Simple Endeavours

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Yearbook Workshop

I decided it's been a long time since I've posted. Let's seeeeee.....what has happened lately?

Most recently was the CBA Yearbook Workshop. We have 12 staffers this year and.... we're all girls! Our teacher said that this is a very odd year because normally boys dominate the yearbook staff.

The first day was photography, so we all got a half hour outside taking pictures.

I had Rachel run down the driveway and Maureen, who was closest to the camera, hold out her hand and look down, and had Rachel put her hands on her hips and look up.
I think it turned out looking really cool!

The first day a half hour before the workshop was over, we all got oversized t-shirts and were told to refashion them for a fashion show the following day.

I had just told Rachel that it would be really cool if our t-shirts this year said "Oh Snap!" And had a camera logo. Therefore, I made one myself.

and hashtag: we're all in this together (from high school musical)

And while everyone else was making a shirt, I went out of the box and made a bag.

And goodness everyone was saying I was going to win, I had the creativity part down,

but not the presentation part, they brought out two more lady teachers from CBA, and that made it even more nerve-wrecking to walk the runway, I admit, I sped through, and my bag was a little more than a blur to them, by the time I was off, the yearbook rep was still reading the card about what I created. whoopsies.

The Staff:

After the photo above, our teacher asked if anybody had anymore picture ideas, I piped up and said that I did.

And she told me to arrange everyone the way I wanted.

I got to set up the picture below! Eeee!

(It's supposed to be like we're standing in an arrow form.)

All in all, I'm really excited to see what our staff can put together this year.

We've got our theme down, but that's a secret.

Our wonderful teacher and the 5 editors are getting together separately before CBA classes start to iron out some quirks and figure out our theme more.

-Stephanie

Sunday, August 3, 2014

To Mandie

Mandie passed away.

Though they said she died with a heart attack.

I believe she died in peace, with heaven's gates opening, and God stepping through and watching her trot towards Him, and wagged her tail, meeting God for the first time.

He's taking care of her until I can be up there with her again.

This is my poem I managed to write yesterday while pain and loneliness was all I felt:

'I will never get enough

of her touch

of her smell

of her comfort

For there is no way to record

the ways she smells when she's wet

her shivers during a storm

how her soft brown eyes would comfort me when I was upset

She has always been

my best friend

my protector

my joy

I will never be ready

to let her go

to forget her

to move on

I will always

love her

care for her

remember her

She has always been more than a dog or a friend

She was my family.'

And all those hugs I have given her now seem priceless, because as I want them most right now and I can't hug her again.

All of her kisses, licking my face, and sometimes even my feet because she was so silly, now feels like something gone, gray in the distance.

How she would be so annoying during supper time, demanding she have some of our human food as her own.

How she would come into a room so happy sometimes, and if you were on the floor, you'd be rewarded with a whack on the head from her tail.

Even watching her happy little behind as we took her on walks and we would get so embarrassed because she would drop a load, and we didn't have a bag with us to pick it up.

How she would run through the house and you'd have to rush to the sliding glass door to let her out on the deck, because once her walk was over, a dip in her dog pool, and a nap came immediately behind it.

How our front door has her nose art smeared all over it from sitting too close to the door while watching the traffic drive by.

How she would come rub her body against the couches when she was wet, a habit we were never able to break.

The way she would press her pink nose against my door in the morning, I'd hear her nails clip clap on the wooden floor and feel her wet nose come up to my head on the bed telling me to wake up, for the night was too long for us to be apart.

How after that, she would go over to my aquarium and lick up any dropped fish food on the floor.

How she'd be laying on the floor, and I'd widen her front legs and sit there as if I was sitting on her lap.

How when I would be cuddled in her bed and she'd rest her head somewhere on my body.

I loved that feeling.

Mandie had so many wonderful quirks that can never be replaced.

She was unforgettable.

I love you, sweet girl.

With all my heart.

Stephanie

Thursday, July 24, 2014

I don't post often, but when I do, it's a long post.....and long title.

The recent honeysuckle sunset forced me to run in to the house and grab my camera.

It was just too beautiful to forget.

My really late 4th of July events:

I made root beer ice cream!

I had to make it twice because mom got me evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk.

The second go-around was much tastier.

While sitting by the ice cream maker, I decided that this is actually a really nice part of the yard that I don't visit often enough, of course, there's a view of the neighbor's house.

Mmmm!!

Do you wanna try making your own?

Here's the recipe I used!

SODA POP ICE CREAM RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

4 cups cold soda pop, any flavor

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup whole milk

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix all ingredients together and pour into 2 qt. ice cream maker.

Freeze as directed

Place in freezer after finished to harden up

Some sparkler fun!

Of course, they really, really scare me.

But there are creative ways to light them without having to hold on to them!

We didn't get together with any family this Fourth of July.

It was kinda boring.

Everybody went off and did their own thing, so I painted my nails!

The best part was our camp fire and watching the neighbor's illegal fireworks being set off.

Yay! Haha

I never paint my nails.

I like just plain snow white nail polish, and that's about it!

With plenty of time in the day left, I finished my anchor cross stitch that's been sitting around for ages waiting to be done.

Dad came home the other night and handed this to me.

Driving doesn't seem as fun anymore.

I've completely lost my "drive" for it now that sign up for driver's ed is coming up.

We went to the beach for the first time this summer!

Blurry driving photo from the backseat:

And a gorgeous foggy ocean picture for your pleasure:

The majority of landscape we drove through:

I warn you. I can get bored in long car rides and come up with odd things:

This was inspired by the rows and rows of endless corn fields on our ride.

Sorry for my chopping doodling.

It was a bumpy ride as well...haha.

The world never sleeps, and the ocean never stops.

How these words came out so...non-bumpy looking is a mystery to me.

My last doodle in my traveling doodle book from the trip.

Yes! This is the same doodle book that traveled to West Virginia with me.

I love when I remember to take it places.

My latest Amazon order just came in!

I'm so excited to read this book!

And I bought a new phone case.

My last one was pink....and pink is just not my color anymore to say the least.

Blush pink is okay....but that was not the color my case was.

Bright, eye shockingly pink that shot you in the eye every time you saw it.

Okay, well maybe it wasn't that bad.

But I'm loving the improvement!

Not that I really needed it...because nobody texts me except my mom....

Latest nature journal watercolors:

This was a really super rushed painting.

By the time I sat down and had everything out, everybody was ready to go.

*sigh*

I did this one at the beach yesterday. It was kind of challenging because it was breezy and my paper kept flipping.

The struggle.

Some watercolor doodles from the other night.

My sister really didn't like these at all....but...*sniffle* I like them.

My recent paintings:

I found a wooden lightswitch plate at Walmart a week or so ago and I just had to buy it.

I wanted to make a nautical painting to go with my room!

Monday morning I was just like, 'You know what? Imma paint somethin' today."

Boom.

This was from a painting class. Ehh. I don't like purple clouds, but I like the rock the wave is crashing into.

Dad told me that my paintings from painting classes I seem distracted, but the one I did on my own on Monday was, "seamless."

I bought 'mini' brushes!

They're ideal for small projects such as 4x4 canvases, lightswitches, and so forth.

I can't wait to use them!

My recent sketches:

It was a rainy, motivation-less day, so Mom, Britney, and I went downstairs and watched Disney's Atlantis. This is the only bit of like-ness I could get of Milo. He kept moving around! Haha

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

-Stephanie

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

IT'S JULY!!

My very first wood project is complete!

I faced the scary wood cutter and sander!

I sliced my fingers a bit working with the sharp edges on the sander, but it was worth it!

I added a bit of stain to them all to antique them.

Then, since I didn't want to crack the wood, I glued the street signs to the board.

Do you like it?

It's happily sitting on my dresser now, directing me to Middle Earth!

Sadly, the time came and went for me to take my goldfish over to Nana's pond.

They had outgrown their 5 gallon aquarium.

I never knew how much I would miss them until they were in the bucket heading over to her house.

Seriously, they were the most annoying, dirty fish in the world.

But I loved them!

I didn't want them to deal with temperature change shock, so I held them in the water like this for about 20 minutes until the water temperatures were about the same.