Art

There is a 2 day "Art in the Park" event that started today. So much to look at and take in. Lance bought a pot, I bought a yunomi, and we bought a pastel print of a quail.

I've seen thousand dollar art in the past, but I've never seriously considered purchasing any... until today.

An Oregon artist, Tom Walsh, was there today. He's a sculptor that works primarily in bronze. He had his booth set up like a mini gallery, which was cool. Anyways, one of his pieces struck me so intensely that I seriously gazed at it and walked around it for a good 5 minutes. It was one of those pieces that you just have to experience. Tom watched me, and then made the observation that I "got it." He said that most people don't get it. They don't understand how to look at his pieces- how to experience them, but he could tell that I understood his piece. I really have no words. It was amazing. To a normal person it probably just looked like an abstract thing made of metal and was green. But, oh man. The craftsmanship and the way he was able to manipulate the bronze... Seriously amazing. I wish we had the $1100 to spend on it. I can't stop thinking about it and I will probably go "visit" it tomorrow.

It was really fun being able to share the experience with Lance. He's soooo left-brained, but I'm able to convey things to him about art that he otherwise would not realize or overlook. I was able to sit with him and help him identify just WHY he decided to purchase that specific pot. We saw hundreds today, but that was the only one he liked enough to buy.

I love art that makes you experience it. You have no choice but see and feel things and it moves you. There are subtle, and not so subtle, ways that artists are able to make the viewer react. They can make you pick up and experience a cup or pot, or they can stop you dead in your tracks, like today. You may not even know why. I love how art speaks to your subconscious and you have an actual experience. You share a connection with a piece. It is more than just an object, it imparts a thought, connotation, emotion, feeling, sensation, etc. Sure there's art that's just "pretty," but it's empty; hollow. Real art makes you experience it, feel it, and share it.

TMI? Don't care

Today is a big day. I just started my first "natural" period in over 6 years. Ouch. Now I remember why I was on the pill in the first place. Cramps that make me dream I'm in childbirth.
I always get really calm and chill when I get cramps. To cope, I have to do deep breathing and enter a meditative state. It's kinda cool, so I'm always sharing. Freaks out the hubby tho cuz I'm like.. breathing like I'm in labor. It's actually a very peaceful time, albeit a little painful. But I've learned pain can be calming if you approach it correctly.

Let me explain.

When you experience body-wide pain you can get in touch with a certain "rhythm" of pulses. Your brain monitors your body in electric pulses through your nerves. If you can calm yourself and accept the pain, you can tune into this. It's a strange experience. If you've had to practice pain management from a chronic condition you are probably familiar with it. When you experience pain, you can fight it, or go with it. It really comes down to accepting it as sensations in the body and separating yourself from it. You begin to understand that you don't have to fear pain, and thus, pain begins to be therapeutic. You feel the body healing, and you let it happen.

I probably sound masochistic, but I'm not. I don't like pain. But in not fearing it, and letting it happen, it makes it more manageable and less stressful. And I'm not just talking about cramps. I used to do this when I had shoulder issues too. Anyways. Thought I'd share this milestone. First "real" period in 6 years.

Fibromyalgia Fog

Us peeps with Fibromyalgia are very familiar with something called "fibro fog." It's like feeling groggy and tired and you can't think straight. Your mind is foggy and all you want to do is sleep. I get a weird "headache" when it hits me. It's not painful, but my head feels heavy and "stuffy." Anyways, the past week I've had one every day at around 6pm. My body just decides it wants a nap. Yep. And it's 6 now. I want a nap.
-_-

In other news we have a second kitty! His name is King Leonidas! He's a 1 year old all black fluff ball. His previous owner could not keep him, and we decided to adopt him before he had to go to a shelter. Adults have a difficult time getting adopted, and black cats usually don't get adopted either, sadly. So we had him meet Abby, and then he moved in with us a week ago. Abby hissed at him for the first couple of days any time she saw him, but now they are buddies. They chase each other all over the apartment while making cute little prrmrow noises. ^_^ It's cute.

Unintentional diet

I've been frequently forgetting to eat. I just don't feel like eating or my hunger instinct isn't very strong. So I've gone several days on maybe one full meal's worth calories. I'm still taking vitamins, but food just doesn't seem appetizing most of the time. Not too healthy of me, I know. I have collected a bunch of pictures of easy-to-make foods that look yummy, and I plan to put them on the fridge to encourage me to get food when I wander to the kitchen. I wonder if anyone else has this issue. :/

Life

I have an interview tomorrow at Macy's. I really hope it goes well. I think I could really improve some of the store layout and marketing-related stuff. As you can see, some of the succulents from my bridal bouquet are blooming! They are still sitting in a wet paper towel growing roots.

And our bedroom finally looks nice! We got rid of the box and got an actual night stand! I also found perfectly matching pillows, lamp, and jewelry box at TJ Maxx! The mirrors also came from there. Yes, I'm addicted. It's nice to finally have a nice room to relax in. I'm very happy with it. Now we just have to get the living room figured out! The bathroom is almost there..

Rite Aid had $2.50 potted herbs. I snapped up a Tuscan Rosemary and French Lavender plants. Excited. I think my nail polish is dry, so I should probably shower and set out my interview outfit. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wrangling things into place

Since getting back, we've been spending all our time organizing and cleaning. I think we finally got most of the stuff away. We still need organizing baskets and furniture, right now we are just using banker boxes. I also finally broke down and bought us a vacuum. The apartment effectively has not been vacuumed since before we moved in. GROSS. We know that at least two people bought us a vacuum for a gift, so we will see which one we end up keeping.
We also got a bird bath to use as a feeder. So now I'm just waiting for the birds to find it! Maybe I'll find some fake bird figurines to put on the rail of the balcony to lure them in.
Abby is VERY GLAD to be home. I think she missed the privacy and quiet which doesn't come with a house with a small child. Good thing our friends had a large house for her to hide.
The sewing machine from the registry is here! now I just need a table, chair, thread, etc.. But I'm excited to get going.
I'm also in-progress of getting thank-you notes done. It's definitely not my favorite thing.
I miss the sun. It's been all gloomy since we got back. I guess the "April showers" applies here. But at least the farmer's market opens soon! Yay fresh produce! :D

MAWWIED!!!!

Photo by Angela Cox (and yes, that's us!)

I'm a Mrs. *scrunched-nose-face.* We'll just say Ms.... Mrs. sounds so old. Like Señora. I wanna keep the young-sounding Señorita! Anyways. Wedding went well. I didn't cry (barely). The CLEMSON TIGER showed up as a surprise, we had the best wedding cake EVER, and had a purple and orange peeps s'mores bar. More details to come when I get photos back. For now, I'm just happy it's over and am excited to get back to WA to see my cat. Oh, and I'm kinda forcing Lance to let me get a kitten (as his wedding gift to me). :D yay!!!! The whole thing was a whirlwind, but it was awesome. Now as for the whole thank-you note writing... not so awesome. I'm not the most organized thank-you note writer.. maybe on the plane(s) tomorrow. ;)

Abby!

Here's our baby, Abby!

This is the day we arrived in WA from a 12 hour day flying from SC!

She was VERY happy to be out of her carrier and in a house.

As you can see, she quickly adjusted to the WA sunshine.

They do this frequently.

See?

The day she discovered she could, in fact, jump on top of the counters.

And the mantel.

Yes, that's a humidifier that she's drinking from.

This is what happens when Lance doesn't close the dryer...

Best advice

 Over the years I've been through a lot of things that had led to me needing to see a counselor to talk things over. This was in part due to being in school and still being sick and being affected by an old relationship that ended very badly. The last semester in college was the worst. I was in a car accident early on, and it affected my health so much I failed an elective, and lost graduating with honors. I had held my 3.00 through 6 years of college, one of which including rehabbing a shoulder replacement and going through said break-up.

Back to the last semester. I hit a really bad patch of depression and major anxiety (who can blame me, right?) Because to me, if I didn't graduate in December, I was not finishing my degree. I was beyond exhausted on all fronts, and my body was on strike. I began seeing a counselor, and the best advice she gave me was: be kind to yourself.

I honestly believe this is the best advice anyone can give or be given. How often is our stress and suffering due to ourselves? We are our own worst critic, and her gentle reminder told me we have full control on how we treat ourselves. No one is making us feel guilty or terrible about ourselves. It's not a mindset imposed on us by anyone. We do it to ourselves, and I fully feel that we are too mean to ourselves. This really helped me move forward and realize that the past is the past, and I don't have to be affected by it anymore. It's over. I have my whole life in front of me, and if I just remember to be kind to myself, the outlook is much clearer.

I notice frequently through social media that people often really dwell on things because they feel they don't have control over their emotions or thoughts, and they think that this means there is something wrong with them. People dwell because they feel they should. Such as "I can't believe that I'm not more affected by [insert tragedy here], I must be a terrible person!" I think that we all need to remind ourselves that our subconscious is NOT who we are. It is a system of brainwaves that make associations and thoughts that we should NOT consider "who we are." We actively decide who we are. So, just because I didn't cry at that one war movie does not mean that I wasn't heartbroken by it, it just means that our brains are very well able at coping with things to keep us alive. If we broke down at every thing, in the wild we would be dead. We forget that we are technically instinctual animals, and our brains' first job is to keep us alive.

So please, if you are reading this and feel guilty over something that happened in your past, be kind to yourself and move forward. You decide who you are, racing thoughts are not you. Look at them objectively and understand that our bodies do make observations on their own, and it is not us.

Be kind to yourself.

Close to my heart

Image of what an arthritic flare looks like in a toddler. It is very painful and erodes bone.

Here is a letter I just sent to my Representative. Please consider emailing your representative as well. The email even comes pre-written. I've included the link here. LINK

Dear Representative Hastings:

At age 19 I had to receive a total shoulder replacement. To this day, I still have very little movement in my left arm. The surgery was to stop pain, but now I don't have mobility. I am 24 years old, and RA has disabled me. Arthritis affects children. I was diagnosed at 11. There are kids as young as 3 months who have RA. As someone with arthritis, I am writing to ask you to become an original cosponsor of legislation to improve access to the critical treatments that can keep me, and my loved ones, active and productive citizens. Biologic drugs can now prevent patients with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and psoriatic arthritis, from becoming disabled, seriously ill, or even dying. Arthritis affects organs, including the heart. The cold reality is that I will most likely die of heart failure related to RA. Unfortunately, many health insurance policies are moving these critical medications, such as biologics, into "specialty tiers" that utilize high patient cost-sharing methods known as "co-insurance". This fourth/specialty tier now commonly requires patients to pay a percentage of the cost of medication - anywhere from 20% to 50%, which can often be hundreds or even thousands of dollars each month for a single medication - rather than a fixed co-payment amount. I have been on Enbrel, a biologic, for 12 years now. 144 months of medication payments. Enbrel costs well over $1,000 per month. The only way I can afford it is a payment assistance program directly from Enbrel. I need this medication to stay alive, but my insurance doesn't want to cover it. Congressman David McKinley is introducing legislation later this month, the Patient Access to Critical Therapies Act (PACTA), that would treat these specialty drugs the same as Tier III non-preferred drugs. Under his legislation, commercial health insurers would impose the same co-payment obligations for specialty drugs as they already do for Tier III medications. Providing insured patients access to these treatments will allow me and many more of your constituents to remain in the workforce, raise their families, and avoid becoming permanently disabled or seriously ill. I urge you to step forward and become an original co-sponsor of PACTA and support your constituents who have chronic, life threatening, and disabling conditions. Please contact the Legislative Health Assistant in Rep. McKinley's office, at x54172, to become a co-sponsor of this legislation. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Katie

My love and hate of art history

I was a Fine Arts major for 2 years of college before I changed to Graphic Communications. So that was 4 semesters of art history. I hate history. And art history is like twice as bad. Cuz you not only have to know the who what and when, you have to know why where and what it looks like. ARGH! Well, I have found that the most useful thing I learned in school was, in fact, art history. We're currently trying to furnish our teeny apartment on a teenier budget. We started with a futon, a tv and banker boxes. Nothing else. No plates, pots, pans, bed, tables, chairs, etc. The futon was our bed and couch. We have since used my savings to buy a bed, and accumulated a cheap tv stand. In shopping for furniture Lance often would ask me to translate the rambling. I then realized I was using terms like "art deco," "mid century modern," "contemporary," "mission style," etc. And I realized he had no idea what the heck I was talking about when I would point to a chair and say "that is a mid century modern chair." So I have actually had to use the art history education in shopping for furniture and identifying our preferences for styles and shapes. DARN YOU ART HISTORY!!!!! It is cool that I'm using something from school, but it annoys me that I still remember! My art history professors were interesting, and art students use interesting terms and ways to describe something as simple as a cube. While I think it's wicked awesome I can talk about tangible items and know specifically what I like and don't like, I still hated art history.

So yes. We now are the proud owners of 2 mid century modern chairs. And our cat, Abby, approves.

A little about me

I think list format will work best.

I'm engaged (4/14/12)
I love cats (and most other animals)
I was born and raised in SC
I don't have an accent (I hope)
I graduated from Clemson University this past Dec
I'm an artist
I hate extreme temperatures
I could live on Thai food
I have trichotillomania and am trying to beat it once and for all in time for the wedding
I've had JRA for more than half my lifetime now
I've been in remission for a few years now
I love antiques
I've been known to sleep for 20 hours straight before
I love oolong tea
I love to cook
I can't wait till after the wedding when we will have the money to cook fresh fruits and veggies (hopefully organic)
I don't like pork
I don't eat meat very often
I'm told I am very logical and level-headed
I'm mostly an introvert and start getting spacy if I'm in a loud public place for too long
I'm a gamer
I'm bad at calling people
I hate carnations
I love peonies, lavender, and lilacs
I have an etsy store, but it's on the back burner for a while
I'm bored thinking of things about myself that people would want to know.
I'm getting ice cream.