Just the Tew of Us

Closing Time

2009-05-24T18:58:00.002-06:00

I created a new blog because I got a new email and can't use my school email after graduation. My new email is tew.graphics@gmail.com. And the new blog is www.keritew.blogspot.com, titled: Keri's Conundrum. I'll be posting to that one from now on. See you there!

This Picture

2009-04-26T20:07:00.005-06:00

I thought I'd share my first project in my Advanced Visual Media class. I thought it turned out pretty good.

We had to create a self-portrait collage. The main picture had to be self-taken. Because of lack of a fancy camera and tripod, I took a Tiffany-shot ;P The quote is by Milton Glaser: "The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows.”

My pile shakes as I hit 80 on the open road

2009-04-26T18:39:00.011-06:00

So, Merrill and I got back from our week-long road trip. Sooooooo much driving! Here are the details of our little excursion:

We went down to Utah to tour Weber State's campus and drive around the U's campus. Merrill fell in love with Weber, so that is where he is going to transfer. We then stayed the night with Tiffany and watched Kung Fu Panda (Jack Black at his very best!).

The next day we drove all the way to California, stopping in Sandy, UT to pick up Merrill's niece.
We spent Easter with Monica and Shelby. Good times. I loved seeing them and Jacob and Ezra. We dyed eggs and had an Easter Egg hunt. Merrill was so excited when he finally won and got to hide the eggs next. Dinner was delicioso and to die for: Monica's homemade enchiladas. Mmmmmm!

Monday, Merrill and I took care of some bank business, and then went to an amazing Mexican restaurant: Los Tucanes. Merrill was in love. After that, we left to visit Merrill's sister in Fullerton.

Tuesday, I got my hair cut. We went to some Asian place, where an older Korean lady cut my hair and styled it into a pouf. We then went back to Merrill's sister's house where she chopped it up a little bit more and dyed it a slight red. It looked much better after that :)

Wednesday we went to brunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant. Merrill also enjoyed that, speaking spanish to the lady who served us and treated us really well. We strolled down Downtown Disney that afternoon, then headed back to Bakersfield to stay the night. We wanted to cut extra hours off of our trip the next day.

Thursday, we headed up to Roseburg, OR to stay the night with Merrill's family. After showering, we helped set up for his brother's reception.

Friday, we drove to Portland for Margaretha's (Margie's) endowment. The Portland temple is gorgeous, especially in the spring! There were so many tulips and lilies. After the session, everyone went to a Mexican grill (Merrill's niece was sick of Mexican food at this point--literally) and then we drove to Longview, WA to stay the night with Merrill's uncle.

The next day we rushed to Portland again, this time for the sealing. The sealer never got Margie's name right (she's Indonesian). Then we all went back to Roseburg for the reception, which turned out great.

On Sunday, Merrill and I drove to Ontario, OR. Monday we got back to Rexburg and I went to my second class.

Not much of a break, but we enjoyed seeing the family and eating all of that Mexican food!
Here are some of the wedding pictures:

Octave A'Capella

2009-03-17T19:09:00.002-06:00

Merrill was in an a'capella group for our old singles ward's talent show. A friend of ours, Chris Shumate, asked him to be in his group. So, they practiced a lot before, and now have decided to stay together. Merrill is at practice with them right now. So here are a few clips of the songs they performed at the talent show:

In the Jungle

Viva La Vida

Sweet Dreams

Just for Fun

2009-03-15T20:25:00.002-06:00

About a month ago, me and Merrill went to see a dance company from Portland, OR on campus. The company is "BodyVox," and they are something different. They team up with a short film artist named Mitchell Rose. If you have about 7 minutes, check out "Case Studies from the Groat Center for Sleep Disorders."

2009-02-27T23:08:00.002-07:00

Merrill and I are devising a plan to get out of Idaho. We don't know exactly what we are doing yet, but the plan so far is to get a little further south than Idaho and northern Utah. Merrill is going to transfer to another school for his bachelors and MBA--he's not getting the education he wants from BYU-Idaho. As for me, I'm so close to graduating, that I'm going to finish here. This "sudden" desire to leave Idaho was brought on by Merrill's trip down to Utah to drop his brother off at the MTC. Merrill was surprised at how warm he found Utah. compared to the frozen snow and wind chill that sticks around the whole winter in Idaho, Utah had melting snow (if any) and no wind. So, Merrill came back from this trip determined to get out of Idaho and move where it is warmer during the winter.

Besides concocting a plan, we've been busy with school. Merrill's trying to survive in Accounting and Economics, while I've been working in group projects for every class. Design and color is fun--but I can't say that I'm a big fan of painting. It's not my favorite medium. Editing is quite fun. As a class, we edited a book Henry Eyring (President Eyring's son) wrote about what to expect in college. Then we made a couple of wellness newsletters for the school's health center. We got research from a health class, and then had to write articles based on their research. And one of my articles was chosen for the cover article :) Now we are making tour books for the Meso American Tour, a kind of 4-week study abroad. I love combining writing and design. It's my favorite ;)

For lack of words...

2009-01-17T21:51:00.007-07:00

I thought I'd post some of my projects from Graphic Design.

This asignment was to make a poster for the Artery Portfoilio Day Event. The Artery is the like a graphic design club on campus. We had to take a previous shapes asignment and fill in the shapes and lines with text and images, and this is what I came up with. Four posters were actually used and posted up around campus, and mine happened to be one of them. I gusee you can call this my first successful design ;P
This is a logo I created for a company called "Skins". It's not real. The company sells protective yet stylish cover for ipods, computers, and cell phones. We had to make up an organization for an exhibit inspired by reptiles. This company is inspired by the snake and how it sheds its skin. The logo still needs work, but it was good enough to make it on the wall for everyone to see, lol.

This is the stationery I created for "Skins". It has business card, letterhead, envelope, and a few samples of the company's decorative skins for the ipod classic. This sample would be on the back of the business card, to peel off and stick onto your ipod. The tagline is: "Slip into a New Skin." Cool idea, but it could use some work.Our final project was to research an artist that had some kind of influence in the history of graphic design and create a poster announcing an exhibit of the artist's work. My artist was Alexander Rodchenko, mainly a photographer known for taking pictures at different angles to show life in action. Before he really picked up a camera, he used other artist's pictures to create photomontages. So, I created a photomontage using some of his photos.

New Post

2009-01-06T10:39:00.002-07:00

Well, as you can see, I'm not very good at blogging. As I sit here, writing a post because so many people have requested one, I am at a loss of what to write. Nothing has changed much. Christmas was good. Merrill and I went down to Salt Lake City to fly to Portland, but our flight was canceled. So, we went back to Idaho and spent Christmas together. He got me soft and fuzzy puppy-dog slippers because my feet are always freezing. I got him two Artemis Fowl books, which he really enjoys at the moment. Because we were snowed in and the roads were icy (Idaho doesn't do anything to their roads in the winter) we couldn't make it down to see the fam in Ogden for New Years. Our neighbors invited us over to play games and watch the ball drop, which we ended up watching the ball drop for 2008 XD. Now, school starts tomorrow and I am sad that the holidays are over, but excited to learn more about editing and graphic design. I'm taking less credits this semester, due to last semester's craziness, so I will hopefully have more time to do the things I've been slacking on (like posting new blogs, hehehe).

What's the Deal with My Brain?

2008-09-26T23:58:00.002-06:00

Yes, the title of this blog is a reference to one of Weezer's awesome songs. Yet, I think it best represents my current lifestyle. I spend at least 10 straight hours on campus a day. Yeah, Senior year is pretty tough, especially when you're taking 15 credits. I highly recommend to anyone going to college, to not register for classes that are long and require several projects each, all due around the same time. It is chaos in the brain.

Besides the fact that I really don't have time to do a quality job on my homework, I am enjoying my graphic design class. The projects I am doing in it will help me build up a portfolio for future jobs. Also, my rhetoric class has a class product of creating a magazine, so that will help me with editing and layout. We actually had to apply for the position of Editor in Chief and Sponsoring Editor in the class. Pretty intense stuff. But these two classes will help me with the careers I am thinking about pursuing. That's the good thing about college--everything you learn helps prepare you for what you want to do for work the rest of your life.

Now, I've described a little of what's happening to me in Rexburg... now I'd like to hear what's going on with all of you, since it's been awhile. I'd like to know what's happening outside of BYUI. I hate not knowing what's going on outside of the Rexburg bubble--in the "real" world.

Rockin'

2008-08-16T17:49:00.003-06:00

Merrill and the guys (Chris and Fitz) are here--they are finally going to jam. Merrill has been so stoked all day. They haven't gotten together to practice for a LONG time. However, they have a gig coming up, so they have a reason to have to practice--no excuses. Let me tell you a bit about the band...

Chris plays the keyboard and sings the harmony. He is also the group goof--the life of the band. Fitz (Jon Fitzgerald) plays guitar. He likes the slower stuff and has been working on making a huge petal board since I can remember--it's almost a life-long project. Merrill plays lead guitar and is the group's main lead singer. Chris sings the Coldplay songs. The name of the band is Registered Trademark.

The practice playlist today is as follows: Closing Time (Semisonic) and You Are Loved (Josh Groban). We only got to go through two because the upstairs neighbors wanted us to stop (they wanted to take a nap--at 8 pm). So, short practice, but it all sounds good.

Tew be continued...

2008-08-11T11:13:00.003-06:00

I just realized I haven't blogged for a month! Man does time fly! I'll just tell you how things are going since nothing major has happened to us in a month's time.

Merrill is still working for Inteliture, his online job. He has been looking for another part-time job for the fall so he's not too bored while I'm at school. But, because this town is way to small for all the college students, he hasn't had any luck. Pray for him so he doesn't have to donate plasma or slave away at Melaleuca, which is his last resort.

As for me, I'm counting down the days to when I can quit working at the potato plant and restart educating myself on anything but potatoes. I'm excited because I'm going to start working on my minor, which is in Graphic Design. I'm almost done with all of my major courses, which means graduation is getting closer... which also means getting out of Idaho--hip-hip!! I'm taking 5 classes, which means I'm going to be at school from about 8am to 6pm everyday. But they are fun classes: Intro to Graphic Design, Drawing I, Online Media, American Literature: Colonial & Romantic (which has to be much better than British Col. and Rom. Lit!), and Rhetoric Studies. Besides all of these and the burdenous load of homework that comes with them, I'll be working in the campus Lost and Found 9 hours a week. I can't wait to be back in school!

True to My Word

2008-07-11T11:13:00.002-06:00

Here is my attempt to keep you all posted, as I promised. This week has been quite insane for me and Merrill. We spent the first week of July at home as invalids--we both caught a summer cold. I got it first, then Merrill caught it over the weekend. The good news is we are now finally getting over it.

Merrill is in his last week of school for the semester, and so he is frantic about finishing assignments and projects that teachers tend to pile on students at the end of the semester. The biggest project happened to be in his favorite class--Entreprenuership. The assignment was to attempt to create a short-term business and earn $100 profit. Not too bad for groups of 6--but Merrill's group was reduced to a group of 3 within the first week of class. They first had the idea to have a rock concert so students with electric guitar skills could play (they don't allow "that kind of instrument" on campus). Everything was working out, but they could not find a place to have the concert, so that idea fell through. The next idea was to sell ice cream. Merrill was left to work on it himself--one group member was married and work all the time, and the other was single and copped out of every effort toward the project. I tried to help Merrill, but it was unsuccessful--especially because we couldn't sell ice cream when sick. Sadly, the ice cream idea fell through as well. Merrill dreaded the final presentation, but it ended up to be the best one in the class. He and his group got 100/75 points for the project, even though they didn't make the $100 profit. Pretty cool for so many set-backs and put-downs.

So, that's what has been happening in the life of Tew.

The Update

2008-06-30T11:08:00.002-06:00

Well, here's the long-awaited update you've all been waiting for. But it's nothing spectacular.

I got a job last month with Floyd Wilcox and Sons as a receptionist. It's a potato plant--go figure. I deal with the sales-people and truck drivers who come to pick-up potatoes. Such is the honorable job of working with potatoes in Idaho, the "famous potato state." But I am grateful to have a job--it beats working fast food.

Merrill is in school working on his degree in business. He realized that he loves the business world and is ecstatic about starting his own business. He's got some pretty good ideas for an advertising firm and a restaurant. I won't go into the particulars, but he is a natural entrepreneur. Besides school, he is working for an online marketing group (Inteliture) for directhomefind.com, searching for real estate agents in California to add to the website.

We are still nursery leaders in our married student ward. It is a tough calling, despite what you all believe what is like to work inthe nursery. We are absolutely exhausted after watching 12 kids for 2 hours and trying to keep them happy. But it's fun to get to know the kids--they're all so smart and so different in their individual personalities. It's really great to be there with them. I feel like Primary gets off easy--there's only one little boy. I guess that is what happens in such young wards though :)

This is the update. I hope it is satisfactory. And I will try my best to keep you all posted and blog more often.

Pork and Beans

2008-05-23T10:49:00.004-06:00

Weezer is genius when it comes to making music videos. Here is their latest one for the new "Pork and Beans" single: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI. I highly recommend it for everyone to watch.

Winter in May

2008-05-01T08:45:00.003-06:00

Today marks the beginning of May, but in Rexburg it feels like the end of November. We woke up to this this morning:

Everything is slightly covered by snow. It's May. It should be warm already. We can't wait for summer weather. REAL summer weather.

Wayside

2008-04-29T09:33:00.011-06:00

Our new apartment is much better than our old crumby apartment. Here's what we've done to the place:

The Living Room

The KitchenThe Dining Area The BathroomThe Bedroom
Yep, we like it a lot. Much better than the old molding apartment ;)

(Merrill concentrating on homework. Hehehehe ;)

Hip-hip

2008-04-21T11:48:00.002-06:00

This is for Emilee: mun05005@byui.edu

And... Weezer's 6th album is coming out this summer!!! I'm so stoked! And, just in time for my birthday! (hint hint ;)

Merrill started school today. He has 4 classes today, and I'm waiting here in the library for him to get done with the first 3 so we can have some lunch. I've been applying for jobs online, so hopefully something works out. Merrill found a great networking website called LinkedIn. I highly recommend it for all of you searching for jobs or searching for employees.

You gotta roll with it.

2008-04-11T13:02:00.003-06:00

It has been a while. Well, just to catch you up on things, this past week has been finals week for us. Finally they're done! But we don't get to relax quite yet. We are moving away from our crumby apartment to a better one--right next door to Merrill's cousins Ben and Kaye Sypher. We are so excited to be out of a molding apartment! Our new address is 551 S. 5th W. Apt 7.

Also, Merrill and I got new callings a couple weeks ago. It was nothing we expected...nursery leaders! We are so excited! It's been so long since we've been around kids!

One of our friends, Jon Fitzgerald (AKA Fitz) is getting married in the Rexburg Temple tomorrow, and we are attending the sealing. We are so happy for him--he has such a cute and amazing girl for a bride. They are perfect for each other.

Today is Merrill's birthday, so after we finish moving, we're goint to eat his favorite pie: cherry cheesecake. But I have to know, can cheesecake be considered a pie? Or is it a cake?

Vida a la universidad...

2008-01-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

So, we started school. It's only been two weeks, but it seems like we've been attending for a few months already; the semester goes by so fast. I'm trying to survive in my Spanish literature class (en espanol!) and my Technical writing class, which I'm not too thrilled about writing a research paper. Any ideas?

Merrill loves all of his classes. He's learning everything he wants to know about the career he wants: Communications President of a company. He loves his economics class and his Communications writing class. It's been awhile since I've seen him so excited about school. I'm really thankful for his enthusiasm.

Two weeks ago we went to the Rexburg temple open house. It's beautiful! There's so many stairs inside (several floors) and there are about 6 sealing rooms (you know why, it's BYU-I ;). We have to hurry and make an appointment because there's rumors that there are no open sessions until June or so (which isn't true). The dedication is February 3rd. We can't wait for it to finally open! It's so cool to live so close to the temple!

Pictures are up!!!!!

2008-01-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year everyone! And what better news to share with you all then to tell you that our wedding pictures are finally up online! If you'd like to look at them and maybe order some, here's the link: www.pictage.com/386670 I just want to thank everyone for their gifts, and I promise I'll get the thank you cards out this month, even though I'll be starting school this next week. It's hard to get those all done when half off our gifts are in California still while we're in Idaho. But don't worry, I'll get them done ASAP.

Me and Merrill are going sledding today at the Upper Fields on campus. We half to go buy a sled. I'm so excited! We'll probably get injured somehow--those hills are pretty slick and steep!

Life in a Freezer

2007-12-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

As if the snow couldn't have gotten worse! It's still snowing, and the sun hasn't peaked through the clouds since we got back from Ogden. Nope. Snow is piling up and freezing over, layer after layer. And no one seems to be clearing the roads! I hope that will change when school starts and Rexburg comes to life again. And with lack of sun, I think I'm beginning to blend in with my surroundings--my own natural snow camouflage. I do have to say that if there is anywhere I'd rather be, it would be somewhere snow-free. At least we get some narly icicles outside our windows.

Too much snow!

2007-12-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

I don't like living in an icebox. I envy all of you who live where it doesn't snow 24/7 all winter long. Merrill and I have had it with the roads frozen over and ten feet of snow to wade through wherever we go (sorry for exaggerating). But it was, afterall, cool to have our very first white Christmas.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Merrill and I made it down to Ogden and spent a full day with Tiffany, Brian, Shelby and Monica, and the kids. It was a lot of fun, and felt good to relax after driving in a snow storm for 4 hours.

Now we're just waiting for the new semester to start. Happy New Year!!

Temple Trip

2007-12-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Merrill and I just got back from another awesome trip to the temple in Idaho Falls. We can't wait for the Rexburg Temple to be finished. It will be so cool to have a temple so close to home!

Well, I have to get ready... Merrill and I have a date tonight! We're dressing up and everything! I guess this is our Christmas present to each other ;)

It's about time...

2007-12-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time to start one of things myself, like all of you. There hasn't been anything spectacular lately, but I'll keep all of you posted ;)

Merrill and I are getting excited about Christmas--it's our first Christmas together! And, yes, it's white--too white for our liking. Rexburg's freezing over. We won't dream of a white Christmas for a long time after this. We're excited to go see my family in Ogden and stay with Tiffany for two days. Oh yes, Merrill did get work off on Christmas Eve afterall. Hip-hip! Let the good times roll!