chapters of sara k.

Those P:31 Girls

2011-06-17T09:28:00.004-05:00

10 Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
11 Her husband can trust her, --not to cheat at Monopoly
and she will greatly enrich his life.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life. --Except that one day she accidentally shot a nail gun at his foot which was probably his fault anyway for standing so close...

13 She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
14 She is like a merchant’s ship, --wait, is he calling her fat??
bringing her food from afar. --oh...
15 She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. --Ahh, so that's the secret. God, if you want me to be a virtuous wife I'm going to need some servant girls, pronto. This is probably why we don't see any mention of the virtuous wife cleaning her house.

16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vineyard. --This girl is big on investments! When was the last time you bought something that could generate more income for you? Does a Mac and Adobe Suite count??
17 She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker. --"Energetic." Proof that the virtuous wife drinks coffee.
18 She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamp burns late into the night. --Cutting coupons, no doubt.

19 Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber. --crafty lady!
20 She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
21 She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm clothes.

22 She makes her own bedspreads. --Note to self: make a bedspread.
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns. --Proof that God wants me to go shopping and buy pretty things! (It doesn't SAY that she spun & dyed the thread before hand-stitching the gown herself... she could've bought it!)
23 Her husband is well known at the city gates,
where he sits with the other civic leaders. --Is an awesome husband required to be a virtuous wife? I suppose she was first a virtuous girl with many offers of marriage who made a discerning decision. She don't want no scrubs.
24 She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to the merchants. --Obviously a professional in her field. Probably sells on Etsy, too.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, --Where has all the dignity gone?
and she laughs without fear of the future. --Laughter required. Worrying banned.
26 When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness. --With kindness, not shouts, rolling eyes, and exasperated sighs.
27 She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness. --Which reminds me of a project I need to finish...

28 Her children stand and bless her. --Do nieces/nephews count? Because those Borkert kids think I'm pretty cool.
Her husband praises her: --Bryan, are you getting this??
29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; --and plastic surgery looks fake;
but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
31 Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise. --Reward her? Ok, Bryan, I like gift cards, shopping sprees, date nights, flowers, Bliss cupcakes...

Snice Day

2011-02-01T14:39:00.004-06:00

I woke up this morning at 5am to the tinkling of ice pellets outside. Though I'm notoriously not a morning person, I was coherent enough to reach for my phone and investigate school closings. No school. No work. I fell back asleep dreaming of what I'd do with my Snow/Ice Day...

Unfortunately I dreamed that I went into work anyways and got a few things done. That did not happen.

What did happen: I enjoyed a lazy morning. Ate a bagel, made coffee, lounged. At 9:30 it started really snowing and I went for a jog on the treadmill while watching reruns of America's Next Top Model. I ran longer than usual.

After jogging I got the bright idea to finally clean our oven. It's been a while since I've used a self-cleaning oven, and it quickly became apparent that this decision ranked up there with my neighbors' putting snowboobs on their snowman. Bad idea. Despite running all the vents and fans, the house was quickly filled with a smelly eye-burning fog. Bryan suggested that instead of canceling the cleaning, we could just shut ourselves inside the fume-free office and wait it out. Oh, and to complete the plan of course we would have to turn off the heat and open windows to vent the rest of the house. It made sense.

So that's why we have a 2" drift on our windowsill and some accumulating flurries in front of the screen door.

We've been well-entertained in the office though. Bryan is content with his MMO game and SportsCenter, and I have everything I need: a computer, a novel, and a phone with a charger. Add some Mt Dew and Sunchips and it's really not so bad. However, with 30 min left in the 4 hour cleaning cycle, even the office is starting to get cold now. But it will all be worth it when I'm not blasted with smoke the next time I take a pizza out of the oven. Surely...

With our quarantine almost over, I'm looking forward to rewarding my 2.5 miles this morning with some chili mac tonight. And thanks to the past few hours I'm almost halfway through Emma; so altogether it's looking to be a very snice day.

Don't Follow the Rabbit Trails

2011-01-19T19:00:00.006-06:00

A phrase I love: There, but for the grace of God, go I. What an awesome, humbling statement to remember when looking on those who are lost, struggling, or less fortunate.

I saw an older mother/daughter couple in a clothing store the other day debating which top looked better. The green one or the tunic? And it made me hope that someday I'll have a daughter who loves shopping as much as me. We can furrow our brows in the fitting room together trying to decide which top has the better cuteness/value ratio...

I don't care what anybody says about technology making us less social. I am a MUCH more social person since I joined facebook six years ago. All those little status updates are an outlet for my wonderful one-liners (at least I think they're wonderful), and I get the luxury of writing a first draft, editing, and rewriting every comment before it is "out there"--a gift not given in verbal communication. On facebook I can be brave when otherwise I would be silent. Bryan said that channel 40/29 did a special on how technology harms relationships, and by their standards I have "a problem." Well... 40/29 anchors can't read a teleprompter (have you ever watched the morning news???) so I'm not going to let them judge my technology involvement. Facebook made me a better person.

So who's going to see The Social Network now that it won the Golden Globe for best picture? Put me on that list. Maybe. It's so hard to set aside time to watch movies. But hey, look at that, American Idol is on tonight. Maybe I'll tune in to see their strategy for jumping off the borderline of cancellation.

And who knew the Syfy channel could provide an evening of guilty entertainment? Oh, it must be SO HARD living as a vampire/werewolf/ghost in this modern society! I feel your pain and it makes me giggle...

There. Now I've said too much.

Double Negatives

2010-12-10T21:57:00.003-06:00

When walking past the deli at Walmart today I overheard the lady restocking fresh corn dogs complain to her coworker holding a giant bowl of coleslaw, "This job is so stressful! I don't know how else I'm not gonna deal with it anymore!"

About a half hour later, the guy at the register numbly asked how I was doing, so I replied positively and returned the question. "Sometimes this job is the most annoying thing ever." This made me laugh. I told him that most jobs probably have that tendency, but they all have their upsides, too. "Yeah, like getting paid!"

I'm happy to have a job, but sometimes it can be stressful and annoying. However, after today's grocery shopping I have a new perspective. Jobs do not inherently come with stress or annoyances. People who do the jobs bring their own stress and annoyances. So your workplace is exactly as __________ as you let it be.

Joy to the World! (Sometimes)

2010-12-02T17:50:00.003-06:00

Some people are ALWAYS cheerful.

I'm not one of those people, but I wish I was.

I wish I had that power to be happy and bouncy no matter the situation or company. I wish my smile was as quick as sunlight and lit up a room like the fourth of July. I'm not saying that I don't have my moments of spreading laughter and good cheer; I do. I just also have my moments of moping, brooding, sulking, and indifference. Joy is just not the core of my personality like it is for some lucky people.

I didn't really have a plan when I started typing this blog entry, and right now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to put a positive spin on it or create a spiritual lesson out of it.

I'm stumped.

The perpetually cheerful and their premature laughing wrinkles will always have my envy. But at least I know this: God created and used a lot of people who weren't so optimistic. Some were skeptical, some were burdened, and some were downright downers. So if I'm not ALWAYS cheerful, at least I'm in good company. High five, Job.

Did you catch that? I managed to turn it around and find a positive spin after all. I could have a future in writing sit-coms.

Belt Notches

2010-09-19T17:17:00.000-05:00

"And if it were not a sin against charity, I should say that I hope Don Quixote may never be cured, for with his recovery we not only should lose his pleasantries but his squire Sancho Panza's as well; and either of them can turn melancholy itself to mirth."
-Don Antonio, as spoken in Don Quixote, Part II, Ch. LXV

Finally I can add one more novel to the list of classic literature I have read! Don Quixote is the not the longest book I've conquered (Les Mis holds that honor), but it WAS a close second and definitely took the longest for me to me to finish! I've been working my way through Don Quixote's misadventures for over two years. That paperback stayed with me through four houses, three states, and two beaches. It was not quite the tale that Wishbone made it out to be, but it was satisfying nonetheless. I'm happy to be done with it.

Unfortunately, the big finale of placing Don Quixote snugly back in the bookshelf is overshadowed by the nagging reminder that I am not yet at liberty to begin a new novel. There is another book that needs finishing before I can tickle my fingers down the library shelves again. I began reading The Pilgrim's Progress about a year ago during a particularly dull stretch of Don Quixote. I quickly realized that Pilgrim's Progress was not a book I could casually read on the side. So I put it in the drawer of my nightstand with the promise that I would not forget it there. This afternoon I pulled it out and replaced the pink post-it note on page 28 with my best bookmark (a segment cut out from the cover of a wall calendar). Although dripping with detailed symbolism, I am convinced this will be a much faster read for me. It has a third of the page count of Don Quixote and its font is twice as big. Maybe only one year? :)

Next on the list, I hope to complete the Jane Austen collection by reading Emma. Looking forward to it!

"This Hill, though high, I covet to ascend,
The Difficulty will not me offend.
For I perceive the Way to Life lies here:
Come pluck up Heart, let's neither faint nor fear;
Better, though difficult, the Right Way to go,
Than Wrong, though easy, where the End is Wo."
-The Pilgrim's Progress, Page 49

Thursday's Doodle

2010-06-11T23:52:00.005-05:00

I've made digital art in Illustrator for years, but I've never tried doing it in Photoshop. My past few blog posts have been a progression of my attempts to create original art in Photoshop. My first attempt, the flowers, were drawn with Photoshop's pen tool. I'm happy with the results, but not the method since I basically created it exactly as I would in Illustrator. The pen tool is not Photoshop's forte, but being more familiar vector art, it was the tool I was most comfortable using. So this piece broke the ice for me, but I knew that on my next one I wanted to use more of the raster tools and techniques that are unique to Photoshop.

So before my next doodle I researched online samples of original art made in Photoshop. There are some stunning photo-realistic creations out there! So I found a photo reference and began drawing these leaves with variations of the brush tool. Creating art in raster-based Photoshop is a completely different practice from creating art in vector-based Illustrator. I had to change the way I approached and thought about digital art, but this was a good learning experience.

After achieving some familiarity and intuition with the tools used to create the leaves, I was ready to try something freehand again. Queue today's post: Thursday's doodle. I spent several hours drawing this girl in Photoshop using the brush tool, the smudge tool, and the dodge/burn tools. The entire piece was drawn on only two layers: one for the hair, and one for everything else. She lacks the texture and tones to look photo-realistic, but I'm happy with it looking like a pencil/charcoal drawing. My next attempt will be to try drawing a face from a photo and doing it in color.

Yesterday's Doodle

2010-06-10T07:05:00.003-05:00

I meant to post this yesterday and ended up not having time. These leaves were created in Photoshop using variations of the brush tool. I do a lot of vector art in Illustrator, but the other day someone asked if I ever did art in Photoshop and I realized that I never do. These past two blog posts have been my first attempts at it.

Today's Doodle

2010-06-03T18:39:00.001-05:00

Created in Photoshop with the pen tool.

Peppermint Latte with an Extra Shot of God

2010-05-02T15:45:00.007-05:00

I once heard someone say that God is in everything that makes you happy.

It makes sense that we should find our Creator in all that bring us joy. The Bible says that there is "strength and joy in His dwelling place" (a). So the rush of joy we get from playing with puppies or riding a roller coaster is just a small taste of being in God's presence.

I also like what Nehemiah said to the masses: "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (b) Isn't that great? The people are told to go have a big party with delicious food and special drinks--and THAT is called the joy of the Lord!

It's easy to forget that our Creator is in ALL our joys; not just the ones that happen in church. For me these joys include (but are not limited to):

Sitting on our patio in perfect weather.
Long walks with Bryan. (or anything else with Bryan!)
Doodling pretty little flourishes.
Coffee.
Shopping. (Yes, God is in shopping! Maybe that will be my next blog.)
Making people laugh. (It's not my forte, so I love it when it happens!)
Pastries.
Family get-togethers.

God is in all these things! I wish non-believers could understand this concept of God being the Creator and Inhabitant of joys. It hurts to hear them talk about heaven and hell based on the centuries-old stereotypes. Many non-believers think the Christian heaven is just an eternal, boring church service and that the Christian hell has all the debauchery and edginess they know and love on earth. I pray that they will realize the truth beyond those lies. Our Creator and his dwelling place are the ultimate good time: complete ecstatic joy!

(a) 1 Chron 16:27
(b) Nehemiah 8:10

Summer Drought

2010-04-26T18:40:00.004-05:00

I feel a little guilty about Bryan doing more housework than me. It wasn't always this way though, so for now we'll just consider that he's paying me back for our years in NC. When the payback is done I may have to pick up another chore or two.

I need a designer friend that I can meet with to describe my bad days at work. They would understand and commiserate much better than my mechanically-engineered husband.

Neck ties are for guppies and lawyers, unless you're getting married or buried.

It's funny to see the people that some people end up marrying.

Twitter is tired. Perhaps even expired. I don't understand why people still like it.

Wow, I can feel this Excedrin Migraine starting to kick in. This is the first time I've used it. It's like someone just poured iced coffee directly in my skull.

Bryan and I agreed that our first son's middle name should be Awesome.

I took one of those personality tests this week. It said I was "Situated at the intersection of the strong creative thinker and the practical executor...". Well done, personality test. Well done.

We adopted a blender this week. It has fluted glass, an ocher base, and tall beige buttons. I'm sure it was a great wedding gift to somebody in 1975.

Doodle Day

2010-04-13T21:26:00.004-05:00

My doodles are poorly done, haphazard, and most are half-finished, but I generally think they're pretty cool. This is one of my favorites. It perfectly depicts those days when conversation fails me. :)

Sleeting Outside and in My Head

2010-01-28T21:33:00.003-06:00

I am resigned to the fact that I will have five girls. Mostly because I want the experience of raising both a son AND a daughter, and I doubt I'll be that lucky. Although I'm pessimistic about my chances to score both female and male offspring, I do think it's really cool in this age of knowledge, technology, and custom-anything that we still cannot choose the gender of our children. You get what the Lord gives you!

Bryan doesn't understand watching the same girly movies again and again. Sometimes I wish my college roommates still lived with me so we could giggle over the Mormon Pride & Prejudice late at night. At least my future five daughters will watch chick flicks with me.

I like that Gwyneth Paltrow has a long neck and makes it look good. I have a long neck too, but I blame mine on the neck-brace I had to wear after being in a car wreck in 6th grade. I'm pretty sure it stretched it out.

I am so glad I went to public schools instead of a private or home school. I'm convinced I'd be completely dysfunctional outside my church and home were it not for the secular exposure provided by public schools. For this reason I kinda feel sorry for home school kids. Then I remember the crazy scholarships they get for being so smart and my pity is gone. Why is dysfunctional spelled with a y? I suppose its spelling should be a little off.

I'm watching the old Emma now (which explains some previous statements). "I love John! ... I hate John!" The last bit of this movie absolutely transfixes me. "Marry me, my wonderful, darling friend!" Excuse me while I go give Bryan a kiss...

I assume nobody really cares to read this blog post. I figure you must be very bored to have read this far, and you must be glad for the reminder of why you don't share your own pointless thoughts with others. But I like writing. Not that I'm very good at prose, but I really can't stay away from it for too long. One of my favorite things at work is to compose emails.

I've been thinking about pulling out my old journals and blogging the quotes of my fourteen-year-old self. I'm convinced they would be very entertaining and almost equally embarrassing. But perhaps the distance of 12 years is enough to make me laugh instead of cringe. We'll see.

Surely I'm not the only one who thinks it's weird when couples say they're "trying to get pregnant". That phrase makes me uncomfortable. As it should.

And this is one reason (among others) why I have a strict personal policy against facebook friending people I work with. My blog posts link to my facebook Notes. This nonsense is not the kind of thing you want your coworkers reading. Hopefully none of them Googled me and found my blogspot and are reading this right now. If so... grrr. Not cool.

To Choose a Church

2009-09-05T14:09:00.004-05:00

How do you choose a church? I've faced this question a couple times in my life when moving to a new city, but I'm still not sure how to answer it.

When you know nothing about the town and know nobody in it, your initial church visits are based solely on the exterior of the building and what little information you can find online. So you end up spending weeks of Sundays feeling uncomfortable in churches whose outside marquees completely misrepresented them.

When you do already know people in your new town, you will inevitably commit to the church of your favorite friend, and live with the nagging feeling in the back of your mind that there could still be a better church out there that you never got the chance to visit.

The idea of a "better church" brings up another question: if you're a Bible-believing Christian, shouldn't you be happy in any Bible-believing church? Some would say yes, I would say no. Choosing a church is a rare opportunity to choose your extended family, and there are so many more factors to consider beyond the obviously important factor of faith.

I'm excited about starting a new long-term relationship with a church in the area, but I'm dreading all the blind dates it will take to get there. If you have any advice and/or recommendations I'd love to hear them!

Homeless No More?

2009-08-23T13:36:00.003-05:00

What a great weekend! My sister came into town, I got to play with her babies, I had a sleepover with my brother, my mom made opossum pie, and I bought a house! Not one of those plastic houses you buy with pink money to put on Park Place, I bought a REAL house! Well, maybe. I guess I don't really know for sure until they hand me the keys at our closing date.

We've spent the last eight months pouring over house listings online, so after moving to Arkansas and landing a job it only took two weeks for us to find and put an offer on the perfect house. And only a few short hours after that, we got the call that they accepted our offer! We expected a counter-offer with compromises, but luckily for us the owners have already moved out of state and are just anxious to sell the home!

Bryan and I were very subdued in the agent's office while writing up the offer. The agent asked why we weren't more excited. I shrugged my shoulders, "We know it's not ours yet." I figured we wouldn't get excited until closing day, but now that we know they accepted our offer the excitement is building. I know things can still fall through if the inspection fails or some unforeseen problem arises, but it's getting harder to hold back the giddy expectation of home ownership!

I'll keep you updated, and I promise to post a picture if we make it to closing day!

One Week Later

2009-08-17T19:51:00.004-05:00

Well I don't want to leave you hanging after that last post. You'll be happy to know I've gotten better about bringing my brain home from work. The environment and coworkers are great, it's just the busy workload that is difficult to get used to. (I hate ending that sentence with a preposition, but I just don't have the energy to reword it.)

#1 question everyone wants to ask a new hire: "So what kind of music do you listen to?"

Sara v. The Man

2009-08-10T20:34:00.003-05:00

I started my new job today. If the rest of these sentences are short and lack proper grammar/punctuation it's just because my brain is simply overloaded. If I could sum up the first day in one word: overwhelming. I suppose that's the same for anybody starting a new job though. Except for those statues of liberty that wave at cars during tax season. I bet they can still use their brain after their first day of work. Not me. My head is not my own right now. I left it in a black leather office chair facing a wall.

But I'm realistic. I can handle this, and things will get easier every day. I've just got to remember to bring my brain home with me tomorrow.

I'm Baaack

2009-07-30T10:26:00.002-05:00

Three weeks ago today I was in the middle of a cross-country transition… somewhere between the good life I had with Bryan in North Carolina, and the blank pages of a chapter in our lives titled "Return to Arkansas". This chapter is beginning like many good novels do: with desperation. We are currently jobless, homeless, churchless, and all our meals come from the microwave oven. We are one stolen loaf of bread away from being characters in Les Miserables. Fun times, eh?

But despite the stress of job interviews every other day, mortgage loan complications, and allergic reactions to my parent's rent-free flop house, we really ARE quite happy to be back in Northwest Arkansas! Every day that I get to see beautiful green hills outside or get to cheer on my little brother's baseball team I'm reminded of how truly grateful I am to begin this chapter surrounded by all the places and people we love best!

Lovely Distraction

2009-06-24T08:17:00.004-05:00

With less than a month until our big move to the Midwest, I was spending several hours a day job hunting. I scoured every online job board in the morning, and again in the evening. Google search became my intimate friend. I found perfect jobs for everyone I knew, except myself. I was consumed and verging on despair when I finally accepted the hard truth: I need a hobby!! Something to distract me from my job-hunting obsession!

Cue the craft blogs. Yes, all of them. I visited one of my favorites for inspiration on a new project for me. Soon I clicked on one link, that led me to another, and after a messy maze of hyperlinks which I could never recreate, I finally found it. It was beautiful. They called it a buttercup bag, but I called it a savior. I knew instantly its destiny was to save me from my depressive compulsory job hunt. 24 hours and some leftover fabric later, I'd made my first purse. Another 24 hours and a fabric store after that, I'd made my second purse.

I'm extremely proud. I cannot stitch a straight line, the buttonhole is crooked, the magnetic snaps don't align, and my attempt to tackle piping is quite flawed, but I'm SO happy with the results! Considering I've never followed a pattern nor sewed anything more complicated than curtains, these purses were super easy to make. And best of all… I have three job interviews this week!

Tutorial Time!!!!

2009-06-10T06:50:00.031-05:00

I LOVE tutorials, don't you?! Especially when they come with LOTS of pictures! So when my friend, DeMo, suggested I post a vector art tutorial on my blog I thought it was a great idea! My techniques are not closely guarded secrets—I strongly object to designers keeping design secrets from one another! The vector illustrations I create are actually quite simple and only require patience and the ability to squint your eyes! Now, prepare yourself for the longest post my blog has ever seen. Are you ready, class? Let's dive in!

Ok, this is the image we will be working with. It is one girl that is part of a larger photo. I do my work in Illustrator CS2. These images show you the original photo, and the finished vector art.

First, open the photo in Illustrator. Select the photo, and in the Transparency palette bring the opacity down to about 60-80%. This will make your paths easier to see when you draw on top of the photo, and also help hide the unimportant details so they don't distract you. Lock the photo layer, and create a new layer to start the drawing!

Set your stroke to black and your fill to empty. Set the stroke weight to .25. Using the Pen Tool, begin outlining the perimeter of her face. Now start squinting to see where the main shadows and highlights are in the face. Trace each shadow/highlight. At the very least a face will have 4 degrees of color. The darkest shades are always around the eyes and under the nose. The lightest is always on the tip of the nose. As you're drawing, keep in mind the layer order that you are creating. Trace large areas of color first, and the smallest areas of color last. Ignore the boundaries of hair, eyes, and smile for now.

My advice: Know your Pen Tool!!! This tool is frustrating for beginners, but with enough practice you can master its subtleties. Modifier keys are essential to use with the Pen Tool, and pressing space bar while drawing a point will allow you to reposition its placement.

Once you're satisfied with the job you've done of scribbling all over her face, begin coloring the paths. (Open the "Skintones" color palette for a good place to start.) Reposition the path layers as necessary to make sure none of them get lost underneath the others. After the skin of the face is complete, go through the same process to draw other areas of skin, like hands.

Occasionally you may want to hide the photo layer to see your progress and make sure you're not leaving any gaping holes between paths. (I always think they look kinda freaky/cool at this point without any eyes or mouth!)

Now let's temporarily hide the skin layer(s) so we can draw the eyes and mouth. Same process as before. (Be sure to zoom in close for this, don't try to do it from far away!) I usually use the circle tool to draw the pupil because it can look funny if it's not a perfect circle. Btw, did you know that in photos people's eyes and teeth are grey/yellow and not white? Shocker! Let's do them a favor and color them white anyways. It also helps to add a little circle of white reflection in their eyes. Instant depth.

Before we move on, I want to explain a technique I use a lot. I've zoomed in on the mouth to show you that when I draw the lips, they start out as only one or two paths, all the same color. This screenshot shows how I selected the lower lip on the left, then used the Knife Tool to cut through it. Now it is two separate paths that can be colored independently. In the smile on the right I cut and colored the bottom lip once, and the top lip twice. I use the Knife tool a lot to help me break up the colors in a solid path.

After the skin, eyes, and smile, it's time for the hair! Hair like this can be quite intimidating because we see so many little lines and streaks and shade differences. Remember to just be patient and to squint your eyes! Squinting will help you drown out the details and see the big picture. After the hair is finished, continue on to draw the clothes. I think clothes are fun because they have VERY distinct shadows in the fold lines—but that makes it easy to overlook the highlights. Always draw both shadows & highlights because illustrations will look flat if you have one without the other. (All these elements are drawn the same way: everything in a black .25 stroke and filled with color after all shadows & highlights are traced.)

Finally, when we turn on all the layers and reorder them correctly, we have a beautiful finished vector illustration! (See finished vector at the top of the post!)

Below is a screenshot of what my layers palette looks like after finishing all the elements. In this particular project I was doing a group photo, so each person had their own layer and all the elements—skin, hair, clothes, etc—were grouped inside the layers. But if you're only doing one person, it makes more sense to give all the elements their own layers.

That completes my tutorial! Let me know if you have questions about anything I didn't cover, if you have suggestions for other tutorials, or if you think this was incredibly long-winded and never want to see me post another tutorial again—all comments welcome!

Vicariously Me

2009-05-31T10:49:00.004-05:00

Sometimes instead of actually going outside to read my Bible, I just draw a picture of myself doing it. (with one continuous line)

Cats

2009-05-26T09:49:00.003-05:00

This morning we had a visitor in our back yard! At the time Avee and Bryan were both gone from the house, so I let Suki outside to mingle with our guest. It was fun to watch them interact, both curious and hesitant about the other. But eventually I stopped watching the show and put on my running shoes to go for a jog. As I left the house I met Bryan and Avee just getting home. I told Bryan about the visitor & Suki and recommended he go look at them.

When my jogging was done, this is what I came home to find:

Funny, I'd forgotten how most cats PURR when you pet them and ENJOY being held. Watch out, Suki. Your days may be numbered!

Three Years in Three Days

2009-05-18T11:11:00.003-05:00

I'm not an extremely fit person, but I try to jog a mile or two every few days. (It makes me feel a little less guilty about all the delicious homemade cookies and breads that I eat.) Since the rainy weather was not conducive to an outside jog today, I drove to my little Gym to tread the mill for a bit. (Does anybody know how a treadmill got its name?) When I arrived at the Gym I was slightly annoyed to discover it was closed because of the SWINE FLU and would reopen after it was "sanitized" sometime this week. Yeah. Swine flu. There has not been one case of swine flu in our entire state, and after the Gym is sanitized and they let people start using it again, will it really be any safer than it was before the big clean?? So stupid.

Moving on…

I cannot let this week pass without announcing to the world that on Wednesday Bryan and I will FINALLY get to spend an anniversary together!! In fact it will take all my effort not to mention this in every facebook status for the next three days. We don't have any big plans for the special day because saving for a down payment on a house has us on a tight budget. We're thinking a nice restaurant and a sunset walk on the beach. Any other low-cost celebration ideas??

Sara K, the CRUSHER!!!

2009-05-08T08:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, crushes are for more than just teenage girls, orange soda, and pro wrestling, right? I crush on people and things all the time! So here I have compiled a short list of what I've been crushing on lately. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Bite-sized Heath bars. Bryan picked out a big bag of these to sneak into the movie theater last week (I picked out strawberry Twizzlers) and I was shocked at how truly satisfying chocolate-covered toffee really is. Who knew?
• My new Facebook profile pic. I spent about thirty minutes doing some fine Photoshop work on an average picture of me to make it outstanding. I love the final result. Totally crushing on it.
• My husband. Nature is cruel at this time of the month.
• A hand-made heart pendant I recently bought from Etsy.com. I've been on the lookout for the perfect red heart necklace for a long time now—not too junior high, not too formal, not too red, not too expensive—and I'm so happy that I finally found the perfect pendant! Love it!• Kris Allen. SOOO proud of my Arkansas boy on American Idol!! I don't think he'll win, but I love that he's representing our publicity-challenged state so well!
• Yard sales. (I think I pretty much covered this one in my last post!)
• My grandmother's antique wedding ring. I've been in love with this little piece of jewelry all my life, and even wanted to use it for my own wedding ring. That didn't work out though, and for a long time it stayed tucked away in a safe place because I thought it would be tacky to wear a wedding set on each hand—but this week I changed my mind! Now it's out of hiding, on my right hand, and not tacky at all!
• Seagulls. I guess I've just been spending a lot more time outside and noticing them lately. They're such fun birds! I love how they always sound like they're laughing; it never ceases to make me smile!
• Pandora radio online. How does anybody ever get work done without Pandora?? Their steady stream of songs that are just to my liking helped me get through two weeks (and counting) of tracing photos in Illustrator. Couldn't have done it without ya, Pandora!
• My sister's new blog! It's all about how cute my little niece and nephew are, and Stefanie has an entertaining style of documenting their cuteness! There's a link to it on right of this page called "Borkerts the Sister".

Seven Dollar Saturday

2009-05-02T08:46:00.003-05:00

This morning I was wide awake at 6:30am. NOT a good way to start the only day of the week that you get to sleep in.

UNlessss... there are 46 yard sales in your area! So I made some coffee, kissed my sleeping husband, and went out armed with the $7 left over from yesterday's X-Men matinee. (Why do so many theaters still only accept cash???)

I didn't go to all 46 yard sales—it's PCS season which means lots of Marines are changing duty stations and wanting to sell their stuff before the move—I only went to six. Is that a lot? Well I didn't buy anything at the first two, but in the following four I offered, haggled, and conceded all $7 on the following ten items: a shirt from Maurices, a shirt from Express, khakis from Abercrombie, USMC travel mug, Starbucks mug, trendy necklace, cute picture frame, cushy keyboard wrist pad, a new dog toy for Avee, and a pool stick (with case & chalk). Can we say SCORE??!! Yeah, I totally pwned those yard sales this morning. Kinda makes it worth having a 6:30 internal alarm.

This is completely unrelated to everything you just read, but I have to mention something that Bryan just said to me as he was watching the Kentucky derby pre-show: "I have a feeling that if we lived anywhere near Kentucky you'd want to go to the derby just so you could get dressed up and wear a big hat." :) My husband knows me so well!

Mmmm!

2009-04-22T11:35:00.004-05:00

I love popcorn! Oh yes I do—especially the lightly buttered variety! Mmm! I just now put an Orville bag in the microwave and thought how lucky I am to work from home and make popcorn for lunch! When I worked at DS I had popcorn for lunch a few brave times, but there was always the chance that one kernel would burn and fill the entire building with that distinct burnt popcorn smell. And even if I was lucky enough not to burn any kernels in the finnicky office microwaves, it would still fill the entire building with that distinct (non-burnt) popcorn smell. Either way, I always tried to sneak out of the breakroom with my bag of buttery popped goodness before anyone could identify me as the culprit. Then I would quickly scarf it down at my desk, making sure the only evidence left behind was my exquisitely satisified countenance.

So while there are many nice things about working from home as a freelance designer, one of the best is being able to have popcorn for lunch without annoying your coworkers!

Right now I'm working on two things, a logo for a small make-up/hair product company, and a set of seven illustrations commissioned by a non-profit organization. Maybe when I'm done I will post an image of the logo and a link to the illustrations!

Updates

2009-04-14T11:51:00.002-05:00

My latest illustration, The Golfer, is now available for purchase on iStock.

I also updated my portfolio web site with some more recent work in the categories of Logo Design, Print Design, and Web Design.

And I'm officially on the market! Let me know if you hear of any design jobs in NW Arkansas because I'm ready to apply!!

Announcement from My Soapbox

2009-04-13T09:12:00.004-05:00

I have some quick advice for mothers of any age. Here it is: Don't talk about your labor stories. Avoid the topic completely in any social setting. Thank you.

EDIT: This post originally elaborated on the details of why this conversation topic is inappropriate and sometimes offensive, but after some thought I decided it was best to remove those details. :)

The Ozarks and The Crystal Coast

2009-04-03T13:28:00.003-05:00

I reaaalllyy want to buy a house in NW Arkansas! (And you can tell I mean it by the way that I duplicated letters in the word "really" to make it look so emphatic.) And I CAN'T WAIT to get a design job in NW Arkansas! (Capital letters... you get the idea.)

But as much as I'm anticipating that house hunt and job search, I've already started putting the brakes on my eagerness to leave this puny little NC town. I think I'm really going to miss this place. Bryan and I have a good life here. We live in a wonderful community, we have great friends, our jobs let us spend a lot of time together (when he's not in another country), and we're only 20 minutes from the beach. Moving back to NW Arkansas is our dream, but I'm trying to savor these last few months in North Carolina because I know that a part of me will miss it when we leave.

Thoughts on Romans 14

2009-03-23T10:44:00.004-05:00

"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him."

I like this scripture. I understand that it is referring to God's New Testament blessing of eating animals that were once thought unclean, but I think the lesson from these verses has a broader range of application. It makes me think of people who identify themselves as Christians yet also smoke, cuss, drink, etc. In my opinion, those are also "disputable matters" that should not be judged. And on the flip side, those whose faith allows them to do such things should not "look down on" those with weaker (more traditional?) faith who might be wrongly judgmental about the issues. Christians need to understand that there are varying degrees of faith, but they are ALL faith. Let's not get trapped into thinking that the church has to agree on all disputable matters. Your opinion and/or participation in these matters should be based solely on your own measure of faith:

"But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin."

pathetic athletic

2009-03-11T12:02:00.004-05:00

I've often wondered why the UPS man has to come to my house at the END of the day. I feel like the poor kid who gets home an hour later than everyone else just because his house is at the end of the bus route. I'm expecting a package today and I've already opened the front door four times "just to check" in case my doorbell stopped working or my ears went temporarily deaf when it rang. My childlike anticipation is for none other than a new pair of running shoes I recently ordered. Ah... there is little more satisfying and nothing more motivating than a fresh pair of running shoes. They're still white, their shoelaces have never been crossed, and they don't even smell like the road yet! And I get the pleasure of introducing these shoes to their destiny. Shoes, this is the sidewalk. Sidewalk, Shoes. I can't wait!!

But unfortunately I don't have a choice. I must wait. (and pray that my UPS driver has a heavy right foot)

In the meantime though, I do have a question for you. Yes, you. The person reading my blog who also jogs, runs, walks, or does any mindless monotonous task. What do you think about when you're doing it? I asked a couple people this question and found the answers interesting. One girl said she does math problems in her head while she's jogging. Another person said he pretended he was a superhero running to save the day. I could use some more suggestions b/c all I end up thinking about are my many friends who can run so much faster and farther than me!

Ok, time to check the front door again...

Finish Another Blog Post About Finishing Things: Check!

2009-03-09T08:30:00.003-05:00

Continuing my theme of completing things I set out to do, I've decided to make a list of some short-term goals. This is mainly for my own benefit, but if I get one or two comments on this post then it's worth sharing. :)

Finish the baby doll quilt. I bought the fabric, cut the pieces, even sewed it together, but after sewing the completed top together with the batting and back fabric I realized my immediate need for a fairy godmother to undo my mistakes and give me a clean slate. My fairy godmother came in the form of a $2 seam ripper from Michael's. Now I just need to actually use it and start another round of sewing. Have I mentioned that I have no instructions on how to make a quilt? I have an idea of how it should work, and that seemed good enough to start the project.

Finish out the golfer illustration and get it selling on iStock. I owe it to Tru (the model) to get this done before he leaves Cherry Point next month!

Finish Don Quixote. I've spent about 9 months trying to get through de Cervantes' masterpiece. It is a very very very long book and the last quarter of it is proving to be my most difficult hurdle. I've been slacking off lately and haven't read a chapter in a few months, but yesterday I had a brilliant idea of something that will motivate me to finish the last bit of that book. The beach! Yes, I've decided that this summer I will take regular trips to the beach for reading time to finish Don Quixote. (But don't expect this to mean that I will come home this fall with a tan—it is physically impossible to alter my fair complexion.)

Finish the canvas paintings. Well I have this big empty space on the wall above the landing in our staircase and Michael's had their blank canvases 40% off last week, so I put two and two together and knew it was a sign from God calling me to create some original art for the empty space in my home. So now I have three canvases, two paint colors, and a few pencil-drawn thumbnails. I'm thinking something along the lines of a series of organic silhouette images in neutral colors. But I do tend to think a lot and do very little. :\

Hopefully this public admission of my intentions will keep me accountable to actually getting these things done!

Follow-Through Complete

2009-02-10T09:53:00.003-06:00

Sometimes it's hard for me to finish things that I start, like this blog post for instance. I've had a draft of this post saved for over two weeks, and even though I'm typing in it now, I'm not sure that I will be able to follow-through and click the Publish Post button today.

As promised, here is the completion of the partial illustration I showed you in the last post. I'm still not sure if I'm done with it though. Maybe I'll change the color of his shirt or bag. Something about those colors just aren't jiving with me. The other two images I showed you last time have each sold three times this month. Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about quilting. I've never done it before, but I think I might give it a go. This link is the coolest quilt I've ever seen. I'd love to make one like that, but this virgin quilter will require an incredibly basic pattern for my first time. I'm going to do a practice run by making a baby doll size quilt (which will probably be a gift to Flora) about 20" x 20". If I can master that project without getting bored or frustrated then I'll promote myself to the big leagues and start on something, well, big!

Happy 26th Birthday, Bryan!!

2009-01-26T09:42:00.005-06:00

Yes, today is my love's golden birthday! He is 26 on the 26th! And we are celebrating with his favorite activity: staying home and doing nothing! lol, yeah he's pretty easy to please!

Here are two new illustrations that I uploaded to iStock this week. Hopefully they will sell like hot cakes and I'll get lots and lots of money from them! :) Hopefully. :) The first one is a seamless tile, which means you can stack the image on top of itself or beside itself and you won't be able to see where one ends and the other begins—great for wallpaper on desktops or background on web sites. The second one is a set of stylized sports balls. Thanks goes out to my brother-in-law for instructing me on the size and dimensions of a rugby ball!

EDIT: I removed the images of my finished illustrations because iStock's watermark could barely be seen on them. If you want to see the illustrations, visit my iStock portfolio page—there's a link to it on the right column of my blog!

And here is a sneak preview of what I am working on for my next submission to iStock! I'll post a link to the finished image when I get it completed, hopefully sometime this week.

Ell-Oh-Ell

2009-01-15T20:00:00.006-06:00

Well, maybe it's just me, but this incident cracked me up and I thought it was worth sharing! Avee and Suki were playing on Bryan's jacket when this happened...

And here is the rescue:

Warthog

2009-01-13T13:50:00.002-06:00

Hi, remember me? I know it's been a few months, but I'm that girl. You know, that girl who thought she'd never get a house, who saved her Mac from his suicide attempt, and who moaned for months—nay, years!—at her Marine husband's absence overseas. Yeah, that's me. You've missed me, haven't you? Well you can thank this twenty-something's return to blogging for inspiring me to grace you with my presence again. Really, it's been too long. Let me see if I remember how to do this...

Here's something I found very disturbing. We have some friends here from Maine, and when the wife saw Bryan's razorback baseball cap she asked,"What is Arkansas' mascot? Is it a warthog?" Yeah. A warthog. Oh, how our friend from Texas laughed when she said that. We love our razorbacks, but man is it embarrassing when your mascot is mistaken for a warthog. I kind of wish Arkansas had stuck with their original mascot long ago of the cardinals. At least they're not in the pig family.

A couple blogs down I was upset about not having a house yet. Well I finally got a house not long after that post, but now I want another one! I want a house in Arkansas! I am soooo looking forward to house-hunting in Arkansas this summer. I've already got about 10 homes bookmarked online that I hope will still be on the market in six months. Oh, but there's one little catch. I kinda need to have a job in Arkansas before we will get approved for a mortgage. Minor detail, right? So shoot me a message if you can guarantee me a full-time job six months from now!

Bryan came home and our faces morphed together

2008-09-26T11:27:00.003-05:00

Bryan came home Monday night!! And we got our first reunited kiss pictured in the paper:

"The Lord rewards every man for his faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today…" I Sam 26:23 :o)

Bored Sara = Long Pointless Post

2008-09-11T16:28:00.003-05:00

"Hey, it worked! I was afraid I'd have to go through that all over again. I always expect the worst!"

"You shouldn't always expect the worst, that's no way to live! Always expect the best! Always expect the best and see how happy your life becomes!"

The cashier nodded and promised the man in front of me that she'd change her ways as she handed him his receipt. I just caught the tail of this conversation, but it was the way he said that last part that assured me he was either an evangelical preacher or a Dr. Phil idolizer. Either way, both species of men are prone to disillusionment. What kind of history does this man have to make him assume that always expecting the best makes your life happier? It sounds more likely to lead to perpetual disappointment and regret.

In other news:

I still don't have my house. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe never. See that? I'm far from being an "expect the best" kind of person.

Someone asked me today if my husband was underage. More on that later if it develops into anything interesting.

Bryan's homecoming was pushed back four days. Time to reset all my countdowns again.

Unrelated to the homecoming date changing, the Marines did more very frustrating and stupid things today. I suffer from the same "arrogant independence" that Lady Catherine accused Elizabeth Bennet of having (thanks, Mom), and that doesn't clash well with control-freaks like Darcy's aunt or the Marines. Hmm... the Marines as Lady Catherine de Bourgh... I think I like that analogy. Both have a "dignified impertinence", both assume they know what's best for the man in love with the independent woman, and both try to keep them apart. Now if only Bryan owned land half the size of Darbyshire the analogy would be complete.

"For I know very well what the temptations of the Devil are, and that one of his greatest is to put it into a man's head that he can write and print a book, and gain both money and fame by it."
Don Quixote, Part II, Prologue

For Those Who Wonder About Me

2008-09-03T15:10:00.004-05:00

Hm. I forgot about all the noisy jets around here.

I have a house! But I'm only allowed to look, not touch. For some reason Housing deems it necessary to make me wait another week till I can move into this already vacated house that is assigned to me. Of all the houses and all the streets in this neighborhood, we ended up getting a house next door to the one we lived in last year. Crazy, but I'm happy with it. Until I can move in next week, I'm crashing on my friend's floor. She lives conveniently close to a coffee shop.

And until Bryan comes home in about two weeks, I'll be sitting here in Smalltown, USA dying of boredom. I need a job, but unfortunately we're stationed in an area where graphic designers go crazy for want of work. I'd like to stay sane, but my hopes are not high.

Kansas City Curtain Call

2008-08-21T11:25:00.003-05:00

Only a few days are left for me here in Kansas City. Then I'll leave this split-level home of six months and begin the journey that takes one month and a thousand miles to get back in Bryan's arms. Of course I'm ecstatic about that last part, but leaving KC will be bittersweet.

Things I will miss about this Midwest home include the adorable 10-month-old who thinks I'm hilarious, the evening neighborhood walks with my preggo sister, the dinners and drinks made by my brother-in-law, the plethora of shops at my city-living fingertips, the Starlight Theater productions, and the nightly viewing of seasons on DVD (currently working through 90210).

Things I will not miss include waiting till naptime to shower, getting my toes crushed by Toby's big paws, and living with roommates who have a higher mess tolerance than me.

I'm sure you're wondering if six months of Flora's cute babyness has convinced this nanny/aunt to give her a cousin as soon as Bryan comes home. The short answer: no. Flora's skills at persuasion have not advanced beyond smiles and laughs. We'll revisit this issue in a few years and see if she can formulate a better argument by then.

Coffee Shop Blogging

2008-08-15T10:39:00.003-05:00

Today is my day off Flora duty, so I am here enjoying a 12oz cup of joe and an almond croissant. According to my punch card, this is my eighth coffee here so my next one is free. I have about a week and a half to redeem my free coffee before I begin my journey back to the North Carolina coast. I am so SO excited about moving back! This morning I called the housing office on base and found out that we've moved up on the wait list from #34 two weeks ago to #22 today. Once I'm there it won't be exciting at all because I'll still have a few weeks to wait before Bryan arrives. Those last few weeks will be comprised of the longest days of my life. I wouldn't wish a prolonged separation on any married couple, but the homecoming is so exquisitely exciting that I wish everyone could know the joys of it.

Last weekend my college friends and I had a little reunion in Denver, Colorado. You girls are great! Driving several hours through flat and boring Kansas was slightly redeemed by the ginormous white windmills, fields of sunflowers, and signs for the world's largest prairie dog. Our trip was highlighted by an interrogation of Hannah's new boyfriend, pedicures by a woman who took two dozen pictures of us with my camera, three goofy girls sharing a small fitting room in Macy's, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, and... well, you really don't need to know about the best parts. ;)

What's my pseudonym?

2008-08-06T18:16:00.003-05:00

It's been over a decade since I attended a young author's conference, but the influence of that elementary school diversion has finally paid off. Today I began my great American novel. It's very pretentious, full of sentences long enough to fill a page, and even a few brand new words which I made up just to serve my purposes. All attributes of a celebrated classic. But don't expect to get any sneak previews of my literary masterpiece. It will take at least ten years to write and revise a novel as thick as the Bible and twice as confusing as Shakespeare. When it is finally finished I will lock it away in a safety deposit box only to be published upon my death. It's a fail-proof plan for success.

Lately I've been beside myself with anticipation of going back to North Carolina this month, finally getting on the housing wait list, and looking into available jobs on base--all signs of Bryan's eminent return from Iraq! The closer it gets the longer the days seem to strrreeetch. I can't wait!!

Crafting with Flora

2008-07-28T16:58:00.005-05:00

Per your request, here is a picture of Flora in her "I Love My Nanny" bib that I designed for her. Another project recently inspired by my boredom was to make the letters of her name to hang on her wall. I first traced and cut the letter shapes out of styrofoam. Then I used hot-glue (the duct tape for women) to wrap the sides in white fabric.

Finally I filled the exposed styrofoam with artificial flowers, courtesy of Joann's 70% off clearance bin. The result is very colorful and fun, but it still hasn't quite made it to her wall yet!

Mac's Middle Name is Lazarus

2008-07-13T16:38:00.004-05:00

It was very still and dark last Thursday night, yet I had no impending sense of the doom about to befall. I sat at my desk playing Text Twist while I waited for Bryan to come online. Around 11pm I heard Skype's musical queue and abandoned my word scrambling to answer Bryan's call. Then it happened. Everything... stopped. Mac's screen turned pale gray like a face on a deathbed. His last words, "You must restart." I obediently turned him off, but he made no effort to turn back on for me. I felt like a doctor duped into an assisted suicide. I grasped his metal casing which I never cleaned or loved enough during his short life and cried, "Don't leave me!! You can't leave me like this!!" That night I repeatedly tried to turn Mac on, but it was too late. The flatline was buzzing; Mac was gone.

I went to bed dreading the arrangements I'd have to make for Mac's remains in the morning. At least I had finally (for the first time) backed up all my data last month. I thought about how kind it was that God didn't let me lose all my digital photos and illustrations. I'm sure those things are not essential to His life-plan for me, but he made sure I had them backed up before this happened. I was touched. We had a moment.

Friday morning I groggily stumbled to my desk out of habit and opened up Mac--then I sighed remembering the night before. One more try... I pressed the button and plastered my ear to the keyboard hoping to hear the whirring sounds of life inside. I did! I was shocked! I waited and watched as Mac started up just fine. I half expected to see him display an error message that said "Psych!" I never knew Mac was a prankster, but he got me good that night. I'm already thinking of ways that I can get him back--like downloading Windows Media Player or pricing new Macs online.

Independence Day

2008-07-04T12:20:00.005-05:00

One sunny afternoon I pulled in to Wal-Mart and found a parking space. As occasionally happens, my timing was just awkward enough that I came around the back of my car just in time to intercept another pedestrian heading for the doors. I didn't look closely at him, but my initial glance told me that he was older with a strong gait. He must've glanced my way too, because he noticed the "Marines" sticker on my car and said, "Are you in the Marines?" I smiled a little and considered saying yes, but instead opted for the truth and told him no, it's my husband who is the Marine. "Ah. Well tell him I said thank you for serving our country." To which I replied, "That's very considerate of you and yes, he deserves your thanks, but what am I? Chopped liver? Does a military wife not deserve your thanks, too? I put my wedding, my career, and my life on hold because I chose to love and support that man who's serving our country. I keep his morale high so that he doesn't become part of the statistic that Marines have the highest suicide rate of any military branch. I put up with all the crappy aspects of the military like ever-changing homecoming dates, rules that don't make sense, and moving cross-country every few years. I didn't sign a five-year contract that requires me to put up with all this; I'm voluntarily letting the Marines run my life because I know my husband needs me. My husband is the hero, but if he was here and not in Iraq he'd tell you to thank me, too, for making so many sacrifices and sticking by his side through everything we've endured together for the sake of service to our country."

Ok, so I didn't really say that whole last part, but I wanted to. When you're thanking a military hero, don't forget to also thank their spouse for persevering in a position that many could not handle. But please, do not thank me. I'm not asking for recognition from my family and friends who already know my plight...that would be a little weird. :) Next year I will no longer be a military wife, and I just hope that I won't forget the experience in years to come. And if I ever thank a military wife for her husband's service, I hope that I won't forget to thank her, too.

Done with Ivanhoe, On to Don Quixote

2008-06-28T12:45:00.004-05:00

Hello. My name is Sara K., and I am a book snob. If it is not a classic, then I do not want to read it. I am finally admitting my problem after years of failed interventions from family and friends who propose adding non-classics to my reading list. It's a modern classic, they say. It's just like Jane Austen, they say. It's gripping and you won't be able to put it down, they say. I politely smile and nod and tell them I'll keep that book in mind, while secretly I'm lamenting all the great classics that have made it onto Wishbone but not into my hands. Not that I use a talking dog as my standard for knowing the best books to read, but I think there's a reason he never resorted to modern literature. It's just not as good. I think I've given it a fair chance, but in my opinion Harry is no Frodo. Sue Grafton doesn't compare with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and I've yet to find anyone who can rival Austen's subtle wit and understated passions.

Yes, I admit that I'm a book snob. It's a crime to be so unfair and it's a punishment to miss the pop culture afforded by Peretti, Grisham, and Rowling. I'm sure that even Rory Gilmore would recommend a more diversified reading list, but it's just too hard for me to change my ways. It's a disease I have to live with, and I hope that in time my well-meaning family and friends will learn to accept my errant snobbery, or at least accept my apologies for being so proud and prejudiced.

Full-Time Nanny + Part-Time Graphic Designer =

2008-06-25T14:34:00.003-05:00

I just ordered a bib for Flora with this design on it!

An Off-Broadway Review

2008-06-21T00:05:00.005-05:00

Tonight I joined my sister and two other friends to see a Broadway-style production in a large outdoor Starlight Theater. The show was called The Drowsy Chaperone and even after reading the programs we had no idea what it would be about. It turned out to be a really great show and a very fun night (despite a first-act margarita that pushed on my bladder for three hours).

I'd love to show you pictures, but unfortunately cameras were not allowed. Basically the show is about a modern-day man using a record-player in his home to listen to a 1920's musical comedy called The Drowsy Chaperone (ie, the drunk maid of honor). The entire jazzy musical proceeded to take place in his living room with occasional exclamations and explanations from the "man in chair"—as his character was called. I was delighted to recognize two actors from tv and film: Georgia Engel, Robert's mother-in-law in Everybody Loves Raymond and Georgette in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and also the "man in chair" himself, Jonathan Crombie who graced the Anne of Green Gables movies as Gilbert Blythe. Georgia Engel's best line with her softly delicate voice: "Poooooop." But my favorite line was Man in Chair's "Is this the person I'm supposed to pee with for the rest of my life?"

I'm so glad that live theater has survived the 20th century and not suffered the same sad fate as its doomed sister, musical films. I'm a big fan of choreographed tap-dancing, exaggerated expressions, and the philosophy of why say it when you can sing it? The cheesier the better. I'm looking forward to next month's production of High School Musical. (Seriously. Really excited about that one.)

Politics Make Me Uncomfortable

2008-06-02T13:42:00.002-05:00

Ow. My foot is asleep and my shins are imprinted with red creases to match the form of my desk's edge. This is what happens when I try to do my American duty and research the presidential candidates of 2008. I've never been able to sit normally at a desk, so my twisted legs and squashed feet are not too happy with my decision to ignore their protests and remained glued to my computer screen.

I consider myself to be an open-minded conservative, so I went to the websites of both Obama and McCain. I discovered that both stand for things I agree with, and both stand for things that scare me. However, there is a bigger issue to consider that is not represented on either of their listed stances: web presence. Between the two there is one clear winner of my vote for the better website. I think that McCain's campaign has underestimated the importance of their web presence in this race. A quick YouTube search found 193,000 results for "Obama" and only 65,000 results for "McCain". Statistics show that people who are using the internet as the main source for their election news feel like they understand what is going on and that they have a say in how it turns out—in short, they sound like the type of people who actually get out and vote on election day. So if a candidate's website is unattractive and his web presence weak, how much of an effect will that have on his poll numbers?

Blogging, Writes, and KC Life

2008-05-27T17:36:00.004-05:00

There are other ways of reading my blog besides coming to this website. You can subscribe to the RSS feed at the bottom of the page, or I can add you to a list of people who will get my new posts emailed to them. I know several of you received emails when I updated my Xanga blog, so I thought you might like that option here, too. Just send me your email address and I'll add you to that list.

I just thought of another great name for my blog: Writes of a Military Wife. Too late to change the name though. And after next year I won't have that military angle to my blog anyways. That's right, we only have about a year left with the Marines!

I wish Bryan could share all my Kansas City experiences. He said I should send him photos of everything I do and everywhere I go so he can picture my life here. (too easy pun) So today Flora and I went out with camera in tow and documented the following places that I frequent: two coffee shops within two miles of the house, a drive-through with the best frozen custard ever, the closest post office which happens to be in a strip mall, my new bank that I chose based on its attractive exterior, the convenient Quick Trip that highlights many a weekend with coffee and donuts, and the slightly overpriced hometown grocery store. It's not too exciting, but that's pretty much the extent of everything I do in KC. Eventually I'll have to get a picture of the Apple Store for him because I'm definitely dragging his PC booty into one of those. Maybe I'll call ahead so they can have an intervention prepared.

May 20—Happy Anniversary

2008-05-20T09:03:00.002-05:00

Another anniversary, another absent husband. Saying it that way makes him sound like a deadbeat, but he's far from it. Our first anniversary he was stationed in Japan. Today, our second anniversary, he is deployed to Iraq. In the past 24 months of our marriage, we've only spent 8 months living together. That's two-thirds of our marriage that we've been separated against our wills. It sucks, but thank God for web cams! Despite our unusual situation we have a terrific relationship. (Thanks in large part to the five years of dating before the wedding.) Happy anniversary, Bryan! May we be ever as in love and never as separated as our first two years of marriage.

Today's Translations

2008-05-18T21:26:00.003-05:00

What was said: "I don't hate it enough to custom order."
What I heard: "I don't hate it enough to cuss or murder."

What was said: "It's your dress destiny."
What I heard: "It's your dresstiny."

What was said: "Sara, you need a beer."
What I heard: "Sara, you need a beard."

Petition to Establish a Baby-Name Approval Committee

2008-05-15T14:00:00.003-05:00

I just discovered an old church bulletin folded up in my desk drawer. These usually find their way to trash, but this one was worth keeping because of the notes I wrote on the back of it. Although I've been known to jot down key sermon phrases and insights of my own, this particular Sunday I was completely distracted by all the crazy names I found in the hymnal. (I know, slap my hand for not paying attention. It happens.) There were some real gems in there, and I spent nearly the whole service writing them down so I could share them with others. Here are just a few of the first names of people who contributed to the hymns in that book: Ethelbert, Horatius, Adoniram, Baynard, Judson, Elvina, Almeda, Folliott, Rigdon, and Sylvanus.

Recently my sister showed me a page from the newspaper with the names of all the babies born in the local hospital in 2007. It seems that unusual names are not just a thing of the past, but they're here to stay. Some of my favorites from the 2007 baby names were: Paradise, Dreamy, Fabiola, Fabian, Seraphina, Jericho, Tennessee, Gozlyn, and Heydy.

If any of these names belong to you or a relative, please do not take offense. Parents have the privilege of choosing any name for their baby, and I have some respect for people who stick to a name they like even after negative feedback from family and friends. Anyways, I named my pets oddly (Suki and Avee) so I might be the one someday who wants to name a child Ethelbert. But if that happens, please ambush me with an intervention for the sake of the child.

And I really hope that this "Dreamy" kid is a girl.

Scribbles are Overrated

2008-05-14T13:19:00.004-05:00

What's so bad about coloring inside the lines? It seems that the trend now is to applaud those who recklessly color with abandon and pity those who contain themselves within the lines. I don't know who first told me to stay inside the lines--probably my big sister--but I obeyed and I was very good at it. Occasionally creativity compelled me outside those lines when I decided that Minnie Mouse needed some flowers at her feet or that the little pony needed a pond and some hills in the background, but it was always very calculated and intentional.

The other day I decided to revive my youth with a coloring book and some crayons from the store. I set Flora down to watch me color. (She was fascinated, but she kept trying to convince me that those colorful sticks would serve a better purpose inside her mouth.) It was very relaxing to color again. But suddenly my fingers got a little too wild and a small loop of purple stretched just outside that little black line. I felt the instant guilt of ruining the perfect picture that I was working on. I can't help it. Call me a perfectionist or a control-freak, but I still like coloring inside the lines. I'm sure that small fact could explain a lot about me.

Regardless of your coloring habits around "the lines", I highly recommend spending $3 to experience the joys of coloring again. However, I do not recommend Crayola Glitter Crayons. They're pretty in theory, but not in functionality.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame David Cook!

2008-05-10T17:30:00.011-05:00

This ranks as my best Kansas City experience so far. Yesterday American Idol finalist David Cook came to KC for his big "hometown visit". We all got tickets to the Royals game so we could hear him sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". I came prepared with my mental lists of Do's and Don'ts. DO ask David Cook to marry my friend in Africa (per her request). DON'T flash David Cook (per my husband's request). And DO take lots of pictures (because you wouldn't believe me otherwise).

Here are the occupants of Section 319, Row G, Seats 10-12. Not pictured: Chris Borkert.

I thought it necessary to also document that Jim Halpert is leading a double life as a professional baseball player.

Then came David Cook! Yaaaayyyy! Wait a minute, David what are you doing to your baseball cap? David, no! Nooooo...

Flora was definitely the most excited about seeing David Cook.

He sang. We screamed. I forgot about my mental list of Do's and Don'ts. It was the best 7th inning ever.

Eight Months in Iraq=Eight Months in KC

2008-05-10T15:00:00.001-05:00

Kansas City. It's frigid. Avee and I do not like the cold. But I really enjoy living with my sister. I'd like it even better if Bryan were living here with me. Then it'd be like that cheesy spin-off of the Brady Bunch when Marcia and Jan lived in a house together with their husbands. But a sit-com life would be much better than a war-movie/Odyssey life. The role of Penelope is way overrated. More than anything though I'm really enjoying being just five minutes away from a Quick Trip. I get coffee there a few times a week. In the evenings we all watch American Idol or the latest season on dvd that my sister brought from the library (right now we have McGyver, Saved by the Bell, and Home Improvement). And on very special nights we all play Scrabble and drink Hard Mike's. Well, it really doesn't take a very special night to break out the Hard Mikes. I haven't done much shopping. Hopefully Stef and I will go to the plaza this weekend. I've been to their church twice, and I know I should be totally immersed in a ministry by now, but I'm not. I have no good excuse for that. I'm quite the sourpuss at church b/c it makes me miss Bryan a lot more. Maybe I'll volunteer for the nursery sometime. Kids are a lot easier to befriend than grown-ups.

Xanga: June 6, 2007: Upon Leaving DaySpring

2008-05-10T13:50:00.002-05:00

Dear DaySpring,

It's been a long five years together, but I think we're finally moving in different directions. We've come a long way since those early days when I only gave you 12 hrs a week and you only gave me a closet desk and endless keywording. And remember that day when we decided to go steady full-time? You loved me enough to rescue me from the temp agency and give me a few drawers at your place. I'll always remember the special times we had together. That time you took me to the CPS Print Show, the smoked turkey you gave me every Christmas, and the occasional design jobs from Gifts.

But it wasn't all turkeys and print shows. You were so afraid of commitment, it took you three years to offer me a permanent place in your life. You often overlooked me and took me for granted, and I'm pretty sure you tried to poison me with that coffee in the break room. I'll try to only remember all the good things, but I know I'll think of you every time my carpal tunnel flares up.

So this is the end of the road. I know it hurts now, but you'll get on just fine without me, and eventually you'll even forget about me. You can still call me from time to time if you want to give me design jobs, but please don't bring up any non-design work. That part of my life is over, and you need to let me move on.

Fondly,
Sara K.

Xanga: April 24, 2007: Survive the Workplace

2008-05-10T13:45:00.003-05:00

How to Survive the Workplace

1. Know that there will always be someone who dresses nicer than you every day. Likewise, there will always be someone who dresses worse. Don't fret over bad hair days or bad outfit days. They happen, and they'll be forgotten.

2. We all fall prey to this one, but do not--I repeat--do not become attached to any writing utensil! They're an unfaithful breed who will walk away from you at the first opportunity. Become attached to them and you'll find yourself saying, "Is that my pen you're using? I used to have one like that; it was my favorite. Did you steal my pen??" uh... awkward.

3. The standard free office coffee generally tastes like dog food. You want to become a part of the secret underground coffee club at work. I guarantee every office has such a club and that they're hiding a beautiful, dark Ethiopian blend somewhere in the building. I'm not making this stuff up. If you suspect you've found a club member, use words like "fair trade", "my espresso maker", and "bur grinder". Complain enough about the break-room coffee and you'll be invited to the club.

4. Join up with one or two people and institute Rude Fridays. On Rude Friday do your best to be cynical and insulting. This works best when the cynicism and insults are obviously in jest. You should also make sure you do it with someone as sweet and soft-spoken as Mel; that makes it extra-funny. It's a great way to relieve stress and makes for very fun Fridays.

Xanga: April 18, 2007: Why I Blog

2008-05-10T13:37:00.003-05:00

My Bryan said:
"I would fall in love with you even if I had never met you, just from reading your xanga posts. I love them cause they are entirely you. Everything about you is contained in them. I feel like I'm sitting in the room talking to you when I read them."

Often I question the worth of continuing xanga when only a few people read it, but if I can make my husband thousands of miles away feel like he's sitting in a room talking with me, well, that makes it all worth it. This one (and every one after) is for you, Sweetie! *mmwaa!*

And here's a special Happy Citrus shout-out to the lady at work who went to Sonic today and brought me back a lemon-berry slush. Spectacular.

Xanga: October 4, 2006: Daddy's Kisses

2008-05-10T12:54:00.004-05:00

The scene: A father and daughter in a college art gallery on opening night. The role of the daughter will be played by Sara and the role of the father will be played by Daddy.

Daddy: (whispers) "What do you think that guy would do if I kissed him right now?"

Sara: (looks at the group of students and both wonders which guy he's talking about and why in the world he's asking her this question)

Daddy: (a mischeivous grin)

Sara: "???"

Daddy: (realizes Sara is wondering why in the world he's asking her this question) "His shirt..."

Sara: (realizes the several moments of trying to figure out Daddy's comment was wasted because the latino guy's shirt quite obviously says "Kiss me I'm Irish")

Daddy & Sara: "lol"
.

Xanga: Sept 2, 2006: Laptop Suicide

2008-05-10T12:46:00.002-05:00

Sadly, I regret to inform you that this morning at 10:34 a.m. Mac dropped off the coffee table in a gruesome suicide attempt. I was not immediately alarmed as Mac has jumped off this ledge before and escaped without harm (he tries to follow me whenever I walk away, no doubt suspicious of my relationship with the PC in the other room). However, today was different. After the fall (which was a slow 15-inch drop) I picked him up and quickly realized that this was not just another attempt to follow me into the other room. Mac had strategically landed with all his small weight on his power supply plug; it was a blatant attack on his own life. If you can stomach the gorey details, the metal cylindrical frame of his plug was bent out in two directions and the rod inside was broken. On Mac himself, his aluminum frame was dented next to the power outlet and the rod inside the outlet was also broken. At the present time, Mac is still in critical condition.

Please send your flowers and notes for Mac to my address and I'll make sure he gets them. I'll also see that he gets counseling for his jealousy after he is fully recovered from this ordeal.

Xanga: May 9, 2006: Post-JBU Goals

2008-05-10T12:20:00.001-05:00

No more JBU. Here are my new goals to keep myself from becoming brain-dead after college:

• Become an Adobe Certified Expert. The tests for this are really hard, but I'm up for the challenge just to have that title. I think I'll start with the InDesign test.

• Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Since the dustcover is in my portfolio I should have some thoughtful thing to say about it when I show it to potential employers.

• Cook dinner twice a week. I think it's best to approach this cooking thing slowly.

• Join a Bible study or home cell group with somebody I don't like. It will force me to find some good in them and maybe even help me grow spiritually.

• Read a book about Okinawa/Japan. Ideally this would be done at Barnes & Noble over a cup of Marbled Mocha Macchiato *before* I move there. (Move to Japan, not B & N)

• Train for a 5k. It's been way too long since I've done one of those. Right now I can only run a single puny mile. Anyone want to do this one with me?

• Keep in touch with friends. It's sad, but this has been really hard for me in the past. Kinda like Xanga, I pretend we're still involved, but the reality is I haven't updated since I can't remember when.

• Be on a reality tv show. I don't think this will better me in any way, but it would be nice to have a room redecorated or my ride pimped. American Idol also could be fun. Maybe they'd like me if I did all my performances rolling around on the floor.

• Write a book. This book will either be about graphic design, long-distance relationships, or how stupid, unfair, ridiculous, perverted, and dominating a certain branch of the military is. Right now I'm leaning toward graphic design.

• Sell photos on iStock.com. Freakin' harder than it sounds.

• Convince a lady at work that I'm better than her at everything and I know infinitely more than she does. That would be nice. Maybe then I'd get some r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

• Become ambidextrous, really. I've been working on this one for about a year and a half now. I'm convinced it can be a learned trait.

• Work somewhere other than DS. It's just like Siloam. A great and wonderful place to be, but it sucks you in and eventually you have the urge to get as far away from it as you can.
.

Xanga: Dec 5, 2005: Personal Quirks

2008-05-10T11:50:00.003-05:00

I've been Xanga-tagged so now I have to create a list of my personal quirks. Here goes:

1) I'm scared of ocean waves.

2) I had braces but never wanted them. When I was in junior high I bluntly told my dentist that God made my teeth crooked and if he wanted them straight then he could do it without braces.

3) Almost a year ago I decided I should be ambidextrous. I began taking notes in class and at work with my left hand. Now I can easily write with both hands, though my right is still more fluid. Side effect: slight dyslexia.

4) I get the urge to use the undo key command in life (control/command + z). Like if I set down a paper in the wrong place my mind tells my fingers to click the undo sequence.

5) My thumbs are double-jointed. I can make them move funny.

6) I have a gift for always choosing the wrong line to get in. If there's a line that's destined to move slower than all others—I'll find it.

7) There are only two books that I have read more than once: Pride & Prejudice and A Horse Called Lightning.

8) Sometimes I get hot chocolate at work just because I like the sound that the machine makes.

Rough Draft

2008-05-10T11:10:00.000-05:00

This blog is a test; it is only a test. If it were a real blog, it would contain wit, allegories, and voluntary comments. Do not be alarmed. This test is brief, and will be followed by real, actual blogs. Please stayed tuned.