On TRAX today, a cute elderly couple came and sat in front of me. The lady asked her husband, “Do you want to sit here or frontwards?” then the man said, “That depends. Do you want to see where we’re going or where we’ve been?” They both laughed and simultaneously stood up and switched seats to see where they are going. As simple as it was, it touched me. I feel like everyday I am trying to figure out how to get to where I want to be in my career/life. Some days it seems impossible or far, far away and other days I believe it can happen right around the corner. In any case, as long as I am trying I will eventually get to where I am going.

And I hope to be part of a cute old couple one day. Maybe a creeper will take a picture of the back of our heads and blog about how cute we are.

Here’s to the future.

I was born and raised in good ol’ Utah. I’ve been here for 23 years with the exception of a couple study abroads and sweet vacations to far away places. One Utah gene I did not catch was the desire to place a bright and shiny rock on my left hand. You know on what finger I’m talking about. In my own and complete opinion, enormous rings disgust me. Diamonds disgust me. I am all about concept and reason and a large diamond cannot be justified in my brain. I understand the rings that have been passed around throughout family and I think that is very sweet. But other than that, most rings just scream out how much money the husband has, or how much loans he has, depending. Here’s where this post relates back to art: The featured seller on Etsy this week is husband and wife of Fabuluster. The custom made wedding rings they design make total sense to me and are pretty dang romantic if you think about it. If, and this is a big fatty if, I were to get married I would consider looking into these more.

I am a little attached to this thrift shop ring I always wear. I’ve never taken it off for nearly 3 years now and it’s been with me through a lot of thicks and a lot of thins. I wouldn’t mind this being “the ring” either. Future husband will have to pay the $3 for it though because a lady can’t pay for her own ring, damn it!

I just went to the bank and they told me they don’t know how I’m living, more or less. Thanks student loans, you’re really kicking me in the groin here. Lets stare at Kate Macdowell’s magnificent piece of work, “Canary,” and forget about our problems. I think I’m in love with her. I took this photo at Moore College of Art & Design, the first and only visual arts school for women in the nation, in Philadelphia. I could stare at this all day.

I just got this in the mail today! I’ve been intrigued by it since I’ve seen it posted numerous times in other blogs I follow of successful print/handmade businesses. Just by reading the introduction it seems like it holds the answers to all my questions. I’ve been feeling more and more inspired to get this site running. It’s warmer out, the plans are getting locked in, and I’ve been printing more which always keeps me more motivated to keep printing. After graduation I think I hit a lull of what to do with my life. I had no where to go and no where to be. No obligations to anyone but my dog. I had too many options but in a way didn’t have enough. It was the most confused I’ve ever felt.

After moving to the city, getting a job, meeting new people, finding a studio to volunteer/print at, I feel more like I am where I need to be. I’m excited about the direction I’m in and building towards the life I want to live.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2010 is to start something. Whether it be start making Friends Make Prints more official and steady, start getting my artwork into galleries, or start ideas that never leave my brain. The goal is to just start because that’s the only way I can get on the path of where I want to be.

Here’s a look at 2009:
Became USU Art Guild President
Volunteered at the Sundance Film Festival for the first time
Attended Southern Graphics Printmaking Conference in Chicago
Sheila and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary
Broke up with a boy and moved out which resulted in -
Lived in the Boathouse which is the coolest house with the coolest girls in Logan
Graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design and Printmaking!!
Took a Harmonica class
Started internship at Fluid Studio which resulted into a job
Took 2 Letterpress classes via BAP and fell in love!
Visited my best redheaded friend in Atlanta, GA
2 real and successful freelance jobs
Went to New York, and visited Fire Island (what an experience)
Live completely by myself in SLC
Bought my first press – a Kelsey Excelsior 6×10
Took a Holga class which resulted in-
Met and befriended Eva of Sycamore Street Press
Met a boy with a girl’s name
Went to San Francisco and checked out The Renegade Craft Fair
The series of unfortunate events close to a close…?
Still vegetarian
Still living life

How to get over a really bad break up:

[X] Stop talking to him.
[X] Relocate.
[X] Buy new clothes.
[X] Make one (somewhat) excusable mistake.
[X] Keep busy.
[X][X][X] Get out of town.
[X] Repeatedly think how awful and embarrassing the month of April was.
[X] Meet new people.
[X] Know I deserve better.

What’s missing?

It’s been 6 months. Most days I’m 90-95% recovered. But somedays I’m 60%. And everyday I think of how there are crazy people in the world and I’m a crazy person magnet. Yet, 60%?

I went on a garage sale expedition with my old roommate Di and her boyfriend Matt. It was really good to see them! I don’t know why we haven’t been hanging out more since we all ended up in Ogden after our Logan days. Maybe because Matt has been in jail (see her blog for details). Although not funny, it’s very funny to me because last summer we all went swimming at the Logan Aquatic Center and I thought Di and Matt were right behind me on my scooter. I was home for maybe 45 minutes when Di showed up alone, yelling, “Matt got arrested! And he didn’t even have his shirt on!” At least he had a shirt on for this summer’s arrest.

Di bargained an old lady from $10 to $5 on the Harry Potter – Half Blood Prince book. She was quite happy her Harry Potter set is complete. But later I found the same book and told Matt to ask how much – “$2, or make me an offer.” Di was not happy with that. But they found a brand new hookah, with a case and all for $75. It was a pretty sweet deal for what it was. I spent less than $5 on a dress, 2 picture frames, a mirror, and 8 glasses. All of these things were investments to be cleaned up, painted, turned into candles, etc. and put on my etsy shop that I have long deserted. I took photos of the dress and it kills me, but I might keep it.

Dress: Garage Sale
Belt: Thrifted

(Look back at Growing up. for a picture of the new used high waisted mustard skirt)

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Garage sales can typically have nostalgic moments when you see items that you had as a kid or know of a relative who has a similar collection. For me, it went deeper. A neighborhood of elderly people took advantage of their coul-de-sac to put on one large sale. One of these houses was my grandma’s old house. The house I went to every Wednesday while in elementary school to play uno and eat banana nut bread. The house that had a gold metal lamp you could simply touch to turn on and off . The house where the Christmas tree was aluminum and the toilet seat pink. The house that had a flag for every season, in the yard. But this house had no flag. This house wasn’t my grandma’s anymore. I miss that house. I miss my grandma.

(Sheila trying to bite at her splashes today. Her and water will have a constant battle, I think.)

I have been away from home since I was 13. This is when we moved away from this very creek that had a swing where I spent most of my adolescent days. We moved away from fresh apricots, pears, cherries, plums, raspberries, green apples and red, walnuts, and honeysuckles. We left the house which stores memories for more than half of my life. I learned to walk, to talk, and to ride a bike (and how you’re suppose to keep your mouth shut to not eat bugs). We left a time where we were all under one roof and we all knew each other – where we were, what we did, and how was our day. We saw each other grow, we saw each other laugh, we just saw each other. And we almost went back. Almost.