Signs of Change

Just a hunch, but I think things might be a little different in the near future. Just judging by a few

scenes I've noticed around. You'll have to take a look and tell me what you think.

Let's visit this apartment...or maybe live there.

Cream puffs. Home made!

That's a pretty post. New bed!

Ooo, sparkly...

Pretty, pretty flower.

Who is that?

Hey, he makes me smile.

Yeah, I think he's kind of important.

Yep, I think I could get used to this. Change is scary and we naturally resist it. But I think this will be a good change. At least, so I've been told. So....here goes! New people, new experiences. Level up. :)

The Reason For Pitstops

To guarantee at least two minutes to think in this hectic world. ~Samantha

Bosom Friends

I realized the other day that there are several things I take for granted. I watched Anne of Green Gables over Christmas and it got me thinking about friendship. I've always wished I had a bosom friend, to take a phrase from Anne, but as yet haven't found a kindred spirit. I've also wished that I had a really good group of chums upon whom I can call and with whom I can have all kinds of adventures. Just as I was thinking this, Samantha came to mind; however, I immediately pushed the idea aside. She doesn't count, I thought. She's my sister, she's supposed to like me. She's supposed to be my friend.

But as I thought about it more, I had to chastise myself a little bit. As far as a group of friends, I realized that I can find that in my immediate family. The funnest times, my favorite times, are whenever I just hang out and play with my family. It doesn't matter what we do, it is never draining and always enjoyable. I can laugh really loudly, be goofy, and say dumb things and they will always love and accept me. I realized that there are lots of people who are not very close to their family at all; some have little, if any, contact with them for one reason or another. Then again, some people have quite a bit of conflict in their home and contend with differences of opinion, personality, and values. Samantha and I have never been enemies. Sure, we've quarreled or had frustrations about this or that, but other than those small squabbles we have been the best of friends for as long as I can remember. We played together as little girls, cooperated as young denarians, and now that we've gotten older, we confide and share in our experiences together as we learn about life. We have similar interests and temperaments which really give us a unique understanding of each other. One thing that has been really important to me is that we share goals and a strong work ethic. Doing well in school and challenging myself academically is very important to me and Samantha helps me with that by sharing that passion and pursuit of excellence.

I'm really grateful that Heavenly Father decided to give me such a great family and such a great friend who also doubles as a sister. I know I'll always have her in my life and we'll always be friends forever. Yeah, forever. :)

She did it!

My wonderfully gorgeous, intelligent, talented sister graduated! Now she can come have fun with me in college! Here are some of her incredible accomplishments.

Music

As everyone knows, Samantha was a member of the American Fork Marching Band and participated as a bearer of a big stick (aka clarinet for those who don't know the band lingo). She always did a great job, and I always loved going to watch her competitions.

Art

She was chosen as the American Fork Sterling Scholar for Visual Arts, and she got all the way to the finals- don't know why they didn't pick her, but we aren't bitter or anything.

Samantha is an incredible artist! So I thought I would put up some of her portfolio.

Self Portraits

This one makes me giggle because I can just see the attitude seething. This was a school assignment and she was obviously not too thrilled about it. :)

I love her eyes in this one.



Tiger Love
This blows my mind. Pointillism. Millions of dots. Those are all dots! Needless to say, she was working on this for quite a while.

Close-up of the eye


Milo the Guinea Pig
Since the moment he was born, he was Samantha's baby. He and his siblings were born on 9/11. He's the second one from the front with the white stripe on his nose. He was a great pet, & Samantha really loved him.



AragornThis is something called a lino-cut. She carved out a piece of linoleum (that's really hard, by the way), then rolled ink on it and stamped it on paper. She didn't really like doing it and wasn't super thrilled with how it came out, but I still think it's a cool design.



Eiffel Cat
I'm proud to say I helped inspire this one. Ok, so it's only because the Tower is my picture that happened to be sitting on my floor behind Ralph, but still. :) This is white pencil on black paper, which is more difficult that one would think. Instead of concentrating on creating the shape, you focus on the highlights. Neat.



Fruits of "Pear"adise
She submitted this one to the Reflections contest where it won second place on the district level. It's kind of a funny story, because it was a last-minute submission, so she didn't actually title it; her teacher did. It was done in prismacolor colored pencil and has stripes of solarization.



Dad
This is a favorite picture of our father, taken for a faculty picture at BYU. We think it's got lots of character.



Baudelaire
This is a French poet with one of his poems about death along with a red anemone, symbolizing death and a withering almond blossom, symbolizing hope, or rather a lack of it. It's incredible to me how piercing his gaze is, despite the pastel with which he was created.



Old Tractor in a Wheat FieldThis is a collection of pictures my dad took on his mission that Samantha did in acrylics. I like the colors and the way the medium adds to the rustic feel.




London ManAnother of my dad's photos, one he took on a band tour in England. This one has been chosen to hang in the Covey Center until August.


Hanashi-Banashi (chit-chat in Japanese)
Again, a mission picture from Japan- just a bunch of old ladies waiting for the bus. It's terrific!

Tea Time
This is Samantha's first watercolor. It's absolutely incredible, looks just like the photograph. In fact many people think it is a photo when they first see it.


So there you have it, just a few of Samantha's masterpieces. Be sure to look for her name in famous museums 10 years from now! :)

Spontanious Rain Dance!

About 15 minutes ago as we were watching Over the Hedge, we began to notice lightning flashing in the sky... rain dance!! We tore outside and performed our ridiculous whirligigs and before long, fat, healthy rain drops came pouring out of the sky and we continued to celebrate. It was nice, warm concrete beneath our bare feet and cold droplets falling on our heads. When we got tired, we went upstairs and just smelled it as it escalated to a full-on hail storm. Ah, I love my family! :)