Tomorrow starts a new chapter - a new season - in my life.  It is very exciting and there will be more news after all the official paperwork tomorrow.  A new job!

It has been such a whirlwind start to this new year.  Some home time, some sick days, and lots of hugs and kind words from all my great friends at my old job.  I can't wait to see what this new chapter will bring.  New challenges, new adventures. 

Its been a while.

Getting to know my new city - Little Rock, AR

Great Gatsby Fun in May
North Little Rock, AR

A new Job in January
Table Setters, Inc.
North Little Rock, AR

A park project in the works
Paragould, AR

Main Street Paragould

Colorado Storms

A post from a new place - Denver, Colorado in fact. 

I have always loved to travel, and during the Spring of 2011 I got to literally travel the globe with an amazing set of people from various walks of life and a multitude of professions.  Semester @ Sea, the program that brought us all together was a wonderful experience, that I will treasure forever, due in large part to the faculty and staff that made the voyage possible.  On Friday, I traveled to Colorado to meet up with over 50 of my S@S friends and coworkers.  It was absolutely GREAT!!!!  Thanks to wonderful Sunny - we gathered at the YMCA of the Rookies near Granby, Colorado.  This place had everything and catered perfectly to our needs.  We ate together, hiked together, had the opportunity to practice archery, horseback riding, arts and crafts and a whole lot more.  I can't say enough about how great the whole weekend was.  I am still processing the weekend, while hanging out with J here in Denver.  J was another of my S@S friends who was a great travel buddy and has become a close friend.

 

 

Although I have never traveled to Colorado before and the altitude messed with my system more than I thought it would, I will definitely be coming back to spend time with good friends!

Spring Rain

Well, It has been a nice week.  On Sunday, we traveled to Morrilton to visit with Grandma and to eat her famous Chicken and Dumplings.  Then on Monday morning, after a mad dash to Searcy and a wild ride over the back roads of central Arkansas, we met up at Clinton for a double birthday bash for Uncle Paul and my little sis Maggie.  A fun time was had by all!!  Also, on Sunday afternoon - it was Decoration Day at the local cemetery where many of my Dad's ancestors and close family are buried.  It was great to go out and see family and friends straitening up the area around their family's graves as well as placing beautiful bouquets and flags on all the headstones.

On Friday of this week, I head out for Denver and a huge Spring 2011 Semester @ Sea reunion in the Rocky Mountains.  Basically we are meeting up as far from the ocean as we can get.  :)  It has to be said that without the brilliant Sunny - this whole upcoming shindig would have never been organized. 

I am also looking at a few possible job applications.... so everyone keep you fingers crossed that this is what I need to be doing - and that I am on the right path.  

Now, for the important part - pics and sketches!!!  Enjoy!

  

Family taking time to sit and talk during Decoration Day at the cemetery

 

 

Great 1950's Chandelier in Fort Smith

Sudden Storms

Another Busy Week!

I traveled to Fort Smith, Arkansas on Wednesday for the Annual Arkansas Preservation Alliance conference.  It was grand, and I really learned a lot and met a whole host of new friends.  It was also great to talk to some of my old friends from my internship days in Little Rock several years ago.  (Man, its been a while since undergrad - so crazy!)

 

 

On Wednesday we were given a great tour of some of Fort Smith's National Register Historic Districts - which include some really fantastic structures.  I finished off the evening with a great meal and a fun little pub crawl with some new friends.  Thursday was mostly devoted to seminar sessions; in which I learned a lot about tax codes, sprinkler systems, and economic gardening - as well as the historic development and preservation of Fort Smith.  Another nice dinner and a little wine tasting rounded out the evening.  (I really enjoyed getting to know some more preservationists in Arkansas, as well as getting to talk about preservation as a whole with people who are already invested in the field - that doesn't happen around here much.)

 

Restored Train - Fort Smith to Van Buren

On Friday, we took a fun train ride to Van Buren; across the Arkansas River.  Then we visited the Drennen-Scott House in Van Buren, a nice project that showcases what you can accomplish with some good backing and great dedication.  Also, I was informed that the original painted plaster frieze from the interior of the Arkansas Pavilion at the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago was kept and maintained in the parlor of the Drennen-Scott House since its instillation immediately following the fair by Mrs. Caroline Scott, a prominent member of the Arkansas contingent to the fair.  I Love the 1893 World's Fair!!!

 

The Painted Frieze - Parlor - Drennen-Scott House

To cap the week off - today, after much excitement and meetings and prayer, First Baptist called and hired a new Pastor to lead the church.  It is great that we finally have a new pastor, after months of searching - and now, maybe our church can start fresh and work toward growth and spiritual development.  I can't wait to see what happens.

Humid Days, Cool Nights

A Busy Week:

Maggie arrived home on Tuesday, all ready to come to work at Lantern on Wednesday - training your little sis is so much more fun than it really should be.  Mostly, I think, because it gives me a really great excuse to order her around.  :)

 

A Beautiful Spring Day!!

A quick trip to Little Rock today for the annual Spring Tour of Homes, sponsored and organized by the Quapaw Quarter Association.  I had a bit part in the research and write-ups for the six properties on this years tour.  They were all amazing little homes and gardens, and the insides were all just immaculate - a fun tour of what I hope my home will some day look/feel like.  All in all, the open houses seemed to be very well received - and there were tons of people there the entire 2 hours plus that I was walking around, enjoying the beautiful houses and the gorgeous weather.

 People waiting in line to have a look at the interior of the Powell-Clements House

 The Tour booklet - with my write-ups inside :)

 

A beautiful, old, local brick set into a patio of similarly beautiful, old, local bricks

Maggie is all trained and off to a running start at Lantern - and it was good that she worked on Saturday, since I couldn't be there.  It was apparently one of the store's busiest days of the year, thanks in large part to Mother's Day.  I bet it will be fun to re-organize and straighten out the store displays tomorrow.  At least I will keep busy.

Next week, I head out to the Historic Preservation Conference in Fort Smith.  It has been a long time since I purposefully went to Fort Smith.  It will be interesting to see the historic districts - and I even get a train ride out of it - so it will be great!  (I love train rides)  (side note:  Last time i was in Fort Smith, i had to deal with stupid government bureaucracy while trying to get info from the US passport office to send to the British consulate so they could ok my Visa, which i really didn't need anyway - but still had to get for some reason for the Courtauld.  I did persevere, but only after 3 different trips to the same office in Fort Smith to get them to sign the same paper and take my fingerprints - which I assume were exactly the same.  I hate red tape.)  On a nicer note - look at these simple, yet cool sketches from this afternoon:

Above:  a capital from the Powell-Clements House

Aa couple of quick sketches from the Tour 

Below:  a detail from the entry to the Boyle House

Warm Music with or without Lightning

What a full week!

Last Thursday, I showed some of my button jewelry at a local craft & art fair.  It was the product of a ton of work over the last few weeks; but it was fun to show off my creative side.  A little pocket money doesn't hurt either.

On Friday, I was off work for a bit of a mini vacation - in Memphis with V.  What a great weekend it was!!!  Musicfest and lots of other fun activities; including a 8.5 mile bike ride, a 3 mile walk and some great food and friends.  Also, who couldn't have fun seeing NeedtoBreathe, Little Richard (yeah, the real LR), Allison Kraus, Florence + the Machine and the Civil Wars.  Yeah, it was a blast.

 

                                     Florence + the Machine                         the Civil Wars 

By the way, lets just take note of the creepy awkward Elvis set that NeedtoBreathe apparently brought with them.  I understand the need to have Elvis in close proximity to any Memphis/music mix - but really, lets just pick a more flattering image:

 

I drove home on Sunday night, very late.  It was actually fantastic - due in large part to the amazing lightning show that went on for more than and hour.  Cloud to ground, cloud to cloud, and multiple thunderheads all glowing with beautiful but deadly sparks of power.

The Spring Tour of Homes in the Quapaw Quarter is also this coming weekend - and I have been working with the QQ Association as and Architectural History Consultant.  A cool little gig if I do say so myself.  I am working on some great publications and research for them, and can't wait to see some final products!!  Little Rock is always a cool place to visit, especially when I get to see T and her friends and family.  T was also was the inspiration for some travel/map themed pinwheels for a baby shower - apparently they were a big hit.

M is home from school this week too - and is coming to work at Lantern with me.  This is going to be interesting, to say the least.  Sisters don't always make great co-workers, but I am totally willing to try.

A sketch to end the night:

I was thinking this might look cool with the figure black or white to form a negative space with the non-figure area swirling with color.