etsy shop

i'm sad to say, the chair was gone next time i drove by.
in case you have no idea what this alleged 'etsy' is, well, let me just tell you! www.etsy.com is a very cool site that's dedicated to helping artists, craftsmen & creative people have a place to sell their wares. they have thousands of sellers and some very unique items come along pretty much every day. it's free to set up your own site and all, so i figured there's not much risk involved.

i have something new and fun that i'm happy to announce. of course, it requires some background context first.

the other day i was looking at my projected budget for the next month or so and was getting completely frustrated once again at how things just do not add up. it seems that i can never really get a handle on this whole financial part of life. teaching is the best job i've had the pleasure of working by far, but it is just falling a little short in keeping the ole budget balanced.
i was venting my frustrations out to the lord (again) and trying to practice feeling more convinced that god really is in control of every part of life... as i was praying, i asked that he would either help me have a peace about resting and waiting on his good plan for my financial future or else give me some creative ideas on how to earn money. actually those two options i was praying for seem to fit together nicely anyway. as i act on the creative idea he went on to inspire me with, i still have to rest and wait on his good plan to see if it's a lucrative endeavor or not.
the idea isn't really that far-fetched... to gather up all my artwork from college that's been in storage under my bed or in my classroom closet and post it on etsy.com, then see if anyone out there in the wild blue yonder would like to buy it. this would accomplish two things. #1: i could remain fiscally afloat for a little while longer before throwing my hands up in despair and taking to the streets where life seems simpler. #2: my artwork could be in someone's home, possibly bringing them enjoyment, instead of gathering dust bunnies.

in case you have no idea what this alleged 'etsy' is, well, let me just tell you! www.etsy.com is a very cool site that's dedicated to helping artists, craftsmen & creative people have a place to sell their wares. they have thousands of sellers and some very unique items come along pretty much every day. it's free to set up your own site and all, so i figured there's not much risk involved.

if you want a chance to see what's for sale, come on by my etsy shop and check it out!

i'll warn you that what i have listed is a lot of stuff you'd expect to come out of a college art class... still life drawings, figure paintings, etc.
and while i'm warning you, it's also all the stuff i haven't seen fit to give to people as gifts up until now (who really wants a drawing of paper bags and pumpkins on their wall??). some might stoop so low as to call it the dregs, but i'm going to be optimistic and say that you just never know!

here's a sample few things. for the others, come on by and see!

chair envy

i really want this chair.
it's a cool color, very comfy, and it even rocks.
it's $5.00 at the thrift store across the street from my house.

only problem is, i have no where to put it.
and even though it's only 5 bucks, is it really wise to spend it on something you don't need?

dagnabit.

roomies

my beautiful friend maren & i went on a quest to find the perfect roomie picture for my birthday picture frame.
she's been living with me for the past 8 months and has been such a blessing for me to know. her insightful, creative personality is so unique, i've been more than privileged to have her in my life.

whoa. watch out.

my grandaddy had his 80th birthday on friday!
evidently, it was quite the party. here's a little clip of the highlight present -- an old-fashioned weight-loss machine, and for some reason, it requires hawaiian garb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMFDwtgtODk

fun thing

yesterday nick and i went ring shopping!!

not to buy one or to pick one out, but to just get an idea of what styles we think are pretty.
and to move a little closer to the idea of getting engaged...

it was a really fun time with nick all around. i love his sweet, sensitive heart.

writer's sphere

(opposite of 'writer's block', eh?)

i got the urge to write out some random thoughts. it got long.

so i made a new blog!

it'll be easier to keep long ramblings relegated to a separate world than this, more event-oriented, picture-y one.
if you're inclined to follow along with my thought processes, you're more than welcome!

so without further ado, i've been thinking...

here's pictures from my actual day of birth. i spent it with nick, doing fun things all day long. he came in the morning to make me breakfast in bed (strawberry banana pancakes!), then we watched a movie to get the day started, and ended up in springfield later. we strolled around for a while, enjoying the downtownyness.

dinner at trolley's was quite lovely...

more strolling, this time at the park with the little stream.

of course, a little andy's custard made its way into our evening. this day was all about food, it seems.

on our way to pick up his brother from the airport later that night, we stopped off in a local parking lot and did some spontaneous dancing to my favorite love song. it was abruptly halted when a homeless man started making his way toward us...
i'm sure he was friendly. somehow i just got a bit nervous.

colorado corleys

mia & i had fun hanging out in the hammock chairs this trip -- she's getting to be a fun little girl. the classic quote from her was when she was trying to play with the big kids. it evidently wasn't working so great... she came back to me inside and said, 'they won't let me play with them -- come tell them, 'stop picking on my little mia!'. it was very funny, especially how she made her tone of voice change for the part i was supposed to say to them.
(disclaimer: they were picking on her because she was sticking her tongue out at them... hmm...)


cutesy nieces, kira & krista...

peter's a hard-core skater -- he takes it to the playground equipment. nothing's too extreme. mia's there for moral support.

one of the best aspects of the corley family is their rich deck tradition. here's the folks enjoying dan & cari's hand-built newly-finished deck-to-beat-all-decks with the award-winning sunset view.

keeping up with the art class

here's a small snippet of our first-of-the-year antics here in the art room... thought you might like a look-see.
we've started out by doing some warm-up exercises that my students abhor, but that are really great for training them to really concentrate on looking closely at the object they're drawing. the reason it's called 'blind' is because you're not allowed to look at your paper as you draw. the word 'contour' means 'edge', so they're looking for all the edges and details involved in the object, and drawing them in one long fluid line.
out of about 240 drawings, these turned out the best...










obviously, the results aren't supposed to look like great masterpieces, but sometimes they end up looking oddly artistic and appealing. i've grown to really enjoy the way the drawings seem to capture the spirit of the object, if not the exact realistic details.

joining a trend

i'm almost afraid to say this, like i'm giving in to a force beyond my control and there's no turning back... i'm turning into someone i don't recognize...
i have discovered i like celine dion!
i always dismissed her as one of those artists that people like, but that really have nothing to offer me, a sophisticated listener, above such trendy pop culture icons... her pose on this cd is further proof that she should be relegated to the likes of people who watch reality shows and wear half-sweaters. trends have always been one of my pet peeves. if everyone is doing it, i really don't want to be.
turns out, there's a reason she's so trendy!
her music is really good!!
i especially like how she tends to throw in unpredictable twists toward the end of her songs. very clever girl, that one.

just wanted to share my latest revelation.

tim, jen, nick & i went out last night and had a grand old time. my new favorite mexican restaurant in town -- the elenita's in hollister is so incredible! the outside of it looks very ghetto, but the inside is a little piece of mexican heaven. their tacos al carbon are my fave.
nick won a bet with tim (apparently, the car in the transformers movie was a mustang, not a charger after all) so tim treated us to a super duper dinner. during which, we each shared our dating life stories at great length. it was fun to hear how tim and jen came to be, and fun to reminisce how nick and i came to be. not too long ago, but somehow seven months can seem like a lifetime!

then we hit dq, compliments of nick... here we have sexy, angry, scary & nicey.

oh, there we are -- all niceys.

as for other noteworthy things from the weekend, i spent saturday cleaning in a glorious frenzy of wonderfulness. i love the feeling of a house that's clean in every single nook and cranny.

and now a new week! yes!!
i'm really getting into the routine of being back in school. i love the stability and predictability of schedules.
i can only hope you're enjoying yours as much as i am mine.

birthday luau

last night we had a fun little get together at moonshine beach in honor of maren and i's birthdays last week...
the hottest part of the day was up in the 100's, so it was very nice to go for an evening dip in the lake despite it's slightly tepid temperature.

we swam out to that buoy line, which seems close in the picture, but i nearly died. it was at least 5 miles away. at least.


erica made us a lovely cake which maren really did like, contrary to her facial expression in this picture.

i found a half-naked native wandering around the island...


then he went and got his other half-naked buddy to enjoy the fire...

casey and nick did a supertacular job decorating the place. it was so festive. there was even a palm tree :-)

our birthdays have now been thoroughly celebrated all around, and we can all go back to our ordinary lives.

i'm suddenly really not ready to be back here at school. yesterday was oh-so-exciting to see everyone again, to hug and laugh and catch up on summers... but now... ugh.
maybe it was just the over-exertion from last night. that near-death swimming experience must've done me in.

thank you, providence.

i'm so excited! i just found these pictures i thought i'd deleted off my camera without downloading. turns out, i downloaded them after all! providence knew i would need them for such a day as this to give me a bit of cheer.


nick was my faithful lawn boy all summer. to repay him for his kindnesses, i baked him a cherry pie. it was my first attempt, and i have to say, the crust was the best crust to ever pass these lips. i was almost out of regular crisco, so i used the last of it, then a smidge of butter-flavored also, and the combination created some kind of miracle, i tell you what.

later that evening, we went on a lovely walk down by the lake to our secret mystery dock and posed for many a dock-like picture...


granted, it wasn't a giant ocean cruiser that later sunk into the icebergy deep, but it was still fun.

the fog came up to us gradually as it got darker... so beautiful.


tomorrow's the first day of school with kids!! yesterday and today we've had inservices, so it's been all work-related and a little boring. tomorrow will start the fun part. i love seeing the kids again after 3 months off. everyone's so happy to be back and excited. definitely beats the may blues where we all want to kill each other.
well, not literally of course.
what am i saying -- may?! i think it's more like september blues... the excitement's fun, but it's short-lived, i'm afraid.

i'm going to concentrate on enjoying it while it lasts. :-)

happy birthday, marencita!

on sunday, my dear roomie maren became a year older. she and i are having a combined birthday party on wednesday during our small group, but you can't let the actual day go by without some celebrating, of course. we shared a lovely little cake & ice cream time with the bolgers, our surrogate family, then stopped at the local photo booth for some cute and sexy looks...
i'll be sure to document our party, also. there will be revelry and huzzahs involved.

good news bears!

dan found my camera cable!!!
i'm very jazzed.
thanks, brother.

furthermore, i now have a brand new camera bought through my school to use in my classroom!!! next year i'm going to put 'new car' on my purchase order and see if they'll go for it.

just kidding. i legitimately use a camera in my classroom quite frequently, and will use this one to it's fullest potential.

there will soon be an inundation of retrieved pictures from my camera to entertain you as well as new pictures with a new camera to amaze and astound you. hold on to your pants, folks.

oh, and my good friend susan had her baby boy this morning!!! he's so adorably cute, with a head full of hair. they named him koen bryce. he's going to be one cool dude with that name.