Big News!

Life has caught up with me once again- the last you heard from me I was busy with planning Thanksgiving and getting assignments done for class. The picture above was my art assignment for this week and it has a story behind it. This week we studied Expressionism and although I’ve never been a big fan of Picasso and his contemporaries, there’s something to be said for the amount of emotion their work… well… expressed. An artist I had never heard of, Kathe Kollwitz, really struck a chord with me this week and I chose her work as an inspiration for my own piece. (our assignment every week is to create a piece of art using any medium based on something we’ve studied that week)

The picture above is introspective- looking down on top of the body (a self portrait) one arm outstretched, the other curved protectively around my belly. The reason? I just found out last Monday that I’m pregnant and boy if that doesn’t bring on the heavy introspection, I don’t know what will. There are nerves galore- will everything be okay? Do I really get to keep this baby? These things are on repeat in my mind almost non-stop as background noise, but they are mostly drowned out by happier thoughts- I hope its a girl, but I’d be okay with a boy if my husband would just pick a boy’s name he’s okay with. (he actually wants a girl too- lucky me 🙂 ) I can’t wait to decorate the nursery although packing all my craft stuff up is daunting- I have a whole room full and overflowing with stuff that I absolutely cannot part with so a trip to the store for storage tubs is high on the agenda before I can do much else.

I have plenty of time- I’m not even 6 weeks along if things are as I think they are (although AF last month was weird and late so I suppose I could be closer to almost 1o weeks along instead of almost 6 but I don’t think that’s the case. Either way I’ll find out more when I have my doctor’s appointment next Monday (a whole ‘nother week seems interminably long!)

As busy as I’ve been, I’ve officially gone into overload. I will be cutting out the vow renewal ceremony- I can’t really concentrate on anything other than baby right now and I don’t want to try and fit my 4 or 5 month pregnant self into a wedding dress here in a couple of months- it just doesn’t seem that important any more, but we do still have plans to do that someday. (can’t let that $13oo dress go to waste after all!)

So that’s my news- big news at that 🙂

Whats going on in your worlds?

Its coming, its coming!!! Halloween is coming!!

For those of you new to this blog, you may not realize that I am obsessed with the holidays, but Halloween in particular is my favorite time of year. People who come to my house have been known to comment on the decorations around the house…. year round. Decorations like the skulls in my potpourri vases, the skeletal fingers too, skulls on the speakers with ravens atop them, spiders and roaches in the wine glasses that adorn my mantle. Honestly I’ve got something creepy in almost every room of my house and some rooms more than others. I take them for granted because I love all things creepy, but it always makes me grin when someone else comments on them.

As a way to get ready, I thought I’d link back to a few of my previous projects from here (since most are not exactly tutorials) to give me some inspiration and share with you a few ideas as well.

Then I realized that all you have to do is click on the tag ‘Halloween’ to the right hand side of this blog and it will take you to all my Halloween related posts. You can even watch the changes in the quality of my photography 😉

Happy Haunting! I’ll be back soon (I hope) with some new projects for this year’s party.

November

Holy cow I’ve been busy! So busy/lazy that I haven’t even completed my Halloween costume yet (our party is two days away so I need to get going on that one!!) In my defense, I’m doing school work, making decorations, cleaning (sometimes…..), cooking, running errands, and all the other little things that make up life and blogs and costumes fall very far down on that list of things to do. Class keeps me busy a lot of the time- the one I’m in right now (which thankfully ends Wednesday- just when its finally getting interesting) is Color Theory for Web and Media- basically I’m learning about using colors on the computer. Unfortunately, I’m not a design student and I’m also very left-brained which makes being creative in random fashions quite a challenge. That said, I’m still keeping my 4.0 average (go me, right?) but I feel pretty relieved to make it through every week.

I’m actually here today because I am going to try (notice I say try) to post most days this month. It’s November, and here in the states that means the holiday season is upon us starting with Thanksgiving. I thought it would be nice to post something that I’m thankful for every day here on the blog. (only thought of it today so there goes NaBloPoMo)

In that line of thinking, and since I missed three days already, here are  four things I’m thankful for. (don’t get used to it- I’ll only be posting multiples when I’ve missed a few days…. on second thought, maybe you should get used to it…)

1. Jarell- My husband, partner in crime, best friend, house cleaning aficionado, handy man, favorite comedian, and all around wonderful guy. He makes me smile, he takes care of me when I’m feeling yucky like I have been this last month thanks to bronchitis, works his butt off at a very tough job and tells me he’s glad to because it means I don’t have to work at a job I hate. I don’t deserve this man, but I try every day to live up to the standards he sets by being as wonderful as he is.
2. Speaking of the job Jarell does, I’m thankful that he has been well employed all summer even if that meant him being gone all week and us only talking for a few minutes each day. Our bills are caught up, we have a car being fixed as I speak that will be mine when its done, propane for the furnace, food in the fridge, and lots of little things that make me happy around the house.
3. I am incredibly thankful to be in school. Despite the fact that some of the classes get me (they’re short- 5 1/2 weeks long) I love being in school and learning again. The knowledge that I am moving forward with my photography makes me incredibly happy.
4. Finally as a random one, I am thankful for Fall. I love Spring with its greening grasses and possibilities of a garden ahead, but I was born in January and I love all the changes that lead up to my birthday- the crisping nights, the warm fires, the first time it snows. All these things are magical to me and I love love love this time of year!