Creative Wanderings

I love summer for many reasons, but one of them is the footwear. It’s so easy to find cute sandals to wear, they’re inexpensive, and all is fine and dandy. And then comes Fall (and Winter….) and you have to wear close-toed shoes. Ick. Herein is my dilemma. I need to find some cute, versatile shoes to wear. I’m a professor, so they  need to be somewhat professional, but I don’t necessarily want to wear heels all the time, but I could probably use some anyways….. maybe I should just buy like 5 pairs of shoes and call it good. Haha goodness knows that I’d be just happy with that (my checkbook would highly disagree though). So…. what do you think? Type of shoe? Color? Style? I don’t even have a direction right now, otherwise I’d put up options and ask. What a conundrum….. Shoes. The reason why summer should Read more…

Sometimes I can be critical…. and sometimes I can be hyper-critical. This usually happens most in dance. After being a dancer for 20 years, it’s a topic I am very knowledgeable about. I can recognize good and bad technique in most genres, and I can also see good and bad performance. The thing is, most of what I notice doesn’t matter to the average viewer. And it’s quite possible that my hyper-critical comments detract not only from the performance (which always represents a significant amount of work and dedication on the part of the artists) but also from my character. So, in a matter of mere seconds I can destroy someone’s perception of a dance, their perception of me, under-value the effort of the artists, and destroy the event for myself by not simply letting myself be captured by the aesthetics. Nit-picking is not great sometimes.I was somewhat admonished on Read more…

I am wearing my new sexy jeans and my cute fitted top and my favorite, most comfortable wedges– making me a veritable giantess. I am empowered. My hair looks great and my makeup does too. I am empowered. I am a BYU professor, a graduate student, an employee, a dancer, a girlfriend. I am empowered. I cleaned my room, did some laundry, vacuumed the floor, worked on my class, finished a test. I am empowered. I practiced my tap dance and helped come up with two AMAZING steps. I also learned a new, tricky step. I am empowered.    I have a wonderful boyfriend who digs me. I trust. I have a supportive family who loves me. I trust. I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to be happy and successful. I trust.  The future is bright and beautiful, and it is bigger than the moment Read more…

So, I used to have the nicest blog background, a perfect complement of purple and orange. But… I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that sees it! It shows up on my laptop, but never my work computer. And… well I never bothered to see if anyone else could see it. But I figured most of you were seeing white, so I have found a new background. It’s been several months, maybe even almost a year? since my last blog revamp. Hope you like this new one! We’ll see if it has staying power.

“Do you want capability, safety, and security in dating and romance, in married life and eternity? Be a true disciple of Jesus. Be a genuine, committed, word-and-deed Latter-day Saint. Believe that your faith has everything to do with your romance, because it does. You separate dating from discipleship at your peril. Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is the only lamp by which you can successfully see the path of love and happiness. How should I love thee? As He does, for that way ‘never faileth.’” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “How Do I Love Thee?” New Era, Oct. 2003, 8. Liz Lemon Swindle Artwork

That’s a new video that came out today. Erica plays video games? No. Someone else does, and they were very much looking forward to “opening night,” as it were. So here I am. I’m tired of working on class prep and I think I have enough planned for tomorrow to completely flood my poor students’ minds, so it’s time for a break. I’m thinking a nice foot scrub and new paint job on the toes would be nice. Somehow my feet have managed to get into horrendous shape since Turkey. I know, I figured they’d be hashed during the trip, not after. Maybe it’s the dry weather and lack of humidity. Suffice it to say, I need to invest in something for these suckers. Wow, can we say I’m rambling? Well, I am. I like to hear the click click of my keys. I like my computer very much, and the Read more…

It’s so glorious to feel this kind of happy.   Ya know, the standing on top of the world, seeing everything around you… Next to an amazing guy… It’s almost as awesome to remember how much we hiked this one day… Oh, and in case you’re more interested in the pictures than my ramblings, the first shot is from Observation Peak in Yellowstone, and the second is at the Yellowstone Grand Canyon.

In case you were curious, this post is because I am so so SO tired of working on my class! I’ve spent oh…  15 hours or more(?) working on it this week. It feels like way more. And Matt is out of town until Saturday night. I don’t really know how that relates to my class, but…. there you go. I may or may not miss him a smidgen. (Mom, you’ll be happy to know that I haven’t called or texted him at all today.) Where was I going with this??? Oh yes. Pictures.  Sailing on a private yacht down the Bosphorus Strait Castle along the banks of the Bosphorus, European side Maiden’s Tower (Lighthouse), Bosphorus Strait Heather and I in front of the private yacht Audience at our first venue, Lake Kucukcekmece Festival Flag banners of the participating countries at Kucukcekmece Festival Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia) Hagia Irene, inside Read more…

So…. this has nothing to do with my trip to Greece and Turkey. I still need to put up some pictures from Turkey so you can see what it was like. However, this last week I went hiking in Yellowstone and the Tetons with a fabulous guy named Matt Schultz and… well I felt like putting up two of my favorite pictures. (FYI: those are two different red shirts I’m wearing.) There’s a ton of other amazing pictures, but you’ll just have to wait for them.  Ok, actually, here’s one more; probably my absolutely favorite landscape picture, courtesy of Matt’s eye for photography. 

Life is a smidgen interesting right now. I think — hope!– that it’s because I’m at a very transitionary point of my life. Tomorrow I leave my full-time employment of over two years. I’ll be going back to school full time. I will be a university professor this fall, responsible for teaching students. And I’m sort of (?) dating someone. I know, could I please be more ambiguous on that count. Sorry, you know as much as I do! All the change and life stress right now has me feeling… weird.  For example, I have been super indecisive lately. The Academy of Ballet contacted me to 1) finally pay me my June wages and 2) see if I wanted to teach Irish again this year. I knew after the recital in June that I didn’t want to teach, and I also have conflicts this year that prohibit me from teaching Read more…