Saturday, May 26, 2012

Crochet-tastic!

I'm a bad blogger. I haven't posted anything in the longest time, and that's sad.

But I wanted to post some of my recent-ish crochet projects. So, it's a photo blog today. Enjoy!


Star scarf. Yes, a scarf made of stars.

Bearded beanies and a flower! Love these kids. They're the coolest kids in the world.

Super Mario! This rug... it's kinda my pride and joy.
(Giving credit where it's due: I copied this rug.)


Pink bikini and a little flower.

I'm working on some more beanies and another blanket, and I just finished these two gems:

A bag I made for myself. It's to carry my lap top and all of it's stuff. :)

And a coin purse with a bird on it! ("Put a bird on it!")
(Giving credit where it's due: I copied this purse.)

I have to say, I love the fun things I get to make. It's fun. And makes me happy. And hopefully it makes other people happy.

The end.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Yay!

Grandma's home from hospitals and care centers. Yay! I'm so glad she's able to be comfortable in her own home. She's still got some back pain, but we're hoping that will go away as she recovers from the surgery.


I've been listening to 80's music recently. It's been a while since I listened to my 80's collection. This stuff is great. Makes me wanna dance and sing a-long. Problem is, I'm processing loans at work and it might look a little strange.


Also, I'm processing loans at work. This means I don't have to meet with students during the Summer start-up. I don't know if I can express exactly how happy this makes me. I get really annoyed with answering the same question over and over again. I know it's not the student's fault. He/she doesn't know that the student before him/her asked the same question, or that the next student will ask the same question. But I confess, as the days and weeks wear on, I get more and more annoyed. So, really, this is a good thing not only for my stress levels, but for the students. Plus, I get to listen to my 80's music while I process these loans.


These random posts are weird, right? Oh well. It's a kind of journal-keeping. If I were keeping a hand-written journal, these are the kinds of things I'd be writing. You all are getting a glimpse at my journal. Aren't you the luckiest?

Friday, March 30, 2012

Two posts in one week? The mind reels...


I've been praying for Grandma Heywood pretty hard core recently. She's going through some pretty nasty stuff with her back, and she's recently broken her leg as well. So I'm sending out a prayer that you all with pray with me and my family that things will be okay with Grandma.


Also, as always, I'm looking forward to Conference Weekend. I'm sure I will be chastised and taught, that I will learn and hopefully grow. Another prayer for myself, that my heart and mind will be open.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Yep. I'm doing it. My tribute post to the Hunger Games. You don't have to like it, and I'm doing it either way.

I've heard arguments that this story just a rip off of other stories, it's unoriginal, it's teenage dribble, etc. Well, if that's you're opinion, you're entitled to it and I won't judge you (not to your face, anyway). But may I point out that there's no such thing as a completely original idea? I'm just agreeing with your argument. This story isn't completely original because, well, nothing is completely original. Just sayin'.

OK, not that my argument doesn't have it's flaws (which I'm sure smart people will point out, and that's fine), but regardless of how you personally feel about the Hunger Games, I loved it. It got under my skin. I hated the Capitol. I rooted for the oppressed Districts. I cried over the deaths of certain characters and cheered for the deaths of others. Yes, cried and cheered.

And this first movie was a well-done interpretation of the first book. The screenplay stuck close to the story, and while I wish there had been more information about the political stuff, I was pleased with the development of the characters. The casting was good (not perfect, but good), the score was good, the effects were good, everything was good.

So, if you trust my judgement at all, I highly recommend going to see the movie. And then you'll probably want to read the books if you haven't yet. Just ask Marie.

Monday, March 12, 2012

At the risk of sounding redundant...

I just really, really wanna have babies. And all that comes with it. You know, like, a husband. That'd be nice.

Though, I must say, it's been very reassuring to have people in my life who had to wait a long time for these blessings as well. It gives me hope. Family members, church leaders, friends--all people I love and admire, and if they can wait, I suppose I can, too.

But I'm growing extremely impatient. And since my biological clock has been ticking since I was about 19, I think I may just shrivel up and die when I reach 30 and I'm still single and baby-less. 'Cause it's gonna happen, guys. It's only six months away, looming over my head like the countdown ball on New Year's Eve: slowly dropping, ready to squash my dreams.



I have to find something to do to distract me from my despair. Like crocheting "Tetris" scarves and "Mario" rugs and "TMNT" hats and "Pac Man" afghans. Right? Keeps my hands busy.

And reading great books. OK. If you've never read Ender's Game, you probably should. I'm only a bit over half way through it, but it's amazing. Also, The Giver is one to have on your shelf. Also, I've read the Chronicles of Narnia again, and those books are just the best. There is so much to learn from these seemingly simple stories. [Is there a Master's Degree in YA Literature? Because that's what I'd study if I could.]



I'm grateful for the good weekend I had. I was able to do a lot of fun things, and all with pretty awesome people. I'm glad I'm on the 8-5 schedule at work this week, because extra sleep is needed thanks to the stupid time change. I'm looking forward to having Friday off and spending it making pillow covers with Ashley. I'm sad I won't be going home to see my dear friend (another) Ashley get married, but circumstances beyond my control have made it impossible. Sad sad sad. But I hope she and Derek enjoy the gift we're sending. Oh, baby. (Photos will be posted. I'm particularly happy with this one.) I'm grateful for my (right now, extremely messy) apartment and the solitude is affords. It's lovely to hang around with really cool people, but it's great to go to a quite home of my own. And it's nice to be able to leave a mess for me to clean up later because I finished a project so late and was too tired to clean it up. (Maybe I'm not really ready for babies...) I'm grateful for inspired leaders who teach me that I'm not still single because of anything I've done wrong, but because I'm being molded to be the kind of wife and mother I will need to be in the future. (Three talks in two days with the same message. Someone's trying to tell me something.)

"When you are discouraged thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessing..."

And I'm grateful for you, my family and friends (even the ones who don't read this, though I love those of you who do a little bit more than I love those of you who don't...). It'd take pages and pages and pages of internet space to list all of the people I love and the reasons I love them, so I won't bore you. But know that I love you and I'm grateful for you and I wouldn't be me without you. And I like me, so thanks.

Love to you all!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Jewelry Boards

So, as some may know, my Ashley friend and I like to hang out and do stuff. We get together about once a week and just chill. Lunch, shopping, chatting, etc. It's been like this for a long time and we love it. Recently we decided that we could be a little more productive in our afternoons together. We've started a board on Pinterest, titled it "our projects," and have started to make stuff we pin. I'm happy to say that the plan, so far, has worked!

A few weeks ago, we picked a project to work. The next couple of "dates" were spent gathering materials to complete the projects. Last Saturday, we spent pretty much an entire afternoon finishing the project (and my afternoon I mean we worked from about 2 to 8, and ate pizza, and talked a ton, and then we played and talked more the rest of the night). I'm seriously so proud of us! We've actually finished a project!

So, what was this project we worked on? We decided to make jewelry boards. Yay! I don't have any pictures of Ashley's, but her's is super cute. She took an old picture frame, painted it a pretty blue color, and fixed a decorative aluminum sheet into it. Then she took a separate molding board, painted it the same color as the frame, and attached coat hooks. She's gonna hang them together, using the aluminum to hang dangly earrings and the hooks for necklaces and bracelets. Cute, yes? And I think she was gonna use ribbon to hang one or the other or both, and then use the ribbon to store studs. I love it.

For mine, I bought a framed cork board, covered the board with a textured material (and I don't know what it's called, but it's kinda like burlap, though much less abrasive), attached knobs, pulls, and hooks as well as some lace for look. The knobs I've used for necklaces, the hooks for rings, and the pulls for bracelets and dangly earrings, while sticking the studs directly into the cork. Here's the proof:

   

As you can see, I stuck two of the pulls (the black ones) upside down to use sort of like cups. Originally, I was going to use them to store the studs, but changed my mind and used them for hoops and other hard-to-arrange jewelry.

Needless to say, I'm very proud of my board. I love it so so much. And I'm very proud of Ashley and myself. We finally finished an actual project!

We're gonna move on to a new one starting next week. We've decided to work on some throw pillows. The hard part is ahead: choosing the style and design we like best (Ashley and I are known for our indecisiveness). Wish us luck!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Welcome, February!

I'm not sure why I like February so much, but I do. Maybe it's because there are some holidays coming up, and one for which I get a day off work. Maybe it's because it's a short month. Maybe this particular February is fun because it's Leap Year.

Whatever the reason, I wish you all a wonderful February.

This particular month started with sleeping in (yay for still having Wednesday's off--makes the week more bearable), some light cleaning (my sink was FULL of dirty dishes--and it was starting to stink), a fun afternoon chatting and project planning and shopping with Ashley and Teagan (that baby girl is super smart and pretty darn cute--she's got a tooth now which just adds to the cuteness), and then some crocheting (I finished a hat today--one I'm very eager to share but am waiting to do so until the owner has it in his possession), while doing some movie watching (The Chorus--which I hadn't seen before and absolutely loved--and Dear Frankie--one of my all-time favorites). All-in-all, it's been a lovely way to start the month.

Something cool: I ended January with a temple recommend interview with a member of my bishopric, and I'll start February with another interview with a member of (the new) stake presidency. Also, we have Stake Conference this weekend. I enjoy Stake Conference for two reasons: one, it's good to have a bit of change (and I love only being in church for two hours instead of three and getting it done early instead of late) and two, the counsel given is always good and needed, and the Spirit is always strong.

And after conference, I'm gonna be eating delicious food and hanging out with some awesome people know as the Chinn family, and I can't wait. Superbowl Sunday for me equals food and family. I don't give to shakes about the football. I just want the comforts.

See what I mean? February is gonna be good.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

hitRECord

I've promised a blog about the amazing show I saw the Sundance Film Festival, at the Eccles Theater in Park City. This is by no means meant to take away from the film I saw at the Broadway in Salt Lake City which was also part of the Sundance Film Festival called Room 237, an entry in the Experimental Documentary category. And because I don't want to take away from Room 237, I'm gonna give a little information on that one first.

Room 237 is about a few different theories on what Stanley Kubrick's The Shining was "really" about. The most popular theory--and I say popular only because I had heard it before--was that the film was really about the Indian (Native American) genocide that took place, pointing to the line about the Overlook Hotel being built on an Indian burial ground and the other little hints and signs referencing Indians throughout the film. Another idea was that it was a statement about the Holocaust. Other ideas noted were things like, "It's meant to be [figuratively and literally] seen forwards and backwards," or it makes reference to the fake film that was televised of the Apollo 11 moon landing (not saying it didn't happen, just that what was on TV wasn't real), etc etc etc. There were so many ideas in this film, and in the Q&A afterward we learned that there were other theories the movie makers researched but didn't use. The awesome thing I found in this documentary was the way it was put together, the actual screen footage we saw. The film was mostly just a ton of strung together clips from other Stanley Kubrick films put together to tell the "story" of these themes and to "narrate" the talking-heads voices. For example, if the talking-head said something like, "I know I'm being watched," shown on the screen was the scene from Eyes Wide Shut where Tom Cruise's character is literally being watched and followed. They also used the actual footage from the film to show exactly what the talking-heads were talking about. So if someone was describing the way the window in the hotel manager's office is in a place in the hotel where there couldn't possibly be a window (emphasizing that things in the hotel are not always what they seem to be, or what you think they should be), what you saw on the screen was the window in the hotel manager's office. This served quite a few purposes, but the one I loved the most about not seeing any of the talking-head's faces was that I wasn't prejudice about what I was hearing based on the way the person looked, or what was their connection to the film, or what they may have previously said but I couldn't remember the particular person who said it because I never saw his/her face. It was awesome. If you have any feelings (good, bad, or in-between) toward Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, or if you have seen it at all (even if only once), you'll find this film insightful and interesting. And then you'll want to see the original again.

Now, I've paid my homage to Room 237, which I really did thoroughly enjoy. But now I can move on to what was seriously one of the coolest "shows" I've ever been attended. Yeah, I may be a little biased because I found the owner/Master of Ceremonies extremely attractive. But seriously, this show rocked.

hitRECord is an online "open-collaborative production company... [for] writers, musicians, filmmakers, video editors, animators, photoshoppers, illustrators..." etc. (see hitrecord.org) owned and run (along with others, though he really does seem to have a hand in pretty much everything that gets produced through this organization, based on the credits at the end of each of the short films we saw) by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They've put out a collection of videos/music/short films/art in box-set, as well as a collection of tiny stories. Really, seriously, just go to the website and watch the little video that explains what the company is about. Then come back and read the rest.

OK, now that you've seen what the big deal is, let me tell you about the show. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (RegularJOE, but I'll just refer to him as Joe from here on out) comes out and just starts filming and getting the audience pumped. Then he tells us about the organization. Then starts in with some audience participation. The theme for the night is "Independence." What is it? How do we attain it? How do we use it? What's the difference between "Independence" and 'Indie"? He has this dude come up on stage and kinda has a conversation with him about the difference and then he gets into the definition of the word "hipster." Check this out.



Unfortunately, the other audience members who made it to the stage were equally ridiculous. Joe did his best and made the most out of their conversations, which was impressive. He didn't let the idiots ruin the show.

There were a ton of new short films (collaborative efforts made by hitRECord artists) that debuted at the show, all of which were different in style and message and genre. And all of which I enjoyed immensely. There was one that was an animated statement on the right to take pictures in public (though, of course, it was more than just that). The animation had a song also, and at the end, the chorus had the "follow-the-bouncing-ball" kind of sing along. So, after we watched the video, Joe asked for whoever wanted to be part of the "choir" to come on stage and sing along. Marie, Jana, and I ran up there. None of us got a great video of it, but I think Jan's came out best, so here it is: proof we shared a stage with Joseph Gordon-Levitt for about two minutes.



About 3/4 of the way into the show, Joe brought another star to the stage: Parker Posey. They had a chat about what Joe's doing with hitRECord and that kind of thing, and how she's never seen or heard of anything quite like it. They chatted for a bit with another audience member, and then they put on a little show for us. Well, they and Brady Corbett, who starred in another Sundance film called Simon Killer. The three of them acted out chapter two from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Saywer. I'm in the middle of editing that one, though. It's a long video, as you can imagine. For now, I'll give you a taste.



These are the kinds of things we saw and participated in during the show. It was pretty awesome, as you can see. Joe performed a couple of songs for us as well.





And then it was over.

We had a lovely time. I just can't say enough about it. My biggest qualm with the whole thing was that Joe seemed to feel the need to swear a good deal, and I think that was mostly to get the audience to cheer. Something about the f-bomb makes a crowd get louder for some reason that I just don't understand. I personally don't let myself get offended by cussing. I grew up around it, and I don't want to say that I'm used to it because I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing certain things, the f-bomb being one of them, but I don't really get offended. It's more like a feeling of losing my balance. Anyway, though I'm not offended, it is highly unattractive. But since Joe did sing to us, and dedicated "Baby Mine" to his mom, I'll forgive him.

A long post, I know, but I hope an interesting and entertaining one. Leave me a comment with questions or ideas about how to make these videos awesome (I want to submit some to hitRECord.org--which Joe asked the audience to do--and then hope that something I submit gets collaborated on) or just tell me you read/watched, or just say hi, or whatever. I like having proof that people read my stuff. I need the validation.

Love to you all!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Change is hard. It's a difficult process. It literally gives me anxiety and leaves me short of breath.

But I have to make some changes in my life.

My beautiful and insightful sister shared some of her thoughts and a devotional talk on her private blog earlier this week which I read today. It was eye-opening and comforting, and it helped in motivating me to do what's right not to please anyone else or to "earn" salvation or whatever, but instead to show my appreciation and devotion. And I thank Marie for sharing.

It's time to do a little more growing up. I need to get myself out of rut and figure out what I want (besides the obvious, of course). And I need to be better at the daily things.

Hold on to your hats. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. But it'll be worth it in the end.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Sis. Hyer

I haven't yet put my feelings into words about dear Sister Hyer, who passed away on Christmas day, 2011. I have to do this. It's going to make me cry, I know, but I have to do it to remember her and remember how she made me feel.

I love Sister Hyer. She was my primary teacher. She was my leader. She was my friend. She was a co-leader. She was almost like a third grandma. Though I was never extremely close to her, I always felt like she loved me and cared about me in the same way that my biological grandparents do. She taught me how to spell "family":
Father
And
Mother
I
Love
You
She taught me more than that. She was the most wonderful example of how to be a good visiting teacher, not only by being a good visiting teacher, but by being available to be taught. Marie and I were blessed to be assigned as Sister Hyer's visiting teachers for a while. I loved visiting her. It was always such a warm, comfortable, spiritually uplifting experience being in her home. She welcomed us with a hug and let us go with a kiss. Caroling to Sister Hyer every Christmas was always a joy. She was so happy to have us in her home, and never allowed us to just sing on her door step. We were always invited in for a chat and to warm up, and easily enticed to sing a few more songs inside.

This Christmas was only a little bit different. We planned ahead when we would visit her. We brought some food with us to help feed her family who had gathered to her home for their last Christmas with their mother and grandmother. We were there only a little while because we didn't want to intrude. We sang a few hymns. She requested that we sing "White Christmas" and her favorite Christmas hymn, "Silent Night." She gave each of us a hug and a kiss, with us bending down to reach her warm cheeks and be enfolded in her arms. She whispered, "Thank you" and "I love you" to each of us. We said our goodbyes.

And then she was gone. That was the last time we saw Sister Hyer in this life. She died early on Christmas morning. She was able to spend the day celebrating with her husband, who passed nearly 30 years ago.

She was a wonderful, sweet, kind, generous, humble, Christ-like woman. Full of love, without guile. I love her very much. She will always hold a special place in my heart. I hope she knows how much she means to me, how much I value her love and her example.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Everyone sets goals, New Year Resolutions. I do too. I won't lie.

But that's not what this post is about.

This post is to share a couple of silly videos. That is all.

Jingle Bells!


Deck the Halls!


Oh, and one more thing. Do your best to keep your goals. Follow your heart. Make a plan. Take it one day at a time. And please remind me to do the same.

My love to you all!