Class of 2011- photo overload!

Waiting to head up to campus before Graduation.

The photo program graduates.

Natalie Neal

Amanda Cowley

JJ Frioux- Drew's childhood best friend

My two professors- John Telford & Paul Adams

Next to my recent show "266 North 400 East". If you're walking through the library, make sure to take a peek. Read the artist statement first.

I love this banner Jessie made for me. It says "Congraduations Elise" 

Hazel has just learned how to kiss! I love it!

Wow. We are college graduates. It's unreal the emotions. I'm tired and excited, but mostly tired. Four years of exhaustion is really catching up to me. All my plans to start reading, working out.... (the list can go on and on) seems like it's going to take the back seat until I can regain motivation for productivity. I wish BYU would give us a spring break, so before finals and graduation, soon to be graduates can have a time to recoup so that when they graduate, they don't just want to crawl in a hole. 

I am so grateful that my family was here for graduation. We missed you Capeners! But so happy the Huish's were there. I could see little Hazel's round head bopping around while on laps. And I'd see my little brother texting me. But other than that my family was in a dark spot in the audience. And the ceremony was quite boring (luckily I had Nat and Amanda sitting to my sides or else I would have fallen totally asleep). I felt like Drew's last year was so much more exciting with cool artists. But such is life. 

After the ceremony, we went over to see my show and then went to Carrabba's for a delicious meal. So delicious. And it wasn't even crowded! Then we came back and played games with Hae & Asher. The house was definitely a giant sleep over with each room full of people but it made it for a fun and interesting weekend. One day we will have a home with guest rooms :) 

The next day my Dad treated us to the new flowrider in Riverwoods. We anticipated for it all morning- and it was really fun. But it was hard. They should have a 20 minute training session so you don't stress out from wasting time just trying to learn the dang sport! The last ride I had, (the last 2 minutes of the paid hour) I sprained my ankle and it's still as swollen as a 9 month pregnant woman. I guess there is a first for everything! ( I can't wait to wear my new shoes I got for graduation- I only wore them that day and haven't been able to wear them since because of my fat ankle. Very fat.)

I'm trying to get excited four our 2.5 week Singapore & Thailand trip. But it's hard because we're moving and that's been consuming my thoughts. My dear friends we are leaving and Drew's family that will just be moving back to Utah after so long- we will miss them all. But I mean come-on, Utah isn't that far away from California. And we will actually be back many times during the summertime for clients & big shows. 

I'm such an organizer which makes moving really difficult. As an organizer, you want to put all the pens in the box with the rest of the pens. But if you do the office separate from the living room where other pens are kept- it just gets messed up. Get where I'm going with that? My dearest Halen came over (bless her soul, she cleaned my entire kitchen out) and helped me pack today. We made a good team. I made piles, and she put them into boxes. I would help put them into boxes, but by the time the pile dwindled down to sorta the misc. junk, she would decipher how much I really needed that misc. junk. And she'd throw it out for me or put into it's needed box. It was perfect. Especially since Drew keeps going on "errands" and leaves from 9-3pm while I'm packing.

We have accumulated quite a collection of decor and especially our own art. How do you throw away your own art? You can't really. So packing has been tough. We have everything booked though. A Uhaul and storage unit and this thursday, we are outta here! 

Going crazy

It's now 6:34pm. I have been siting in the same spot, with the occasional bathroom breaks, since 9:48am. That's a long time. Before 9:48am, Drew & I were taking our genealogy test and it took most of my brain power to figure it out.

 Everyone around me in the library keeps leaving, moving on with their lives and taking tests. But not me. I'm still studying for the same test. It's not like I've procrastinated for this massive and insane test tomorrow at 8am, it's really only because I was busy studying and getting portfolios done for my other 7 classes. So I feel like I should get some kind of mercy from the university if I bomb this test tomorrow. This will be my third test from this Art History class, and let's just say, these tests are the hardest I've ever taken. Ever ever ever. You're supposed to take the 6 or so chapters that were discussed over the semester, and you're given four massive questions on a certain topic. Within each question, you must cite 8 works and artists. So it's really 24 that you have to know because you must be prepared to write a 5 page essay on one of those questions. Not all four, just one question. So you really prepare and become really good at some of them, but become not so familiar with other ones. Like when you lose one of your senses, another makes up for it, survival mode. Please say a pray that I will not panic during the test and do a decent job. I'd like to leave BYU with a bang.

Photo above: Earlier, a hornet randomly fell down on the table. It didn't fly to the table, it literally fell from the ceiling. It's an odd thing because I am in a cave with no windows or doors. So it's been underneath my water bottle. Good thing I drank it all before I had to put it on top. And I don't have time to go get another water bottle, and the drinking fountain is far away for me to just go get sips. This naturally sums up my awesome day.

I promise soon that I will start posting about cool art or things we've been doing, when I see cool art and do cool things. Haven't done any of that lately. I can't wait to get outside and breathe and feel free. CAN'T WAIT.

From private to public

So I never thought I would do this- make my blog accessible to anyone- (after I've made it private). It's like I'm cheating myself or going back on my word. I promise I am very loyal and never go back on my word. But guys, it just became a hassle! One of the main reasons I have links on my blog to my friends and family is so I can see their blog and have somewhere to go to click on them. But I always had to be logged in to do that. With an iphone- it gets tricky and quite frustrating (not that the iphone is the best phone created) but having to type my dang password and email in every time- it wore me out. And I'm sure the rest of you feel the same. No more private. I wasn't even posting private things anyways! I think I was planning to, but got to scared and didn't want to be that vulnerable. And besides, I invited over 60 people to read it. How private is that? Not very at all. I still wrote in my physical journal and I think I'll stick to that on the side...when I have time.

Speaking of time, I am about to have SO MUCH OF IT! I feel like I am starting a new life. They always said that when you get married, your life starts over and you begin it with another person. Well that was true, but this to me feels much more dramatic. I don't know what I'm like when I'm not in school! Am I fun? Spontaneous? Do I stay up late and wake up late? Do I read all the books I want to? Do I actually work out and have time to get fit? Do I have time for crafts and home decorating? I mean the options are limitless. What I am most excited for is taking my photography to the next level. Really focusing on equipment to buy and working full time at it, rather than not even 1/3 of my time on it. I want my business to grow and flourish, especially with our upcoming move to California! It's a whole new market, which I have kinda dove into already and possibly shoot more out of Utah weddings than anything.. but it's going to be so much better for us if we actually live there.

I can't wait for my family to come up here in a few days. I try not to get too excited because I still have 3 finals, one of which I should be studying for right now. But it's going to be an awesome feeling. I'm a cryer- and I hope I don't just bawl like a baby as they call my name at graduation. I really think I will. I think it will be from all this emotional and mental stress that this semester has given me- I will just be exhausted and excited and thrilled.

Now before I study I have to do the dishes. It is insane how piled up they are. I never let that happen- but who has time to do them? Not me. But I gotta make the time. I have been seriously considering paying someone to come over and clean my house. Someone should start a business doing that! "Cleaners during finals". It'd be a success!

Last Day of Class

I had to document our last day of classes. This photo was taken in Drew's official last class, I still had one a few hours later. We enjoyed taking classes together because there was always a study buddy. And if one of us would miss a class, the other could take notes. It was just great. This particular class a genealogy class and I confess that it was not my favorite class. I was excited going into it, having an idea of what to find and learn from, to just hating it because none of that was done. Anyways. I'm glad we will have this memory of taking classes together. BYU has been a crazy experience and I would not have made it out alive without my other half.

Only 4 days left!

This Just In.

8-9am is when I take my last test at BYU. April 21st. How do I celebrate? I'm sure I'm going to have panic attacks if I just come home and clean my house. I need to do something fun. What should I do?

Book Cover

I'm in a book binding class and for my last book, I wanted to make the cover. I didn't make the paper- but I thought I would decorate a rather boring paper. It's expensive paper ($10 for a sheet) too so I thought I'd make it a little more worth it then an ugly gray/purple color. I thought it turned out really well and I can't wait to cover my book with it.

Lately I've been watching every HGTV show there is (the good ones of course) while sewing my books, stamping this page, and other class projects like figure drawing. The idea of creating my own wall paper sounds really enticing. I almost just want to make tons of these pages, and put them on my wall- so it's noticable it's not wallpaper- but will trick your eye and be sorta cool. But then it could also look like a kindergarten craft. We don't want that. Then I thought it might be fun to put this exact paper into big frames. I almost don't want to put it on my book because I think it looks great against my gray walls. Maybe this will be a future project for me when I'm at home watching mindless TV or movies.

I start collecting stamps since we got married and needed them for cards and such, and I'm so glad I have because I have such a great collection to choose from. Sometimes they're expensive, but in the end, totally worth it. Do you see the baby face in the big circle ones? That's my favorite stamp purchase. I was going to decorate the book with just the baby face and make it a baby book or something- but the stamp didn't work well with the texture of the paper.

I Want

I feel like a puppet being tugged, pulled, lifted, swayed, twisted and torn by some person. That person is BYU. I've known for my entire 4 year education that Winter semester is the worst and every time Fall comes around, I have to remind myself NOT to give myself morning classes because of the cold weather (and daylight savings especially) and to NOT give myself more than 14 credits. This year, because of my need to move on with my life and achieve greater and better things, I have 18 credits. They're not simple classes (really what are simple classes at BYU) but rather very demanding, intense classes where the professor often reminds us that "college is for higher learning" and we can not be nursed to a good grade, but rather push and pull and try our hardest. Well professor(s), I am done pushing and pulling and trying my hardest. I feel so weak and all I can think about is the ocean and life that comes with being at the ocean. Or being a full time mom. That's all I want. I want the simple life of picking and dropping off kids, having the house clean by the time Drew gets home, cooking a fabulous meal that I knew how to do from scratch, without a recipe. I want to be able to live somewhere that is not surrounded by too-happy-college kids or the opposite: anti-Mormons. I want to find a craft and just do it because I have the time to and a home to decorate. I want to have a close group of girlfriends that get together atleast twice a month together to do whatever it is girlfriends do when they're together. I want to be close to family. I want my business to thrive and progress and not be scheduled around my schooling. I want my friends to be done with school so that the topic of conversation is not school and also, so our schedules don't revolve around the testing center's schedule or class. I want to move on. You'd think that this lifestyle is actually not that awesome (but rather boring and typical) and that being a student for however long you can milk it for- is actually pretty cool. Living on school loans- not knowing what the future holds. No that is not fun. I'd rather have 10 children under the age of 10 than have to go through another year of this.

Now that I know I want to move on, it's really hard taking mid-terms or turning in busy work. These emotions are not a surprise to me- it's how I've felt my entire life. Every grade I'm in, I feel like I should be in the one above (maybe because I was put back a grade?) So I guess since I'm a senior now, I feel like I should be graduated and on with my life.

I want to move on for the only reason to not have something to complain about. I know I will always have things to complain about and life is not as green as I think it is beyond Provo. But I'm pretty sure it is. Okay I'm done. That felt good.

Gifts in March

During my 3-D class, our last assignment was to make either jewelry or a knife. Ugh a knife? Ya right. And then, all I could think of was copper (I'm sorta obsessed with copper as of late) and then all I could think of was initial necklaces. Being an artist, everyday you have to try and be original and creative. Well, I threw that idea out the window and just stuck with a necklace I wanted and knew of. I also made some (and one bracelet) for my sisters (not Rikki because she told me she hates necklaces or anything on her body... so sorry girlfriend). I put them in tea bags to give it an organic feel. So sisters in CA, look for them in the mail this next week. Abby- I'll have to give you yours when we see you next! xoxo

Sorry for the lack of posting. A lot has been happening and life has been throwing us many massive curve balls. So I'll play catch up soon.

Lovely Package

Drew just found out that one of his student projects was published on one of his favorite design blogs- Lovely Package. Just today it was! He got an email from another design blog wanting to post it on theirs. That's how he found out. He submitted the photos without really knowing what was going to happen and lookie here! Something did happen! I'm so proud of my beau. Check here to see what he did. I remember when he was trying to figure out what game board to recreate and it was during the time that my family got Drew addicted to Speed Scrabble. Okay "addicted" might just be an overstatement because that doesn't really happen with games, but we really liked playing it together. So I suggested that he do a scrabble board since they haven't re-branded and packaged everything in a rad way, ever. And he did! This man is creative. That's what I say.

It's nice to see effects from school and projects. I guess it will pay off one day. It's just hard to see now.

As of late..

Besides the crazy amount of school hours a week or besides looking like a 14 year old everyday because I don't have time to blow dry or put mascara on, life is alright. I am appreciating my last few days as a cougar and a Utah resident. I realize that life after school doesn't get easier, in fact it may get busier. Well define busy. Anyways- this is what we've been up to lately, good or bad:

1. Eating tons of mexican food. I keep making the cafe rio ranch dressing and it's amazing. Super easy to make too. So because I keep making the dressing, we gotta put it on stuff right?
2. Insomnia still. I am beginning to hate our bedroom more and more because it reminds me of how much I don't sleep. While staying awake and instead of being productive and working, I think about how I want darker curtain so I can't see the glow from our street light.
3. We are making TONS of things lately. We have always been the D-I-Y type people, but it seems even more so lately (when we're really busy) than ever before. I have successfully made 3 copper baskets- from scratch. Just finished a binding a book (my first one, many more to come before May comes along!), Drew upholstered our office chair, and he also is working on our new kitchen table. I'll make sure to post all these when I have time and when they're complete.
4. Drew is working a ton with GD and music. Big things are going to be happening people!
5. I'm really clausterphobic lately. The crowds at BYU gets me really anxious and I just want to scream at them when someone is texting and isn't watching where they're going or someone is walking super slow and I have no where to go except to stay right behind them. Hopefully this stops soon because I'm on campus every day and deal with this every 50 minutes.
6. I'm still baby hungry. Do people ever switch and turn to be not so baby hungry? Man it's been the death of me for almost 2 years now.
7. The Bachelor. I know, I hate to say it but why not? Something mindless and dramatic is the key to a long and stressful day. I love to laugh at the girls and also cry with them. Anytime Emily is talking about Ricky, I start to tear up, turn to Drew, and tell him he's not allowed to ever die. At least not before me.
8. Finally finished the book THE HELP last month. I'm pretty sure everyone's read it..but if you have not, YOU HAVE TO READ IT! It was so amazing. I wished I read it consistently all the way through, but man I would read it ten more times it was so good. I think about it atleast once a day. Click here to buy it!
9. I'm really hating coats. I've always hated extra thick layers but I've switched to panic attacks when I have too much on. Like I freak out and have to strip down. It makes me more stressed I'm finding out. This isn't the most conveinant thing, seeing as today was 7 degrees at 9am this morning, and right now it's 18 degrees. The sun is going down in a few minutes. NOOO!
10. We get to hang out with Drew's parents for a whole week...in a few weeks! They're coming home to check out his new job starting in the fall, and they're also house hunting. We are more than excited.
11. Drew just opened for The Civil Wars. We love their music and them as people. We later went up to PC to see them again.
12. My sister is on the Mormon Bachelor.. vote for her by clicking "like" underneath the first video!!! She'll get to go on a second date.

okay is that too long of a post? oops. psychology is way too boring.

Parlor Hawk Documentary

I put my show up sometime two weeks ago, and it goes down tomorrow night! I can't believe it! I didn't really get a chance to even enjoy it myself, let alone tell everyone else about it. It's not my own show, which is one of the biggest reason I didn't proclaim it to the world wide web..so I'll make sure to get my own show soon. If you'd like to see it, go to the west part of the 4th floor of the HFAC on BYU campus. If you don't get a chance to browse through the book, I'll maybe get a spot at gallery stroll, or at the HBLL. I don't think I will put any of these images online in fear it will degrade their meaning. 

Let me know what you think if you do get to stop by!! TOMORROW NIGHT I take it down! So hurry!

Class can only get so exciting.

These are all photos I took from my phone of my friend Natalie, being the model for a lighting demo.

As I'm in my last 8 months of school, I am starting to get a little nostalgia. And I feel so much angst to leave so it's an odd combination. I love to learn, but really only get that feeling when I'm in my art & photo classes. It's a sad situation. I'm sure I will figure out ways to further my education wherever we move to. I feel like I am finally getting to the good classes where I am challenged in my state of mind & creativity that I can't just leave now!! But really, I have to. I mean come on people, I will go insane.

Utah State Fair 2010

Our new friend Cody's dad works for the fair every year, so he gave us free tix! It was so fun going on a week day when it wasn't crowded. It wasn't too hot or too cold, just perfect with perfect people to be with. Drew was the photographer this night, PHEW! Even though I still brought my film camera. He is in an intro to photography class so most of these images were done for an assignment due the next day (short & long depth of field, slow shutter & stop motion). It's fun because he's taking the class from one of my {favorite} professors, Paul, and he actually asks me if we can go shoot! The last image made his night. The man was talking to us about the square dancing (as did 6 other people) and then all of the sudden, notices Drew photographing him, then turns and gives us that look. It really took a mili second before he looked away. It was too good.