the swallow

I took the plunge and re-opened my Etsy shop. Well, it's actually a new, shiny Etsy shop because I deleted the old one but, you know. So... The Swallow is back in business. I've only listed five jewelry items so far because, well... I got tired. Greeting cards are on the way but, like I said, I just got tired. And I'm on this whole jewelry kick thang and there's just no turning back now. If you see something you like and are a faithful blog friend of mine, contact me and maybe we can talk cheap on payment. And by cheap I mean a large latte and a coffee date because I am in serious need of caffeine and adult interaction. G is presh but he only knows so many words... er, syllables. In the meantime, I'm also creating a "sites i like" section in the sidebar, which is where I will put a permanent link to The Swallow.

Last year, when I originally opened The Swallow, I got the same question a lot: Where did I get the name? Well, it's pretty simple. For some reason, I'm really obsessed with birds. Which is probably why I could look at little Evie Scobey's nursery all day and not get sick of it. Birds. I just love 'em. And apparently I especially love illustrations of birds because I have two permanently inked under my skin. A dove and a swallow. My largest and favorite is a semi-large Sailor Jerry-style swallow (it is part of my Etsy "banner"). I got some help designing it at a place here in Athens and I just love the way it turned out. Swallows (in real life and ink life) are beautiful. I love the symbolism, too, but mostly they are just pretty little birds. Anyway, this tends to really shock people that I know (especially my mother because, if it were up to her, I would have had them all removed last summer). I conclude that this is either because you cannot normally see any of them or because this just does not match up with the picture they have painted of me in their minds.

And there are apparently a lot of other things about me that surprise people. For instance, last week my youngest sister-in-law just learned that I played the piano for, like, 10 years. I'm not saying that there's a reason she would know this, I just find it funny that it was surprising. Much like how I find it odd when that one of my very best friends was recently surprised that I sang in an acoustic-type "band" at the college ministry I was a part of my first two years at Auburn. Not that it was a really huge part of my life there but the ministry was a big part of my life and I thought that the smaller parts would have come up at some point. And in keeping with the little Etsy theme of this post, many are surprised by the variety of crafts I like to do. I guess most people just choose one and stick with it? In high school I was in the marching band (pre-GAC days) and the fact that this is strange to some is the biggest shocker of all because when I ask what kind of visual they had before this knowledge... it always goes to cheerleader! What?!! I know I can be pretty peppy (read: crazy... though sleep deprivation has changed this a bit) but me as a cheerleader? Don't think so. No. Thank. You.

All this brings me to the thought that with my surgery coming up very soon I'm unsure how much blogging I'll do. Or maybe I should say I'm unsure of how much brain-powered blogging I'll do. And today, while I was thinking about this whole deal I just talked about, I thought I would open this here blog up to questions while I am "away." A kind of "Ask me anything" carnival. (Well, maybe not carnival, I don't have enough readers for all that jazz but maybe a little flea market fair will do.)

So... what do you want to know about me? Or is there something you know, or have learned, about me that doesn't quite match up with what you expected? Do you want to know if I would rather eat three raw eggs or a single slice of fruit cake?

While you're thinking, click on over to The Swallow and give me some feedback. KThanks.

freak tumor update

(New post below this one.)

Here's the update from yesterday which, honestly, isn't much of an update at all.

On Tuesday morning (the 9th), I will be admitted. Tuesday is the angiogram embolization and Wednesday is the actual surgery.

Yesterday, I did all of the pre-op testing (just bloodwork and whatnot) and answered 80 million questions over and over again for about 4 hours between pre-op and the radiologist's office. In pre-op they did the bloodwork, of course, I answered all those questions (including scary ones like "Would you like a pastor to visit with you before your surgery?") and I also spoke with a student and NP from anesthesia and also a PA for my radiologist. Basically, got a check-in time (butt-crack-of-dawn on Tuesday) and answered more of those questions for them.

After pre-op, we went over to the radiologist's office where I was given a full neuro work-up kind of thing by one of the nurses (memory task, walk in a straight line, "close your eyes and touch your nose" ... that kind of stuff). Then another doctor (I believe she was a resident) went through the whole deal about what my tumor is, how they plan to embolize it before surgery, etc. So, if you're interested in this kind of stuff (and I tend to be), here's the lowdown for that part: On Tuesday morning, the radiologist will do an angiogram embolization for me. Or, I should say, he will hopefully be performing an embolization. There is a chance (about 20%) that they will not find an artery to embolize. In order for them to embolize, it needs to be a direct artery to the tumor. If there are no good arteries that are specific to the tumor, they will not do the embolization due to risk of stroke or vision loss. Also, if you're curious (and I usually am), they do not aim for 100% on this type of procedure. The goal is, instead, to minimize the bloodflow as much as possible in order to reduce the risk of bleeding or, if there is bleeding, to reduce the amount of blood loss and also to reduce the time of surgery (longer surgery = more risk, no embolization = more risk for bleeding). So, if you're into probability/odds/chance kind of lingo (and I usually am) there is about an 80% chance that they will be able to find an artery to embolize. I really hope that they will find an artery so that the risk for surgery will be a little less.

If you're into risks and more chance and probability (and I usually am), the biggest risk for this surgery is stroke. That risk falls under about 5%. With my age and overall good health factored in, that risk is a little lower. And with an effective embolization of a good artery specific to the tumor, the risk is even a little lower than that. So overall, the odds are for me. I would like it more if there was no risk at all but, of course, every surgery carries risks. I just hope that my youth and good health will play in my favor.

Regarding time, the angiogram embolization will most likely take a couple of hours (most of that is just finding an artery). And, though I'm not sure (I emailed my surgeon's nurse tonight), I think the surgery will probably be about the same.

And finally, if you're interested in the scar part of this whole thing (this was actually not even a question in my mind until my doctor brought it up), I will indeed have an "L"-shaped scar on my neck. People keep cringing and asking if this bothers me. No, it doesn't. I take showers every day, I regularly go to the hair salon and I generally like to look nice but I am not one to be very attached to my looks in that way. My hair, my skin, my clothes... they can't do anything for me and they definitely don't enhance my quality of life. But my health does have every thing to do with how I live my life and that's much more important than a silly little scar.

And finally-finally, if you're thinking I've left G out of the surgery equation, I haven't. Paul's mom is a true Godsend and will be taking care of him while we are at the hospital. (Really, she is a Godsend all the way around because on days when Paul was not able to stay at home with him while I was at work, she kept him. She worked with our schedules and even came to the house to get him so we wouldn't have to allow an extra 20 minutes in the mornings. Aren't we so blessed by her?!) Also, I won't be able to pick him up/lift him for a few weeks after my surgery so I will have someone here to help me while I'm recovering at home.

Mmk, I think that's all the updates I have. Nervous but ready to just get it over with.

(New post below this one.)

while i'm on a jewelry kick...

... I feel the need to go into another random detail about my life. Actually, more of a celebration of a random but very special person in my life. It really does have something to do with jewelry and crafting, I promise, but you'll have to bear with me for a minute. (Or, if you just want to skip my rambling and go straight to the eye candy, go to the bottom of this post and click on the "Chiyo Jewel" link. It is a link to a site that sells my old roommate's handmade jewelry -- seriously, you will love it SHE IS AMAZING!) Anyway, back to my nostalgia...

During my freshman year I lived in a private dorm due to full campus housing when I finally decided to enroll at Auburn instead of WCU. For the most part, it was great. The rooms were much more spacious than campus housing, an unlimited in-house meal plan was included and I was a 5-minute walk from most of my classes but even closer to frequent my favorite little coffee shop downtown. Oh, the convenience of dorm life! But the very best part was that the Japanese foreign exchange students roomed there during their 9-month stay in Auburn. And during my first month or two of living there (it was called The Commons at the time in case you were wondering), I was offered an opportunity that I could not refuse -- to share a room with one of the foreign exchange students! (I might note at this point that the students had already been in America for 6 months -- they arrived in March and stayed through December.) For my readers who do not know this about me, I am an only child. I had never shared a room, or even a house, with another person my age until college. And really, all I wanted in a roommate was someone who wanted to share things, even if those things weren't necessarily my interests. This didn't work out (not at all) with my first roommate so when this opportunity came up I pounced.

Enter Chiyo, my Japanese-foreign-exchange-student roommate and my best friend freshman year. Our friendship was so quick to grow. (I'll be first to admit, I am not one of the easiest people to get to know. I can talk to most people and I enjoy investing myself in friendships but most of the time it takes a lot of time and effort to really get to that point of trust and authenticity so vital to great friendships. But there are a few relationships in my life in which this happened really quickly. And my quick friendship with Chiyo was just that.) We shared everything and I loved it! I helped her with English (though her speaking skills were really incredible already) and she helped me learn some conversational Japanese. I would have to think long and hard to come up with even a single negative (or even neutral) thing about my experience living Chiyo -- by far the best roommate experience ever! I am even jealous of myself when I think about it haha.

Chiyo has a great faith story, too. I'm not sure that I remember all of the details exactly anymore but I think it all started (this was all before we met and became roommates) when she started attending an English bible study. Something was stirring and she became a Christian. And as if that wasn't already a life change for her, she met her still-boyfriend in campus ministry. Yes, they are still together and going strong! (They see each other only about once a year.) Is that love or what??

But mostly, Chiyo was just an all-around super fun, positive person to be around. Such a joyful person, you can't help but just be happy around her. :) And what all of this has to do with jewelry... Chiyo was also a very skilled jewelry artist. (I say artist because... well, just look at her website and you'll see.) I remember so many afternoons that Chiyo would sit on the floor with her beads and make amazing pieces of jewelry. She taught me to make a few things and I actually still have one of the rings she taught me to make with seed beads. But anyway... she is still making jewelry and doing a fine job of it. Her pieces are all gorgeous and unique. This is basically my totally shameless plug for Chiyo Jewel. Take a look and be amazed! Yesterday, she also posted that one of her clients is also selling her jewelry, which you can see here. (If you, like me, do not understand even a word of written Japanese, you'll like her site better because she also posts in English.)

Here are my favorites:

have i mentioned how much i love summer?

Really, I am LOVING this free time. Or at least the free time that I do have with this little Chunk of mine. I almost forgot what it was like to do so many Amanda Things. Especially craft-related Amanda Things. I'm very slowly getting back into making greeting cards (When I say slowly I mean sloooo....oooo..wwly.). Haven't done any sewing yet but I have a few projects in mind should I ever pull the machine back out.

Anyway, over the past week or so I've been getting back into making jewelry. (Another random craft fact about me: I used to make almost all of my own earrings and bracelets back in the day. I liked things to be simple and cutesie without all the "I BOUGHT THIS ON MEGA-CLEARANCE AT CLAIRE'S" non-appeal. And if I was just feeling real crazy, sometimes I would make earrings for friends if there was a holiday.) I had been toying with some ideas in my head for a while but mostly it was one of my co-workers who actually inspired me to get back into doing it. So, while I was at Hobby Lobby scoping out 50% off card-making supplies I mozied on over to the beads and behold, they too were 50% off! And then it was all over for me.

I got beads of all kinds... glass, ceramics, jade, turquoise, seed beads, "naturals"... picked up some stretch cord and wire and I was good to go. I held off on the metals (jump rings, clasps, fish hooks, flat posts, crimp beads, etc.) because, if you don't know this already, everything in Hobby Lobby goes on sale pretty frequently. I figured since beads were on sale last week that metal beads and jewelry supplies would probably be on sale this week, and I was right. (I love the Hob Lob but what I'm saying is you should probably never buy anything at Hobby Lobby unless it is 50% off... if it's not on sale this week, chances are it will be in the next few.)

So ANYWAY... I'll just stop talking and get to the pictures.


Here is what I made with some of my haul...

A couple of bracelets -- I made them both with stretch cord so that (hopefully) G won't break them when he pulls a little bit.

"Natural" flat ovals alternating with limey-yellow turquoise stones.





A few sets of earrings...

Mustardy-yellow ceramic donuts with teal glass bead in center.


And some danglies...


I want to make these with large purple stones next time so they'll look like eggplants.



Okay, I'm spent.

Tomorrow, I go to Emory for my pre-op work-up and to meet with the radiologist who will be doing the embolization (a week from today). If I know anything after that of course I'll report.

just wondering...

not me!

First let me say that I do not like mess. I hate clutter. And I hate grime. But mostly clutter. And then let me say that even though I do, really, hate clutter... our house is, a lot of the time and especially recently, messy. But would I ever dream of letting my office become a dumping ground for all of our miscellaneous odds and ends? No way! Not me! ;) And I certainly would not let said doodads accumulate to create a mountain of disastrous mess. Once I was officially done with work for the summer and happily realized I had two weeks before my surgery to tackle this horrible, no good, very bad condition of my office, I jumped right on it! I mean, I would never let that snowball keep rolling for yet another week!

Okay, so maybe I did. But maybe today is a Not Me! Monday party and I can cry deny it if I want to. Or I could just let you see it. (I will probably regret this.)



For what seems like forever I've been wanting to get into my office and purge, clean, re-arrange, decorate and set it up so that I can use it more productively to organize bills/important papers and to, what else?, craft somewhere that is NOT my dining room table. After one big day and a few days of crafting to test out the new arrangement (Of course it was only for official and productive purposes. Never would I ever spend half a day craft-shopping and then crafting upstairs when there is so much laundry to be folded and put away. Definitely not.) I am mostly done. It could use a new bookshelf and splash of color (seriously, all of the walls in this house were this color when I moved in... what the fresca is that about?). And maybe, cough, a table whole space station especially for crafting but that is another project for another day and for now, I am pretty happy with it. So, without further ado, here is a visual progression of my office:








And finally some sanity (although I've already done more rearranging since this picture yesterday... the point is that it is much cleaner):




The armchair is still filled with pictures and frames that need to be filled and hung. And don't worry, that box under the table isn't a dumping ground, it's just slowly accumulating things I'm taking to my classroom in the fall.


Clear desk, clear mind. (Hopefully.)




If you follow me on Twitter, I may have promised to post a crafting entry about some handmade jewelry/craft madness, buuut that might just have to wait until tomorrow. :)

even G loves planners

I've barely been able to keep G occupied today but as soon as I pulled out the momAgenda things were just peachy for ohhh about 10 minutes. But can I blame him? I mean, who doesn't love planners?? This little boy just gets busier all the time, I'm gonna have to step up my game to keep up!

four months

Yesterday, we finally had G's four month well visit (even though he will soon be 5 months old). Just another reminder that our baby is, truthfully, the most perfect and cutest baby that ever existed. Oh, I'm sorry, did you just throw up in your mouth? Okay, then I guess I'll just get to the stats:

Height: 25 1/4 in. (50th percentile)
Head circumference: about 17 in. (50th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz (75th percentile.... last time he was in the 90th percentile for weight so this is good)

Developmentally, he's perfect and everything looks great. We also got the green light to start feeding him rice cereal in place of one bottle feeding but no other solids until 6 months. So... what did I do last night? Fed him cereal, of course! I just couldn't wait. At first, G just wasn't sure that was a rollercoaster he wanted to ride but he caught on pretty quickly and we both got some good laughs. I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

instant craftification

As promised, here are pictures of the baby invitations I made for the baby shower Kathy is hosting. There is a feeling I get after finishing a small project like this that I like to call "instant craftification." Finishing a craft-kind-of project is just so satisfying! Especially when it can be completed in a few hours or even a whole day. I'm an instant craftification girl all the way and this one definitely fit the bill. Kathy's first and only big request was that they be shaped like onesies. I inquired about colors (bright blues, greens...), embellishments (buttons and brads), size, envelopes and her choice of wording. I made them all a little bit different with the same overall feel, layout and color scheme. So without further ado...

(orange splotches compliments of the aybaybay address protection agency. or that i'm just too paranoid to post anyone's address on my little space in the interwebs)


The text is printed on vellum which I laid over varying printed papers.


For the onesie "snaps," I used solid brads on some and button brads on others. All of the upper buttons were random and different for each invitation. (EDIT: They are expecting a boy so I feel the need to point out that the text area is light red and NOT pink as it looks.)


That's all, folks. :)

a holiday picnic

I know this is late but I AM a procrastinator through and through...

On Sunday we went to my parents' for a Memorial Day picnic. Afterward we met up with some of our Athens friends for a dinnertime get together. Good food, good family, good friends, sweet baby, good times... and that's about it. Really... there isn't much more to say about it.

Pictures of our weekend picnic (at my parents')... (well... really, it's just a lot of pictures of G).

Another rare picture of the two of us.


Not much better than G-daddy lovin


For about a second I thought G's cheeks were getting smaller. Until I saw this picture.


Never wants to sit, only wants to stand.


Mama, where's MY turkey burger?!