homemaker.

So one of the only things i asked for for Christmas this year was a sewing Machine. The desire came out of a need to doing something new, to have a new hobby, and to be skilled in an area that is very useful. I not only got 1 sewing machine but 2! Matthew knows my love for antiques and he himself appreciates them. He got me this awesome Singer Sewing Machine that has an awesome wooden case with a key to unlock it. Yes it does still work and i have used it a few times. My mom got me a newer one that i use more frequently. So far i have made a few random pillows and am now working on a cool apron. Hopefully one day i will be maki

ng original and beautiful things. I am hopefully going to start making a quilt soon that will be a long term project. Just call me suzy homemaker. These days it seems like all i buy & the only gifts i receive have something to do with a house wife (by saying this i am not suggesting annnything, just to throw that out there, oh man).

The second picture is that of my awesome iron ons that Sara (my other roommate) gave me. They were created by a a pair of artists who are husband and wife! Cute huh? Jess & i have used them already once and I'm excited to get to add them to my creations in the future. To see more of the Sukie products click here!

Oh p.s the fun thing about the Sukie Iron On's is that J used to call me Sukie and Sara didn't even know it. Perfect.

Fact for the Day: Matthew is on his way to be my Valentine for the weekend. Hooray for that!

Song for the Day: Dandelion by the Damnwells.

art of friendship.

So Davis Ann and I have a weekly workout schedule together and go every Tuesday and Thursday to the Rec center. On this particular Tuesday it was freezing, i was tired. and did not really want to go. Of course Davis Ann being the determined most disciplined person i know gets me to go like usual. We work out and actually have a good time. So we leave and get in the car. Little did i know that when i parked my car had gone slightly over the curb (unknown to me bc i didn't feel or hear it when i parked) so i begin to back up and hear an enormous screech.. and im like "oh i must have gone over the curb, no big deal" so i keep backing up with the sound getting worse and worse.. Davis Ann once again being the better of us, gets concerned and gets out to see that my bumper has indeed been taken off the front of my car by the curb. The look on her face was priceless. Being in the good mood i am (luckily) get out and start laughing at the fact that i could have jacked up my car pretty bad. She decides to try and fix it and kinda places it back where it should go as i pull back up to the curb. The grills that are kinda on the lower half of my car came out and are currently in my car. Afraid to drive off i call my boyfriend mechanic (who i think knows everything about cars just because he was in shop in high school) I tried to tell him what happened and to get advice but am laughing so hard that i cry. I laugh because this is something that WOULD happen to me. We end up being ok and driving home grill less and with my poor bumper a little bit removed but i think all is going to be fine. Matthew will be here tomorrow and can hopefully fix the rest of my mistake. Well.. it wasn't really a mistake.. just an accident ;)

I tell this story because these types of things happen frequently to me.. Thankfully it has been built in me to laugh at all problematic/ troublesome circumstances. I laugh at the wrong times and of course cry when i shouldn't.

The whole time this was happening i was wondering where Jessica was. In high school we did some pretty careless things. We ALWAYS got lost in HORRIBLE parts of towns (that topic could be a whole blog entry in itself), have run out of gas on the interstate, and driven miles and miles away from where we are with no practicality in mind. This characteristic we have has gotten on a ton of peoples nerves i do recall. And im sure, has stressed many out with our reckless abandonment desire to be adventurous, careless, and un concerned with the dangers that could come. Although these things do happen to us often we seem to always laugh it off even if it brings us to tears first. Im not sure whats wrong with me? why i always have these moments.. I hope in the future that as i get older i will become more less careless but still able to laugh things off so easily like i do now. It makes life not so stressful.

Jess and i are going to write a book one day. I know we have enough stories about our (what we think, although people say no one is as interesting as unique as they'd hope) interesting life to fill one up. Then again we have big plans with little resources and commitment ;) haha we may not have everything together but we have mastered the art of friendship, we always have fun together, can go weeks without talking and one day call the other one crying because we know the other is the only one who would understand. I can thankfully say she will be my best friend always.

Side note for the day:

Look at this awesome necklace i got over New Years in Nashville. I found the charm in a little old record store downtown. I saw them on a cardboard display panel from the 70's and knew i had to buy the 2 dollar charm. Lucky find in my opinion.

(oh p.s. it looks huge in the picture but its tiny! if that matters for for anything)

Art.

So here is the thing. I am a self taught artist (meaning i never took classes apart from 7th grade and in high school which does not count as being taught anything) I enjoy painting but do run into the problem of feeling like i have no idea what the heck i am doing. I guess that is where many famous artists started out though right? They didn't know what they were doing but learned from simply studying others work. I posted a few pieces that I did a few years ago. I have not painted much since but will post a few news ones i'm working on soon. By being an art major, i have gotten the chance to work with different mediums i otherwise would have not gotten the chance to work with. Last semester i took a print making class which opened my eyes to a new way of doing things. It reminded me that there are other things to do besides paint and that there are so many things i can do with my love for creating. I could work in a print shop doing handmade invitations, work with book artists, and even work at a place like Hatch Show Print in Nashville. Oh the beauty of it all.

This next picture is a screen shot of a few things i'm working on in my Graphic Design Class. Last semester i realized there was so much more i could do with art and after being in my first upper level graphic design class this semester i've understood that even more. Im not going to lie. Working on the computer does not come easy for me, i'm not the best at teaching myself how to do things but am slowly learning and appreciating it. A few months ago i posted a blog about packaging design (the web site will give you an idea of what i mean when i say packaging design). It is somehting that has always facinated me. I am deffinently a sucker for anything with a beautiful lable. I always found myself wondering who it is that designs the things that make us buy stuff. I have a long way to go but i am loving getting to make advertisements and logos which were the reason i wanted to be a designer in the first place.

As a side note here is a picture of my pre valentines surprise. Matthew has sent me a letter everyday in the mail since February 1st. He purchased an old type writer and typed each one! Pretty thoughtful and sweet huh? i thought so.. He will be here in a few short days and with that my letters with stop. I say that as a good thing ;) I have a great Valentine.

February is for lovers?

So i am in love with the photo collages that 100 layer cake does (it is an amazing wedding blog that i follow.) This one on particular had my attention.

February is always filled with the theme of love. With all the pinks and reds and little hearts everywhere. Of course it is because of Valentines day but other than that why is the whole month filled with "love"? This of course has gotten me to think about love, what it is, and why we are so desperate for it. I am not going to try and answer that question in this entry. I am not going to write down a profound answer that is so thought provoking that i have a million replies. But i will say there already is an answer.. love is what makes us go crazy but it is indeed the one thing that holds all things together. Of course the reason is that God is love. He is the ultimate lover jealous for His bride. He is ultimately the perfect lover who satisfies the desperate need for love in the human heart. John 15:13 says "no greater love has no one, that he that lays his life down for his friends." That is what God did. Jesus died for us, and there is no greater love than that. My friend Emily wrote a song that says "how right they are to adore you, we rejoice, we delight in you." He is to be adored above all else. So many days i waste my time and do not give my first love the adoration He deserves. So in the month of February remember that.. with all the romance, the flowers, the hearts, and the love letters.. Remember the Lover of the world. How to love is found in Him..

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

1 corinthians 13:4-8

best friend blog.

Ok well, this isn't about my best friends blog. I just thought the title would be catchy if it went with my last entry. Any who. My best friend in the whole world Jessica Ryan Reeves just put up her art work on Etsy. She has only 5 paintings up there so far but she is such a talented artist that everyone should buy from! After coming to spend the night with me for a few days we were both inspired to paint more, make more, and sell more. Hopefully one day soon i too will be selling work on Etsy. The first image is a small glimpse of a painting she did a few years ago, and the 2nd is one of my favorites she has ever done. Enjoi!

Visit her Etsy shop here!

boyfriend blog.

So my boyfriend decided to start a photo blog. He bought a camera over Christmas to use just as a hobby. I wanted to share it with everyone! Matthew has a pure eye for beauty and creativity. Im always impressed with his work and ideas. He says he is not artistic.. but i be to differ. He has been traveling a few weekends to go to job interviews and he took these first few pictures while in Indianapolis. Hope you enjoi!

http://www.photoblog.com/opioneer/2010/01/24/

patient year.

After taking 3 studio classes at a time the past 2 semesters i've found it hard to stay excited about my school work. I get stressed out about my teachers expectations when i know they would love to see what i come up with no matter if i stayed in the lines of a traditional artist or leaned toward new ideas like the avant-garde artists. Im trying not to look at my projects simply as assignments or grades but as creative projects inspired by an assignment sent to someone else? We will see if this new strategy helps me stay motivated in creating.

Im finding myself asking "Why am i an art major again?" over and over and over again.

Im almost done.

One more year.

It will be a patient year at that.

Another thing running though my head over and over.. "patience.."

2009.

Im back. Back to life in Tuscaloosa. Back to the crazy neighbors on my right and on my left Mr Bill (who looks like Creed from the office and who listens to irish folk and 80's rock really loud on the weekends; sara and i think he works for the CIA). Back to classes. And back to long distance. Back to schedule.

I had my first day of classes today. They weren't as bad as i thought. My classes will be hard but i decided to look at it as a challenge, a challenge to stand up against. I usually let things that are hard get me down but ive learned from a certain boy to look at things that are hard for me as a challenge instead of a struggle.

This is one of the many things ive learned from him.

I said in my last entry that i would write an entry overview of 2009. Ive thought about it a lot and realized i do not have much to say about the year. I don't want to be be too negative because 2009 was one of the hardest years ive had in my life.

I will say though that some of my favorite memories happened in 2009 and so with that.. here they are..

Memory #1: Love

In February 2009 Matthew told me he loved me for the first time. It was super sweet...of course me telling the whole world this could be a little cheesy but it was kinda perfect actually and ill tell anyone. We were in Memphis staying with some of his friends and i got the flu REALLY bad. He took care of me by getting up every 4 hours in the middle of the night to give me more medicine and to make sure my 102 temperature would stay down. I knew it before he even said it because i honestly have never felt more love like that before by someone because of their actions other than my mom... He didn't even have to say it to me because i knew it but he did as i was falling asleep and ill never forget it.

Being in a relationship has taught me more about God than i ever imagined it would.

Memory #2: Surprises

In April Matt surprised me for my birthday by showing up in a refrigerator box on my front porch at midnight. I almost cried because it meant so much to me. I was having a rough week and didn't think id see him anytime close to my birthday. He's good at surprises when he wants to be ;) ( i say that because he tells me most of time im getting one)

Memory #3: road trips and the coolest couple on earth

In the summer I got to take a road trip to California with him which is by far one of the best times Matt and I have had together. We saw the coolest places. Met some cool people. And were both changed by the Toiegos who are a couple we worked with out there. God taught me so much through them.

Memory #4: Roommates.

Last spring Sara and I went with Davis Ann to her beach house for a long weekend. It was just the 3 of us in her amazing house and if you know anything about the beach in February/early spring its beautiful. We talk about that weekend being so great all of the time and i honestly cant tell you why. Its not because we did anything out of the ordinary and laughed all night. It was just perfect. Peaceful and refreshing. Most defiantly in the top 3 weekends of the semester.

Spring break in Dallas with Matt's family as well as many weekends with Erica coming over and moving in our house defiantly go in my top favorite memories of 2009. Hopefully 2010 will bring so much more. The start of it has already been good although i have my feelings of dread towards school. The past 11 days God has taught me so much. Matt and I have grown even closer than before and I have to much to look forward to in living with such great people here.

As much as im not ready I am.

oh P.S. Matthew had a job interview in Nashville last weekend. He finds out i 2 weeks if he got it. I think im more nervous than he is.

We will see.

:)

Artist of the week: The Temper Trap http://www.thetempertrap.net/Home/

2010.

Im laying on my bed listening to the most delightful mood fitting playlist ever.

(thank you Jessica Reeves and friends for helping construct a collection of music that flows together so well)

It is 2010 and it has been a good while (i mean a GOOD while) since i have posted an entry.

I think is about time i did so again.

I needed the break and think that it is now time again to write.

I will soon publish a 2009 entry but for now lets start with a short entry of my "not so much news years resolutions"

Im not the best at making resolutions and am not hard core about them because i know myself and i know i'm horrible at finishing anything but here are the things id like to accomplish in 2010.

1. Take a sewing class whether i go weekly or once this year i'm determined to sit down with a few old ladies to have them show me what they know in the sewing area.

(i got a sewing machine for christmas)

2. To volunteer at either the boys and girls club where Erica worked or visit a nursing home occasionally. I love old people but they always make me kinda weepy (not sure why) but i think it would be a fun thing to do.

3. Know God better. I mean this is a broad thing and something i should always want but really. I want a committed and undivided heart. And i know this goal will only happen with His help. I want to be a fighter of my faith.

4. Go to MORE CONCERTS. goodness. I sucked in 2009 at researching and getting myself to go.

5. Go on a road-trip with Jessica somewhere far away with little plans behind the trip.

6. Get a job by may. (lets see how that one goes)

7. Create more art. My own art. Not copies. And not class work. Be inspired by creation itself and go with it.

8. Exercise more? i mean really. I don't know if i want to even say that.

9. Have a committed night i hang out with friends outside of my house. (Davis Ann we are doing half wine half pizza every wednesday this semester right?)

10. Try to keep my room clean for more than a day. (this seems easy but its harder that it should be for me?)

Welcome back to the grammatically incorrect blog of Sarah Teague.

Last goal. Blog more.