Monday, April 04, 2011

this winter is lasting forever, at least for tonight...and a GIVEAWAY!

Cabin fever makin' you crazy?  Watching, waiting, for some budding hope that spring will paint the trees with life in the color of sunsets amidst the sparrows?  Let's try something new...not sure if this will work? 
                            
Pretty sure I could pass out in anticipation for summer.  Let's make it awesome, okay?  I wrote this blog post back in '06 during Cornerstone when I was learning about this boy named Justin.  Best summer ever.  Start crafting up some sweet plans and though your work schedule may squeeze the life out of your summertime, don't wait and regret another beautiful summer gone by and you're stuck again in the winter lasting forever.  If you keep waiting for another time, it'll pass you by!  And, just so you know, if you listen to Dashboard Confessional too much after it's been awhile, your heart might explode and take you back to 2006. 


Finding the small things, living in a not always ideal town, makes it all the more worthwhile to keep trying to find the beautiful, the creative, and the life within it.  

I wasn't going to be the person working for the weekend.  Europeans work to live and we live to work, right?  Blahck.  We need to bring some life back into our work...but also remember to take time, too, to live!  

My mom came up for a concert and we had sweet girl times.  Plus we had some smashing finds at the Dakota Boys Ranch (both in West Fargo on 13th and 32nd).  I've been searching for an awesome purplesque pillow for our living room to tie it in with this chandelier we've had from Urban Outfitters (one of our splurges when we built this house).  Note: Ham's sexy dog butt in the chandelier photo:)  Also...aren't these above yellow/goldish velvet-y soft paintings amazing?!
And I finally put up the art we got from Unglued from Sophie Johnson and Maren Shallman in a frame from Midnight Owl Creations (next to our owl lamp - a find from a garage sale in Garrison, ND!!).  

Speaking of hearts exploding (in totally nonmedical terms, but rather...love!), our melt-your-face-off-wedding photographer did a shoot with Justin, Ham, and I last month as a part of a photography class I took.  Check out Alyssa and Mosaic Photography's blog for more photos...

"The sky glows
I see it shining when my eyes close
I hear your warnings but we both know
I'm gonna look at it again








Don't wait, Don't wait
The road is now a sudden sea
And suddenly, you're deep enough
To lay your armor down"

Bored tonight?  Here's, as part of this random post, a GIVEAWAY!  From today through this Wednesday at 7pm, post a comment about a hobby you have or want to develop to help me with an upcoming blog post to be entered into a drawing for a "summer's going to be awesome" mark. giftset (yes, this is a pretty girly giveaway...but get ready b/c most probably will be!  but you can always give it to a pretty girl in your life!  maybe justin can give some homebrew away next time??).  To be entered a 2nd time, tell me your thoughts on this statement - "people don't have hobbies anymore."  BFF you better do this! ;)  Winner will be posted Wednesday night!  Let's see how this goes;)  Bam.

9 comments (+add yours?)

Kari said...

Well, I'm still working on the photography thing, but I also really want to learn how to sew. I want to make a quilt!

Tracey said...

I have several hobbies, like writing, reading, charcoal drawing, knitting, crocheting, but I'd always love to pick up MORE. Great idea, Ashley! People don't seem to have hobbies anymore-I totally agree. It's way easier to fill one's time with tv or computers or videogames (all of which are good, but let's kick it oldstyle, people!).
I sense hobby-nights in our futures...

Kelsey said...

My hobby right now is my job. Playing with plants. Sitting in the greenhouse and soaking in the sun, getting away from everything.

second entry-
Hobbies have died with the invention of technology, to most people. Back when transportation, communication, and electronics weren't readily available, people made use of their minds and talents by way of music, art, knitting, etc. And now, when you've got a job, a family, and other time consuming things, it's hard to remember to set aside time for yourself to do things that you used to enjoy.

Piep Show said...

I also would love to sew better...I made one baby quilt and hung my machine up. :)
Another thing I would like to get better at is vacationing. I think it needs to be an annual thing for sure.

Piep Show said...

And people do have hobbies still - I have one friend who has a couple. Other people I know are too busy for hobbies. (I love to garden - it is my best hobby. Flowers only. But I can only do it in the summer, not just because the weather only allows for summer growing, but mostly because it is when I am not working, thus, I have free time. Man, this is all a bunch of ramblings, but I hope I win.
Love,
your BFF

Randilyn said...

My hobby seems to be trying new things! I'm working on focusing a little to get good at a few! There are just so many amazing things out there to try!! Right now I just want to make all kinds of flowers!

AshleyM said...

This is awesome! We're going to make a youtube video of our drawing so it's legit;) Randi - tomorrow I'm posting my attempts at some flower making - if I can do it, you totally can!! (my double vision has been crazy bad...so esp even more than normal, if i can you can!!).

Linnea said...

My most recent adventure is painting watercolor pictures of geometry found in nature. I partially want to be good at watercolor because I feel like some of my other crafts aren't legit art. Ridiculous, I know. I will have a blog post about this eventually! Lately, I've been trying to combine the unexpected to create a new thing. For example, I loved old men's ties with crazy designs on them so I cut them up and sewed them into flowers (another thing I love) and then put them on necklaces as pins because I like making jewelry but I don't like buying new stuff and not reusing/recycling and I like things that are versatile. I also want to try to and have awesome flower beds with vegetables in them. Flowers are lovely, but impractical because even the ones I can eat don't produce much food.

"people don't have hobbies anymore."

I made it into a poem, another hobby of mine I guess:-)haha..

People don't have hobbies.
They have TVs.
They have Netflix,
and Redbox
and movies streaming instantly.

Hobbies aren't so practical.
And they don't make tons of dough.
Besides, I'm way to busy
To take time to learn to sew.
Do I really need to when,
It's cheaper to buy it at Walmart?

And, I've got to have the money
to pay off all my debt.
My son wants a new iPhone
And I think he'd throw a fit,
If I were to give him
Homemade socks instead.

But now you've made me late,
I have an extra shift at work.
Before I leave I have to check
My email/facebook/twitter accounts.
I'll get a hobby when I'm old.

Kristina said...

Right now - making paper cranes, 1000 to be exact, I'm currently at 650!!! :D
I'm taking a dye class right now so I want to make something sweet by the end of the semester with what I learn there...
I have like NO craft supplies right now, so crafting is limited, but I have been doodling alot lately, like drawing my name with each letter in a different font or out of a different item... then cutting out the letters and hanging them on "sting" I also like making little cards out of odds and ends like clipping letters and stuff out of a mag to make a collage, or folding a letter in a fun way... That's all I've got here, I need to figure out how to "craft" in Korea!!!

ps I love reading your blog, you are the AWESOMEST sister ever!!! :D