1. Building the Golden Gate

I left my heart in San Francisco… twice… once during my senior year in high school and second for a “pre-bachelorette” party in 2007. And because of this, when I saw this photo featured on Vintage Me Oh My, my heart skipped a beat. Not only is it a piece of history captured on film, the angle and depth of field is stunning. What a great find Megan! See more vintage photography from Megan’s site, Vintage Me Oh My, here.

2. Dana Tanamachi’s Lettering for O! Magazine

When I first saw Dana Tanamachi’s work on Veerle’s Inspiration Stream (featured on Evernotes Every), I just fell in love. Not only does she consistently showcase beautiful typography, but she’s working with chalk! And now even Oprah has utilized Dana’s talents which can be seen on next month’s O Magazine‘s first hand-lettered cover. What an amazing honor! See more of Dana’s work on O. Found via Dribbble.

3. Baobag Website

I love when site’s have the added elements that reach beyond the margins, such is the case in Baobag’s website, designed by Katja Lambert. Not only are these hand-drawn illustrators outside the margins but they overlay the main slide graphic creating a very warm and inviting homepage. See more of her work for Baobag. Found via Pinterest.

4. Matthew Lyons Illustration

A fun contrast of vintage illustration style with futuristic technology, by Matthew Lyons. Found via Veerle’s Inspiration Stream.

5. Newcastle Festival of Dance Poster

After having the challenge of creating dance collateral for several years, I love seeing anything and all dance related artwork. This poster for the Newcastle Festival of Dance is no exception. I love all the close cropping of the dancers’ feet and legs.View more from this series by Amy Rodchester here. Found via Joy Cho on Pinterest.

We just finished week 2′s reading of the Bible in 90 Days this past week and I was looking forward to reading the book of Deuteronomy because as I remembered the book to have some real encouraging verses sprinkled throughout the book. It’s a good mix of what many think the Old Testament is (a bunch of laws and rules) and what it truly is about (God’s love through the law). A favorite verse of mine from Deuteronomy 31:

And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.

I think my favorite part of this book is that Jesus himself references it when he was resisting the temptation of the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4). The devil tries to get Jesus to turn stone into bread, have the angels come and rescue him, and then worship the devil himself. Jesus quotes verses from the book of Deuteronomy to defend himself, a great example of what we should do when we are tempted.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

You shall not tempt the LORD your God.

You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.

And now to finish week 3!

The above photo was taken by Pastor Josh of the Jordan River Valley
while he was in Israel this past week... text added by me.

After I picked her up from University of California, Irvine, we made a quick stop by a local nature preserve. It was an adventure as neither of us knew what was back there but it was totally worth it!

Then we drove over to our happy place, Disneyland. We took a few more pictures behind Grizzly Rapids and then went on some rides ourselves! A good night was had by all!

Many thanks to Rachel for appeasing my need to photograph someone! Anyone! I am desperate to learn more and more and she is always up for new pictures to add to her portfolio. And also thanks to her for this lovely photo of her view!

To see more of Rachel, visit the following posts:

• Disneyland Next Top Photographer
• Rachel’s Senior Prom and Graduation
• Parking Structure and Downtown Disney
• A Year Spent at the Happiest Place on Earth
• Third Annual Rachel’s Birthday at Disneyland Adventure!

Our bible study started the Bible in 90 Days challenge the first Thursday of January. The challenge is simple, read 12 pages a day and within 90 days you’ll have read the whole Bible. Cover to cover. Verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Since I started reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in the summer of 2008, I have only got to Mark. That’s at a pretty slow pace and with a lot of breaks on my part. So when this came up for our group to accomplish together, I was so excited! Each Thursday, during our normal Bible study time we watch a short 20 minute video summing up our reading from that past week, going over the themes of each chapter and what to look forward to next. Since we’re already getting into 2 Samuel this week, I am pretty behind in my blogging of this challenge! But I will try to catch up!

What I loved most about the first week’s reading was reading about Moses’ call to go back to Egypt, to redeem the Israelites from Pharoah. What I may not have caught before was Moses’ claim in Exodus 4 that he was not an “eloquent” speaker and “slow of speech and slow of tongue” to which God replied:

Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.

This struck me as such an amazing reminder that we only accomplish what God has allowed us to and has given us the ability to do! So in any area in my life that I may feel incapable about, whether it be skills at work or like Moses, the ability to eloquently speak to others, I must remind myself that I have a Creator who will give me these abilities when I need them. Or as God also did for Moses, I may be given another way to accomplish these needs, as Aaron aided Moses.

All I have to say is thank God I am not totally dependent on myself and myself alone! God is in me to accomplish His will! So if you feel called, do not fret that you do not have the abilities to go and do what you are being called to. Just believe and go and do to accomplish His divine will.

The above image is from willg photos, text added by me.

1. Avoir

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love student design work! Designed by Ryan Bosse, a design student at Fort Hays University, the Avoir line is breakfast food items with bold flavor. Ryan’s design incorporates a mixture of patterns and clean typography, two of my favorite things! Found via the dieline.

2. The Joy of Books

I smiled while watching this whole video. It must have taken hundreds of man hours to put this short stop animation together. But I do love the nod to Tim Burton in the beginning, a revolutionary in the stop animation realm. But I really love the ending frame which really sums up the whole video. Found via Facebook.

3. Randy Fenoli Site by Promise Tangeman

Well, she’s done it again. I love every design by Promise Tangeman, but in particularly, with her latest design for Randy Fenoli, she surpasses the limits of web design as she created an entirely new look for the main navigation of the site. I have never seen anyone use the main navigation in the “left sidebar” in this way, ever. Bravo Promise on another “work of art.” View Randy’s full site here.

4. Modern/Retro Wedding Suite by Brad Woodward

I just started to follow Brad Woodward’s work after seeing his work on Share Some Candy (featured on Evernotes Every last month). I have just barely gotten through all his amazing work in his portfolio and found this SWEEET wedding invitation suite! He custom designed everything from the pattern to the map. The map alone is such a neat feature. I have never seen a map used as the background of the main invitation, but the way Brad designed it, it gives the entire piece a grid like patterned background. Then the retro inspired pattern on the back is just as sweet as their wedding date and initials are sprinkled throughout. In other words… I just LOVE it!

5. Business Cards for Le Pourvoyeur

Designed by Sébastien Bisson, the business cards for Le Pourvoyeur feature a bold red mark with personalized icons (taken from the logo) for the various employees. It gives each card a more personal and custom look and feel—in such a bold way! Found via Looks Like Good Design.

I only took my camera out for ONE DAY! Astonishing, but we were snowboarding the other two days we were there. But this one day was worthy of photographing as we went to the Ice Castles at Silverthorne. These structures are best described on their website:

an unparalleled creation of walkways, illuminated ice formations, tunnels, and arches – all made entirely out of ice with no supporting substructure. These massive and dynamic ice structures will reach up 30 to 40 feet high, and collectively measure over 10,000 tons.

It really was beautiful and I am glad we got to go both during the day and at night to see the way they are lit. During the day, I could really appreciate the detail and the beauty of the ice while at night they were much more ominous and it was harder to see the detail so I looked more at the structures on a whole.

It was a great adventure with the family, walking among the hallways made of ice and looking up in a ceiling full of icicles. Have to admit, that was kind of scary. I kept imagining them plummeting down on top of us, but my camera was blocking my eyesight most the time I was looking up. Buuuuut, it was totally worth it as you shall now see! This is an extreeeemly photo heavy post, but I hope you enjoy it! The daylight and the artificial light at night was amazing. It played on the ice in such different ways, casting its shadows, and illuminating reflections of different parts….

Later as my dad was flipping through my camera, he asked if this was taken by mistake. I said, of course not, it’s to remember the ground that was covered in chunks of ice. Many people walked around with ski poles for balance.

And then night fell…

My dad taking this photo.

The following photo was taken by Chris Yonushewski, a writer for snow.com. He was there writing an article on the ice castles, which you can see here.

Wow, thank you for looking at all these!

1. Pixar Color Theory Sketch

Disney Pixar posted this image last month. I have never noticed that they colored the toys according to their importance in the movie. I’ll definitely be paying attention to this next time we watch it!

2. DNB Credit

I like the combination of the mountain photograph overlayed with the stark triangular shapes for the redesign of DNB‘s credit card. Found via Brand New.

3. Mississippi River Fund

Loving Candice Leick’s illustrative style with her slightly stylized shapes and her use of texture, but then her more abstract representation from the change in grass to asphalt to sea.

4. Indian Motorcycle

While this concept work for Indian Motorcycles wasn’t implemented, the design work has so much merit I am glad the design team still shared the project. With a stellar cast of designers (including Curtis Jinkins), the design is exquisite in detail and vast in the multiple applications. What I love most are the black and white logo variations and alternate marks and magazine spreads. Found via Allan Peters, view the rest of the project here.

5. Zukali

I have been a fan of Imaginaria Creative for quite awhile now, so naturally I love one of their latest design for Zukali, a totally in house product. It can best be described by the designers themselves:

We wanted to stay away from the typical Mexican aesthetic to differentiate the brand, our approach was to communicate authenticity and sophistication with a modern flair while still capturing a handcrafted feel.

Found via The Dieline.

January

The year started with a barbeque competition on New Years Day and later in the month we visited our friends Shane and Kyrene, who were about 3 months pregnant at the time!

February

This may not seem like a big deal, but I got my first SLR Digital camera and it rejuvenated my passion for photography! It became my goal for the year to really learn photography and how to use my camera! Within a few weeks, Jess from J. Rose Photography asked me to tag along with her on an engagement shoot.

March

My lovely cousin-in-law came to town so we hit the hot spots of Los Angeles with her (at least what we could do in the pouring rain), including Intelligentsia. I had never been there before but had heard so much high praise from my friend Kathleen about it that it was a must try! While I wasn’t a fan of the fellow smug guests, the coffee was pretty good!

April

Easter was in April this year and I got to design a looooot of stuff for my church! It was so much fun and such a variety of collateral to design! See more here.

May

And what would the year be without all of our adventures around the states in BBQ. Winnings were high for the Vegas competition, $125,000, to be exact, so of course the team went out to compete! It was the most the boys had competed against with over 100 competitors. And the boys did great!

June

My dad’s side of the family comes together every other year in a different part of the United States for the Anderson family reunion. This year, our reunion coincided with my cousin Katie’s wedding in Colorado! And I sure do love Colorado! And my cousin! And weddings! It was a great time! Here’s Katie and I on Mount Evans at 14,000 feet.

July

My best friend Joyce came to town from New York! I hadn’t seen her in over a year! So it was a blast to tour around southern California, and live life to the fullest!

August

Another BBQ competition, another trip to Colorado. But what did I say, I love Colorado! And it was so fun introducing Colorado to Lauren, who had never been there. And of course, we got caught in a major downpour!

September

I just love weddings! My friend Alisa wedded her beau this month in Pasadena! The wedding was a blast and I got to bring my friend Brittany as my date! Whoo!

October

Andy and I celebrated our birthdays with our third annual hotluck, but first the girls and I took a visit to Lemoore, CA to visit our friends BJ and Melissa and their six week old Josiah! It was also, sadly, our last David Crowder concert.

November

This month brought another trip up the 15 freeway to Utah! We got to spend Veteran’s weekend with an adorable 6 week old while visiting Andy’s family! I also took my first maternity portrait session!!

December

Two of my best friends got engaged within a week of each other, so as a close to one year, the year 2012 will be quite busy of bridal showers, bachelorette parties, and weddings… and of course all those fabulous babies! But surprise!! One little babe, made it into 2011! Courtney and Andrew’s little Jameson was born at 3:15 on New Year’s Eve!