Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Why My Life is Super Awesome.

It’s snowing and it’s the last week of April.

On that note, last night I was super stressed out, and then I realized that my life is super awesome right now, so I made a list of all that awesomeness. I’m going to share some of that list with you.

-I know some of the coolest people ever created. Not only that, but I’m friends with them.

-This week I am moving, which is normally stressful. But I'm going from a dark, smelly, cramped, bug ridden  house into a beautiful, clean, spacious, bug free house. Bonuses- Largest closet ever and enough space to have a craft station in my bedroom.

-I have a giant, adorable puppy! And not only that, I get to live with him! Another bonus to the whole moving thing.
look at this adorable thing!

-On that same moving note, I’m about to move in with Dustin, who is totally one of those cool people mentioned earlier. I'm way stoked on this one.

-After Friday, I never have to deal with my current building's management again. Those people make me so angry I can hardly stand it.


- I have a family that I actually enjoy hanging out with. Usually. I'd say about 92% of the time. That's a pretty good statistic, if you ask me.


-I have this sweet, adorable, cuddly, smart, absolutely wonderful boyfriend who likes who he is and is comfortable in his own skin. I love that he's comfortable with himself, it's one of the best qualities a person can have. Not only that, but he’s totally comfortable with who I am, which is no small feat! I’m a crazy person. Not only am I a crazy person who’s loud and moody and forgetful and talks to herself, I'm kind of all of over the place, and a little overwhelming. I'm basically the most chaotic person I know, and not everyone can handle having me around all day everyday. I can't handle having me around all of the time! I drive myself up all the walls! And he just takes everything in stride, ever so patiently, and is so rarely scoldy or negative towards me at all, he's really just helpful and supportive. And he doesn't even get annoyed when I keep him up all hours of the night because I get hyperactive and just want to talk about nothing at all for hours at a time, but only right as it's time for sleeping.AND sometimes he even plays crazy games with me! Seriously, this boy should be sainted. 
One of those crazy games- roasting invisible marshmallows over an invisible fire in the blanket fort that I sometimes insist that we make in his room. And he plays with me! Usually even with enthusiasm!



-I have two jobs which may drive me nutso at times, but they’re actually both fairly decent, and I have not one but two super cool bosses. Oh, and did you catch the fact that I have two jobs? There are quite a few people I know who can’t seem to be able to find even one.

-It maybe barely, but I still have enough money to live the lifestyle I want.

-I live in Salt Lake City, which is actually a pretty cool place.

-There’s music in the world! And not only is there music, but there’s GOOD music! In fact I’d say there’s tons more good music than bad music!

-Um, speaking of music, I’m in this pretty awesome band with these three pretty awesome boys who I really enjoy hanging out with. Plus we’re performing a couple of times a month, and I get to sing and dance and dress up- all things which I love to do.

-Flapjack. Flapjack is in the world.
Flapjack is the greatest Adventurer in the world, and a true inspiration to us all. Or at least a true inspiration to me.


-I make things every Sunday. And who loves making things more than anything else? This girl.

-This one’s kinda stressing me out right now, but I have a chance to go back to school this summer. This is a good thing! Even if I need to keep reminding myself that!

-I’m healthier than I have been since I was 13 or 14.This one’s huge. 


-I'm always busy, all of the time lately, which sounds like it would be stressful and not so awesome, but really, I'm always busy because I'm having awesome adventures with aforementioned awesome people! Whether it be photo shoots with great friends, or painting unorthodox things with great friends, or illustrating things for other great friends, there's always some sort of awesome adventure, usually planned several weeks in advance, and I'm totally stoked on some of the creative adventures I have coming up!
One of those creative adventures I was talking about, with some of those cooler than cool people I was talking about.
And there you go. My life is so awesome, I know you can hardly stand it. Be jealous.


 Or even better, come up with a 'My Life is Awesome' list of your own! And then you can share it with me, and we can both bask in the glory of our fabulous lives :)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Once upon a time, Tink was a Web Geek

For anyone who does not know yet, I am in a radtastic garage band called Secret Abilities. But, mostly, this is pretty common news.

What most humans don't know, is that I'm actually turning into a pretty web-savy type gal. To see proof, check out the new Secret Abilities page that I made, all by myself.(If you can't tell, I'm pretty proud of this thing)


SecretAbilities.com

Also, you can follow me on twitter as SecretAbilities. You know. If you want to. There'll be stuff about upcoming shows and products, and recording dates, and fun facts of the day. You know, all that fun stuff.

Thanks for checking us out!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Ugly Bunnies and Adorable Boys



today is the third birthday of my favorite human in the entire world- matthew william johnson!

matty and i last valentine's day. we had matching minnie and mickey stickers, and were so excited about them! my minnie one has become a permanent part of my wallet, so i can carry a matt memory with me wherever i go

i've been preparing for this momentous day for some time now, with the creation of something i like to call 'the ugly bunny'

the third birthday is what i feel is the first birthday where a child really has some sort of cognitive understanding of what a 'birthday' is, along with a real understanding of gifts, and a firm recognition of the people who give them. my Matty and i have always been great friends, but it's really only been within the past year where he recognizes his auntie, with a name, and a voice, and a different personality than his other friends. he knows were my house is, he knows what he can get away with with me that he can't with his mother, he knows that i'll always play along when he uses his monster voice or his robot voice, and that anytime he wants, we can play mustachio!s. 

the mustachio! game is the best game ever invented. we paint mustaches on our faces and going around saying moustachio! to everyone we meet.


you don't really have that understanding with about to turn two year olds.but with barely three year olds, that's a completely different story!

matty teling me what's what on a shopping outing we took with his parents my dear boy
so, i make things. it's what i do. this means, for matt's birthday, i wanted to make him something fun and age appropriate- which in my mind means movable, colorful, very durable. and soft, since i've noticed this is the age where we learn how to crash things into other things. but the things i make are not always boy-friendly. they're actually pretty girly and cute most of the time. hence the idea of an 'ugly' bunny. bunnies are fun. they're soft. they have lots of details, such as whiskers and ears and tails. it's super easy to make a cute one.so, make a cute one! it's fun! but sometimes, when you hand stitch things, it's easy to create textures that evoke feelings of wear and tear, old worn bits of love. you pre-make the repairs that go into a favorite childhood toy- and voila! an ugly bunny! throw on some mismatched eyes and you are good to go.

a sneak peak at those mismatched eyes


i'm not quite done yet. luckily, i still have two days before his birthday party to attach all of the body parts to each other.

i'll let you know how he likes it!


Sunday, April 3, 2011

in a land called spanish fork

spanish fork is  a nothing town in the middle of utah. i would honestly never, ever think of going there if it weren't for a little place called the sri sri temple.

that's right, in the middle of nowhere utah, mormon capital of the world, there is a hindu temple, and every year for the past four years i have made the trek down to that temple to celebrate the coming of spring with them at the holi festival.  the holi festival is also know as the festival of colors, and it started as a religious hindu holiday, but is now treated as a secular holiday throughout india, kind of like christmas here. i mean, you don't have to consider yourself christian to celebrate christmas, and it's recognized as an official national holiday. anyway, this temple in spanish fork celebrates holi with the traditional throwing of colored powders every year, and they invite anyone who wants to join in to do so. that is one of the most wonderful gifts anyone could ever have given me.

 however, i can't describe in words what makes holi so wonderful. i'll just have to show you instead.

there are thousands of people who flock to the festival every year. celebrations go on throughout the day. also, please note that the temple does not normally have a pink sheen to it.


see this smile? there are so many smiles just like this, simply because someone has been hit in the faces with color!

there were people of all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds. most everyone were strangers, yet everyone was friends

and here is a whole bunch of photographic evidence to this being the greatest thing ever.









and lastly, here's a photo of me with pink hair. incidentally, the color dyed my blonde hair pink at least 
semi-permanently. luckily, my boss didn't mind :)