On Christmas day I signed up for an art class online with Suzi Blu. She does mixed media and the prettiest gypsy girls you've ever seen! I've already finished one canvas and have started another. Tonight she has a live art cam and I'm watching her paint another gypsy girl. This is the link to her blog: Suzi Blu. Visit her and see all her wonderful art.
Here's my gypsy girl almost finished. I'll post the finished canvas when I'm done.
My Life And Such
Inspired by "Julie & Julia" to write daily.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Finals done finally
I just finished my first semester as an online student at BYUI. I'm very proud of my B in Math and I'm still waiting to find out if I passed WDD. I struggled with that class! But I did have a working web site to turn in so that was good. I'll post my grades as soon as I have them.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Caroline's Hair
I've had so much fun with Caroline's hair this summer. She has such long, thick, beautiful hair and I've struggled with keeping it looking nice. Here are some of the styles we've tried and loved.
Which one do you like? I like the middle one, the braid wrapped pony tails and she loves the first one, the french braid twist. Can you even imagine having hair that thick and gorgeous? I wish!
Which one do you like? I like the middle one, the braid wrapped pony tails and she loves the first one, the french braid twist. Can you even imagine having hair that thick and gorgeous? I wish!
I'm A Graduate!
I am officially a Pathway's graduate! Now I get to matriculate. I really don't know what the word matriculate means, but I love saying it! I need to get my interview with the Bishop and Stake President and then I can register for classes. I think I will take a light load fall semester and a larger one during winter semester. I have been looking at the online degrees that are available and I 'm leaning towards Web Design and Development. It will only take me about 6 years to get a bachelors degree. Wish me luck!!
This I Believe
This I Believe
I believe that I
am my brother’s keeper. I am responsible
for helping others in need. When I
notice an unwashed man holding a hand lettered, cardboard sign on the street
corner, I am obligated to share.
The scriptures
are clear concerning charity. Everything
I have is a gift from my Heavenly Father.
My home, my family, my job, even my testimony was given to me and I
enjoy the blessings of an abundant life because I chose to follow Christ.
I keep spare
change in the cup holder of my car.
However, if I happen to drive by someone down on their luck, I will give
them a portion of my stash. When I have
passengers in the car with me this usually begins a conversation. They don’t give to beggars because they don’t
want them using the money for drugs, cigarettes or alcohol. They see their donation as a waste and think
anyone could get a job if they really wanted to. I believe I am accountable for my actions
alone.
“And also, ye
yourself will succor those that stand in
need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that
standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his
petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.” (Mosiah 4:16) This scripture is very clear. We are required to share our blessings of
abundance with those less fortunate. The most important lesson we learn about
charity is found in Mosiah 4:21 “And now, if God, who has created you,…doth
grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right,…O then, how ye ought to impart
of the substance that ye have one to another.”
I believe the justice of charity is forgiveness.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Overlooked Beauty
I sometimes think I should have been born in
another time, another era. The late
1800’s or early 1900’s hold a special appeal to me. The Victorian era seems so romantic. I don’t know what it is about the past that
appeals to me. I’m very fond of indoor
plumbing and running water so it’s not the lack of modern conveniences that I
desire. I think it’s the furnishings,
the architecture, and the fashions I am drawn to. I love long lacy dresses and hand carved
tables. Parasols and drawing rooms and
horse drawn carriages would adorn my life.
I dream of being an elegant lady who reads Dickens in the library and
crochets doilies in the parlor.
My husband, on the other hand, is a
modern man. He likes sleek, clean lines
in buildings. He collects watches that
look and work like the cockpit of a jet airliner. He has no desire to live in any century other
than the 21st unless it is sometime in the future. It’s a miracle we can live together in the
same house.
When I was little I remember the pale
green cupboard sitting on my grandma’s back porch. It had 3 open shelves on the top with glass
fronted doors and two shelves behind solid doors on the bottom. The doors are locked with a skeleton key that
has long since disappeared. It is sturdy
and was built to last unlike the furniture we buy today. She stored her home canned fruits and pickles
on the shelves. She would send me out to
fetch a jar of pickles and I loved the look of the jars lined up waiting for me
to pick choose one. Her pickles weren’t
like any I had ever had before. She put
green food color in with the water and it turned them a deep, deep green,
almost a turquoise green. It was a color
that I’ve never seen in nature and it made her pickles extra special because no
one did them like she did. Because of
this they tasted better than any pickles you could buy in the store. When my grandma passed away and they were
dividing up her belongings, no one wanted the old cupboard. I was thrilled to take it home.
My husband watched me unload it and
was less than overjoyed. “What are you
going to do with it?” he wanted to know. “I don’t know, maybe paint it” I
answered. “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we use it for firewood” he
suggested. It became a family joke. If we were going camping and needed kindling
he would suggest grandma’s cupboard.
When we ran out of wood for the fireplace he would threaten it with an
ax. If someone admired it he would offer
to load it into their car. He sees an
old, peeling piece of junk with doors that are warped and won’t shut right. He thinks it is ugly and useless. I see my childhood when I look at it. I see my grandma in her apron standing at the
stove boiling vinegar and sugar for her pickles. I see a quieter, slower time that reminds me of
long lace dresses and summer evenings spent sitting on the veranda sipping
lemonade. My husband and I don’t see eye
to eye on grandma’s cupboard but we do agree that family is the most important
thing in our life. And we agree that a
modern man and an old fashioned girl can live together happily ever after.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Love Letter
The first assignment in my Pathways English class. Written May 6th, 2013
My dearest Book of
Mormon,
I have never fallen in
love at first sight and I don’t know if I even believe in it. That was certainly the case with you. When I first laid eyes on you I wasn’t
impressed. You were hard to understand
and not very attractive. Your plain
brown cover didn’t do anything for you and I’m drawn more to the crisp, clear
colors of cobalt blue and shocking pink.
Your language is old fashioned and you don’t say what you mean all the
time. Sometimes I thought you should have come with a dictionary and then I
discovered you had one. If we hadn’t been thrown together every Sunday
I don’t know if I would have given you a second look but you slowly started to
grow on me.
The first time I
realized you were more than you appeared was in early morning Seminary. Spending time with you every day, not just
once a week, I started to believe that you had a message just for me. Sometimes when I read you, I felt like you
were speaking directly into my soul and we were the only two in the room. With
my eyes locked on your pages it felt like the sun was shining on us and
wrapping is in a warm embrace. By the end of the year I knew that I never
wanted to be without you.
Over the years I have
come to appreciate your unique and peculiar style. I’ve grown fond of
“therefore”, “nevertheless”, and my favorite “and it came to pass”. When I
am discouraged and down, you raise me up.
When I feel I can’t go on you tell me I can. And when I start to think I would be better
off without you, you say something so profound that I realize my life wouldn’t
be worth anything without you.
And so I need to tell
you how much I love you. You will always
be the most important book in my life.
If my house was burning down and I only had time to grab one thing, I would
rescue you. It’s like you have become a
part of me and I would cease to breath if I didn’t have you. You have made me a better person, a better
woman, and a better disciple of God. I
can’t wait to spend eternity with you.
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