Thursday, February 28, 2013

6 lists of things you probably don't want to know...

List 1: 10 things I know

1. I will always love video games (Nintendo in specific)
2. I have gone mad
3. how to bake a cake
4. how to find really cool clothes on the internet
5. that you can't really know anything (for the most part)
6. video games are good for you
7. sometimes people never change...
8. you can change
9. Chandler is super crazy
10. I should not have this much homework...

List 2: 10 things I can't live without

1. The Gospel
2. my family
3. my perfect friends
4. video games (sad but true)
5. art
6. creativity
7. perfect movies (like Up, Fantastic mr. fox, etc.)
8. Mrs. Culver (sorry other teachers!)
9. Thrift stores
10. Homemade food

List 3: 10 things I should have learned by now

1. how to cook potstickers
2. patience (see: number 1)
3. how to use fondant
4. how to say "no"
5. how to act normal
6. when to give up
7. how to play some manly sport like football... or something
8. any kind of chemisty concept
9. ugh! this is rough... umm... how to log out of facebook and just do my homework?
10. how to get good grades

List 4: 10 of my greatest fears

1. not living up to others' expectations
2. having a boring life
3. not accomplishing anything important
4. being trapped in a bird cage listening to country music... *shivers*
5. some kind of tragic accident where I... lose my... arm... or something
6. not jetting the jirl... ever.
7. losing freedoms and stuff
8. losing family and friends
9. not being able to just relax
10. (not exactly a fear... but) people seeing me as something I'm not

List 5: The 10 things, places, people, etc, that make me most happy

1. Lindsay, my sister
2. Emily, my cousin (and Parley, her husband)
3. Friends (I don't think I'm supposed to pick favorites)
4. slow peaceful walks under fall trees
5. cute people (seriously though, when I see someone that is just super cute, I just want to shake their hand and thank them for making the world a cuter place... just sayin'...)
6. cool people (like really really cool people)
7. real people (who are just themselves, and don't have to pretend to like or not like things)
8. Art
9. Video games (once againg :) )
10. Good music (none of this country crap...)

List 6: 10 places I will (want to) visit before I die

1. France
2. Russia
3. Neverland
4. Wonderland
5. Japan
6. Switzerland would be fun
7. Iceland is magnificent
8. ... umm... the moon?
9. Hawaii
10. England

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Call it what you will...

Have you ever loved someone? Loved as in, really loved. I'm not strictly talking romantic or non-romantic love, but really though...



There are a few people in this enourmous place, whom I love so very dearly. They're not just family, but not just friends. When I think of these people, I can't help but smile. they are simply outstanding in every way. Even if I married them, every single one of them, I would never be able to tell them how much I adore them. When you tell them you love them, they say "I love you too"... but you know they'll never be able to fathom how much you really love them.

Nobody's perfect, which is true about these people as well. some of them are too kind, or too understanding. others are too fantastic, or too frabjouZ.


can you contract love cancer? is there a love hospital? If you could die from being love sick I would have died long ago. These people kill me...

Your heart's guest rooms become permanent rooms, painted their favorite color. They live in your heart, sometimes unknowingly. When the awful occasion comes when they have to leave, it breaks your heart. They take all of their possesions, and leave their room in your heart empty.


one thousand "I love you"s won't be enough. so you give them one thousand and one.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Tie Knot you've all been waiting for...

Drum roll please, *drum roll*

Presenting,
The Eldredge Knot ~ How-To

My "Magician's trick", if you will

~ The Knot ~
This knot, Like many others*, is tied with the small end of the tie, instead of the big end. This tie has a almost herring-bone style to it. It's not knot that hard, it just takes practice ;).

Materials needed: 
- A long necktie (it can't really be too long, because it is tucked into the loop around the neck in the end)
-A neck

Just in case the pictures are too confusing/small, 
I have illustrations on the side as well. 

Step 1

Start with the tip of the big end of your tie about a half-inch above the top of your belt.
(it doesn't really matter which side the big or little tie is on, 
as long as you follow the pictures, you'll be good.)
For best results, create "the dimple" now,

Step 2

Cross The skinny part of the tie across and under the big part (still "dimpled")

Step 3

bring end up and around

Step 4

pull through, and tighten

Step 5

Wrap around and back up through the neck-loop

Step 6

cross down to a diagonal to create first layer

Step 7

Pull end around, and back into the previous layer

Step 8

Tighten

Step 9

Bring to the other side (underside), and prepare to wrap back around

Step 10

go over the top of the knot, and under to the other side
(almost there!!!)

Step 11

loop back in, and pull into the previous layer 
(just like in step 7)

Step 12

Pull tight

Place excess tie length back into collar (if long enough, tuck into the neck loop(between the tie and the inside of the collar... confusing enough?)
 

Step 13

Enjoy!!! This tie knot is very often noticed**, and "makes you cool".


To "sinch up" this tie, instead pulling the skinny part (usually behind the big part, but now tied in a knot), you pull the big part, and adjust to your preferred tightness.

-------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: The phrase, "Woah, how did you do that?!" may become very familiar to you if you wear this knot. refer them to this blog post :).

* See, the Trinity knot, Atlantic knot, etc.
** This tie knot works best with a solid tie, as shown above. if the tie is very patterned, and/or dark, it just kinda looks like you put your tie on backwards... and that's kinda awkward...

Photographs taken by our very own dear sweet Chandler Bliss Helvey ;)

Sunday, February 17, 2013

The Four Strand

~ How-to: The Four Strand Braid ~


For all of you who are bored of the same three strand braid every day, here is the Four Strand!!! It's really pretty, and easy enough! (and you don't need twenty-three fingers! :) )
---------------------------------------------
Step 1
Start with longish hair* (or you'll only get like two inches of braid)

Step 2
Separate hair into two even sections

Step 3
Separate these two strands in to two smaller strands (four in total, hence, the whole "four strand" part of it.) if this is easier, you can skip step two, and just grab the hair between your fingers, like so -
We'll name them strands 1, 2, 3, and 4. Once again, make sure they're all equally thick!

Step 4
Cross strand number 1 under strand number 2, and strand number 4 over strand number 3.

Step 5
Strand number 1 goes over number 4.

Step 6
3 crosses over 1, and 4 crosses over 2.
(confused yet?)

Step 7
Strand 2 crosses over 3, and under 1.
Strand 3 goes under 2, and over 4.
 Here, 4 becomes 1, 3 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3, and 1 becomes 4.
Rinse, and repeat. (from steps 2-7)
-----------

 Voila!
Accessorize as needed.



*Perfect white hair not required.

Friday, February 8, 2013

The Daily Routine

every day, I go through a few of my favorite blogs. My top three, are listed here :).

~ What A Lovely ~
http://brightredfingernails.blogspot.com/

This blog is a quaint little blog that talks about all kinds of lovely things, and everyday adventures. sometimes she posts stories, or "Music Mondays" or even things like reviews of movies or resturaunts. The setup of this blog is nice because it is a nice clean white color in the background, and (though she changes it from time to time) her main picture at the top is always wonderful. The focus of the blog, is off to the side. it says that she wants to share her poetry, stories, etc. Carolyn (the blog's author) has a really lovely style, and majored in English (I'm pretty sure), so, as you can imagine, they are all beautifully written. her topics are really interesting. When I first found this blog, I spent a couple hours (at least!) just reading through her whole blog. her voice is definitely present throughout, and she has a very defined style. grammar-obviously perfect (English major, remember?). The intended audience is probably to people who appreciate art of all kinds (me), whether it is literature, photography, paintings, etc. Carolyn is an "expert" in that she is very well acquainted with what she shares, and it is her opinion about these things. 

~ I am Hiawatha ~
http://lindsayroundthebend.blogspot.com/
This dear blog, is my sisters blog :).
The design of this blog is wonderful, and has a lot of patterns, while not being too much. The focus of this blog at first, was a travel blog. she would post about her trip(s) to France, and it was great. now that she is married, and has her own (adorable, might I say) bebe, we use it as a little bird house to put pears (letters) in*. the content for right now, is super cute baby pictures, and the occasional letter from me :). Writing style- perfect. it's Lindsay to a T! Grammar- if you notice, the title isn't capitalized :). this goes along with style too, because capitalization is not often used, but the grammar is also her own style, but is still mostly correct (I think... I'm not even sure...) The audience is probably family and friends, who want to know about our lives.
*see, "Little Women"

~ Smitten Kitchen ~
http://smittenkitchen.com/
Smitten Kitchen is the only blog out of these three, where I don't personally know the author. When I bake, I bake almost exclusively from this site. unless you absolutely hate the whole recipe, it will be perfect. every single recipe on this blog is amazing! The design of this blog is very clean, like "What A Lovely", and just has the logo off to the side. the first thing you see is the newest recipe. it also has a search bar off to the side, so it's easy to find a recipe. the focus of the site- to provide fancy recipes, without fancy ingredients (check!). content - food! and really good food, at that! The author's writing style is very well shown among her recipes, and pictures. she, like we were talking about, is very honest. she makes a cheescake recipe, and says she doesn't like cheesecake. by saying this, she really sells how good it is, because if she doesn't even like cheesecake, and she likes this cheesecake, that must mean it's really good. Grammar - good. Message Effectiveness - effective! the audience of this blog is anyone who likes to look at, bake, cook, or eat food (which just happens to be about 99.9 percent of all people in the world... :) ).

Now, you can just enjoy those blogs to your hearts' content(s?) I know I do!