Musings of a Chocolate Lover

Senior Art Show—Advertising

2012-02-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

*Drum roll, please*

[Just in case you did not catch on from previous posts]
I am officially having a senior show! The art show is the goal of art students at Spring Arbor University, but it has been an especially difficult run for me because I have two different concentrations (not to say that it doesn't happen, but within a 4 year block, it is difficult).

Along with two other students, I will be filling a portion of the gallery (somewhere between 35 and 40 pieces) and preparing for the opening reception to take place on March 4th, 2012. Before the opening, I will have to tweak and complete, mat, frame and hang each piece individually. Needless to say, it has been a stressful few weeks (since I did not know I was going to have a show until the 30th of January!)

Along with getting those pieces together, I also needed to create a poster and postcard design to advertise the show, as well as keep up on other homework, work related things, write an artist statement and sleep—not to mention my delightful blog. It has been a very busy time!

Anyway, here is my poster design :) I don't have a single piece that really sums up my show because of my two concentrations (not to mention, graphic design being so broad in and of itself), so I came up with this idea to translate both emphasis for me.
Sometimes the poster will be hung in one direction: (emphasizing my graphic design)

And sometimes, in the other: (emphasizing my illustrations)

Thus allowing both of my strengths to be displayed, and hopefully to create some real interest :) We'll see how well they work! Thoughts? (unfortunately I posted one of the older ones—in the final addition, the typographic portrait read better on the left side, but my flash drive is on the other side of the room and I'm honestly too lazy to go get it right now!)

The opening reception is fast approaching—I hope to see you all there!

Oh, and remember me and my craziness in your prayers when you get a chance :) Thanks all!

Doodles in Chapel

2012-02-10T19:14:00.002-05:00

We had a pretty good chapel speaker today. Really challenged us to get out of our comfort zones, and to get the idea that the "mission field" is only in the wilderness out of our head—Urban ministries is a mission field that is just as noble. Christians are constantly on the mission field. This is not our home, and we should seek to share with people whenever there is an opportunity! We should live intentionally, and be open to what God can do in our lives—He's a tricky one :)

Anyway, he had a very interesting face... kinda sad and... old :) I loved it, so I drew him 3 times (caricatures each time), haha
Not that he wasn't good, I actually really enjoyed listening, he had a good sense of humor and some great stuff to say—but he also had a great face.

Obviously, I drew this one over my sketches on type layouts for my art show poster... oops! Enjoy

Art Show Progress

2012-02-07T15:53:00.001-05:00

If you don't know that I'm a list person... then, you don't know me very well! lol
So I have a master list for the art show and all the craziness that comes with it—it is my key to survival over the next few weeks.
Everything is white/gray when it is unfinished, yellow when printed, and green/blue when I finally finish it (so a random blue square could mean that I have the frame or the glass, but nothing else, an entire blue/green line means a piece is completely done!)

Here is a picture of my list about a week ago:

And here is my list TODAY:

YAY for progress! I wore blue today in honor of all the blue highlighter going around! haha Hopefully I can kick out these last pieces and start working on my new projects :D
(and catching up on all the homework I haven't done while matting and framing... :/

Motivational Monday... on Tuesday!

2012-02-07T15:35:00.000-05:00

oops, forgot my Monday post...

okay, so I kinda decided that video-chatting with Superman and comparing ring-tones would be much more educational and beneficial for me.

So if you haven't seen the College for Creative Studies new posters, check them OUT!
Super funny!

It's alright mom and dad, you tried ;)

Progress

2012-02-04T08:47:00.001-05:00

Cell phone photo, but you can still see some of my mock ups! Here are the book covers that are going to be in my show :D I just printed the last one yesterday and it's super cool :) After seeing them on the computer for so long, it's really neat to have it look like a REAL BOOK!

Now I just need to finish my other mock ups and all of the mating/framing that i need to do :/
But it's coming along nicely—and I have wonderful friends and family who help out a lot! Mom is bringing me glass and mat board (because the store here is out of black! And has been for three weeks! RUDE), and Beej is helping me to frame later today so that it won't take me as long :) YAY

God is good, and has blessed me so much :}

ps. Super Awesome Fiancee surprised me and came to visit yesterday, even though he was in a hurry to get from SCS work to SBC work, and I am out of the way :) All because the day before had been yuck for me
Double yay!

Motivational Mondays

2012-01-30T23:59:00.001-05:00

Let's face it, Mondays can be hard for everyone. So I am going to try and post some of my personal motivation on those days when any form of motivation is hard to come by (which of course, means I have to find it every week, lol). It's basically a sick, twisted, wonderfully sneaky plan that I have devised against myself. We'll see if I win or not...

For this week, here's a poster design I found—it's a series (this being the second) that is pretty witty. Though I don't agree with every statement entirely, I found it pretty humorous :)

From Illustration To Cover

2012-01-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the book cover that I've been working on (title/author is a real book that I borrowed for my idea—I thought her title was hilarious). There are still a few color things that I might change—specifically with the author's name, I have been going back and forth with what color to make that stripe...

Anyway, this piece will be featured in my senior show! YAY
But because I"m having a senior show... I need to get back to work... NOW!

Sneak Peek

2012-01-20T23:58:00.001-05:00

Here's a sneak peek at a book cover design that I'm working on :)

It's for a devotional book lamenting the struggles of living up to the standards of a Proverbs 31 ideal.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the "Proverbs 31" concept at all—I'm not exactly a feminist I confess—but, let's face it girls, it's a hard standard to live up to. Even harder if we get mixed up in "the world's" standards and forget about what's really important: Following God fully.

Feedback welcome—it's an ink illustration that I painted in a water-color style after scanning it into the computer.

More Typographic Play

2012-01-19T15:58:00.001-05:00

After posting my potential Tshirt design for the Arborshire, I was asked to draw up something similar for SBC if the school ended up going with a different design. Unfortunately, I have no idea if the admissions team will select my design, and I will not find out until the end of the month—if then. So I started to play in a different way to at least keep the juices flowing :)

I saw a different type style while researching and thought I would run with it. Here's the result:

I like it, but mostly because I had fun with it—especially adding "Fred the Buoy" and the A-frame into the mix! :)

Even if 'the boss' does not want to use this design, I should be able to use it for my Advanced portfolio, so I don't regret the time spent in the least!

Feedback welcome—readability? It's always hard for me to know for sure sometimes. After all, I should be able to read my own writing!

The Bride Dreams

2012-01-18T16:50:00.001-05:00

You know how when something new, big, exciting, and a little terrifying is coming up, and you start to have dreams about it?
Well, let the wedding nightmares begin!

My first wedding nightmare:
A few weeks ago I had a dream that I was back on the beach again with my ADC campers. I remember thinking: "okay, the wedding is at 2 o'clock, so I'll have to be ready by then!"
Of course, I'm decked out in the lovely box-cut t-shirts, athletic shorts, messy ponytail and bad tan-lines of a camp counselor. Oddly enough, this didn't phase me until I got a phone call from Todd.
He asked me where I was and if I was ready!
What?! 2:00!! ALREADY?!?
Abandoning my precious campers, I made my way to the gym where, apparently, the wedding was supposed to be held. I started to get upset because I had not been able to design my invitations or pick out a dress or decorate or anything! But lo-and-behold, my two bridesmaids (who I can't remember) had picked up a dress for me on their way over. The dress itself was awful, didn't fit at all, but I couldn't tell them that I hated it! And to top it off: I smelled like the lake and sweat, I wasn't wearing any make-up, I had abandoned my campers who were all doubtless drowning in the lake, and I had not had any part in the fun of planning my own wedding! Waah! The last thing I remember was sobbing into the shoulder of my poor Todd.
It was a relief that I woke up shortly after this disaster.

Next!
I had this dream right after the day I skipped shaving my legs—something I will doubtless not do again for a long time.
I was at the church (the real location of our wedding), getting ready in the ladies' bathroom with my bridesmaids. This was shortly after I had purchased my dress and set up the appointment to have it altered to fit me, so in my dream, the dress still didn't fit. It was much too large, and I kept tripping over it as I struggled to keep the massive folds of fabric on my body! I also didn't' have shoes! Where were they? And HORROR OF HORRORS, I looked down to see that not only were my feet shoe-less, it appeared that I had not shaved my legs in years!
Thus, struggling with so many yards of fabric that my dress was draped over my shoulder ("toga" style, of course), I was trying to shave my hairy-man-legs with a pink razor in the sink of the ladies' bathroom at my church—all of this, just moments before I was supposed to walk down the isle!

Last Week:
At one point this past week, I had a dream that I needed to look through the formal dresses in the basement for a dress that I could wear to the wedding. My sister was with me, and as we tried to get to the back of the room, we were halted by giant spider webs! I'm not very fond of spiders, but when conscious, I can get past my fear. Not so in dreams! I can't STAND them in my dreams.
And of course, I can't seem to kill a dream-spider, so they continue to haunt me until I wake. These spiders were a little different. Looking up at the horrid beast as I reached for some of the dresses, I noticed that this particular web was created by a Lego-turtle-spider. Yep. A turtle, made of Legos, that was actually a spider, spinning a web.
My wedding was over—I had Lego-turtle-spiders haunting me and I didn't have anything to wear. Thankfully, I soon woke up and realized how silly I am.

Hardwork, Paying Off

2012-01-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

Here is a grouped project that I did last semester—and probably my largest success, outside of a brochure that I made for a bank that locks! :)
After my professors saw it, one of them told me that if I had entered the version with the woman on the cover, it would have deserved first place in the end of semester show!
Wow, I'm not sure if it would have, but I'm glad that they like it as much as I do :)

The idea behind these (fictional) books is that one is marketed towards male audiences, and the other towards female audiences. The type of book is similar to a Les&Leslie Parrott (not exactly in the "marriage" field, though it could cross over), or an John&Staci Eldredge style.

The book for females:

And the book for males:

I'm pretty happy with them, and very excited that they were received so well by my professors. I wasn't finished in time to put them into the end of semester show, but my senior show (hopefully soon!) will feature these two pieces. The book publishing logo is also mine.

Also, something funny—I like to put little hints towards my personal hobbies in my designs, see if you can find a clue to one of my favorite books in this design... :)

Feedback?

Tshirt Design '12

2012-01-07T20:31:00.001-05:00

I got an Email the other day about a Tshirt design contest at the Arborshire. After glancing through it I decided that I didn't have time and would pass on this project.

Ten minutes later I had this design sketched up:

Hah, go figure.
I have a lot of work to do on it yet—finishing up the edges, making sure it's legible, and ... yeah, just finishing it. It would go on a colored shirt and the lettering would probably be in color too, though that's largely up to the school staff. Still some work to do—I'd love some feedback!

CRITIQUE MY PIECE!
Thanks :)

"I Try To Be Good Enough..."

2012-01-07T17:45:00.001-05:00

This past semester was really rough, and in case you didn't realize it at the time, you can take a look back at my blog posts—all... what? 3 of them? Yeah, didn't even have time to THINK about posting until the semester was over.

But regardless of the stress that has attacked my face with it's favorite weapon: acne; and took so much of my time that I lost weight, and basically made me realize that sometimes, you can't read all of the material or do everything that anyone asks you to do (*pause for deep breath*), it ended very well and all of the hard work really paid off. Despite the good ending, I am not ready to start this again.

I'd rather plan my wedding and do other fun, girly things!

Anyway, it was a rough few months (until December, which was GREAT), and this song (and one other that I will share later) seemed to pop on the radio whenever I was having one of my "how on earth am I going to do all of this??" panic moments. A great reminder that I am not on my own.

Hope you enjoy it, I sure did :)

A Day of Days

2012-01-06T00:15:00.001-05:00

It's been one of those days.
Those crazy ones.
The ones that make me wonder why I am still up at this hour, writing a blog post when I should be very much in bed.

A Recovery Day:
Mom, Connor and I have been sick this week and we're all finally well enough to move around like normal people! Which is good :)

A Girly Day:
Today (due to the recent recovery), Mom and I went and bought my wedding dress! Super exciting? Um, YES! We also set up the date for the fitting, and took care of a few other small wedding-like things :)
The worst part about this fact, is that I can't tell the attractive young man about the dress... which I didn't realize would be this hard! Though... I confess, I have told him a little (it's white, it will fit after it is taken in, I will wear it at our wedding, ect).
Ah well, at least "Pick and Buy Wedding Dress" can be checked off the daunting list of wedding to-dos.

An Organizing Day:
Now that I am feeling well, I have begun to organize and straighten my own thoughts—make a check list for the wedding, figure out lab aid stuff for the other student workers, and start to organize one for my January jobs at the school, not to mention brainstorm portfolio pieces for the upcoming semester...
Which brings me to the next day within my day:

A STRESSFUL Day:
I realized how much I have to do this month. Wow, I am not sure how it is all going to get done! And after a last minute turn of events, I am headed back to the Arborshire tomorrow, and have to pack up my stuff, go buy groceries and try not to panic about everything I need to do!
Oye

A Thankful Day:
Despite all of this craziness, both wedding related and non, I have been blessed with some really wonderful people. I love that my mom will listen and work with me as I plan out my "to-dos" for the next week or so. I am so thankful for how my siblings can make me LAUGH, and can lighten up my mood after a stressful day/moment. And I cannot help but love Todd all the more when I can start to explain a "to-do" that is stressing me out (especially wedding wise), and he finishes the sentence and makes it seem so much easier than the entire issue was a few moments before.
He's also great at reminding me that I don't have to make everybody else happy, and in the end, pointing me back to the focus of our lives: God.

It's been a crazy day, but a good day. Doubtless, more adventures tomorrow—good night!

Sister Brag

2012-01-05T23:41:00.000-05:00

So you all should listen to my sister plaaay!
She's been working on my old guitar for the past few years and making it sing in ways that my pathetic "talents" could never dream of reaching. I'm super proud of her :)
She's really been getting into the finger style, and has impressed us yet again. After some commencement lessons with our old youth pastor, she's been teaching herself through books and random youtube videos!

How awesome is she??

Anyway, you should go to her site and listen to her awesome-ness: iSisi
And she's cute too :)

Sisi and me this summer at the village (photo credit: Mom)

Stumped Designer

2012-01-04T22:31:00.001-05:00

Guess what? I get to design MY OWN wedding invitations!!
How exciting is that?! And, an additional dash of awesome, I have the chance to design something that can be exactly the way I want it (after passing it by my toughest critic / best encouragement / fiancee, Todd, of course). Also, it will be a chance for me to basically advertise my work while being totally functional at the same time!
And really, what girl doesn't dream of designing their wedding invitations before Mr. Right decides to get on his knee??
...
just me? Okay then...
Despite this excitement, I am stumped! There are a lot of designs that I like, but... I haven't exactly found/ thought of something that really excites me. Hopefully soon. I've drawn up some ideas, but they just aren't right—maybe for someone else's wedding, but not for a designer/ illustrator! :) So far, nothing quite fits my style or ... yeah, nothing quite works yet. Go FIGURE, I'm a graphic design student who can't design her own wedding invitations! I am a very frustrating client I must admit.

But hopefully I'll have something to share soon. At least an idea :) Until then, I'll just play around I guess!

(oh, and i didn't really plan out my invitations that early—but I will admit that it was one of the first aspects of planning that I grew excited about!)

Thank You Chocolate

2012-01-03T22:42:00.001-05:00

A good piece of Chocolate has about 200 calories. As I enjoy two servings per day, and a few more on weekends, I consume about 3,500 calories of chocolate in a week, which equals one pound of weight per week.
Therefore, in the past 3 1/2 years, I have had a Chocolate calorie intake of 180 pounds. Considering my current weight is less than 180, I would have wasted away several months ago.

I owe my life to Chocolate.

(unfortunately I cannot take credit for this wonderfully witty essay—my roommate sent it to me and I only tweaked part of it)

SBC Christmas

2011-12-19T17:36:00.001-05:00

Photo credit: JenJen

We have some non-costume pictures of us as an engaged couple now! Our friend Jen took some pictures of us by the tree at the summer staff Christmas party this past weekend (thanks dear). It was a great time overall. Some of us came the day before and spent the night—that was a blast! We ate food (lots and lots), hung out by the fire, swapped stories, laughed (lots and lots), ate more food (seriously, tons of food), stayed up too late, took random naps (just because we could), played games in the gym, and then attended the dinner party on Sunday night.
It was great! And of course, spending time with my special Mr was wonderful. Even without the snow, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Photo credit: Emily (?)

Typography_Isaiah 40:3

2011-12-15T22:59:00.000-05:00

I did end up entering this piece into the show, however, it did not make it :(
My professors really liked this piece, though, I confess, I feel as though it was not pushed far enough. I am, however, glad to accept it as "done" and move onto more pieces!

I will probably make more prints of this piece, because it has already received some good response.
Feedback welcome!

Brawn: Skinny Man's Guide

2011-12-15T22:40:00.001-05:00

Here is my graphic illustration / info-graphic from advanced GD this semester. My brother served as a model for the piece, and helped to provide the information, which was very nice. :)

Anywho, after I made this piece, I was not exactly thrilled with the result—but my professors seem to like it, so that's good! I was originally going to submit it into the show, but then decided against it at the last minute.

Alla Prima, Painting Final

2011-12-12T22:35:00.001-05:00

Here's my final painting for the semester (taken with my phone, sorry for the poor quality (again...)

We came to class today with our canvas already stretched over the weekend, and when she let us into the room, we had to pick a still life out of the 5 or 6 she had set up, make 5 thumb-nail sketches, a value sketch, a sketch on the canvas and then paint, paint, PAINT.
All in three hours.
Oye.

Well, based on the short amount of time, I'm pretty happy with this piece! I think I like it better than most of my other paintings this semester, haha
I have some things to fix, but once it's a little more dry I can do that rather quickly. I need to add more shadows, add some of the blues to the other side of the canvas a little (in the shadow of the fabric), pull the foreground up in value, and get the hues within the different fruit to differentiate more.
Feedback welcome!

My Ring

2011-12-12T13:18:00.003-05:00

I finally got my camera back, and now I have pictures of the ring for all of you :)

I love, love, love it

It adds something girly to my man-ish hands! haha I'm still surprised when I look down and see it. And I'm caught staring at it, or squealing "ah!" as I think about the fact that this actually happened!
I'm SO excited! I'm going to marry my best friend!

Ahhh!

Going To The Chapel

2011-12-11T21:14:00.004-05:00

My last post (the day I posted about spotted beards and Christmas candy) was the day before one of the very best days in the history of best days...

But I didn't know it at the time.
Or the next morning for that matter.
I had no idea that I was about to become one of the most excited girls ever.

I was volunteering at Somerset Beach Campground's Live Nativity in the evening with some great friends and co-workers—and, of course, my Superman :) The Live Nativity is great, I look forward to it—but it is COLD! We bundle up so much that we resemble marshmallows in our lovely Bible-time costumes. Usually when Todd and I are back at Somerset, we'll go for a walk before actually leaving the Campground. It's nice, we get a chance to catch up on the week, and remember some of the crazy things that have happened to us at camp. So we went for our walk, and it was great as always. After making our loop around the West campground, we walked back to the parking lot—but instead of walking back to the car, we went to the beach instead. (I am still surprised that I did not catch on to that...) Anyway, we walked up to the beach and saw a swing hanging from the tree by the boat house!

Now, some background: Before we were dating (and some after), we would talk on the swings a lot—and once we were swinging rather late in the evening and were picked on by the other counselors. And "teenagers staying out late on the swings" were mentioned a few days later in our security meeting (not about us specifically, but I still turned a few shades of pink).

But because of that, "swings" is one of our little inside jokes, and we had actually just been talking about that meeting and remembered how embarrassed I was. Thus, a swing that neither of us had ever seen before was kind of a huge deal, and we started taking turns on it. It was great!
After trying out the swing, Todd gave me a bag of Dove chocolate—similar to the one he gave me before we were dating—the week I had my Senior Teen girls—(that had confused me greatly the whole week, because I already had a huge crush on him, but of course didn't think he was interested). Then Todd encouraged me to get back onto the swing, and he stood behind me as we talked and I went back and forth.

I distinctly remember noticing that he wasn't saying much anymore. But apparently I just like the sound of my own voice, because it didn't phase me at all, and I kept talking, assuming that he would pipe in when he was done with his own thoughts. And he did... kinda. After a moment, Todd called my name and upon turning around I found my favorite young man on one knee, with a small white ring box in his hand.
I'm not sure how I got off the swing, but the next thing I remember, I was standing in front of him—completely in shock, trying to figure out what was going on. He asked me to marry him and I clasped my mitten-ed hands over my face and said "ohmygosh" a few dozen times before I was finally able to give him a resounding "yes!" and buried my face in his shoulder. He laughed at me :)

Best night ever?
Yes

Swing, Chocolate, Superman, Promise.
Yeah, it was perfect :)

But of course, it wouldn't do to have everything happen without a single snag! That's just not how we do things. This is the only picture of us that we have from that night, because Todd's camera battery was frozen and I had lent mine out to a friend for the week.
So here we are, just hours before our engagement, in our ridiculous costumes.

I may be a little bias, but I think we make a cute pair, don't you? ;)

You can see pictures of the ring here: RING

Candy Canes and No-Shave

2011-12-01T09:38:00.000-05:00

YAY! First candy cane of the season :D
I am very much enjoying it, and very much ready for Christmas.

Another, less recognized holiday is being celebrated today. No-shave November is officially over and it is that wonderful time of year when all the men in your life begin to look well groomed once again! Yay! (just kidding guys... mostly...)
I really don't have anything against beards, and I even think it looks really good on some people—but keep it TIDY! And if it's patchy...? After a month or so of being surrounded by gnarly, unkept, babe-repellent beards, I'm looking forward to seeing the clean shaves! haha

Painted Glass

2011-11-30T20:46:00.000-05:00

A post to mark my recent progress on my almost final painting of the semester.
It's a "blow-up" project, and I am painting my pearl necklace, a glass candle holder and two scarfs.
Pardon the horrid image, it's a camera-phone shot...
Still have plenty to do—just finished a major layer on the glass though so I was pretty excited!
Feedback is welcome as always, and almost required :) Help me to finish this and make it a "winner"!

Incorporating Some Illustrations

2011-11-18T13:29:00.000-05:00

Here is a poster design that I just "finished". Though it would be safe to incorporate Leonardo's quote, that art is never finished, it is simply abandoned. I'm not happy with this piece at all, and I'm not sure if that is because I am so sick of it, or if it really is as horrid as I think it is!
But it's done. A true event, and a drawing that I put into the computer after doing it in chalk pastels (borrowed from the lovely Beej—aka, best bud of art department). The illustration is inspired from Bob Ziering and some of his pen work.
Really struggling with the placement of the date—will hopefully find a new solution soon, but for right now, I'm done!

Thoughts?

.

Being Held Together

2011-11-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

In this video, Louie Giglio, spoke on the wonders of God, showing how small and insignificant we truly are as human beings. After comparing the earth to a golf ball, and giving examples from our world today to show the size of the stars that the majority of us are not even aware of, Giglio went on to share how truly amazing it is that a God so powerful would make each of us specifically, and would carry us through the trials of life. The same God who created the vastly powerful stars, so much bigger than we are even able to understand, also created the smallest cell in our bodies, and the atoms that make up those cells. Louie Giglio ended by sharing the awesome representation of God’s love for us in the Laminin protein cells(image below)—the powerhouse cell that holds our bodies together—that forms the shape of a cross; a sign that could not be clearer to Christians if it had been in the shape of a heart.
I have seen part of this video before, but I was energized by the opportunity to see the entire speech. I am continually struck by the vast size of the planets. I cannot even imagine something as large as the sun, but the fact that our sun is so small in comparison to some of the smaller stars is mind blowing. When I think about such size, I can only relate it to how I feel when I look down from a high building. I am small, I am insignificant, and I am so thankful that God is in control. I cannot help but wonder at the contrast—that a God who created stars that are too large for me to even comprehend, is the very same God that took care of every minute detail of the human body and existence here on Earth. The Laminin is simply the icing on the cake. For the past several years, I have considered cloud formations and beautiful color in the sky to be a special “love note” or sorts from God—similar to the rainbow—a reminder that He loves me and He takes delight in the things that I love. The Laminin is the same thing for me—if God had written “Katrina, I AM here, I AM holding you”, it could not have been more clear (though it would have been a little more shocking).

Posters for School

2011-11-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

I have been doing work around campus still—here is one of my non-portfolio pieces of the recent variety. Originally I was planning on including this with my portfolio work, but the images weren't exactly quality and making posters in photoshop is entirely too frustrating for my taste (personally).
But here it is—nothing too fancy, and I'm just glad it's done, lol

Feedback welcome as always :)

Moral of the Story

2011-10-19T22:11:00.000-04:00

I am not one to put work off. In fact, I grow anxious if I think that there is any danger of me not making a deadline. I also like free-time, and would rather work hard every weekend in order to enjoy a little bit of freedom each week, than have more freedom mixed with sleepless nights and panic attacks.
Because of this, I am known for getting my work done ahead of time. So I wrote one of my big Core 400 papers on Friday, thinking that I wouldn't have to worry about it this weekend (Fall Break) if I just get it out of the way.

Good plan, right?

Well, you see, the professor is apparently unaware that there are some collage students who do not do their homework the night before it is due (or within hours). And, you see, he hadn't posted all of the criteria for the paper until, well, TODAY.

And after looking it over, I will have to re-write the majority of my paper.
Rats.

So... moral of the story? ...don't plan ahead...?

Oil slick

2011-10-18T22:20:00.000-04:00

Here is my second painting project.
... kind of. My first real project had two paintings with it—but this is my second still life if you don't include the "exercises".
But either way, this is my first semester working with oil paints, and I am extremely green—really having trouble getting the paint to behave the way I want it too (praying that it will come to me eventually! lol)
I'm not completely sold on this piece, but it's better now than it was on Monday night, and I figured I was due a post from this class (more later, I promise). I like the light blub, but I am still struggling with the rest.
Pardon the cell-phone-quality. It is less than ideal, but I didn't really feel like taking my nice camera into a room that drips paint from every crevice.

CD Cover

2011-10-18T20:51:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm trying it again.CD covers.
Wow, I am so bad at them—no matter what I try to do, for some reason I just can't seem to get them to work out...

Ah well, I'm pretty happy with this one—I had a lot of fun with the illustration, and I'm temporarily satisfied with what I have come up with at this point (we'll see how I feel after I am critiqued on it! haha) The artist is real, though the album is fictitious (kind of, I just grabbed one of her songs). She has a more moody, coffee-house type style to her music.
Anyway, I welcome any feedback I can get—help me to improve!

A Dramatic Semester

2011-10-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

I have been hired out to the Communications department here in the Arborshire! Which means that I do the graphic design work for the theater productions that the school puts on :)
Later this month we are putting on the "39 Steps" broadway as a senior show for one of the students here.

This is the design for the poster that I came up with—it will also be seen on the program that I will be creating for them soon. Feedback welcome! It's a different style than what I normally go for, but I like it (well, I used to... now I need a break, lol)

Happy Fall!

2011-09-30T21:26:00.003-04:00

Some girls get flowers from their favorite young men,

Some girls get pretty rhymes about violets,

Still other girls get chocolates in a cute little box.

Just getting one of these things from her favorite Mr,
is enough to put a girl on wings!

Some smart men do these things already,

while taking the opportunity to go a step further once in a while,

(for example:)

To celebrate the first week of fall,

One girl received a bouquet of chocolate awesomeness,

In a vase filled with even more chocolate!

And a cute little note of encouragement

Does he know me or what?

love my Superman :)

Waterslide Event Poster

2011-09-29T20:38:00.002-04:00

Here is my first poster design of the semester! Feedback is MORE than welcome, in fact, it is required :) This piece is headed towards my final portfolio and, hopefully, my senior show! So please be brutal, I really want to improve and finish this piece soon.

Oh, and the background isn't supposed to be that horrid green color—it's really a mid-dark robin's egg blue

Concerns: The heading "Waterslide!", is supposed to be easily seen, but on the distracting background (which is a mid-tone, so doesn't show up as well), I'm afraid that it doesn't have the emphasis it needs.
Also concerned with the information—had fun with it, but is it too distracting?
Feedback please!

Hopefully more work soon :)

Oye

2011-09-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

It looks like it's just going to be one of those semesters.
You know, the one where you go to your first week of classes and you start to think, it's going to be super tough, but I'll probably make it.

And then you remember that you have two more classes that you haven't even been to yet!!! AHH

Anyway, should you think of it, I know one girl who wouldn't mind being lifted in prayer....
*raises hand*

Packing

2011-09-02T11:49:00.000-04:00

Well, I've spent the past week and a half slowly unpacking from camp life, and repacking for school life. Back to the Arborshire on Monday. I can't believe it's here so fast, though technically, the last time I moved in this late on move-in week was my Freshmen year. The past two years have featured an early move in so that I could ~~hang out with friends~~ help the incoming Freshmen move into their new abodes. It's almost poetic how many similarities there are this year with my Freshmen year. I'm finding myself concerned as I move back for the final time. Soon, I will be starting a new adventure, and I have mixed feelings on the entire idea. I have loved school, though the pressure mixed with this upcoming year has me on pins and needles, and the thought of being done is exciting—but still scary! I'm also not in love with the idea of leaving home—more than I have been since my first year. While I would have to find more things to occupy myself if I were to stay home much longer, I love being here with my family and the idea of leaving has left me a little irritated. Being an hour and a half away from the boyfriend doesn't help either :(

I mean, really, how could I be anxious to leave these lovely people?!

But I am going to be living in a house this year, and with some really awesome girls! We already have a lot to be excited about as one of the girls is engaged, and we expect another to be in a short time :) How fun it will be to spend this time with them—to be able to enjoy their company and help them get ready before they start their next adventure.
It will be good, it really will.
I am excited. Just a little nervous. A little extra prayerful.

Thankful

2011-08-25T12:21:00.000-04:00

Saw this quote and it blew my mind:

What if you woke up today, and the only
things you had were the things you thanked
God for yesterday?

wow. Sounds like I need to be more thankful—even for the little things, like fingernails, and clocks that work.

Defeat?

2011-08-23T13:49:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't know, I've been (slowly) working through this Paul study with Beth Moore. I took a break from it to do a study with the counseling staff this summer, but I was so happy to return to it (not that the other was bad by any means). Day 37 really hit me where I needed it—which I think tends to happen when you're working with the God of the Universe!
It was all about failure, revealing how frustrated Paul was after dealing with the Athenians in Acts 17. For people who were so intellectual and seemed so open to new ideas, these people were incredibly closed to the Gospel! While a few men and women were saved, their faith does not seem to be very strong, and Paul never mentions a church being built there—and this was after one of the best salvation messages ever preached! And yet Paul left in frustration.
The next place Paul traveled to was to Corinth. Unlike when he went elsewhere, Paul had a new sense of defeat; a sense of frustration and failure. And yet, the Corinthians responded well, because Paul was humbled anew, and was able to allow God to work through his inability. It says that Paul came to them "with weakness and fear, and with much trembling" (1 Corth 2:2), and God used him even more.

It brings to mind this past summer. Stacy and I had to teach our own lessons, and this is something I was more uncomfortable with than I would like to admit. I was intimidated. I have no teaching experience—other than leading a few Bible studies and counseling the year before—and those I directed towards the individuals, and on what topic I felt they needed to cover. This was entirely different for me. I had a set topic. I had a wide age-group. I had very little self-confidence.
It's hard to try and be a "teacher" when your co-worker actually is a teacher—and a great one at that! But it was great to see God use those times. While I had a few lessons that "flopped", my inadequacy revealed my dependence on God, and He was able to lead me towards lesson plans that I would not have considered within my topic before hand. He revealed new ways to send a message and opened oppertunities during individual times with the campers.

Everytime I said: "I can't, I'm not good enough"
"He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'." (2 Corth 12:9)

Who knows if anything stuck? If they will even remember me?
I sure don't. But I do know that God can use those times when I feel most inadequate to do great things.

Missing Them Already...

2011-08-20T22:19:00.001-04:00

Some pictures I never had a chance to upload. I have a feeling that this will be happening a few times within the next few days—there are just so many good times, and so little patience when it comes to posting, haha! But for tonight, some photos and forgotten quotes.

We painted on the sidewalk outside Home Base with some home-made side walk paint, and yesterday we took pictures under some of the "costumes" that we made. The picture of Lindsay (above) was my personal favorite—ADC campers are so funny!

Some more humor over the past few weeks—this group was only with us for a few days, but we sure had fun! The last day they were here called for some extra silliness. So we stuffed some of our pillows up our shirts and ran around the room for a while :)

Joe brought this AWESOME towel and Alec enjoyed some attention in front of the camera and gave us a few laughs!

Jack was with us the last two days—and he drew this picture for me :) It's of a train and a tree. Oh yes, he is also showing off his favorite face and the ring he got out of the "Pinana".

QUOTES:

Her DID?!? —Tyler

You should have quit while you were still early. —Adam

I'm donna till you! —Tyler

I hav' da black... bu' ith's pur'ple... —Tyler (I have the black... but it's purple...)

Tamanna! —Joe (Banana)

How do ou tike my new cocks? —Tyler (how do you like my new socks?)

They just don't make shovels like they used to... —Jack (super serious and quite sad about the lack of quality found in sand toys!)

Photo Frenzy x2

2011-08-18T21:54:00.000-04:00

Something that has been popular off and on over the past few weeks is minnow catching. Some attempts are more suscessful than others—below is Jackson's take on the sport.

He did not catch a thing, but he sure had fun with it!

Our theme this week is "celebration", and we had 2 pinatas today :) Or as Tyler called them "Pananas" (pronounced like 'banana' with a 'p'), and that is what they have been called ever since he first said it this morning. Pinatas just might always be 'pananas' to me from now on—Mexican or not ;)

We went for a speed-boat ride on Monday! Tyler was super excited and kept talking about the "peed boot" even after we had left it :) Dave, the director, took us on the ride and that was just great. Where else will you have the director of the entire camp take some time out to spin kids around on a boat? And they loved every minute!

We also had a chance to take the kids to the zip line 2 weeks ago and again this week! THEY LOVED IT! haha, but for all the talk and begging that they did before the zip line, I was surprised how SILENT they were on the way down! And most of them had little petrified smiles on their faces (if they even showed that much emotion). Even I screamed the first few times down!
But after all that fun, we had to have a group shot—and their true colors came out again. There is no such thing as a 'normal' photo with these kids :)

More photos later—too tired to edit now...

Trends and Loose Ends

2011-08-18T16:28:00.002-04:00

Wow, only 2 more days of ADC left... I can't believe it.

But, at the same time, I'm ready to be done for a while! I love camp, and I have loved working ADC, but it's time for a break. It's too lonely out here when everyone else is gone...

But something that came to my attention this morning is the movement in trends. I'm sure it's like this at a typical school, but I'm not around that so much and was caught by surprise. The beginning trend was coloring. We had coloring pages and everyone—I mean EVERYONE—did a coloring page each day. That trend soon moved to playing cards, and I have played more rounds of "Go Fish", "Garbage" and "Slap" than I ever care to play again! But they eventually moved past that and Pokemon cards made an appearance. Waa??

Yeah, that was strange. Something that was popular when I was in elementary is now the popular topic of conversation and play for my campers. Strange. (photo above is of some sort of battle / trade involving the cards)
While Pokemon hasn't truly died, it too has been pushed to the side, and fort building has taken it's place. There are numerous forts built every day—and they are starting to bring blankets and beg to use our towels to make bigger and better forts! It's nice that they can entertain themselves (as we begin to feel burnt out), and some of the designs they come up with are pretty creative!
Below is a picture of Noah in his fort from today as well as the large fort that some of the other kids built today.

But we're very much reaching the end. I can already feel myself turn over and begin to think of school. A mixed feeling of dread and excitement. I'm not looking forward to being super busy again (of course, I've been busy all summer, so a break will be very welcome!), and I'm not too thrilled to be returning without some of my dearest friends. After a lonlier summer, the thought of being lonely at school has me crippled. I know I have plenty of friends in Arborshire, but something's still missing.

Wow. Last 2 days.

Birthday Wishes

2011-08-17T19:37:00.001-04:00

My birthday was this week—I turned the "big" 2-1.

It was a very different birthday for me this year—I spent it away from home for the first time, and I found that super weird! I love camp, and the people I work with / the campers, but it was still really strange! It didn't feel like my birthday, even though Tyler was yelling "It's Twina's birf-daa" all through lunch, I was sung too, I even got a cake(!) and my Email was so full of well wishes that I was overwhelmed! But in so many ways, it was a normal camp day—I was usually taken a little by surprise when someone would say "happy birthday" to me! lol But it was really great, and I felt super loved :) Mom came out to camp and took me to dinner, which was awesome. We had a chance to talk just the two of us, and I think I really needed that.

I think my favorite 'gift' was getting to spend the weekend with Todd and my family! I know, it sounds so "cliche" when I say that was the best gift—but it really was! I was so upset when I thought I would have to miss out on that because I was so sick, but thankfully I was feeling just fine by Friday and I got to go! And it was absolutely wonderful! Just to get away from camp and enjoy the company of my favorite people (and eat lots of fudge of course! lol)

Exactly what I wanted for my birthday.

What You Missed

2011-08-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

This past week I was...

Saying "Good Bye"
This past week was the last week with the other counselors. What a bummer! The last over night camp where I would join the counselors and all of their children for games and wagon rides and bonfires. The last week with my summer friends and roommates, the last week living in my cabin. The final time down the slip'n'slide for the year, and the last epic game of Water Rush. The last week of summer before Todd returns to the world of the grown-ups that I am still desperately fighting to avoid... at least until next week...
But that's alright, all good stages must come to an end—and I had every intention of making the most of my last moments with everyone.

Sick
If only my good attitude had prevailed.... instead I experienced fatigue, a sore throat and a serious case of the chills that soon revealed it's true identity. By Tuesday morning I was feeling pretty bad and by that evening it was clear that something was incredibly wrong. I was finally convinced that it was not a small cold that would just leave after an extra nap, and went to visit the nurses. Anne and Sherry looked me over and I was quarantined. Fever of 102* and tonsils the size of my fists meant that I was to spend my evening in the clinic. I had strep.
Awesome.
Well, I wasn't about to spend my hours of confinement alone in the cabin! 1-800-Mommy, and I was soon on my way home—feeling worse than ever. The people of the clinic were EXTREMELY mean, but they have me some meds and I accepted my fate as I shivered off to bed.

Dying
Wednesday morning. I had been on the antibiotic for a while, so I should be getting better, right? Nope. I was so fatigued that it was hard to sit up in bed—in fact, I didn't leave until close to 1:00. I felt a little better and cried all through "Soul Surfer". And then it got really bad. After a super short nap I woke up feeling worse than I had before, and this continued for the rest of the night. Sending down a ball of broken glass each time I swallowed produced tears and frustration while I started to feel dizzy and an upset stomach soon followed.
After emptying what little was residing in my stomach, the fever finally broke and I was able to fall back to sleep—convinced that I should have gone back to the clinic, and determined to visit my own doctor in the morning.

Travling
Turns out I didn't have strep. I didn't have Mono either.
I had some crazy virus that was out to end my life! Only it didn't. It did take me out of Adventure Day Camp for the rest of the week (Wed – Fri), but I was still able to go to Mackinac with my mom's side of the family for the weekend! yay! And Todd was able to come too—yay again!
So we drove all the way to Mackinac on Friday—right after Todd moved out of Somerset—and let me tell you, that car's seats were not designed well. My bottom was quite sore after the drive!
But it was a wonderful weekend—so good to be with my family and Todd. Dad wasn't able to make it because he has a final coming up, so that was upsetting, but I can sympathize with the need to study (and his grades aren't allowed to be lower than mine, so he has a lot to live up to! :P hehe)

Wet
Saturday morning! We wake up, excited with anticipation of the fun ahead on the Island! And then we look outside. It was raining. Supa' hard.
But something like that won't keep my family down! We spent some time together at the shops, at the pool, and even got some board games for the evening. We still had a blast and were able to enjoy each other despite the rain. The rain did end up stopping later in the evening so we had a chance to go outside a little—but the next day on the Island was also tons of fun :)

Back
Now I'm back at camp for my last week. I can't believe in a week ADC '11 will be all memories. I've moved out of the cabin and am now living on the other side of the campground—which is super weird! I've never really been over here, because even when I camp with my family, we're just outside where the cabins are, so that's where I'm most comfortable.
It's a little lonelier now (okay, a lot) without the other counselors. And there isn't much to do in the evenings. It's weird, but at the moment, not all bad. I'm enjoying some rest after a busy day.

Giggles and Bunny Ears

2011-08-03T17:00:00.002-04:00

Silliness.
It's kinda what we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh, and snack too :) Thus, we have some silly face pictures to share (notice that Hope always puts the bunny-ears on her own head *giggle*)

We've had some extra hard laughs this week because Tyler is back! yay—we missed him and Brandon a whole lot, I'm so glad they are back (it's going to be a hard school year without them...). But with some added lisps and bluntness comes some fantastic new quotes!

"I have a fever of 204." —Brandon (said oh-so matter-o-factly)

"If I were a chicken, I would have hached from one of these..." —Devin (holding the 'mistake' egg that was super tiny)

"Whe'... da tign?" —Tyler in his sleep (where's the sign?)

"U twack me up!" —Tyler (and that cracked us up!)

"Jared laughs like a girl indian!" —Hope (waaa?)

And our favorite for the week (thus far)
"Dat tittin tinks. It' dot prayed by a kunk!!" —by the ever famous: TYLER! (Translation= That kitten stinks. It got sprayed by a skunk)

Home Again, Home Again

2011-07-31T00:04:00.000-04:00

Home is a greeting of excitement as you walk in the door.
Home is lounging on the couch with huge pillows on your lap.
Home is evidence of water balloon fights decorating the yard.
Home is teasing and spontaneous poking.
Home is echos of laughter through the halls and off the walls.
Home is walking at the park and sitting on the porch with mom.
Home is an hour long nap... by mistake.
Home is war cries and dodging darts in each and every room.
Home is eating ice cream out of a flowery mug.
Home is relaxing with my family and enjoying their company.

I love being at home. I love how silly my family is.
I love being home.

...did I say that already?

Photo Frenzy!

2011-07-29T11:12:00.000-04:00

Alright! Here are some photos from the past 2 weeks—I have been very bad about taking photos lately, but I'm hoping to make up for that shortly...

Little Courtney before her turn at the carpet ball table—we all played this for a while. I've never quite fallen for the game, but for some reason the boys absolutely LOVE it, and some of my campers have in the past as well. I can do it for a while, but then I always tend to move on...

Emily and Alyssa! Both only here for this week, though Alyssa is trying to come back another day. They were good buddies and had a lot of fun at the beach :)

Noah. Well, our ham hasn't changed a bit—still as goofy as ever :)

Last week Abby was picked to stand up front with Jerry and hold a sign for one of the songs! She did a great job :)

We were also visited by the "Animal Man", who showed us how God provides for the animals by giving them special protection. Marissa loved the snake—Tyler, was less than thrilled.

I personally loved the Chinchilla (spelling??) the best—it was SO precious! Super soft, all of the kids liked this one, even the youngest ones :)
"It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" (if you haven't seen this movie, you're missing out...)

Say Whaa?

2011-07-26T15:33:00.002-04:00

More quotes?!? Yes, there are more, due to the fact that I often forget some qhotes until after I publish the post... more soon I'm sure :) Also included are some photos from this morning / afternoon! Some silly close-ups and a "smiley" one too!

"I DID'TNT EVIN DET TO SWEEP YET!: —Tyler (very angry that he had spent the entirety of his quiet time messing around — he did, however, get a good 15 minutes before we had to wake him up)

Courtney: "Where's Clayton?"
Me: "In the bathroom"
Courtney: "What's he doing in there?"
Me: "What do you think?"
Courtney: *shy smile*
(Pause)
Courtney: "He goes to the bathroom like my daddy..." (What does that even MEAN?!?)

"Will you help me put on my sun cream?" —Makana (sun screen)

Hope: "I read almost the whole Bible last night"
Kyle: "oh wow!" *exchange look of amusement with leaders*
Hope: "Yeah, before bed I read 6 whole pages!"

"I HAVE AN IDEA! Katrina, you should say to Todd, 'You're pretty', and then, he'll look down at himself (*looks down at herself as though to admire herself*) and then you can run past him!! —Abby (her plan for winning the boys v. girls round of Gold Rush)

"Oh, I win-did it" —Tyler (he won?)

Note from Jack::
Stacy and Katrina
Wanna play with me at our house?
That's it.
—Jack

Beach Party Safety

2011-07-25T11:42:00.000-04:00

Our task last night? To throw a beach party.
Our tools? A single hula-hoop and an oar.
What to do... what to do?

First things first: test out the equipment!

And prep for strange situations... whatever they may be...

And of course, we can't just assume that the prizes will be good—we have to take them out for a test drive. For safety purposes. And after testing out the equipment, we decided that it was safe for the kids to participate in the games and win some prizes.

It's all for the kids :)

Playing Hard

2011-07-20T13:33:00.001-04:00

Me: "You're now in jail"

Noah: "Okay... I just need a harmonica and I'm all set"

Mackenzie: "What animal am I? I'm brown and hairy..."

Devin: "A turtle!!" (???)

"Miss Katrina's playing hard to get" —Zachery

"I know how to play Gold Fish!" —Jared (one of our helpers)

"Didn't you notice my shoes?" —Marissa (she was quite insulted that I had forgotten to mention how much I liked them)

"Just so you know, I put some 'Degree' on" —Mariah (which explains the chunks of deodorant all over the changing room floor...)

Jack: "Where's your flower?"
Me: "Over there by the picture I'm coloring"
Jack: "Why isn't it in your hair? Girls always wear flowers in their hair!"

"Hewre Twina, here'sth a fower for yo haiwr" —Tyler (sporting the new additions to my new hair accessories in the photo above—one from T-man and one from Jack)

And just so ya'll know, Tyler can say "slip'n'slide" perfectly! I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed Stacy and I were.

Heat

2011-07-20T07:22:00.000-04:00

You know it's hot when...

- You walk outside and your sunglasses (or camera lens!!!) fogs up due to the change in temperature
- The lake water is no longer refreshing
- The ice cream starts melting before you get it out of the freezer. (yes, I ate an ice cream sandwich w/ plate and fork yesterday)
- Socks and shoes are so uncomfortable that even the most decided flip-flop haters are wearing them
- Nobody complains about how cold the water in the fire-hose is
- Everyone would rather put up with itchy bug bites than put pants on in the evening
- The sand is so hot, a camper cries because they can't make it to the beach and we have to pull out the sprinkler
- The windows to "Home Base" are fogged up (the room that ADC starts/ends in)
- You're online during your morning prep-time in order to find a game to play that won't kill all of the kids because of heat exhaustion
- The wet hayride doesn't sound too bad anymore... even to the counselors!
- You wear 2 or 3 shirts a day because of all the sweating

But I'd rather it be hot than cold!

Under Attack

2011-07-19T13:44:00.000-04:00

I am being hunted.

There is a deerfly that lies in wait for me outside. As soon as I set foot outside the cabin door, I hear his wings beginning to warm up, and I grow uneasy. By the time I'm outside the screen door on the porch, he's in full action. I am constantly dodging barrel roll attacks and nose dives from the offending fly—though that is only the warm up.
I practically expect small explosives to be going off around me as I ward off these attacks with my wash cloth, though he seems to have skipped to biting. Sometimes I even find him waiting for me outside of the Anex, where we hold the day camp. Usually then I am largely defenseless as I speed-walk back to the cabin.

So rude.

Humbled

2011-07-18T10:31:00.002-04:00

Oh these kids, always keeping me humble! Brandon is famous for being quite frank and letting us know how well we look, or how well we do not look, but yesterday after church I was informed of my previous inabilities in the area of polish.
The conversation went something like this:

Girl: "You look familiar"
Me: "Do you recognize me from VBS last week? I handed out your snack every day"
Girl: "Oh... that was you?"
Me: *nod*
Girl: "Oh, you look a lot better now!"
Me: *eyes wide*
Girl: "It's a good thing you put on make-up"
Me: *mouth open*
Girl: "... and deodorant"

Thank you little girl. I'll have you know that I was usually more freshly showered, and deodorant-ed when you saw me in the morning for VBS than I was yesterday morning, but it was still good for a laugh ;) And what can you do after something like that but laugh and share with others how embarrassing your life is? So that's what I'm doing :)

Apparently the square-cut T-shirts aren't a good look for me? Oh well, it's a good thing I'm not here to impress anyone!

Notes From Jack

2011-07-15T16:32:00.000-04:00

Dear Jared & Katrina,

If you don't want me in Adventure Day Camp anymore that's fine, but if you do, tell me. What? You changed your mind? Ugh! I'm gonna kick you out of camp and take you to jail.

Love, Jack

Jared and I got this note from the character above. Life is definitely never boring around here! Haha, and this one had us laughing for quite a while, and it still tickles a little as I read it again.

Love you too Jack :)

"I Tan Heer You"

2011-07-14T13:40:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the more recent quotes from the delightful (though sometimes tiring) world of Adventure Day Camp:

"My sister puts the arm–pit–stuff on" —small girl in the VBS program

"I tan heer you" —Tyler (Heather and I were changing in the girl's changing room that is right next to the boy's. We were talking about something funny that Tyler did earlier and he sternly informed us that he could "heer" what we were saying)

"If you see a crocodile, ask him what his name is and then do this: 'woo-woo-woo', and we'll be right over" —Jack (on the hunt for Nile the Crocodile)

"You know, some guys get tossed into the lake for that" —Jack (just moments after Todd told another kid that "campers have been thrown into the lake for less than that". Way to go Superman)

"What are those dots on your face? (acne) Trina has those too! What are those, Trina?" —Brandon

"Twina and Tacy" —Tyler ("Trina and Stacy")

Doubtless, more quotes will soon be appearing among my other musings. Also being advertised is a picture of me and Superman, courtesy of Mommy (though, right after I got out of the lake might not have been the best timing... lol)

NEW ADDITIONS! (7/15/2011)

"Can you go blow your nose please?" (—Me after Isaac breathed in really hard and revealed his runny nose)
"No. I'm taking it in!" —Isaac

"Thwisby" —Tyler (Frisbee)

"Are you ready to go play bowling?" —Stacy (we hang out with little kids too much... or maybe with Tyler too much ;) )

Napping Again

2011-07-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

*Insert sigh of relief*

Back to a somewhat normal summer routine for us! We still have VBS in the morning, which makes our day both easier and harder. I did not know that was possible before now, but let me tell you: it is! Stacy and I are still running around trying to help everything run smoothly during the VBS itself, and now we have our own kids to keep a second eye on. But it's still good, just mixed around some—swim time is in the afternoon instead of the morning, for example.

We only have 4 kids right now. It's so strange! 1 left during lunch because she had plans with her mom, and just after lunch 2 more left because Bre has a case of pink eye (prayer welcome on this!), so her mom came and took both her and her brother home. Never a dull moment! But I'm glad to be back with my kids again—to be in our little room (sorta), and to be headed towards something closer to what we have been doing. It was nice to have a break and to be with the other staff members more, but I do like what I am doing now.

A definite plus side to the 'normal' routine is that nap time is back! Yay-yay-yay! So now I have some time set aside for me to start posting again :) Here are some pictures from the Family Fun Fair on Saturday. It was a blast and all of the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves.

And of course I had to snag one of Superman and Red Brother (even if it is a bad picture technically / artistically speaking) Sometimes I worry about how well they get along... last Wednesday my fears were realized when Superman helped my family soak me with a handy squirt gun.
Multiple times.
*sigh* I guess I should be used to it by now ;)

I think it's time for MY nap now, hopefully another post tomorrow!

Family Camping

2011-07-10T23:24:00.000-04:00

Family camp is here! Which is why I have had absolutely NO time to post anything, but there will be more soon :)
ADC starts again tomorrow, so this post is going to be extremely short so that I may go to bed at a semi-decent hour tonight. I'm ready to see my kids again, but I'm also very ready for a break. Like, I'm REALLY ready for a break! Whipped out from the past few days of constant activity—but my routine will be back soon! Yay! Things are still a little mixed up because the room that we usually use for ADC is currently being used for a nursery / craft room for the VBS. Talk about confusing! Now we have to jump between hoops and try a different routine until Wednesday. (Oh, and did I mention that Family Camp is Wednesday-to-Wednesday this year? Well, it is, and it's kind of throwing everything off.)

I love family camp. I really do! And I love the fact that I have been able to be with the other staff for a while, but I am stretched much thinner this time around. NO time to check Email or do any planning or do anything other than run from one activity to the next. This is my official apology to those whom I have neglected—I love you, I'm just too crazy right now! Hopefully this weekend <3

The picture is from the Family Fun Fair that we have every year! This time it was in the middle of the week and we had some of the youth pastors get into a dunk tank! So funny—especially when Kevin started reading the newspaper as his youth group tried to hit the target and knock him in. It was priceless fun! I've missed him, so seeing him and his wife Melanie again added some extra fun to the week.

I've also had more time to spend with the dashing Superman, which always adds some fun to my life—thankfully my bosses are wonderful, and scheduled us to work some of the same activities together this week. Yay!

Buddy Check!

2011-07-03T19:21:00.000-04:00

You might not be aware of this, but buddy checks during swim time are serious things around here.
You can only be 'buddies' if you are best friends, and a refusal to be someone's buddy is the highest insult you can produce!
Here are two of my favorite 'buddies'! Tyler and Brandon are buddies each day, though they ask to be buddies each morning. Sometimes, it doesn't go over as well as you would think. Earlier this week, Brandon came to me in pathetic little tears to tell me that he didn't have a buddy, and that Tyler didn't want to talk to him.
Broke my heart!
Of course by the time 10 o'clock rolled around, the two were buddies again as though nothing had happened! Too cute :)
As buddies, they have to grab the other's hand and hold it in the air in an "A" shape until we finish counting the groups. We do this to make sure that we have all of the kids and none of them have drowned. (true story) Here's their buddy-stance for Thursday. Slightly modified during an extra long buddy-check period.

Yes, they were dancing.

Yes, they provided their own music!

Shortly after, Brandon begged to be buried in the sand—which we did, maybe 3 times? That was good for a few more laughs, he's so giggly that it was super hard to burry him!

It was a fun morning at the beach—despite the fact that Ashley found a sandy little hand print on the bottom of my shorts... that was embarrassing, but that's as high as most of them can reach... :/ Hopefully we'll find another solution soon!

Zip Line!

2011-07-01T13:21:00.001-04:00

Guess who got to ride the ZIP LINE!!!
*points to self*
This girl.
(Evan too, but it wasn't his first time...)

Yes, I finally got a chance to ride the zip line—and I also got some training on how to put people on the contraption. Safely, of course.

It was a lot of fun—there was screaming and such from my side, and I wasn't uber excited by the height when I first got up there, but it was a blast!

No pictures of my actual ride—I wasn't about to bring my camera with me (and it probably wouldn't have been allowed), but I'll be adding some pics I took of the (senior teen) campers going down soon.

Yay zip line!

.

"Knac"

2011-06-30T13:47:00.000-04:00

Oh, kids say the best things! When you take the time to enjoy them, it's really entertaining to hear all the things they say—and what they actually say, not just what they mean (though that's important too)!

"Do you remember when you used to call me Brandon?" — Brandon
"Can I have a knac?" —Tyler ("snack". I had no idea what he was talking about! When I finally got it, Stacy and I laughed for a good 5 minutes)
"Your 'rudolph' isn't brown anymore!" —Brandon (Poor Stacy scrapped her nose last week. Brandon noticed that it is healing nicely)
"I'm gonna twickle you!" —Micah
"Bel-bow" —Ben ("elbow")

"Those Poopers!" —Tyler and Brandon (they call the geese 'poopers' because, well, they poop everywhere!)

"Why dows it tay 'no tish watching'? —Tyler (why does it say 'no dish washing')
"I'm trying to get a sun burn!!" —Tyler (he was laying on a beach towel and we told him it looked like he was getting a sun tan—Rose came by and asked what he was doing and this was his response)

ps. photo of me taken by the lovely Emily before I got to ride the ZIP LINE for the first time!

Smile. I Dare You.

2011-06-30T13:36:00.000-04:00

It’s just been one of those days.

There are tons of people at the campground—which is fine, really, it’s only a sneak peak into what Family Camp will be shortly—but the level of rude that people can reach has surprised me today.

Maybe I’m more sensitive to it today? I don’t know. But I was struck by how impatient everyone was in the bathroom this morning—so short tempered and offended that the paper-towel dispenser that they were banging on had quit working, so angry that they had forgotten their soap, and appalled at the sight of a handicap shower.

You might not have known this, but people who are physically handicapped don’t shower. Yeah, it was news to me too. Needless to day, it wasn't too much fun getting ready this morning... especially in my staff shirt.

It didn’t stop there. At 9:00 and we only had about 9 kids. Awesome! A super manageable size, but we can still do a lot of fun things! And then 9:45 rolled around, and in the middle of our morning routine, 6 kids walked in. Oh, and I forgot to mention: drop off time ends at 9. Coming in 45 minutes late, and ‘mom’ was not too thrilled with me. Apparently we charge too much?

Ugh, but despite that, it's been a pretty fun day. Super hot outside, (FINALLY!) and some fun activities at the horse ranch planned for this afternoon. Should be great :)

Go-Go-Go!

2011-06-28T13:46:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday we had 18 kids.
Yes. 18.
Remember when we were worried that we would get any campers? Well, that feeling has long since passed. Today we have 22 kids, most are around the ages of 6 and 8.
It's been a blast, but it can completely wear us out. On top of that, I'm still recovering from the cold I had this past weekend—which has left a cough and a runny nose to keep me company :( Hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon!

I'm taking pictures for the senior teen campers this week too, so I've been plenty busy in the evenings! I want to be involved in the over night camps, but that leaves little rest time for me after a full day with the day campers. And most of my quiet time is spent trying to sort through the pictures and edit those that I do have... which I have been behind in lately... oops! But it's worth it—I've also had a chance to see some of my girls from last year! And that was super exciting :]

But now I'm tired. Hopefully more later, but with only a few minutes left in quiet time, I need some rest!

Adventure Day Camp—Week 2

2011-06-24T21:48:00.000-04:00

Look at these silly boys! We had a blast with them (though still dealing with some bad attitude issues from the little man in the hat...). But we love the hay rides! Hopefully we'll have more kids on the next one though, because without the weight to hold it down, this one became VERY bumpy!

And how can you not fall in love with this face? Isn't he darling? :) Unfortunately he got sick yesterday and had to go home early. And I'm blaming him for my current state.

More time at the beach this week! They made some epic sand castles—the one above had the largest 'moat' of them all! It was pretty intense, and she was very proud :)

And my lovely co-workers :) I love getting to spend time with them every day.

Tag games!

Sick and Random

2011-06-24T16:27:00.001-04:00

Really?
It's the end of June and I am stuck in bed with a cold. Runny nose, congestion and fatigue.
This is not how counseling is supposed to go.

And just as a warning, my thoughts are so scattered right now that I can hardly stick to one topic for very long, so this post is probably going to jump around a whole lot!

Not doing so hot on the sleeping thing. I've been able to dose quite a bit, but only one real nap. Although, it was so heavy, that my spinal cord felt fused into place when I woke up. I just remember laying there wondering if I would be able to move at all. And realizing how much I had to go to the bathroom!
Wow, you don't realize what a blessing indoor plumbing is until you're sick and have to walk a block in order to use the bathroom or to get a drink of water! And to top it off, it's a big weekend here at the campground, and there are people EVERYWHERE. Because, you know, that's what I want to do when I'm sick, walk past tons of people—feeling and looking as bad as I do—trying to get to the bathroom before I a) explode, or b) get too tired and have to sit down and rest.

But during one of my ventures out, my ADC campers went by on their friday hay ride! I had mixed feelings, because again, I didn't really want to be seen—but they all yelled and waved to me and I felt so loved afterwards! And they don't care what I look like anyway :) It was nice to hear the "hello"s and "I love you"s and the screams of "Mother Dearest!" haha
I just wish I felt well enough to be with them... I've missed them a lot these past two days!

And I got a text that some of the other counselors had a chance to try out the zip-line today! I turned green. It could have been because I'm sick, but I'm pretty sure it was due to some untimely envy. Not that I would have been able to go anyway—because I would have been with my ADCs—but it's another reminder of what I'm missing today.

Being sick is so not fun.

Later...
You know, it's so great when you have people in your life who will put up with the fact that you're sick, who still like to be around you, will give your germ-y persona a hug, and can really make you laugh. And laugh hard, despite the fact that you've felt more like crying all day. And you know you're blessed when one of those people is your handsome boyfriend.
Thanks Superman, I appreciate you more than I can say—now go sanitize! :P

The Boss

2011-06-23T15:06:00.000-04:00

I bet you wish your boss was as cool and sophisticated as mine.
All-staff softball game was this week, hopefully more pictures shortly :)

Ouch

2011-06-22T14:02:00.000-04:00

So this is what Brian did to me. Don't give your friends hugs people! They'll betray you, and then trip on the sidewalk.

Chalk and Nikie Names

2011-06-21T14:15:00.000-04:00

Our theme this week is "Growth". So we went outside yesterday (during the few moments that it wasn't raining) and drew things that grow on the sidewalk!

Hoping to incorporate some home-made sidewalk paint within the next few weeks, but we'll see how that goes. Anywho, here are some photos that I snapped during that time.

Also to share: some newly acquired nick names! Compliments of Head Lifeguard (Nikie)

For the 3 leaders of the Adventure day camps:

Becca — Boss Lady

Stacy — The Teacher

Katrina — Mother Dearest

Theme Verse: 2 Peter 3:18, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ"

Relays Gone Rogue

2011-06-21T13:57:00.000-04:00

While planning our schedule last week, we were informed that the beloved 'swim time' was not going to be available for Monday. Not that we're really attached to the 10am swim routine, but we were informed that we couldn't go on the water at all on Monday—not morning or afternoon, for either swimming or boats.
Not okay!
The campers love being in the water, and as a campground, that's one of the biggest perks that we have to offer to them—not to mention, it's pretty easy on us to just play around in the water, or to sit on the beach and keep an eye on them.
But we planned some water relay games to do instead. We figured that they would still be getting wet that way, and it could be fun—right? I think the Becca and Stacy joined me in being a little unsure about the activity. Not that it wouldn't be any fun, but that it wouldn't quite measure up to the fun of the beach and sand. And did I mention that it was overcast and gross outside? Cuz it was overcast and gross outside.

But oh! We had an absolute BLAST! We started out with the relays, and though we had about 6 planned, we only did the first 3 and a water ballon toss before ambushing them with water balloons and sponges filled with water. It was the most fun I have had in a while! Dripping wet and screaming, we ran around the field, dodged between picnic tables, and tried to get everyone else as wet as we were! SO much better than the lake!

I don't have any pictures of the fight, because I was quite busy getting my campers wet and trying not to get hit by another bucket of cold water—but I will add some photos of my war wounds soon. While giving a hug to a dry friend (who dumped a bucket of water on me!), we tripped and fell on the cement. We weren't hurt very badly, but I've got a few scrapes to show off now :)

Oh, how I love counseling!

Quotation Marks

2011-06-20T08:15:00.000-04:00

m Oh, how I love working with kids—they say the best things! haha
Here are some of my favorites from week 1 and 2, hopefully more to come :)

Week 1
"Rubbish" — Adam
"I'm allergic to girls" —Jack
"We used the other-different-kind-of-baby-turtle-food" —Brandon
"It's not the 'Amazing Race', it's the 'Handsome Race for all Super Heros and Princesses'" —Jack
"We hugged for longer than 7 seconds, that means it was a real hug" —Allison (which explains the death-grip around my neck...)
"You dot to be tidding me" —Tyler ('you've got to be kidding me')
"Baa" —Ben ('bye', said like he's from the deep south)

Week 2
"Why can't you talk right?" (Brandon to Tyler, who doesn't say his 's's)
"Are diamonds poisonous?" —Tyler
"I'm dur-ty, I nee a dink" —Tyler (no, not 'dirty', but 'thirsty')
"Is this for fake?" —Brandon
"I'm going to wear my cow girl clothes every Thursday..." —Lindsay
"Reach for the sky" —Jack

There were so many more, but my lack of preparation caused me to slide on the whole "write it down so you remember" thing, so this is all I have right now

"Rubbish"

2011-06-17T11:18:00.000-04:00

Well, yesterday was Day 4 and we had 4 campers.
Today we have officially reached the esteemed Day 5 and were joined by 5 campers!
This has been great so far God, but don't get too carried away now...
But it's been great—we're working with our own schedule, so the great thing is that we can spend more time on what they love (or need, like nap time), or we can spend less time on something that they don't have as much fun with (or we don't have enough people for...). And in the end, it's just really neat to be in this position! I could live without the 6am wake up, but the quiet time in the morning is kinda nice.

T-man—shown in the bottom picture with the shell he found—is learning to say "please" and "thank you" this week. He's getting pretty good at it :)

Our most loyal camper's favorite word is "rubbish". Everything is either "rubbish", or "better than that other rubbish". Haha, it's pretty funny. And we're breaking through to him—he was refusing to admit that he was having fun (responded to everything with "eh" when not using "rubbish"), but yesterday we caught him saying "yay" about our next activity! hahaha, victory is sweet! He also started reading the Bible we gave him‚ which is really exciting! Praying that it continues :)

Our theme this week is "Treasure", with the theme verse being Matthew 6:21 — "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". So we have spent plenty of time finding God's treasure—both in nature and with the people that we meet—and we are seeking after His treasure by treating His creation well.

The other counselors are finally back—I'm so glad! Even though we don't get to see them very much, it's nice to know that they are there, and to at least see them at dinner again.

Three for Three

2011-06-15T13:45:00.000-04:00

Today started off rather slow—but a slow pace that I needed. The majority of the drop off time was spent without any kids, though towards the end I started to fear that we wouldn't have any!
Day 3 brings 3 kids (if this pattern continues, we shall soon be too full to function!).
And despite the cold, we have been able to have some fun today. We built sand castles on the beach and played some on the playground before roasting hot dogs over a fire for our "fun" lunch of the week.
We're currently enjoying some down time—though it is becoming clear that the personal quiet time (PQT) is more for the counselors than the kids. Oh well, we'll stick with the theory that it's good for them! haha

One of the funniest things of today happened right when we got to the beach. Head Lifeguard proudly displayed all 700 layers of long sleeved shirts, her pants and her hat and informed us that she was still cold. Once we got onto the beach, the oldest boy, Adam, requested to take the swim test that would allow him to swim in the "shark" zone (deeper water). He hasn't been interested the past few days, but he really wanted to this time.

Nikie looked at him in stunned disbelief. In order to give him the test, she would have to go into the water herself—something she had no desire (or intention) of doing. The rest of us busted up laughing while poor Adam was entirely lost and Head Lifeguard sputtered her refusal.

It was super funny

Camp Surprises

2011-06-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a crazy few days. I don't even know where to begin. As of Saturday (i.e. day before I move in / day of brother's party), I was switched to a slightly different position at camp. Instead of being the traditional counselor, I am now co-directing the new program: the all summer day camp.

Oye.

So now my responsibilities have doubled as I not only have to care for the children, their needs and interests while they are here, but I am also coming up with lesson plans, creating a schedule for each day, back up plans in case of rain or other set backs (more on that soon), communicating our plans and needs to the other staff members, themes for each week, and take home material for the parents (thankfully with the help of 2 other people—soon to be reduced however...). Needless to say, it's been a rather prayer-full last few days.

Very dependent on God.

Very experimental.

Very on our toes.

Very tired.

We came up with the majority of this week's schedule on Sunday night—it was the first time that all 3 of us had a chance to get together with our bosses and talk over our plans (and fill me in on what was going on!). We expected about 4 kids the first day—not bad, we could start off easy and get into the grove of things. Small, but totally do-able.

Monday morning came—pick up time is from 7-9, and by 7:30 we had our first child! Yay! Filled with excitement, some nerves and anticipation, we eagerly awaited the other children.

All of whom didn't show up.

Oye.

So we had a very different kind of day, but it went well overall. We were able to delight in him and get used to our new schedule.

Today we doubled our number of campers: A grand total of two.

More fun, but now getting kinda discouraged... but it will get better when more of the schools are out—we are expecting quite a few more in two weeks if not before then.

Only expecting two again tomorrow, and rain. Well, pray for some creativity this week as we strive to show them how fun camp is despite some limitations :)

(oh, and I'm leading the lesson / "story time" tomorrow—extra prayer towards that would be much appreciated. Pre-planned teaching isn't exactly a talent that I have really worked towards...)

No Stopping This Party

2011-06-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was Blond Brother's Grad party, and to say the least, this place was pretty crazy! I have never seen so many people try to smush themselves into our tiny backyard. At one point I was quite literally stuck! I had no room to move out of the walkway that I had inconveniently placed myself in!
Oh my.
But it was a lot of fun—great to see so many people that I love and care about, and so great to see my brother supported so much :)

Love you bud!

Shipshe, Italy, Parties and Camp

2011-06-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

Oh my, it has been quite a week.
The annual girls trip to Shipshewana was this week, so Grandma, Mom, Sister and I packed up the car and met one of our Aunts and Cousins in Shipshe for Monday and Tuesday. It was great to hang out with all of them, and to just share stories and laugh together! But it was HOT.
I mean, smoking hot.
The first day we spent largely in the air conditioned shops around town, in the fabulous restaurants (yay Amish food!), and in our hotel room. But the second day was spent at the flea market, and we cooked.
Really.
It was 97* when we got back into the car.
But it was fun anyway—we always get a good laugh over some of the things around the flea market, but the strangest thing we saw this time was people walking around with bundles of sticks. Tons of people walking around the flea market with their little bundles of sticks. Why? We haven't the slightest idea! It was buzzar. We're starting to get used to the little unbrella-hats, the Asian dollar–store booths full of junk, and the ... interesting clothing selections available. But the sticks are beyond me.
As soon we came back, I was greeted by the lovely Hillary! She was in Italy for a while and stayed with us for a few nights until her parents were able to come pick her up. So that was great, we were able to catch up nicely :)
But no rest for long! We are getting ready for Blond Brother's graduation on Saturday. LOTS of cleaning to do for that. And I leave for SBC on Sunday, so I need to start packing if I'm going to spend all of Saturday hosting.

This is one of those times when I wish I was the type of person who could pack quickly instead of needing to think everything through 10,000 times.

He's a Wit

2011-06-03T16:09:00.000-04:00

I spent quite a bit of Tuesday evening in deep thought. I really have been blessed in so many ways, but there is always a time when the reality of money (or lack-thereof) will cause me to muse—and not necessarily in a good way. The frustrating part is when I have nothing to do in order to earn money, and have made endeavors to continue making money—like earlier this week for instance. I had contacted all of my clients for my while-not-at-camp summer jobs, and did not get a single bite. Nothing.
So after talking it over with mom, I took the college loans, the upcoming bills and all other fast approaching expenses and I told on them. Yes, I told God on them—it's His battle to fight, not mine. I spent that evening in prayer over the high priced demands on my life, and soon felt better about it.

The next morning (Wednesday) I checked my Arborshire Email to find some unread message—holding my breath, I secretly hopped that they were from my clients, but alas, they were not. In fact, they were all from the school.
Bummer.
So I skimmed through the weekly announcements, few of which applied to me now that I am not on campus and clicked through other writings—only to stumble upon an Email from the Student Development office. Oh, how nice.
I had received an unexpected grant for $1000!!! "Please reply if you would like to accept." Is this a trick question...? Umm, yes, I would love to accept the grant!
I had filled out an application for the grant in April and had completely forgotten about it—I had no expectation of getting it, so after I wrote the essays and sent it in, in completely slipped my mind.

Yes God, you are very funny. Letting me sit and think and think, just waiting for me to hand it over lock, stock and barrel before telling me about this. So funny ;]

Check List — June.2.11

2011-06-02T20:51:00.000-04:00

- Wake up late but still get out the door on time by taking the fastest shower evah: Check
- Road closed, take the long way—still make it: Check
- Work in June's garden: Check
- Take cans back and collect $$: Check
- Make dinner with mom: Check
- Save teenager bird: Check (more to come on that...)
- Do something nice for Sick Brother: Check
- Rip thumb-nail on mysterious invisible object while trying to do something nice for Sick Brother...

Check

- Clean blood off what is left of thumb-nail, squeak out exclamations of pain, get laughed at by mom, apply medical tape: Check
- Finish doing something nice: Check

Sun...?

2011-05-28T21:51:00.000-04:00

There was a bright moment among the rain during the past few days—actually, it was still sprinkling on me when I took these, but that's okay. But I wasn't about to sit inside and let the sun go down without at least a 'hello'! The park was flooded under the trees, so I was able to see some great reflections, so that was fun. Difficult to capture on camera, especially when I'm distracted by just looking at it!
So I went out and said 'good bye' before heading out on a run myself. And the birds were in rare form! Noisy little things, I guess they were as excited as I was :)
God is good, and I think He knows how much I love the cloud formations!

Deja'vu

2011-05-28T19:25:00.000-04:00

It has been a funny week—one with a few... repeats, shall we say?

Well I spent Thursday evening with Superman. We watched "I am Number 4", which was suggested by my family. As in, every single member (-Father) suggested that we see it. And they liked it so much, that two of my siblings read the book. So I was rather interested, and the boyfriend wasn't opposed, so I figured—why not? So we watched it.

I screamed.

Okay, not really, but kinda, yeah...

only a little! hah, I get really into movies and tend to root people on and jump at every corner. So when the bad-guys come, I react accordingly. Yes, I gave a few little yelps.

Anywho, I wasn't super fond of the 'bad-guys' and their enjoyment of torture. Other than that, it was a little predictable, and very suspenseful, but not our favorite.

Then yesterday (Fri) I went to see Superman again in order to help him and his parents paint his apartment. And talk to his landlord about paint colors for her bathroom.

Now for the deja'vu part—ready?

I went home after painting yesterday and found my family watching (have you guessed yet?) "I am Number 4". Then, mom came in and asked me to help her pick out a paint color the next day (today).

I feel like this happened already...

Deja'vu! haha, though I changed it up a little today and planted flowers after helping mom and Sister pick paint colors — not a bad day :)

The Princess Wanna Be

2011-05-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

Last night I dreamed that I was Rapunzel. My friends and family have compared me to her disney remake a few times, and I’m not exactly opposed to being considered the look-alike of a Disney Princess. I mean, what girl doesn’t dream of being one? Great adventure, perfect hair, cute little side-kick, and of course, the wonderful prince charming.

… Alright, maybe just me, but it’s also a great movie and still leaves me laughing and full to the brim with that fuzzy sentimental feeling (Though instead of the charismatic Flynn Rider at my side, I am able to enjoy the company of my dashing and comical Superman—something I wouldn’t trade).

You can doubthless image my disappointment when I woke up and found myself—instead of in a magical tower—in a lofted bed. You know, the same one that I've slept in since I was about 8? (except when I'm in Arborshire) Yeah, that one. Not that I don't love my bed, but it is not very tall, my hair does not create a ladder down it, and prince charming was no where in sight. My cute little pig "Tea-cup"(knitted for me by my lovely RA) didn't even join me in a spontanious song and dance. Rather anti-climatic after the surroundings of my imagination... There was also sun in my imaginary setting, something that has been seriously lacking in the real world since my return to conciousness.

Inked

2011-05-23T11:52:00.000-04:00

No, I didn't get a tattoo, but I did have fun with my Le Pen today! My most willing model (the mirror) has agreed to sit with me again so that I might make an illustration! Okay, what really happened was that I wanted to do an ink illustration of something a little out of my typical crazy–tight–realistic–loads–of–detail portraits. So here's a self portrait done in ink, exaggerated slightly and simplified. And In my favorite pair of 3D–punched–out–lens–glasses to boot.

Yes, actually, I do wear them. Especially when dealing with difficult homework. And I secretly think it does helps, thankyouverymuch.

Goodbyes—Round 2

2011-05-21T21:39:00.000-04:00

Watched my friends walk across a great big ol' stage today. Graduation in Arborshire.
So exciting. So sad. So ... crazy... I can't believe they are already done!
Another series of "good-byes". I am confident that many of us will still keep in touch, but it is still hard to close another 'stage'. It will be hard to continue next year without these friends. I will miss them.

But I was also forced to think about next year—when it is my turn. It's going to be absolutely insane! On the last week of school, the final Friday will mark the end of exams, Saturday will be my graduation, and on Sunday, I will (most likely) be leaving for Italy! And after Italy, more craziness. . . (cue man voice): Job hunting!
Oooooooooh.
my (!)
It will be good. It will be fast. It will be sooo . . . whorl-windy. I feel dizzy already.

I'm suddenly very thankful for the break that I have this summer... God, I'm glad you know what you're doing, cuz I sure don't!

I love you, oh Lord, my strength
Psalm 18:1

Parental Persona

2011-05-19T14:21:00.000-04:00

There is a bird's nest on our roof—and there is a perfect view of the entrance to this little oasis from my favorite rocking chair on the porch (okay, it's the only one, but it's still my favorite!)
So I've spent quite a bit of time admiring the parents as they are striving to keep their darling hungry mouths full. Though I am not entirely sure which one is "mom" and which one is "dad"(though I have my suspicions), it has been extremely amusing to watch the two parents and discover some of their personalities.
Both are not extremely fond of me, though Persistent Parent has largely gotten over the initial shock of my rocking form. Though still looking me up and down before continuing with the necessary feeding ritual, Persistent Parent does not waste much time after obtaining the newly deceased grub. One glance at me, one hop to the entrance, another glance at me, and into the nest! Followed by a choirs of excited and slightly demanding chirps that are enough to make any sentimental soul give a hushed 'awe'.
Paranoid Parent, on the other hand, is quite at a loss as to what to do with me, and is continually eyeing me and hopping about nervously. Though finally able to take an occasional mouthful to the Brood, Paranoid Parent spends quite a bit of time watching me and flying back and forth between our house and the neighbors. Persistent Parent is in quite a pickle to keep the Brood satisfied, though even Paranoid Parent has been able to make a few feeds within the past two hours.

I have never wanted to climb onto the roof so much in my life, though I am entirely convinced that Paranoid Parent would have a heart attack, and then where would Persistent Parent be? Needless to say, I shall not be making the climb quite yet. Maybe this weekend. . .

Loving the little chirps—loving the sunshine.
Pictures later :)

On My Heart and In My Study

2011-05-19T14:02:00.000-04:00

For the past year or so a few things have really been on my heart. The reality behind some of the 'rules' that we place upon each other as Christians has struck me and has become a continual tug upon the strings behind my soul.
Legalism—or in plain English: Tiring rules with little-to-no foundation. Most of these rules are unwritten, and some are even good things to follow, though are not "laws" and should not be shoved upon those around us. We as Christians often strive to take God's place unconsciously, or try to put our individual choices upon others and make them follow them—or label them as "bad" or "less spiritual" Christians because the do not play by our rules.
For example: Because it is my personal choice not to drink alcohol does not mean that I have any right to look down on those who do. Nowhere in the Bible does it say "Thou shalt never drink a drop of fermented drink". Christ drank wine, am I better than Him?

Nope,

Nada,

Never

I do reserve the right, however, to confront my friend who may have a drinking problem, because we are instructed to refrain from drunkenness (Eph 5:18).

Anywho, it has been so great to read about some of this in my Paul Bible Study. It's sometimes hard to let God be the Boss. To allow Him to make the rules, and not try to make my own. To remember that I am so sinful myself, and that I cannot be better than someone else just because I wore a skirt to church last Sunday while someone else wore jeans.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b

Self Promotion

2011-05-17T14:37:00.000-04:00

Here is the result of some of my web design labors this past semester: my portfolio site
While the other sites I made are no longer online, I did make one other fully functioning site, as well as one home page remake of an actual site (a horrid one, I might add) that only had roll over images and a basic layout.
Then my final project was to create a portfolio site for myself, one that effectively reflected my design style and my goals as a designer.
Take a look, feedback welcome as always :)

The Power of The Attitude

2011-05-13T23:05:00.000-04:00

There was an outbreak of the stomach flu in Arborshire the past two weeks—so bad that graduation was postponed a week! When it first broke out there was no cause for me to worry, in fact I was almost entirely unaware of it until it began to cause the cancelation of non-academic events on Campus, including Midnight breakfast! Heartbreaking? yes. I was rather disappointed.
Anyway, in our housing unit, there was not much worry of the "plague", though a few girls did get it—it was largely in the underclassmen living areas, specifically those with the community bathrooms. Gross, huh? So we had no reason to fear the plague—until, that is, it struck home.

Hillary got the plague.

Yes, while I was at work, my roommate sent me a message to tell me that Hillary had gotten sick. We screamed a little, and then Brit went on a cleaning frenzy as we realized that Hilly-Bee pretty much lived in our room, and thus, plague-like germs were in our living space.
Not okay.

Suddenly, I felt extremely tired. This was not quite how I planned on spending my finals week. And my stomach started to flip a little—I knew that I already had it. When I got back to the room, turned out that my roommates weren't feeling so hot either. Awesome. A room full of sick college girls. Emily spent the entire night in the bathroom, Britney couldn't sleep and I had a sour stomach.

Until, that is, Hillary came in the next morning and told us that she was only sick once, slept all night, ate breakfast and felt great.
OF COURSE SHE DOES!

Then we all felt fine, haha

DTS logo

2011-05-11T21:09:00.000-04:00

Logo design that I did this semester. I haven't quite finished the entire identity system, and I haven't even presented the logo to the owner of the company (hehe, they don't know that I took over their identity system). I doubt that I will even show them to be honest, I just needed something for my assignment!
Anywho, feedback welcome—it's obviously a tax service, so I was going for professional and I threw things together.

Geometric Sherlock

2011-05-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

Here is my last design for Graphic Design 3. HOORAY! I'm finally done with that class!!! I grew a whole lot, but I'm glad to be headed towards a break, though I'm having more trouble then I can express with actually relaxing. I have this thought in the back of my mind that I'm not quite done yet, even though I am in no mood to do anything productive—academic wise anyway.
Anyway, I am obviously getting distracted (another quality that is consistent with my newly–freed, brain–dead–self). Even when I began this design, I was getting rather frustrated and ready to be done. I wanted to try a more abstracted illustration and came up with this design. Not sure how it works, or if it even represents the book / target audience well, but oh well, it's done now!

Feedback welcome, I am thinking about just scrapping this piece and trying something different...

Oh Pauly — day 1

2011-05-10T20:55:00.000-04:00

I just started my Beth Moore bible study on Paul.
Excitement? YES!
And she's starting with the historical context?? Yes! And even using a witty story as an aid to her points? YES! She must have done this before, cuz she's pretty good at it! This Jesus-loving-history-buff is quite satisfied with the commencement.
It began so simply—reviewing the very beginning steps to how God prepared Paul for his ministry to come. He was born into a good family, one that could give him the education that would become such a large tool in the future, the social standing (Roman citizenship) that would save his life, and the traditions that would give him a strong understanding of the God who commanded his life. But despite this, Paul was born into a hostile world—one that did not smile upon his religious traditions—similarly to the world that we live in today. I was challenged to look at how I respond to the way that my faith is received around me. While in "the bubble", it is easier, in the 'real world', I know that I struggle with finally coming out and saying the truth—telling people how it is. I can live out the faith, I can stand apart and be a witness towards something better—and people do notice that I have something different and even tell me so—but aside from a few instances, I still stutter when I try to tell people why I am filled with hope (1 Peter 3:15).

Day one and I'm already hooked—it's going to be a good 90 days or so—challenging, but good. New book, new journal (also very exciting), new adventure (just finished classes for the semester—one final to go and I'm DONE), and a new drive to clean out the clutter in my living area! Who knows where this is going?

Excited for the new—but also glad to be returning to some of the old for a while (home!)

Baby Bliss

2011-05-07T18:27:00.000-04:00

Mandie came to visit, and she brought her beautiful new niece with her! It was great to see them both, though I confess, I was rather hooked to little Taylor—so darling! Here are some of the pictures we took—out of focus, she was a wiggly thing! And the lighting wasn't ideal... thus a slow shutter speed, rats

Package for Logo

2011-05-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

Here is the package design that goes with one of my recent logos. Created for my GD3 class, the logo went over better than the actual package design—go figure, lol
Anywho, feedback welcome as I modify it for future shows (possibly...)

Friends in High (and low) Places

2011-05-05T21:16:00.000-04:00

This week has been so long. I have a ton to do, and I'm just worn out from all of the work that I have to get done—it's a manageable load, but I'm ready to be done with it for a while!
Anyway, today is placing me near the edge and the past 24 hours have been witness to a rather crabby Chocolate Lover! Not too bad to people, but I feel crabby!
However, God knew just what I needed: I got 3 (count 'em: 1, 2, 3) encouragement notes from friends today. And 2 of them were from people who had no idea about the show or anything that I have on my plate right now! I'm so thankful
After that I have been so uplifted. God is so good—He sent me a lot of people this week to lift my spirits when I was feeling low.

I love you too, Lord!

Fire & Birds

2011-04-26T21:59:00.000-04:00

Yet another logo design! This one has a package design with it, but I'm not entirely finished with it yet, so you will have to bare with me. I will post it shortly (well... probably in about 2.5 weeks—when finals start and my load eases, hah)

Contracts and Toilet Paper

2011-04-20T09:50:00.000-04:00

I love my roommates and all the fun we have together—here is one of our typical facebook conversations::

B,
I would like to draw your attention to the beginning of this school year when the four of us roommates created an agreement, a contract really. In said contract, we specified that the toilet paper would always be put so as to fold OVER the roll, as opposed to under.
However, the toilet paper that is currently on the roll is folding under. Because I myself did not change it, and Mandie and Emily have been away, it is clear that you are the guilty party. I regret to inform you that you are in violation of your contract and must therefore leave the room.
Immediately.

To which she replied::

K! (add snap and head shake),
whoever was the one that put the toilet paper on top of the toilet paper holder instead of changing it and putting it on the roll is also in violation of the contract. because as i remember we did not agree on that my dear sweet sweet K :) I was only being the responsible roommate and friend by putting it in it's correct spot. I am very sorry for putting the roll folded over the other way, i kinda forgot about that..lol!

You still love me anyway and i will not leave the room cause you would miss me too much :) ♥

And of couse I had to agree to the last statement—I love that girl :)

Sneak Peak

2011-04-19T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here are some glimpses of what I have been working on, and will hopefully finish as soon as the semester is over.
Both of these pieces are portraits, though in different media. The top one is in oil pastel, which I have newly developed a love for, and the lower piece is being made with my beautiful premium colored pencils—my one true love.

Finished and on desplay soon I hope!

1 John 4:19

2011-04-17T19:39:00.000-04:00

I was challenged with this today and it kind of rocked my evening! Instead of saying "I love you" to God each day, I am going to take a period of time saying: "I love you too".
We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). And while I do love Him, and sometimes I need to tell Him that "first", it is all because of what He has done—He saved me. He acknowledges me.

And not only that, but in saying "I love you too", I acknowledge in turn that HE LOVES ME! ((You can't say "too" if nobody says the original!)) He finds delight in me—The GOD of the entire Universe, the One who made me... loves me. He can see that I do not measure up to what He made me to do, but He loves me anyway. What more proof do I need? Is there any reason for me to search for fulfillment or approval from elsewhere? nope!

He is lovingly holding me, gently pulling away the weapons that I use against myself, assuring me of His continual love.

I love you too.

Brushing Hair for Jesus

2011-04-16T10:55:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard of Beth Moore, then you need to start researching—she is a wonderfully challenging woman of God. She's honest about her struggles against God, but when she gives in to His will, amazing things happen! (duh, when God's in it, it will be amazing) And not only does Beth Moore share her experiences, but they are absolutely hilarious! Tears streaming down my face, I'm both entertained and encouraged to continue following where God leads—even when it's incredibly random and strange!

But I am so thankful that she is willing to share her experiences and her weak moments with other Christians—it's such an encouragement, and a CRAZY challenge. Jesus is "the bossiest thing", but He knows what he's doing.

I'm just itching to start the Paul study that mom got me!

Outside the Art Center

2011-04-16T00:10:00.000-04:00

Due to my wide open schedule I decided to take on some extra projects. Psh, who am I kidding? Open schedule?? For an art major?
Oxymoron.
But I did do some extra pieces this semester.

This piece(above) was for a campus event where the entire school talks about a single topic for the day. It's called "Focus", and this year we talked about social media, ie facebook, twitter, and the like. Thus the play off the fb logo. The team heading the event ended up changing it slightly when they hung it up around campus and to be honest I was not thrilled with the results. Oh well, they were happy.

This poster was also a campus event—but this time it was for the Office of Intercultural Relations here at school. They wanted a comic book style poster. Not really something that I typically do, but they liked it.

In fact, they liked it so well that they asked me to do another one! For this piece they specifically asked for images of the speakers. Unfortunately I couldn't get images large enough so I drew them instead. But that made this piece (though more time consuming) more fun—I was able to do some figure drawing AND make some people happy :)

Safe and Sound

2011-04-15T19:46:00.000-04:00

"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God." (Psalm 84:3)

Newly added to the list of favorites. If God places a bird's nest near His altar, then I am convinced we're right there on His lap. Hold me tight, Lord, here we go!

Sleeping?

2011-04-13T16:07:00.000-04:00

This place is getting crazy! Only about 4.5 more weeks until the end of the semester! AH—so much to do!
There are, however, some entertaining side effects to the added stress in our lives. A few weeks ago Mandie was with us again for a few nights and she instructed her students on proper public speaking—all while sleeping peacefully in her bed!
Sleep is less peaceful for those with stress—and when your father has the habit of sleep talking / walking when he is worried, then you're in for some really entertaining events!
My poor roommates... I have always giggled in my sleep—appariently I do so almost every night—but I have begun to talk quite a bit this past year or so (or maybe they are just now hearing me). Last semester I cheerfully informed my roommates that "My kids are from Nebraska".
??
And the other night I gleefully asked: "Hi! Is there room for me?"
I'm not sure where I was going, but apparently I was pretty excited. According to the roommates, I am always very excited and happy when I am sleeping—I guess that's better than being cranky :)

Poster Design—Adoption

2011-03-30T17:05:00.000-04:00

This is my latest poster design for my GD3 class. I wanted to do a typographic portrait—but I had no idea it would turn into something quite this large! It took me a long time to make this, and while it's not yet perfect, I need a break from it!
I'm struggling still with the "abortion" and "adoption" balance—I want you to see "adoption" as the more dominate element, but I want "abortion" to still have an impact. It's kind of the foundation behind some of the symbolism in this piece, so it's important. Also, can you read the text? I know it's difficult, but I hope after a moment or two you will be able to catch the verses (there are only 2)
Feedback would be MORE than welcome on this piece—I'm leaning towards making this one of my show pieces for the semester, so I would like to perfect it before then :)

A Break for Sanity

2011-03-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

Due to the fact that Facebook is being very difficult today, I am uploading the photos up here. See mom, I DO upload photos! ;)

So here are some photos from my spring break—relaxing and enjoying family company!

Playing Uncle Ken's game — and look how big the baby is!

My girl is getting so big!