sorry

sorry for sucking at blogging lately! I just got back from a road trip to Munich and Zurich. Look for updates!

final Logo

Hey guys! Here is the logo i designed for the European Union Organic Farming logo contest! Grand prize...6,000 Euros!!! Wish me luck!

German student ambassator

Hey guys! I just sent in my application to be a student ambassador for Germany! It would be an amazing chance for me to spread my love for Germany to other students and hopefully get more kids to come to Germany! If i get chosen I would get to go to NYC for 3 days for a student ambassadors conference and get to plan events every semester at KU to promote Germany! It would be an amazing experience. I should find out mid June! WISH ME LUCK!!!!

Ain't Life Grand?

Everyday here is perfect. I have not had one single bad day, not even a mediocure day, not even a decent day... I wonder why? Maybe it is just my out look on things?? I am in Germany for god's sake. I feel like i live everyday to the fullest here. When don't i do this in America?? I am the happiest I have ever been. Everyday is such a blessing and i have learned so much. I feel so full of life. I hope this feeling never ends. I hope I can keep this motivation for life and living everyday as if it was your last up when i get back to the states. WOW. my life is wonderful. Maybe it is because everyday is full of some type of exercise?? or the food i eat is super fresh (no preservatives here!)...i don't really care why. I am just so thankful to be alive and here every second of everyday and i wouldn't have it any other way!

type design

I love this class. It is so incrdibly challenging! i have never had the opportunity to design my own typeface (font) and this is a really awesome experience. I have learned so much through my struggles and frustrations. ( you have to really want it!) Here is the first part of the typeface. It is called Chihuly because i designed it based off the works of Dale Chihuly, my fav. artist at the moment. I still have a majority of the alphabet to design and will post it when it is completed in 3 weeks! :) I included the images i based my design off of. Hope yo like it, and if you don't, i don't care cuz i do! hehehe

it's that time of year folks

well people, it is that time of year....graduation....i know i know, i should be walking across that stage, or actually SHOULD HAVE, but some of us take a bit longer to figure out our life path and i am glad i did! BUT, my best friend Brook recently graduated from Pitt State University, in Pittsburg, Kansas (also a graphic design kid!!!) I was devistated i couldn't make it to here graduation so she did a little something special to ensure i was there in spirit. The photos tell it all! Thanks Brooke!!!!

print making

hey guys! here are some of the beginning stages of my first ever print! I am in an INTAGLIO print making class. This type of print making is produced by ETCHing an image into a metal plate and then printing it using a large "rolling pin type machiene". It is a lot more complicated then that but that is for me to know and you to ask How did she do that?? :) I am still in the first stages... the first pic is of the image i etched into the actual plate. the second image is the first print i made! the third image is of the print making equipment, cool huh? I am currently working on enhancing the print by adding shadows and tints through a process called AQUA TINT. I love this class and am looking forward to producing some really neat stuff. For more information about the Intaglio print making process please visit: INTAGLIO PRINTMAKING

Daily Horoscope

Check this out, this was my horoscope for today... PERFECT! I live by the sun and moon and stars not society!

May 14, 2009

Gemini (5/21-6/21)

Listen to yourself and follow your mood today -- ignore what other people are telling you to do, especially if they are telling you to hurry up. They're not being fair. Their idea of laziness is something you call relaxation. After all, life depends on perspective and their point of view is nothing like yours. Therefore, you don't have to pay them any mind. You will be happy once you disregard the naggers because following your own rules is liberating.

so you think your an animal lover???

okay, i love animals. Like a lot. Back in Lawrence I frequent the local animal shelter and am the proud mommy of two kitties. I believe in equal treatment for animals all over the world BUT how far is too far? I treat my cats like my children and before my dog, Jordie passed away, he was spoiled rotten and considered an equal member of the family.... we used to say he was human inside... So, i understand this obsession with pets, but i have found Europe is WAY more into animal equality then we are in the US. For example, my first full day in Germany, a group of us walked into a really nice Italian resturant to have lunch and sitting in the middle of the dining room (next to its owner of course) was a HUGE dog. Now, a dog in a resturant?? that would never happen in the states! BUT in Europe it is completely normal. Dogs are allowed pretty much everywhere humans are. In stores, resturants, on the bus, you name it and i have probably seen a dog there. People even let their dogs shit everywhere (and noone bothers to clean it up!). However, I do believe the dogs in Europe are more well behaved, well maybe not, shall I say they have been trained well. There are no leash laws in Germnay. Dogs run wild, well not really, but they follow their owners from a distance. If you try and hollar at a dog to come to you or pet it, it will walk right by you without a second glance! and continue loyally behind its owner. It is awesome. I am never afraid of getting bit by a dog wondering around, because they are not ever really wondering, they are following, like they are in a pack. It is crazy how well these dogs behave. American's should work more on training there dogs, I have not seen one yappy, little ankle bitting dog or big dog for that matter.

When we were in Amsterdam, there were cats everywhere. In all the shops and resturants. We had dinner one night at some turkish Kabob (gyro) place and when i went to pull out my seat to sit down at the table, I was startled to find a cat curled up, sleeping in the chair! At a resturant! CRAZY..

Holland

april 29-may 3, 2009

What can I say about Holland, besides that it is the most open minded, free spirited country I have ever set foot in. I loved this country, the food, the people and most of all the liberation...

I was speaking to Marthe and Jelena, (my two good friends here in Trier, both ladies from Holland) , i would say the 3rd week I was in Germany, and they insisted I had to come check out Holland. Being down for pretty much any sort of travel, and considering all the cool things i had heard about Holland, like wooden shoes, gingerbread-looking houses and of course Amsterdam, I agreed. We discussed dates and the said I HAD to come the weekend of Queen's Day (the biggest party day in Holland.) For those of you interested, here are the "official details" regarding the celebration of Queen's Day: (thank you Wikipedia!):

>>>>>Queen's Day celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlandsand is supposed to be a day of national unity and "togetherness" (Dutch: saamhorigheid). The tradition started on 31 August 1885 on the birthday of Princess Wilhelmina, later Queen Wilhelmina. Since 1949, after the ascension of Queen Juliana, Queen's Day is Queen Juliana's birthday on 30 April. Although Queen Beatrix's birthday is on 31 January, she officially celebrates her birthday on 30 April. Queen's Day is known for its "freemarket" (Dutch: vrijmarkt) all over the country, where everybody is allowed to sell things in the streets. Other activities during Queen's Day are children's games, individual musical performances, and music concerts. The night before Queen's Day is celebrated too in some cities, and this is called Queen's Night (Dutch: Koninginnenacht). The largest celebration of Queen's Day is in Amsterdam, Queen's Night in The Hague and Queen's Dance (Dutch: Koninginnedans) in Rotterdam. During the celebrations as reference to the colours of the House of Orange-Nassau, people dress in the colour orange, which is sometimes called "orange craze" (Dutch: oranjegekte).<<<<<<<<>

FUCKING BLOGGER ERASED THE OTHER 3/4 OF THE POST! UGHH!!!!! Now i have i re write it ALLL UGH! give me a weeeeek

YOUR IDEAS! PLEASE HELP

So, I am entering this contest to design a new logo for the European Union's branch for Organic Farming. First place: 6,000 Euros...yea baby. I have been doing alot of research and i just wanted a few opinions from those of you currently in the states...

What are some current "go green" trends yo have seen advertised or come across?? (there are no wrong/stupid answers! so go for it!)

Thanks! this will help me develop a world view on consumer goods and trends in going green and the organic farming market! very important! xoxo

nea-to

hey guys! sorry i haven't blogged in a bit. I got home from Holland on Sunday night around 11 and was so wiped out I couldn't even consider thinking. The past couple days i have been ill, swine flu maybe?? wink wink. No, really, just a minor flu. I promise i will post the stuff from Holland by the beginning of next week. I have a bunch of school stuff to get done this week so i will have to put it off for a minute. Until then check this out... My boyfriend, as most of you know, just moved out to Cali to pursue a glass blowing career. He seems to be doing really well. Today i was talking to a good friend of mine via SKYPE (if you don't have it GET IT, it is FREE and AWESOME!) and she said she came across the Shinobi glass blog, which he is apprenticing/ working for. The pic is kinda small, and there are others in it but i just thought it was cool! so here it is. (he is the one working on the far right at the center table!)

home?

I have been thinking a lot lately, about this definition of home and how i feel. Man, over my 23 years of life i have been to 6 countires and who knows how many states in the US. I have traveled to many places I would like to call home someday...or would I? I could live in Berlin, but would it really be home without my friends and family.... hmmmm. Maybe this is why my mother longs to return to Colorado. I always have this feeling in my heart that i will soemday be back in California, i mean for god sakes, why not? i grew up there, it formed my way of thinking, i compare everywhere i go to it....maybe you lok back at what is the most familiar....maybe that is home...the familiar? On my travels out here in Europe, I find myself gettting home sick for Trier after a week away... why is this? because it is familiar? it is not my home though...or is it?

BOO

here is a list of things i have grown to dislike about Germany:

-scrunchies...girls still wear um'...YUCK, so 1980's
-There is no peanut butter or cheetos. why the hell not? we got McDonalds?
-Techno hour...the radio station that i listen to plays techno after 8pm....:(
-jeans with 1000 pockets, they are all the rage here is guess? but the look really silly
-tourists...though i am one technically, there are like millions, EVERYWHERE. always in my way!
-smoking while you are pregnant....seen two women do it. Don't they read the box that says pregnant women should absolutely NOT smoke cigarettes??
- dogs poop all over the side walk, and no one ever considers picking up after them...
-naked people, you are allowed to be naked in public when you want and where you want.
-speedos and "banana hammocks", ewwwwww

hehe, just thought you might what to know
that's about it...but the rest of Germany is Wunderbar (wonderful!!!!!)

You know your American when...

i will set the scene,

Friday night, at a BBQ, about 30 people of all countries around. The Americans, Dutch and Finnish in the corner. We decided to quit being loners and join the circle around the fire pit. I sat down next to some random guy. He looks over at me and in his heavy German accent says "your from America, right?". I paused and was like why yes, i am, how did you know. He replied, "your sneakers, they are Nike, not Adidas...i chuckled and noticed everyone around was wearing Adidas sneakers EXCEPT for the 3 Americans that were there.......weird.

thank you Germany!

As I sit here and indulge in my new found love, German chocolate, I couldn't help but give a little shout out to the two types of chocolate/candy that make my life in Germany complete... Ritter Sport "dunkle voll-nuss" (dark chocolate with hazelnuts) and Hanuta bars, wafers filled with hazelnut chocolate...thank you lord for coco, hazelnuts and Germany, and thank god we don't have this stuff in the states, because if we did our whole population would be morbidly obese. I am thankful to Germany as well, for the proximity of my school and everything else that you need I survive. Germany, you make me walk miles a day, just so I can indulge in all you wonderful tarimsu ice cream and dark chocolate bars without gaining a single pound. MmMMmMmm

wine tasting

I had the opportunity to go on a local wine tasting with a group of international students studying in Trier this semester. Our group is pretty diverse, 3 people from Spain, 2 from Holland, 1 from Finland, 2 from Russia, and 5 Americans (all design kids from KU!!! rock chalk baby). The wine tasting was cool, but not what I expected. I pictured his awesome little winery in the middle of all these vineyards, classy music, men in collard shits, ladies in nice dresses, maybe some cheese....and i was wrong. We all recieved an email from Bernt Werner ( the international student corrdinator who just happends to look like James Bond.... hehe ) saying no highheels. I skeptically took off the adorable brown heels i was wearing and threw on a pair of boots. All the kids met up at the Porta Negra around 6pm (the typicall meeting point) and hoped on the bus to the outdoor auditorium. Here we met our hero, Bernt, and he proceeded to lead us up this HUGE hill. The hills were covered in grape vines (they are mini trees actually) and we proceeded to climb in altitude, winding in and out of rows and rows of vinyeards. By the time we reached the top, all of us were huffing and puffing, our makeup was running, the guys in long buttong up shirts were perspiring, and all were wondering where in hell is this place. The view was incredible, I must admit, you could see all of Trier from here. There were bees swarming everywhere, and not just your typicall hunny bee, but JIANT yello jackets, the biggest bees i have ever seen. Getting stung by one of these suckers would be like getting an eperderil shot. When we reached the top we took a few moments from to quick photos and headed right back down the hill in the opposite direction...and to our surprie the winery wasn't in the hills at all, it was across the street, we were just taking the secenic route. When we arrived at Weingut-Deutschherrenhof, a small log cabin looking house off of some residentail street, we were surpired to find that it was a resturant, full of people, who were staring at us, maybe beacuse most of us dressed up. (our mama's would have been proud!) We took our seats in the back and were all good and ready for some wine. A really nice gentleman, whose name i could hardly understand nether the less spell/remember, can to our tables with the first wine. He was the son of the man who owned the winery and was very, very knowleagble. Most of the wines were white and really sweet, reiseling, because that type of grape grows very well in this area, also, up until about 40 years ago, red wine was banned from being grown in Germnay, because the last King of Germany, only liked white wine (reiseling), and therefore banned the gorwth of grapes to produce red wine. (crazy huh?).. Here is the list of wines we got to try, getting more dry(f.y.i.: drinesss=amount of acidity in grape, therefore, more acid=more dry) as they go. The list i got is all in German so bear with me...

1.) 2007 Weissburgunder trocken (white)... (trocken meaning "dry")
2.) 2007 Reisling trocken (white)
3.) 2007 Reisling Alte Reben- (white)(meaning old vine) 12.5%alc.
4.) 2007 Sebastian No.1 Reisling (white)(fermented for a very short while)-11%alc
5.) 2007 Burgberg Spatlese feinherb-(white)
6.) 2006 Deutschherrenberg Riesling Spatlese(white)
7.) 2006 Dornfelder (red)
8.) 2006 Spatburger trocken (red)
9.)Alter Tresterbrand -aka grappa, very strong liquor 42%alc.

The wine was all really sweet, but surprisigly good. We were taught how to properly taste wine...swirl, smell, swish, sip, swish and drink. Also, how to properly toast...you say "Prost" and look every single person in the eye or else rumor has it you will have years bad sex??

In between round 5-6 we were given 10 large pizza looking things, called them flammkuchen. What it is is really thin crust, with light cheese and meat.veggies. It is so light and so refreshing. No heavy enough to fill you up put just the right amount so you dont get completely hammered at the wine tasting.

All and all the wine tasting was a huge hit. I had a lot of good conversation and must admit by the end i was midly intoxicated. I learned alot about what is growing in the hills of Trier and about the history of wine in Germany...all in all a wonderful and successful adventure

sorry for sucking at blogging. With school and well GERMANY as a distraction i have neglected to highlight some of the wonderful things i have done. I SWEAR, starting this second that i will post at least twice a week, unless i am traveling...:) thanks for your patience!

Dresden, old town

I got the amazing opportunity over Easter break (which in Germany is like a week long) to travel to my roommate Monique's hometown of Dresden (eastern Germany). I was a bit hesitant at first, thinking of other places i might like to visit during this time but then was like why the hell not. Her boyfriend offered the Americans a room in his mothers hostile and we gladly accepted. Our train* left Wednesday at approx. 3:30am. I was exhausted, I had only slept for 2 hours before waking to catch the train, but was so excited. We actually all almost didn't get to go...We bought a group ticket and if one person out of the 6 didn't show up our ticket would be noninvoid. Well 3:25 came around and we were still missing one of the 6. We were all freaking out especially Monique who had Easter plans with her family....But, luckily the last and final member showed up about a minute before the train left, out of breathe, and all was good in the world again. We took the train all the way to Dresden, (approx 8hrs). The sleeping quarters, well there was no such thing, the seats, were stiff and the cabin was so stuffy. Marcus, Monique's boyfriend, met us at the train station and escorted us to his mother's place, which ended up being so incredibly quaint.(unlike the previous youth hostile we had stayed at in Heidelberg, which was more like a dorm...ewwww) It was a small one bedroom appt. fully furnished, with a huge queen size bed (which ended up sleeping 3 girls) and single bath and kitchen. It was located in this adorable court yard, accompanied by a large bunny rabbit and Ginny pig in a cage. :)

Day one: We all got up super early to find Marcus had made us all breakfast, it was delicious, eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, toast and jam, coffee and juice. They we all headed off to explore what is known as old Dresden. Old Dresden was the kind of place that my father would fall in love with. Old churches, awesome architecture, live music, life...all around very peaceful and charming. We journeyed through King John's court, beginning with a HUGE gold statue of him, took a pit stop for some ice cream (tarimasu!) and took a few pics of this large and in charge gold statue. Next we proceeded over the Carola Bridge, which allowed you to cross over the Elbe River from "new town" to "old town" . In 2002 the Carola Bridge was flooded due to a large tsunami that some how hit the Eastern part of Germany and caused the Elbe River to rise to record breaking levels.

First stop, Hof church, beautiful Gothic esque architecture. We ventured inside, not as awesome as the outside made it seem or as the Frauenkirche Church, but still nice. We walked past "Oprah's house", as Monique put it, or as we know it, an Opera House. This lead us into a huge garden, the King John's garden, and courtyard full of fountains and awesome landscaping. The atmosphere was perfect. As you walked through this huge arch entry way a man was playing Royal songs via trumpet...nice effect for tourists. Walking out and back around the court yard we came to a large freise depicting the lineage of power in Dresden that of course ended with King John ( I was starting to get the idea that this guy was a big deal in Dresden?)... pretty cool. We stopped and visited the Dresden Frauenkirche (aka."the church of our lady"), a church that had been destroyed in WWII. Only about 5 years ago, had they finished construction on it. During construction, some of the original stones from the original church were used. You could tell which was which, dark stones old, light stones new...neat. The inside blew me away. Check out the picture above to see the INCREDIBLE alter piece they had constructed. The church was packed, due to Easter weekend, and you weren't suppose to take pictures, but i don't there was a single soul there who didn't snap at least one photo. From here we kind of just ventured around next to the Elbe. It was a beautiful sight and we were all still so exhausted...

That night we had dinner at a local brewery (which are all over Germany). Here I was able the experience my first 1 LITER mug of beer...HUGE and cheap and OH so good. I have come to fancy dark beer, maybe it is just Germany but damn it is good. Dinner was marvolous. We had an awesome view of the whole city. The sun set made for an fantastic end to a wonderful first day, not to mention that we were all a little tipsy after 2 Liters of beer and a hefty meal.



*keep track! on this trip, I traveled by train, bus, car, boat, and plane!