Busch Gardens

 Griffon = Scariest. Coaster. Ever.

I may be exaggerating here, but really - I was shaking even after I got off of this coaster, and I didn't even sit in the front row!  See that loop up there in the picture?  I know it's a little hard to see with the sun, but there are people up there....just hanging there.  They're not upside down or anything, but as part of the ride you do just dangle at the tippy top before it curves inward and then down.  So, instead of just going down the hill like the average coaster, this one likes to scare you a little more.  If you are an adventure seeker, then I highly recommend this for you.  If you are scared of heights, you should probably stay on the ground and watch as your friends brave this heart racing ride!

Here's a ride a little more up the easy going rider's ally:

This is Apollo's Chariot.  I was in the front row, and it's a pretty easy going coaster.  Case in point: there was a seven year old beside me throwing up her arms as we rounded turns and went down hills.  If you're more into an old school type coaster, this is the one for you. 

There are three other roller coasters at this park: Alpengeist, Loch Ness Monster and Verbolten.  Verbolten is the newest one that replaced Big Bad Wolf (don't worry, it jerked riders around for 25 years), and it has some surprises in store for you during the ride.  I won't spoil it, but it was super fun!

Can you tell why there wasn't a post yesterday?  I was out making some memories to share with all of you.  :)  How many of you have been to Busch Gardens?

Puppy with Big Ears

 Perky Puppy by Emily: Pattern can be found HERE.

This is the second Amigurumi I have ever made, and it was somewhat ambitious.  Of course since I had never made one before that had to be pieced together, this step was brand new to me.  When I had all the pieces crocheted and was ready to put him together, I thought there was NO WAY his head was going to fit on his body, especially with those huge ears.  Alas, after figuring out which way to put his head on, things actually starting working out.  Perky Puppy's head does not flop at all and he can even sit up on his own without toppling over.  I even added my own touch by incorporating the white on his paw, ear and rump.  All in all, he's a success!

Pikachu 3DS XL and a Crocheted Pokeball

As some of you may know, Nintendo came out with a Pikachu 3DS XL over the weekend.  It was a very limited edition, and I believe they only made like 50,000 of them.  I was in a few stores over the weekend (hubby is an avid gamer) only to find out that Best Buy didn't get any in, GameStop was only getting a few, and Target had the best deal out there - $40 below the price GameStop was asking.  No, we didn't get one, but Target's was a little tempting.  However, if you're in the market for a regular colored 3DS XL, Target's is still the best price among the three, except Best Buy will price match them.  If you want your Best Buy points, just tell them about Target's deal and they'll look it up and price match it for you.  Handy Dandy.

Along the lines of Pokemon, I have a pattern of Pokeball for you that you can find HERE.  Rose over at Tasty Crochet is very talented and is the author of Tasty Crochet: A Pantry Full of Patterns for 33 Yummy Treats.  Here is the Pokeball I created from her easy-to-follow pattern:

Hubby was very happy with this (I made it per his request because I needed something quick to whip up as a break from my longer projects), and proceeded to attempt to capture our dog.  Thankfully, our dog didn't think it was a toy and merely sniffed it instead of trying to chew on it.  If you're an avid gamer (or know someone who is), have fun with this project!

Volunteering with a Twist

This morning hubby and I participated in a run as volunteers for the first time.  It was a fundraising run dedicated to students with disabilities.  It was fun to help out even if it was super early and a bit chilly out, and it was also really neat to see people running while pushing sports wheelchairs for children who couldn't run in the race themselves.  The children got to participate in the race because of this, and you should have seen their faces - priceless!  It was totally worth getting up at 6AM on a Saturday and putting on five top layers of clothes to witness.  If you ever get the chance to help out in this way, you should.  We did preregistration and got to check most of the runners and walkers in by giving them their t-shirts and bib numbers.  As a beginner runner, I benefited from seeing what goes on "behind the scenes".  If you're already a seasoned runner, I highly encourage you to do this some time instead of running in the race.  It will make you appreciate the people that give their time to help you succeed in reaching some of your goals and help you to realize that that medal couldn't be possible without their help, too (on top of all your training!).  I hope to do this again soon and in the meantime thank the next volunteers as I race to the finish.

Smalls, the Smooshy Bunny

I know it's LATE in the day (or early in the morning) for all of us on the East Coast, but I wanted to share another lovely with you.  This is the first animal I have ever crocheted.  I got the idea for him when I came across a picture on a blog of a little girl holding a bunny that her grandma had crocheted for her.  I have not been able to find that blog again since then, but I did use the ideal sphere patterns by Emily, which I found HERE, connected them together by moving on to a smaller sphere before finishing the bigger one, and used my own design for the ears.

So, I introduce to you: Smalls, the Smooshy Bunny:

He's cute, huh?  You may be wondering (like my hubby did) why he has no limbs.  Well, I think it shows off his posable ears better, and if a child ever gets hold of him, he's easy to keep in the crook of an elbow or "smooshed" in a small hand.  Hence, the "smooshy" bunny part.  He is rather small, but I think he's charming.

See you tomorrow :)

Testing..1 2 3

Hello there!

My name is Lydia, and I am a beginner at crochet.  I taught myself through youtube videos and other tutorials online, and I ended up LOVING it so I started crocheting animals from patterns I found through Pinterest.  These animals are called Amigurumi.  After making a few different ones over the past couple months, I have just begun to experiment with designing my own.  I want to share with the original creators the lovelies I have made with their patterns, but I also wanted to have a place where I could share my designs when I create more of them.  What better way to find others who love crochet than through a blog?  So, here I go onto writing about crochet, and maybe I'll share some of the resources I used in order to learn in a later post as well. 

Okay, so I've only blogged a couple times a long time ago, but never really thought much of it.  However, after getting on Pinterest to find ideas for Amigurumi lovelies that I could make and being directed to different great blogs, I thought maybe I should start sharing my creations, too!  Be patient with me as I figure out how to link to other blogs and upload pictures of my lovelies.  :)

Over the next few days, I hope to share with you the first few lovelies I have ever crocheted.  

I'll start off with one of my favorites - Sleepy Sarah by Mia over at Owlishly.  You can find her free pattern HERE.  

 Isn't she great?

She's the first doll I have ever crocheted (and the only one so far!), and I think she turned out very nice.

I hope to make a doll that I create myself who can be the Anna Belle this blog is named after, but so far it will just have to be a name and I'll just use my cute puppy as the profile picture.  Thanks for stopping by!  Come back tomorrow for another Amigurumi!