Goodbye Cassie

Some sad news... Our cat Cassie is gone. I will miss her. My family has had her since I was 12. She's been a sweet and adorable cat, and i'm very sad to see her go. Goodbye. Rest in Peace.

Saying "Goodbye" to the Old, "Hello" to the New!

So, It's literally been ages since I've posted on here! And the sad thing is there have been a lot of great things that I've been up to! I traded in my iMac for a MacBook Pro, (good decision), I took some salsa classes, worked, visited Alcatraz, went to the Opera, worked, visited with my amazing sister Shara who came out to California, worked some more, saw A Christmas Carol, worked, and basically had a fun time playing Dance Revolution and watching Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls with my friends. :) The last 6 months have flown by and now a new year is approaching... faster than I care for. But New Years' always mean new goals and new beginnings and I'm excited to see what this new year has in store for me. Now for more reminiscing... This year brought with it a new job, a new home, new roommates, new friends, and new challenges. It's been an adventure, and I've learned a lot. Mostly I've learned that life is not going to be a piece of cake, but it's. It is always surprising you with new twists and turns, but it's what you make from those changes that really counts. Overall it's been an adventurous year! I will now leave you with a sampling of various photos from my many adventures this last year!

Dad with Tristan, what a pair they are!

The new job this year at MyNewPlace!

Valentine's Day Annual San Francisco Pillow Fight!

Post it wars!

At the Chinese New Year's Parade

My new roommate Jessica at Monster Jam

Monster Jam!

1st time with Auto-tune idol here I am with the Winner, Emily Foster!

Stephanie and I, Contestants in the first ever Auto-Tune Idol! I did round 2 this last October!

Powder Puff Football!

They called me Battle-hawk!

Shaina, Alicia, and myself! So glad we could see our awesome cousin!

Dad and Uncle Charlie playing around on the horse's. :)

Shaina at my favorite store, Anthropologie, with this huge Monster book!

San Fran Scavenger Hunt, this is a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright! This was his signature.

Visiting Arizona, with my adorable 2nd cousin Brody.

1st pic with my new iPhone 4s! Loved the Angry Bird hat! 

At the Exploratorium with Kyle

On our trip to Alcatraz!

At Alcatraz

In our box at the Opera! We saw Turandot, beautiful music! 

Mom and I at the Opera!

My Reindeer cupcakes! Filled with Nutella and home-made Nutella buttercream frosting. Yum!

Cable Car Christmas Caroling! This was so much fun!

I grew a mustache for Christmas! :)

Yum! Yum! My Mac smells good enough to eat!

Oh I must say I love the smell of my Mac!

No, this isn't a joke! It really does smell good! It has this slightly sweet, fresh, and clean scent to it. It's really subtle, but I love it! Yum! :)

Too Few Women Leaders... What are the messages we tell ourselves?

 So let me start out by saying that I wouldn't really consider myself a feminist, in the "ultra feminist" sense of the word. But I'm definitely an advocate for women. I feel that we need to believe in ourselves and make choices that will give us a brighter future. I recently watched this video by: 

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders

While listening to this video I was really struck by how well I related to what she was saying and I realized that I have been sabotaging myself. She talks about 3 things that women, and people in general should follow in order to find success in this life. She talks about this in relation to successful business careers, however I think this can apply to more than that. The 3 things are:

Sit at the table

Make your partner a real partner

Don't leave before you leave

Sit at the table: She talks about how men attribute their success to themselves while women attribute their success to others. That women often underestimate themselves and don't put themselves in a position to negotiate they're future careers and success. I realized that I do this all the time! Not only at work but with lots of other things: my art, boys, and plenty more! I don't sit at the table, I lean back, or take the side seat and leave the seat at the table open for someone else to take. I have literally & figuratively done this throughout my life! When I just got my job at MyNewPlace we had a company meeting... well, I felt really uncomfortable sitting at the table, cause I was new, and you know, I felt that I hadn't EARNED a spot there yet. So, every time that we "don't sit at the table" we're really saying something about how we feel about our abilities and and even how we perceive ourselves. She says that women tend to underestimate themselves and attribute anything good they do to someone else, and that is so true. It's just a sad thing, one that I really need to work on! Sheryl says, "No one gets the promotion if they don't feel they truly deserve their success." In the same fashion, this quote applies  "We accept the love we think we deserve. "— Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower). Negotiate for yourself in everything! Take a stand for yourself! Accept the love you DESERVE! That's what I need to start doing! Today! Unfortunately, that can come with a price for women. She says that studies show that, "Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women." This is so true too! Think of The Devil Wears Prada! And it's a sad thing. :( 

The second subject was: Make your partner a real partner. I think that is a beautiful thing. You work together to create a strong family, and home. I guess we have this view that woman and man have different roles to play, well... while I believe that we each have something different to offer, if both are out working 40 hrs a day, than things need to change! The woman can't work, then come home and work while the man relaxes! That just simply isn't right. Both should help each other equally, that's what a family is, and that's what it means to be a help-meet. Meet means that both sides need to come to the table! :) In the Family Proclamation to the World it talks about men and women's role in the family. The man's role is to protect and provide, while the woman's is to nurture. Well, I do agree with that. Women and men are naturally drawn to do those things, and I find value and council in those teachings. Children being taught by loving parents and in a strong, supportive, family is essential. So to be honest, I hope that when that time comes in my life that I will be able to give my children the time, love and support that they need. I want to be able to be there for them, to stay at home and raise them. However, I don't know what my life holds for me and I want to be ready and able to provide as well, if need be. And if it comes to that, then... equality in a marriage should be key, so that neither one goes CRAZY! :)

This 3rd idea really got me thinking: Don't Leave Before You Leave. I realized that I left years ago! All growing up I couldn't wait to be a mom, to have a family. I planned my life and it was this: I graduate from high school, go to college, meet the man of my dreams at BYU, have 3-4 kids, and then I would stay home and raise them. I mean, I still wanted to go to college, and get an education, and I thought about what would be a good career that I could also do from home. So...basically I left before I even got close to leaving. I left WAYYYY before even arriving!!!! And here I am, years later, and my life is NOT where I thought it would be. And that's okay, I'm really happy, and I'm so glad my life has turned out the way it has so far. Thankfully, somewhere along the way I started thinking more about what  I wanted to do in my life, as far as careers go. But...and there is a big BUT... the mentality I had growing up formed my future opportunities, and now they aren't what they could have been. I didn't ever think of myself becoming a successful businesswoman or even a scientist or engineer! I didn't think I would wish that I had studied something that could give me a more lucrative career! I thought of what I was interested in, what I loved, and what could give me a hobby, or a passion. But not a career. SO, although I am happy with my life, I am regretting that mentality I had going into my college education. I didn't grasp at my potential!

So I went to this YSA-Young Single Adult Conference, and I met this guy there, he was pretty cute, and nice, we got talking, I asked him what he did, he was an engineer, and he confessed to me that he loved his job! That he was a workaholic cause he loved it so much. Well, he got me a little envious. I told him that I studied Art in college, but looking back I should have done something more career oriented, like maybe Graphic Design, or Animation. Well, he said, " Oh it's ok. It's not like you have to really stress about providing or anything." I didn't really say much to this, and looking back I wish I had, cause it really bothers me that this was his, and most men's, opinion of women. At the time I simply thought, listen, you're talking to a single woman, who is providing for herself RIGHT NOW! Hello! So, it really irked me. But HELLO! Why do we have it in our heads that we shouldn't strive to attain a successful career! And then, when it's time to make the decision to leave, make that step. Why are we short-changing ourselves by leaving before we leave! I am Guilty of this offense! I need to stop! 

Okay, so that's my feminist ranting and railing. Hahaha. I just signed my "Single Forever" contract! ;) But it's okay cause I just bought myself a Mac! Hahahhaaha!

The Chronicles of Bookbinding By: stacia svedi

This last weekend was a really relaxing one for me. It was so nice. I did everything I wanted to do. Bookbinding.

That's right I did some bookbinding, which I haven't done for a few months, so it was nice to get back into it a bit. I realized that my stock of glue, muslin, sharp razor blades, and binders board is getting quite low. I'm gonna have to make a trip to an art store to re-stock! :) And I need to get my stuff organized a little better. I haven't really done anything since moving to my new place, but I have a table set up in my room and a huge paper cutter (thanks mom!) So I really haven't had any excuse except that it's kind of a squished corner and it can be a hassle getting everything organized every time I want to do anything. But, c'est la vie.

Anyway, I finally got around to fixing a book for my brother. He has this huge Chronicles of Narnia book, you know the one that has all the stories combined into one book. Well, he's had this for years! And lets just say it's been "well loved." The spine was completely gone, and the top cover was separated from the book. SO I worked some of my amazing magic and Voila! It's as good as new!

I added a new spine, and covered it with book cloth, which is much sturdier than paper. I covered the corners as well since they were getting worn down.

Here you can see the spine, and end-bands which I replaced so they match the spine, and I even replace his book ribbon, the one that was there was all scraggly and worn. Yeah, I'd have to say it looks pretty good. :)

Things proved to be a little tricky for replacing the inside paper, and to be honest it got a few bubbles in it, and I got glue on the paper, but I think it still looks better than before, and besides that, this paper is pretty snazzy! I hope he'll appreciate his newly renovated Chronicles of Narnia! Please don't read while laying in bed Scott, that is a dang heavy text! The poor spine won't stand a chance!




Here's my next project! I snagged this book from my sisters room, I'd seen it there for a while, all taped up and I just thought, this is a shame! The book itself has such an awesome cover! Please don't put tape on your books! Come on people! The tape is all yellowed and brittle, and I just had to do some book surgery!

 Even the inside is all taped up, as you can see this came from some library, Shaina did you just never return your library book? ;)

I love the illustration on this, it is just beautiful and even with the faded colors it still looks so neat. I'm still working on getting the tape off, it might take some time, and I think I'm going to have to try moistening the tape, to get it to come off easier.

Here I've removed the cover from the text-block, and I'm working on getting the tape off.

Look at the inside illustrations too, they are just adorable. I simply love it. I might have to keep this book when I'm done with it. OR it could be really cute made into a journa. I would use the cover and create a coptic bound book, where every other section of the text is blank pages. Now I know that doesn't make much sense if you don't know much about bookbinding, but... it would be awesome. I will probably just try to restore this book as best as possible, unfortunately some of the paper on the inside is really stuck to this tape, but i will do my best, and give an update when I'm done with the book!

What did Andrew Loyd Webber do to the Phantom? Love Never Dies!

Okay!!!Umm... I have a  lot to say about this! If you've never heard about this, let me inform you. This show, Love Never Dies is the sequel to Andrew Loyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. Sounds pretty awesome at first. Say what! A sequel to one of the best shows ever on Broadway! But don't be decieved...

Now I am probably one of the biggest fans of The Phantom of the Opera. I love that show, I grew up to it... I would listen to the music over and over again, sing to it, and dance around the room to it. At one point I'm sure I had every word memorized, and could still sing along with the entire show. Unfortunately I've only seen it twice in the theater, but I absolutely love it. The movie is okay, but the musical is amazing! Today Shara, my sister, told me about Love Never Dies, and we were talking about this, and why it is such an abomination to the original.

First: This is why The Phantom of the Opera is so good!

The Phantom of the Opera has so much passion, raw emotion, and turmoil; it's characters are dynamic and mysterious and the music is absolutely amazing from the first second! Now, I've pondered a lot about why this show is so appealing to me. I'm mostly curious as to why I feel this pity for the Phantom. Why is there this allure to his character that I can't really explain? I mean the Phantom is an evil man, he is a cold-hearted killer, he's selfish, manipulative, and in the real world he would be a TOTAL and COMPLETE creeper!

Why then is Christine and every woman that watches that show drawn to him?  He is consumed by his own selfishness, and hate for everyone around him, except Christine, with whom he's consumed by lust. But, he doesn't know what LOVE is! He was raised alone, and with hatred because he was treated with creulty and like a freak, so in a way he's a product of his environment. He's become a creature of the night. But you pity this man, you pity him because you know what he's been deprived of, and why. And you know it's not fair. He just wants to be loved, and that has eluded him his entire life! Anyone with an open heart would pity that.

And that's what Christine is feeling for the Phantom, she doesn't love him...she can't love him, because his soul is black, and sucks life and love out of everything around it. But she is a young, naive, woman, who is loyal to her dead father's memory and love of music. She is confused by him because she first see's the Phantom as an angel of music! The answer to her prayers and a miracle from her father! As she learns what he really is she then see's a pitiful creature, that she wants to help, but can't. A man that just wants love, but who has turned into a monster from the inside out. (Well, actually, in his case maybe it's more like outside in.)This becomes more and more apparent as he starts killing people and she starts fearing for her safety.

In my opinion this is the dilemia of Christine, and the REASON that this musical is one of the best, because although the Phantom is the "bad" guy, you're still kind of rooting for him to find love, You're drawn in by his intrigue just like Christine, I mean... when he starts singing, wow, I was speachless watching it! But in the end you can see that he's really dangerous.

Now I'm going to contrast that with her feelings for Raoul, this is a man, she grew up with, and looked up to for years, in fact he's her childhood crush. She trusts him, he is what he says he is. He's straight forward, there's no mystery about him. He's also handsome and wealthy, which adds to his dreamboat appeal! But besides this, the most important thing about him is that he just wants her happiness. Throughout the story, he is striving to protect her. (But to be honest his character is not nearly as inticing as the Phantom.)He's pretty much the opposite of what the Phantom is. You know that he wants to bring her out of this shadowy world of the night and into the light, while the Phantom wants to keep her with him in his personal "Hell". In many of the lyrics you notice this, the Phantom is always associated with darkness and night, while Raoul talks of light. I love the line where he says, "No more talk of darkness, forget these wide eyed fears. I'm here, nothing can harm you, my words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears, I'm here, with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you." His love is safe and selfless. And I might take this one step further and say he's her "salvation" figure.

In the climax of the Phantom of the Opera, Raoul is willing to sacrifice his life so she can have freedom! That is such a dramatic moment, and the music is phenomenal, hearing all 3 sing they're desparate, raw, emotions. Then Christine chooses to stay with the Phantom in order to save Raoul. I know I'm getting cheesy, but honestly, isn't this the most beautiful love story! It's Christine and Raoul's love that is selfless!!! That should be the highlight! When Christine kisses the Phantom It's not cause she loves him, but it's to save Raoul, in the only way she knows how. The Phantom finally realizes that she doesn't love him, and in that moment when he finally feels some compassion from another human, he gains some and lets them go so he can wallow ALONE. You're left with a happy ending on the lovers side, and a sad ending for the Phantom, and although he is the bad guy, the interesting thing about this musical is you STILL feel for him, because you know what it's like to love without return. And that is always sad, but he doesn't deserve her love. He's an evil, selfish person. In the movie, the credits have the song, Learn to Be Lonely, I feel like this epitomizes the Phantoms life.

Ok, so I love this musical, for the dynamism, and emotion, the beauty and honesty of these feelings that are brought out in the music. The intrigue of the Phantom, and the purity and love of Christine and Raoul.

WARNING: There are Spoilers in this section:

So, when I read the plot for Love Never Dies, I was like, what? Are you kidding me! This can't be. In writing this Andrew Loyd Webber undermines the genious of the Phantom! His characters aren't consistent at all with what he created in the original. Here we have Christine who actually slept with the Phantom sometime during the first musical and has his child, and of course she never tells Raoul. We have Rauol who's a drunk, neglectful father. The Phantom is made out to be this misunderstood man, he was never really evil, just frustrated my his love. Nevermind all the people he heartlessly killed.  He now helps out other circus freaks in Coney Island (so charitable), he still loves Christine, of course, and he just wants to hear her sing for him again. So he anonymously invites her to come sing at his show, Phantasma!!! Gee, great name...and of course she unknowingly accepts.

When she gets there and finds out the Phantom is behind it he threatens to kidnap her son unless she sings for him, and then makes a bet with Raoul that if she sings for the Phantom then he will leave without his wife and son, if she doesn't sing, then they'll all leave together. Rauol then tries to persuade Christine not to sing. Gee, what's a mother to do, choose between her son or her husband?  And grow some balls Raoul, you're gonna leave your wife and son over a bet you made with a with a derranged psycho! So of course, she sings!  And apparently that means she loved the Phantom all the time, cause she sings Love Never Dies! Raoul just LEAVES! Can you believe that!

Then, some other characters come into play, Madame Giry, and her daughter Meg Giry, who were great characters in the first one, they weren't evil. Madame Giry helped the Phantom escape his cruel life as a child and hid him in the Opera house, but she didn't know what he would turn into. She wasn't a greedy hag, which is how she's portrayed in the sequel. Meg was Christine's friend, kind and quiet, but now she's a prostitute and they're both working with the Phantom for money. Meg gets jealous of Christine, kidnaps her son and tries to drown him!  So the Phantom is no longer the true nemesis, it;s Meg Giry that's the villain in this show! There's a tussle and guess what! Christine gets shot and dies, but before she dies she tells her son who his real father is. (ahem... Star Wars!) Then the Phantom actually raises thier son! Raoul just leaves him behind and goes back to England!

I'm just SOOOO mad at Andrew Loyd Webber right now! Seriously! This is dumb, I can't believe he would ruin the Phantom like this! I mean, the characters are totally different! They wouldn't have acted that way. Sometimes you've just got to leave a good thing alone! Sequels are not always the answer! I love the way the Phantom ends, because although it's somewhat sad to see a pitiful creature never get the love he desires, life can be that way.

Welp, now I'm going to go watch the movie, and bask in the glorious-ness of Gerard Butler! Hahaha.

Family Photos: Memories of the Adorable, Cute, and Funny!

I went home a couple of weeks ago, and my mom had a bunch of old photos out, she's going through them all and is going to scan them into the computer, but I couldn't wait for that! Some of these photos were so cute I just took pictures of the pictures with my phone. So I'm sharing some of them with you today, cause lets face it, the past is adorable, cute, and funny! All things that I love! On another note, we are all so much more attractive now than when these photos were taken. :)

Aren't these glasses amazing! I didn't know they could make them that big! I love that the sides are at the bottom of the lens! So my mom looks so young and so adorable in this picture! I think she might actually be younger than me in this pic! That's crazy...she got married at 24 and pregnant right away! Anyway, I really can't get over how young she looks. :)

Mom and Steve: Baby #1

Myself, Shara, and Alicia, dressed up to the 10's!

My sisters, cousins, friends and I would play dress up all the time. It was so fun to imagine we were princesses, mermaids, or flower fairies! I remember dancing around our living room to Yawni! Yes... Yawni! He was my favorite, and sometimes The Beatles! It was so fun!

Dad, Steve, and Mom

 I love this picture, my parents with my oldest brother Steve, they look so happy, and young with their first baby! Little did they know all the "terrors" they'd bring into this world! ;) No, we were really angels!

Me, Pooh Bear, and Shaina

 At Disneyland! Don't you love our matching outfits! We were rocking that checkered look!

Steve, a cousin, me, right there in the middle, pulling Grandpa's beard. :)

 I love this picture! That's my Grandpa Fred dressed as Santa Claus, surrounded by his little grandkids! I'm the smiling baby in the middle pulling his beard! Even at an early age I was skeptical! I knew that wasn't Santa! :) My Grandpa died of cancer a few years later, so there aren't that many photos of us, this makes me happy. :)

Welp, my family is still dressing up! Actually this was for a parade, the theme was the 60's! I thought we did well! We were walking for a good cause! Unfortunately, you can't see the guide dog we were training, and walking with in the parade, but he was the star of the show!

Me, Shaina, Shara

 My mom made these matching dresses for us for Easter! I loved that dress, and my mom is so talented! Don't we just look adorable? I think so.

Shaina, Scott, Shara

 Scott looks so little! He's so cute, I can't believe how fast he's grown up! There's an 8 year gap between him and I and he's turning 18 this year! Crazy!

Steve & Shara

 I LOVE this picture of Steve and Shara, I think this is one of the cutest things. Steve is so funny! I love that smile, and Shara...so sweet.

Shara & Steve

 Again!!!, Hahahhaaa! Oh I LOVE this, it's classic! Poor little Shara...but actually she didn't seem to mind. :) Steve always did love reading.

Mom, Shara, Dad, Steve

 Look what a handsome/beautiful family that is.

Me, Mom, Shara, Dad, Steve

 Oh look, there I am! The latest addition up to that point. It's so interesting to see photos of our family as it's growing. It makes me excited for the future, as you never really know what to expect in this life. A family is like a surprise every day and life is always changing and growing.

Steve, Mom, & Shara

 I love this with their painted faces, they look so adorable. Look at those eyebrows on Shara! I think you should go for that look again, it does a lot for you! ;)

Shaina, Shara, Me, cousins: Eric, & Alicia

 This was on top of a fallen down Redwood tree, we came here all the time growing up, I loved that place, and it was so fun to climb all over that tree. People have carved their names all over that thing.

Shaina, Shara, & Scott

Haha, I love Scott's scared face here! So funny! I think he was afraid they were gonna start playing "scott" ball!

Shaina, Shara, Mom, Scott, Dad, Me, & Steve: One big happy family!

 The family, finally complete! This is everyone, well there are a few additions, some people got married. :) But this was us growing up, The Svedi's and I have to say we're a pretty cute family.

Me, Scott, Shaina

Haha, I have to end on this one, it makes laugh! Scott looks so cute and I love that he's wearing his tie with a baby tee. :) Shaina looks so sweet, as usual. And there I am, making a fish face. yeah.... Love my family.

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