Underbite

Say Something Nice...

2011-08-31T19:14:00.000-07:00

Found this via Cup of Jo. Positive words for a positive week :)

For Jeannie...

2011-08-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

Saw this, thought of you... or for any parent for that matter.

WEEKEND!!!

2011-08-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite pictures of Darla chillin' on the weekend from when we were living the single life. Once I go pick up my camera up from St. Louis, I'll have more relevant and up-to-date pictures, but until then, you can look at how cute my little rolley poley is!

Ahhhh, yeay, it's the weekend! Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays simply taste so delicious once they arrive! This morning, while letting the ladies out to do their business, I noticed that the air had that broken fever feel to it, that lets you know that fall is slowly arriving. Not necessarily a cool feeling, but not a sweltering one, either. Even the oak leaves are becoming too heavy from the summer's intensity, dying, and falling to the ground, creating a crunchy "ball pit" of sorts for Noodle and Darla to play in. It felt amazing outside and was a quick reminder to the fact that a hammock hanging in the trees by the lake, with a book and a blanket would be PERFECTION!

This weekend, I want to clean the house...I mean really tackle it and set Joey and I up for an easy cleaning/staying organized and relaxed and productive routine. I know I've made this statement a trillion times, but perhaps if I keep working towards it and keep failing, eventually I will reach success. Our place today, as compared to my bachelorette abode's is already a good assessment of how I have improved over the years, believe it or not.

Also, I'm working on at least 3 projects; 2 art, and 1 knitting, and I have several ideas for Christmas that I need to jump on, and ideas for other creative endeavors, like taking a stab at writing/illustrating children's books and collaborating on writing/film projects with Joey (I absolutely love that he includes me and invites me into his passions... I'm extremely lucky). I need to get organized first, though... for my own sanity, but the excitement of so many ideas keeps me constantly motivated. So, here we go, Fall, get ready for some serious business!

Anybody want to check out some fun links...

A really fun housewarming party idea!

How big of a backyard do you need to live off the grid? You'd be surprised!

Ok, I'm a little bit obsessed with Lush. They cater to my eco-friendly desires, create amazing products, as well as motivate me to care a little bit more about my beauty routine... which, in the past, is not something I've invested much time into. So, when I recently ran out of my facial moisturizer, I decided to go to Lush to try out one of theirs. I chose Imperialis and I LOVE it! It makes my face feel amazing, and it smells warm and earthy, which I love. Also, I'm eyeballing this little package of joy as well!

Have I talked about how great Jim Henson is lately? Let me fix that...
(Thanks for thinking of sending me the link, Blake!)

Pointless street Flyers... Hilarious!

Oooo, pretty, I might add this to my "To-Do's" for the weekend!

And, last, but not least, once I grow my hair back out again, I want to find the right person to help me to pull this off! So pretty!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Here, Kitty, Kitty...

2011-08-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

So, over the summer, I met a cat... in fact, I found myself keeping the company of two fancy felines, although both ended up finding great homes elsewhere. One was a tiger named Tsukiko, and one was a furry little man named McReady (pronounced McReedy).

Chillin'

Here's McReady. He's the most fun little man on four legs with whiskers since my little buddy Merlin (my old cat) who he both resembles and whose spirit he seems to embody with a little quirky twist that's all his own. If you're aware of or if you knew my buddy Merlin, then you know just how cool a cat McReady must be because Merlin was also his own man and an excellent cat :) However, we have absolutely no need for four pets. So, when we found out that our good friends Garre and Greg were thinking about bringing a kitten into their little family (they also have an awesome 3-legged lab mix named Steeler, who is also his own man), we were ecstatic. Steeler and McReady have become fast friends! Not only had we found an awesome home for McReady, but we can visit him now and even pet-sit when they go out of town! Our furry ladies are always a little more lively when he comes to play and they're always up to some kind of mischief... it's pretty entertaining.

McReady showed up in July right as I got Tsukiko. He simply came out of the bushes and began following me around like he owned the place. However, no matter how distractingly funny and cute he was, there was a much bigger cat that demanded my attention.

Tsukiko, a beautiful life-size tigress, is my fibreglass tiger that I painted for the UofM Centinial celebration. 100 tigers have been painted or aesthetically manipulated in celebration of UofM's "Tiger's Around Town" and I was fortunate enough, thanks to the heads up from my friend, Heather, to be a part of it. She sat in our carport for about two weeks, one of which I was out of town for, and then, after a long, hot, and sweaty week, she blossomed into the beautiful and exotic lady that I knew she could be.

Because she's awesome, Garre helped me put the finishing touches on my lovely lady (note the knees behind Tsukiko's back legs). I love my Gare Bear!

Night painting is probably not the best exercise in endurance for your vehicle.

I had a blast doing this project which simply confirmed the fact that I need to keep challenging myself and carrying out ideas that so often get lost in the shuffle. I'm going to get a new sketchbook. For some reason, it's been a while since I have started a new one, so needless to say, I can't wait to go buy one.

If you want to find out more about the "Tiger's Around Town", click here. There's going to be an "Unveiling" on Sept. 10 between 11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. when all the tigers will be exhibited. I can't wait to see all of the different tigers, I know they'll be amazing! Also, I know a few of the other artists that worked on tigers, and I can vouch for their awesomeness as well, so you should definitely come check it out if you can!

I hope your Monday was a good one! Today was the first day of school and I must say that it was wonderful to see so many of my kids again and to receive so many hugs. I love my job!

P.S. - the photos of McReady are pictures that I lovingly stole from my good buddy, J.B. I hope you don't mind! They were just so good :) So good, that I'll include a stolen Darla and Noodle picture as well...

I love my ladies! Nugget too, but she was hiding, so we didn't get a portrait of her. Oh well, you snooze you lose.

P.P.S - Greg and Garre renamed McReady Bruce Lee, however, as long as they don't mind, he'll remain McReady over here at the Carr Farm.

The Master Reflection

2011-08-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

Start weight: 132.6 lbs

End weight: 126 lbs

According to what I have read, my weight loss was less than what most women experience, however, I think that's due to the fact that I fumbled my laxative routine during the night before Day 1, Day 1, and Day 2.

As far as weening off the diet goes, here is how that played out in a short summary...

Suggested Routine:

Day 11 - An orange juice diet, to allow your stomach and body to once again become used to a different type of nutrient source, and, because it's liquid, it won't be as much of a shock to your system.
Day 12 - Orange juice in the morning, some fruit for lunch, and a vegetable soup with some 1/2 rye crackers for din din.
Day 13 - Orange juice and/or fruit in the morning, small salad for lunch, and a vegetarian (mostly Raw) meal for dinner.

Once Joey and I got started on our road trip to St. Louis, I immediately kicked off my slow transition back into solid foods. I remained faithful to the first day's rules of drinking nothing but Orange Juice and water. However, I failed somewhat on the second day and ate a salad for dinner instead of the vegetable soup because the restaurant in which we ate at (that was playing the Grizzlies Game the NBA Finals), didn't have vegetable soup. So, for the next day, I ate lightly with mostly fruit, a small salad with some hummus and fresh vegetable deliciousness, and a delicious vegetarian meal at a South American restaurant called Mango. It was quite delicious! So overall, I didn't carry out the suggested routine, however, I'm still here and I still felt extremely healthy coming off the diet, so I'll give myself a break there.

The downside to not following the weening process carefully is that your body can become constipated pretty easily, being re-introduced so quickly to solid foods. I can attest to this. However, it doesn't take long for your body/digestive system to "clock in" and back into a healthy and consistent routine.

How I felt after the cleanse... was it worth it?

I have to say that after the cleanse, I felt like GOLD! Physically, I felt fresh and energized and was much more aware of what I was putting into my body and how that food will ultimately affect my body. Once my body eased back into solid foods, I was able to digest foods MUCH more easily (something I have struggled with all of my life), and mentally I felt Ah-mAzing! I had just proved to myself that I could handle this challenge, still be productive during my everyday routine, and learn from the experience, making changes to better my everyday diet and outlook. I was very proud of myself after I finished the cleanse which was, in my opinion, the best benefit of all :)

Having said that, I do want to include that I did decide to change my diet completely after I finished the cleanse, which very well could have contributed to certain aspects of my experience afterwards. I decided to change my daily menu into a pescetarian one, with the plan to eventually ease into a vegetarian diet. This really wasn't a difficult transition for me as I have never truly craved meat, nor felt a real desire to add it into my diet, but it was simply always served to me, so I ate it. This is not to say that I don't enjoy eating meat... I DO; a delicious Slaw-Dog grilled to perfection makes my mouth water simply thinking about it, however, it's not a hard decision to find an alternative to any of my favorite carnivorous recipes. Also, I have always felt the burden of hypocrisy as I chewed my meat knowing that if the animal I was eating were in front of me, would I slaughter it in order to enjoy it's addition to my meal... No, but why would I let someone else do my dirty work for me and simply put that animal's life out of sight out of mind? I just can't do that anymore.

So, to get back on topic, I had a great experience doing the cleanse, and I even plan on doing it again at the start of next summer. Most likely I will be continuing the trend every summer, as a way to detox and begin again a new adventure of healthy eating. It was definitely not as difficult as I imagined it would be, thought it was a challenge, and it was a great personal goal to achieve.

Was it worth it? In my opinion, YES! Do I think I could do the cleanse while working? Yes, totally. My energy was a little less than normal, however, it was a very slight difference, and if you're consistent with your drinks, you will be fine.

The Complete Master Cleanse, by Tom Woloshyn

Ok, so let me break this review down into three parts...

Was it a helpful guide to the process?

Yes, very much so. In fact, I kept the book on hand, and even though I read the book before actually doing the cleanse, I had tabbed and bookmarked many important pages to flip through, re-read, and act as support and reference the entire 10 days.

Was it informative?

The book was extremely informative, however, the facts and information often seemed to drown in the author's personal bias and agenda, which I did not find to be a particularly good approach to encouraging a controversial diet/alternative form of medicine. Woloshyn often turned me off with his ramblings and boastings of long personal cleanses and testimonials of cancer and other disease-ridding master cleanses. Though I think that it's not out of the question that this diet could directly affect our bodies and how they heal in such a way, I think it's dangerous to make such a bold statement without more research and factual evidence.

Also, the diet was a creation of Stanley Burroughs, who Woloshyn gives credit to, but, in my opinion, not enough. It seems as though the emphasis of the book is on Woloshyn's work and his personal opinions and less about the actual process of the cleanse. Woloshyn focuses a lot on other alternative medicinal practices, such as Vita-Flex massage and Color Therapy (his areas of concentrations) and spends a good deal of time and devotion to them.

Once finished with the book, I had only marked a couple of chapters in which I returned to quite frequently. This is also because it does not take a 200 page book to explain the process and benefits of The Master Cleanse... only a chapter. In comparison, Burroughs book, The Master Cleanse (which I have not read, but would like to in order to compare and contrast the content), is only 50 pages, and most of what you really need to know can be found via the internet. I will say, though, that for those chapters that I frequented, I was not unhappy with the plethora of information given, ranging from basic steps to what to expect from the process... really intimate information about the physical effects to expect from your cleansing "adventure" which I found to be a very comforting as a guide.

Would you recommend this book?

I would have to say that if you're wanting a truly in-depth account of the cleanse with all of the details of every bodily function you may encounter, then I would recommend this book, along with an extra 100 pages that you may or may not find relevant and an author who tends to be a little self-serving. However, if you're interested in knowing the basics and focusing JUST on the cleanse, then I would recommend Burrough's book (I've read good reviews), or simply exploring the Internet and it's discussions on the cleanse. The Cleanse = Awesome, Woloshyn's book = Mediocre.

I think that about covers it...

However, like I said in a previous post, if I left anything out, or if you have any questions that I didn't quite answer, then just leave me a comment below, and I'll answer it to the best of my ability!

I'm going to be using a lot of upcoming posts to catch up on things around here, so be prepared to back-track and hang around the thick of the summer for a bit longer... nothing wrong with that, right? I left my camera in Lindsey and Blake's car, so it's up in St. Louis with a lot of awesome summer pictures as well, so hopefully I'll get my sweet friend back soon and I can share those memories with you!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Resurfacing from Summer Break

2011-08-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

The best non-existant accessory for this summer = shoes.

I'm obviously a neglectful blogger. Not that it's a bad thing to step away from the computer or anything, but you know, a heads up would have been cool too (Sorry about that!). I didn't realize that I would be taking/needing such a break until I realized that I was on it and didn't feel the motivation or desire to search for precious time to devote to posting. That sounds awful, but I was so busy with projects and making the most of my summer that the blog simply got pushed aside. Now, at the start of school, things are going to get busier than ever, but I have resurfaced to find myself motivated and eager to tend to the blog once again and hope to become a more attentive and interesting blogger in the process.

I promise, though, that I will make it a point to give that heads up for whenever I do take a hiatus from the blog. Because it's simply the polite thing to do :)

On my last post, I was going to review the book that I read in preparation for The Master Cleanse and give an overall response to the experience. So, I will indeed create that review, and then catch you up with my summertime adventures and projects and plans yet to be hatched! I hope your summer has been splendid and that you'll forgive me for the long absence.

Talk to you again soon!

Day 9 and... (Drum Roll)... Day 10!!!

2011-06-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

Day 9

So, Day 9 was a lot like Day 4 for me. It was indeed a problem day. I think the bad day was due to a number of emotions that hit me at once towards the middle of the day. I was excited about ending this whole process, but I felt like the day... was.... dragging... on! On top of that my taste buds, who enjoyed the lemonade drink in the beginning decided to go on strike. I just didn't want to drink that same flavor again, so I think I took too long procrastinating in between drinks and crashed, physically and emotionally. I had a whole plan of attack for what to accomplish with the house, and, instead, finished only one room in that task. I got overwhelmed, and, then I took it out on Joey, whether he knew it or not, which wasn't at all fair. The bad Megan's were winning on Day 9. However, the day finally finished (still no headaches!) and I happily dreamt of Day 10 and St. Louis :)

Day 10

My happy-dancey song... to celebrate :) ...

I'll be dancing to this in my head all weekend :) BOOM-da-da-da-da-du--da--BOOM

Ahhhh.... I MADE IT!!! Day 10 was a piece of cake, once more. The lemonade drink wasn't so bad, anymore, and I spent the day getting ready for Joey and I's little second honeymoon in St. Louis. It was a fabulous day, I felt great, and had a good amount of energy. I had to drop my furry ladies off at the vet to get boarded, which was very, very sad. I hate doing this and afterwards, I constantly worry about them, however, we waited too long to line up a dog-sitter, and the house is no where near ready for a house/pet-sitter, so the vets it is. The house feels SO EMPTY right now, and I can't imagine how dull life would be without them. I miss my little Darla and my Noodle-Doodle already (Nugget the cat will be holding the fort down for us). After the traumatic experience of dropping my lovelies at the vets for a little more than a weekend, I swung by Fresh Market to gather my resources for the next 3 days. You see, I'm not done yet... The next 3 days (including today which is Day 11) have their own set of rules to follow for coming off of the cleanse. It's very similar as when you're training yourself to go on the cleanse, but in reverse. Here's how it goes:

Day 11 - An orange juice diet, to allow your stomach and body to once again become used to a different type of nutrient source, and, because it's liquid, it won't be as much of a shock to your system.
Day 12 - Orange juice in the morning, some fruit for lunch, and a vegetable soup with some 1/2 rye crackers for din din.
Day 13 - Orange juice and/or fruit in the morning, small salad for lunch, and a vegetarian (mostly Raw) meal for dinner.

I'll come back on Tuesday to update you on what/how I ate during our trip and how the whole process of coming out of the cleanse went. I can tell you one thing, though, I am looking forward to that Orange Juice!!!

I'll also write some thoughts and tips on the whole experience and, please, if you have any questions that I haven't answered through my "daily" journals, then comment below and I'll answer them in that same post.

Until then, have a wonderful weekend and see you on Tuesday!!!

Day 8

2011-06-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

On my 8th day of this adventure, I had planned to be mightily productive but instead proved simply to be lazy. As far as the cleanse went, it was business as usual. I feel like I should be giving you new insights into the small details of the everyday experience during a Master Cleanse, however, I'm afraid I would just become redundant, if I haven't already.

The day was beautiful, I slept in late for the first time in a long time, and, towards the very end of the day, I did pick back up where I left off on the process of bringing the house together. This is going to be a looooong process. I'm excited for the end product, however, I'm not quite sure that I can see the end yet. Today I walked around the house and took exterior and interior photographs to share with you as well as to use as "Before" and "After's" (I'll get those photographs to you when I find my Memory Card Converter Drive). I'm hoping to have most everything finished up by the end of the summer so that we can begin having guests over to enjoy the house and the lake. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

I hope your week is going well! Tomorrow's Friday, and, guess what? Joey and I's anniversary is this weekend (We've been married for a year now!) and we're headed up to St. Louis to have a mini-vacation to celebrate our forever buddiness and to relax and have fun. I can't WAIT to head up! I've got a looooong list of things we want to do and I'm SO excited to be eating my first solid meal somewhere yummy!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 6 and 7

2011-06-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

Day 6

Day 6 was a good day. My energy got pretty low at one point, but as soon as I drank some more lemonade, I was good to go. I followed my daily routine successfully, and worked on cleaning/organizing the house and working on creating invitations for my friend, Sara. I've begun to notice that I don't have nearly as many cravings and I'm able to withstand looking at and thinking about food. In fact, I've been going through all of my vegetarian cookbooks and bread-making cookbooks, marking them with post-its, and organizing them so that I will be prepared to be a healthier eater while gaining experience in the kitchen to become a decent cook as well. This didn't make me hungry, however, I'm TOTALLY ready for some flavors in my mouth. Really, going through my cookbooks got me excited about becoming a lot more involved in being more apart of what I eat and being more selective about what I eat. Once I get through this process, I have high expectations for myself!

Day 7

Nothing much has changed in the consistency of this whole process. Day 7 was another good day. In fact... I don't remember getting a headache once that day! I was able to once again go about my day normally, though I had to wake up early in order to complete my Salt Water Flush so that I could get Noodle to the vet at 9:00 without any hiccups. Then, I dropped off invitations for my friend Sara. Her little boy, Isaac, Joey's Godson, turns 1 on June 23 :) Here are the invitations... They're a bit rushed and my tools were limited as many of them were unpacked, unplugged, and unavailable.

After they were printed, I glued little googley eyes onto the cows. The insides of the invitations contained the party info. I'll try to snap a picture of one of the cards with eyes on it. My device which loads pics from my camera is still currently packed.

After dropping off the invitations, Noodle and I went to the dog park where we met up with Emily and her dog Cooper. Afterwards, we came home and began to work on the Lake House.

I haven't written about it yet, but Joey and I recently moved into my grandparents old house. It was vacant and the family didn't want to sell it, it was certainly going to be cheaper rent, and, to top it off, it's a magical place, so we were happy and honored to be able to move in and maintain it. I'll definitely be posting on that soon, along with all of the other catching up. First, I have to conquer this mountain of a quest.

*Warning -- More intimate info. about the cleanse. If you're not interested in the cleanse and are counting down to when I'm finished talking about it, then just skip on past this part. I hope you have a great week :)*

I think I've been noticing that the SWF is going through me faster these last few days, which may mean that I'm beginning to reach the ending of my NEED to cleanse (some people want to go further in the detox cleanse and will do a much longer cleanse, like 40-60 days or longer). There is still waste coming out, which is pretty amazing since I've not eaten solid foods in 8 days (If you remember, I only ate a liquid diet the day before I started), which, in my opinion, is a testament to why a cleanse is a good thing. We have so much extra "baggage" that we're carrying around and if it's sitting there and it's old, more than likely, when it went in, it wasn't healthy.
I have read several incidences where people speak of mucus showing up around the end of their cleanse. This being in the form of the sinuses or out the back hatch. More often than not, it comes out the latter. I'm beginning to notice this in my own process which is another sign that I'm nearing the end of my adventure :)
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but this hasn't been nearly as difficult as I imagined. Yes, there have been trying times, however, it's nothing a little focus, willpower, and self-motivation can't handle. Mind over matter.

Three more days to go!!!

Day 5

2011-06-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

Day 5 was excellent! It was really easy to get through, although there was a moment when I ran out of my lemonade for a little too long and my headache came back, but as soon as I got myself some more juice I was good to go.

It was a lovely Sunday with beautiful weather and my best buddy to share it with. Joey and I lazied about in the morning, and then, later, we went to go see the new X-Men movie, which, if you're interested, was awesome and may have been the best of the series yet.

In the evening, we watched, "The Killing", one of AMC's mini-series, which is a great show btw... only a few more episodes left. I think I'm a big fan of the limited episodes format which allows the story to flesh out and have a purposeful ending while also giving time enough to allow the viewer to truly spend time with the characters. In on-going episodic television, the characters are pretty flat simply because they serve a purpose for that one episode, because, who knows when the show will end, there's no real reason to drive that character to really and truly reveal themselves. Their purpose is to move the plot from point A to point B within 30 minutes or so. I'm not saying that all of them are bad, I've just found the shows with a shorter life span to typically resonate within me longer. If you have any, what are your favorite shows?

Day 4

2011-06-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't really understood what it will feel like when you hit your "bad day" or "problem day". I think Day 4 was that day for me, though, so let me describe to you my experience...

I still went about my daily routine: SWF when I wake up, start making my drinks after my first "elimination", after all my lemonade requirements have been met then I have my herbal tea laxative.

*Note: While on the cleanse you are supposed to have about 3-4 BM's a day, which I hadn't been having up until Day 2 when I fixed my laxative form (to the herbal tea) and from then on it's been pretty accurate.

Throughout the entire day, however, I still had an ongoing headache that would resurface anytime I overexerted myself (Joey and I were moving around furniture) and I was pretty damn cranky all day long. I did my best to keep it under wraps, but bad Megan would resurface occasionally and Joey would have to remind nice Megan that the bad Megan's were taking over. He was very sweet to me all day long... I can't stress enough how good it is to have an understanding partner throughout this process. Unless you're single, and then you have the ability to control the amount of food around you. Day 4 was also the first day that I really began to have cravings. Like, I kinda felt like Peter Pan here, except the food never showed up. Maybe by Day 10 I'll be able to hallucinate my food... and maybe, JUST MAYBE, it'll be neon colored!!!

I had a hard time getting Joey to play along with my pretend bowl of popcorn while we had a movie night, though. Maybe next time.

So, all in all, it wasn't that I really felt bad physically, but more emotionally, which is something that the book says often happens when your detoxing. Also, I still wasn't truly hungry, I just began craving certain foods, which are said to be the foods that your getting out of your system at the moment, so, good-bye pizza, good-bye cheeseburger, good-bye ice-cream... because that was definitely what I was craving last night. Little Italy's pizza, Wendy's cheeseburger's (I RARELY even eat fast-food cheeseburgers, but I was CERTAINLY craving one last night), and a big cup of YoLo goodness!

Tip: I wouldn't recommend being anywhere near food on this day... it just agitates the monster more.

That night, I dreamt of slowly putting together the world's most delicious cheeseburger... geez...

Ultimately, the day wasn't horrible, just a challenge, and I got through it, and for that, I feel pretty proud of myself.

Day 2 and 3

2011-06-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

"I love this drink, I love this drink, this drink is SOoo good, I love my drink..."

Day 2:

Day 2 really was pretty great. I felt really positive all day long, did a lot of cleaning and organizing around the house, and never felt too hungry. On thursday, I did my SWF, whOOoooosh, and then I had 6 glasses of lemonade throughout the rest of the day. The only problems that I ran into was a slight headache towards the end of the night and I figured out why my laxatives weren't working... because they weren't laxatives. Now, before you go thinking I'm an idiot, and, well, yes I can be, but bear with me. Have you been to a Whole Foods in their laxative section... it's really overwhelming. I should have asked for help, but I thought I was hot shit and didn't need to ask for help finding the tablets that would help my poo move along, so, I found a pack (amongst the laxatives might I add) that was labeled "First Cleanse -- 2 week supply", so I thought "Perfect", "I've found what I needed". Well, apparently they're for a different kind of cleanse and are simply vegetable capsules. I, of course, felt like an dunce when I figured this out. Luckily, though, I caught the mistake on Day 2, and quickly fixed it with Organic Herbal Laxative Tea. That night I began to get a bit of a headache, but it wasn't too bad, so I sipped my tea and Joey and I jumped into bed to read our book together (We've been reading a great book together, which I'll be sure to tell you more about!). By the morning of Day 3, all was moving along as it should!

Day 3:

So, Day 3 is generally accepted as one of the problem days throughout the cleanse. The body's toxins begin to release, the mouth begins to get a "fuzzy" sensation to it, and, sometimes, though Joey swears I don't smell, people begin emitting an odor which is caused by the toxins leaving the body. We either poop, pee, sweat, breath, or snot them out. Lovely, I know. But, hey, you're getting them OUT!!!

My Day 3 really wasn't so bad, even though it's beginning to take a little more will-power to drink the lemonade every day. According to the book your allowed to add some variety with water and organic herbal teas, which I have been and I highly recommend so as to give your taste buds a little treat.

I went through my daily routine, drinking my SWF and then drinking 6 glasses of lemonade throughout the day. I did, however, begin to get that subtle headache about mid-day, which grew a bit into the evening. To counteract it, though, I pampered myself with a lovely hot bath, a Marilyn treatment to my hair (which was LOVELY), and some time spent just chillin' by my parents pool. No stupid headache is going to get me down!

That night, Joey and I drove into midtown to go see our friends Angela and Dani, and our friend Emily's mom in a GLEE-ful Cabaret at TheatreWorks. We were joined by Emily and her boyfriend, Justin. It. Was. So. Much. FUN!!! If it had not been for our friends in the show, I think Joey would have thought the he had been abducted and brought their as torture. Glee + any kind of Musical Performance = Hell for him. Don't get me wrong, he loves theatre, just not musicals, but I think even he enjoyed it. Well done ladies!!!

Last night, after the play, we came home, watched the season finale of Extras, and, after I had my special tea, went to bed. All-in-all, besides the constant, but not terrible headache, it wasn't a bad Day 3 at all.

Goodbye for now and love to all!

My favorite "Glee" song from the show:

I had never heard this song before... This song + the choreography...Tickled my funny bone!

Day 1

2011-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

So, if you haven't heard of the Master Cleanse and don't know much about it, then you can find a plethora of information via the Internet, like, here and here, or, you could read a book or two about it. I read Tom Woloshyn's "The Complete Master Cleanse: A step-by-step Guide to Maximizing the Benefits of The Lemonade Diet", which I found to be extremely informative and have been and will be using it as my guide through this whole process.

In order to give you a run-down on why I'm doing this to myself and why many others do as well, I'm going to list the benefits of the cleanse as taken from Woloshyn's book:

Better Sleep
More Energy
Clarity of mind
Positive Outlook
Greater flexibility
Weight loss -- women often lose 1 pound per day during a cleanse, men up to 2 pounds
Freedom from addictions -- many smokers have quit after doing a cleanse
Increased strength
Swelling and Pain
Hair loss -- I thought this was confusing until I read the description of the benefit: People report their hair stops falling out (balding) and has more body
Skin improves
Allergies reduced

There are many other benefits throughout the entire book, however, these were the main points listed. It's really interesting, and some of the stories are amazing.

Anyway, to quit babbling, let me get on with my experience with Day 1 (I'm writing this while on Day 2). If you have no intention or desire to hear about what all is happening in my gutty-works, then I'll just let you know that you can stop here :).

Start date: 6/1/2011

End date: 6/10/2011

Start Weight: 132.6 lbs

The night before Day 1, I took 1 herbal laxative pill. This didn't do anything, and the book said to take 3-5 for the desired result, but the pill bottle said take 1 and then move up to 2, so I guess I will have to go up to 3-5 for the desired result.

The morning of day 1 I woke up and drank a Salt Water Flush (SWF). It's a mixture of 2 teaspoons of natural sea salt (uniodized) and 32. oz of warm water. If you think about it as if it's a nice broth then it's not so bad. Anyway, the salt, because it's natural uniodized sea salt, passes right through you, unless you need the minerals. The salt water, going through our crazy-straw system of organs, helps to break down and pick up waste that's just sitting around, not going anywhere and making us more unhealthy. Once it passes all the way through the system (about 30 min.)... WHOOoooSH. It's a bit comical. Let me just say... not that I did, but if you were to do this, GOOD googeley moogeley, do NOT fart, you would certainly shame yourself.

Right after the SWF I began my lemonade mixing for the day. I had 7 8oz glasses throughout the day and it really wasn't too bad. I began to feel much less energetic towards the end of the day, but all in all... not bad. At night I tried 2 herbal laxatives instead of one... still nothing. Last night, however, I had some AMAZING sleep!

Is this too gross to talk about? If it is then I'll just write it out in my private journal, but I figured it might be of interest to someone who might want to try it.

Summer Kick-Off

2011-05-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

Yeah, so I didn't exactly hold up to my end of the bargain since my last post... eh, sorry about that! Anywhoooo, there's a whole lot to catch you up on, and that I WILL indeed do... I PROMISE! For the next couple of weeks, I'm going to bombard you with an assault of catching up. Most of this swift updating is due to the fact that 1) I'm on SUMMER BREAK!!!! (WooooooHOOOOOOOO) 2) I'm beginning to feel refreshed and ready to rumble with lots of new projects... and... 3) I'm going to kick the summer off by attempting to do the Master Cleanse, or, the Lemonade Diet.

Summertime!!!

I debated as to whether I should talk about this on the blog or not, because I know that it might seem crazy, but I figured, what the hell. My experience might be helpful to someone else who is interested in attempting the cleanse as well. So, I'm going to make 10 straight entries documenting the whole process... it might not be pretty, I'm warning you, but if you're at all interested, I'm definitely going to give you the low-down.

Tomorrow is Day1 of my cleanse, and I've already done 4 days of preparation for it. Those days simply consisted of a mostly vegetarian diet (I ate some delicious catfish on Memorial Day) and a good deal of weaning off of coffee. To wean myself off of coffee without getting my normal caffeine withdrawal headaches, I decreased my coffee intake dramatically each day, complementing the decrease of caffeine with a B-5 vitamin, until I could go without coffee and still be headache-free. The last couple of days I have been drinking mostly home-made smoothies to get myself used to an all liquid diet. Today was my first day that was completely absent of solid foods and, I have to say, it wasn't too bad. So, cross your fingers for me for the next 10 days and I will take you on this journey with me.

I hope your summer-time is treating you beautifully! See you tomorrow!

Hello again!

2011-05-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

Absence: I apologize for it. It has been far too long since I've shown any love to Underbite and I promise I will be making up for that. My excuse: life has been hectic, and, though I have had the occasional moment to check in for an update or exciting links, I've just been taking the small opportunities to give a minute to myself and Joey to breathe and catch up with ourselves. There have been several instances where I've clicked to create a new post, stared at the blank template, and clicked out, not knowing where or how exactly to even begin. The blog has always been a fun little ongoing project for me and never a stressor in my life, and I don't ever want it to become one, so I stepped away from it while I let life slow down or catch up or whatever you want to call it. However, today, when I sat down, I didn't feel the dread of not knowing what to write about or where to start, so I began typing. So, ultimately, now I've got a lot to catch you up on, and a lot to write about, and I hope that you'll forgive me for the dry spell. I'm really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and sharing my ideas, inspirations, and life adventures with you so that perhaps you will enjoy them as well and can share your thoughts and comments.

Today Joey and I headed over to his family's house to celebrate Mother's day a week early with an excellent brunch made by his sister Cheri. We all sat out on the front porch, ate delicious breakfast burritos, bagels with cream cheese, capers, onions, and smoked salmon, home fries and fruit (Yeah, that's how Cheri rolls and it's awesome!). Mimosas and coffee complemented the brunch as well, as did the always wonderful and good time that comes with visiting my in-laws. They're a most excellent bunch of people and I'm so very happy to now be counted amongst them!

After brunch, we migrated to the den where we watched the Grizzlies show the NBA that they are indeed a team of contenders. The series won against the Spurs shed some light on our abilities and I'm stoked to see how far they can go. Although the OKC Thunder are an amazing group of athletes, the Grizzlies proved to be the better team this game and this Memphian could not be any prouder! Go Grizz!!!

So, despite the tornados and the crazy weather, it has been a great Sunday, and I'm excited to catch you up and get back on track. I never got a chance to show you my final piece from the art show, so I'll start from there (pictures below) and slowly catch up with myself from then... March... geezz I'm behind! I'll try to get back on the Mon., Wed., Fri. posts, because I liked that flow. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and I hope this week proves to be lovely for you with (hopefully) calmer weather.

Unravel, Patiently

Pen and ink with watercolor

22"x30"

A detail shot...

And, another detail shot. I do believe that I significantly strained my eyes and worsened my vision with this project, but damn it felt good to create it.

Have a great week and love to all!

Happy Weekend!

2011-03-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I'm joining my fellow grad students in hanging our show. I would love for anyone interested to come check it out, and will have a small handful of invitations to pass out soon :).

Because this small series was so detail intensive, with stippling and such, I have noticed a significant change in my eyesight... and not for the better. I've been squinting a lot more lately. So, an appointment with the eye doctor is going to be due soon, and, for the fun of it, I've been eyeballing frames that have been calling my name. Tell me, which is your favorite of these two?

I found both of these vintage frames at this awesome etsy store. If you want to look around for a unique pair of glasses, then this is a good starting point!

And, for some weekend fun links...

Have I shown you this yet? If I have, I'm showing you again... because it's awesome and reminds me of what I used to do with my toys when I was in high school... but much more successful.

Fun fabrics for sewing projects...

Check OUT this AWESOME video! It's mesmerizing!

I've been fantasy moving to all sorts of places via sabbaticalhomes.com. Join me in this daydream adventure!

Kuhldesignbuild.com = awesome. Check out their portfolio and that pirate ship in a little boys bedroom!

I do believe I, I mean my students and my nephews, could benefit from these. I might just have to invest.

And, although it may be a bit creepy, I have to admit that when I saw this, I considered for a minute if I could pull it off as an everyday purse or not... you know, as a fun little fashion accessory :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

And help me ponder the glasses; red or blue?

Working on the Art Show...

2011-02-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

These are a few small doodles within my book that accompanies my main piece in the Graduate Art Show. The work is due on Monday, so keep your fingers crossed that all goes well!

P.s. - For Valentines Day, Joey and I gave each other separate "assignments" for creative projects. I received a screenplay for a short film that I LOVE, and I made Joey a mixed media collage. Here's the collage, although it's still a work in progress:

We've been feeling the itch to travel.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! March is just around the corner!

Electric Six

2011-02-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Perhaps I've been under a rock, or, perhaps I've just randomly stumbled upon my newest musical obsession... either way, I couldn't be happier to have found it! Electric Six = makes Megan dance like an idiot (in the most awesome/badass sort of way). You can count on me to be at the Hi-Tone on the first of April... and the stop in Memphis better not be some silly little April Fools joke!

This is basically how Joey and I end our nights together:

And, the proper way to dance...

I really hope I was a rock star in a past life.

I ❤ the Weekend!

2011-02-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

So, I know it's been super slow around here, but I've been busy making art and working after-hours at school, so, when I get home, I'm basically done for the night. I'm looking forward to Spring Break and time to focus on projects that don't necessarily have deadlines! This weekend, Joey and I have been working on our individual creative endeavors, and helping one another move forward with them as successfully as possible. The time spent creating, and the time spent relaxing, is DEEeeelightful!!! I hope everyone's February is going swell and that you're enjoying your weekend as much as I am.

Noodle Doodle being lazy on a Saturday.

The TSW Seasonal Wrap and the Spinny Shroom from Trolley Stop Market are sooooo good!

Following my goal to become a little bit more environmentally friendly this year, I bought my first bar of solid shampoo from Lush. I have to admit, I was extremely surprised at how well it worked, and how much I loved it. My hair feels and smells great, the ingredients used are natural lighteners for blond hair, and a plastic container was completely eliminated from the equation! Also, because my sister-in-law, Cheri, is awesome (all 3 of my sister-in-law's are awesome!) and made "spa" products for Christmas, I used a home-made mask to condition my hair as well! The bar looks like it's going to last a while and it just took a few strokes in wet hair and immediately I had a head full of shampooing fun. I can now officially say that I highly recommend solid shampoo! Lush had some awesome options, but they're definitely on the pricier side, so if you're interested, I would look up some home-made options on Etsy.

Rediscovering Ed Emberly. My kids at school LOVE these!

An AWESOME way to save, up-cycle, commemorate, and memorialize your toys while bumping up your home decor a notch!

I want my walls to look something like these someday...

Some amazing Art to check out:

The circles are only seen at one specific location, otherwise, they are fragmented.

Found at: http://honestlywtf.com/art/trompe-loeil

Balancing tight-rope sculptures!

Found at: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/tightrope-walking-sculptures

And, last, but not least, I'm loving this fishtail braid! Joey likes my short hair, but he's voiced that he prefers it long, so, I'm thinking this may be the motivation I need to grow it long again. We'll see... though, my hair-do outlooks do tend to change daily ;)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week!

Lots of Love!!!

2011-02-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

As the year's day of love starts off next week, this weekend seems to be the best time to celebrate! So, in honoring of loving... not just a significant other, but many things, here is my Valentines Weekend post:

From nataliedee.com

First off, how far would you go for love?

Don't forget to love what you eat...

Show some love to some worn out clothes!

Love Love and love's lost.

Show some love to your house.

Love your town.

Love love stories!

Dobby loves socks...

Forget lovemaking in the bed... do it in a home-made love fort!!!

H&M LOVE!!!

Love the little things...

Ha, love little clever things!

Love your furry friends!

So, I hope everyone has a most lovely of loveliest weekends and that you show some love to yourself, someone you love, your house, your pet, a stranger, or anything for that matter (or all of the above!).

Goodbye for now and love to all!

P.s. - I'm going to show some love to Underbite... this was its 100th post!!!

For your eyes to look at!

2011-01-31T18:59:00.000-08:00

Paper cut-outs created with toilet paper rolls, scissors, tweezers, glue, and patience by Anastassia Elias

via honestlywtf

"Temptation" by brooklyn based artist Ian Trask

via SwissMiss

And, check out this independent documentary film... looks pretty amazing!

WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.

video found via honestlywtf

Hope your week is starting off well!

Chew on this...

2011-01-24T06:16:00.000-08:00

Check out Ben Wilson, a chewing gum artist! I want him to come visit Memphis to make even our squashed chewing gum a resourceful way to beautify our city!

Photos from http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/11/ben-wilson-chewing-gum-artist-and.html

Check he and his miniature works of art out at the address above! Or, perhaps create your own artwork from a form of "trash" or grubbiness in the city!

Friday Snow Day!!!

2011-01-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

Happy big fat snow flakes, everyone! Today, trapped in from our vicious blizzard of a snow storm, I have been buzzing around like a mad woman, drawing, cleaning, educating myself on topics I would like to know more about, and then getting back to drawing... and multitasking all of these betwixt one another! Being able to devote a day just to art-making is amazing!

Last night, Joey and I sat down to watch the movie Bronson, a film about Michael Gordon Peterson (aka Charles "Charlie" Bronson), a British man who is currently serving a life sentence in prison and has spent ALL but four of those years in solitary confinement!!! He initially began his life in prison after being convicted, at age 22, of armed robbery (he only got away with 26 some-odd pounds) and was sentenced only to seven years. Since then, he has furthered his sentence and gained the reputation of being Britain's "most violent prisoner", taking hostages in his cells, fighting groups of prison guards, making threats to kill others, etc. Needless to say, the guy is a little on the intense side, but nonetheless interesting. During his stay in prison, he has managed to become an excellent boxer, artist, and has written a book on working out in small spaces.

P.S. - Tom Hardy is a stud. Not like Joey, though ;)

Anywhoo, whilst we were enjoying the insanity that is Charles Bronson, I decided to pick up my dusty knitting needles, stretch my fingers, and have a movie date with one of my favorite activities that I have recently neglected. A beautiful reunion it was and I'm very happy with the product... and, it was completed within the time-span of a feature film. What do you think? It was super easy with this wrist-band pattern and then me having fun with my button collection.

Like I said earlier, I have been multi-tasking this morning and educating myself has been one of my tasks. While cleaning and drawing, I had the movie Food Inc. playing (Watch Instant Netflix is AMAZING!). I want to begin doing more reviews of the books and movies that I watch and this will definitely be one of them. It's an extremely important film that covers issues that span far beyond just the food industry in our country. I highly recommend it and will pay more due attention to it in another post.

For your snowy weekend pleasure, here's a fun little stroll through the Internet...

Brilliant! Solar Roadways!

OOoo, I like Happy Tape :)

A brilliant way to up-cycle old record albums!

Would you ride this amusement park ride?

I'm in LOVE with this chick's hair:

via http://www.etsy.com/listing/52349743/cropped-t-red-tie-dye?ref=v1_other_2

Sometimes I have beard envy...

FUNNY!

And, for something wondrous to behold: Iceland... Oh, so beautiful!

Have a great weekend! The Gus man is celebrating his 1st birthday this weekend!!!

Chloe and Bleu

2011-01-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty certain that my brother-in-law is not a frequent reader of Underbite, so I think it's safe to assume that I can show you his birthday present for this year. I've been slowly working on this piece for about 3 years now I think (it's done a lot of sitting under a pile of papers for the first pencil phase, then on my desk under clutter for the ink phase, and then moved about and around through various other phases until I decided that it was finally finished). So, for this year, Blake will finally get the finished artwork of Chloe and Bleu that I have been promising him for quite some time now.

What do you think?

Doodlin'

2011-01-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

Pssst... here's a sneak peek at a detail of my piece I'm working on for the art show. It's still in pencil, so you'll have to squint...

Also, I really want to try to replicate these clothes with only me, my scraps, my sewing machine, and I... and any other possible tools it might require...

Yup, just browsing Anthropologie's new arrivals. If I were to in fact buy all of these items, I would spend $510... + tax of course. Yeah, I know. I think I could at least come close to the ending product for possibly the price of dinner at a pizza place, just sayin'. But of course, I can't talk the talk unless I can walk the walk, so let me shut my big mouth until I've got some home-made fashion ready to show you.

Happy Hump Day!

Long time, no see!

2011-01-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

Is it too early to be daydreaming of the color green again? I've been trying to slowly go through old negatives and archiving them into the computer. Although this image isn't especially thrilling, I like the temperature and the peacefulness of the day that it exudes.

It's been a while since I've been on! I haven't meant to be absent, but I've been so busy at school and with various other projects and life in general. However, life has been good and I hope you have been doing well during the fresh month of January!

To catch you up on what's been going on in the Travis-Carr home, ultimately, Joey and I have been learning and putting into practice our mode of attack to feed more time into our creative endeavors. That and finally getting the house clean after we (mostly me in that we) tore the place up and neglected our cleaning responsibilities due to a crazy schedule. Now, however, we're going to be better about that.

From this Tuesday and on (I'm not completely sure when we're going to stop), I'm going to begin giving private art lessons to a 7th grader who is STOKED about lessons with me. I just hope that I can meet his expectations. So, I'm going to be trying to do a lot more research on artists that he might find interesting to learn about and inspire both of us.

Also, I've got the C-STEM challenge at school to work on with the students (we're working on a mural and a sea turtle sculpture, pop-up book, and more). We have to have all of that finished up by April. And I have my own Graduate Art Show to work on and complete before March, so it's going to be a busy, but Artful semester which will hopefully overflow into the rest of my live-long days.

So, wish us luck!

My pile of links to share with you has become HUGE! So, bear with me while I sort through them:

I discovered this song on thesensesfive.com. Both this song and this beautiful version between a father-daughter duet is BEAUTIFUL! May the trumpets ring through your heart as they do mine :)

Although the Holidays are over, if you want a head start for your festive crafts for next year, then start here!

20 Projects for a Handmade Home

Someone needs to find me an extra $100.00 quick... these are shoes that are just too vital to my work wardrobe. All you other teachers, with the exception of Ms. Frizzle, step aside, I'm going to dress what I teach!

Some pretty cool visual candy:

Seaweed from Tell No One on Vimeo.

found via http://honestlywtf.com/video/seaweed

OLEK AND THE CHARGING BULL ON WALL STREET from olek on Vimeo.

also found via http://honestlywtf.com/video/olek-the-bull

And, a photographer and his grandmother.

Check out this amazing story of an undiscovered artist who may have been one of the "greatest street photographers the world never knew."

How I have never seen this website, I'm not sure, but it's AWESOME and I'm adding it to my daily stroll through the Internet.

Joey, you'll enjoy this!

Keep the dream alive!

Whew, and that's it. I hope everyone has a great weekend, great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day, and a great week!

Driving to school this morning...

2011-01-04T15:26:00.000-08:00

... this song came on. And all day long, on a day that is usually pretty behaviourally tumultuous with my classes, this song was stuck in my head. I couldn't help but to have an extra dance in my step and day dream about how much I love my husband and how terribly excited I am about our lives together.

Joey, I love you.

New Year, New Resolutions, New Routine

2011-01-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, the best list-making time of the year! Lists are so much fun to make and, of course, to slowly mark down and whittle to (hopefully) achievement!

My 2011:

(I thought about 11 for 2011, but then I thought about 2022 and so forth and decided to keep it at an even and attainable "10")

Drink lots of water.
Always be reading a book.
Study and write about, explore, books, movies, art, events, etc., that inspire/"stick" with you.
Pick up a little around the house each day.
Practice the Ukulele and keep a sketchbook/journal daily.
Complete at least 3 items off of my "30 before 30" list.
Stay positive.
Do at least 1 favor for myself and another person daily.
Do some form of healthy, physical activity every day.
And, speaking of exercising, my last resolution is to actually exercise my resolutions.

So there it is! Happy 2011 everyone, I believe it's going to be a good year :) Have you made your lists yet? Do you have any excellent resolutions you would like to share?

Happy New Year!!!

2010-12-31T13:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's!!!

Some fun new year's links.:

Compai's 11 Resolutions for 2011.

IloveMemphis's exclusively Memphis-themed Resolutions.

I love this. A list of resolutions involving the things you LOVE about yourself instead of the things you want to change. Keep practicing the good habits and remember what you love about yourself!

I wish I had found this before now so that I could use this recipe for tonight :) YUM!

Joey and I are chilling out at the house playing board games with friends, drinking, and having a good time. I'm excited about having a low-key New Year's. However, if I were going to a New Year's party, then I would love to be rocking these awesome shoes with this awesome dress.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all have a fabulous night bringing in 2011. Be safe, be merry, be glad for a new year! Love you all!

Merry belated Christmas!

2010-12-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

What do you know? It's been kind of a white Christmas!

The Doodle doing snow patrol.

I hope everyone had a most excellent Holiday season! Joey and I had an absolutely wonderful Christmas spending time with family and enjoying our first official holiday traditions as a married couple. I had the house looking beautiful for a second to capture the moment and spend some time relaxing and enjoying the season. My good buddy McCarley and I had a spare-of-the-moment, world-wind day of crafting, making badass, home-made stockings in about a 3 hour span of time without having much of a clue as to where to begin. Though I don't have pictures of McCarley's awesome creations, I do have some pictures of Joey and I's stockings. I have to say, I'm very proud of them!

So, here are a few pics from the holidays:

I've been making these little brooch type thingys out of shiny duck tape, buttons, and really whatever is lying around. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them, but it's been fun creating them.

The Travis-Carr Christmas family layout.

Our Christmas stockings!

Mine... sorry about the crummy picture.

Joey's stocking.

Although every gift I received this Christmas was awesome, there's always one gift that sticks out and this year, for me, it was a beautiful blue Ukulele from Santa. I've been practicing and will hopefully have a few songs for your patient ears to listen to soon! I like to name all of my instruments, so, of course, I had to name this one as well. I LOVE the name Percival, however, that was my french horn's name, and I feel strange using it twice, so as I was contemplating this very important decision, Joey blurted out, "Name it Puke the Uke"... and so, there it was. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Puke, my beloved Ukulele...

This is me looking to the future, when I am a rock star of the tiny stringed-instrument genre!

So, how was your Christmas and/or Holiday season? What was the highlight of the season? Did you have a favorite gift? Do share!

I get it from my Mama...

2010-12-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

Although I think Juvenile and I are speaking of two different aspects of what mothers give to their daughters, I couldn't get this song off repeat in my head, so I decided to post it as a segue into today's post for my mother.

So, on a more serious note, I do in fact credit my mother for a lot of my characteristics. My emotions, my sense of the world around me, my blonde hair, and more. Therefore, I propose that we raise a glass and toast my wonderful mother for all of the things that she has given to me and my family...

You are beautiful both inside and out, you lead by example and not just through preaching. You are compassionate, kind-hearted, and selfless, and inspiration to all. You have given me such a strong sense and foundation of morality that wherever I am, I don't think I'll ever lose sight of what is wrong or right. Perhaps you can't physically juggle, but your ability to handle whatever life throws at you, be it silly or be it serious, suggests otherwise. I will always find comfort in your smile and laugh, and I will always find comfort in the fact that when my mind turns into jumbled chaos and simple tasks become looney, I can say I got that from you :). I love you for all of these things, and the list goes on and on, and I almost put it into a rhyming poem, but then I decided to save face and spare you the goofy poem.

So, Happy Birthday, Mama, I love you!!!

(photo taken from http://www.kloonigames.com/blog/crayonphysics/happy-birthday-crayon-physics-deluxe)

Home for the Holidays!

2010-12-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Weekend, everyone! The Holidays are upon us and family and friends are slowly trickling into town :) Lindsey and Gus are home until after Christmas, which guarantees an entire week of family fun (I'll be sure to have my camera on me), and I know some of my friends are coming in town as well, and I can't wait to see them either!

I got my hair cut today!!! What do you think? I love it!!!

I was silly to think that my busy time ended after I finished my thesis, because now I have to get started on artwork for the Graduate Art Show. However, that means I'll be working on artwork and will have work-in-progress to post occasionally; so that's exciting. Wish me luck on getting done what I need to get done within the next two weeks! In fact, today I'm making a scheduled to-do list... hmmmm, we shall see how many "do's" get crossed off.

So, what are your plans for the weekend/week? Joey and I are going to my friend Kelly's Christmas Party tonight, which I'm pretty excited about. It'll be nice to hang out with friends and relax and enjoy the season. I'm making more hard cider for the occasion and need to round up some holiday attire for the festivities.

And, since I've been collecting links, but took a hiatus for a bit, here are some fun places to visit from around the Internet:

First off, if you haven't checked it out via links through facebook, then check out my friend Amy's blog, memphisupbeat.com, which is a collaborative effort made by she and a group of wonderful people from within the community who have made it their goal to highlight the positive teachers, students, events, programs, etc. that are happening within Memphis's public education system. I was lucky enough to have Amy visit one of my classes. Afterwards, she put up an amazing post about how the lesson unfolded.

This makes me want to get active...

This story had me rolling on the floor! Thanks, Todd!

Homemade edible gift ideas...

I want to do this with my kids at school. In fact, I want to do this by myself, as well!

Pretty, pretty!

I'm loving these posters!

Sheesh!!!

And, ladies, for those days when you need a little style inspiration, check this website out!

So, I am hoping that everyone's last month of the year is going well and that your staying warm and cozy. I'm excited to have more time to work on projects as well as keep you up to date on them via Underbite. So, with that said, I will see you soon!

Love to all!

Annie

2010-12-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

To the woman whose soft, warm hands I will miss so much, but with closed eyes, I will always feel -

Thank you for hoarding countless empty bottles of what used to be random assortments of various products... who knew that empty tide, dial, aspirin, hell, I can't even remember which other bottles, could equal hours, excuse me, years, of entertainment to us.
Thank you for teaching us that kitchen utensils, when used properly, are not really used for stirring vegetables into the proper temperature or scraping the last remnants of recipe into the pan, but are instead intended for digging for treasure or for architectural digs in the sand; of course!
Thank you for all of the magical buttons and putt putt tokens (or wherever they came from) that bought me a world beyond the real.
Thank you for making time without objects feel so exciting... counting toes, patty-cake, learning how the farmer rides his horse, and other games that would otherwise seem so childish and silly where never so thrilling as when you performed them.
I freeze my old bread like you did... for the ducks... even if I don't have any actual plans to go feed any ducks, I know that it'll be good for feeding ducks when and if the moment presents itself.
Thank you for giving the world so many giggles, showing everyone around you how a proper giggle should be giggled.
For demonstrating the importance of using both sun-tan lotion as well as washing your face and using lotion afterwards every night. Your good looks were a testament to this. I still haven't quite latched on to that habit because of laziness, but it's a habit I know that I would benefit from.
At the moment I can't remember the name of the lotion you used, but I know that, in the future, whenever I suddenly stumble upon it, happiness is guaranteed to wash over me like a tidal wave. I look forward to that instant when my nose is reunited with that scent.
For your love of Bloody Mary's, a taste that you didn't directly hand down to me, but that I can definitely link as a trait I received from you - thank you, a million times, because for those that don't understand, they have no idea what they're missing!
And for Hoppin' John, and many other meals that were entirely too spicy for any human to ingest...
For all of these things and all that they meant to me - thank you.
My heart celebrates you and your love.
For these gifts and so many more, thank you, and I love you.

For now and for always,
Meg

Scaling the wall...

2010-12-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

I apologize about the absence, but I'm going to be taking about a week long break or so. I'm just about over this humongous hill and it's going to be a hell of a haul getting over this last bit. A lot's going on and I need to work my butt off to make sure everything that needs to be in order is. So, wish me luck. This Tuesday, my professional portfolio is due and then, this Friday, the final copy of my thesis is due to be handed in for printing and binding. This coming Friday, if all goes well, I will be handing my keys to Joey and throwing down like it's 1999! So, if you see me Saturday and I'm speaking another language, then just give me a day or so and I'll be back to normal. Love you all and I hope that your week goes well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

I know this post comes a day late, but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! I hope that everyone got to enjoy some time with their loved ones and enjoy a potluck of delicious thanksgiving foods!!! Also, I hope everyone got at least one food-induced coma. As gross as it is to think about passing out from all of the food you've just stuffed down, I swear it's the best nap of the year, and if you're going to get that one nap a year, then I say take it... cause it's amazing!

This year I made apple spice cake for our two families, Joey made deviled eggs, and we both made that boilo (Hard Apple Cider) that I was wanting to make a while back. It was delicious and was perfect for a cold, rainy day.

My favorite food out of the whole Thanksgiving feast has to be the dressing. Never mind the turkey accompanying the dressing (although that's delicious too), just give me the dressing. Joey's family has a tradition of making home-made ravioli (this is a serious under-taking!) and serves that as their Thanksgiving feast on his mom's side. It's delicious and OH HOW I LOVE RAVIOLI!!! So, how was your Thanksgiving and what's your favorite Thanksgiving food? If you're having a low-key break this year, then are you doing anything exciting?

I got into the holiday spirit during a thesis break and pulled out some pretty glasses, arranged them with candles, and folded some magazines to look like trees. The candles and one of our throw blankets definitely help to make the room feel warmer when it's cold indoors.

Since it is that time of year, then I figured I would post some items that my be fun for all different sorts of folks for the holidays. Let me know what you think of them!

For the lady who wants to send a subtle message...

And, for the lady that always needs a fun accessory (this is a DIY).

If you run out of or need another bow to slap on a gift, don't run to the store, just run to the pantry...

Holiday manicure... End of the semester gift to myself? Hmmm, yes I think so :)

For the smallest of folks... children's books and their characters as plush toys!

Nerd Boyfriend... and his clothes.

Although not always the most affordable option, J.Crew's gift guides offer awesome items as well as inspiration if your drawing a blank for someone special.

Not to leave the boys out on this list, here's askmen.com's "Top 10" gifts for Christmas.

Etsy's gift guide's are always fun, especially when they help to personalize each guide to themes!

And, last but not least, if you're still having a bit of trouble, here is a neat "Santa's list" that feels much more reflective and appreciative of the years events, instead of just a list of wants.

And, here are two animal videos that make me happy...

and, for the hell of it (I was going through my itunes and songs I haven't visited in a while)...

Have a great weekend and love to all!

In the corner...

2010-11-17T14:35:00.000-08:00

I'm upset with myself today. I've been working hard on my literature review for my thesis, professional portfolio, and carrying out research in the classroom. I've been video-taping a first, third, and fifth grade class playing different art games, as well as creating a classroom tour. All of this I'm going to use as research, but also include it into my professional portfolio as a digital dvd with examples of lessons and a tour of the classroom. This last Monday, the third grade class had the most excellent class EVER and it was SOOOO much fun. I mean, we had an ABSOLUTE blast. Literally a perfect class to catch on video. Then, today, I taped the first grade class, who is usually really awesome, but today decided to act ridiculous... and guess what... I forgot to change tapes and accidentally taped over the awesome class. I nearly started crying in the middle of my next class when I realized it. So, for this Wednesday, I'm walking myself into the time-out corner for being an idiot and regressing in my progress. *Insert slap across the head here.

2010-11-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Weekend, everyone! I hope that you have at least one day planned for relaxation. Joey and I are both suffering from some kind of funky head cold thing, and I'm really hoping that it doesn't turn into anything more than that. It's not the most convenient time to be significantly sick, but then again, when is?

Mumbai Hot Chocolate?... Yes! Found here.

So, what better way to ward off gunky sickness than to think happy thoughts and find fun things to observe and inspire. I have a bunch of fun links this Friday, so saddle up! Also, I've got some fun listening down at the bottom if you want to dance in your chair while you browse through fun stuff.

First off, with the Holiday season just around the corner, here are some Holiday themed links:

I found an awesome new website to waste time on. It's instructables.com. Find out how to make just about anything and everything here.

Check out these origami paper ball ornaments made from recycled magazine pages. I made similar ornaments the year before last, and they turned out great. Also, they are great for adding surprising touches of color to a christmas tree, or anywhere else that you hang them!

Another fun instructable of an origami crane ornament.

We all remember cutting out snowflakes when we were in elementary school... why did we ever stop!?!

Some really fun earth friendly gift wrapping ideas from Compai blog.

Garland is always festive and adds an exciting element to a home's decor, especially during the holidays! When your trapped in your house due to the cold, why not give your eye some new and exciting visuals to feast upon?

And, last but not least for the christmas stuff... this link is for Jeannie, or anyone else who has a train lovin' toddler. Lindsey, you might want to bookmark this one for a year or so from now...

Ahh, done with that portion, but I'm sure I'll dig up more for later. On to the next "themed" links... MUSIC!

Four hands Guitar...

And, a guy who makes instruments out of vegetables... Fascinating!

A new and toe-tappinining tune collaboration between Ben Folds, Nick Hornby, and Pomplamoose!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

2010-11-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

I think designer brands are pretty ridiculous, however, that doesn't mean that they're not fun to look at... like exotic bird watching or something. Louis Vuitton is no exception to this fanciful frivolity, selling tote and handbags for around $3,000 (give or take a few). I mean, why would you spend the cost of a used car on a purse that's going to end up littered with balled up receipts and have crumbles of granola and gum floating in the creases? That's what everybody's purse looks like, right?

Regardless of the ridiculous nature of this hugely popular brand amongst celebrities and the upper class, Louis Vuitton has begun making "City Guides" of popular destinations all over the world. A few are accompanied by charming little video "illustrations" which are wonderful to watch. So, ridiculous, yes, but I'm truly enjoying these little mini-films. Check out the video from Paris:

Video found via Honestly...WTF

If I were in Paris, or hell, if I were in Memphis, enjoying a day where I could leisurely explore and pick out the most delicious little pastry I could find and then find a park bench to sit and read a book on, I'd want to be wearing this:

Photograph found via the Sartorialist

I hope everybody's week is going well! Any good highlights so far? What are you daydreaming about during your work week?

Jalapeno Jelly!

2010-11-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Check it out! My sister Lindsey, who has always had an aesthetically able eye, has gotten little Gus man's nursery in a color challenge on Ohdeedoh!!! She has done a fabulous job decorating his room and not only with color choices and accent pieces, but in the arrangement of the room as well. It's a really small room, so it could easily become crowded and feel claustrophobic, however, Lindsey has flawlessly selected the furniture and decor that give the room a rich personality and filtered out (yes, my sister is a hardcore organizer/cleaner which is awesome, because I'm not) the everyday clutter that threatens to steal the room's aesthetic and character from those living in it. On top of all of this... it is functional, AND cute as hell for a nursery. I know the littlest Hill approves. Gus's Jalapeno Jelly room is so much fun, but it's not Gus's room completely until the little Gusbuster man is in it.

So, go to the link and vote for Gus's room! It's fun and it'll make you smile!

Lovely little Hill family. I hope you guys don't mind me stealing some photo's from off of the website and your FB profiles :)

There are so many awesome house tours and kids rooms tours on apartmenttherapy.com you should definitely check it out. Lots of visual inspiration for your home, nursery/kids room, kitchen, the technology in your home, and how you can become more environmentally conscious in your own home.

In fact, I've been putting to good use this helpful list (found on Apartment therapy) to easily keeping your home clean and organized each month. So far, so good as the place is actually looking clean on a consistent basis.

And, for your weekendly browsing pleasures, here are some fun links from around the web:

First off, wh-wh-wh-where DO you find one of THESE!!!

I just can't get enough of recycled appliances/junk turned into functional furniture and home items.

DIY no knit scarf!

Check out Emma Watson's (Hermione) new hair via thesensesfive.com and beautiful holiday hair via a cup of jo! I love it!

So, that's what I got for links this weekend. This weekend I'm hoping to be super productive with my thesis, beautify a lamp that's been waiting for a face-lift and a place in our home, and clean up the workroom in our home. Wish me luck. And, because I want to send out some love to both of my nephew's and give a shout-out to my best buddy, Joey while he's at work, here's a couple of awesome pictures of Joey and Jeremy on their Boys day here at our house:

This is what Jeremy would look like if he were the sun.

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Half-way to the weekend!

2010-11-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

I'm loving this series, "Style.Play.Work.Shop" from Compai Blog. The ladies over there throw out about 5 random items (this week's was ribbon, squash, envelope, jewelry, and bottle) and they and other bloggers or readers who would like to participate arrange these items in a picturesque way and photograph them. Then, they display some of the best shots on their blog the following week. Brilliant! No contest or prize, just a good ole' incentive to go and get creative and make something beautiful. I would be participating, however, I'm really good at distracting myself, and I don't need to distract myself with this until I'm finished with this semester. Maybe next year!

So, check it out!

Photo collage taken from Compai Blog.

I hope the rest of your week treats you well!

Weekend Love

2010-10-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

This week flew by! It seems like everyday there was something going on so that by the time I made it home it was time to go to bed and do it again. That does not mean, however, that I didn't enjoy the week. The beginning of this week was pretty rough with a few classes that decided to act like CERTIFIED LUNATICS instead of actual human children who sometimes act endearingly looney. After Tuesday, though, the week began to look up and good times and lots of productive art-making began to happen.

The "napkin box" for "P.F. Chains" was actually made out of tissue paper.

Some of the kids "Restaurant Noodles" artworks. The restaurant above must have some seriously high demands for Dr. Pepper as opposed to sweet tea, diet dr. pepper, and coke :). And, below, the bulletin board plus the door to my classroom.

On top of working on the C-STEM Challenge, an extra-curricular program that a few of the teachers and I are participating in with the kids, I've been working on an art contest with the kids where the grand prize is a 75 gallon living coral reef aquarium!!! Fingers crossed we'll win, however, if we don't, then that's one 75 gallon aquarium that I won't be maintaining and one beautiful piece of artwork made by the fantastic 5th graders at Oakhaven to hang up for everyone to see. The C-STEM Challenge is pretty exciting as well. It's a set of 6 challenges that the kids will have to complete and compete against other schools (mainly schools based out of Houston, which is where we will finally be competing in April). We're the only school in Tennessee participating and knock-on-wood Memphis makes a name for themselves while competing in Houston, TX.

Besides school stuff and constantly keeping up with how the educational environment is changing or trying to change, life has been very good. Joey and I enjoyed a semi-disappointing opening game with the Grizzlies game with our friends Zach and Sara. Great company and a fun team to watch, Joey swears that when they stink it up during their first game of the season, the Grizzlies always do well during the rest of the season. We shall see, won't we :)

I still need to work more on my thesis and hopefully, sooner rather than later, I will blink and find myself with a master's degree. In the meantime, I need to find more self-motivation.

As for today, however, it's Friday; a much needed Friday for many, so therefore, we shall proceed with fun non-work-related distractions and goodies!!!

First off, Fall has finally decided to settle in with cooler weather, so Joey and I are bundled up in our duplex wondering when it's appropriate to turn the heat on; now... or are we just being babies? So, while we ponder when to turn the radiators on or not, I'm thinking I'm going to try to make some of this delicious sounding hard apple cider (Apple Pie Boilo) which I'm sure will do the trick and warm us up.

I love enchiladas, and a mexican dinner night sounds awesome!

This piggy bank is simply too awesome.

Fun pumpkin decorating ideas.

Awww, man, check out this stringed-instrument shop! Although the apple ukulele is awesome, I think I'd want the banjolele, so I could rock out like this:

If anything has every "plucked" at my maternal heartstring, I would have to say it was this precious little video.

Check out this AMAZING house built partially out of living trees!

Who wants to go camping so we can bake a cake in an orange peel over a campfire for dessert!!! An alternative for anyone who is crazy and doesn't like smores.

That's it for this week. You guys have a great weekend and love to all!

Quick Catch-Up

2010-10-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

I got my camera back yesterday, and with it, the pictures from last weekend. I want to share them with you. Enjoy!

First off, here are the three dogs from the lost pets fiasco:

All found their homes the next day :)

Then here is a tour of our place when it's actually clean (the workroom is not pictured because it's a giant mess right now).

Then I began to get ready for the party, starting with the cake. I was trying to go for a rainbow cake, but practice makes perfect, and I need more practice :)

I stacked another cake on top to make it a double decker with icing and strawberries on the inside and then frosted the outside with icing mixed with cool whip! (I'm not sure why there are no pictures of the finished product)

Then, the movie night...

Darla got dressed up in her Michael Jackson get-up for the night and had a great time socializing... especially with Katherine!

This is the white bedsheet stapled to the fence while we're watching Wet Hot American Summer. Lots of blankets, chairs, and there's a fire pit with smores going on behind this shot, and a nice little pot-luck set up on the deck. It was pretty sweet.

And, last, but not least,

me and two of my favorite ladies cuddled up on the couch together, and...

I told you I'd get a picture with all three of them together!

The End!

Friday!

2010-10-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

How's it going everybody? I hope your week went well. I have exciting news: My lovely friend Katie found my camera tucked into her camping chair from the movie night!!! Yeay!!! So, once I am reunited with my camera, I will begin adding more home-shot images to the blog again, instead of photoshopped ones, which take more time than I should be spending on them. Anywhoooo... I don't have much for this weekend's post, but here's an awesome video of some urban performance art. I wanna play...

Have a great weekend!

Movie night

2010-10-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend was truly a blast, however, I have tragically lost my camera. She was one of my best friends of the past four years, and my link, tool, and proof that I do in fact aspire to be a photographer. I'm really hoping that it turns up, however, I have a sinking feeling that I may never look through its viewfinder or see the pictures from this past weekend ever again :(.

So, I don't have any pictures of the extravaganza, but it was indeed a ton of fun.

Also, I cleaned my house like a maniac before everybody came over. I was so proud of the job I had done that I went around the house and took beautiful pictures of it to provide a tour for those people who have not yet seen Joey and I's new home. The pictures are lost with my camera, so I created a beautiful rendition of our bedroom in photoshop. It's basically the same thing as the photograph, just without beautiful lighting.

Didn't we do a great job with the decorating ;)

Anyway, I was hoping to have a full on visual play-by-play of Garre's birthday movie night, but alas, I must sum it up in words: Great friends, great food, great movies, great fun! I definitely recommend having a movie night in your backyard complete with bed sheet as screen, fire pit for smores, blankets, chairs, music, and some booooooze!!! So if anybody wants to go in on a digital projector, just let me know!

I missed Friday's post because of a completely different distraction. I had unintentionally picked up 3 stray dogs who needed to find their owners, so I had, that's right, 5 dogs on my hands Friday night and Saturday morning and one cat who spent the night in the chimney safe from the dogs. The good news is that all dogs found their homes that next morning. Yeay!

So, since I missed the Friday post, let me give you some fun links for the week instead of the weekend:

This kitchen rocks!

Some munchies for your halloween festivities :)

Beautiful ideas for a rainy day...

A sexy little get-up for a halloween weekend bash.

I've been avoiding wedding websites and pictures for quite a while simply to enjoy a break from all wedding chaos. However, I do stumble across wedding shoots here and there around the web, and this one looks like an AMAZING wedding! I love EVERYTHING about it :) Doesn't it make you smile?

Possibly my new favorite fantasy shopping website.

An awesome DIY felt rug.

A truly inspirational video. I want to join these women, despite my fear of falling. This seems like just the way to face it:

Send it sistah ! from sébastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

Once again, I found this video off of Pacing the Panic Room.

Also, to finish off the weekend, my mom and I went to the matinee showing of Wicked. I have a hard time getting in to a lot of musicals, but I've got to say... I thought it was GREAT, and I can't get the music out of my head. I laughed, I cried, and I was totally inspired by the costume designs. Here's a fun little diddy from the play:

I couldn't decide between this or "Defying gravity" which is also awesome, but I thought Galinda was pretty funny in this song, so I chose this one.

Have a great week!

Haircut

2010-10-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

So, my hair is getting to that point where I either need to cut it or grow it out long again. Decisions, decisions...

I found this photograph of this lovely lady off of Snippet and Ink with a link to her engagement shoot and I'm digging her hair. I'm wondering if I could pull off a similar haircut/style.

I also like this one (below) for a short cut...

Then there is the thought of growing it out long again. It was more maintenance than I would like, however, I've just recently found some fun hairstyles to do with long hair, such as the sock buns and sock bun curls, and this Frida Kahlo tutorial, so, I'm torn. Also, I've had fun in the past playing with my hair:

What do you think? Go shorter, or grow longer? You might not care in the least, which I understand, but I'd love some feedback if you do have an opinion :)

Fall Break

2010-10-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Fall break has arrived and with it a beautiful weekend full of opportunities to be productive. I'm looking forward to making some serious progress on my thesis paper and cleaning my house. What are your plans for the weekend? Do you prefer Saturdays or Sundays? Sleeping in to give yourself a restful indulgence, or waking up early to start the weekend off on your terms? Do you like Ostriches or emus better? Pogo sticks or unicycles? Has anyone ever tried to ride a unicycle? Coffee or tea? Tree-houses or forts?

Since it's been a couple of weeks or so that a Friday post has appeared, I've got a lot of linkage to share. Enjoy!

First, I really dig alternative surfaces, such as this cabin wall, this library desk, and this bath-mat.

Cool bookshelf idea.

AAAaaaahhhh, check OUT this ROOM!!! Don't you want to curl up and drift into the dreams of your childhood and all things warm and comfortable? This room + a good book + a glass of hot chocolate = perfection.

Lindsey, if you're reading this, here's a Hill family cake if I ever saw one.

I like this chart that helps you to keep track of your own global domination.

Wait! Here's another awesome alternative surface!

And, an important announcement for Memphis:

This coming Monday, there's going to be a march downtown for gay rights. I hate that I can't attend, however, I have parent/teacher conferences until 7. It comes at a very appropriate time as sadly there has been a considerable amount of inappropriate conduct toward the gay community both politically and in certain social and religious circles. Not to mention that recently there have been a string of suicides involving closeted and/or bullied homosexuals.

My friends and I were recently discussing the absurdity of the rights that the gay community are denied. As far as "Don't ask, don't tell", we felt pretty sure that any problems with sexual preference within the army and whatever issues that may cause should have been thrown out when women were accepted into the army. Don't get me wrong, we don't need to back-track (that was progress), however, a person's sexual preference is completely personal.

As far as the adoption controversy goes, I think Dan Savage hits the nail on the head:

And, last but not least, an amazing speech in support of gay marriage:

So, please, attend if you can. And, if not, then just help to pass the message of love and tolerance in our community and in our world.

Also, if you feel like coming down to midtown tonight, come check out Project Sketchbook on Broad Ave. from 6-10.

Have a most beautiful weekend!

Chicago!!!

2010-10-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

Ahh, finally, I can tell you all about the Chicago trip! It was indeed amazing and truly good for the soul. I'm going to make this post more of a picture album of events, so let me start from the beginning; the train:

Riding the train up to Chicago was just as exciting as I remembered it being when I went as an 8th or 9th grader. The seats were indeed a bit uncomfortable and some of the other passengers slightly obnoxious, but honestly, I was too excited to really sleep much, and there's nothing like watching the landscape roll by from state to state. The picture above is a shot I took at sunrise around 6:30 am and the one below is a close-up. I can't really decide which one I like better. Don't those silhouettes look like slow-herding elephants?

The first thing we did once we pulled into Union Station in Chicago was to walk east toward the lake. Joey and I had a few "to do's" on the list, but basically we were going to enjoy the city and play it by ear. One of the first things we ran into was the Willis tower, formerly, and more famously known as, the Sears tower. As soon as we spotted this man-made wonder of architecture, I was commenting on how amazing it felt (temperature-wise), and glanced down at my camera to shoot this picture and realized that somehow my button up shirt had popped open down to my belly-button. As a side note, I was also wearing my most ratty bra as ratty bras usually tend to be the most comfortable. I realized then that I wasn't sure just how many blocks it had been that I had given all of Chicago's pedestrians and traffic a free show. Oops. From then on I told Joey that he was my "boobs police" for that shirt. Regardless whether or not I was appropriately buttoned, the breeze did feel absolutely perfect :)

The Willis Tower - 103 stories high

I often have panic attacks where I will suddenly have the sense of falling off of a high structure, usually a building. I also wake up on a pretty normal basis from nightmares of falling off buildings and/or other people falling off buildings... sometimes another person and I falling off buildings together. Anyway, you get my point. I have a phobia of heights. However, I'm pretty good with them as long as I stay away from the edge and think of my happy place underwater when other people are near them. So, it was a bit of conquest going up to the top of the Willis Tower, however, I knew that once I got up there, I would not be disappointed with the photo-ops. So up the scarily fast-paced elevator we shot, and onto the "sky-deck" where I stayed a very safe distance from the edge of the windows at all times. Joey is the brave one.

Louis was up there. He really is quite funny.

And then there were these awful things. Glass "decks" that jut out from the building so that you can "sense the feeling" of being suspended in mid-air outside of the top of the building. CRAZY? Yes, I totally agree.

And, yes, Joey tried it out.

Then, we walked over to Michigan Ave. It was a brilliant street for people watching and an even more exciting street for parks and Art. The first piece of Art we ran into was Crown Fountain in Millenium park, an awesome interactive sculpture involving two building-like structures with faces of Chicago residents projected on the facing walls of each tower. The faces observe and smile, and then, as every 10 minutes goes by, they form their mouths into a pucker and spit at one another. Awesome is what it is.

It was awesome when the fountain began to spit. The kids at the fountain FREAKED!!! They were stoked.

After the fountain, we saw a few more sculptures and then decided to save the rest for when we met up with the rest of our group, so we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city by foot. Our friends Garre and Greg, who we were meeting up with for the concert picked us up at the Art Institute where we then headed to the hotel to drop our stuff off and get ready for some Eels action.

It was AWESOME.

After the concert was pizza, beer, an epic train ride back to the hotel, and then a really good (and much needed) nights sleep. Then, it was time to put our brains together to figure out how to best attack the next day of our time spent in Chicago.

Unfortunately, if you're not accustomed to how the trains operate, then you will experience an epic train journey much like ours where we hopped from one line to the other, never quite finding our destination. However, we did pass by Chinatown and experience a variety of subway tunnels.

Finally, when our stomachs protested loudly enough, we gave up and went back into the heart of downtown where we could walk to most everything. We ate at Lou Malnati's, which was Deeelicious! And then we began to walk.

The giant mirrored kidney bean was a ton of fun for everyone... especially for everyone's camera's.

After the bean, it was back to exploring downtown. A lot of these photographs I like a lot, but I would like to turn into black and white photo's via photoshop. I think the contrast of this picture of the three buildings would look amazing in B&W.

Buckingham Fountain. Beautiful park, beautiful fountain, beautiful views of the lake, and bikes for rent to enjoy it all! We didn't have time to rent the bikes, but I thought it was cool that the option was available.

After the fountain, we began walking with a pub in mind. We eventually found one, Excheque, and I enjoyed a most excellent extra dirty martini.

After the pub, Joey and I's time in Chicago had expired, so we headed back to the station. Once on the train, I took a ton of photographs playing with the lights from outside.

Early in the morning, the train slowly pulled into Memphis. Home sweet home.

The trip was amazing and one of the best birthday presents, if not THE best, that I have ever gotten. For everyone that helped to give me that present, THANK YOU SO MUCH; it was incredible!!! Our weekend was fantastic, the company great, the sights unforgettable, and I am definitely very blessed to have been able to experience it. You all are wonderful!

Love to all!

P.S. - I'm a photo nut, I know, so thank you for putting up with the exact play-by-play of the weekend. I'm not very good at summarizing.

2010-09-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

♥

Hello, everyone. Apologies for the week-long absence. No excuses, just tired. Just like Darla and Joey up there, I'm in need of a nap; or, to be more specific, my brain needs a nap. The wine helps sometimes, but I don't want to become a drunk, so, I'm simply finding little bitty things and ways to chill and stay positive. Let me share...

*A warning: If you would rather not here me ramble or bitch, just skip on pass this part. I understand not wanting to hear it, but mostly it's for me to puke out and feel better afterwards...

So, my recent issues have stemmed mainly from a brain overload. If my brain were a computer, and I don't mean this in a self-deprecating way, it would be something like my old computer from the early 90's that just didn't have enough memory. While my physical workout routine has suffered tremendously as of late, my mental workout routine is training for a marathon. My response to my efforts in keeping up with marathon training is, "When the hell did I ever say I wanted to be an ADULT"? Last I checked, I deliberately decided find some kind of loop hole there! When I'm driving from one side of town to the complete opposite for a meeting with the days struggles of behavior and work issues buzzing around my skull, I'm usually also attempting to visualize the list of errands that have to be made by 4:30-5 when everything "official" closes. Then, upon getting home, I'm met by stir-crazy animals that need love and play-time that I lack the energy to give. I just turned 26... WHY do I lack the energy? On top of that, it has been recommended to my graduate class that we spend at least 2 hours a day working on researching and writing our thesis. Ok, but what about the lesson plans that I need to do at home because my planning periods at school are either NOT there or they don't mean JACK because they've been replaced by morning, hall, cafeteria, AND bus duty, not to mention time actually organizing and keeping the room clean. Forget extra-curricular things I can do with the kids, like Art Club... I CAN'T fit it in!

There's the constant black cloud that looms over the heads of every teacher that keeps assuming that we're what's failing the children. This cloud keeps growing and demanding more, finding that scores from standardized tests point to failure in the classroom. The teachers are bad and so the expectations become more dense, convoluted, and keep us busier. Assessments, audits, walk-throughs seem to be more and more present, which wouldn't be a bad thing, except for the fact that everyone's looking for someone to point the blame. -- (insert muffled scream into pillow)

Whew, alright. That feels a bit better. Things are really not so bad, I'm just not very good about staying organized enough to gracefully move my responsibilities of the day from one point to the next. It's also been hard because my week at school each week has consistently been like repeatedly being dunked alternately between hot and ice cold water. The good days are great and help to remind me why I do what I do and then the bad days make me want to put a power drill to my head. My question to everyone else out there is this: Is this normal? And if so, when do you get accustomed to it?

*Rant finished.

*On to the happy thoughts

My 10 fun ways to staying positive when I'm feeling a bit grumpy.

Do a favor for yourself at least once a day.
If time allows, find a cute photograph of an animal and create funny dialogue with it.
Find something fun to sing in your head while you work:

4. Hug and love as often as possible.

5. Get out of your work clothes ASAP and for GOD's sake, take off that work tag and hang it up where it goes.

6. If you can't find that hug anywhere, find a photograph of hedgehog babies... it works.

7. Wear the colors that you feel like feeling.

8. Find something so cute to look at that it blows your mind!!!

9. A little retail therapy doesn't hurt once in a blue moon...

10. Re-organize your closet? Hey, it made me feel better!

I had a stack of fiesta boxes that I refused to throw away or recycle because they're GREAT boxes.

So, I cut off the front side of them...

and found a use for them. Shoe rack!

And then I organized and color-coded my closet. I was inspired by this post.

So, I know this has been a long post, but since I'm going to be in CHICAGO this weekend (something to definitely help me get through the week!), I won't be posting on Friday. So, enjoy this one last amazing video and I hope the rest of your week goes well and have a wonderful weekend!

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

I love seeing parents involved with their kids education and exploration of the world! Isn't this a great idea! Kudos to that family!

Love to all and thanks for listening!

P.S. - I meant to give a shout out to ALL mother's and father's out there who work on top of being a full-time parent, cause god knows you guys deserve a medal. I don't know how you do it. Is it fairy dust?

P.P.S. - How friggin' precious is my husband and my dear little Darla?

Weekend Love

2010-09-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's official... I'm a flaky procrastinator. I don't have the post I promised for you today, but you know, it's the weekend and it's been a busy week, so we'll deal.

I'm just going to knock you dead with the preciousness of this photo. I took it from this website after looking at baby animal photos on google search. Yeah, maybe I'm lame, but sometimes you need a little animal cuteness to brighten your day.

I've decided to chop my posts down to only twice a week until I'm finished with my thesis... so, that's in December. I love having a deadline for Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's, it gives me a bit of a routine to stick to, but I'm going to be needing all the thesis time I can get, and it's becoming slowly harder for me to stick to that routine, so, I'm opening up more time for myself.

Onto fun things for the weekend!!!

First off, my good buddy, Emily, shared this with me, and I don't believe I've ever seen anything quite so precious...LOVE!

Summer's just about over, but check out these AMAZING bikinis!

Fall is inching closer, which means Halloween is just around the corner. Are YOU ready? If not, you may want to check out this seller on etsy. I do believe I might wear one of these just on a normal day.

I love this entire house and it's decor, but more specifically, I LOVE and want to create a peg-board frame, like this house's, for my kitchen.

These two "before" and "after's" are sheer genius!

Here's a DIY wreath made of book pages that would be good for any time of the year.

I love this "Seasonal Produce Calendar".

Imagine having this for lunch on a rainy day while curled up on the couch with a book and no other responsibilities. Yes... that's what heaven is like.

One of my favorite clothing designers on etsy. And also, don't miss the chance to meet some of your local etsy artisans here!

And, last but not least, check out this awesome birthday cake. Fun, fun!!

Something different for your Wednesday

2010-09-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm moving Joey and I's Experiment post to this Friday's post. So, I wanted to find something "different" for you to enjoy on this fine Wednesday.

Stumbled across this while at thesensesfive.com. Enjoy!

Happy Hump-day! See you on Friday!

Birthday Week!

2010-09-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

September is always bustling with birthdays it seems like, so this is going to be a birthday shout out post for all of those birthday's!

Birthday Bowling, What, WHAT?

On Sept. 2nd, 1920, my grandmother, Irene Farris Travis a.k.a. Mimi, was born. She turned 90 a couple of weeks ago and did it with grace. She is smart, funny, and movin' and groovin' every day. Way to show old age how it's done, Mimi!!!

Mimi and a passed out Gusbuster.

My two cousins Madison and Mabree and their grandfather, my Uncle Scottie, all shared birthdays this month as well. They're a beautiful bunch who have way too much talent for their own good. Seriously, they're talented in everything from singing/songwriting, to dancing and cheerleading. Ladies and Uncle Scottie, I hope your birthdays were utterly delightful!

Three of my dearest friends, Audrey, Lauren, and Katie B. also shared birthday's this month (except Audrey, whose birthday was the 24th of August, but close enough). Audrey's finishing up vet school down in Auburn and has done it with a style and finesse that no one else has yet to achieve, Lauren's getting down and dirty on the farm while attending vet school in Dublin, and Katie, whose birthday is actually today, is going the homo sapien route and attending Med school over in East TN (ETSU). Yes, if you must ask, all of my friends are brilliant. Ladies, you are beautiful, talented, and so intelligent, I am so lucky to have friends like you and I can't imagine not having you in my life. I hope your birthdays rocked!

Tomorrow is my birthday. So, since it's on a tuesday, we treated this weekend as my birthday weekend, and I have to say, it was wonderful and much needed. I got to spend Saturday with my buddies Angela and Dani exploring the COOLEST thrift store in the city of Memphis, the Elvis Presley Blvd. thrift store. Still don't know why I hadn't ever been, so thanks Angela and Dani for taking me! Then, we dominated India Palace's buffet (Joey joined us for this amazing feast). Joey and I went home to relax, and then we went and checked out the Horn Island exhibit at MCA, went to dinner at Bennihana's (delicious!), and then went bowling with our friends Garre, Greg, Katherine, and Paul. Cosmic bowling and beer... great combo. I even scored the highest game (153) but have no memory of doing so if that tells you anything. On Sunday, we relaxed and then hung out with my parents who grilled a delicious birthday kabob dinner complete with birthday cake!

So, I don't deserve the AMAZING gifts that I got for my birthday, however, they were AWESOME, so I'm going to share them with you.

The EELS, one of my favorite bands since High School are playing up in Chicago, so Joey got me tickets to the concert and everyone pitched in and got me train tickets (Joey covered his own ticket so I won't be going solo) to ride up their for the weekend!!! I am so stoked, you don't even know. My mom also got me two tickets to Wicked, so we have a date to go see that in October as well! I've heard it's great, so I can't wait to experience it. I'll definitely put a post up about our Chicago trip after we go up there, as well as a post on Wicked, and for your listening pleasure, The Eels. Thank you to everyone who made my weekend wonderful!!!

Have a great Monday!

Whew, long short week...

2010-09-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend Joey is going to take me out for my birthday :) I can't wait for the weekend to begin! I'm going to start it off with a quick nap with my furry little ladies as soon as I finish this post. I need to make it a new goal to get a picture of these three all together.

An oldie but goodie of lil "D"

Nugs

and, another oldie but goodie, the Noodle Doodle. Yeah, she's goofy.

I've been in a crafty mood lately. I think my body is starving for some creative busy work to relieve myself from my more demanding responsibilities. Anyway, if anyone wants to join me in my frenzy, I've been at it all week and will hopefully keep it that way for eternity, so if anyone wants to have an Art night, just let me know. Seriously, don't hesitate to call.

Would you like to go strolling through the wild internet?

I'm loving this pair of boat shoes.

I want to incorporate these mirror stairs into Joey and I's cob house someday...

It's been a loooong short week. Kind of rough. So, I've been doing a lot of "busy, take-your-mind-off-of-it" artwork when I get home from work. Lots of repetition and coloring. When I saw this swirl picture, my first thought was, "Wow, I bet that was extremely therapeutic".

I've been wanting to take a jab at this project for a while. I mean, look at how great a man's shirt turns into a woman's skirt! I've seen one skirt where the arms of the shirt were used as a tie-around waist. Super-cute!

This video makes me really sad that I didn't see it before I cut my hair, just so I could use my lost single socks to make SOCK BUNS!!! Why I have never heard of sock buns before is beyond me. Also, if you're hair doesn't easily curl, but you want it too, then here's another sock bun method; blow-dryer FREE!!!

I'll be making these awesome necklaces soon enough! Perhaps I could make them available to make at my tie-dye party, whenever that happens.

Do you like moccasins? Then check out this easy DIY project...AND, if you're a baseball fan, then you'll probably get into this pair of shoes as well...

I contemplated for a while whether it would be appropriate or not to post this on Underbite, but I can't help it. I LOVE this poster!!! It cracks me up.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and that it's as refreshing as running naked through a meadow!

The Experiment

2010-09-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I mentioned that Joey and I were going to be posting an experiment here on Wednesdays. Well, today is the first Wednesday and the kick-off to our little project. Joey is being a wonderful sport in offering his time and patience, as well as providing his artistic talents for the effort. So, thank you Joey for participating... I will definitely return the favor!

The Drawing Experiment...

The motive for this project: I can't stand the word CAN'T. When it comes to controversial issues that most people get really heated about, there are only a handful that I can say that I have an extremely strong position about. This is simply for the reason that I find that I can easily see most points of view on different topics. This is not, however, to say that there aren't issues that I do throw down for. This experiment, though not a controversial issue, is definitely one of them. I get super frustrated when someone tells me, usually pretty adamantly, that they absolutely can not draw.
My response and personal belief: I believe that ANYONE who can write their name and draw simple shapes (squares, circles, triangles, etc.) can draw, they just perhaps have not been introduced to the skill in a way that they understand and/or they simply just don't have the desire to pick up a pen or pencil and doodle.
The Participant: My husband, Joey, who claims that if I can teach him how to draw then I'm a miracle-worker. Also, anyone else who wants to join in who is convinced they can't draw a stick figure. Get ready to work some magic.
The goal: To provide a lesson per week in order to supply the skills needed in order to draw a still life and a portrait/self-portrait with a good sense of proportion, detail, and accuracy. I don't expect perfection (nobody's perfect) and I don't expect a miracle to be made. I just expect an understanding that when we put our mind to it and approach a challenge from an angle in which we personally understand, then we can begin to accomplish what we thought we were incapable of doing.

*As a side-note, because I believe that everyone CAN draw, I would like ONLY positive feedback in the comment box as it is a courageous thing for a person to openly display their work for presentation of progress, critique, or for the benefit of a friend's experiment. Thank you!

Lesson #1

The Anatomy of the face

I believe that when it comes to understanding how to draw the human face and body, that it is typically a misunderstanding of the anatomy of the face and it's proportions. Therefore, the lesson was meant to provide the guidelines for the human face in order to better understand how to begin to approach it. This makes a daunting task into a simpler, multi-step approach.

The Original Portrait, before the lesson:

Joey's portrait of me sitting on the couch.

The Portrait after, when using step-by-step guidelines and simpler approaches to those hard to understand facial features (we didn't approach a full-body portrait, just the face, for Lesson 1):

BTW, this is Joey's "After" portrait... great, right?

Hopefully I can get my scanner to work soon so that the images can be seen more clearly.

First, we broke down the shape of the face into a simple shape that starts as a circle, becomes more of an oval, and then into an upside down egg shape:

Then, we drew guidelines that help to break down the face into it's more anatomically correct proportions.

After the guidelines were drawn, I explained the specific placement for each facial feature and broke them down into simple shapes that can later be expanded upon for a more realized portrait. For example: Eyes can begin as football shapes, one arc sitting on top of the eye guideline, one arc directly underneath.

The nose can be broken down into simple curves for the tip and nostrils of your snout. And, to approach it in an even easier way, draw a capital letter "J" and add nostrils.

(My examples of simple noses)

Details always help a more realized portrait look more interesting, so don't forget eyebrows, eyelids, eyelashes, earrings, the little "V" in the lip, etc.

So, what do you think of the before and the after? I personally like the before better for it's character and uniqueness, but for someone who wants to be more technical, then, is this helpful? What do you think about the experiment? I love working with Joey with things like this. He wants to give me some writing lessons, so, since he's being a good sport about this, I'll be a good sport and post those lessons too if/when we do them.

Hope your week is going well! Cool stuff to browse through on Friday!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

2010-09-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, everyone, we made it to the long Labor Day weekend! Sorry this is coming on Sunday instead of the start of the weekend, but oh well, even when you think you're going to have more time with an extra day in the weekend, that really means less time. It's a beautiful weekend, with the perfect taste of fall inching closer in the air. I'm hoping to relax and enjoy myself for a short bit while having a short list of "to do's" checked off by next week:

~~Finish my sketchbook; turn it in~~
Clean up my introduction to my thesis and work on other sections of my thesis
Get my lesson plans ready for the week
Clean up the house a bit
~~Work on some Christmas presents (yes, Christmas presents... something I don't want to be worrying about when crunch-time for my thesis paper rolls around)~~

It's been awesome working on my sketchbook and feeling that intoxicating flow that comes with producing art. All I have to say is, "Damn, it's been absolutely WAY too long since I've had that feeling and shame on me for neglecting it." All too often I get dragged under the procrastination train simply because I feel and I am aware that I'm busy with work and all of its obligations, graduate school, married life, and then my social life. Well it is a busy life, but it's no excuse to not make time for what I really enjoy doing and what I would really enjoy doing for the rest of my life. So, that's that, I'm now pointing myself to the "think about it" chair in order to get my routine and my priorities arranged in such way to be more productive.

Yesterday was a ton of fun. My family and I all met up down in Oxford, MS for their first football game of the year. It's been a loooong time since I've been to a football game, so I'd forgotten the sense of community, pride, and spirit that comes with being at a big university like Ole' Miss. It was fun to people watch and to participate in tailgating. I have to admit, it was a bit overwhelming at times, but it was great to have the day with my family. By the end of the day I was beat and fell into bed like a brick. I don't know how the town gets up and spends the day in the grove, watches an entire football game, goes back to the grove, and then goes out on the square for dinner and then later to party on game day's that they win! Whew, apparently I just can't hang with the the rebel fans.

Unfortunately. like an idiot, I broke rule #1 of being a photographer. Rule #: Always have film and/or a memory card to actually shoot photo's with. So, I don't have any documentation of the day except for what Blake took which I'm hoping to borrow from him. So, I'll hopefully have some pictures up later.

Meanwhile, I was going to give you a sneak peek of my sketchbook and then show you some cool findings from around the web. Enjoy!

If you want to see more, then you can go to the exhibit for Project Sketchbook, ~~or you can wait when I get it back and flip through it then.~~ Scratch that, just come to the Project Sketchbook exhibit if you can, and if not, I'll just make a post about it. :)

For your browsing pleasure, check out this CRAZY AMAZING trip to a tea house in China!!!

A cool way to shelve your books while bringing nature indoors. Not that I think he cared much about interior design, but I'm sure Henry David Thoreau would have liked having this in his house.

Love these tights.

And, speaking of fashion, I love this store and this store's new fall line, although, I can't really afford either. That's why we love thrift stores and a little ingenuity on the sewing machine!!!

These tattoos are lots of fun, especially the painterly one's.

Lovely to look at.

Enjoy your labor day, talk to you soon!

Propping my feet up

2010-09-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

My dogs are barking this fine Wednesday, so I'm propping my feet up and working from the couch. It's been a long day, but I'm determined not to lazy out completely. So, I'm going to make this post short and sweet. I need to work on my sketchbook for this years "Project Sketchbook". It's due by this Sunday and I would like to have it turned in by Friday so I can enjoy the weekend. Here's hoping I get it done and that it turns out great. I'll definitely post pictures of the sketchbook once I'm done. It's been a while since I last dedicated time to personal artwork, so it's been quite enjoyable.

I've been wanting to ride a bike to school (MCA, not MCS) whenever I go, but I still need to work on acquiring one. And since we're talking about bikes, I like this "rush hour" video:

p.s. - Joey and I are going to start a fun little "experiment" on my Wednesday posts. More about that later, though.

Hope your Wednesday was as tiring as mine because DAMN sitting down feels sooooooo good right now.

Do Fun Stuff!!!

2010-08-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

One of the sites that I frequently visit, pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com, is a guy named Ryan Marshall who blogs about his family as well as his efforts to successfully do what he loves... photography and being a good father. It seems as though he's been extremely successful in his efforts so far as he continuously churns out beautiful photographs and has recently used his creativity and his connections to organize a charity music album for kids to help raise awareness for SMS (Smith-Magenis Sydrome), a developmental disorder that his step-son has been faced with. The album is called, "Do Fun Stuff" and features songs that sing about going potty, birthday songs, and missing teeth. Totally kid friendly and really fun. Check it out. It's for a good cause and it's something I'm sure any kid you know would love. If you want you can buy the album off of itunes (be sure to rate it and/or leave a review) or you can leave a donation. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this album goes to a grant fund Ryan established with PRISMS. From there, "the money will be made available to grad students who wish to make SMS their field of choice, the benefit of this is more hard research being done, which leads to more case studies, which leads to more answers for parents and researchers".

Hope your week is great! Enjoy the fun music :)

p.s. - feel free to "share" this widget.

Hey, hey, hey, it's Friday!!!

2010-08-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

First off for this fabulous Friday, Happy Birthday to my friend Kelly, who turned 29 today!

Photo taken from the website "The Year of Mud: Cob and Natural Building"

Joey and I have been talking about the possibility of someday building our own house. This idea is exciting not only because of the romantic notion of physically building a home together, but also saving money while building a house... if we were to do it right, that is. I've always been a huge fan of cob houses and other alternative ways to building a home naturally. For the longest time I would design blueprints of my ideal home to build based off of my grandfathers barn. I wouldn't change much to the design or the feel of the barn except for getting rid of the snakes and spiders and adding a living interior instead of wild kittens and hay with ticks crawling in it. The cob house above looks wonderfully comfortable and seems to say "Welcome Home". This kind of architecture is the kind that is made out of love. Finding and collecting salvaged wood, doors and windows, and other used household items to help to create the structure re-uses and breathes new life to forgotten pieces while giving the house an eclectic and cozy feel. Using materials provided by the earth (straw, mud, sand, and clay) to create quite possibly the best insulation a house can offer is a partnership with the land and the builder as the home is created. Like I said... love! This little daydream, along with a chicken coop and some goats, sounds perfectly delightful. What's your dream home?

If you want to know more about cob and other natural building techniques, here are some links:

And, for Friday fun, here are some more fun links from my weekly stroll through the internet...

A 3 year old recites a poem better than I ever could...

I want to have a tie-dye party with my girlfriends so we can drink, be merry, and create something like this. Ladies, what do you think... I have a back deck so we can be outside and we won't get messy.

I would love to have this necklace with Joey's fingerprint.

This family is SUPER cute!!!

And, finally, do you remember #13 on my list? Well, this awesome chick is doing EXACTLY what I would like to be able to do. Very, very cool. Time for some sewing lessons.

So, I hope your weekend rocks and if you find any windows or doors on the side of the road, save them for Joey and I's future cob house!

St. Louis Trip

2010-08-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Lindsey's birthday weekend. She turned 29 in the most graceful manner; juggling life as a beautiful and wonderful wife, brilliant new mother, and a successful and (I'm sure) inspiring teacher (she's also an amazing sister to have too, btw). She even manages to exercise. What the hell, right? I don't have nearly as many responsibilities as she does and completely lazy out when it comes to exercise. I drink wine every night instead. Never mind my own issues, though; she looks great and handles her business like a pro. So, kudos, Lindsey, you're awesome and I hope your birthday weekend was great. I mean, how could it not be with Pop, Skeeter, and Aunt Wheezer in town :)

Birthday girl and Aunt Wheezer. No, we don't look anything alike :)
Blake made Lindsey an AMAZING chocolate birthday cake with melted almond joys on top. DELICIOUS... and brilliant!!!

Our biggest adventure of the weekend, besides just hanging out and enjoying being with the family (minus Bowe, though you were in our hearts, Buddy) was going to Grant's Farm. I have never had the pleasure of experiencing this St. Louis attraction and enjoyed this different kind of zoo quite immensely! I have a little bit of a brain crazy when I get the opportunity to experience things as a kid again, so this was a total blast.

First, we checked out the Clydesdales. I have always loved horses and riding them and it's always been the draft horses who are my favorite breeds to look at. They're magnificent. So, the chance to meet some clydesdales, much less the superstars of the Budweiser commercials was exciting indeed.

Then, we headed over to the main area of the "farm" where we hopped on a tram that road us through some pastures with spotted donkeys, large elk, deer, zebra, a variety of cows, buffalo, yaks, and many more interesting species.

Ulysses S. Grant's cabin that he built for he and his new wife, Julia Dent.

Their mode of transportation and their outhouse just behind the covered wagons.

That spotted donkey that I told you about.

Then, as we finished our tram tour, we rode into the main area of the farm where the real fun and excitement began!

First stop: Feeding the goats. Daddy and I hopped in and began bottle-feeding all of the fat and hungry goats. I was in heaven and since then haven't shut up to Joey about someday having our own goat farm. I'm kinda really serious. I would be in heaven if I owned my own goat farm.

Even Gus and Blake joined in on this goat feeding frenzy.

A little bit of goat love.

Gus and I had a blast riding the carousel!!!

We all got to meet this awesome dude.

And after our two "hospitality" drinks, Gus enjoyed chewing/drooling over the empty plastic cups. Isn't he the cutest little man you ever saw?

Pop, Lindsey, Stroller, and Best new-dad-ever holding the Gusbuster.

And then we all invaded Gus's private bath time. He was a pretty good sport about it, though.

It was a beautiful weekend and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate Lindsey's birthday with her, Blake, and Gus. Thank you guys for letting us stay up there with you and enjoy you for a bit and I can't wait to see you again!!!

p.s. - Gus gives Lindsey kisses where he grabs her hair, smiles huge, and then slobbers all over her face. It's quite possibly the cutest damn thing I've ever witnessed.

The Grizzlies and the 60's ad men we love so much...

2010-08-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorite dudes, both on the court and in the TV show.

Joey showed me this post and I though it was great and figured I should share it with you. The post compares each player on the team to their Mad Men "doppelganger". Yes, it's a hoot. If you are a fan of both the Grizzlies and Mad Men, then you'll love this. If you're a fan of Mad Men, but haven't quite gotten into the Grizzlies, then this just may be the hook you've been looking for to sink your teeth into Memphis's NBA action... believe me, it's fun to love the Grizzlies! And, finally, if you're a Grizzlies fan, but don't watch Mad Men, then the same could be said for leading you into the greatness that is Mad Men. So, thank you, Joey, and enjoy!

Hope you all had a great weekend! I'll have a post up on Wednesday about my adventures with my family in St. Louis.

MMMMmmmm...

2010-08-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

Yes...

Yes, yes...

and... yes, please...

(Photos taken from joelens.blogspot.com, links found from foodgawker.com)

My list...

2010-08-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

I should put going back to Europe as #31 on the list.

Back in July, I referenced a list I was working on. I am most definitely NOT the first person to write a "30 before 30" list (just google it and you'll be able to read all sorts of fun stuff that people have determined to do before 30), but I love the idea of giving yourself time to consider goals that you want to reach, deadlines, whether they be completely ridiculous or legitimately productive and on task with your life's path... or off of it for that matter. I love making lists. It's quite a lot of fun to do and it helps my scrambled brain to visually grasp order in my own life. My sister is the QUEEN of lists! If my list making skills were ever as good as Lindsey's, I believe I might quit my job and get paid to be a professional organizer/counselor. I'm telling you, the woman is GIFTED!

Anyway, here is my list. I'm posting it on the blog as a way to avoid forgetting about it and/or ignoring it. I will complete it! I WILL!!!

30 before 30

~~Get a tattoo~~
Learn to play an instrument (know how to play at least 3 songs well)
Go to New York City, Boston, and Washington D.C.
~~Go to the City Museum in St. Louis~~
Illustrate a children's book
Attain my MAT
Begin working on/finish my +45
Memorize 3 poems
Pay off my student loans
Get down to my most comfortable weight
Train the dogs to sit, stay, lay down, and not pull on the leash
Get a bike... ride it to any destination that's within 2 miles or so
Learn how to sew to the point where I can create my own unique clothes
Go camping with Joey on Isle Royale
Understand and speak spanish well enough to carry on a simple conversation
Learn to surf
Have a day of Sun Studio's and the Civil Right's Museum
Design a custom-made header for Underbite
~~Visit Bowe down in Oxford before he friggin' graduates!!!~~
~~Attempt the master cleanse (over the summer, though, so I don't smell at work)~~
~~Take a trip with Joey up to Chicago by train~~
I want to be able to do 100 push-ups in one sitting
Create a simple, yet highly functional wardrobe where the majority of the clothing items are utilized consistently
Write and create a short film with Joey
Meet an elephant (if I can ride it that'd be even cooler!)
Begin volunteering regularly
I want to go to more musical concerts, but more than anything, I want to attend one that will top the list of my favorite concerts that I have been to.
Finish reading the Count of Monte Christo from start to finish
Go vegetarian for a year
Raise chickens

So, that's that. What are some things you want to do within 5 years or so?

I hope your Monday was a good one and that the rest of the work-week goes splendidly!

Mad about Fridays (eh...eh?)

2010-08-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, everyone! The first actual week of school was a successful one and I hope that everyone in the educating business had a good first week as well... and even if you aren't in education and it wasn't your first week back with the kids, I still hope your week was fabulous.

So, Joey and I finally submitted our pictures for the Mad Men casting call. We didn't read far enough into the fine print, though, that it was specifically one person per entry, which makes sense, but it was fun when we thought we could possibly just send in a shot of the two of us. Anyway, we improvised with some other shots that we took for the hell of it and pulled individual shots out of those. These are the ones we chose:

So, what do you think of the individuals? We don't think they're as fun as the other two, but I do like them a lot.

Go on and vote for us (you can vote once a day btw) at:
(For me)
http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/browse/detail/IDNALV
(For Joey)
http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/browse/detail/CL7L4Q

As for Friday fun, check out the cool things I dug up on the internet over the week:

This is hands down the COOLEST sleeping bag I've ever seen!

I dig these "chair back hangers" at resign.it

This is a fun/funny look at people and families as they age.

Awesome hair.

Be resourceful with your old clothes!

and... something delicious to make your mouth water...

Have a great weekend!

Check it...

2010-08-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

It was indeed time for a change for ye ole' Underbite blog... so, I gave it a hair-cut of sorts... a wardrobe change... a new pair of hot undies, if you know what I mean. So, what do you think? Thumbs up or thumbs down? I've been contemplating this look for a while now, but haven't been completely able to make up my mind, until I finally got tired of the plain white background and text. I'm also wanting to customize the title bar, however, my scanner is out of order for the time being :( and I've got to figure out how to fix it.

Outside of the blog world and back into reality; I've started back into the school year and I've got to say, there's almost nothing better than having the kids excited to see you again. It makes teaching totally worth it. I'm a lucky woman.

I'm pretty excited about my classroom this year and will hopefully have some pictures of it up soon... so hang tight if you're curious and you'll probably get some awesome pictures of my kiddies as well. One of them thinks my hair is a wig (I had them tug on it in order to determine its authenticity) and another noticed my tattoo and doesn't believe that it's actually real and wants to know where I got it. Yes, people, they actually inquired as to which tattoo parlor it is that I went to in order to see if it's legit or not. I told them we'll see if it washes off by the end of the year. Also, I think I'm going to start posting some of my lesson plans, teacher examples, and/or student examples for my teacher buddies or anyone else who might be interested.

For now, let's live for today. My plan for tomorrow... we're having a funeral... for "I can't's". Meet me in the back of the school yard and bring an extra shovel, I've got a grave to dig!

Goodbye for now and love to all!

Best Friends

2010-08-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

Life unfolds in the most predictable and unpredictable of ways; always presenting to us the inevitable obstacles that challenge us and take us forward, sometimes throw us back, and sometimes just hold us to a stop until we're able to "pick up the reins" again. Throughout our individual journeys through life we're faced with overwhelming experiences that, for just one person, can sometimes be close to impossible to face alone. Our greatest gift and support throughout life are our friends and family... and the two are often interchangeable.

I consider myself to be extremely lucky in that I count many people as great friends. However, there is only one person who is able to tolerate, even enjoy, my presence with unwavering energy and intrigue for hours and hours on end with every waking hour of every waking day. I can honestly say that I can't get enough of him and, even though I enjoy my "me time" every once in a while, I always can't wait to be back into "our time". So, for my best buddy, Joey, who makes me laugh the hardest, puts up with me, and has to spend more time with me than anyone should ever have to, I write this birthday poem:

Joseph Edward

You love me.
You love me when I'm mad.
And of course you love me when I'm sad.
You're there for me when I cry,
and when it's over something silly, you don't pry.

You're ok with me when I sometimes fart smellies,
but you fart too.
And because you love me SOOOOOOOO much...
and I mean all of me, even when I'm saying something that makes absolutely no sense or when I'm driving you crazy by making up the completely wrong lyrics to a song that everyone knows by heart, or waiting for like, FOREVER to clean the litter box... or when I'm just in a mooooood, or when I'm feeling fat and sassy, you know how it is, or when I hoard things like one of those people on TV, or when I forget to take a shower for a day or two, or when I say something mean that I didn't really intend too...
Joey, my best buddy, because you love all of me and so much more,
I can't even begin to express how much I love you!

Happy Birthday, Joey!!!

P.S. - For part of the birthday weekend we stayed up until 2:30 AM partaking in Mad Men libations and photographing ourselves as such. We're going to send the pictures in to the casting call for a walk on role for fun. What do you think? Do we look like we belong on the show? And which picture do you like better? We're not expecting anything from it, but it was a hell of a lot of fun staying up so late and playing the part of 60's Ad executives!

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Friday!!!

2010-08-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

I snapped this shot of the most beautiful rose I've ever seen in Florence, Italy. Oh how I hope to run across its lovely bush again someday!

Pssst... it's Joey's birthday weekend!!! I'm going to do my best to make sure that it's a fun and enjoyable one while remaining in our family budget. Wish me luck and if you see him, wish him a beautiful 27th!!!

Ooops... I made your mouth water and then didn't follow up on how to create those delicious fried avocado slices.

And... speaking of mouth-watering deliciousness... check THESE out!

I like being resourceful, don't you?

Who wants to buy me this?

The Gorillaz are about to be on tour in North America during the month of October. Anyone want to go up to Chicago?

I want to see if I can make this dress.

It's always nice to find people, though they're sometimes few and far between, who love Memphis for what it is, what it should be, and what it can be... all with just a little love. At ilovememphisblog.com, Kerry, the blog's creator, fearlessly expresses her passion for this wonderful city and all that it has to offer. Whether your a Memphian or not, check it out! You may end up wanting to plan a trip here or simply want to get out of the house and explore the city that you live in. This month the blog is celebrating it's first birthday! Happy Birthday, I ♥ Memphis!!!

And last but not least... a few plans for the weekend (Joey, don't peek):

this
hopefully, this
a litte bit of this
and, perhaps, if we play our cards right, a little bit of this

What are you doing over the weekend? I hope it's a good one!

Goodbye for now and love to all!

MMMmmmm!!!

2010-08-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

(photo taken from thekitchn.com)

MMMmmmm... fried Avocado Slices!!! Can I hear a "Hell YESSS!!!" Have you ever witnessed anything that was so delightfully surprising and made your mouth water more? No, I didn't think so. Imagine them dipped in a chipotle sauce!

Also, the song "Make her Say" by Kid Cudi, Kanye West, Common, and Lady Gaga has been the next lucky song to be stuck in my wee little cat head. Enjoy if you will...