I went through a list of all of the films that came out in 2010 and saw a total of 13 movies, only 8 of which were actually in the movie theater (the rest I saw on DVD). Last night, Hannah and I took advantage of $5 Tuesdays at a local theater and saw “The King’s Speech” starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. The film is anticipated to be an Oscar contender (picture, actor, supporting actor, etc), and definitely lived up to its hype with great performances from its actors.

Here’s a list of some of the films I got to see that I enjoyed:

How to Train Your Dragon: I really liked this movie. I thought it had really great animation, a great musical score, and very likable characters. I feel that DreamWorks really stepped up their game in this movie, especially with a strong story. An added bonus: it’s a good movie for all ages of the family.

Toy Story 3: Here’s another animated film from the always wonderful Pixar. I recently watched the first Toy Story (1996ish), and fully realized how far computer animation has come in the past five years – leaps and bounds. However, Pixar’s strengths have always been in great story telling and they continue their streak in this film. I personally believe that if you’re not touched/crying/sniffling at the end of this film, you have no soul.

Inception: I saw Inception this summer with Hannah and there were only two words to describe how we felt upon leaving the theater – mind blown. What I liked most about this movie was how much it made me work. Even if I didn’t fully comprehend (and I don’t think we’re ever meant to fully comprehend) the rules of the movie, I had a lot of fun trying and going along with the ride. There were lots of good actors in this movie, and the visual effects were stunning. I especially love the fight scene in the hotel hallway (a great combination of computer and traditional special effects).

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Not one of my favorite movies of the year, but I enjoyed watching it. It was really nerdy/geeky and had really interesting special effects. Though the story was sometimes slow, the video game and comic references kept it entertaining.

Easy A: I went into the movie not expecting too much, and came out very pleased. Easy A referenced a lot of John Hughes films, which I felt was appropriate for the characters and the type of story it was. Teen girls don’t often get multi-dimensional female characters in movies, but like Juno, they got one in Emma Stone’s honest, smart, and witty Olive.

The Social Network: This was probably my favorite movie of the year out of the ones I’ve seen. It’s kind of the Citizen Kane of the 21st century. It had super sharp dialogue and Jesse Eisenberg was awesome (and loathsome) as Mark Zuckerberg. It’s crazy to think of how the network that helps us form/keep relationships on a daily basis totally alienated its creator from his friends.

Exit through the Gift Shop: I love documentaries, and this one contained something else that I absolutely love: art. This film is produced by elusive street artist Banksy (if you don’t know his work, you need to check him out) and contains about a decade’s worth of footage of some of the best street artists in action shot by a Frenchman named Thierry Guetta. Not only does it document the street art movement, but it also features a twist when Thierry tries to become an artist himself.

Two more films I enjoyed: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1, The Town

One movie I wish I didn’t waste my time on: Alice in Wonderland

Movies I missed out on/still need to see: Machete, The Last Exorcism, 127 Hours, Buried, Tangled, Waiting for Superman, Black Swan

Dec. 25th: We flew out of Denver to SanFrancisco, CA and then flew to Tokyo/Narita Airport in Japan. This was the longest plane trip I’ve ever taken. The plane was huge and made me feel like I was on “Lost.” The airline stewardesses dress cute, and we got served airline food and I watched an in-flight movie.

We finally arrived in Japan and the first thing I thought of was crowded. Japan is about the size of California but have millions of people living there. The buildings are very tall and very close together. I didn’t feel too lost not knowing enough Japanese to be conversational because almost everyone in Japan knows a little English. Some people are very fluent. We pretty much missed Christmas because of all of the flying (we actually flew out Dec. 24th at 6am). It didn’t really feel like Christmas because we didn’t open presents (our gifts were spending money), and Christmas isn’t a big holiday in Japan. It’s more like Valentine’s Day, where couple go out on dates.

Dec. 26th: There are lots of buildings and shops all around Tokyo. It seems like a lot of people go shopping, but we’re told that Japan has just as bad of an economy (if not worse) than the US. There are vending machines everywhere (some of which are sponsored by Tommy Lee Jones). All of the cars look very new and some look very thin. We took a bus tour of the city and drove past all of the cities and districts we would be visiting throughout our trip. On the bus tour, I decided that people in Japan seem very fit. A lot of people jog and many ride their bikes.

We stopped by a huge shrine. There were containers that you could throw yen into and make a wish. We later went to the Edo museum which had lots of artifacts from 17th century Japan and up. I really liked the woodblock prints, especially a display of all of the different blocks used to create one print. Upon leaving the museum, my brother purchased a “hot lemonade” from a vending machine. It came out of the same machine that my sister purchased a Coke, but it was warm like tea. I bought one too, and it tasted like alpine tea.

After that, a group of us went to the Studio Ghibli museum (definitely one of my favorite stops on the trip). Studio Ghibli produced lots of great films like My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, etc. It was the last day it would be open until after the New Year, so we were lucky to get tickets. There were lots of really neat animation devices like zoetropes, but the coolest was a rotating strobe light piece that made models look like they were moving. My favorite room was filled with concept art and storyboard sketches from all of the different movies. I went up a three-story spiral staircase (really scary), walked into a room with a giant cat bus kids could play on, and we watched a short film about an anthropomorphic egg and bread man.

Dec. 27: We took the subway to the Harajuku district. Not only was it very crowded, but a lot of people dress up. In general, it seems like a lot of girls wear short skirts, tights and boots (some had furry boots that made their legs look like alpacas). Lots of people wear costumes or “punk” or “goth” clothes. Teresa and I found a costume shop that sold lots of pinafore dresses (think Alice in Wonderland) and blasted techno versions of “Some Day my Prince Will Come.”

We took the train to Shibuya to see the Hachiko statue. We grabbed lunch at the mall and I had to use my first-ever squatting toilet. It was really bizarre, but I got through the whole ordeal without falling in or getting myself wet. You can also use standing urinals in the womens’ restroom. Thankfully, I never had to use one of those. I have a photo in my albums on Facebook.

We took the subway again the Akihabara – the technology and anime district. We found some vintage toy shops (the Boy George doll was definitely the strangest find). There stores are very tiny, but are spread out floor after floor. One shop we went into had seven floors of anime models. They all looked the same to me, but I guess they’re from different shows.

I stumbled upon an arcade/slots store with vending machines full of panties and toys. We also found a restaurant where you could purchase a food ticket outside of the restaurant that you gave to the man inside to place your order.

Some stores I recognized from the US that you can find in Japan: Starbucks, 7 Eleven, AM/PM, Denny’s, Krispy Kremes, Peet’s Coffee, McDonalds, KFC, GAP, Forever 21, H&M, Subway, Baskin Robbins, Godiva, Hooters, Gucci, Coach and North Face.

Dec. 28-29th: We drove about an hour out of town to Kamakura to see the Big Buddha statue. It was made in the 600-700s and is now blue-green. I bought a green tea ice cream cone. We then walked to a shrine with different levels of temples and shrines. There was a cave that you could light candles in. One section of the cave, you had to duck down to get to smaller areas where you could write your name on a small statue and the god you placed it near would pray for you. You could also write down wishes on wooden plaques. We also stopped by a second Shinto shrine.

We went to the Ginza district to try and go shopping. It’s full of designer stores (think Gucci, Prada and Luis Vutton). My mom found a store where you could buy pants and hem them to your size at no extra cost. My shoe size in Japan is a 24 which is considered large. We got shabu shabu for lunch, which was delicious. I feel like I ate a lot of healthy food while I was in Japan. However, there’s not a lot of variety.

Things about Japan I thought were strange/interesting: it’s very crowded (worse than NY), food is put on display in windows, there’s not as much Hello Kitty or Pokemon as I would imagine (Pocky too), not a lot of red meat, not a lot of sushi restaurants, English is used on almost all signage.

Dec. 30th: We traveled to Shibuya to do more shopping. We went to an awesome store called Tokyo Hands. It’s a chain store like a Walmart or Target, and the prices were reasonable. They have lots of rabbit merchandise because this year is the year of the rabbit. People are praying for more births in Japan.

We returned to the hotel and watched TV. There was a show where contestants are put in humorous positions and they have to keep a straight face or else men in ninja suits come out and spank their butts hard with rods. We also walked around the gardens at the hotel and saw coy as big as our cat. We went to a sushi restaurant where I ordered my first sake. They but a double shot glass into a small box and pour sake into it until the glass overflows into the box. You’re supposed to drink the glass and the square glass it’s in, but I thought it was kinda gross and didn’t finish. Sake goes down smooth, but hits you hard.

Dec. 31st – Jan. 1st: Year of the Rabbit. Lots of people wore rabbit ears around town. A group of us cousins took the train to Shibuya and tried to go bar-hopping. Up until this point, no one hard been carded (the drinking age in Japan is 20), but they were very strict on New Year’s Eve. We ended up going to a karaoke place and ordering drinks there. I had never done karaoke, but it was a lot of fun. You rent out a room, so you only have to sing in front of your friends. We picked songs that we all knew the words to so we could all sing and share the microphones without feeling too self-conscious. It was a lot of fun! Some of us were ready to go home, but the rest of the group wanted to go dancing. However, everyone quickly sobered up when they saw our bill! Lucky for me, I only bought two beers, so I got off the cheapest.

Before we left, I convinced my family to take a picture with surgical masks on. All throughout Japan, you would see people wearing masks. It’s because they’re paranoid of getting the flu. I bought a pack of masks at a 100 yen store. We snuck off to a discreet corner to take the picture. My mom was really angry at me because she was worried someone would see us and get offended.

We took a plane home on New Year’s day. I watched an in-flight movie (The Town, which is very good), but I mostly slept. I went to bed at 8:30pm, and slept in until about 1pm today.

Highlights of the Trip: Studio Ghibli museum, Shibuya, all of the shrines at Kamakura.

I think what’s even scarier is knowing that I will be graduating in less than a month: December 18th to be exact. It’s so bizarre! When the spring semester ended in May, I felt like I had graduated. A lot of my friends graduated, and moving out of Fort Collins made me feel like I had moved on from CSU. It’s weird thinking about how I’ll have to drive up to FOCO to pick up my cap/gown (a GOLD one for being Cum Laude – oooh yeah!) on Wednesday the 15th and then walking in Moby Arena on the 18th. Sooo weird!

It’s exciting knowing that I will officially be done with school. I had lots of great experiences as a CSU Ram. If I had to pick my top four (in no particular order), they would definitely be: taking 1st place at the Intercollegiate Swing Battle, my experiences in the drawing department (even complaining about class over beers at the ‘Skellar or grabbing mimosas in the mornings for the dreaded drawing crits), the friends I made (and the ones I stayed in touch with), and meeting/dating/getting engaged to Kevin. I love FOCO, and I definitely miss it. I’m lucky enough to visit on a fairly regular basis and I might end up living there depending on how things work out job-wise.

Unfortunately, the not-so-exciting part about graduating is the dreaded job hunt. For the past two weeks I have been getting into the habit of checking multiple school district’s employment boards. It’s slim-pickings for all kinds of teachers, not just art teachers. Sadly, it’s been slim for just about every other person I know who graduated recently. I’m currently getting ready to submit a substitute teaching application to Douglas County school district. There’s a couple other school districts looking for subs, but even sub jobs are very limited. It’s a little scary knowing that it might be a while before I find a stable job. Yikes. I always tell myself, “The right job will come along when it’s supposed to” but it’s hard to keep that mentality when the job market is dry.

On the bright side, I’m feeling pretty confident about my skills and abilities as a teacher and an artist. Every day reaffirms that this is what I want to do and this is something that’s worth sticking around for. I feel like I have a chance for jobs. Granted, I need to practice/prepare for interviews, but I have two very awesome letters of recommendation and an e-portfolio which I’m very proud of. Go check it out: http://asrausch.weebly.com. The best part about it is being able to feature students’ work. I have a gallery for my LHS students’ work, TVHS ink transfer drawings, and a page of YouTube videos featuring the flipbooks of some of my elementary students.

Also on the plus side, I have a paid job tomorrow teaching watercolor and acrylic painting for a sweet 16 birthday party. I know it’s going to be fun! I also have been asked to do some mural work on the ceiling of my second cousin’s dining room. It would be really nice if the small art jobs could keep rolling in!

I’ve been told by students, “This is the best drawing I’ve ever done” and “thank you for helping me draw” and “you’re awesome” and the jokes about me saying things like “that’s tight”… I can’t believe it’s coming to an end on Friday… I’ve been trying not to think about it, but I can’t help it. When I think about it, I get close to tears. I really don’t want to leave. I’m going to miss everything so much…

Leaving Littleton feels like I’m leaving Fort Collins and CSU all over again… I remember sitting in my crappy apartment with Rachel watching the season finale of “Lost” and thinking, “Man, it’s over.” But it wasn’t just the end of our favorite TV show… It was also the end of our four years at CSU and having to face the reality that our friends would be moving onto bigger and better things. It was signaling an end to the times where the most important part of life was being a part of the competitive swing dancing teams and hopes of dancing across the country at exchanges and competitions… to having your best friends live less than 5 miles away from you at your convenience… to the community that comes with living in a college town… drinking at the ‘Skellar or drinking mimosas before and after the dreaded art critiques… spending countless hours focusing on your artwork at the studio…

A couple weeks ago when I was in Fort Collins, Kevin and I stopped by the Lory Student Center to pick up my “Single Ladies” drawing from the gallery. It was so odd stepping into the Transit Center and not seeing my Blam teammates practicing in front of Cam’s, meeting Rachel and the other officers for a Swing Society meeting followed by an awesome night of dancing, doing homework in the sunken lounge, drinking a pint with Jon and Andrew at the ‘Skellar, setting up an art exhibition in the lower level of the LSC, stopping by the Curfman to drop off art work or look at the new gallery, going to the bank to drop off a deposit, or meeting Kevin. Looking back, I realize that a lot of my relationships began in the student center… Certainly a lot of those were through dance, but the most important relationship of my life started on one of the couches in front of the First National Bank ATM machine in the Lory Student Center.

It was really bittersweet being back in the Lory Student Center. It brought back a flood of awesome memories, but at the same time it felt like those times had passed. It’s just not the same being in the Transit Center without Rachel around… In fact, she’s not around at all. She’s across the world in Africa doing amazing things and I miss her so much. And then I think about it and I realize, “I’m not in that Transit Center anymore because I’M out in the world trying to do amazing things in my own little way.”

Just like how leaving CSU was a little hard at first, leaving Littleton High School is going to be hard too. However, I gained a lot of opportunities by leaving CSU and I’ll gain a lot of experience at my new elementary school too. I’m getting really anxious and nervous, but I know that every experience is good experience. The months will fly by fast and it will all be over faster than I could have ever imagined.

Part of why I want this semester to be over quickly is because it will mean that I’m that much closer to June which is the next phase of my life: married life. I can’t even begin to express just how ecstatic I am to be getting married in June. I never thought that there could be something more exciting and fulfilling than doing art and dancing, but getting pumped about being married is all that and more. To be honest, I haven’t been dancing since Rachel left for the Peace Corps. It’s not the same without her… Sometimes I really really miss it, but I’m so busy with teaching and marriage prep that I don’t think about it as much anymore. When I was in high school, marching band was my life. When I was in college, swing dancing became my new marching band. When I left Fort Collins, teaching became everything and it’s awesome. Now I’m engaged and all I can think about is how totally excited I am to start a family.

I’m really going to miss my little “family” at Littleton High School. I’m going to try to make the most out of this last week before transferring and starting the whole process completely over again. However, I have some good lesson plans for the elementary students in the making and I’m going to make the most out of my experiences before I officially graduate in December and have to move onto the next phase of my life: job hunting. I’m dreading it, but I’m pretty good at overcoming obstacles and anxieties. I believe that everything works out when it’s supposed to and so will leaving Littleton, working at the elementary school, finding a job and getting ready to get married.

I also can’t believe that I’m almost finished with the first part of my student teaching! I’ve been helping out at Littleton High School and it’s been a blast! I help out with 4 sections of Art Foundations. Students at LHS are required to take art, so it’s an introduction to different types of media including batik, drawing, painting, printmaking and clay. As of this week, I have officially taken over the class completely after helping out the past couple of weeks. I have a portrait drawing unit planned out for the students and things have been going really well so far. The students learned about 4 different portrait artists (Chuck Close, Frida Kahlo, Nikki Lee and Orlan) and discussed their practices as a class. I then led them through a step-by-step instruction of how to map out the proportions of the face. The students are currently finishing adding details like hair and value to the drawings we did as a class.

Tomorrow I’m starting the next lesson: a gesture drawing lesson that I did with the students at TVHS. I’m being evaluated tomorrow by my CSU  supervisor. Hopefully she’ll have some good feedback. The final project is a self portrait project where the students incorporate favorite elements (person, place, food, book, etc) to create a telling portrait – not your standard look in the mirror and draw yourself. Hopefully they’ll enjoy being able to personalize it.

The only bad news thus far is the news of having to finish 2 student teaching expectations check sheets. The sheets include standards that all teachers need to meet for the state of Colorado. The list which my supervisor dubs “the beast” is 16 pages long and full of standards that my cooperating teacher needs to sign off. There’s only a handful of items that are left, but I recently found out that I need to have my second cooperating teacher fill out ANOTHER one of these beasts when I transfer to the elementary school in a couple of weeks. So not cool… I usually don’t complain, but I’m not very happy about it. I’ll talk to my supervisor more about it tomorrow. Oh well.

In other news, wedding stuff is going pretty well. Tomorrow, my mom and I are going to meet a family friend who owns a restaurant that we would like to hold the reception at. I hope that it works out and hopefully by then we will finally have a number of guests that we can expect to invite to the wedding. Secretly, I’m really nervous about finding out how many people can fit in the venue. My dad’s side of the family is extremely large (extremely awesome too), so it’s been really hard trying to make a wedding guest list that’s budget-OK. I guess we’ll know by Thursday.

I feel that Kevin and I have been really lucky in our wedding plans… Unfortunately, we’re on a pretty tight budget because we’re paying for the majority of our wedding expenses. However, we’ve been really lucky to have found a good and well-priced photographer (we’ll take engagement photos in early October), Kevin can design invitations and paper stuff because he’s an awesome graphic designer, we found some awesome “cake toppers” in the form of X-Files action figures from E-bay, my mom’s friend is an awesome florist at King Soopers, and many other leads for planning have been people we know personally.

Kevin and I have been taking our online marriage prep class and we only have a couple of worksheets before we’re finished! We work on one worksheet a week to spread them out (they typically take over an hour to complete). The information is helpful, but sometimes it’s stressful when it takes a long time to finish. Since we do one worksheet a week, it sometimes feels like I’m in school for 6 out of the 7 days a week, but that’s okay. You do what you need to in order to be a successful student teacher as well as have a successful future marriage. It’s all going to be worth it.

Yep. Busy busy busy. It’s been a great journey thus far though. I’ll be sure to post more updates on school and wedding stuff when I’m not working on my teacher work sample, future lesson plans, teacher reflections and wedding stuff.

Just a brief background… Kevin and I have known each other for two years. We met through our advanced drawing classes at CSU. During our long studio class, we would take breaks from working and talk about art and a plethora of other things. At the time we were just friends. After Kevin graduated, we started hanging out again and he asked me out via flipbook in May.

I drove up to Fort Collins to spend the weekend visiting Kevin and his family. On Saturday, Kevin and I decided to celebrate our “month-iversary” by going to the Chocolate Cafe in Old Town. Though dessert was delicious, it was a little hard to enjoy because Kevin had been off/on with a fever all week and my stomach was upsetting me. We decided to take a walk to the park near the Fort Collins Library and sat on a bench. Once we sat down, Kevin said that he had a little something for me and pulled out a cute little teddy bear with a heart stitched on it.

Kevin had been dropping clues about getting engaged, but it was still a surprise nonetheless. He proposed with a sweet little speech that made me start to cry but when he opened the bear’s heart (the metaphor for how Kevin opens his heart to me) which contained the ring, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh! I had a feeling Kevin would do something creative, but there’s no way I could have EVER imagined it being via teddy bear with hidden ring box in its heart! Of course I said “yes.”

Kevin had asked my parents for their blessing last weekend when he came to visit me in Centennial. Both of our parents were surprised but happy for our engagement. I love my ring (it’s a diamond center with rubies -my birthstone- on each side). It’s so beautiful and personal and completely perfect. Kevin just smiles or laughs when he catches me looking at it. He’s very thoughtful…

I “just knew” that Kevin was the person that God meant for me. I guess what surprises me is that even though things have happened quickly, it seems completely and 100% right. It’s a great feeling.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4-to-8-year-olds: “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

“Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way.” -Charlie, age 5

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” -Rebecca, age 8

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.” -Billy, age 4

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” -Karl, age 5

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” -Chrissy, age 6

“Love is when someone hurts you. And you get so mad but you don’t yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings.” -Samantha, age 7

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” -Terri, age 4

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” -Danny, age 7

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.” -Emily, age 8

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” -Bobby, age 5

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.” -Nikka, age 6

“Love is hugging. Love is kissing. Love is saying no” -Patty, age 8

When you tell someone something bad about yourself and you’re scared they won’t love you anymore. But then you get surprised because not only do they still love you, they love you even more.” -Matthew, age 7

“There are two kinds of love. Our love. God’s love. But God makes both kinds of them.” -Jenny, age 8

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” -Noelle, age 7

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” -Tommy, age 6

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” -Cindy, age 8

“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.” -Clare, age 5

“Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken.” -Elaine, age 5

“Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” -Chris, age 8

“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” -Mary Ann, age 4

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” -Lauren, age 5

I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her.” -Bethany, age 4

“Love cards like Valentine’s cards say stuff on them that we’d like to say ourselves, but we wouldn’t be caught dead saying.” -Mike, age 8

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” -Karen, age 7

“Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.” -Mark, age 8

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” -Jessica, age 8

“God could have said magic words to make the nails fall off the cross, but He didn’t. That’s love.” -Max, age 5

Honestly, I kind of feel that not having a job has been a blessing in disguise. I’ve been “go go go” this school year and I’m going to have another busy semester coming up thanks to student teaching. It’s gonna go by fast, but I’m excited. I’ve been mentally preparing for the start of school in August this entire summer. I’ve been brainstorming lesson/unit plans and reading. Mostly though… I’ve been doing nothing and it’s wonderful.

I imagined going swing dancing as many nights a week as I could. I imagined starting new art projects and creating a new series. These are two things that I absolutely love and I haven’t really done either at all… and it’s been (truth be told) really nice. I’ve just taken a break from everything. It’s like a mental vacation. I love it!

I feel like I’m naturally a hard worker, so not working on school/swing dance club/getting a solo art exhibition ready and many other things has been really nice. I feel like in the past I tried to work out the direction my life was going in too. It’s taken some work, but I feel like I’m finally okay with letting life work itself out. It’s been a lot more relaxing on the brain/body/spirit too.

It always fascinates me just how much life differs from our expectations of it. It’s always better than my hopes and aspirations. The deviations come at just the right time and make things rich/new/exciting.

I feel like I’m starting a new phase of my life, one that I couldn’t have anticipated, and I love it. It’s seemed a little crazy at times, but it’s a good crazy. There are some uncertainties that carry a shadow of a doubt, but I know that each obstacle can be conquered and everything will always work out.

I like the new direction my life has taken me.

Last week was uber busy because I was wrapping up the exhibition pieces as well as a big photo project. I just got back my last photo project and I’m pleased to learn that I keep improving my grade with each project. Success! Another one of my prints is on display in the hall. How exciting! Kevin also helped me set up my pin pieces in the BFA show in the Hatton last Thursday. The show opened today and I’ve gotten some really nice comments on the installation. Super awesome!

This weekend I can look forward to going to the Wild Asparagus Ball on May 8th! I won a ticket in a solo Charleston contest so I’m super stoked about saving a little bit of money. I’m busting out this beautiful dress I have, so I’m (you guessed it) stoked! Want to know what’s even better about the ball this year? Kristin and Nina are gonna be there!!!

I only have two finals during finals week. One is a dossier binder we turn into the drawing department and the other is a photography test. Other than that, I just have to sign my contracts for student teaching. Whoo hoo! After that it’s graduation parties, the Denver Lindy Exchange and taking down my senior show.

As awesome as the next couple of weeks are going to be, it’s not without its anxieties. I mean, it’s the last couple of weeks that I will be up here in FOCO until the next time I visit. You get so used to little things like driving to classes, complaining about classes at the Skellar, swing dancing it up every Wednesday with some of your best friends, and all of the other amazing things that come with being a college student and living in FOCO. You get so incredibly spoiled because one of the perks to being a student is “instant friends.” Everyone’s conveniently close and then summer rolls along and you’re scattered all over the country… The only difference is that this time I’m not coming back to FOCO in the fall, and neither are some of my friends. In fact, some of my friends may be as far away as Africa!

It’s more than a little nerve-wrecking (even more-so than the fact that this is the final season of Lost – sorry, I just had to get that in there). At times it’s completely terrifying. I’m looking forward to moving back home because I love my family, but I know things are going to be much different. Most people in my situation start freaking out about jobs, but I’ve always been really blessed and have been given job opportunities I could have never imagined. The Big Guy looks after me and treats me well. I know that the whole job thing will definitely work out in the end (and I don’t have to really worry about it until December anyway). The really scary part is not knowing what’s going to happen to the other part of my life… The part that does things and hangs out with people.

In fact, thinking about that “what’s next” has caused be some unwanted stress. At first I decided I would just “go with it” and not think about it, but that’s proving to be just as stressful. Something happened to my decision-making skills… and I’m usually good at making decisions. Needless to say, these stress-inducers are at the back of my mind, but I put up a fight so they don’t get the best of me.

I used to be super worried about moving back home, but things are already starting to work out in that regard. Both of my roommates are moving back to Littleton as well and Hannah will be around for part of the summer. Jon and Andrew promised they would come and visit me and Lauren said she would love to carpool if we went to the Merc. See… things are already looking up a little.

*Hike at Horsetooth (I know… 4 years up here and I’ve never done it)

*Brewery tour (I’ve never done a brewery tour up here though I DID finally do free tasting at New Belgium. It’s pretty much ridonkulous because I LOVE beer. New Belgium or O’Dell’s sounds awesome)

*Breakfast at Lucille’s

*I’m HIGHLY considering going to DLX near the end of May. Anyone else going?

Hmm… Anything else I need to add to the list?