All right, so first things first, I did not place in the Duck Stamp contest. I was with the multitude of those who tried but didn't even make it past the first round. However, what really surprised me was that a good handful of some of the entries I thought for sure had a good chance at winning didn't make it past the first round either. (And some that honestly looked like a 6th grader painted them made it through to the first round! ) To me, this just proves two things: 1.) The judges have different preferences each year, and it's not necessarily how good you are, but the composition that usually ends up being the determining factor if you move on and 2.) My motivation for competing next year is fired up even more. I love competitions, and if I lose, I'm usually motivated more than ever to try my best and outdo myself the next time.

As far as college stuff goes, my plan is to bring back some of my acrylics and easel and work on paintings in my dorm. That's at least what one of my professors encouraged me to do as I try to "find my niche" with painting animals. So that's going to be exciting and hopefully I can actually upload some stuff when I finish it. I'm home for the weekend with my entire family for a change. We're going to be celebrating a belated birthday party for my brother and my dad's coming home from Ecuador today as well, which I'm really excited about! (He and a few members of our church went down there for a week and a half about.) Otherwise, that's about it.