Goodmorning!

Good Morning. Good Evening. And Goodnight. Hi all blog-readers.... this is the first official blog written in Elk Grove. I just finished taking a math quiz and thought that it would be nice to give a quick good-morning to faithful readers like my dad and Grandma Fay. :) Thank you so much for caring enough about Wes and I to log on regularly and read the latest in our lives. 

Tonight Wes and I went out to dinner with my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday. (happy birthday mama mia!) We went to Tres Harmanas downtown for some amazing enchiladas. After one margarita, laughing and staring at a computer screen finishing up math homework I am officially exhausted and ready for a good night sleep. We have had so much fun celebrating with friends and family. The fun is almost over now and the drive home tomorrow means that we will be driving back to face the music:  finals. By thursday I will have to start and finish two final projects. By monday I will have to be studied up for my math final. And by Saturday (12/12) I will have to start and finish 4 paintings. Needless to say, I have much work cut out for me. These next two weeks will fly by and then after that Christmas shopping will begin and we will be preparing for another drive back into the Grove. We love the holidays. Talk to you again soon....

Love,

Katie   

The Latest 2D design project.

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

For my last 2D design project I was told I would have to pick a phrase that I like and write it over, and over (and over) again to create the many values of a black and white self portrait. I chose the above quote from Pablo Picasso.

-First, I had to choose or take a picture of myself. I chose a black and white image from our engagement session. Wes is in it a little bit though the image was cropped down a bit so you can just see his sleeve. Wish I had the picture online to include in the blog but sadly I don't. Just picture those engagement pictures of ours... I'm in a grey tee and Wes is in a black and white baseball tee like the photo along the left margin of our blog. Anyway...

-Next, I had to graph the image and the page so it would all be to scale

-and Last came the most nerve-racking part.... drawing my face with words. I was so nervous. The poster had to be at least 16" x 16" for some reason I decided to do mine 18" x 24". AND we could only use pen.... so if you made a mistake there was really no turning back.

So here it is....
I did end up making a mistake, obviously my face doesn't quite look like me... I struggled with my eyes... but over all it was a fun project and not a bad attempt for my first time.

The full size of the page with it's first layer of words...
A close up at Wes' sleeve (all words)
One of my eyes and my bangs...
and the finished thing..


So that is that... now I am working on an abstract image of an artichoke... its been a tough one. It is very hard to believe that we will be coming home from our thanksgiving vacation to only TWO weeks of school left. WOW! Life is exciting. We cannot wait to see our family & friends for a whole 6 days. Love you and see you soon,

Katie

Dark hair

For those of you who have been asking, I decided to post a picture of my new hair. Last sunday I decided I would attempt to say goodbye to outgrown highlights by getting back to my natural color. Though I am wondering if it turned out slightly darker than my natural color (I guess I'll find out as it grows out) I really like it. :) So here is a picture for you... taken from the fabulous photobooth on my macbook. It's probably hard to tell the difference because the lighting isn't so great...I'm kind of used to how it looks now so it's hard for me to know for sure. Anyway, thought i'd show it off. Can't wait to go home to Elk Grove for Thanksgiving... stuffing and pumpkin pie are my favorites! Love to you all...

Katie

A Baby Was Born!

No, Wes and I didn't have any babies but Chris and Tiffany did!! For any of you out there who don't know who Chris and Tiffany are, I will explain. Chris is my cousin on my mom's side & Tiffany is his wife. And this is their baby, born November 7 at 2:24 in the morning..... 

Peyton Danielle Ryan

I just had to give a little shout out to the first baby on my mom's side of the family. She is absolutely gorgeous. I cannot wait to meet her and hug her and shake her little hand. Chris and Tiffany congratulations! We love you so much and can't explain our happiness. 

Love,

Katie & Wes

Dear Santa,

Some people have been asking us about what we would like for Christmas. I know this is a little early, Santa, but I thought maybe you'd want our list too.

Katie: gift cards-MAC, Urban Outfitters, Sephora, Gap, Jcrew, nordstrom... you know, fun places. 

Katie: BDG Oxford Shoes, size 8, black

Katie: BDG Black Stretchy Jean, size 27, black

Katie: lise watier Portfolio corrector light complexion

Katie: MAC eyeshadows: I will love any neutral color, though I've had my eye on: 

smut, woodwinked, satin taupe, brule, scene, omega, yogurt,blanc type,naked lunch, Quarry, rice paper

Katie: MAC Paint Pot in "Painterly"

Katie: Kimchi Skimmer shoes, size 8 in "Clay"

Katie: little blush brush (it definitely does not have to be this exact brush, I just want one like this, as long as its good quality.)

Katie & Wes: Board Games: Life, Monopoly, Clue, Sorry, Cranium, Balderdash, you know...the classics.  :) 

Katie: Ecote Canvas Lace Bootie, size 8, black (*These are on sale right now online at Urban outfitters, don't know how much longer they will last)

Katie: Baby Rib 3/4 length sleeve Reglan, American Apparel, size medium, white with black sleeves. 

Katie: I'm on the search for a good pair of sophisticated black heels, preferably pumps or "winter heels" basically. 

Katie & Wes: Rubbermaid Action Packer 24 gallon, (we need on more for camping.) 

Katie & Wes: movies:  The Bourne Identity Trilogy,Planet Earth DVD, Braveheart,The Godfather Movies, The Departed, How to Lose a Guy in 10 days, any of the Friends seasons

Wes: Books: 

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart 

 The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

 Defense of Calvinism by C. H. Spurgeon

 Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution--A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First by Alister Mcgrath 

*Any book on prefabricated homes and architecture with lots of pictures 

*Any coffee-table gardening books

Wes: Magazine subscription to Adventure by National Geographic

Katie: Magazine subscription to Real Simple or InStyle

Sincerely,

Katie & Wes

Christmas 2009

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween!

So these are in the wrong order but here they are....

Our only halloween/fall decoration... (thanks Sue!) 
Our finished pumpkins.... 

My impression of my toothless pumpkin... she was suppose to have eyelashes and big lips but it wasn't executed properly and instead became a huge gaping hole of a mouth... oh well...atleast mine has an awesome wick!

Wes' impression.... ha ha ha
Carving... 
(oh forgive these tired looking eyes of mine... this is the end of a stressful week and two hours before my math midterm...)






baaaaaaaaaaaaaaabaaaaaaaa!

Our New Shelf!

After taking my mom to the airport we decided to randomly drop by IKEA because it's right by the airport. For a while now we had been wanting a rack to put in our kitchen to use as more storage. Well, this trip, we found one! Here it is in the kitchen...

Pretty Snazzy huh? They aren't the best pictures but we love this new addition. It frames up the kitchen nicely... next on the agenda for the kitchen... hang some cool paintings on the walls. This will happen after I pump out all 8 of the paintings that are due this quarter. 

xo