Artistic?

I have never considered myself artistic. I remember dreading art class in elementary school because I was never quite as good as the person sitting next to me. I do remember always being asked to write everyone's work down for them in their agendas because they liked my handwriting though...which did help boost my artistic self-esteem some..I guess. Okay Okay that's really beside the point. The point is that I have always wanted to be artistic, but never felt comfortable even trying to be. Well..out of shear boredom of how plain Jane our house feels and having absolutely nothing to do these days. I'm not complaining about that..just saying that there is only so much to do before you start to get bored. I guess if I was smart I would be getting ready for the school year, but I am just not quite ready for that SO I have been working on some projects for the house.

First up is a painting that I did based off of a painting that my friend Kim sent to me from another blog that she follows. I decided to put my ability to look at a picture and interpret it to my own taste to the test. My friend Amanda took the day off of work because she was jealous of my time off....I mean because her youngest was sick and needed to go to the doctor. :) HA!! I am SOO Funny!! Anyways..we decided to work on some projects that have been on our to-do lists. I decided to suck it up and get started on the huge blank slate before me.

Here is how it all went down...
First I drew the branches with a paint pen.


Then I started making a lot of dots.


Then I made even more dots.


Then I was finished and it looked like this:


Overall I think it went pretty well. I would show you how awesome it looks in the living room and how it adds so much to the space...BUT I can't because it's not on the wall. It is laying on our guest bed waiting to be put up. Sorry any guests that would like to stay over..you can't because there is a huge canvas staying in your spot. When it does get put up though..I will share the final result!

Now on to the next project...

I have been wanting to go to Sips-N-Strokes for FOREVER! The last time that I had the opportunity to go I couldn't, which was a big bummer, but I was determined to go again. I had had my eye on a painting that I thought look super super cute and signed myself up to go. Little did I know that I was signing for one of the harder paintings that they offer. The good news is that I didn't take a picture of what the original looked like so my painting is going to look awesome to you guys!

The beginning of the night...



Break time for a photo opt :) We weren't feeling too awesome about our painting abilities at this point.



Middle of the night...


We are finished!! Although we are not insane artists with some deeply hidden talent, we enjoyed ourselves and had many many laughs throughout the process!


Here's a close up of my masterpiece:


One thing is for sure though and that is that I am one messy painter!



This painting, again has not yet made it to its home home, but it is closer than the other masterpiece I created! ;) This painting is going into our newly painted office. Here are some before and afters of our office. It was touch up painted before we moved in and looked AWFUL so we painted it this weekend. I like it I do believe!

BEFORE


AFTER


BEFORE


AFTER


Hope you guys like it too!

Accomplishment

I am not a runner. I actually have been a hater of running for some time now. I think it stems back from my cheering days when I had to run all the time and it just stunk! Well...I have really been working on my attitude toward running. I am working toward having a well rounded workout and I feel like my cardio is best when I run. There was a 5K on Memorial Day in Pleasant View. On Friday, I decided what the hey...let's give it a try. I couldn't even run a full mile. I hadn't ran/walked more than one mile. I just thought...well if anything I will run what I can and walk the rest. Luckily, I had some accountability partners to run with me. Libby and Amanda have been my workout partners. We keep each other in line...as best we can. Some of us are pretty stubborn..cough cough..me! :) We took off bright and early and while we did not run the whole thing..we FINISHED IT!


I did really well for the most part. I was feeling good. I was accomplishing something. I was so close to the finish line when out of no where...I threw up! lol It was a pretty nice way to finish the race if I may say so myself! :)

We are thinking about trying another 5K to try to beat our time. By the way..the winner won the thing in 16:33 minutes. That's a 5 minute mile. He was from Kenya. That's all you need to know.

End of An Era

It has finally happened. All Claud children have graduated from high school. After seven years of graduations (although mine included two Claud's), I am happy to announce that we will not have to sit through another one until little baby no name graduates from kindergarten, if his school even does that.(Sad to say that many public schools don't do kindergarten graduations anymore!) Otherwise, we have at least 17 to 18 years of rest until then. :) Libby has finished her high school career!! She is extremely excited to leave the past behind her, both good and bad, and see what lies ahead.

Libby,


We are VERY proud of you! You have the most contagious laugh and are a beautiful young woman. You hold your head high and do not let little things get to you! It has taken me years to be able to do that..and still struggle sometimes. You are so confident in yourself and what you want to do with the start to grown-up life. I am very very proud to have gotten so close to my little in age..but bigger in height sister! :)

A few pointers that I learned from my college days...
*Go to sporting events of some kind. It makes your college experience better...even though some teams might suck!
*Don't eat Easy Mac all the time. Yes, it is an easy, cheap meal...but you will gain the freshman 15 pretty easy on that diet. (I had trouble eating it for awhile after I left TTU.)
*Wal-Mart is not a cool hangout unless you are a college redneck.
*Do your homework, but don't let it consume you. Have fun!
*If you need home, we are just a call away. I was tempted many times to pack up and come home, but a call always worked.
*There is a gym. It is nice to hang out in. Some people think you should actually use the equipment. I always just got on it for about 5 minutes and considered it a job well done. Thanks to you...I am much better in this area!
*If a teacher offers extra credit, DO it!! It will help you in the long run..unless you have all A's. You will just be an overachiever if that be the case! :)
*Ratemyprofessor.com is a great source to see which teachers you want to sign up for. It helps when you have choices. If you don't have choices are you're screwed.

Most importantly, remember your family is here for you no matter what. You will be expected to come home and see baby no name and see me...and the rest of your family of course. I will need a pick me up from my personal trainer every now and then so you can't stay gone all the time!




We love you and are so very very proud of your accomplishments. Now...if I could just get your abs....