AfricanKelli

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I wish you love.

Crazy, unconventional, Pretty Woman, short dude/tall lady, short dude/short dude, roller coaster, sweet and sour like Lemonheads, soft and cuddly like a down comforter on a cold morning, jarring, challenging, intense, 50 years later and still my best friend forever love. Or however you’d like to order it up.

May you be surrounded by those you love, and for those on the hunt, may you find everything you are looking for an then some.

Merry Christmas!
Kelli

I wish for patience.
I’ve got my family’s quick Irish temper and I see red regularly, especially commuting on the US 60. {I swear if I go to Hell, I’ll be on that freeway, stuck behind a minivan with Minnesota license plates. It is officially Snow Bird season in Phoenix and wowie. As a city we are collectively driving 25 miles. On the freeway.}
So, to celebrate the holidays today with my family and with friends this week, I wish for a giant dose of patience. May we all have the opportunity to catch up on sleep, eat without guilt, read for pleasure and take long, glorious runs.

~K

I wish for more time outside to play. The kid in me is shining through in this wish, but next year, I’d love the chance to hike, bike, camp, climb, kayak, swim, run, jump and skip my way through new trails and old dusty roads I’ve traveled before. Maybe I’ll join the Sierra Club for regular outings. I’m getting on board with a new tri group in January and am going to make a bid at this too.

Friends comment to me regularly that they “HATE!! running” and “don’t you get bored?” Running seems to be one of those black or white sports that you either love or hate and for many, many years I fell in the rare gray area. No longer. It is a spiritual practice for me. Just me, my favorite shoes in my closet and the open road gives plenty of time for prayer — even if it is the occasional, “Sweet Jesus, when is this run going to be done?” Hey, not all days are good ones. I love running for many reasons, and yes I do get bored at times. You learn to incorporate new routes, new music, new running buddies and you do what you have to to keep it fresh.
Anyway, for those I love, I wish for you to find a form of play you love — may it be aerobics, water polo, walking, mountain climbing, whatever suits your fancy.

~K

I wish for new challenges.
For example, baking bread. One cheap Dutch oven + one pretty awesome recipe + one January/February 2008 issue of Cooks Illustrated for a bit of cajoling = my first edible loaf of bread.
I paired it with pumpkin apple chestnut soup and salad. The Ya Yas brought fudge, lemon bars and wine. Spending time eating good food with my girlfriends has never been a challenge. Eating in moderation, on the other hand…

Giddyup.
~K

I wish for another great sew-along. Finny and I have been amigas since our Lumberjack days. But I think our friendship has gotten even stronger this year through the In Stitches project. It has been so fun to see what others create, to watch photos added the the flickr pool from creative folk living all over the world and to have Amy Butler’s nod of approval. Rock on!

{Fully accepting my domestic dorkiness and loving it.}

This is my November/December project. I used the basics of the patchwork handbag to make a dopp kit for my friend John. With some manly Ikea fabric, grosgrain ribbon for the zipper tabs and some heavy plastic webbing for the handle, I whipped this baby up.

Next time? I will cut the length in half. It is ginormous.

If you haven’t voted for the 2008 sew-along, get on over to Finny’s and let us know what you want to do. I’m dreaming of tunics, skirts and new techniques!

~K