Thankfulness

Random image I found after googling "thankful"

I know I'm late, but I never told the world what I was thankful for. I'll make a list.

1. Family. I know everyone thinks that their family is the best(the rest of the world is clearly deluded in this belief), but mine really is quite fantastic.
2. Education. I know I whine constantly about having to go to class, but buried deep under all that resentment is gratitude. Less than a 100 years ago few colleges even allowed women admittance. I'm lucky.
3. My sense of humor. Not to toot my own horn, but I crack myself up every day. It makes living in an icebox a little less horrible.
4. Cute stuff. I don't want to sound incredibly shallow or superficial, but I really just feel better when I'm wearing cute stuff. Especially if said cute stuff is covered in bows, lace, or a mixture of the two.
5. Blue skies. I miss joy riding with the windows down and the stereo turned up. It makes me happy!
6. Hanging with my mom. She's one of my best friends. Even if we're not talking, I just feel good around here. We love giggling together! I appreciate her more and more as I get older.
7. My pops. He's pretty cool too!
8. Katie. I kind of have to put her on the list now don't I? Kidding. We don't always get along, but she's been there for me when I've needed her. Most of the time. ;)
9. Music. Songs get stuck in my head and I have to listen over and over. It makes me feel connected.
10. Friends. Due to a lack in that department this semester, I appreciate the friends I do have more than ever.
11. The Gospel. Like anyone, I go through stages of less enthusiastic worship, but I am thankful for the Atonement of Christ and His love for me. I need to do a better job of showing it.
12. Books. The written word does and will always fascinate me. The stringing together of sentences and stories is beautiful to me.
13. Lists. Haha, just kidding! Though you all know how I love a good list!

Be thankful ladies and gents. We have a lot more than others do. It doesn't hurt to remember that.

Likes

Check this hot number from Forever 21. It's all demure in front, and kind of rock n' roll in the back. I like it!

Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving all! Are you feeling my turkey centerpiece?

Word (more or)less Wednesday

Feeling nostalgic today. Here are some pics from my past.

Kindergarten- September '94

Julie, Katie, and I - Christmas 2005

New Year's Eve 2005

Senior Prom- May 2007

Likes

I'm kind of in love with this room.

Partners

I'm slightly obsessed with the pairing of havarti cheese and french bread. Deee-vine. Seriously. They're like best buddies. Penn and Teller. Sigfried and Roy. Sherlock and Watson. Well, you get the idea. They make a good team.

Word (more or)less Wednesday

It has begun.

Art Feeling

So I'm in this Flower Arranging class. And if you're my Facebook friend, then you know sometimes I complain that we don't always discuss flowers. Today turned into one of those days. We started out learning about how silk flowers are made. We watched a video of factory workers in Asia.

In the video, the narrator said not to think of them as slave labor because they earn 4 times as much as their parents did.

After the video our professor posed a question to us.

"Do you agree with that? Do you think they're being treated as slave labor or are you okay with it?"

Thus prompted group discussions that led into other topics and to the story of our "art feeling".

Our teacher spoke of a professor he had once in college that questioned him about how he was inspired,how he liked to create etc. She called it your "art feeling". He asked us how we like to create, about what inspires us.


Our assignment for next class is to write about our "art feeling" and to research the origins of a product we've always been curious about.

I'd thought I'd take a second to write about my "art feeling".

I see inspiration in every situation. As a writer, I am constantly observing what is going on around me. What people are saying, how they are walking and the way they are dressed. I look at how they react to each other, and their hand gestures. I find it fascinating that we each relate to others differently.

Often snippets of scenes, like in a movie, scroll through my mind. Many of these scenarios are written in my notebook of possible story ideas.

I love color. And texture, and pattern, and combinations with gusto. I especially love lace, and sparkles, and bows, and soft pinks. They feel ultra feminine, and I like it. I see things like that and feel more in tune with myself as a female. I'm not saying that if you don't like that stuff you're not girly, I guess I'm just super girly.

I love to create things. To build something up from nothing. I like the feeling of success, the joy of completing something and trying something new.

I feel this compulsion to make things, to create. It's like a pulsing in my heart. If I could do nothing but craft and write and bake all day every day, I would be incandescently happy.


Music inspires me, it gives me a rhythm to my creating, but silence inspires me also. Staring out a window to the world beyond, just sitting there is when I feel most connected to this world. I watch the goings on and marvel that we are living on a creation, that we are creations ourselves.


It's been said before, but it's never really sunk in before. As human beings, the need to create is inherent in us. As children of God, the ultimate creator, he wants us to be like him. He wants us to create and learn for ourselves. To share our talents with others. I love it. It makes my stomach feel fuzzy and warm.


I learn more about my Heavenly Father as I make things. I feel a smidgen of what He felt after He created us at the completion of a project.

I don't know if I'm articulating myself in a way you understand. Creation is God's gift to us. We should use it. Go forth and figure out what you love, what inspires you.

Be Still My Heart

Everything about this shirt makes my heart thump. The puffy black bow, the stark white polka dots and the vintagey gilded frame surrounding it. It's from Torrid as are many of my favorite pieces this season. It's a shame that it costs $28 for a tshirt. I'll stalk this one too, but it's so cute it's not likely to show up on clearance anytime soon, if ever.

I need a size 1 in case you were wondering. 'Tis the season and all that jazz...

:)

Deliciousness in a Can

I found these babies at Ross On Saturday for $3.99. I thought "Eh, I want a treat maybe these will be good." I wasn't expecting too much, as it is Ross after all. Anyways, they are delicious! Really fresh and crispy with a creamy chocolate center. Look for them!!!

Datebook

Today was my aunt's funeral. It was beautiful. Full of love and laughter and music. Beautiful music.

I got to listen to my aunts,uncles, and cousins tell stories about Shelly. They were lovely. I found myself wishing that I could have half as nice stories told at my funeral.

I have a memory of Shelly from when I was about 9 or 10 years old. For my birthday she took me to lunch with her daughter Julie. We ate at Wasabi and I got my very own rice bowl. We went to some cute store next, and she let me pick out a gift of my choice.

I ended up selecting a green velvet date book, because what 9 year old doesn't have a need for a planner right? She tried to get me to buy something else, but I was adamant. I went home with that date book and I think I still have it in a drawer somewhere.

I treasured it. To me,it was a sign that I was mature, because mature people had datebooks. I wrote random events down, like church on Sunday or school on Monday. Every time I looked at that book, I thought of my Aunt Shelly buying it for me. I'll always remember that.