On the Bright Side. . .

The Not-So-Haunted House

2011-10-29T10:49:00.000-06:00

The Not-So-Haunted House
A fun children's Halloween story by my sister, Ashley Nance!

Food Adventures #1 - Pan-fried Fish and Caribbean Rice & Beans

2011-07-16T20:07:00.001-06:00

I thought it'd be fun to try and do a few adventures in food this summer. This time is . . . Fish and Rice & Beans! Here's some of the process:

Here's the setup for the fish! Egg, cornmeal, then into the oil! I actually double-coated them because the first coat was kinda weak...

Here's the rice and beans. Quite a lot of flavor in that pot, but not as much as if we had added jalapenos. I kinda chickened out on that part...

Aaaand, the plate! All that liquid in the rice and beans cooked down to deliciousness; the fish looked good too.

The verdict: Overall, a winner! Everything turned out well and looked pretty good too!

For next time: Less salt in the coating for the fish, and add the jalapenos to the rice & beans for stronger flavor. Maybe find a vegetable that goes better than salad.

Hopefully all our food adventures turn out at least as well as this one!

Livestream channel!

2010-12-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

I've started a livestream channel!

"Why?" you might ask. Well, I really wanted my sister to watch me color a picture I drew for her, and I've seen other artists allow people to watch them draw and color while a chat goes on to the side. It's pretty fun. Someday I hope I can get the hang of it, so I can play music in the background and try not to bring up my email for all to see ;)

Anyways, let me know if you're interested in watching sometime, and I'll do an e-mail list notification when I'm going to start!

Cheers!

Liz

Watch live streaming video from ebrayton at livestream.com

P.S. you can go there and watch old clips, , , but they're really long and not terribly interesting unless you've got nothing crazy-exciting to do and you want to leave it on while you do other things :)

A Somber Note with Some Hope on the Side

2010-11-01T23:03:00.000-06:00

This is mostly to share this with as many as will read it.
Worthless Women and Men Who Make Them
Read it all the way through. Take a few minutes and ponder it. Tell me what you think, or not. Although, I would love to hear how you spread it like wild fire. :)

It's made me think. I don't want to go around pointing fingers, since that's how we get quickly to nowhere. However, this is a serious issue that needs serious attention. I hope you agree that we all need to do our part to shake off this stupor and start being who we know we can be.

Pear Animation Project

2010-10-23T21:01:00.000-06:00

The shader programming class I'm taking is lots of fun and lots of work. This assignment was to create a realistic-looking fruit. I chose a pear, of course, , , trying to move away from the classic "apple." Turns out three or so other students had the same idea, because we ended up with four different pear renditions. Oh, well! Who needs originality? ;)

Two videos in one post here. This first is the one I handed in at first. In the in-class review, there were several suggestions made as to its improvement. The second one reflects many of those suggestions' implementation, and will be the one that is graded in the end.

(Recommended: click through to Vimeo, just because these are pretty small views)

"Before:"

Pear Turnaround Ver.1 from Elizabeth Brayton on Vimeo.

... and "After!:"

PearAround Ver.2 from Elizabeth Brayton on Vimeo.

Improvements between the two:

Lighting now brings out the shape more and does not distract from the focus... namely, the pear!
The stem now has a texture and variation, it is also a touch thinner because the first was huge!

Those are the main changes. :D The second video is also longer, because most video players don't do "loop," which is essential to viewing a turnaround! So I faked it by doubling up the animation on the second time around.

I hope you enjoy!

~Liz

P.S. One of the upper-class Animation students was looking over the fruit from our class with my professor, and they agreed that mine was one of the best ones. Take that as you will, but it made me pretty happy! :D

The New Laptop: Introduction

2010-08-04T17:45:00.000-06:00

I bought a laptop Tuesday night. Let me show you how awesome it looks:

Yes, that is a picture off the Internet. This is because it hasn't come in the mail yet. To be more precise, it hasn't even been built yet. So, in the meantime, I'm going to list for you the awesome-tastic specifications of this snazzy computer. If you don't know much about what the numbers and acronyms mean, you can skip the list, because here's the summary: it's going to be fast, and pretty, and will play blu-ray-quality video. Sweet! :D

K, so, specs:
It's a Dell Studio XPS 16

CPU: *Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8Gz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

Memory: 4GB, DDR3, 1333MHz 2 Dimm

Display: *15.6 inch Wide Screen 16:9 1080p Full HD WLED LCD, W/2.0 MP webcam

Graphics Card: *ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 1GB

Hard Drive: 320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit

Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive

Wireless: Intel WiFi Link 802.11a/g/n

Battery: 9-cell Battery

Bluetooth: Yes

So, I'm super-excited about all of it, but especially about the starred ones. I had to skimp on memory, hard drive space, and the optical drive because I'm not made of money. :( Still, it's about 10-million times better than what I currently have, so I'm not complaining!

Anyways! I'll make a little gadget off to the side to update you on where it is once it's shipped, so you can anticipate with me!
:D

Camp at Cossayuna Lake

2010-08-04T14:31:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago we stayed for a week in a camp on Cossayuna Lake. It's a pretty little lake and a pretty little cabin. Here are just four of the many photos I took:

The dog (Savannah) was begging for my breakfast and my nephew was sneaking up on her soft, grabbable ears. I distracted him enough to capture this sweet shot.

The only activity most of us felt like doing was floating or boating, since there was a vast amount of plant life waiting to drag us down to the fishes.

This is Branch. The story of his name goes thus:

I go out to quiet Savannah, who had been barking incessantly for a good half hour already. I find her detached from her cable and sniffing at something on the lawn chair. As I come closer I realize that it's a little bird. The animals' mental exchange seemed to go something like this (picture Garfield-style thought bubbles here):
Savannah: *Sniff* "Move so I can chase you!" (Nudges bird with nose, barks at it.)
Branch: "I'mabranch!I'mabranch!" *Stays still*
Savannah: "Whatever, I know you're there! I can smell you." *BARK*
Branch: "DON'TEATMEI'MABRANCH!!!"

At which point I save the poor thing from the scary monster. Bro-in-law tried to feed it some re-fried beans, to which it turned up its beak (pictured above). I don't know the end of its story, but I hope it wasn't eternally traumatized by playful beagle nightmares.

My nephew LOVES WATER. He went for his first-ever swim on this trip and enjoyed every moment of it. So did those of us who got to watch him kick and splash incessantly.

Picasa Web Album may be coming soon. I'll edit this with a link when it's done.

Epitome of Awesome

2010-03-20T13:23:00.000-06:00

I was invited by my friend Tracy to a pre-screening of "How To Train Your Dragon" by Dreamworks Animation. We waited outside with our voucher and some IHOP for breakfast and froze our feet off for probably an hour and a half. But! We got some awesome seats so it was worth it! (No Spoilers below, don't worry!)
The title of this post says it all about how I feel about this movie. When I saw the previews, I thought it would be awesome. . . But I never would have guessed from that preview how truly awesome it would be. I'm sure the IMAX 3D part helped, but really, it was the awesome story, the awesome soundtrack, and the awesome dragons. :D I'm really glad Dreamworks can make a movie with a moral to it. Maybe I'll gush more when I see it again when it officially comes out March 26th!

Lights at Temple Square (pt. 2)

2009-12-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

More Nativities!

I like this shot mostly :)

Look it's all four of us! Yay!

The giant bible fit a LOT of words on a two-page spread!

Here we have a demonstration of when NOT to use flash!
Exhibit A (left) is with flash. Exhibit B (right) is without flash.
You can tell me whatever you want, but I'll still keep flash off unless absolutely necessary.
(On the other hand, if you want to get me an SLR with a flash that angles and swivels, I'd probably go for it :D)

The Assembly Hall has a green glowy light on it. Makes it just a little creepy-looking?

Lights on Temple Square (pt. 1)

2009-12-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday (after the baby shower for Ashley), we went to see the lights in Salt Lake. It was amazing. Not a ton of awesome photos though, as it was freezing and we were a bit rushed. Here are a few of the ones I like though!:

I don't know, I just really like this photo :) They were planning, like usual.

This is one of my favorite parts: the floating lights :)

This might've been a better shot without so many heads in the way ;)

The Nativities were awesome :)

A different angle, with less heads :D

They had these luminarias in different languages all around. This says "Light" in Russian (Pronounced "Svyet"). I thought it was appropriate
(I like this one so much I made it my desktop wallpaper! :D)

Ashley's Baby shower! (pt. 2)

2009-12-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

More photos for ya!

Here we have a baby food guessing game! Bro-in-law was puzzled, as were us two single sisters!

Bro-in-law modelling for us his son's new coat. :)

All that fun was pretty tiring! Even for the dog (in the upper right corner) :D

Ashley's Baby Shower! (pt. 1)

2009-12-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

So, Saturday I went up to Kaysville to visit my pregnant sis! A relative on my brother-in-law's side was putting on a baby shower for her. Here are some of the photos from that eventful day :)

Doesn't she look good? :D I snapped this before everyone got there.

Her father-in-law got a hoot out of this: Huggies and kisses!

The gift table :)

Lunch anyone?

3D Lighting

2009-10-17T16:57:00.000-06:00

So, in my Computer Graphics class this week, we were given a model and were told to light it in four different ways. It was pretty fun. :)

This one is the "sunset" setup - which despite its cheesiness, also included a requirement for a ramp in the background.

Here's the "monster" setup. We were to set at least two highly colored lights positioned beneath the model. If I remember right, I had a greenish one and a blue-purple up front, and a yellowish in the back. All were very low intensity.

This is what he called "global illumination" or a "dome" setup. Lotsa low intensity lights in a dome-shape around the model. It was kinda frustrating, but turned out well I think.

This is the "four-point" setup, which I think is kinda silly, just because there are only three lights in a four-point setup. ;)

Enjoy! :D

(P.S. For the record, I find this model fairly creepy, , , but it was the least weird of the options ;))

Blogging & random news

2009-06-07T12:29:00.000-06:00

I'm no blogger I guess... I can't even write about my everyday life for my family and friends who read this! Here's some updates though:

I'm working! Yay! I'm back at AngioDynamics in the Warehouse on second shift. It's pretty fun, and pays well.

I've been thinking that I want to start programming a game. I'm thinking tile-based and in Java, probably with a fantastical theme. Any ideas, advice, or help you can offer would be awesome! I might actually do it if it were a fun team effort! :D

If you see me online or elsewhere, ask me if I'm drawing. If I'm embarrassed enough that my answer is always no, maybe I'll actually start doing it again. ;)

Well, that's it for this time! Enjoy your second week of June. :)

Edit: photos!

2009 end of April to mid-May

Finals Week

2009-04-21T21:27:00.000-06:00

Joy of joys. Finals week started on a Friday this time around, thus totally destroying the weekend. That's okay though... since everyone's studying, there's not a ton going on.
In case you're wondering what the next week is looking like for me, here's the low-down:

Foods final - on Blackboard, not going to do well (because I didn't ever read all the reading assignments)
New Testament final - in Testing Center, may do well (because it's open-scripture)
Packing - at my apartment, will take a long time (because I'm a recovering pack rat)
Cleaning - also at my apartment, will also take a very long time (because once I start cleaning it's hard to stop until I've gotten every bit as clean as I can)
Leaving - starting in Utah, eventually ending up in NY (a couple stops along the way and all-night driving for one night should make it pretty short, if not sweet)

So, yes, I know, quite exciting and all that jazz. If I'm still alive by the time May rolls around it'll be a miracle ;).

For those of you in school, good luck with whichever end of it you're at!
For those of you not in school, good luck with life, "and all that that implies..."
:D

Oh poetry,...

2009-04-09T23:27:00.000-06:00

It's fun,
sometimes,
to write one's random thoughts
like one might write
a poem.

It's exciting,
you see,
because it's nearly
Friday!

Even though
the weekend brings
not much more than
more homework,
a break in the schedule
is always welcome.

Now I'm just trying to
make this longer,
because I have nothing to say...
For all of my thoughts
are too jumbled and messy,
and not of much use
to normal people like you.

Have an awesome Friday,
I think I'll go to bed
before it's official.

:D, Liz

For fun, and kicks, and giggles perhaps

2009-03-09T18:25:00.000-06:00

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though...Post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift!

John Schmidt concert (Jan.)

2009-02-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

The stage. If you can click to get the bigger version, you'll see the amazing cellist and John (Jon?) himself doing sound checks.

Elizabeth and me!

Sarah and me!

All three of us together! It was a long wait in line...

The concert was awesome, and if I could, I'd totally buy a couple CD's from both John and the cellist whose name I can't remember now...

Unexpected Error

2009-02-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

I know I said I'd post photos of John Schmidt, but since I'm currently on Linux and my photos are on Windows, that'll have to wait.

I've been working on homework, and I had to download a file to fill out. When I went to open it, I got this innocent-looking little box:
Now, this might seem just silly, but if you really think about it, is this true sometimes? Mmm, thought-provoker!

Thought you'd get a kick out of it. (As a side-note, the file I was opening opened despite the error of success.)

:D, Liz

This Weekend

2009-02-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

This'll be a pretty fun Saturday -- Sarah invited me to go rock-climbing... something I haven't done since YW-days! It's kinda scary, as I'm no heights person, but I think it'll be fun anyway.

Mid-terms are coming up, I have no money and no job, but I'm trying to keep my head up.

Next time I promise to post photos of my friends and I at the John Schmidt concert!

Another Meme! Sorry, I was tagged...

2009-01-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

So, I've been tagged and I'm lazy, so I pretty much played off "Yellow M&M's" themes to come up with stuff to talk about...

(a) republish these rules

Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
Let them know they’ve been tagged.

(b) share seven (preferably less well-known) facts about myself:

(1) I played the cello ... for a little while, and that was in third grade I think... maybe fourth ;)

(2) I wish I had a nice computer... but I'm stuck with an old one with no battery life and a couple unmovable viruses...

(3) I have a dog at home named Savannah. She's a lazy beagle pup.

(4) I love looking at the stars.

(5) I don't like talking girl-talk... I'm so ugly, I'm so fat, I love those shoes! :P

(6) I don't really collect much... but I seem to be aquiring frog and/or turtle stuff. :)

(7) I like Valentines pretty much for the SweetHeart TARTS!

(c) I shall tag no one because I'm horribly a-social like that... but if you want to, please do!

Have one awesome week!

Meme to take up space...

2009-01-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

1. Enough with the Homework. Please.

2. A guy causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving Chocolate Chocolate muffins... or the like. ;)

4. Ashley and David make me laugh.

5. I wish I could go to Oregon next week.

6. Guys and school has been on my mind lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out with Sarah, tomorrow my plans include school all day and Sunday, I want to get started on Family History

Birthday Present...

2009-01-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard of it, you should now go here: Chumby and check it out! I think I like this color best. The others are not bad though. So, it's a gadget, , , but it's a cute gadget, and it's an awesome idea, I think. Here's a news story about it and devices like it: Forbes
My birthday is March 19th. Just throwing that out there...

Oh yes, , ,

2009-01-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

It was close. 15% was the lowest score in the realm of geekiness, and I got 15.77909% on InnerGeek's geek test... I got a 1% advantage because I'm female, so I guess if I was a guy, I'd only have "geeky tendencies." :D

'K, so you have to comment here and tell me what your score is!! Go take it!

~Liz

In Provo!

2009-01-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm finally here! I'm partially moved in, which is awesome, but I don't have money and school starts Monday! . . . KaaaaPOW! . . . . I 'sploded, please take a number and I'll get back to you as soon as I respawn.

Homeagain!

2008-12-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Yes! I'm once again home, and loving every second of it. To be honest, having "lovebirds" in the house is a bit distracting and has a tendency to make me only a tiny bit jealous... *shifty look* >.> We went to get a tree on Saturday, which resulted in some snow-throwing and a cute little quirky tree which is in our living room as I type ;).
All but the gifts that need repairing are wrapped. I'm enjoying a relaxing Christmas Eve. Hope you are too!

Eight days and counting...

2008-12-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

I say that I'm trying not to count down, but it's impossible not to be at this point! I'm excited to get back home, but at the same time I'm sad to be leaving.
Here's a picture from our Birthday party today. Cheburashka and Zhenia the Crocodile included! fun stuff for sure!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

It was awesome. We had everything that I love for Thanksgiving besides my family. The food was all awesome and American, and the atmosphere was friendly. The setup was lots more formal than at Grandma B's, but it was way fun all the same.

Pictures are up on my Picasa here, along with some more kid pics and a trip to an outdoor museum! Enjoy! I'll work on the captions.

Love ya,

Liz

Apparently I write like a . . .

2008-11-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

http://genderanalyzer.com/ said this:

We think http://ebrayton.blogspot.com is written by a man (89%).

I don't know what the percentage is for. . . eh, whatever, I don't worry about it too much,,, here's the results for the voting:

Did GenderAnalyzer get the correct results for your blog?

		Votes
Yes	53 %	8393
No	47 %	7520

Weird/Random

2008-11-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

This is the one thingy I most try to avoid, for I am weird, but I don't like to point it out... I blame Yellow M&M, for she tagged me.

The broken toilet that won't stop running unless you pull up the handle drives me insane... and I'm the only one who'll go fix it :P
I can't open a web-browser that won't have at least 6 tabs in as many minutes.
I have semi-psychic powers. . . but only with one person and not on command.
I'm currently living in Kiev, Ukraine.
I like to draw dragons.
I DO like to play computer games, as much as I like to deny it.
I spend more time than I should slavering over technology I can never afford.

And, I'm good at breaking rules... so I'm pulling the open-tag gig again. Go for it! If you like to tell everyone how weird/random you are. ;D

Have an awesome Tuesday, , , it was a decent one for me ;)
Liz

Mini-blogging

2008-11-06T05:38:00.001-07:00

EDIT!: I lost my cell phone, so no text-updating, sorry! It's still quicker than this though, so I'd take a look once a week...

So, I've found a way to tell you what's up while I'm on the go! It's called Twitter, and it's a "mini-blogging" site that supports text-updating! So, I plan to post what I'm doing when I'm out and about, as well as when I'm near a computer with internet. Click here to see it!

So, bigger update here coming soonish hopefully ;)

ttfn!

Liz

Too much to blog about, but we must start somewhere...

2008-11-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'll start with Prague/Poland!

We started with Poland, Krakow to be specific. It was really nice, weather was great. The first day consisted of a short walking tour.

From Poland-Prague!

Then we went by bus to Auschwitz.

From Poland-Prague!

It was pretty depressing, but I'm glad I went.

A night-time walk around followed.

From Poland-Prague!

Morning brought a guided tour of some major sights.

From Poland-Prague!

After the tour we were let loose to look around and try some local cuisine ;)

From Poland-Prague!

Then, it was off to Prague! Which will have to wait til later, cuz I'm out of time!

Enjoy the photos!

Liz

Skype - not an advertisement! ;)

2008-10-20T09:51:00.000-06:00

I have yet to try it, but I've heard good things. I do have a "SkypeName" though, and a computer that can handle it (I think). I can talk and even video-chat for free to other Skype-peoples. With Skype others can call my cellphone here in Ukraine for a bit more than 20 cents/minute.
So, if you have Skype or want to talk to me instead of e-mail me, it's free to sign up and like I said it's free Skype-to-Skype.
I promise photos and/or news after Prague! :D
Love ya
Liz

Random time-waster

2008-10-06T07:17:00.000-06:00

'K I was tagged by Yellow M&M, so I had to do it. ;) That, and it was fun too.

Facebook Groups:

Recently Updated:
First on the list- ILP Service Abroad
Last on the list- Hello. My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father, Prepare To Die.

All Groups:
First on the list- "...Because I have a Big Head...and little arms."
Last on the list- What Can You See Out Of Your Window?

By Group Member Size:
First on the list- Six Degrees of Separation
Last on the list- Protestors Protesting Protesting (PPP)

I confess I deleted a couple groups when I saw them... so maybe I cheated? ;)
I can now mention one group of my choice. Just having looked through my list, I find that there are a lot of pretty awesome ones there ;) but since I can only mention one, I'll mention No, I haven't read that great literary classic--But I've seen the Wishbone! which pretty much sums up my experience with the classics. ;)

Now... tagging? If you read this and you have that kind of time, consider yourself tagged!

Have fun!

First post in Ukraine (hopefully not last)

2008-09-24T06:51:00.000-06:00

So, I know I promised more Pageant photos, but I don't have access to them here in Ukraine, so they'll have to wait 'til I get home again! Remind me then okay?
Alright, down to business... First I'll give a quick rundown on some of my feelings about Ukraine:

I'm starting to feel less of an alien
The place is dirty
Grass doesn't grow here on its own
Stuff is pretty inexpensive here... not like *crazy* inexpensive though.
Seasons have little transition time... one day it was 80s at least, next it was 50s and raining
Public Transportation is awesome, but also dirty and way cramped
Personal space is non-existent when it comes to public places especially. . . Don't get me started on the Metro sardine-style...
Sugar isn't as much in the food or drinks, but candy is everywhere.
I'm really glad I don't drive here, cuz it's utter craziness.

'k, that's good for now. Photos of the first few weeks are Here and that's where I plan to add more, so maybe bookmark it? ;)
That's all I have time for, unfortunately. More stories for another time, I promise!

Pageant photos Part uno

2008-08-04T08:10:00.000-06:00

So, I said I'd put up Pageant photos huh?
1. Work Crew Meeting on the stage!
2. There's Mark in his star role :)
3. Jessica's showing off our campsite
4. Jessica is showing off her tag. She's wearing it so she won't blow up :D
5. We got flag duty the first day! Fun!

More coming later!
~Liz

You know, originality is all relative...

2008-07-24T20:16:00.000-06:00

Yellow M&M did this & I thought it'd be fun to pilfer it. I also reserve the right to skip, make fun of, or add questions. Consider yourself informed. ;)

Current time: too late
Attached or Single: Single.
Best Friend: My sister

Cake or Pie: Pie or awesome cake without the yucky frosting
Day of Choice: Friday nights
Essential Items: Besides the food, water, etc. , , , phone, sketchbook, music
Favorite Color: Blue of the not-so-flashy shades
Gummy Bears or Worms: Octopi! Troll's Sour ones! The only candy that's even close to Smarties in my book
Hometown: Argyle
Indulgences: Surfin' the internets, playing random computer games, good chocolate, reading a good book or graphic novel without guilt
January or July: January
Kids: Awesome if I'm just the playmate and not the disciplinarian ;)
Like or Love: People, , , 'cuz everyone deserves it.
Marriage Date: Wow, a little hasty, don't ya think? Let's try dating first!
Number of Siblings: Four (That's lots for NY, btw)
Phobias/Fears: Failure
Quotes: "Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest." - Mark Twain
Reason to smile: Just one? Awww, , , well, one of the top ones is that I have a family who loves to spend time with me!
Season(s): Spring and Fall
Unknown fact about me: I played cello . . . for less than a year >.>
Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Veggies are people too! You veggie-oppressors!
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: If I could translate sound waves into pictures, that'd be waaay more awesome than blasting things with deadly rays of X!
Your Favorite Food: Homemade bread
Zodiac: Dragon . . . or Pisces for everyone else
Tag: is best played with lasers . . . Oh! That kind of tag... I tag . . . people! So, if you're not part of that group, you don't have to do this right NOW. As for the rest of you, , , hop to it! :D
/randomness

Pageant pictures coming soonish!
<3, Liz

Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig...

2008-05-09T10:26:00.000-06:00

Hiya everybody!
From the 22nd to the 24th of April I was up in Idaho visiting Ashley! It was quite intense because it was her first week of classes for the semester. I spent quite a bit of time wandering around campus and reading in the library. It was way fun!
Then there was ILP training! That was the 25th and 26th... two action-packed days . . . or not. :D They were really informative and I feel a lot more prepared for Ukraine, but it was not action-packed or way exciting.
I finally flew home on the 28th! It was not deadly, horrible, or frustrating... A.K.A. our plane wasn't delayed in any way and I didn't die of starvation, even with no dinner break.
Now, I'm searching for a job and open to any suggestions! I'm lookin' for close-by stuff because of gas prices and whatnot.
Mom and I are working on fund-raising for Ukraine by sending out cards with information.
So, that's what I'm up to nowadays! Hope you all are doing well too! :D

Liz

Life's Soundtrack

2008-04-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

My roommate did this and I figured, why not?:

If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

How to do it:
1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on Shuffle.
3. Press Play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Be honest.

Opening Credits: My Heart Belongs To Her -- Jason Gardner -- (BYU Guitars Unplugged 2008)

Waking up: Hometown Glory (Radio Edit) -- ADELE -- (ADELE)

First Day of School: Dva Chasa -- Quartet (Gagarina, Rzhevskaya, Temnikova, Tplyeyeva) -- ((Russian CD))

Falling in love: Midnight Christmas Eve -- Trans-Siberian Orchestra -- (The Christmas Attic)

Fight Song: Love Don't Live Here -- Lady Antebellum -- (Love Don't Live Here - Single of the Week)

Breaking Up: Kidnap And Reunion -- Various Artists -- (Anastasia)

Prom: Wake -- The Good Boys -- (Guitars Unplugged 2008)

Life is Good: One by One -- Alter Bridge -- (Blackbird)

Driving: Neverland - Minor Piano Variation -- Jan A.P. Kaczmarek -- (Finding Neverland Soundtrack)

Mental Breakdown: Since You've Been Gone -- Theory of a Deadman -- (Gasoline)

Flashback: Pilgrim -- Enya -- (A Day Without Rain)

Getting Back Together: High of 75 -- Relient K -- (mmhmm)

Wedding: The marriage -- Jan A.P. Kaczmarek -- (Finding Neverland Soundtrack)

Final Battle: Open Your Eyes -- Alter Bridge -- (One Day Remains)

Death Scene: Broken Wings -- Alter Bridge -- (One Day Remains)

Funeral Song: Gone -- Switchfoot -- The Beautiful Letdown

End Credit: I heard the Voice of Jesus say -- North Star Music -- (Come Join the Dance)

:P I can't say this is very accurate... I guess that's what you get when you shuffle a very random iTunes library ;)

R.I.P.

2008-04-20T21:14:00.001-06:00

We're gathered here today to mourn the loss of a good old phone. . . it was so turquoise and slide-y. It went out in style, fighting any kind of input up until the very end. Its body will most likely go to science.

In the Home Stretch

2008-03-17T11:58:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's still more than a month away . . . (when I get to finally go home) . . . but I'm soooo ready! I love it here in Provo, but there's a point at which I get tired of paying an arm and a leg for everything, and dealing with the BYU mentality in the area of marriage, etc. . . I just really want to get back where no one's dying to get hooked up and then not doing anything about it (well, that might not be as exclusive as I think, but at least there's not such a saturation back home ;)), back to where people I live with actually want me there and I can put whatever I want on the walls, back to where my bishop doesn't assign "dating missions" right there in sacrament meeting. . .
By the time summer and fall are over, I'll be ready to be back, I'm sure, and I know I'll miss my Utah-family!, but I'm excited for green grass and trees and the farm and my family and friends and and and . . . ! I'm gonna make the best of this summer, that's for sure ;)

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone! :D Hope you remembered your green!

<3,
Elizabeth

:D Cats...

2008-03-13T17:51:00.000-06:00

I'll post something more serious/newsworthy soonish, but I just found this funny and wanted to share it!

Hope all is well with you all! :D

Wow, long time no blog!

2008-02-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

"Last post Dec. 18th!" Wow, that was a while ago.
So, actually, I had a couple Christmas blogs that seem to have not made it out of "Drafts" . . . so I'll post those too.
I dunno if all of you know my class schedule for this semester (now that it's half-way over...) so here it is:
Winter semester is not real crazy, only four classes again:

Doctrine & Covenants Part 2
Russian 102
Life Planning & Decision-Making
Human Development

It's a bit tougher than last semester, which is good, because I think I got soft on the whole school work thing... ;)

President's Day weekend was so fun! Ashley came down and Jessica flew out! :D We went to SLC on Saturday, my church on Sunday, mini-golf on Monday! I hope more of my family can come visit me sometime so we can have so much fun! :D

Christmas Morning '07 Part 2

2008-01-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

Mark's poking around the tree at the farm

Mmm, Christmas breakfast

Happy Crystal!

Happy Jessica too

Christmas Morning '07

2008-01-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Big stockings!

Our cute little tree

Still sleepy, but excited!

Yay for cool stocking-stuffers!

Christmas Break 2007--2008!

2008-01-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

I flew home Friday the 21st. That was an ordeal in itself, but it turned out I got home before my previously scheduled time!
Christmas was great and full of lots of family time!

Finals have begun!

2007-12-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

Monday was the first and hardest: Russian! Today I'm going to take D&C, tomorrow is Family History-Genealogy, and Thursday morning is Astronomy. I'm not too worried about them, though maybe I should be... :D I'm just too excited about going home I think.
Other news includes ILP. I just today handed in my application and had my interview. Hopefully I can get the character reference and academic reference to be sent in in good time, and hopefully I'll be able to raise all the needed funds! Thanks everyone for being so supportive of me in this!
Toodles for now! Love,
Liz

Temple Photos!

2007-12-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

Now for some Provo Temple in the snow shots! :D

I had one of these for breakfast! Mmmm...

Photos Round 4! At the Mayan Adventure

2007-12-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

These are inside the waiting area for the most part:

I was winning... but it was a close match and we didn't finish.

This is the outside, made hard to photograph by the snow!

Me in a Mayan snake-thing's mouth :D
The snow really doesn't go with the whole Mayan theme ;)

He was trying to get the searchlights

. . . it's artistic, really! ;)

Photos 3!: Now on to the good stuff!

2007-12-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Dad and me in the matching BYU shirts we got earlier! :D

Uncle Steve too! (I didn't get much warning here ;))

This was pretty early in this game at Salt Lake!

If you can see them, this is the Band

The cheerleaders were doing a good job.

The Scoreboard

Game shot

Next up!: The Mayan Adventure!

Photos Round 2! My Apartment

2007-12-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the living room . . . don't mind the towels and stuff... we were still cleaning.

The front door! :) And our coveted washer and drier.

The dishwasher and counter . . .

The "pantry" in this case = a very rickety homemade-looking shelf.

The range is open because I was cleaning . . . and it was being moody at me! (BTW Mom, Dad got it to open for me! ;))

Here's the outside of my apartment complex! Mine is the one the farthest to the right on the bottom floor. Letter D! :D

Photos Round 1! My Room

2007-12-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Tons of pictures this go-round! :D That's what you get for lending me a camera!

I hope you can click on these to make them bigger if you want to . . . this first one is my side of room! This, fortunately for all of you, was taken after I had cleaned up for cleaning checks. ;) ->

<- And this'd be Sarah, the infamous roommate! Boyoboy does she love that Mac!

This is my attempt at portraying our spiral staircase from the bottom. That monkey over there helps us not bang our head off that stair when we walk in. ->

<-This is an attempt at showing you some of our glowinthedark stars on the ceiling! Woohoo! :D

Here's a less dizzy-ing view of the spiral staircase. And,,, that's my dresser on the right and the hall to the bathroom on the left. ->

<- Our basement bathroom! ;)

My awesome IMAGINATION poster! ->

<- Another view of my side, photos, calender, Leo, and all! :D

This is my family and friends "shrine" ;) at the foot of my bed. ->

<- This is what greets you as you come down the stairs. The little words say "Hidden Depths." Very appropriate!

This is the view from the entrance. That's my toe, too, BTW. You see the snowy tiny photo there on the right? Above that is the Hidden Depths poster! ->

Woohoo! Hope that wasn't too dizzying :D That's my infamous mystery basement room! Now, onto the rest of the place!

The Brayton-Taylor Family Tree

2007-12-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

So, I know I e-mailed everyone, but this is really important and I'd LOVE for everyone to get involved!
Go here to sign up if you haven't already, or to post something! :D
<3
Liz

Just Because...

2007-12-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

...я люблю русский язык (I love the Russian language), I thought I'd share a couple useful things I found!
1. Internet-based "On-screen" keyboard for typing in Russian since I don't have a Russian keyboard! Yay!
2. Google Toolbar for Firefox (I'm not sure if it works in IE too, I only ever use Firefox) now has this cool Translation feature! When I hover over a word, a little "tool-tip" (or whatever those little boxes are that explain buttons and stuff) comes up with a Russian translation! Yay again! It only does one word at a time, though. :(
3. I use this site to translate Russian<->English. (I often use it to check if I'm typing the right words when I use the On-screen keyboard ;).) It has tons of other languages too, and a "keyboard" option too (which isn't as convenient as the other site). It has ads, but it's free!

So, there you have it! Sorry this might only be useful/interesting to my fellow Russian-lovers, but I know there are some of you out there! :)

Toodles 'til later! <3
~Liz

Thanksgiving in Utah

2007-11-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

So, my apartment-mate Elise's family was coming up to Springdale, UT to stay for Thanksgiving. They invited me to come along, so of course I accepted :D We stayed at the "Bumbleberry Inn," which was passable as a motel, but it had one big attraction (especially for her younger sisters): they had a llama! :) She was fed well while we were there.
The coolest thing for me was going to Zion's Park, which was about 10 minutes from the motel. It was sooooo pretty! I'm looking forward to getting pictures from her family. We did a couple hikes, and drove around a lot. Someday I think my NY family should come out and visit it (and me! :D).
The dinner part was interesting to say the least. Given that we had no kitchen to cook stuff in, her family ordered Thanksgiving dinner from a grocery store in St. George. We picked it up and brought it to the conference room at the hotel, where the owner's family had invited us to join them. They were very different from Elise's family, so that was awkward, but there was plenty of food! I figure, if it's going to be a weird holiday, might as well go all out, right, and make it even weirder? :) It was nice though, and I had fun with Elise's family, who are not much like mine, but they were really nice, and we got along fine.
I can't wait for Christmas! It'll already be the 1st this Saturday! My dad is coming to visit on the 8th! The 13th is the last day of classes! And I'm flying home the Friday after that! Woohoo! . . . Uh-oh, I guess I need what people want from Utah/for Christmas in general. . . I hear that our family is starting a homemade gift-thing, which may've started last year?? I don't know if I'll have ample time to make something for everyone, but I'll try! Ideas would be welcome though. And, as you might have noticed, I put a wishlist on my Blog! :D It's not really complete, and partly includes dream-stuff, but there's some music, books, movies that I'd like. Just FYI. ;)

Anyways, we'll see if I can get some pictures from Thanksgiving, and maybe I'll make a Christmas e-Card too! :D Have an awesome rest-of-November!!

Halloween=awesome+excessive sugar!

2007-11-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

I had a fairly uneventful Halloween, but it was fun nonetheless. The Friday before, my roommate and I went to a planetarium show called "The Astronomy of Harry Potter," which was way fun. After that we went up onto the observing deck and looked at a comet, a nebula, and a binary star. :D I've told my mom that if I could be and astronomer without having to deal with all the horrible math, I'd do it! Just lemme look at all the pretty pictures.
So yeah, then on the morning of Halloween I was walking up to class through one of the more wooded paths, and two deer jumped out onto the path! It startled me, but they just stood there munching twigs. That made my day :D
Halloween night we made some Hot Grape Punch and banana bread, and played Uno. I think we sneaked a movie in there too. (edit: nope, I guess we didn't watch a movie,,, too many more fun things happening) :D We did go to a party, but it wasn't that exciting, and I couldn't stay long either.
I hope your Halloween was fun, and not tooo full of tummy-aches! ;)
~Elizabeth

The Golden Compass Movie/My Critter

2007-11-01T12:30:00.000-06:00

I enjoyed this book, and the movie looks like it's going to be good!

Mid-terms

2007-10-23T17:39:00.000-06:00

They are over!!! I'm quite excited, to say the least. I'm keeping up with work for the most part... but I'm ready for a break too. I can't wait for Thanksgiving! I don't know what I'm doing for that though, because I haven't heard from family, but something will work out, I'm sure.
Sorry I don't have any pictures this time! I am working on some I could show you, but that'll have to wait 'til later. If only I had a camera, I could show you all my apartment and roommates and Utah in general! Oh, well. Love ya'll!
до свидания!
~Liz

Apartment Etcetera

2007-09-08T12:56:00.000-06:00

So, I'm all moved into my apartment. There are four other girls, two of which lived here together last year, the other two I lived with last year in DT. It's fun, but a little crazy since I'm not used to cooking for myself or living with 5 people in such close quarters.
On the bright side, I've got the basement room, which is naturally cooler and has a spiral staircase! :)
I watched the Kiera Knightly version of "Pride and Prejudice" last night. I've got to say I loved it, although Kiera Knightly wasn't my favorite - that honor goes to the man who played Mr. Darcy (spell?) , whose name escapes me at the moment. I'll probably read the book now, 'cuz I'm told it's better.

On another topic, shyness has always been a problem for me, but several experiences recently have given me hope that I don't have to be that way forever. In my Human Development class, my professor has emphasized the damage labeling can do to children. "He's my trouble child," or "she's my shy child" often make the parent and the child closed-minded to the child's potential and ability to change. He said it's the same with adults: we say "I'm shy and that's how I'll always be," or "I'm unintelligent and that's how I was born; I can't change it." Don't take this wrongly, I'm not blaming anyone but myself for how I am. Even if it wasn't just me, it's me who needs to make the changes now. But, I've realized that I tell myself all the time that I'm shy so it's okay that I don't say hi to people when I pass them, or I don't strike up conversations; that's just how I've always been.
The other experience I had was a long conversation with a good friend of mine. He told me that he's not a "people person." I was surprised to say the least; when I first met him he struck me as almost too outgoing, a judgment I now scold myself for. After we had talked on a few occasions, I found he was a lot like me, only he had this great knack for talking to people. On this most recent occasion he told me it was a conscious decision on his part that had taken him from about as shy as I am to where he is now. So, as a result of these experiences, I've been trying, but I've found it isn't as switch-like as I'd like it to be. I'll be working on it along with everything else for a while before I master it.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. Know I'm good and getting used to life again at school. Sorry for the text-heavy post this time :)
Hugs,
~Elizabeth

Home, Sweet Home

2007-06-24T17:33:00.000-06:00

Turns out, summer "vacation" from college has a tendency to be much less relaxing and fun than similar time off from high school. Work is money, not an enjoyable pastime; time away from work is either sleep or chauffeuring (occasionally working in the garden), but not much time for art.
I'm working on a long-distance class for BYU, and making time for that is hard. I'm going to try to do some art though, hopefully some kind of postcard to send out to peoples ((shhh, don't tell anybody! ;) ))

Classes currently lined up for Fall:

Russian part 1
Family History-Genealogy
Descriptive(?) Astronomy
Human Development
The Doctrine & Covenants

Woohoo! :D We'll see how that goes.

Art & Happy Valentine's!

2007-02-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

So, remember that picture of the gryphon from the last post? I will here include the finished version!Yay! :D

Okay, now for the Valentine's part! :) I hope all of you have a happy Valentine's Day filled with love of life and joy more than chocolate and paper valentines. I drew this turtle picture just for fun/for my little sister, and then I transformed it into a valentine!
So, for all of you who happen upon this blog, Happy Valentine's from Francis the Psychotic Turtle!
Have a great week!
~Liz

"Cutesy Sketchies"

2006-11-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

So, this one is a little icon I drew/colored with the tablet. :) It's of one of my Gryphon characters.

This one is an in-progress pic for someone. I got a picture of a lion and an eagle for this one, so I could get the proportions right. I'm working on coloring it, but this kind of thing takes a lot longer than that little one. ;)

Going to Oregon...tomorrow! Wow, now that it's almost here, it seems to have snuck up on me! I can't wait to see my family in Oregon. That'll be so fun and so nice to get away for a bit.
Hope everything is working out for all of you.
Love,
Elizabeth

Yay for school

2006-09-21T16:55:00.000-06:00

I'm bored, and should be doing my english homework, but I thought I'd update a little here. Now that I'm at college, I guess this might serve as info for my family in New York too. If I can get some pictures (/maybe a camera . . .hmmm . . .) I'll post them here.
As for school, things are going a lot better than I had initially thought. I love it here, especially when I don't think about that five-page paper I have due Tuesday (don't worry, Mom, it's a cake thing :) ). Yeah, so all's doin' good here, and I would love some letters, etc. if people have time for such things, I promise I'll eventually write you back! :D
All for now, I have to go revise my english paper on Americans' dependence on technology!
Love to y'all,
Liz
((P.S. I have a friend who actually has a tablet! And he said I could use it if I wanted to ("if!?" of course I want to!). Yeah, so if I get done with that 5-pager, I might make some cutesy-sketchies I can share with y'all)

First piece of artwork for you!

2006-08-01T06:16:00.000-06:00

My first piece of artwork for you all to look at! :) It was a "sketch" for a school project, but I ended up putting so much detail in it, I don't think it's in the sketch stage anymore. My original idea for this was to do color on black paper, but I'm afraid it wouldn't turn out how I envisioned it. The words are from one of my favorite 3 Doors Down songs, "Landing in London." I should have put quotes around them in the picture, but I forgot. The thing he's holding is a picture frame, just so you know (some people were confused about that).
Please click on the preview, the big pic is better, I think. It's hard to find a balance between good detail and acceptable image size. :) Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this pic, it's my latest attempt at a semi-realistic human!
Just 24 days 'til I head out!
Elizabeth

Picture of Me

2006-06-04T14:29:00.000-06:00

Yes, it is me & Savannah! :) Mom was trying to get a picture of me that we could use in the local newspaper's article on local valedictorians & salutatorians. Out of the 10 or 15 that we had, this turned out best. I guess our puppy is lucky!

I can't wait for my family to come around! I love it when they're here. Dan & Krystal & Scott! are coming on the 7th. Yay!

I can start registering for my classes on that day, too. Yay, but maybe I can get Dan & Krystal to help me out some. I'm getting a little confused with all these things I have to get in on time, I just hope I'm getting it right.
Love from me (& Savannah),
Elizabeth

Stuffs & Things

2006-04-03T12:30:00.000-06:00

Hmmm... Interesting stuff? There's a bit: our high school yearbook is almost done. I can't wait to see it, partly because we have been working on it like crazy for the last month, and partly because I designed the cover. :)

Last 9-or-so weeks of high school left for me, yay! I got a job waitressing early March, which has been nice so far. Oh, I'm really thinking about getting a print account on DeviantArt (check out my link to the right ->), mostly because some people at school and some of my family members have expressed interest in buying some of the art I've been working on; what do you think?

Speaking of working on stuff . . . heh-heh . . . I'm currently working on several pieces for some of my online friends , my brother, my cousin, and a friend of mine in England -- all of that not including the projects for school I'm trying to finish. So, if I owe you art, remind me & try to be patient with me, please. Or, if you want me to create something for you, probably best to wait a bit before asking!

Senior Trip to Florida in two weeks! Yay. :) I'm not one to really enjoy the heat, which will be a problem, but it should be fun nonetheless. I'm currently trying to find a digital camera to bring along that won't cost me much --even with a job I have no money right now.

We're getting higher speed internet (not high-speed, mind you, but higher speed...though I guess it's high for my area). Yay! Maybe wireless network too, so I can be in the fresh air while I post pictures or something. :D

Apologies for my not being around. I guess I tend to get into stuff for a week-or-so and then something comes up & I'm out again. Meh...maybe the end of this week I'll be better.

Loves y'all from the "boonies" of NY,
Liz

First Post!

2006-03-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

I mainly started this to keep in touch with family (and to try out Blogger! :)). I currently am busy with signing up for scholarships and other such stuffs, so I won't have much time to update this in the near future.
Thought for the day:

"Always do right. This will surprise some people and astonish the rest." ~Mark Twain