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!