Texas Round Up January 2012

I got my iPhone pretty soon after I moved to Texas. Which is a real lucky coincidence! Because I certainly take more pictures with my phone than I ever took with my other camera. I love instagram, but I thought I would save my visual record here.

Warning: Photo Overload!

December & January 2012

Horses in the Dallas Police Trailer.
Even our cops ride horses. 

Central Market pizza crust has changed my life. 

homemade soup for winter chills

Great structure, even better smile. 

Cowboy Dancing, complete with denim shirt and braids. 

my brother Jesse discovered this little
wonder in the Wal-Mart parking lot

weekly floral arrangements at work

decorations for a baby shower at work

babysitting the cutest kids

this little delight looks like a J Crew model

cute little red nose

craft project with paper towel rolls

(Don't worry mom, those are IBC bottles in the background. )

the shopping center across from my office

Anthropologie jeans are out of my price range,
but who doesn't love 100% elastic?!

helping Chris with his paper route

fancy hair for the regional YSA gala 

yes, junior high friends, this is indeed
my dress from the 9th grade night dance.
just can't let go of those velvet flowers...

Do It Yourself

It's funny moving to Texas because everyone here thinks I am a very crafty person.  Which is great. I love being resourceful and being able to make stuff. But it's funny because I have conversations like this all the time:

Person: Oh! This is fun. Did you make it?
Me: Yep. It was so easy. I just used my paper punch, a little hot glue, and my sewing machine.
Person: Ah... Pinterest right?
Me: Actually, nope. I just thought of that one.

So I have decided that to the non-crafty-person, Pinterest is the ultimate craft resource. The DIY (do-it-yourself) movement had picked up quite a bit before Pinterest was born. Magazines like Ready Made were inspiring young hipsters or semi-hipsters, like myself. But once people embraced Pinterest, there was no holding back.

I love it.  I love seeing how my friends are cleaning in a new way, organizing differently, and cooking really pretty dishes. But it is also kind of sad to me. I feel like all the good craft ideas I had are now part of the public domain. For example, I knew in 4th grade that I wanted to have candles in mason jars hanging from the trees at my wedding. I decided in 9th grade that I would have a little bunch of glass vases with wildflowers for the table centerpieces. My taste and opinions were developed after years of reading Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Real Simple, and Country Living. It included "field research" at parties and weddings and other people's houses. In my first year of college in an interior design class, I even had assignments to rip out pages from magazines and start my own inspiration book.

But now with the internet, one person gets that idea and can easily spread it to everyone. Ideas get recycled over and over again.
At work a couple months ago, we were discussing whether we should look into the possibility of locking images on the websites that we create, so that they can not be pinned. Flickr already has this option. If you are on blog that has photos from a Flickr stream, you will get an error message saying "This image can not be pinned." The first time I encountered the error, I went to extreme measures to get the image. It's like because they didn't want me to have it, I wanted it even more. So I took a screen shot.
We had a similar discussion in a client meeting with designers at RBMM. They have been working on one of our client's branding for events. They have come up with this really great design style that is all their own. They didn't want to put the event posters on our website because they didn't want their images to make it on to Pinterest. I thought that was strange. I said, "Why wouldn't you want the world to see how awesome your pictures are?" They said, "Because our style will be mimicked and copied all over."
Truth.
The hardest thing about being a good designer is coming up with great stuff that you haven't seen before. You have to draw the line between inspiration and plagiarism. You need to know the rules about copyrights, creative commons, and what is in the public domain. I think most of us designers see our designs just like an artist views their painting. So when images are put up on Pinterest, then pinned, shared, and repinned... it makes it very easy for people to copy or "re-create." Last year when I was first using Pinterest, I pinned like mad. It was so easy to find so many great inspirations for cards, wedding announcements, etc. But then when I found myself ready to start a new project, I realized I wasn't relying on my creativity. I was too focused on how to REcreate something I had seen before that wasn't from my own brain... sufficeth to say, not a good habit to get into as a designer. It got me thinking and made me realize that I didn't want to just replicate. I want to create my own goodness.

Anyway. I still think Pinterest is great. The best thing it has added to my life is empowerment. I love tutorials and I love seeing the possibilities of something I might have overlooked. Just this week, I was getting ready for work and I tried on one of my many shirts that was handed down to me from a loving elder sister. I love the shape but the sleeves always drive me nuts. They are a weird length, they're puffy, and then there is a tight cuff just below the elbow. I remembered how much the sleeves had bugged me last time I wore the shirt, so I picked a different outfit. Later that night, I thought, "Ok. I can make this shirt work because I love it. It's worth investing a little time into.
I am happy to report that I totally altered the sleeves and I love the shirt even more now. I probably wouldn't have had the motivation to change it, if it weren't for my Pinterest time that day. I saw all these images of altered clothing or ideas for making a shirt more modest, more comfortable, etc. It reminded me that I could do that too.

So I guess to wrap up my long ramble... I think Pinterest usage is a great philosophy for life:
Look for inspiration, learn a few tips, and then go create something that is all your own. 


Miranda's bridal shower image
jar image
ruffle shirt image & tutorial

Simple Happiness

Yesterday was a near perfect day. As I was driving home from work, I kept thinking about little moments of my life when I just pause and think, "Ok, this is the epitome of happiness."

I thought back about how my definition of happiness changes from each age and I am sure it will continue to keep changing. Here are a few I wrote down...

As a toddler: 

As we were driving away from our old house in California, my mom gave me a new gift. Right when I got in the car, she handed me this beaut. The Talk n' View Magic Mirror. I would talk and Belle would talk back to me. Loved that thing. 

In kindergarten:

I was in the morning class in kindergarten. When I got home I would eat lunch with my mom. I remember one day coming home and feeling a little tired. So she propped me up on the couch (the light brown one with the dark brown polka dots) and then she asked what I wanted for lunch. I said, "Ham with miracle whip and lettuce." My favorite. She brought it to me on the couch and let me chow down in the living room. So nice that Denise. 

Elementary School: 

In 3rd grade, I was in Mrs. Closson's class. I remember one recess when Johanna Hoover, Jane Ann Patch, and I were on this weird monkey bar situation that was by the swings. We were at the top and started singing "Roll To Me" by Del Amitri. We knew every single word and just looked back and forth at each other smiling and singing. It was great. 

6th Grade:

My class in 6th grade was really tight. We all played at recess together and included everyone in our class. I remember the first time we played kickball. Two boys were team captains and they each chose a few boys (the best athletes in the class). And then one of them picked me to be on their team. Even before most of the other boys were picked! 

Also in 6th grade, my soccer team, the Alpine Attackers won the U12 tournament. We played against Hobble Creek Storm, our rivals from Mapleton. We had been playing their team the past few years and we were very evenly matched. Sometimes they would win, sometimes we would win and we always went back and forth. But on the tournament final in the back of Mountain Ridge Junior High, we won in a shoot-out. Don't know if I have felt as much anxiety in a game as I did then. We were absolutely thrilled. The next year our team all split up, most left the team for dance and cheer and a few of us went on to play club soccer, but that was definitely my favorite soccer experience. Sure helped that my dad was the coach :)

Junior High:

The moment around 8pm on a weeknight when I would be chatting on MSN messenger with a crush and he told me he liked me. I probably thought life could never get better... and then he sent me a winking emoticon. ;)

High School:

I had been working on an American Identity paper to sum up all that I had learned in English and history my sophomore year. When I got my paper back with the second best score in the class, that was happiness. I was relieved, grateful, and really proud of all my work. 

College:

Driving down State Street back to Provo after eating strawberries and cream at the Strawberry Days concert in Pleasant Grove. Windows down. Summer breeze pouring through. Sarah Pugmire in the front seat. Blasting "Airplanes" by B.O.B. 

Leaving a design class with a really good critique from the art department head about my book illustration. 

Today: 

Wearing a new shirt at work with fresh flowers and penant flags decorating my space. Sipping my home-made fruit smoothie out of my monogrammed thermos, all while positioning web sprites with CSS positioning (Missy Higgin's "Unashamed Desire" blasting in the back of course.)

On this note, I just finished watching a really great documentary by PBS. It is called This Emotional Life. Here is the 4 minute preview:



There is an interview at the end where the interviewee lists off the perfect moment to him and what/ who it involves. It's a nice reminder about what is really important.

I just loved it. And I highly recommend it. (Plus it is on Netflix.)

Beauty and the Beast image

Just Me

Being alone and loneliness is a topic I have thought a lot about lately... mostly because I moved away from almost everyone I know. It's not so bad being away from my friends and family because I talk to them on the phone and webcam consistently, I visit, they visit, we e-mail. It's good.
But the last time I went back to Utah, I realized that what I miss the most is having a lot of people around that I know. Running into old neighbors at Wal-Mart. Taking Sunday walks and chatting with people who have shared memories. Being on campus and seeing that boy from high school who I know but can't remember his name, etc. It's nice just seeing people and knowing their background and them knowing yours. It's fun.

So I have been thinking about this and then, quite conveniently, Design Mom posted about it.


I am sure I have mentioned how much I love Design Mom. She is a lovely lady who has a blog. She studied graphic design at BYU and now lives with her 6 children and husband in Normandy, France. My sister, Melissa used to tell me about her blog, but I never actually visited until her birth story was featured on Design Mom. Since then, I have been a faithful reader. Hers is the one blog authored by someone I do not know, that I always look forward to reading. She is so insightful and appreciates so many details. And even though I am not a mom, I definitely think about children and families a lot, and I get to be an aunt to the two cutest kids in Texas.

Thus I love her content, all of her content. She never ceases to have fresh ideas paired with good wholesome visuals to illustrate her concepts. She is definitely my favorite curator of the internet.

With that intro... may I present one of her recent posts...
It was about being alone. She had gone to a movie all by herself and then posted a beautiful video.


When Design Mom posted this video the comment thread totaled to 64. It was interesting to read everyone's thoughts. Most of them, being moms, yearned for more alone time as a break from their children. But a few posted about how loneliness can be a necessity and sometimes it's hard.

Here is the video:




Isn't it great? I just loved it. Not only does she have a great talent for rhyming, but she says some real noble things.  My favorite line, "Because if you're happy in your head, then solitude is blessed and alone is ok." 

My Life According to Instagram

Before I had an iPhone I was fairly bothered by instagram. I tried to put it on my iPod touch, but it wouldn't work. Then my favorite bloggers started having all of these long streams of photos that I loved. Once I got an iPhone, I definitely jumped on the band wagon and now I post on instragram almost everyday. It's pretty neat. And now looking back at the 480 photos I have taken in the past 7 months I am realizing how much has happened to me in such a short amount of time.

I am on my second roommate, and I have lived here long enough to have 3 great friends move away.

Here is the first, Stephanie.
Stephanie and I signed a contract on our apartment before I even saw it. But she seemed cool, so we went for it. She is a texture artist and was working at an effects studio. It was so great to have a fellow friend who was new to the area. I loved having someone to go to all the activities with and she was always up for exploring our new city. She went home to Utah for a break in between contracts and quite a bit happened. Her contract in Dallas fell through, she found a new opportunity in LA and got engaged! So alas, she came back and packed up her things. But she was a fun roommate while it lasted.

Trying on hats at Charmin Charlie's

Meeting up at our favorite grocery store, Central Market. 

Birthday cake and flowers

Having pizza and sushi at Whole Foods

Miss Phylicia Norris. This dear gal was the housing coordinator when I was moving in and matched me up with Steph. She was away on vacation but she still called both of us to make sure we knew about one another. Phylicia and I had some great shopping trips and she taught me all about fashion (she's a total fashionista). Sadly, she moved away to the great state of Idaho. She has been gone for a mere 2 months but has already found a husband. So awesome!

Next up, Kamera. Darling Kamera was so sweet to me on my first day visiting my ward. She made a special effort to chat it up and make sure I knew where all the classes were, etc. She has moved away to Logan for the summer. But hopefully she'll be back soon. 

P.S. Thank you for all the kind comments on the last post! Y'all are too sweet. 

My Better Half

Have I mentioned how much I love Google Reader? All of my blog subscriptions in one place, without all those annoying advertisements = pure bliss. Plus I can tag posts and categorize them just the way I like. EZPZ

One of the random blogs I follow is this one: Amanda Jane Jones. I don't really know who she is but she posts little stories called "My Better Half" which are pretty cute. Then she tells little snippets of their love story. Check out this one.

THEIR STORY (as told by Erin Jane)

I actually fell in love with Conor before I ever really met him in person. A good friend of mine gave me his number because she thought we would get along well. He was living in San Diego at the time and I was in Portland. On a whim I sent him a text. My friend was right. He quickly (and wittily) replied and we started a 2 month long text only relationship. We never spoke on the phone or met in person. It was really exciting to have a secret love interest and always receive these quirky little messages from a stranger. I told my family I was going to marry this guy I was texting. They thought I was nuts. I decided I should probably call him. The conversation was seriously awkward because we were both really nervous. We decided to meet. He flew up one day out of the blue about a week later and presented himself to me on my doorstep. I acted like a complete fool, jumping up and down and shaking my hands like a crazy person. I kissed him and we instantly became friends. We got married in 2010 and moved to Hawaii the next day. We just had our first baby a few months ago—a boy named Henry. He is beautiful!

Sounds pretty great, right? 

And as it turns out, I am not getting any younger and am most definitely single. 

So to you my readers and potential future matchmakers, feel free to dig through your contacts and find the perfect man for me. I definitely accept set-ups... just sayin. 

Church & Design

Hey folks. Let me tell you a story. When I was in primary as a wee little gal, there was a lady on my street who was in the primary presidency. Sis. Bradshaw always made the best handouts, fliers, and invitations. Whenever she wrote a note to my mom or wrote on anything, my sisters and I would gaze at her handwriting and analyze her perfect penmanship. 

One Sunday when I was in senior primary, she gave a lesson about the love of God. I can't remember the specifics but I remember really enjoying the lesson and feeling good. During the lesson, she gave every child in the primary a heart. It had a cute scrapbook piece of paper with a little heart pattern and then a smaller red piece of cardstock on top of it in the shape of a heart. On the top she had written, "Rebecca, somebody loves you." I was thrilled. I love handouts and I think it was the first time I really appreciated good design and something so custom and personal. She had taken the time to use really nice paper and her fabulous penmanship to write every person's name. I took it home and put it on my bulletin board, where it remains to this day. Now I am the type of person who changes the decor of my bulletin board quite regularly, but I never wanted to take the heart down. I loved the message and the reminder of God's love but I also loved the reminder that she had taken the time and effort to make something so special. 

Fast forward a few years, and I am a laurel in Young Women's. Sis. Owen is teaching the lesson about honesty. At the end of the lesson, she gave us a piece of paper that had a lovely little butterfly and floral pattern around the edges and then this quote by President Faust was center-aligned on the inside. "Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving." 

I loved it. I put it on my wall, where it also remains to this day. I think of that quote whenever I hear the word "honest" and I can repeat it without the reminder. 

When I went to college and had to decide what I wanted to study I made a big list of options. Graphic design was on the list but I didn't know if it was realistic. I never expected to get accepted into the art program, but I did. I knew it was a great fit for me and a lot of that decision was based on the graphic design I had already seen in my young life. I knew it was powerful, not just to sell a product, but to show people that something is important and it's worth putting a little extra time to make that thing look special too. A big part of my decision was based on my future ability to use my skills for the church. Not necessarily the work happening on Temple Square but more like the work in ward council. Or the smile of a relief society president who is really happy with the publicity of her event. I knew that majoring in graphic design would help me be able to serve in a unique way. 

My duties at work don't involve the process of designing something from scratch. Thus I am much more excited about my design work when I get home. In college I never had time or energy to put effort into anything design-related because I got enough of that in my school work and at my campus job. But lately I have tried to really embrace my church assignments and use my abilities to make fun things. It is great to have no critiques or reviews. They aren't amazing but I hope that the people who see them appreciate the extra effort. 

Little Animals

So I have never really been a lover of animals. They are cute from a distance and I love having fish. Remember how I kept my betta fish, Coral, alive for 2 years. And I may or may not have I shed a tear when she died.

But recently I really like pictures of animals. One of my co-workers scans reddit during the day, and then passes me the filtered version of goodies. Most of them involve animals. Like, how adorable is this?

and these...