First Set of Designs

Well here are the first six designs I have been able to bust out so far...but they will only be printed if I have your help. I hope there is something in here that will fit YOU. If not, let me know. And if so...also let me know. :)

I would really like for this to all work out. More designs will be coming. And I'm not 100% sure yet...but I believe each shirt will cost around...$15 to $20. But again, this is a way for me to earn a little more for my mission. And another thing, on a few of the shirts, I can change the color. So yeah...let me know what you think! :) please and thank you.

P.S. thank you for all those who have put input in so far!   

A Little Experiment...

Ok...so many of you may know that I really enjoy art and design. I love to get my creative juices flowing...and one way I do that is by designing t-shirts. However, I have never had any of them actually printed. So...I got to thinking...why not print my designs myself? Here's the catch though...it costs money to do things like that.

So my experiment...today I have been steaming away coming up with new designs for my experiment that I like to call, Renown Republik.. now..no making fun. I want to see if it would be worth it to create my own line of t-shirts and I have a couple if sample designs. Now, I need feedback. Would you, my readers, be interested and willing to buy them? I need feedback on this one...so please...comment...let me know what you think. You can even message me on Facebook. Or get at me on Twitter, @bshinks. Please and thank you! :) 

Sunshine

Ok...well as you may have noticed the new look to my blog. Thanks to my one and only AND not to mention, most wonderful older sister, Jeri Lin for helping me design it. She is a blogging guru, master, pro, you name it. Just check hers out here. Awesome, eh? Everyone thank her for the new Mormon Boy Swag looki. (Insert Round of applause).

Alright, now let us get down to the meat of the post. To start, I appologize for not being avid in the blog updating. I have recently began writing in a journal every night. I am pretty proud if I do say so myself. The reason why though is because I have an incentive..I bought one of those sketch book journals. All the pages are blank. No lines. No nothin. Ahh, scary! But I enjoy it. Every day I draw a picture of something that reminds me of that day and then I write about it with a fine tip sharpie on the back. Mind you, some of the drawings are quite crappy because I do them in about 5 seconds because it is super late at night by the time I get to it and I am just trying to stay awake. Anywho, today I did a drawing of a sun.

(This is for suspense)

I will come back to the sun a little later.......

I started institute yesterday evening! And may I just say it was awesome. Quite a bit different from seminary, but super super good. I learned so much in that hour and a half or so that I was there. I give a lot of credit to my teacher though, Brother Chatwin or Bishop Chatwin. That guy really knows how to bring the spirit into the room while teaching. And like I said I learned bunches. One thing we talked about was the plan of salvation which is the plan of our Heavenly Father and how lucky we are to know it. We also talked about being able to receive celestial glory...which is compared to the glory and brightness of the sun.

Well, I got to thinking as I always do. It being the first day of June of the year two-thousand and twelve here in Mesa, Arizona. And the sun is not a shy guy around here. In fact I believe the temperatures reached the 112 mark...wowzas. That is definitely on the toasty side. Those temperatures will make anyone feel a little uncomfortable. And if anyone says anything different....liar. Straight up.

Now time to tie it all up into a pretty bow. (Figure of speech). As I stated earlier, celestial glory=sun. Celestial glory=Heavenly Father's glory. So...we can assume that sun=Heavenly Father. (For my lesson purposes). The sun can make us uncomfortable...especially if we are unprepared. That is why we have things like A/C, sun screen, shade, all that good stuff. Heavenly Father can make us feel a little uncomfortable at times too...especially if we are unprepared to meet him or we aren't making the best choices in our lives. That is why he gave us his Only Begotten Son though, Jesus Christ, the atonement, the opportunity to repent. It truly is the greatest gift. So learn about it and use it in your own life. You wouldn't drive through Mesa, Arizona in a car with no A/C if it has the capability to do so. So you got the atonement, it is there for you. Use it. It's worth it.

And that is why I drew a picture of the sun in my journal...because I was feeling the uncomforts that it brings today.

Now don't be afraid to leave comments and questions. I will gladly answer. :)

Thanks for reading! :) 

Draft Day

Wow...can someone say slacker? I am truly sorry for not writing for so long..senior year has been quite busy...but there are a little less than 4 weeks left! That is just straight up crazy. Anyways...let me get to the meat of this lovely titled post. TOMORROW is DRAFT DAY for the NFL! I am very excited to say the least. I love seeing which college athletes get to live on their dream and play on the highest level after all of their hard work. I am especially excited to see the players that my San Diego Chargers decide to bring onto our team, because you know...I am addicted to football...my withdrawals are gettin a little ridiculous. I have to play some Madden and watch the NFL network in order to sooth my cravings every now and again. Sorry...I am kinda rambling...anyways ever since I can remember I dreamed of being part of the NFL draft. Waiting for the call...hearing my name over the microphone...making that long walk up the stage *cameras flashing non-stop*...and finally holding up the jersey of the team that just started my career. Dreams are nice, aren't they?

Then, I got to thinking. As I always do. I get to participate in my own "draft" sometime around the tail end of this year. I have been training and preparing my whole life, just like those athletes. I have had some rough patches. Some losses you may say. However, I have had the good times as well, or wins. If you think about it, me and these athletes are not all that different. They have a combine, I have papers. Both are applications. They have interviews, I have interviews. They get the final call, and I get a final call. I believe I probably feel about the same as them awaiting that call. After all, they will change our lives drastically. BUT...there is one difference...they can't guarantee that their team will win. I can. No matter what, my team will win. My team is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am EXTREMELY excited for the oppurtunity that I have to be able to join the team and fulfill my role in the position that they feel I will do the very best. As for now, I just am staying in shape. Studying my scriptures, saying prayers, going to seminary, etc. Until I get my call and get to hoist up my jersey and wear it for two years.

And if you have no idea what I am talking about, dont be afraid to ask questions. I will happily answer :)

Simple Joys

We all live in this crazy thing called life. We hustle and bustle to and fro, trying to get everything we possibly can get done within a 24 hour period. Then. Tomorrow comes. And the whole process starts all over again, whith maybe a few differences.

I think while we go through this life we need to find the simple joys. Instead of making everything so complex and what not. For example, this weekend me and my only brother Hung out for about an hour. Just me and him while we took my little sister to soccer practice. While we were there I was showing him how to climb trees. I also was teasing him a lot about girls (he just started kindergarten). The whole situation just mad me smile and I think he had a good time as well. 

And one other thing I would like to add. While searching for the Simple Joys, don't let little things knock ya down. Once again...I have another example. This week I was in my favorite class at school. AP art. I enjoy it so much. The whole thing happened at the very beginning of class. I went to the back of the room to acquire paint that was needed for the current project I am working on. As I was dispensing the black paint, it decided to shoot out at me. It sprayed out and got me at about the bottom of my rib cage on my all white t-shirt. LAME SAUCE. So...I then began to attempt to wash it out...but..EPIC FAIL. I proceeded on to getting more paint...with a not so happy attitude. Then...showing my friend Kurt my accident..being the genius he is, he came up with a brilliant idea. Just splattered the whole short with more paint since it was already ruined. So...what the heck, we did! Kurt along with two girls in my class made me the coolest shirt in school that day ;) see for yourself. 

Look at that shirt! (Ignore the highly unattractive photo of me)

Anyways...all I am trying to say is make the most out of situations that come your way and find the Simple Joys.

"Come what may, and love it!" -- Joseph B. Wirthlin

¡Holá Señor!

No no no...it is Senior to you. Can you believe it...as my final summer of high school has come to a close. It is time to get into the swing of things once again. Waking up early, going to school, doing work...you know...no big deal.

As some of you may know I go to school twice a day. I attend Desert Ridge High School half the day, and in the evenings I go to Benjamin Franklin Charter School Crismon Campus. Yes, I did get transferred from the Gilbert campus that I was at last year. I like to think it is a good thing. I got welcomed into every single classroom from friendly messages on the board. They tell me it is for the students...but I like to believe they were for me. While here though I have acquired some new responsibilities. I no longer only have to vacuum, but I also have to take out the trash and put new trash bags in every single little trash can. Yay. It is especially fun when you get one filled with puke after the first day of school. Poor kid...and poor me as well. But for the most part it is not that bad. It just takes a lot longer...but hopefully I will get faster as the year progresses. It also helps that my boss hired a friend of mine to help out...so it makes it a lot more enjoyable. I am no longer alone in my efforts to keep the school sanitary for the little children. (Yes, I like to think of myself as a hero).

And as for my final year of high school...you can catch me swaggin to the max at the top of the food chain. I am officially a Senior. Not a Super Senior...like some may believe...do I really look that old? (I really did get asked if I was). I think this year may have its challenges, but all in all I am expecting a fantastic final year of being a Jaguar. Well that is all for now..so....Remember to smile. Life is GREAT!

One Good Example

My life has been full of people that are such great examples to me. I must say, I am quite blessed. One of those examples happens to be my one and only older sister. Jeri Lin Brown is her name, and she sure means a lot to me. More than she may actually realize.

What can I say, she is the only sibling that has been with me my whole entire life. She has taught me a lot over the past 17 1/2 years of my life. When I started kindergarten, she would walk me over to my classroom and stay there with me until school had to start. And as we got older we she would allow me to come and hang out with her friends, and we would do many things together. We had some great times, let me tell ya.

Then the next thing I know, she is growing up. BAM. She is out of high school. BANG. Moving out and goin to ASU. CRASH. Getting married. And I honestly admit, I came home afterward and cried into the late hours of the night crying. Not because I was necessarily sad. I was very happy for her, I was just gonna miss her a lot more I thought. SNAP. She gives birth to my first nephew.

All of this seemed to happen in one little blink if an eye. But now I realize how good all of it is and what a great example she is setting for me, along with for all my other 5 siblings younger than me. Whether it be in school, future decisions we should make (like getting married for time and all eternity in the temple), and setting an example of a good parent.

I do not see her everyday any more like I used to, but she is still one of the greatest examples to me. And what can I say, I love her. Now...I'm not exactly sure what made me want to even write on my blog about this...but I did it anyways (obviously). Probably because I always talk about me...and my Mormon Boy Swag, and it may get old. So I just wanted to provide One Good Example of Mormon Girl Swag.