Countdown to England: 4 Days

Sleepovers with Jo

I slept over at Joanna's house yesterday. Sheldon texted me to say that he hoped we were having a fun time. I laughed at that and replied that our sleepovers probably do not line up with his or most people's stereotypical sleepover. Instead of doing each other's hair and painting our nails we sit around doing homework on our laptops and periodically asking each other to turn down the music.

Sketches From Class

Dear Friends,

Today was another day of sketching in class and still paying attention! Seriously guys, stop bugging me about that. I apologise for the poor quality of these photos. I wish I had a scanner to do them better justice.

1. I did a series of three sketches and then did close ups on them. My pen was running dry and so I had to press with it and work it into the paper with layers and layers of strokes. It was fun because it felt like a different medium than felt tip. 

2. Here is a poor photo of my earring drawing. 

3. A close up of the hand drawing. This one did not go so great. My model kept moving. I'll blame that on her. 

England Countdown: 5 Days

Darling Readers,

We leave for England in 5 days! I drew a list tot the essentials for travel.

Here's the list:

- Canvas Tote, for days when I don't need a backpack 

- Backpack, for long days of touring when I need everything with me

- Slip-on-shoes, for warm days and to wear with skirts

- Buckled shoes, for chillier weather

- Laptop, obvs! 

- Pencil case, for sketching! 

- Sketchbook, um, for sketching! Exclamation point! Again! Another! Lots!!!

- Drawing tablet, I have this one. They are super pricey, but I got mine for free. I use it for drawing    My Outfits

- Generic MP3# listening device, stocked with Mark Kermode's Film Review podcasts (Hello to Jason Isaacs)!

- Makeup kit, gotta look fab in a metropolis!

- Water bottle, I used to hate these Nalgene things, because they mad me feel like a normal American...but Sheldon gave me one that he found in a dumpster and I love it! (it was new when he found it, BTW)

You'll notice this list does not include Passport or wallet. Don't worry. The plan is to take those too. 

Love,

LR

PS

This morning we went through some rules about the Underground and pressed a map of London. She reviewed the emergency phone number to call in England. It is 999 not 911 like in the US. That reminded me of a scene from one of my favourite British sitcoms called The IT Crowd. 

This is one of my favourite scenes:

WARNING! A CHARACTER USES THE "B" WORD AT THE END OF THE CLIP!

Sketches From Class

Dear Ones,

Today I did several sets of doodles in class. 

Here they are:

1. For the first photo I  thought I would give you a shot of my tools. Here's a list: 

- Lime Green Copic marker 

- Sharpie felt tip pen

- Strathmore notebook, 400 Series Recycled sketch paper

- Pencil case that was a gift from my good friend Claire (find her blog here!) from her trip to Singapore in the sixth grade. 

2. For this series I drew the hair with the marker first and then did the pen over it. I tried to make a rule for myself not to add in any marker after I had done the pen, but I cheated for the shoes and the girl with the bun. I like that exercise of not going back over something, because it forces me to be fast and non-perfectionist. 

2. This is a brief set of the back of people's heads. Unfortunately that's really all I can see of most people. I was trying to get the hair right. 

3. This was a set similar to the first one, where I did the green marker first and then did over with the pen. I felt like I could sense myself loosening up with this one. It was my first sketching of the day and so the girl in the middle to the right turned out the worst. My hand was still stiff. The girl with the pony tail was the second and she is a little better. 

Today you may notice a couple of things that my sketches have in common. First, they are all in frames like a cartoon. I like this because I feel like it gives me clear boundaries for a sketch so that I can better plan out how I am going to deal with the composition of each frame. It helps me when I am in a hurry too, because I can finish one frame very quickly and feel as though I have accomplished something. 

The second thing in my sketches from today is that I was only using two colours: green and black. I like doing that too, because it looks cool and is another small boundary which forces me to be creative. Then they also end up looking more cohesive if I do several versions. 

Hope you enjoyed this. May you have a good day and may it inspire you to also sketch instead of paying attention in class! Just kidding, Guys. I am very adept at listening and sketching. Just ask my seventh grade Literature teacher. Actually...don't.

Love,

Lucy Rose 

Sitting Still In Class

Dear Ones,

Today I had real trouble sitting through my four classes. I got so antsy! I even felt my bottom go a little numb. This is particularly sad because I love my classes! I am taking Romanticism, Jane Austen, Travel Writing and Literature and Place. My favourites are Travel Writing and Austen. We are reading Mansfield Park, which, if you read read this post, you know is one of my favourite books of all time.

So I was thinking about ways to keep yourself from going nuts during class. I thought of a few. Here they are:

1. Chew Gum: This is helpful because it gives me something to fidget with even instead of biting my nails or cuticles. It helps if you have a class before lunch, because you trick yourself into thinking you are eating.

2. Sketch: This one has to be subtle, but it helps me because do better listening when my hands are doing something too. One time I made it my goal to draw every pair of shoes in the whole class (find that here). That kept me busy for the whole class. But sometimes you may feel badly about doing that. In those cases you can draw illustrations to accompany the content of your textbooks or notes. See below for a few of my in-class illustrations.

3. Practice Posture: Time yourself to sit with perfect posture for a period of time. This one is kind of silly, but it helps me to focus on something external when my mind is trying to wander. I also find myself slouching and getting uncomfortable.

4. Make Lists: I love making lists. Sometimes making a few helps me to keep my mind nimble instead of going numb. I make lists of things I need to pack for a trip, ideas for blog posts or words from the class readings or lectures that stick out to me.

I realise that these suggestions could be seen as poor studentship. But hopefully you will use them with discretion.

Love,
Lucy Rose

PS

Don't forget to check out my new fashion portion of my blog! 

New Blog Feature: "Daily Outfits"

Good Morning, Friends!

I am just dropping in to alert you of a new feature on my blog. I have added a new fashion segment. You will notice I have put a new tab under the title of my blog called "Daily Outfits". I will be posting all of my outfit illustrations here so they are all in one place.

Thanks for reading!

Lucy Rose

Sketching Tips: Part V

Dear People,

Today I have one last post in my series on sketching. Pretty soon I will be leaving for England and writing about that!

Here is my last tip:

Be around people who sketch.

Do it together or as we like to say at Wheaton "in community". I have to admit that I do not do this as proactively as I should. But it is seriously helpful to be around people who are being creative. It always makes me want to be creative too, even if I have had a dry streak.

For instance every time I set foot in Sheldon's art studio during this past year I would get a creativity boost. I wanted to go out and create because I was excited by the things that he was working on. He had quotes taped to his wall. He had pinecones and bits of twisted metal he had found by the railroad tracks sitting on the table. Over his window he had taped a piece of paper with holes in it, which made everything you saw through the window seem like a stop-motion video. In one corner of the table were cups that held pencils, chopsticks and a quill feather. Here is a link for you to view Sheldon's art work.

Here are some ideas for finding those people who can inspire you:

1. Ask Your Friends: Who do you know that creates stuff? Do you know someone who is constantly crafting? My friend Lisa is always working on a new project when I visit her home. She sews and makes cards. Being around her makes me itch to get out a needle and start working! Do you know someone who has a job in the design field? Ask if you could hang out and sketch together. Ask to visit their studio space.

2. The Library: Go to the oversized books section of the library and just browse art books. Pick out whatever attracts you whether it be as serious as a compilation of Degas sketches or a children's picture book telling you how to draw trucks (this is one of my personal favourites). I like to browse my library's graphic novel section and look for new authors (here is my latest discovery, it's not for kids though). If you have a stinky library (basically if you live in my hometown!) this step is tricky. In this case I would move on to my next tip...

3. The Internet: There are so many creative people here on the internet. It can be daunting to find the good people, however. Here is a site I newly discovered, which allows you to view a LOT of creative work from good artists and then you can follow a link to their websites.

These tips are pretty basic and you probably thought of them yourselves! I just want to stress the whole community thing. It a principle which applies to so many other aspects of life, but one which we may not think of in terms of drawing - It's easier to work out with a buddy or to go on a diet with a friend or to go to study for a test together.

I hope this is encouraging.

Love,
Lucy Rose

Sketching Tips: Part IV

Dear Bloggies (It's been a while since I called you that! Isn't annoying?!),

Today I want to share some sketches that I have made in the last couple of days. They were all made on Sunday during church. Shhh! Don't tell! Just kidding, I think everyone in my church of 40 people knows that I am drawing the whole time. 

Enjoy!

Love,

LR 

1. This is a strange series of tiny sketches all arranged together like thumbnails on the computer. I used two colours and a black pen to draw tiny snippets of the objects in the room where our church congregates. For instance I drew the top of the microphone stand, the pages of someone's Bible and a portion of a chair. This was fun and it caused me to look at the room I was in more closely. Usually I would say that there is nothing really interesting to draw in such a space. But with this exercise I was forced to find points of potential visual interest. 

2. Here I was practicing a graphic novel-y look and drawing some scenes from the room. I feel like the purple of the basket is such and artificial colour that it contributes to the comic book nature. I was also going very 2D here. 

3. Here I did a very quick figure sketch of my pastor and his mother. I used a #4 pencil (very soft!). I did a little finger-smudging on the chair, which I slightly regret. My art teacher in elementary school encouraged us to use this technique, but in art school it was frowned upon. I tend to frown upon it these days, because in my eyes it can create an artificial softness which did not come from the pencil itself. The drawing also got smeared because the pencil was so soft. 

I was happy with the mother in this sketch. I sometimes feel like if you don't grasp a figure's position in the first few strokes it is very hard to go back and capture it correctly. 

Sketching Tips: Part III

Darling Readers,

For the past two days I have been on a sketching roll. Yesterday I mentioned one technique that I use when sketching in nature, which I call a sketching "shorthand". I do not know if this is an official term, but that is what I use to describe a way of indicating certain objects without drawing every single element. You can suggest a huge clump of leaves by using a short hand rather than by drawing each leaf. 

So I wanted to give you a visual idea of what I meant by that. Below I have jotted down a couple of the shorthands I use when drawing nature. Of course when I am focusing on something I would add more detail. But these are helpful for creating the illusion of effluviant foliage (Yes, I purposefully used that word to impress you all.)

I hope this is helpful!

Love,

Your Certified Sketching Trainer Expert Who Has Large Bug Bites on Her Bottom From Sitting in the Nature

PS
Bad News. I just double checked the definition of the word "effluviant". It does not mean what I thought it meant. I thought it meant bountiful. This is what it actually means: "Of or pertaining to effluviam." Effluvia apparently means: "A gaseous or vaporous emission, especially a foul-smelling one." Oops. Sorry about that, Guys! (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/effluvium)

It reminds me of a scene from Princess Bride:

Sketching Tips: Part II

Dear Friends,

Yesterday I posted some tips for sketching on the fly (scroll down to see those). Today my Travel Writing class went on a field trip to a place called Kline Creek Farms. It is a beautiful farm which has been preserved in true 1890's style. There is a house, an old smithy and sheep. It reminded me of Almanzo Wilder's home from Farmer Boy. I knew I had to do some drawing and as I was sketching I thought of several more tips for becoming a prolific sketcher.

Here are some more of my sketchy thoughts:

1. Always Carry Your Sketchbook: This seems obvious and I apologise it it seems rather simplistic. But the truth is some people don't carry their tools around! Some of the girls from the Travel Writing class asked our professor at the beginning of our field trip if they should take their notebooks or not. I rolled my eyes (inwardly). What a ridiculous question! The professor thought it was pretty silly as well, although he was more gracious. I carry my sketchbook everywhere - the library, the restaurant, the mall, Target etc.

2. Beware of Laziness: Today I knew that I technically wanted to sketch at the farm, but when we actually got there I just felt lazy. I didn't want to take the time to sit down in one spot and record what I was seeing. I felt tired and warm from the sun. I took a couple of half hearted sketches of the smithy, but when they turned out poorly I felt like giving up and wandering around like everyone else. I finally made a compromise. I took photos of some of the things that I thought looked like good drawings and then I wandered away from the group and found a great creek bank. After I was in the quiet I could focus and do a sketch that I actually liked.

3. Develop a Shorthand: This is a tip which I have discovered after years of trial and error drawing nature. Nature can seem very daunting to draw. This was me: "All those leaves! How do I draw every single one?! AHHHH!!! How do I draw all he blades of grass?!" I have discovered that the key is finding shortcuts. Experiment with finding some easy marking patterns which can stand in for certain types of nature. Clumps of "U"s can be leaves. Patches of "I"s can be grass. Stippling can be tiny flowers. Little circles can be pebbles.

4. Don't Draw Every Branch of the Tree: This one sort of echoes the above tip. Sometimes you can get daunted when you draw from life, especially in nature. We think that we have to be ultra true-to-life. This is not a bad thing, but you can definitely take it overboard. When drawing trees, for instance, focus on the trunk and some main branches, but don't burden yourself with thinking that you have to draw every curve of every branch. Sketch the general idea of the tree and go back and adjust it.

I hope these have been helpful, Guys! I hope they don't sound too condescending. May they instead compel you to sketch.

Love,
Lucy Rose

What did you think of this post?

Sketching Tips: Part I

Dear Friends,

I have always been an In-Class-Sketcher or Doodler. It just helps me to focus. I can't sit and only listen.Yesterday I was struggling to stay awake as our Jane Austen class discussed the film Bride and Prejudice until 10 PM. So I sketched some of my fellow classmates from behind. Is that creepy?

I thought I would share some of the things I have learned about sketching form life in class or another public setting. First I'll show you yesterday's work and then I'll give you my tips.

Here they are my sketches:

Here are some tips for sketching in class or on the train:

1. Be Quick: If you are sketching people you have to be speedy, because they are always moving. It is very frustrating, but just don't be afraid to make mistakes or draw over a line if they shift positions. 

2. Don't Be a Perfectionist: If you are too picky about the way your drawing looks, then you will not be able to sketch. Try to loosen up your expectations from a sketch. As you can seek from mine they are not perfect. They are pretty well, sketchy!

3. Don't Be Shy: People will look over your shoulder as you sketch. It is inevitable. Don't let them derail the work you are doing. If they make suggestions for how to sketch that can be irritating. Ignore it and smile and nod. Basically, just give short answers to any questions and be pleasant, but don't stop working. When they see you are intent on your work they will quiet down. But you need to expect that you can't sketch anywhere in public without getting comments or curiosity. Everyone will want to see what you are making!

4. Don't Be Afraid of Your Sketchbook: Your sketchbook is a tool. It is not "The Perfect Diary of Every Amazing Drawing Lucy Rose Has Made". It is there so that you can experiment and scratch things out and draw over things. If a sketch is discouraging you and you want to quit: turn the page! It's OK to have flub sketches in your sketchbook. They don't poison all the good ones. 

5. Keep On: It can get discouraging. You may get annoying comments, you may beat yourself up about being a stinky artist. But please keep trying. The only way you will get better is by practice. It really is a muscle which you can train, just like a sport or a musical instrument. I can attest to the fact that it takes me about 3-4 sketches before I feel "warmed up". I can also attest to the fact that it took me a long time to get to a point where I was speedy. 

Ok. All of this advice is basically the same, come to think of it. I guess that is because I have met a lot of people who have issues concerning fear when it comes to drawing. Don't let that fear stop you from a practice which is so great for building you up as an artist and as an observant and thoughtful person. 

Love,
Lucy Rose

Some Instagram Drawings

Dear Friends,

Whereas I have been neglecting my blogging duties I have been more prolific on Instagram. For those of you who do not follow me on that particular form of social media I have decided to give you a sample of some of the drawings I have put up recently. Sometimes the stuff I post there and the stuff I post here crosses over, but usually not.

I hope you enjoy these randomly assorting drawings and doodles!

Love,
Lucy Rose

PS
Find me on Instagram here!


1. This is a drawing of Jane Austen that I put on my notebook for my Austen class. It has been getting me lots of compliments from the other Austenians in class. Score.

2. This is a cartoon I drew during the safety and travel course which my college requires for students who study abroad. This is the protocol for being mugged: Just give them your stuff and don't try to take anyone on (Unless you know Krav Maga...)

3. This is a sketch I made in Arkansas with Jo. We were having lunch in a Thai restaurant. I used some sauces from our food to colour it! Except the purple. That was a pen. Jo's brother in law thought my painting with food was the funniest and weirdest thing he had ever seen. "You are very weird, Lucy Rose. I don't think I have ever met anyone quite as odd. But it's a good kind of weird." Thanks, Bo. 

4. I drew this for my Mother at Mother's Day. 

5. This is a lovely landscape I drew while Jo was in the vet's with her dog Pearl. I had a lovely hour to do it in. It reminded me of the olden days in art high school when we would start off each school year by going somewhere out in the country to have plein air drawing for a solid week. It was the greatest. Usually we would grab our paints and pencils in the morning and wander off to draw all day. We would then gather in the evening to show each other our work. I miss that and my friends. 

Studying in England

Darling Readers,

I am sorry to have neglected you. I know how much you depend on reading my blog. The truth is that I have started school again! Yes. I am going to study abroad in England. Can you believe it?! I am so excited. I have already been twice for about a week or two each time, but I was pretty young. I was 12 the first time and 14 the second.

So far I am still at school doing an intensive two weeks of classes before departure. Let me paste a bit from a letter I wrote to my parents describing the program to give you a sense of what I am doing.

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to give you an update on how Wheaton in England is going so far, because I know that you have have a vested interest in the way this great sum of money is being used. Also I am your daughter and you care about me. 

It is amazing. I love it. We haven't even gotten to England yet, but I am already loving this program. Image this: 

Every morning you wake up at around 7 and bicycle for 15 minutes to get to breakfast in the Wheaton cafeteria (that in itself is pretty great...number one college dining hall in the United States...). After this you have a couple hours in which to finish up homework before the first class starts at 10:10. This class is either a reflection based chapel time or a class which focuses on the literature of the places we will be visiting in England. 

After that class is Romanticism. This class is great because Dr. Colón is a good teacher and the subject matter is interesting. It is hard to sit through an hour and a half, however, without thinking of lunch. Lunch eventually arrives and you reenter the dining hall and sit at the long table which is occupied by a collection of the other England students. You chat and eat good food (cheese and crackers are new in the cafeteria and you have been obsessed). Then you use the rest of the hour to do some quick finishing up of the homework.

The Austen class is next. This class is a joy. You sit in a room full of fellow Austenians. You all share a deep affection for the divine Jane, but you get to talk about her in academic terms. This is no "chick-lit" appreciation club, but real scholarly examination of her as an author. This is the class you have longed to take your entire life. It is full of good will and humour. We can make jokes about Mr. Hearst and Lady Catherine with great success. 

Travel Writing is next and this class is just fun, because you already tend to do travel writing in your notebook and the professor thinks your drawings are great. 

After this class you are done for the day. You work out in the gym and then have dinner with the England people again. You visit Sheldon or Joanna's apartments to do homework and chat and then cycle back to the empty town house where the cats will try to sit on your bed when you want to go to sleep. 

This is my life here. It is a beautiful thing. I am taking classes that I love about things I love with people who are all a lot like me in their interests and temperaments. A bunch of English majors!

So far this experience has felt like a wonderful use of our ----$. I can't wait till we get to London in a week and a half. 

Thank you for helping me to do this. 

Love,

Lucy Rose

So now you know what I have been up to. I hope to do some serious blogging about my travels. Hopefully lots of pictures! 

I'll stop in soon to keep you posted. 

God Bless! 

Lucy Rose

Arkansas Adventure Day Eight

Arkansas Adventure Day Seven Part II

This evening Joanna and I planned a meal and cooked it together. It is one of those things that we have always said we wanted to do together, but it is just another thing for which we never have time at school.

Here's a short list of some of those things:
- Cook Together (Check!)
- Watch Episodes of Miranda Hart's Show
- Go Hiking
- Make Macaroons 
- Take a Martial Arts Class
- Go For a Joy Ride While Blasting Music

Yesterday Joanna got out her big Julia Child cookbooks and a couple others. She sat down in a big chair and began to map out our plans for our dinner. We decided on this menu:

I am currently digesting this gourmet meal and Joanna just slipped away to change into a looser fitting garment in order to accommodate the recentness expansion of her waistline. She toiled for four hours on this meal. I helped a lot, but she really did the bulk of the work. We shared it with two of her six sisters, her mother and a special family friend. 

It was like Babette's Feast, in the amount of work it took to prepare, the artistry and in the special fellowship of friends it provided. That film is actually the first one Sheldon and I ever watched together. I even think it was before we were officially dating. 

Babette, AKA Joanna

Arkansas Adventure Day Seven Part I

Dear Friends,

I have been in Arkansas for a week now. I brought a big suitcase along. I will be going to England for six weeks soon and I consider Arkansas to be my packing trial-run. I don't want to bring anything excess to England, so I need to streamline what I bring and what stays behind. This week I have used some items a lot and other not at all.

I hope this proves helpful for your summer travels!

Love,
Lucy Rose

Some Packing Mistakes

Number One: Too Many Socks
My Friend Joanna was making fun of me for having brought 15 pairs (does anybody out there say "pair" for the plural of Pairs? Sheldon does and for some reason I really don't like it...) of socks for my short stay. She was right. So far I have defy lately not needed this many socks. I love my socks and I don't like to leave any of my lovely heavy duty hiking socks behind, but I think I only need one pair a day. Sometimes I only need one pair for two days! Shhhh...

Number Two: No Jewellery 
I brought a small bag with some jewellery in it. It was just a few pairs of earrings and a bracelet or two, but I have not been motivated to wear any of it. I will not be bringing much jewellery to England. In one of my favourite films called Rear Window, Grace Kelly says that no woman ever travels without all her jewels. Wrong.

Number Three: Not Enough Shirts
I am sitting here writing this in one of Joanna's T-shirts. I did not bring enough tops that I genuinely wanted to wear. You have to be very selective about what clothes to bring on a trip. Some of it you will just plain not want to wear. Only bring what you really like. If you never really wear it at home there is not way you will wear it abroad.

Number Four: No Medium Bag
As you may know from a previous post about travelling, I like to carry a tiny purse when I travel for all my documents and wallet and gum. I also had my suitcase, of course. But I have found that while I have been here I have been using my sketchbook and books a lot. I take them everywhere we go in case there is a free moment for some doodling. But I have to carry them around in an old T.J. Max bag because I didn't bring a purse big wrought for them. I will bring some sort of canvas bag to England. It will be compact and a little cooler than a plastic shopping bag.

Arkansas Adventure Day Six Part II

Jo an I spent the day in Nature (Yes, with a capital "N", because it was extra buggy). 

I made some illustrations to accompany it. 

Arkansas Adventure Day Six Part I

This is an illustration I made this morning of my time with Joanna yesterday by the pond. We took a long ramble around their property and she let me sit by the pond and sketch for a long time. We chatted and she watched all the tiny living things move around. The funny thing is how when you sit still for a long time you begin to notice how much movement is happening. There are actually tons of tiny creatures moving in the water and by the bank. There are Spring Peepers, inchworms, water beetles, worms and dragon flies, not to mention ticks and tiny spiders crawling over your body. 

Things I Learned About Arkansas

Arkansas Adventure Day Five

Dear People,

Here are some sketches that I made today. The first is of my friend Joanna sitting on the porch this afternoon. She was wearing her yoga pants and a giant comfy sweatshirt fro her boyfriend. That is why she looks so bunchy. 

The second is an odd sketch I made when we walked down to a beautiful, frog-infested pond on Joanna's property. Apparently the frogs are called "Spring Peepers". This is because they make a loud noise with their throats. It is a surprisingly loud noise for frogs the size of quarters. I like to call them "Spring Loud Raspy Croakers". 

The last sketch is the dogs. They move around a lot, so their faces are not great. 

I'll see you all tomorrow, my friends. 

Goodnight,

Lucy Rose

Arkansas Adventure Day Four

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

I wanted to remember some of my favourite memories of my mother today. 

Here they are:

1. Reading to Me at Great Harvest Bread

My mom was very thrifty to be living off of a private school teacher's budget in one of the most wealthy neighbourhoods in the Chicago area. She had all sorts of tricks for saving money and still having fun with her kids. One of my favourites was when we would visit a bakery which gave free sample slices of bread. They also had a great big window seat and many picture books. we would spend an hour or so reading there. 

 2. The Grumpy Dulcimer Face
My mother is very musical. She taught herself to play the lap dulcimer and the hammer dulcimer when she was a teenager. She would play a lot when we were kids. We were always very scared of her when she played because she wore a very serious knit-brow expression. We thought she was very angry. Turns out she was just concentrating.

 3. Hair Brushing Sessions
Ug. These were rough. My hair was extremely curly and thick. It got so tangly and it would take a very long time to brush out. It was torture for my mother to clamp me between her knees and brush down.

4. Hours of Jillian Michaels Workouts

My mom is my work-out buddy. She got me into doing workout videos with her a few years ago. Even though it's kind of cheesy, they have actually changed my body from being skinny and weak to being strong. I miss getting to work out with her. 

5. Keeping Necco Wafers in Your Purse
I don't think these are your favourite candy any more, but you always used to have them in your purse. You would dispense them to us every once in a while. It was great. My least favourite were the brown chocolate ones and the black liquorice ones. My favourites were the white mint ones and the pink ones.

6. The Nose Ring

This is a random and old memory. One time our church had a carnival day where everyone dressed up like characters from the Bible. You and Dad dressed like Isaac and Rebecca. You wore the ring from a Mrs. Potato Head in your nose just like Rebecca's. I think you dressed me as a tree. 

I

Arkansas Adventure Day Three

Arkansas Adventure Day Two

We stayed in a hotel last night and I experienced a new side to friendship with Joanna. It was rough. I still love her though!

Arkansas Adventure Day One

School is finished at last and I am on a trip to visit my dear friend Joannna's home in Arkansas.