poker while I was winning // poker while I was *ahem* not winning // drinking hot chocolate and studying for finals // my favorite 365 photo to date // poker getting a little out of hand // Oregon saying goodbye to me // me saying goodbye to Oregon // finally made it back to Alaska // Alaska saying hi
Hope you guys had a great week and may the next one be even better!
I'm finally back home in Alaska for a month. I forgot how cold it is here, and how quickly the sun rises and sets (only three hours of daylight). It's weird being home but it's a good weird. I can't wait to see all my friends here and take fun wintry photos and of course celebrate another Christmas and New Years.
It's the big day today! In just a few hours I hop on a plane (by myself for the very first time) and head home for a whole month of relaxation! There are so many emotions swirling inside me right now. I'm happy, sad, nervous, excited ... and there are multiple reasons for each of those feelings. I have a couple more finals today and a little bit of packing left to do. The fish's bowl is clean and our fridge is unplugged and defrosted and all our Christmas decorations over our door have been taken down. My ticket is printed and my fingers are crossed that my bags are under the fifty pound weight limit. I'm ready for this.
As for my outfit, it was taken from one of my inspirations on my pinterest board, and I really like the idea of actually following through with the random things that I pin. You can see my friend Jordan sporting the inspiration for my outfit here! I really liked her hair and how she paired the yellow top with yellow tights, so I wanted to have that same idea when creating my outfit. I felt like a fairy princess running around in this--especially when the sun came out while I was taking photos! I'm sad I found this photo spot on the last day of school--it's literally thirty seconds from my dorm and no one ever uses the road so there are never any prying eyes on me being ridiculous in front of the camera--but at least I'll have a fun new location to come back to!
The next time you see me, I'll be standing in some snow!
Today I did something I've never in a million years thought I would do. I actually asked a random person to model for a picture! Our beloved pet store caught on fire last night, which was super sad, and I still don't know many details but when I was looking around it seemed like there was a lot of damage inside. But I knew this was a rare opportunity to take some pictures, so Jenna came with me and we explored a bit. At first I was just taking pictures of myself by the fire truck, but it didn't look right at all. And I knew I would regret it if I didn't ask the group of fire fighters, sooo I did it! Big huge thanks to Jeremy for letting a random girl take his picture! I'm pretty sure after this, I can do anything.
He talked about how fire fighting was just his job just like me taking pictures. I hope to make as big of an impact through my pictures as he does with his job.
It's my last full day in Oregon. Man, that sentence kind of caught me off guard. Let's just take a moment here. It's my last full day in Oregon. That's crazy. Part of me is really sad to leave. I mean, this place has been my home for four months. I've grown here, made friends I'll keep for life, have learned so much, been given so many opportunities ... constantly I'm surrounded by beautiful nature and even more beautiful people. I'm really sad to be leaving all that behind. But then part of me is really excited to finally go home to Alaska. I'll be able to see my family again, cuddle with my cat, put my feet up on the dog when he sits in front of the tv, eat my mom's yummy macaroni, have family dinners again, see snow finally, see my family again (did I mention see my family again?). I am kind of nervous though since I have been living on my own for a little bit (and I feel like I've matured a lot--hahaha but take that with a grain of salt) and I'm sure the family dynamics at home have changed. It will take just a bit of readjusting to living at home. Oh but man am I excited to see everyone.
In the meantime, I still have three finals left, so I am trying not to get too excited about going home.
Today was a marvelous day! Amy is sitting beside me right now, and she was the beautiful model for today's photo. My university always has crazy awesome displays, so of course I have to utilize them for my own selfish photographic purposes. This week has been filled with finals and lots of sleeping (yaaaaay sleeping!) and I cannot wait to return home, though I will be sad to leave my family here! They are just such a blessing to me. You guys are awesome!
Because everyone needs at least one silly picture in their 365. And I want to remember how happy I am at the moment. I have awesome friends, an awesome boyfriend, an awesome family I'm coming back home to in less than a week, awesome supporters (that's you!), and I love everyone so much. Group hug!
Today marks the first day of the last week of my first semester at college! It's dead day, so I'm taking it easy and studying for finals and hanging out with friends and buying Christmas presents. My friends have also gotten me addicted to Pretty Little Liars (yeeah, major white girl show that's totally ridiculous and unrealistic but still somehow addicting), so I'm sure we will be watching a lot of that ... and playing poker. Oh yeah, we're crazy college students.
The rest of the week is going to go by so fast/slow. Fast because every week goes by really fast, but slow because I only have one final every day and then two on friday and each day itself goes by slowly. I think everyone including me is just about ready to go home. I think a lot of it is the Christmas spirit going around. Only five more days!
1. Chilling out at the dorm Christmas party drinking hot chocolate (out of a mug I made!) and making snowflakes. My roommate Annette is amazing at making snowflakes she's been helping me make some pretty cool ones. Our window is currently covered in our snowflake creations.
2. Finally hung up the Brave posters Matt got for me. I seriously loved all the art in that movie. Looking at the art makes me want to go to Scotland and Ireland so badly.
3. Snowflakes in the common areas! Courtesy of all the awesome people living in our dorm.
4. Glazing a random pot. I have just a couple more things I need to glaze, but I'm so sad ceramics is over. My teacher was sad I couldn't come back next semester, but one day I shall take all the ceramics classes. Even though some days were really frustrating, I loved being able to create things that I use in real life. It's practical art.
5. Making Christmas cookies! I might have eaten these all in one sitting.
6. Shadow play. This was a cool display at a senior art exhibition. I need to go back and take real pictures there.
7. Snowflakes everywhere! Oh my goodness, I took a lot of pictures of snowflakes this week.
8. Dressing up all fancy to celebrate the end of the semester by eating cheesecake with awesome people!
9. Forever fascinated by interesting ceilings. Whenever I finally get my own house, you can bet the ceilings will be awesome.
As always, you can follow my adventures on instagram @impulsings. Hope you guys have a fantastic week!
Today has been an incredibly long day, but one where a lot has been overcome. Who knew I could learn so much in one day? To borrow from my boyfriend's facebook status: "Sometimes we forget how damaged people are from things that happened before we even knew them. We assume that their life began when we met them. But they lived an entire life before we knew their name, and assuming otherwise is unbelievably dangerous. Everyone has scars, everyone was hurt in the past. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Always remember that. We'll never know the full story - so don't take it upon yourself to fill in the blanks."
That status goes perfectly with the meaning I had set up for this 365 photo, where title is actually from a popular song about a girl in prostitution and the song talks about the facade that people put up and even though people you see look like they have it all together, they are really falling apart on the inside. And I think that image really shows that a. you can't judge people by their appearance, and b. everyone has demons that they face and you should be kind and loving to everyone and smile at strangers that you pass on the street because they could be fighting a hard battle and you would never know it. I think it really shows that every person is more than just a passing face and they have a story and an entire past wrapped up into who they are and I purposely created the image to tell a story and to stir up emotion. (Mostly the emotion of compassion for the character because a lot of things in the photo imply that she is facing a hardship--downward gaze, the smoke that presents mystery, the tones of the photo, etc. and to get the viewer to want to help her.)
I think it takes a lifetime to not only learn about a person but it also takes a lifetime to realize that there are people other than you. What I mean is, that other people have thoughts and feelings and the things you do and say affect those feelings. I want to live a life where I only create positive feelings for others. Above all, I want to be a good friend.
Speaking of friends, today some of my friends and I celebrated the end of the semester by dressing up all fancy and going out for cheesecake. It was so so much fun and I am blessed beyond belief to have these girls in my life.
Today's 365 photo was an incredibly awesome accident. Ivy and I sat down by a mirror to wait for the other girls and we noticed it created an awesome effect. So right there Ivy modeled for me and I modeled for her, obviously:
Oh yeah. We're hot. The mirror loves us. ;) (But seriously my friends are so beautiful, inside and out.)
There is a new art installation around my campus, so I utilized it for my own artistic purposes. We only had time at night to shoot it, so it was fun experimenting again with night photography.
This video seriously blew me away. Even though the entire process to create this photo was literally played out, it can never take away the magic of creating a piece of art. One day I hope to be this good at photography and photoshop.
First of all, I have never smoked and never will. It's pretty unhealthy and I don't encourage people to do it (not judging anyone who does). Technology creates these great things called props and photoshop so that people like me can get cool smoking pictures (because I do love the feel of those types of photographs) without any actual smoking.
Aaaanyways, for this photo I wanted to create a character bustling through a busy street on a cold winter's day, and I also wanted to give an air of mystery around her. Hence the smoke and downward gaze and blurryness (even though that one actually wasn't intentional ... ssh!). My friend snagged me a fake cigarette from the theater department because there have been a lot of ten minute student plays (which have been unbelievably awesome!) and they had some extra props. And we all know how I love crazy, weird props.
In just a few minutes I'm heading out to an art exhibition to see some senior projects, and then later tonight there are more student directed plays. It's just been a really artsy-fartsy day and those are my favorite kind of days.
Look who finally decided to take pictures for the 365 project again. Seriously I don't know what's wrong with me. I absolutely love the photo-taking process but it takes everything in me to initiate it. I guess the hardest part of something really is starting it.
Out of the amount of time I wear shoes in a day, I'd say I wear these slippers about 60% of the time. They are just so easy to slip on when going to work or pottery or breakfast when my brain can't function enough to pick a creative outfit. And one would think these would be awful for rainy Oregon, but they actually have been very successful at keeping my feet nice and warm and dry when running through the rain.
Thankfully I have friends with warm, cute sweaters to keep me warm on these rainy days. I have a couple of my own sweaters, but most of my wardrobe is filled with quirky pieces that are hard to remix on a day to day basis. It has been fun remixing things with my friends, especially since it's helping me learn what pieces I need to incorporate into my own wardrobe.
Have a great day everyone!
p.s. not sure why these photos are so pixely ... it seems like photobucket doesn't like me today.
The weather is starting to get colder and colder here, which means the coats are coming out and tights under shorts are returning again. There's a nip in the air and everyone is singing Christmas carols and decorating and participating in secret santa and making snowflakes and sipping hot chocolate. And while it is cold here, I've been pining for some wondrous Alaskan snow--perhaps not having to take outfit photos out in the snow, but playing in it and watching it fall and making ice cream out of it. My roommate Annette and I have our dorm window covered in snowflakes and it makes me smile every time I see it. If only they would turn into the real thing!
I hope you have a beautiful winter day! What's your favorite thing about winter?
