Two For Two Tuesdays

The Big Snow | Part Two | Our Street, originally uploaded by Johnna LaFaith.

we're happy to see snow here

a little story

"when i reached the bottom, i finally understood what Guthrie meant when he shouted, "LIBERO!" It was a celebration of being alive"
— Sharon Creech (Bloomability)

When life is not worth living, there is always Switzerland. There are always cows rattling their swiss bells and alpenhorns being called across the mountains. There are always valleys upon valleys upon waterfalls upon cracks of ice and snow, there will always be this changing morphing landscape which I call home. I was not born here, nor do I own a passport from this country, but there is no other sensation which has given me such a feeling of life, such a sincere view of God's vast knowledge and creation. I want this mountain to be the first thing to see my children, to be shared with all those I have loved, and to be the last thing I see before I close my eyes forever, so that it can be transfered upon my eyelids and stamped upon my soul. There is not a lesson which the mountain does not teach me. I knew it before I met it. It is everything good and plenty, it is the closest I have been to God and it is with my when I am away, inside the pocket of all my dreams.

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I can't believe I haven't told this story yet. I've been meaning to write about it, but when my mother scanned and e-mailed me this award I knew it was time.

When I was 12 I saw a pictures in swiss travel book from the local Flagstaff library, the pictures contained the most beautiful, mountains images I had ever seen in my life. I had no idea those photographs would so effect the future of my subconscious. Later that year I picked up Bloomability by Sharon Creech (I had read just about all of hers) and fell immediately in love with the bright and fresh, but impressionably unstable, Dinnie. In this story...she gets sent to a boarding school in Switzerland where she learns to fall in love with life again. The entire pre-teen novel is intimately written, and evokes a love for international culture, character, and taking life as it comes as you. At the age of 12 I had already attended 6 schools and lived in several different states. I felt like my life was just as upturned as Dinnie's (little did I know that in the future it would only continue, living in Alaska, Costa Rica, Washington, Virginia, New York, London, Switzerland, Arizona, attending 4 colleges before graduation...). It became my life dream to someday visit this Alpine place that had placed itself inside my soul.

At the age of 16 I was searching for study abroad opportunities. I was at my wit's end trying to find the right host family, or program to adhere myself to. At the end of a very long week I remember slumping myself down in front of the computer and turning to my left. There was a slightly tattered book from 4 years prior, Bloomability. I tiredly flipped through it and turned to the last page...The American School in Switzerland... I had no idea that Dinnie's fictional story actually took place in a real school, that was still existing, that Sharon Creech used to teach at! I was beyond myself in happiness, applied right away and received a scholarship to attend for fall semester.

During that semester I began my exploration of photography, met some of my very best friends from around the entire world, hiked glaciers, climbed parts of the alps, found Gimmelwald, and in many ways, became who I am today. It was a time of independence and dreams coming true that meant very much to me in what I was experiencing in my life at that young age.

It may sound corny, but it is one of the many favorite stories in my life, and I wanted to share it with you. I consider myself well blessed to have had my inspirations be so indulged at a young age.

Sharon, I simply cannot tell you how much your story in Bloomability inspired me, and what a large role it has to play within my own life. I have visited and lived in Switzerland several times since, at ages 14, 16, and 20. I hope to return soon, and I hope that my artwork can one day inspire someone to go out and live their dreams like your writing inspired me. I've been nervous to write about this since it means so much to me, since I think there are simply certain things that you can't squish into words.

thanks for listening.

There is nothing which called me more than the Swiss mountains. Nothing more beautiful-more splendid, more idyllic, nothing which holds more grandeur than these!!

And I thought, you must be able to absorb such beauty into who you are and I thought that I could be a more beautiful person by taking them in. Here are some scenes of what I remember:

The Swiss blue hue, their pristine-ness, their jagged, but friendly cliffs. Their expansive ranges, their close up view-their fog, valleys, snow-capped, or bald peaks. Their simple yet complex beauty. The stories they tell you. Their rivers, waterfalls, glaciers, their Swiss cows dangling their chorus bells. The time they soak up in your eyes.

Andermats lime green.

Their inspiration for life.

In the Alps, I see a language of unrealistic enlightenment in thousands of peaks going and going and going and never ending and through to the future

In a moment of white silence in Gimmelwald, they mix power with calm.

Their seal trunks and fresh air and most soil and fall colors and green pastures and changing paths that lead up and up and up to lilacs and homes to caterpillars.

Their drooping evergreens, and springs of clean water.

Here is where everything beautiful is: the potential beauty.

The hidden and unbelievable, the quite and perfect

they teach the feeling of good. J

Measure In Love Mondays

24, originally uploaded by CF008.

How To Stay In Love #24

Flagstaff. AZ.

returning home is not always easy for me,

but I am proud to be from such a beautiful place

filled with mountains and crisp air,

the place where You & I began almost

5

years ago

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we are so grateful for the friends and family we have there

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{pictures coming soon!}

a likeable cupcake story

i must admit,

darling readers,

I have found a cupcake

that I could more than bear.

I think I am into the cream cheese frosting...

ps: I went blonde today

....flagstaff from above................

we'll be taking a break from the regular blogging schedule

for a bit.

Mr. You & I

are visiting back home

.

yo. i have a tumblr

lbking.tumblr.com

Foxy Fridays {petti.boats}

petticoat, originally uploaded by klsanderson.

Yesterday was a bit of a petty pity party for me. It's hard to feel like there is any forward motion in the world of art sometimes. It's time for some letters....

Dear Blog,
I'm sorry that I have not made you consistently challenging, provocative, and divergent in mystery. I'm sorry that I have wasted time writing things that I don't care about, and I've stopped making you into an exploratory creature.

Dear other blogs,
I'm sorry that I have made 26 of you. I think I am loosing my mind.

Dear Hair,
I'm thinking of cutting you very short, donating you, and dying you very blonde...will you mind?

Dear house,
you've been very {very} quiet lately....

Dear Husband,
I know you have 3 jobs now, and one of them is being a full time husband to a very needy wife. Thank-you for being there for me through my wisps and whims. PS: thanks for the rose last night. PSS: It made me cry when you invited me out dancing last night...please do more of that.

Dear Youth,
I'm sorry that I was so insistent upon chaos growing up, it really hurt me from forming any coherent future plan for my life. For the record though, I don't think you knew any better.

Dear Theatre,
I'm totally enamored by everything that you are, even when I hate you. Thanks for being my best friend.

Dear Money,
I don't care how invisible you get, you will never control even the smallest part of my life or happiness.

Dear Internships/Jobs,
Please hire me, I really will be excellent at the job!

Dear New York,
I'm coming soon.

Dear Jealousy,
You are not welcome here. You are so 1999.

Dear Skin,
I'm sorry the makeup from the show is getting to you...it's almost over!!

Dear Mom,
I super duper love you.
You are the hand inside my hand inside my heart.
Thanks for talking every single day, sometimes it feels like you
are the only one that cares.

Dear Blog Readers,
comment more. I miss you.

Dear Name,
I'm sorry I haven't found you yet. I'm sorry "Katie" isn't good enough...but you're just going to have to bear with me till I find the perfect one.

Dear God,
I'm sorry I haven't put enough trust in your plan. Sometimes it is so hard with so much fear and pain in the world. Help me to be angry only when I need to be angry, and to be grateful at all times that I need to be.

Dear Homework,
I really will get to you someday....

Dear Back,
I'm sorry, really...it's been years of abuse....

Dear Aunt Ellen and Cousin Nico,
I'm so excited to see you Saturday!

Dear plane flights,
Please stop scaring me. I can't sleep at night. Please help me to know that it's going to be ok, and even if it's not ok...that the world will go on.

Dear Cavity,
as soon as the show is over....I promise....

Dear Body,
My new goal is to learn how to take care of you.

Dear Snow
I usually love you more than life itself. You have been one of the most inspirational sources for me since I was young...but really...why do you have to cancel our show this saturday? You know what...I can't blame you, I love you too much. I'm blaming hampton roads. On the other hand...it's probably better to have safer people then entertained people ;)

Dear plane flights...
ahh inclement weather! Now I'm really scared of you!!!

Dear digital camera,
You are really beat up, it's bad. One day I will buy you a brand new brother or sister.

Dear benevolent postcard society,

I'm a horrible member. Seriously, I should be kicked out.

Dear new yellow underwear,

I heart you.

Dear curb your enthusiasm,

you are our new favorite show. thanks for making us laugh.

Dear Self,

As weird as it sounds....you need to let some of your talents go, and just concentrate on one for awhile for your sanity's sake. I'm sorry I don't know how to help you more with this choice, I'm sorry you haven't figured out how to combine them all yet....I hope it will come.

Dear Geico Claim Forms,

I'm getting to you....right now....

Dear chocolate mustard seed,
I found you!

anyways...it's friday, have a foxy one.

Things I Make Thursdays

meet ms. evelyn, the spaniard

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i put her up in the vintage-inspired shop today

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i've also been working on this number lately

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she has miles to go before she sleeps