Hello from snowy, icy, rainy Washington! We're finally thawing out from a snowstorm followed by an ice storm and now rain and wind... but hey, at least I can get my car out of the driveway now!  It was kinda nice having "snow days" this week like I did in school, although making them up is going to make my life crazy this week - 3 nights of class and a weekend field trip, on top of work!

I haven't uploaded much lately, but I've got more to add - some carbon dust and graphite work from last quarter's classes, and maybe some others if I get a chance to tweak them and finish them.  And I'm working on a composite anatomical drawing of a harbor seal right now (for class) that I hope comes out well - only my second attempt at gouache/colored pencil mixed media!

I'm definitely interested in entering #AfricanValley's "Endangered Africa" contest, too... I just gotta figure out what animal to draw!  After working at Kilimanjaro Safaris, I have no shortage of inspiration, that's for sure.

Natural Science Illustration Classes

Winter quarter is here, and this time around I'm taking "Wildlife Illustration" and "Vertebrate Illustration"! Yesssss, my favorite areas!  I feel like I'm starting off on a more even footing this quarter and not struggling to keep up as much as I was in the beginning.  Part of it probably has to do with a lighter regular homework load (Wildlife Illustration has no weekly homework, just two quarterly projects) but I think part of it is that I feel more comfortable with the new techniques, too.  I can feel myself getting more confident of my drawings, particularly life sketching.  I had a pretty successful live animal drawing session at the Seattle Aquarium last quarter, so I'm really looking forward to trips to the Woodland Park Zoo over the next two weekends!

LA Marathon and Operation Smile Fundraising

I'm getting into the bulk of my training for the LA Marathon now, and starting to get VERY excited!  I'm up to about 30 miles a week right now, and I can feel the difference!  I'm HOPING for a 4:15 finish or faster... but anything under 4:30 and I'll be happy.  That would knock 45 minutes off my marathon PR!

I'm also blessed to be running the race with some other nerds who are totally awesome, and it's really inspiring to have their encouragement and support!  Even better, we're running to raise money for Operation Smile.  We're off to a good start so far, with $450 in donations!  Now, it costs Operation Smile $240 to perform each surgery... that means our donations have already paid for one life-changing surgery for a child, and almost a second! Please, if you have even just a few dollars to donate, every little bit really does make a difference! And what's more, seeing those donations roll in is a HUGE source of encouragement and inspiration for us as we train.  Do it for the kids, do it for you, or do it for us... whatever your reason for donating, it changes lives!!  To make donations directly to Operation Smile, visit our OneSmile page here: Team RunNerds.  And whether or not you can donate, PLEASE help us spread the link around! We really appreciate your support, no matter what form it may take!

The marathon is March 18, so I'll be spending a few days in LA for the marathon, the 5k the day before, and hanging out with friends!  There will DEFINITELY be Disneyland involved, and I'm super-excited about that. I'm suffering withdrawls like nobody's business. (Yes, I'm listening to World of Color now...)  Keep an eye out at Disneyland for a crew of people wearing Nerd Machine shirts that weekend, and if you see us, say hi!

TV Fangirling - Chuck and Castle

There is less than a week to go until the series finale of Chuck... I'm so sad to see it go, but I'm happy that we're really getting final closure on the story.  They've thrown around a lot of twists lately, and I'm excited to see where they all lead!  I've got a graphite drawing of Chuck and Sarah that I wanna try to get done for Friday, in honor of the finale...

My newest obsession, though, is Castle! I started with the first episode over winter break, and promptly marathoned the whole thing!  Totally in love.  I hate crime procedurals, but this one has such great characters (I love EVERYONE) and development that I'm totally hooked.  And totally a Caskett shipper.  OTP!!