Another exercise in creative freedom

Have you heard about this book?


Wreck This Journal, by Keri Smith. According to the author, "It is about absurdity. A creation. Evidence that you exist. Using materials. Destruction. It is about FUN. Doing the opposite. Breaking the rules. It is about ideas. Getting dirty. Making mistakes. I'm going to ask you to make a mark and it's going to be messy. Don't worry about that. That's the point."

Basically, it's an art journal - a journal that's a combination of writing, scrapbooking, art, and photojournaling. This one, however, has a different twist. Instead of a staring at a blank page in your journal and wondering what to do/write/draw on the page, this book comes with instructions for each page. And most of the instructions have to do with "wrecking" the journal. For example, one page directs you to poke holes in it using a pencil (see below). Another instructs you to tear the page out, crumple it in a ball, and kick it around. It's all about being silly, playing, having fun, and not worrying whether or not you're going to do something wrong and "wreck" your beautiful art journal.

So here's my first page, filled with holes made with colored pencils. Really, it was quite fun poking all those holes. Mark even helped. I'll post more pages as I work through the book. Should be a fun ride!

Have a great week! L

A mini album, a layout, and a semi-funny story

I'm taking an online scrapbooking class at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and I wanted to share two of the projects I'm working on. The first is a mini album dedicated to my Grandma Gonzales. It's just a simple book sharing a few of the things that stand out in my mind when I think of her. Here are a few pages:

This next layout was an assignment to complete a layout in 30 minutes or less. This was pretty tough, considering the time frame included selecting the photos and supplies. (One of the objectives of this class is to let go of perfection and have more FUN scrapbooking.)

The photos are of Mark, on our wedding day, where he is posing as if he were climbing/hanging from some palm trees. It's kind of a funny story. And here it is: a few days before our wedding, we had seen some cliff divers diving from cliffs (of course) but then also climbing the trees on the cliff and jumping from even crazier heights. So Mark thought he would simulate the cliff diver's feats, from a safer height, on our wedding day. He almost convinced the photographer that he had actually made the jump from the cliff.

Okay, so it's probably funnier if you were actually there. And drinking rum-based drinks.

L

Happy 4th of July and Congrats

Just a quick post to say hello and happy 4th! Enjoy the hot day, the fireworks and family gatherings. I will be at work, in the operating room, taking care of patients who hurt themselves on the aforementioned fireworks!




Also, congratulations to Ashley, who is expecting baby #3 very soon - her first boy! Brooke hosted a shower for Ashley yesterday and it was so nice to see the family.

Have a fun weekend!

L

Wasatch Back Relay

This was a crazy, hot, freezing, exhausting, challenging, fun (yes, fun!) time! Our 12-person team, The Blisters in the Sun, ran 180 miles from Logan to Park City in just under 30 hours. Go team! Just to give you an idea of how we compared, the winning team won in about 17.5 hours. That's super fast. We were super slow. But we survived, and I think I'll try to do it again next year.

Van 1 Team Members: McCall, MaryEllyn, Pete, and a few others

Van 2 Team Members: Frank, Jason, Me, Tammy (our driver!), Sam, Brandon & Jody

Here's a hill I "ran" up. There's a small body of water just to the right of center...that's about where I started.

The big finish!

Happy Father's Day!

Check it out! Two posts in as many days. This most likely will not become a trend.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. I hope you enjoyed your special day. Mark and I had a chance to visit with our dads:

The DVD Mark is holding is titled "A Crude Awakening". It's about Peak Oil. I'll try to get Mark to make a post about the concept of peak oil for those who aren't familiar with it. It might offer some insight as to why oil is at about $140 per barrel these days! Have a great week everyone!

L

The past few weeks

Hello again! It's crazy busy around here. I was out of town the past couple of weekends. Where did I go? Let me tell you.

Two weekends ago, Mark and I took a trip to Capitol Reef National Park to celebrate my birthday. We traveled with some friends (Larissa and Shannon) and enjoyed perfect weather and beautiful scenery. Hiking, spending time with friends...gotta love it. I love being able to get away from it all by just by driving a few hours away from Salt Lake City. There are so many fun places to go right in our "backyard". One of our hikes was in Muley Twist Canyon - the desert plants were blooming, and it was all very pretty.

Another hike was to Upper Calf Creek Falls. Simply beautiful!


Last weekend, I went with Katie, Larissa, Shannon, Eileen and Grace up to Logan for the Little Red Riding Hood bike ride, an all-women's cycling event. Usually, this is a great time. Last weekend, however, was just a tad cold! I was so freezing! It ended up being quite miserable for me. On the plus side, though, our group did win the costume contest!

Today I attended a bridal shower for my friend, Hailey. She's getting married this August, and I'm so happy for her!


And next weekend is the Wasatch Back Relay! I'm so looking forward to this event...being over. Yikes. My goal is to survive.

Since I'll be starting school at the end of August, I'm planning the rest of my summer - a few weekend trips and some projects around the house. I'll be sure to keep you updated on these very exciting events!

L

And the winner is...

Three people were able to find the location of Petunia the Pig...she's located at 336 West Broadway in downtown Salt Lake City. So, Cathy, Debbie and Katie - I put your names in a hat and Mark drew the winner...

Hooray Katie! I'll get your stuff to you later this week at work! Thanks everyone for participating - I'm sure I'll do this again sometime soon.

L