back to school. back to school.

here's my hoorah of final first day back to school day.  or so i thought.
not soon after, i realized that becoming a preschool teacher basically means first days of school forever.
yesterday was the "official" first back to school day, even though it didn't really feel like it.
went to work for 4 hours
drove to school
stood in line (sweating to death) for 35 minutes to pick up my final textbook
went to class for an hour, where we went over basics of the syllabus & played child development bingo.
from which i won a werther's original, andee's mint & peppermint patty.
compared to amy's hooplah of being a level 4 nursing student (which started today for her as well) this should all be fairly easy.
of course, in the midst of all this back to school talk, i got to thinking about college round one.  what i did, what i didn't do, how i survived it, and what i should do differently.  this time around, i want to make the most of it (i've already called it my master's degree in mid 20s crisis) and so i came up with some goals.  some lame, some school related, some life related.  i'm sure i could spend time coming up with a bunch of things i should try and go, but i decided to keep it basic.  so with that, i present to you...
the back to school mini bucket list of fall 2013
don't be "that girl"...
you know, the one who carries the large purse AND the backpack?
yeah, i spent the first round of college years carrying the unnecessary shoulder purse.
basically, this one really benefits nothing besides looking dumb.  but that's a priority.
engage
totally not in an "if you like it, you shoulda put a ring on it" sort of way.  nooooo
the first time around, i basically attended to pass. i had a class at sac state i called my "facebook class" because that's literally what i did the whole time.  just to stay awake and look alive.  yes, i passed.  but i didn't actually engage myself as much in that class as i should have.  so here's to reading the textbooks in length, taking notes, and maybe even raising my hand in class a time or two.
make friend(s)
wow.  i'm really making myself out to sound like a terrible antisocial person...  but hear me out.  at sierra, i had my friends there with me.  jenny was always around, i worked at the mall and had friends from there.  basically the only person that wasn't around was erika, but that was just one year she was in san diego.  when i hit sac state, i was there with a get in, get my degree, get out mindset.  i didn't want to "waste time" and apparently that meant making friends.  yeah, i look back now and that sounds really dumb.  LUCKILY i did make friends at sac state, even if they are scattered all over california & canada - whoop whoop second to back row!  anyways, i'm hoping to make a worthwhile friend or two.  someone to hang out with, study with, all that jazz.  i'm not trying to replace friends i have.  just add to the mix.
keep organized, keep on top of it
i'm the kind of person who buys a planner, uses it the first month, and then slacks at it.  this goes along with the "engage" portion...  i need to keep organized and on top of things more so than i usually am.  i'm a master procrastinator like no other, and i'm sure my stress levels would be lower if i didn't do that.  so instead of last minute, i'm hoping to get things done ahead of time instead of last minute.  then i'll be able to enjoy free time and take it easy instead of cramming to write papers the night before they are due.
breathe
yes, i generally do have a lot going on.  i somehow like to do that to myself.  i would rather be over worked & busy than under worked & bored... but i know there is a fine line to that.  having most of my weekend free thankfully will allow me time to step back, breathe a little bit and recuperate before the week begins all over each monday.  also having those days not scheduled to work will give me not just extra homework time, but the ability to escape one direction or another to friends out of town, as well as little breaks here and there.  everyone deserves a little daycation, so i'm not going to let school & work overwhelm me completely.  at least, that's the hope.  and if it does, i'm sure a little retail therapy could help here and there ;)
and during this whole past week i kept thinking to myself "i swear there is a song about going back to school... like the thanksgiving song adam sandler sings, but about school."
sure enough, thanks to youtube, i was proven to be correct.

two music themed donation quilts

finally at the end of catching up, and now i should hopefully convince myself to start sewing the next project that has been cut out for days!  this year, my mom came up with the idea for the music camp my siblings have attended forever to have a quilt raffle in order to help raise money for the camp.  i did a music themed quilt for the high school a few years ago (quilt here) and this time had to bust out some quilts in a matter of days before the final day of camp each week.
these two quilts fall under the stash bust category since we had the fabric laying around, but did also have to purchase some filler fabric as well as the backing pieces in order to complete the quilts.  the first quilt (on the left) is based off of "pinwheel play" (link below) and pieced together easily.  the pinwheels are 10" finished, with a stashing in between.  i really like the colors on this quilt a whole lot.  a little more punch to them than the others i have done for music donations.  and we still have fabric left over to do another one for next year!
quilt 2 on the right is using the same "just can't cut it" pattern as the donation quilt done a few years back.  we had a LOT of black & white fat quarters that were managed to work in with this pattern.  this quilt pattern is a great one for a new quilter.  the blocks are easy to piece together, no tiny pieces, and everything goes together super quick.  i was able to put both of these quilt tops together in one afternoon, and send off to quilt within a few days after that.
due to the quick finish time and need for them to get sent off to camp, i didn't get a chance to photograph these quite like i usually do. so alas, this isn't a very picture filled post.  but there you have it, two more quilts done and out of here!
quilt 1: based off of pinwheel play by julie weaver in quilts for babies & kids
quilt 2: "just can't cut it" by all washed up
total stash busting quilts/quilt tops combined: 12

safari animal "circus is in town" quilt top

this was mentioned in june... and then never blogged.  and then july happened... still not blogged.  so here we are in august, finally catching up on blog life.  time to knock out what i have done before school starts on the 26th.
the fabrics from this stashbust came primarily from a quilt i made for my childhood bff's older sister in 2010.  yeah, three years later, finally busting out the rest of the fabric and making something of it. (original quilt)  this quilt pattern was yet another from my "quilts for babies & kids" book that i've had forever so i just had to try something new out.  i tweaked it a little bit and didn't do all the borders it had (ran short on some fabric) but still love how it turned out!
the blocks turned out to be a pretty decent size, which helped the safari animals be a good size in the center of the blocks.  everything pieced together so well, and boy am i impressed with how those squares lined up for me.  usually, that's my hardest part.
seriously. look at that nearly lined up striping. winner winner!
one last closeup of the blocks.  totally like the safari animals than the clown print that was shown in the book.
pattern: "circus is in town" by michelle crawford in quilts for babies & kids
stash bust total: 10.  wow.  last quilt top i posted was back in may...  yikes!

july - instagram lookback

as quickly as july rolled in, i feel it rolled right away.  some for good reason, some for bad.  i'd much rather prefer to focus on the happy while it was there, instead of what isn't anymore.
- new car!  you saw the tow truck snap shot from june, and two things happened.  the corolla got fixed (and is in the process of getting listed to sell.  just photographed it last night.  hoping to craigslist it soon) and i got a car that is much more suited to my needs.  sure, the corolla served me well, but this 2001 rav4 is where it's at.  we went out on the 4th of july, got tired after one car lot, and then went back to look at cars online.  we found first a 2000 rav4 i thought was okay, and then this one was in folsom and i did commit to saying i liked how it looked (yes.  a real emotional response) so we went and ate dinner, then went to the dealer to check it out.  test drove it, i liked it, done.  got my grandparental loan agreement the next day, and then saturday it was mine!  so far, it's been fantastic.  i feel like with the corolla i settled because it was in budget, and was decent, but i feel like this car will serve me well.  for a long time :)
oh.  and the pen was the expensive part.  the car came free with it.  at least that's what was decided to tell everyone ;)
- for the music camp up at donner mine this year, my mom got the idea to do a quilt raffle to raise money for the camp.  so in a matter of days, i busted out two quilts, front & back, and then had them quilted by my grandma.  binding on, and sent on their way, each week of camp got a quilt to be raffled off.  sure, it was a lot of last minute work, but i'm pretty happy with how they turned out.
- oh financial aid, you are the bane of my existence.  i took in a whole bunch of paperwork to get the "red flags" cleared off my page... but yet there are still there. all i want to do is get everything good to go so i can move forward, but apparently there would be no fun in that at all!  ugh.
- this panda express fortune cookie slip was very relevant that day... but i can't remember why.  haha.  back to school maybe?  i don't know.
- in preperation for the costume party i shared a picture of, i made this little gem completely out of duct tape sheets.  i wasn't sure if he would actually wear a super hero themed shirt more than once, so it's a red shirt, duct tape flash logo, and i eventually sewed the gray sleeves on to the shirt so it wasn't a complete layer overheating fest.
- state fair day 1 complete.  performed, sweated to death, and called it good.  so tiring.  if it wasn't for our studio performing, i would avoid the fair for sure.  $10 turkey legs?  no thanks.
- state fair day 2.  oh that face of his.  i have no words.  totally forgot to share the luke head instagram in this mix... but there is a good collection of luke faces on my facebook.  haha.  amy seemed to love it.
- state fair day 3.  final day, and boy am i glad i just went, did what i had to do, and then left.  it was just WAY too hot.  my feel feel like they melted in to the pavement.  what fun is walking on asphalt in july in flip flops?  yeah, it's not.
- after the crazy week, it was time for the week 2 camp photo at donner mine.  i thought i was going to be unable to do it this year, but everything got shifted around and i made it up there with my dad.  standing on a ladder on a hill, super exciting.  for sure.
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on a side not instagrammed note, yes it's true.
i did switch jobs yet again this year.  luckily, it wasn't because i was laid off from one as seasonal and had to start looking.  it was totally unexpected since i applied on a whim one night, and after a lot of stress, hopefully worth it.
i went from working at a smaller child care facility in folsom to one that is much closer to home (and crazier as far as number of kids.  haha) in rocklin.  so far, it has appeared to blend nicely with what my school & work schedule will be like for the upcoming semester, and it's a free gym membership that i'll actually use.  or not feel guilty about not using, since it is free.  win/win situation for sure.
next up:  room overhaul, car selling, and maybe some ebay listing to hopefully lead to (and fund) moving on up & out on my own.  real world, here i hope to come ;)