I'm a mo-model, you know what I mean

A few weeks ago, I heard my mother in law answer the phone and say: "Umm, no, but Kristal would be good at that! Do you want her?"

Uh oh. My great mom-in-law greatly overestimates my abilities in almost every aspect of life. For all I knew, there was a nuclear bomb headed towards Paradise and they needed someone to stop it.

When she got off the phone, she explained that a lady in our ward needed a model to do a photo shoot for the magazine she works for. I had no idea what to expect, except that I would get paid 25 dollars. I really hate getting my picture taken... I think I'm the poster child for non-photogenic-cy. But, the thought of being able to claim 'professional model' on my resume greatly outweighed any aversions I had to having my 'camera-face' in a magazine. So I did it.

Ever since, Matt has been singing that Flight of the Concords song to me, "you could be a waitress, or a part time model"

I was waiting to blog about this until I either bought the magazine, or found it online... and today I found it online. So here it is in all it's glory.

I think it confirms my non-photogenic theory... considering there are three pictures of me, and two are of my bright yellow shoulder.

the part time model:)

Comfortable

I can't remember where I first saw this video... so I'm sorry I can't credit someone with showing it to me. When I saw the title 'how to be alone' I thought it was going to be a downer, made for single people to wallow together (something I would have subscribed to heartily as a teenager), but I was pleasantly surprised:

Isn't it pretty? Matt didn't like it(thought it was weird), but I LOVE it.

I love her voice, how it sounds almost like a song, I love the style, the music, and mostly I love the message. I totally want to go out and do all of these things without feeling weird, because even though I love being together with Matt, I want to be comfortable alone with me.

My sister-in-law Olivia has this awesome blog. She's a writer/mom/photographer/all around superwoman and her blog is funny/creative/real. I always bug her about publicizing my latest whims; photography, Annie's swim lessons, my Etsy store, I'm sure she hates it... but she still does it! That's an awesome sis-in-law for ya!

Anyways, she is doing a giveaway with some of my hats over at her blog Gnome Sweet Gnome until Sunday... so check her out and leave some comment love. Seriously, you'll probably want to blog stalk her, I know several of my friends already do!

I seriously have the cutest niece and nephews ever don't I? (FYI: the model on my shop page is Mimsy, my other adorable niece)

Accessorizing

For as bad as I am at dressing, I'm ten times worse at accessorizing.

I usually just stick to a pair of studs accessory-wise... I haven't even messed with a belt since high school. But when I saw this pretty belt tutorial, I really wanted to make it and hopefully wear it. I don't think Matt really likes it, but I thought I would ask all of you (like the two people that comment) what you thought. As you can see, I tried on practically all of my clothes that aren't in storage... I'm so clueless. I *almost* like it, but I'm not sure yet.

HONESTLY, what do you think? I'm not sure how I even feel about the 'waist belt' style on me, much less a ruffly one. Do any of these outfits even work?

Come on guys, I'm in Young Women's now so if it looks awful, I gotta know before all those teenagers judge me.

My Invention

I like to sew. I'm fairly good at following a pattern, but I am without a single 'inventive' bone in my body. Give me a pattern, and I can make it (mostly). Show me something, and ask me to figure out how to do it, and I'm wandering around Jo-Ann's for hours like a chicken with my head cut off. I NEED instructions.

Anyways, I've been looking at LOTS of tutorials lately, trying to find a way to use some little girls shirts I scored a the dollar store, and some awesome fabric I found at Wal-Mart. At first, I looked at this tutorial, but wanted to make some changes, and wasn't sure how to do the things I wanted without WRITTEN instructions.

So, I decided to try to invent something myself. And this is what I came up with:

Old jean pant leg into little girls skirt! It's so simple it's laughable, I know. I had a little pink shirt I was working on 're-fashioning' and I thought it would look really cute with blue jean material. I like the seams in jeans, and wanted to use that somehow instead of just making a whole skirt out of new denim. So I got the measurements for my cute niece Mirian, and luckily, they were perfect for using the pant leg of some of Matt's old jeans. It was so easy, but I kinda like it. I also made the rosette removable so that she could stick it on the shirt or on a headband or just wash the skirt easier.

Sports Highlights by Kristal

Note: This is probably old news to most... but what can I say, I stink at blogging.

Shane Williams gets another unflattering picture in the paper

Shane Williams, a senior on the Red Devil Swim team cannot seem to catch a break with the photographers from The Daily Herald. Last year, he was inadvertently captured in what came to be one of the most popular 'prep sports' photo of the year. This image was published no less than three different times in the paper and was even featured on this blog. Shane is pictured on the left.

Although Williams preformed extremely well in the 4A State Championship meet, placing 1st in the 100 Freestyle and 2nd in the 50 Free, he still ended up looking as if he is about to collapse and die in his photo. His older sister, Kristal said to him 'you don't have to be photogenic when you're wicked fast.' And he is indeed, wicked fast.

The Springville boys placed second overall, winning them their fifth consecutive trophy.

Jerry Sloan Retires, much to the dismay of Jazz Fans everywhere

An iconic figure for Jazz fans across the Nation, Jerry Sloan unexpectedly resigned from his position as head coach of the Utah Jazz, ending his career as the longest tenured coach of any of the four major sports. It was indeed a sad day when he called it quits after the Utah/Chicago game in Salt Lake last week. One obscure blogger, Kristal Carter, says this about Sloan:

"I almost cried when I heard that he was retiring... Jerry Sloan and the Jazz are like peanut butter and jelly, I just can't picture one without the other. At least I got to see one of his last games in Sacramento. Thanks for all the good memories Coach. I'll never forget my dad jumping up and down so high he almost hit his head on the ceiling when the Jazz won the game that sent them to the finals is 1998. And I always laughed real hard when you got kicked out of games for yelling at the refs. You will be missed."

Jerry Sloan has coached 1,903 games with the Jazz, 196 play-off games (2 1/2 seasons worth) and has taken his team to the playoffs 20 years out of the 23 he has coached.

Librivox

I found the greatest thing the other day. Well, greatest if you happen to love reading classic literature and need audio books to listen to.

There is a site called Librivox, and it is a collection of books in the public domain that have been recorded by volunteers. It's awesome. I've been listening to them a LOT while I'm sewing or working out... so nice.

Pros: Free books to listen to online or download to your ipod

Cons: At the beginning of each chapter, the reader announces the book, chapter, author and a message from Librivox. This recording doesn't bother me, but I can see how it might annoy some people.

Anyways, try it out. (If you want to download it right to Itunes, search for 'librivox' in podcasts. Each chapter is an episode, so make sure to download them all)

a few I would suggest:

The Count of Monte Cristo - or anything by Dumas

Anne of Green Gables

A Tale of Two Cities

Favorite Movies to Quote

It's no secret for anyone that has spoken with me for any length of time that I derive about fifty percent of my daily dialogue from a few choice films. The following movies aren't necessarily my favorite to watch, but definitely some of my favorite to quote.

{surprisingly} CinderellaStory

"Droughts are for poor people, you think J Lo has a brown lawn?"

"Where's your crowns? Where's your prizes? Winners get prizes!"

"You know it costs a fortune to fly that stuff in from Norwegia."

Fiona: I am very, very, very, very upset about this.
Brianna: You don't look upset.
Fiona: Oh, it's the Botox. I can't show emotion for another hour and a half.

"You're not very pretty, and you're not very bright... I'm glad we had this talk"

Baptists at Our Barbecue

"You dumb... water drinker!"

"Tartan spelled backwards is SATAN!"

"If you do not choose to take back that last statement, I will have to call church headquarters and inform them that YOU, one of their AMBASSADORS is willfully preaching blasphemies!" (you would be amazed how often this line is applicable)

Clifford

one of the best movies ever, please watch it if you haven't

"Don't reject me!"

"But I didn't say "Nice wig", Uncle Martin, I said "Bestest-looking wig". I believe there is a difference" (I mostly say the last part)

"And they tied me up, and then they told me stories...some of them were fun but some of them were scary!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Nice Older Person, but I don't know what you're talking about. Perhaps you were just having a nightmare about your early days in the circus."

'"Cause if you did I'd be so angry I don't know what I'd do."

"Don't worry about Clifford, he'll be fine if you give him a ton of sugar and a book about Hitler."

What are your favorite movie quotes?

Etsy Shop

Yep, I did it. I started an Etsy shop. I just like to sew too much... I needed an outlet. So here she be:

There are only a few things up there now, but I'll be adding as I go. As soon as I get a few more things listed, I'll be doing my very first giveaway! Wahoo! I never intended for this to be a 'craft blog', but that's where I am right now, so that's where my blog will be also.

I got a pretty stinkin' cute model too: