Summer is Here!

I finished up my last semester just fine and summer is here now. Mom and dad came out... It was so great to have them here supporting me! I don't think I could have put my project together successfully without them. It was a little bit crazy the first 3 days... straight from the airport we went to school so I could work on my photography portfolio. Next we went to my apartment and picked up my presentation supplies to take them to the school for set up It was crazy, Mom was Ironing my table cloth while Dad screwed my display boards together and put the lighting on top, Jessica helped stabilize everything while I freaked out. While my project was not elaborate as many of the other student's I was satisfied for the most part. I am just so grateful to have had all the help! One day we went out to antelope island to take some wildlife photographs... that was pretty neat, we saw some silly birds (long-billed curlews) and some bison.It was a nice little adventure. I got out of the car and went on a little walk by myself to get closer to the bison while mom and dad stayed in the car watching me hunt my prey... I think they were amused at me. It was sad when they had to leave, but at least I got my bed back.

Only a few days later I went back into work where they surprised me... and not in a good way. My boss asked to talk to me before I even went into the store. She told me my sales weren't strong enough and that they wanted someone more ambitious and driven in that area. It was a hard blow for me not having any warning or clue. I was fine til i got in the car and it really hit me. I started to cry. I was frustrated that they didn't give me any warning and that they made me drive all the way into work thinking I would have a normal day just to be disappointed and sent home. I was dealing with more at the time though too and that didn't help. I just finished school... the end of a long part of my life and my parents just left. I just didn't know where my life would take me now that my routine was not the same. As my mother always tells me, "Oh well."

Since then I have been so blessed as to make some new friends and have some great times. One of my old roommates Tenna got married. It was beautiful and, as usual, aroused mixed feelings. I always love going to weddings and sharing that great day in someones life, but on the other hand it is the most powerful reminder that I am still alone... not even dating. I did enjoy heading up the getaway car decorating! I know Tenna was grateful for it too, since I did it so tastefully! Tacky getaway cars are one of my pet peeves, I hate the messy shaving cream or oreos or any gags or accessories that don't match the color scheme. I prefer a classic approach to that portion of weddings. I went to another wedding reception for a friend from the 7th ward- Lynzi Hale, now Lynzi Hansen. We went up to Idaho with a group of her friends and had a fun weekend.Another weekend I had the opportunity to visit Wyoming with one of my newest best friends, Amber. I always love visiting home, even if it is a friend's. It was nice to be back in a rural area like Montana. The first night we got there we went to her brother's promenade ceremony, followed by a trip to the fields to look after one of their family friends' sheep. The little lambs were so cute, just a day old. I even got to hold one! Amber and her family got family pictures taken the next day and since Jess and I were there we had some taken of our little group. So cute!

Memorial Day weekend I organized a little camping trip up to Lava Hot Springs in Idaho. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of COLD! It was Me and Jess and Justin and Brian. We headed out and started our adventure with a flat tire half way through the drive. Thankfully we had a nice spare and a nice man who stopped to make sure we got all squared away... back on the road. We got there a little late, thanks to the tire, and set up camp then had a fire and told stories. That night it rained while we slept and we woke up rather cold. We headed over to the hot springs and soaked in the blessed warmth. We went back to camp after a few hours and had sandwiches for lunch while it continued to rain. Finally it stopped and the guys went out and made a fire. We had tin-foil-dinners and soaked up the occasional sun rays. Our campsite had some see saws and we spent a good hour amusing ourselves there before we decided to head back over to the hot springs to heat up for the night. Upon arrival back at our camp we had the grand surprise of ice on the outside of our tent and quite a bit of frigid moisture on the inside. We started the fire and avoided our tent as long as possible before we decided to team up with the guys and squeeze all four of us into a 2-man tent to keep us warm enough to sleep. Next day we got up and cleaned up a little bit before heading to church. That meeting was so packed with visitors. It was funny to see all the little families with their kids in nice Sunday clothes with dirty faces and muddy shoes. When that finished we went to our site and packed everything up and headed home... It was a great adventure.I started my last class and it is not too hard, but very useful! If there is something I don't know very much about it is personal finances. I generally like what I am learning, but sometimes it is a little confusing.

I have moved... again. I am now living with Jessica, Amanda Fulk, and her cousin Alisa. I love our new place! It is cheaper, bigger and nicer! It is a cute little 3 bed 2.5 bath townhouse in south salt lake. Its great to have my own space again. I'm also enjoying our new ward. A week from today I will be going on a trek with them. That should be an adventure!

A few weeks ago Amanda and I went to a free festival at the expo center in sandy- Yay for Asians! It was fun to have a little dress up. The next day Amanda and I set off for a hike to Lake Blanche up Big Cottonwood Canyon. We thought we were doing pretty good making our way up the mountain... thinking the lake must be so close after all the sweating, we asked someone on their way down to hear the disappointing news that we were probably only about 1/3 of the way there.We were already quite exhausted so we decided to turn back. We would have to keep working at it by taking easier hikes and gradually working back up to conquer Lake Blanche. We haven't been again since then... but I have gotten back into exercising. I went running but found myself losing a lot of time and not getting very far because my feet felt like they were cramping in my arches the whole time. I was running in the shoes I got my junior year of high school for cheerleading. I figured that my shoes were a huge problem, so I got my first new pair of running shoes in 8 years. I cannot believe the difference new shoes has made! My feet don't hurt anymore! However, I am more aware of my burning lungs. Hopefully I will get to tackle a hiking trail again soon.

Jessica went home the weekend we tried to hike Lake Blanche. She had the great opportunity to receive her endowment! Yay! I am so happy for her, and that much more anxious to receive my own endowment! Hopefully I will get to soon!

Jess, Amanda and I went out to eat one night after we realized we had no food in the house. Wanting to try something new we headed over to the Red Ginger Bistro, a Japanese restaurant. Jessica got sushi as usual. I got some noodle and beef plate. The last time I tried sushi I hated it! But, it was a while ago, so I decided to give it another chance... trying not to think about it too much. It wasn't too bad! I could even eat it for a meal. Oddly enough, that is not the only change of opinion i have had concerning food lately... I am no longer opposed to mustard, hot dogs, and a few other foods. It is really interesting how my taste buds have changed over the last few years.

Brian was so great to get us tickets to the arts festival downtown. It is always fun to go get my creative juices flowing by looking at other artist's accomplishments. Arts festivals are also one of the greatest places to people watch! It was fun! Amanda's birthday was last week, she is now a 1/4 of a century. She had a little barbecue at our house. This last weekend a group of us went up to Echo Reservoir to play in the water. We found a great little spot on the lake with a rope swing and settled for the afternoon. It was fun! The water was a little chilly but not as bad as I expected. The rope swing was pretty fun too. Amanda was contemplating having a go at it, while I thought to myself, this is not a good idea for her. She mustered up the courage to go, and I was right, NOT a good idea. Amanda threw herself of the edge clinging to the rope, and landed on the rocks just below the jump off. We were so worried she seriously hurt herself! First her legs hit and tipped her over sending her headfirst into the water! FREAK! As I tried to hurry down the rocks her head popped out, thankfully! She was not broken! Never the less, she definitely had some injuries. She has a huge scrape on her leg and some bruising. Other than that though, it was a nice trip.

My birthday is in 2 days!

Long Time

Holy Crap! So it's almost been a year since my last post... how horrible. So much has happened and is going on. I started school back up in the fall and now am almost done! Classes were good, my favorite was rendering... I cannot emphasize how much a teacher can change your learning experience. I had failed rendering previously because I dint feel like I was really learning anything and just stopped going the second half of the semester. This time around my teacher gave me new perspective nearly every class. He encouraged us to always be drawing... oddly enough, the more I drew the better I got. Funny how that works! It is amazing how after learning the principles of design applying them to create wonderful things comes naturally. My final project was a success!

Work has been great! I love my coworkers and bosses! It was so fun to get to dress up for work on Halloween. Every year Gardner Village hosts "Witches Night Out" and the place gets filled with women (and a few men) dressed in anything from a plain black hat and street clothes to the whole getup including eyelashes and broomsticks! So fun! We also dressed as elves for our winter sale... fun again!
We did have a few dress up nights since then too:

SuperheroesVillains

We even inspired a friend to have a dress up birthday party

Togas!

I dated someone for 3 weeks just after Christmas, and it was so fun! Sean introduced himself at ward prayer and asked for my number... I was unsure but optimistic. He called me and set a date. Sean took me on some very creative dates and I was very pleased with that! We went to a production of A Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theatre. It was delightful, the stage grew furniture sets and props out of the ground! So cool! We also went to the nicklecade- never done that before and we went to a U gymnastics meet, which I loved. I remember the first time I had seen him at an fhe in the summer. He was signing away with another girl in the ward. He is deaf in one ear and part deaf in the other. I enjoyed learning a few signs and using them. Things got really serious... I didn't like it so I ended it. It was a really good experience though, getting used to real dating rather than hanging out. I am so happy with myself for having come to a point in my life where I don't feel uncomfortable about being myself with people I don't know very well, especially guys.

Freak though! School has been moving along! My portfolio event is in two days. I have spent countless hours (and money) putting everything together but I think it will be a success! All the tedious actions have really taken a beating on my hands!

I have had at least 5 hot glue gun burns and 2 puncture wounds... not even mentioning the worst- I sliced a piece of my finger off! It hurts so bad! I am so grateful for super glue! I'm not sure how much more it would hurt if I only had a measly little band aid for protection... I will gladly take the cast like bandage I have created out of layers of glue and gauze. I have to finish up my display and photo shop my portfolio book images then set up tomorrow. Mom and Dad are even coming... time to clean house! All the craftiness at home has really put a damper on the living environment for the last two weeks. I feel bad for Jess having to put up with it, especially in such small quarters. It wouldn't be so bad if we had another room to put it in and shut the door. Oh well, the projects are done and our lease is up in another month or two. Unfortunately I did find out that one of my transferred classes does not count for the design programs math requirement. :( So I will have to take one class this summer before I officially graduate. Ugh! I can walk next week if I want to, but I'm not sure the photo and closure are worth waiting around for hours for all the graduates to walk onstage and get a fake diploma after hearing some speech about the future. I'd rather go out to eat or go on vacation or something than put myself through that whole ordeal.

Ideally after graduation I would get a job in the field as a junior designer or an assistant... I would prefer to do hospitality design making hotels fit for Vegas or retail design. But, really, I forgot how much I love to do wedding planning. Adrienne's wedding was so fun for me to participate in and every time I hear about a friend getting married I create a new folder in my computer to put inspirational photos in for them... even if they never see or use them. Maybe I will find a way to break my way into that field of work... I think it would be a little less intense than designing spaces that require moving walls and intricate CAD drawings etc... I guess I'll see where life takes me.

Right now I really don't have the time to sit around and blog but I do have to wait for my camera battery to charge so I can upload the pictures on the school computers and use photo shop. I figured its a good opportunity to stop procrastinating my blog. I have been thinking it would be really fun to start a new blog with a focus on design... but I'm not sure I want to have the responsibility of updating that one too. Any feedback on that? Would you follow it?

Happy 23 For Me!

So, work is going just fine. Since the bath and body works semi-annual sale is over I haven't been schedule much. I work there only one day this week. Down to Earth has increased my schedule and I am loving my job there more and more. I love the people I work with. Nothing has really changed in my life... just working. Jessica Ellison picked up a boyfriend... one of the guys who helped us move. He's really nice, but now I don't have anyone to hang out with, especially since we just moved. I'm working on that though.
Oh! I did turn 23 last Wednesday... That was fun. Before I get ahead of myself: For the 4th of July the day before Kelly and her boyfriend came down and we went to Lagoon... Fun. I always love it when she visits! Then when we finished there we headed up to Logan to see the fireworks there and then spend the night in Kelly's town. It was pretty silly. After stopping to get food we headed in what became "the party bile" to Kelly's and since her place was hot we made a bed in the party bile and slept out there. It was alright sleep. When we got up Jess' and Kelly's boyfriends were making breakfast. After that people went to an auto show while Jess and i explored Logan's little shops and mall. We got back together for a little BBQ then headed home. I painted Jess' face and mine as well... It was SO fun! After that Jess and her boy went to get fireworks then came to get me to light them off. Once they were all gone we went up to a parking lot on the mountain to watch the fireworks in the valley. Can I just emphasize how much i HATE being a 3rd wheel... AWKWARD!
Then, Sunday I drove down to VEGAS!!! I love visiting my sister so much! Ollie has gotten so big! So Cute! While there I celebrated my birthday with my favorite sister! We went to get hair and pedicures at the beauty college. Then when we got home Bryce and Ollie decorated it all up :) Bryce made a most fabulous Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken, broccoli, and foccacia bread! Yummy Yum! I was thinking we were set for the night. As I sat in their living room I wondered if something was burning when Adrienne asked if I was ready... As I turned around to see a glowing raspberry covered cake!! Bryce did a fantastic job! Thanks!!! Then Adrienne headed to the strip to go to the adventure dome at circus circus. We walked around before deciding to ride the roller coaster. It was great... We even wore party hats... I don't know how many people wished me a happy birthday while we were out. =) We went to the encore next since we hadn't been in it yet. SO pretty/fancy/classy! I love it! Adrienne dropped me off just before the next bellagio fountain show after. What a DAY!!! The next day I had to come home so I would be ready to work Friday. It was so nice to have that week!

Bath and Body Works, Down to Earth, and Moving... Oh My!

oh my! So, I got the other job and it is going very well. I have been working there for a few weeks now and I love it... aside from the stress of learning what is expected of me and all the things there are to learn. I love that I get to wear pretty much what ever I want... bath and body works requires that I wear black or white shirts with black or khaki pants. I should probably get a few more of each of those articles. Scheduling has worked out pretty well so far. I get my down to earth schedule a month in advance and bath and body works comes every week. I don't know if I'm going to push myself with school right now, since I already juggle 2 jobs. But, i do want to keep progressing in the program. I guess I will see as I go. Nothing to exciting otherwise... just that my family all got together without me! I hate it when that happens. But alas, I must work to get money. In the mean time, Jessica and I have been moving to our new apartment at the springs of country woods. It is just a dinky little studio, but as we progress our apartment gets cozier and cozier. It has been nice going through all our stuff to downsize... we even combined our costume stuff and got it all very organized... I did the same with arts and crafts supplies and all my design stuff. I cant wait to have everything all set up just right. Tonight Jess and I want to go over to bath and body works and invest in some home fragrance products. Finally, I have a chance to use my discount. I don't have any great plans for the weekend, unfortunately but I'm okay with that. Our new ward is alright... still getting used to it though... making new friends and such. Its my least favorite part of moving... aside from all the physical labor that promotes an increase in bruises all over my body. Two other new people in our ward helped us move the big stuff on Tuesday. It was great to have the help... We couldn't have done it without them! After we moved those big things we went out to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I LOVE that place... and, right now, on Tuesdays they have a cut back on prices because its their 40th birthday. I love it! All 4 of us ate for a total of $25. These were full meals too, including: bread, salad, drink, and entree! YES! I'm salivating just thinking about it. Yummy.