Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Christmas Side of Things

I do realize Christmas was a few days ago but I'm still enjoying the lovely season. This year Christmas was wonderful! I love being able to celebrate with my family and to spend time with them. We all have fun playing with our new toys we got for christmas together afterwards too which is nice... now the word toy can mean more than what it did as a child (ie: xbox, ukulele, games, dvds, etc). One thing I really love about this time of year is all the movies I watch with my mom. Our favorite Christmas movies include:
  • Christmas in Connecticut
  • White Christmas
  • Miracle on 34th Street (the Maureen O'Hara one)
  • Santa Clause is Coming to Town
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the animated one)
  • Frosty the Snowman
  • Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
  • Holiday Inn
  • The Holiday
  • The Lifetime Christmas Movies
  • I own an cleaned up version of Love Actually
and so on.... I'm sure many of you enjoy these same movies and more. I also really love the music this time of year. Our family has these three christmas cds we've been listening to my entire life which I adore, Nat King Cole The Christmas Song, Amy Grant Home For Christmas, and Johnny Mathis Merry Christmas. There are of course many other wonderful Christmas cds out there but these three are my favorites.
--- Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Team Affiliations

So I just got back from seeing the movie "Invictus" and it was wonderful! I LOVE sports movies (ie: "Glory Road", "Remember the Titans", "The Rookie", "Angels in the Outfield", "Field of Dreams", "Blind Side", "Invincible", "The Express", and so on) so very much. The movie gets it's title from a short poem written by William Ernest Henley:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

The words to this poem can be heard throughout the film and they're very moving. Happy holidays one and all!!

--- Gabrielle Jean

Friday, December 4, 2009

Oh The Shoes You'll See

So pretty much, like most girls, I ADORE shoes... They're one of my weaknesses in life! These are a collection of shoes that I've fallen in love with and would kill to own.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

1 December 2009

Here's a my life update for you. I'm applying to do a study abroad in Dublin, Ireland where I'll spend the first half of fall touring the beautiful country and the second half studying in Dublin! We'll see if I get in because it'd be a dream come true. One day I hope to actually live in Ireland for a year or two and just enjoy the culture and the true irish spirit.
I've been watching a love of Fraisier reruns on tv with my mom late at night and we LOVE it. Martin, Daphne and Niles truly keep the show entertaining and worth watching. While the title character is funny and a well developed character already famed from the tv show Cheers I must say he's not my favorite character in the show.
I've also been on a major Grace Kelly thing... which I know shouldn't be a big shocker since i ADORE Princess Grace. I recently watch "Dial M for Murder", "The Swan", "Rear Window", "To Catch a Thief" and the wedding ceremony of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco. The wedding was truly magical... if people thought Princess Di's wedding was spectacular and a dream they are sorely missing out because Princess Grace's wedding is remarkable and enchanting! Her dress is very modest and stunning and all the celebrations that go on before and after are well organized and performed. Rainier and Grace are darling together too... they were truly in love... they are a true fairy-tale dream come true.


I guess you could say I've been doing an Alfred Hitchcock movie thing too with some of those movies and having just watched "The Man Who Knew Too Much" , the first one he filmed not the Doris Day/Jimmy Stewart one, too.

I've also watched a whole bunch of movies at the theater too. "Blind Side" is a very touching movie and I enjoyed it thoroughly. "The Box" I thought was pretty good but it's kinda out there, "2010" was ok but very intense all the time with it's own John Cusack cheesiness added in there. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head... Oh wait I saw "New Moon" and loved it. Personally that's the one book I can't enjoy at all until the very end with the Vulturi and that part in the movie was impressive. I LOVE everyone that they cast for this new movie.

Our family picked out a Christmas tree yesterday too... So excited that Christmas time is here.

--Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Monday, November 2, 2009

Trick or Treat - Blonde Superheroes

This Halloween I decided to dress up a little more than I normally do. Being a fan of DC (Detective Comics.... they come out with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc) I wanted to be one of their superheroes. So what'd I come up with? Batgirl of course! At first I came up with a list of blonde DC superheroes, being a blonde myself:
-Aquaman
-Mera (Aquaman's wife) is shown as a blonde sometimes but she's generally a redhead
-Barry Allen (The Flash)
-Alan Scott (Green Lantern
-Liberty Belle
-Jesse Quick
-Supergirl/s
-Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld
-Wondergirl (Cassandra Sandsmark)
-Power Girl
-Jill Pearlman (Star Sapphire)
-Green Arrow
-Black Canary
-Saturn Girl
-Johnny Quick
-Carol Ferris (Star Sapphire)
-Queen Hypolita (silver age)
-Element Lad
... But then I remembered Bat-Girl, not Batgirl haha confusing right? Well originally during the silver age there was Bat-Girl and Batwoman who were introduced to the graphic novel world because they were meant to be the love interests for Batman and Robin so people wouldn't believe that the two men were homosexuals. This original Bat-Girl, Bette Kane, was in fact a blonde. But the problem was her costume was more like Robin's costume because she was his "other half".... Well she eventually leaves Batman with Robin and they become Flamebird (Bette) and Nightwing (Robin, Dick Greyson).
Well now there's a new Batwoman out as well and she's a supposed decedent of the original Batwoman so I thought that Bette Kane might as well have her Bat-Girl descendant as well... So here I am in my now-a-days Bat-Girl costume.... I eventually want to change the bat symbol that I spray painted on myself and the utility belt to green so that way it's not confused with Barbara Gordon Batgirl who has the yellow symbol and belt... and I couldn't do Red because that's the new Batwoman's (Kate Kane) color.
Here's pictures of all of this so you understand... maybe... I know I'm a nerd...


Kathy Kane - Batwoman

Kate Kane- Batwoman

Bette Kane- Bat-Girl

Barbara Gordon- Batgirl

Not to be confused with Alicia Silverstone's Batgirl from the 1997 "Batman & Robin" movie

And last but not least here's me in my Halloween costume next to the photoshopped version of me more like Barbara Gordon's:




Correction 19 November 2009..... Just found out that there is a blonde Batgirl, Stephanie Brown. This is because she is during the time of Tim Drake as the Robin and I don't follow this time at all of Batman... But this Batgirl is lovely :) I love how her yellow symbol is paired with purple accents like on the back of the cape. And if you're curious she replaces Cassandra Cain as Batgirl after Cassandra is killed. And if you didn't notice it's Cassandra CAIN NOT KANE. But anyways here's a picture of the wonderful Stephanie as Batgirl.
--Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Vintage Lifestyle Love

I'm a big fan of the vintage world. If it's anything from the early 20th century I LOVE it. This includes movies and actors as I've stated before and with this I also enjoy learning as much about them as I can and seeing pictures of them. Great sites for pictures include Dr. Macro's High Quality Movie Scans and Art.com is my favorite to order some of these beautiful images for a good price for such good quality images. Art.com also has many wonderful art work pieces by many marvelous artists from this time such as some of Norman Rockwell's who is my FAVORITE artist of all time. He really captured the american spirit.
Now for vintage wear the best place is Timeless Vixen's shop on Etsy, but for vintage inspired clothing I always shop Ruche! This clothing site is cute, easy to navigate through and i LOVE all the clothes on their and own a few pieces myself.
For cute vintage decorations, trinkets, and little do-da's I have three sources I turn to. The first is another Etsy shop, Sunshine and Ravioli who specializes in these darling cards, labels, and tags.
Second is Simply Shaby Chic (her blog and this is her website) and you can buy many of her products at Target which is easy. Many things in my room are Shaby Chic and I adore them.

And the third place is City Chic Country Mouse who also have an Etsy Shop.
To end all of this I'll give you two more little vintage blogs that are to die for: Bluebird and Vintage+Goodness=Happiness!
--- Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Monday, October 5, 2009

5 October 2009

This is where I'm at in my life right now. I've been out of school for a good couple of months and I start working FINALLY this wednesday at Lucky Brand Jeans so I'm excited for that. It seems like a way cool atmosphere and getting a discount on those jeans would be lovely.
Now you may be wondering what I did with my life between school ending in July and now.... well I applied to over 30 places with about 5 more applications still on my desk incase the last 8 I had turned in didn't work out, went to the ranch, trying to figure out what I really want from life, got my wisdom taken out, house sat, visited my best friend of 16 years in California where I went to her older sister's wedding at the beautiful San Diego LDS Temple, seen a bunch of movies, worked on paying the parents back, watched general conference on the tube, did an art project for the little sister, signed up for Art Smart at my little sister's elm. school, babysat, realized my little sister is only 5 inches shorter than me and that the day will swiftly come when she's not my "little" sister anymore.... and all sorts of things like that.
Oh and I'm officially declared as an Art History major now at my college down in sexy rexy! So I'm really excited about that. I'm also looking into a bunch of study abroad programs that'll take me to Ireland :)
--- Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Monday, August 24, 2009

Living A Martha Stewart Lifestyle


So pretty much since I've gone to school I've found a love for the mistress of home skills that I never had before. Mainly this just goes to the whole cooking thing, if you didn't know, before I left for college I couldn't even cook mac n' cheese the right way, but now I'm fairly confident of my cooking. But before this love for Martha came in I always enjoyed finding creative ways to do things to decorate the house, but have never really been able to get too involved in this since I don't own a home, let alone rent an apartment for more than 6 months of the year. But I'm letting this post stand as my tribute to the wonderful Martha Stewart.

And here's another recipe site that's to die for.

Oh and for an update on my life... I'm now a month out of my first year of college, still jobless, still looking for a job, and just got back from a visit down to southern California for a friend's wedding. Weddings are truly an amazing time in someone's life. I marveled out how in love they were and the glowing purity about them. Good luck in the eternities together Alyse and Tommy.

--- Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Friday, August 14, 2009

Sunday, August 9, 2009

A Moment with Julie and Julia

Well I just got back from watching Julie and Julia with my mom, cute movie by the way, but it made me want to try out those recipes.... not to eat but to cook. I know it's still strange to me that I love cooking, but I can't help it. The funniest part was that cooking was one of my greatest fears until I was in college. I remember planning on feeding my kids microwave dinners every night because I was the girl who messed up Craft Macaroni and Cheese, I know who can mess that up. Well it's true, I did and it wasn't like it was just a little off. The poor meal tasted revolting and that's when I swore off cooking. Thank goodness I got over that right away when I did go to college and it was right away too. Since then I've cooked through many recipes and created some of my own. I love to be in the kitchen and create something and have it turn out right. It's a magnificent feeling that comes over me each time.
And of course after watching this darling movie now I feel the need to cook my way through that daring recipe book, but now is not the time, but maybe someday I'll be brave enough to venture into the hands of Julia Child. But for now I'll just give you a couple of my favorite recipes other than the apple pie one that I've already posted.
Chicken With Artichokes and Angel Hair:

Ingredients

Coarse salt and ground pepper, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 8 thin chicken cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds total), 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts packed in water, rinsed, drained, and quartered, 2 tablespoons butter, and 8 ounces angel-hair pasta

Directions

Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Place flour in a shallow dish, and season with salt and pepper. Dredge cutlets, shaking off excess. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook chicken in batches, adding remaining oil as needed, until light golden, 1 to 3 minutes per side; transfer to a dish.

Add broth to skillet, and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Add artichokes, capers, and the chicken with any juices. Gently swirl to combine, and bring just to a boil. Remove skillet from heat. Swirl in butter, and cover to keep warm.
Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente; drain. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta, topped with parsley.
Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries:

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (one yogurt)

1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup cholesterol-free egg substitute (one egg)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

3 pints strawberries

Sugar substitute (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 8×4-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

Combine sour cream, milk, sugar, oil, egg substitute, lemon juice and lemon peel in medium bowl. Stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until well blended; pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Let cake cool 20 minutes before removing from pan; cool completely. Meanwhile, slice strawberries. Sprinkle to taste with sugar substitute, if desired. Slice cake and serve with strawberries.

Pink Lemonade Milk Shakes:
Use blender and mix together 1 1/2 cups vanilla ice-cream and 1/2 cup thawed pink lemonade concentrate.
Vanilla Crepes:

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups milk

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, mix together the milk, egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt and melted butter until well blended.

Heat a crepe pan over medium heat until hot. Coat with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and tip to spread the batter to the edges. When bubbles form on the top and the edges are dry, flip over and cook until lightly browned on the other side and edges are golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Fill crepes with your favorite fruit, cream, caramel or even ice cream or cheese to serve.


Enjoy,

---Gabrielle Jean Murphy


Saturday, August 1, 2009

Back Home

Now that I've officially finished my first year of college I guess it's time to update this again....
Classes went pretty well over all.... learned a lot... my favorite class was my Book of Mormon class again. I loved my roommates and we had a lot of fun doing different things together.
I was at our ranch for the last week and got to do some fun things there too (playing with puppies, atv rides, going to town, card games, etc.).... I love being with my family again and it was nice to get to see all my family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.)
We got back (technically) yesterday so now I just need to look for a job, get back into running, and hopefully reestablish a healthier eating lifestyle.
--- gabrielle jean murphy

Friday, July 17, 2009

Needed Vacation



For 4th of July weekend I went to Logan and visited with family. We went boating, watched fireworks, saw Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, ate wonderful food, played cards, watched movies, and watched a bunch of old cars go up and down main street. It was so much fun and it was nice to get away from Rexburg for a little while. The best was being able to talk and spend time with my Aunt Viola.... I just love her to death.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

I'm Already There

My life as of right now... I'm tired of school and want to go home, luckily I have wonderful roommates (Rachel and Sheraden) who make each day better without knowing it. I also love my Book of Mormon class and the professor to death and can't imagine going without seeing him each week during the fall since this is my second semester in a row with him. I don't really like one of my classes all that much, the other three are okay, but not the most enjoyable always either. I've decided I want to be an art major which is exciting... I just have to go change it through the school. I want to do a Holy Land Tour this Novemember and it's directed by my Book of Mormon teacher and it would just be an amazing experience, but that probably won't happen sooo.... anyways that's pretty much all.

My roommates and I went out and took pictures together and these are a few of them:




---gabrielle jean

Friday, June 5, 2009

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

These are my favorites if you want to get on my good side :) I've highlighted my favorite favorites...
Favorite Movies:
  • A Philadelphia Story
  • Midsummer's Night Dream
  • Leather Heads
  • What Dreams May Come
  • Random Harvest
  • My Favorite Wife
  • A Little Princess
  • The Quiet Man
  • Serenity
  • King Arthur
  • Support Your Local Sheriff
  • Glory Road
  • The Parent Trap
  • To Catch A Thief
  • Secret Window
  • Casablanca
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel
  • Return To Me
  • While You Were Sleeping
  • Somewhere In Time
  • Silverado
  • The Secret of Roan Inish
  • The Holiday
  • Dear Frankie
  • Little Women
  • Finding Neverland
Favorite Actors/Actresses:
  • Johnny Depp
  • Russel Crowe
  • Cary Grant
  • George Clooney
  • Hugh Jackman
  • Robin Williams
  • Dustin Hoffman
  • Emma Thompson
  • John Wayne
  • Katherine Hepburn
  • Reese Witherspoon
  • Liam Neeson
  • Hugh Grant
  • Nichole Kidman
  • James Steward
  • Dennis Quaid
  • Greer Garson
  • Spencer Tracey
  • Jeremy Irons
  • Kate Winslet
  • Grace Kelly
Favorite TV Shows:
  • Burn Notice
  • Hogan's Heroes
  • 7th Heaven
  • Dancing With the Stars
  • What I Like About You
  • Full House
  • What Not To Wear
  • Firefly
  • Boy Meets World
  • The Office
  • I Love Lucy
Favorite Books:
  • Ender's Game (whole series)
  • Enchantment
  • Beauty
  • Fahrenheit 49
  • Lectures on Faith
  • Fairest
  • Wild Wood Dancing
  • Brida
  • The Perfect Wife
  • A Match Made In Heaven
  • Love On The Run
  • Emma
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel
  • Riding for the Brand
  • Zipporah
  • The Wedding
  • Phantom of the Opera
  • The Chronicles of Narnia
  • Castles
  • Treasure Island
  • The Outsiders
  • Mr. Knightley's Diary
  • Spindle's End
Favorite Authors:
  • Robin McKinley
  • Nicholas Sparks
  • Gail Carson Levine
  • Louis L'Amour
  • C.S. Lewis
  • Orson Scott Card

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Alleluiah

Alleluiah
By: Gabrielle Jean Murphy

Oh let there be continual praise,
to our Lord and King-
Our blind eyes to raise.
For our hearts to give our all,
To teach, preach, and shake their souls,
So all may hear our Father's call.
Alleluiah- oh praise him!


--- gabrielle jean

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Paper Bags of Love

My calling in church is Birthday Specialist. I had to come up with something to do for all the girls in my Relief Society who have a birthday this semester. I have a total of $20 in my budget so I came up with these little bigs that have a painting of mine on them and are filled with little "fun size" candies




---gabrielle jean murphy

Angels Among Us

Today in my Book of Mormon class we went over Helaman 7-16. I went up and talked about Helaman 13:38-39 which says "38. But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head. 39. O ye people of the land, that ye would hear my words! And I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye would repent and be saved." We should never get to a point in our lives where it is "everlastingly too late" for us. This chapter comes from Samuel the Lamanite.
From there our teacher gave us quotes regarding our calling and election. One was from Joseph Smith Jr. "
When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John" (T. 150; Quoted by Marion G. Romney, CR, April 1977, pp. 61-62)

This quote brought out something new "to receive the other comforter" and for this we turn to Brother Joseph once again "
What is this other comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions--Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn." (T. 150-15)

Now for this we turned to 2 Kings 6:17 which states "And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." The spirit world is here, on Earth, so we're always surrounded by angels. Let us all open our eyes.

This reminds me of a song I used to love and I hadn't heard for a couple of years and just remembered today:
Angels Among Us By: Alabama *Spoken Prelude* I was walking home from school on a cold winter's day Took a shortcut through the woods and I lost my way It was getting late and I was scared and alone Then a kind old man took my hand and led me home Mama couldn't see him, but he was standing there But I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers *Chorus* Oh I believe there are angels among us Sent down to us from somewhere up above They come to you and me in our darkest hours To show us how to live To teach us how to give To guide us with a light of love When life dealt troubled times and had me down on my knees There's always been someone there to come along and comfort me A kind word from a stranger to lend a helping hand A phone call from a friend just to say I understand Ain't it kind of funny at the dark end of the road Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope Oh I believe there are angels among us Sent down to us from somewhere up above They come to you and me in our darkest hours To show us how to live To teach us how to give To guide us with a light of love They wear so many faces Show up in the strangest places Grace us with their mercy In our time of need Oh I believe there are angels among us Sent down to us from somewhere up above They come to you and me in our darkest hours To show us how to live To teach us how to give To guide us with a light of love

Now these angels can be the angels or spirits we think of or they can be a friend, someone sent to bless our lives. This could be someone who is like Johnathan in the Old Testament, a good Samaritan, or someone in passing who just gives us a smile.

But in this same regard there are Satan's demons who want to surround us as well. So we go back to where we started. Never allow this to come into your life "your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure". Be sure that you live your life in a way that your calling and election may be made sure.

---gabrielle jean murphy
*Quotes take from Brother Anderson's Website*

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Things From My Childhood I Still Love


Pure Imagination


Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination

We'll begin with a spin
Trav'ling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy
Explanation

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be

You will find in your mind
There's a world of endless fascination
No more fun place to be
Than in your imagination

You can dream, any dream
You can savor every situation
Life in there's a sensational
Sensation

If you want to see magic lands
Close your eyes and you will see one
Wanna be dreamer be one
Anytime you please and please save me one

The is no place to go
To compare with your imagination
So go there to be free
If you truly wish to be





.... That song can't sum up my childhood for me any better.... it's part of who I was and who I hope to always be. My imagination is what leads me to do things and guides my passions in life.

---gabrielle jean murphy

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Time Filling Tasks of Mine

There are a lot of things I enjoy doing with my spare time. Such as reading, writing, drawing, singing, composing, taking pictures, being with friends, listening to music, watching movies, and researching. Now why would I research in my spare time? What is there to research. My favorites are:

  • Old fairytales, such as The Brothers Grimm Fairytales

  • Pirates during the Elizabethian era, mainly female pirates... my favorite of all being Grace O'Malley or Granuaile, the Pirate Queen

  • Women of the Bible

  • Greek mythology

  • Artists

  • Mythological creators

  • Ways to build/create things

  • Styles of the 50s and 60s
  • Philosphers... my favorite being Plato
  • Plays
  • Music
  • Art

---gabrielle jean

Friday, April 17, 2009

Looking Back As I Grow Up

Do you ever seem to go off on telling a bunch of funny memories about different things you did as a kid? Well it's something that I do A LOT with my family it seems like. I thought I'd share some with all of you if you even read this (?)...

  • I had just figured out how to do a summersault (if that's how you spell it...) and my dad had just got back from what seemed like a long business trip. So of course I wanted to show him and we were on our back patio (keep in mind it's concrete) so I go to do my thing and when I tuck my head under to go through I bang it on the CONCRETE patio.... those family pictures that next week in AZ were very scabby on my account....


  • I got lost in Toys "R" Us this one time... It was my mom, Tommy, and my friend Sarah and we got to the end of this eisle and there was this Barney toy that they had out attached to the wall with buttons next to him and each button did a different thing. I got very distracted by this Barney and didn't notice my party walking away. When I realized I was all alone I went looking for them and when I realized I had no idea where they were I began to cry. I walked to the front of the store bawling and some employ came up to me and asked what was wrong. I told him my sad little six yearold fable and he asked for my mom's name and I heard it repeated very loudly over the speakers in the store. I suddenly became very embarassed and my mom came running to the front of the store glad she had found me.


  • My first CD I ever got was Michael Feinstein's "Pure Imagination" and I would play it ALL THE TIME on the CD player in our family room. Each song had a different little routine that went with it. The one I remember the most was with the "Teddy Bear Picnic" song. When the song came on I'd run to my room and take each of my teddy bears out one by one setting them around the "picnic" I had set up for them.
  • My favorite movie of all when I was little was "Happily Ever After" which was a non-disney made continuation of the Snow White fable. I'd rent it everytime I was allowed to from Blockbuster.
    • Other big movies in this time of my life include "Once Upon A Forest", "The Little Mermaid", "The Great Mouse Detective", "The Rescuers", "One Hundred and One Dalmations", "Lady and The Tramp".... pretty much anything classic Disney, "The Baby Sitters Club", "Skamper the Penguin", "A Room With A View" (I know a grownup movie.... but I LOVED watching it with my mom), "The Sound of Music", "Balto", "All Dogs Go To Heaven", "A Troll In Central Park", "The Flight of Dragons", "Space Jam", "Oliver and Co.", "The Princess and the Trolls", some Donald Duck video we had, "Rigaletto"....
  • In the third grade my whole class would sing the "Witch Dr." song and there was this one time I was laughing so hard and I had just taken a drink of pink lemonade from my Pochahantas (sp?) canteen and it came out of my nose.... it burned like no other.
  • I had one of my friends over and we were playing in the backyard... I stopped all of the sudden and looked at the world around me and said to my friend "Look at the sky, it looks like something Vincent Van Gough would paint." (I was a nerd then too.... I know I know....)

These are some of my childhood memories.... I hope you enjoyed... I did :)
--gabrielle jean

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Tastes of Home

As first semester draws to an end I decided to reflect over my experience of college overall so far. Classes have been a new and interesting, I've learned a lot and have enjoyed most of it.


  • I'm in a math for the real world class, which is basically a class where you learn about stocks, banking, stats, and such, it's been a little helpful, but not the most intersting class I've taken.

  • Art 2-D, I've learned officially how to do 2-point and 1-point perspective, how to draw boxes, and we went over water colors. I'm loving doing my art final right now... I've spent about 16 hours on it so far and I have more to do.

  • American Foundations, we've gone over a lot in American history very loosely though... I really enjoyed the first unit but overall I'm alright without this class.

  • Farewell to Art? 20th Century Propaganda, this is a second block class and I LOVE it. We went over the different "isms" and applied them to America and other nations and the propaganda they use to promote these "isms", we study poems, poetry and other ways they use propaganda. It's been so interesting and so much fun.

  • Country Line Dancing/Square Dancing, well there's not much to say about this class... we do line dancing and square dances... keep in mind this is all country too. Yeah thought I knew the Cott'ni Jo before, not so much. It can be fun, but most of the time I wish it were a much shorter class.

  • Book of Mormon, has been a wonderful class. I've learned SO much and I'm actually getting through the Book of Mormon which is awesome. I can't wait to take the second half next semester with my teacher.

Well that's the actual school stuff besides the devotionals... a lot of them have been very good, filled with great spiritual context, and have helped and inspire me.


The social life of BYUI... well I still pretty much have the same friends now that I did at the begining of the semester. I love spending time with Josh and Moo and it's fun to be able to talk and see otehr friends as well.


My love for cooking has increased so much while out here. I've tried to cook so many different things just like my mom and they haven't reached that level yet, but most of my things have been pretty good which is very exciting. Especially since I couldn't cook at all back home. Well that's about it for right now.... here's my mom's Apple Pie Recipe:


Crust:
1 ½ c flour
1 ½ t sugar
1 t salt
½ c oil
2 T milk
Filling:
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced (enough to equal 6 cups)
½ c sugar
2 T flour
½ t nutmeg
½ t cinnamon
Topping:
½ c sugar
½ c flour
½ c butter
To make the crust, mix the ingredients together. Press into a pie dish and press dough up the sides as well.
To make the filling, first stir together the dry ingredients and then add the apples. Mound apple filling into the crust-lined pan.
To make the topping, mix the ingredients together until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the apples and pat down a bit.
Place pie in medium-sized brown paper bag and fold over edges. Put this on a cookie sheet. (Pie makes a sticky mess on the bottom of the cookie sheet and pie dish but it comes off easily after soaked in water.)
Oven must be completely pre-heated to avoid burning the bag. Make sure that the bag does not touch the sides of the oven. Bake at 350* for 1 hour 10 minutes.
Remove pie from oven, tear away top of the bag and return pie to the oven for additional 10 minutes to crisp the top a bit.
--gabrielle jean

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

St. Patrick's Day - With my hands I give you my heart, and crown it with my love

I'd just like to list out my favorites that involve Ireland in any way, shape, or form...
Music-- Bryan McFadden, U2, The Corrs, Celtic Woman, High Kings, The Irish Rovers, The Clancy Brothers, Van Morrison, Danu, The Pogues, Flogging Molly, Natalie McMaster, Liz Carrol, Dubliners, Meav, Three Irish Tenors, Celtic Spirit, Gealic Storm...
Movies-- The Quiet Man, Waking Ned Devine, Widows' Peak, The Secret of Roan Inish, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Tara Road
Books-- Fairy & Folk Tales of Ireland, Irish Poem, Brida, Grace O'Malley: The Pirate Queen, My Ireland, Oscar Wilde... I hope to read Samuel Beckett books one day
I LOVE my Irish heritage so much and I'm very proud of it. I have a claddagh necklace I wear pretty much every day that my Dad gave me. I hope to live in Ireland for atleast a year in my young life. I research it often and talk about it a lot.
Incase some of you didn't know St Patty's Day deals with the patron of Cathalicism in Ireland so that's the reason we wear green... it's the color that represented the Catholics while if you wear orange it represents the Protestants... Plus if it were a true Irish holiday without every being affected by the Catholics or the Protestants then it would be spelled differently (Padraig), but the old Irish didn't have Saints anyways... Well that's my little dedication... Happy Patty's Day
--Gabrielle Jean

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Put Into Words



This is a really cool thing you can do on Wordle where it takes the words you repeat the most and put it together like this for this blog:

This one's for my photography blog:

Friday, February 27, 2009

CD Album

I got this off of rootphotography.blogspot.com a couple who takes wedding pictures blog I follow:


How to make your fake album cover:


1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.


2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.


3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7daysThird picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. ---I just used a random picture I took


4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.



Here's the one I did:



This one's more of a poster look:

Sunday, February 15, 2009

10 Virgins

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TOST MATTHEW CHAPTER 25

1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.



So today I went to church with my friend Michelle and it was her stake conference. I sang in the stake choir with her and it was AMAZING. We sang I Know My Redeemer Lives and I Believe in Christ, both songs were really powerful but none of them got me the way Bruce R. McConkie's words did. They're beautiful and filled with the wonderful truth we can ever gain. But after stake conference Michelle and I were waiting for her roommates. We found one of the girls fairly quickly and walked over to the car hoping the other girl was waiting there. When we saw she wasn't Michelle's roommate went in search for the other roommate while Michelle and I stayed by the car. We were waiting there for a good while and finally Michelle decided we should both go look for them. When we were about to embark on this quest I saw the two girls standing across the street with shocked looks on their faces. They came over to us and told us they had both seen the prophet in the building where we had been. It was at that moment I felt a slight understanding towards the 5 virgins who missed the bridegroom. If I had felt inspired to stay a little longer I could've seen the prophet called by God.


--Gabrielle Jean


Friday, February 6, 2009

...Birthday Knowledge...

What I've learned it means to be 19 years old... It's just like being 18... but better... haha. It means it's my first birthday away from my family (I love them and miss them, but I'm growing up on my own now), it means I can do all the things I want to, it's being able to have fun with friends ALL DAY LONG, it's growing up...
--Gabrielle Jean

Friday, January 30, 2009

January 30, 2008

The month is almost over and I've been in school for about a month now. I LOVE it here. It's a wonderful enviroment. It was strange at first having a prayer in the beginning of my classes, but now it seems right. I love how friendly everyone is and how comfortable I feel around everyone. I adore Ica and Moo... they are both wonderful and lovely girls who bring so much joy to each of my days. I'm grateful for all that I have. I'm so excited for all that lays before all of us and the dreams we'll be living.


Things I've done with my life since my last official post... I got a hair cut from the local Beauty College, watched a lot of movies, started to understand how to play HALO, I'm alright at Rockband, gone to the MC for dinner many times, I've done my visiting teaching for the month, visited the grocery store often, I have a boyfriend, I've dressed up and grunged down, I go to the gym (still a new idea for me since I'd never gone before coming here... the outside world was my gym), sledding, first snowball fight ever (inhaler needed afterwards), planned a trip to Provo (without parents involvement besides telling I was going), enjoy cooking, and enjoyed life.
--Gabrielle Jean

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Post From a Friend

Dear Gabe,

You don't know that I'm doing this, infact I'm trying to type this fast while your in the kitchen. But I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate you. We lived in two states for four months and yet I couldn't go one day without texting you. And now that we're finally at school together, your my home away from home. You have your own friends and your own life, but you still welcome me in and make me feel loved. You are my greatest friend. And I know that we will be friends for a life time. I look forward to our many more conversations about boys, babies and Disney :D. I love you Gabrielle Murphy!

Love always!

Holly Hallmark

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Who's Able To See My Neverland...

Do you think you could ever bring someone from Realland to Neverland... could they fully accept your Neverland and understand the true beauty of it you see... is it possible to merge your Neverland with their's... maybe one day I'll be brave enough to fully allow someone to enter into my Neverland with me... to let them come with me to taste the sweet joys that it brings to me...

Monday, January 12, 2009

College 101

So now that I've been at BYUI for a week I'm an expert. Haha... that's not true. I've gone to two full days of three full days of school, but I haven't fallen behind in my homework... no matter how late I do end up staying up... which some times means staying up til 12 and then starting on homework... I know, not the best way to do school work but it is getting done and I understand the things I do.


But the social part of school is the best... hanging out with my roommates who I LOVE, Ica, Moo, and Odi, Michelle, Lianna, and Holly... the adopted roommates... The games we play like the HAHA Game that don't really have to make sense, the inside jokes we already have, the night walks, the movies, hanging out, dancing/singing, having fun... it's all a blast and I'm loving every minute of it.


--Gabrielle Jean