Day 28: Anything You'd Like

Hello friends! How was your Wednesday? I feel like I should call it 'hump day,' but I really don't like that term. How 'bout hill day? Or bump day? Anyway, how was it?
Mine was a little interesting. I haven't had a lot of homework this semester until recently. And now all of my professors are going crazy with assignments thinking they haven't given enough and it's more than I can handle along with my regular social gatherings. I always think this diagram illustrates the conundrum perfectly:

I thought I could handle choosing social life and good grades, but it turns out that getting enough sleep is essential to getting good grades. . . Basically, I stayed up late working on some homework, not even finishing it, and ended up sleeping through my alarm this morning. I have done this once already this semester-at that time I appreciated it and knew it must mean my body needed more rest. The first time it happened, however, I didn't miss a quiz because of it. I missed another boring lecture from a professor who reads off the powerpoint presentation. One of the homeworks I was working on last night was studying for a quiz in that awful 8am class that I ended up accidentally missing. So I'm now missing a quiz grade in there.
Then, since I didn't finish all of my homework last night, I planned to get back from my early class around 9 or 9:15 and have two hours to work on the rest of it before getting ready for my afternoon classes. But no. I woke up at 10:15. I had to watch a 56 minute video for one of my assignments, let alone read two chapters of a novel I have little-to-no interest in, then answer the questions in my textbook with answers synthesizing all three sources. Then I needed to take a shower and get ready and not have wet hair so I didn't freeze when I went outside. . . long story long, I had a long morning and still didn't finish everything-at least not in the way I generally like for it to be done.

My afternoon was much better! I couldn't focus in my 12:30 class because I still had some adrenaline from the morning, I believe, but once I got out of there and took a deep breath, I was able to calm down and keep working on some stuff. Then I had just one class left, which is usually pretty laid back, and non-stress inducing whatsoever. Then I met Dylan and had a double feature-he brought 500 Days of Summer since I didn't like it the first time, and I put on Despicable Me because he hadn't seen it before. It's been fun getting to know him! I haven't had any guy friends in college, so it's nice to remember how loyal men are in their relationships and just make a friend :]

Sorry for the tangents, but on a day where I get to share a drawing of anything I'd like, I figured I can talk about anything I'd like as well. But here's the drawing!

It's nice and springy! I miss warm weather already. I wish there was a season in this part of the world where I could wear boots and sweaters without a jacket on top. I think that mid-October through mid-November could have been like that here, but it's just so windy in Oklahoma. That's probably my least favorite thing about living here. The worst times is when it's been dry and the wind blows dirt everywhere and you get it in your eyes, or your mouth if you try to talk. . . gross.

I really hope your Wednesday wasn't as strange as mine felt, and that you enjoy these last few days before the world ends because of the Bedlam game! No matter who wins or loses, there are going to be some angry people in Stillwater, and I pray I'm not one of them. But maybe the earth will shake again to celebrate a Cowboys win!

See you tomorrow for the second-to-last post of the Drawing Challenge! I can't believe we're to this point already! I've got to start finding other things to post about ;]
Leave me some things you'd love to see on here in the comments!
L

Day 27: Someone You Love

Throughout the drawing challenge, David was always asking me why he wasn't the inspiration for certain pictures. "Why aren't I your best friend?" "Why am I not your inspiration?" "Why haven't you drawn meeee?" Because there was a day just for you, dear :] I love lots of people. Many of the people in my life are people whom I would die for without a heartbeat's hesitation. I care so much about my friends and family; everything I do truly is to make them proud and happy. Thankfully their standards for those things are around the same as my own, so I make myself proud and happy, too. Basically, I love a lot of people, but this day was always saved for my beau.

I told David that I tried to make it manly. I think I may have failed. . . It's the thought that counts though, right? My original idea was much more girly, so this is better than it could've been, at least.

We celebrated 3 years of togetherness at the beginning of October :]

My great friend, Shannon and her boyfriend were kind enough to take some couple-y photos of us a couple of weekends ago while David was here :] David has a DSLR and Josh and Shannon had a lot of fun with that. I was doing some editing on the pictures earlier at the Wesley Foundation (a student ministry based out of the United Methodist Church; I spend all my Tuesdays there) and asked one of the women who works there, Janina, what she though of an edit. . .

Make the flower on my necklace more purple (like above) or keep it the more muted purple that it is in real life? We obviously chose the more purple one; but when I showed her she said "those are cute pictures! You're not engaged, are you, Lauren?!" I thought it was funny, and told her no, it was just for fun. Then I assured her that I will tell her when I get engaged.

On the way to San Antonio for Bands of America Super-Regionals and UIL State marching competitions.

I always think how we got together is a funny story. I'm sure David would tell the tale completely differently than I do because he remembers me from earlier than I do him.
Supposedly we had World Geography together freshman year-I have no recollection of it.
We also apparently had AP Physics B together first semester of junior year. I remember there being an Asian guy sitting next to me whom I would ask for homework help a lot, but I don't remember it being David. I dropped the class at the end of the semester with the support of our teacher who told me "yeah, you just don't understand it." Thanks Mr. Frensley.
In spring of junior year, David played the piano for the prelude at the Bandolera Spring Show (a showcase of our drill team's dances, along with the drumline, country western dance team, and a comedy troupe) and I specifically remember saying hi to him and knowing his name at that point. I don't remember how I knew his name, but I did. . .

In San Antonio on the way to a performance. Please don't judge me on that horrible make-up. . .We celebrated our one month anniversary on that bus :]

Finally, David was named Drum Major of our marching band, and I was a colorguard officer. I was gone for most of August when band camp was, but when I got back we had a guard performance at Convocation. All the teachers in the school district come together for a pep rally type celebration to get excited for the coming school year. A lot of different groups from the schools perform; that year it included the Berkner colorguard (moi), the Drum Majors from all four high schools, the drumline from Lake Highlands High School, and the 1st and 2nd graders from one of the elementary schools who did a cute little dance. Anyway, David and I were both there along with the rest of the colorguard and the other two Drum Majors from Berkner. I had been really anxious all morning because an ex-boyfriend was a Drum Major at one of the other schools and he still gave me butterflies. . .then Emily, a friend from guard and one of the biggest flirts you will ever meet, started flirting with David. I don't know why, but for some reason something snapped, and all I could think was "not him." I just knew that he was "mine." I sat with him on the bus back to the school and made sure he came to the guard end of summer party that Friday. When he showed up, I got his number and sat next to him during the movie-Mean Girls. He was so innocent he even shielded his eyes during the kissing scenes. So precious!

 Band Banquet senior year.

I started texting him a lot and we got to know each other. At Cici's after a home game (the pizza place stays open late for our band the nights of home games) about 3 weeks before Homecoming (a huge deal in Texas), I asked him to go to the dance with me. He said he "didn't know if his plans were going to work out," but he'd let me know. The whole next week went by and nothing happened. . . The next Thursday (1 week and a few days before Homecoming), before practice that morning, my best friend Molly came up to me and said "David told me to tell you not to worry about finding a date for Homecoming. You're not supposed to know he told me to, though." As I went to all of my classes that day I got a rose and an origami crane from each teacher, eventually getting 6 flowers and notes on the birds that read "will you go to Homecoming with." In my last class, guard, the rest of the dozen roses and a crane that said "me?" were waiting on the table at the front of the band hall. I of course said yes!

 The mum he made for me and the garter I made for him. It's a Texas tradition to do these at Homecoming. We wear them all day Friday-many people to the game as well. It stems from girls getting chrysanthemums from boys and were originally a sign of popularity.

We got together that Saturday to work on mums and garters with a couple of other friends, did the exchange on Wednesday, the game on Friday, and went to the dance on Saturday. Saturday night we stayed at a friend's house with the rest of our group (usually you go to dinner, the dance, and an after party with a group of friends-we make t-shirts to show which group we're in and stuff) and the next morning David got up and went to church! What a good boy :] I expected him to kiss me on the way out, but he didn't :[

Pictures before the Homecoming dance.

 

The next weekend we had a marching competition in Arlington, TX. After performing our prelim show, we went to the mall over there for lunch and a short break before rehearsing for finals. David and I had been holding hands since Homecoming and did so at the mall, as well. At one point he let go of my hand, put his in his pocket, and grabbed mine again-only there was something in his hand now. I stopped to see what it was and it was a bracelet. He asked me out and put the bracelet on me when I said yes :] It was really cute. Soon after, I noticed him pull our hands behind us a little bit and then return them to where they had been. . . He thought he was being sly, but I knew that he did it to show our friends behind us who knew of his plan that I did, indeed, have the bracelet on. I just love him! So, the rest is history. We've certainly had our ups and downs, nearly breaking up three times in a 3-4 week period freshman year of college, but we're really great now and looking forward to the future. I wear a size 5.5 ring, if he ever asks you ;]

Here are some more pictures from over the years:

Spring band trip to Corpus Christi senior year.

Prom!

One my sister took for us as a senior piture.

Senior Sunday at my church. David was my piano accompaniment for a song I performed.

In Florida two summers ago.

Spring Break '11 with the best friends. Port Aransas, TX.

At the Zoo this past summer.

Just a couple of weeks ago-David's very first NCAA football game in person!

David, you are such a great supporter for me. You are so caring, giving, and all around a great guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you, which means I'm the luckiest since I snagged you first! I truly could not be more excited for our future (though I'm loving the here and now, as well). Thank you for all you mean to me and all you've done for us these past three years. ♥

If you did this drawing, would it have been your significant other? Your mom or dad? Your best friend? Maybe someone you don't even know-Oprah? J.K. Rowling?

Do you think the word 'love' gets thrown around too easily these days?

Tell me everything! :]

Here's wishing you a warm Wednesday,

L

Day 26: Something You Don't Like

All I could think of was food for this. There are some people I don't like, I guess. And some fashion statements? Yeah. . . food was the way to go on this one. I couldn't decide if it should be a lot of foods I dislike, or just one, but I thought the one I like the least would be best.

I'm not sure if it's possible, but I think disliking some foods must be genetic. My dad and I both hate cantaloupe. I can't stand the smell, the taste, that sickly color. Blech. Raychel and my mom, however, like cantaloupe just fine, so I know what it looks like enough to draw it. Fortunately, David doesn't like cantaloupe either, so I guess our kids will dislike it just from not ever trying it. I can handle that.

The drawing is supposed to be a cantaloupe with a section cut out so you can see that terrible pinkish orange color. Salmon is a pretty color. I love peach and coral. But I really dislike this awkward, like I said, sickly, color to this type of melon. Honeydew is no better. I also don't like bananas (I want to though), so I rarely order the fruit salad anywhere since it likely has all three of those fruits in it, plus a few grapes that have been contaminated with melon juice. . .

I sound like the pickiest eater ever right now, but don't fret. I eat plenty of good stuff. I like apples, and oranges, and grapes. I drink lots of juice (orange, apple, and cranapple), and I like corn, carrots, and green beans. I'm getting more used to fish, and I try to get most of my protein from dairy, which means I'm also getting loads of vitamin D and calcium. The only thing I'm probably missing is iron, which comes from meats and leafy green veggies; I'm trying to work on that though. Basically, there's no need to worry about the fact that I only like a few kinds of fruits and vegetables :]

What's your least favorite thing to eat? If you had been doing this drawing prompt, would you have stuck with food, or drawn something else you don't like?

Tomorrow's bound to be a great post if I do it at a decent time-which pretty much means my laptop will be coming to school with me tomorrow even though it doesn't normally. I really want to do this one justice :]

Until then,

L

Day 23: Something You Need, Day 24: A Couple, and Day 25: Scenery

Ahh! Sorry I didn't post for two days. I thought it would be okay to take a break from the blog posting month in order to spend time with my family and be thankful for everything I have been blessed with. I've had such a great time at home so far!

I got home on Tuesday and went with my mom to dinner thinking it would possibly be just the two of us, but my dad, sister, and boyfriend were all able to make it in time to eat :]

On Wednesday I drove to Bedford, TX (about 40 minutes) to eat lunch with my long lost G Big from Phi Lamb, Erica! I hadn't seen her since her wedding on June 4th, so it was great to see her and catch up! I didn't realize how much we had to talk about since the last time we'd hung out, but we ended up talking for an hour and a half. I also have a friend, Dylan, who lives in Colleyville, TX, which is 10 minutes away from Bedford, and he came to meet me there so that we could hang out. We went and saw Happy Feet Two! It was a really cute movie and there weren't a lot of people there, so we were able to talk and joke throughout the whole thing. He and I have only been friends for a couple of months, so we're still getting to know each other and seeing a somewhat cheesy movie was perfect :] And then David and I went to our good friend Tommy's house to see him and Molly, and a few of our other friends from high school. We made oreo turkeys! It was a bit of a Pinterest fail (when you try to make something from Pinterest and it doesn't quite turn out), but we got about 5 good turkeys out of it. 

Thursday morning we woke up early and went to the Turkey Trot in downtown Dallas. There were so many people there! The YMCA that hosts it is owned by T. Boone Pickens who graduated from, and is a large donor to, my university! I wasn't able to run-I had a stress fracture in my foot during the time I would have trained, and my asthma is worse in cold weather-but I walked with my mom and we had fun. It was pretty chilly, so we 'cheated' at one point and took an early turn where we found a coffee shop and I grabbed some hot chocolate. It was a good time for the most part, but there were so many people walking with strollers and dogs that kind of got in the way.

After the Trot, we rested at home, took showers, changed clothes, and did a little more cooking, then headed to Lewisville for Thanksgiving "lunch" at my Aunt Leslie and Uncle Randy's home (we didn't eat till 3pm or so, therefore it has quotes around lunch). Leslie's dad always makes a deep fried turkey and we have all sorts of fixin's for the sides. My sister Nicole is obsessed with Granma's cauliflower and cheese, so we had that, then there were rolls, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and franks, and sweet potatoes, not to mention the two turkeys and all the pies. After lunch, David, Raychel, and I went upstairs for some quiet time, where David and I discovered a stockpile of Nerf guns. We loaded up and got my little cousin Ben to get Nicole's boyfriend Burch upstairs and we immediately waged war on him. We had a great time with it. It was so much fun running around the house and shooting everyone. They make automatic Nerf guns! You fill the clip and a spring shoots them out like a machine gun. Craziness. After running off all the food from lunch, we went downstairs and had some pie with homemade whipped cream, had another war, then went home after a long day. I slept in the car I was so worn out. 

Today was pretty good-woke up late, had lunch with Molly, Tommy, and David, played Dance Central on the Xbox Kinect, and went to play some football with friends. Molly and I didn't play for very long, but sat and caught up with each other-we hadn't seen each other since August, the day before I left for school! We also got some Frisbee-ing in. Then I came home and Raychel and I went to her friends' house to see their twin baby girls! Ellie and Evie are so precious! Jenn and Eric did such a good job making those two :] When we got home we watched some more Kinect and had some homemade lasagna that my dad made! It was vegetarian, too, just for Raychel. Now, I'm sitting on the couch with my family writing this and dancing on Dance Central Two (a Black Friday find). Great few days! 

Now that you know where I've been, let's get caught up on those drawings!

What makes up 70% of our bodies and falls from the sky on a (somewhat) regular basis?

Water! A couple people who've seen this in person and didn't see the small label on the bottom right of the drop thought that it was that I "need to cry." So sad :[ I don't need to cry, guys, I'm okay! I'm not very good at drinking water every day, or every week for that matter. I tend to drink about a soda a day and then lots of juice and Ovaltine. I'm still alive though, and pretty healthy, so apparently I get enough H2O without drinking straight water. It's hard to do in Stillwater because all the water tastes like chlorine and when it's frozen into ice, it tastes like salt-who wants to drink that?! Not I.

For the couple I took inspiration again from art.com. There's a drawing on there with a boy and girl on a hill looking at stars. I drew a mountain and a boy and a girl, supposedly David and I according to my friends, looking at stars from the summit of a mountain. It's the only drawing in the whole challenge colored with crayon instead of colored pencil, so that's kind of cool.

It's a little hard to see the stars under all that black and blue sky, but you get the idea!

For the scenery, I remembered that I often drew trees and park benches when I was younger (even as recently as high school, though), and used that. 

I tried to get some good perspective, but I did it during a school day and didn't have a straight-edge with me, so who knows how accurate it is. There are some more mountains from the previous day and a cliff in the background, plus a lake. I like the ones that take more time like this and are more complex. I like trying to get the right color and the perspective-maybe I lied at the beginning and really am some sort of artist :]

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and your Friday has been fantastic. See you tomorrow to post. . . I don't know what! Maybe a draft of the Advent Calender I'm wanting to make!

Until then,

L

Day 22: Something You Miss

My puppy!!

When I'm at school, I always miss my dog! I have other friends with pets and I am so jealous of them! I'm not sure where I'll be living next year though, so an animal may not be an option. I got home today for Thanksgiving, though, so I'm spending some time with Peanut :] She's huge, as always, but hasn't jumped on me, yet!

This picture of her is my favorite! I'm not really sure why she ended up having a tutu on around her neck, but the picture got sent to me on my phone and it makes me laugh every time!

Do you dress your dog/pet in funny/cute clothes? Send me pictures! :]
L

Day 21: Something You Want

In the past, I have been a member of the group who felt that the day after Halloween was too early to start any Christmas celebrations, but this year I have switched sides. I am excited for Thanksgiving, but I can't wait for Christmas! It's such a fun holiday spent with family and friends and I get almost a month off of school. It's my birthday and the first snow and warm coffee drinks from Starbucks. I just love it! Not to mention, in other countries, Christmas is the next holiday after Halloween, so of course that's when they start preparing! I have a friend from Canada and she said that the 1st of November is always when her family puts their tree up, even now that they live in Chicago. So here's my drawing:

Certainly not the best drawing of a Christmas tree ever, but it'll do. I kind of like how the branches at the bottom look like elves feet :] 

I can probably think of dozens of other things that I want right now, including the holiday season to really start, but I don't think you really want to see that list. 

Safe travels to everyone who will be driving or flying anywhere this week to be thankful with family! Have a merry Monday for the rest of today :]

L

Something Crafty!

I am making an earwarmer! I haven't ever done any sort of complicated knitting before with increases/decreases, ribbing, or anything other than a straight knit stitch, but I really wanted to make my own head warming device :] I have a red one and a black one that I bought last year at TigerLily, so I bought myself two skeins of gray yarn and got to work!
I bought the pattern from Etsy. The directions are pretty simple and easy to follow, and in just a few days I'm already halfway through the decrease portion! Not to mention the pattern is just $5! How can you beat that? I will wear this probably every day of the winter and it will surely pay for itself in usage.

Also crafty, I started sewing a simple skirt from MADE over the summer. . . I picked this cute vintage-y fabric and some lace for the edge of the shorter tier, and bought a little extra fabric. I never actually remembered to cut the width shorter (that extra fabric :/) and completed the skirt, except hemming, before realizing what I'd done and how bulky it was. Not cute. I bought that fabric and started that skirt in June. I just today got out my seam ripper and began the process of fixing my mistake. Small steps, people. I love rabbits, but I know the tortoise wins because he's slow and steady and, people always seem to forget, humble, which the hare obviously was not.

So those are two projects to be completed shortly which I am excited to show you!
What have you been working on?
L

Black Friday Came Early

The Cowboys' hearts were in Stillwater. Pokes lose 34-37 against unranked Iowa State. It was Iowa State's biggest victory in school history, I'm told. It was the lose with the most sting for Oklahoma State. Though our hearts are still broken for this season, football is just a game and we are OSU without the BCS Title that we were hoping for. There are many more important things that make us the Brightest Orange in the Nation.

Proud and immortal, bright shines your name. Oklahoma State we herald your fame. Ever you'll find us loyal and true to our alma mater O S U.

Day 20: Something Orange

My Cowboy heart is hurting. Yesterday afternoon, two coaches of our Cowgirl basketball team died in a plane crash in Arkansas. Not only has the Orange Nation come together to mourn, the whole of the Big XII is supporting Oklahoma State.
God is funny sometimes in that today was the day I would share my drawing for 'something orange.' It was meant to be shared today; to remind us all of our unity as Cowboys and the good times we have all shared as a part of that.

I knew what I would draw today from the get-go; a cowboy boot with OSU...what I didn't know is that we would be the number two team in the nation! It was so exciting to see that news! This year I started hearing the term "Poke Choke" because our football team does really well in the first half of a game and then 'chokes' during the second half. Since the season started, I have not heard that term again! We are still undefeated with a record of 10-0 with a game coming up tonight. With this tragedy on our minds, we are sure to win for our school, for our orange family.

For those of you who are religious, lift up prayers for the families of Kurt Budke and Miranda Serner. Pray for peace for those who wear the Brightest Orange in the Nation, and especially for the girls these two great people coached. If you're not the praying type, think encouraging thoughts!

To my fellow Cowboys, we have gotten through this before! We will get through it again. We will always remember. Keep your heads up and rely on the each other as we move forward.

Remember to say "I love you," give hugs and kisses, and wear your orange with pride!

If you have any encouragement to give to the Cowboy Family please, please put it in the comments! We appreciate every good thought and every prayer lifted.
L

Day 19: Something New

I was over at the cousins' the day I was drawing today's drawing(s), so I asked my littles for advice. I thought it should be something new to me, but one of them had a great idea that wasn't something I myself  had recently acquired/experienced. But I had to use it! Not only was it going to be cute, it was easy to draw, and I knew exactly how I'd do it as soon as the word had come out of her mouth.

"A baby!" Swaddled in a precious pink blanket with a little curly-q of hair and big, pink lips. I wish I knew people having babies! I want to hold one so badly just looking at this!

The second drawing was one I came up with myself pretty easily. The night before is when I experienced that 5.6 earthquake. There had been two other earthquakes in Oklahoma while I was here before then, and there were three in California the week I was there a few years ago, but I had never felt one! I felt so left out from all the Facebook statuses and the feeling of an earthquake in general. So I had to draw that, too :]

I think it might be hard to know what this is if I hadn't already told you, but it's perfect for what I had in my mind. As Laura was talking about the baby drawing, this is the picture that kept popping up in my head as something new for me. It was fun to see something so clearly in my mind and then get it out on paper, and pretty closely to what I was imagining at that! There was another earthquake the day after I drew this, but I didn't feel any shaking again, I just got really dizzy. The fluid in my semi-circular canals must move around a lot when the earth shakes. Gotta love those anatomy classes ;]

On a completely separate note, I went to see a play tonight! It was so funny! I didn't know the theater program at OSU had such good actors and actresses! If you ever have the chance to see the play Noises Off, snag it, for sure! It was honestly the funniest stage show I've ever seen. The best part was that it was interpreted into ASL by some of the students who are working toward certification for interpreting! ASL is a full of expressions anyway, but watching those students interpret something else that is always full of expression was amazing! It was even more funny watching the interpreters and really exciting when I knew what they were saying! Sorry for all the exclamation marks (another one's coming), but it really deserves it! I had a great time and I learn so much at every event I attend where there are plenty of deaf people for me to converse with. I'm sad that the last Silent Dinner of the semester is on Monday :[

I hope your Thursday was as good as mine and that you'll have a fantastic Friday! It's initiation night for the Phi Lamb babies! I'm super excited to spend some time with my g-little and the rest of the family just for fun.

Has something really interesting happened to you recently? What 'something new' would you draw? Have you seen any awesome stage shows? I want to know! Tell me in the comments, please :]
L

Day 18: Just a Doodle

I'm not super proud of this drawing. It was a weekend when it was "assigned" to me, so I didn't have a class to doodle it during. It is what it is, though. It's got pretty colors and lettering of course :]

I'm a fan of monograms, initials, names, etc. I just think they're fun to draw and color and there's so much you can do with them! I wish monograms were more in style as a way to recognize people instead of just something pretty on the towels they get at their wedding.
At the daycare I work at during the summers, we did American History last year as the topic of the summer and at one point made calling cards. The kids got to pick a couple of outlines for their name to go in and then they passed them out to each other to put in their little pouches for safe-keeping. The pouches were made of paper painted silver that the kids got to use a special pen on to make their monogram with some guidance from Miss Lauren :] It was fun and the kids were so excited that Miss Lauren and Mrs. Burgraff gave them their calling cards! It was precious! I miss those kids. But that was one way that I experienced that monograms could be useful and stylized.

That's it for today! Two drawings tomorrow! I had two things that I really wanted to draw that both fit the prompt :] Have a thrilling Thursday tomorrow!
L

Day 17: Favorite Plant

Sorry! I didn't post on Tuesday, technically, even though it's still Tuesday in my book since I'm still awake :] I use Blogger in a separate internet browser than I do my cerfing (I promise that's really how it's spelled. A deaf man with the last name Cerf was one of the pioneers of the WWW) since my school email is with Google, but it doesn't allow any of the Google Apps, ie., Blogger. Anyway, I forgot to open up a Chrome window when I first got on the computer, so here I am at 1:15am to do a post. The life of a college kid.

I've never heard of someone asking what your favorite plant is. Flower, sure. But plant? I just stuck with flower because that's a type of plant and I actually have an answer to that:

The drawing says it's a daisy, which is my favorite flower, but the fact that I felt I needed to add the word to let you know what it was shows that I don't think I did very well at drawing one. I was actually wanting it to be white, but that just didn't work out. I like the red, but I think it's something you'd see on a gerbera daisy more than a common daisy. This actually takes me back to my younger days (not that I'm particularly old at a spritely 20 years) when flowers were the main thing any of my friends ever drew. There may have been a wonky bird or heart or rainbow with pot of gold and smiling clouds every so often, but flowers were an everyday, multiple times a day drawing. They're just so girly and there are so many ways to draw them!

There's actually a great drawing of a daisy that I love from art.com, but I can't get the gallery to work/show me other people's drawings. As soon as I get it to work, I'll get the real link up. Until then you should have some fun doodling your own drawings on there. Maybe you can press the 'view another' button enough and find the daisy on your own! It's really good for an online thing, especially since I originally saw it on there a long time ago before tablet computers were popular. If you are going to try drawing on there with a tablet, iPads won't work because the site does require Flash. I was hoping that Apple would start allowing Flash on their electronics since it was Steve Jobs who disliked the program (is that what it is?) so much, but we'll see as the New Guy starts putting out more products.

I'm off to bed with a glass of Ovaltine, and maybe a cookie or two. I have got to start trying to go to bed at a decent time! This whole fall asleep between 2 and 3 in the morning and wake up at 7 thing is just not doing it for me. And coffee doesn't help-not only does it make me nauseous a lot of the time, caffeine just doesn't wake me up, and it's not very good for you.

Anyway, goodnight! I hope your Tuesday was good and you'll have a wonderful Wednesday! It's going to be a chilly day for me :/ High of 57 with an overnight low of 28. Yikes. Keep warm if you're going to be in similar (or cooler) conditions!
L

Day 16: Inspiration

A few weeks ago I let you know that I was worried about some of the drawings I would have to do for this drawing challenge, but I've found my way around most of those. "Inspiration" was no different. I'm not really sure what inspires me. I have goals that I'm working toward, and faith in a wonderful God, and amazing friends and family, but do any of those things inspire me? Inspire me to do what? Too many questions for this little challenge. So I took the route of my Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism class:

Inspiration is in the professional jargon of my future career as the term for the drawing in of air to use for speech production. So I drew a picture of lungs and the phonetic spelling of inspiration with the definition. What a loophole! :]

I've had a pretty good Monday. David left this afternoon after a long weekend in Stillwater with me, I did really well on a test, and there are only 2 real Mondays left of the semester!
I hope your Monday was half as good as mine!
Only 2 more days left of the challenge for me, but I'll still be posting the drawings for pretty much the rest of the semester, so by the end, you can be cheering me on for finals! Yay!
If you go to OSU and you aren't anemic (like this little lady), you should go give blood this week to save 3 lives and beat OU in the Bedlam blood drive!

Have a tremendous Tuesday :]
L

Oops.

So, I kind of missed the deadline for it being Sunday to get a post up every day of the month. That's okay. I didn't have anything important to write about anyway.
I had a great lazy Sunday with yummy food and a handsome man :] Now I'm writing this and going to bed because I have a quiz at 8am tomorrow! It's over homonyms, which I think I'm pretty good at already, so the only bad part is that it's so early in the morning.
If you go to OSU, remember that there will be a big sale in the student store in the Union tomorrow since we beat Texas Tech by so much on Saturday! 66-6 with our 10-0 team! :]

Happy Monday tomorrow (today?)!
L
P.S.-It's Initiation Week for Phi Lambs at Okstate! Wish the new girls many happy times with their sisters in the future!

The End of My Childhood

I will be 21 years old in a little over a month, yet my childhood didn't end for me until this past July. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 came out July 15 and I cried. As my boyfriend just pointed out to me, I wasn't even big into the series until I was 18, but HP was there for me when I was lonely when I started college-I could escape to Hogwarts and be with my new BFFs Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I could go on adventures and see lots of new things in my own imagination. I had always loved the movies-I can pretty much recite the first 6-but reading the books was utterly eye-opening to what the world of Harry Potter really involved. It was amazing! I love the series so much and therefore went to WalMart at midnight when the latest and last movie came out Thrusday night/Friday morning.

Please ignore the make-upless face :]

Yay! My collection is completed with the final 2-disc Special Edition DVD! Sooooo Happy!

The case while it still has the plastic and stickers on. 

 The outer case and then the inner DVD case. Nerd alert!

 The movie disc.

 The special features disc.

 My entire collection. Isn't it beautiful?!

 You can now see that I was not lying about the shelf in my room that is devoted to Harry Potter.

The collection again. With my light-up Hermione wand.

So, now you can see how much of a Harry Potter nerd I am. I hope you can relate to me on this. You may have to deal with it rather frequently and that wouldn't be fun for you. If you haven't yet read Harry Potter, or have tried to get through the first one and just can't get into it, try again! As soon as you get past the early slow part, you will not be able to stop. J.K. Rowling is an amazing author who really pulls you into the story-her quote from the final premiere holds true for all of the series's loyal fans, new or old: "Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home." She single-handedly made reading cool again, and the entirety of Generations Y and Z can thank her for that.

Is HP your favorite series? Do you like the movies? The books? A different series? Is there a book that made you fall in love with the written word? Let me know! 

L

Day 15: A Family Portrait

I didn't realize until now that this could have been any family portrait, not just my own. But I'm glad that I did my family. I, of course, did not draw them as people. I can't imagine trying to give the same features to them as drawings that they have in real life; I'd never get it just right. I really like doing lettering though, so this worked out. As you'll find out in a couple days, I also really like monograms, so this is a good combination of the two :]

You've got my dad at the top, mom on the right, then my oldest sister, Nicole, on the left, middle sister, Raychel, on the right, and me at the bottom left. I picked the icon things behind each person more based on what I can draw than what might actually have to do with them. Raychel is pretty girly, so a flower did work, but a cloud and a lightning bolt for Nicole and my dad? Not so much of a correlation.

Anyway, that's my family. I kind of wish that the presentation day for this one wasn't a Friday when David is here, or else I might talk a little more about my family. I'm sure there's plenty of time to go into that at a later date. 

Do you take family portraits every year, for Christmas or otherwise? Do you usually like traditional family pictures-blue jeans and white shirts, anyone?- or more candid shots? What about the holiday matching pajama shot? That's a good one for Awkward Family Photos!

Enjoy some time with your family this weekend!

L

Day 14: Favorite Fairytale

I don't really have a favorite fairytale that I could/can think of, but I originally thought "knight in shining armor." I thought it would be fun to draw said armor. Then I forgot that's what I wanted to do when I actually started drawing the prince. . . Oops. The only story I could think of that has a knight in shining armor was Shrek, with the tallest room, tallest tower idea, which led me to Rapunzel. Plus, I really liked Tangled the only time I've seen it. So Rapunzel it was. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"

I enjoyed drawing the castle. I like doing the brick pattern. But the prince's outfit was fun, too, even if it wasn't a suit of armor (which thinking about now, sounds like it would've been pretty hard). The sword reminds me of this game I StumbledUpon once. . . Draw a Stickman. It's entertaining if you ever just want to play. Or if you really like to draw on a computer, which I dislike since it's so difficult to keep the mouse steady and whatnot.

Anyway, my beau is here and I've got plans to just hang out with him and not be on the computer constantly. I'll still be posting tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday since it's NaBloWriMo, but don't expect any long or super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot posts.
Have a great weekend! Watch a movie with a fairytale plot :]
L

Day 13: Comic

A few days before Comic day, I told someone what I was doing with this Moleskine and why I always had it with me. He was intrigued and asked if he could be in one of the drawings. I'm still getting to know him (and up until about a week before that day, I didn't like him) so I wasn't sure where he'd fit. And then I saw it! Comic. I could make a comic with whatever I wanted, and then name one of the characters Chris after him. It was perfect! Up until this point I've tried to keep my obsession with Harry Potter under wraps. Sure I drew Luna Lovegood as my favorite book character, but I could have done that without being completely enthralled with the series. Alas, I am a big nerd. There is literally a shelf in my room with only HP items on it--a box-set of the books, all of the movies that have come out (the final one will be added to my collection this Friday at midnight!), Harry Potter: Film Wizardry (a book detailing the process of adaptation from book to film), a couple of wands, and the HP shaped 3D glasses from the most recent midnight premiere. Now that you know all of this, it should come as no surprise that I am a big fan of StarKid Productions and their shows A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel, which, other than Chris, were the inspiration for the comic.

I love my rendition of HP's scar. Hilarious. And yes, I do laugh at my own jokes. If you're having trouble reading it for some reason it says:
Chris: "Hi! I'm Chris! I'm super cool! I'm going to Hogwarts! Let's be friends with Harry Potter!"
From a distance Harry, Ron, and Hermione sing "Who's that guy?! It's Jess" (like The New Girl theme song) "I mean Chris..."
Chris: "Hey guys! Wanna be friends? If you're on the fence about it, you should know that: A) I'm Chris, B) I play the guitar, and C) I'm super cool."
Chris then plays guitar and sings terribly for an hour. After finishing a song and seeing Harry's, Ron's, and Hermione's reactions says: "You didn't like that song either? I'll play another! Then you'll want to be friends!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione respond with: "OK! We'll be friends! Just stop singing!"

Chris and his boss, Michael (who both work at the Wesley Foundation @ OSU) both read it, and Michael said that it actually fits Chris well; Chris said he's had other people do similar things with him as a character. I think that means that he is probably very sure of himself, and doesn't change a whole lot. Also, he must be memorable in order for people to read his personality so well and use it as a character.

I never was very into reading comics. I'll occasionally scan the ones in the Sunday paper, but I don't own any "graphic novels" or have a fondness for any comic strip/comic strip characters in particular. I bet if they made a decent Harry Potter strip I'd eat it up, though!

Have you ever drawn a comic? Do you read any comics regularly? Do you love Harry Potter? Leave it in the comments! And have a very happy Wednesday :]
L

Day 12: Most Recent Achievement

I am 20 years old. I live in a different state than the rest of my family. I am in college. I have goals. I have dreams. I have a lot to be proud of, and a lot of achievements to be had. Learning is something that I'm just good at. If someone can intelligibly explain something to me and I'm awake enough to pay attention, I will learn what they tell me, and probably keep that information in my head for a long time. There are some things that I learn better than others, though, because I really want to learn them. I have wanted to be a speech pathologist for eight-and-a-half years and I am finally getting to really see that career and learn about speech and language! It's definitely a big achievement for me, and I am really excited to continue on that path. But I've been learning something even more awesome that I've wanted to do for even longer, and am really really proud of myself for:

Pictured are just a handful of the words I have learned to sign!

I never knew you could fall in love with a subject, or a language, but I've done it. I absolutely love ASL, Deaf culture, Deaf people, and all of the friends in class with me. It has been such a great experience and I've learned so much, besides the vocabulary and grammar. Interpreting is now something that I want to pursue, along with my Cs (the term for certification from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, ASHA) for speech pathology. I am experiencing so much frustration with learning the language because I want to use it all the time, but I really don't have the vocabulary yet to do so. I do experience a lot of funny situations, though-I used the sign for "I don't know" with someone today who doesn't know any sign language; and sometimes people who talk with their hands unknowingly use dirty signs, which is always entertaining. It's been great and I am so excited to continue learning and meeting more Deaf people.
I could talk about this for days, so if you have any questions please please please leave it in the comments or send me an email! And let me know if you know anything about ASL or what kinds of relationships you have with deaf people (there's a reason that one isn't capitalized. You should tell me if you know why!)
I am so happy, even just writing about this! I love it so much!

Hump day tomorrow! And then it'll be the weekend, and then I'll have just 5 weeks of school left (and that's including the two-day week of Thanksgiving)! :]
L

Day 11: Turning Point in Your Life

Seriously? A turning point? I'm going to be honest, I don't think I've done so much with my life that I ever actually needed to make a 180. I was raised by a good family, went to good schools, graduated, and am now in college at one of the best undergraduate institutes for my major. I've never been rebellious and even when I was questioning of my faith at all, I was still a good person. So what was there to turn from? I chose starting college. I got behind on my drawings while my parents and beau were here for Homecoming (sorry o_O, no post yet), and I wasn't really excited about this one, so it's not very good and I didn't do a lot of coloring. . . I got a little perspective at least?

Lovely labels of "sidewalk," "Parking Lot" (why is that capitalized?), ":Bennet Hall," "my window," and "gutter." And the building definitely doesn't have a big OSU logo right on top. Plus the parking lot was actually about twice that distance away (if drawn to scale, of course) and up a really steep hill. There's not even a parking lot there anymore, it's becoming a new practice field for the football team. I love that we're ranked at #2 in the polls now and all, but that was important parking space and now there's nowhere for the residents of Bennett Hall to park without needing some good walking shoes.
I also enjoy the faces I drew. My parents and boyfriend helped set up my room and stayed for a couple days in Stilly while I got settled in, and when they left I was kind of happy and pretty sad and scared, David was sad, my mom was really sad, and my dad was very proud. I actually will fess up to taking a shower immediately after they left so I could cry without my suitemates hearing. . .yeah. If it makes it any better, I didn't have a car for about the first month of school, so I was really lonely and felt trapped in my dorm because I'm really shy and "slow to warm up" in psychology terms. It's gotten a lot better since then, though :] I still really love Dallas and enjoy going home to see my family and friends, but Stillwater feels kind of homey, too.

There was another earthquake today. A 4.7 on the Richter Scale. Oh and it was in the middle of a thunderstorm, flash flood warning, and tornado watch. Whoever named this city Stillwater was out of their mind. I remember my dad asking why I wanted to go away to school, and I told him because Dallas was boring since I've grown up there. His reply? "So you want to move to a town called Stillwater?" I'm glad it's not as boring as the name may imply. It's still raining, and I had to leave my newly clean laundry at The Cousins' (Shannon, Karrah, and Laura's place) so it wouldn't get rained on, but I'm thinking this rain and my new not-take-a-nap-after-8am-class thing will help me sleep really well!

Do you think your town's name fits it? What about the name of your apartments? Those are always fun since they usually have the word lake or forest in them but are near nothing of the sort. Tell me in the comments! I really do want to know! :]

I hope your Monday didn't give you the blues, and if it did, I'm sure Tuesday will be better :]
L

Sunday Funday

Supposed to be at least. So far since my last post I have experienced an earthquake for the first time (literally moments after pressing 'publish post'), have changed my clocks back an hour, slept until 10:30 on a lovely Sunday morning, and been run out of my apartment. Not intentionally I'm sure, but I'm uncomfortable with how my roommate and her boyfriend behave when they're here, so I left. I'm so thankful I have two sweet littles and a hospitable niece from Phi Lamb whose apartment I am welcome at any time :]

Laura, Shannon, and Karrah ♥

These girls mean the world to me and I know there was a reason God put them all in my life last fall. They all bring something different to the table and have such great wisdom in their faith. They always know what questions to ask and what answers to give. Life at OSU would be pretty terrible without them; I may have transferred by now if it wasn't for these lovelies :] I'm really glad that Karrah transferred to OSU and therefore has to stay for a 'victory lap!' That means I get another year with her and we get to graduate together!

I just love you guys!

♥ L

PS- ☺☻♥♦♣♠•◘○◙♀♂♪♫☼ I love these things! :]

No Refashion :[

While looking at Pinterest a few days ago I found this pin. And really wanted to make one. I planned on making a capelet last fall a la Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

I wasn't sure if I'd do a deep red or stick with a neutral black or charcoal. Plus Stillwater, USA doesn't exactly have good options in the way of fabric stores, so it never happened. Now I found Pinterest and all its glory, so I have an even better idea of how to make a capelet. So I tried to make a dress I have into a capelet. That was a fail, so no pictures. If you follow the link for that pin though, you'll get taken to a great blog with instructions for making a good one. If you're making it for an adult, like I would be, add just a few inches to the length given and it should be a good size.
I saved all the pieces of that dress I tried to use, so hopefully I can show you a refashion with it some other time. In my excitement to get started, I did forget to take a before picture. . . I'll figure something out to pin it back together to show you how it looked before :]
Keep cheering for my Pokes! As I write this we're up 37-31* against KState at the start of the 4th. We're hoping to stay undefeated for our Bedlam game against OU!
Stay warm!
L
*Edit: Cowboys WIN! 57-45! We'll see today for sure, but OSU has got to be #2 in the nation now! I'm so glad Weeden and Blackmon decided to stay another year instead of going to the NFL!

Day 10: Favorite Candy

Twix or KitKat? Sour Patch Kids? Hmm. . .

Definitely got to be

Yum! I like the pause symbol inside the dot on the 'i' (what are those called again? A tittle!). And apparently they have a new slogan now, but I thought it was stupid when I found it, so I used the old one and don't even remember the new one. Haha.

Sorry for the short post! It's a Friday night and I'm baking and watching movies and just relaxing :] Hopefully the relaxing will consist of editing HoCo pictures and I can show them to you tomorrow! I may also have a refashion to show you tomorrow!

Have a happy weekend, and Go Pokes!
L

Day 9: Favorite TV Show

I have to admit, it took me longer than I expected to decide that this really is my favorite TV show. Pretty much everyone who knows me would automatically think of it as my favorite-I guess I just didn't want to settle, in case it really isn't as awesome as I think it is. I do have plenty of people to back me up though, that Gilmore Girls is the best show!

 "You Jump I Jump Jack," and "Like Mother Like Daughter"

Not only is Rory really smart, street and book smart, but she manages to find her way into two secret societies at school. The Puffs and The Life and Death Brigade allowing Rory to take part in their events shows that she can also be a socialite and really does belong in the high society life her mother left behind. The witty remarks Lorelai and Rory toss around and the funny allusions to other shows and books makes for great entertainment-it's very exciting when you know what they're talking about! Apart from the dialogue, the plot of the show keeps you coming back for more. Will Lorelai and Luke ever get married? What will happen after Rory drops out of school? "Oh my gosh! What did she just do?!" is a reaction I had many a-time while watching the series for the first time, usually, surprisingly, in response to something Rory did. I love the premise of the show, and the quirky relationship mother and daughter have, not to mention the strained relationships between other mother and daughter pairs (Emily and Lorelai, Lorelai Sr. and Emily, Lane and Mrs. Kim, to name a few). Lots of quick comedy in a nice package of 40-45 minute episodes :]

This was the picture I used to try and mimic the font. I think I did okay. When I started drawing the second 'gi' was the first time I ever realized that that one part of the 'g' forms the dot for the 'i.' that certainly made me feel like I never pay attention to details.

I scanned this image so much before getting what I wanted. The first couple times I kept getting the drawing for tomorrow showing through the paper, so I had to fold a sheet of computer paper in between. Finally I got something good enough, though! I wanted to color it purple, and the color looked purple at first, but it seems pink to me now. That's okay, though! Who knew I could not only play with lettering myself, but also somewhat closely copy real typeface? That's pretty cool!

I've got a long sleeve t-shirt on and my vaporizer running, so hopefully I'll stay warm through the 27° low tonight! I can't believe it's already Thursday. And already November. Where is time going?!

Here's hoping the end of fall doesn't become summer again, or winter too early,

L

PS- Because I love that their names are the same as the Gilmore grandparents on the show, support Richard and Emily in their hopes to adopt a child! They have taken the news of infertility so gracefully and have made adoption into a great opportunity! Thanks to the Red Kitchen for sharing their story in the first place :]