dear kiki...

Very Stressed!! I'm The King of the World!

Ok, so I took this down when I entered it in the HOF contest but now I can put it back up! This was my first ever all digital page & I still like it! How crazy! But I think it's because they are great pictures! Well today I have a midterm, I am very sleepy and nervous, but I know the stuff, so it should be fine. I finished designs for one of my best friend Heidi's wedding invites!!! I love doing stuff like that for my friends! I have to finish putting them together tomorrow and send them out to her. I must also catch up on massive amounts of reading and start working on my final project for senior seminar.

I also REALLY need to stop daydreaming about what I want to do after graduation and focus on finishing!! I have also been tempted by typepad to move my blog over there. I think I'll try to focus on graduation though and worry about that later. I really want to play with the templates and customization this weekend though, need to design... If I didn't have to sleep I would have PLENTY of time ;) Let's see, I filed for graduation last week, so that's all on track and I'm half way through the quarter, so almost there! I think I'll be checking in just to vent and de-stress a bit until graduation because my life is just sooo crazy right now and I will be going to a wedding in July and Kris B. will be having a big Taiko drumming event in LA in June so I will want to promote that. Ok I think that's enough rambling for today, I miss my friends and sleep...

Me as a South Park Character

Katie SoutPark
Originally uploaded by Kiki Tiki.

Am I devilshly cute or what?? This is my new avatar for message boards and I had to share. Also just to update everyone on my life at the moment, I am still working full time at UCSD and this quarter I am taking my last 2 required courses and graduating.... FINALLY in June!!! So YAY!!! But, I won't be able to do much scrapping for the next 10 weeks because I have to study and write papers and stuff! But then I plan on scrapping tons, learning more, getting better, maybe taking some design courses and re-locating! I will be job hunting in Portland and the bay area and will decide where I move based on where ever I get the best job! I can't wait to MOVE!!! San Diego is great and all but I'm OVER it and ready for something new!!! Thanks everyone for checking in and checking out my stuff!!! I hope to see everybody soon and oh if I get published I will post it!!!!

Katie

ROMA!!

Speaking of Italia, this is also another HOF reject, hoping it might get picked up. More collagey then my usual style but I think that style fits the subject! My adventures, alone in ROMA!

{Journaling }

Roma- Getting off the train and stepping into Roma, I immediately lost some of my confidence. The Roma train station was very different from the one in Venizia and it made me uneasy. To top it all off it started raining, in Roma, in June. Even with all of my planning and maps I wandered around in the rain and could not figure out how to get to my hotel. At that point I was scared, wet and tired and I just wanted to get to my hotel, so I decided to take a cab. I had read many negative things about taxi cabs in Italy but I was so frustrated I did not care. I get in a cab and of course there is NO meter, but he knows where my hotel is and 3 Seconds later we are there!! Then the cab driver tells me it will be something like $30.00 American, not knowing that I perfectly understood the conversion. I argued with him stating that we only went 3 blocks and he thinks I just do not understand what money to give him. Eventually he got the picture that I was not buying it and miraculously he said ok, student discount and the price was cut in half. I did NOT give him a tip! At least I made it to the hotel and I did not let the guy get away with robbing me blind. My hotel was beautiful and I went up to relax a bit. I realized that I was a bit too intimidated and frightened to go out and explore Roma all on my own. Instead I turned to my trusty Rick Steves guidebook and found a reputable, off the beaten path tour. After a few deep breaths I ventured out to find the office and sign up, It was not easy and I was often scared, but I finally found the office and very proud of myself returned to my hotel. My next challenge was to get myself by train to the meeting spot for the tour, but at this point I had regained some of my confidence and was ready to go. Roma was one of my most challenging moments during my excursion alone in Italia and at the same time the place where I learned the most about myself. I reached out to strangers and met them to visit the Vatican the next day and they even walked me back to my hotel. I pushed myself WAY out of my comfort zone and ended up having a Great time! One of my favorite moments (besides standing up to the cabbie) was negotiation down a street vendor on a book I really wanted! YAY for me!

This is a page I

This is a page I did a couple weekends ago using Diane Rigdon's Petals & Patches kit. All other elements, dots, circles and distressed border on photo done using brushes created by me. My little sis and brother with is big vans skateboard!