In January…

Nik joined me in Tennessee

to listen to the wind-chimes

before walking around the block.

We went to the circus,

and visited Paducah during the worst ice storm of the century.

In February…

We cruised around Nashville in the Pontiac,

I ate the best cinnamon roles ever,

and flew to the other side of the world...

We had arrived at our new home. Shanghai, China.

In March…

I purchased a Giant...

to explore like a local.

While Nik was at work, I explored the flower market,

a Chinese Garden,

and a few out of the way places.

While Nik wasn't at work, we explored construction sites,

railroad tracks,

and highway overpasses.

and ate all-you-can-eat dinners with friends.

In April…

we started thinking of this as home,

saw the sights of a tunnel on the Bund,

found my favorite coffee shop,

celebrated 3 years,

took a day trip to a water town,

and played polo on bikes.

In May…

We took a trip with the boys,

biked around the city every chance we had,

found my solitary place,

and got out of the country...

by riding the 18-hour train to Hong Kong.

In June…

I payed attention to the little details of the city:

Like laundry,

ladies wearing white sun-sleeves,

house numbers,

and construction signs.

I took a pottery class,

hid under a bridge during a thunder storm,

took a few bike ferries,

and discovered the antique markets.

In July…

I indulged my sweet tooth,

more than once.

I made a couple pieces I was proud of,

conquered my fear of taking photos of people,

and Nik and I went to Jingdezhen to see...

clay bashed so that...

it could be worked...

into pots that would be shipped around the world.

Then I turned 28!!!

In August…

I locked our love in Seoul,

commuted every day,

and taught 80 high school students how to fold origami cranes....and math.

In September…

I was too preoccupied with teaching to take photos,

so I stole these from Nik!

In October…

Nik proposed at the top of a mountain in Seoul!!!!!!!

I said yes, and the rest of the month was a blur of happiness and throwing around the word "fiancé" every chance we got!

In November…

I tagged along with a few students on a trip to the Yunnan Province,

explored Shanghai with Nik on foot one last time,

said goodbye to good friends,

ate my last breakfast in Apartment 1835,

temporarily said goodbye to my fiancé,

and officially said goodbye to Shanghai, the place I called home for 2009.

From there, I made it home just in time for Thanksgiving dinner,

and a family portrait.

In December…

Keisha, Mom and I took New York by storm,

Mimi told me all about quilts, dresses, and the old days,

we played an epic game of Pictionary,

and my sister made Christmas brunch.

Then Mom and Dad drove me down to Dallas...

so that Nik and I could take them to the Sky Room,

and introduce them to my future in-laws.

When 2009 began, I didn’t know what it had in store for me. I didn’t know where I would live, where I would work or what I would see. I knew that it would be exciting and full of memories, but I never could have planned such an incredible year. It goes to show that as long as I surround myself with people that I love and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, everything will be okay. Better than okay.

Once again, as 2010 begins, I don’t know what it has in store for me. I don’t know where we will live, where I will work or what I will see. I know that I will spend my days with the one man that I love more than anything, and beyond that, we’ll just have to see!

Five months ago, I sat down and wrote about what I thought was next. At the time I had been in Shanghai for just over a month and was in the purest state of limbo there could possibly be. All I knew was that I was in Shanghai with Nik and I would be here for at least six months. Beyond that, I didn’t know what the next day, week, month or year would bring. Writing everything down allowed me to focus on exactly what I wanted to do, and after a few months I think I’m making progress. So I’ve listed the six goals again, and here’s what I’m thinking today…

1. I will work on my website so that it truly reflects who I am, personally and professionally. I have made some progress on this site that I am happy with. I have added the city guide, my recent projects and worked on the site design a bit. For a little while I was trying to figure out a way to incorporate my architecture portfolio…but finally decided I simply didn’t want to mix personal and professional. The thing I love about designing and running my own website is that it can evolve over time. It will never be a finished product, and I’m happy about that.

2. I will do a significant project on my own. Well, I thought this “significant project” would be an architectural competition, but then I stopped fooling myself. I said I wanted to do a competition because that’s what architects that don’t have architecture jobs do. But honestly, I have no desire to do one. I would rather knit, sew, go on a bike ride, work on my website, travel, etc. I still want to do a significant project on my own…but I don’t think a solo architecture competition is in my future. Now I’ve just got to figure out what it will be.

3. I will work in an architecture office whose work and mission I admire. I almost worked at an architecture office whose work and mission I didn’t admire, so recognizing their faults was one big step. I still look forward to the day that I can contribute to a design team in a significant way again. I am confident that my next big move will get me one step closer.

4. I will save money. This has begun!!! I finally have an income, and even though it’s pretty tiny, I will still be able to save a significant amount and when #3 happens I’ll be in good shape.

5. I will become a master of craft. Since April I have been a craft feign. I took eight weeks of ceramics classes, started three new large knitting projects, taught myself how to crochet, finally started sketching again and am slowly learning how to embroider. I took advantage of having time to myself and focused my energy on the things I love.

6. I will own my own business. This is obviously a long term goal, but I still think and dream about it all the time. In fact, the more I dream about it, the more I realize that opportunities are everywhere! It’s simply a matter of finding the right one.

There you have it. My goals five short months later. We will be going through another huge transition soon, so I’m sure things will be shifting and evolving even more. Until then…..

Jin Jiang Amusement Park Ferris Wheel

My wish this year is that my friends and I will be twirling around on this big guy somewhere close to sunset tomorrow evening. Let’s hope it comes true!!

Ripple Blanket

Granny Square Blanket

Leaf Scarf

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it much on here, but I like to knit. I started slowly back in 2004, then really picked it up when I moved into downtown Portland and had the most amazing knitting shop, Lint, just a few blocks away. At the time, I already had the basics down, so I took one of Lint’s classes on intarsia & felting with the amazing Leigh Radford of Alterknits fame. She is a wonderful teacher, and in that class I learned that I was knitting completely backwards!! No wonder I couldn’t do the stitch combinations in any of the cool books I had just bought. (A note to anyone just learning to knit…if it’s extremely difficult, you’re probably doing it wrong and find an experienced knitter to watch and learn from.)

One of the main reasons I took this class was because intarsia is a form of knitting similar to fair aisle (think big thick scandinavian sweaters with mooses and trees) where you incorporate several different colors into your piece. At the time, I didn’t think intarsia would be as complicated as fair aisle, but it was. All of my colors were tangled together and everything was a mess. Needless to say, this class was the first time I had ever used two colors together. Unfortunately, it was also my last.

Instead I have focused on more complicated stitch patterns and textures like the leaf scarf above. In hindsight, it was a good move for me because I was able to develop the technical skills of knitting rather than get side tracked by the pretty colors. Until now.

A few weeks ago, I taught myself how to crochet (once you can knit, crocheting is a breeze). As I learned the different stitches I kept wanting to switch colors, so I did. For the Granny Square Blanket, now that I step back and look at it, the purple, blues and grey are all pretty value-neutral. Even though I’ve never taken a color theory class, I know that it’s too flat. I think I did a little bit better with the Ripple Blanket, but the colors are predictable and primary. I still like it, but I’m going to learn from my mistakes and continue looking for inspiration. Eventually I’ll have a cohesive color strategy for every project BEFORE I start…wouldn’t’ that be nice?

What about that Leaf Scarf? Well, I started it in 2007 during my first trip to Dallas with Nik. His mom took me to her favorite yarn shop and said I could pick any yarn I wanted!!! Two hours later, we both had a huge bag full of yarn (for some reason, everything in the store was 50% off), and this fantastic green wool was her Christmas gift to me. Ever since then I seem to only be able to work on it during the holidays. I think I even carried it to Thailand, but didn’t touch it. I love the pattern and have learned a lot from it, but it requires my full attention, so it’s going slowly. I think I’ve done two leaves since we arrived in China, but have obviously been distracted by my new found passion for color. Hopefully I’ll finish it before this holiday season so that I can actually wear it.

My favorite Knitting resources:

www.purlbee.com – a knitting and patchwork blog from Purl Soho in New York. Great tutorials, projects and inspiration. It’s kind of my pseudo local knitting shop because there aren’t any in Shanghai.

www.ravelry.com – A knit and crochet community. Full of patterns and projects from professionals AND people like me. My name on ravelry is “Tenn” as in Tennessee.