christmas time has come and past.

now that christmas has come and gone i start to think about how amazing, and blessed i am to have the family i do surrounding me. i am so blessed with amazing friends. this break has been full of best friends and christmas cheer. we have made cookies, watched movies, worn ugly sweaters, made hot chocolate and spent a lot of time bonding and celebrating the birth of an amazing Lord and Savior, Jesus. who is the reason for the season.

this christmas was much more low key then normal. for christmas eve we ate dinner with good family fiends, and then went to church. after that we headed home to do presents and watch some 24 hours of the christmas story. on christmas day we hung out and woke up around 10 am. from there we opened presents and then ate dinner/lunch at 1:30 so we could go to the movies at 3. We saw little fockers. funny, but not at all christmas oriented. we dropped off some presents on the way home, and come home to clean for a bunch of family friends who came over and played bingo for nickels and dimes. so after spending 400+ dollars on christmas i lost some change to the people i bought presents for. its amazing to think that its all over. the stress and everything is finally over. but in the end... why did we do all this, why did we send the money, and shop, and have all these parties? because we love God and His Son who He sent to save the world... so i'll end with these words which come from my favorite christmas movie.


"""Charlie Brown: Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?
Linus Van Pelt: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.
Lights, please.
[a spotlight shines on Linus]
Linus Van Pelt: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"
[Linus picks up his blanket and walks back towards Charlie Brown]
That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. """
-Charlie Browns Christmas.

(ill upload christmas pictures later. its late.)


enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

words that changed history

It Is Finished

those words are beautiful. they bring hope and life, and a chance for ever human being to be in the kingdom of heaven. there are very few words that hold a grain of salt to those. very few writers were ever able to grasp the idea that those words portray. rarely to i stop in the middle of movie and think that those words much have changed someone.

but i have twice. the first was over four years ago, and the other was tonight.

the first was for the third movie of lord of the rings.

"gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.
pippin: What? Gandalf? See what?
gandalf: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."


the second was in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

aslan says this to lucy and edmund after they find out when will not be returning... they asked if he was in their world.
“But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”


both jrr tolkien, and cs lewis were men who understood who God was and what he wants for all mankind. so tonight, i thank them. for they are brilliant. and i pray their words of wisdom will bring people to understand the beautiful words at the top of this post.


(google images)


enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

compassion

its an interesting word, compassion. it can mean so many things. but in the end compassion is really nothing more then something we say we have.

compassion |kəmˈpa sh ən| noun
sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

really compassion cannot get us anywhere in life. we need to do something in order for our compassion to really mean anything. i might have great intentions, but if i never use them to help someone, or to change the world... then i will not get anywhere.

i know, i know. who am i to talk about change. i am a middle class white girl who even though she doesnt have much money is warm and has a full stomach on this snowy cold night. well i have banana, and all i can challenge you to adopt a kid like banana who you can sponsor. Its weird but, it makes working not seem as bad knowing that if i wasnt working banana would not be getting money right now.

think about it. i sponsor banana through compassion international. there are other organizations that work the same. But check them out. its feels awesome to make a difference!




:)


enjoy.


hillary elizabeth

something new

looks like i'm taking my mind off anything that is frustrating or at all distracting and working on these projects. so project two out of five (project one was the piano). number two and three are basically together. but i want to separate them for blog consideration/ portfolio reasons.





enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

SOLD

sold. that what just happened to my childhood memories. sold. online... in three hours. thanks mom.




my best friend and i as little kids. man, i loved life when you didnt have to worry about anything.

enjoy.


hillary elizabeth.

significant others

significant others.... i don't have one at the time. which... i promise you is a very good thing. but the subject i want to talk about goes along these lines.

because basically i know who it is i am going to marry, no its not a movie star or famous singer. and yes i understand that since i'm not dating anyone this sounds so creepy... but i know who he is. no i do not plan to date him soon... but haven't you ever just had that one person who clicks with you so well? and just everything about them causes you to realize that this person is your soul mate... haha i don't know how its going to end, but i'll pretend like i'm really confident... who knows what will happen..

either way its was sweetest day the 16th (two days ago now... haha i have been working on this for a while) and i realized that i am not dating anyone but i am surrounded by amazing guys :) so i can be content with where i am in my life.
so have a great day. and i hope your sweetest day was good. the hallmark made holiday.







the flowers i wish i had.



enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

friends and such

well as for this summer i have talked about weddings and travel, but what i have not really talked about is the beautiful place i live in. cincinnati ohio. its a city that i proudly claim for its history, beauty, and (even though we are not the best) our sports. because although we do not have the best teams in the world we do have the first pro baseball team ever. the cincinnati reds! this year was exciting for us here in cincinnati because the reds made it to post season for the first time in about fifteen years. so even though we got swept in the first round the excitement for baseball, and the years to come are growing.

well if you have never been to cincinnati i recommend it. there are great people, great food (skyline chili, montgomery inn, greaters to name a few), and great fun!





one of my best friends jaymie and i at the reds game. im on the left.






enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

piano

So this is my project. i was working for the Loveland Music Academy in downtown loveland, right outside of cincinnati ohio. the piano was out because we had the art exhibit www.streetpianos.com its called play me im yours. read more about it, it really is a fantastic idea. cincinnati was blessed to have it. here are some pictures from the piano as i worked on it!



this is what it looked like at first.





this is the piano after it had the design sketched on.




finished! finally!





top view





when you fold up the key cover once




when the key cover is closed




bench.




close up.





:) done!



enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

something happy, something new.

just what i figured i needed to say. kinda explaining my absence.

enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

apethetic.

i figured you should all know i am very apathetic right now. life is fine, nothing to complain about. but lets be honest. i have nothing to be excited about either.

my summer was fantastic. my best friend had her beautiful wedding, and i was blessed to be the maid of honor. so this will be my precursor to the wedding photos. i will be honest and say i was literally terrified when i walked up to give my speech, and i think i awkwardly held my glass a little to high at the end... but other then that i was a smash. everyone looked cute. oh how i love my best friend.. well other then that my summer was nothing to spectacular. i nannied some, and helped with some camps.
ill get pictures up of those but first for the wedding pictures! oh weddings. these are some of my favorite from her day. i adore my best friend, isnt she the cutest?






















well thats all.

enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

hello world. so i am nannying this week and i am excited to have this time with the kids. i have really my summer, at least the start of it. : )
now that its coming up on the end of June i cannot wait for my best friend to be getting married. I am also preparing my maid of honor speech. to be honest i have known my best friend for 11 years. and i still dont know what i want to say to her.

well in may i visited my grandparents in georgia and then we went and drove to pennsylvania to see my other grandparents. i have a few pictures of the family from then so i am going to post them.







enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

post

well this is just a little taste of my break, and what was going on in my life.



enjoy.


hillary elizabeth.

everything we missed.

i successfully missed every blog after my first two. way to go me. hopefully next year i do a better job.  :) that or i will just have to take another trip. either way i am finished with my first year of art school. also i am transfering to some school in cincinnati. please dont ask me which one cause i have no clue.

i have no excuse for why i didnt post anything but i am going to post a few to catch people up on everything i you might have missed.


enjoy.

hillary elizabeth.

2.4.09

"first day of training. we had chapel... it was good. i loved listening to david when we had our bible study with him- he was great. i woke up at 7:45 am. breakfast at 8:30. thats all. we ate dinner at devin and ashley's, and they had us over for wings. (dad, they had rasberry flavored ones!) but today we were mainly training. 

pat, matt, david, paul, and andrea all worked with us today. thats all.

breakfast - bagel with cream cheese, and some nasty juice. 

lunch- turkey and cheese sandwich with cool ranch doritos and water

dinner- wings, wonderful salad, water. peach cobbler with ice cream."

(the next few days are going to be very anti climactic because i we were not really doing anything when we were in florida.... that was when we all just wanted to be in africa spending time there and training.... which we did anyways.)

(jeff, renee, and lauren 

in the van in florida)

enjoy.

hillary elizabeth.

2.3.09 (a day late)

(this is a great way to start my blogging of my journal in africa... either way...)

here it it. the start of my african travels. i went with a group formally called book of hope, now called onehope. they bring the gospel to kids all over the world. last i knew they had the gospel in magazine form which is in 75 different languages and in hundreds of countries. it was such a blessing workin with them and it was one of the most amazing times of my life. so i hope you enjoy sa i look back over my time and maybe expand on my trip as i go along  :)

thats all.

enjoy.

"today was good. i loved meeting my team. the people are awesome, and i am rooming with renee who just graduated college. her grandma just got diagnosed with cancer, and it is amazing to see her strength being here. she is crazy composed, and i dont think i could do that. i wouldnt mind using her as a roll model, but either way i'll be praying for her.

the people from my team are.

jeff- 18 (i have know him forever)  

renee-24  

gio-19 sophomore

lauren- 21 junior

vanessa- 31 boh leader

ryan- 31 boh leader

they are cool. its late.... so goodnight 

breakfast- muffin in airport

lunch- chick-fil-a in airport

dinner- la bamba III carnitas"

(these are the team shirts we had hanging out to dry <3  )

hillary elizabeth

sick...

how come the days that are the most fun, are when you know that there is no reason you should even be out of bed?

right now i am sick, probably very sick (seeing that most people are campus are). but for some reason i cannot help but do fun things. its just so wonderful. i should be in bed with tea and sleep, but instead i skype one of my best friends, and work out for two hours. or i go to ihop at two in the morning with girls on my hall. whenever i realize i should not be going so where, it just makes me want to go that much more.

hmmm... if i only i could manipulate this for my own good. oh well. either way its late and, i'm sick. so goodnight. and i want to let everyone know that gnc vitamin c is the bomb. it tastes like sweet tarts. and everyone can use more vitamin c. 

 

from google images

enjoy.

hillary elizabeth.

who am i?

who am i? this is a question i have been asking myself today. 

i am trying to decide what my self portrait should look like for an art portfolio for the art academy of cincinnati. 

i know weird... i am thinking about transferring from anderson. just cause of personal reason, but i feel like the art academy will be a good choice. either way i have to make a self portrait, and i am thinking about two or three other pieces. so right now i want myself to be reflected through my passion for africa, and my love of realism. at the same time i do not feel confident enough to draw people. especially not myself.. i have tried that before and failed miserably. so who am i? 

well this is what i know so far.

i am the child of God.

i am a family girl.

i love my home town

africa is a passion/ holds a huge place in my heart

i love art

music has the ability to affect me in huge ways

i love the the beauty found in simplicity.

so here is a piece of art work i did that i love. 

i do not know if its going to make it in my portfolio... but maybe.

enjoy.

hillary elizabeth

simon, or haiti.

why is it that simon the reality tv show host from american idol man headline new on drudge over the haiti stories. haiti is a place that needs our help, and our prayers. drudge report is a place that i go to read the new. not look at local magazine headlines, but the news. i am kind of upset and the lack of reporting that is taking place. there are millions of people in haiti giving of their time and lives to help these people, but america has already gone back to their petty lives. pretending that since they cannot see it, since it did not happen in their back yard... it must not be that big of a deal. 
one day america might need that help, but of course reality tv will come before the dying people. cause that is what this country has come to. 

from google images

matthew 5:2-12

 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

so please tell me why this is happening. if you know please tell me, where have our hearts gone, cause i know there are people out there giving time and effort for this cause. how come simon is on the headline of drudge, and haiti gets nothing. what has news become.

enjoy.

-hillary elizabeth.

electric connection

beauty. supposedly is in the eye of the beholder. i find very obscure things absolutely beautiful.

one thing i do find so beautiful which is mainly because of my travels is electricity poles. i like to collect pictures of electric/telephone poles from everywhere i go. 

i have many from my time in south africa, and i hope to collect some as i continue me studies at anderson for the next few months. something i have come to realize about telephone poles, or electric poles is their ability to blend into their surroundings. i know this sounds stupid, but the history, and life that these inanimate objects have is amazing. looking at them as we would drive by the middle of no where in south africa showed me the hope that they can bring as well. for these people, the fact that they have electricity means the world to them. it connects them to the rest of the world, and gives them hope for a better life. 

 "You can just look at this picture and get a connection with God, you don’t have to understand the picture to feel that."

 even though i found out the hard way that electricity tends to go out a lot in that country, i also learned that electricity for those people is something that is not to be taken for granted. each one of the electric poles is a symbol of hope for those people. it brings the world to them.

ps.... the sun came out for about 3 minutes today <3

enjoy.

hillary elizabeth.

growing up

growing up. 
(disclaimer) well first off its the depressing weather here in anderson. its gloomy all day long and it just wears on a person. therefore this picture and this post will most likely be gloomy. 
so back to growing up... its probably one of the worst feelings in the world. to grow is: 
grow |grō|
verb ( past grew |groō|; past part. grown |grōn|) [ intrans. ]
1 (of a living thing) undergo natural development by increasing in size and changing physically; progress to maturity. 
undergo natural development. well nature development includes plants. seeing that i'm obsessed with with trees i'm going to talk about them in this case. so trees start off super small and grow to be huge. every year they add a layer to their mass, and therefore undergo natural development. humans do the same thing every year, but hopefully not always to our mass but to our intelligence... i know, i know. this might be a stretch but i believe that God programmed our growth all very similar. 


increasing in size and changing physically... this has to do with physically growing. : ) when we get older and as we continue to get older we continue to grown. just like our noses and hair and ears will always continue to grow.

the last definition is progressing to maturity. this is where i really started to think. one of my good guy friends. we will call him c. he just got his ears pierced.  don't get me wrong, it looks great on him, and my roommate she is in the process of gauging her ears. it just interests me so much that after we stop our physical change we continue to change things physically to fill that void. almost as if since we are not getting taller we need a way to wrap our minds around aging and getting growing up. its how humans grasp their life... i can so far tell you the story of my life by stringing together the things that i changed, and major things i did in my life. 
i think this is how everyone handles life. but in different ways. maybe some people do it was tattoo's or with song albums they bought. but no matter what somethings major changes the way people remember life. 


so this picture is me. freshman year, second semester, 3d glasses from avatar that just came out, and a nose piercing. i will soon have gauges in my ears and i am starting to change. and even though i hate big change, like knowing i am growing up... i love little changes. i love coloring my hair, or being a vegetarian. maybe piecing my nose, or my lip.. gauging me ears. those things remind me of who i am. these things make up my growing up experience. but its wonderful. 

growing up....




enjoy.


hillary elizabeth

..painful.art..

3 burns, and two cuts on my fingers later a project was finished. today was an interesting day. it was a day for of what i call painful art. literally, and figuratively. this is defined in my mind as something that i get no pleasure out of, and is normally very tedious, and has no one way to do it. also tedious art normally was something that i was unable to get my head around, so it does not turn out the way i was expecting it to. 
aka it was a project that i feel like i could do better on. but i have no time. and i didn't really use anything that worked. it was not at all what i wanted. its not that i didn't try... cause i did. i worked all this morning starting last night at 11 until 3 am, and then again from 4pm ish to 9 pm. that means i clocked a total of 9 hours this weekend... plus the at least 3 hours that i put in this week puts me at 12 hours for a discovery project... i wonder what the rest are going to be like.
well i can imagine that this is not going to get the best of grades. but i do not care at this point. 

other then the terrible project this weekend was full of homework, and cleaning. i know that doesn't sound very exciting but its also not exactly what i call boring. :) when you live with about 20 girls on your hall it always makes for an interesting time. plus i edited this blog by putting my africa music up. i'm trying to get it read for feb 3rd.
i also found out that i am terrible at trying to get photo shot programs. i am going to have to try and mess around with them more because i cannot ever get stuff the way i want it.. 
well not that i am done ranting. i am going to go to a barefoot rave in support of toms shoes. 
 
it should be grand.

enjoy.


hillary elizabeth.

just a sound

Many people think that music is just sound. not me. to me music can spark creativity, or it can hold a memory. there are certain songs that are defining parts of my life. when i listen to them they bring me right back to a time and place. for example, the band i am listening to right now is bringing me back to africa. it has almost been a year since i left, and i cannot believe it. starting feb. 3rd i am going to be posting excerpts from my travels a each day. it will be from a year ago exactly. mainly because i want to keep it fresh in my mind.
that just a heads up.
so this band is called the new frontiers, and they are wonderful. i dont think they are very big, and if they are its dumb that itunes only carries one cd of theirs. either way they bring me right back to being on the road in za. its was such a blessing getting to go on that trip, and i cannot think of a better way to spend my time.
read these lyrics and look at the picture. hopefully it sparks something within you as well, if not. its ok. it does within me.

This is the house where you were born
These rooms seem smaller than before
I turned 22 when were you found
Shattered and broken on the ground

They will rob you blind
They will take your peace of mind
And you'll want to run away from here

I know you can't escape from all of your fears
I made my peace with the world and all that it brings
I'm holding my own

We saw a spark within your eyes
Your face reflected in the light
We are all angels in the sky
We are all mirrors in disguise

We will lift up
We will place you on your feet
We will pick you up
We will never let you go

When you want to run away from here
I found you can't escape from all of your fears
I've made my peace with the world and all that it brings
I'm holding my own


go listen to some music....
make your own memories.


enjoy.

-hillary elizabeth

would it bother you more if they used guns?

something about art students makes me want to hit them.

yes, i said hit them.

here is the thing, they can never be wrong... and when they pretend like they know something and they are wrong its because someone lied to them.
i'll give you an example. there is a girl in my art department, we will call her z for all intensive purposes. z made the statement that she voted for our current president, which does get me wrong that is everyones own opinion. i asked why she did that, and she came back at me with a harsh statement, "because he promised the world just like all politicians do, and didnt come through at all."
"well i know that i felt like i knew that when i was in school, and reading up on him, is there a reason that you didnt know anything about him?"
of course z was a little mad, and i agree i should not have belittled her and pretended like she didnt know what she was talking about. z of course just told me that she didnt know any different and did read up on him... a lot. (which i still find unbelievable). but when someone states that they voted for a democrat i normally ask their stance on abortion. seeing that it is a subject that i feel very strongly about. then she told me that she felt that abortion should not be illegal because then girls are just going to go in back allies and get in done.
here is the thing. people who do not value life are basically saying that if a babies life isnt important, then neither is their own. if abortion was illegal, and a girl chose to go into "back allies" then they know they could die, hell they should die. they are killing an innocent child.

one third of my generation has is dead from abortion. this is not a subject that can be dismissed just because some person thinks they know all the answers, but today it was. there are many things that i am passive about, but abortion, taking innocent lives. that is death, that is something to care about. and it should not be taken lightly.

the title of this blog is would it bother you if they used guns? and i think that is a very legit question, because what people don't realize is, its the same thing. z doesnt grasp this. z will stand up and say the iraq war is pointless because innocent lives are being taken... but babies a day die in the U.S. alone because of abortion.

i am not going to post a picture of a baby who has just been aborted, its too gruesome, and i personally just cannot do it. but i should. well i hope you got something out of this. ponder it.

take it in.
-hillary elizabeth

taking a breath

after finishing my first semester i felt a sense of relief. walking out of that building i was not ready to go back. my break consisted of anything but art, and even christmas provided a lack of art atmosphere. it was not a bad thing though. getting such great grades after a semester of busting my ass made it all worth it. even though my break was a month long, and i did miss my roommate and a some of the people here like crazy, it felt like only a second had gone by.
the drive back with my mom made me realize that for all the places i have been and things i like to do, maybe its time to just be in cincinnati for a while. that of i am just terrible at staying in one spot. it has always been my dream to be in a big city, and work in an art studio. but that might not be whats is next for me. i am excited to say that being back in the art classes here has been wonderful. with 3d design to work on rather then 2d it has been exhilarating. my new drawing prof is great, and even though its not exactly what i had in mind, i know this is where God wants me. at least for this semester.
i think this is good for the understanding of a wrapping up of last semester and a lead into the next.
so take a breath, and...


enjoy.
-hillary elizabeth