(If you want the short version of 2011 it would be: I got divorced. The end. Or maybe: I graduated therapy. The end. Or quite possibly: I got a dishwasher. The end.)

I’m not sure I can even put words to the transformation 2011 saw in me. I am a completely different person in every way. I think that it is because I am finally home in my own skin. It took life’s worst rejection for me to realize who I am and really accept and like myself. Being told I wasn’t worthy made me finally realize how worthy I really am. I now feel so free, so alive. Everything seems better, brighter, bigger and more fun. I have no way to say how thankful I am for where I am and I continue to be in awe of what my life looks like today. Every second of the pain I went through was worth being here and I think the last year shows that:

It seems like this was a year of celebration, which I love. Sorrow should always be mingled with joy.
We celebrated:
Amy’s 30th birthday (a surprise party with lots of pink, fluffy cotton candy.)
Eden’s 9th birthday
Mother’s day with carne asada and Red Mango and handmade presents from the children.
Alyssa’s engagement and bridal shower
Carrie’s birthday
Rickelle’s baby shower (and Gunnison being born)
Alyssa’s two weddings (the first I photographed and the second was the most fun wedding I’ve ever been to)
My 30th birthday
Honor’s 8th Birthday
Seth’s birthday
Amy’s epic Christmas party

We also embraced holidays in new ways:
April Fools Day – Honor participated for the first time – there were lots of taped faucets.
Passover – a tradition I will carry on.
4th of July - we celebrated by floating the river and watching the fireworks in the park.
Halloween – we celebrated by carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating and having an adult costume party.
Thanksgiving – we started a new tradition of eating pie in the morning and then celebrated with my aunt, uncle and cousins.
Christmas – we celebrated for the first time ever.
Hanukkah – still feeling our way through this one as non-jews.

Kids
The kids and I had the pleasure of being photographed by Cat Mayer.
•Eden graduated 3rd grade and started 4th. She and I ran the Girls on the Run 5k together. She went to church camp, learned to sew and embroider and brushed up on her knitting skills. She and Carrie published a real book together making her a (self) published author at the age of 9.

•Honor graduated 1st grade and started 2nd. He began reading chapter books and spent A LOT of time building things with legos and collecting bugs. Honor illustrated Eden & Carrie’s book.

Carrie
Along with Seth, moved in with us in August, forming a little, tight-knit community. Went with the kids and I to our first ever JUCO game, the drive-in movie, the lake and camped with us in the backyard. Saved us all in more ways than she will ever know.

House and garden
I planted peas, lettuce and broccoli and helped plant the community garden. Then my gardening efforts sort of fizzled out. I painted the steps to my house aqua as well as the dining room chairs. Carrie helped organize the whole house which feels amazing. I got a new (to me) couch and a new (to me) bed frame. I purchased and installed (all by myself!!) an new dishwasher which we had been without for the entire year.

Tangle
Tangle turned 5 and continued to prosper with our biggest year ever. We participated in Knit on the Corner for the 2nd year and added a few more teachers to our staff.

Travel
The kids and I made a few trips to Denver to visit my sister. We also went to Wyoming to celebrate my step-grandfather’s 90th birthday. I went to Wyoming to photograph my cousin’s wedding. Carrie and I took a couple trips to the hot springs in Ouray, once with kids and once without.

Crafting
Amy and I canned pickles, strawberry rhubarb jam and lavender peach butter. I also canned cranberry sauce. I sewed 3 quilts and knitted 3 blankets. Nearly every gift given was handmade this year. And I discovered pinterest.

Marriage
After many years of wanting to leave, Jim moved out. The kids hearts broke at a time that mine was finally healing. After a mandatory co-parenting class, we got divorced in October, just 10 days shy of our 12th wedding anniversary. In living through this, I learned what love really is.

Me
I did a lot of yard sale-ing with Amy, finally got an iphone, joined the board of the downtown association, tried to do a three week fruits and veggies only diet that lasted 5 days and stayed off grains (for the most part) for the rest of the year. Graduated therapy, went to a leadership conference and was reminded that I can do ANYTHING and make ANYTHING happen. Felt my community band around me when single-parenting got really hard. Started helping my friend look into how our city handles our homeless population. Decided to get really serious about working out and taking care of my body. Lost 15lbs, accepted the fact that I am kind of into fitness. Started dating. Helped my church start a free medical clinic. Turned into the person I was created to be.

A few of my favorite tweets to sum up the year:

I am so thankful for what I have been through and where I’ve come. I know I say it over and over, but I really can’t express how worth it ALL of this has been and how amazing it is to be on the other side. I have no clue what 2012 holds, but I am so excited for what’s next!

(Some of this is in no particular order. Last year wasn’t too bad, but I’m not sad to see it go and I’m filled with hope that 2011 will be SO much better.)

Jim:
• Jim shaved his beard into a mustache and I nearly died from it. It was so creepy.
• One morning I woke up to one of Jim’s clients letting himself into our house.
• Jim turned 35.
• The Pineapple Crackers released a really great CD, played almost every weekend of the summer and went on a 3 week, west coast tour in their new tour bus.
• Jim offended the Governor.
• Jim wrote the epic rap, the best Crackers song yet.
• Jim played a big new years eve show at the Mesa Theater complete with light up clothing and confetti cannons.

House:
• I painted the front door with chalk board paint.
• The kitchen got a little remodel, including removing cabinets and adding damask wallpaper.
• We built a raised bed for the garden and Jim made me an automatic watering system for it.
• I fought the losing battle to keep it clean.

Pets:
• Dexter chewed and chewed and chewed. He peed on some stuff too. And he learned to sit and got a dog door and LOVES the cat.
• We had to send my cat JimKitty to heaven. Jim got me a new cat, Evil Kitty, for my birthday.

Kids:
• Honor learned how to read, lost his first tooth, started first grade, turned 7. He learned to play warcraft on the computer which he is really good at. Eden too.
• Eden turned 8, started 3rd grade, learned how to snowboard and started voice lessons. She saved up all of her birthday money and bought a trampoline which occupied hours and hours of her time.
• Somehow Honor accidentally peed on the dog.
• Eden went to church camp.
• The kids got to buy ice cream from the ice cream truck for the first time.
• Eden learned how to sew.

Crafting:
• I made quilts for the twins and managed to make them some hats. They got matching sweaters for their first birthdays.
• I also made the kids each sweaters for the new school year.
• Of course the year was filled with lots of knitting.
• I started taking sewing classes at Tangle and gained a lot of confidence in my sewing abilities. (I’m still terrible unpatient with the whole thing.)
• I met Doug Jones and built a bench all by myself (well almost all by myself) for the dining room.
• I made butter and yogurt and strawberry rhubarb pie.
• I preserved the heck out of the all the fresh produce: strawberry rhubarb jam, peach jam, spaghetti sauce, apple sauce, peach chutney, pickles, pickled jalapenos, cardamom apple butter, cherry jam. Dried peaches, pears, apples, tomatoes. I froze corn, green chiles, green beans, tomatoes, rhubarb, cherries, pesto. (nearly all of this I did with Amy!)

Family:
• I made sever trips over the mountains to help my sister out with her twins, including one on the train.
• My mom, the kids and I traveled to Wyoming to visit my Grandma.
• My sisters twins turned 1 in Dec and are walking all over the place. We got to spend quite a bit of time with them despite them being 250 miles away.
• We had a fun, quiet 4th of July with Jim’s Mom, sister and niece.
• We got to spend a really fun trip to Denver with the cousins on Jim’s side of the family. Casa Bonita and Elitch Gardens. Eden and Honor discovered that they don’t like rollercoasters.
• We celebrated Hanukkah and escaped Christmas by going on a little trip with just the 4 of us to snowboard and soak in the hot springs. It was the best Christmas ever, we all agreed.

Friends:
• Amy and I yard saled…. a lot. Then we had a yardsale of our own.
• Brooke and I spent a lot of time with the kiddos at Highline.
• And Brooke and I dyed our hair florescent colors.
• Carrie, the kids and I went to the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival to see the Pineapple Crackers open for Wynonna. But it rained so much that we left before they played. We were soaked and it was a great adventure.
• We floated the river with some great buddies and had the most relaxing and fun time of the summer.
• Cal, Ricky, Jim and I went on a 3 day camping trip in Utah.
• The kids and I took a trip with Carrie to Telluride, arriving just when their off season started. So we went to Ouray and swam at the hot springs instead.
• I got to attend the yearly tea party which was amazing as ever.

Hard Stuff:
• Went through a big drama where one family member pressed charges against another unfairly.
• Loved a friend though a terrible loss. Saw her come out the other side of it so strong and alive. Convinced that Jesus is real.

Me:
• Started working out with a trainer and then a different one when the first moved away. Finally was able to see some results from all my hard work.
• Jim bought me an ipad for mothers day.
• I turned 29.
• I read some great books, especially Bittersweet and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Also re-read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan which is one of my favorites, but WAY better the second time.
• I ran a 5 mile race and lived to tell about it.
• Fall was one of my favorite ever. It was so magical.
• I joined the community garden.
• After getting the windows busted out, we determined that the Honda was officially dead and I got a new (to me) car! A sliver Nissan Xterra.
• Jim and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary.
• After a whole year of complaining about my blackberry, I got a new phone.
• I learned some really hard, but necessary lessons and am so happy I did.

Tangle:
• Our local newspaper wrote a big article about me and Tangle and I was on TV and in the newspaper several more times for Tangle too.
• Had a tiny battle with the artist above my store who wanted to display a giant pot leaf in our fabric right above our logo.
• Tangle did 40 knitted pieces of graffiti for our city’s Art and Jazz festival.
• We celebrated our 4th birthday.
• Tangle has just been such a smashing success this year, for which I am SO proud and feel so lucky.

(I started writing this way back in early January, and everything I wrote was lost, so here we go again!)

• I made bath bombs, eye makeup remover, candied citrus peel & daily shower spray.
• I painted my kitchen – finally a color I like.
• Carrie and I took an amazing trip to NYC. I need to live there for a couple of years at some point in my life.
• Eden turned 7.
• I remodeled the living room which required a long weekend camping in March and ended with us sleeping in the basement with towels stuffed under the doors so we could escape the oil paint fumes.
• The poker night dudes “broke in” my new living room floor and I cried.
• Jim started playing in the band, the Pineapple Crackers.
• I learned how to quilt… And then took a quilting class and then took it again so I could hang out with some friends who wanted to take it.
• Jim turned 34.
• We found out that my sister was pregnant.
• I sewed a bag from a pattern for the first time! And several smocked dresses for Eden.
• Jim, Caleb and I built our pergola.
• I planted a garden.

• The kids and I had a crazy summer:
– We went on a week long camping trip with Brooke and her kids up at Vega Lake. (The week turned into 4 days, but still…) We saw a porcupine for the first time on that trip.
– We went to Glenwood Springs for the day on the train with Mel and her kids.
– We discovered the local rodeo where one time we saw the Flying Angels parachute from WAY up high into the arena.
– We spent so many days at the lake, baking in the sun. Or at the pool for swimming lessons.
– We spent the day at the fair in Meeker and enjoyed their new rec center.
• I participated in a training exercise for our local Search and Rescue team.
• We went camping and the truck broke down just as we were pulling back into town. (I yelled at the dealership owner who sold us our truck.)
• We found out that my sister was pregnant with TWINS! Then she moved to Denver.
• Eden lost her two front teeth.
• Amy and I made a LOT of jalapeno cherry jam.

• Honor started Kindergarten. Eden started 2nd grade. Jim and I reveled in our freedom.
• I turned 28 and with my 28th birthday started collecting Fiestaware.
• I became obsessed with Fiestaware.
• I chopped off my hair.
• I didn’t like my hair.
• Honor turned 6.
• I canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, pickles and peach jam.
• Carrie, the kids and I went to Denver to visit my sister and her husband. We went to the zoo, Casa Bonita and did lots of shopping with a kid-distracting trip to Build-a-bear.
• We got the swine flu. I had it the worst – 16 days total. It was SO bad.
• Jim and I celebrated our 10th anniversary – but I was still sick with the swine flu so it wasn’t terribly exciting.
• Pure Knits came out and I was officially published.
• I went to Denver to help my sister who was placed on bedrest.

• We finally got to pick up puppy Dexter. The kids and I drove to Craig to get him. On the way home I experienced a “mommy moment” involving children pooping on the side of the highway. (Don’t ask.)
• My dad came over for Thanksgiving. We ate on my new Fiestaware. (still obsessed.)
• For Hanukkah we made a gingerbread town with Carrie. (Carrie and I were more into it than the kids.) We had a fun 8 days of book shopping, going out to dinner and building new crafts.
• Jim, the kids and I took a little trip to Denver to shop and have some fun.
• The morning after we got home from Denver, my mom and I went right back because my sister was in labor with the twins!
• The twins were born – Silas and Elias. They were perfect.
• The mountains got so much snow that I ditched my mom in Denver and rode the train home.
• I fell in love with train travel.
• The year and the decade ended and with it I realized how different of a person I have become. 2009 taught me so many lessons and made me a better person, even though there were lots of hard things… but lots to be thankful for too.

I’m not sad to see this year go. While some amazing things happened this year, it was the worst of my life. Here’s to new and much better things in 2009.
(I’ve chronicled as much as I can from the past year, but the majority of the most dramatic stuff has been left out due to this blog being so public.)

January
•Drama, drama, drama involving family members and things I (shouldn’t) write on my blog.
•I tried to teach Honor to knit.
•Honor started calling people “chicken peep” as a term of endearment.
•Tangle was really busy with classes. The unusually snowy weather helped with this.
•Eden was thoroughly enjoying kindergarten.

February
•I did a lot of struggling with myself, my expectations of other people and the resulting disappointment of said expectations. I don’t know that a conclusion was ever drawn.
•Our old, broken down gas stove had a leak so I got to buy a new shiny one.
•I refinished a dining room table and chairs that my SIL gave me.
•Eden celebrated her 6th birthday. The only thing she wanted for her birthday was a computer so we complied with an older eMac that we found on ebay.
•Tangle started carrying Amy Butler fabric.
•I nearly burnt my hair off while grilling sausages for breakfast.

March
•We attempted letterboxing.
•I went on a quest to make homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. I failed at the latter.
•Jim surprised me with a room key to a fancy downtown hotel for date night.
•I went swimming with some friends at a clothing optional hot springs. (Where I remained clothed.) This was to say goodbye to one who was moving away.
•I finished the table I was refinishing and Jim hung my new chandelier that I got for an amazing deal.
•Jim’s employee moved away leaving him to work by himself for the first time in many years.
•Jim’s grandmother passed away.

April
•Tuck started being a little particular so we got him castrated hoping he would mellow out a bit.
•I committed to writing a couple chapters for a knitting encyclopedia of sorts.
•Jim got a Wii for his birthday.
•My sister got engaged.
•Eden lost her first tooth.
•I got a tattoo!
•Our beloved patio cover was destroyed in a crazy windstorm.
•Jim turned 33.

May
•We spent some time with friends shooting guns in the desert.
•The weather started to get quite warm therefore Tangle started to slow down. I got a lot of knitting done.
•Eden graduated from kindergarten.
•We bought a new (to us) truck.
•We found a camper for a ridiculously good deal in Denver and drove over to pick it up.
•Carrington and I spent a lot of time in said camper painting and getting it cleaned up.
•I did an interview with our local paper in which I talked about my grocery shopping habits. The interview appeared on the front page of the Sunday paper.

June
•Honor gave me a run for my money as he reached the pinnacle of his naughtiness.
•We went fishing at Rifle Gap with my dad, in his boat, for fathers day.
•We spent a long weekend camping and celebrating Carrington’s birthday. (Carrie would like to remind you all that this was the first time that I made her cry.)
•I became obsessed with Pom tea glasses and shampoo bar soap.
•We planned and embarked on a 12 day camping trip.
•I busted myself up falling out of the camper, tripping over curbs and injuring my knee while running.
•I completed 2 chapters for a book being published by Lion Brand and turned them in.

July
•We had fun camping, but it was more stressful than we anticipated due to unknown campgrounds and a bad dog.
•Tuck went to live at a new home after his aggressive behavior during our camping trip.
•Christina and I decided to take a big jump and leased a large space on Main Street for Tangle.
•We were very involved in wedding planning.
•Eden had her first cavity.

August
•My sister got married.
•Our TV broke so we decided to throw it away and cancel cable.
•Eden started first grade.
•We took over the Main Street spot and spent the final two weeks of August totally absorbed in remodeling and moving.
•During the remodel, I discovered my love for nail guns.
•We fished in our down time as much as we could.
•My baby peach tree grew peaches for the first time!

September
•Tangle opened for business on Main Street!
•Eden started reading chapter books.
•I turned 27.
•Honor turned 5.
•Jim and I joined the gym and started a 12 week program designed to kick our asses.

October
•Jim and I went to Las Vegas in celebration of our 9th wedding anniversary.
•Honor received a pet lobster, “lobsty”, from my uncle.
•I went with Jim to Moab, Utah while he played with the Pineapple Crackers. Utah is like a foreign country, I’m telling you!
•Tangle had our big grand opening.
•Someone close to us tried to commit suicide. Jim and I found the note, called the police and frantically made our way up a mountain to try to save a life. The police got there first and this person spent the next month in a psychiatric facility.

November
•Our niece stayed with us for awhile.
•Jim bought a motorcycle.
•I was interviewed on a local radio station about Tangle.
•In an attempt to be more organized, I created myself a house cleaning schedule.
•Honor had his second ever asthma attack and I had to take him to the ER.
•Tangle was crazy busy and we had a great time at our Black Friday sale.
•We celebrated Thanksgiving at my Aunt’s house.

December
•I appeared on television twice in one day to promote Tangle.
•Some friends and I had a fun time making cookies and candy and sewing dish towels out of Amy Butler fabric.
•Eden performed in her school talent show. She sang BINGO while Jim played the guitar.
•We celebrated Hanukkah by going swimming at a nearby hotsprings. We also had a lot of fun going to a 3d movie and eating Thai food.
•I enjoyed 10 days off in a row from work.
•We played games all night with some friends as we celebrated the coming of the new year.

January
• I started to come out of the fog of depression. Having hope again was something so amazing.
• One of my very favorite customers died of cancer way too early.
• I worked hard, hard, hard on the Tangle online store and it launched!
• More snow than usual here in the desert found us sledding!

February
• Eden got her first haircut.
• I wrote a new pattern in honor of Nancy, my friend who passed away.
• Eden turned 5 years old.
• Honor continued to be naughty.

March
• Eden started playing soccer.
• I jumped on the “green” bandwagon and started rethinking a lot of things I do with my life. I also crocheted up a large stack of reusable grocery bags.
• I changed the dining room walls from red to green.
• We spent lots of time outside enjoying the spring weather.

April
• Jim turned 32.
• We found a perfectly windy day and flew kites.
• I experienced my first ever hangover.
• Eden was accepted to her school. We were very lucky.
• Jim had his hair cut into a mullet just to annoy me.
• We took a quick jump over the mountains to do some shopping in Denver. The kids had their first Casa Bonita experience.
• Jim and I had the pleasure of experiencing the Rota virus.

May
• Honor learned that boys don’t cry about shorts.
• I woke up to a cockroach in my bed.
• I experienced some sort of non-religious epiphany. I’m still not totally sure what to do with it.
• The weather started heating up therefore slowing down at Tangle. I decided to cut back on the hours so I could enjoy time with the kiddos.
• Some of my buddies and I officially instituted “girls night”. Lots of drinking ensued.

June
• I was having a few moments of doing good at the gym.
• Jim started competing in the local battle of the bands competition. They won several rounds before being unfairly voted out.
• We took a trip over the mountains to visit Jim’s sister.
• I invented the “girlfriend” – a tasty drink.
• I experienced my first (and second) trip to Whole Foods.
• At said trip, we encountered a psycho lady who accused us of scratching her car. There was no possibility we could have.

July
• Honor discovered that his dad is far from compassionate and decided to tell me every time Eden hit him.
• We spent lots of time swimming at the lake.
• We enjoyed a really fun 4th with all of our friends. Jim played the national anthem Jimi Hendrix style in front of the whole city.
• My friend Sarah had her third baby the same day that our friends Seth and Carrie tied the knot.
• The wedding was very hot, but went off perfectly because I was organizing it. :)
• My friend Brooke and I took a real quick trip over the mountains again to visit Jim’s sister. We also took the opportunity to shop at some decent malls.
• Christina and I decided to become business partners.

August
• Tangle turned 1 years old.
• Honor learned the trick to being good at the store – snacks!
• I remodeled our bedroom. Jim was not happy with my spontaneous choice to destroy the house.
• Eden started Kindergarten.
• We finally got to go camping!

September
• Honor gave me a huge run for my money as we all settled back into work and school schedules.
• I turned 26.
• Honor turned 4.
• My perspective changed a bit and I realized more and more just how great I have it in my marriage.
• Jim’s dog, Daisy, died.
• I had a seriously hard time with the infidelity of some of my old church members.

October
• Jim’s company planned and ran a benefit ball for a local non-profit organization.
• SO much yarn poured into Tangle. The biz was doing really great!
• Jim and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary.
• We started getting milk delivered in glass bottles.
• My niece stayed with us for a few days while our new nephew was born.
• I knit some seriously cute sweaters.

November
• We took a trip over the mountains to move Jim’s sister and niece here to live at our house for awhile.
• Lots and lots of rearranging of the house ensued.
• Christina and I taught a 20 person knitting class at a local church.
• All the stress of life, kids and running a store caught up with me and I suffered two weeks of migraines.
• I discovered the deed to our house crumpled up in Honor’s piggy bank.

December
• We struggled (and made it out the other side!) through some serious family problems.
• I nearly had a nervous break down coming to terms with how we should balance our lack of Christmas celebration with my families abundance of Christmas celebration.
• We had two very successful Sunday knit days at Tangle. We need to do more.
• My tooth started hurting, first needing a crown then an emergency root canal. I took some serious pain meds to no avail.
• We spent Christmas eve with my dad, going to the movies and eating at the restaurant where my sister works.
• The kids and I went to have Christmas dinner at my moms. I was really sick from the antibiotics the dentist gave me.
• I was very, very happy to see 2007 go.

The end!

Better late than never, my year in review. I think all I really have to say about 2006 is that I potty trained Honor, but just incase you wanted more info: (I have to say, I can’t believe how much the kids have changed over the past year. Just one year ago, Honor was still sleeping in a crib and Eden BARELY had any hair!)

January
-We attempted to let Honor sleep without the walls of his crib.
-Eden went through a stubborn streak. In an attempt to get her to say things (like her memory verse and “thank you”) we bribed her with a $40 groovy girl car.
-Honor started carrying around collections of small toys that he called his treasures.
-I was accused of being a bad mom by the lady at the fabric store.
-We had the carpet cleaned. It lasted 3 days.

February
-I took the kids to our friends farm to see the baby pigs.
-Honor started wearing orthodics in his shoes and a fabric brace on his leg in hopes to straighten out his foot.
-Eden turned 4.
-I went to Stitches West in California with my friend Joelene.
-So began my drama with Bresnan cable service.
-I got a Nikon D50 camera!

March
-Honor got sick and puked for the first time. He really hates puking.
-We started potty training Honor. We were dumb.
-lots and lots of knitting projects were finished and I released my first knitting pattern for sale.
-I won an ipod nano from Blingo
-We adopted a 3 month old beagle and this website got a fresh, new look.

April
-I had an abscessed tooth and the worst pain of my life. 2 root canals and countless dr’s visits later, I had much less money.
-Honor plus potty training puppy = mad mommy
-Honor’s fascination with bugs began
-Eden’s hair was finally long enough to pull up into an itty bitty pony tail
-Jim turned 31
-Eden learned how to knit

May
-Eden got her ears pierced
-The yarn store I worked for moved to a location close to my house.
-Honor started wearing big boy underwear. I did a lot of laundry.
-We had to officially ban the “b” word (butt) from our vocabulary.
-Honor smeared the contents of his diaper all over the kids bedroom carpet. Twice. I ripped it out and painted their bedroom floor.
-A real starbucks opened, I emailed them because they wouldnt make my drink. They make my drink now.

June
-months of potty training started to kick in. For his reward, Honor was allowed to say the “b” word – just once.
-We took a nice trip over the mountains to Denver. The trip that is hereby referred to as the one where we went over the mountains and Eden was sick.
-The yarn store that I worked and taught for decided to close. I decided to open up my own store in it’s place.
-The kids took swimming lessons.

July
-We went camping with some dear friends in the rain for the 4th of July.
-I was busy, busy, busy creating my first ever newsletter for Tangle, ordering yarn, purchasing furniture, painting…
-The neighbors ginormous tree fell down, missing our house and theirs too. phew!
-Eden went to Wyoming with my mom to visit my Grandma. Her first trip away from me. We both survived just fine.
-I filled up the hard drive on my computer.
-Eden pulled a shopping cart containing Honor and two wooden chairs onto herself. We all survived that too.

August
-Tangle opened for business.
-Because I was working full time and the kids were being watched by various family members and friends, I began enjoying my time away from the kids. And felt guilty about it too.
-Honor CUT up a handknit sock scissors. He’s banned from scissors for life.
-Eden learned about the perils of country music.

September
-I turned 25, Honor turned 3
-We spent some much needed time up in the mountains. We even took the dog with us.
-Eden began declaring to everyone, “Daddy Cheated.” At monopoly Eden, at monopoly.
-Potty training really started to sink in. Honor celebrated with a trip to Chuck E Cheese.
-Jim and I both worked our asses off. (too bad not literally….)

October
-I experienced a slew of migraines.
-Jim and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in Glenwood Springs.
-Joelene came for a visit and we had a fantastic time.
-Honor had an ear infection.
-I had the joy of pulling glued down, puppy urine soaked carpet up from the cement stairs leading down to our basement.
-Jim spent some time visiting his sister.
-Honor was officially potty trained.

November
-I finished my Hourglass Sweater. I love it
-I took my first ever road trip by myself to help someone who needed me. It was VERY hard on me.
-We celebrated Thanksgiving with a wonderful family.
-I pre-launched the website for Tangle, which took up SO much of my time.
-Eden began showing a real interest in Bible stories. She quotes just about any story you can think of.
-Jim formed 5 marketing group. As if we needed another business to run.

December
-I had a busy month at Tangle.
-We celebrated Hanukkah.
-I started taking Sam-E for depression.
-One of my dearest students at the yarn store was given a very limited time to survive bone cancer.
-We went sledding.
-Jim took the month off from playing the guitar at church.
-Honor became very difficult to deal with, throwing fits and disobeying every chance he got.
-We celebrated the new year’s arrival with most of our closest friends, happy to see 2006 behind us.

January
I started the first ever scarf swap spectacular. We merged our company with another one and moved out of our main street office. Honor got into my purse and ate a whole bunch of ibuprofen. We spent the day crammed into a tiny room at the emergency room. Eden proclaimed to me one day when I told her to put her laundry away, “I don’t have time for this.” I had a parental freak out. Things started to get a little easier.

February
Eden turned 3. Honor got into the cereal, the toothpaste, my valentines chocolate, and the butter. (And that’s just what I blogged about.) Jim and I got away to Ouray by ourselves for a weekend. The weather warmed up enough that we were able to take the kids to the park. I ate Spam.

March
The teenager that lived with us dropped out of school. Honor slammed his head into my laptop and broke the LCD. Honor had his is first and only asthma attack. I went to Las Vegas with my friend Brooke – we both really enjoyed our relaxing break. Jim and I bought an outdoor fireplace for our back patio. My friends Kevin and Sarah had a baby boy. I fell in love with the Nikon D70 that we borrowed from the office. I got a new laptop.

April
Jim found an old, brown, slimey banana in his shoe. Honor ate a worm. Jim started wearing a tie to work. Honor scratched my cornea. The teenager living with us moved out. Honor got his third haircut. Our company put on a big concert – I worked my butt off. We celebrated Passover. I painted the front steps blue. Jim turned 30 and I threw him a surprise party.

May
Our company put on another big concert – I worked my butt off, but not quite as hard. Jim came down with Carpal Tunnel. Our toilet broke(not Honor related.) Jim likened me to soda because he always burps when I kiss him. I fished HONOR out of the toilet. I had to bring the Nikon D70 back to the office. We took a camping trip. Eden discovered that boys have a penis and girls have a vagina. Jim “stored” my glasses in the trash can. Jim sold my broken laptop on eBay for $400.

June
Eden made her first joke. Our pet rat bit Honor really deep and he bled for a long time. The pet rat is no longer with us. I knit my first pair of socks. I got a new wedding band. Eden took Ballet. I started using and winning on Blingo. I watched the movie “The Notebook” – it really did make an impact on me. We went camping again. Honor drank maple syrup straight from the bottle. Jim stayed home for a week while I worked at the office.

July
I started my online collection of salad recipes. We spent some time up on the Mesa getting chewed by mosquitos. We went swimming at the lake where I got peed on by a frog. Eden told me that she wanted to have big, big BIG boobs like me so she can wear a bra. We tried to let Honor sleep in a big boy bed. It didn’t work out. My friend Jill found out that she was pregnant. I started churning out One Skein Wonders. Jims sister had a baby that we’ve still yet to see. The pastor of our church and most of the staff announced they were leaving to go start a new church in Reno.

August
Eden fell and busted her nose and had to have it glued together. Honor got into the ink stamp, my black eyeshadow, the ink stamp again, my fingernail polish and a sharpie. I started knitting for the yarn store. Jim started feeling partial numbness in his body. The little town my Aunt and Uncle live in in Wyoming got hit by a tornado. I learned that I knit(ted) wrong. I decided that it was time to stop worrying so much about how I was perceived and instead be committed to being myself.

September
I turned 24. Honor turned 2. My heart broke for the people in Louisiana and Mississippi. Eden thought that people go to the liquor store to get licked. Honor started saying, “I love you.” We went to New Mexico for our friend Josh’s wedding. I got my hair cut. I taught my very first knitting class.

October
Jim went to Reno to play the guitar. While he was gone, our car broke when I was driving the wrong way on a one way street (on purpose.) Eden started getting scared to sleep at night. She also thought the reason I changed our bedsheets was because daddy peed on them. Jim and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Elaine came to visit me. The fourth annual Fiesta Blevinza was a huge success – we had 53 people in our house. We found out that my friend, Brooke, is having a baby. I taught five knitting classes.

November
Honor flushed a wash cloth down the toilet and we paid a plumber $110 to get it out. We un-merged our company and moved back to our downtown location that I love. I discovered that Diet Dr. Pepper really does taste like regular Dr. Pepper. I taught five knitting classes. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my dad and Jim’s dad and his wife.

December
We decided to quit going to our church. I knit my first sweater. Honor went to an orthopedic surgeon who referred him to a physical therapist for his turned in foot. We baby sat our friends four kids for a total of 6 kids under the age of 4 all in our house. We celebrated Hanukkah. Honor took every opportunity to destroy our house. I taught two knitting classes. I got new glasses.