A new year and a fresh start

Well, here we are! Made it through another year. Just barely too it seems. So I started out on December 1st by wrecking my beloved little car. The outcome of the accident is still be debated, but I've finally gotten myself a new set of wheels thanks to my parents, my uncle, and a lot of praying. I got it through Enterprise, it's a 2006 white Hyundai Accent, and I've decided to name her snowflake. I'll post a pic of her in another entry. During my time working with Enterprise, the fellow who was helping me actually asked me if I would be interested in job. I said of course! If I got this job I'd be making $36000 a year, or $3000 a month, which would be superawesome. That would pretty much solve my money problems, and really, those are my only problems. Life would be good. I have high hopes. I'm supposed to hear from them this next week, so we'll see how it goes. Good thoughts please! Good thoughts! :) I've had a very up and down month this last month, but as soon as I stopped trying to fix everything, it all sort of settled into place. And to me that just proves that if you have faith everything will be ok.

So that's kinda the long and the short of what I've been up to. Jess gave me this great idea to try and take at least one picture every day. So that's one thing I'm going to try to do for the year... not sure how long it'll last, but we'll see. So I'm starting out the year with some lame photos I took today, lol. They'll get better I promise :)

Welcome 2009. We have great hopes for you. Or at least I do.



It's a bird! It's a plane! ... Actually, it is a plane. But it kinda looks like a bird doesn't it?


Very rarely do I get good shots of the moon. I just kinda like this one.

And what photo album is complete without the squiggly light picture?

I'm still here :)

Hi guys! I know I haven't updated in ages... let me just tell you it's been ridiculous around here the past month. I'll try to get back in the swing of things here soon.
Biggest news over the last month, I finally got a job. Not a theatre job, but a job none the less. I've been working at Michael's for the last three weeks as a cashier. It's been fairly entertaining, I've met a lot of interesting people, in both good and bad ways lol. Mostly good though. :) And actually, I found out yesterday that I'm going to be promoted to framing! Woot! Seems silly, but I do get paid a little more, and that also means I won't be working on the floor for the holidays... and that is definately something to be thankful for!
Theatrically I've not done much of anything really. I applied for a carpentery position over at New York New York for Zumanity, so we'll see if I get to interview for that one.
I've still been really busy with my artwork, I just haven't posted any pics lately. I'm about to go on a chunky page spree here in a minute, so you can probably look forward to a really picture heavy post very soon. I'll also try to put up some of the other things I've done over the past month. I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still here and still doin' my thing, I've just had a ridiculous month! Sorry for no updates! I'll be better... promise. ;)

A New Arrival

Hi all. Well, so far this week has brough me both good and bad news. We will start with the bad news so as to end on a high note. Bad News: I realized I am going to be way in over my head financially if something miraculous doesn't happen very soon. Keep me in your thoughts please, every little bit helps! Meanwhile, I am frantically praying as hard as I ever have. Good News: Monday I had some job opprotunities present themselves to me, which is AWESOME. The first and most likely, is at Best Buy part time. Now, I've never made it a life goal to work at Best Buy, but it's a store that I like well enough, and it pays at least $8 an hour, which is more than what I have now, now being nothing. So any work is good work at this point. Yay Best Buy. I have my final interview on Friday, so we'll see what that brings. While I was on the phone with Best Buy, King Dahl called me and left a message. King is the production manager over at MGM Mirage, and was the guy that Frank had referred me over to. I had called and left him a message last Thursday about just meeting and chatting a bit to see what maybe I could do for him in the future. He returned my call (unfortunately when I couldn't receive it! damn, but that's ok) and said the best way to contact him is through email and left his email address. I promptly emailed him as soon as I got off the phone (while I was getting ready for my Best Buy interview, lol) saying that I would like to meet and have a chat, blah blah blah, I would be happy to send you my resume if you'd like. Love, Me. I got an email back 15 minutes later saying "Great. Yes, send me your resume." Which, of course, I did. I haven't heard back from him since then, but I understand that he is a very busy man. If I don't hear from him by the end of the week I will send him a note on Monday asking if he got my resume ok and that I was just checking in. He sounds like a very nice fellow, so I'm hopeful. If you could also keep this in your thoughts for me that would be swell. Again, meanwhile, I will be praying as I never have before. So elated was I on Monday after all this good news, that I decided to hunt down this rubber stamp store recommended to me by a gal on one of my art sites. I found it, but barely. It's very tucked away in a corner, and I found it by sheer luck I'm certain. However, the little old guy that runs it reminds me of Santa and is very pleasant. I asked him on a whim if he would be looking for any help and he said that he actually might have a part time position for me and to check back later in the week. Bonus. This is all good news.

That's as far as it goes for right now though, seeing as I haven't heard from anyone in the last couple days, but hey, it's a start and that's all I really needed. I'll be sure to update on Friday after I have the Best Buy interview and let you know what happened there.

Ok, so I have a new baby. It's a red and gold sunburst Gibson that I bought last week at a pawn shop for a really good price. (i.e. "really good price" = not good enough that I will tell you as I am still ashamed that I bought it due to my current financial situtation) I got it with an amp, seeing as it's an electric guitar, and I've been trying to learn to play. I have learned over the course of this last week that my fingers are retarded. Especially the fingers on my left hand. And they're fat. Nonetheless, I spent the money and I must commit. Not only to actually learn something cool, but also to prove to myself that it wasn't a waste of money. I got the strap for it today (I'd been practicing on my knee sitting down) and I also got a book with some cds and dvds that go with it, which should be much more helpful than the online videos I've been looking at so far. And with that I present to you my new baby....


....isn't she pretty? :)

Another page in the book ;)

I finished my second page for the Rock and Roll chunky book. This one is for Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" :D

First chunky page ever!

Soooo I'm in a Rock and Roll chunky book swap, which basically means you decorate the pages with embellishments that make it, well, chunky. I just did my first page ever today and I really like it. It's for "Dude Looks Like a Lady" by Aerosmith.

Fat Girl Love

Here are my latest ATCs. These I did for a swap called Fat Girl Love, which is all about celebrating the body and all it's shapes and sizes. These are in colored pencil.



I call her a bashful beauty. This one is my favorite.

Ain't it the truth? Nothing to be ashamed of there.

I love this quote, and it's actually an original from Alan. The context was completely different, but I still liked the phrase and thought it was very applicable.

Hand drawn goodies

I made these last night for a personal swap with one of my friends on Nevervousness. A couple themes she likes are Peter Pan and vintage pin up girls, hence the inspiration. I love them! They are marker and colored pencil.



This is the Pan inspired one. I drew from the show poster we had at the U of M.

This is my vintage pin up girl. She's sexy, I know. I love how it turned out.

Last one today, I promise :)

So here's the last of what I did today... three luggage tag ATCs in a plant and flowers theme. I decided to watercolor some herbs. The idea actually came to me from looking through the gnome book I used as inspiration earlier. Once again, yay gnomes!




Here is a card for St. John's Wart, used as a natural anti-depressant.

And here we have Shepherd's Purse, which can be used in cooking since it's a member of the mustard green family.

And finally, the Centaury Plant, which is apparently good for fever and tonic.

Roaming gnome!

Gnomey gnomey gnome! This is what I've accomplished today so far. I LOVE him... so cute! These pages were for a Gnome Deco from Nervousness. Yay gnomes!



My journal pages. I'm so excited about how they turned out.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is my workspace.... lol. It might look a little tragic, but I can't seem to function any other way!

Na na na na... Batman!

These are some more cards I just finished. These are for a hand drawn Batman swap. I was actually pleasently surprised with how these turned out. The last picture is actually in my sketchbook and much bigger than the others. That's what made these so challenging, I don't usually draw on such a small surface. I also did them in marker, which is something else I don't usually use for hand done work. Tell me what you think!



I really like this one. It's really interesting in that there's more negative space than colored space.

I like how this one turned out too. It's a little off center, but I still like it.

Poison Ivy. I kind of just made this one up. Turned out pretty well I think.

This I'm particularly proud of. I got the image off a google image search and thought it was pretty freaking cool. This was done in pencil in my sketchbook. Yay Joker! I love him.

I made it :)

Well ladies and gents, I did it. I'm actually in Las Vegas. I didn't think the day would ever get here quite honestly. I love my new apartment. It has some little quirks, but I'm really happy here. I'll be posting some pictures of my house in the next couple days, I'm going to try to finish completely unpacking before I take any pics to post. I just didn't feel like finishing up today, so maybe tomorrow. I did, however, do a set of ATCs today, which was so much fun. I haven't had space or time to spread out and craft in months and it was really sad. So here's a few photos just for some fun.




This is Sally Sue. She was sent to me by my good friend Adam, and she was my companion on the long drive down to Vegas. This is her at 7 a.m. strapped into the Uhaul. (The hat is one that I made for myself, I just didn't have anywhere to pack it, lol.)

Here's my first loaf of bread ever, it's Amish Friendship Bread and it is delicious. I did good yes?

Here is my set of ATCs for the Stick It! Swap on atcs4all.com that I just recently joined. This swap was focused around using stickers, which I was so happy about!

My little fairy dream card

Old correspondences.... I really like this one, it's my favorite.

And some spring flowers just because they're pretty. :)

Ta DA!

Yay! I had the greatest day today! I'll have to elaborate more when I'm not exhausted, but look! I got a new camera! :)



I'm so happy I finally got another working camera!

Look! We're ladybug twins!

One week and counting...

Well, today is my 24th birthday (or was, it's now August 4th so the time for celebration has passed) and it was a good one. My sister and her family came down to visit, and we had a nice couple days of just hanging out and playing games.

This next week is the week of things to do. Tomorrow I'm making all my important phone calls - tune-ups for me and my car, getting the electricity and gas turned on in my new apartment so they'll give me the keys, and of course the cable company. I'm also calling the apartment complex to tell them I'll be there and that I've had my utilities turned on and all that jazz. I have to go through the mountain in the garage that is all of my worldly possessions and decide what I really need to take and what I should leave and store/sell. By the way, if anyone is really hurting for some Beanie Babies, I can heal you up pretty quick.

Anyway, I'm going to be awfully busy this next week, and I can't actually believe I'm finally going to be moving. I'm terrified quite honestly, but I'm so excited that the excitement makes the fear bearable. OH! And also in my adventures next week I'm going to replace my camera so hopefully the days of dreary word-only posts will coming to a close. I can't wait to have it back...I didn't realize it, but my camera had sort of become another appendage. Soon... soon...

I think that's about all I have for now, more exciting updates in the very near future!

Just a quick one

I just got back from Vegas yesterday...that drive is so long. I've got a set move-in date now of August 10th. It seems like so far away but really it's only two weeks from tomorrow. I still can't believe I'm actually doing this, it's really spontaneous, even for me. But it will be fun. I'm really excited to have my own place again and not have to go to school. I think that's the most exciting. No school. Wow. Actually having time during the day to do things for myself, now there's a concept! I'm especially glad because now I can devote proper time to my crafts and games. I've decided I need to be more committed to my gaming, so this is my chance to start doing that. :)

Right now I'm in Whitefish, MT visiting with my dear friend Jess. She's the Equity Stage Manager for the Alpine Theatre Project. I'm going to see their first show of the season - The Full Monty - tomorrow afternoon. Apparently it's been sold out houses the last few days, which is really good news for them. Also tomorrow, I'm going down to Bigfork to see the Benefit Reveue in the evening and see the Bigfork peeps one more time. So I have a very theatrical day in store, how exciting. :)

That's about it for interesting news....I still haven't fixed my camera situation, which is a shame. I need to do that here very soon. Until then, I suppose I'll have boring words-only blogs, lol. Catch you all later!

False Alarm

So upon going back to the first apartment the next day, I asked to see the actual apartment I would be moving into and it wasn't anything like the model. I was actually really disappointed, and I panicked. I then went around to about 7 more apartment complexes, and really, actually did find one this time. It's just a little way down the road from the other one, but the neighborhood is so much nicer. I can also get it on the first floor instead of the second, which is what I wanted to begin with. It's still a one bedroom, which is still not quite what I was hoping for, but with all of the places I've looked at I've realized the ones I want to live in I can't afford right now. However, I feel much better about settling for this place than the other one, and it's a little bit bigger even. I went back to the second apartment today - in Turtle Creek, cute huh? - and I asked again to see the actual apartment for rent, and..... it looked exactly like the model I saw. Imagine my relief! So HERE are the pictures of my real new apartment! :)



Living room. It has these two cute cubbies in it, I love them.

Here's a better view of the living room, sans cubbies.

A view of the dining room from the entryway, looking through the kitchen.

The kitchen looking in from the living room.

Behind the kitchen counter

My laundry. A full-size washer and dryer too, woot!

The bathroom. That other open door opens into the nook (picture down farther), the door I stood in while taking this was the door from the bedroom.

The shower. That I LOVE.

The bathroom vanity

The bedroom. My camera died before I got any other pics of the bedroom, but it's actually really big, that bed in there is a king. And the closet is a decent sized walk-in.

The nook connecting the bedroom, bathroom, and laundry to the rest of the house. The doorway you see open is to the bathroom, to the left is the bedroom, and the laundry is to the right.

I found a place! OMG!

So, I happened upon this place completely by circumstance. It's a one bedroom, which is not really what I wanted, but it's huge and I'm getting to the point where I can't be that picky anymore. It's within the budget I had set for myself, and the community seems really nice. I'm a stone's throw from Henderson (where all the shopping is), I'm close-ish to the Strip (where my job is supposed to be), and I'm also about 10 blocks away from my other friend that lives here. So yay! These are pics I took of the model, when I get my very own I'll be sure to take some photos of that too. :) Oh, and the property is called Firenze, like the centaur from Harry Potter. Cool eh? I thought so too. :D And also, I love all the windows!




This is the living room

And more living room

Built-in computer nook, nifty! (This will be my crafting area! Yay!)

This is the dining nook, and behind Wil is a full-sized washer and dryer. And yes, those are wood floors.

One view of the kitchen from the living room. Granite countertops!

A view of the kitchen from in front of the laundry area.

The bedroom

The bedroom walk-in closet!

The bathroom

The shower

And the patio