Growth

I thought I'd share what's been in the student gallery on campus this week:

The print installation was called "Growth" and was put together by 4 or 5 students. They filled the gallery (aprox 20' x 15' if not larger) with hundreds of trees. It was pretty cool to walk through, especially since it looked like WA to me! They put a lot of work into it- I saw them secretively building for like 4 or 5 days beforehand. They painted the walls blue and even made a wall in front of the gallery doors so it was a surprise when you walked in.

The reason that this is considered a print installation is because everything was printed on- the paper/trunks of the trees, the "ground", the background mountains, etc. Quite a lot of work. Each tree is about 3.5 feet tall.

The installation opened on Earth Day, last Thursday. Clearly, they wanted to make an environmental statement, but I couldn't help but chuckle that a lot of trees were used to make the installation!

Here's a closeup of a tree- note that the tree, trunk, and "dirt" were printed by hand:

Closeup of the trees and mountains on the walls:

When you have a cool backdrop, you gotta take a pic with it:

In other earth news, it's been interesting being in my Environmental Issues class. I like learning about what specifically/chemically happens to form ozone depletion, etc. I was raised in WA, where people are generally more environmental and it's something that I have always thought was important long before it became popular to be "green".

 Lately we've been talking about what happens to our solid waste, i.e., garbage. It's easy to feel like you are awesome because you recycle, but it's important to remember that recycling is third on the hierarchy list.

Guess what comes before? Reducing and Reusing! I'm not saying that we shouldn't recycle, but it's not the cure for everything. We live in a material economy, where it's buy buy buy. But if you don't buy something in the first place, then it won't have to be thrown away. It's not that I never buy anything, but I try to buy things that I know I will want to keep around for awhile. Sometimes it's worth it to pay a little more for something that will last longer. Retailers want you to buy the latest and greatest, and it drives me crazy when they make shoddy things so that you will have to buy a new one, or they keep improving and improving their product so that you're never satisfied with what you have. Apple drives me crazy with this- every week it's a new ipod or phone. Businesses have the right to grow and improve, but overdoing it drives me crazy.

I'm not perfect, but I try to be happy with what I have. I have had the same phone since 2007, and it doesn't even send/receive pics! It calls/texts so it meets my needs and I don't have the desire to go buy a new phone every six months. We bought our desktop computer in 2007 as well and we plan on owning it for awhile. I'm a total magazine nut, and I feel bad for killing trees, so I try to buy only magazines that I will want to keep for a good while (sewing, etc)- and I try not to buy the celeb mags that will be obsolete in a day.

I'm passionate about reusing items so that they don't end up in a landfill. I like to find creative ways to reuse things. I prefer to shop at thrift stores for decorative items/furniture. Not only are you saving money, you're not causing new materials to be manufactured. When I have a home of my own, I will stylishly outfit it with vintage furniture/items and very little new. Who wants to have a cookie cutter living room anyhow?

It's important to recycle because you are saving things from being in a landfill, but it's also important to remember that 1) it uses energy to break things down and process them and 2) with a lot of materials (like plastic and paper) you still have to add new material to the recycled material because a lot of materials break down and degrade in the recycling process. Reduce and Reuse!

There are companies like Terra Cycle that manufacture items from garbage-I find this concept to be really interesting. Instead of manufacturing items made from recycled products, they are cutting out the middle man and making products straight out of garbage. Like shopping bags made from potato chip bags or pencil cases made from Capri Sun packages. They have a low overhead for raw materials and energy isn't being used to melt/reform recyclables.

One thing that's been cool for my family since moving to PA is that we are able to have a pretty big garden, which I love. It's been great having homegrown stuff for the last two summers. It tastes so good and it's great knowing that pesticides haven't been used on things. And it's local! Also this year we bought a lot of beef (which we froze) from our Branch President, who is a farmer- it's cheaper than the store and we're buying locally. It's good stuff too, we use it on a regular basis and it's nice knowing where it came from.

I'm not trying to nag, I just wanted to share what I've been learning. I have things to work on too when it comes to the environment.

Sepia

So I took some self portraits on campus...I probably looked silly but I couldn't resist this tree. it was so lovely. Unfortunately my shirt is kinda distracting- too bold a color. And the sun is kindof harsh. So I played around with Photoshop Elements and low and behold, I discovered some filters that weren't on earlier versions of Photoshop.


I went to Filters> Adjustments> Photo Filters and selected Sepia. I then adjusted the density and got this vintage look:

I like how it looks like an old postcard photo- it looks hand colored and the shirt is toned down. Those filters are made to alter your photo as if you had put that filter on your camera when taking the shot. I like the sepia filter alot- I remember creating "old" photos years ago in Photoshop and it was more difficult. It also didn't look as good- too brassy. I think I will be using this filter more on my photos!

You have the option of other color filter and you can use pink, blue or green to make your photo look like an aged color photo. Gotta love the retro look.

It also works well on B&W images- I converted this one to B&W but it was too harsh. Adding the sepia filter softened it and made it look old-timey without being too yellow. It really looks like the old photos that my grandma has. I love the tones in this image:

P.S. I get a big kick out of instances where technology is used to make something look or sound old school- it's such an oxymoron. Like the examples above, or when Photoshop is used to make "Polaroids" or add scratches, etc. Or when I hear people's ringtones- that are of an old timey phone that actually rings! "BRIIING! BRIING!!!" Stuff like that cracks me up.

Latebloomers

I'm totally a Latebloomer. I'm sure a lot of people are, but I think I take the cake. I don't think I've done very much when I was "supposed" to.

Consider:

• I was born two weeks late
• I was baptized four months after I turned 8...had to wait for Dad to get home
• I never did earn my YW medallion (working on it now!)
• I got my driver's license when I was 19
• It took 3.5 years to get a 2 year degree
• I was essentially 22 when I left on my mission
• I was late entering the dating world
• We're STILL unpacking from the move nearly 3 yrs ago
• I'm 29 and still working on a Bachelor's degree
• I have yet to have a real job
• And oh yeah, no man/babies either

I think the only thing I ever did early was graduate at age 17 (I turned 18 later that summer).
I joke that one day I'll be grown up. Right now I'm Peter Pan, being a big kid. And I love it. I'm happier than I've been in awhile.

It's easy to compare yourself to others and go "What's wrong with me?" but I've found that that just leads to unhappiness. I have to remember that everyone's timeline isn't the same- and thank heavens it's not or else the world would be so boring. Not to mention we couldn't get advice from people who've done it before.
It's easy to feel like there's an expiration date on me that says "Must Get Married By Age 30", but there isn't. At least I haven't found it in the shower.

I enjoy keeping in touch on fb, but at the same time I find out about a lot of marriages/children of those much much younger than I (that I probably wouldn't have heard of otherwise) which can get depressing if I let it. It's really easy to say THEY'RE getting married?!? or They've got HOW many kids now? but I try not to. It gets worse when they're kids you used to babysit, or if they were the little children of your YW leader back in the day. When I compare myself to others, it just makes me sad, and who needs that? The race is against ourselves, not against others.

I didn't realize until I left how sad I was being in my home ward (which I'd been there for like 20 years). I miss people back home but it's very good for my mental health not to be around all the kids getting married and all the people who compare me to them. I love being in YW here, but I was always so fearful of being put in it back home- I think I would have gone crazy from comparison.

I tell myself that I'm doing what I'm supposed to and I think I'm where I'm supposed to be for the time being, so I should be happy. And I am. I can't help if my timeline is different than others. It drives me crazy when people need to "fix" me because they think my timeline is wrong.

That being said, I love it when I see other Latebloomers succeed in the whole marriage/babies thing. One of the guys that I knew in the singles ward forever ago recently got married (for the first time!)- and he's 10 years older than I. He finally found the right girl. One of the older guys I know out here is getting married in June, he's in his early 30's and is so happy. Not many marry out here, so I love seeing people succeed.
I saw a blog by an LDS girl who was 31 and decided to go on 31 dates with 31 different boys in 31 days and spend a total of $31. And you know what? She found her man by doing that and their wedding pics were posted on Style Me Pretty. Her blog is down while she's writing a book about it. Sadly, the whole 31 dates/days thing isn't an option for me-I don't know 31 eligible men out here- or really, any.

One of the couples that I know in the stake are older- probably in their later 40's or early 50's. Both real nice, normal people. I was surprised to find out that they'd only been married a couple of years- and neither had been married before. They had finally found their person. They grinned, "Yeah, we're Latebloomers." And I was thrilled to see that they had adopted a tiny baby last fall. I hadn't seen the wife since the adoption, but I saw her when I crashed another ward's RS birthday party last month. And it was wonderful to see her so incredibly happy being a mother. She glowed and I could see the joy in her eyes. When I see people like this, it gives me hope.

One of my personal heroes is Kristen Oaks, the second wife of Elder Dallin H. Oaks. He married her after his first wife had passed away. I believe she was in her 50's when she married Elder Oaks (Side Note: I can't imagine dating an apostle!) and she had given up on getting married. She had devoted herself to her family and service. I enjoyed the CES fireside that Elder Oaks spoke at (I believe it was in 2008) and I enjoyed what she said during that fireside as well. She said that if you can't handle being single, then you'll never handle being married. I was excited to hear that she has a book out, it's on my To Read list.

All of us are on our own paths, and it's important to remember that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. He knows and loves us individually and he knows what is best for us. I'm hoping that I'll be a good wife/mom when the time comes because I've had longer to prepare for it.

Prints

Last weekend I went to an art sale on campus. It was a place for art students to sell their wares, and the first time they'd done this on campus. I made the effort to go because I think that it's important to support the art community- which begins right around me. I make an effort to see the shows on campus and listen to the speakers that come.

There were not many students selling things, but I had fun looking. Most were printmakers, and there was like one ceramicist. I found several things I enjoyed. I don't believe that art has to be expensive- and that was not the case here! Gotta love art schools. I collect things that I bond with, I don't care if it's going to be worth something someday. Collect what you love.

This print is a monotype- there is one and only one of it:

"Mono means one, and rail means rail.." Gotta love an old school Simpson's quote.

This was created by the artist painting the design on a metal plate and then running it through the intaglio press. The dots were achieved by splattering the painted areas with mineral spirits before printing. This print is larger- approximately 10 x 20 inches. Since there's only one and it's larger, it cost more- all of $10.

This print appears to be a screen print:

It's about 10 x 10 inches. I fell for it because we all have those days where the world is terrible and you just don't want to get out of bed. This went for $5.

This wasn't the cleanest print (note the noise), but I cracked up when I read it:

"There is a fine line between genius and insanity- I have erased this line"

I couldn't resist, and it was only $2!




So what have I been up to in print lately? Here's the latest to show:

I found a book of copyright-free images of Chinese papercuts. I love Asian design, and I collect Chinese papercuts, so there is a bond there. I'll get back to doing my stuff instead of appropriated material. Anyhow, they were an exercise to see how well I could carve a linoleum block and I'm pleased with them. They got a good reaction from my class- a little too good. The one of the lantern is the one that my fellow student told me "FU" as a backwards compliment-he was jealous that I was capable of carving such fine detail. The kids these days, lol.

A Modest Revolution

During one of my latest trips to Palmyra, I purchased the documentary "A Modest Revolution" at the church bookstore. I finally got around to watching it the other day and thought I'd give a review.

The documentary was made in 2006, a follow up to a research paper done by Denise Richards (a BYU student, not the actress, ha ha). It's a bit amateurish, especially the beginning, but overall the message was good. They talked about how modesty isn't just about the clothes you wear but overall how you are- inner dignity. They talked about how modesty is a sign of an inner commitment. Modesty isn't about being ashamed of yourself, it's quite the opposite. Modesty is a way for people to get to know you instead of being distracted by your clothes.

I also liked how they talked to all kinds of people from different religions- Christian, Muslim, Jews-and secular voices were represented. It's about half an hour long, which is kind of short. They finally get going only to have to stop. I'm sure there were more aspects that could be discussed.

Of course you cannot have a discussion about modesty without talking about Wendy Shalit- she wrote the book A Return to Modesty a few years ago (which I need to read) and also the more recent book entitled Girls Gone Mild (which I loved). Wendy Shalit is an orthodox Jewish woman who has similar views about modesty and morality as us LDS girls and I really like what I have read from her. She has a blog, Modesty Zone. She is also interviewed for this documentary and I liked the comments that she makes there too.

In the book Girls Gone Mild, she shares about the Jewish belief that the light of God is in your face (I'm paraphrasing) and if you dress inappropriately, then you are distracting people from the light of God in your face. I liked that analogy.

I grew up in the Seattle area in the grungy 90's- I don't think I could have dressed immodestly if I tried! There was flannel everywhere. I am glad that I'm not in high school these days. The film badmouths Madison Avenue quite a bit, wanting them to change, but I don't really care about reforming the fashion industry. There are attractive, modest options out there and there are small companies springing up that offer modest fashions. Part of me kind of likes the challenge of finding attractive, modest clothing. And if it doesn't exist, then I can create it. I like looking different- actually being covered up and not having tattoos and piercings everywhere makes me stand out from my peers at school. I can bend over without showing my backside. I've become the rebel, not them, if you think about it.

My mother and I have conversations about modesty- and it's funny because a lot of my mother's clothes were sleeveless back in the day and so were her friend's. It wasn't really considered bad like it is now in LDS circles. And I look at her photos and I don't think they're scandalous. I had little sun outfits when I was a kid, and I don't think it was scandalous to wear a sundress at age 6. But I was innocent then, and I think that was the case for my mom and her friends, too. They weren't trying to be sexy.

But I don't like seeing it these days. It bothers me to see immodestly dressed young people (modesty is for boys too), especially at church functions. One thing that is really irritating to me is when I see a modestly dressed bride- and her bridesmaids are totally immodest. In photos in front of the temple. I'm like...wha? Such a contradiction.

When I was growing up, I wanted to wear shorts to school (on the two nice days a year in western Washington) and Mom's answer was always No- her philosophy is that you act how you are dressed and she felt shorts were too casual for school. And I hated that rule. In recent years, I've (darn it!) found it to be true- when I am dressed lax, I act lax. If you dress sexy, you're probably going to act sexy.

I notice other people's reactions to how I dress- if I am dressed as a scrub, then people treat me like a scrub. I am often dressed like a scrub at school, what with studio classes and such. People treat me differently. And the opposite is true, too. When I was driving home from my last YSA conference, I stopped to buy gas, and I was definitely the nicest dressed person (in my skirt and heels) in a gas station in rural WV. And the men by and behind the counter there were quite chivalrous to me, because I was dressed nice. Your appearance is the first thing that people see, and it speaks volumes about who you are.

I showed the film to my girls last Wednesday and I think they got the message. We've had conversations on this topic before and I talked about how we want to be classy and not trashy. There's many elements that comprise being "classy" and modesty is one of them. Modesty isn't just about how much skin you're showing, but I think it also comprises other aspects- are you dressed like a schlub? Do you groom yourself properly? Are you dressed to gain attention? Do you have inappropriate piercings? Do you draw all over yourself (I did that and my girls do too...sigh!)? Do you show respect for the body and spirit that God has given you?

I have really been enjoying the recent talks, etc, about the new Young Women's value of Virtue. Modesty is definitely a part of being virtuous. If you did not watch the recent YW broadcast, then I recommend viewing or reading the talks. Elaine S. Dalton gave a really wonderful talk about what true beauty is.

I think back in my day in YW, modesty was taught more about the letter of the law (hemlines, etc) and no one really explained why it's important. I like that we talk these days about why it's important and that it's more than what you wear but how you are- the spirit of the law.

There are many aspects to this topic, which I may discuss in the future. Anyhow, I really like talking about this topic and I feel that it's really important in today's society.

Pretty Dresses

It cracks me up how much I've been tied to the wedding industry, despite my Eternally Single status. I'm a wedding photographer after all (since 2001!), and I worked for a year and a half registering couples at BB&B. An when I wasn't registering couples, I was helping people find registry gifts. I got some skillz- I can decipher those cryptic registries. I can giftwrap the oddest items. I can advise on registry etiquette (Do not register for a toilet brush! Ew!). I also worked for a good long while at Craft Outlet, often helping pick out paper for DIY invites or helping with some other kind of wedding project. I do wedding albums for my friends. I often find myself helping with receptions and pre-ceptions and whatnot. If I had an etsy store, I'd probably be selling some cake toppers and other wedding items cause they're fun to make.

I keep tabs on trends in the wedding industry because it's good for business to know what's going on out there. I buy Martha Stewart Weddings cause they're very classy. I love the photos and the color palates and ideas. I've used some of the colors/ideas when I've thrown parties.

I try not to look like I'm some desperate girl with all this wedding stuff, cause I'm not, I just have fun with it. I've always been a sucker for pretty dresses.

I've thought about being a wedding planner because it would be a good combo of my crafty/planning skillz but I don't want to be a real life J-Lo from The Wedding Planner, helping everyone else marry except her.

When I was a teenager, I had a big interest in fashion- I drew sketches of clothes all the time. I was interested in fashion school for awhile. I still think that would be fun. I have designed and sewn a lot of formal dresses and costumes over the years. I think it would be so much fun to design costumes in movies (especially over the top productions) because you're trying to tell about the character through their clothes. I order catalogs like Anthropologie because it's fun to look at the clothes. I like learning about all the different types of fabric and lace, etc.

I admit that every now and then I peek at the modest bridal wedding sites- places like Eternity Gowns and Latter Day Bride. I like to critique dresses and imagine how I'd improve them. I'm glad there are companies that cater to LDS gals like us but I do have some criticisms- the vast majority of gowns I see would be ridiculous on anyone over the age of 22. What about girls my age that get married? Who's looking out for us?

Some look like they just hacked together three different dresses into one, there is no "flow". And others would be great if you were trying to look like you were wearing curtains or if Little Bo Peep is your idol. Some of the dresses I see lately are becoming too huge and very embellished- I'd be embarrassed to wear something "worldly" like that in the temple.

I highly doubt that I'd ever find a gown that I liked in it's entirety when my day comes- I imagine I'll have to hire someone to make me a gown. There's an old wives tale that it's bad luck to sew your own dress. Sometimes I have fun and design dresses in my spare time. If I lived in Utah, I'd seriously think about trying to work for one of these companies and improve their product lines.

Here's the latest sketch I've done:

I'm not a fan of huge "marshmallow" dresses. A dress should complement you, not outshine you. I like a simple elegance. I'm totally into vintage, too. I imagine this one in a fabric that's not too shiny (like peau de soie, which is luminous instead of shiny) or perhaps with a sheerish dotted swiss overlay. I'm a fan of pretty ruffles, and those are fabric flowers on the waistline. I'm also picky about sleeves- they have to be just right or your arms look terrible.

My idea of heaven would be a place where I got to wear pretty dresses all the time. How about you?

Update

It's occurred to me that some people may just be interested in the crafty things I do and may not care about my ramblings on single life or what I did for Easter. For them, I've created a blog devoted to all things artsy and crafty entitled Craftyness. I'm still working on adding content to it. I'll continue to post my projects on here as well.

I've been adding to my advertisement blog (B)advertising as well, I love making snarky comments about what irritates me!

Can't Help Falling in Love

My sis Laura has been an Elvis fan ever since she was a little kid, so it was pretty perfect when my dad spotted an ad in the paper for a local fundraiser dinner featuring Elvis the weekend before her birthday. It was held at the local Catholic church. She knew that we were going somewhere that night, but it was a total surprise when Elvis came out! It was way fun to surprise her.

Dinner was pretty good and the people at our table were real nice, we might invite them out next time we have a shindig at our place. And then it was time for....ELVIS!!

This photo doesn't even do this woman's hair justice- it was so big! And it was sparkly with glitter! I'm totally doing that when I'm a crazy cat lady.

He took a break and had a costume change...and serenaded Laura with "Happy Birthday":

I wonder who does his costumes...there's a lot of workmanship in them!

Laura hearts Elvis:
And hey, when you get a photo op you gotta take it!

He did a good job- he looked, sounded and danced like the King. He was pretty entertaining, and I admit it was pretty surreal to have Elvis shaking his stuff four feet away from you. He serenaded me during the song "You're so Young and Beautiful" which was nice- for once I was the hottest thing in the room! Laura and I were by far the youngest people there. My parents were some of the youngest there! You couldn't help but be in a good mood during his performance. We all laughed and had a fun time that night. If I ever have an engagement party, I'm totally hiring him. Ha ha.

It's kind of funny these days that no one really dies...if you've been recorded then you still live on in some form or another. We can see you walk and talk anytime we want. They can even make you dance with a vacuum cleaner in a commercial (Fred Astaire). My friend liked to watch her wedding video because then she could see all her family members and loved ones that had passed on since. I remember when Laura was 6 months old and having her first surgery on her head- we've never had a camcorder and so my mom tried tape recording Laura in case something happened. Laura was a pretty quiet baby but she'd make these cute growling noises and my mom wanted to be able to remember what Laura sounded like. Thankfully Laura did well, but we still have the tape somewhere.

I was never video recorded as a child (and rarely since) so I don't know what I sounded like or how my mannerisms were. I only exist in photos. We're kindof funny because we don't have home movies in my family. We have footage of my dad when he was little, so it's funny that there is more footage of him as a child than me. There is footage of Laura when she was young- a tape was made of her at age 3 at her pre-school and we have a copy of her California Raisin performance in grade school.

I find myself taking pictures of everything and I'm never without a camera in my purse- if you don't document it, then did it really ever happen?

Seeing/Believing

These days in art history, we are talking about the artist's in the "Ashcan" school (group) of painters in America in the early 1900's. The artists in this group preferred gritty scenes of America than the typical classical/fantasy subjects of the day. Most of the men had backgrounds in doing illustrations for magazines and newspapers and their art was influenced by that practice of arriving at a newsworthy scene and sketching it out. This was before it was possible to reproduce photographs in newspapers.

Think about it- if you were a reader, you had no real visual information to go on, you were held at the mercy of how the artist interpreted things. I made the comment to my friend in that class that we have come to that point again today.

Being able to manipulate images digitally is exciting, and I love being able to remove red eye, but we've reached a point that things can be so fake yet look so believable. There's also the opposite- photoshopped images that are not believable (Photoshop Disasters is hilarious!) but for the most part it's easy to tweak things. If you caught Elder Bednar's recent CES fireside, he shows computer generated conceptual images of temple interiors and their real life counterparts- and they're very difficult to tell apart.

Yes, it was possible to manipulate images from film but it was much harder to create anything realistic. It was much easier to tell if something had been painted out or added in- darkroom effects are not the easiest. I know from my own darkroom experiences that it was difficult to even paint out dust specks without it being obvious.

I think that we have to be really careful to not believe everything we see. You also have to question the source.

Case in point: Last weekend during Conference, one of the men in our branch had printed off these photos that showed these enormous skeletons being unearthed in an archaeological dig. He was showing them to us, he thought they were real. He thought that this discovery coincided with Book of Mormon stuff. He had righteous desires that these were real.

I saw the images and I thought to myself "I bet anything those are photoshopped." And later I looked them up at Snopes.com and according to them I was right. Apparently they were created as part of a contest and then several groups made fake news stories using these photos and distributed them in emails. Basically, you can't trust the majority of forwards that you receive. If these were real, wouldn't you see it in Time magazine or on the news? Besides my knowledge of Photoshop, how did I know these were fake?

The Holy Ghost did not confirm their truth to me.

Are there large skeletons? Sure. I saw photos of this in the Book of Mormon lecture that I recently attended, though they weren't this huge . But experiences like these make me very thankful to have the gift of the Holy Ghost so that I can know for myself what is true and what is not. You cannot put your trust in the world. I love knowing that everything that is good and true comes from God. We have to have faith in what we cannot see, relying upon the Holy Ghost.

"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"

Ephesians 4:14

Spicecat

Laura's kitty Spice passed away on March 18. I waited til now to memorialize her because I had to find a photo to scan.

Spice and her brother Hobbes:

Technically she was Laura's, but she was a member of the family- she was the oldest of our 7 kitties. Spice was 17, the same age as some of my YW! She was active and pretty healthy up until the end. We think she had a stroke- all of a sudden she couldn't really move, especially one side. She got some movement back a couple of days later (we kept her inside) and took her to the vets for an IV and observation. She passed away there.

I've spent more of my life with Spice than without her. I was about 12 when we got her and her brother Hobbes (who was "mine"). She witnessed and survived alot in her years with us. She evacuated with us in 95 when there was the forest fire behind our house. She made the move to Newport, WA and then back home when we lived in Eastern WA during my senior year of high school. She made it to Pennsylvania, surviving a plane ride and a long drive from Detroit to here in very hot weather. She was a tough cookie, but was always sweet and friendly.

She was a caring sister to Hobbes- she outlived him by nearly 6 years. When I brought Hobbes home after we had to put him to sleep, she was there on the cars hollering at me. I was carrying his body in his basket and she patted him with her paw. They loved to play and wrestle and sneak up on each other, they were so funny. I imagine that is what they are doing now.

One of the funny stories about her was when we had Puppy (our first dog), she would lie on a corner of his bed...and he'd scoot over to avoid her. And she'd scoot over some more. And he'd scoot over more, too. And before you knew it, she had commandeered the whole bed and was lying in the middle of this huge bed. So funny. A total takeover.

She was old and in pain and so I'm not terribly sad that she's gone, but we do miss her. We buried her over by our ponds in a nice spot.

Spicecat, thanks for being a sweet and loving part of our family for so long. We miss you and we'll see you again someday.

Easter

It's officially spring here and it's so nice to not have snow anymore. Easter weekend was very lovely, with high temps and lots of sunshine. I had a nice weekend with my family and it was nice to watch Conference. I was looking forward to it and was able to watch 3 of the 4 sessions at the church building (we don't have tv channels or the internet!) .

The grass is slowly turning green, trees are getting tiny buds. Everything has been so brown (trees, ground) since the snow left, so it's very nice to see a little change.

Daffodils! There is life!

We had fun coloring eggs- Grma sent a tie dye kit:

And we did our usual onion eggs. The yellowier ones were dyed with homegrown onionskins.

There's no grandkids, so Laura and I get to be the big kids. Being childless doesn't usually bother me too bad but holidays kind of rub it in and make me aware of what I'm missing. It's kindof embarrassing hunting eggs when you are 29, but I appeased my parents. We hunted eggs in the house- plenty of hiding spaces! Laura got more, but I wasn't far behind. Dad was funny and hid a tomato as well:

The critters love the nice weather too- the kitties are always much less friendly when it's warm out than when it's freezing!

Zebby is showing her "catmoflage" behind the big rock!

I got bunny ears in my basket, I have a collection of various funny ears:

Thought it was an appropriate holiday for Grant too- he is a chocolate lab after all!

I'm thankful for Easter and for what we celebrate/remember with this holiday. I think back to Easter Sunday when I was a missionary in Colchester- I was asked to speak about the prophesies concerning the resurrection, which was an unusual and interesting topic for me. I had no idea how many times it was prophesied before Christ came. I also remember the Bishop's wife speaking, and she gave a really lovely talk that day about the resurrection- it pretty much was several stories about people that she knew that were disabled or had died tragically and how Christ's resurrection would make them whole one day. It was one of those Sundays where you knew the angels were there, it was so glorious. A very good memory.

Hope you all had a nice Easter, too.

Irene Bedard

This week I had the opportunity to observe actress Irene Bedard on campus, she's best known for being the voice and inspiration for Disney's Pocahontas. There are a lot of animation students here, and they arranged for her to come. I really enjoyed listening to her speak. Physically she is tiny (five feet tall on a good day!) but she has an immense sense of dignity and inner strength. She talked about her life and her family and her journey. She is a spokesperson for Native American issues and has a non-profit organization that benefits Native American Youth.

She has been married to musician Deni Wilson since the early 1990's. They have a son as well. Their wedding story is funny- they were living in NYC and decided to get married on the summer solstice. She then had gotten a role in the movie Squanto: A Warrior's Tale and was only supposed to be in Canada for a few weeks, but that turned into much longer. Their wedding had to keep getting pushed back and pushed back and finally they came to a solution: they would marry on the set. There was a large beautiful ship with sails for the movie that they wed on. The cast and crew attended. The costumers made her a beautiful native looking dress with shells on it. She had white eagle feathers woven in her hair. Deni was put in a swashbuckling outfit and they were finally wed. It was a funny story.

They have a strong commitment to each other and to their son, which was nice to see. They have a policy that they cannot go more than two weeks without seeing one another, and once their son came along, she has transitioned her work to be more focused on her son. She and her husband do music together, they did a concert as well, though I had to miss that.

She talked about how she did a lot of research on Pocahontas for the role, and that she tried to give her as much strength and dignity as possible. I think that shows, and Pocahontas' strength is a big reason why I like her as a heroine better than other Disney films, despite the historical inaccuracies.

Anyhow, it was refreshing to see a kind, respectful, dignified and noble woman and I'm glad she's a role model. We need more women like her in society.

Auntie Marcie

My Aunt Marcie came to visit from San Francisco last weekend, it was a lot of fun to have her around. After school on Friday, I met everyone in Erie and we ate out at Quaker Steak & Lube, a local chain. The food's not that fab, but it's fun to eat in a place with cheesy car stuff everywhere.

Cars on the walls!

The next day, we drove up to a Maple Sugar festival in Falconer, NY, about an hour and a half from our place. Marcie is a foodie (and has been long before it became popular) and a good cook and so she timed her visit so that she could attend one of these in the area.

It all took place at this farm, we got to have a horse drawn ride, and the guy talked all about mapleing. He was pretty good and funny too. The horses were beautiful, big black draft horses.





We got demonstrations about how they tap the trees, we watched how they do the traditional bucket and also how they do a plastic tap with tubing. Most serious maplers use plastic taps and tubes instead of buckets these days.


You have to take care of the tree, can't tap right where you tapped before. And you have to make sure the old spots heal so bugs don't get in.

There was yummy stuff to eat too- maple sugar cotton candy is very good, and we had a yummy pancake breakfast, too. You could also have sugar on snow- they drizzle thick syrup over crushed ice and it hardens into candy. I remember reading about Laura Ingalls Wilder's family doing this in Little House in the Big Woods, so it was fun to see. It was quite sticky- I didn't know if I would be able to open my jaw! And they serve a dill pickle with it, which is interesting together.

Once you gather the sap, you have to condense it into syrup quickly because sap stays good for only about 12 hours. This boiler takes the water out of the sap, and you get syrup!

Do you know how much sap it takes? A LOT! It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make ONE gallon of syrup! And each tree doesn't put out that much sap, you have to tap a lot of trees. You have to have the right conditions, too- cold nights and warmer days to get the sap. Our warm winter has taken a toll on the maplers this year, few are getting much sap. Last winter was much better for the maplers.

It takes at least 40-60 years for a maple tree to reach enough maturity to be tapped, which is another problem. A lot of maples are lost to furniture, etc. Some of the trees we saw being tapped were at least 200 years old, wow!

Needless to say, we all had major sugar highs! I got dizzy walking out to the car! And learning all that makes me appreciate maple syrup!

We went out for pizza after that, one of our fave places in NY is the Ashville General, a total hole in the wall place. But they make some of the bast pizza around. It's a crazy old shack of a building, love it! And inside they did stuff like repurpose old classroom maps as window shades, it's fun.

Marcie also came to church with us Sunday, it was a nice day. Also went to our YSA testimony meeting, which was good despite their being only 4 YSA including me! Good thing I like my leaders. On Monday, I met Laura and Marcie in Erie and we saw Alice in Wonderland, which was fun. Great visuals. When we got home we had a surprise:

Easter!!

Like a week early, but oh well. My grandma had sent a bunch of stuff with Marcie so we celebrated early. Don't have to twist my arm to eat chocolate! My stuffed bunny smells like chocolate, too. The funny thing was that Marcie took caution and was able to transport a chocolate bunny with out it getting broken...and what did my mom do? She accidentally smacked it and broke it! There's a reason we use plastic cups in our house, ha ha.

Now that we did this, I forget that Easter is still this weekend! It's funny being out in the east, Easter is taken much more seriously than back home. People have Easter eggs hanging from the trees in their yard. The school children get out today for Easter weekend in all the school districts around here. We never did that back home, just had Spring Break.

We haven't seen any family in a year (since we went to CA last March) and it's been two years since Marcie came to visit last, so it was really nice to see her and have her around for a few day. You don't realize how much you love/miss someone until they reappear.