In 3 Days I...

...built a freakin' website! You heard that right. I built a website. You're about to experience a bit of a proud, "I'm gonna brag about myself for an entire post" kind of moment, so it may be in your best interest, and in the best interest of my sweet and humble reputation, for you to stop reading now. 

Back to awesome matter at hand. I'm not referring to a blog like this that every college girl, soccer mom, and do-it-yourself have (I realize I am stereotyping bloggers on my own blog but that's the irony of it all). I'm talking about a legitimate website. A portfolio of my design work. Of all the things I tell you to check out, this is one that you really should. It was hard work, exhausting, and frustrating. But it's dang good. Seriously. Check it out.

www.kyra-marie.com

Shout out to my very patient boyfriend who was willing to help me with the behind the scenes stuff. Love you tons punkin.

Fashion Remix...

I walk construction sites by day and runways by night...

Not really. But kinda. Every other year one of the professional design organizations, IIDA, hosts what's called Fashion Remix. It's an extremely fun and creative competition where teams of designers are paired with a vendor of architectural materials at random and then required to make an ensemble out of material the vendor supplies. Think dresses made out of wood, metal, wallpaper, etc. 

This year was my first year participating :-) We got paired with a vendor that supplies an architectural film - it's a vinyl kind of like wallpaper but for more surfaces. This is what we created... 

Pretty incredible huh? It took hours and hours of work but it was so fun working with girls from my office in this creative outlet and then being on stage to present our hard work (I was only chosen as the model because I was out of town when the team decided :-P But it was honestly a lot of fun). And to top it off... we won in our category! Most Innovative Use of Soft Material! Way to go girls!

Take a look at some of these other impressive designs...

wood veneer and carpet

Tile and chair parts (no joke)

 And this only give you a glimpse of a quarter of the ensembles! It is definitely one of my favorite design events of the year..

I am now a fashion blogger...

I joke I joke! But check out my latest project! I took a one size fits all construction vest, cut it apart, and turned it into a Star Trek inspired women's cut vest! ha!

...and here it is on display!

It was for a presentation promoting Women in Architecture - or women in any industry dominated by men for that matter. Looks like I could start one of those fashion blogs where you take thrift store finds and turn them into presentable clothing. I joke. But check out some of the beauties...

Dream Job...

Holy Heck. This year is getting away from me. Isn't it crazy how the times in life when the most changes are happening are the times that we can't seem to find a moment to write it all down, yet these are probably the moments that my matter the most?

Did you know I have been at my dream job for almost a year now?? I have had some amazing opportunities at this place. Every day I get paid to sketch ideas, be inspired, and collaborate with creative people to design spaces that will affect those that use them. It's really quite incredible.

I get to take an idea in my head and turn it into this... 

... and then I take that sketch and turn it into this...

...and that rendering becomes reality (this project will be done by the end of this year).

When I was in high school I thought I wanted to go into the medical field so that I could affect people's lives - as if the only way to influence others was to help them when they were sick. But now, I get to change people's lives through their environment - by making it beautiful and functional. People think design is just picking colors and furniture, and if you ask me about it, you'll get an earful. That's maybe 10% of what I do! Design is the opportunity and the science of shape people's surroundings in a way that will affect their productivity, mood, health, and ability to learn, heal, or work. Everyday I focus on things like how people will move through a space, how the layout of a room will foster creativity and learning, and the psychological affect colors and patterns have on people. I study how the chemical make up of building materials will affect health and well-being - and I am in control of making sure my designs have less impact on the environment. It's a beautiful thing really.

This last week I got to see an almost finished product of one of the first projects I worked on when I started - the Wayne Estes Athletics Building up at Utah State University. It was so incredible to walk through the space and see what my hard work had done! It's almost surreal! Here are two images of designs that I worked my tail off to make look good and was so excited to see them in real life!

Looking forward to a great year and some more fun designs...

2013 in Review...

So it may be January 20th, but I am finally getting around to reviewing my last year (it takes a lot of thought to remember everything great that happened in an entire year). So here we go!

SCHOOL:

Placed first in a 48 hour design competition

Presented my senior project in the Utah Conference for Undergraduate Research

Graduated from college!

TRIPS I TOOK:

Jackson Hole Wyoming Ski Trip

Moab Climbing Trip

Havasu, Arizona

Lake Powell

Tuacon Theater with the fam

Midnight Wendover Trip

BOOKS I READ:

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Anne of Green Gables

Pride and Prejudice

Beowulf

War and Peace books 1 and 2

War of Art

The Five Love Languages

EVENTS I WENT TO:

101 Inventions at the Leonardo

Utah's First Annual Comicon

BYU football game

Real Salt Lake game

Tulip Festival

Havasu, Arizona Collegiate Triathlon Championships

Races:

color me rad

Other:

Started a rocking new job as an interior designer at VCBO Architecture!

Moved to Sugarhouse

Went on many trips to 7 Peaks

Had the BEST halloween costume

Celebrated Jake's 30th

Went to my first drinking party (we watched...and then left early)

and learned to longboard.

It has been an incredible year with so many exciting changes! I am loving where I am at and look forward to more adventures :-)

Feeling Powerful....

This moment in history marks the time that I will never again have to submit a paper, assignment, or take an exam for my undergraduate degrees. This moment right here will never happen again... and I couldn't be more thrilled!

"Didn't you graduate in April...?" You ask. Well, technically yes and no. I finished my Interior Design degree in April. I had three more classes to go to finish my sales degree. Yes, I could have taken the classes during the previous semester and killed myself, but instead, I saved them for the summer. They were all available online and there were only three of them, so what the heck.

I turned in the last essay at 10:30 this morning. So today marks the day that I am officially done with my undergraduate degrees! 

I'm excited, relieved, but most of all, I feel powerful. Maybe a strange thing to feel. But even before I hit "submit", the feelings of excitement started to bubble up inside of me. I had to keep from shouting hurrah! I swear I could have run a marathon right then and there. So I threw on my running clothes and went running. I didn't quite make it 26.2 miles, but I didn't once feel exhausted and ready to give up. I was pumped! 

I feel like I have officially arrived. I got a glimpse of this when I got offered a design job the week before graduation. I got another glimpse while I was sitting in the auditorium in April listening to someone say how wonderful I (and however many other hundred students there were) was. But today combines all of those moments into a seriously rockin' feeling of accomplishment. If I could feel this powerful everyday can you image what I could do with myself?? 

I know this feeling won't last forever, but while it's still here I have a lot to do with it! First I need to figure out what my next big goal is....

The Start of Something Beautiful...

Today has been a day of excitement, sadness, overwhelming accomplishment, and gratitude.

Today I graduated with a double Bachelor's Degree from Weber State University.

As I sat in the bleachers of the Dee Events Center listening to Jon Huntsman, Jr. speak about doing our best but always listening to our hearts and Fan-Ya Lin, the student graduate speaker, talk about the late nights she spent practicing the piano even with blistered fingers, it was all I could do to keep the tears at bay.

Today is an incredible day - and the amount of time, effort, sweat, and tears that have gotten me to this moment make it all the more incredible. 

As I walked back into my apartment after the commencement exercises, I paused for a moment to just reflect on where I am and how I've gotten here. I felt that I needed to write my feelings down, so here I am... yet I am at lose for words.

How does one describe so many different emotions?

Am I sad?

Ya, I'm sad to leave this behind.

Am I excited?

I had spontaneous fits of dancing throughout the day yesterday because I couldn't contain the excitement.

Am I nervous?

Sooo nervous.

But most of all, I feel like I have accomplished something great - something that will affect the course of my life for the better...

Undergraduate Research...

Back in November, I submitted the abstract for my senior project, with the encouragement of a professor, to the Utah Conference for Undergraduate Research. The title is pretty self explanatory... undergraduate students submit the abstracts from their research to be reviewed and, if their work is accepted, they get to present at the research conference.

Well...

My project got accepted! As did my sweet friend Kelsey's. Pretty cool! We spent our entire Friday up at Utah State presenting our research to students and professors. We also enjoyed wandering around the beautiful campus, eating Aggie blue mint, and studying.

I will be having a portfolio review in April to present my project again, as well as my portfolio of work, with my graduating class. Stay tuned ;-)

New Year's Resolutions...

As I was typing up my New Year's Resolutions for this new year, I quickly read through my resolutions for last year. I did okay on most, but completely failed on some of them. I guess this is to be expected - especially since I didn't look at my list of goals again until last night. I still think it is a good idea for me to express my resolutions publicly so that I'm more likely to keep up with them, but I think another thing I need to do is read through them more often. Anyways, here are some goals for the 2013 year...

PHYSICAL:
- Compete in four triathlons. I've already planned out which ones I'd like to do, I just have to be patient with the recovery of a shoulder injury... I'm most excited for the collegiate championships in March and the Olympic length triathlon in St. George in September!

WORK:
- Have a design job when I graduate college this year. Not just any job, but a job in the field that I have been studying for the last three years. I really don't want to graduate college and be stuck at my current job living at home... blah. This goal might be a tough one, but I've got my sights set high!

SCHOOL:
- Place top of my design class and first on my senior project
- Graduate with honors

MENTAL:
- Read four additional books not related to homework

FINANCIAL:
- Get car repair paid off by the end of the year
- Get my student loans paid off by the end of the year. (originally my goal, since I started college, was to graduate without student loans, but with the unexpected car payment, it looks like I am going to have to modify the original goal and shoot for the end of the year)

TRAVEL:
- Travel somewhere for a triathlon
- Go on a longer vacation (not just a weekend getaway)

2012 In Review...

Things I did and learned this year...

TRIPS I TOOK:

- Went to California with Jake, Anna, and Nick

- Family trip to Florida and cruise to Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Maartin

- Road trip to Wyoming

RACES I COMPETED IN:

- Herriman Triathlon (placed 3rd!)

- Cahoots Duo Challenge

BOOKS I READ:

- Ender's Game

- The Princess Bride

- In Praise of Idleness - Bertrand Russell

- The Hunger Games Series

- Started a book club

SCHOOL AND DESIGN THINGS:

- Designed homes for people of Haiti

- Reupholstered a chair for charity
- Volunteered at the boys and girls club
- Attended a Fashion Show

- Designed Tibbitt's Family Pharmacy
- Designed picture wall for my mom and my aunts

NEW SKILLS I LEARNED:
- Long-boarding
- Paddleboarding

- More rock climbing

- Started learning to play the guitar
- Snowboarding

- Took Scuba diving lessons with Jake
- Slacklining
- Indoor surfing

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

- Attended my first Real Salt Lake game

- Voted in my first presidential election

- Kayaked across Utah Lake

- Moved into a new apartment

- Joined the WSU Triathlon Club

- Got a 0.52 cent raise at work!

- Had my own Thanksgiving Dinner with Jake

- Slept in a cave during a thunderstorm

- Went to my first bar and my first club

- Watched a lot of UFC fights with Jake

- Midnight hottubbing

- Completed the P90X Challenge with Jake

- Continued to spend time with this boy - and we celebrated our one-year anniversary of dating :-)

I'd say it has been an excellent year! I learned a lot of new things, had a lot of fun adventures, and loved spending time with Jake. Looking forward to the exciting things to come this next year :-)