My name is Melanie

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

A place people call Monkey Rock

Last Sunday I was having a crummy day. We had been inside for most of the day and my emotions were on full blast and I had a migraine. There was lots of crying, partially because we watched "The Impossible." Around 6pm Chris asked, "Should we go on a drive and get some fresh air?" He always has the best ideas. We drove aimlessly around surrounding cities with our windows cracked, letting the fresh air in. It was great. On our way home we drove down a familiar road that had a surprise waiting for us. A WATERFALL! So apparently the waterfall is always there, but the last time we drove on this road it was winter and there was no waterfall in sight. This waterfall was the best Sunday surprise ever. While we walked around I kept saying, "Is this real?" and "Has this always been here?" It also helped that the sun was setting which made things even a little more fantastic.

I bought a tripod last month so this was the perfect opportunity to work on my long exposures, hence all of the long water exposures.

This week I found out where we were is what people call Monkey Rock. I have heard people talk about this place before, but I had no idea where it was. Now I know.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

April in instagrams

About half an hour ago I decided that I will do a highlight of April's instagram photos.

I thought it would be a good and easy way to recap the month.

April was an excellent month for the Smelcers.

- I finished another semester with Chris' help.

He provided LOTS of emotional support when I had to learn how to matte my own photos.

- Chris proved that he is much better than me in the game of bowling.

- I started reading "How to start something stupid"

- We bought a ridiculous amount of girl scout cookies and ate them way to fast.

- We saw two moose while on a bike ride.

- We rode our bikes often.

.....because we ate so many girl scout cookies.....

- We did a surprise visit to California(home)

- We met Sal Sherwood.

He's one of those dogs that makes everything look cute.

- We started a semester where we both attend school full time and Chris works part time on top of it.

(so far so good)

If you want to see more instagram photos but do not have the app you can follow me here.

I finished a book today

Today I finished "Art & fear" by, David Bayles & Ted Orland

This book counts as an answered prayer.

But really.

When I think about graduating in July I freak out.

What am I suppose to do?

I feel like most of the other photo students in my classes have a decent idea of what direction they want to run in once school is done. I am not one of those students.

This book helped me feel normal.

The book is not a warm and fuzzy one, it doesn't sugar coat the life of an aspiring artist.

But at the same time it is comforting in it's own way.

If you are an art maker you should read this book.

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My favorite highlighted quotes:

"Your job is to learn to work on your work."

"The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars."

"In a general way, fears about yourself prevent you from doing your best work, while fears about your reception by others prevent you from doing your own work."

(speaking about other artists)

"Whatever they have is something needed to do their work- it wouldn't help you in your work even if you had it. Their magic is theirs. You don't lack it. You don't need it. It has nothing to do with you. Period."

"When you are lazy, your art is lazy; when you hold back, it holds back; when you hesitate, it stands there staring hands in its pockets. But when you commit, it comes on like blazes."

"The only work really worth doing- the only work you can do convincingly- is the work that focuses on the things you care about."

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Good words

For Family Home Evening this week, Chris and I read some selected teachings on priorities and balance. What we read was exactly what I needed to hear.

"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. our love of the Lord will govern the claims of our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities"

"To be successful, we must have the Spirit of the Lord. We have been taught that the Spirit will not dwell in unclean tabernacle. Therefore, one of our first priorities is to make sure our own personal lives are in order."

-President Ezra Taft Benson

Monday, April 29, 2013

Home

Here are a few photos shot around my family's home in California.

I love going home and seeing things how I expect them.

Molly spending her day on the cool hardwood floor.

The piano is still just a little dusty.

Mom's plant collection has doubled.

and Dad has new projects in the works.

I love my family.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Weekend Adventure

Friday morning we woke up around 7:30am. Around 8:00 I remembered that it was a free day at Yellowstone National Park. We were in the park by 11:00. We spent our time in Yellowstone waiting for Old Faithful, walking around geysers and soaking up the sun. On our way home we hunted and hunted for a camping spot. We were planning on camping in Yellowstone, but only Mammoth Hot Springs was opened. All of the camping spots between West Yellowstone and St. Anthony were closed. We were sad.... BUT THEN we remembered it was $5 Friday at our local bowling alley. We bowled three games, Chris won all three. After we were all bowled out Chris suggested we explore a road near our house. So we did. Lo and behold there was free camping at the end of that 15 mile dirt road. We set up our tent real quick and Chris made a fire. I love him.

We were up by 6:30am the next morning and started exploring the campgrounds. We saw a variety of birds, four moose and six deer.

Talk about a fun weekend.