special delivery

This weekend, the new camera lens I ordered online arrived. I missed the delivery, so they left it in our apartment office. After walking the dogs this morning, I picked it up, got back to our apartment, and within 60 seconds proceeded to open it up in an excited frenzy. Then I ran around taking head shots of my husband and dogs.

I think as an artist, it is completely possible to fall in love with something like blurriness in a photo. I am completely smitten.

week 4

coffee + class notes = another saturday spent writing a paper. kind of feel like if i were to run away and join the circus, nobody would really notice.

progress

When you're going back to school one class at a time, you tend to forget where you're at in the process. "Oh, I think I have a little over a year left," I always respond whenever someone asks how much school I have left. I'm starting to feel like I'm finally making progress, so this quarter, I got a little more serious. I called and talked with my advisor, updated my degree plan, and the light at the end of the tunnel seems is right around the corner.

So far, I've taken 1 class at a time, but this quarter I'm taking two classes. The discipline it's requiring has been a challenge for me. Obviously- hello, blog post when I'm supposed to be writing a paper! I'm trying a different approach this quarter, making a more conscious effort to to find an appreciation for things that suck. For example, rather than thinking, "I have no life! I sleep, work, go to class, sleep, work, go to class, submit a project, read, and sleep," I am trying to appreciate the lessons I'm learning on being disciplined. I like to be busy, but being spending lots of time creating jewelry is different than being busy reading about the latest geeky too-in-depth-for-me trends in the computer industry.

I just checked my degree plan again, and one of the general classes I'm taking right now is my last core class, and every class that I take after this quarter are specialty courses directly related to what I love- web design and development. So. Excited.

Eight weeks from now, I'll officially be 50% done with my degree. If I push myself, I could be done within a year. Feels like I've been going back to school for ages. I started in January 2008.

I knew this semester would be a challenge, so before this quarter began I posted colorful construction paper quotes all around the apartment. Genius move, self from December 2009 who knew I'd need this in January 2010. This one keeps catching my attention:

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out”

Robert Collier

a fresh start

I feel like I'm going through a sort of nesting in preparation for the new quarter. I forget that when you're taking 10-week classes, you're always required to do a bunch of prep work before class even begins. So this weekend, I'll be reading 8 articles, four chapters, and writing an introductory bio which I will no doubt have to share with all of class on Monday night. But I'm also doing crazy cleaning. I think it's partly a last-minute panic as I realize I won't have as much free time in the near future, and partly because it's the new year- good for fresh starts.

This morning I've gone through about 4 months of backlogged paperwork which has grown into a monstrous 1-foot tall pile in our mail bin. I discovered an overdue dental bill, and lots of messages from old credit cards informing us that the government is telling them they can no longer be a-holes to customers.

While I'm on a roll, I will likely try to tackle the Christmas decorations. Putting them up was so exciting this year, and I'm really a little sad to think of all the colorful, shiny, and sparkly decorations going into hiding for another year.

Wishing you all a merry 2010! I'm excited about what this year has in store. I think it's going to be a good one.

i love sugar

The elves have been visiting all week. So exciting! Santa's elves have been a missing piece of my life for at least the last 17 years. I really missed them. Today, I got a funny t-shirt. The elves really know my style. I love it.

With spending Christmas in Colorado this year, it was important to me to decorate and bake and put up stockings- all those things that make Christmas fun. This year, I made sugar cookies using the world's greatest sugar cookie and frosting recipes. Seriously. These cookies are so good that my body has insisted on having at least one for breakfast each morning over the last 3 days. Brandon brought a tray to work, and they were gone by 10:05 a.m. I also made peanut butter balls, which are like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but more unhealthy and slightly more delicious. Finally, I made chocolate covered pretzels drizzled with white chocolate.

It's been snowing all day, and the big, fluffy snowflakes are making a pretty blanket of white on the ground.

My Christmas wish is to receive an obnoxious Christmas sweater that I can not only wear to ugly sweater parties, but that I can wear every Christmas Eve because it makes me feel extra festive. I get you, holiday sweater owners- I get you.