This is the start of a busy quarter!

This week is going to be an extremely draining week. Mostly it will be due to the fact that everything seems to be starting this week. Why does it seem that everything always happens at once?

Monday, classes started. I was planning on taking four classes for a total of twelve hours, but I realized that my grades would probably suffer because now I actually work at work instead of having several hours to work on school work. So, I dropped one of my classes before the semester started. I will be taking Government II, Intro to Mass Communications, and Art Appreciation. Since most of my core classes are done, I'll be able to start taking classes that focus more on my Marketing and Public Relations major. I do still have my math and science classes to take, but I figure I'll probably take those in the Spring semester when work is (supposedly) a bit slower. Because school is starting, I'm planning on spending my Monday and Friday nights working on my school work. Since I now have a home office (and soon a desk to get it organized), I'll be able to go in there and knock out a few hours of school work with no distractions.

Dance also started today. Well, technically the studio opened yesterday, but I have classes Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. While I was really glad to be back in the studio, I'm also extremely exhausted. Its amazing how out of shape I feel when I don't have dance three days a week. Since most of the muscles you need when dancing aren't really muscles you use in everyday life and really only are used when dancing, I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. Since I'm now taking pointe, jazz, tap, and Cecchetti II, I'll also be in more dances in the spring dance concert. So that should be a lot of fun. I'm also going to be taking the Cecchetti exam in January, so that will just be one more thing to focus on during the next few months.

Lastly, there's work. Ah, work. Everyone keeps telling me that the fourth quarter is going to be our busiest part of the year. Judging by the way its been the last few weeks, I can see just how intense this is going to be. For the past two weeks, I've been at work from eight in the morning until at least six. And since I've just started the process of getting all of our January 1 renewals out, I can see how there's a very real possibility that there could be some nights that I'll be at work until seven or eight at night. That should be a lot of fun... But really, I find that I don't mind being this busy. It really beats the numerous times that I would spend all day at my previous job with absolutely nothing to do but watch the clock tick by.

So, really this is all just my way of saying that I might not be posting as much as I would like. Try not to be too devastated.

House Tour!!

A couple little notes about this video...

• Look how long my hair is finally starting to get! Growing it out is taking forever and I'm glad I'm finally seeing some progress. 
• The office does kinda look like crap right now, but I think it'll look better once we get a desk in there and I can get it organized. Also, we're going to be using that as our Dallas Stars paraphenalia room. We've already got a signed Alex Goligoski stick in there and I'm sure it'll be filled up as more seasons pass.
• I love having a backyard!! Sunday a woman with Paws in the City is coming over to do a home inspection before we start fostering a dog!! 

All right, I think that covers it all! Enjoy!

Painting and other musings

Well, the past few days have been a bit hectic after the move, but probably not for the reasons everyone expects. Friday morning at 8:00 in the morning, movers arrived to move me out of an apartment for the last time and into a house. By 3:00 that afternoon, the entire house was unpacked and organized. Saturday morning I spent the day hanging a few of my paintings and pictures, Sunday I bought three large canvases to create a three-piece art work to hang in the living room. Since Sunday morning, I've spent my free time working on this piece.

During the many hours I've spent working on this piece (in my own separate dance/art room, I might add), I was reminded of a time many months ago that I spent a night painting, making pizza, and listening to music with a friend of mine. This friend used to draw and sketch a lot. He told me that he stopped drawing because his girlfriend didn't really care for it and never really encouraged it. So, after five and a half years with her, he stopped. Hence the reason why I felt it a necessity for us to have a night of art to rekindle his love of art.

I'm not saying that he should have let his girlfriend dictate whether or not he continued with a hobby, but it just baffles me that people are willing to abandon something they love just because their significant other doesn't really like it. Call me selfish, but if Austin didn't want me to paint or dance or continue with photography, I'd pretty much tell him to shove it. These are things I love and things that make me me. Why should I kill off a part of who I am just because someone that supposedly cares about me doesn't like it?

I guess I'm really lucky in the fact that Austin not only encourages me to continue with the things I love, but he's allowed me to claim an entire room in our new house for my own. He's let me take one of the extra rooms and use it as a place to practice dance and work on my art. Maybe I've just gotten used to such an encouraging partner that wants me to have things that are all my own outside of him and our relationship. And I want him to have the same things. Just because he likes basketball and baseball and golf doesn't mean I need to; those are all things he can enjoy (and moreso because I'm not there bitching about being bored).

Maybe what this all boils down to is the fact that I don't understand couples that feel the need to have everything in common and seem to eventually morph into one ultra-lame individual. I don't think I'll ever understand why people feel the need to do everything with their partner and why individuals don't want to have a life outside of each other. I wish people in that sort of relationship would also realize that they don't have to give up things they love and start things they don't really want to do just because of their partner.

And I also just wanted to brag about the fact that I own a house that has a dance/art room all for me!!

American Aquarium - Burn. Flicker. Die

I think I speak for all American Aquarium fans when I say this: It's about fucking time!

I've been waiting (not so patiently) for their latest album since they announced via twitter last year that they were going to be recording this album with Jason Isbell producing said album. Then they launched their (never updated) Kickstarted project. And then they would tour and play songs off of said upcoming album. It honestly felt like I was never going to actually see the fruition of their time spent in the studio. I was also beginning to think that I had hyped up this album too much in my own head.

Then, something magical happened. I got the link to download the album yesterday. Even more magical than that? I lives up to everything I hoped and dreamed and knew it would be. And for that, I just want to say Thank you, boys, for not letting me down.

Since the first time I saw them four years ago, I fell in love with them and have been a very dedicated fan very since. Like all things, there have been changes not only in the band, but in their sound. As they've grown, they have created something solidly their own. Not exactly country, not exactly rock, not exactly alternative; American Aquarium embodies all of this and more. BJ is the same gifted lyricist that I fell in love with. Maybe he doesn't write quite as many songs about whores that will break your heart, but he still knows how to create not only a song, but an entire album that can embody everything you're feeling. Good or bad, happy or sad, Burn. Flicker. Die. is going to become your go-to album for all emotion.

I have been listening to Burn. Flicker. Die. solidly for the past two days and I regret nothing. Now all that's left is to hope hey ship the record to the right house since I move this weekend...

Summer II Photography Portfolio

Instead of having a regular print portfolio, my professor asked everyone to create a video portfolio of their work. Here's mine, set to Alex Day's "Forever Yours." I'm so happy that this semester is finally over and I'll now have time to relax. Well, aside from this entire home buying process I can relax.