School

I started back to school on the 25th- I waited til today to make my report so that I would have an idea of how the semester will be. I am taking five classes: Beginning Drawing, 3-D art, Western Art History, World Civilizations and a Wellness/Walking class. Things have been going fine, though I was a bit sleep deprived this week. I like Fridays because I only have the two history classes and it's a short day. I am surrounded by freshman in all my classes- it's sometimes amusing and sometimes real annoying (like when everyone is all worried about who is in their presentation group for History).

Drawing is okay, though I had to buy tons of supplies and I find it all very tedious. I've never had much paitience for it, especially since I gravitated to photography!

The first project for 3-D art (basically it's a Beginning Sculpture class) should be kinda fun- we're using wire to recreate objects and imply volume. I'll probably make a large accordian-style camera.

I have a show in the student gallery coming up soon- I better get working on that.

I'll post pics (of course) of my projects throughout the semester.

Washington Trip

I had to show these pics from when I was back home in Washington during the end of June. It was a fluke that I was there, but it was so nice to see my friends. I'd missed being with them this past year. When I get blue, I think about this visit and it cheers me up. And Auntie Liz (me!) got to finally meet Little Man, aka Aimee's boy Tyler.

Cindy likes to help me pack- don't you love my Barbie suitcase?

Me and Heather
Me with Aimee and Tyler
Stefanie with Aimee and Little Man
Friends
Stef and me
Me with a big butterfly in front of the Rainforest Cafe!

Family Fun Weekend

Laura wanted to take her dogs Cody (the collie in training now) and Lars (her first dog that was rejected from the program) to Presque Isle. We met my dad there on Friday the 22nd and had a picnic. What was funny was that Lars (the lab!) HATED the water and kept trying to pull away while Cody LOVED it! He jumped and splashed around and swam.

After the picnic, mom and I went to a nearby gallery that was featuring the carvings of John DeAngelo. He made some amazing carousel reproductions and Disney characters that were cute. It was my only chance to see it and I'm glad I did. I love carousels- I collect carousel items, which probably stems from having run one while working as a Rides Operator at Enchanted Village many moons ago.


To be continued below:

Family Fun (part 2)

Here are more from the show:

my favorite:
We saw this kid's coat in the store window that night- How cute is that? Where do I get one for me?
After the gallery, mom and I shopped in an antique store- and fell in love with this vintage 30's quilt top- more on this later
On Saturday we went to the Crawford County Fair- Laura opted not to come and missed out! We saw some exotic animals:

This ostrich looked like an audioanimatronic!
Pretty quilts
I saw an elephant show that was pretty good. They look like they are taken care of ok.
Yes, that's the handler in the elephant's MOUTH!!!

Pretty rides, I didn't go on any cause of my bad neck


And fireworks!
A busy, hot, tiring, but fun weekend.

Hill Cumorah Pageant

I wasn't able to show pics when I went with the YSA to see The Hill Cumorah Pageant in July. It's a long drive to Palmyra (close to four hours and that's our temple, too!) but it was an amazing show. The spirit was very strong. The costumes and effects were incredible, and the whole thing was impressive (the cast was in the hundreds!). For those who don't know, the pageant depicts stories and scenes from the Book of Mormon. I was hoping to run into people from Connecticut that I would know (it would be very likely) but I didn't recognize anyone. Since pageant is like the one thing that you western mormons don't have access to, I had to brag and show these pics:

The stage and audience

Me with the Three Wise Men
Lehi's Vision of the Tree of LifeSamuel the Lamanite

The Waters of Mormon
Christ Visits the Americas

Joseph Smith with the Book of Mormon Prophets

Presque Isle

Laura and I went to Presque Isle on Saturday with the YSA and had a nice afternoon. We waded and swam, played beach volleyball and bbq'd hamburgers and hot dogs. I brought fixin's for smores. Presque Isle is a long narrow strip of land that sticks out into Lake Erie- it has beaches and recreation areas. It's also where 2 of Erie's lighthouses are located. I like this group of YSA and the leaders a lot- more than the group at home. I feel like I'm part of a family with them.

Pictures!

I start school on Aug 25th but I'm there today buying books and getting my parking pass (which was such a pain!) so I thought I'd post some pics. Stay tuned, they'll be more to come of my summer! I'm excited to finally have access to computers that work and finally post some pics!

"The world is a kaleidoscope of color....(Disney's Wonderful World of Color theme song- I have boomer parents)"

On a different note, here's my latest acquisition:

I bought this chair (cause I really need furniture- not! We have all this inheirited furniture and stuff that was left by the previous owners) last week at the flea market for $9! Usually chairs that price are really wobbly but this one is in good shape and is really sturdy. I don't know whether to keep the finish or refinish it or paint it white- I usually prefer original surfaces (unless it's really ugly) and I generally like it when something looks "loved". For instance, I prefer beat-up antique box cameras to pristine ones. But this chair's finish is kind of streaky and flaking off, so I don't know what I'll do. Now I just need a desk! I've never had my own desk (except as a missionary and I loved it!) so maybe one of these days I'll live that dream. I finally got a bookcase when we moved!

Memories

My friend had this on her blog and thought it might be fun...The directions are as follows:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one (or as many as you like) memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.
If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.
If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Wall-e

I finally did something with my family for my birthday...it's only been what, three weeks? I wasn't feeling so hot right after camp to do something so it got pushed back another week. We went into Erie and saw Wall-e, which is as good as all the reviews say it is. I was really touched by this cartoon and I loved the animation. I haven't liked the last few Pixar movies ( I liked the Incredibles but not Cars) but I really fell for this one. It has some great messages:

1)The need for environmentalism

2) The need to put down our technology for one minute and see what's around us

3) The need to be self-reliant

I also got a kick out of the closing credits- being an art student, I loved how they spanned the timeline of art- from caveman drawings to computer animation. After the movie I got treated to Red Lobster and some really good shrimp alfredo pasta and cheesy garlic rolls.

Tonight Laura and I are going to Chautauqua, NY with the YSA for a concert- there are traveling musicians from BYU performing in the orchestra. They played for our YSA sacrament meeting and are incredibly good, so tonight should be good as well. Stefanie, I'll be thinking of you and your violin!

Sad News

We found out that our good friend back home, John Carey, was hit by a drunk driver and killed early Sunday morning as he was delivering newspapers in his little car. He was 42. He leaves behind young children from his first marriage and he had only been married to Karrie (a very sweet LDS woman) for barely a year. Attending their wedding was one of the last things we did before moving to PA.

John was a mechanic, and he was one of my dad's few friends. They had similar personalities- they even showed up wearing the same Christmas tie at church in 2006. It's a big loss for everyone, especially his family.

Sadly, Karrie's son (who is preparing to leave on a mission soon) witnessed the whole accident- he was following behind John's car that morning. It could have been worse- apparently John often took his children with him while delivering papers.

We're sad that we are not able to attend the funeral. I'm very thankful for the Holy Ghost that comforts people when I can't be there to do so.

John's death reminds us that 1) death can happen at any time and 2) we need to live life to the fullest.

Perhaps that old wive's tale of death coming in threes is true- this makes the third death in our old Enumclaw ward in a very short amount of time. We haven't had someone die in that ward in forever and now three????

Survivor

I just got back from Girl's Camp on Friday afternoon...still trying to recoup! It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of work. I had two girls go with me and they had a good time, too. The spirit there was really amazing. As always, I'll post pics when I can get ahold of a working computer.