It's over

Christmas is done. Now I just have to deal with cleaning up. I hate packing everything back into boxes. It takes so much work. Especially the artificial tree hauling that thing back up into the attic takes so much work and I feel it literally could become the death of me.

I am leaving for school in a week. It is crazy how fast it is going to come. I really like school. It causes me too much anxiety though, I am the kind of person who refuses to fail at anything, which makes assignments and classes difficult. Maybe I should just relax these last two semesters and settle for B's. That would make life easier. I have this natural impulse to be the best and when I recognize some one is better it makes me angry. It shouldn't be like that. I should be excited for them, that they have been given far more talent in that particular area. But I want to be on top, which causes me to make overly worked projects that don't seem to work.

I need a job at school. I will probably go back to my janitor job. I just wish it was at a more reasonable hour then 4 in the morning. I enjoy cleaning so that isn't the issue... it's just the dread feeling of living months on end with no energy.

All of this I think has contributed to the fact I can't get a boyfriend. I just don't have the energy or time to look for one. And if i got one could I even care for him? I have to go to bed at a early hour. I am in classes all day from 9 to 9, except now I have almost all of Tuesday and Thursdays off! Wahoo. Plus the tension, oh my heck, the tension that surrounds my life at school.

I don't want to be crazy anxiety girl.

Firsts

Tomorrow I will experience a first. A white Christmas. Yes. I have never seen snow on Christmas before. I thought I would on my mission, but sadly not even in Norway did God grant me that honor. But finally my prayers and dreams were heard.

Unless there is a freak warm spell, which isn't going to happen.

Settlers from Catan

On my mission I was introduced to a little danish game called the Settlers from Catan. We played this almost every night during my last three transfers. It's a fun strategy game that can bring out the worst in people, and sometimes the best, but is now a classic in the Miles home. Sunday night is Settlers night. Dad won is very first game this past Sunday, but my victory crown was returned on Monday.

The game is pretty simple. The board changes every time you play. The hexagons in the center are called Resources. There are 5 resources, ore, brick, wheat, wood, and sheep. There is also one desert that no one gets any resources from, it is where the robber begins. Each has a number placed on top of it. When the dice is rolled if your number comes up, you are allowed to take the resource, if you have a settlement or a city built on it. Everyone starts with two Houses, and two roads.

As you play the game you trade in your resources to buy stuff and expand. The first person to 10 points wins.

The game gets dangerous when the robber starts moving. If you roll a 7 you get to take the little bugger and put it on a number... thus when the number is rolled they get no resource card. And you steal a card.

So, that is the Miles family favorite game. Competitive, Brutal, and Enjoyable. Just like a Miles.

Winter Wonderland

Quick update on my cat. Because you know I love it. Here are little Sofie and Romeo eating. Everytime you walk into the kitchen they come running. Like you are in there to feed them. It is getting kind of annoying. Then if you do feed them they lick the gravy and run.

I made a Norwegian snowman. He's saying Merry Christmas. It melted the next day. I was really bored waiting for Jenessa to come home from work so I shoveled the driveway and then made this out of the excess snow. It was really ackward making it alone, especially given how old I am so I put my hood on. Out of shame.

Jenessa came home from work and we had a little trouble getting the car up the driveway. I had to push. We made it up and felt pretty dang proud of ourselves.

With all this cold weather we have had I thought I would try and enjoy it. I really hate snow. I hate how it closes everything down. So I thought I would savor the time and go sledding with my buddy Cameron. He liked the Norwegian mittens. Speaking of those some kid saw me wearing them at work and was all loud yelling, "Look at her funny gloves." His dad was like "shh..." It made me laugh.

Cameron and I! We had a blast going down the hills.

UPS

I started at UPS this week. I am working with a guy named Steve. He is super. We have a good time everyday. I run and deliver packages to people and businesses. The other day I saw the missionaries and wasn't going to wave... shame, I know. But Steve did! So I waved too. He is alright in my book now. :) I wear the ugliest outfit on the planet. It is like two times my size and the zipper on the pants is like 12 inches long. It goes up to my chest. It totally reminds me of the Mom's jeans skit on SNL. I fold it over just for my own sanity. People love me in Brown. Everyone is so friendly to me. If only as a missionary I got that kind of response. People feel open to talk with me and chat about anything. It is crazy how an outfit can change perseptions.

I went to the temple last night with my friend Kathleen. We did rock, paper, scissors to see who would drive. Luckily the lot fell on her because Jenessa had Missionary prep and I would have driven off with out her having a car. It was a good temple trip. We decided to go earlier and skip baptisms with the other members of the ward. 8 o'clock baptisms meant I would be up past midnight.

I am so excited for Christmas. My Dad put up the lights this weekend. It was magical.

In the car the other day I was driving a tired Ashlyn (3) to get a happy meal... telling her she couldn't be grumpy if I got her one.... well as we were driving down the street she kept looking around and was like,

"Oh how beautiful!"
"What's beautiful?"
"The diamonds."
"What Diamonds?"
"On the houses! Look at all the diamonds!"

She meant the Christmas lights. It was so cute. Then I was talking to her later and I asked what she wanted for Christmas... "lights on her house." What a cutie.

Christmas

I was pretending to be all anti-Christmas spirit this year. Then I put up the tree. Can I tell you, I love Christmas? My sister said that these past two years that I've been away they woke up at ten to open presents... not even a reasonable time like 6. I wanted to cry. It turns out I was the one who forced everyone out of bed. Who made sure to blow dry their hair as loud as possible to awake every last one of them out of slumber. How dare I be anti-Christmas.

We decorated the inside of the house. We puts some garland on the stair case... I sewed pine cones to it and wrapped them in cranberry garland left over from Cherie's wedding. It looks fantastic.

I finished my shopping today. I got Jenessa all tussled over the fact I didn't know my way around the mall. I have only gone there like twice since I got back from my mission. It was embarrassing.

I'll post pictures of our yuletide decorations later.

Painting

My Grandfather Olsen called me up with a request about three months ago... a painting of tulips. I am not madly skilled with painting, but I thought I'd give it a shot. So I browsed online for an idea... and then I went from there. I am pretty impressed with myself. My Grandpa liked it! It is actually pretty large. Maybe 32 x 60.

My Cousins came over while I was finishing it up. They wanted to join in on the fun and painted on some canvas themselves for Grandpa's birthday. Cameron did a painting of the Columbia River Gorge. He did a great job with painting in the lines. He is an awesome artist. Jayden helped a little too.

Jayden did something of her own design. A whole bunch of G's in different colors. It was really well balanced with the colors and I thought it was pretty.

Cameron went to Utah for Thanksgiving to drop the paintings off.

I wish this was a joke.

What? Redesign! How fun... unless you are redesigning to totally destroy your company. WHAT THE HECK PEPSI? Coming to a grocery store near you in the next few months is Pepsi's redesigned logo and packaging. As a 'future' package designer I think I vomited a little in my mouth when I saw what this national brand decided to do to itself. Not only does it look cheap and poorly designed it is as if the quality of the soda itself degraded in less then a second.

The frosted bottle looks cool and refreshing. I'll give them that. But look at it. hideous. The two dimensional logo looks as if a first year design student sat down at a computer and moved the the lines a little and turned it in hoping for a C.

All I am asking is Who allowed this... and who is the mastermind that talked this thing up?

Uglies

These past two weeks I read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. They are science fiction teen novels. My Mom recommended them to me, and since they were on the bookshelf next to my bed I decided to give them a shot.

The books are based on a town that is in the future and feature a girl named Tally. She is 16 and awaiting an operation that will make her Pretty. When a person turns 16 they become pretty, all thier flaws are taken away and they become the ideal in both mind and body. As her birthday approaches Tally, who is a mischevious Ugly, meets Shay, who shares a birthday. Shay teaches Tally about a underground society who runs away from Ugly town before the operation to a place called the Smoke. Well the day before the operation Shay runs away... and to become a Pretty, Tally must find her. That's where the journey begins.

I wouldn't say these are the greatest books I ever read but they have a great plot and were enjoyable. The reasoning behind the operation and the world Tally lives in causes you to reflect on our own society and why we do, say, and act the way we do... and what happens when the right to freely think is taken away from us, or when we take that right from someone else.

Busy!

So I got a seasonal job at UPS. I think I'll look awesome in a brown uniform. If only I could pull of a mullet and mustache like this guy I would be set. I'll be a drivers helper. Cherie did this around Christmas one year and made good money. It should be fun.

Jenessa my youngest sister got her mission call. Italy, Rome! Another to Europe. She is the fifth and last of my siblings to go on a mission. We used to joke when we were little that one day if we all went on missions we could sit around the table and speak a different language! Now it is true. Jon my oldest brother went to Germany, Cherie to Uruguay, Kent to the Philippines, and I went to Norway. Craziness, eh? We are so excited for Jenessa. She is going to be an awesome missionary! She was just in Italy a month ago but her experience there was super positive so she is thrilled to return.

My Mom bought a new car for Jenessa and I to drive. A blue VW bug. It's super cute. I had a scary experience with our little golf. I was getting on the freeway and the steering went out and I did a complete 180. Staring at traffic coming towards you is never fun. I luckily got it on the side of the road with out to much trouble. Well Jenessa and I decided to never drive the car again and we protested for a new car. So we got this cute bugger.

I have a new design Blog. It is meant to be a portfolio of my work. Check it out and tell me what you think:

http://kristenmilesdesign.blogspot.com/

Vote

I did my civic duty. Did you do yours?

I decided to keep who I voted for a secret. I told Jenessa but that'll be all.

Blog title

A few people have asked where I got the Princess on the Steeple name for my blog. It actually comes from my favorite Bob Dylan song "Like a Rolling Stone". The songs words struck a cord with me about how sometimes you are on top of your game and then it all falls apart, and you look back seeing how great you had it. How conceit and pride comes back to bite you... so enjoy things while you have them, remember the good times, and don't make enemies on your climb.

Like A Rolling Stone

Once upon a time you dressed so fine

You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?

People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"

You thought they were all kiddin' youYou used to laugh about

Everybody that was hangin' out

Now you don't talk so loud

Now you don't seem so proud

About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely

But you know you only used to get juiced in it

And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street

And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it

You said you'd never compromise

With the mystery tramp, but now you realize

He's not selling any alibis

As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes

And ask him do you want to make a deal?

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns

When they all come down and did tricks for you

You never understood that it ain't no good

You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you

You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat

Ain't it hard when you discover that

He really wasn't where it's at

After he took from you everything he could steal.

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people

They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made

Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things

But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe

You used to be so amused

At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used

Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse

When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose

You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

How does it feel

How does it feel

To be on your own

With no direction home

Like a complete unknown

Like a rolling stone?

Pumpkin Carving

Jenessa and I went to the YSA FHE on Monday and participated in some good ole' fashioned pumpkin carving. We decided to actually put some thought into it this year and planned out our designs before we came. It made us look obsessive. We came with our own tools and cool designs. People kept commenting on how artistic we were. I mean come on people, Plan ahead! We were planning on doing a skull with an eyeball poping out but I got lazy and didn't want to alter the drawing, and carving took was a lot more difficult then I thought it would be.

At the Shell station they were giving pumpkins away for 6 gallons of gas. So we got some lowering gas priced pumpkins. It made me a little happy for once to fill up the car. Jenessa carved the eyeball that was supposed to fall out of my pumpkins face.

Here is me giving a little love to the pumpkin.

The final product. Not to fancy... it could use some work.

Voting

I am a nervous wreck this time with voting. Serious. I had to hide my ballot because I am so hung up on who to vote for President. Like it actually matters in Washington. Obama will win. Last time I was so strong in my vote for Bush and I don't regret that action and am still in the 29 percent who support him. I think my "moral" code for myself doesn't allow me to choose something important without having a strong conviction that that decision is the one that I really want. I really like Joe Biden. That is the only thing that is drawing me towards Obama.

Jenessa and I even tried eni-meani-minee-mo. I then retracted that idea because women and men fought for the right to vote and abusing it like that would be pathetic.

I filled out the rest of my ballot with relative ease. Like usual it's mostly republican.

I guess this is a request for people to post five "real" reasons I should vote for their candidate, with no negatives about the opponent.

Trunk-or-treating

I went to trunk-or-treating at the church this Friday with Cameron, Jayden and Ashlyn. We had such a blast. There was bingo, carnival games, a chili dinner. I was totally impressed with whoever planned it. If I was a kid it would have been the time of my life. Ashlyn went as a princess, Cameron was a vampire, and Jayden was a 50's poodle skirt girl. Jayden won best costume. I dressed up as a cat and Jenessa was a cheerleader. My Mom went as an athlete.

As we were leaving Jenessa and I both admitted to wanting a bag of candy ourselves and were plotting on how we could go trick or treating for Halloween. We thought masks might work. DANG BEING A GROWNUP! Is it wrong that I am 23 and still want to participate in activities for children. My Mom was totally against the idea. She said she would buy us the candy. But that just isn't as fun.

My favorite moment of the night was with Ashlyn. It didn't dawn on me she was 3 and probably had no clue what we were doing. I thought she would just know! She is so smart for her age I forget how little she actually is. So we get to the first car, and I was like, "What do you say?" and she looked at me a little confused and was like, "thank you." It took us a good five minutes to get the "trick or treat" going. But she was totally amazed at the fact she just held out her little ghost bag and got candy!

She "shared" her candy with us the rest of the night.

After we had a sleepover and read scriptures and watched Annie. Poor Jayden was so tired she fell right to sleep. The kitten slept right next to her the whole night.

Speaking of the kitten. Since I was dressed up as the cat I came in the room and was talking to the kids and then I look down and the kitten is totally freaking out and hissing and puffing herself up. Her little teeth showing. I forgot I had my costume on... the little thing ran away and it took us three hours to find where she was hiding.

Where is the Dam square?

When we were little we had this trivial pursuit genius edition game that none of us knew the answers to any of the questions. We would spend minutes trying to find something we thought the other person "might" know. Unless you grew up in the seventies, when the game was made, you were totally out of luck. Our favorite question was... Where is the Dam Square? It caused a lot of ruckus the first time asked. But just so you know... it's in Amsterdam.

Weird...

Carrie is that you? I was stalking on Facebook and I came across this picture. The girl in the right hand corner looks like you but I don't remember you ever saying you worked at Tomasito's. Do you have a twin...

In other randomness. I got another part time job to help me pay for school this winter. I am thinking I am going to take out loans. I am working as a Mother's Assistant to this sweet woman with three kids. I help with chores and cleaning, watching the kids, helping with school work. Let's hope it works out. I really don't want to be scrubbing toilets at 4 in the morning in Rexburg.

oh! Jenessa is home. Hooray!

South Fork Skokomish Trail

So we began our journey after searching for unmarked roads on roads that randomly switched from paved to unpaved and were a little challanging for my friend Crystal's, she is in the blue, little four door Kia. There was only one other car parked there, and we saw a whole bunch of hunters driving past us. Along the trail we saw only two other men the whole time. It was a little late in the season to be hiking but we had some fantastic weather. It was literally the perfect day to go for a hike. The leaves were falling and shifting color. It made for a fun crunchy sound as we walked. Along for the adventure was my friend Lisa. She is getting ready to serve a mission in Spain.
These were some awesome fungus we found. They were in the shape of lilies. There was some other cool things we found along the way too, like a hidden waterfall, a velvet purple mushroom, and some bright orange coral fungus.
Neat little bridge. Bridge to no where?
Me hanging out by the river. Bad hair day? Yes... I think I am having a bad hair decade. We went off the trail and walked about 200 ft down to the river to enjoy the scenery.
My trusty boots. In these boots I feel confident walking through anything. I don't even think twice! I would say my boots are one of my most favorite pairs of shoes.

It was decided that we should cross the river. Why? Who knows. It was only hypothermic temperatures and a little chilly out. So why the heck not? What you don't see is how sharp the bottom of this stream bed is. It felt like knifes cutting into the bottom of my feet. The water was really shallow thankfully and I stayed the most dry of the three of us.

So that was my Adventure. I had a really great time and would recommend this trail to anyone in the Olympia area. It is about 30 minutes from Olympia. It was relativily easy and was flat most of the way It would be easy with children. The worst was at the beginning. We only went about three miles in but the trail spans about 10 miles, 20 back and forth and it had a lot of areas to overnight if you wanted to go backpacking.

For more pictures you can check out my facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71320&l=40588&id=1063307519

A New Addition

So I came home around noon from work to Mom saying... "Don't be mad." I've heard those words a few times before and usually recognize she has done something that will make me mad... like put sea shells on a beloved painting or sponge paint hours of my work. Well she led me to the laundry room and was like... it's behind the washer. I was really hopeing for a dead mouse.

Well I saw something black and furry... it was another cat.

So, may I present, Sofie:

In other non-cat related news... I am working on a painting.

I've still have to paint the village and boat. I haven't painted much, so I know it isn't steller. But it is my first attempt since I got home from my mission. It is of a fishing village in the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway. I really love old wood boats.

And today after ten days... my Mom finally beat me at Settlers of Catan. I guess I got a little too cocky and helpful. Now all I have to do is beat my Uncle Al to make myself feel better.

The Work! Pussy Puss.

So I decided to let the cat sleep in my room. I was hesitant because lately he has taken to pooing on the comforters. Like yesterday I smelled something raunchy in his room and so I cleaned out his litter box, but then my mom saw him on the bed and he was trying to hide the nasty deed. Weird cat, he was standing in front of it and I swear he was trying to put the pillow on top of it. Last night I left the Jack and Jill doors open between our bedrooms, yes he has his own room, and then showed him that he could go back and forth with no trouble. So around 10 I put him on my bed and for the first time he actually stayed. So we slept until about 4, then he decided to wake up and wanted to be pet, and since this cat never lets me really pet him I relented and gave him a good klappe until about 4:30. Then he crawled under my comforter and slept another half hour. He proceeded to attack my toes after. I turned on some X-files and threw him out of the room. I finally fell back to sleep around 5:30.

Now the question is why on earth did I do that. I think I am a reasonable person. But why did I choose to allow the cat to wake me so early, give him attention when he makes it a point not to give me any, and then make me lose sleep. If he had been a child or another adult I would have totally woken in a sleepy stupor and yelled.

I need to find better use of my time.

Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite Holidays. I think it may be my actual favorite. It used to be St. Patricks day, but then I found it had no real enjoyment or premise with Leprechauns not being real and all. I love Halloween because it really is all about giving and enjoyment. What could be better for a child then getting to play after dark in a fun costume and getting candy. It may have been the Hallmark people and retail stores invention, but it was so kind of them. The whole concept of Halloween kind of goes over the head of Norwegians. They think it is all about being scary and tricking people and wearing goulish costumes. No people. Be princess's!

Halloween is the one day you can legally pretend to being something silly without getting weird looks. And you get to do a community service project. Little kids knock, you give them candy or something to that effect and they say thank you and you feel good about yourself and that you added to that childs enjoyment. Now honestly they aren't going to send you a thank you card, but in the cup of excitement you added a drop to the whole.

I was going to be Pippi for Halloween, but the costume required work. So I bought some black cat ears for four bucks. I am going to try to make myself into a skunk. Put a white streak in my hair. I put the ears on a few days ago and walked up to the cat. He totally freaked out. He hunched his back and puffed himself out. Now I put them on and run after him, it makes for great fun. I saw him attacking the ears during the middle of the night two nights ago.

I can't wait for the 31st!

Her? Observations...

This is my view from my window. If you look really well you can see a whole bunch of white wooden crosses in my neighbors backyard. This has always creeped me out. What have they buried? Children, Grandparents? If they are animals, some one has a serious problem. Even in Of Mice and Men they wouldn't let the crazy strong guy have a puppy because they knew he would kill it, which he did anyway and the girl right along with it. I know they have a puppy. Maybe I sould call the Animal Cops. I love that show btw, animal cops, ha. Who would take them seriously at the precinct.

I dyed my hair. I think it looks pretty nice. A little dark but it should lighten up.

Does anyone watch Project Runway? That is like one of the only shows I still watch. This season has been a little lame. No one really has stood out as a great designer. Kenley has the biggest mouth in the world. Serious. I think she managed to tick off all the judges in one swipe. I was furious that they let her even continue to try for the finale. I really hope Leanne wins. She is a Portland native. Plus she seems to be the nicest and talented of the bunch.

Greatest Product

Nice package.

I once read about a man who made millions by being paid by dairy farmers to buy manure from them and then processed it and sold it as fertilizer. Making money both ways. Brilliant. Then today I found the next greatest business idea. Selling tap water. Not just any type of tap water. New York City tap water. I came across this while looking through my favorite packaging design blog, thedieline.com. I wish I could come up with something this clever and stupid. Can you use clever and stupid at the same time? I guess, I would call Adam Sandler clever and stupid. Whatever. Buy tap water from one of the dirtiest cities on the planet.

http://www.tapdny.com/

Updated Blog

I finally got around to making a blog background. It took me long enough. I totally stole a girls idea for a top background image. She made one on Copenhagen that looked pretty awesome so I just took some of her elements, replaced all the buildings and the boat and put things in the exact same spot. Denmark... psssh. I had to add all my friends again on the side. It took forever, and if I left you off tell me. I didn't mean too.

On Monday I went to Powells books with my friend Lydia from High School. It was a blast. I drove downtown Portland for the first time. I only went the wrong way on a one way road once. I think that is some semi-form of an accomplishment. I will honestly admit I am a poor driver. I have given up on the fact I will ever be good.

Lydia and I went to a book reading by this Catholic woman. The book was all about Acedia. A word meaning a feeling of darkeness and lazyness. It was a sin. Pretty much she wrote a whole book about one word. She could have just called it depression and got on with it because that's what from the description of the word and her readings it meant. She really hated her dead husband. She kept ragging on him. Lydia said she does it in all her books. It was really annoying her. If my husband, if I ever get one, died I would at least try and say nice things about him instead of writing books about how he gave me "Acedia".

Lydia and I are going to start practicing violin together. She is going to help me out and she is going to get her fingers moving again. Lydia was in Poland this past year studying violin at a university in Krakow. The girl has some amazing talent.

My Art before Graphic Design

I thought I would show off some of my art work. My friend Carrie has an awesome blog where she shows off pictures of her life. I thought I would take some images of the things have have done. It took a while for me to decide what I wanted to do with my life. So, I'll show the things that brought me, or distracted me until I found, what I wanted to do. Long before I choose my career choice. I wanted to be a yodaler. Or not I just found the hat in my closet.

This was a pencil drawing I did in Art 111. Basic Drawing. This was around the point in my life when I was choosing between music or art. I put a lot of music themes in my art, but eventually gave music up. Sad choice. I should have done both.
In High school I wanted to pursue a career as a printmaker. I loved wood carving. My first few semesters at school I took printmaking. These two have religious themes. SLC temple and Elijah. Both are a form of printmaking called etching. You scratch on a metal plate and then place it in acid which eats further into the metal. Then you plave ink on top of that and clean the plate until the ink is only in the cracks. You then set it on a press and run it through. The paper catches the ink...


This was my first painting. It's of boats. I love marina's and Think old wood boats are so rustic and quiant. My Mom put a whole bunch of seashells on the frame. It made me cry. I left the frame out for that very purpose.

This is a mixture of my pottery and book making projects. I was studying my first three years at school to be a high school art teacher. I loved my pottery classes and loved the wood fire kiln technique. A lot of my early work had an aboriginal theme. I loved aboriginal art. I felt like I was Paul Simon, exploring another culture and taking elements and combining it into my own. Think Graceland when he went to South Africa, or Rythem of the Saints in Brazil. I loved how the aboriginees had a way of taking a line or a dot and creating a story. I wanted to infuse my work with that simplicity.

This is my bed. I think it is pretty cool. My Mom made the quilt. It has these awesome flannel flowers on it.

This is my cat. Romeo. I call him pussy-puss.

I made the picture frame in the back. I think I did a pretty awesome job. The other two pictures are of my Grandma's. They both passed away about a year before my Mission. It helped with the grief to have pictures of them.