Sweet deal

I applied, you should too. Only if you're an art or design student, silly!

Glee Type Things

So people, for some reason I looove a capella groups. I'm not at all into the whole musical theater thing, but really there is no other talent like someone beatboxing. So cool! Beatboxers do freak me out a little bit, because of the fact that human voices are making the instrument noises. I can get over that. Covers of different songs are always fun to hear, too. NBC has a great a capella competition show called "The Sing Off", which I am very excited about. It starts on December 6th. You either have it or really don't have it on that show.

Here are a few of my favorite college a capella groups that have been floating around the YouTube.


The video above is from Boyfriend's college digs!

Sights from the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA)

Does this bowl not look like Anthropologie's Latte Bowl? Anthropology, indeed.

Shoes!

Source

Oh my word goodness.

Dearest blog friends, I needed to share these with you. Are these not the classiest/cutest flats you have ever seen? I think so.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mawage, that blessed arrangement, that dream wifin a dream

"Marriage Rate Falls to About 50% As People Say Institution is Obsolete"
"Marriage: What's it Good For?"
"Forget About Tying That Knot?"
"4 in 10 say marriage becoming obsolete"

Marriage is really taking a beating right now in the United States, and probably everywhere else. People don't know if, why or when they should get married. Headlines, like the ones above, are saying, "Run! Run far away from marriage!" Many people my age are opting to just live with their significant other, rather than going ahead and getting married. There are so many of these couples, that the Census Bureau broadened its definition of 'domestic household.'

I hate that this is happening to marriage. Marriage is a gift from God (Genesis 2:24) and can be a wonderful thing for two people to experience. My Bible's notes for this verse pretty much sum my opinions:

"God gave marriage as a gift to Adam and Eve. They were created perfect for each other. Marriage was not just for convenience, nor was it brought about by any culture. It was instituted by God and has three basic aspects: (1) The man leaves his parents and in a public act, promises himself to his wife; (2) the man and woman are joined together by taking responsibility for each other's welfare and by loving the mate above all others; (3) the two become one flesh in the intimacy and commitment of sexual union that is reserved for marriages. Strong marriages include all three of the aspects." Notes on Genesis 2:24 NASB

I hope to be married at some point in my life, and have been blessed so much to have great examples of marriages all around me. My parents have been married for 33 years. Granny and Grandad have been married for 61 years. And have lived in the same town and house the entire time.

BUT I think marriage has been grossly misused and misunderstood as of late. So often on television, reality and regular shows show people getting married for money or to just fill an emptiness in their lives. And how many popular shows show married couples? Not many. I don't think that television should be an example for people at all, but sadly, it is.

Even when a marriage is depicted in television, it is usually left at happily ever after. That is simply not a reality. Ladies, you are not going to ever marry Prince Charming. Boys are boys and they will probably fart in your divine presence at some point. Men, you are not going to be able to marry Princess Peach, because she does not exist. Girls do not come made up/ immaculately dressed/ emotionally stable every day. I think a lot of people get married today with unrealistic expectations, and these unrealistic expectations ultimately ruin the relationship.

I love being in control and cannot believe I'm about to write this, but sometimes you have to let things go. Just let it go and adapt. No two people are going to do things exactly the same. He might hand wash dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, while she crams every dirty dish in sight into the dishwasher and calls it a day. She might demand that the towels be folded a certain way. He might balk at the sight of bananas. Whatever! Two someones are going to have to adapt to each other. This can be a hard thing or a fun thing, it depends on the couple. Some married couples today don't realize this and are used to having things their way. When something really starts to annoy them, their laziness sets in and they opt for divorce, rather than simply talking about/ working on the problem. This is one of the reasons people have been living together and not getting married. Sister friend says, "The reason people don't want to get married is so they don't have to get divorced later on; as a result we are moving towards a more transient society where there is no commitment or accountability." We don't want to put the work or effort into a relationship. And a marriage will take effort.

My dear Rach friend says that communication is the most important part of marriage. This is also echoed in countless "Marriage 101" type books. I fully agree with this and think that communication takes a lot of effort in a relationship. Maybe almost as important as communication in a marriage is pre-marriage communication. A lot of couples barely know each other when they get married. My age group wants things nownownow. Think about it- we can get almost any type of food now, check our bank accounts now, look up the weather now. Instant gratification! It is all around. Couples need to be patient and take the time to get to know each other. May that be 3 weeks or 3 years- people should take their time. Everyone is different, so not everyone is going to know if they want to marry their boyfriend/girlfriend immediately. The more you know about your significant other, the more confident you can be in the relationship. You'll also have far fewer surprises in your marriage if you get things like political/ kid/ marriage roles/ religious beliefs/ paper or plastic opinions out on the table. Patience is a very hard thing to practice, but is definitely worth it.

Clearly, I don't know everything about marriage seeing as I'm not married, but these are things I have observed and been taught. I really think if people would consciously put a real effort into getting to really know their significant other before marriage the divorce rate wouldn't be at almost 50%. As with most things, a marriage takes upkeep. You can't get married, have a great first year, then let things slide. Humans are attention craving creatures and we need the love. Marriages are hard work, but they are worth it.

Now that it's November 22...

Trying to be cool at the Movember booth at school.

The true meanings of 'Movember' and 'No Shave November' have recently revealed themselves to me! I always thought they were just celebrations of the hipster type. Let us please consider that hipsters love moustaches and probably love not shaving, and they would totally be the type to celebrate off-the-wall things like hair growth.

People, the Hipsters ARE NOT responsible for this.
An actual organization I can put my moustache behind is responsible! Well I'll be.

From: Movember.com

"The Mo, slang for moustache, and November come together each year for Movember.  

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st  clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month.  The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men.  Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.  

The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia.  The plan was simple – to bring the moustache back as a bit of a joke and do something for men’s health. No money was raised in 2003, but the guys behind the Mo realized the potential a moustache had in generating conversations about men’s health.  Inspired by the women around them and all they had done for breast cancer, the Mo Bros set themselves on a course to create a global men’s health movement.  

In 2004 the campaign evolved and focused on raising awareness and funds for the number one cancer affecting men – prostate cancer. 432 Mo Bros joined the movement that year, raising $55,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia - representing the single largest donation they had ever received.

The Movember moustache has continued to grow year after year, expanding to the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and Finland.   

In 2009, global participation of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas climbed to 255,755, with over one million donors raising $42 Million US equivalent dollars for Movember’s global beneficiary partners.  

The funds raised through Movember’s US campaign benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The PCF uses the money raised by Movember to fund research that is accelerating the discovery of better treatments and ultimately finding a cure for prostate cancer.  One such program is the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center’s research, which has recently made a significant breakthrough.  They identified 24 different kinds of prostate cancer and how aggressive each is.  This should enable scientists to soon be able to answer the agonizing question facing men with prostate cancer: does their cancer need immediate treatment, and if so what is the best treatment, or can it be left alone? 

LIVESTRONG uses the money raised by Movember to fund important programs to support young adults and their families battling and surviving cancer.  These programs include: 

•     Fertile Hope, an initiative dedicated to providing reproductive information, support and hope to cancer patients and survivors whose medical treatments present the risk of infertility.

•      My Planet, an online community of peer support that allows young adults to find and communicate with other young adults whose lives have been affected by cancer.

•      Continuing Nursing Education program on Young Adult Cancer Survivorship. LIVESTRONG encourage nurses to know the warning signs of cancer, understand what types of cancer for which young adults may be at risk, and learn about cancer screening.

The success of Movember can be directly attributed to the more than 627,000 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who have supported our cause since 2003.  Movember is sincerely grateful for their efforts and appreciates all they do.

For those of you new to Movember, we challenge you to join us in changing the face of men's health." 

Some fun Movember pictures on Flickr. 

JCM Proudly Presents: 3D Design Wood Project

The much talked about wood assignment for 3D Design! It has been cut, trimmed, sanded, obsessed over, stained, transported, installed, critiqued, uninstalled, and put on a shelf. Probably has not been graded, because that is how my professor rolls. It is done!! The project was to create a biomorphic, free standing sculpture out of a sheet of plywood. Easier said than done. My project is not free standing because I do what I want. (After I get permission from my professor.) Each piece is an abstract version of a different spider web. 

BodenBodenBoden

 

 

Boden, you are way too cute.

Please feel free to give me clothes.

Website

Secret Recipes: Blueberry Muffkins

The Best Muffins EVER.

Sweet Muffins from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Makes: 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup salad oil (vegetable oil)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh blueberries or 3/4 cup well-drained thawed frozen blueberries

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Grease bottoms of muffin cups.

3. Beat egg; stir in milk and oil.

4. Mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy.

5. Fold in blueberries.

6. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

7. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan.

These are easily my favorite blueberry muffins. I refuse to use any other recipe. Mom and Granny (I think) use this recipe religiously also. Granny probably knows it by heart and refers to the half cup of sugar as "oh, a good bit of sugar" when she is trying to tell someone the recipe. She knows what a cup is, but never measures anything. Awesome. These muffins are great to begin with, but on top of that I usually have frozen blueberries from Granny and Grandad's house in my freezer. Currently, there is only one tupperware thing of them in there. I'm running low! G&G's blueberry bushes are huge. Standing by them with my arms stretched as far as they can go, the bushes are probably two feet taller. And I am tall with long gorilla arms, you guys!

YUM.

Confession #23

Isn't this video incredibly eerie? I saw it on this blog the other day and it really struck me. How is this Six Flags still standing, but many churches and homes were destroyed in and around New Orleans? Do we put more time into our recreation, than say, our home lives? Our church lives? Churches from the early third and fourth centuries are still standing in Europe. Is this an indication that our priorities have changed? Or that we no longer make many things of quality? I think it's interesting. What do you think?

Craft Show!

On Saturday, Sisterfriend and I embarked on a great adventure: our very first craft show together. This time we weren't perusing the aisles. We went armed with homemade goods. Yes! We also went armed with Rach and a one Mama Cook.

We loaded up the car at the crack of dawn. (No really.)

There was a banner and it was hung.

There was also a project to work on, but it was postponed.

Many a tiny person came by the table, but only this one talked her Dad into a dress.

 Our wares sat patiently hoping for a new home. Sadly, we discovered that we were totally at the wrong craft fair. Don't fear, we were at the right location, but this craft fair was not the right personality for us. This craft fair was the Pampered Chef- silver jewelry- tacky wreaths- Mary Kay- general junk type of craft fair. 

Several people stopped by to tell us how cute the dresses were, but they were the people who had three little boys at home. A few people complimented the sewing machine cozies on their cute design and sound construction, but these people didn't sew. Anyone who has keys can use a key fob, but only one of them sold. Sisterfriend, Rach and I each sold one item by the end of the day. So, our first craft show wasn't as splendid as we anticipated, but the craft show wasn't as crafty as we expected, either. I'm proud that we each sold one thing!

Better luck next time, ladies.

Letter Week: Day Four

Boyfriend with a slab of cheese and bacon.

Dearest Boyfriendly,

Look at you with your slab of cheese and bacon. I can't believe you ate that! Even after you drained the grease out of it, it had more grease for you... Ew!

Anyway, I'm so proud of you! That stupid Master's Thesis is done. Okay, it isn't stupid, but sometimes it is a little silly. Sometimes it says that you have to spend your Saturday mornings working on it. Isn't that silly? Yes. Yes it is. You wrote an entire book practically! Golly gee! Know what this means? You are almost done with your Master's degree. One day I'll have a Bachelor's degree and try to give you a run for your money. I know you still have another degree to get, but stop and take a look at all of that work that you've done for this degree. It's okay to be a little proud of yourself. Good job!

Now, please play frisbee with me. I'll be sure to throw horribly, so that you have to run to catch it.

Love,
The Julie

Letter Week: Day Three

Dear I-35,

Most of the time I hate you, you stupid road. I know you can't help it, you are a road, but still. I retain the right to have an irrational hatred of at least one thing in my life.

Whenever I need to go somewhere you are backed up into next year. When I'm in no hurry at all, it's like no one knows you exist. Where does all of the traffic go? Does everyone else know my schedule?

I-35, you need to work on your access ramps. When someone is merging, they are going to need more than twenty feet to merge into traffic and get their vehicles up to 70 mph. Maybe tiny access roads are a Texas thing? Isn't everything supposed to be bigger here? Your access roads are an embarrassment to your own state! Sad day.

Has anyone ever told you how long you are? You travel all the way from North Texas to South Texas. Most of the time my drive home feels like I've driven that entire distance, and it's only a five hour drive! It is almost like one enters a twilight zone when merging onto your tiny access ramps.

Sometimes I think you play tricks on me. You let me think I'm one exit away from school, but then SHAZAM, five more exits pop up. Where do all of those towns come from?! I would really like to be friends with you, but first I'll need you to finish up all of that construction nonsense in Buda. And also, please put a Chick-fil-A location on the east side of you, somewhere in between here and San Marcos. This would help me out greatly after school on my Coke days.

No Love From,
Me

Letter Week: Day Two

Current wood project in progress.

Dear Wood Shop,

You are so fun! The other night when I came to visit you during open shop hours, I had a blast. You let me use your band saw, scroll saw, power drill- sweet! My project is going to be fantastic *crosses fingers* thanks to you.

When at first I read that you require visitors to wear earplugs, I wasn't to sure about that. Sometimes if someone sneaks up on me, I can get jumpy. With earplugs in I get paranoid that someone is going to attack/kill me, because I can't hear them coming. I don't know why my eyes wouldn't be able to see someone... Creepy! But the other night when I spent an hour and a half hours working on that scroll saw of yours, the earplugs were really nice. With all of the racket of the other students blocked out, it was just me and the scroll saw. Boy, do I love a good scroll saw. Next time I come visit, may I try the band saw?

Love,
Girl with wood shavings in her pants

Letter Week: Day One

Dear Tiny Space Heater,

Three words for you: You are awesome. Tiny Space Heater, you are awesome for a number of reasons. Most of them relate to you warming me up. This is okay because 1. you are a heater and 2. I am usually cold.

I really appreciate you in the morning as you warm up the bathroom. There is something about bathrooms in the morning that makes the world seem like a terrible place. Ah yes, the ice cold floor would be to blame, I believe.

And Space Heater,  you are ever so cute when you sit under the sewing table puttering away and heating my feet, as I sew up a storm. Any seamstress knows that cold feet are not acceptable when working. Also, cheeto fingers. Your hard work is much appreciated, and I hope to work with you for a long time. A long time broken up in to small times, so that you don't over heat, that is.

Sincerely,
Me

Photo Shoots in the Park

Once upon a time, Boyfriend took me to Krause Springs for a lovely afternoon of swimming and people watching. The swimming kind of freaked me out, because you can't see the bottom of said springs.

But the people- you could definitely see the people and they were ripe for the watching. My favorite couple of the afternoon was the "myspace photo photo shoot" couple. A "myspace photo" is one in which you hold the camera at arm's length and snap a photo of yourself. Be sure to get your arm in the photo. Giving the camera "duces" is a popular hand gesture. You may also get a friend or family member in the shot with you. Grandpa loves a good myspace picture. This style became popular when the digital camera came around and when Myspace was birthed.

Anyway, this couple was walking around Krause Springs taking pictures of each other, then taking pictures with each other. The poses were spectacular. Made more spectacular by the fact that they were both in unflattering swimsuits. It was awesome. They took pictures of/with each other for a good 45 minutes.

This past summer at a shopping center in Sedona, Arizona, Boyfriend and I saw another photo shoot of a couple. This couple had a photographer (I use this term loosely here) with them. They were doing the good ol' awkward prom pose type poses. These people were awesome because they would pose next to these really great bronze sculptures that were scattered about the common area of the shopping center.

Naturally when they left, I had this picture taken:

The only elk I saw in Arizona..

Be Here

Beautiful song. After a rough day, it rolls over me and takes all the blah along with it. It's okay if you have to play it twice- Ray won't mind.

Don’t let your mind get weary
And confused your will be still, don’t try
Don’t let your heart get heavy
Child, inside you there’s a strength that lies

Don’t let your soul get lonely
Child, it’s only time, it will go by
Don’t look for love in faces, places
It’s in you that’s where you’ll find kindness

Be here now, be here now
Be, be here now, be here now

Don’t lose your faith in me
And I will try not to lose faith in you
Don’t put your trust in walls
‘Cause walls will only crush you when they fall

Be, be here now, be here now
Be, be here now, be here now

Rangers Unite!

Ranger Danger (in the back) and another Ranger. Car in the middle was ignored.

There is quite a community of Ford Rangers at school. Awesome! This (above) Ranger is driven by a girl who gets back to the commuter parking lot about the time I do every day. I know a place is good when the Rangers are bountiful. I can feel it in me bones.

Do I always judge places by number of Rangers? Most places? Maybe. I could, but I don't. Targets are judged by how many Merona t-shirts and sweaters they have in stock. Wal-Marts are judged solely by the fact that they are Wal-Marts. Don't get me started. Chick-fil-As are judged by how syrup-y their Cokes are and location. Hobby Lobby stores are judged by their fabric sections, of course.

Rarely are places judged by the people that run them. I don't judge by people, because everyone has their bad days and some people are naturally rude. However, there are certain exceptions. The other day I was hanging around school waiting for one of my professor's office hours. I decided to take a drive about town to case the place. After accidentally driving by these cute apartments twice, I decided to stop in and take a look.

Seeking a mere pamphlet, I entered the office. After standing around for a few minutes (wondering if I could have one of their cookies or not) this girl comes flying into the atrium/office. She doesn't say anything, but has a name tag on, so I say, "Hi, I was hoping to get some information on these apartments or something." The girl says, "How many rooms?" I replied, "Just one." She pointed to this wall that had all of their floor plans  and said, "That's what the one-bedroom is." I turned around to ask her a question and she was gone! Gone! I peeked into the room that she went into, and there she was talking with her co-worker and filing something. A something that was not a pamphlet. So, I left.

This apartment complex had no Rangers in their parking lot. They are of no good to me.

The Hair Files

Hair Beard, happens to the best of us.

I love getting my hair done. It is the one girly girl thing I really really enjoy. (My feet are ticklish, so pedicures are dangerous.) (Also, I've never had a massage, so I have no opinion of them.) (No opinion- shocking!) Back to hair: Going to the salon is great because it is a useful form of pampering. Someone else is washing AND styling AND trimming in one sitting. Huzzah for multitasking pampering!! Trimming is only a bad thing when someone gives you a faux-mullet during a routine trim... Ask me about that sometime. Or not.

Know who else loves a trip to the salon? My Hair. It just eats up the whole experience. It becomes a completely different head of hair when it realizes where it is. It loves being the center of attention and knows the stylist loves it.

Stylist: You have such great curls!

Hair: *coils into the waviest waves of all*

Stylist: You should never color your hair, the natural color is great.

Hair: *flaunts its many shades and hues*

Stylist: The ends look pretty healthy.

Hair: *does a pirouette*

It prances around the salon is what it does. Such a diva! Thank goodness it can't talk. I imagine it would never shut up. Out of control and completely ridiculous!