recent nom noms

Item 1: Brach’s tiny gummi bears. (sold at Walmart)

Why I like them: They’re tiny, yet still have faces. The serving size is 62 bears. They’re like stress-relief balls for your teeth. I have been accused of being addicted to these.

 

Item 2: Haagen Dazs caramel cone ice cream. (on sale this week at CVS, also sold at Weis)

Why I like it: It’s a chocolate-covered waffle cone IN my ice cream. It’s crunchy and melty and chocolately and cold and sweet and perfect after work with hot chocolate.

 

Item 3: Lindt dark chocolate with a touch of sea salt. (roll-back price is $1.98 at Walmart)

Why I like it: It’s Lindt’s already-great chocolate, perfectly nuanced with salt. You can taste the salt, but it’s not salty. You can taste the chocolate, and . . . is it just me, or is the chocolate actually better because of the salt? (Thanks to Joyce for introducing me to this stuff!)

 

Item 4: Panera Bread’s asiago cheese bagel. (sold at Panera Bread)

Why I like it: Cheese. Toasty cheese. Slathered with cream cheese. What’s not to love?

 

Go try one of these this week. Let me know what you think.

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whilom days

So much has changed this past week. Sincere insanity has descended, transpired, and ascended from my post in this household in just over a week’s time.

Slightly over a week ago was Sunday, December 12th. I awoke on a somewhat rainy morning and schlepped over to church. I had no car. I had taken no finals, nor studied for any. I had a rather dear friend whom I thought I’d have forever. I hadn’t even met a certain person who I am now friends with. Most of my Christmas gifts were in the mail or still unordered. I felt as though my life was, for lack of a better word, depressing. I wasn’t depressed, goodness no!! But I felt like I was spinning my wheels, being dragged downward, and just plain schlepping through life (betcha couldn’t tell I like that word!).

A whirlwind touched down on that very Sunday afternoon.

I went to look at a car that I ended up buying the next day. It is a wonderful, yellow car that will be getting its very own post someday. In Sunday School, I sat by a somewhat new girl and really hit it off with her. Who knew there was another Christian girl my age with such a passion for sewing AND coffee?! Over the course of a few days, aforementioned “rather dear friend” and I hashed out some issues, and I felt the need to sever the ties between us that were apparently based on lies. But there is peace in making a wise decision, despite the pain in the severance. By Friday, every last final was completed, including a drawing that I hope to frame sometime. I just need to do some more touch-ups to make it perfect. Furthermore, these were my finalest finals. I graduated yesterday, Sunday the 19th, with my Associate’s Degree in Fashion Design, which is super exciting! As of today, I’m only waiting for one last gift to arrive in the mail, and all that have arrived are wrapped and under the tree.

Today I feel and AM so different than a week ago. I’m still somewhat in shock of everything that has happened. Do I long for those whilom days of yesterweek? No. Because I am certain that all these changes are for the better, and I can only thank and praise God for those workings in my life. His thoughts are truly far above my thoughts, and His ways are most definitely far, far superior to my ways.

I can draw too

I don’t just sew, complain about biology, and blog arbitrarily. I draw.

I took four years of drawing lessons from Mrs. R in high school before I graduated. In my fashion studies at LCCC and the Baum School of Art, I’ve also done some drawing: Drawing 1, 2D Design, Fashion Illustrations, and currently an independent study pertaining to the art of figure drawing. Tis this latter class that I would like to talk about.

Most of you who read my blog, read it because something about my life interests you. Maybe it’s just the way I write about my life. Regardless, I’m going to bore you with part of my life, then share some pictures.

I graduate in December (yay) and am only taking two required classes this semester in order to graduate. There is a third class that is optional which I am taking as well.

Requirement 1: a laboratory science. My options were chemistry, physics, or biology. I chose biology.

Requirement 2: figure drawing. My options were running out. I filed a class substitution form and it was denied. I called the dean of students and he told me to change my major. I emailed the teacher directly and never got a reply. Why? Because I believe that the human body is not something to unclothe and call art. God is the Artist Who formed the human body and even He put clothes on it.

One of my absolute favorite teachers, Pam, worked with me to find a solution. Together, with the director of the Baum School, we came up with the idea to offer a (drumroll) clothed figure drawing class. However, such a class would not be ready in time for me to take it AND graduate as scheduled. One of the two figure drawing teachers agreed to work with me outside of class so that I can get the credit for doing the class without actually sitting in the room with the model. I think it’s been working out really well. And I’m enjoying it rather immensely!

Not everything that I draw has something to do directly with the human body. Since my major is fashion, I have recently done assignments that explore cloth, drapery, fabric folds, etc. Some drawings are to simply build up skill in the area of shading (such as reflected light) or to practice using a certain medium (charcoal on toned paper).

The following assignment was to draw myself in a foreshortened way using a mirror. This was an exceptionally fun pose because I used not only my mirrored image, but also my real image. Fun, fun.

Below is a drawing of drapery. And that is not curtains. It is in fact the draping of cloth over something. Could be a curtain rod, yes. But in this case, it is over the arm of a faceless girl.

I did several drawings on toned paper. Toned paper is paper that is not white or black, but rather is a shade of gray. Any shade. There are many to choose from. This is a set of hands that I was required to draw so as to practice the correct formation of hands. Do you realize how difficult it is to draw hands?! This one is earmarked for a special friend. Twill be a gift that she requested.

This is my most recent and possibly favorite drawing so far. Again I was asked to draw some drape-y fabric, so I drape-y-ed it on the dressform. I think it turned out pretty good. Toned paper has a way of making otherwise-weird-and-pointless drawings look breathtaking. Why did I not discover this sooner?

almost official (theoretical 1st of possibly 2 posts)

I don’t do blog series. I usually just write a really long post when I should probably split it into two or three or seventeen separate posts. But I would like to go to my grave knowing that I did indeed attempt a two-part post. That is to say, a blog series containing two posts. This is big, folks. A absolute first. I just hope I remember to write part two.

PART ONE

Many of you are aware that I work at a fast food establishment that is known as Dunkin’ Donuts. Not Dunking Doughnuts. It’s sad that I have to clarify. Tis not difficult to spell it correctly. Anyway, I have worked there since soon after I graduated from high school in 2008.

I could bore you with the details of my job, and so I will. Because I’ve got two whole posts to fill! I was hired by DD Franchisee J and his brother Manager M. They were both friendly, somewhat-efficient, approachable bosses to work for. How confusing it was indeed when about 6 months after the beginning of my employment, Franchisee M informed me that Franchisee J and Manager M had been *ahem* terminated. For reasons still unknown to me.

In the next 6-8 months, we at DD seriously went through about 8 managers. At least. I cannot remember all of their names. One guy only lasted a little over a week. It was insane. You cannot possibly know the depths of insanity that was manifest to me. You think 8 managers was confusing? We went through literal dozens of employees/coworkers. People from the work release program, high school students who thought the job should revolve around them, people who got off the boat a few weeks previously and had never brandished a broom before, people to whom I had to teach the American currency value of a penny and a nickel and a dime, “No no no! Don’t hand that person a twenty when their change is only ten!” Yep. We had all kinds.

I threatened to quit and seriously considered it at least weekly. But DD did have its benefits. Despite being the youngest employee, I had seniority because I was the only person there who had worked at that location since the very first day it opened. I could use that seniority to get days off. They were pretty good about working around my class schedule and giving me Sundays off for church. And with my full schedule, who has time to be job hunting?

A few times a job came to me. One man handed me his business card on an incredibly busy Saturday morning, and wanted me to be the receptionist at a hearing aid place. I don’t consider myself the most patient of people, but I truly could not wrap my mind around the thought of speaking loudly to every person whom I was to receive at that establishment for to help those with hearing loss. By the time I was desperate enough to call him back, the position had been filled.

Meanwhile, DD got a “temporary” manager. Ms. Temporary Manager was someone whom I had trained and whom I constantly had to help with HOW to make drinks, HOW to use register, etc. Not exactly the cream of the crop. Oh but now she’s manager. So now Ms. TM tells ME what to do. And as a coworker of mine so eloquently put it, “She crazy! She has no nothing in her head!”

Ms. TM has been the manager for over a year at the time of this post. I decided that as soon as I graduated from LCCC with my Associates in Fashion, I would quit Dunkin, with or without another job lined up. And I was serious this time. Ms. TM had found my last nerve and trampled. All. Over. It.

And then one day as I held the proverbial towel and was about to throw it in the face of Ms. TM,  in a black hole, just plain throw it in, I was handed another business card. More promising than others. This was not diving out of the safe seaworthy boat of a job at DD  into murky waters of a new job. No. This was a rescue from the viciously shark-infested waters of DD by a boat. I would have welcomed any boat at this point. Pirate ship. Nazi sub. Titanic. Plastic bathtub boat. Not even joking.

Boat: to be elaborated on in the next installment of this series.

Slip, trip, and fall

“I tripped and I fell.”

“We do slip and fall.”

“Yeah, I tripped.”

“We do slips.”

“I remember I slipped at first. I remember thinking, ‘Hey, I am predominantly slipping!’ “

“And then you tripped?”

“Yeah.”

“We don’t do that.”

–Brian Regan

Sorry, but this was the only quotable quote I could think of about fall. Some call it autumn. For me, it’s the transition stage between flip flops and fuzzy socks, between tee shirts and layers of hoodies, between pink & orange sprinkles and red & green sprinkles to sweep up at work.

Fall is finally here, which means that all the projects that I was going to do before fall….should now be done. Remarkably, they aren’t. Some approach the state of completion. But some have not even procured a second thought from me.

School started two weeks ago-ish. I’ve attended one class twice and my second class hasn’t started yet. Most of biology is going right over my head. But the little that does penetrate only serves to concrete in my mind the veracity of Intelligent Design and the obvious fallacy of evolution.

I recently agreed to do some graphic design work for a man from another church who will be teaching a Bible course and needs a handout made. And I also designed little clothing price tags for the volleyball culottes I am almost done with. All this work on the computer remind me of the small amount of enjoyment I found in the two computer classes last spring semester. I still prefer fashion, but I haven’t crossed graphic design off my list of possibilities.

(sneak peek of aforementioned tag:     )

On a totally different topic, we have an inhabitant under our porch. I’ve never seen it, but I’ve been informed that there is a groundhog under there. Therefore, a trap has been set, with offerings of corn, lettuce, and acorns. I wonder if an eviction notification would be effective.

Happy falling! If perchance you happen upon a shard of mitochondria or a herd of amino acids, you can be thankful you’re not examining them under a microscope like I am.

nameless thoughts

I wrote this poem before I graduated from high school. I still haven’t thought of a name for it. :-) But it’s kind of how I’m feeling again. You’d think I’d have figured out a fool-proof plan to dealing with the unknown future by now! But no. God thinks differently.

When the path before me disappears

and I can’t retrace my steps,

And the silence of unanswered prayers

is all that I have left,

Then my grief-torn face is moistened

by the slowly falling tear.

Behold! One standing by my side;

my whispered name I hear.

The mystery of unknown ways

He shows me bit by bit.

The once-dark corridor I tread

now seems to be well-lit.

To walk a single path in light

quite easily is done.

But I am unprepared to face

three roads formed from my one.

I strain my ears to catch the voice

of One so calm and wise.

Why does He tarry? Why so long?

My time is passing by.

At last I set my feet on one;

the center path I choose.

I have everything to gain hereby

and even more to lose.

What are my plans after college? It’s becoming more and more trying to simply smile at the interrogator and say, “I’m not sure yet.” People don’t understand that. I should have a plan! I shouldn’t just glide through my last semester without thinking ahead!

And then of course come the suggestions. People who don’t know me think that they can tell me what to do with the rest of my life. Whatever happened to smiling back at the poor confused soul and saying, “I’ll pray for you” ? Hmmm? Cause I could indeed use more prayers and fewer interrogations.

Light before the tunnel

Most people talk about seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. They see a goal. Something to work towards. It may be rough going now, but up ahead it gets easier. Right?

Well I am approaching my tunnel right now. The sun is shining; I feel all warm and comfortable outside. And that feeling of entering a tunnel hits me. The endless sky above me is cut short with the stone walls and ceiling of the tunnel surrounding me. In less than one week, I will leave the beautiful summer days behind and head into the darksome tunnel of my fall semester which dead-ends into my December graduation. It’s not really all that bad. But it feels pretty bad right now.

I have actually enjoyed my summer. I think. I stayed busy so I don’t have many boring, lonely times to complain about.

My sister came at both the beginning and end of summer. Her visits were full of laughter, shopping, coffee, and more laughter.

Planning a surprise visit to Tennessee gave me something to look forward to for several weeks. And actually going to Tennessee was quite the summer highlight! I’ve already written two posts about that and I’m sure I could write dozens more, but I’ll spare ya.

This weekend, our family is going to Boston! I have some Mike & Ikes purchased and have charged my iPod. All that’s left to do is pack.

We return from Boston late on Saturday night. On Monday, I have my first biology class. How unfun. Sigh. The tunnel is closing in already.

And I’m not holding my breath.