New Feed!

So, I moved my Twitter feed to the top of the blog, and added a tumbler feed for Ezra to the side. Yes, he has an art blog, but he doesn't update it nearly as often as tumblr. As far as I can tell, I can't get a feed that actually shows the art for here on our blog, so you can click on the links in his feed to see his art.

I think that's all for now!

School is starting this week

Well for me at least, Allison has already been taking classes for the past couple weeks now. I am excited, but still trying to figure out my classes while trying to get a full time job so that we can have health insurance. It is a very tricky time when it come to planning but, we are getting though it and having fun trying to make different plans.  I like plans and trying to figure stuff like this out.

We also had a little visitor this past week, here is a little picture I drew of him

We haven't seen him in the past few days or seen any real signs of him, so there is the chance that he is a vagabond and was just passing through.

Also of note I got Allison's birthday present a little early, I also told her about it.  We will be going to a Josh Groben concert in October, she is pretty excited.

Mid way through Summer term and back to blogging

Sorry about the month plus absence from the blogging world, Allison and I both have been equal parts busy, forgetful, and lazy.... when it comes to our blog.  But this will be the restart and hopefully we can get some interesting things down and out to you, our loyal followers... or something.

The end of finals week was killer.  I was able to learn a lot in the class, but there is much that I still want to accomplish in the digital media.  I love digital illustration and being able to work on the computer creating art is a really interesting feeling. (I wrote this back at the end of June)

Now, I have just finished my mid-term for my new summer class, which I have been uploading my progress on my art blog more frequently.

4th of July happened and Allison and I ran a 5k, my first race and probably not my last.

Allison's parents came into town for a few days

and this is a start....

sorry we have just been really busy and not that interesting as of late

Finals and new classes

I am in the middle of finals and Allison has just started a new class. We've been busy this past couple weeks, but we have still found time to play and work extra hours.  Last week we had the amazing experience to be able to attend one of my good friend's marriage in the Provo Temple, we missed the reception for work, but had a great time and a huge breakfast before the marriage.  We also saw some old friends that we miss dearly. ...and pupusas, can't forget the pupusas.

My Digital Illustration class is having a small art show on the 5th floor of the HFAC on BYU campus.  It is all fairy tale based set to a modern or futuristic twist.  I chose Red Ridding Hood... what is the modern equivalent? Hoodies of course, and colorful skinny jeans.  Her Grandmother is sick in the hospital and she is visiting.

There are still a few things I would like to change to it, but we needed to get the show up... I'll post on my blog later this week the finished version.

As we have said before, on Sunday we teach Primary class at church to the 4 year olds.  I get to show off my chalk-art skills each week.  This is a horse... I drew it... 2 minutes, no reference.... 

Not bad for not having drawn a horse in awhile. 

Food experiments and such

I made a random pizza crust out of chicken, flax and an egg, plus some spices for dinner last week and her is the recipe from http://yourlighterside.com/2012/02/easy-pizza-crust/

1 packed cup cooked, minced chicken breast

1 cup packed mozzarella, shredded (we used 1 egg and 1/4 cup flax seed meal instead)

1 Tbsp parsley, dried (I think it was too much, a tsp or 2 would probably be fine, depends on thickness of crust)

1tsp basil

1/2 tsp onion powder (we didn't have any, still turned out good)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

(Replace cheese with the flax and egg)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Process chicken and cheese together. Mixture will resemble a meal/thick, dense crumb consistency.
3. Press chicken/cheese mixture on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
4. Top with parsley, basil, onion and garlic powder.
5. Bake for 12 minutes.
6. Let cool for five minutes.
7. Top with sauce, cheese, and then toppings.
8. Bake for 6-8 minutes more, or until toppings are melted.
9. Let cool for five minutes.
10. Slice and serve.

Makes an entire 12-14″ pizza.

Allison then made a crust straight from chicken, she used a mallet to flatten it then cook it up.... She took out all her anger from me leaving the office messy while finding things to sell on eBay

Allison and I went to the Rec Center again, I kinda just rock climbed the whole time... and I got a flapper.  It's healed since, but secretly... I really like the look of my hands taped up after climbing, shhh don't tell

This past week I was also asked to do some drawings at the library for a display about the author Brandon Sanderson.  I'm a big fan and really like his writing style.  I don't read much fantasy or sci-fi (I don't READ that much when it come to novels, actually) but I do love sci-fi and fantasy.  I'm more of a visual guy and like my comics and graphic novels... and cartoons.... love me a good animation.

So, these pictures aren't the best to show off my drawings, but I like how the display turned out and even threw in a few original ideas based off the "chalklings" in his book illustrated by Ben McSweeny

I would love to have a shot at adapting one of his books into a comic...

Preferably The Alloy of Law, I love that one

He is coming to the Provo Library June 3rd at 7pm, free tickets may or may not still be available at the Library reference desk, and there is a standby line the night of, just sayin.

While out for a Sunday stroll, we came across this house with a vehicle with an attached snow-plow (not that unusual in Utah).... I started to point it out to Allison, and mid-sentence I stopped myself and changed topic to Ronald McDonald waving from behind the plow.... It was odd, but one of those things that make you happy that you saw it.

Not that much new has happened in the past week, but we have been busy.  Allison is racing through books like no other before she starts classes up again in a few weeks and I am mid-way through my Digital Illustration class.  We will be having a small art show in the HFAC on BYU campus sometime this summer... I think it will be my third that I have been in on campus. I'll keep you posted as it gets closer.

This week got forgotten about

I got super caught up in the week and forgot to post last Sunday. We also didn't have internet for a few days and that was tragic.  Allison and I started teaching Primary at church, CTR 4 class, cute little four-year-olds running around.  Last week was our 1st week and it was great once we started teaching, even though I was mostly the helper and just drew on the board most of the time. It was a great experience and we feel like we are starting to fit in now.

We have started hiking around the mountains out our back door.  It is really nice to be able to walk a few blocks and then start down a trail. On Friday the 26th, last week we ended up hiking over 6 miles and it was a blast.  I brought a sketchbook and drew as we went while listening to music and Allison listened to an audio book.

We also went to a co-worker's/friend's house for a BBQ.  It was fun visiting and seeing our friends outside of work. As well as seeing some of our old co-workers that don't currently work with us.

I'm tired and need to go to bed so, bye for now.  I'm sure Allison will post tomorrow a most excellent post as she usually does.

Breathing Room?

Well, I am now done with my portfolio submission to Nickelodeon Animation Studios' Nick Artist Program.  It is a summer internship that I am excited about.  I don't think that I will get it this year, but I loved the challenge of getting a portfolio ready.  I also have entered finals and have been busy with those, but I am not stressing out about them this time around I just have one more on Friday.

We have been up to Salt Lake 3 weeks in a row now and may end up there sooner than later. The Grandparents came into town on a trip through Utah, sightseeing, and on through to California.  It was unexpected, but welcomed.  I enjoyed seeing them since I usually only see them on holidays maybe twice a year.

Allison is still doing amazing in her classes and we are both super excited about a new app we have started using, MyFitnessPal, you can enter in what you are eating and it shows how many calories you are eating, plus other nutritional facts as well as your workouts and how many (presumably) you are burning. We'll keep you posted on how well it works. 

We were sorry to hear about the tragedy that occurred at the Boston Marathon on Monday.  Our prayers go out to those effected in the aftermath of this sad event.  We have some friends that run marathons and they were our first thought, luckily they are training for another event that they are going to next week in Virginia.  Hopefully they will figure out the exact reason and who did this soon.

Conference Weekend

It’s been a pretty great week! Why? General Conference!

For those who don’t know what General Conference is (if you do, you can skip this paragraph), it’s something that happens in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints twice a year, the first full weekend in April, and the first full weekend in October. It’s a conference where church leaders provide inspiring words, guidance, and counsel to everyone in the church. You’ll often find LDS families watching General Conference (which is broadcast worldwide) in their homes, or in their local church building. General Conference is broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, which happens to be totally within driving distance of us.

I love going up to Salt Lake for Conference, even if we’re not in the Conference Center. So on Sunday, since the Provo Library is closed, Ezra and I drove up to Salt Lake and hung out on Temple Square. We watched the Sunday morning session of Conference in one of the Visitor Centers, and then went to Ezra’s Mom’s place for lunch. She had some pretty great pizza, and we decided we didn’t want to face the traffic for the second session at 2pm, so we just stayed put and watched it on TV.

Had to visit the Christus.

Too shy to ask a stranger to take our picture, so we did it ourselves. Not the best lighting, but we were happy to be there!

I love daffodils.

And Ezra decided to take a picture of me taking a picture of the daffodils.

After Conference was over we watched a new show BYU TV is producing called Granite Flats. The show was filmed entirely in Utah, and in some locations around Salt Lake. We drove around for a while with Ezra’s sister and her family trying to find some of the filming locations.

In one of the school sets we thought we saw that the name of the school was Granger. So we went to Granger Elementary School. This was definitely NOT the school it was filmed at.

While on the road I was researching it on my phone and saw that they were trying to purchase Granite High School for filming (the article was a little aged). So we went to Granite High School... which was completely closed off and had asbestos signs in all the windows and doors. Definitely not filmed there. We found out later that the school was about a ten minute drive from their house, so perhaps another day we will find the filming location.

After that we wanted some fresh air and stopped by Liberty Park and peeked in at the Tracy Aviary. We had a lot of fun getting out and sharing stories. It was a great conference weekend.

Some of the birds. Just chilling.

No major plans for this coming week. Ezra is getting his portfolio together for the Nick Artist Program so he’s been busy being artsy. We’re not really getting our hopes up about it. He said he wants to apply so he can frame Nickelodeon’s rejection letter. I think it’s brave to try something when you’re 95% sure you’re going to be rejected. So no matter what happens, I’m proud of him for applying.

The week of continual sick, ugh

This week has been mostly about rest and relaxation.  We have remained sick and possibly got each other sick again. Allison is on the mend which hopefully means that I shortly will be too.

On the plus side Allison finished her first sewing project, an apron. Se is very excited about it and can't wait to use it.  I think she did a really great job on it. She is enjoying sewing, there were a few cases of frustration that arose but it was the sewing machines fault, mostly.

Ezra modeling the almost finished apron.

All done!

My mom spoke in Church today and that took us up to Salt Lake.  We had a great dinner and I got some of my birthday presents early since I might not see them again before my birthday. Doctor Who Yahtzee.  Hehe, the cup IS the TARDIS.  We have yet to play it, but I am sure we will enjoy it.

I'm also working on a personal project, An animation based on the Russian fairy tale the Snow Maiden. Not to be confused with Disney's upcoming adaptation of the Snow Queen, Frozen. I'll start posting images and progress on my art blog.

I'm still not very good at knowing what to say in these blog posts.

The Great Purge

This week seemed to go by in a blur.  Not much excitement happened around here that we can remember.  We are on the 6th season of Boy Meets World now waiting for the new series to start.

I started to make the purge of my childhood. It has been a long time coming and I am now at a point in my life where I can arise from the dust (of my childhood), and be men (man, I'm only one after all .  My mom moved over Christmas time and it gave me a chance to go home and get the remainder of my stuff, now I am slowly working at selling it on eBay and through other sources.  It is nice to have it all under one roof for the time being, but a bit in the way....  Ok, lets face it, a huge burden to our living space.  As I sort through it, it tends to get strewn across the floor and tables, and couch... But on the plus side we were able to get the lovesac situated in a manner most befitting for the face of Boe.

I was able to finally take my bike out this past week too.  It was cold and I couldn't feel my toes for most of Friday, but it was worth it to feel the freedom of personal transportation again.

Allison sat at a desk really really board for upwards of 6 hours on Saturday helping with the Family Literacy Symposium at the Provo Library.  Shannon Hale was the guest speaker.

Allison pointed out last week that I'm not one to curl up with a book, that is mostly true, I don't do it very often, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it.  I just feel that when I'm in a long book that takes many hours to read, I could be using my time differently, like drawing or building something.  But I do get lost in art books frequently.

Allison starts up her real classes later this week and I am still working on mine. I will be stating to post more of my art on my art blog soon so go check that out too... http://ezrads.blogspot.com/

2012 Christmas Letter

We've been meaning to write a blog post, but things have been a little crazy since we made it home from the Northwest. So, to make up for it, here is a copy of our Christmas letter. Enjoy!

2012 has been a rather productive year for the Smith family. Here are a few of the highlights.

Allison became a reference librarian at the Provo Library in January and is absolutely in love with her new position. She rarely asks for time off but on Saturday, June 9th she took a day off to run the Utah Valley Marathon. She trained hard throughout the year and it was tough, but she finished in less than six hours and received her finisher’s medal. She can finally mark “run a marathon” off her bucket list. In August Allison decided she wanted to further her education and become the best librarian she could by receiving her Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS). She applied to San Jose State University and was accepted. She will begin classes in January 2013. Finally, in November, Allison decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal was to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. She did it! Allison can now claim to be a novelist, even though it’s unpublished and may never see the light of day. That’s just one more thing she can mark off her bucket list.

Ezra went to California for a week in March with the Illustration department from BYU. They visited animation studios, video game studios, some fine artist personal studios, grad schools, and museums. He has a stronger drive to work in the animation industry but also continues dabbling in electronics and mobile app development. Having always been a little ADD when it comes to hobbies, he has had difficulties in choosing a major and sticking with it while in college.

We took our anniversary trip in August to visit Allison’s family, then toured various places in Oregon such as McDowell Creek Park, Enchanted Forest, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Then we traveled up to Washington, went zip lining, and saw Ezra’s family. It was a fun vacation and we look forward to planning next year’s.

To end the year, WE’VE MOVED! It was sudden but necessary because of some unfortunate circumstances with our home at [Address not available online]. Our new address is:

[Address not available online.].

We call it our best Black Friday deal because that’s the day we found it. We were finally able to start moving in on December 8th and are actually still in the process. We’ll officially be out of our old place on the 19th. This was definitely a move we needed to make and our new home is wonderful in all the ways our old place was lacking. Though the actual process of moving hasn’t been very fun, we really like our new home and it fits our needs well. Hopefully we’ll be staying here for quite a while.

We hope this letter finds you well and wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Best wishes,
Ezra and Allison Smith

Snow

This past week a few interesting things have happened to us.  The first was the Provo Library had me make a backdrop for a few display cases on the second floor.  It was fun to work on and I will be working on another in a little bit for December too.  The other thing that happened was SNOW!!! And like typical Utah fashion we got about 8 inches in one day, and then it stopped and we probably wont get anymore til Thanksgiving.

Allison has been typing up a storm since the first.  Working on a story for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Where as I have been drawing more and more lately.  Both are good, except that I let her see my work, she wont let me read any of her book.  But I do understand, I don't exactly like it when people peer over my shoulder when I am drawing.  Next week I might show off my head and all my bald glory.

Photo Update and Video Tech Challenge

Here are the most recent pictures for the photo-a-day project!

30 January 2012

I had some time today and thought I'd paint my nails. Green! Not mold! I think it'll be easier to keep my nail polish looking nice with my new position at the library. Less nail chipping tasks.

31 January 2012

This is Ezra's painting of me! This was his first time painting, and I think he did a pretty awesome job. Granted, I have no face... yet.

1 February 2012

We have monthly technology challenges at the library for the staff and we get prizes when we complete them. This was Ezra's prize for the January challenge.

2 February 2012

My little peas are shooting up! They make me so happy. Some of the other plants I will have to thin out soon. For all but the peas I planted 4 seeds per container in case some didn't sprout. Both of my peas sprouted though, and I think I'll have to do some more. Peas are possibly my favorite vegetable.

Also, every month the library has a technology challenge for the staff. For February, the challenge is to make a video using Windows Live Movie Maker, then share it with friends and family. You can upload the video directly to Facebook, YouTube, and others from the program. The biggest challenge I had was finding royalty free music that I could use without getting in trouble. So, here it is!

Photo-a-day Project 2012

So I've been doing a photo-a-day project on facebook, and I thought I'd post the photos that I have so far, along with their captions for those who aren't on facebook. I know a lot of the pictures are kind of grainy, I've just been using the camera on my phone since that's the camera most readily available.

1 January 2012

This is on display in the HFAC. It was part of Ezra's final project in his illustration class. It's a big honor to have your piece chosen to go on display, and his was!

When Ezra showed it to his class someone commented that it reminded him of the move Mr. and Mrs. Smith... Ezra informed him that "Smith" was in fact our name.

2 January 2012

We've been cleaning up the living room and trying to find places for all of our books. I've been asking Ezra repeatedly if we could use the fireplace, and today he said we could. So, we lit a fire! We have lots of old decrepit books that would be going to the dump, so we decided to use some of them as kindling (phone books work great!).

3 January 2012

Two new book cases!!! We needed them so bad. Finally our floor isn't covered with piles of books. :-)

4 January 2012

Tried a new recipe tonight for dinner. It was an orange chicken type thing. We had salad with salsa on the side. It was good, the two didn't really go together, but it was food, and we got our serving of veggies. :-)

5 January 2012

Roasting marshmallows by the fire. :-)

6 January 2012

We had some random boards that we wanted to use as firewood... we couldn't break them, so we tried a lot of different methods of cutting them. We never made it through and it took Ezra forever to get even this far.

7 January 2012

Kinda dark, but this is a regular occurrence right before bed, Ezra's doing stuff on his phone as our kids (the stuffed animals) wait to be put away for the night.

8 January 2012

We don't have a table in our house, let alone a desk. This is Ezra's work space, the living room floor. Ezra likes to spread out, but he's good about getting it all put away before bed. :-)

9 January 2012

We have a crazy neighbor that always gets angry about where I put my garbage can. Here is proof that I am NOT in his driveway, or even in his way. My car is blocked, not his. He says he's going to report me to the city. I called the city and they said this is fine.

10 January 2012

Ezra likes ninjas... we have a stuffed ninja Mickey Mouse. Ezra thought it would be funny to give him a sword. Ninja Mickey protects us from crazy neighbors by guarding our window.

11 January 2012

I always win the dinner battle, but sometimes there are casualties... like my poor wooden spoon that is now chipped. Sad day!

12 January 2012

I walked into the kitchen and saw Ezra standing on the counter... he was trying to figure out perspectives for a drawing he wanted to do.

13 January 2012

Since our lives really are kind of boring, I thought I'd introduce you to some members of our family. Today, I'd like you to meet Thelonious, or Thelo for short. I had a roommate that named all of her plants, and when I got Thelo I sort of picked up the habit. He's the first plant I got while in Utah.

14 January 2012

Meet Bat! He's one of our aloe vera plants. Ezra named him. Bat had some arms that curved around the side of his pot that Ezra though made it look like bat wings.

15 January 2012

This is our second aloe vera plant, Owl! I felt like since Ezra gave the other the name Bat, I wanted this one to have a similar, night creature name, so I call her Owl.

16 January 2012

Hello Peter Parker! He's our first spider plant, and Ezra thought he should be called Peter Parker since he's a spider.

17 January 2012

This is the newest addition to our plant family, Doc Ock. He's still just a baby, but Peter Parker had a start growing from him so I decided to put it in water and grow another spider plant (I love them so). I thought another Spiderman character would be a fitting name, so He's our little Doc Ock.

18 January 2012

So The Woman in Black came in for me. A group of us in circulation have a little book club and this was the next book we wanted to read, since the movie is coming out (and the movie has Daniel Radcliff). I'm excited to have a scary book to read. I don't typically choose something like this for myself.

Update: 26 January 2012 Good book! I finished reading it today. Chilling, thrilling, and just some good scariness. Nothing graphic or violent, just creepy make you want to look behind you and hide under the covers.

19 January 2012

I was really missing gardening so I made a little container garden on one of my book selves. I don't know how the plants will do, but my fingers are crossed!

20 January 2012

So I went on a long run today, and about half way through the miles I was supposed to be doing I gave up because I was hurting like crazy. I knew my shoes were getting bad, but it took me a while to concede. I got off the treadmill and walked over to 26.2 and bought myself a new pair of running shoes. Here they are!

21 January 2012

Cringe! Okay, I know it's gross, but I didn't have a better picture for today. This is one of the many reasons I needed new running shoes. Right between my big toe and the smaller toe, the callouses had built up a lot. Great, lots of padding, right? Well, it's fine until your feet dry out and the callous splits... right down to the really soft tissue. It's been hurting so bad! I can hardly walk and when I do it's with a limp. I've been using liquid bandaid in the crack to try to encourage it to heal. Fingers crossed!

22 January 2012

On Sunday's I love to take time and cook something fun. Banana bread has been my favorite recently. So I thought today I'd get a picture of my collection of cookbooks, dilapidated discards from the library and otherwise.

23 January 2012

My plants are already sprouting! I've got some peas and flowers that have popped out of their dirt.

24 January 2012

I had to clean out my locker in circulation. I found this in the pile of papers I pulled out. It was from Halloween, when circulation became "Library High."

25 January 2012

First day as a reference librarian! Really my badge and name tag hasn't changed, but I was just so excited to be moved over to reference! Really though, I do miss circ. I like knowing what I'm doing and at the moment, I don't all the time. But I suppose that's how it is with any new job.

26 January 2012

I fear you may get lots of plant updates for my photos. I love my little babies, they make me so happy! Anyway, the plants that have already sprouted are thriving, and some dill started sprouting overnight!

27 January 2012

Ezra doesn't yet know that I grabbed another one of his drawings to post... hehehe. Anyway, he was setting this one up because he wanted to draw our feet with us in our wedding clothes. So we were sitting on the couch, he set up his camera on a timer, and I was bored. I got out my kindle and was reading a book while all of this was going on, ha ha. He liked the picture so much that he drew the whole thing. :-)

28 January 2012

Ezra's first experience painting. He's having a lot of fun making a mess in the living room. It's supposed to be me, walking up our steps after working out.

29 January 2012

Not man on wire, but bunny on glasses! Hopson was walking around Ezra's head.