Writing Class Update

Let me paint a picture for you, quite different from reality, but somewhat symbolic of my current reality.

I slave and slave on a collection. Three months of nonstop work go in, and ten outfits come out. My editing has been ruthless, cold, and compassionless. Presenting to the judges my heart and soul, my stomach turns and churns. Apprehension and doubt are my closest friends. Down the runway my looks come, and from across the runway, the judges looks I search. What's done is done, and now the time has arrived for my deeds to be accounted for, the verdict to be made. Words of praise and enjoyment are tossed from one to another, yet from Fraulein Klum, comes my death sentence, "It's much too long and drab. Take eight inches off the bottom and drop the neckline five. Then I suppose I might wear it."

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Okay, that was VERY dramatic. But that was my writing class in a nutshell. My mentor is not 1/100th as cruel or freaky and Heidi Klum. And I don't fear criticism too much. But there has been so much cutting, I feel my very personality has been removed. [I think I'm getting a bit dramatic again]. What I have learned is this, I love embellishing. I love putting in extra words. The problem is, when an editor sees those, they don't find them charming or unique, they are, dun-dun-dunnnnn...CLUTTER. Being one who hates clutter, I have set myself to view these "little things" as just that and snip snip away.

 On the other side of things, I have gotten a lot of good feedback from my mentor. After my last lesson she told me, "I wish I had more students like you!" I don't really know what that means. But it's good I guess. I've learned a lot of other really valuable things about professionalism, submission, and basic formatting. I'm working on a lesson, and then I have one more, and then it's finito! And then will come the hard part- figuring out how and where to put things into practice. Coffee and this guy will be sure to help me.

The Jolly Holly-days

Alrighty...Christmas time is here! The decorations (limited amount that they are) have been put up, Christmas music is being regularly played, and I've made a pretty decent dint in my shopping. What I really need to get on is my holiday baking! Quick side question about shopping, does anyone else love it so much they wish they could spend hundreds of dollars on each person, buying both big and little gifts alike? I love buying presents! Last year I was so sad when I had most all of my shopping done a couple weeks before Christmas. I thought I would try and spread things out a bit this year, but so far I am not doing too well. It's all those online sales, I just can't pass them up and I have to figure in shipping time!

Anyways, I've been getting together ideas to make some Christmas decorations, because I think they really are the best kind! Especially with hot cocoa, twinkly lights, and the proper music accompaniment. However, running out to buy ribbon or glue always disrupts my flow. Thus, I am compiling a list of the various items I would like to make, and the various necessities to execute them. I have also been perusing the Flikr Commons for some vintagey photos I might incorporate. And to set as my screen desktop :) There are so many lovely ones. Feel free to enjoy their cheer for yourself.

I especially love the ones with Christmas trees. Max absolutely hates tinsel, but something in me finds it so enchanting. And black and white photos are my favsies.

List-A-Roos

I know it's been a while since I did my Wordified Tuesday, and I had full intention of doing one this week, but I've got Christmas on my mind.

Usually I am fine waiting until after Thanksgiving to get my Christmas spirit on and my halls decked. This year however, I am so anxious [in the very best way] to get things going! Max and I have been putting together lists and have gotten a bit carried away with their visual presentation. I downloaded about ten different new fonts trying to find the right one. This site here had some great ones. Especially in the retro section.

Max's list far surpasses mine visually, but I've accepted that and let it spur me on to make mine more unique and personal. We know there really is no reason to spend so much time on them, but every now and then, you have to waste some time on a creativity.

His:

 

Hers:

Bosom Friends

As Max and I just celebrated our one-year anniversary we’ve been thinking been thinking back on things quite a bit. I admit it was challenging and stretching. Someone was saying the other day that you can feel like you’re a pretty decent person, and then you get married and realize how selfish and stubborn, and emotional you are. I couldn’t agree more. What I love about that is that it drives me closer to the heart of the Lord, yearning and asking for more of His wisdom, guidance, and character to be developed in my life.

A little unexpected, but another thing I have been thinking about quite a bit is all the female friends in my life. I’ve realized that marriage in no way takes the place of those relationships. Max is amazingly sweet, and did watch 4 out 5 hours of BBC’s Pride and Prejudice before confessing he was completely lost and that it made no sense to him. Oh what a dear man! But the women in my life, my bosom friends, they are irreplaceable. I’ve been recounting to myself the many memories of late night chats, midday strolls, tears, laughter, and incontrollable giggling. I wish I could tell each one of you all of my fondest memories and how much they mean to me. I decided to go the picture route, but soon found that most of my old pictures are on my external hard drive, which we lost the power cord to. So here's what I could dig up.

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Girls are so queer you never know what they mean. They say No when they mean Yes, and drive a man out of his wits for the fun of it."

 -Louisa May Alcott


I love having girl time. It really is one of the most wonderful things in the world. 

B.3.W.

B

U

S

Y

That's how I spell the last few weeks. They have been a Busy.3.Weeks.

It has left me dreaming of the days soon to come when I will have 3 days off instead of 2. My greatest hope is that I will have time to pursue the things I am most passionate about, creative things. New things are on the horizon, but for now I am just struggling to keep up with the day to day things. I haven't had a real grocery store outing to fill our cupboards in about 3 weeks. Everytime I think about cooking or meal planning, my body screams that it wants a movie night and pizza. I finally got the laundry done. Yesterday I had one pair of clean pants left. As you can see, posting on C. Johnt hasn't been a top priority, just how it goes sometimes.

We did have a lovely aniversary weekend.
Nelson and the whole drive were beautiful. And the hot springs were quite relaxing.
I did think that Canada had an interesting design for their peanut butter packages.