progress!

My studio clean up has taken days, weeks!  But finally enough progress has been made to be able to function again.  Emily came over to work on her little elk creature, and I have finished my Visigoth Warrior Woman sufficiently to send in photos for the ADO goth challenge.  I had fun turning this medieval queen into a Visigoth warrior.

First, I made a wolf pelt cape for her, to keep her warm at winter's camp.  You will see further down that she also wears fur on her legs and lower arms.  (But no animals were harmed in the making of this doll - her cape is really a woolly felt, not a real wolfy pelt!)

Next , she needed her armor for battle!  I read that the Visigoths were known for their round shields and short swords.  I decided I would paint them to look bronze, although the actual materials are paper clay and foil.

Do you see her hidden dagger tucked under her skirt?

Emily says she looks like a real bad a.. Properly fierce, n'est-ce pas?  I will need to borrow her sword to cut through the rest of my junk and have this organizing madness behind me for good!  Or at least, for the next six months...

Next on the agenda: a review of 2011, before 2012 begins!

our merry little christmas

I celebrated my first Christmas as Mrs. Murakami! Christmas Eve was shared with my extended family at my brother Steve's beautiful home.  Christmas day it was just our little family, and I have to say, it was one of our best Christmases ever!  Although the weather was a tad damp, it did not dampen our spirits.  Rob took us girls out golfing for the very first time in our lives.  I never thought I would like golf, but it was a blast!  Even when I swung hard at the ball and it rolled a mere five inches!  Lots of laughter and whooping cheers every time we did manage to catch some air and distance.  Sorry no pics - it was wet outside!

But I do have pics of the great indoors, and they do show how merry our time together was.  This is what Christmas with family is all about:

The smiles,

the hugs,

some wishes coming true,

cuddles,

nurturing,

 

 getting goofy,

 

 a little friendly competition,

and lots of joy!

 Here's to a wonderful new year, too!

Little monsters and a little Christmas

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working with three great kids at 100th Monkey Studios.  I had originally proposed this Baby Monsters class for October, but the schedule was already full.  So we opted for crafty December instead.

I had a tiny group, but could not have asked for better students!  Ranging in ages from 6 to 11, they amazingly all had some sewing experience, plus plenty of imagination and dexterity.  We practiced the running stitch first, making our future monsters a little pillow.  Then it was on to designing and making the monsters themselves.

Six-year-old AJ made a triangle monster.  He cracked me up as he continually revised his original plan.  But check out the adorable little bed he stitched for Mr. Triangle!

Seven-year-old Emma was inspired by SpongeBob's pet snail Gary.  The addition of legs transformed him into this cute little monster named Meep.  Meep's embroidered mouth is awesome!

Eleven-year-old Drew was the master of picking cool materials!  I love the orange felt she used for this little monster's front side - it was a scrap that has already been stitched on.  I think the stitching adds great texture to her project, and she did an awesome job on the construction!  And Drew has more that she will add to her little monster: a red heart, an embroidered X for one eye, as well as a jagged line and a tail on the back.  Cute!

And now for a little Christmas: Rob and I put up Christmas lights outside yesterday, then hosted our first dinner party and game night with friends!  Rob cooked salmon to perfection and I served my favorite spicy Chevy's Fresh Mex salad recipe with Mucho Mango salsa and sweet & spicy Chipotle Dressing on top.  Find the recipe in this book:

And finally, today did a bit of Christmas decorating when Rob found his paper Christmas tree from Guam!  I decorated it with mostly handmade ornaments that I've received from the ornament exchanges I've participated in.  Very fun and funky!

 

 

Ho ho ho!

More wedding photos from friends

I'd like to thank my friends and family for posting photos on facebook!  It will be awhile before we have the photographers photos.

From Kathleen:

View of the ceremony  from where our guests were sitting.

View on the supertron.

the little cake topper I made - tee hee!

the serving cake - DELICIOUS!  A big thank you to dear friends John and Karen Prochovnic
for the cakes as our wedding gift!  They were fabulous!

the happy couple after the ceremony - we headed up to the stands to greet our guests and enjoy the game.  The Winterhawks were super pumped up that night, scoring 7 goals!!!

And more from the Winterhawks photographers - didn't they do an amazing job, too?!

Walking down the aisle with my bridesmaids - daughters Willow and Emily also gave away the bride.

Reverend Mel reading the vows in his big announcer voice

Rob place the ring on the bride's finger.
The line-up: Rev. Mel, John Prochovnic, Henry Prochovnic, Rob, Lulu, Willow of the platinum hair, Emily the honey blonde.

"Lulu, you may now kiss the goalie!"

Muuuuahhhhhh!

So happy together

 

The Wedding Party
In back, Reverence Mel O'Brien.  Front row: Emily, Willow, Lulu, Rob, Henry, and John

The Teddy Bear Toss was a big success, too.  The team collected over 10,000 teddy bears that they will persoanlly take into children's hospitals and donate them to the patients there, bringing joy during challenging times.

Our hero, Ty Rattie, who scored the first goal of the game at 2:52 minutes, setting off the teddy bear toss and the wedding ceremony!  Thanks, Ty!

Thanks Everybody!  Well, now I guess it's back to real life as I continue to unpack and really settle into my life with Rob.  Happy days!

Photos from friends

Ok, my computer still doesn't have the charger, so I am on a scavenger hunt for photos that my friends took and posted on Facebook.

This is a cool shot of the wedding as seen on the giant supertron screen, from Kathleen:

Here are my California friends Candi & Paula.  We've known each other since 4th grade.  These amazing women made the most gorgeous wallhanging of 1000 origami cranes.  Now Rob and I will have 1000 years of good luck!  I am so touched that they would do this for me!  (I cried and cried!)

More to come - perhaps tomorrow...

Someone got married!

Folks who went to the Winterhawks game on December 3rd were expecting a teddy bear toss, but they got a little bonus thrown in.  Check it out!

Yep, that's me and my Sweetie Pie!

KPTV came out and interviewed us before the wedding, and were also at the game to record this momentous occasion.  Thanks to our minister Reverend Mel for taping the segment that aired the night of the wedding!

Best hockey game ever!  Thanks, Winterhawks!  Thanks to all our friends and our families!  Thanks Robbie!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
lulu moonwood murakami

Update: Robbie and I have become minor celebrities around here.  People recognize us at the games, but even more surprising is that they recognize us around town and run up to us to say, "I was at your wedding!"  : )

The night before... (no, not Christmas)

My Wedding!  I'm getting married tomorrow!!!  No time to blog, although I have a lot I want to show - but I left my computer charger at my mom's house (I hope) and I don't have a quick way to upload and edit photos...Aaaauuughhh!

We spent the afternoon with Rob's family who came in from Hawaii and Minnesota - YAY!!!  Then back to making my little cake toppers, and now I must write up and print the "program" for the big day - nothing like the last minute, I always say!