The Girl by the Sea » home

Enjoying the Weather

Jennifer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:35:21 +0000

We are snuggling in for a cozy weekend of blankets, movies, yummy food and snuggles. I hope you have a great one too!

New Year, New Name

Jennifer — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:47:30 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! It’s a new year, to be filled with lots of new adventures and I’m excited to be back. Now that we’re by the sea here in Maine, I’ve switched the blog from the prairie girl to the girl by the sea. All of the old posts are here now and anyone going to theprairiegirl will be automatically forwarded here. I do recommend subscribing to the new RSS as I’m not sure if the old one will work for the new site. Let me know if there are any problems and I’ll try to sort them out.

Every January the kids get new calendars, and this year we got a set of Sarah Jane Studios calendar cards for the girls. We will swap out the cards each month, and enjoy the new beautiful illustrations.

I’m glad to be back and look forward to a whole new year with you all.

The Sea

Jennifer — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:54:26 +0000

I still have to keep pinching myself when it dawns on me that this is our new home. I never imagined that we would be able to live by the sea, it is such a dream come true. The amazing scenery, the fresh air, the tremendous amount of vegetation, it’s all just so wonderful. The kids love going to the beach and I love visiting all of them that are fairly close, and some farther afield as well. Splashing in the water, searching through the rocks for sea treasures, even the sandy mess in the car is something I wouldn’t trade at all, not to mention all of the fantastic fish and shellfish straight out of the water. We have been doing more than just sightseeing, but mostly we have been trying to get a lay of the land so to speak and check everything out while it’s summertime. I’ll fill you in on some of our other adventures soon, but for now, just more scenery.

Sea Dogs and Ice Cream

Jennifer — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:19:28 +0000

Nothin’ says summertime more than baseball and ice cream. We are loving our new home, couldn’t be happier, and going to games at Hadlock Field to watch the Sea Dogs play is one of our favourite ways to spend a nice summer evening. I hope you all are having a great summer, do you have a favourite summer sport?

Changes

Jennifer — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:38:09 +0000

It has been far too long since I’ve blogged, but life got a little bit crazy and we have made some big changes. I’ll make a long story fairly short, so here goes. Hubby had been working from home for about a year and we were talking about where we would want to be if we could be anywhere. We aren’t tied to a job or a school because of homeschooling and our kids are growing up fast. We were both disastisfied with the area with lived in for several reasons. Honestly, the reason we went to Maine was to make our final decision, and enjoy a family vacation which we hadn’t had in a long time. We fell in love and decided to up roots and plant them somewhere new. When we got back from our trip Hubby had to fly to Boston for a conference and then out to California to meet up with his team. We were going to start looking for housing when he got back, but we had no idea that things would happen so quickly. We applied for a rental home and were thrilled to get it within the week, the only thing was it was available immediately. Rather than miss out, we finished packing quickly and off we went. Since we arrived we just keep falling more in love with Maine. We live in a gorgeous area, just a short drive from the water and every day we grow more sure of our decision to move. Most days the kids and I are at the beach, it is so amazing to be so close to the water, their energetic little bodies slowly wearing themselves out in the waves and sand. So, apologies for the long absence, and I really appreciate your concerned e-mails. We are all just fine, brilliant in fact. I should be around a lot more now that we have gotten settled in a bit. I look forward to exploring our new home and sharing it with you.

Christmas in March

Jennifer — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:35:59 +0000

Well, slightly belated Christmas in March. Last month got a little crazy with all of us coming down with the flu the week before we were supposed to leave on our trip, and then the trip, and then getting back and trying to get everything back to normal, so I’m just now posting this project. It’s the Wottle Bottle Cover. I have been wanting to work on knitting hot water bottle covers for a while and when I found this pattern I got really excited. I love this, it’s simple, classy, and depending on the colours and pocket, it is perfect for anyone with a water bottle that needs cozying up. So this water bottle cover will be tucked away until next Christmas, one down, four to go. I used the magic loop method and it was so easy, so if you are in need of a water bottle cover, give it a go. Here is this project on my ravelry page. Edited to add: The ravelry link isn’t working properly so here is a link to the wottle bottle cover page, enjoy!

Ordinary Moments

Jennifer — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:20:35 +0000

I had more moments, but WordPress just isn’t letting me upload them today, so this will have to suffice. Hope everyone is enjoying the ordinary.

Japan

Jennifer — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:08:53 +0000

Natural disasters anywhere are heartbreaking, there has been so much devastation lately, it seems. The tsunami in Japan hits closer to home for me, as it once was my home. I was born in Japan and apart from a brief time back in the States, I was in Japan until I was five. I have such wonderful memories, a surprising lot, considering how young I was. I lived in the area where the earthquake and tsunami hit, seeing all of the horror just makes my heart ache for the Japanese people. We can pray for the survivors whose lives have been changed forever. We can donate money, every penny helps. May we do all we can to help this country rebuild. May we pray for those who are suffering such terrible loss. Please donate to the American Red Cross or any other organization that can help.

Decluttering My Shoes

Jennifer — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:33:17 +0000

Part of my decluttering has been getting rid of and/or replacing things that aren’t working for me. Since my pregnancy with the babe, my feet have never been the same. I think it was probably being completely immobile for months and my muscles just going kaput, then the added weight of the babe inside my belly and my body just being too weak to support it all. Anyway, black shoes that I had for years no longer fit and even some new thrift store shoes that I thought fit ended up killing my toes. So the only thing to do was go out and purchase a new pair of black shoes that would work for pretty much any occasion. Not much call for dressing up out here, and I have never been able to walk in heels anyway, so I just needed a pair that I could wear with trousers or a skirt. I found these at the first store I looked at and they are like walking on pillows they are so comfy. I think that they can transition between trousers and skirts quite nicely and I think they are a classic enough design that I can get away with them for years. I was able to gather up three other pairs of black shoes that weren’t working for me and replace them with these. Comfy new shoes and less shoes, definitely a win-win for my feet and my decluttering.

Ordinary Moments

Jennifer — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:13:47 +0000