photo shoot: carly rae jepson style

We all know that pictures are worth 1,000 words so I won't have to say very much. This is my niece Savannah. We took photos today. Be jealous.

Enough said.

sunday best

I dragged my husband out into the cold to take some photos of me yesterday after church. This means we've got a new fashion post! Excuse the sloppy top bun, and my white legs. It has been a while since those babies have seen some sunlight.

lace dress: Dillards

white cardigan: Bohme Boutique

grey boots: Payless

white belt: mom's closet

pink earings: JCPenny

John and I live in a house in lovely Rexburg. Well actually we live in the basement of a house, and above us live a few single girls. The other day I was home alone, trying to take a nap before I started on some much needed homework, and I heard the strangest noises coming from upstairs. It was either creaky floors, or a squeaky bed. The noise was so consistent. Just repetitive squeaking. I know this is terrible of me to assume, but I most definitely thought that a little something was going on between a girl, a boy, and a very squeaky bed. Eventually the noises stopped, and I forgot all about it. A few days later I heard the same noises and got my suspicions again. The noises continued throughout the week, and finally, one day when it started up again, I went outside and started peeking through the windows. My findings were definitely NOT what I predicted. Just a girl, facing her TV, exercising; p90x to be exact. I felt relieved and embarrassed all in one.

The latest movie John and I watched together was Here Comes the Boom. If you're a Kevin James fan, you will definitely love this one. We got some good laughs through it, and it has some good messages as well. Redbox it yo!

Coming soon: my eShakti dress review

my girl Kirsty

 One of the great things about attending a great university, is meeting great people with great talents. Kirsty is a photography student and is blossoming! I had the pleasure of being her model (for lack of a better term) and we had such a blast together. We met a semester ago in a photography class and I immediately wanted to be her friend because of her brilliant english accent. Fascinating I know. We soon clicked, and I hope we get to spend even more time together. Here are just a few of my favorites.

 polka dot peplum top: target, jean jacket: american eagle, heart necklace: roommate swap, jeans: american eagle, gold glitter flats: payless

I give all credit to Kirsty for making me look so dang hot! You should seriously check her out. Not in that way though, she's married.

glitter

As a young designer, I have a goal to make the world a prettier place (such a lost dream I know). I would like to think that chevron stripes, lace, glitter, and a bit of color are a great way to start.

I'm not necessarily a fashion blog, but I do think that a few posts here and there can be a lovely contribution to making the world a prettier place. These shoes are my newest glitter contribution! Now, I know this is forbidden, and I rarely-to-never do it, but I was desperate. These are a payless shoe find. Spring time is coming and I needed some cute new glam to glitz up my wardrobe. What do you think? Photo credit given to myself on these.

happy thursday!

Yes it is a happy Thursday indeed! Remember those self portraits I had to take for my photo class? Well... I definitely had some complications, ran out of time, printed them last night and felt so depressed because I had failed all of my expectations of taking a great photo of myself. Pretty much taking self portraits is more difficult than you would think with a DSLR camera. So... I started ALL over again last night because yes, the deadline is TODAY. I made a little photo shoot in our shabby little home just to get the perfect self-portrait! It was quite the learning experience. I stayed up ALL night shooting and editing, and then working on other homework. Finished just in time to come to the photo lab at 8am and printed off my photos. I am VERY satisfied! I'm still figuring out Photoshop and Lightroom but I think I'm getting the hang of it. So here they are!
I was going for a sort of raw look with a modern and colorful twist. I think both of them express me pretty perfectly.

If you have any questions about the settings I used to take the photos and what editing I did then feel free to ask and I will surely answer your questions. Also, if you're wanting some pics taken I would love the experience and it will be super cheap for you, because I'm still just a baby in the photo world.

And now time for an embarrassing moment... This last week John and I were headed into the grocery store. For those rexburgians, you all know that these obnoxious people stand outside of broulims to try and get you to purchase a "starving student card." Well John and I spotted the obnoxious, so we decided to run to the entrance and avoid confrontation. John's foot caught on the rug in the entrance and lifted it up just enough to catch my foot and send me soaring through the air, gracefully falling to the floor into a double roll! It was super epic... and super embarrassing. We couldn't stop laughing! Unfortunately, neither could the other couple who witnessed the whole thing. Now I have a swollen knee and a pretty nasty rug burn as proof of my complete fail.
That's all for now!

happy happenings

It has been quite a while since my last blog update! Let's just say that life has been on full speed the past few weeks. I decided to give a quick update on recent life. 

Our short little Thanksgiving break was perfect. Lots of family, lots of laughs, lots of games, and LOTS of food! John and I had Thanksgiving with my family this year and there were 13 pies this year. There was lots of variety too which is unheard of in my family! Usually it's mostly apple and pumpkin but we went all out this year and they were all delicious! My mom even made her famous completely vegan apple pie with apples from my daddy's tree. Can you guess which one it is? I will have to share the recipe for that in a later post because it is sincerely delicious!

I also have a few more pics from my photography class. Luckily I had a drop dead gorgeous model. A shout out to my niece Ashley for helping out! Sorry boys... she's taken. 

For my next photo assignment my professor wants self-portraits so stay tuned for those coming next week!

For my graphic design I was given an artist and had to create some posters as if a museum hired me to advertise an upcoming art gallery. Any body heard of Charles and Ray Eames? Well they are an eccentric married couple who design furniture, fabrics, architecture, games, short films, etc. Well I'll show you what I have so far. I am far from experienced but I feel like I am doing pretty good considering how far I am into the program. I used adobe photoshop and illustrator to design these. If you have any questions, feel free to ask either through email or just comment on this post! 

This one is definitely my favorite so far! Not too crazy about some of the typography but hey that just means there's room for improvement.

 Only 2 weeks left in this semester! I'm trying to finish out strong so if I don't make another post for a while then that's the reason. Once school is out then we are planning on spreading Christmas decor around our little home. How exciting!

missing our plunger

 One neat thing about living in an old basement duplex is that all of our appliances are just as old. Anybody who has seen our place is definitely jealous of our green refrigerator. But unfortunately our toilet is pretty ancient as well. We're lucky if we can get anything through it without having to use the plunger.
Well this morning we found ourselves in need of a plunger but we lent it out to a friend. I don't think very many people can say they've lent out their plunger but a few weeks ago one of my friends found herself in a little situation. We'll leave her name out of this to save her the embarrassment.

I have learned lots of life lessons from being married and this is one I'm not proud to admit but here it is: if the toilet doesn't flush the first time, don't flush it a second time. If by some chance you failed to read that first lesson and flushed it a second time, don't flush it a third time. All you end up with is soggy carpet, wet feet, and an "I could be happier-husband." Good thing he's so patient with me. Life lesson learned... We did eventually get our plunger back and currently we have a giant fan drying out the damage.

On a not-so-gross note, I'm taking a photography class and here are a few of my photos from my last assignment. While working in black and white, we were supposed to show the effects that natural sunlight has on our surroundings and also how to capture that light in our photos. Unfortunately I haven't been at my best creativity level in this class, and for an art major that can be quite frustrating at times. I'm working on it though and improving with each week. Give me some of your thoughts!

Some of these photos were taken out by Eagle Park Campground in Rexburg, close to what is commonly known as the "duck pond." Other photos were taken outside of our house.
I used a Nikon D3100 to shoot with and a 55-200 mm zoom lens. I'll do better keeping track of my aperture and exposure in the future for anybody who is interested. I don't usually edit my photos very much at all. I usually just bump up the exposure and the contrast a bit. I do this in Adobe Lightroom. It's an awesome program and simple to use. I have Photoshop as well but I'm still learning the tricks on that one.