Sara The Nerd!

During my second interview with the owner at Velocity Webworks, I got the feeling that he wished I was a little more nerdy. He's a programmer, and he came right out and asked if I thought I would be comfortable working with nerdy people who talk about things like star wars and Android. I told him that I've been called a nerd in the past, and that I like star wars, but I still don't know if he completely believed me.

After the interview, as I drove home, I realized that in the world of web design, you are expected to be nerdy. It comes with the territory. So I made a business decision to get my eyes checked again, and ordered some new glasses. I lost my old ones on a nighttime photo shoot this past summer, and have gone without them ever since. My eyes aren't super bad, I'm  just a little bit near sighted.

I went to the optometrist on my own, and tried on about 35 different frames. I finally found some that I liked. I don't know if they make me look totally nerdy, but they do make me look older and more professional.

Meet the new and improved nerdy/professional Sara:

It's like a double whammy: the glasses improve my marketability, AND they help me see things that are far away. I can see individual trees on the mountaintop, and the birds flying around in the sky are super sharp! It's so exciting. I don't have to squint to see street signs either.

Happy New Years! :]

Hello Adulthood

I think I'm officially an adult. Legally, I've been one for a while now, but it's like graduating college has given me this newfound independence/confidence. I'm so proud of what I have accomplished up to this point. I've come a long way the past few years.

Just in case you haven't seen these photos on facebook:

What makes me feel even more adultish is that we are now living in a house. And we have a spare bedroom/office with a spare bed in it! John's parents got us a full bed for our guest room as a graduation present. So come visit us, and you'll have a real bed to sleep on! :]

I spent most of the day yesterday updating my web portfolio design page. It features various design projects that I have worked on recently. I look back at all of my work and I get so excited for the future. I enjoy design so much, and right now I'm getting paid to do it! Getting paid to do something that I love has always been my goal. I've finally achieved it!

At the moment, I'm actually working freelance for a company called Velocity Webworks. They are based out of St. George, and they are an awesome company. The people I'm working with are great. The fact that I'm working for them freelance means that I get to work from home, which means I can wear pajamas to work! :]

I created a logo for one of their clients already, and I'm starting a website project next. It's so fun for me to work with clients and to make their plans become a reality. A well designed reality!

Anyway, I need to go grocery shopping [another grown up thing]! But I would love love love you if you would go check out my web portfolio, specifically the design pages. Tell me what you think about it. Especially tell me if you see something I can improve.

Click here to view my portfolio!

Knitting Hats is Easy!

John and I were in the middle of a big move, so Christmas presents for family members took the back burner. We are finally settled down enough to start figuring out what to get everyone. We decided to make hats for our niece and nephew. I finished this one for our niece today, and I'm pretty proud of it:

I bought circular knitting needles last Christmas, thinking, "Oh, I want to knit a hat for my brother!" And I tried it a few times, but always messed up and ruined everything.  I got so frustrated that I put away my yarn and needles and forgot about them.

This year, I realized that I could use a circular loom instead of needles, and get basically the same turnout–without all the head aches. Yay!!! So I bought some cheap looms and got started. It only took a couple hours to see the final product. Now that's my kind of project.

[Don't worry Mark, your hat is next on the list. Better late than never... Right?]

I'm also planning to make one for myself, only it will be a solid color, with some sort of yarn flower sewn on. I feel so crafty!

Just the Two of Us

Oh, do I have stories for you guys! Lots of crazy things have gone on the past few weeks. I've hit some huge mile stones and haven't had time to share. I'll get to those in another post. For now, I just want to say that I love John.

It's amazing how I never really get sick of him. He's just the best.

We are all moved in to our cute new house in Cedar City. And we decided to stay here, just the two of us, to start our own family traditions for Christmas.

We sat down and talked about what WE wanted for our own traditions. We decided on roasted pine nuts on Christmas Eve. We made a delicious dinner together, and danced to Christmas music after eating. We played a little cribbage, and made gourmet hot cocoa. Of course we read the Christmas story from the Bible, and opened our gifts to each other afterwards. We missed our families a tiny bit, but we'll soon be starting our own family, and this was a taste of what's to come.

I liked it. Just the two of us, not getting sick of each other. We've definitely got a good thing going. :]

Change...

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while now, but I've been putting it off because I want to get it right.

It's the dawn of a new era in the life of yours truly [me].

I mean think about it with me for a few minutes. Put yourself in my size 5 shoes. You really need to pretend like you are me, so that you can understand my predicament [yes that means you are four feet, ten and a half inches tall, and you are seriously craving chocolate right this instant. But there is no chocolate in your entire apartment! Sucks, huh?].

The following paragraphs are to help you step into my mind real quick:

Your whole life up to this point has basically revolved around school. Ever since you could remember, it's been the main focus. The purpose of school was to train you to become someone great, so that you could do something great.

You've been in school for so long, it's like your a professional student. You are so good at it, but you are also SO SICK OF IT! You want to get out and make a difference in the world. And you want to use what you spent 4 years and thousands of dollars on to make that difference.

You are so ready to be done, and to tackle what the real world has to offer. But you're scared too. Because graduation means big change. And you are asking yourself, "Am I ready for this change?"

[end of "step into my mind" paragraphs]

Graduation means that I can get out of Rexburg! That's good right? I won't have to deal with the nasty weather! That will be sooo nice. We are moving to Cedar City a few days after we are done with school. Did I tell you that already? John got accepted to grad school at SUU, so that is where we are headed. I'll most likely be spending my week days in St. George, which means warm weather here I come!

See, that's great news! But here is the thing. I realized that I love Rexburg. I never thought I would say it, but the closer graduation comes, the more I realize that I'm going to miss this place. Mostly I'm going to miss the amazing people I have met here. I have so many good friends and teachers that have helped me to become who I am today. I don't really want to say goodbye to them.

But here is the other thing. Even though it's sad to leave, I'm sure there are great friends to be met, no matter where we end up. And with technology, it's not technically goodbye at all!

See, I'm being positive, change is good!

Also, I'm leaving college with a bang. I'm a recipient of the Newel K Whitney Scholar Award. More on that to come, but here is the professional photo they took of me for it:

Happy Wednesday!