breathing a sigh of relief

one step of the process is hopefully now behind me.......

My first serious photo shoot went really well, although I had so much anxiety build up throughout the evening that afterwards I felt nauseous and couldn't eat any of the yummy things I brought. Jeff Goodrich (the one who loaned and set up the photography equipment) was even kind enough to run by really quickly at the beginning when I couldn't get my camera to work (while Jillyn hid on the other side of the church so he wouldn't see her in her "costume", hahahaha she's so cute). He was so helpful, from setting things up to giving me knowledge on camera angle, lighting, and camera settings. I am so grateful to him as well as to my model Jillyn, who had a rough day and yet was so eager and cheerful and had just such a great attitude. The creative process does not come from a single person, and it is sad when only one person gets all of the credit. Often it takes a team of people to create a masterpiece, even if the finished piece was designed by one person.

Photo shoot day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My camera is ready
The studio lights are ready
I am itching to get this done~ I am so excited

A man in our bishopric was so incredibly kind as to volunteer, without me asking, to let me use his professional lights for my photo shoot tonight. He spent an hour or so last night setting them up with me on the stage at the church, and then spent time with me today getting my camera ready to use. He went to school for photography, and did it professionally for a while, but switched careers to education, and is now a principal at a school for children with learning and behavioral problems. He refuses to charge for his photography, because then it becomes tedious and stressful, so instead he does it occasionally for friends and family just for personal enjoyment. I am so grateful to him, this is a tremendous gift to an artist. I'm thinking that I will do a painting some time for his family as a thank you. I wish he could take the pictures himself, however my model is very self conscious, so even though I know she would agree if I asked her because she is so kind, I know it would make her extremely uncomfortable. This way will work though.

So, I have been following several artists, and seeing how they handle the process of posing a model and drawing/painting/photographing them. One thing I noted was that they provided yummy food to make it a more enjoyable experience for the model. So I am making these:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/194217802651977282/

and then I'll have something yummy to drink... and maybe make some lemon bars because I have been craving them for a long time.

I am so excited, because this painting is coming along so professionally! My confidence in the outcome is growing with each day :)

she is home

After saying another prayer with Ethan earlier that Tinker would find her way home, I had a peaceful feeling that she was going to return home. Ryan was certain she was gone for good. This evening out of nowhere she showed up at our door. we think she had been trapped on accident in a shed somewhere, and she appears to have some heat exhaustion. I'm greatful for answered prayers.

Sweet Tinker

My Tinker hasn't come home in over a week. When we lived in Burley she only once left for more than a day, instead she would stay in our yard and preferred being inside. The last couple months she has taken off a couple times and hasn't returned for a couple days, but she always showed back up after 2 or 3 days. This is the longest she has been gone, and we fear she is not coming back. I hope that she was adopted by someone kind, but I worry that most likely she was hit by a car, or is trapped in a shed or something. I walked up and down the alley for several blocks calling, I drove around the area a bit looking; and I called the animal shelter, but they didn't answer their phone. I'm trying to accept that she isn't coming back, and that makes me so sad. Hunter started acting up the other day, and that is when I started to worry. He started following me around everywhere, and cried all night until we let him in--he is my independent wanderer, so the fact that he suddenly became super clingy made me think he knew something was up and he misses Tinker a lot apparently. I'm still holding out hope and saying prayers that she will return, though,

Patina Artist

I love plans and lists, but most often things work out much differently than planned.

I have the opportunity to possibly be a Patina Artist at a renowned Bronze Foundry here in Lander. Although I had no intentions of working, this is one of those opportunities that Ryan and I both feel I shouldn't pass up. Tomorrow is my interview, and I'm fairly certain, based on the reactions of the people at the foundry, that I have a very good chance of landing the job. If I get the job, I'm pretty sure I will love it, and it will help me to be a better 2-D artist as well.

Here is a video of what my job would entail. Seriously, one of the coolest jobs out there:

It will be full time, but I will be able to come in pretty early in the mornings once I am trained, and therefore I will get off of work in the early afternoon. Violet is at the age where she really wants to be around other children, and I was not looking forward to both of us being cooped up all winter. I know that she will LOVE being in preschool/daycare, however I am still a little worried. We will see how it goes, and take it one day at a time to see if it will or won't work out. Having me work will help us get completely out of debt (including Ryan's student loan) by February--this brings me immense peace. Because of the way I grew up, I feel very strongly about the importance and need for being self sufficient, and financially stable.

I don't know that I will stay at this job forever, we will just see how it goes.  I want to be that parent who is home at lunch so the kids can bring friends home, to create that kind of loving, safe environment where all the children would want to hang out there--so that we can be involved and influential in our children's lives.

I will still be working on my painting. I have peace about it, and know that everything will work out. I actually think things will go better, because I will be forced to organize my time so that everything will get taken care of. Plus, Ryan will help out around the house as well, so things will work out.

so funny

 I'm thinking of framing this one and putting it up on a wall,

 it makes me laugh every time I look at it--Especially since she purposefully

 posed like this for me.

 

Playing

I went out to check on the kids and the oldest neighbor girl was

teaching them how to play rock-paper-scissors.

They moved on to some game with her stuffed animals.

They were too cute playing out there not to take a picture.

I dread winter time when they will be shut inside,

but I love that they are getting some playing in now.

Beautiful

 

If you click on the individual pictures, you can see them better.

 

 

I found the perfect fishing spot, you could even see fish swimming

around down there on the sand bar. Some time we will have to find a babysitter,

 and than hike down along this river and spend an evening fishing. 

 

 

It is so hard to get kids to sit still and smile for a picture. I have ten or more pictures of this shot, and this is the only one where all three of us are sort of smiling and sitting still. Ethan was very unsure about sitting on the dirt... probably because of the snake we saw early on in the hike, as well as my thinking I got a tick on my arm (I brushed it off, but Ethan was sure every bug thereafter was a tick... though I refrained from explaining exactly what a tick was because then he would REALLY obsess over it, lol). He loved hiking back down from the falls, he ran pretty much the whole way pretending to be a ninja/iron man/batman/transformer the whole way down, and exclaiming after every jump off a rock "wasn't I awesome?!"

 

kerplop

I was bending over the creek, pulling the hoses through the trees on the other side of the creek, when a branch snagged my glasses and kerplop! they were gone. No time to react, just gone. I panicked and dropped down to feel the creek bed, hoping they sank, but as soon as I plunged my arms into the cold water I knew that the current had swept them away.

I ran up and down the creek to the storm drain, hoping I would see them through the murky water. You know, without the aid of my glasses to see through the murky water. I realized I would have to walk up and down the entire creek bed feeling with my hands, and hoping and praying that they snagged on something. It was not pleasant.

After going up and down it twice, I finally found them under the gate that separates the front yard from the back yard (the second time I had searched under there). I was reaching far under and felt a piece of them and about burst into tears.

I'm grateful that my prayer was answered. With the amount of things that I have lost over the years, with the same kerplop type suddenness, it was nice to find that important item when I prayed for it. Especially when you can't afford to replace them.

staying put

In anticipation of our home selling, we starting to look for a slightly bigger place to rent than our current basement apartment. I can not find anything. At all. Yesterday, we went to look at a trailer home that was supposed to be in an ideal location up in the canyon, with plenty of "lawn" for the kids to run around, and was 3 bedroom. After going through the trailer, both Ryan and I agreed that we had an ominous feeling about the place. Perhaps it was the broken doors (or lack of in the case of the kids room)... or the duct tape holding things together... or the "lawn" that really was weeds. And they wanted 900. We both decided we would rather be in a tiny, basement apartment for 3-5 years if it meant we could save enough to build our dream home.

So, here is what we are thinking for our dream home, and no, it will not be western themed inside:

 this one seems pretty practical.

this one is just awesome.

 

I love the open, centrally focused floor plans of log style homes. I also like how they are efficient in their use of space, and have such a simple beauty to them. Our plan is to save enough for a 20%+ down payment on a 15 year mortgage, and have the monthly payments be 25% of our monthly take home. Yes. I follow Dave Ramsey. :)