Favicon

One time, Laura asked in a comment how I created my favicon* and I have just now remembered that I never answered! Since I am lazy and do not want to scan my previous posts for that comment so I can respond, I am going to post a tutorial link here and hope that perhaps somebody else is also interested.


Dear Laura (and anyone),

Here is the link to the tutorial which showed me how to create my favicon:

http://designyourownblog.com/blog-design/tutorial-how-to-create-blog-favicon/

Mine took about a week to show up on all of the computers where I use Blogger (laptop, desktop, work, etc.), so if it doesn't seem to work but is on your blog layout page, give it some time. I'm not sure if she mentions that part in her post, but that was my only difficulty. Do enjoy! 

Respectfully yours,
Lys




*This thing:

From the draft archives: "Quote for 23 February 2013"

     “To love at all is to be vulnerable.”

- C.S. Lewis

Chose this quote today because I recently fell in love with the vulnerability of falling in love. I made the decision to like a boy in my ward, just a lil bit, just to give dating outside of Joe a shot. And that boy seemed to maybe like me a lil bit, too. But then he got himself a girlfriend. Which was fine, but kinda sucked a lil bit.

There was this moment, though. This moment where I think I already knew, but I had to make sure. And he was walking out the door, and I was suddenly calling, "Wait!" without even knowing how or why I was saying it. He turned around, and right then I was vulnerable beyond vulnerable. I can count on one hand the other times in my life where I have acted with such abandon. 

And it felt great. I can't say I was happy in that moment because I had dreams and expectations of my own sliding down the drain, but that moment of raw emotion was good for me. Vulnerability is hard but it has a way of offering satisfaction. You did all you could do; you put literally everything out there. If it didn't work out after that, it didn't need to.


[2014 edit: Glad that didn't work out. Glad I had the experience, yes. But more glad to be where I'm at.]

And that's a wrap

Not that this is the last time you'll ever hear about plants on this blog, but you have now met all of the plants I received during my class this last semester. You have also now seen one of the most wonderful GIFs on the world wide web. Wahoo!

One thing which came up almost every week in class is that plants clean the air around them constantly. Most people understand that plants somehow breathe in what we breathe out and breathe out what we breathe in (photosynthesis and respiration and biology and stuff), but did you know that plants also breathe in lots of toxins?? Their roots love toxins! Seriously, though, people have studied this scientifically (NASA, so...credible people, I suppose), and plants really do eat up toxins like they're candy. 

[Name this quote: "Tastes just like candy...honest!"]

Anyway, having healthy house plants can clean up your indoor air. Obviously this works better if you have rooms upon rooms of house plants, but I figure my few are better than nothing. I feel so...green!

But I sure am going to miss visiting that lil BYU greenhouse...

I love plants. Amen.

Easter weekend

I would hate to let Easter slip by without mention because it is my favorite holiday, but I must admit that I have nearly no photo documentation, so I'll try to avoid being too wordy.


We feel so blessed to live close enough to both of our families that we can spend time with each on every holiday. This holiday was no different! 

Saturday began with a very early final exam for me and a small sleep-in for Joseph. I had an awful experience with the group project for this particular final, so I'm not going to say anything else about it other than I'm so glad it's over. When I got home, we cleaned the house and lazed around just a bit because neither of us felt very well. We also ate some Easter candy, but only in small quantities since it was supposed to be saved for the...

...Sumner family Easter party and egg hunt! We headed north to spend time with extended family in the afternoon and ended up staying well into the evening. (I secretly love when that happens.) I have a picture of this part because I thought Joe and his dad at the grill were adorable:

My favorite part about the party was just observing the way that all the Sumner siblings (Joe's mom and family) interact. Usually I sit with the sisters, but this time we were closer to the brothers' conversation and it was hilarious. Listening to them made me all excited for, like, my 40's, which I'm pretty sure no other human has ever felt excitement for, right? But that's what I walked away with, so...there you go.


On Sunday, we woke up to a happy little pile of Easter joy on the kitchen table. It included socks for me, The Amazing Spider-Man for Joseph, and candy to share. I am wearing my new socks as I write this and I love them. That Easter bunny--he knows what's up.

We also enjoyed an Easter Sunday miracle called stake conference, which allowed us to head to Orem a few hours earlier than on a usual Sunday, so we took advantage of that and spent a luxuriously long time at our parents' houses. 

We started with my family, where we helped make Easter dinner (I use the word "help" somewhat loosely here), chatted on the deck in the perfect weather, and worked on factoring polynomials (a non-Eastery but necessary activity). I had a particularly lovely time holding and playing with baby Ensley, and I of course always love a chance to talk my mom's ear off. 

We spent dinner and dessert time with Joe's family, enjoying a traditional ham with cheesy potatoes (an Easter must) and then watching all the nieces and nephews run around. This is a Sunday norm for us, and we love it.

Picture break: springy (and therefore Eastery) flower pics from my phone!

As much as I lovelovelove Easter and its festivities, I love very most the enhanced opportunity to reflect on the life and resurrection of my Savior over Easter weekend. I think daily about Christ, his ministry, and his atonement, but I don't dedicate much thought solely to his resurrection. Easter reminds me every year of the true miracle it was, as well as the resulting blessings and gifts for each of us. 

I know that because Christ rose on the third day, we too will rise again. I know that death is not the end for you, or for me, or for anyone, because of the loving gift offered us by our Savior. He offered his exemplary life as a model for us so that we can become perfect, in time, like him. He lives and he loves each of us infinitely and perfectly. What a blessing it is to know these things, and to celebrate them every Easter!


Like I said, favorite holiday here, folks. I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend!

Plants: Ficus

Ficus is really just a wee baby twig.

But it had its own roots when I potted it, I promise, I saw them! So maybe it will grow up strong and healthy and treelike. In the meantime, I will prop its heavy head up in the corner of the table, of course.

I enjoy the variegation on my ficus because it is WAY COOL to watch as it turns from lime green to yellow to creamy white. You can kinda see some lime green edges in the picture on the left above, and then the big leaf on the right shows what is closer to the final color. I don't always love variegation, but it is at least fun to observe up close and personal.

We were actually given two ficus trees, if we so desired, in class. I gave one to Joe's dad because he loves indoor plants. It's much stronger and healthier, so if you want to see a ficus twig that does a better job providing for itself, you should check that one out. In the meantime, you can just observe mine in its corner:

It really is pretty adorable. I hope I can nurture it to adulthood!

I am my parents

Ever since I decided on my personality (sometime mid-high school), I have thought I am a lot like my mom and less like my dad. I have also since thought that I look a lot like my mom and less like my dad. 

All of that was shot down the first time I saw this picture:

OH MY GOSH, RIGHT?? Then I talked to Joe about it and I was all like, "Check it out, I do have some of my dad in me!" and he was all like, "Well, yeah. You act like him a lot, too." This idea made me excited; thus, ever since this photo, I have been watching for the parts of me that follow Dad's example. 

I prank my coworkers every now and then, like he does.
I use words like "crap" and "stupid" with extra emphasis on the consonants when I'm frustrated, like he does.
I believe wholeheartedly in dessert, like he does. 
I have a general distrust for government organizations, like he does.
And there's, like, lots more.

Therefore, I am my father. 


But also, I think I should clarify that finding this part of myself did not diminish the parts of me that are my mom! Look:

OH MY GOSH, RIGHT?? Plus, we have, like, all the same tendencies.

I respond to most situations with the same emotion that my mom would.
I roast my veggies, like she does.
I only make messes in piles, like she does.
I believe in sentimentality, like she does.
But there's, like, lots more here, too.

Therefore, I am my mother.


Isn't it weird how you turn into the people who raised you as you get older? Whose idea was that, anyway.




PS: The pictures in this post indicate that my promised actual wedding photos (not just formals) are finally on their actual way to blogland! Blog promises should never be  taken seriously around here...

Plants: Schefflera

Schefflera caught my eye in class because of her cute umbel-like leaves (they're sorta like lil umbrellas!).

These plants can get HUGE and bushy or treelike, so it's kind of adorable to have such a lil baby one. 

She comes with a burlap holder because we were supposed to learn the value of a decorative pot...but most other students threw theirs away. And I'm considering doing the same lately, just because I worry every time I water it that there is a pool in the bottom growing mold and poisoning everything! Irrational, I know. 

Anyway, decorative burlap or no, I enjoy this tiny bush. Schefflera lives atop the microwave with pothos:

And also our toaster and our "love notes" stationery live there. It helps me keep the microwave tidy to have things that just stay there always, and the plants take up so much microwave real estate that I hardly ever pile paperwork there! (I have a strong tendency to pile up my paperwork.) Side note: how cute are those big hearts from our niece Savanna?? They are still there because I don't have the heart to take them down. I'm just full of sentimentality, you see.

Anyway, this was less about schefflera than I supposed it would be when I started writing, but whatevs. I love schefflera just like I love all my plants. I have a little dream to keep repotting her as she grows up, but we'll see if it happens. It's just a little dream, so...

From the draft archives: "Net fashion"

[This is a post I drafted during my freshman year (2011) and never posted. The plan was to take pics of my outfit for a week and then declare point values, but.....yeah that never happened. So now, I post it in memory of a time when I thought of things like this because it's funny to me.]

I have a dilemma. It's called "my mom keeps encouraging me to dress cute, and I don't know how to go about it." 

I also have a solution. It's called "net fashion." If I try to look cute one day, I don't have to fret over it the next day, and vice versa. 

Look. In the last couple days, I've worn both of these outfits for a day:

So clearly one of them is cuter than the other. Positive points one day, negative points the next day. I just have to keep my average around zero. It's a bonus if it starts to climb, but we'll just let that happen if it wants to. 



[2014 edit: I now generally wear what I consider to be "cute enough" outfits. These are about equivalent to the maximum of cute with which I was experimenting in 2011, but then I also use this same "net fashion" idea to step up my game for date nights and let down my guard for Saturdays. I guess my fashion average did climb after all! If nothing else, I at least feel more of an interest in looking presentable now. But I still have plenty of don't-care-i'm-a-bear* days. But no more cargo shorts, and free t-shirts only come out for yard work and stuff. What am I trying to say with this addendum? You won, Mom. And thanks.]



*See picture:

Was this a weird post? Yes. These things happen.

Plants: Epipremnum

I actually call my Epipremnum by its common name of "pothos." 

I usually prefer to refer to plants by their genus, and I memorized plants this way all semester, but for some reason I could never remember this genus as well as I could remember its common name. Brains are weird.

This lil guy is SO EASY to pleasey. [Sorry, I just couldn't pass up that rhyme.] Sometimes I water him and sometimes I don't, and either way he just keeps growing. I took these pictures a few weeks ago, and while all my other plants look pretty much the same, this guy has since exploded. Wahooo!

This picture is not current, but it looks like a fuller pot from this angle, so you get the idea. Maybe? Anyway, pothos is really fun because it's viny and traily. Lots of people hang these because they'll just grow right over the sides of their container, so you can still see green even when it's above your head. Mine has reached a point now where his leaves look less isolated (as in these pictures) and more viny, and I'm loving it. 

I have two varieties in this pot, but one is very outnumbered. We were given four leaf starters when we potted these, and I happened to land three golden pothos and one marble queen (left and right, respectively). It sounded like a good idea at the time, but I'm not sure that I'll love that marble queen adding variety to my otherwise homogeneous pot. Luckily, this plant is so hardy that I can take a leaf from the marble queen later, pot it somewhere else, and it'll grow all over again on its own. 

Pothos lives with one other plant on the microwave, and since I had less of a photo shoot with that one, I'll save the location pic for later. 


If I had to choose favorites, this guy might would win. I mean, it's hard to really say. But maybe. 

Back to blogging at midnight

Ladies and gents, I can now resume my normal late-night blogging habits because...(drum roll please)...

WE GOT THE INTERNETS.

Free internets! At our apartment! Guaranteed for seven years! (Please bless that we are not still in this apartment in seven years.)

I don't mean to trivialize the occasion by wasting my first at-home post, but I really really really just want to post that it happened today because it just feels momentous. You go live as a student without at-home internet for six months and then tell me that you don't find free wi-fi to be a wonderful novelty. You probably cannot. (I shouldn't assume that.)

It was Richard, who gave us access to the interwebs. Richard, who does some work at Sundance showing around the fancy celebrities and some work for Google Fiber installing free internets. Richard, who mentioned to me that it was cold outside, and then that it was hot outside, and then wrapped up his visit by telling me it was cold enough to get "ammonia--no wait, pneumonia." That's about as interesting as our conversations got. 

I of course instagrammed a pic right after he left, and then we ran off to finish up our last day of school. Oh, did I mention that the semester ended today?? Life is oh-so-good.

Anyways, just wanted to stop by and say that I have deep gratitude in my heart for Google Fiber tonight. 

I'll be back on this blog more often now that I don't have to work my posts into random on-campus free time. Wahoo!!

Plants: Dracaena

Dracaena (druh-see-nuh) was my first plant from plants class. She's been naughty ever since. 

And by that I mean that she's the hardest to water. I think I overwatered, and then I overcompensated by underwatering, and then I maybe overwatered again? But I swear I wasn't doing it on purpose. You'd think we would have learned about this in class, but we learn more of "general principles" than plant specifics, and I was following principles as I learned them! So....I dunno. We might just fight until she dies.

Dracaena lives atop our tallest bookshelf and is thereby the tallest thing in our house. This also doesn't help the watering situation...

But I love her anyway! 

PS: Congrats to coworker Miranda who rocked "name that plant." Ficus was the last one. Variegated, of course.

Plants: Tillandsia

In case you have not yet heard, I have a small obsession with plants and flowers. Last spring I took floral design, and they mentioned that the wildlife major had a similar class but for interior plants. I decided then that I would take this class at some point. And that point was this semester.

THIS CLASS IS AMAZING. I've learned lots of cool stuff, spent lots of time in the greenhouse, and acquired excellent replacements for any pets (plants don't require anything but water, and they don't shed hair or poop...win-win-win). You should all take this class if you get a chance. 


But now that my plug is over, I'd like to introduce you to the plants I've acquired over the semester. We'll start with the air plants, which were actually a Christmas gift from Mariah. 

Behold, the majestic Tillandsia. Apparently these flower once a year, but I have yet to see any such thing. They are super cool though because they don't need dirt! Just an occasional bath. They live in the fishbowl:

And they are a lovely permanent centerpiece for our kitchen table.


Tomorrow we'll meet more of the family. Here's a sneak peek:

Play name that plant if you feel so inclined!

Why I haven't blogged in a while

I really don't have an excuse other than this:

click here if you want to begin a serious relationship with powers of 2

You might think I'm joking, but there have actually been countless times in the last couple weeks when I've been all, "Free time! I should blog!" but have then been coaxed by the little bookmark bar icon calling out to me for one quick round of 2048. I realized that things had gotten out of control when I stopped by the blog yesterday and noticed that I hadn't posted for THREE WEEKS. Whoops, clumsy me.

But today I won! So I can come back to blogging now. 

The proof is in the pudding:

Seriously though, if you click that link, I hope you are prepared to sell your soul. 

You have been warned.