¡España!

Megan and I just got back from a week in Spain and New York City. It was incredible! We traveled in the southern region of Spain, called Andalusia, to cities like Granada, Cordoba, and Seville. They were absolutely amazing! The weather was great, the food was splendid, and the sights were out of this world. We also got to see our friend, Brad Holland, in NYC, eat at our favorite restaurants, and visit some fantastic museums. It was an unforgettable experience that we were so happy to share together.

We learned a few things on our travels:

1. Always schedule more time than you think you need! We thought we had everything planned out nicely, but in the end, we ran from one awesome thing to the next, just trying to cram it all in. We saw tons of amazing things, but wish we could have stayed longer!

2. Do your research! We made a few purchases and plans based on rumors and faulty intuition. It ended up costing us time and money, both of which were in short supply. Luckily, we were able to avert some potential disasters by doing some last minute internet searches and talking with locals or experienced travelers. Don't skip out on the tourist books and maps: they may seem tacky or whatever, but they really are invaluable!

3. Wear comfy shoes. This sounds obvious, but when we say comfy, we mean really comfy. What we thought was suitable footwear turned out to be insufficient for the surprising distances we ended up walking. In the end, despite Megan's fastidious standards in fashion, even she contemplated the infamously ugly—but equally comfortable—Crocs for her next traveling shoe.

Now we're back in Provo and settled in (hopefully) for the spring and summer months. We have a lot of work to do to get our BFA final project ready by September, so we'll have plenty to do here! Boredom is never an issue for the Truebloods! Except maybe on airplanes....

Long Time, No Post

Hi all,

Well, needless to say (but I'm saying it anyway) it's been a really long time. A little over six months. That's half a year. Wow.

A lot has happened, and we want to tell you about it.

Stay tuned for more updates. We'll post a few pictures here to wet your appetites.

Tchau!

Adventures, excitement, etc.

Here are some pictures we've taken in NYC. We're trying really hard to practice our fake smiles and, gasp!, take pictures in spite of terrible lighting conditions. Enjoy!

Act II: The Waiting

The first time I saw Houston, I remember him looking… interested. He carefully chose his seat next to me and glanced over occasionally. On our first day of painting he “conveniently” set up his easel next to me. For the next week or two, during class, he asked me about myself and told a few awkward jokes. I remember thinking, “this boy is really cute, but looks too young—maybe I should set him up with my little sister”.

On a Wednesday afternoon I went into my bedroom and noticed that I had missed a call. Guilt struck me. There was a church committee meeting I missed two days prior. The phone call must have been from Abby, who headed up the meeting. I called back and waited for an answer. I was surprised to hear a man's voice on the other end. "Who is this," I said, in a far-from-courteous tone. "This is Houston... from painting class.” He explained how he got my number from Mike, a mutual friend and student in the class. There was some small talk and then he asked about my plans for the coming Saturday. He asked me if I would be interested in going rock climbing. I said yes, agreeing to a date that had come quite unexpectedly.

He looked good when he picked me up. We doubled with his roommate Christian and a date. When we got to the rock climbing gym, we went off on our own and did some climbing and a lot of talking. Afterwards we went to Nicolitalia’s and had some pizza. By the end of the night I knew I really liked him.

Then came the waiting.

We saw each other frequently. I was uncharacteristically persistent. The more we hung out, the more anxious I was for him to initiate the first move. I did embarrassing things like leave my hand open right next to his and sit really close, but to my dismay, no response. This went on for two months.  We had been on several dates and I began to worry. Maybe this guy would never make a move. A few times I noticed what I thought to be an attempt to put his arm around me, but none of these attempts were successful. I think his arm sort of touched my head once.

One night when he dropped me off, I was thinking I would be lucky to get a substantial hug. He gave me an awkward half-hug and told me he had had a good time. He wished me a good night and hesitated. He turned to leave, but only made it a couple steps before turning back around. He told me he really enjoyed spending time with me and he liked me a lot. He told me the reasons he liked me. I told him I felt the same way. It was then that he finally kissed me.

They say the best spice is hunger. 

I can remember thinking, “That was a really good kiss.” I can also remember thinking, “What took you so long!” But finally he did and it was wonderful.

Then, ironically, he got a terrible sore throat and we didn’t kiss again for another two weeks…

New York City

Megan and I have been in NYC for about two weeks now for our illustration internship. Here's what's going down.

We left from the SLC airport at around 11:00 PM. A red eye. We didn't sleep. Then we arrived in New York at around 5:00 AM. We had to haul all of our luggage (a month's worth for both of us) onto the subway and take it to my apartment.

My apartment (called "g. crew") is actually pretty nice. Cool roommates, pretty clean, very cheap. All in all, a good deal. Megan's . . . not so much. We got to her place after a while. It's on the east side; mine is on the west side. It takes forever to get there, as there's no line that goes directly across. We do find a bus, but it takes 40 minutes, at least. The apartment? Cockroaches. Dirty. Hot. Kind of expensive. Megan has a hard time sleeping at night. I'm sure I would, too.

It takes us almost a week and a half to meet up with out internship provider, Brad Holland. He's been busy in Washington D.C. trying to fight off a deplorable copyright amendment bill. He's very courteous and very nice, but very busy. We're doing a lot of scanning, sorting, archiving, and copying. You know, the typical intern stuff. So far though, it's been great to see his work and just be in the atmosphere.

Aside from all that, we've done a lot of shopping, visiting museums, and eating the most delicious pizza we've ever had. We're exhausted at the end of each day, but it's definitely fun. All except the cockroaches.

Act I: Boy Meets Girl

This begins the unfolding of events that led to our eventual betrothal. I write them as best I remember them, although they may not be exactly how they happened.

It was the beginning of spring term and I had signed up for a landscape painting class. And we all know the first thing you do when you find yourself in a new classroom. You look around. And I don't just mean look around, I mean you look around. You look for cute girls. That's just what you do, if you're a single guy. And that's what I did.

But sometimes you're disappointed. And I was, at first. We met in the figure drawing room in the HFAC. I looked around and didn't see anyone that piqued my interest. Bethanne Anderson, the teacher, began the introduction and roll call, in her usual bubbly manner. She checked off the names. Then she told us we were going to look at some landscape paintings in the MOA (BYU's Museum of Art). She said that Megan would be joining us there.

A glimmer of hope.

As we're examining the paintings, I get tired and decide to sit down. This is when she walks in. I see the most gorgeous pair of eyes on any woman I have ever seen. Exaggeration? No. She has this long hair with these cute bangs that make her look really modern and classy. She's wearing an outfit that says she knows good style. I think, "bingo."

But there's something else. Megan, when she comes into the room, has this distinct aura of "coolness." She is so confident and cool that it throws me off a little. I hear her talk about a favorite artsist, Alphonse Mucha. I awkwardly interject and try to show her I'm into Mucha, too. "I saw his museum in Prague," I boast. As I'm doing this, I feel very much like a middle school kid trying to ask out the high school prom queen. She nods and smiles, very politely.

"This isn't starting off so well for me," I think.

It's been a while . . .

Well, as you can see, it's been a long time since our last post. It's been crazy. We've been so busy, it's been hard to find time to do anything fun.

After our housing falling through for our New York internship, we were frantically searching for new places to stay. Thankfully, two very affordable locations were found, so we're good on that front . . . for now. Because of the change in housing, we had to shift our whole trip one week later, so we'll be in NYC from June 3 to June 30.

And as if planning a wedding weren't work enough, we're also planning for a trip to Brazil in August for a grant-funded art project, where we'll be learning about Bahian art (a region in Brazil) and gathering photographic reference for a series of paintings to be made later as our BFA senior projects! Our whole experience will be documented by our friends, Christian Jensen and Nick Stentzel, as a documentary film for Christian's senior capstone project. It's a lot of work, and I have to give props to Christian for really heading it up and making things happen.

Megan and I just got our engagement shots the other day. Once again, Claire did a fantastic job. The photos are awesome. By the way, Claire is getting married soon, too! Andy Buys, my ex-roommate, is the lucky man, and I have to remind them often that it was my uncanny matchmaking that brought them together. Kind of.

"Up next . . . an unparalleled story of love and romance. Two artists meet in a plein aire painting class. One is a boy, the other, a girl. You know the rest." (Now say that in your head with the voice of Ira Glass; it makes more sense).