Optimistic Ramblings for the New Year

Christmas has come and went and it's almost a little sad. It was so nice to revel in the lights and the nice company and it's a shame it's over for the year - but I am so ridiculously excited to move on to 2011.

Among other lovely gifts, I received the most unexpected of all - a Canon Digital Rebel XS.

It's so beautiful! I've been playing with it non-stop, and learning so much. I recently learned that one can use some vintage lenses with modern D-SLR camera bodies with the right adapter (sacrificing the auto-focus functionality) thereby saving tons of money! I have a Pentax Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 lens on its way to me, along with the adapter, and I only paid in the range of $40 on ebay! It'll be a nice addition to the lens that came with the body (Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5) and I should be able to create some really pretty bokeh and blurs with it!

Oh boyy, yet another hobby to become obsessed with!

Speaking of hobbies, I finished knitting the first soaker, and I think it turned out really well. I'm debating now on adding leg cuffs, as I worry about it fitting the baby's legs as it is. I even got to use my new camera to take the photo for my project page.

Here are a few other pictures I've taken so far. My goal right now is to be able to use all the manual settings without pausing to adjust for all conditions, and really have control and get the photos that I want.

I'm 16 weeks pregnant now, and feeling the baby move much more often now. I'm so excited for the big ultrasound next month, I can't wait to find out if we're having a son or a daughter. I'm really enjoying the process of making and collecting baby things. 

Every year since I was a little girl, I've had such a wonderful, optimistic feeling about New Year's. I'd always sneak out of bed in the middle of the night the few days before New Year's Eve, to sit by a small lamp with my book, making my own lists, planning and writing out all my dreams for the coming year. By the time I was 19, getting married and moving to Alberta, I had 13 journals full of my scribblings.. I've always been writing, but I never wrote as fervently as around New Year's. Those books are all gone, but the urge still hits me, to write and make known to myself all the things I want for myself in the coming year.

This year I think I'm going to re-write my previous 101 in 1001 list, with all kinds of new goals. I can't wait. 

Happy New Year, everyone!

Holiday Whirlwind!

We've been busy!

Christmas comes early for us this year, and we're ready! I just finished wrapping all the gifts and now we're sitting comfortably in our cozy living room together. I keep looking over at our little Christmas tree, our first one we've ever had, and I'm so excited. This time next year our baby will be six months old, and will be enjoying his or her first holiday with us and family.

Baby seems to be moving more and more all the time, and I can't wait until Alex can feel it.

On days off from work I've been keeping busy knitting and argyle soaker from this pattern on livejournal, which will be finished in just a couple more good sessions. I've just got the decreasing between the legs and the little bitty leg cuffs to finish. I've really enjoyed knitting it, and while the chart is a little more intense than I have been tackling lately, I've got the urge to do some more complicated stuff.

Few things about knitting excite me more than the design process. I've had a multitude of false starts, but I understand the process and what is required and I'm determined to bring my ideas to fruition. First things first, I'm going to list all the things bouncing around in my head, and choose one. Knitwear design is something I've dabbled in, and there's no time like the present to jump in with both feet.

New Year's is coming, and with that I'm going to post my old 101 in 1001 list, mark off what I've accomplished and revise or rewrite it. Lists, oh I love them. Journaling and making lists make me feel like an active participant in my life, and my plans. Sometimes my mind feels like it just goes too fast, with too little concentrated focus - the lists really help me feel like I'm moving in a direction.

À la prochaine!

A Very Happy Return

image via weheartit

I'm blogging again, oh happy day! I've missed typing out my conquests, plans and ideas - it's been too long and I'm glad to be back to it.

Over the coming months, I'm going to be knitting (dyeing & designing too!), taking photographs, decorating, organizing, cooking up some goodies, reading tons and tons of blogs and trying all kinds of new things.

A huge life change is coming onto the horizon and I'm facing it head-on, with so much enthusiasm and hope.

I'm fourteen weeks pregnant, over a third of the way to holding our baby! I've been experiencing a certain strange feeling when it comes to thinking about the pregnancy, hearing the heartbeat, going to the appointments and planning out the things I'd like to make. I'm speechless. My mind blanks and I'm left completely at a loss of how to express the torrents and explosions of emotions I'm feeling. I'm making plans to record the preparations, the new developments and our excitement over the next 6 months because I know they'll fly by, and before we know it, he or she will be here.

I am so excited to start my own family with the most loving man that I've ever known. I feel like we're starting fresh, with limitless potential, like nothing matters, none of the negativity, the doubters, the pains we've taken to get here - none of it matters anymore, so long as we face it together. We've wanted this for a long time and now we can have it.

It's all happening!