Tuesday, February 25, 2014

What...the....What? In a Forest...

It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions lately. Can I just say, that if we make it through this house building process without me killing someone (or myself) or ending up in the nut house, it'll be a miracle. Therefore, if my blog posts completely stop, it's clear that one of those three likely occurred. Or at the very least, I'm in a padded room and not allowed around any sharp objects.
And if the house stuff isn't enough, there's day by day life "fun". Have you ever been in a situation with multiple parties ('people' being the parties - not the good kind of parties that have cake and pizza) that became uncomfortable and then hurtful, but in the beginning of the discomfort and hurt, if simple human COMMUNICATION was used from all parties involved, the level of hurt and anger would not have been anything close to the ridiculous calamity that it became? 


Seriously, if I'm not receiving the communication that I deserve as a member of the human race (this can be in any situation - home, family, friends, work, church, etc....) my overly stimulated creative mind begins to move into directions of possible reasons for that lack of communication, and that's not a good place for my head to be.  Trust me on this. 

Seriously, please communicate up front! This doesn't just apply to me. It applies to everyone!

And then... during all that, the weirdest surprise came out of left field. So I'm at church at Sunday and I'm in the little classroom about to start the lesson to my small group of 10-11 year old girls, and one of the counselors in the Stake* Presidency asks to see me for a second. 

*The STAKE is a group of wards and the Stake Presidency is over that group of wards. Think of it like a school district: The schools are the wards and the stake is the district office. 

He wants to see me? Remember what I said about my overly stimulated creative mind? So of course I'm thinking, Uh oh...what did I do now? Or worse... No, I do not want my husband in the bishopric... or even worse than that!.... I had to find Chris as the stake counselor wanted to speak with the both of us. Finding Chris took some doing and in addition, my poor 10-11 year old girls were left alone without a teacher.

I wish I could remember exactly how it was said, but basically, the counselor said to both of us that the Stake President felt that Chris and I should be able to attend the Gilbert Temple Dedication at the temple on Sunday, and would we be able to attend? 

(The Dedication is going to be broadcast to various satellite locations around the area due to amount of people...the temple itself couldn't possibly hold that many people for the dedication there on site, so only limited people would be able to attend at the temple)

Maybe my reaction sitting right there looked calm and collected as if he was just telling us about his day. However, inside we were both something like:
OR

OR
OR
OMG...isn't this baby so adorable? I want to gnaw on that face!
OR
Oh yeah right, as if I looked THAT good with my gobsmacked expression....lol
OR
I am still confused as to why we were extended this special invitation. I think President Monson is going to be there! Great, what stupid thing am I going to end up doing in front of him? Then again, there will still be quite a crowd at the temple, so maybe I can still hide in the back. And if you're reading this and thinking, "Those two get to go? THOSE TWO?" My response is:

"I know! Right?!"

I would love to know why we have received this amazing privilege. In fact, I want all the answers in life, and clearly, I know I won't receive all of them, or even some of them. Or I won't receive them in the time table I want. Therefore, I'll just be thankful to receive such a wonderful opportunity.  Plus, in this past decade since we've been in this stake, I haven't exactly made the Stake President's job very easy. But if he felt Chris and I should be able to attend, then he's obviously not holding any grudges or reservations even though I've been a real pain in the patootie on a few occasions. 

I try to remember these 7 rules (at right), but I fail miserably on most of them (right now, the #6 is my biggest offendee). Then I try again tomorrow.

Speaking of the temple dedication, the youth has been a part of HUGE Cultural Celebration they're preparing for. It's this Saturday and yes, President Monson will be there as well. Last weekend, Mikelle, as well as the rest of the youth were at an all-day practice preparing for it. There are over 12,000 youths in this region. Here are some pictures from that rehearsal day:
Mikelle's group is in the Dark Blue
Hot Dog Time
See Mikelle? She's in the Dark Blue. :-)
And from the sky! Amazing, isn't it?
ART UPDATE

Whole Skin with Keyboard

Her Custom Artwork from December 2012
Outer Skin Art
I haven't had an art update in a while. My awesome return customer who lives near Toronto wanted me to use the artwork I made for her back in 2012 and have a skin made for Mac Book Pro. These were the results. It's en route to her now, and I hope she loves it!

 
Regarding the image shown at left, I was challenged by a friend to mix certain art styles into a concept and I've been very frustrated with it. We'll see how it comes out, but at this point, it's one of those things that I'm just sick of dealing with!






Next, as I deal with finishing the above, I've been working on a piece called A Forest. I know I could have just done a fun design with trees, but music is such an influential part of me, that it just had to be a tribute to A Forest by The Cure.  I love the video to A Forest (click on link) because it shows a very young Robert Smith before he donned his trademark hair and make-up.  

I would have loved to include more Cure song tributes within the trees in "A Forest", but I had to limit to the obvious, and also "The Walk", "In Between Days", and a shout out to "Lullaby".  Otherwise, it would become to crowded.
"A Forest" Pre Make-up, if you will...
"A Forest" as the make-up application begins....

A video that is a great example to Robert Smith's look of the more well-known hair and make-up is this one, Just Like Heaven.

I would love to create a tribute piece to Just Like Heaven, but I'm still not sure how I would approach it. Remember that post some weeks back about favorite songs? I didn't really choose my official favorites then because there are too many. However, Just Like Heaven would be there for sure. If there was a soundtrack for how young love felt before reality, heartbreak, and arrogant elitist selfishness eventually succeeded in smashing it into a million pieces, it would be that one. 

However, I'm veering off the beaten path again and I have to focus! (that's a common problem I encounter when it comes to listening to too many Cure songs at once....)


Until next time...

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