Shades of Reverie

Stolen idea from Monika :)

1. I have felt a favor from God and a calling from God over my life since I was a little girl, since I could even remember. I have belonged to Him I think my whole life.

2. I don't have ten thousand friends that I am super close too and I don't keep acquaintances or "casual friends" really well, but my few very best friends are everything to me.

3. Most days lately, I really want to make art, but am afraid.

4. My mom has always been my best friend.

5. I actually really enjoy writing and reading literature. I loved my lit classes and creative writing classes in undergrad. There are few things other than art that give me a sense of struggle and then accomplishment like writing a paper on a poem or a piece of literature.

6. Had I not been an art major, I would have chosen to be an English major.

7. I actually was an English major for about a year in undergrad--- because I love the subject yes, but also because I had an awesome professor that believed in me and I really wanted him to be my advisor.

8. I transferred schools 3 times as an undergrad and therefore went to a total of 4 different undergrads.

9. Had I stayed at the first school where I became an English major bc of said professor, I would have stayed in English all the way through and might be entering grad school for English right now.

10. I should have gone to the last undergrad that I attended at the very beginning, but I wouldn't change how things evolved.

11. I have never considered myself or been able to truly call myself an Artist. Mostly because I have never felt worthy of the title.

12. I believe that when I am truly making art, there is a time of lost awareness. When I am not fully "there." Rather, God is present and takes over. I know that sounds very "new age" or even strange. I used to call my good art "happy accidents" because in all honesty, I had no idea how it happened. I would just all of a sudden look and there it was. I now believe that's God. It is when he communes with me on a very personal and intimate level. I believe that all creative minds experience this, but many don't realize that what they experience is divine presence. I believe that God uses this imperfect vessel to paint through.

13. Because of #12, when I am fearful of making art or feeling a sense of artist block, I feel a discord in my relationship with God. Through these times, he is trying to mold me and heal me and allowing me to seek to get back in harmony with Him.

14. I sometimes feel that my thoughts or thought processes or feelings are too new age.

15. Ironically and not entirely but somewhat related, if Christianity never existed, I would want to be new age or following a Native American religion.

16. Native American peoples, cultures, religions, practices, etc have always fascinated me.

17. I can trace when and where #16 began--- I used to watch Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman as a young child.- In fact quite often when I stayed with my grandparents. I always loved the Cheyenne people.

18. I used to pretend that, among other things, I was Native American. I was very excited when I learned that I had Cherokee in my blood through my mom's mom.

19. Dr. Quinn always reminded me of my mom.

20. I always wanted to marry Sully (from Dr. Quinn if you are unfamiliar). I recently began watching the seasons of Dr. Quinn, and am still convinced that Sully is in fact the love of my life. Seriously ;) He epitomizes almost the very man I would want to marry. It's too bad that he is a fictional character.

21. I miss my grandparents (mom's side) and visiting them where they lived in the countryside. It's one of those things that you totally take for granted as a child, even loathing making that looonnngg drive (hey, an hour both ways is pretty long for a 7 year old). But I would give anything to go visit them now.

22. I want to name my first son James after my mom's dad. He was a man of God.

23. I love being able to not only trace my ancestry and heritage, but being able to learn of the spiritual giants that paved the way for the faith that I have today.

24. I don't normally talk about guys that I am interested in because I feel that I sound whiny.

25. But I have to say for the sake of this thing, I find that the only ones that ask me out are the ones I want nothing to do with.

26. Yet I am currently interested in about 3 gentlemen. One, I have never even met in person. And the second, I feel this spark every time our eyes meet but for whatever reason the rest of the time he acts like I don't exist. And the third, I so enjoy spending time with but I don't think we could have a future because we just don't want the same things out of life.

27. I have so many ideas of female figures to paint.

28. I am terrible at following through with a planned background or environment with those figures.

29. I am considering going abstract with my backgrounds.

30. I am both super excited and terribly anxious about starting grad school.

31. I have been a vegetarian for almost 4 years.

32. I am passionate about animals being treated with respect (backlash of the Native American thing? Yeah...) Few things upset me quite as much as learning about animal abuse and inhumane treatment of all animals and modern society's meat greediness and overconsumption.

33. I feel like a terrible Christian sometimes because I should get that passionately upset about the lost and those that do not know Jesus.

34. I feel like God has given us the responsibility to take care of the creation he gave us.

35. I really want to get back into running. I'd like to run a half marathon.

36. I sometimes cough so hard that I get the hiccups.

37. I want to go to the British Isles before I die.

38. I would love to live there also.

39. I open all of the blinds in the morning because I love natural sunlight. My mom says I inherit this from my grandmother.

40. I hate sleeping in a house alone. If there is a really large dog, then I might be ok. But I'd really rather not at all.

41. I turn on all, and I do mean ALL of the lights in every other room and all of the tvs in the house for the whole night when I have to sleep in a house alone.

42. One day when I get engaged/married I want my ring to be antique style... maybe something from the 20's? Or like from the 1800's? How awesome would that be. I also wouldn't mind terribly if the stone was a color and not just a diamond.

43. I want to have my own kids one day, but I also want to adopt at least once.

44. I believe that God created me to be a mother one day.

45. I sometimes save/keep/collect things for my future kids (books, etc).

46. I love love love looking at illustrations in children's books.

47. I am content with where I am in life right now. I love being a part of what God is doing with my life.

48. My first kiss made me so angry (still does) and completely did not happen by choice.

49. I love going to the theatre and to see musicals and plays, etc.

50. Film scores from movies such as Pride and Prejudice, The Young Victoria, and Little Women are some of my very favorite pieces of music to listen to.

51. My favorite place to eat is a bistro.cafe inside of a bookstore in Memphis (Davis Kidd) and is named after one of my favorite classic authors---- Bronte :)

52. I don't think I actually have a favorite food right now....

53. I want to paint and distress/antique my furniture when I have a free week or two this summer.

54. If you are still reading this far, I am totally impressed and proud of you.

55. I fall in love with Mr. Rochester every time I watch Masterpiece Theatre's Jane Eyre.

56. I love my brother and sister very much. I was super close to my brother when we were young and now that my sister is older, we are super close too. ....My brother and I did kinda pick on her a little when we were kids though ;)

57. I planted blueberry and blackberry bushes last year.

58. I planted about six trees in my yard over the years. It is way cool to see a tree grow.

59. My high school art teacher inspired the direction that my life is going right now. I don't know who I would be or what I would be doing right now had she not believed in me. She is now one of my very best friends.

60. I have a spiritual best friend and our friendship is greater and simply more than anything this world could call friendship. I believe God put Monika and I together as friends for reasons and purposes that are truly only of Him.

61. I love to bake. I call myself a pastry chef because I am just that cool.

62. Some days I want to get rid of all of the social media that I am a part of. It distracts me so much from doing what I need to be doing.... i.e. my art.

63. I love having guy friends. They just help my life in ways that your friends that are girls simply can't.

64. I like lattes more than regular coffee. Stronger + flavored = just plain better.

65. White mochas are my favorite at Starbucks right now.

66. I recently really started watching and liking Project Runway. I don't think it has anything to do with fashion, but something about their process and what they create is so artistic.

67. It is for this reason that I also watch America's Next Top Model at times. Do not judge, the makeup and clothing combinations can really be wonderfully artistic. I can do without the unnecessary reality tv drama though.

68. I love being a part of my church. They are wondefully awesome people. And there are so many artists among them too!

69. I am learning to say yes to God daily.

70. God is teaching me to pray and to pray often.

71. I'd rather be at a museum than at the beach.

72. Therefore, I'd rather plan a dream vacation to Europe than to Hawaii

73. If I could marry a man with a Scottish or an Irish accent, I would be willing to compromise on other "seemingly" more important things... ;)

74. I want to study art in Italy.

75. We now have tomato plants at my parents house. Makes me reminisce on my grandparents, on my Papaw's tomatoes.

76. The Price is Right, Peaches, Biscuits, Front Porch Swing, and A Never Ending Sky are all memories I associate with my grandparents.

77. Autumn is my favorite season.

78. I love the fact that scents can arouse memories in such a powerful way.

79. I believe that artists do not hoard. They collect.

80. I would rather drive than ride on a road trip.

81. Peonies are my absolute favorite flower. They are starting to be in bloom this time of year :)

82. I want to take an illustration class.

83. Pre-Raphaelite art and Art Nouveau are my favorites.

84. I love organic shapes in every area of my life.

85. I love my dog and have had her for almost 14 years.

86. I really want to adopt a second dog from the shelter.

87. I am inspired to paint figures by looking through bridal magazines. Some of the best gestures are found in these.

88. I love going to the bookstore, finding a book and sitting a reading for a few hours with a latte.

89. When I enter a room, I'd rather sit or stand somewhere along the edge of the room or by a wall. This has nothing to do with the amount of participation I will contribute but rather with me being able to see and take in everything in the room.

90. I believe that my introversion allows me to be a deeper thinker and feeler.

91. I am going to miss my sister terribly when she goes away to school in the fall, but I am super happy that she will love school.

92. I am rereading Wuthering Heights right now both to help my sister as she reads it in her English class and to get me rereading some of the classics.

93. I have a phobia of most hotel beds, of stairs that have an open gap rather than a wall/plank between each step, and in some situations, I am afraid of the dark.

94. I have a terrible immune system when I am around children (i.e. when I am teaching regularly)

95. PBS is one of my favorite TV stations.

96. I think it would be such cool job to be a part of the art department/team for a film.

97. I also think it would so great to be a part of a wardrobe designing team.

98. One of my favorite paintings that I have done is a study of Boreas by John William Waterhouse.

99. I love who God has created me to be.

100. I know that God is doing something in my life.

1. Work was not super stressful as it has been the past few weeks. And the project that I had mentioned in my previous post with the Dr. Seuss book turned out pretty well for my younger students. We got to finally use watercolors, and I worked on mixing some liquid watercolors for my older students on Thursday.

2. I got to eat lunch with my mom to celebrate both of our birthdays (Mom's was Sunday and mine is Thursday), and we ate at my favorite restaurant, Bronte, a bistro-cafe inside of Davis Kidd. And we had the most amazing bread pudding with pecans for dessert. Yum.

3. I met my best friend's new dog Max, and we took Max and my dog Missy walking in the park and went for ice cream at Chick-fil-a. (And even better Max and Missy got along so well! An amazing feat for my dog.. Yay for new dog friends!)

4. My dad got satellite installed at their house, which I still stay at a good bit of the time. Which means for the first time since Hallmark channel stopped showing it, I watched Dr. Quinn on TV in my room! Yes I do have all of the seasons on dvd, but there is something different about seeing it as it comes on TV :)