I would like an order of perspective...what wine would you recommend with that?

What is important to me right now (listed in random order):

1. My Husband
2. My Family
3. The furry creatures that live in my home
4. My school work
5. My friends
6. Finding and buying our first house
7. Baking
8. Knitting
9. Yoga (still learning)
10. Learning to differentiate my needs from my wants (this can be hard to do)
11. Learning to live a simply and to simply live
12. Working each day to find myself and to continually make that person I find better, balanced, happy, true and an overall good person
13. Developing and maintaining the important relationships in my life
14. Removing unwanted relationships from my life

What I am grateful for:
1. My husband
2. My family
3. My schoolwork...although it may not seem that way at times
4. The furry creatures that live in my house
5. Finding new recipes at Tastespotting.com
6. My job
7. The wonderful women who are my co-workers. They push me forward and inspire me every day
8. My sense of humor
9. This blog
10. Myself (I felt I needed to add this because my mother informed me today that I have too little self worth. Thanks mom!)
11. Advice from loving friends and family members
12. Wild Berry Frozen Yogurt
13. Farm Fresh Delivery
14. Stories that were told to me by my great grandmother, Orbia McCluskey. Those stories have been swirling around in my mind lately and I am so grateful for the summers she watched me.
15. Blogs like soulemama, beauty that moves, and while tangerine dreams these ladies are true inspirations and what I hope to be when I grow up. I look forward to their updated postings every day.
16. Non-inspirational blogs like penny arcade, nataliedee, tooth paste for dinner, and perez hilton without these sites I would actually have to do my work!
17. Photography (If only I had a camera)


Today has been one of those days where it is so easy to get caught up in unnecessary drama. In this case it is drama that I have caused. I needed to step back and center myself. This is a wonderful exercise and I whole heartedly recommend it if you need perspective on days when you feel like giving up.

simplicity is the heart of the matter

It is a quiet Sunday. The husband is taking a nap, the dog and cat are with him. I am enjoying the aroma of the bread that I have been making for the past two hours. As soon as I began to feel tired and sore from the kneading and waiting, and kneading and waiting I looked up and saw that it was snowing outside. Such a peaceful moment, so simple, yet so beautiful. It seems as though with ever loaf of bread I get a step closer to reaching my goal of simplicity. To take care of myself, my home, my relationships and my my family. That is what is important, that is what I need. I am not sure where this path will lead me, but I do know that I have really enjoyed where it has taken me so far and because of the happiness it has brought me I can't stop...not now. So I go back to my kneading and waiting and kneading and waiting knowing that the end result will be something wonderful.


"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." ~Thomas More

This has been such a crazy and wonderful year.

• I have successfully finished two semester (summer and fall) without dropping a single class.
• I had all of my friends go through some serious life changes (all of which I am so proud of them for)
• Both of my parents ended their long term relationships (within a week of each other...AYKM?!?)
• I started knitting, which has changed my life more than I ever imagined.
• I have begun learning about and actually adopting sustainability principles in my life.

... oh, yeah...and I got married...

This whole marriage things has definitely been the highlight among the highlights of this year. Even though my old man and I have been dating for EIGHT YEARS (yeah that's right) and living together for three of those eight; It seems as though everyone thinks our lives will be magically transformed after we placed those rings on our fingers. However, I can honestly say the only thing that has changed is my last name. Which is far more difficult than anyone will ever tell you!

I have never had a problem with changing my last name. If I was more of a professional or if I had stronger ties to my families heritage then maybe I would have kept my last name. However, the only family I really know with the same last name is my father, brother, and uncle; and I am only an administrative assistant at a University where hardly anybody besides my immediate co-workers know me. Changing your name is a personal decision as much as getting married. I am not one of those that believe if you don't change your name it takes away from the sanctity of your marriage. That is crazy talk. Especially in today's world where marriage is so casual.

Anyway, away from the touchy subject and back to the original thought at hand. My new last name. I can't get the hang of writing it. You go through your youth as a girl writing your name over and over and over and over. Practicing how you sign your name. I have horrible handwriting. It is mismatched, often times switching from long elegant letters to quick scribbles. It has taken me years to find a signature that I could write quickly and doesn't look like a 5th grader who just learned cursive signed it. I can honestly say I have finally settled on a signature that fits me in the past three years or so. And now? Now I have to start all over! I know this is completely redundant for most, but please oblige my rant. My old signature was very girlie, and it flowed from my first name to my last seamlessly. Now I can't spell Fritz with the same elegance that I spelled Black. I am going to have to find a new way to spell my name altogether. Because right now it looks as though one person spelled my first name and then a crazed maniac who can't do a cursive Z spelled my last name. Fortunately, right now I have all of the thank you cards from the wedding I have to send out. So I have many hours ahead of me that will allow me to practice this curse of a last name.

Maybe in five years or so I will have it figured out.

First Post

I am so happy to be here! I have just recently begun reading blogs on a daily basis this year. I have been admiring knitting blogs, and craftster blogs for so long now. I am naming this blog FritzLady because my last name is Fritz and I am lady. Now you can see how creative I am!! yeah right.

So a little about me:
I am currently an undergrad studying sociology, and working full time as an administrative assistant at a wonderful workplace. I recently married the love of my life and best friend this year and we are enjoying being newly weds. I learned how to knit this year, and it has opened the floodgates to a new side of me that I did not even know existed. This blog is going to be my outlet for new crafts that I want to learn in addition to my growth in knitting. I am also beginning to transition into a sustainable lifestyle, and I hope to write about that on here as well.

I am not sure if this will go well, or how dedicated I will be, but I hope to keep it going and growing. Thank you for reading!