demain

(i forgot to blog yesterday)

tomorrow.

less than 24 hours.

my last final is done as of one hour ago.

demain.

3 days

3 days.

i remember counting down from 120.

i can't believe we're down to 3.

i am the type of girl who loved pretending she was a princess
who has dreamed about her wedding day since she was a little girl.
i've planned and replanned a few times.
i hope i don't look back on my wedding someday and think
"i can't believe i thought this would be a good idea."

amidst a million pictures
a poofy white dress hanging in my closet
and the moving boxes cluttering my room

between the phone calls from mom
making playlists
and sorting out the last minute details
things have been a little crazy.

3 more days


and they lived happily ever after.

4 days

(just for kim)

i broke one of my secret identity blogging rules.

but that's okay.

because i'm getting married in four days.

to my handsome, wonderful, silly, incredible

best fiance ever.

and all i have to do is finish three more finals

finish my guestbook

and

move all my things into our apartment.

four more days.

and i can't wait.

5 days

and yes.

i'm wearing penguin socks with my wedding dress.

wisdom

"you've got to get used to having all

kinds of things happening to you.

you've got to look at all the good on one side

and all the bad on the other side,

and say

'well, all right then,'

to both of them."

kids say the darndest things.

these days i'm giving tours for elementary school field trips to the art gallery.
have a few gems.

in response to me asking how long it took to make the biggest piece in the show:
"thirty.............eight minutes."

when asked what they thought my favorite piece was a picture of:
"it looks like the inside of a unicorn."

during their drawing time (their papers are on clipboards):
"i moved the paper a little bit. i just wanted you to know so i don't get in trouble."

sharing what they thought a piece was about.  this child was nine:
"that movie, the black swan. ..........what?  i've seen that movie."

when asked if they have any collections:
"i collect empty toilet paper rolls."

when i told them they were going to build their own quilt as a class:
"do we have to build it all together?"
"yep."
"but i don't want to build a quilt with the girls!  they ruin everything!"
i thought he was going to cry.

a second-grader:
"you have the same phone as me."
what.

sold

i legitimately sold a painting today.

it's called "why are you giving away all of your sunny days?"

and i made it last christmas break at my kitchen table.

(i spilled mineral spirits everywhere)

the girl in the painting lives in a world made of only black and white.

one day it starts to rain.

so naturally, she whips out an umbrella.

but the rain isn't bad.

it starts to paint the world in new, bright colors.

but the girl hides.

and she doesn't let the colors touch her.

because she is afraid of getting wet.

have a lovely day.

engagement photos

check.

litho and why i'm changing my major.

i am taking a intaglio/lithography class as part of my painting/drawing/printmaking major.

for those of you who are unsure, i will define litho for you.

lithography: a long and complicated process after which you may or may not get a print of the desired quality.

exhibit a:

this is what i printed today.

this is what i meant to print today.

so here i was, super excited about my piece and all its symbolism.

and now i'm just sort of bummed.

when i'm an art history major, i won't have to do studio classes anymore.

fact.

the mousetraps in my house have caught me more times than they've caught any sort of mouse.

i did a guest post.

you can find it right here.

good phone pictures?

so i'm terrible, and all the pictures i ever post are really bad phone pictures.

but i like pictures and the only camera i have is my phone.

but here are some surprisingly good pictures to make up for it.

i spent a ridiculous amount of time admiring this today.

(the lighting was really great at this little concert i went to.)

the concert was pretty good.

they played some interesting music.

and an artist made a quilt while said musicians performed.

i've had this stuck in my head ever since.

i really like it.

i was very excited when i saw it on the program.

i also went for a run today.

on my way back, i saw this butterfly.

so i knelt down and took this picture.

(he was a lot bigger than he looks here.)

and he didn't fly away or anything.

which i appreciated.

the end.

mrs. (almost)

on august 17, 2012, i got engaged.

and so here is the story.

it had kind of been a long day.  both of us were moving into new apartments.

we went to see les miserables.  we went dancing.

(never mind that the dance was lame.  we went dancing.)

after we left the dance, we drove up to a nearby lake.  before taking off on our moonlit stroll, we read a chapter in alma.

we walked around the lake once, and then stopped.

(he has always joked about proposing to me in a really terrible way.  like in a port-a-potty, or with a plastic ring.)

we were stopped by a bathroom.

he got down on one knee and slipped a massive green plastic sparkly ring onto my right ring finger.

"will you be my wife?"

"are you being serious right now?"

"i'm being completely serious"

"yes.  but you put the ring on the wrong hand."

after he had moved the ring to the proper finger, we headed back to the car and drove back to his new place.

i told him we needed to go ring shopping soon.  his green plastic ring was quite a few sizes too big and kept falling off.  i was more than willing to wear it until i got a real one, and asked if he wanted me to.

he said that of course i should wear it, and that it would probably be a few weeks until we could go get a real one.

we just hung out and laughed and joked for a couple of hours.

and then he asked if we could go on another walk.

i was rather tired, but i agreed.

this time we went to the place on campus that we had our first kiss.

it was midnight, and suddenly he got off the bench where he was sitting next to me ...

and onto one knee.

with an open ring box.

"will you marry me?"

that's a ring.  it's a real ring.  he went and picked out an actual ring for me.  this is really happening, he's really proposing.

a million thoughts ran through my head all at once, and before i knew it, tears were spilling over.

"does that mean yes?" he asked.

and it did.  i nodded.

he slipped the ring onto my finger (the right one this time, since it was already marked with the green ring.)

(it wasn't a real ring.  just a placeholder so that i could pick out my own later)

a week later we went shopping for my real ring.  

we found one that i love

(but not nearly as much as i love my new fiance)

it finally came back from being sized.

i have three engagement rings.

and the most wonderful fiance ever.

and only thirteen weeks before i become a mrs.

(we're getting married two days after finals ends.  we're insane.  it's fine.)

and i'm so happy.

it couldn't come fast enough.

my story of the day

last night my roommates informed me that there had been a mouse in the house last weekend while i was away.  they reassured me that they had set traps and it would be okay.

they said i couldn't bring home a cat.

so today i was making dinner.
and i stepped in a mouse trap.

yep.

it was a sticky one, not a snappy one, so my toes are unharmed.

but it was gross.

fancy.

how my first week back is going.

i have learned that two art history classes are better than two studio classes.  especially when you've already got what looks to be a busy semester ahead of you.

i love art history class a lot.  it's probably a good thing i'm switching my major to it.

having a teacher switched on you at the last minute is annoying.

the best route between most of my classes has become a construction zone.

august is hot.

it's been a rough week on everyone.  sadly, marius and fiyero didn't make it.  we have had two fishy funerals.

there's been lots of free food.

campus is really busy.  i've gotten used to the quiet campus this summer.

my roommates are hilarious.  i love them.  just a lot.

i did more than enough reading this summer.  so if i can't find a spare minute to curl up with a book, i think i'll live.

things that i like:

the number of spiders i've had to kill in my new place.

second best for snuggles.

meet patches.

he is second best for snuggles when my man isn't around.

especially when paired with man's sweater.

(i'm sad it's summer because that means i can't wear it all the time)

new roommates.

gracie and i got new roommates.

meet marius and fiyero.

art project: success

we haven't made art in awhile.  because normally things don't work out this well.

but these are cool.

i had a productive day at work.

"they made a pact that they would wear whatever they had to in order to marry their royal sweethearts."

guess which of the daughters was disowned.

wedding dresses and alligators.

my man came to visit me last weekend.
we were having one of the conversations so typical of the two of us, where i admit to liking something really girly and he makes fun of me.


(ps, when you're a girl, being girly is allowed)


this time it was say yes to the dress.

he countered, claiming swamp people to be superior.
wanting to compromise, as well as get him to watch an episode of say yes to the dress, i suggested we watch an episode of each.

first we watched say yes to the dress.  he was set on sleeping through it at first, but by the end was doing over-exaggerated imitations of the brides crying for joy about their perfect wedding dress.  and making up background stories for the brides.  so about the amount of teasing i was expecting.

then we watched swamp people.

you guys, i am fairly certain that nothing is more different from say yes to the dress than swamp people.
at one point there were actual blood splatters on the camera.
my man loved it.
(i didn't completely hate it.  but don't tell him that.)
i told him he should never become an alligator hunter.
though i will admit, we had a rather excellent weekend. even if i did have to watch swamp people.

the girl who was on fire.

once in awhile i stumble across a character in a book that i can picture just perfectly.

denna from the name of the wind.  bellatrix lestrage and merope gaunt from harry potter, too.  (before bellatrix showed up in the movies.)  and it really doesn't matter how well they were described in the book.

then i read the hunger games.  

i'm not a super fan of the hunger games.

i thought the idea was interesting, but it bothers me a bit too much.

however, i could picture katniss very clearly.

upon a bit of doodling i realized that she was also very easy to draw.

so today i made this.

i love watercolors. so much.  expect more.

(ps it's ridiculous how excited i was to find my little crayola watercolor set from walmart.  so happy.  oh my goodness.)

some things.

1: that obsession i have with france?  i have an equally large obsession with egypt.  ever since i was about 9 years old, i have wanted to go to egypt.  the france obsession is fairly recent, starting about my junior year of high school.  these are countries where it will truly be a tragedy if i don't get to see them before i die.  if i don't see norway or greece or peru, it will be sad (i want to go to all those places as well.  and tons more.) but not tragic.  france and egypt are important, guys.

2: pink otter pops are my favorite kind.

3: i could probably be perfectly happy eating only mac and cheese and peanut butter for the rest of my life.

4: i read the entire harry potter series every summer.  remus and dora are my favorite part.

5: to kill a mockingbird is my all time favorite book.

6: my left little toe is named phillippe.

7: i like watercolors better than oils, and oils better than acrylics.  also, i ordered an art history textbook for my class in the fall, but probably i'll just read it for fun.

8: i should blog more. (said blog is in desperate need of a makeover.  but i don't know what to do.  and i don't really want to make another header.  i'm open to suggestions though.) nothing exciting ever happens to me.  i've stayed at my house and read 15 books so far this summer.  i'm keeping track because i want to know if i make it to 100.

9: tunes.

10: this was silly.

11: there's only an 11 since i didn't want to leave my list at an even, normal number.

flowers

because he's the best.

here's to summer

i have not written anything since march.

and i mean anything.

not missionary letters (i wrote 6 yesterday to make up for it) or blog posts or in my journal.

my last semester was pretty crazy, but now summer is here and it's quite the opposite.

i finally found a job, but said job only occupies 20 of my weekly 168 hours. and the town i live in is dead now that school has ended and everyone has left.

so here's to summer.

here's to having plenty of time to read, paint, play my guitar.

here's to finally having a job.

here's to everyone i love being really far away,

here's to skype...

and here's to hoping it goes by quickly.

that awkward blogging moment

when you're at the store and you run into someone who you frequently blog-stalk, and you almost say hi, but then you remember that this person has no idea who you are.  also, you don't actually know who they are outside of the internet.

this is also the reason that i have a secret blogging identity. so that never happens to you.  you're welcome.

learning to play the guitar.

i decided a little while ago i'd like to learn to play the guitar.  santa brought me a guitar for christmas, and i signed up for music 1080.

guitar proved to be easier to play than the piano (at least it has so far...)

and i was getting the hang of it.

one day in class, my teacher told us what our midterm would be.  we would each choose a song that uses only the four chords we've learned (g, c, d, and e minor.)  they're all fairly simple chords, and 8 billion songs use them.  singing along was encouraged but not required.  easy enough.

i chose my song, i worked out a strumming pattern, and i practiced.  i sang along, because without it the song is extremely repetitive.  i had a little trouble singing along to the strumming pattern i had picked during the chorus, but i didn't worry too much.

on the day of the midterm, i sat down in front of the class to play.  i was shaking a little bit, but just a little bit, because i was only a little bit nervous.  i had practiced.  it would be fine.

i made it through the first verse fine, but as i came to the first chorus i stumbled over the lyrics, getting distracted from my strumming, and before i knew it, i was using a strumming pattern that was completely wrong and didn't fit at all.  i got back on track during the second verse, but upon realizing that there was still another chorus left in the song, i got even more nervous and started to shake so much it made it hard to play.  by the end of the song, i was even singing notes that were completely wrong.  i was incredibly thankful at that moment that no one really knew the song, so they wouldn't know just how badly i'd messed it up.

yes, i played badly.

but i played.

i didn't stop singing halfway through when i realized how downhill it had gone.  i finished what i started.

i've only been playing for 2 months.  i am not going to be perfect at this yet.  and while my confidence was shattered for a moment, it isn't anymore.

the beginning is always going to be hardest.

don't give up.

it will change your life.

a very dear friend sent me here one day.

[i am going to do this]

and so now i'm sending you there.  because it will change your life.  probably.

art insights.

as part of my major i'm required to take a class called art insights.
it's an hour long (usually) lecture one night a week.
i get half a credit for it.
and i have to take 8 semesters of it.
and that means that i won't have a thursday night free for probably the whole rest of my life.

generally artists don't know how to talk about their art.
this is fine.  there is a reason we paint instead of write.
but the lectures can be incredibly dull.
granted, there have been a few that have inspired me to make art and to make better art.
mostly, though, i count down the minutes until i can leave.

and it's a good chance to practice drawing.

yesterday i practiced drawing this at art insights.

it's caterpillars raining from a ceiling fan.

it's fine.

i'm not dead.

and let's face it, the majority of people who will read that actually associate with me in person.
so you knew it already.

but to those of you who don't,
i'm not dead.
i've just found myself with very little to write about.

it sort of seems like all i talk about here is art.  and france.  because those are things that make me happy.
but happy things like france and art are not the only places in which one can find happiness.

remember this?


"happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

-albus dumbledore

so i propose a change.  my life is not all sunshine and puppies and ice cream and happiness.  the purpose of me writing this blog was to see the good in all that happens in life, because at the beginning of it, i was not happy.  i think that life is wonderful, but sometimes i forget.

so i'm going to remember.

i'm going to look for reasons life is wonderful.

i'm going to help you remember.

and for those of you who don't know it yet, i'm going to show you that life is wonderful.

or at least i am going to try.

life does not have to be perfect

to be wonderful.

also, i have $36.04 in my "jane needs to go to paris someday" fund.

oh, and my drawing class is the best.

have a nice day.