Doctor!

Doctor Mike, that is!

My #2 Son graduated this weekend from Stanford University.  PhD in Anthropology.

Are we proud parents?  Oh yes!

Many people are celebrating with us.  Last night, I posted these photos on Facebook and  as of the time of writing this post, there were 150 'likes'--a combination of my friends, The Professor's friends, and Doctor Mike's friends.

[This also explains my lack of commenting on other blogs.  Sorry!  Gone traveling.  Be back soon.]

Hopes and Goals 2009

I do not usually make New Year's resolutions because I don't want to make 'promises' that I can't keep. So I like to make 'hopes' and 'goals' for myself. For many years I have written personal goals for each year and I have been able to go back through the years and see what I have accomplished, even though it seems like I don't make the progress I hope to make on projects.

Last year I posted some goals. These are the ones I accomplished:
1. Exercise more. Walk more consistently. Get the bike serviced and ready to ride again. Finding Ellen as a walking buddy was an answer to my prayer!

2. Resubmit the Knitting Guild work for review. All that is left for me to do is rewrite the aran sweater pattern and double check one of the swatches. I received my master hand knitting certificate and was officially recognized as a master knitter at TKGA convention in September!

3. Use my yarn stash instead of buying new yarn. I did buy some yarn but mostly I knitted and crocheted my way through some of my stash.

4. The Professor and I also saw the completion of a major life goal. All of our children have graduated from college with a BA or BS in a field of study that will allow them to make their own ways in this world when MamaMia graduated this month with a degree in Anthropology from San Diego State University.

5. Read or reread the books that are on our bookshelves. I've plugged away at this goal. I have read several of the Newberry Award winners that I've collected. The Back to History Reading Challenge kind of fell off my radar screen in March although I did finish reading The Bounty by Caroline Alexander and Faith and Treason by Antonia Fraser.

6. Be more intentional about my spiritual life. Pray. Memorize Scripture. I want to learn about the Church Year, the daily and weekly prayers and readings. The Professor started leading a study centered around the Church Year and I am looking forward to continuing to deepen my understanding of the history of Christianity and also make it more personal in my own life.

7. And organize the photos. Declutter. Simplify. Live Green. Hope for world peace. I've done the decluttering, simplifying, living green and hoping for world peace fairly consistently again this year. The organization of the photos is still a work in progress.


So my Hopes and Goals for 2009 will be similar to those of 2008:
1. Keep on exercising- walking, hiking, and biking.



2. Continue using up the yarn stash, including spinning the bags and bags of fiber I've collected through the years.

3. Use what I learned in the master knitting program to design and sell my own knitting patterns. Knit more bunnies! This is Maggie who has gone to live in Georgia.

4. Read, read, read!

5. Make consistency in prayer, meditation and looking at the world and my own life through God's perspective. And this includes striving to live at peace with all men in as far as I am able.

6. Maintain my commitment to living in voluntary simplicity, eating organically and locally, and limiting our possessions.

7. Organize the photos. I really want to do this. But I am still completely overwhelmed by the prospect. Fortunately, The Professor is supporting me in my endeavor. He gave me a scanner for Christmas!

8. Be the best wife, mama and grandma I can be. Our New Boy is so precious and I love to watch him grow!


9. Improve my photography skills. I love to take pictures!

What are your hopes and goals for 2009?

730 Days

Happy Two Year Blogiversary to me!

I did not realize until earlier this week that I was coming quickly up to my second year anniversary of blogging. I checked and, sure enough, I wrote my first post on October 12, 2005. When I started the blog, my focus was simply to communicate with my children. I wanted to explore the possibility that forcing me to write would make me a better writer. I thought I would be chronicling the events of my neighborhood, the issues I encountered living in the inner city of Los Angeles. I really did not expect anyone to be reading what I wrote except my kids. I decided to name my blog after the little custom knitting business I had when I lived in Oregon--Willow's Cottage. Willow because that was my nickname, Cottage because I have never aspired to live in a big house, just a little cottage with hydrangeas and willows and roses and lavender in the garden.







One day Chaplain Dan sent me a link to a knitting blog. Until then, I had had no idea that there was a big, big world out there, that there were lots and lots of people in blogland who were writing and publishing their photos, ideas, and thoughts about knitting and other artwork. I read, I lurked, I learned. Then, one day, someone left me a comment! Wow! People actually read what I wrote!


I think that was the point when the focus changed for me. I paid more attention to HOW I wrote as well as WHAT I wrote. I learned to post photos. I paid more attention to the content and composition of the pictures. I looked at the world through a new lens--what would make an interesting post, how to photograph something or someone to best advantage.






Last summer, I took a writing class that was taught by a good friend of mine. I have learned to more purposely and carefully craft my words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs . In the past two years, yes, I have forced myself to write and I think I've become a better writer. I think. I hope.


My focus here at Willow's Cottage is to share my family, my home, my friends, my garden, my fiber arts.





Wherever I go, there I am. Even though our address has changed three times in the past four and a half years, I am still Willow and I still live in Willow's Cottage with my knitting needles, yarn, spinning wheel and camera, my basil seeds and pots of lavender and bougainvillea.




Thank you, all! I love your comments, your kind words and encouragement. I do think of you as I sit at my sweet little laptop in my sweet little cottage and hope you enjoy what you read here. I have no intention of suspending writing this blog. I'm having so much fun making friends and learning from you all!


Here's to another 730 days!