Saturday, December 17, 2011

HOME.

Home. 
home-home. 
really home!!!

this place where I grew up. 

this place that welcomes me with open arms, hearts....and refrigerators...
who's love I welcome, with open arms, heart...and stomach...

this place where I'm never singing alone...
where the harmony is always perfectly in key...
and the guitar always sounds beautiful...
along with the piano...

the place where "cheese" can really mean almost anything...
and "peach pit" is a term of endearment...

the place where everyone knows every quote that everyone else says...
and by 'everyone else' I mean my dad...
and 'everyone' usually excludes my mom...
but 'every' really means 'every'...

this place where we sometimes cry over spilled milk...
because no one's perfect...
and I can't even say that it always get's cleaned up either...
because that's kind of what cat's are for...

this place where sometimes no one mows the lawn... 
nor rakes the leaves...unless it's into one BIG pile
nor shovels the snow...
but that's ok too...
because the cats stalking through that long grass...
the epic jumps and flips into that giant leaf pile...
and those snow angels (but mostly snow ball fights)...
are worth more than just a pretty lawn...


this place where something's always broken...
but where there's always a quick-fix...
apparently because we're Norwegian?

the place where not a soul is awake at 10 on a Saturday morning...
but evidently a casual pan of bacon can revive almost anyone...



this place where people freak out sometimes...
but where people laugh out loud most of the time...

the place where people just aren't allowed to use big pans...
because they'll just make bigger messes...

this place where the sound of my mom's laughter echoes off the walls...
the best sound in the world...

the place where I learned how to listen...
and how to interrupt...effectively...

the place where I learned to try new things...
and how to stick to the old things...


the place where I've fallen down so many times...
and where I've been picked back up again...

the place where I've learned things...
the place where I've taught things...

the place where I learned how to be myself...
because being anyone else wouldn't be nearly as great...or easy...

the place where I was urged to be creative...
where now, my creativity hangs on it's walls...

the place where I can come to for help...
with the people I know how to help the best...

the place that frustrates me the most...
the same place that loves me the most...

the place who's walls I helped to knock down...
and who's walls I helped to build up...


the place where sometimes minds are spoken, even when they shouldn't be...
where sometimes ideas are shot down, slightly insensitively...
where sometimes people are angered, with a just cause...of course...
but a place where everyone is loved...
and when it comes down to it...
love is really the only thing that matters...


 

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Hack.

Hacking.... computer hacking more specifically, can be seen as both a positive, and a negative thing... usually by whomever is doing the "seeing".
However. there are other types of hacks.....



and then there's PICNIK hacks...
For those of you know, {or don't know....?} picnik is an photo editing website. There's bunches of cool effects, and little tips and tricks that you can do to your pictures to make them look kinda professional... 

one problem with picnik is that you have to upgrade to *premium* in order to do some other cool effects that are slightly more professional than the others.

HOWEVER!!!!!
I'm very proud of the fact that I have discovered how to use many of the effects to create other effects. 
like the "tint" effect. MY WORD, I can use that thing for like everything. 

can't use the "custom eye color" effect? use the tint!!!!!! tint your eyes blue, or purple, or brown..? whatever you want!!
can't use the "eye sparkle" effect? use the tint!!!!!! use white, and the "hardlight" tint effect, and apply it just on your eyes! thennnn use the white and the "add" tint effect, on just your pupils. it's a win. 

this is an exaggerated example so you can actually see the change.
















basically.... it's really fun.
it's also free.
WIN.
go have fun.
suck on that picnik!


 
**UPDATE: picnik is now owned by Google {but honestly... what isn't...} and I'm not quite sure how it's worked out, but now picmonkey is the website they suggest, and frankly, I like the interface better! It has all the same effects, but better! enjoy!**

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Decorating! {my room: college dorm}

Usually, I'm not such a big fan of decorating... or rather, I WAS not such a big fan of decorating.
I never had any "fun" ideas, and never any inspiration.  
and... I still kinda don't, but I have pretty things, and when I put them in places, it makes those places pretty.....
like this earring/jewelry tree!


And: this little mirror, those sticks in a teeny-tiny pot from France, that wooden dolphin knick-knack, that flowery headband, and...


THESE necklaces!!!!!!

that was just at the beginning of the year. 
My roommate and I got the smallest room in our suite 
{WHYYYY???? jk it's actually not bad at all.}
but it DOES mean that we have very minimal aesthetic space.... because it all has to be functional.
THEREFORE, we had been dealing with our lack of prettiness anywhere.

until christmas {cue chorus of angels!!!!!!}
{...............no, really....}
Then we put up lights!!!!!!

HOORAY FOR AESTHETICALLY PLEASING LIGHTS!!!

{ummm and thanks for $1 little tinted blue glass bulb TREASURES from good will}

Next up in the decorating series... {my other room: home}

 

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Roomie!! Thanks for...


  • showering.....occasionally
  • doing your laundry..... every couple of weeks...
  • using fabric softener so the entire suite smells like fabric softener... the fancy kind.
  • being a princess.... and for loving all the other princesses too
  • marrying Justin Bieber. 
  • always waking up super quietly and letting me sleep since I dropped my morning class.
  • loving snacks.... so there's always snacks in our room.
  • going all the way to the dining hall with me at 11 pm so I can get food, with no other motivation than just being a great roommate! (i know you get a chocolate milkshake while we're there.... but i know you totally just go because of me....)
  • never leaving puddles of water on the bathroom floor after showering.
  • having lots of headbands..... and I get to wear them.
  • that funny face that you puts on after you messes up your nails AGAIN (that I've just worked so hard at painting)
  • saving me from unhappy dinners....
  • ALWAYS just wanting pasta at MJ. (sometimes chicken fingers, but whatever)
  • for letting me borrow your clog-shoe-things because you know I don't have any slip-on pairs of shoes.
  • knowing that I wouldn't mind you using my makeup.....so you do so
  • ^laughing and giving me that look after I told you"you know you can use my makeup any time you want"and then saying "oh.... well i did :)"
  • your killer fashion sense....when she's NOT wearing sweatpants or coming back from the barn
  • never telling me the ending of Bones or Law & Order SVU, even though I know you've watched every single episode.
  • yelling at me when I'm not doing my homework
  • watching the lion king 8 times that one weekend (it might have been more though) and tolerating me singing "nnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatsinfenyaaaaaaaaaaaaahabaviiiiichibavaaaaaaaaa" and all the other songs..
  • getting scared very easily (it's SO fun chels!!)
  • being SUPER ticklish
  • preferring a 2:1 peanut butter to jelly ratio on her pbj sandwich
  • having 11 blankets on her bed. and letting me re-make your bed when it just looks awful
  • letting me wear her sweaters when I get bored of my clothes
  • promoting comfy clothes.
  • NOT promoting me not showering for 3 days... sorry chels.
  • cheering for me when i DO shower, laughing at me when I forget deodorant, and telling me I smell delicious on those days when I just got it all together.
  • feeding our fish every night
  • having a great mom who bakes us awesome cookies sometimes.
  • being super nice, and smart, and having a great work ethic..... I cannot begin to count the amount of time I've spent on hulu or skype while you're out on the futon busting your butt, and learning lots of new stuff.
Chels, you're pretty cool, and I'm surprised I haven't gotten sick of you yet!!!!! [heh] You're the best roommate ever, and I'm glad we ended up together this semester. 
Sorry the lights fall down occasionally.
Sorry my Christmas decorations are a lil ghetto..... with the duct tape and all.
Sorry I never do any work and thus ruin your work ethic.
Sorry I sing really loudly
Sorry I walk weirdly sometimes when I'm in a funky mood
Sorry I get the lyrics wrong to songs sometimes... I'm learning
Sorry I said that "to infinity and beyond" was from Star Wars today.... forgive me?

you're cool. you pretty princess you...


Love,
 

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Appreciation





Lord...
I appreciate the way the sunshine wakes me up each morning, persistently shining it's rays through my window blinds, mocking their inability to maintain the cavern of darkness that had kept me so blissfully asleep.


I appreciate the way the wind nips at my face, wrestling with my loosely-tied ponytail as if in a request to come play.


I appreciate the way the pavement glistens, wet with rain in the cheerful light of the tall, immutable lamp posts.  


I appreciate the way the fog rolls in over the hills to cloud our campus in a mysterious yet comforting mist.


I appreciate the way these dark, ominous looking clouds are covering my large expanse of sky, but still allowing a small portion of sunlight to peek in over the horizon, giving me hope for today to turn into a better today later. 

I appreciate the way the sun burns away the clouds as if they're prion bars preventing it from living free and unbound.


I appreciate the way you created the sun to reflect it's blinding light off of the moon, to light up our darkest nights with the promise of a new day.


I appreciate the way the night skies proclaim your majesty, the stars cry out your praise in silent harmony




Love,