Mekayla (senior photos)

Sometimes I write a post and then forget to post it.... 
Whelp here is another on!

 Ah Mekayla, my favorite niece! (I call all of my nieces my favorite niece, except maggie because she calls me the witch. But we all know betsy is my favorite, because she is the baby... hahhaha! jk)

Mekayla has left my life living it up at one of my favorite places (in Utah), Logan City. And I couldn't be happier and so excited for her! She makes me feel so young when we hang out but her going to collage makes me realize how OLD I am.  But I am really loving that we call each other and complain about school and homework. :) 
Love this girl!






Personality as Defined my Meili

I just finished my Personality Theory class at Salt Lake Community College. I don't know why but I kindy want to share my final. Nerdy, right...? I'm a huge nerd!

I presented my final in the form of a painting/photo slideshow, with an explanatory paper.
I guess I'm a tiny bit excited about art therapy.... :) Okay, I'm really excited to do more stuff like this.

Here is the video:

 

and here is part of the paper: (in case anyone actually has that kind of time on their hands to read someone's final paper)

To begin to understand personality I organized the traits perspective combined with biological, genetic, and inherited perspectives, where traits are inherent at birth and exist and play a crucial role throughout our lives as they interact with other theories at different stages. These traits also include dispositions and tendencies that each individual has. For example a person with a disposition to be pessimistic will tend to see the glass as half empty in various situations as they move throughout their life.
With our inherent traits we move into the psychosocial perspective, which includes Erickson’s developmental stages and attachment theory as well as our environment, interaction with the world, and the crises in our lives and how we internalize and interpret our experiences. We see the interplay between our traits and our experiences as we enter each new developmental stage of life. Each developmental stage also influences how we view our world and experiences and affects our behavior and ultimately our personality. Also introduced at this point is the learning perspective where we learn what is expected of us in society and find the balance between our nature and what is socially acceptable. In this stage, as a result of much gathered information throughout our lives, we develop scripts and schemas about ourselves. We use our experiences to create beliefs and more broadly define who we are or our perceived self image and also begin to compare our self image with our ideal self.
Lastly we take a look at self actualization and self determination.  As Maslow states we all have a desire to improve as people and achieve our ideal self, becoming a “fully functioning person.” As a part of self actualization we use the cognitive perspective and self-regulation. We utilize such tools as the hierarchical feedback system and negative feedback loop described within the self-regulation perspective, where we set goals to achieve our ideal self and reevaluate outcomes, making adjustments along the way.
I don’t mention psychoanalysis in any one group of perspectives because psychoanalysis is a constant factor that plays a role in our personality through all the other perspectives and is too complex to group into one category. However, psychoanalysis and the ongoing push and pull between id and ego is ever present in every stage and group of factors that contribute to personality as we learn to work towards self actualization and the ultimate balance between id and ego where two components work together. I felt that in painting my perspective it would be a perfect way to exemplify the ever present and ongoing yet sometimes intangible element of psychoanalysis throughout our entire exploration of personality. Creating the art served as a process of continuous exploration and discovery and similar to that of becoming conscious in psychoanalysis as well as symbolizes the complexity of the relationship between ego and id and the layering consciousness.
In painting my perspective I also wanted to explore personality theory as it relates to me, illustrating my own inherent traits, dispositions and tendencies, pinpointing my own schemas and scripts that I have patterned my self-image after. I wanted to illustrate my own desire to achieve my ideal self and the steps towards self actualization, while accepting that I still have the same dispositions and tendencies that I did as a child. In doing this I realized that part of self actualization is accepting what is and being in process of self actualizing, rather than self actualization as an end goal. We have moments of self actualization but we can keep progressing and learning because we are constantly moving through different stages and having different experiences.
Personality can be described as a combination of the three groups of theories, traits, psychosocial and self actualization, that work together and the process of moving in and out of focus as we see our personalities evolve. Although this seems to illustrate a process that our personality evolves as we grow, each of these groups influences our personality simultaneously. Each aspect of personality is in effect at different times and at the same time. Each group explained contributes to one’s personality in an individualized way, depending on inherent dispositions situations, context, perception, stage in life, and past and current experiences and determination to improve and grow as a person.






Mekayla senior pictures

Well! That was fun! I did this today.... It's been so long since I've done any portrait work and honestly, I was a teensy bit nervous..... gahh!

But I always have a blast with this girl! She is hilarious! And so gorgeous! And smart and talented and an amazing chef!  I may have even said totes adorbs today.... Oh and I invented a new phrase I'm sure will catch like wildfire. ready for it...? "this is so much funny!" ha! yeah I said that.....

There are so many more great photos but this must be the mood I am in right now.
Oh and by the way, she is going to one of my favorite schools ever next year... Utah State University! I had so much fun there! I only have one regret. I never became a true Aggie. :( Go for it Kayla! ;)





Portfolio

I am going to unabashedly brag, not because I think I am especially worthy of bragging or anything, but because I have been working my tush off for the last two weeks on grad school applications. And I'm a tiny bit proud of myself.

A part of the applications is an art portfolio. I decided this would be a good time to share some recent photos mingled with some of my art from recent art classes, and old photos from my photo program at the University of Utah, in the form of my portfolio.
(I mostly want to show off my recent photos but yer gettin' it all!)

I am in serious need of some TLC. I'm thinking sleep and.... I can't think of anything else... hahahah!
what does one do to relax these days? I'm taking suggestions.

So without further ado, I present my portfolio:














Jaden

Have I mentioned how much I love wind blown hair....? And I really love this photo of Jaden.
Jaden is a true tomboy and incredibly shy, so to capture her in a moment like this is magic. :)

Happy Knitting Season!



I don't really "love" when it starts to get colder outside...... In fact I really kinda, hate being cold. I'm still wearing my flip fops..... okay?! But I do LOVE knitting! And cold weather always makes me want to get my knit on....

You can call me Martha Stewart. :)

2011 International Conference on Food Styling and Photography 1.4

I can't believe it's taken me so long to post these. I actually kinda forgot about them.... :(These are the only film photos I took the whole time. And I really love film. :)
These photos are from when I ventured out of my sad dorm room and did a little site seeing.

If you want to see more photos from the conference and maybe even some actual FOOD photos see:
Conference on Food Styling and Photography 1.1
Conference on Food Styling and Photography 1.2
Conference on Food Styling and Photography 1.3

Pumpkin Muffins

I've been trying some new recipes from the Paleo Diet.... and well... I wish I could say these are good. But they're not! Hahahaha! these are my gross pumpkin muffins! :) I just needed something sweet. They actually aren't "gross" but they're not "good" either, even when you haven't had any sugar.