DBU

I don't have much time today to post but I thought I would anyway!  So today before I leave for choir practice I'll tell you a little bit about my new home :)

Isn't it just gorgeous! I love it here at DBU and wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

My room is a quite a bit smaller than my old room at home but i'm making do! I'll post a pic later of what the finished room looks like when it's clean ;)

The view from my window is gorgeous!

Ok well it looks a lot prettier from where I am lol  There are some horses that graze right by that fence every afternoon so it reminds me a little bit of home :) It's the perfect view for me :)

The campus is absolutely beautiful which makes school all the more enjoyable!

I'll bring my camera to class with me one day and take some inside pics to show you all!

DBU's main focus is learning servant leadership throughout our college experience so this statue is displayed at the front entrance of the school.

The pilgrim chapel was just finished in the spring of 2010 and is so far the largest building on campus.  The building that is being worked on currently is the new fine arts building! yay! That should be ready hopefully by the spring semester of this year!  I'll post pics of it's progress later.  The new fine arts building is going to be state of the art (no pun intended, ha)  with the newest and most high tech mac lab in university history.  Many prestigious colleges are on the touring list to come take a tour once it is completed!

I will post more later about how college is going but I'm getting ready to head off to choir practice! love you all!

Hayden Lorraine 

Ecc. 3:1

Everything is New!

Hello dear friends it's been a while!  So many things have changed for the better since my last post! I am finally settled into college life and studying MUSIC! Every day all day! Life couldn't be more amazing!

I am extrordinarily blessed to live on such a beautiful campus! And right now the weather is gorgeous!

So much happened over the summer and I can't wait to tell you all about it (when I'm not studying of course!)

I GRADUATED!

I had lots of senior pictures taken by my wonderful mother!

Had a graduation party!

Registered for School!

Visited the cousins in Indiana!

Visited my hero's homeland :))))

Moved out of my room :((

Moved into my new home :))

TURNED 18!

Watched my roommate get married :( & :)

Made so many new friends!

And...finally...joined a christian sorority!

        I can't wait to update you all in great detail on my life! I have been abundantly blessed! 

Love you all, 

Hayden Lorraine

Ecc. 3:1

I can't explain it, but you know what I'm talking about :)

                                                  I'm talking about those perfect moments

When all seams right with the world

  Where you can say nothing but "What an amazing God we have!"

So today my friend Elizabeth and I were on our way to wednesday night bible study when we saw the most beautiful sunset.  Elizabeth loves pretty clouds and amazing sunsets, and she rates them.  She says this sunset was the third most wonderful sunset she has ever seen.  As we were driving along a quite long and senic country road we came to a long barbed wire fence that enclosed a field of nothing but the most beautiful yellow wild flowers you have ever seen.  With the sunset, the flowers and the pure beauty of the moment I could do nothing but praise God for this amazing earth we live on.  Just think, if we can have moments like this on a sinful and dirty earth, think about what heaven is going to be like.  We have an amazing creator and His power, love and beauty can be shown through nature. 

Isn't it amazing!

So as we got in the car and headed the rest of the way to bible study we blared the Liz On Top of the World from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack.  It was an on top of the world moment alright.   Two great friends who love the same kind of music, sharing a moment like that together. 

This is from another one of those kind of moments. 

Over the summer I went to my aunts farm and took a ton of pics that remind me of all the amazing feelings nature can give you. This pic reminds me of the how awesome our Lord is and how beautifully bright He is.  So bright we can't handle the glory and majesty.

Spending a week on a farm may not be everyone's ideal spot for a perfect moment. 

But for me, waking up to this every morning would be absolute heaven!

I love haybales!  They can provide hours of entertainment.  Who needs a cell phone when you've got haybales! hahaha

I love the simplicity of farm life.  If I lived out in the country still I would have perfect moments more often, lol! 

Cows are fun.  I wish I had a cow, haha! I love the way the light is reflecting off of the pond that is over the next fence.

I obviously did not take this picture, haha.  I wish! I love the show Christy and this is my favorite picture from this show.  I would deffinitely be having one of those perfect moments, if I was Christy in the pic, lol  I love her dress, the flowerd and the school house in the background :)

Another one of my faves and has been the background on my phone for quite some time now.  What a cute moment for Anne and Gil :)

Have a great day/night and remember to take more time to have perfect moments to you enojoy the wonderful creation of our wonderful Creator!

Praise the Lord,

Hayden~

Ecc. 3:1

So I hope I'm not the only one who is in absolute love with little house on the prairie. So if you do happen to watch the show, you've heard something about cinnamon chicken mentioned a few times. Well here's the recipe for that famous cinnamon chicken that Laura cooks for manly regularly :)

1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg
2 tbsp. milk
3 lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/3 c. bread crumbs
2 tbsp. oil}

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, turmeric, and pepper. Beat egg and milk. Coat chicken pieces with flour mix. Combine bread crumbs and remaining flour mixture. Dip chicken into egg and coat with bread crumbs. Arrange in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with oil. Bake until crisp and brown, about 40 minutes.

Sent from my iPhone

Tomato Basil Soup

Easiest recipe in the world!

For those of you that are familiar with the French restaraunt La Madeline this recipe makes a carbon copy of ther tomato basil soup!

Only two ingredients:
2 cans of Delmonte basil garlic and oregeno diced tomato's
1 8oz package of cream cheese

* You must use the delmonte brand, if you use anything else it will not turn out right! Any type of cream cheese will do as long as it's an 8oz package

Put your favorite soup pot on the stove and turn the stove on high. Pour both cans of tomato's in the pot and add the cream cheese. I use a hand held blending stick to blend the ingredients togther while it's heating, however you could blend the ingredients in a blender before heating it. Once it's heated all that's left to do is eat!

Enjoy!

Hayden Lorraine~
Ecc. 3:1

Sent from my iPhone

SNOW...in Texas?

Yes friends, the rumor you have heard is true.  This time last week the majority of texas was covered in a thick blanket of the most beautiuful snow!

This is definitely a rare sight in texas!

The branches have so much snow on them they are being weighed down!

Look how thick the snow is on those branches!

Snow is such a beautiful sight!

The dark tones of the bark against the white snow is absoutely gorgeous!

There are so many things you begin to notice when it snows the you normally wouldn't.  Like roof tops.  I've never really paid much attention to roof tops till now.  But they all look so amazing when laden with snow!

My poor little car didn't like the snow very much!

You can see all my siblings foot prints in the snow!

pretty berry's in the snow

My little siblings loved the snow, this was the biggest snow fall most of them had ever seen!

I didn't get to play in the snow as much as I would have liked too.  That afternoon my drill team left for austin to go to a competition!

Saturday was our competition so the sunday my family spent the day driving around austin.  My extended family and moms side of the family live there so we visited cousins and went to see the capital!

The surrounding area around the capital is gorgeous! I will upload more pics later of all the architecture inside the building. 

Wish me well tomorrow at my last drill team competition ever!

Have a wonderful day!

Hayden Lorraine~

Ecc. 3:1

Knitting :)

                                         Good news friends, writers block has vanished!

This post is for all you knitters :)  I love love love to knit.  I'm one of the few people my age that enjoys knitting and I would love to hear stories, tips or any knitting experiences you may have had! Its is always an encouragement to see that other people my age like to knit!  Recently I accomplished my second sampler afgan and it turned out quite nice! I'm using it right now as I write this post!

I couldn't get it to exactly lay straight but this is about what it looks like.  I used light pink and medium pink shades to create a checkered pattern.  It is four by three squares and composed of a variety of knitted patterns. 

Above is Elfin Lace, one of the patterns in my afgan.  All of the patterns in my afagn came from the book 60 easy to knit pattern stitches combine to create sampler afgans. 

to create this pattern:

cast on 57 stitches

Row1: AND ALL WRONG SIDE ROWS: purl across

Row 2:  K2, YO, SSK, (K6, YO, SSK) 6 times, K5.

Row 4: K3, YO, SSK, (K3, K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK) 6 times, K4

Row 6: K4, YO, SSK, (K1, K2 tog, YO, K3, YO, SSK) 6 times, K3.

Row 8: K2, K2 tog, YO, K5, (YO, slip 2 as if to knit, K1, P2SSO, YO, K5) 6 times

Row 10:  (K6, YO, AAK) 7 times, K1

Row 12:  K4, K2 tog, YO, (K1, YO, SSK, K3, K2 tog, YO) 6 times, K3

Row 14:  K3, K2tog, YO, (K3, YO, SSK, K1, K2 tog, YO) 6 times, K4.

Row 16:  K5, YO (slip 2 as if to knit, K1, P2SSO, YO, K5, YO) 6 times, K2 tog, K2

 Repeat Rows 1-16 until square measures approximately 12" from cast on edge, ending by working a purl row.  Bind off all sts leaving last loop on needle. 

Edging: Drop loop from needle, insert crochet hook in loop, do not turn; work 3 sc in each corner and 48 sc evenly spaced across each side; join with slip st to first sc, finish off.

This one is definetly my favorite out of all of them! You can't see the whole thing so you don't get the whole picture but its simply gorgeous! And its not that hard.  It is however kind of long to type out so if you want the pattern for this one let me know and I'll e-mail it to you. 

The Trinity Stitch.  An easy one that looks like it took a lot of effort! However it is a pain to block. 

To create this pattern:

Cast on 54 sts.

Row 1-8: Knit across

note: when instructed to slip a stitch, always slip as if to purl, with yarn held in front (on the wrong side). 

Row 9:  K5, slip1, K1, * (K, P, K) all in next st, P3 tog; repeat from * across to the last 7 sts, K1, slip 1, K5.

Row 10:  (right side):  K7, P 40, K7

Row 11:  K5, slip 1, K1, * P3 tog, (K, P, K) all in the next sts; repeat from * scorss to last 7 sts, K1, slip 1, K5

Row12:  K7, P 40, K7

Rows 13-71: Repeat Rows 9-12, 14 times; then repeat Rows 9-11, once more.

Rows 72-79:  Knit across

Bind off all sts leaving last loop on needle.

Edging: Drop loop from needle, insert crochet hook in loop, do not turn; work 3 sc in each corner and 58 sc evenly spaced scross each side; join with slip st to first sc, finish off.

This is definitely a close tie for favorite with the other cable pattern.  And it is also really simple, so heres the pattern!

For this one you will need a cable needle

note: when instructed to slip a stitch, always slip as if to knit.

Cast on 63 sts,

Row 1: AND ALL WRONG SIDED ROWS: purl across

Row 2 (right side) :  P1, K6, * YO, slip 1, K1, PSSO, K1, K2 tog, YO, K6; repeat from * 4 times more, P1.

Row 4:  P1. K7, YO, slip 1, K2 tog, PSSO, YO, * K8, YO, slip1, K2 tog, PSSO, YO; repeat from * 3 times more, K7, P1.

Row 6: Repeat Row 2

Row 8:  P1, work Cable as follows: slip 3 sts onto cable needle and hold in back of work, K3, K3 from cable needle (Cable made), * K1, YO, slip 1, K2 tog, PSSO, YO, K1, work cable; repeat from * 4 times more, P1

Repeat Rows 1-8  until the square measures approximately 12" from cast on edge, ending by working a purl row.  Bind off leaving last loop on the needle.

For edging see the above patterns and repeat those edging instructions.

Not the prettiest, but its simple and gives the blanket some warmth because its not filled with pretty lacy hole like all the other patterns in my afgan

Another simple looking pattern (not so simple to do though!) but looks absolutely precious in little girl blankets. I love the daisy pattern!

Another pretty and elegant lace.  I like this one because it only has one cable in it and then has the lace pannels bordering it on the sides

This one is a favorite as well. However I messed it up a lot in the process.  It kind of looks like butterflies to me :)

This is what I'm currently working on for my little brother. I'm making him a mini afgan to use as one of his "blankies" He loves the color blue so this yarn only seemed appropriate.

Heres another pattern that is going in Joshua's blanket.  Its a zig zag pattern that isn't too difficult and is warm.

 Heres another shot of the one that I'm currently working on.  I love my brand new mahogany knitting needles that I got for christmas.  They have real mother of purl on the tops.

For christmas I attempted to make my little sisters a pair of matching scarves and mittens however they ran out of this pretty and girls pink yarn :( What i did get to make of it looks pretty cute though :)

I started this scarf in between afgans because I didn't know who I wanted to make am afgan for next.  I haven't finished that either yet, lol

That is one of the other scarfs that I tried to make as a christmas present but never finished.  Haha! I seem to start projects when I'm on a knitting high and then they get lost in the mix of afgans lol I love the yarn though. However it is kind of difficult to work with.  But the sparkles make it extra girly!

Heres a picture of the yarn up close

I hope you enjoyed a little look into my knitting world! As I make new things I plan on posting up my progress!

Have a wonderful day :D

Hayden Lorraine ~

Ecc. 3:1