Sad....

If you've been wondering where I've been I've been stuck studying for about three weeks and after all that studying I still failed my insurance exam...again. Yes, I have taken the Mississippi Property and Casualty insurance exam twice and failed it the first time with a 68 and the second time with a 69. I only have to make a 70. To say I was crushed is an understatement. I cried, I heaved, I hyperventilated a little when I checked my computer and saw that sad little score. I'm not upset over the failing of the test, I've failed lots of things in my life, I'm upset over the investiment of time. I've spent litterally every spare minute over the last three weeks studying for this test. I took it the first time at the urging of my boss, when I knew good and darn well I had to business wasting the time or the money to take the thing a mere week after going to school the previous weekend. I took it yesterday and felt a lot better about it and still managed to fail it. Oh well. Life goes on, puffy tear swelled eyes go down, and studying will begin again. At least I'm going up each time instead of going down which was the case when I took the ACT in high school. It's a hard, tricky test with lots of questions you never have to answer in real life but the state feels is of utmost importance to quiz you on, stupid. It's also multiple choice which is my cryptonite. I literaly would rather take an essay test and fill up three blue books than take this damn 100 question multiple choice test.

So, I'm going to take a few weeks off and go back and try to take it on the 18th. My house needs a good cleaning, I'm behind on some photography work, and I want to do a little sewing. I'm off Friday so if at all possible there will be some riding done this weekend as well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July holiday and I'll hopefully be in better spirits next week. I'm just pretty down right now and if you don't mind I'm going to wallow just a little.

Later my loveies.

2009 Greenville Arts Council Juried Invitational Exhibition

Tomorrow the third biennial Juried Invitational Exhibition presented by the Greenville Arts Council opens in Greenville, MS. Anyone in the delta area should drop by, it looks like it is going to be a great show. I was lucky enough to have two pieces accepted into the show, actually two photos that all of you have already seen. One is the dogwood piece and the picture of King's Store in Noxubee county. I am so excited and proud to be in this show. It is the first show I have been in since my BFA show in May 2005. There are 48 pieces in the exhibition and 31 artists. After I graduated from art school I was so disgusted by the entire experience that I took a little break from fine art work and exhibitioning. I was in several shows while in college and was acutally in this show previously before I graduated so I know it is a wonderful show put on by a great arts council. I wish I could go but it's two and a half hours away and I would have to leave work early to make it, so I'm going to wait and go pick up my pieces, if they don't sell, and look at the exhibition then. It will not be as good as being at the opening but oh well. If you're interested in the show or seeing who is exhibiting, have a look at their website:

http://greenville-arts-council.com/

Have a good evening my lovelies, I know I will the hubby will be home after four days on the road and we'll finally get to celebrate our two year anniversary which was Tuesday.

Hello everyone! I'm sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've been so incredibly busy and exhausted after work that all I want to do when I get home in the afternoon is anything but look at the computer. I've been working in my little kitchen garden by the back door and I have pictures that need to be posted. I have also been sewing a little and absolutely devouring Natalie Chanin's book "Alabama Stitch Book."

*photo from amazon.com*

I know everyone in the blogoverse has already talked about how great it is and that's how I found out about it myself, but I finally chunked down the money and bought my own copy and I am so glad I did. It's absolutely beautiful and I am so inspired I have been slowly gathering up the materials I need to make my first project. Hopefully I can trace and cut the pattern for the skirt tonight. I'm really excited about the entire process and hope it comes out well.

I promise tomorrow there will be another update and hopefully I can get back in the swing of updating again. I was doing okay there for a while and then just quit.

Oh, and today is my second wedding anniversary and my darling hubby sent me flowers at work. Isn't he sweet! It's a really pretty mixed bouquet and I love it. Sometimes I could just kill him and then there are times like today when he sends me flowers and I remember why I love him all over again. Hope everyone is having a great day! Later my darlings!

Things I want....

I am feeling horrible. I mean HORRIBLE. I just want to go home curl up in bed with TCM and veg. I also want chocolate and massage. If I'm going to want stuff I might as well just go all out.

Other things I want:

*To go to the X-Men movie this weekend. Sadly I don't know who I can get to go with me. My husband is not a scifi fan and definitely does not get my obsession with all things "X." I mean come on its got Gambit in it! I don't know about the actor they've chosen but I'm willing to give the guy a chance. I was skeptical about a tall dancing Australian for the choice of Wolverine but Hugh Jackman has turned out to be a perfect Logan.
*Sew. I have three shirts cut out and a skirt. I want new clothes and me sewing them seems to be the easiest and least frustrating choice. Everything in the stores right now is a ruffled, poufy, ane more suited for a 12-year-old.
*Read. I rarely get the opportunity to just read anymore. I usually try to take a little time every day to read the book I've currently got going and boy do I miss those hour breaks between classes when I could just camp out in the sun and read or journal.
*Write. I have a journal with lots of inspiration images but very little writing. This needs to change.
*Ride. I want to go on a long trail ride. I mean a couple of hours long trail ride. I want to talk and ride with some other horse people and enjoy my horses and being outside.

Other things I need to do this weekend because I have to:

*Pictures. I have two sets of pictures left to go to get me completely caught up. A baby shower and a wedding anniversary. Those have got to be done as soon as possible.
*Cleaning. My nasty house needs to be cleaned. End of story. The end.
*Yard work. I have some plants and I want to get my container garden started for the year. I have got to get some soil from the horse pasture but aside from that I have a horrible bed that needs to be worked up and I'm dreading it. The shrubs need clipping, the grass needs cutting, etc., etc., etc.....I promise some better posts next week, but lately I just haven’t' had the will or the energy.

Have a good weekend my lovelies!

Cotton District Arts Festival

People out shopping at the Cotton District Arts Festival


Finally, an update on the festival! Saturday I attended the Cotton District Arts Festival in Starkville, MS. The Cotton District Festival has grown by leaps and bounds every year and this year was the largest festival with over a 100 vendors. Everything has to be handmade, the do not allow any mass produced items which I think is absolutely wonderful. I didn't get to walk around as much this year being a vendor but in years past there are painting, drawings, ceramics, jewlery, photography, clothing, wood crafts, and many more things. I was excited to be accepted and terrified at the same time. It was my very first festival and I was so scared that I wouldn't sell anything, that and it rained the first two hours we were there didn't help my spirits any!

We got there around 6:00 a.m., my mom and I, and just got the tent set up when it started raining. I quickly set up the tables, laid out my jewelry, and kind of waited on putting out my photos until it stopped raining. Around 8:30, 9:00ish it stopped raining and the people started coming out

My first festival booth!

I was really pleased with the reaction to my jewelry and my photography. I had a lot of people who really spent time in the booth looking at prints and saying how much they like them and actually sold several! I had some photographers, graphic designers, and architects stop by and gave me some great feedback and I couldn't be more thrilled with what they said. I even made a 10 year graphic designer look twice with my new photoshoped work and she couldn't tell if it was a straight photograph or if it was photoshoped. That made the entire day worthwhile. :) I also got lots of good feedback on the jewelry. I had several people say it was the most unique they had seen, the beads were very different, and best of all they bought it! Fifty four pairs were sold to be exact. I've been wearing my own stuff for years but who would have thought that other people would like it too! I sold just about every piece that I took, I think I had something like 6 or 8 pairs left. It just about totally cleaned out my etsy shop so I'm having to make new stock for that as we speak. Overall it was a great experience and me and mom had a ball. My booth neighbors were wonderful and really made the day very enjoyable. I'm already planning my next festival for in the fall and I can't wait. This one was a great learning experience and I have a lot of ideas for the next one. I hope all of you are having a great week!

Later Darlings!

Last day of work for the week!

Today is my last day of work for the week! WOOT! I'm taking off tomorrow as planned to work on last minute things for my booth. I will be a matt cutting fool as of this time tomorrow. I hope I can sneak in a little riding and enjoy the beautiful weather we are having. They are still calling for rain Saturday but I'm hoping that it will clear off and we can continue having beautiful sunshine like we have had the past two days or as least it will hold off until after 3:00 p.m.

The image above is one of the ones that I will have for sale Saturday. I'm trying some different things with textures in Photoshop and still don't know exactly how I feel about it. That was one thing about art school, you had a critique every week and you always knew for the good or the bad what people thought of your work. I haven't had that in, good gosh, four years! It seems almost a lifetime ago. About this time in 2005 I was recovering from the hell that preparing for senior thesis was and contemplating running away to Oklahoma and going to work for a horse trainer I knew out there. :) My entire senior year of art school was hellish and I was just glad it was over.

But anyway, back to the artwork. Please come by my booth Saturday if you're in Starkville and you want some free, fun entertainment. You don't even have to buy anything! Just stop by say hello and help me celebrate my first public display of art in four years. It's been way too long and I'm ready I think to get back in the exhibition scene. I even have a couple of shows I'm planning on entering. Have a wonderful day my darlings and if I don't post anymore until Monday have a wonderful weekend as well!

This is me and the other lady I work with the past two days. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I work at an insurance agency and some days you just want to throw up your hands in frustration, lock the doors, and go home. Nothing you do is right, nothing corporate does is right, and even the boss man can't help you. From the moment we walked in the door the phone has rang, the e-mails, have rolled in, and we finally got to catch our breath at about 11:00 a.m.

Yesterday was just as bad if not worse.

Thank goodness I only have to work 4 days this week.

I'm slowly but steadily getting things ready for my booth Saturday, but I'm a little worried. It is supposed to rain and storm this weekend, but the weather forecast changes every day so I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope it holds off until the afternoon to rain. That's why I'm off Friday, I'll be gathering up the last of everything, packing, getting change, and all the other things that I haven't thought of yet.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter full of lots of chocolate and family togetherness. :) My baptism went well even though fate conspired against it. There had been work done on the church this winter and unknown to anyone they had broken the waterline for the baptismal. The preacher called me all in a panic and frustrated and asked what did I want to do. We had already talked to my husband's uncle and he said they had ran water hoses in the back door and into the baptismal in the past that. There is a heater for the water so the water would be warm if we could just get it in there. I did not want to postpone it because if I did it would just get put off and put off and I would procrastinate and it wouldn't get done until next Easter so I said let's go ahead. The preacher along with a few other men at the church ran waster hoses in the back door at 11:00 p.m. Saturday night and filled up the baptismal. So, we had warm water, I got dunked, and I am now a certificate holding, fully immersed baptized Baptist and remember of the church. Of course I had brought extra clothes but was sitting in Sunday school and realized that I didn't have any extra underwear. I got my bra and underwear squeezed out as best I could afterwards with a towel but I still high tailed it out of there as quickly as I could so as not to embarrass myself. I know people wanted to congratulate me but I was more worried about my damp underwear showing through my clothes along with my rapidly drying hair that was taking on the appearance of a two day old dead cat.

All in all it wasn't that bad and the preacher was very kind and explained to the congregation that I was saved and had been for a very long time along with having already been baptized by sprinkling in the Presbyterian church and that I was doing this out of respect for the church and that he appreciated my willingness to do so. (Man that was a long grammatically incorrect sentence.) He also Baptized me by my full name (first, maiden, married) which meant a lot to me. Every once in a while it's nice to be acknowledged for yourself and not just as somebody's wife, in the South though that's a loosing battle sometimes.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend and I hope yours was just as good.

Have a wonderful day my lovelies!