Thursday, December 31, 2015

51/52 (part two) - december 24th // oh, what fun


I know I've mentioned it before, but Lemony Snicket is a genius. Fact. 

The last book in the series All The Wrong Questions about Lemony Snicket's childhood -- or, a little less than a year of it, it's hard to measure time in his books -- came out and it is a gem. a big one. They are so good. also there might have definitely been tears. sad tears, but a few happy tears. daaaah, you need to read them. 

Also, anyone heard about the new tv series they're making about the books?? Whaaaaaaat. Excited about that!!! ♥

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

51/52 (part one) - december 22nd // pine needles

I'm not sure what the project was involving these, but I was rather proud of myself for getting a little creative with the shot and asking a sibling to be involved. It's a baby step, but it's a process and if I'm choosing to be excited about the process and not look at the long way to go. If I ever get there.



Friday, December 25, 2015

fabulous friday // the most wonderful time of year

Merry, merry christmas, everyone!! I hope you are having a lovely time with you friends and family - and if you don't have any to spend it with, please find someone. it's just not the holidays with out someone special close to you (even if it's through skype!!) and if nothing is working out, I personally invite you over to my house. because we are basically having a gatsby party over at my house... christmas is a big deal & we pack it jammed with friends. yay for the festivities!
and for your christmas enjoyment I present a favorite...

is this christmas? It will go down in family history. 

Thursday, December 24, 2015

50/52 (part two) - december 19 // california dreamin'

on such a winter's day... I'm really really missing california these days. some things just can't be replaced. you can take a girl outta california, but you can't talke california out of a girl. ♥ but I am excited for christmas... even if I do spend it in kentucky.

recently we've been playing this game that has gotten very popular in the US, called Ticket To Ride... naturally, whenever I hear/read the name I start singing the beatles song. I just have to.

one awesome thing has come of it (because all of us growing extremely superstitious about the blue trains always winning is not that awesome of a thing,) and that is that I have gotten so good at my European geography. At least with the major cities.
Christmas time is always the best time for board (& card) games... clue, monopoly, ticket to ride, sorry! - you name it! Tell me your favorite games to play with your family when you get a little free time.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

50/52 (part one) - december 17th // oh, christmas tree (and also it's my birthday - tah dah!)

I don't know if anyone caught that title, but it was a tangled reference. ;) But today, as it so happens, is, indeed, my birthday. Technically, I was born at 7:00 o'clock on the west coast, so I guess I'm not sweet sixteen until 10:00 today, but heck, who cares?

You can see the doorway (average door height) over on the right... Like I've said before, our tree is over 15 feet tall, and let me tell you, it is ay-mazing.

Friday, December 18, 2015

fabulous friday // christmas comes this time each year..

okay, can we get a little {not so} serious here and just say openly that beach boys meets christmas is one of the best things that ever happened to christmas? this year I have enjoyed so so much discovering new christmas music... I'll be riding in the car and all of a sudden an artist pops into my head and then I have to google them the first thing when I get home to find out if they have any christmas music. 

But in all seriousness, I love those covers of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Feliz Navidad. don't get me wrong - I love Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas and Justin Bieber's Mistletoe but it's fun to jazz it up a bit (some times almost literally.) So today I thought I'd share some of my favorite christmas music so you can have something new to listen to for this last week of the christmas season (dang where did it go??) 

Feliz Navidad - Walk off the Earth (but actually they have a whole bunch of fun songs)

Mannheim Steamroller (if you like instrumentals, or even if you don't.)

Mele Kalikimaka - Bing Crosby (gotta stay classic)

Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys

12 Days of Christmas - Straight No Chaser (but actually only 4 days)

Kiss Me, Babe, it's Christmas Time - Owl City

Cold December Night - Michael Buble

Tell me your favorite songs from this christmas in the comments!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

49/52 (part two) - december 9th // outside

for just a few days there we had some really really great weather for december. It was like in the seventies. my mother told me it was warmer here than in santa cruz. whaaaa?! The best thing about that was that there wasn't humidity. *throws confetti

PARTY TIME, am I right??


Tell me about your favorite thing to do in spring when it get warm!

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

49/52 (part one) - december 8th // school

Anyone excited for christmas break? I'm not taking this week off from school (science test yay) but I am taking it lightly. It's always hard, though, to balance it out. I want to have time for christmas shopping, candy making, tree trimming, etc, etc, but at the same time, I want time in summer, too, ya know? So it's a trade-off. People do ask me sometimes if I'm excited to have the day off (at dentist appointments or whatever,) and I'm like, well, now, yes, but long term, heck no! It just means a day at the end of the school year to catch up on. 

So I guess it's made me pretty self-motivated. 

Which reminds me, I'd wanted to share a little bit on what I do as far a school goes. You will probably run into another homeschooler or two in your lifetime and honestly, sometimes we have less in common than two public schoolers. Some people use curriculum, others don't. Some people have strict schedules, others just learn about what floats their boat (not literally,) some have outside help, others are completely at home. The outcome being, you always have to dig deeper when you find out someone is "home schooled."

As for what we do, we use a literature-based curriculum called Sonlight. It is technically "Christian" so the study guide is written from that perspective, but we read a ton of classic literature and it's heavy on the discussion, so it's really what you make it. Every day I have something from each subject assigned: bible & bible study books (optional,) history, poetry, literature, historic literature, and a writing assignment. Then I have a page for science (I'm taking biology this year, but you can take any science with any year without messing with the rest of the year's course.) Math I take, but at my own pace, and it's is the only subject I do all summer. I'm poking through geometry, if anyone was wondering. 

 and pro tip: go buy yourself a robert frost book and read every single word written in that book. it's good for your soul.
I just reached the fifties: suburbs, fast food, and itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny and all that stuff. the '50s where a pretty radical time.

Friday, December 11, 2015

fabulous friday // art journaling

I know I've mentioned art journaling on multiple occasions, but I realized I had never shared what I actually did... and that was for a couple reasons: one being I don't have one thing I do. In fact, it's a rather large mishmash of anything that can be flattened (you'd be surprised.) As a matter of fact, I managed to fit a full copy of david copperfield inside the pages of... no. wait. that was, indeed, David Copperfield. Not my art journal. I get them mixed up sometimes... Another reason being that I don't really have a lot of pictures that I don't post on here -- certainly not other ones of my art journal and since I usually blog at night, I don't have the light I need to take pictures for every fabulous friday. But something I've learned in my blogging years is to not let imperfection step in the way of actually doing something... So today I proudly present: My Art Journaling Tips, Tricks, and Techniques. (but not really any of the above things promised.)
1. Photos
This is huge for me. Probably about a third of my art journal is a scrapbook. and that's okay with me, because these photos mean something to me and this journal is all about this year and commemorating it. Sometimes I add captions, and sometimes I don't. It's all loose.

2. Page for each month
While I date every page (or try to... sometimes it's every other page and that's chill with me,) it's important to me to just get an overall feel for each month or the year in general. I feel like it puts it into perspective of what time of month it is... I try to get it in as close to the first as possible, but it's already the tenth and I just realized I never did one for december, so I don't beat myself up about it. (ha)

3. Misc thoughts
If you've spent any time here you know that one of my biggest struggles is tying everything in. To me my brain is a little like a box of packing peanuts -- I can't just pull one or two or even a handful out without five or six unrelated ones popping out along with it. (um, no thank you.) but I do think that when you take all those misc thoughts together sometimes you can start to see themes and get the full pictures. Kind of like a Seurat painting, right? 
4. Song lyrics, quotes, and bible verses.
This one is also pretty important to me because it helps to gather together a lot of lose ends. I feel like those misc thoughts get not only carried away, but also never resolved, but when I add a quote or bible verse or something on the next page it tells my conclusion without me having to rewrite each page to make it a nice, well-written essay. 

5. (Flat) Swag
Anything important that I can fit, (and won't miss,) I add. Kinda like that meme, that hung around a couple years (last year?) ago -- INCLUDE ALL THE SWAG, right?

6. Doodles
This is just a space-filler, and something to get a little wild with it... get outta my comfort zone, ya know?
7. Another picture or two. or three. or as many as I can fit
...because pictures are really important to me.

Tell me what you like to include in your art journals & why. I'll need ideas for 2016!

Thursday, December 10, 2015

48/52 (part two) - december 5th // cookie baking

I don't think we've actually ever baked christmas cookies. My mom doesn't have a big sweet tooth (and it's not a desert unless it has caramel and/or chocolate. period.) so christmas is usually fudge, english toffee, and sometimes peppermint bark. but a lot. like, pans and pans of each. usually only like three batches of peppermint bark (each is a couple dozen pieces) and five to eight pans of fudge and english toffee...each.

Here's the thing: we're big foodies. and my mother has perfected every recipe she has ever gotten into her hot little hands. So lemme tell you, her christmas candy is stellar. like, superb. amaze-balls, and all that. 

But we actually happen to be baking cookies for a christmas cookie exchange with the scout troop. My sister, kitty (not pictured,) is super go-getter and try-all kinda kid, so since her unit is doing the cookie exchange instead of taking the usual chocolate chip cookies (which is an amazing recipe from my uncle. top secret stuff.) she wanted to try snicker-doodle-with-rolos-inside cookies. Ha. say that three times fast.

for the record: cinnamon Does Not belong with caramel and chocolate. it just doesn't. even if you like rolos!



I know I've said it before, but doesn't my sister have lovely eyes? Don't even answer that. Just look. In awe. (and maybe a little jealousy.)

and the weather of course, was so very christmasy, it was all very festive. 

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

48/52 (part one) - december 4th // barnes & noble

Fact: it's not a christmas season unless we ended up in barnes and noble. at least four times. (some things can't be bought online.)

 This year for our first trip to the bookstore, I promised my younger brother a trip to the starbucks (which I am not a fan of and a warning: DO NOT go within fifteen feet of their cannoli -- in fact, just so it sticks, think of the worst possible icing/frosting you've even had and think of the horror of placing in your mouth... then imagine it two days old and three times grosser and you might have a mental image of what starbucks canoli tastes like... and all those years with Rob Irvine making it look so dang good...) -- which definitely could have been worse. After trying to get my five-year-old sister to just pick what she wanted, I settled for a cream soda and called it a day. and ya know, once we were sitting, it just didn't matter. very much.



and what I want for christmas (or my birthday -- which is the 22nd.) it was right there in b&n all along! who knew right? Okay, but in all seriousness, I do want one of the beautiful posters, but what I actually totally want is the Great Gatsby one because it would make even f. scott fitzgerald tear up from the beauty. probably.
Tell me about your traditions or non-traditions that you & your family/friends have!

Friday, December 4, 2015

fabulous friday // a post full of links

(pardon me while I go sing sky full of stars... *caause you're a skyyy you're a skyy full of staaars* ahem. thank you.)
  • Snuggie Texts from It Just Gets Stranger (sound good? It gets better. -See below)
and this week ... do yourself a favor and watch the old classic, It's A Wonderful Life. I'll bring you a box of tissues when you start crying.

also:




Thursday, December 3, 2015

47/52 (part two) - November 28th // it's in the air



woo hoo!! It's tree trimming time, baby... this year we have such a beauty. daaahhh. I mean, just look at how tall it is. yuppp. It's the real deal.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

47/52 (part one) - November 27th // I'll never outgrow the thrill

It's that time of year when the world falls in love... every song seems to say "Merry Christmas!"
yeah, so I'm like "bring it christmas. this is it, baby..." well, we got our christmas tree last friday. like we do every year. But this year we made a record: our tree was 15'9". no joke. Our ceiling at the tallest part is 15'10, so we had to chop some off the bottom (because of the stand,) and put it over by the stairs instead of the normal corner. and lemme tell you, it's enormous & beautiful.

Also, sickness has infested our home so that left me to string the lights (with my dad) and put up the ornaments on the higher branches (gosh I've all but conquered my fear of heights...) and to tell the truth, I'm just glad it's done... We will be making some more ornaments (yay for mod podge) -- I know because I took up the advent calendar (christmas wouldn't be the same without me) and we're going to have such a blast. sleeping under the tree (we can literally this year -- it's a good foot off the ground,) wrapping party like yo, It's A Wonderful Life movie night *sobsnifflehappytear*, etc.





So the great question of the year... because I love music so much : Tell me your favorite christmas song/album in the comments!! I'll head over the spotify now!