Vashon Island Day-Trip

Today was Paul's birthday and to celebrate we took the ferry out to Vashon Island. It was gorgeous out there and it's funny it reminded me in a small way of Spanaway, at least there were lots of small farms with horses.

We had lunch at a cute little restaurant called the "Hardware Store" apparently there is another restaurant near Seattle University - read more HERE. Then we went out to Point Robinson pictures below... I "tried" to take a panoramic shot, it came out all weird but surprisingly artistic.

Happy Birthday Mr. Miller!!!

24 Reasons to Love a 24-Year Old Paul

Today is my husbands birthday and to celebrate year twenty-four here are 24 great and fun reasons as to why Pauls existence on this earth and in my life are so important:

No. 1 SMILE: I've said this before but it's an easy one and therefore a great warm up to this brainstorm madness... Pauls smile. I know I know it sounds like what every other love bird says to one another but I'm serious. When he smiles at me its like... there is nothing on earth that could make me not smile back. (this is very annoying when I'm trying to be mad)

No. 2 THE PHASES OF PAUL: This is an interesting one. Paul goes through phases, for instance one day he wakes up and decides he would have made a great astronaut. Weird, I know, but I'm getting used to these phases. The Space phase lasted for a while and I'm sort of glad it's over because space freaks me out its cold, dark, and airless. The latest phase has been race cars... he is pretty sure he could have been a race car driver I blame THIS show... and I'm ok with it well, at least for now.

No. 3 POLITENESS: He could be straight from Downton Abbey ; )

No. 4 MOVIE THEATRE SET UP SKILLS: My living room or anyones for that matter can go from a slapped together make-shift entertainment area to a actual movie theatre experience with perfect audio alignment. He even points out the correct spot to sit so that the sound meets our ears as it is best heard.

No. 5 SUPPORT: On a serious note Paul has supported me in so many different ways over the years. I really cannot imagine my life without him.

No. 6 UNIQUE ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS: I have never met anyone who cleans and organizes the way Paul does... it's strange to say the least, but it always makes me laugh. The biggest technique or the one he resorts to first when he runs out of ideas is pinning things to the wall. He actually pins items, usually papers to our wall - at least he's creative.

No. 7 POSITIVE: When I am down Paul's there to lift me up. Always.

No. 8 HE'S A CAT PERSON: When I rescued my cat from being abandoned when my parents moved, we really didn't have anywhere to keep him and thus Paul was going to create a Craig's List Ad to find him a home. When that never happened and I told Paul that I thought I found someone to take him, he decided it would be better for "me" if he stayed with us... they are best friends now.

No. 9 FIRST DATES: Paul is my one and only, but I remember when we first started dating in the Summer of 2008 Paul got really sick, and broke his foot and yet somehow we both remember it as the best Summer of our lives..

No. 10 DARES TO DREAM: Paul and I day dream a lot about who we want to be together, and where we will end up. It is an amazing feeling knowing someone so well, and being comfortable enough to share these thoughts as one.

No. 11 DOWNTON ABBEY FAN: I didn't know when I met Paul that we both would become obsessed with Downton Abbey. My Grandparents are as well, and Paul is totally not ashamed to travel down to Lakewood, WA on Sunday Nights to spend the evening with me and my family completely sucked into the show.

No. 12 LAUGH: Paul's laugh is perfect, and unique I can pick him out of a crowd in an instant.

Half-Way there... 

If your still reading this you must be pretty board or your Paul... Image Break

Crazy beach hair... another reason why I love Paul is that we both agree we will always live by the water.

No. 13 OPENNESS: Paul is not a wishy-washy person, however, he is open to new ideas and suggestions. 

~Shortening these up to make it to 24 ~

No. 14 KINDHEARTED: When Paul was born I think the most kindhearted person was as well.

No. 15 CALM: With some exceptions I think Paul is the reason why I stay calm in rough situations.

No. 16 CREATIVE: I absolutely love this about Paul, he is so creative and in completely different ways then myself... life is never boring.

No. 17 UNDERSTANDING: There is nothing worse then knowing exactly what you want to say or get across to someone and having no way to know if they get what your actually trying to say. This is no problem with Paul he gets me and I know it.

No. 18 HENRY SURVIVOR: I own a VW Bug named Henry he has been a disaster from the day I drove him off the lot. Paul has spent more time with this car in repair shops and dealerships. He has also responded to plenty of Emergency Phone Calls to pick me up when I'm broken down in multiple locations. Plus he has had to drive my car with the sunflower cup holder to work. (sorry about that)

No. 19 BELIEVES IN ME: He just believes in me and again I know that he does, life is just so different when you have someone like that.

No. 20 FUN: Paul is just a fun person to be around, it is very unusual that he's not.

No. 21 SPELLING: I have learned very interesting ways of spelling things since being with Paul, I have also lost all sense of correct grammar.

No. 22 DIALOGUE: Paul is a sound engineer so when I say dialogue I don't actually mean the kind he works on at home, but rather the dialogue we have created for our cat Nemo. We're crazy I guess but thats ok.

No. 23 DRUMMER: I love this about Paul and always have, even if he does just drum to his earphones on a notebook now.

No. 24 The fact that he will read this and probably the rest of my blog as well.

i think I'm in love with this BRAND

This quarter in school I am taking a class called Marketing and the Arts. One of my first assignments was to think of a brand I like and one I don't and why that is. After doing that assignment I started thinking more about brands and how I am being sought out for my business. While birthday shopping for my husband I came across THIS brand and when I was contemplating buying it I ran through the reasons I even considered picking the shirt up off the shelf in the first place.

 1. The shirt was plain with no large logo's, which is what my husband and I like... "we aren't walking sandwich boards"

 2. The quality of the fabric is amazingly soft.

 3. It looks like the brand is somewhat planet friendly. Although, I have no evidence to support this other than the companies claims, it is more than I can say for most of the clothing I already own.



                          

Let's Recap:

1. I already knew what I wanted so the brand had to first meet my pre-concieved check list.
2. The brand impressed me with it's quality, and...
3. It "sealed the deal" with it's earth friendliness.

This is just a blurb to reiterate what I am learning in class but I think arts organizations can learn from this.

Counting the Blessings of 2012...

Last year on New Years Day I said a prayer and asked God that if I couldn't have everything I wanted or accomplish all the things that I thought I needed to, that in 2012 I would at least stay on the path He wanted me on, have plenty of meaningful opportunities, and most of all... just. be. happy. My prayer was answer a hundred times over again.

~2012 Adventures~

  In 2012 we adopted NEMO

I began working for the Bellevue Arts Museum!
the best job ever!

Met this amazing person my co-worker Lindsay
at the Bellevue Arts Museum

My hardworking husband got a job working for Microsoft

And I have to mention a blessing for Paul that in 2012 he was able to work for Bad Animal Studios in Seattle to learn more about that click > HERE

We relocated to Bellevue, WA  

We had a wonderful trip to Kauai

... and celebrated our FIRST Anniversary there

I became the Curator at Tacoma Art Place

at TAP I learned how to Plan and Conduct an Art Show

Organized a "Member and Volunteer" Art Show

Worked at my first Bellevue Arts Fair

I also was given an amazing opportunity to be the executive intern at the Gage Academy of Art click > HERE to learn about the Gage Academy. I am now workong on my Graduate Practicum there as in 2012 I was accepted and began Graduate School at Seattle University click > HERE to learn about the Masters of Arts Leadership Program.

Masters in Arts Leadership Class of 2014

I feel so tremendously blessed for all the great things that happend in 2012 and I only hope that one day soon I will be able to give back as generously to others as God has given to me.

So tonight I will say the same New Years prayer for us all. I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Wyatt

A few days ago I learned that my dog Wyatt was put to sleep. I found out through the grapevine unfortunately so I don't know all the details, it was really sad finding this out after the fact as I would have liked to say goodbye to my old friend.

Wyatt-kins was the nicest dog ever he was so happy and cuddly and whenever I saw him I couldn't help but smile. Wyatt made bad days perfect again, and I will always remember how when I would get home and drive up our long driveway in my bug(car) Wyatt would deliberately walk in-front of me so I would have to drive extremely slow not to miss him, then he would walk along side the driver side window and he was just tall enough that I could see his beady little eyes.

Wyatt loved frozen waffles, which I think is really weird for a dog. He would take them gently out of my hand with his teeth (that goes for any treat... Wyatt wasn't rude about food) and walk to our front lawn, quietly wait for me to leave or look away from him and then eat his snack.

(this one is a sort of embarrassing memory)

Everyone in my family eventually started putting "kins" after Wyatt's name and I take credit for that as it came from the Wyatt song which I made up and used to sing to him when I was alone (of course) in the barn. So he became Wyatt-kins.

Wyatt was the most kind hearted dog, at any given moment I could look out my window and see him sleeping under the car port with our barn cat cuddled up next to him.

Rest in peace my old buddy, you will be missed, I hope there are lots of frozen waffles in doggie heaven.

Love ash

A Gesture Cat

I love gesture drawing and today I discovered that cats make great models. Nemo stays in the same place long enough to get something down on paper at least. I am so looking forward to going to one of the Gage Academy Drop-in Figure Studios but until then... a doodle a day will suffice. 

A Doodle a Day

When I was in Jr. high I used to get the The Chronicles of the Horse, and I remember one day reading this short story and it really touched me. I thought I would share it along with the beginning of some sketches or a drawing a day.

The Blind Horse

Near my home is a field, with two horses in it.From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing....Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing.If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell. It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow. As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, trusting that he will not be led astray. When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, it stops occasionally and looks back, making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell. Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way....Good friends are like that ... You may not always see them, but you know they are always there. Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours. And remember... Be kinder than necessary - Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.