This is the shot that I submitted, and to my surprise I was awarded second place! I'm now fifteen dollars richer, and it's basically burning a hole in my pocket. Perhaps I'll be able to convince Rob to let me take him out and celebrate. I don't think that it will take much convincing if I say we suggest we go to the new Star Trek movie . . .
So here they are, my final grades for the Winter 2009 semester. It's taken so long for me to post them because one of my teachers didn't submit grades on time, and it showed me as having a T grade--basically a failed grade. Yeah. I wasn't so happy about it, but I was patient, and the teacher did submit the correct grade this morning. :)
BTW, here are a couple pictures of my "new" haircut when it's BYU-I acceptable. I really like how I'm so cute and freckly.
Spring has finally arrived in Rexburg, and the crocus, hyacinth, and daffodils are starting to bloom. YAY!
Today is Rob's and my second anniversary. It's hard for me to believe that two years ago we were happily married to one another. The years (I love that I can say years now, btw) have flown by, and we've had many great adventures together. I love Rob so much, and look forward to what the future holds for us.
This is the one that I turned in for my assignment. It expresses a very large part of me--that I am an emotional girl. My puffy, red eyes say it all. I look worn out, and hopeless. This is exactly how I felt in the moment, and I love how the emotion comes across. This is me.
But to every downside, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Things will work out for the best. I'll be led to where I need to be. I'll be just fine.
It was a triangular bouquet, which I set up with the woven palms and heather. To play up the texture of the palms I first sprayed them with leaf shine, to make sure they wouldn't get lost with all the other elements of the design.
Looking up from the bottom of the design, this shows off the Ti leaves, weaved palms, and lowest rose.
It was such a fun design to create, and not knowing what flowers I would get really let the flowers speak to me and tell me what to design. 
This is Tricky-Kix. As children, my siblings and I REALLY liked the cereal Trix. All that sugary, puffed, rainbow colored, whole-grain goodness got our mouths-a-watering, so my Mom would mix a box of Trix with a box or two of Kix to get the Trix to last longer. She called it Tricky-Kix.
Today as I was walking down the cereal aisle, I noticed that the Kix were on sale . . . and that the Trix were on sale too . . . since I'm so incredibly tired of eating shredded wheat for breakfast I knew what had to be done. I had to make up a batch of Tricky-Kix. I did, and it's absolutely awesome. Rob even likes them.
Up next is evidence that I'm looking forward to motherhood. While at DI tonight, I spotted this adorable little beanie. The moment I saw it, I knew that the unconceived baby girl in my future will wear it. I showed it to Rob, and even used the name that we've agreed on for our future little girl.
The beanie is so adorable; it's made out of glittery turquoise yarn, and the liner is like soft t-shirt material. Our little girl is going to have the cutest little fall and spring-time beanie there is!
This was one of the pictures that I took with my film camera that ended up getting double exposed. Can I tell you HOW THANKFUL I am that I also shot this scene with my digital? I love how the clouds are rolling in, and the sun is just shining through.
This is another that I felt inclined to back-up with the digital camera, which I'm again, VERY happy that I did. Rexburg may be a wet, cold, gray place, but it sure is pretty sometimes.
Now for something completely different, I went to a baby shower this weekend, and I think this little name plaque that my sister, Teri, and my mom made is adorable. The shadow from the baby shower sign ain't that bad, either.
Can you tell that it's a safari theme?
I think it looks great up on this beautiful mantle. I feel so artsy.
As the sun set I noticed that there was really good lighting at the house we were at, and wanted to take some pictures in the light. My niece, Tasha, had just picked up a piece of carrot cake, and I knew her purpose in being there was for me to take pictures of her. She was SO agreeable and easy to work with. If only all kids were this dang cute!
I loved this one of Tasha and Gavin, one of my eight--soon to be nine--nephews. Gavin looks like he's eying the carrot cake to snatch it away, and she's looking leery of him being so close.
I love how in this shot I actually caught Tasha with the frosting on her tongue.
Gavin didn't want to let Tasha get all the camera glory, so I took a couple shots of him, and he's quite the photogenic little gent.
Tasha was getting a little cold since twilight was upon us. Poor little cutie! Perhaps I should have had her put on her jacket before going outside?
Once all the good lighting outside was gone, I thought I'd take this fun shot of the refreshments we served. This is my niece, Karyssa's plate. Notice show she's taken a bite of the lemon bar, brownie, and licked the cream cheese frosting off of the carrot cake?
These were the nut cups that we made out of tissues, cotton balls, and plain ol' nut cups. A little redundant maybe, but much more fun than plain ol' nut cups!
A good friend of mine, Desi, is the inspiration of my post today. Desi and I met in May 2002 at the foot of Hill Cumorah. She had literally stepped off the plane that morning, groggy and probably a bit overwhelmed from flying the red-eye from Salt Lake, having just moved to New York. She was replacing a nanny, Susan, that lived in my ward in Watertown, NY; I knew Susan, but not very well because she was a little more reserved than me. 
After a few weeks of letting Desi settle in to her new nanny life, Jen's and my curiosity had been stretched to it's limit--Jen and I decided to "kipnap" Desi and take her on an adventure. We showed up on the doorstep of the mansion she lived in, rang the doorbell, and waited . . . Desi's "nanny mom" answered the door, and we asked if Desi could come out and play. We couldn't call ahead, because we didn't have her number. We just showed up. Once Desi came to the door, Jen and I could no longer control our fits of giggles, and somehow convinced her to come for a ride with us. I bet she thought we were absolute lunatics, but I'm sure glad she got in the car with us.
Since that eventful evening, Desi and I have had many great adventures. We've had child-like moments, where we've gone out in the pouring rain to splash in puddles and twirl in the dancing downpour. There have been times of fear, like when she was following me in her car to Ithaca, and I was too distracted to realize that I'd lost her; being the days before we had cell phones, and we had no way to communicate, and only by prayer were we reunited. When I heard that her Father had died in an accident I wept for Desi; I can't imagine the pain she endured being in Argentina and not able to be with her family during their moments of sorrow. Desi and I have been spontanious, buying airline tickets 48 hours before the plane that took us back to New York and the Hill Cumorah departed, and spending a whirlwind weekend with old friends, and favorite foods. She even convinced me to become a student at BYU-Idaho--back in 2003. I of course swiftly changed my mind and swore I would never become a student at BYU-I, however, when I found out that flip-flops and shorts were not allowed on campus. Oh, how things come back to haunt you, eh? We've made our lives beautiful adventures.
Nowadays, Desi and I may not communicate on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis anymore, but I still consider her one of my greatest friends; certainly one that has influenced my life, and helped me become the person that I am today. I'm greatful to have known her, to know her, and to see where her adventure will take her.
What really inspired this post is that finally, after years of pleading with her to do so, Desi has started a blog. It's title, Life is Beautiful, is truely how I feel about life--even when I'm stressed out because of midterms and making plans for the future, my life is beautiful.
I'm thankful that you went against your Mother's words of wisdom and got into a car with strangers, Desi. I look forward to hearing more about how your life is beautiful too.
First off, we found this great clay vase that we've put a bundle of sticks in. I originally bought the red vase last week for the sticks, but the clay vase looks better with the arrangement overall.
So this is what our "entryway" looks like. Mirrors, my art, and a couple of vases. We are fans.
Next on the DI awesome list are these candlesticks. They'll hold either tea lights or pillar candles nicely, and we've placed them on our dresser. I think they'll be a great subject for photography, aside from being beautiful and classy.
For the holiday, I got Rob a book that he's loved for years, MiG Pilot, and Rob got me this beautiful mini-rose potted plant, which I'll happily prune and keep blooming. I made the little rose and gerbera daisy arrangement--my favorite part is the submerged red wire. :) Oh, and the little flower in the shot is actually a ring, made of wire and a spray rose. We call it, "ring bling" in the shop. Don't you like how we have our ducks all in a row?
For dinner tonight we decided to try out a new recipe. A few months back I bought a Family Circle magazine, because the front cover was advertising six new mac & cheese recipes--and for those that know me well, know that I LOVE mac & cheese. Sorry Mom, but I think I've found a few favorite recipe for my longtime favorite dish. We broiled it about 45 seconds too long, so the bread crumbs got a little charred, but trust me, this recipe was amazing. You can find it here. It doesn't take any extra time in comparison to my family mac & cheese recipe that has been handed down for generations, but it does take a few specialties--Gouda and Swiss cheese, onion powder, and panko bread crumbs--but by golly, it was amazing. AH-MA-ZING! We also had fresh artisan rosemary bread, broiled until crispy of course.
This morning in my flower portfolio class I created this hand-tied bouquet with yellow and purple gladiolas, white daisy mums, lavender button mums, and hot-pink statice. The greens are eucalyptus, boxwood, and salal. It is a 360 degree design, and can be viewed from all sides.
First off, at the LA airport, I found this sight humorous. In multiple places both before and behind security, there are "telephone" areas, yet, the telephones have been taken out. I guess cell phones really did make pay phones obsolete. Who knew?
Next, this is the scene that I awoke to Wednesday morning. Absolutely clear skies, palm trees, and whats that . . .
If you look behind the sign, that is the ocean. I was in heaven.
This fountain greeted us as we got off the tram.
Here is a delightful Bird of Paradise. This is something that I'm going to love about living in California, there are Bird of Paradise all over the place.
This sculpture I love. I think it's beautiful. I only wish I had taken a picture of it's name too. Anyone know the name?
This wall I found enchanting. The light, the texture, the colors . . . I hope my shots in black and white turn out.
In nature, there aren't many green flowers. This one I found irresistible though, because of the little bug on it. Cute!
And between The Getty Center and Huntington Gardens where we visited on Thursday, I've decided I could definitely get into xeriscaping--now I just need to live somewhere HOT! Look at these beautiful succulent blooms!
