Oil face cleanse? trust me.

As I was checking out blogs on my phone in the back seat of my car one day while bored with the Kentucky scenery I came across the oil face cleanse! I saw it on Carynn Mae's blog in her Food on Your Face Friday post. And I was like um ew, oil cleanse, yeah right not on my skin that you could mine for oil on. (ok that was kinda gross, sorry...but for serious it's bad.) But I was curious so researched it some and it started to make total sense! And my skin has been so bad since last August that I'll try anything lately, especially when it's natural! Now being a child blessed with the bad skin gene (as was my big brother, but strangely enough neither of our parents had bad skin growing up, rude) I'm no stranger to acne, I dealt with it all through high school but finally had it under control part way through college and was totally fine and nice clear skined until last summer. Then it came back with a vengeance. Who knows, I given up trying to understand the ways of the body a long time ago, especially mine which doesn't seem to like to work like normal persons. Getting away from the point!

Oil cleanse! So what you do is mix together castor oil (this is the base of any oil face cleanse because it's the oil that draws out the toxins and dirt) and whatever other oil you like, olive, jojoba, grapeseed, sunflower etc... And if you have super oil producing skin like mine you want more castor oil than the other, but no more than 75%, it can actually be a drying oil. But you can do anywhere from 25% to 75% castor oil, you want some in the mix because it's the one that does the cleansing.

So mix that up, put it in a little bottle or whatever you want for easy daily use and put a nice blob in your hand and massage it on your face for a good minute! Guess what you guys, since oil dissolves oil it'll get rid of any blackheads you have! AMAZING! Ok after you've massaged get a wash cloth good and steamy-almost-can't-stand-it-hot and wring it out and cover your face with it until it's cool. This will open your pores and let the castor oil do it's thing!

I do this cleanse morning (mornings I put it on in the shower and let the steam do its thing until I'm done then wipe it off with a wash cloth) and night, and you guys my skin isn't nearly as oily as it was a month ago!!! I don't have to constantly blot during the day! Who knew oil could help with oil! ha! also my skin is starting to get clearer (also thanks to finally getting my face meds again...I'm hoping it'll be back to being pretty skin again soon!) and my mom said my face seems less puffy, I guess castor oil also helps with swelling! It's been so amazing, I love it! I don't think I'll ever use harsh soaps again that strip my face of all it's natural oil so then it produces even more to compensate!

Also I started using a natural toner, I mixed apple cider vinegar with witch hazel and a few drops of lavender essential oil. I love that too! It's not so harsh as store bought toners and makes my face feel light and happy and fresh. And I don't even use a moisturizer anymore! The oil is just enough! Talk about money saving huh?!

Go research it before you try, but I had to share because I am just in love with my new face routine!

4 more days!

I only have 4 days of this quarter left! I couldn't be more excited to be leaving it behind, it's been stressful and exhausting, and when it's over it means I get to road trip it back to the West coast (the best coast). This will be my 4th or 5th time driving cross country...I can't remember, I think 4th. Ashlee and Heather are flying in today to help me pack and clean hang out until my classes are done and we leave Friday! I haven't seen them since before Christmas so I'm pretty excited! I'll only be home for a few weeks then I have to come back here for a couple weeks for the beginning of Summer quarter and my final thesis project. But I'm doing most that at home since it focuses on my town there! Hooray! More time in Washington and less time in Georgia (so glad to I don't have to spend most of the summer in the sweaty humid heat of the South)! Well better get back to studying for my art history final.

Happy Summertime!

weheartit.com

weheartit.com

Hooray!

After weeks and weeks of anxiety I finally had my M.A review for candidacy tonight, and I passed! I didn't think I wasn't going to pass exactly, it was just the unknown and there's so much riding on that one presentation! I'm so glad its over!!! Luckily our two profs on the "panel" (we only have two in our program) weren't too harsh on me, just some suggestions for my final project next quarter which I'll gladly take and try to integrate into it!

It's just a huge relief to have this presentation and process over with! And now I can focus on classes for the next three weeks and not have this looming over me! Except now I'm having minor anxiety about my final project, but that will all sort itself out as it goes. Now I'm just looking forward to when Ashlee and Heather get here in two weeks (almost) and then a few days after that we leave on our road trip home!!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend! Mine will be full of contextual research (gross) and writing a research paper on the homes of Jane Austen (fun).

Celiac awareness month.

This month is Celiac awareness month. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease 9 years ago. I actually have Celiac sprue in which gluten not only attacks my gut but also my skin. Hooray! Celiac is an autoimmune disease and is genetic.

It is NOT an allergy to gluten, a Celiac's body literally cannot process gluten, it attacks us! And the only cure is to go on a gluten free diet. Its not as bad as you think, I always laugh when people exclaim to me "WHAT DO YOU EAT???" I say well the same things you do! But it was hard in the beginning, I won't lie.

It was a tough road. I was still a teenager when I was diagnosed so once I moved away to college and I didn't have mom to feed me and I cheated on my diet a lot. It took it's toll on me. After college I became very sick and the doctors couldn't figure it out. I eventually got better after being diligent on my diet and taking tons of supplements and vitamins. But two years later I again got really sick but luckily this time the doctors finally figured it out, I developed another autoimmune disease, eosinophilic esophagitis. Being that Celiac is an autoimmune disease my immune system is always going to be compromised so during times of high stress on my body it's very easy for me fall sick or even to develop new autoimmune disorders as in this case. Fun. My tummy doctor, as I like to call him, was amazing, and I was one of the lucky 50% who went into remission from eosinophilic esophagitis after being on medication for 6 months.

I haven't intentionally eaten gluten since 2007 and I really don't miss it anymore. I did miss it the first five years (because I was cheating so still couldn't get the loveliness of wheat flour out of my head) but since going completely gluten free and never ever cheating (seriously I haven't even once! my tummy doctor was impressed with how clean my gut was last year! I was pretty proud of myself) I don't miss it at all! I can't even remember what a cookie made with wheat flour tastes like, or what "normal" bread tastes like! There are such amazing gluten free products now, and I've learned how to bake gluten free that I don't need that poison!

If you think you might have a gluten sensitivity or intolerance please don't wait to get tested! I promise it's not that scary! There's a huge community of us out there with recipes and tips and insights to share! 1 in every 133 Americans have Celiac disease, don't be one of those who get misdiagnosed or don't get tested, it can be deadly if you don't (it can result in cancer if not treated) and who wants to go through life with a constant sick stomach and diarrhea and low energy and headaches and who knows what else! not me!

There's much much more to my story than I wrote about, but I hate talking about my health and I don't want to bore you with the details. I just want to encourage those who think they might have Celiac to get tested and those who don't have it please be sensitive. Believe me, we are not trying to just be difficult people by not being able to eat certain things, and we hate having to be the ones to veto a restaurant or meal choice. I can't stand it when I have to speak up about my diet, I literally hate it, but there are times when i need to so I can eat. We aren't trying to be party poopers, and if you are a true friend (like mine are, luckily) you'll care more for your friends health and just being in their company than where or what you eat.

Happy May and happy Celiac awareness!

Faith-not emotion

I liked yesterdays My Utmost for His Highest. It was a good reminder. Basically it's saying we must walk by faith with God and we can't just sit around and wait for him to make things change. He won't do anything if you aren't doing anything. But if you have faith and start taking steps and moving he will light the path and move your feet in the right direction.

It was a good to read this when I'm starting to think about jobs as I will graduating on September 1st from my Master's. I have no idea what I want to do with this degree and sometimes it paralyzes me with fear because what if I hate a job I end up getting or I can't find a career job right away (we all know its not a great job market out there) and have to just toil away in a retail job or something? But I know that if I go by faith God will steer me toward the perfect job for that time.


My Utmost For His Highest
Oswald Chambers
utmost.org

For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time. A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are to do it with an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because we have been born from above.

If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.” How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears to me”? He will never do it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!” Never live for those exceptional moments— they are surprises. God will give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life— our work is our standard.

Its no secret...

That I love anything British (as in I seriously should have been born in England...and probably in the 1700's), so it's not surprising I'm super excited about Prince William and Kate's wedding tomorrow! Yes I'm waking up at 4 to watch it. And no I'm not ashamed at all. I think the whole royal lineage of England is so interesting! I'm a total dork and have read this,

My mom loves history too and we have had many conversations about who reigned when and how they came to be king or queen.

And one of my all time favorite movies is this,

Its so romantic, she and Prince Albert were so in love with each other, and I think she was a great queen even though she was a bit stuffy in old age.

And even though it was rather racy I LOVED this show

I'm in love with Henry Cavill who played Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

Oh and this movie was wonderful,

I think King George was one of the greatest kings of Britian, he knew his duty and wasn't going to give up no matter what it took and no matter how much he was told he couldn't do it. 

So yeah, I'm pretty excited for the first Royal Wedding of my lifetime. Its quite a fairy tale and is lovely to dream about (even though it makes me laugh when they say Kate is a commoner when her family has a multi million dollar business, I'm sorry but in the US that's not a commoner, but I know in Britain technically it is).

And here's a wedding picture of Queen Elizabeth for good measure. 

(I've always thought Prince Philip is very handsome, even now.) 

So happy wedding day tomorrow! 

   

"Loneliness does not come from being alone, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important."
Carl Jung

via

Homesick for LA.

I turned on The Hills today while I am doing homework and I suddenly found myself so homesick for that city. Its just been a year and half since I moved away, it feels like yesterday and yet it feels like a lifetime ago I lived there! Sometimes it seems like it was a dream too. But it was the best time of my life! LA was where I grew up and learned who I was and what I can take and how strong I am. I remember that time for all the good things that happened, not the bad (a boy who broke my heart, a job I absolutely hated etc...); all I remember is that one 4th of July we spent at Crystal Cove and all came home burnt to a crisp. Our first Hollywood night and how my middle toe was numb for a month because of the shoes I was wearing, the night we stayed in a hotel after a concert so we wouldn't be late to work the next day, weekends spent screaming and laughing at Disneyland, days spent on the beach, seeing the Hollywood sign from Griffith Observatory, driving to San Diego on a whim for a concert, Ashlee and I driving home together from work on days she was in the city, seeing Wicked with all the girls, going to The Oscars (well watching the stars arrive from far away anyway), Halloween on Santa Monica blvd, walking around the town we lived in every night... Life has been pretty tame since we moved away, living with the parents and being poor while in grad school kinda cramps your style. I know I'll have other times in my life that will be awesome, like getting a job after this degree, whenever I get married and have kids, but I'll always remember my life in LA and I'll always have a soft spot for that city (don't ever dis SoCal around me!).

sorry for the random post, I'm just procrastinating from reading about a history of gardens and villas and I was dreaming of running away from this quarter to California. Happy weekend, hope you are doing something fun! I think I'm going to go to a roller derby competition with the girls tonight! I've never been to one before! So it shall be a new experience!

M.A or M.F.A

So I came to SCAD because the Design for Sustainability program was only a one year master's (M.A). I didn't even know they were waiting to get the two year master's (M.F.A) approved. Then Fall quarter I learned that and I heard that if you ever want to teach ever you HAVE TO HAVE AN M.F.A. And I was like well I don't know what I want to do when I'm done with this degree, maybe I want to teach I should probably do the M.F.A if it's approved! But it wasn't approved all Fall quarter and wasn't last quarter so then I was like nope I don't want to do it even if it is approved before I'm done. I'm so ready to be done with school and just get to working (and lets me honest make some actual money so I can pay down credit cards and not be living off of borrowed money). And then over Spring break lo and behold the M.F.A was approved. When I got the email I had a moment when I though should I do it? I should probably do it. But that moment soon passed. I've talked to people who have gone through grad school and they said in the real world there's not much difference between a M.A and a M.F.A. The only world it would probably matter is at a design school who requires a M.F.A to teach, and I don't think I want to teach, at least not at the collegiate level. But honestly I have no idea what I want to do with this degree. When people ask I just say oh I probably will get into consulting, and I have no idea what that even means, it just shuts people up with the "what do you want to do with your life" question.

I also can't stay in the South for another year, I would die. I'm a West coast and Northwest girl through and through! I still have two quarters here left and I'm going to try and get it approved that my last quarter can be at home in Washington; my final project (which is the only class I'll have during summer) is going to focus on my small town where my parents live so hello it only makes sense that I'm there! So hopefully that will approved in the  next couple of weeks so I can start planning my road trip home with Ashlee and Heather for June and not September! I am so so so so so so ready to be back in the West!!!

Anyway I have no idea what this post was about, just thoughts for the day. Sorry I'm such a bad post-er as of late, I just didn't have time to do anything fun last quarter and this quarter will be the same. Someday I'll be a good blogger, just not now, not until I'm done with this degree. Well anyway, off to read and get ahead for one class that looks like it'll be reading heavy this quarter (which is fine by me after all our crazy projects last quarter, I will gladly read and not do projects!!!).

So happy Monday, happy almost April, happy Spring quarter.

Earth Hour 2011

Tonight at 8:30 is Earth Hour. So turn off all your lights and celebrate our beautiful Earth!!! If we all do it we can change the world.

New bike!

I've never been so excited to get a bike before!!! When I was little I always had a bike, we were a lets go for a bike ride kind of family so I kinda just took it for granted. I mean I did love my purple banana seat one, with streamers on the handle bars. And sure it was fun going to get a new one when I grew out of my old bike. But I was never like jumping for joy over it. But now I'M SO EXCITED!!! I hate having to drive to classes that are across town and our buildings never had good parking so it takes forever and you run the risk of parking tickets. Anyway I was talking to my parents one day about saving money to get a bike here but my dad being the type of dad said that he is going to pay for a bike! He got a bonus for some reason so has a little extra! I'm going tomorrow to Walmart (gross, but they have the best prices and I can't be picky when someone else it paying and I'm poor) to get a bike! hooray!!! I'm gonna get a cruiser because I'm not a serious biker, I don't care about all the bells and whistles, i just need it to get me to class and look cute and have basket to put my bags in (and yes a cute bike is very important). But I feel like a little kid going to get a new bike! I can't wait to ride to the park and around town and whatever else you do on bikes. I'll show you a picture of it when I get it!!!

Oh also this quarter ended today! I. am. ecstatic. Seriously, this quarter was so much work, not hard work or bad work ever, but just a lot. It was never ending and I hardly even had weekends to relax, it was the busiest quarter I've ever had in all my school career. So I am so glad to moving onto a new quarter.

So with that happy Spring break to you! I will soon be lazing on a beach, reading just for fun books and listening to music and sleeping in. amen.

Fruit flush

I decided that starting Wednesday and going until Saturday I am going to go on a fruit flush diet! This quarter has gotten me so stressed and I've been eating like crazy and I've NEVER been a stress eater before, it's the weirdest thing!!! Also with my crazy class schedule I just didn't have as much time as i did last quarter to work out! I can tell I've gained weight, I hate it. All my clothes still fit so I know I haven't gained that much, but I can just tell I'm not in shape anymore and I have been feeling gross. Soooo I was thinking yesterday of what I can start doing besides just working out more (thank goodness for a better schedule next quarter that will allow daily power walks and dads who buy you bikes so you don't have to drive to class) I decided to look into some sort of cleanse diet. I've heard of the master cleanse/lemonade diet and I know that's not for me, i don't do well on liquid diets without any protein, my body needs true food and protein to function. Then I remembered reading about 3 day fruit diets to help kick start getting healthy again so I looked it up and here's what I found!

Day 1 (Pre-flush) 

Every two hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Drink a 6-ounce protein drink (void of any sweeteners, artificial colors, or other ingredients listed below), followed by 8-12 ounces of water

Dinner: 3-6 cups of raw vegetable salad, with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive or flaxseed oil or 1/2 avocado, plus half a lemon or lime

3-6 ounces lean protein or egg whites

Days 2 and 3

Every two hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Eat one serving (approximately 100 calories' worth) of fresh fruit and drink 8-12 ounces water

Dinner: 3-6 cups of raw vegetable salad with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive or flaxseed oil or 1/2 avocado, plus half a lemon or lime

1 protein drink

Protein powders should NOT include:

• Casein
• Calcium caseinate
• Sodium caseinate
• Fructose
• Aspartame
• Acesulfame-K
• Acesulfame potassium
• Sucralose
• Sugar
• Sucrose
• Evaporated cane juice
• Artificial flavors and/or colors

This diet is by Jay Robb. I think it sounds healthy and not extreme at all which is unusual for a cleanse type diet! Wednesday morning I'll have to go stock up on all my fruit and veggies! And I have a protein powder that is from brown rice so it's totally vegan and safe for me! so anyway I'll keep you updated on this when I start. I think it'll be a great way to start a new quarter, get all energized and cleansed and ready to get going again!

Three more days.

I have three more days of this quarter left. God help me. I'm not sure if I can make it. I can't wait until Spring Break!!! The 'rents and my Aunt from Boston are coming here and we're going to Hilton Head for a  week! wooooo!!!! Beach and sun and reading fun books and listening to music and doing nothing and SLEEPING! I can't wait to not be tired! I can't remember the last time I wasn't exhausted, probably sometime back in January. This quarter has been hellish to say the least and I can't wait to wave goodbye Tuesday night when we're done presenting our container building design. But I met a new friend this quarter and we had a good time working on another project together all quarter, so it hasn't been all bad I guess; it was just non-stop. Well anyway I'll stop whining and just be glad it's all over on Tuesday!

Hope your weekend has been great so far!

Regional dialect

I've seen a few blogs do this regional dialect thing and being that I am a Northwest, West Coast girl currently living in the South (don't even get me started) I thought it was interesting to do. I'm not gonna video myself saying the words because I can't stand my voice on video so I'll just write out how we (in the Northwest) say them and write the answers to the questions.

Say these words:

Aunt (I say it like my East coast family, "Ont" most west coast peeps say "ant")

Route (root)

Wash (uh wash...how do you say it??)

Oil (oyl), Theater (thee-a-tur)

Iron (eyern)

Salmon (samon, don't pronounce the L people, its a Northwest fish so we know best)

Caramel (car-mul)

Fire (fi-yer)

Water (wah-dter, we're not good at prounouncing our T's on the west coast)

Sure (shurr)

Data (day-dta)

Ruin (rue-in)

Crayon (cran...with a little bit of a y sound in there but not much)

Toilet (toy-let)

New Orleans (new orlens)

Pecan (peh-cahn, haha muffins anyone?)

Both (bohth)

Again (agin)

Probably (exactly how its spelt)

Spitting image (again, exactly how its spelt)

Alabama (is there another way to say Alabama?)

Lawyer (loy-er)

Coupon (q-pon, I hate when people say coo-pon, drives me crazy!)

Mayonnaise (mannaise)

Syrup (surup)

Pajamas (well jammies mostly or pj's, but puh-jamas)

Caught (cot)

Now answer these questions:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house? tp-ing! what other things do people call it??

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball? well if I'm thinking of the right bug, those little gray ones that live under rocks in the garden...potato bug

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called? POP!!!!!!!!!!! But my mom says soda like her East coast family so soda comes out sometimes. But it's pop. always pop. 

What do you call gym shoes? tennis shoes, well we say tenna-shoes really...

What do you say to address a group of people? hey guys! (hey you guyyyyyssss)

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? daddy long legs

What do you call your grandparents? one grandma is "Nanny" and one was "Grammy" and my great grandma was "grandma". And the grandpa I knew was "papa". But all my friends call them "grandma and grandpa"

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket? cart

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? rain....is there a special name for that??? we have tons of names for rain in Seattle but i don't think we have a name for that, it's just rain. 

What is the thing you change the TV channel with? remote! I can't stand "clicker" gross. 

Bad Mood.

I need to play the glad game real bad this afternoon! I'm in a bad mood, and it's not often I'm in a truly bad mood. I think I'm just overly tired. Two more weeks left. Two more weeks, I can do this. I can do this, right? So what am I glad about right now, glad it's only two weeks left of these classes. Glad I have my photography project done (I probably shouldn't but I had to just be done with it for sake of time). I'm glad its warm and sunny out, makes for nice laps about the park. That's all I can think of right now. Ok going to watch Oprah, then back to homework that needs to get done for tomorrow.

Girl Scout cookies

I have a confession. I have never ever eaten one Girl Scout cookie. It's true. Growing up none of my friends did Girl Scouts and we never bought any from the kids selling them; and then I found out I have celiac when I was 17....so I didn't have a chance. I've always felt a little left out because everyone exclaims at how amazing they, and really I'm not a huge boxed cookie fan, I like homemade so I can't imagine that they're that great, but sadly it is something I will never know. Unless of course the Girl Scouts open up their marketing to include us gluten intolerant people (hint hint Girl Scouts)! Seriously, they'd tap into a huge market, gluten free peeps would DIE if they could eat Girl Scout cookies. But they can't just do it willy nilly, make sure to get a true gluten free baker to come up with the recipes so they aren't crap. I hate when companies start doing gluten free but they don't take time to make it good. We like to enjoy our treats too, just like the average eater. Anyway, this was just my random thought for the night.

Happy Thursday!

The Glad Game.

I was thinking about Pollyanna tonight (Swiss Family Robinson is on tv and the little brother who plays the annoying little boy in Pollyanna made me think of it....just so you know), and thinking of her made me think of her "glad game."

You know the game where she takes an unhappy situation, or an annoyance and finds something to be glad about! In the movie she says her dad read through the whole bible and found 800 verses which tell us to rejoice or to be glad or happy, and if God told us that that many times it must be important. So we should find the happiness in everything.

Well I decided that in the next three weeks, my last three weeks of this quarter I'm going to play the glad game. I'm usually a pretty optimistic person, but I can be a whiner, especially when I'm tired. And I'm tired, this quarter has worn me out. So anyway, instead of being a whiner over the next three weeks I'll make myself find the happy instead!

So here I go. I'm glad that its only three weeks until this quarter is over! I'm glad its less than a month until my parents and aunt come and we go to Hilton Head for a week! I'm glad I'm halfway through my program! I'm glad I got to take a photography class this quarter. And I'm glad its cancelled all week so I get to sleep in tomorrow and Thursday! Oh and I'm glad I had to make floor plans for class tomorrow because it keeps my CAD skills in check. And I'm glad to live somewhere warm and sunny in February so I can go for walks around the park in the afternoons.

So there you go, all the reasons to be glad tonight.

I'm already feeling lighter and happier! And I needed that after the last weeks.

photos from weheartit

First time for everything...

You guys! I got pulled over for the first ever today!!!! It was pretty funny, there were three of us in my car and we were piled high with recycling because we were on our way to make recycled art with kids! Ok and here's the weird part. As we were driving we saw a cop on the side of the road in the median and three cars on the other side then he starts walking into the road and motioning me to stop or something and then to go to the side of road, we were all so confused. And then he's all you were going 50 in a school zone, which none of us knew it was school zone but I was like whatever here's my license. And then they proceeded to take there sweet time writing tickets for each of us pulled over while taking turns using the speeding gun on cars coming! Another girl got pulled over while were sitting there. Finally the cop came over and goes um did you know your license expired? I must have looked really shocked because I had no idea and he was nice and didn't make a huge deal out of it, just said to get it fixed (it's only been expired since my birthday, for some reason I thought it was next year). Anyway they ended up just giving me a warning probably because we were three cute girls in a car and it was my first ticket. But thank God because I have no extra money to pay a ticket!!!! And THANK GOD they didn't take my license away or anything being that it's expired!!!! Do you see what you do to me grad school, you make a total space case when it come to normal life things!!!!!

But anyway our art project with the kids went pretty well. They had fun anyway, we didn't have much time to do it but it all turned out, and will look great in our space at the strip mall.

Still counting down..but looking forward

I'm still over this quarter but this last week was much much better! We finally made some headway on our project that is trying to make a gross old strip mall into a sustainable eco-tourist attraction. Well headway as in we have a scope of our project (my team anyway) and are getting contacts and are moving forward. The other project is still as confusing as ever but I'm just trying to go with the flow. My poor photography class is getting pushed to the back burner, I'm just happy to come out with a B in that class haha! Don't worry I always go for an A, but since that class has nothing to do with anything in my program and it's just for fun I don't really care what grade I get (well as long as it's a B or higher which won't be a problem).

I register for Spring quarter classes next week and I'm so excited for the classes I'm going to take (well two, my required class is going to suck according to others who have taken it already but that's only one out of three)! One is an architectural history class called "villas and gardens"! It sounds super interesting and is a lecture class so hopefully won't be project intensive, I need a project break after these past two quarters. I'd be happy to write a paper! The other is a historic preservation class called "conservation and the creative city" and its about like how historic preservation fits into the way cities are designed and the way they work today! It sounds really awesome! Again hopefully not project intensive...we'll see. I kinda had this sudden calling to do historic preservation, as in this could open doors to a cool thesis project perhaps meshing sustainability and preservation! It was like a light bulb last week so I searched out book on green preservation and am hoping to get them from the library soon to start delving into this subject! What better place than Savannah to work on historic preservation?? I've always had an interest in it (I'm kinda a historic design nerd...well history nerd in general...) so I'm really excited to see what it's all about and what I could do as a project! AND thinking ahead to jobs I think Seattle has a pretty good historic preservation presence so perhaps there are job opportunities to marry sustainability and it together for a job. But we'll see, I still have no idea what I want to do when I grow up.

But anyway, I'm still ticking off days until Spring Break! I can't wait! Although I wish my girls were going to be here for St. Patrick's Day (which is two after classes end), apparently it's a HUGE DEAL in Savannah. Who'd a thunk it, Irish people in the South. hm. But I'm so excited to go to Hilton Head for a week with the 'rents and my aunt from Massachusetts! I have all sorts of plans for us already...ok not really...just kayaking with dolphins so far. And sleeping. Lots of sleeping. But with an early rising dad and aunt who knows how much sleep I'll actually get....

Wow rambling post huh? Oh a good thing from this quarter is that a new girl started the program this winter and we've really hit it off! So I finally feel like I have a friend to hang out with, and she's going to try and get into the historic preservation class next quarter yay! We all are doing electives next quarter so unless we choose one of the same none of us will have classes together. :( I like going into a class knowing who will be in it, but no such luck next quarter. oh well. Hopefully we'll all stay in touch and abreast of each other's progress in the program. Ok I'll shut up now.

Good bye and good night.

Is it March yet?

This quarter started off so exciting! I thought my classes were going to be awesome and the projects were going to be awesome and life was going to be awesome and everything was awesome.

And now, a month into it, I'm done.

Our projects feel like they're just going in circles and we can't really get anything done and people are just talking and getting anywhere and there's no organization or directions from our profs, it feels like we're just doing their dirty work and figuring the stuff out so they don't have to. And yes I know thats what its like in the real world and when I get out there I'll see it blah blah blah blah blah but I'm in school now, and we have ten weeks...TEN WEEKS...to actually make something "meaningful" (as one prof likes to say) happen!

Going into a project in which you have such limited time you need some direction not just a starter gun that says ok go, you figure out what you want to do and how you'll end up doing it, and oh and by the way there's not enough time for you to do primary research AND get something done so have fun! Doh, I have no idea what I'm doing, and usually leave class more perplexed than before! And now we have less than six weeks and we're supposed to know the scopes of our projects and we're supposed to be able to present our ideas and present to experts but we don't even have a design yet so how can we present if we don't know what we're doing?

I just am finding myself endless frustrated by these projects! Luckily my team mate on one feels the same way and luckily we came up with an idea for that project that should be good enough and one that we'll actually be able to get done (hopefully) by the end of the quarter. But i'm just so tired, and I just kinda don't care anymore and I'd like to sleep for three days straight at this point.

So that brings me back to my initial question, is it March yet? Please God let it be Spring break now because I think this quarter is going to kill me.

Which brings me to another question, why did I think grad school was such a great idea? Oh right because I want to actually make a decent amount of money and have a meaningful (there's that word again) job. Damn.

Savannah birthday

Last week on thursday night my mom and her best friend Deb came out here for my birthday! We had a busy busy weekend touring the city. It was fun to show them around, it made me appreciate this city more! It was also nice to have family here for my birthday! But today I'm sad, I dropped them off at the airport a couple hours ago and they are on their way home now. :( But anyway it was a nice birthday week and we had a lot of fun! Once I get pictures from my mom I'll put some up!

Happy hump day!

26.

Today I'm 26. What a strange age to be. Happy my birthday to you.

source: weheartit.com

Feral kitties

For my photography class I'm documenting feral cat colonies around Savannah. Its no secret that I love animals, all animals, but especially cats. I think that stray cats get forgotten about in many ways so I wanted to document the cats to tell their story. Here's my first set of photos.

Sustainable fashion and Livia Firth

This is awesome. Livia Firth (Colin's wife) had a "green carpet challenge" to find a sustainable dress for the Golden Globes this year! She ended up choosing Jeff Garner of Prophetik to design a dress for her! You can read the article here all about it and the "peace silk" he used! He even grows his own indigo and hand dyes the fabrics!!! So awesome! (synthetic indigo is one of the worst dyes for us, very unhealthy and full of bad chemicals!).  I think the dress is gorgeous, and if anyone is going to be married to the love of my life, Colin Firth, well than I'm glad it's an awesome eco conscious gal like Livia!

MLK Day Parade

I'm still here.

I didn't feel like blogging over my Christmas break and I just plain haven't had time since getting back to school! This quarter has started off crazy busy and it's only going to get worse! Today I left at 10:30 for class and basically didn't get home until 8pm. Had to work on a group thing in between classes...I'm happy with my classes though, and pretty excited about my three projects...it's just a lot!

In one class we're picking up where another class ended and redesigning a boring old strip mall to be sustainable. At least we're proposing the design and changes...hopefully we'll see some come to fruition, but who knows. In my other class we're designing a new "building" or extension of our school of design building our of shipping containers, and making it totally sustainable! It'll be a student hang out/eat/do homework place as well as hopefully have a classroom and a couple offices for the sustainability profs! I REALLY hope this one happens while I'm still here, it's going to be SO AWESOME! And it's fun because our class is combined with the undergrad sustainable minor and they're super gung-ho about it so we're all getting along great! And then finally my third class is a total departure for me and it's a documentary photography class! its my elective. I'm the only not photography student in it. gah! But I'm going to document the feral cat colonies around Savannah for the quarter as my project for that.

I'll try and get on here and show updates on our project. But I won't have any time really to blog for real, this quarter is just too too busy! I know, I know welcome to grad school right?