Perfect use for a blog

Blogher is sponsoring an REI giveaway. And I can't resist. I have a crush on REI, we all know it.
http://www.blogher.com/rei-outdoor-pledge-sweepstakes?contentamp
But I'm really hoping you don't go and enter. I don't need any more competition.

Moving time

This is the blog that happens when you marry someone with the same nickname. Who is a math teacher. And really, it should be (kp)2. I'm told the parenthesis are important.

The new family blog is www.kpsquared.blogspot.com

I'm not sure what to do with this blog. I love that it really is the memory of the last 3 years. And it has been a good 3 years. But it's time to move on. Goodbye little blog...

T minus 1 day

I can't believe it's here. The last few months of being engaged really have flown by. And then I probably won't post much more on this blog. But I'll let you know the new blog when I finally decide to use it.

It's a wedding, something has to go wrong, Right?

It's almost midnight the night before I'm scheduled to leave for LA for my wedding. And I don't have my wedding dress. I should have known. Remember THIS post, when at the time I had no idea I would be needing a wedding dress so soon. I jokingly referred to using my old wedding dress, but in reality there were a lot of reasons I wanted a new dress. Well I found one and I love it. But it needed a few alterations to make it modest so 2 1/2 weeks ago I took it to a seamstress who said she needed a week. She'd call me in a week. She had had it a week and half when I decided I should call her. And then I called the next day. And the next. No response. I gave her Sunday off from calling, but resumed my pestering (although I'm not sure it's pestering under these circumstances) on Monday. She finally called back that night. It would be done the next morning which is today. So at the scheduled time I left to get it. I was about half way there when she called to say she needed another hour. I gave her an hour and a half. Drove over there....and it wasn't done. The parts she has done look amazing, but apparently the sleeves are being tricky. I really feel for her as I would be pulling my hair out. However, she was going to call tonight about it being picked up and no word. I'm torn between sympathy and frustration. At least I have seen the dress and know it hasn't been eaten by the dog, or coke spilled on it, or any number of situations I saw in my nightmares.

The big day

People keep asking if I'm nervous or excited. Yes. And then I realize they're talking about the wedding and I'm talking about Ragnar. I really have been way more mentally preoccupied with Ragnar than planning the wedding. I think it's been good to have something to keep me balanced while being engaged. At first I thought it was crazy to do two time consuming things within 2 weeks, but it really has been nice to not be able to devote too much time to one or the other. Added bonus, I dropped a dress size with all this training. Score.

This past weekend was finally the big race. It went really well. I met my goals for all 3 legs which felt really good. It also feels good to not have it hanging over my head. The day after there was no way I'd consider it again, but now a few days out I really want to do it again. Maybe even do a few of them in other states, you know states at lower elevation and fewer hills.

I wonder if I'd quilt if my friends didn't have babies

There are so many things I love about this quilt, but one of them is not the picture quality. I just get too impatient (shocking, I know) to wait for lighting or help or any number of things that would make this quilt more presentable. But I figure my fans will forgive me.

1. I love that this quilt was for my friend's little boy who was born with a bowel obstruction and has already had a resection. I knew from the start I had a special place for him because, well, people like that are just awesome. We've already bonded.

2. I love that this quilt's twin has a similar story. Both were for my best friend's little boys. Both boys were born with complications that required immediate surgery. Both boys were in the hospital for month/s. Both boys are just tiny and adorable.

3. I love this fabric. Mostly because this time around I appreciated it more since I had just returned from Africa and every animal I sewed reminded me of seeing them in person.

4. I love that sewing this gave me a break from wedding plans. Enough said.

5. I love that I finally found a use for a math major. Just kidding. I found a similar quilt on line, but couldn't find a pattern so I just showed it to Kyle, told him how big I wanted the blocks, and he did all the math to figure out the pattern. The only hiccup was I forgot to explain seam allowance, so it did end up a little smaller than my original plan. So this pattern is a KP original.

I'm still in shock

I pride myself on being a very independent girl. However, there are a few tasks in which I've found it's nice to have a guy around. Namely grilling, driving on road trips, keeping my feet warm, and putting Christmas lights up (and taking them down). And I've found just the guy who has so graciously agreed to take care of such activities. The only thing I've been asked to do is be a solid Spurs fan. Deal.

So with those important details agreed upon, Kyle and I are getting married. Eeeps! That still feels weird to say. In Los Angeles. In July.

I'd have a pet penguin and elephant if I could

How do you pick the best of 3000 pictures?

This is so Rebecca believes I was there :)On top of Table Mountain


At the Indian Ocean
The Johannesburg Temple
Victoria Falls




Leaving Namibia to go back to Botswana
Our favorite guide: Lets

We interrupt this travelog...

To inform you that vanilla milk is not as simple as milk, vanilla, and sugar. It just isn't. Don't bother to try it. I already did.

Longest post ever. And it's a travelog. Brace yourselves.

Or skip this altogether and wait for the next post which could tell you this story in pictures. I try to not fill the blog with too much travel minutia. Until today.

Our trip started in Cape Town, where it took nothing short of 36 hours to get there. I think a travel record for me up to that point. It was a lovely city and greatly exceeded my expectations. My favorite part from Cape Town was visiting the Cape of Good Hope. Ridiculously windy but a beautiful drive and the first point at which we really started seeing the Africa I had pictured in my head. We also spent an afternoon with penguins. And I fell in love. I had no idea the animal I'd come home from Africa swooning over would be penguins. The other highlight of CT was being able to go running in the mornings along the beach path. I could run marathons if that's where I got to train. Now I know why people who live near the beach are so skinny. Loved it. We felt very safe most of the places we went but particularly there. Partly because I've never traveled anywhere where I looked like I fit in so much. Even compared to Europe, because we just don't dress like Europeans. I would even make sure I passed people on the left so I seemed legitimate. I've been confused here at home though ever since.
Our next destination was flying into Durban and then driving up to Zululand and to our first safari in Hluhluwe. On the way we dipped our feet in the Indian Ocean, which was my first encounter with that ocean. The safaris really were the best part of the trip. In just one day we saw giraffes, zebra, water buffalo, rhino, elephant, wart hogs, and hyenas. And lots of most of those things.
Next we spent a day in Swaziland. It's a country. You'd be surprised how many people don't know that. After that we spent several days doing game drives in Kruger National Park--the 2nd national park in the world. This park was amazing! Everything was so close. Shockingly close. Like the time we got charged by an elephant. It stopped short about 4 feet from our Jeep, but close enough that Angela was on my lap. But that wasn't the only time that happened. I thought she was going to jump out the back while trying to get a ginormous spider out of her shirt. Or when a dung beetle came flying through and hit her. It wasn't a good day for her. In Kruger we saw lots of all those other animals plus baboons, hippos, wild dogs (which are quite rare), and impala. We actually got so spoiled we didn't even get our cameras out when we saw giraffes and zebra, and we didn't even stop the car for impala.
As much as I loved those days, I had no idea that the best days of the trip would be the last 3 when we were up in Zimbabwe. The sky was bluer and the clouds whiter there. I loved Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls was AMAZING. We were there during high water and it was wet! Probably the worst "rain" I've ever been in. But it was so fun and when we could actually see the falls they were beautiful. We walked over to the Zambia side of the falls mostly so we could cross another country off. And then the last day was the best. We started the morning on a river cruise in Chobe park in Botswana. It really was just like the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland except with a few less wild natives. We saw elephants spraying water from the sides and hippos bopping around. During our lunch break we were able to convince someone to take us across the river to Namibia. When we arrived at the border post I handed the guy my arrival and departure forms. He kept sliding the departure form to me, and I kept sliding it back to him. Apparently not many people just come for a few minutes to say hi and then go back to Botswana. The afternoon was spent on another safari. This time we saw most everything else including crocodiles and a lion. But not just any lion. One that was only 5 feet away from us and stalking an impala. It was the only time we stopped to look at an impala. I watched the whole scene unfold with one hand on my camera and one hand covering my mouth. Every time the impala turned his back on the lion she would creep forward. After watching this game for about 25 minutes the lion made her move. And won. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. And on that note the next day we boarded our 18 hour flight on our trip home that took 43 hours. And easily the longest travel time for one trip for me.

And while I have my camera out...

I think my dad was feeling left out of this quilt making frenzy. So here's another manly quilt. It is so hard to make quilts for guys, most fabric is pretty girly, but I'm really happy with the way this one turned out. I love the back: it started out as a mathematical mistake but turned out better than I had planned.

Done and done

Weddings are supposed to be about the bride, but I'm sure you're really just wondering about my dress. Don't worry, more pictures to follow. I also figured some of you wanted proof that Brandon actually went through with it...he did.