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Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in beginning, inspirational, time management, writing and tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Whew!  I am out of practice of this blogging thing. I could barely remember my password!  No worries-I’ll get you up to speed on everything I did while I was abandoning my little blog here.  It won’t take long because I wasn’t doing anything terribly exciting.  Plus I only have a few followers besides my mom and she already knows what I did all summer!  Speaking of…. Hey Mom, how’s it going?  ;)

So, I put in my resignation at work, finished my job, organized all my materials to pass on to the new girl (no need for her to stress and struggle like I did!), bought our new house, fixed it up (paint, trim, lighting, etc.), went to Kings Island, lost my driver’s license, finished our renovations on our first house so it would be nice for the new renters, gave up looking and bought a new drivers license, moved two and half hours away, unpacked, organized, went camping in Tennessee, got a new job, searched forever for my social security card so I could fill out the paper work and get on the payroll at the new job, and then got a second job…more or less in that order.  All the while trying to train for cross country running give or take about 4 miles a day with one 10-miler thrown in there.

I did all that just to get to this day: The First Day of Classes!!! 

I’m a total nerd that way.  I wore a new outfit, packed my lunch, had my new books and pencils.  I was very excited.  Then my first professor was 8 minutes late!  Way to leave a girl hanging… He made up for it though-he was a very interesting guy (albeit with some Hippie tendancies).  I gather he’s not much for expensive watches that tell him where to be at what time.  Fine with me-I run late all the time.  Then I walked downstairs for my second class, and that teacher was 10 minutes late!!!  That’s okay-laidback professor #2 seems equally as nice although a bit more modern.  My third class started only 2 minutes late, and that professor was Italian.  Foreign accents make almost everything better-hopefully 13th century and prior art history included.  My fourth class was a major upgrade in terms of professionalism.  He had his stuff together not to mention the supply list was created with colored photographs which was terrific for visual learners/nervous shoppers like me… is this the kind of notebook he wanted us to get?? When the professor for my last class walked in, my first impression was that she might practice Wiccan or some type of witchcraft.  After she spoke a while, I decided she must be more like a weekend biker babe.  Either way, this adjunct professor has long black hair and tattoos and says she is “in between day jobs” at the moment and admits that she “likes to tell stories” [that may or may not be totally wasting her hungry students' time].  She seems like a nice lady nonetheless. 

And I had a wonderful day.  And I’m glad to back blogging about all the little details of the day.  My hippie professor said (quoting Anais Nin) that journaling allows you to “taste life twice” and I did enjoy my day (and my summer) all over again when writing it down just now.

Much love ~ Amber

Butterfly Challenge

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in achievements, art, dreams, inspirational, motivation, quotes and tagged with , , , , , ,

Just like a butterfly, I am growing and changing and finding my true colors in life.  I am growing my wings, so I can fly and soon be on my way.” -Anonymous

 

“Like the butterfly, I have the strength and hope to believe. In time, I will emerge from my cocoon…transformed” -Kirsti A. Dyer

I chose this picture as a challenge for myself since it is very detailed...kind of ambitious for me!

This sketch was very complicated, but following the gridlines helped me keep the picture in perfect proportion.

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I used the lightbox again to transfer my sketch from the newsprint to the good drawing paper.

Progress check! The shading was kind of messy to start out with, so I had to be really careful to clean up all the lines.

The final product - some parts are still a little rough, but I worked up to the last minute before the due date!

 

 

“If you want to fly, you have to flap your own wings!” -Claire Williams

New Years Resolutions – Keep the faith!

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in dreams, goals, motivation, quotes, stumbles and tagged with , , , , ,

January 14th – Two weeks into the new year…  How are your new years resolutions faring?  I have to admit it’s a struggle to keep up on all of my goals for 2012.  I feel like I’m in a battle with the ordinary responsibilities of daily life.  Wash my hair, do the laundry, pay the bills…these everyday obligations are some real killers when you only have twenty-four hours in the day! 

My new years resolution was simply to do something, just one thing, each day toward my vision of the future.  Some days these little chores trip me up and overwhelm me, so I have to take a second to refocus on my goals.  I’m stronger than this!  Okay, the dust bunnies might win a battle or two, but I’ll be the victor come the end of the war.  Don’t give up, keep your priorities in  line, and stand back up when you stumble!

“Be proud of how far you’ve come.  Have faith in how far you can go.“

That’s been my favorite motivational quote since I first heard it during my 8th grade cross country season.  That one-liner never fails to boost me up and make me think, “I got this; I can do it.”  :)  So I say it again, “I got this; I can do it!”