Week 50 (+17)I have been MIA or AFK for ANOTHER 4 weeks

51

-Area 51, a parcel of U.S. military-controlled land in southern Nevada, apparently containing a secret aircraft testing facility.
-The New General Catalogue object NGC 51, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Andromeda.


Been a month since I last posted and it seems like I've been to busy to get around to posting. Or maybe I just didn't make time for it. Eeh well I'm posting now. lol

So I woke up to this when I looked out my window this morning.


I should not be surprised as it was suppose to start snowing on Friday and also snow Saturday which it finally did late that night.

I like snow I really do but, I hate the ice that comes with it. I also hate driving in it and sliding on the roads in it and the wet shoes, socks and pant cuffs. I love to watch it fall and see everything in a clean, white undisturbed sheet. I love to watch animals and kids play in it. I also love that time of year.

Christmas has been one holiday that I always look forward to. My family has never had much and each year it seems less and less for the holidays but it is just a great time of year like something joyous is in the air. I also love buying presents for other people. :D ...I dread getting presents though. I really dislike faking pleasure over them. I know most of the people around me can't get me what I really like and I don't expect them to but I don't want to be cruel and hurtful at the same time.

I also turned 26 this last Friday. I was thinking about grabbing a pic each year on my birthday and so I shot a few and some of the funny ones for that project happened on Saturday and I just love them.

I present you Jessica at 26.



Speaking of Friday I was sad to learn that Linkin Park was coming to Salt Lake (IE less then a miles from my apartment) and tickets went on sale that day and I am broke until later this week. Grrrrrrr Being broke means I'm also celebrating my birthday in a belated manor this coming week. And since I don't want to push John's cooking skills I am going to go a none cooking birthday meal. I'm thinking a pudding pie and a long sub with some finger food sides. Something fun that we cane change here and there to suit our different taste but have the same meal and we can also take it over to watch movies while we munch.

I'm kinda excited because I can pick up three CDs I've been looking forward to. The new ones from Linkin Park and Abney Park and also the Original Sound Track for the Lord of the Rings on Stage (Musical LOTRs)!

There are other things but I really can't recall them.

Other then hitting Ikea up almost each check to pick up some things here and there to slowly organize and change how our place looks and feels and how we can use and enjoy it.

Sadly the Ikea thing is very fun for me and makes me excited to do. lol

Week 31 (+5) What I did after I dropped Rach at the Prom Saturday

31

-The number of days in the months January, March, May, July, August, October and December.
-The number of flavors of Baskin-Robbins ice cream and the shops are called 31 Ice Cream in Japan.
-Turkish slang for masturbation ("otuzbir"). (O.o okay...)



So I have not done a picture post in sometime so here are some pics of me doing some stencil work on a couple shirts and some spare cloth I had around that I might make into cuffs.


This is some of the things gathered to get going on the project. Foam brushes, fabric paint, the stencil, the shirt and cardboard to keep the table clean. This stencil is from a company that makes stencils from Stencil1.com. I've always made my own stencils before but I like this stencil when I saw a shirt that someone made at a event that Stencil1 did so I wanted to try it out myself.

Here are a few shots of the finished shirts and the non-sewn cuffs. (Can't tell that I like big baggy t-shirts can you >.> lol)





Here is a pic of the dark grey t-shirt up close. I don't know if you can see how I smudged the stencil in a few places and how it did not come out ac crisp and clean as I wanted. It kinda mad me mad at myself and sad that I felt like I 'ruined' the shirt but I do like how it looks over all and I'm not to mad. My panda stencil shirt got to smears but I still like how it looks and wear it all the time.


Also got the two on the v-neck smeared and off their mark. Oh well lol. That will teach me to do them upside down next time.

Oh well you live and learn as you go and each time you learn something new for the next batch.

 If you want one of the wrist bands/cuffs tell me and I'll throw up pictures of them when I'm done with all of them. Then ones in the two pics above are just two colors and not cut down and sewn yet so don't judge them to harshly just yet.



Can't wait as I have another stencil from the company coming in the mail and I'm excited to get started again.

Happy All Hallow's Eve!

Some of my favorite shops!

If your reading this journal it is a good bet that you know me and know that I'm very odd. lol so with that I thought that I might share some of my favorite shops that have some fun and neat things. Some off the beaten path and some just not really known that well.

-First up is Threadless: http://threadless.com/
Has the BEST t-shirts (and some pink ones lol Craig) that are made my artist voted on and then sold. So in other words you can vote on what t-shirts you want and like and if they win they will e-mail to tell you that you can now buy them!

-Second is Squishables: http://www.squishable.com/s/
I don't think many people know that I have collected stuffed animals both large and small since I was a little kids. But then again I like odd things so this site takes a twist on it. They sell semi large stuffed animal-ish pillows! Cool round animal pillows ^_^! Go have a look to see what I mean.

-Third is Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/index.php
This is a really cool place. Think of it like ebay for handmade things. Now I know what many people think when they hear handmade.... but this stuff is so much higher quality then you'd ever believe! It is like walking into a mall store. And they sell almost anything you can think of. From Jewry and clothing to beautiful things to decorate you house. I love seller gfox88's steel rings and amlowi's knitted hats. Just type something in and see what you can find.

-Fourth and last for tonight is Uncommon Goods: http://www.uncommongoods.com/
This place is a bit pricier then the others but it has a lot of cool and quirkier things for the house and yard. Not everything is a ton of money but enough of it is. Anyway it is a cool and neat place to pick up that odd "odds and ends". I picked up a cute little buddha bowl and mug from here and love them to death!

Whelp that is it for right now. And yep my taste is odd ^_^

Avatars (icons) time

So John bugged me to whip up a few more avas for his LJ/blog so here are some John-alicous ava sized pics all ready to go.

(John you either have to give me your password or work with me so I can upload them to your LJ FYI)

In order they are: 1. "Glomp", 2. "hidden", 3. "luvs driving", 4. "Do you have nummies?" and last 5. "plotting"

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.






Oh also this one that I whipped up before but John missed me posting it:

Lets call it "Baseball cap" to make it easy (though "betrayer" also leaps to mind ^_^ ...ask John he'll tell ya why lol)



And just because I was already working with the pics in Paint and Gimp I made a few more for me lol.

They are: 1. "Peek", 2. "grin" and the shot that is becoming a tradition with each trip 3. "car mirror YS/GT"

1. 2. 3.


Thats it for now. If anyone want to have be scale/size pics, crop them or make banners and avas/icons for them and or their blogs just note me here or e-mail me and I'll work with ya. They really are not that hard and they are fun.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton

So like a posted earlier via PSP I'm back all the way home this time (not just in Utah).

We set out at about a little after 5am Thursday on our 4 hour and 40 min drive to Jackson (*cough more like 5-6 hours cough*). After taking a wrong turn just before Cokeville and turning about and getting back on track we started our drive through Bridger Nation forest. Beautiful place with the surprise that cattle and sheep graze freely through it and across the open highway that cuts through it. Also many great views of the mighty Snake river.

After we got to Jackson and checked into our room we rested up for a couple hours took potty breaks and had lunch then set out for Teton.

Driving through Grand Teton National Park we saw beautiful colors of Fall hanging from the trees, along the road old park signs from the 40s-50s warning us the animals crossed and that we needed to keep speeds slow. Since we wanted to enter the park through the South end we had to go up through Teton. Entering Yellowstone Park proper we where greeted by towering tree lined roads that soon gave way to sweeping views that dropped from the side of the road into a river more then 300 plus feet below (insert a very freaked out up ah inspired me). After awhile on the driver's side we came upon the largest lake we had seen! Lewis Lake is a monster of a lake, a deep and wondrous blue..... well that is NOTHING! to Yellowstone Lake (yeah lake lol). After passing through some road work we made it to Old Faithful. Unlucy for us we did not get to see it go off -_-... time and sunshine was running out o us so we pushed on to some of the other geysers in the Upper and Middle basin. After stopping for some more photos we piled back in and set off again.

While laughing and talking I just barely noticed us passing the first animal we had seen (ok I lied we had a female mule deer dart past us on the road but...). There on the side of the road in a field was a BUFFALO!!!

After many ooohs and aaahs we jumped back in and went on. After a little more we came upon a whole ton of cars pulled off and gawking at many elk grazing and drinking in a river. We pulled off and join in snapping some pics. After getting back in and pulling off in the "pull off" we took some more elk pics and then continued on up the road. As the sun was failing we came upon the most awesome sight yet. Two HUGH BUFFALO where walking along the passenger side of the road. We where going so fast that we had to double back. As we passed them the second time I had John slow down almost to a stop and with my flash got some up close and personal pics of these MASSIVE beautiful animals! (my fav pics of the whole trip ^_^). lol when the flash went off on the second one the buffalo looked over and started walking our way! Eeek this big guy was within arms length already O.O! I told John to gun it lol. The BEST WAY to end a Yellowstone visit all be it a short one (well several hours but felt short lol I guess things always do when you are doing things like this).

After a few hour drive through Idaho back to Jackson we crashed in our room and slept hard for 7 hours. (got there at 11pm-ish and got to bed around 12:30am-1am and woke up at 8:15am)

After showering and getting ready we cleaned up the room and checked out and was on our way back home by 9:45-10:30am. On the way back we passed through Afton and stopped for a bit of lunch and to let the kids look around. We also passed through a very small town called "Smoot" with a population of only 100! I kids you not... that was less then any town we passed through in Idaho last year.

At some point we took a new turn that diverged from the way we took to get to Jackson in the first place and ended up passing Bear Lake and and through Cache Forest and some much more!

So onto the pics! (..that are for some reason out of order :/)