Ten Things Tuesday Birthday Edition

Brianne always has awesome "Ten Things Tuesdays" and she did one based on things she'd love to have since her birthday was last Friday. Well, mine's this Thursday so I figured I'd give it a whirl:

1. Diana F+ Camera Kit I've been drooling over this little beauty since the day I saw it on lomography.com. Takes such awesome photos. One day...I will have it. Definitely top o' my list.
2. Holga Color Flash Camera Love this camera too! I'll probably get this before an F+ kit. Want to venture into the world of Lomography. It's wayyy cheaper than the F+ kit but still wayyy awesome :

3. Noah and I are thinking this might be the kind of dog we want--Pembroke Welsh Corgi. That silly little grin, those big ears, and short legs!!! I love these little guys!

4. I am obsessed with tea lately. Adorable set:

5. Love this locket. Actually I love all their lockets, pretty much:

6. (no pic for this one) Home Built Screenprint Exposure Unit eventually I want to build one of these.

7. RAW Twisted Teal Hair Dye Such a great color! :) A streak or two would be cute, I think. 8. Sorry mom!...I think this (or some variation) would make an awesome tattoo:

9. Alice postcard set by The Black Apple:

10. Last but most definitely not least-- I wish this one would show up on my doorstep. :) Ah, wishful thinking indeed but I'd give anything to kiss his face and celebrate my birthday with him. (Heh, I don't know what it is about this picture, other than it's of Noah, but it's one of my favorites):

Dream a little dream

I dreamt the waters of a huge river swelled with rain and it's current crashed over the banks and onto the land.
All my things were packed to leave but I stood there watching instead and the water rose up to the windows and seeped inside and all I had was ruined and swept away.
I seemed oddly unbothered by it, a slight hint of remorse that my things were lost and I kept watching the river rise and take over the land.

And the dream dictionary says:
"If the flood is raging then it represents emotional issues and tensions. Your repressed emotions are overwhelming you....another interpretation could be your desire to wipe everything clean and make a fresh new start."

My dreams are always bizzarre and vivid...yet they always seem to make perfect sense in the context of what's going on in my life when I break them down. They really do help me to understand things when I can't always pin down what's bothering me.
Water is the most recurrent theme in my dreams. Usually the ocean. And no matter what happens to me concerning the water (it can be something terrible--I once got sucked out to sea in an undertow in a dream) I always feel calm in the situation. And I always see myself in whatever I'm doing in those dreams--aerial view, an audience to my own involvement.

DIY Kick

So as the title states--I'm on a DIY kick. It's the getting ready to move thing, that's really causing it, I think. Since I'm going to be moving into army housing I'm already thinking about what I can do to liven up the space since I can't paint the walls or really change anything at all.

But that's okay because I spent five years learning how to be more creative, right? Right.
And I did kind of learn how to create art/do what I wanted to do within parameters set by my professors, etc etc (I won't bore you with art talk and lingo) so this is actually, oddly enough, right up my ally.

So I've been thinking about things I can do to the walls but not really do to the walls. And I've found some really cool ideas that I want to try very soon. Among them:This project found on Bon Temps Beignet made from toilet paper/paper towel rolls. Yes. I want to try this myself asap! You should definitely check out her blog--so many awesome craft ideas.

And I got some burlap from the feed mill in town and I intend to stretch them over some old picture frames (because I couldn't find enough canvas stretcher bars at AC Moore...) and do some transfers using some of the FABULOUS graphics I've been finding on this blog: The Graphics Fairy. She has tons of free vintage clip art/graphics.

If the burlap stuff turns out good I think I'm going to make a tutorial to post.

AND I went to the library and got Martha Stewart's encyclopedia of Crafts. Yes. I didn't know this book existed. I hate Martha Stewart's attitude and the fact that she gets paid tons to sit around and think up cute ideas....but hey, you can't deny the lady's awesome ideas. Looks like there's a lot of stuff in it I want to try as well!

So as soon as I get a little more of the wedding plans knocked out I'm going to start doing some of this stuff. Can't wait to get started and hopefully I'll come up with some good stuff.

I miss Noah.
You'd think I'd be a little used to him not being around...but no. I can't describe the feeling of having the person you love being more than a thousand miles away. Living that far away. And you can't be there, even though both of you want to be in the same place.

I'm pretty sure only people who've experienced it before know how it feels.
And it sucks.
It's not like we can drive to each other, ever. There's skype and the phone but it doesn't work out that we get to talk every day and...it helps but it's not the same of course.
I dread the day he gets deployed again. It was bad enough when we were just talking and then dating but I don't even want to think about having to deal with that as husband and wife. I think I'm hoping it will magically be over by the time his next deployment rolls around. I mean, don't we all, but...you know.

It's a little comforting that I get to go in September to see him. But it's still not enough. I want to be there--for good. And I mean, I know--we had to do things this way or wait a long time to get married/for me to actually get to come over there. But may I reiterate how much it sucks that I can't be with my husband?

Yes I know, sob story. It could be worse.
But that doesn't change the fact that there's no way I could miss him more and yet every day--I do.
Hurry up September. And December. And February. All the months in between don't mean a thing to me.

Artist Envy

Etsy makes me wish that I had more artistic talent than I have. Or..different artistic talent than I have, I guess I should say.
I keep seeing all these awesome prints from drawings people have done...some are just awesome doodles. Or I just stumbled on these amazing embroidered pieces and I think--dang, why didn't I come up with these ideas!?
First off--I'm not a drawer. I never have been...I doubt I ever will be. That's not to say I can't draw...if I try very, very hard. But it's not something that just comes naturally to me. I have to look at something, I can never just draw straight from my head. And oddly, people are more my forte than cutesy little doodles, etc. And while I know a lot of people are like that, ideas just don't usually come to me out of space to draw down. I see something and I'm like "oh that's cute, I should try drawing something like that myself." "All art is copied" was a phrase I became to know well in school...as well as "There are no new ideas". So I guess I shouldn't feel terrible for seeing other art that inspires me to draw something similar or in my own style. But still.
It feels a little like cheating.

I guess as I'm not a drawer and I don't consider myself to be one...it doesn't really matter. My photography and books are a different story. Then again they're a different ballgame. I know I get inspiration for photography from things I see...and sometimes steal ideas from other pictures...but I can come up with plenty of ideas on my own for my photos. That stuff just comes to me out of the blue and I genuinely get it.

Eh, I guess it's a "grass is greener on the other side" scenario. I'm good at the things I do. And you can't have it all. ...unless you're Matt Lawson. lol. And if you ever read this, Matt--yeah I'm super jealous of your crazy photo, graphic design, print and drawing/all across the board talent. You make the rest of us look bad. ;)

Good to be home.

It really is nice to be back home. Adjustment living with the parents again but...I'm enjoying it.
I've been getting up at 5:15 every other morning to go run (otherwise it's wayyyy to hot outside to even attempt it). I kinda like that too--getting up before most everyone is awake and watching the sun come up. I'm getting better at running! Well..able to run longer, anyway. Not faster yet. But I'll take what I can get.
Speaking of which I joined the YMCA today so I'm kind of excited to get into a gym. I'd thought I might replace the running with that so I wouldn't have to wake up so terribly early...but I like the running so I might keep doing it and do strength stuff on my off-running days.

Finally back to working on some books too. It's kind of heaven to just sit down and work on them. I've also decided (just a few minutes ago) to start a painting sometime soon. Have no idea what it's going to be or look like, just gonna dive in and see where it goes. Also been cooking a bit. And it's nice to be able to cook something other than rice and beans, beans and rice, rice and rice...you know. Mom and I basically have it worked out that she will buy the foodstuffs if I cook them so she doesn't have to. And I'm down with that.

OH and I found my wedding dress the other day :D!!! It's perfect. I never thought I'd love a dress...but...I love this one. Hah, I told Noah the other day I'm a little sad that I only get to wear it once. And if he ever comes home and I'm wearing it--he shouldn't be alarmed. ;)

Wedding Stuff, Wedding Stuff, Wedding Stuff!

My mind has been pretty much on one track since we got engaged! Five months is a short, short time to plan a wedding. But I guess if anyone was going to plan one in a short amount of time--it should be me. Hah, pretty proud of how much I've accomplished in a couple of weeks. I think we're pretty much all caught up as far as stuff we can do right now. Got most of my bridesmaids taken care of yesterday and today the last one will be fitted and I'm trying on dresses! :D

Think I'm hitting up the beach for a few days this upcoming weekend with some old friends and that should be fantastic! I could use a minute to breath, for sure. Been wanting to go to the beach for a while now anyway, so I hope that pans out.

I'm also looking forward to the things I want to make for the wedding! There are a couple decorations for the reception that can be made rather than bought and...you know me...of course I'm excited about that! Gonna get together with the bridesmaids one night and just kind of chill and make some of them and then I'm also thinking of making my own guestbook (mainly because I can't find one I like). I kind of want one that has the guest book in the front for everyone to sign and then album pages for the wedding pictures in the back so it's all together as one. Might work on one or two and see what I can come up with!