Creative Wanderings

Fonts

Sincerely:      Who doesn’t enjoy some sweet retro action on the typewriter? Sincerely:    Anyone want to go to the Pottery Barn? This font is named for them.  SINCERELY:  ONLY DOWNSIDE TO THIS FONT IS YOU HAVE TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS AND APPARENTLY THERE IS NO PUNCTUATION? nnNO PERIOD, I GUESS* THAT’S STRANGE! Sincerely: This one is pretty nifty! It reminds me of vines and autumn. Maybe autumn because of curling pumpkin vines?  Sincerely: This one I really like. How fun is it to write in cursive while typing? It’s clean too.  Sincerely: They called this one Jane Austen. I think it could count as any script circa the 1800s. John Hancock? Joseph Smith? Yes, I’m feeling it!

By Erica, ago

Rainy Monday

Okay, so I don’t know if today is actually very rainy, but if sure feels like it is. I’m not sure what triggered it… maybe it started in Relief Society yesterday when I tried to make a comment in class and got attacked by the teacher for it. That was pleasant. Maybe it was when we drove past a neighborhood I don’t want to be near still. Maybe it was the acknowledgement that I’m going to be one of those who gets married “later in life,” in contrast to the “young marrieds” so prevalent in LDS culture. Maybe I just get sad sometimes, even on the best of days. I’d like to think that that’s okay every now and then. It does get a bit more challenging when I add on a Monday like this though. Job searching is the bane of my existence right now. I’ve applied for probably 20-30 Read more…

By Erica, ago

Taglines

For those who may not know, I’m am currently awaiting a phone call to invite me to interview as an editor at a Utah publishing house!! (Maybe I should have written that previous sentence better, then?) Anyways, I’m super stoked about just applying to that job and am really working to make connections in the industry and sell myself as best I can. Which brings me to my little brag moment. I don’t think I brag on myself very much… in fact, I imagine the opposite could generally be said of me. Lately I have had a rather difficult time claiming my personal victories and seeing them as the wonderful things they are. So this is also a practice in appropriate self-esteem.  … Okay, I’ll stop editorializing. 🙂What I am so excited to present to you is my personal tagline! A new friend of mine helped me find some company Read more…

By Erica, ago

Little Big Blessings

I’ve been back in Utah for over a week now, and I’ve been very attuned to some little big blessings that have happened. When it came time to leave Missouri, I wasn’t all that worried to be heading back here. Of course, I was still with my family! We had an awesome week down at the Rockin’ R Ranch (pictures and stories for a different post). But things started getting challenging then. For whatever irrational reason, I was a little afraid to face everyone… afraid of what they would say maybe. I didn’t need to be, of course. Only one person mentioned it directly, saying how they thought my ex was awesome…. it did upset my emotions but I know that cousin was just being enthusiastic and supportive in his own way. What I overwhelmingly felt was love and support. Family rocks. Then it came time for my parents to Read more…

By Erica, ago

A Produce-tive Summer

So while the parents were off galavanting in London, I was working hard at home to keep the garden going! We had a rash of cucumbers come on and one Saturday night I felt possessed to make pickles. Thankfully, I had enough sense to make the easy freezer pickles, not the more elaborate heat-canned variety.  The vicitms.   Let it be known that I tasted each one of these cucumbers in an attempt to weed out the bitter ones.  Ever had a bitter cucumber? It is not pleasant at all. Most of them were good, but there sure were a lot of cukes!! The green peppers, awaiting the guillotine (and freezer as well).  Fresh raspberries, blueberries, and the first tomato of the season! I miss those raspberries.  The whole spread, all across the counter.  My sliced cucumbers and onions soaking in salt. It does something  to help make them pickles.. draining Read more…

By Erica, ago

Saintes and Bayonne

For some reason, I did not post this after I wrote it last year. I have no clue what happened. Anyways, Clog America is off in Europe currently and all the pictures make me miss dancing with them; I especially miss the festival experience. I’m definitely looking forward to dancing in the Springville World Folk Festival in Utah to get a little of my festival fix.  In the meantime, here is what went on last year at one of the most… interesting…. festivals I have been at! Travel back in time to 2011 and hope the ocean over to France……Well, I hope someone is enjoying these pictures, because here come more! After Paris, we drove down to Saintes, in the Bordeaux region, for our first festival.  Jam session with Venezuela, Canary Islands, and Mexico Amanda and I with Eva, from Venezuela. She was very friendly! Amanda and I with Eva and Read more…

By Erica, ago

Think happy thoughts

I’ve been thinking a lot lately. The house is relatively quiet without my mom here to keep me busy with errands and cooking projects… and sure, I can do those on my own, but then I’ll eat all that yummy goodness! And we don’t need groceries, which takes out the need to shop.  Anyways, the free time flows slowly, I guess.  I’ve been seeing pictures of friends weddings and engagements… ’tis the season, to be sure! I’ve been thinking a lot about moving back to Utah and trying to find a job. Trying not to think about getting into the dating world. Sadly, I know I can’t avoid it either – that solves no problems. Thinking about why I stayed  in that relationship for so long. Wondering if I should share that with people. Thinking about other trials I’ve worked through in the past six months. Wondering if I should Read more…

By Erica, ago

Summer Happenings

We begin at the beginning of my time at home…. sleeping in late, eating breakfast late, and staying around to help with kitchen adventures. (For concerned people, I am now back to getting dressed before noon. No worries.)  Peach Jam! These little cups are the ones I made.  Don’t they look precious? Sadly, they also look a little runny. Therefore the parable of the peach jam. Thou shalt not be too impatient. My mom and I were worried that the jam wasn’t setting right and so we tried to quick-fix it by adding more pectin. However, the one we left sitting out in a bowl of extra eventually turned into the right consistency. I directly related this to my failures in dating. Apparently I’m like peach jam: very difficult to get all the conditions just perfect for it to turn out right. But with a little extra time, it will Read more…

By Erica, ago

One month later

Well, it’s been one month since my life dramatically changed course. Wow. I made it! I made it? Yeah…. I think so at least. I’m still here, still pushing forward, at whatever pace that may be. … breathe….           ……….. breathe……. Some of you know the story…. most of you don’t. As Rafiki says in The Lion King, “It doesn’t matter now; it’s in the past.” My emotions are starting to catch up to my brain now with remembering this. Unwanted people (person) doesn’t show up in my dreams anymore. Even though many things around me bring up connections to said individual, they’re not emotionally charged anymore. I’m working to cut those links even more. For example, tonight we had Cincinnati Chili for dinner. Yummo!! I love this dish, but I hadn’t made it in a long time. As I started telling my mom the reason Read more…

By Erica, ago

The last six months

Well, obviously a lot has happened in the last six months. And to be completely honest, I didn’t take very many pictures during that time to begin with. Once you figure in all the ones I deleted as of late, well… it’s a pretty sparse selection. Here are some favorites! Mark was nice enough to let me take him on a date to hike the Y.  Classic Mark pose.  ROAD TRIP TO VEGAS!!! Hideous yet funny bedspreads at Motel 6.  An ashtray that says “No Smoking”…. where’s the logic in that one? Best place ever!! Aww, cutesy wootsy. And I was there, too.  That awesome John Cusack movie “Serendipity”? We had dinner at that restaurant!  So much ice cream sundae!!! Splashed by the dolphins at the Mirage. Now you may be wondering why there are four trainers at the dolphin pool. They could just be bored. Or, they could be Read more…

By Erica, ago