wal-Mart on Monday to see how their fruit prices compared to our grocery store's prices I was amazed. The bag shown below is actually not the size bag I purchased. That is the size of their small bags. I found at our Wal-Mart these HUGE bags of beautiful frozen fruit. When I opened the bag of strawberries, I was truly amazed. The strawberries are big, plump WHOLE strawberries that have just been cleaned and capped. They're not sliced up and they're not coated in anything. No sugar, no syrup, nothing. Just big, perfect strawberries that have been frozen.

I bought three of those huge bags and they were about $8-$10 apiece. I chose a bag of blueberries, a bag of strawberries, and a bag of a mix which includes strawberries, mango, pineapple, and peaches. Holy mother... that bag of mixed fruit is pure heaven!

Here is the recipe I use for the bag of mixed fruit

A generous amount of the frozen fruit in the blender

add on top:

some orange juice

some milk

some fat-free vanilla yogurt

some honey

And blend!

Since the fruit is frozen, you don't need to add any ice. And also, the thing with using frozen fruit, it makes super thick smoothies. Since we prefer to drink our smoothies as opposed to eating them with a spoon, I also add either a little more juice or some water during blending until the mixture is the consistency that we like.

And friends, you should be proud of me... I'm totally making things up as I go along now. No recipe needed any longer. I just needed a recipe to get me moving in the right direction! :)

***

Wednesday Nights. I look forward to Wednesday nights all week long.

I love Modern Family and The Middle sooo much. Two of the best shows ever (if you ask me). That Cam on Modern Family just KILLS me. He is the funniest, funniest guy. Everything he says is so dramatic and just hilarious. It's good for my soul to watch that show, because I laugh my tail off.

the middle... I just love this family. The kid's personalities are great and they really make the show. Plus, who names their kids Axl and BRICK? LOL Axl isn't that awful, but Brick? Would you ever think to name your kid Brick? We live in a brick house, so it would be especially odd for me. Maybe if we lived in a wood house I could consider it.

***

Aveeno : Ever since the fall of 2008, my skin has been very itchy and stress will make me develop random rashes. It's really weird and painful. So, when I'm dealing with that a lot ( as I am right now) this Aveeno bath and shower oil is so perfect for my skin. I put it just on the itchy spots of skin during my bath or shower and it is immediately calming. I also use the Aveeno body wash and body creams.

***

Oh. My. Gosh. This new Peanut Butter & Honey by Jif is the best stuff ever!! As if I didn't already eat A LOT of pb&j's, with this stuff.... WOW. So, So yummy!! :)

***

This one will only resonate with a few of you, but these are my favorite knitting needles. They're made my knit picks and... they're AWESOME. Yes they are. The wood is super smooth and they just knit like a dream. So, if you are a knitter or if you ever become a knitter, make sure you check out the KnitPicks site. I also love their yarns. They're a much better quality yarn than you will find in the craft stores, however, they're not as expensive as the boutique yarns. I never knew how expensive yarn could be until I started knitting. It is seriously insane how much the really high quality yarns cost. This is why when I ordered some KnitPicks yarn just to try it out I became hooked on it. It is awesome quality, super soft, but NOT super expensive.

That's it for my current favorites! What are some of yours right now??