Blogging

Things I have come to realize about my life ever since I started blogging:
A) I have had less and less time to blog, as the year has progressed
B) I am very very busy now, ALL the time


Things that have occupied my life when I have not been blogging:


A) Finding the Missing Socks: I do laundry every week, usually at the end of the week. I did laundry last week Friday or Saturday and folded all my socks up and put them away. Now today, Wednesday, I didn't have any socks in the drawer. Very odd- I know I had more than 4 pairs of socks. I looked everywhere and I can't find them!


B) Designing a Wedding Program: A friend of ours asked me to design a wedding program for her daughter's wedding in May. If they like the design enough, they will use it! I was sitting in the lounge last night working on it and this girl says to me, "Doing homework?" And I'm like, "No, just designing a wedding program." She was slightly confused :)


C) Running: I run three times a week- that is all I have time for. I should be running more, but school is kind of important too. I am training for a 25K race that will take place in May. A 25K is 15.5 miles...yikes! So far my training has been going very well though; I ran 7 miles in 60 minutes last week Saturday. 


D) Finishing the Inflatable Frog: Today we had our critique for the inflatable frog that we have been working on for the past two weeks. The project was very time consuming, and we spent a lot of time out of class working on it. All in all, our frog turned out pretty great! I'll try to describe the process for you, with pictures, in a non-confusing sort of way:

1. The teacher gave us a dog toy, in our case a frog, and told us to document it very well. I took pictures of it (but, come to find out, not enough).

 2. We labeled each piece of the frog with permanent marker and wrote down on paper what the letters stood for.

3. Melissa ripped the poor frog apart with a seam ripper so that we could trace the pieces. We traced all 24 pieces on a mini 10 by 20 grid; that way we would have the shape and placement of each piece for when we drew them on the big grid.

 4. We made a 10' x 10' grid out of brown paper- we drew the grid lines on the paper with rulers and pencils. Then we placed a 10' x 20' sheet of plastic down on top of the paper and proceeded to draw the lines of each piece. We copied the exact placement and shape of the pieces from our little grid onto the big grid.

5. We cut out all the pieces from the plastic.

 6. The lines around the edges of the plastic, from where we traced each shape with a dry erase marker, had to be wiped off.

7. Once all the edges of the pieces were cleaned off we started sticking the pieces together with clear masking tape. The only minor (ok, major) problem was, we did not know which pieces to stick where! Because of my poor documentation taking pictures, I failed to capture important parts of the frog. We couldn't figure out what each piece was or where it connected to the others...so, I got out some tape, analyzed the pictures we did have and reconnected all the little pieces with tape. This took up a lot of time as well.

Eventually I saved the day and we could start connecting the pieces cause we knew where they went. 

 8. The last pieces to be attached were the eye pieces! We were all extremely happy when that was complete!

 9. Finally we cut a hole in the back leg, plugged in the fan, prayed real hard that it would properly inflate, placed the fan over the hole, and waited. (You can see the little black fan in the right leg on the picture below.)

10. After a good 6-7 minutes the creature was fully inflated! What a happy ending!

Me, Delia, and Melissa

Our class critique today- the elephant is on the far left, our frog is in the middle, and on the right is a lion. There are only seven people in our class total, so there was one group of three and two groups of two.

And that concludes my exciting life. I will be returning home this weekend to spend some quality time with my family and go skiing!!

He Is Waiting

Personal devotions. Quiet time with God. "Lectio divina: reading, thinking, praying, and living scripture with the intention of inviting an infinite, omniscient God into your life. Lectio divina is more Bible basking than Bible study, as it teaches you to absorb and meditate on scripture, to converse with God openly, and to live out what has become a part of you- His word." (The Message Remix: Solo, Eugene H Peterson)

In the past few months I have been trying to make time for devotions when I wake up in the morning and before I go to bed. Usually I have such busy days that I often skip one time or the other. The Lord God is patiently waiting to converse with us. In the busyness of our lives, we often do not make time for Him. However, when we wait upon the Lord he will reveal himself to us. I find that my days go much better when I quiet myself before the morning begins and take time to sit and listen in the Lord's presence. God is waiting to speak to you today- have you stopped to listen?

Fancy Footwear!

Alright, so I have a new obsession with shoes... Not that you care to know, but there is nothing else exciting going on in my life. I took a picture of my recent purchases so that you can see them.

The boots I already have but I got this pair, exactly the same, for $5 because my other pair is in sad shape. The Sketchers shoes were from Plato's closet, $14 and almost brand new with a tag still on them. And the brown sandals were $6 from Plato's as well- for this spring. Oh happy day! I also got a couple dresses and a hot pink skirt :)

Photoshop

Photoshop can do some pretty wonderful things! I am learning a lot from all my tutorials :) Here is one awesome thing I learned...it can stitch multiple photos together to create one panoramic picture. (click the photo to make it bigger)

Wisconsin- Lake MI

I am really busy with all my art classes lately, hence the lack of blog posts this week.

^{Psalm 13: 5-6
5} But I trust in your unfailing love; 
   my heart rejoices in your salvation. 
⁶ I will sing the LORD’s praise, 
   for he has been good to me.

Skype!

I love talking to my family on skype! I like how I can talk to them all at one time and see them all at once. It's great to see the expressions on their faces, as well as watch them laugh.


My brother made my night tonight while he was skyping me. He decided to try out every feature on the webcam. By the end of our conversation he looked pretty stylish. And then he changed his voice to sound like a little girl (munchkin). Really, really cute! Thanks Collin :)

It's a Wonderful Life

I had to watch the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" for English class. I had attempted to watch this movie before when I was younger but I could never really follow the plot, because I thought it was boring. However, after aging a few years and becoming smarter, the movie now makes sense! The plot is kind of slow at times and some of the lines in the movie are very cheesy. But, other than that, the movie is very good. If you haven't seen this movie, you should defiantly watch it. The message the movie portrays can be summed up by this quote from Clarence, the angel:


"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"


What kind of an impact have you made on other people's lives? What have you done to help those around you and touch their lives? What will you continue to do to bless others?

➳HAPPY VALENTINES DAY♡

Fun Fact of the Day: There is a Disneyland in Paris!

The weekend- thus far.

Yesterday night I went to the Rock and Worship Roadshow tour concert at the Sears Center. The Afters were there, singing my favorite song "Light Up the Sky." My other favorite Christian artist, Matt Maher, was there. Mercy Me was headlining the concert; I realized they are pretty good. The concert was wonderful! The tickets were only $10- which made it very affordable for college students. A group of us from school went together. Afterwards, we made an epic trip to McDonalds in the school van and ordered food for nine people, drive-through style :)

Today I had to work in the Photo Studio for a bit. I planned to accomplish some homework after that, but I was not in the mood. Instead, I spent my time researching websites ideas for an online portfolio. As a working artist I learned that I should have a portfolio to display all my work. I was told that a good goal would be to have a website by junior year. So, over the next year and half I will be working on that. Another design project! Yes!

Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory

7:14am- I wake up slowly and see the sun shining outside my window.
7:15- My alarm goes off (look at the timing there!)
7:15-8:00- I get ready, and get everything together for my day. I pack all my books and food.
8:00- Breakfast with Jenna.
8:30- I walk to the computer lab in the art building; the temperature outside is -6 degrees. Brrrr!
8:30-9:00- I take my English quiz online and then check my email before class starts.
9:00-10:50- Digital Media class! I work through chapter 9 of my photoshop tutorials book.
11:00am-12:20pm- Art History class!! (my favorite class) The professor lectures on Modernism and the first Impressionists painters. I learn about Eduard Manet and Claude Monet. I eat my lunch during class.
12:30-3:00- Sculpting class. I get together with my group, two other girls, and we work on our inflatable project. We label a beanie baby and then Melissa rips it apart with a seam ripper while Deliah and I make a 10' by 10' grid on large sheets of brown paper.
3:00-4:00- I sit in the gallery, which is where I work; I have a one hour shift. (The girl that was supposed to be working texted me at 11:30am to see if I could cover her shift for her. I said I would.)
4:00-5:00- I attend the Student Design Organization meeting. While at the meeting, I volunteer myself to design the layout for a school magazine (only because no one else raised their hand). One other kid will be collaborating with me to come up with the designs. I am also told to come up with a design for another set of posters. 
5:00-5:15- Meeting with the design professor to go over a logo that I made. She helps me work out the minor problems.
5:15-5:30- I go to the Cafe to hang out with my art buddies; they are finishing up class.
5:30-6:00- Eat dinner in the caf. with my friends. 
6:00- I arrive back at my DORM room!! (excitement :) I waste an hour procrastinating, like I always do.
7:00-9:30- Jenna and I go to the Cafe so she can eat dinner and I can do my "homework." I end up working on design ideas for a wedding program. Emily comes by and I talk to her.
9:30-10:00- Jenna and I attend the Student Leadership Expo; we learn about ways to get involved.
10:00-11:00- Praise and Worship! A time of glorifying God with our voices.
11:00pm-12:00am- More procrastination (more like not knowing what to do). I decide to blog.
12:00am- Back to bed. 

Love In Action

Since Valentines Day is coming up, why not focus on LOVE? I'm not talking about romantic love here, but the love we are to show everyone as followers of Christ. Displaying love means that we put others needs about ourselves and help those in need around us. We must humbly serve, following Christ's example.

^{Romans 12 (NIV)
9} Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

 ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

^{(Message)
9-10}Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
 ^11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
 ^14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

~Finished~

I finished my sculpture project this past weekend! I worked on it Friday night and Saturday afternoon, a total of seven hours. Here are the pictures:

What an interesting day I've had!

For starters, yesterday my Grandma and Grandpa came to visit me! That was exciting. They brought Jenna and I to some stores and then out for dinner. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! I got a few Eiffel Tower items at Hobby Lobby while we were out. The Eiffel Tower is probably my favorite architectural structure. And Hobby Lobby is probably my favorite store- crafters paradise. These are the new additions to my room:

Bookends- way cool!

Colorful poster!

Secondly, the Big Blizzard is here...or something like that.

Chicago gears up for storm of 'historic magnitude'


Batten down the hatches, Chicago. A big winter storm is blowing our way.


Chicago Blizzard of 2011


or, my personal favorite- the Facebook event...


SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011
Meteorologists are predicting an ice storm of epic proportions followed by a somewhat-less-epic snowstorm. Schools are being canceled, candles and canned food are flying off Walmart's shelves, and people are pulling out those ugly Christmas sweaters in fear that their Aunt Dorris' awful taste in outerwear may be the only thing that stands between them and death... you know what this means...

SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011 IS UPON US!!! LOAD YOUR GUNS AND STOCK UP ON BAKED BEANS... WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!


So I highly doubt we are going to die, but the weather is pretty nasty. The maintenance guys drive the plows around campus every couple of hours to clear away the snow. And the snow is blowing all over the place because it is terribly windy. 


On the plus side- CLASSES ARE CANCELLED ON WEDNESDAY. No school tomorrow! The night classes were cancelled tonight too. This means that I have all day tomorrow to do my homework and all night to have fun. Right now Jenna and I are watching a movie; I might play Settlers later with some other friends. 


Third, my sculpture class is going pretty well so far. Over the weekend we had to make 15 sculptures out of scraps of wood. The sculptures were supposed to be about the size of a half gallon of orange juice. We cut out pieces of wood and glued them together with hot glue. The figures had to be abstract as well. I have trouble creating abstract art work; this project was kind of difficult. It was hard to come up with 15 different ideas.

Everyone's pieces- 105 mini sculptures

Today in class we had a critique. The seven of us in the class set out our pieces for everyone to see. Then we had to vote on each other's pieces, which one of their 15 we thought was the most interesting. We now have to take our best-voted piece and make it out of cardboard, four times larger. This requires math (great!) because the professor wants our pieces to be almost exactly to scale. The piece my peers voted as my best was this one...

I have to take this piece and make it larger by next Tuesday. I'll keep you updated!