Fun Christmas Times

Charlotte did my hair all extra curly Christmas morning! And I did her hair all extra straight. Of course, after we were finished we both pulled back our hair anyway.

Charlotte, Endry and I went to the mall to buy some new glasses for me (they are really cute!) and we got some good deals at Old Navy. Endry was sleeping head first on Charlotte. He's such a good boy!

I think it was the day before Christmas Eve Krista came over and we all played craft time! Krista put fake nails on, I made some jewelry, Mom made some stuff with rice (rice socks) and Charlotte took pictures. We also had some QVC playing in the background. They were selling some ugly things at the time. But later that night they had some really cute, cheap things one!

We were so proud of Mom! She normally saves everything in the world! We can never get her to throw anything away that is recyclable. She had been holding onto this old and torn-up box which she threw away without us forcing her, so we had to give her a medal for it! (the medal says: "I Throw Away Boxes!"

CHRISTMAS MORNING!! So much snow! This is what was outside the front door that morning! Good thing we don't use that door to go in and out. We use the side door, which was better. Jeremiah and I spent about an hour shoveling the driveway so we could get the car out. There was so much snow!! I heard on the news that it was a record for Topeka to have this much snow on Christmas.

Fun Times During Christmas Break (part 1)

Charlotte and I went over the Krista and Will's house to help them out by putting up their Christmas tree.

This is Charlotte's Christmas tree (which has been up since the middle of November). Charlotte and Jeremiah's stockings are up, we just got Endry a stocking, but it's not up yet (QVC playing in the background).

And this is my Christmas tree. Mom helped me decorate it. And our stockings beside it (it's been up since November as well).


A little video from the snow we got in Manhattan. Deborah and I playing outside...

What has been filling my time lately? Well, let me show you!
First, I'm having lots of fun creating jewelry..... (I have an online shop where I sell my stuff, www.kizzums.etsy.com)

Secondly, working on my homework. This is my studio professor. She took our class on a little walk around campus so we could get size and proportion ideas to help us with our final project we are currently working on. We're designing a garden!

And finally, visiting my new nephew! He's lots of fun. All he does right now is sleep, so he's kind of low maintenence. He makes all sorts of faces, though! And Charlotte and I have fun making him into our little QVC model!

Manhattan, the Little Apple

Okay, this is the last month of my life summed up!! This is most likely the longest post I will make, but it's mostly pictures, so that makes it fun!

Here are some samples of what I did for my first project at school (in the Interior Design program). We had to do 15 different 6X6 drawings each portraying different design elements and principles. It has been so intense (the work we have to do outside of class) but I love it to death! This project was like my 2-D class all over again, only having a semester of work smashed into 2 weeks!

My new studio/office space (which is actually the master bedroom)! I am so happy I get an entire room JUST to work on homework and have fun on the computer or whatever!

This is the kitchen... and beyond that is the dining room and just past that is the living room/mom's work area. She takes over the couch when she reads and her computer is there as well. Our kitchen is so clean looking and gets plenty of light!My room, at least half of it. My really cool closet, where all of my clothes are neatly organized and I hung up some cute lantern lights around the ceiling. I am currently obsessed with lantern lighting!And I save the best for last..... my bathroom!! This thing is HUGE!! And I have tons of counter space and a big mirror and (you can't see in the picture) mom got me 2 cute rugs that go with my color scheme, jewel tones. One rug that's a patch-work type red,pink, & brown squares and a textured brown rug for the toilet. I even found a set of jewel toned wash cloths I rolled up and made look pretty on my counter with some bars of soaps just like a hotel!! And then more lenterns with christmas lights inside them. I am still working on getting a shower curtian.

The Golden Princess

The Golden Princess Cruise Ship: (well, actually this picture shows the Diamond Princess, but the Golden Princess is docked right behind it and looks almost exactly the same) Skagway, AK

Me, inside the ship while we were waiting for Claudio

My boss Allison and I (with our work clothes still on)

My last week in Alaska was quite exciting! My boss, Allison, took me on one of the Princess cruise ships for dinner. She, of course, had connections with one of the managers because she worked on board for 10 years and knows EVERYONE!! We went to the very fancy steak house and I chose whatever I wanted from the menu! Claudio (the Italian manager guy) joined us for dinner and just put the bill on the ship tab.... however that works. I've only met Claudio once or twice before this, but it was fine because him and Allison just talked the whole hour and a half catching up. I was fine with that! Just leave me to my food!

Here's my appitizer. Lobster cake (really good) with steamed asparagus!

My salad: greens, beets, goat cheese, roma tomatos. SOOOOO good!

And for my entree: A WHOLE LOBSTER! I had never eaten real lobster before..... I don't like it. I don't see why people like it so much. Even with lemon and the butter sauce.... bleh!


I also had REALLY good sauteed mushrooms with my lobster (they were better than the lobster)

And dessert! Yummy fruit cobbler with ice cream. The crust was crispy goodness!

The Zuiderdam

The other day Krista, Will and I went to the docks to see if we could catch the whales that had been roaming around the harbor. We didn't see any whales, but we had a fun time looking down the pass and watching the cruise ships leave.


(me, Will and Krista next the the Zuiderdam cruise ship)

Will, Krista, our friend Karlee and I went to Jewell Gardens (a place with pretty gardens in Skagway) to celebrate the summer solstice. The food was bad, but the gardens were pretty!

(Will trying to model for the camera)

Here is my comedy relief for the day:

Tourists here ask the silliest and pointless questions! Here is a sample of today's questions that tourists asked me while at work (by the way, I work in a gift shop)! And these answers are what I say in my head because I might come off rude if I say them out loud......

Question: "Where's my boat?"

Answer: "In the water."

Q: "Did my mom come in here looking for me?"

A: "...And you think I know who your mom is because......?"

Q: "Do you live here?"

A: "No, I commute from Kansas. Heck of a drive, huh?"

K-State, Here I come!

So, I'm moving to Manhattan when I get back from Alaska in August. I'm really excited!! There's no big pressure on me to find a job, so that will free up TONS of time for me to work in the studio (at school). I will be living in the studio and I can't wait!! Working in the studio relaxes me. And I will love it even more this time because I'm finally in an actual Interior Design program! It's like I'm in law school! I get to specialize in a field I've been dreaming about doing since I was 15!! Well, actually I wanted to be an Architect then, but soon realized I suck at math and science. So, I thought of the next best thing that had less math and science and more art in it!

(Krista, Billy and I at the 'Welcome to Alaska' sign)

So, Krista and I had this fun idea: make Billy into a tour guide! So on a trip to Whitehorse the other week, we weren't in the mood to make too many stops, so we turned it into 'Billy's Expitited Tours!' That just means we took a lot of the videos from inside the car while Billy (or, really, Krista's voice and me controlling Billy's mouth) quickly talked about the whatever it was we were passing. So, it really just ended up sounding like Billy yelling for a couple seconds while we drove by a mountain or waterfall or something. I'll post videos later when I get them all edited.

Muffins and Bacon.

This week I got this strange sickness. It started out as a regular sore throat, then the sore throat just got worse..... and worse.... and WORSE! By that time my voice was shot and I had to much phlegmn (how ever you spell that word) was choking me and I could hardley breath. The nurse just told my I had a sore throat, gave me some decongestants, and sent me home. All of us at work worried it was strep, but it wasn't. Then a day later it turned into a regular cold, then it went away. Very strange. I never have a cold that makes me loose my voice. I still can't sing very well. It was funny hearing myself sing in church today. I had to sing an octive down because my range of notes is still limited. Too bad no one was with me that I could make fun of it with!
It was so cute of Deborah to make me muffins and fake bacon for me this morning, though! She was going to deliver them to me, but then I called her after church and informed her I wasn't deathly ill anymore. I ate the food anyway! It was good!

So, I've been in Skagway for about... 6 days and it feels like it's been a month. All of these days I've been working. My next day off is on Sunday. I love my job! And I am still excited about the nice big room I get to rent! It's only Ali (my boss) and I in the apartment, and we both have been closing together almost everyday, then we get home, eat dinner, and go to sleep. Sometimes I'll go visit Deborah/Krista and Will and Ali will go to Monica's house (she works with us) to eat, since Monica's husband is still in Seattle for a few more weeks.
I have noticed that I am more calm and patient with all of the tourists this year. I don't get frustrated or pissed off at them anymore. I have now discovered the power I have over all the tourists, and it's fun to answer all of their tedious questions, like... "Do you have a toilet?" (down the hallway and to the right) or "Where is the nearest pharmacy?" (we don't have a pharmacy, we only have 1 grocery store, 3 blocks away) or (with an Chinese accent)"DISCOUNT?!?"........... "NO!!"
Now, I am spending my days making jewelry (a little), eating, watching the new Dish network we have in the apartment now, and spending time with Krista, Will, Deborah and our new found friends! And old found friends!

Little Sketches to Pass the Time...

The top and bottom pictures have been enhanced with photoshop just for fun!


If you can't tell, this is a pair of legs and a foot.

A new drawing

One of my most recent drawings I've finished is a symbolic drawing. I've decided to represent my family (the siblings, anyway) with birds that parallel our personalities!
For Krista I have chosen a peacock. 

   Even the fact that a 'peacock' is the male version of the bird goes along with Krista... (for those of you who understand me.) Now, these birds are sought after for beauty in the vibrancy of color their feathers have and posses a certain level of self admiration, I guess I could say. 
For Charlotte I have chosen a Laughing Kookaburra.It's known to throw it's prey from tall trees in order to stun them (as a sort of game before killing them), and it's call sounds like a side-splitting laugh. That is so like Charlotte to laugh at other people's pain.

For Jay I have chosen a Tropical Parrot. 

There are many different kinds of tropical parrots, some of 

which are classified as 'talking.' This type is no exception. I also aimed to give this parrot an expression I believe Jay could make. "She touched my pepe, Steve."

And last, ME. Charlotte had to help me on this one. We decided on a Dodo bird. 

Her reasoning behind it is that people used to think that Dodos were rather stupid birds, but came to realize they were rather smart! I don't know how true that is, but they are now associated with being dumb, even though they have been extinct for over 100 years! I thought the connection fit because Dodos are short, wide, and look a little funny (maybe the looks could represent how I am inside sometimes).

Trying to keep on going...

It's this time in the school year that just gets to me. I'm almost finished, but I just want to quit right now! I think it's especially hard because I'm driving by myself. I moved back on campus this semester, but I come home on weekends and sometimes have to come home during the week and then back up to school to finish up the week (mostly for the doctor or whatever). It all gets very tiring! I think I need some words of encouragement! Only..... 6 weeks left? After 6 weeks I'll be home-free in Alaska!

I have, however, found some rather amusing things to keep me going. One of which is a book (a movie as well), North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I am addicted to anything related to England in the 1800's! Particularly it's love stories! Especially the stories where the girl gets swept off her feet by a handsome stranger after a couple of juicy fistfights and a terrible misunderstanding!! I first found the movie, loved it so much I just HAD to read the book! (I think it's funny that most of the books I read, I watch the movie version first.) But, ya! I'm also still reading Jane Eyre (I'm almost to the end). It's amazing, I think I'm turning into a book-liker! Who would have guessed!

I Feel I'm Getting Older.

(I think that ring's gonna have to be bigger!)
Everyone my age is getting married! Well, actually all the people my age that I pretty much grew up with are already married or engaged and some of the married ones are having kids! But now, even MORE people are getting married. Not that I'm saying I want to get married right now, too... cuz I'm not. I think I still have a good 5-10 years until that happens. Besides, the guy I marry would have to pretty special to get along or at least be able to handle my family! And my family is a big part of my life.....so, there you go! I am just feeling a little older. I could do what ever I want to!!... if I wanted to. And that's a nice feeling! I think I have crossed over that threshold of being careless and am now careful. Careful with what, you might ask? I don't know! I think just everything in my life.
I'm becoming more and more excited about drawing!! I LOVE IT! Maybe because I'm getting better and better! I'm not trying to boast, but I've finally found something that I can become rather good at! And I haven't been really good at anything. Just good at a lot of things. But most importantly I enjoy it. I think I enjoy it a little too much. I have now lost interest in any other class that is not art related. I used to try to be good at math and science classes, but now? I JUST DON'T CARE! I will say I do enjoy my geography class, however. Probably because I love to travel. Now the tricky part is finding a way to support myself (finacially) AND be able to do what I love. (left: composition of 6 different faces into 1)
Now, would you eat the moon if it were
made of RIBS?!?!?

All I want to do is draw!

All of my 'spare' time has been going to drawing these past too weeks. And when I say 'all of my time' I mean..... several hours a day, during the week. Good thing all of my other classes are not all that hard this semester! Instead of doing homework or reading  assignments for my other classes, I've been watching movies and drawing. I'm at least taking a drawing class, though. Drawing 2. It's more difficult than drawing 1 (obviously), so it's only natural to spend more time practicing, right? I'm excited that I'm getting a lot better at techniques and becoming more comfortable with the material (mostly charcoal).

There's just my Chemistry class that I pretty much have everyday of the week that is bumming me out! Ever since I've started studying art I've become addicted to being more right brained. Math/science classes don't even make it to my top 10 of favorite subjects any more. Reaching into my left hemisphere has become painful and, for some concepts, very hard to reach! 

Back to my drawing class, though! We're working on self portraits. 

Here are a few sketches 

I've done...... I know, they aren't very good. 

The one on the left I drew from a photograph of myself (this one didn't turn out too bad), but the one on the right is just down right HIDEOUS! I drew it from looking at myself in the mirror! I guess what I REALLY look like is a dead person with no eyelashes and very little hair!

Outer Banks, North Carolina

I spent the week of Christmas in North Carolina instead of Myrtle Beach. That's where I thought is was.... but we really went to the Outer Banks on the North Carolina coast. Oh, well! This was just as good if not better! My Uncle Joe never spares any expense when it comes to vacations! We were all very spoiled! This picture to the right was taken at Ocracoke island (the southern tip of the strip of the islands). This is my first experience with the Atlantic Ocean! It was rather cold, however, but I didn't care! There were lots of cool shells to pick up, too!

These birds were EVERYWHERE! It was funny 'cuz when a person started to get close to them, they would start waddling away, then fly to the other side of you. Like you had an invisible bubble around you. What do you call these birds? Annoying-poop machine birds?

Our condo. Do you see 2 little people waving on the top floor? 

That's my brother

 and I. Our party had enough people to fill 2 condos. Ours had me, Jay, my dad, my Aunt Angela, Uncle Gill, Cousins Ali and Jordan. The

 other condo had my Uncle Joe, Aunt Beth,

 Beth's parents, my grandma, and my half-cousin Aiken. 

This is the Cousin-gang that went: (from left) Aiken, Jordan, me, Jay, Ali (Alex) We are at the ferry waiting to get on. This is the day we went to Ocracoke

 Island. This trip took all day... it was a long day. At least we had a kiddie car with no adults. 

The view from my room (on the 4th floor), the "suit" including a jacuzzi and king size bed! Apparently this was the 

premium spot to be (ocean fron

t view) only 2 minute walking distance to the beach. I love the beach now! 

Alex (or Ali as she goes by now, I'm used to calling her Alex), Aiken, and me on the beach right before they left (everyone else left on Christmas day but me, Jay and my dad didn't leave 'till the 27th).

Can you see the Dalphins in the water?!? There were tons of them! 

Just cruisin along by the shore! Too bad none of them actually came out of the water further than just their fins.

 Then, we all decided to played ballerina on the beach! Alex is a ballerina in Texas (she teaches kids at a dance studio) so, we all decided to join in! Jay, with is "nice line" as Alex put it.

 Aiken lifting Alex (he was the only man able to do it, from the men that were there anyway). 

And me....

The exciting thing o

f the week was when we went Hang Gliding! It was so FUN! I was only one that landed on my knees or face all 5 flights (we each got 5 tries). But that's okay! My dad wanted to buy my brother and I t-shirts so, I picked the funny t-shirt. It says "Fly Naked- Feel the wind on your cheeks" Of course my dad thought that was too inappropriate, so the comprimise to buy it was that I can only wear the shirt when I'm at home (whatever!) "Okay dad!" **wink, wink** (Left) This is the cousin clan getting suited up.

 Next, me all strapped in and ready to go! "Clear" you say when you're ready to go. You walk, jog, run and float away! 

Next is Alex flying off the dune. We didn't fly very far, but for our first time, it was pretty exciting! It was very windy, so for some of the girls in the other group they didn't even have to do anything, they just floated straight up they were so light! 1 instructor was on each side of each glider and they ran down with us to tell us what to do to fly and land properly.