the sketchbook these days...

I'm getting better at documenting my work.

I generally sell it or gift it away and a few days later...oh....maybe I should have taken a picture of that.

collage/sharpie

styrofoam print

collage, gouache

ink

pencil

gouache

cold...again

I wish I had better news for you, but this cold weather won't stop.

It actually felt quite nice in the 20's today.

But as soon as the sun starts to set that bitter cold sneaks right back in.
(Picture below of our 4-6 inches of snow that we received on Monday. It melted off the roads the following day because it was 41 degrees.)

Oh, Wisconsin.

It definitely feels strange because SPRING BREAK is only 2 weeks away.

Sad to say it will only be a "sort of" break because I still have internship, and Ben will still be in school...so looks like I'll be hanging out in Milwaukee. 

This is actually fine because less of ANYTHING is better for me at the moment.

Life has been a big whirlwind lately.

drive, internship, drive, class, homework, eat when possible?, sleep (repeat)

I haven't even done any of my important assignments for class yet.
Those are coming up in March and April, followed by the big musical arts program for my internship in May.
A monumental semester for sure. 

The Native American class I'm taking this weekend and has been really interesting thus far.
Getting to do a lot of art making, which I really appreciate.

I'd get into detail about the stuff that is keeping me busy...but it's mostly school and not that interesting if you're not doing it. 

I'll try to post some pictures of artwork instead. 

At least it's something to look at.
I've tried to do an extra good job of getting homework done during the day so that I can make time to relax and enjoy myself in the evening if I don't have internship.
Ben and I ate at a Hawaiian restaurant down the street before my class started on Friday evening.
Then we went to Red Dot to try to see the KU game tonight, but they didn't get the right ESPN channel.
Still important and nice to get my mind off of school for a bit.
SELF-CARE.
BAM.

Sorry. That paragraph is all over the place.
But so is my life. :)

Happy weekend to you all. 

cold, cold february

We hear it will be in the upper 30's on Tuesday...despite the fact that it's supposed to snow 4-6 in. tomorrow. 

That will be the first time that it will be above freezing since Jan. 10. 

Yes, we're all a little tired of the cold. 

But look at where we live. What do you expect?

It has been nice to see the sun stick around for a little bit longer every day. 

It used to be pitch dark when I would leave for babysitting at 5:15, but not anymore!

It's been a BUSY week. 

Internship hours went up due to an open mic night on Valentine's Day Eve and tackling some data entry tasks and visual art preparation throughout the week. 

This will of course be ANOTHER busy week because I have a weekend class on Native American Art Therapy starting on Friday evening. 

That means making sure all homework for the following week is complete (or sort of complete) before the weekend starts. 

Spring Break is in 3 weeks...which is sort of unfathomable. 

And unfortunately, Ben's Spring Break is a whole month after mine so I'll have to make my own fun. 

I swear we just started. 

I have to slow myself down and look around every once in awhile because these weeks disappear quite quickly.

Classes are going well! 

We're not writing near as much this semester, but we are reading A LOT and video taping fabulously awkward practice counseling sessions with classmates.

Then we watch them so we can learn more about our counseling styles.

It's about as much fun as it sounds. 

Something kind of cool.

Rachel Ries interview on NPR today. Found HERE.

She was in MKE again this last week, but I had internship and kind of forgot to tell Ben about it so none of us went. 

I'm mostly excited about the interview because she talks about longing for her agrarian roots while living in a city for so long and we can definitely relate to that. 

Hope folks are staying warm. 

Spring will be back someday. 

veggie tray

My fabulously constructed veggie tray that I took to the church winter retreat with Ben's blue cheese dip.

I feel like I should be given an award for "most impressive rebound from a cold."

Yep. Sick again.

First, Ben caught a cold from all of his new little elementary school friends. 

It plagued him all last week...and then on Tuesday my throat started to hurt and some serious fatigue set in. 

I canceled my babysitting gig, popped in some Benedryl, and slept on and off from 6 pm on Tuesday night until 6 am on Wednesday morning. 

That, plus gallons of lemon water, echinacea tea, Progresso chicken noodle soup, oranges, cough drops, tissues, Neti pot usage twice a day, ibuprofen, sudafed, and naps all made it possible for me to get through my classes and groups this week. 

I still have sniffles and a semi-sore-throat, but my energy level is way up from what it was and it will at least allow me to do my reading.
I've also improved much more quickly than the last cold that I had in December. 

The house is a bit of a disaster because I've chosen rest over daily chores, and Ben's been pretty busy this week too. 

BUT THE BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND IS HERE!

I'm ready to catch up on homework and clean the house.

Other news...Ben went to a Jason Isbell concert last night. 

I couldn't go because I had to go to class and give a journal article presentation. 

I'm quite sad because a very beloved Bethel science professor, Wayne Wiens, passed away yesterday.

He also happened to be married to my Bethel art professor, Gail Lutsch, so when I was in college I got to spend a little bit of time at their house for end-of-the-year art/biology parties. 

Although I never took advantage of having a class with Wayne, Ben did, and loved it. 

They even came to our Kansas wedding reception. 

So sad.

It's still SOOOOOOOO COOOOOOLD here.

If I can prevent going outside this weekend, I most certainly will.

Except I think I'm going to request that Ben and I go eat Pho in honor of our colds and the cold weather.

Happy Friday!