Makell & Ashley age +1


(Makell making a wish)


(Ellen, Heather, Ashley (roomies))

The Twinskies (Alex & Chris)

(sneaking out to get some peace and quiet)
My roomies decided to go ahead and have a birthday. Consequently this is obviously cause for a celebration. We had elaborate dj-ing plans but decided to settle for a cake and ice cream party to save Boyd (our 80 year old ornery neighbor) the phone call to the police. (Someone later took care of that because randoms were blocking the sidewalk by standing on it and that is apparently illegal. I hadn’t had much sleep the night prior and spent the day making t’s wedding flowers so I jetted out of the party to a cooler more quiet atmosphere until the cops kindly made everyone vacate our home so we could sleep. While out I bought a hammock. It now resides between our two trees in our front yard.


T & C are married….

(The cute couple)

(Abby, Ellen, Me, Makell - temple spotlight)

(We had a mini photoshoot on the bridge during out boredom...)

(warning: sparkler dance party can cause burns....)

(cade may frequently make strange faces.)

(Don't worry she didn't fully eat the sparkler.)

Our dear friends Tosha and Cade wed on July 1st. It was a chaotic but fun day. I did the flowers for them and that was a handful. Due to a lack of servers at the luncheon a few of us bridesmaids became servers. Not my most favorite moment of the wedding, but memorable still. Their flowers turned out great, and we all had a good time with the sparklers at the end of the reception.


Fourth of July!!!

(Fireworks make people happy :)

(Cache Valley Cruise IN!!! We staked out some sweet spots - Steve (my little bro) me, Mckay, Heather, Makell)

(Lewiston Fireworks... funny faces?- Steve, Me, Mckay, Heather)

(lewiston... Chris, Makell, me, Alex, Ellen)

(Me, Brett, Makell - Hyrum fireworks)

I love the 4th, mostly because I love fireworks. Not so much setting them off myself, and almost blowing off my hand like Russell, but more just setting out a blanket laying down and watching them explode high up in the sky. This holiday we saw three fireworks shows. Thanks to Cache County’s scheduling they are all spread out. Hyrum has their show on Thursday night. It’s pretty good. Logan takes their turn on Friday night… This one is a big deal and causes far too big of traffic issues. Then Saturday Lewiston has theirs. This was my first year attending Lewiston’s, and it reminded me of Fillmore. You just lay in a random baseball field by the rodeo grounds and they are set off right above you. Despite its short and sweetness, it was my favorite.

Excercise.

No not the regular excercise like getting on a treadmill at the gym. I hate those.

But good excercise involving sports.

Sunday night I only got a minor workout winning four games of ping pong. strenous in some cases.

today I got a a golden sunburn and got dominated in two games of volleyball. don't worry they only won because of Mckay who will obviously be on my own team next time.

tonight. more volleyball and a bike ride.

the sun is out. finally. and it is officially summer. (until friday when it rains again.)

I started looking for a place in salt lake...

not sure how I feel about it yet.

Tough week

who ever thought graduating could be so stressful? It surely is.

Saturday at 9:30 I will be dawning my cap and gown (which are still in my car after being purchased) and taking the walk from Old main hill to the Spectrum.

crazy. exciting. incredibly stressful.

Other not so grand news, my grandfather passed away this week. I've been a mess today which has only added to my stress. He was a great man and I will miss him. It's been great looking at old photos of him.








In other news... In the sense of job seeking my exhibition was a success.
I've been asked to apply for two design positions in logan... One of which I would actually consider.

the question is would I be able to stay here?

Innocent

Yesterday I searched wal-mart for approximately 15 minutes trying to find condoms for a practical joke. I went down every aisle.... I thought.... except the one they were on.

Obviously I buy these things often.

Spinning out of control.

I always imagined my last semester would be a piece of cake... that I'd have the process down flat. This is not the case. I'm pretty positive I have been busier this semester than any (excluding that horrible time I spent in the Interior design program). Why you might ask? well I had someone point it out to me in the form of a question last night.

"How much time to you put into your work when it isn't an assignment?"

The reality of this is that I quite possibly double the amount of time and energy I put into pieces that aren't for school. I'm quite the minimalist on projects that I feel are of no worth to my portfolio... i.e. printmaking. I am not a skilled printmaker nor do I have the time to dedicate to becoming one. My projects are as such very basic... they fulfill all the requirements but they don't reach far beyond them.

I am also about 4 inches away from failing some general education courses that I put off taking until my last semester. Bad idea. I have no time to focus on remedial things like evolution or statistics. I have project upon project that I am trying to get done in time for my exhibitions... the first of which is in Salt Lake this weekend.

I'm a little nervous as I'm not quite sure what I am supposed to do. There is a portion of the exhibition where I am critiqued by all attending professors across the state... not my favorite part. And then all the design companies that have been invited to attend walk around and basically give you on the spot interviews if they like your work.

I'm not positive I'm staying in Utah, but at the moment I have no definite plans to leave so a good impression all the visiting designers could possible give me something that would sway me to stay. Either way regardless of whether I stay I have no intention of looking like an unprepared idiot in front of the rest of the states top seniors, professors and designers.

That said I need to get back to work :)

Loves for the nephews... and niece!

Baby Afton was born March 4th... she's pretty cute I'll give her that! For a more detail story you can visit www.russandbetsy.com

Russell always tells me that I have a knack for catching his kids in disgusting moments with my camera... examples further on in the post... so I cleaned them up a bit for him to show that they aren't always looking like kids :)

Reid was pretty sick this weekend, and was having a hard time understanding why he couldn't hold the baby. He's still cute when he's sick.

Porter decided to quit his day job and become a child model. We had a photoshoot, and he was LOVING it!

As part of our excursions from the house I was talked into stopping at a "play place"

I ignored the sign that said "three years and older" and let Reid wander as he pleased. It took him a little longer than the older kids to get to the top of the play place. But he enjoyed the slide rides down probably twice as much as they did.

Cookie time! (these treats were actually given to them by Betsy not me...) although I generally give them treats on a regular basis. Porter automatically knows that there will be something good in my purse!

These would be the moments russell hates that I capture his kids in :)