LONG HAIR

Yes, I was going to cut my hair. I still am going to have it cut. I've milled around the Locks of Love website & I know how it works. (It's been 5+ years since I did this last). I have been stalling. I keep noticing lovely ladies with long beautiful hair & think about how I don't want to lose that. But then I remind myself that I don't have that right now. Maybe once a week do I allow my hair (and myself) time to dry enough to straighten it with the iron so that it might reach the status of beautiful. Mostly it is up--in a "sumo bun", as Elisa named it, or in a braid.

I'll miss braids.

But I'm ready. I promise you before & after pics soon...

SENIOR MAN IN A UNIVERSITY STUDENT'S PLACE

Ok, so I'm creepy.

Tonight I was just scanning stuff at the Library. Hardly a soul there--(it's Saturday night). Except for one awesome old man, there for hours, stayed later than I did (I left at 11), typed super fast, extremely focused. It just fascinated me so I took a picture.

Sorry if that's creepy.

PBJS

Today I was really in the mood for a peanut butter n' jelly sandwich.

I remember the stage where I thought peanut butter & jelly was such a weird mix. I didn't eat them.

Then I had them again somewhere sometime, kind of by accident.

And then I knew why they were so common.

Because peanut butter and jelly taste good together.

UPDATE

So school picked up this past while, if you couldn't tell.

Puppet shows, tests, and deadlines for website, magazine, logos & book cover designs.

There have been some late nights.

Also, I realized something about myself. I think I always knew it, but I realized how this thing about myself affects others & I've been thinking about how to control it. While thinking, I've refrained from posting (not that there's been much time lately either). This 'thing' is that I'm honest. I know that sounds kind of cocky, but I don't mean it all in a good way. I am often too honest. Not that I'm a big mouth either, I just don't 'hold back'--I like to share. Is that the way to describe it? Maybe some of you who know me well can describe it better.

...It's not a conscious choice I make either, I feel like it just happens. Which is why I want to be more conscious about it.

That is my epiphany. I feel like there's a lot more I want to say about it, but expounding on the thought is perhaps exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Plus I'm supposed to be fixing my css/xhtml family website & I need to finish the Spanish exercises. I only have about 3 hours. . .

Oh, but one honest thing I won't withhold: I love Ben more than ever & that feels good.

FORESHADOW

Last night I hugged Ben in the kitchen.
He playfully picked up the Wüsthof knife
(ahem, thank you to Ords & Becksteads) off the counter.

He teased & said,

"Should I cut off your hair?"

I smiled. He teasingly made straining cutting sounds. I smiled & turned around.

He wasn't teasing.

He chopped off a good 3 inches of split-ends.

???

Oh well, I've been wanting to cut my hair anyway.
But it's going to be a lot more than 3 inches...

I TOLD YOU IT WAS REAL

Puppetry 452R.

It's ligit, and here's PROOF.

We made "Action Puppets", also called "Mr. Rogers - like" puppets for our fourth project. We had to write a 3 min. script with no words - just sound effects. Our teacher recorded them all and posted them at the link above. Fifth project: "Wannabe puppets", where we take cut open stuffed animals, take out the stuffing & give them movable mouths (because stuffed animals want to be puppets.)

FOUND

Yep, it's 12:35am, and I just found my yellow tape. I couldn't find the toothbrush Ben brought home from the dentist, and the last place I could think of was that it might still be in the car. I ran out in the cold with the keys and pierced the dark with the new Muir Woods keychain flashlight that my Mom brought home for Ben from their NorCal trip. I shined the light under the passenger seat and there it was. I'm a happy girl.

(Because when I came back inside and double-checked the bathroom, I found it on the floor under the cabinet!)

MY LITTLE BROTHER & MY COUSIN'S CAMERA

ASHTON SKATEBOARDS BAREFOOT
©2005

ASHTON STANDS WITH DIGNITY
©2008

jordan captured 2 quite-classic moments of ashton.
i love these 2 juárez boys!

WHAT DO LITTLE PEOPLE WANT WITH YELLOW TAPE?

Last week I had to buy stuff at the bookstore for work but I found nice things for myself too: a small Moleskine planner that I expected to be $15, and it was $8. It has time zones, metric conversions, a ruler & many other fancy features I adore.

I also bought some nice painters' masking tape - perhaps it was even artists' masking tape. It was bright yellow. For about the past four years, I have always carried with me a roll of colored masking tape. I'm always glad & it has come quite in handy for a variety of purposes. First I had dark green, then red, then orange, then light green, and I was quite excited about my YELLOW.

I used it to decorate a letter to a missionary, then the next night I needed it for what it was made for: masking paint. It was late at night, and I looked everywhere. Twice. Ben even stopped playing Nintendo & helped me. No luck. He went to the store & brought me home some regular old beige-ish masking tape. I did my painting but haven't used it since.

The funny thing is that just days before my tape loss, Ben & I were in a very similar situation late at night looking everywhere for tape. But that time, it was his tape. No, he doesn't share my same fettish with colored masking tape. It's the clear packaging tape that he bought for his plant identification class. Every other day he sits to tape different 13 new leaves onto flash cards for a quiz the next day. He needed that tape, and ended up running to the store to buy more.

Except then we FOUND his tape. Mine is still gone.

I told Ben The Borrowers must have taken it. He doesn't know who they are. I grew up with recorded tapes of the BBC miniseries & I love the films and the idea. I keep mentioning that The Borrowers are taking our stuff. Ben says he hates when I say that.



Anyway, that yellow tape was expensive. I wrote this post right now because I was just about to do something that required that tape, but it is not here. I really miss it today.

GRASSHOPPER UPDATE

I should leave out information more often; I get more comments...

Ben wanted everyone to know that when he 'agreed' to eat the grasshopper, he didn't really think he'd have to. I guess his friend Ben said something like, "If I eat a grasshopper, will you?" and then it wasn't until near the end of class, that the other Ben did the deed. I guess everyone looked to our Ben, expectedly--being familiar the agreement.

"So I picked it up, closed my eyes & just crunched into it. So bitter!"

I guess he spit it out without swallowing it.

So, Amie, I think Ben is both brave and silly.
And no, Manders, he had brushed his teeth by the time he saw me and kissed me.
So you can see, Ann, that it was the REAL thing.
Yes, Rebecca: yuck!
Janette! Hello! I'm reminded of you often as Ben moves through 'your' major. It was your favorite class, really? I think Ben enjoys it. I would...

And I think that's all the info I left out. Any more questions?

GRAPHIC DESIGN ACCORDING TO PAUL RAND

1 GRASSHOPPER, 0 OVERCOATS

Last week, Ben ate a grasshopper as a sort-of dare/bet with a funny friend (also named Ben) in his plant classification class. He said it was bitter.

Today, I pulled my long-sleeved shirt & pants out of a 'winter bin' and then considered also taking my orange coat. I didn't. I'm regretting it because the outside is cold. I'm inside & I'm still cold.

OUCH

This past week I've been pimpled. Hideously and annoyingly hurting me, even just by slight movement. I've done my best not to pick at it, but with so much sit-around-and-listen-to-lecture time, I must admit it's been hard. (Oh, and last week I was plagued by a similar fate on the other side of the lip.)

A TAD PERSONAL...

To an extent I believe I have felt as one who is poor in spirit for I don't know how long. But today I'm feeling as if I have been mended, (after a due process of occasionally painful learning & growth).

Read this & then click to read more:

"The first words Jesus spoke in His majestic Sermon on the Mount were to the troubled, the discouraged and downhearted. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” He said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 1 Whether you are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or among the tens of thousands listening this morning who are not of our faith, I speak to those who are facing personal trials and family struggles, those who endure conflicts fought in the lonely foxholes of the heart, those trying to hold back floodwaters of despair that sometimes wash over us like a tsunami of the soul. I wish to speak particularly to you who feel your lives are broken, seemingly beyond repair."

RECEPTION

Real quick...

You should all just click here and click through the links to find over 300 stunning photos of our reception 2 weeks ago. Make sure you have a minute to browse, it's not just a click & look thing. You'll have to soak some stuff in. Plus, there's a bunch.

It is Ashley Thalman's incredible work. She captured our reception (and all other previous wedding festivities) and the very best way. I thank her DEEPLY. These images mean a lot to me & I couldn't have asked for more!

A RE-DESIGN

Aside from being, ahem, our one-month anniversary today, it is also the day that a BFA Graphic Design Final Show opened on campus. This is an example of something I'll have to do before graduating. This is the cool way that Keenan Cummings approached it: re-designing the Daily Universe, the campus newspaper. It is quite an intricate, intelligent process. Check out the companion site to the proposed new look of the paper at thedailydiscussion.com.

SCHOOL HAS BEGUN

This semester is just as I expected: super-exciting & fun, but incredibly intimidating and scary.

A little taste of my experience:

Adrian's class: He told us we needed to have several magazine subscriptions, and that if we didn't have enough money--Christmas is coming. (wink-wink! on my wish list: Good, Communication Arts, Graphis, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple, Seeing The Everyday, among others...)

Brent's class: He told us we should all surf the net at least one hour a day; that we should have a blog & update it often. (I should repent on that one).

Eric's class: He gave us an assignment, then told us to set it aside while we focus on a commission from FontShop. That's right, BYU design students were asked to work on a project an international design corporation. Kewl.

Puppetry class: We made 2 puppets already. The assignments were an animal sock puppet and a person sock puppet. I made an octopus, and what Ben called a "homeless-looking guy". Pictures to come.

Spanish class: It's fun to use the language again. But it's my only class I have to go buy a book for at the text place, and we use the online "Blackboard" system. Not a fan. I'm also taking it with a good mission buddy, Jayrin Farley. I love her; thus I love my time in that class.

Wayne Kimball's Litho class: I've always been really intrigued by the lithography process. Wayne Kimball is a master printer and is about to retire, thus I figured I better get in on it now. But it's a lot of work & doesn't really count to anything, so I decided to just audit. It also only lasts about a month and a half, but I've already learning a bunch in just 2 class periods. Wayne's great. It's just dangerous for me to audit because I tend to stop attending since I know it doesn't affect a grade. Levi's going to help me just learn & print though. That's what I wanna do...

To be continued (for TWO more years)...

Officially opening my auction for NieNie Day... (Officially closing Monday Morning at 8am MST)

Item for bid #1: GREEN GLASS BIRD

Item for bid #2: SET OF 5 HAND-MADE

OLIVIA GREETING CARDS

(AND ENVELOPES) - CUSTOM-DESIGNED

FOR YOUR NEEDS

(The birthday card pictured above is made of cardstock, a Nat'l Geographic image & press-on letters from the 80's. That's basically what I'll do: use found items and then add my painting/handwriting to create a new composition for the kind of card you want. I'm sorry I don't have finished products to give you a better idea of what they'd look like, but I make each card specifically for someone & then give it away. However, Ben happens to have kept some stuff I made for him, so I snapped some pics of envelopes & letters just so you can get an idea of my style. See slideshow below to get a better idea.)

To bid, please comment & list your name, the item # you want, your bid amount &

your email (if not a 'blogger member' already).
All proceeds will be donated to the Christian & Stephanie Nielson Recovery Fund.

THANK YOU!

Oh! And click here or here for lists of links to more amazing silent auctions for the cause.

BE GRATEFUL

Okay. Today is my first 'real' day off: no wedding to plan, no reception to prepare, no job to work. But there is a big job ahead of me, actually. I feel like I need to fit 5 elephants into my car... (there is A LOT OF STUFF to fit into a TINY APARTMENT). I'm excited for the challenge, but it means work, time, thinking & effort.

Anyway, I feel like, on this 'day off', I deserve make a blog post. It's going to be about the things most on my mind. I've narrowed them down to four, hoping that I can be back to being productive in 15 minutes!

FOUR THINGS ON MY MIND:

1. I love Ben. Today, perhaps, more than ever. He is imperfect, like us all, but this morning, he was perfect, and I'm so glad I get to be his WIFE. (Still an unfamiliar term).
2. I have a constant itch. Literally. While smiling for some family wedding shots before the reception, I felt a sting/poke on my hand. After the photoshoot, I was able to look down & see that it was certainly some kind of bee or wasp sting. Ouch! It must have been hiding in my glorious bouquet. (So I can't blame it). BUT, my hand is still itching A LOT! Last night, it itched to the point of waking me up. Thanks to Kurt, I had some anti-itch cream by the bed, & that has helped. But I still itch!
3. Stephanie & Christian. I don't know them. But I now know a lot ABOUT them. I've spent much time on the family blogs & news reports about their plane crash and about the actions for their cause & benefit. I've decided to contribute to the silent auction in their honor. I know I don't have many blog-readers, but perhaps this can help in SOME way. My item up for bid: A set of 5 greeting cards: custom, hand-made Olivia cards. You tell me what you want (Birthday, Thank You, Get well, whatever) & I'll make them & get them to you with envelopes and all. You can even tell me WHO you'll send it to, & I'll custom design it for them. I'll make them my best ever, I promise. Or, if you're not interested in that, there's this cool green glass bird I have that I love, but I'd be willing to give up for this cause. I'll post a picture of it soon, but if that interests you more, say so. I guess whichever goes for the highest bid (meaning more $$$ to donate to the Paypal fund), will be the selling item. Click below to skip the auction, & donate now:
   
   
   
   
   (This is really a GREAT thing about Provo. It's an example of an INSTANT network of support -- mostly just because of people who know people. Stephanie went to Provo High and so did I and that is all the connection between us--other Provo people. I heart Provo!)
4. Luke & Family. We received a shocking email from a long-time family friend apologizing for missing the reception and explaining that it was because their 2 1/2-year old Luke had been in a lawn mower accident. He is still in recovery at Primary Children's Hospital. How kind of Gina to even THINK to send an apology to us when that should be the last thing on her mind! We love you Glassfords and know that your history of quiet acts of service will be returned with acts of grace and blessings at this hard time. Thank you for your example always!

Bottom line: I am grateful for my blessed life. It is hard (itchy wasp stings) & I wish it were different sometimes, but I must remember how much I cannot complain. We are here with our specific trials for a reason. I'm dealing with mine--however minor--and I'm trying to remember respect all those around me for enduring their own.

I must admit that it triggered some tears last night--to kneel with Ben & humbly express these feelings with our Father. They were tears of immense gratitude for blessings. Most recently, the blessing to physically SEE the support and love for us and our families. THANK YOU to those who came to celebrate our marriage--especially if it meant you had to wait longer than you planned! Sorry!

(I must also admit that some of those tears were just in pure mourning for the loss of the Knudsen home-a BEST part of Provo, as it is all finally hitting me & coming to a close much sooner than later. I know it was never really MY home, but it has certainly become very close to home nonetheless since Fall 2001. I will miss it MUCHO.)

FRESH BASIL

I decided basil makes everything better.

{ I decided this after loving your rice/zucchini dish from Sunday, Becky. Thank you. }