One Year Ago Today...

I married my best friend.





We have accomplished so much together in our first year of marriage. Here's a quick run down and review of the last year...

You started your new job and we moved within our first month.



We carved pumpkins together for the very first time.



You prepared and barbecued your first Thanksgiving turkey and now you may be stuck doing it forever. Seemed like nobody could get enough of it!



We celebrated Christmas and sent out our first family Christmas card.



Then we went to Reno with friends to bring in the New Year.



In February, I started my new job. We also hosted our first Super Bowl Party, which I'm sure is something that you would love to repeat every year :)



In April, you spoiled me on my birthday and we celebrated Easter with both of our families.





In May, we found out that our family will be growing :)



For the Fourth of July, we had a great view for fireworks and the least amount of traffic I have ever experienced for a fireworks event. (You were right!)



We celebrated our anniversary early in Pismo since I would be starting work and wouldn't be able to go anywhere during our anniversary weekend.



In August, we celebrated your 30th Birthday.

Currently, we are on the final stretch of owning our own home. It's hard to believe all we have done in one year and I can't wait to see what the next 74+ years (as you say) has in store for us. I love you!

Yum Yum

I love fresh baked goods on a Saturday morning! Is there anything better? It also makes me feel amazing when I can put together some simple ingredients I have on hand and create this:

Bar Exam Update

Let me just start by saying that no, I was not allowed to knit during the Bar Exam. Yes, I knew that would probably be the case, but better safe than sorry.

Last week I proctored for the Bar Exam. I got this assignment through a temp agency and didn't really know what to expect. All I knew was that I was scheduled to work Monday 12-5pm, and Tuesday through Friday 9-5pm. Turns out what little I did know was incorrect. The hours for Monday were correct, but the rest of the week was basically Tuesday through Thursday 6:30 IN THE MORNING to 6:30 IN THE EVENING! Needless to say the "short" work week was very long. Especially when you add in the hour it took me to get home everyday with traffic. One day it took 35 minutes just to get out of the parking lot!

The way I can best sum up proctoring for the Bar Exam is this: I don't know who has it worse. The person taking a test for 18 hours over three days or the person just watching people take a test for 18 hours over three days. At least the people taking the test have something to do!

Now I know I was paid to watch people take a test, distribute and collect test questions, and watch for potential cheaters and they had to pay to take the test. I guess you also have to figure in all the hours they spent studying to prepare for this test knowing that only about 50% of them would pass. But if you just think about those 18 hours, I think the proctors and myself had it much worse!

I tried to keep myself entertained by counting how many people had sandals on, or were wearing jewelry, or were younger than me, or had long sleeves on, etc. Some proctors even created scavenger hunts to trade with other proctors for their different sections. Each proctor was watching over 30 people and there were about 1500 examinees (which I kept calling them testees, after which realizing how that sounds).

Needless to say, I don't know that I would do it again. If they let me knit, then it would be another story. I could have knit a baby sweater and then some!

Just In Case

This is my last week off before I go back to work. What am I doing with my last week, you ask?? Working.

I can't complain because I've already had five weeks off. It just so happened that the only week the temp agency called me with an assignment was my last week off.

I will be helping to administer the BAR Exam. This sounds somewhat interesting, but will most likely be very boring. I have given the CA State Standardized Test to elementary and middle school students for three years now, so I assume it will be very similar to that, except with adults. Basically checking people in, reading directions, and then hours of monitoring and watching for cheating. When talking to my mom about this I said, "Do you really think I'll have to monitor them the whole time? I mean they are adults and they will be lawyers." My mom's response: "Exactly. They will be lawyers." No offense if you are one or know one (I know a few myself), but I see her point.

I was really hoping I would have some time to do some knitting while they're testing, so just in case I started these infant socks.



Here's hoping it's not too boring and that I can do some knitting.

Little Monsters

I love these little Monster Chunks. Not only are they quick, easy, and use up leftover sock yarn, they are adorable too!



I really prefer the eye placement of the monster on the left. I completed the one on the right first, so I guess it's like the "first pancake," the one you throw out because it doesn't turn out as well. I won't throw it out, but I might donate it to the cats. They seem to enjoy it.

Lack of Knitting

I have not been knitting as much as usual. I did not even post during the month of June, which is somewhat disappointing since I had been pretty consistent up until that point.

Instead of posting about knitting, I will just post pictures from what we have already done during July (I don't even have pictures of anything for the month of June. Not sure what happened there).

We went to the Alameda County Fair with my parents (an annual tradition). They were able to beat the World's Record for the largest hamburger, so of course we had to take this dorky picture.



We ate corn dogs (a fair must!).



For the first time, we went and watched the pig races. How have I missed this in all the previous years we've gone??? Hilarious!





I don't know why, but I always love wearing things that relate to a holiday, like black and orange on Halloween, or red, white and blue for the 4th of July. So on the Fourth I wore some patriotic earrings that I made that morning, a white top, a blue skirt, and red flip flops. While I don't have a picture of this amazing ensemble (ha ha, I crack myself up), I did happen to take a picture of the artwork I did on my toenails.



In the morning we attended a parade. It was probably 95 to 100 degrees! That's commitment my friends. I don't know the last time (if ever) that I have gone to a parade for the 4th of July, but we all had a great time. DH took tons of pictures, so I will just include the beginning and the end of the parade.





After the parade we tried out a new BBQ place. DH loved it more then his usual BBQ place and we plan to go back. It was a LOT of food and also very delicious. I hate to admit it, but my favorite part was the free ice cream.



After lunch, we went home and took a nap. Then headed over to my in-laws for a BBQ dinner. Believe me, we did not go hungry that day! Then DH, my sister-in-law and I headed out to watch fireworks. We actually ended up watching them from DH's work parking lot. I was a little skeptical, but it was actually very quiet and easy to go when we were ready to leave.





Our one year anniversary is coming up on August 14th. Since I will be starting a new school year on August 1st, I will not be able to go anywhere during that month. We decided to celebrate a month early and since DH's work closed for the week of the 4th of July, we took that opportunity to go to Pismo Beach. The weather was perfect. Of course, the first thing we did when we got there was eat (notice I never leave out this important part of any event).



It's almost a little sad how much we look forward to having that clam chowder bowl at Brad's. I highly recommend it!

Most of the time we were there, we spent it in the hotel room just relaxing. I was able to actually get a sock finished and started on the second sock. Yay! Since these are going to be a Christmas gift I am extra excited that I am now almost done with the pair. That's my one bit of knitting news in this post :)

We did go down to the beach as well.



We have never taken a beach umbrella with us before, but it was totally worth it!! Here's our little set up.



Hope everyone had a safe 4th of July and is having a wonderful summer!

Finished for the Not Warm Weather

Since it is almost June I decided to finish my Make Up Your Mind tank. Unfortunately, it hasn't really warmed up enough yet to wear it. Hopefully it will be warm this weekend when we go camping and I can show it off.





It's kind of funny that I love the back more than the front. The horizontal sections with different stitch patterns seem to highlight my midsection (which is not what most women want), but overall I like it and plan on wearing during the summer.

I have another purple tank top that I just need to block and seam the sides. Why I didn't knit it in the round is beyond me. It's been a couple years in the making because it is all boring stockinette stitch and I have lost interest several times. I'm hoping to have it done by next week, but who knows. I tend to put off all seaming as long as possible. Wish me luck!