new Radiohead on yet another sick day

Just had to share these tunes. I love Thom Yorke's dancing! The new album is pretty awesome. The hubby is sick today, so we are listening to it in bed. :)

remembering liz

Seven years ago today I lost my best friend Liz. I was seventeen. Her death taught me so much about life, love, and really everything. I can't even imagine where I would be today if it wasn't for this tragedy. When I think about it that way, it really makes me understand that everything happens for a reason. This little girl healed hearts while her own needed repair. Sometimes I wonder what she would be like today if she were still here. I miss her. 

Death Cab For Cutie "Plans" Found this CD in my car today, and listened to it on the way to and from work. I love it as usual. It totally fit today too.

halloween weekend

So when I said that Halloween was my favorite holiday ever, I was not kidding around. We decided to be Dr. zombies. We looked pretty good and scary if you ask me. We went trick-or-treating at the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne's house and saw a giant brain, saw a great DJ set at The Blue Note, and we went to Big Truck Tacos for the first time (which was super good by the way). 

Mr Wayne Coyne was pretty excited about our costumes

There were some interesting treats on the menu too. I'll post some recipes later this week. The brain was my personal favorite.

a gooey brain, eyeballs and ghosts!

AND we carved a total of 7 pumpkins this month!!! 

and Kev's cheshire cat

Jack Skellington pumpkin

the last 2 mini jack-o-lanterns

We love Halloween!

and Pep loved his wizard costume

Last but not least...

PUNKIN SEEDS! Ingredients: Pumpkin seeds, butter, Lawreys season salt. Directions: Scoop seeds out of pumpkin and separate from stringy goopy stuff. Rinse seeds in a colander and pat dry. Preheat oven to 325. Saute seeds in butter (I do about 2 Tbspns per pumpkin) on medium/high heat for about 5 min. Pour out onto foil lined cookie sheet. Roast in oven for 10 min. Stir around and sprinkle with Lawreys salt. Roast 10-15 min more until crunchy and slightly brown. Let cool 5-10 min. These are my favorite! It's actually my favorite part about carving punkins.

so it's been a while

It has been over a week since my last post. I've had some trouble with my right hand and wrist lately. I think it's carpal tunnel, so I've really been trying hard to stay off the computer, and I haven't been able work on any art. This really is a bummer. I depend on my hands to do what I love. I've been doing some stretches and they seem to be helping, but I'm still scared. 

Anyway, the past week has been super busy. Last Wednesday I had a family girls night which was very fun except for the country music I had to endure. My mom surprised us with a limo and bought us dinner too. 

mom, me, laura, cheryll, jessica and meghan

Kevin's cousin Sean got here on Friday, and my mother in law and niece came over for dinner that night. It was a lot of fun. Emma Kate is getting so big! 

mimi and emma kate

Saturday was the Flaming Lips March of 1000 Flaming Skeletons. It was fun, but Kevin and I agreed that it was way better last year (maybe that's because it was our first time last year). We made some pretty scary skeletons if you ask me. 

kevin and sean

the scariest skeletons in town

I added a few new recipes including Potato Soup, Roasted Beets, and two yummy sweets to the recipe page. Also update on recently listened to tunes: One of my favorite bands ever...Radiohead made an appearance on yet another drive to Tulsa today. Thom Yorke's solo album "The Eraser" was lovely in my ears when it was my turn to drive (and pick music). Tonight I have my cake decorating class, and we're learning how to make flowers. I can't wait. I'll put the pics up tomorrow. So long for now. 

updates all around

Thanks to high amounts of caffeine and working in a coffee shop there are new recipes include Almond Crusted Tilapia and Pumpkin Pancakes. I've been rereading Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, so there are some thoughts related to that as well a nice sketch in doodles. 


Since all of our herbs have now been harvested there isn't much on our porch or in the garden besides some green vines. So we decided to plant some pansies this year. Last year we planted mums and they croaked in the weird Oklahoma weather. These are holding up better, and I think they look prettier too.

Found this weird metallic bug hangin
out and sucking on some fly guts...ew

It's almost Halloween...my favorite holiday! This coming weekend we are marching in the annual Ghouls Gone Wild OKC Halloween Parade as Flaming Skeletons. Our cousin Sean will be going with us this year. Here are some pics from last year. That's Kevin and I with Wayne Coyne! I'll post the new ones soon. :)
   


tunes: The Album Leaf "Into the Blue Again." This used to be my morning yoga music. I haven't listened to it in a while. Kevin was just home on his lunch break and put it on for me before he left. It's so soothing and great on this dreary drizzly day.

Oh and Pepper says hello

gearing up for Halloween!

 Anyone who knows me well, knows that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I'm getting excited already. Last night we carved pumpkins and roasted the seeds (which I posted the recipe for on the recipe page). Our pumpkins look awesome and so does our spooky porch.


This morning we drove to Tulsa to drop off my art for the show next weekend, a mini road trip. Road trips are great for rediscovering old music you haven't listened to in a while. The Sea and Cake "Nassau". I  love them, they are great as always. 

Tonight we made Pumpkin Vegetable Chili (recipes page) and watched the OU/Texas football game. Boomer Sooner! My aunt came over and ate with us. It was a good time.

My witch kinda looks like she has a beak

Kevin's carving of Pepper

Giant spiders

in the garden

Crazy Bo Jangles

  

updates: recipes, doodle news, etc.

Many recipes up in the last few days: tuna, eggplant, soups, pancakes, etc. I've been really busy the last week because I found out that I got into a show in Tulsa! That's the doodle news. See my piece that got in under the doodles tab. I've been busy prepping prints with sleeves and labels. 

The hubby and I had a nice excursion to see the stars last night, we went out to Arcadia. We just drove until we could see the stars. We took a blanket and some apple cider and watched the sky. It felt so good to feel small again and realize that this universe is so much bigger than we know. It also felt good to just be with Kevin. His new work schedule is making it tough for us to spend a lot of quality time together. Seeing the stars really made me miss living out in the country. I am definitely not a city girl. I got a couple pictures and changed the exposures up a bit. They're not great, but you can see the brightest of the stars. Strangely, there was no moon. I thought it was kind of creepy. Anyway, later this week or maybe next we're going out to the farm in Guthrie. I know we'll be able to see the stars out there, and we might even camp before the weather gets cold.

Tunes: Kevin's favorite band is The Flaming Lips. We've seen them in concert too many times to count, and Kevin was actually featured in their documentary The Fearless Freaks. Their newest album, Embryonic is my my favorite of theirs. I've been listening to it a lot lately. I love how garage grungy it sounds. 

A couple new things are in thoughts too.

Sgt. Pepper says hello!

home again, home again

I never realized how boring the drive through Kansas is. Nothing, seriously, there is nothing to see in Kansas. The only interesting things we saw were some funny billboards: the world's largest prairie dog and the ones that are messages from Jesus. 


We listened to two audio books. I posted some links to the bands' websites that we saw at Red Rocks. It was my first time there, and I was blown away. It is so beautiful! 


We hiked in the mountains with Kev's brother and his dog Teague. The altitude was really intense on my body. I would take 10 steps and feel like I had just sprinted miles. Next time we go, we definitely want to stay longer to get used to it. A glacier runoff lake in the middle of the Rockies? Yes please! A bit chilly and hard to hike in the altitude, but SO beautiful. I could totally live up here if I could skip the winter.

the sky is so much bluer

log where we stopped to eat lunch

purple mountain flowers

Teague

We stayed with Kevin's brother, his girlfriend and their little girl. They live right outside of Denver. It was so much fun, and I'm so thankful that they were willing to open their home to us. We love Georgia. She is so fun and so freakin cute! 


Kerri, Kevin's younger sister and her husband also live there, right in the middle of the city. We parked at their place and walked around Denver. Our first day there, we went to the Denver Art Museum which was so so awesome. Then they took us to eat at this awesome vegetarian pizza place. We had a lot of fun with them at the STS9 and Thievery show that night too. 


Overall it was a really fun and exhausting trip. We came back more tired than we were before we left. Next time we go, we are staying for a week or longer. That altitude sucks at first. Just when we started getting used to it, we had to leave. We squeezed in so much stuff in two days, but it was worth it. 



tunes: Ghostland Observatory, STS9, Thievery Corporation, and Red Rocks Amphitheater. Click the links, check them all out, fall in love.
 

updates!

New recipes up!


Tunes: Arcade Fire is amazing. I love the new album, but this is something else. Found it earlier today. It is so cool. Technology has gotten so crazy. http.thewildernessdowntown.com 
doodles, recipes, memories, and thoughts have all been updated. Check out my newest print that is still in progress!


Memories: Tomorrow will mark one year since we got the news of Kevin's father's untimely death. I remember last year on a Tuesday night getting a call that changed so much in our lives. Our lives have changed so much for the better. Our family is stronger and has become closer because of a tragedy. Kevin wants to make a counter memory tomorrow, so that September 1st can be remembered differently, as a good day. He is the most positive person I have ever met. We will also remember Jim and all that he did for his family.
  

a staycation of a lifetime

So even though I was sick for the first two days of my break, it ended up being great. It was relaxing but full. Wednesday night we drove to Norman to see Kevin's friend's band play. We saw a beautiful Oklahoma sunset as well Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. 

Then Thursday morning we saw Hubble 3D. It was incredible. I wish more movies like that would come out in theaters instead of stupid movies. It made me remember how very small we are in this vast universe. 

Then we had some lunch at one of our favorite places and went out to Martin Nature Park. We used to go there a lot. It is a nature preservation center in the middle of OKC. You can be in the middle of it and feel like you are in the middle of nowhere (except for the faint sound of cars on the highway). It was some much needed nature time. We saw some lovely birds and a huge squirrel. 

We also babysat little Emma last night. She tries to repeat everything we say which could be a bad thing, but we had fun with it. She is getting so big. We took her and the dogs outside and played for a long time.

It wasn't easy going back to work today, but I have tomorrow off and some great things planned. Most pages have been updated in the last couple days. I'll update tomorrow with pics of our grape harvest and stomp!


PS:Kevin's brother found this. Oh my goodness I love it. Just watch it. It is the most amazing light show ever!!!THE GLITCH MOB : BEYOND MONDAY from BEMO | Brandon Hirzel on Vimeo.

staycation

Today begins my 4 day staycation, my break after a month of working full time and getting up so early. I realize that most people work 40 hour weeks and go in early in the morning. But I refuse to be like the rest of the world. I cannot and will not do that for the rest of my life. So after these precious 4 days I'm going back to a steady 20-25 hours per week and nothing before 8 am. I hope that this will push me to create more art and submit to more shows since I will have more time on my hands. I'm also thinking about taking a semester long internship starting next month. This will be great for my resume and really good experience. So wish me luck! 


I was hoping that I could get some rest and catch up on printing over this break, BUT I'm sick! I've been feeling stuffy and my allergies have been bothering me for over a week now. So this morning I broke down and went to the doctor finally. I have a bad sinus infection and a low grade ear infection in my left ear. I'm on antibiotics (which I hate taking). But hopefully tomorrow I will start feeling better and be able to do some printing and get outside in the dwindling days of the summer heat. 


Most schools in the city started today. Whenever school starts it reminds me that fall is close and summer is almost over. So I must savor the heat that I love so much. It feels really weird and almost bittersweet to not be heading back to school. I'm glad I'm done(for now), but at the same time I miss everyone and I miss having a huge studio and equipment to work with in the art building. I hope someday I can have my own studio, the sooner the better. But in the meantime my little apartment will do.


I've also been getting into a few little hobby crafts. I have a lot of scraps of fabric, so I'm making fabric flowers for pins, hair, etc. An arts and crafts night with Kevin's family inspired me to get into something like that. We made Emma Kate some little hair bows. I got really into it. She looked so cute!

Well my head feels like it's about to explode, so I probably should stop looking at the computer screen. I will be on tomorrow to post some recipes and other things (crossing fingers that I feel better). Toodles!