Back to School!

What! The whole summer has come and gone!

How did that happen?

It seems like only a post or two ago I was fretting over making it through the summer...and I am here, on the other side, going back to school.

Eleven weeks of Seussical, ten weeks of summer session for my grad program, workshops in Rancho Cucamonga, Claremont, and Newport Beach, teaching at the film academy, and working the odd shift at Anthro...it was a wild summer indeed!

When you're a kid, you think that someday you'll "stop growing" and be who you are. Anne Shirley says it best in L.M. Montgomery's Anne of the Island: 

"Miss Stacy told me long ago that by the time I was twenty my character would be formed, for good or evil. I don't feel that it's what it should be. It's full of flaws.

"So's everybody's," said Aunt Jamesina cheerfully. "Mine's cracked in a hundred places. Your Miss Stacy  likely meant that when you are twenty your character would have got its permanent bent in one direction or 't'other, and would go on developing in that line. Do your duty by God and your neighbor and yourself, and have a good time."

I know enough at this point in life to know that "lifelong learning" is not just a term that educators use to inspire students to a passion for learning that lasts a lifetime; it is, quite simply, a term that describes us all. We are all learning and growing, apt to change our minds or feelings at any moment.

Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself; I am large, I contain multitudes. I think of that Walt Whitman quote often (usually, as I'm changing my mind about something).

It was something to be reminded of over the summer; life is a process and we're all learning. I learned a lot not only in my summer graduate coursework, the show, or the workshops; my husband and I grew in our understanding of one another and I grew in my understanding of myself. To thine own self be true; yes--but as you are growing and changing and developing, trust God and the "character bent" hard-wired inside. Moral compass. Intuition. Something to think about...

...so I did more work in my learning journal this summer than ever before (see image immediately below). Initially, the learning journals were introduced as a wonderful idea, to encourage a deeper and more meaningful interaction with the learning experience than just projects and notes. They seemed to get forgotten about, so we put them away...and then our Learning Theory professor brought them back out and inspired us to get back into using them. 

This spread is called "Me and My Fabulous Hair" which nearly everyone did with a hair picture. I didn't have one, but I thought this picture worked just fine. A blend of pen, paint, watercolor, and glitter, this became a general goals and encouragement page. 

This is my quotes page. The QR code on the left is part of a Learning Theory project; if your smartphone can scan it, you'll hear me explaining the spread.

The little ship is a pull tab so it can sail left to right.

I really just wanted to art journal this. Here is the inspiration:

My first week of school is done; I've got the second draft of my thesis' Chapter One due next week. It tickles me to no end to think that I wrote the initial draft at the tech table at Seussical (not during rehearsal, of course. I am greedy about my rehearsal time!). I've got my fall/winter/spring season lined up and I'll be prepping for the next few days, as well as re-drafting that chapter. I might sneak in a craft project here and there, as I've been doing to save my sanity. My latest was painting signs for our bedroom:

This was the first go-around; I later added "are magic" so it reads, "You and me are magic." I have no idea if the bedroom wall will come out the way I've been crafting, but it's been fun so I don't mind if it doesn't.

Opening & closing attire for Seussical

As part of another project, I made the skirt I'm wearing in the "closing night" pictures. I have a few elephant blouses I wore during Seussical rehearsals, but I really wanted an elephant skirt. I found some adorable Dr. Seuss material on Etsy, but I didn't get it in time, so I went to JoAnn's and found the fabric in the picture. Using the How-Tuesday: Sew a Skirt in One Hour tutorial on Etsy, I made this cute skirt. The tutorial is awesome and really straightforward; but really listen to her directions when she says cut things to the exact length they need to be--I kept thinking, "Well, I need more allowance" and had to belt the skirt (above) because I made it too big. Oh well--now I know for next time!

And now...I have some seriously backlogged OOTDs to share, so I took huge screen shots to save the loading time. Almost everything is Anthro; if there's an outfit you have a question on, comment below or shoot me an e-mail.

See you soon!

Lissa xoxoxo