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Seattle University thinks that Lake Sumter Community College sucks. That is what their letter to me said...or at least that is how I interpreted it. I can only go to SU if I start all over...from the beginning. No. I am not doing that. So that leaves one question, what will I do? I will get back to you on that one! Actually, I have a few options. A) Go to the School of Visual Concepts. Here they will teach me the same stuff a university would...for cheaper and no degree. I could freelance or get lucky and score a job from somebody who thinks creative degrees are as useless as I do. B) I could self teach myself and develop my own creative boundaries and guidelines for Graphic design....and then freelance. C) I could choose A, save up a bunch of money, hope Ben gets a hefty raise/ better job and then do my dream job. (Insert dreamy music and blurred vision here).

Dream Job

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From Kelly's brain via brainstorming

A Dream Job comes from the right side of Kelly's brain. It consists of an old house, gardening shed or similar structure that is packed full of herbs, flowers, art, and antiques. The shop would be open for business Monday through Saturday and Kelly would OWN it. Oh, and a few cats will call it home too.

Back to reality. I've been gardening a lot lately. We have daffodils, pansies, primroses, cyclamens, fuchsia's, English daisies and a lot more. Ben will be growing a bunch of vegetables this season too. Right now he has potatoes, onions and radishes growing. I also have herbs that are doing fantastic! Here are some photos of my flowers:

I've also been dipping and dabbing into some photography. I don't have a fancy camera, but it does take awesome pictures. With the help of photoshop I have been producing (what I think) are some pretty nice photos. My three favorites are below.

What do you think?

Enough babbling for now. On to the ladder part of our session- my current obsessions.

Vintage style photography

http://www.featherlove.com/

Important News!!!

Not really....but I do have some new stuff to blog! Since we last chatted, I have been school hunting. I found a few schools that fell through for their own different reasons (bad reviews, inconvenient, annoying advisers etc...). However, I did decide to apply to Seattle University. I still have a few weeks to go until I find out if I will be accepted or not. So, that's that.

This past Sunday Ben and I went to the Bellevue Botanical gardens. We had so much fun! It was a nice relaxing time. We were hoping it would be a nice day, but it turned out to be the usual cloudy with a layer of mist overhead. This actually worked to my advantage because there was a lot of dew on the plants, which always makes for gorgeous pictures. Along with the many gardens and paths, there was a gnome house (so awesome!) and an old Japanese style house to walk through (and use the bathroom hehehe).

I am looking forward to the rest of this month! We will be celebrating my birthday and anniversary on the 28th! We are staying at this wonderful place called Treehouse Point. I can't wait to post pictures! Here is the website http://treehousepoint.com/

Random fact of the day (about myself): It bothers me when people abbreviate stuff or give it a nickname. Example: National Geographic is now called Nat Geo. WHY? That just sounds so dumb to me. One more: My hometown is Leesburg, FL but for some reason people insist on calling it "The Burg." Sigh....pet peeves are such a pain!

Recent Fabulous Finds:

Perfect for Seattle! (Price range: steep!) Sky Umbrella at http://www.momastore.com/

Mmmmm....smells so pretty! http://www.lollialife.com

Thinking

This week I have evaluated my life and my future. I learned about some major changes at work that are just depressing. My amazing friend from work, Mizuho, is going back to Japan. her last day of work is February 2, 2010. She won't be replaced. This means only me and one other employee besides my boss. We went from having eight people to two thanks to the economy. This means I will have Tuesdays and Sundays off. No more normal weekends. *Insert hissy fit here please.* I'm tired of not having the money and time to do what I want. I would love to do some mini vacations with my husband, but money and time has restricted us from doing so. A baby would be great too, but it wouldn't be fair for me to bring up a child knowing that I didn't do my best to secure a future for myself, much less a future for my child. The whole world seems full of doom and gloom and I am determined to raise above it with a positive attitude. I want a decent job, with decent pay that is steady. I'm not asking for an unrealistic six digit salary. I'm a good worker, with great morals and great work ethics. I also happen to obtain some artistic ability, which I have made no time for since I moved here to the beautiful northwest. SO.....I am looking into the possibility of returning to school. I will definately have to take out loans, but hopefully it will be an investment. It will be a tough journey, but I am blessed with the best back up a girl could ask for. My family is amazing. My husband is forever supportive of whatever I do. My parents are always lifting me up and telling me of my potential. They love me no matter what mistakes I make and praise me continuously for the things I have achieved. Ben's parents, who I have learned so much from, have pushed me to see how much more I could be if I just put forth the effort. I have been blessed with the talent of artistic expression and I would kick myself a thousand times if I got to be an old cat lady who never used her God given gift. What better way to do that than to implement it into my everyday life by using it to earn a living. Now the big question is, where to go and what for. How about The Art Institute for Graphic design or Web Design? I will update you when I figure it out. :)

In the meantime I will be browsing through the endless sea of crafts, great Vintage finds and garden hodge podge. These are some of my most favorite things and they keep my creativity flowing. Here are a few pics of some recent finds.

Country Kitchen by Candy Pop at Flickr.com

I adore my kitchen. by Mattie & Den at Flickr.com

Mushroom Canisters! by The Dainty Squid at Flickr.com

I also just finished reading the book, "Feather" by Abra Ebner. Despite the frequent typos, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and rocky start, the book was suprisingly swell. Note: I hated it at first. I must have somehow got ahold of a copy that hadn't been reviewed for errors. I did get it at a Half Priced Books and the author is from Seattle.....who knows? In the end, I was able to get over the errors and enjoy a good read.

Albums I've been listening to over and over again:

Couch Potato

Ben and I have been watching our fill of TV at night after work. I'm not much of a TV person. I usually can't sit still long enough. However, there are a select few shows that do hold my attention . Then there are the shows that I watch for one reason or another and I have no idea why I watch them, because I really don't like them all that much. One of these is Dancing with the stars. I know...kind of lame right? I started watching it last season only because Steve-O was on it. I thought it was hilarious that he was a star on the show and I had to watch him dance. Then Kelly Osbourne is on this season and I think she is pretty cool too. While watching the show this season I discovered that I really do not like Joanna Krupa. I had no idea who she was before the show....and kind of wish I never watched this season so I could have avoided seeing her. For those of you who have no clue who I am referencing, she is a swimsuit model and a recent Playboy model as well. Those two things aren't what get me though. She has this attitude about her that is just super annoying. At the beginning of the show I noticed that she would roll her eyes when she got critiqued. Who does that? Her apparently. I think the show should've just said she got "injured" and kicked her off. I can't stand women like that! UGHHHH. AND to top it off she was always licking her teeth! I guess she thought her lipstick was all over but whatever....it was annoying. This is her picture so you can have a visual (the look on her face says it all lol).

I am so glad she got voted off!!! It took long enough. Then there is that crazy lady from So You Think You Can Dance. The judge...I think she is Marie Osmond? Anyway, she is soooooo abnoxious. I have to hit mute every time she talks. If it wasn't for her, the show would be a whole lot better. I do love watching the dancers though.

Blah Blah Blah

I'm very disappointed in Threadless.com. I used to love their shirts. I could get an original design and a quality T-shirt all in one. Now they've switched to using American Apparel T's and I am not pleased. Those T's are super thin and stick to every roll I've got! Also, it seems that instead of people coming up with awesome new designs, they've just been re-creating old designs and adding a few new flairs to make it their own. Thumbs down for Threadless.

I am also angry with Yahoo. For months they've been changing my homepage to a "new and improved" page and I just kept switching back to classic view. Well, the folks over at Yahoo have decided that everyone should use the new format which means that they've tossed the classic page to the curb. Jerks.

On the bright side, I get to babysit my favorite little buddy this Saturday night!!! He is the cutest baby EVER (until I have my own of course). I think I seriously love the kid.

An Item I may just have to try:

The Mad Hatter Isn't Really All That Mad...

I just finished reading Alice In Wonderland. I liked it quite a bit. After all the hype about how craaaaazy and trippy it is, I was expecting something a little different. For a children's book it was pretty crazy, and I suppose for its time it was pretty trippy too. Although, I can't help thinking that the mad hatter really isn't as "mad" as I expected him to be. Hopefully Tim Burton's version of the movie will be good. I can't wait to read, "Through The Looking Glass." I was mistaken and thought that Tweddle Dee and Tweedle Dum were in the Alice In Wonderland Book. I guess I thought that because they were in the Disney movie right? Or are the two books combined in the movie? Either way....the whole thing is genius. I loved it.

I finally got a new winter jacket. Well, it isn't really classified as a "winter" jacket as much as it is a "rain" jacket, but I plan on layering anyway. One heavy jacket is too much for my liking. This one is a really thick rain jacket though and I LOVE it. Of course I had to pay an arm and a leg for it but I think it will pay off in the end. Here it is in all its glory!

A Day At The Park

Ben and I had a picnic at the park today to celebrate the good weather. It was a little chilly, but the sky was super clear with only a few puffy white clouds. We went to a park along the Sammamish Slough that was perfect for a cheap getaway. First I made Ben stop a couple of times to take some pictures. He LOVES taking pictures! There were a bunch of random little trails that we explored as well. Then we walked about two miles down the trail to the Chateau St. Michelle winery and set up our picnic. Along with munching on all of our goodies, we did some people watching and I think we found a new hobby :). I also discovered these really tall trees that weren't hard to miss. They formed a huge wall along the trail. I was imagining that somewhere along the tree wall was an entrance to a secret garden. This sudden jolt in my imagination station couldn't have been from reading Alice in Wonderland could it? I highly doubt it. At the end of our journey I found this sculpture that was a fish (salmon?) on one side and a moon on the other. I liked the moon side the best of course. Time to go eat chicken chili and build a fire! Ta ta for now....