We just call it HERE.

Pocket Owl Crafts

2011-07-09T00:52:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to creating some business cards, so's to make advertising my recycled-jeans laptop bags easier. And of course, if I'm gonna make business cards, then I have to make a website, right? Or at least get my own domain name, and point it to an Etsy account. :) Which is what I've done. Because I'm not nearly dedicated enough (yet) to pay for my very own e-commerce website (which can, apparently, get a little expensive, what with shopping cart software and an SSL license to protect credit card info, and yada yada yada . . .) and really, Etsy is a terribly effective option for selling handmade goods. :) I just had to stick my own domain name on it, so it could look all cute and fancy on the business cards. ;)

Front:

Back:

Overall, the whole shebang took rather a lot of planning and effort. Because my first two or three or six website name ideas were taken . . . and not a ONE of them actually being used for anything! Just sitting there, "parked," being blank-ish web pages. Blegh. (I initially wanted to call it "By the Seat of Your Pants," because they're made of jeans . . . hyuk hyuk. ;) But seatofyourpants.com and all its iterations are already taken. Go figure.) Ah well, the one I finally landed on is cute, and very Me.

www.pocketowlcrafts.com

Check it out! I've only got one item listed so far, because I still need to take super-nice picutres of the rest of the stuff I've made. Then it'll be all pretty and enticing.

I've ordered a handful of the business cards, for giggles and kicks (so I can stop just writing my number on napkins for interested passers by, which I've done a couple times, now), as well as just a couple pens, because they looked so dang cute on the website . . . lol. Here's hoping the printing company is as posh as they say they are, so everything comes out looking nice and professional.

Meantime, here are the pics of the cards I designed. I made them up completely from scratch, sketching them out on paper then creating them in the GIMP.

Front:

Back:

I created this version first, but decided I liked the second version (which I posted first) better, so that's the one I've ordered prints of, for now. Maybe someday I'll do a batch of these ones, too, because I am terribly proud of them . . . ;) But for now I'll stick with just the one design. After all, I have my doubts that I'll *ever* go through even one good stack of cards. But we'll see. :)

New and Improved Laptop Bag, Part 2!

2011-04-12T19:10:00.001-07:00

To prove to myself that I could do it, I actually told a girl--who was admiring my denim, owl, laptop bag as she took my information before I donated blood--that I was trying to sell them, and would she like to commission one? She said yes, we agreed on a price (which I've decided was maybe a bit low, after remembering how much time it took to make, but oh well, she'll just get a first-customer discount! ;) ), and I set about collecting the materials for a second bag. It's very similar to the first, right down to the owl appliqué, because it turns out she also collects them. :) I didn't use ties this time, as they're expensive (even from D.I.), and she opted out of that price bump. Instead, I used a rather heavy-duty interfacing, so the bag would still have that solidity. Turns out it might be a little *too* solid . . . but it works, and it's way cute. It's just a bit stiff. :)

I was worried I wouldn't be able to quite duplicate the bag with another single pair of jeans, as the pattern fairly decimated the material, and that was a large pair with huge bell-bottoms. The pair I used this time was an old on of Kyle's, and he's a touch skinnier than I, and doesn't wear flared jeans. ;)

Nonetheless, it worked! :D Not quite as much slant to the leg seam on the bag's flap, but it's cute anyway. :) Besides, each item being handmade out of mostly found

materials, you're going to get a lot of variation from one to the next. :) All things considered, I think it turned out way cute. Love that owl. :D I think on the next bag, the only thing I'll really change is the length of the flap--it came off a bit short, this time.

New and Improved Laptop Bag

2011-04-12T18:36:00.001-07:00

I posted a good while ago about the laptop bag I made for my new netbook. Well, it wasn't big enough for my longer trips, when I like to carry not only the netbook and its cord, but also an external hard drive, my iPod and its cord, my phone cord, a book, a notebook, maybe a movie, pens, sunglasses . . . the list goes on. So I made a second, larger bag. :D

Designed around an owl appliqué I'd found at Jo~Ann's

some months earlier, and made out

of an old pair of jeans. The inside's lined with ties, which gives it some extra stability, and a super sleek look. :)

The inside has a laptop pocket padded with a cut-up Yoga mat, and a second floppy pocket on the other side, for random stuff.

Here it is, filled with random stuff! :D

I re-purposed the butt pockets, attaching one to the front of the

bag as you can see above, and sticking a zipper in the other, and leaving it loose, as something of a coin purse that lives in the bag.

The handle is a fairly standard nylon strap, covered in another tie. The pattern used up almost all of the denim from the pants, leaving little more than scraps around the zipper, waistband, and bottom cuffs. The bag itself is probably a similar size to what I would've gotten had I simply cut the legs off the pants and used the top as a purse itself, which I've done once before---this bag is WAY cuter. :D

And, best of all, it's a super easy pattern to repeat, and I *do* plan on selling these bags, if people are interested! :D Just let me know . . . I can also do all sorts of other crafty things, like make a laptop sleeve out of suede (as I did for my brother and his friend), or a custom art portfolio, or whatever suits your fancy . . . I might could dream it up. :D

Time to start biting the fingernails . . . again.

2011-03-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

Not that I actually bite my nails when I'm nervous . . . maybe I should twiddle my thumbs, instead? Actually, the main thing I normally do when nervous is distract myself with a book or movie . . .

But ANYWAY. The reason I get to have anxiety for the next several days/weeks/what have you, is that I've just submitted my cover letter and resume to Deseret Book, applying for their summer publishing internship. GAH! Cross your fingers, friends. If this doesn't work out . . . well, I guess I'll have to keep looking. :P But this would be *so* perfect . . . It even comes with a salary. :D

So, yeah. Here's hoping. And praying. And thinking, and wishing, and planning, and dreaming, each night of his charms . . . Oh, wait, different prayer. ;D

Learn Something New--About Cars!

2011-02-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

So, the other day I apparently neglected to turn off the lights in my Geo (oh no!), and, of course, it died all dead. :P The next morning I tried to push-start it, mainly because I was curious to see if I could, but that didn't work. Probably because I was doin' it wrong. But as I really didn't have anywhere *important* to go yesterday, I wasn't to concerned. (Actually, I ended up walking around town with Becci, who'd slept in and was late enough for school [especially considering the failure to start the car] that it wasn't really worth getting her there. So we walked up to Subway and back. It was fun. :) )

Anyway, so *this* morning (because, no, of course I didn't think/bother to take care of it last *night,* when people were actually around and had no vital places to go . . .), with many tips from Kyle and Dad (via Skype), I learned a variety of useful things:

1. what the battery charger looks like and where in the garage it lives

2. that there was WAY too much corrosion on my battery's contacts to even get a jump from the Impala . . .

3. how to get corrosion off the battery--a spoonful of baking soda dissolved in water, poured over the mess. Fizzes up like a science-fair volcano, and with minimal scrubbing, comes off like magic. :D

4. how to remove the . . . cable thingies . . . from the contacts and wash *inside* them (or rather, in between them and the contacts, or whatever . . . my lingo certainly leaves something to be desired, still . . .)

And by this time, everyone had to leave, so it was up to me and Meagan (whose turn it was to be late to school . . . these girls. Honestly. *headshake*) to work out the rest and put all my newly acquired knowledge to work.

In the process of all this, I also learned that the bolts clamping those cables on must have been really quite old and corroded themselves, because one of them snapped off as I was trying to tighten it back down. So I had to spend a few minutes scrounging in the random odds-and-ends can to find another nut and bolt that would work. So now the negative side's bolt is a 10mm, and the positive side's is a 7/16. :P Now I just need to remember that if ever I need to do this again, so it doesn't take me so long trial-and-erring to find the right wrench. :D

Anywho, to finish off the adventure, I got everything attached properly again (being careful, of course, to attach everything in the correct order--positive first, then negative, and the reverse when taking them off), then hooked up the charger once more and let it sit for a bit while Meagan and I went in and had some breakfast. Then we came out and voila! The car started! I drove her to school just in time for the beginning of second period, which also conveniently gave me a good 30 minutes of driving around to get the battery all charged and happy again, as I'm supposed to. :)

Now I feel all accomplished. Yay. :D

Fingers Crossed

2010-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday I had an interview at USBank--they're opening five new branches in the general area and need a bunch of new tellers and stuff. I would totally be game for a job as a bank teller. :) Now I just have to wait for a call to see if I made it in . . . *fingers crossed*

Still Just Hangin' Around . . .

2010-09-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

Oops, I haven't posted in a while . . . tsk tsk. My day-to-day still hasn't changed much, though. I'm actually helping Meagan more significantly with homework now that school's gotten started--Becci, too. And I'm responsible for keeping the lawn watered and the house more or less orderly . . . just practicing my Housewifery. :) Still haven't obtained a job, though I've sent my resume out to a bunch of places, including a temp agency . . . that was last week, and I'm hoping to hear from them this week . . . *fingers crossed.*

Meantime, I really have been working more on my writing, so huzzah. :D Though I don't plan on sharing details until I have at least a draft finished, so y'all'll just have to wait. ;)

On a not-so-same-ol' note, though: my singles' ward just combined with another branch, because both our numbers had been dwindling lately . . . so now I've got a bunch new faces to introduce myself to. And some of them even look pretty cute . . . ;) Now all I have to do is remember the date of the next ward activity. :)

All Growed Up

2010-08-19T21:35:00.001-07:00

This morning I helped Bethany move into her dorm at the U of U! Woot! She's all growed up and going to college. :D I'll put up pics if she ever takes any. . . ;)

We were super fortunate, it seems--we got her all moved in and even helped her new roommate with the last load of her stuff about ten minutes before . . . . Boom! Major rainstorm. It only lasted a couple hours or so, but it poured. And it was cold. Like, come on, it's August already. :P On our way out of Salt Lake Michael and I drove through some puddles that seriously came up to the car doors.

And to think, there were people at that very hour still walking around Davis County Fairgrounds, ordering funnel cakes. Which I know because I went to work there this evening, and they told me about it. :P Hardcore, my friends. Of course, I'm perfectly happy that by the time I got to the fairgrounds the sun was back in its customary place in the sky, and the temperature was back to sweltering summer heat. Crazy Utah.

Also fortunately, tomorrow's forecast is sunny and clear. Yay, wedding! :D Which brings us back around to this post's title: Aw, Natalia and Clark are all growed up and getting married!

Huzzah! :D

Okay, now I'm off to shower and get old nail polish off and other such things to make myself all presentable, then go to bed early enough that I can wake up plenty early tomorrow to get places. Yep yep yep. :)

Found: One Female Boxer Puppy

2010-08-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

So I went on my usual walk today, and as I was halfway along it I saw this dog running along with its retractable leash skittering along behind her. There were some people nearby, so I didn't think much of it. Then on my way back, this puppy (a boxer like my brother's) was still running back and forth, and all signs of human life were gone. (It was around 10:00pm.) So I called to it, thinking I'd catch it for whoever lost it. The puppy was extremely skittish. I cajoled and sweet-talked and made happy puppy-calling sounds, and it would come near . . . then bolt if I so much as reached for it. So, of course, I got more determined to catch the little sucker. ;D

Well, it took me twenty minutes or so to get enough on her good side (I eventually discovered she was a girl), and a bit of trickery to get her close enough that I could step on her leash and get hold of her. She calmed down after that, and let me pet her. She never tried to bite or even growl at me, so I wasn't worried. I was just sad/concerned that she was so jumpy. But maybe it was just the fact that her rather noisy leash had been hounding her all day. ;) So, a collar and leash, but no tags, and no people left around the park that I could see, except for a group of laughing teenagers who didn't seem to be missing their dog. So, yeah. I brought her home with me. So sue me. ;)

I'm keeping her in my room for tonight, so she doesn't get all mixed up in our posse of boy dogs. Wouldn't want them to fight over her or knock her up, or anything like that. :) Tomorrow I plan to call Animal Control and maybe take her on another jaunt up by that park and see if anyone's looking for her around there. So, no, I'm not gonna try and keep her . . . I just didn't want to leave her all by her lonesome out there. :(

;)

Road Trip

2010-08-02T00:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went up to Idaho with Heather to see her sister's brand-new baby. Heather wanted a driving buddy, and I didn't have much else going on. :)

It was quite fun. I got to pester the tiny little 4-day-old baby girl just as much as I wanted. She's only about 5lb 8oz, so she sleeps more than she eats, and we got to tickle and bug her to wake her up for the next meal. :) We also got to pose her all sorts of cute for Heather to take newborn pics, which turned out way too adorable for words. :D Plus also, I hung out with the other daughter, who, at not quite two years old, was a little starved for attention with a new sister in the house. She was a cutie, too, and warmed up to me (and got over a bit of flu) by the third day, just in time to get a few smiles out of her for the family pics. :)

In addition to all that fun, I managed to convert Heather to one of my favorite audio dramas while we drove to and from her home: Decoder Ring Theatre's Black Jack Justice. Which is an awesome film noir, Dick Tracy style affair featuring a hard-boiled private eye named Jack Justice, and his sassy partner, Trixie Dixon, girl detective. Good stuff. decoderringtheatre.com. Check it out. ;)

That's a Lot of Heavy Metal.

2010-07-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up and did my hair first thing (see? I can do my hair more than two days in a row. ;p), then I ran down to Farmington to get my food handlers permit so's I can be that much more useful at the concessions booth (they're required to have at least one person in the tent at all times who has one, so my not having one yet wasn't that big a deal. But now I have one, so all's well), and then I did some enumerating (two hours last week, two hours so far this week, and already I'm nearly finished again . . . *sigh*), and then I went on a walk and took one of the dogs. Tada! I only spent one or two hours today doing something unproductive, namely watching t.v. and chilling outside for a while, watching Kyle sell our p.o.j. Lumina. Yay! Admittedly, this relatively productive day didn't really get started until around noon . . . ;)

Speaking of selling cars . . . we've sold our ages-old Mormon Assault Vehicle, aka the 15-seat Ford Club Van, and today we also unloaded the Lumina. Next up is Sammy's Oldsmobile Ciera, and then the Chevy Silverado. Dang. That's a lot of vehicular turnover goin' on. We've got a new truck lined up already to be Dad's new toy (a GMC Duramax), which will be able to haul more and better than the Silverado, so the Big Boys can go on their next Big Toys (ATV) tour without worrying about the transmission, which apparently has gotten all messed up on our current truck because it just wasn't strong enough for what we used it for. It'll also have a bigger back seat. Thing is, the new truck will be off-limits to . . . well, pretty much everybody, I guess, except Dad, who won't be driving it much while he's off in Iraq . . . so it'll just wait here for him for a while. :P

Meanwhile, Kyle plans to buy a Chevy Blazer with the money from the Oldsmobile, which he can then modify and mess with to his heart's content. So we're selling four vehicles and replacing them with two, leaving the family with a total of . . . uh, four? (Impala, Geo Metro, Duramax and Blazer[?]. Yep, four.) Oh, and I guess we still have Sammy's other old car, the Ford Contour, still chillin' in the Red Neck side of the yard . . . we're waiting on Sammy to get the title to us for that thing. Apparently it got lost along the way somewhere, so he has to be the one to get a new one before we can sell that one, as well. Or save it for when Meagan learns to drive . . . *shrug.*

It'll be kinda weird, actually, having only three cars in the driveway and none on the street in front of the house (the Duramax might chill in the side yard where the van used to live . . .). I'm so used to having a million cars sprawled every-which-way all over our property, and most of them in use, too. But with Caryn and Bethany both down in SLC at the UofU without cars (Caryn and Sammy have a new one to share), we don't have quite the overload of drivers that we used to. It's just me, Mom, and Kyle. And Meagan in a year or so . . . and Becci two years after that . . . at which point I guess we'll buy another cheap car or two again. Goodness. Hopefully by then I'll have either bought the Geo, or handed it down to one of the girls because I've bought something better. Which would be contingent on me finding a steady job . . .

Dang. That's nine cars that we either own, have recently sold, or will own shortly. That's ridiculous. (All the picture links are random ones I found online to help those like me who can't tell one car apart from another unless it's one I've personally driven. They look more or less like the ones in our driveway, except for the to-be-purchased ones, for which I don't know the color.)

Is it any wonder I kept juggling cars in college? Which, if we get into that, would have to bring in the other Lumina (which Michael and Shantel now own) and the Malibu, which was intended to be officially mine upon graduation, but then I had to go and total it . . . *sob/sigh* Poor Shiv . . .

Which takes our car count to eleven. And that's only stretching it back about two years. Take it another year or so back from that and you get another Lumina and another Malibu (making thirteen) that met their ends at Michael and Caryn's hands, respectively. This is turning into a sad story . . . ;P

Long dead metal friends aside, though, to recap: we're selling five cars (counting the Contour) and buying two, for a final total of four. Sheesh.

And the Geo's mine. Mineminemine. And I won't crash it. Promise. ;D But I do need to fix that durn AC . . .

Aaaaahh!

2010-07-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

I cut all my hair off!

Okay, not all of it. But more than I have up to this point. the front isn't too much shorter than I've had it before, but the back g

ets as short as 1 1/2 inches or so. It feels quite nice, I must say, having my hair off my neck and shoulders without having to wear it up all the time. And driving with the windows down (thanks to that ever-so-useless AC) will be much less of a hassle.

See?

Cute, huh?

That's the basic wash-and-wear look. I'll probably add mousse more often than not to give it some body and fluff.

And occasionally I can even go the gel-and-spikes route, and get this:

Which, IMO, is pretty dang cute, too. Who'd'a thunk I could pull of spikes so cutely? ;)

Aw, ain't I adorable?

Summertime

2010-07-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

You know what's annoying? My left arm is more tan than my right. :P It's from driving long distances with the sun to my left the whole time, and the windows down because the little red Gutless's AC doesn't work. I don't get super tan to begin with, but my left arm has managed to get noticeably darker. Meanie. Maybe I need to go on my walks with one sleeve on, to give the other arm a fighting chance . . . ;)

So, a recap of the last week, since I've been a slacker:

Natalia's bridal shower was nice and successful and well-attended, and I was in charge! I guess I'm getting better at this party planning thing. ;) I made about a hundred crepes using Emily's family's crepe maker, which is definitely a kitchen tool I plan to own someday. :D

And the only thing I left in Provo this time was my unopened jar of Nutella. Oops. ;)

Friday and Saturday I worked at Madsen's Fun Foods booth at Clinton's Heritage Days. We sold funnel cakes. I'll be working with them again in a few weeks at the Davis County Fair. I like working with them--it's a fairly easy gig, takes up only the occasional weekend during the summer, and is my only real source of income right now. (The whole census thing is pretty questionable at this point. I don't think the job will be around any more after this week. :P) I did send in a resume the other day, though, for an editing position with a health foods company, or some such, that I found online . . . *fingers crossed.* Hmm, maybe jobs will be a touch easier to find once summer's over and people start heading back to school . . .

And in the meantime, I'm walking, helping Mom get projects ready for Girls' Camp, nagging Meagan about getting her summer homework packets done . . . stuff like that. And listening to even more awesome radio dramas and audiobooks. :) And pondering cutting my hair . . . Now that the idea's in my head, it's getting really tempting. ;) Especially since it's actually hot these days . . . height of summer, and all. :)

All Pretty-fied

2010-07-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

Can't excuse my last few days' lack of posts with anything other than distraction--I got all wrapped up in a book and stopped taking time out to write. Tsk, tsk.

Anywho, we got our house and yard all prettied up for Caryn's second, Utah reception/open house, which took quite a bit of time and effort over the past few days. I even got my room all tidied up, even though no one from the party saw it. Now it's all nice because I actually have floor and desk space, and everything actually looks clean. :) Huzzah! Also the yard is all purty, with weeds pulled and a new layer of wood chips lain around all the plants and a new lattice and planter box separating the pretty side of the yard from the "red neck" side (a disused old car and trailer, a home-made "not-a-shed," weeds as tall as me . . . ;) ).

Speaking of red necks . . . so, the first reception was all traditional, with the bouquet toss and the cake cutting and the dancing and all the cuteness. This one, two weeks later and getting more extended family than friends on the guest list, was way more casual. We just sat and ate and chatted, let the dogs into the yard with us, let the kids play on the trampoline . . . a bunch of us even ended up playing card games around one of the tables while Caryn wandered around getting pictures with everyone. It was way laid back, which I liked. I really enjoyed both receptions--the city and the country one, as my mom put it. :)

On another topic entirely (though it was suggested during the party), Caryn and some of her friends suggested that I cut my hair all short and try out the a-line/"pixie cut" look--longer in front and short and spiky in the back. You know, all emo-like or just sorta shaggy. (No coloring, though. Too much trouble.) Would that just be totally insane? It might be entertaining to try . . . and my hair grows all sorts of fast, anyway . . . ;) I've never tried anything shorter than a bob . . . *ponders.*

Let me know what you think. I might play with the idea for a while . . . which, come to think of it . . . I'll probably want to wait until *after* August to experiment, just in case I look ridiculous . . . wouldn't want to spoil any bride's maids photos. ;)

But who knows? It might even be cute. I dunno. I tend to take others' opinions and suggestions on matters of fashion, and what styles (clothes, hair, makeup) will or will not work for me in particular. Gets me out of my box now and again. ;) And after all, the hair grows back . . . (of course, the biggest problem with a hairstyle like that is that I'd actually have to *do* it in the mornings . . . ;) )

Dueling Wands

2010-07-03T23:16:00.000-07:00

Went on a date today--mini-golfing with my date and his brother and the brother's girlfriend at Cherry Hill. I won! Go figure. :) We ate dinner at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que, which was quite delicious, then went and found some fireworks to watch. It was fun.

Afterwards I got to watch some silly young men shoot (relatively harmless) fireworks at each other. It was pretty funny. They shot colored balls of light at each other from what was essentially long, tube-like wands. :) I don't know if they would've appreciated the Harry Potter reference, but that's okay, I only just came up with it. ;) Of course, unlike Rowling's wizards, and more in the style of medieval knights, these guys had plastic shields taped over their left arms, just in case.

Also, all parties remain alive and nothing got scorched, so all is well with the world. ;)

Add in some laundry and dishes, and my Grandparents coming up to help Mom with some yard work (in preparation for Caryn's Utah reception), and you have my day. It was a good one. :)

Spud Racer!

2010-07-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

First, a recap of the last couple days: I went down to Provo--again with less-than-reliable internet service (but they've fixed it now, huzzah!)--and we saw the premieres of Eclipse and The Last Airbender. I liked them both. I think the actors/director/special effects crew and everybody are getting better with each Twilight film they make. The plot flowed better and was more interesting, Bella didn't stutter nearly as much, and they actually had some lines that were funny on purpose, as opposed to just being hilariously bad. ;) And Jasper played Sokka, which was not as odd as I thought it would be. Of course, Sokka didn't play the same comic relief role that he did in the tv series, so it wasn't as much of a stretch for the actor as it could've been, I guess. :P Though I had been looking forward to seeing Jasper acting silly . . . Ah, well. At least in Eclipse he actually had a few lines. Turns out he even had a Southern accent. Who knew? ;)

I came home this afternoon so I could be here for my ward's "Spudwood Derby," in which we all carved potatoes and put pinewood derby wheels on them and raced them down the track. Here are some pictures of my lovely racer, Geraldine:

I can't say I put an awful lot of effort into her--I just shaved the potato into a vaguely sedan shape, and went from there. I hadn't brought anything specific to decorate the car with, so I took my owl keychain apart to make a driver and steering wheel, then dug around in my purse for other ideas . . . and ended up sticking a pair of Chlorotab alergy pills in for bug-eye looking headlights. :) Kinda cute, don't you think? Notice, the sleeping owl is facing backwards. No drowsy driving, kids! ;)

Anyway, for a random, thrown-together car, Geraldine actually did pretty well in the tournament. She beat all comers, right down to the final match. It was Geraldine vs. Spud the Stud. Me vs. Brother Ropelato, our 2nd Councilor in the bishopric. Relief Society vs. Priesthood. Girls vs. boys. ;)

And guess who won? That's right, Geraldine! :D

(One of the guys got video of it, which I'll have to get from him in the next few days or so and put it up on here. :) )

Admittedly, when Bro. Ropelato (hope I'm spelling that right . . .) realigned his wheels and we had a rematch, his car beat mine. But that's okay. I'm still taking the win. ;) It was all very exciting.

Also, yes, I went on a walk today. Huzzah. :)

Pleasant Surprise

2010-06-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

I had some training today for a new census operation--yay, more income!--though it sadly only lasted 3 hours. All we did was re-read the same material we'd been trained on for the previous operation, and write in a few changes. Kinda silly. And to think, they'd scheduled us for 8 hours! That would've been extremely tedious. Bleh.

As it was, I had a free day when I wasn't expecting it, so I was able to accept an invitation to join some friends at Boondocks (the local go-karts/arcade/fun zone thingy place). I was invited by Dave, a friend, who'd been invited by Kassie, whom I'd only known in passing before. Kassie had a friend from the mission in town, visiting from Australia, and she wanted to show him some of the fun things we do when we're bored around here. So that was fun. I got to hang out with a real Aussie ;) plus get to know another ward member better. We raced on the Go-Karts, and I totally came up from behind and passed everybody at least once. :D I've gotta give credit to Kyle, who taught me all the tricks I know. (That one other time I went to Boondocks. Really, it's one trick. ;) )

After Boondocks we stopped by the ward activity that had been going on and that we'd pretty much missed (oops) because we were having too much fun. :) (I also got 2nd place in mini golf, and 3rd in Laser Tag. :D ) That was at the park, where we played on the swings and played a lot of random catch with the bouncy-ball I got with my tickets from the arcade. And after that, I took Dave home because he had class in the morning; Kassie added another new friend to the bunch, and we (Kassie, Paul the Aussie, myself, and now Sonny) went to Denny's for a midnight snack. (at least, by the time the food actually got to us it was creeping up on midnight.)

So we hung out and had fun and I got to get to know some people I hadn't known before, and it was quite a fun day. I'm glad that census training didn't last as long as it was supposed to. I would've really missed out. :)

Looks Like They Made It

2010-06-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

We're back home now, and Caryn is officially among the ranks of the married! Huzzah! The reception had a great turnout, as did the Temple ceremony, with a few families making the long drive up from Phoenix or down from Salt Lake to be there. Lots of mission buddies and close friends, music, munchies, and congratulations. :) Caryn even got a surprise wedding cake from her friend, who decided to bake one at the last minute when she found the original baker had fallen through and we were just gonna have sheet cakes. It was totally a cute cake, covered with flowers that matched her bouquet, and it gave them something to cut all ceremoniously. :) (I'll try to post some pictures eventually, though I imagine there'll be some on Facebook somewhere before I ever get my hands on a copy . . .)

Caryn went for the cute/small mess by dabbing frosting on his nose . . . to which he responded by smashing cake in her face . . . which earned him a frosting-smeared smack. It was silly. (and no harm came to the dress, so all is well with the world.) ;)

Caryn played the guitar and sang Sammy a song, too: "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain. It was tender. :)

I got to see a few people I hadn't in a good long while, like Crystal who was in our ward down there. Hung out for a good while with Kelsey, too. Huzzah! :) After the reception was all cleaned up a few of us relaxed in the hot tub and got caught up. It was quite nice, especially after a hectic day running last-minute errands and making sure we didn't run out of fruit, cake, or plates.

And to think, we get to re-do the whole thing in a couple weeks, for her Utah reception! :) This time we'll be a bit ahead of the curve, though. We know what to buy more of, and what we can go easy on. (Like broccoli. We ended up with a lot of leftover broccoli.)

I didn't post for the last couple days because the internet where we were staying was on the sketchy side. But I'll continue to keep up now that I'm back, and post more details about the wedding and such if and when they come to me. For tonight, I am once again late for bed. ;) So far that's the hardest goal to keep track of. :P

Goodnight! :)

Vegas, Baby! ;)

2010-06-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

We made it safe and sound, hooray. :) I met Kyle in Santaquin and headed down with him in the truck, about an hour and a half ahead of Mom & co. in the Impala. Not much to report today aside from road-trippin'. :)

Tomorrow is prep day--make sure we have the food we'll need, throw up some minimal decorations around my aunt's yard (it's already a nice looking place. Some twinkle lights and fluttery toule, and it'll be quite lovely)--and then Saturday is the big day. :D

In the meantime, I'm sleepy, so I think I'll keep it short for today and call it a night.

Goodnight. :)

Cake Wrecks!

2010-06-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

Huzzah, Natalia and I made it to the Cake Wrecks book signing party, and it was well worth the effort. John and Jen are quite funny and cute and friendly in person, as well as online. :) They had a slideshow with some of their personal favorite wrecks, and took questions, and judged the cupcake wreckplica contest . . . . The atmosphere was super friendly and everybody laughed at the same inside jokes, and it was like we'd all known each other for quite some time.

Also, the King's English Bookshop, which housed the event, is so cute. It's small and cozy and situated in the middle of a quaint little neighborhood with small, old-school, non-pre-fab houses, with a little bistro across the street and a Starbucks on the corner . . . Overall, very cute set-up. Makes we wish I lived in Salt Lake City. :)

Also, they had cake. Yummy, fancy cake. For more details, check their blog in the next couple days. Heck, check out their blog anyway, and get addicted! Join the 750,000 per day readership that are laughing themselves silly over this phenomenon. :D (One guy, apparently, literally laughed himself unconscious reading the blog. Fell off his chair. Knocked his head on the ground. Un. Conscious. Fortunately he survived and the family thought it was funny. :D)

So, now I'm visiting good ol' Y Town, but once I finish this post I'll be off to crash in Santequin with the Grandparents, so tomorrow I can meet up with Mom and Caryn and company on their way down to Vegas for the Wedding! Fun, fun, fun. :D

(Also, I walked to and from a couple far-ish places, like Wal-mart and Wendy's . . . so that'll have to count for today. :) )

The Apple Never Falls Far . . .

2010-06-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

I went to my mom's classroom today to help her reorganize some shelves and her cabinet and stuff in preparation for going off track/finishing the school year. And let me just tell you, I know where I get my cluttersome tendencies from. ;D I mean, seriously. My mom is never going to have to buy staples, paper clips, or sticky-tack ever again. Plus a lot of other random stuff that had been collected hodge-podge in these drawers since she was teaching in Vegas, inheriting random piles of stickers and flash cards and what have you from other teachers.

Yeah. As the pictures from a few posts back will attest, It was a familiar sort of job. ;)

Then after school I helped fill and tie maybe 300 water balloons in preparation for tonight's YW/YM activity--an annual, no-holds-barred, all or nothing water war. I didn't go (yeah, yeah, shame on me ;P), but Mom and all the girls came back quite soaked and well pleased.

The tragedy of the evening was, while I was busy filling water balloons, one of the dogs ran off with my brand-new black flip flop and tore it to shreds! And it was a nice one, too! *sigh.* Ah, well, C'est la vie. I may have to go buy a new set.

I'm afraid I missed my walk today, but all things considered, I think I spent my time in good causes. I'll just have to make it up tomorrow . . . if I can fit it in around the Cake Wrecks tour stop that (hopefully) I will be attending tomorrow evening, so long as I have a car to drive . . . (yeah, I know. I just rejoiced in my near-possession of the little red car. But Caryn's up for the last week of her single life, and she needs it to commute to work for another few days. *sigh.*)

So, that's my today. It was a good one, and I think I'll actually be able to fall asleep before midnight tonight. :) Being in a classroom full of 3rd graders is entertaining, but there's something about it that's just draining, too, even if you're just a sideline volunteer cleaning out the closets. :) I'm sleepy.

You Know What's Weird?

2010-06-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Caryn will be married by the end of the week! That's just so weird. :) And splendid, of course.

I went online today and found a couple jobs to apply for (fingers crossed!), which is terribly exciting. But I won't be able to follow up for a few days, because tomorrow and Wednesday I plan to go to my mom's school to help her prep for a sub, and then on Thursday we'll be heading down to Vegas, to make sure everything is in order for Caryn's wedding! Huzzah!

So, it's not really all that weird that she's getting married . . . it's just funny that it's pretty much here already. Terribly exciting. :D

I also get yet another check mark today for reading my scriptures, posting in my blog, and going on a walk. Yay, me! *clap clap clap!* ;)

Oh, and know what else has me terribly excited? Caryn has decided she does not want the hassle of owning the little red car, and so I get to keep it! Or, you know, I get to be the primary driver, because no one else wants it. Yay! I have a car that I can actually drive without asking anyone's permission or convenience first! And it's the one that still has a valid Alta parking sticker on it, thanks to a trip to Cancun and a Maxine who just loves me. :) So next time I visit I can actually park in the parking lot! ;)

Yep. Lots of happy things today. I feel special. ;)

A Revelation

2010-06-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

So, I think the main reason I keep falling off the wagon where it comes to journal writing is that, in my opinion, there's rarely anything all that interesting to report from my day. And then of course, by the time something important does happen, I'm too out of the habit to write it down. Oops and oh well. Try again next time.

And then there's the "write down three ways God has shown His hand in your life today" approach. That's probably a good plan, too . . . and it's also something I'm bad at keeping up with. I mean, every day is still just the same. I like my life, I just don't know what to write about.

Well. I think today I've discovered my own personal reason for keeping a journal, and it's one I never would have expected. But it really feels right.

I've known for a good while now that I'm a "discovery writer." My best fiction writing comes when I have a vague notion, and I just let my fingers run with it across the keyboard for a while (or paper with pen), and I almost don't know what I'm writing until after I've read it. Which is fun, for me. It leads to a lot of misdirection and side-tracked stories . . . but that's a problem for another day.

I do the same thing when I'm writing a particularly heartfelt letter, on the occasions that I actually write in my journal. Heck, it's how I've written many a term paper, too. Write in crazy zig-zags and circles of thought until I know what I'm saying, then edit and rewrite it into coherence.

Today during Sacrament Meeting, I came to more fully understand another, much more interesting and potentially vital facet of my discovery writing tendencies.

There I am in the chapel, waiting for Sacrament Meeting to start. I'm writing in my journal to be a good girl and keep up with my newly refreshed goals, and I'm circling an idea in the usual rambling way. And suddenly, I GET it. I understand, quite abruptly, what it is I've been writing toward. It's something that I've been wondering about for a while, and have prayed about once or twice, and it occurs to me, hey, I think I might have something here. And I think I feel the Spirit nudge me and say, Yeah, I think you do. Now let's try it again.

So, basically, I write to myself in my journal that, hey! If I'm really being open to it, and making even the slightest effort to do what I'm supposed to, the Holy Spirit can nudge my thoughts in the right direction even as I'm writing them down. I will find myself literally spelling out the answer to my question, right there on the paper.

Wow.

I mean, I was astonished.

And thoroughly excited. I've figured something out! I wanted to shout. I seriously wanted it to be Fast Sunday already, so I could share this amazing discovery. It's like . . . it's this tiny little thing that pertains pretty much just to me, but at the same time it's just too interesting to keep to myself. So you, my friendly little readers, get to hear about it first. :D

Now I know why I, personally, really need to keep a journal. And it may or may not have anything to do with anyone else. My posterity may not need to know the laundry list of things I do each day. That's not what it's about. It's personal. And it's one really interesting, really definite way for the Father to tell me that, yes, He's talking to me. Seriously. Right now. Talking. And if I'll just listen, even if I'm listening with my pen . . . then I just might learn something.

And despite the slightly crazy, casual tone of this post, what I'm trying to say is that I have a newfound testimony of the Spirit, and the truly unique ways He finds to talk to each of us on an individual basis, and in an individual way. And while I've always known this and never doubted it, today was the first time that I've truly been floored by it. Honest-to-goodness awe-struck. My Heavenly Father was talking to me, in a way that was truly suited to me and my crazy way of thinking and figuring things out.

I mean, Wow. How neat is that?

A Rather Fun Day. :)

2010-06-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning in time to take a shower and head right back over the YSA conference thingy for breakfast, after which we split into groups to do a scavenger hunt/food drive cross. We didn't collect a specific set or number of things, just asked people if they had anything on our list, from food to clothes to cleaning supplies. I met some new people, seeing as I only slightly new one person in my group (my visiting teacher, in fact), and the other three were in another stake. It was fun. We saved a few people trips to D.I., and collected at least two truckloads overall of stuff for St. Anne's Homeless Shelter. Huzzah!

After that activity, I went shopping at Kohl's because I've been much lacking in flippy-floppy footwear for a good while, now. I got two cutely casual pairs, one black and one brown, to go with all my outfits. Huzzah, again! And they were more than $2, so I'm hoping they'll last a good long while. (I mean, not a ton more . . . we're still talking discount shopping.) And while I was there, I found this terribly cute pair of silver strappy shoes on clearance for just $9. Score! And now I at least have candidates for wearing to a certain someone's wedding. ;D

Here they are. Aren't they cute?

(though, as Becci tells me, I'm gonna have to put some effort into getting rid of the callouses on my heels, if I want the full effect. :P)

Back to the YSA for dinner, which Cafe Rio catered in for us (yum!), and then an incredible fireside with speaker Mariama Kallon, who grew up in war-torn Sierra Leone, Africa, and had a severely tragic childhood--her parents, brother, and sister were all killed by rebel soldiers. She talked about how finding the Gospel changed her life and gave her a reason to hope again, and how receiving one little hygiene kit meant so much to her and the women around her that she was able to share it with. It was a pretty amazing story.

Then we had cheesecake (don't you love church functions and food?), I met some more new people, who were pretty darn cool, and headed home once more.

Here at home I finished my laundry, walked on our elliptical machine (as it was too late to start an outside walk when I got home), and wrote in my blog! Huzzah! And listened to some more Dr. Laura, of course. ;) The getting-to-bed-on-time thing is still in the works, as I'm sure this post's time stamp will show, and I still need to take a shower (yeah, a second one. Yucky sweat go bye-bye.) and read some scriptures tonight. But hey, see? I got so much more done today than I did yesterday. I'm improving already! Huzzah! :D

Reviving Some Goals

2010-06-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today started out my area's Regional YSA Conference, or whatever it's called. We had dinner (ribs. Yum.) and a "workshop," or basically 5 mini-lectures on being prepared: spiritually, physically (health), temporally (emergency kits and such), financially, and educationally. It was all familiar, of course. Stay out of debt, keep a 72-hour kit in your car, eat right, etc. But it was all still useful to me, since I don't actually do *any* of them quite as well as I should. I could eat better and exercise more; I still haven't made up my own 72-hour kit; I don't read my scriptures as regularly as I should; and, well, I don't even have a job, for the financial department. Educationally I guess I did all right. :) Now I just need to put that lovely degree to work, and get going on that financial bit. :D

Anywho, so this is a shiny-new excuse to restart some of my old goals. I've been working on the exercise thing--I've walked twice this week, and plan to up it to three tomorrow. And right now I'm fulfilling tonight's portion of that perpetually out of reach journal-keeping goal. Huzzah! So, Natalia, you should be happy--I'm going to try really hard to write here in my blog EVERY DAY! AHHH! Feel free to text or otherwise nag me if I'm falling short. ;) And this blog will serve as a reminder for my other goals, too. Like getting to bed on time and waking up early . . . hehe. ;)

Some other things I did today, so this is actually jounalistic and not just an intro to my next bout of goal-dodging . . . ;) . . . I listened to a bit of April's Conference on my iPod--Elder Koichi Aoyagi's talk about supporting each other, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson's about the translation of the Bible, and the idea that we need scriptural guidance more in this day than has ever been needed before on this earth. With the hymn "We Thank Thee, Oh God, for a Prophet" thrown in there. :) I've decided recently that I like listening to a Conference talk or two while I eat my breakfast.

After that I started a load of laundry (huzzah!), and promptly forgot about it. I should probably get back to that sometime tonight . . . hehe. And then I went online and subscribed to Dr. Laura Schlesinger's radio podcast, because she's just fun to listen to, and I listened to her while I went on my walk. :) And that's about all I did today that was even remotely useful. Hopefully, with a couple new goals to jump-start my day with (including the goal to, well, start my day . . .), I'll find myself accomplishing a few more tasks each day, until I become, once more, a fully-functional Productive Member of Society. ;)

Won't that be fun?

Picture Tag

2010-06-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, so about a month later I notice Kelsey has tagged me in this game, to which the rules are apparently as follows:

1. Open your pictures and open the very first folder.

2. Go to the 10th photo in that folder.
3. Post the photo and write the explanation of it.
4. Tag five more people.

"All right," says I to myself, "let's see what we've got." Turns out, though, my last folder in Pictures is one called Wallpapers, for those nifty graphics I've pulled off the 'net. And who wants to see about those? My second-to-last folder is equally random, with a bunch of near-identical shots of a tree, or some such. Okay, so it's time to de-clutter the picture folder. Fun stuff. :)

So I rearrange a bunch of things, delete a few blurry or redundant shots, rename a couple things . . . and then fudge the rules a tiny bit more . . . to bring you the perfectly iconic picture above. :D Basically, my room (and Caryn's) growing up was perpetually a mess. My dad would occasionally switch between being annoyed by this, and being entertained. On this occasion he was entertained, and wanted to take a picture of me "cleaning" my room, to show to his disbelieving colleagues how incredibly cluttered his kids could be. Silly Daddy. He should have seen me at college. ;D As a matter of fact . . .

Hehe, yep, that's my side of the room. Not "messy," exactly . . . but cluttered? Oh, yeah. Fo' sho'. ;)

I guess I'm just a fan of clutter. Caryn's not--at least, not anymore. Which was tough for her when we had to share a room again just this last few monnths. But now she's moved out, preparing the apt. she'll soon be living in with her soon-to-be-husband, Sammy. She took quite a bit of furniture and other random things with her, so my room looks surprisingly sparse right now. Maybe it's time for another picture . . . ;)

Anywho, to continue the game, I tag . . . well, Naazju, as she's probably the only one who'll even look at this blog in the near future . . . and then, I dunno, the next four people who also happen to look? Post in the comments if you acknowledge tagged status, so I can head over and see what you've dug up, in turn. :D

Weird Dreams

2010-02-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes my dreams have unusually coherent plot lines. Like this one I had last night, which featured a few characters from the t.v. show I've been watching so much of recently: Corporal Max Klinger and Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, from M*A*S*H. I think Margaret Houlihan may have been there, as well, but only in passing.

So in this dream, I'm trying to warn Major Winchester about something, though even I don't really know what it is. I just know that something is wrong with him, and if it's not addressed, something very bad could happen in the near future. The problem is, I'm a ghost, and nobody can see or hear me. Except for Klinger, which isn't terribly helpful, because everyone knows he's always trying to act crazy, anyway.

So Klinger's trying his best to help me figure out what's wrong with Winchester, but no one pays him any attention, and we don't have much to go on because I don't even know what we're supposed to be looking for.

There follow several disjointed scenes of me floating Winchester's slippers, and such-like poltergeistery, and a scene with the three of us plus Houlihan in my Grandmother's living room . . . and some other random dream stuff.

Skip to the end: Klinger and I discover, in the nick of time, that Winchester isn't really Winchester at all, but an alien clone! The real Winchester is cocooned in some sticky web thing in the alien's lair. We rescue him and expose the alien just in time to get everyone out of the dirt fort--yeah. Dirt fort.--before the alien's bomb explodes and caves it all in! Klinger is the last one to escape, with me doing my incorporeal best to help him along. then everyone's safe, the real Winchester recovers, and everyone lives happily ever after. :D

I don't know what happened to the alien.

Dun

dun

DUNNNN!

I'm just so gosh-darn clever! ;)

2010-02-05T13:32:00.000-08:00

So, we all know I got myself a cute little netbook for my birthday (more or less). It looks like so:

Cute, no?

I also got a cheap little slip cover for it, which is nice and handy, but not the sort of thing you can just tote the laptop in all by itself. No shoulder strap or extra room, and the like. So I decided to make my own laptop bag! :D

After scouring the internet for examples, patterns, advice, etc., I picked some fabric and started in. I screwed up several times, because I really didn't go into it with the most solid game plan in the world. I completely scratched my first attempt, and started over. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a bunch of pictures of the process (which was long and haphazard), but here are a bunch of pics of the finished product, of which I am so proud:

Messenger bags are just so cute. :) The daisy fabric is some stuff Bethany had lying around, thanks to my Grandma C. who brought all her old fabric and patterns up for Beth to play with. I bought the black canvas material, added a black ribbon and some magnetic clasps and a typical nylon handle. And it is SO CUTE! :D

The part that made me scratch the first version was trying to split the bag into two compartments and add some foamy inserts to the laptop side. But finally I succeeded! Huzzah! See? Laptop in the back, cords and other what-nots in the front. :D

You'll also notice, along the inside of the front, a little double pocket for stuff like my wallet, iPod, pens, and such-like.

Ta-daaa! It took a lot of time, several trips to the craft store (no game plan, remember? ;) ) and rather a lot of ripping out seams and re-sewing them. Because that's how I roll. :D (Oh, and I'll probably need to go back in and reinforce that magnetic clasp . . . it's a bit stronger that I'd expected, and keeps trying to rip through the fabric instead of just opening. Silly thing. :D

"Reversing Your Buts"

2009-12-30T17:56:00.000-08:00

So, I just read through this cute little book, a mere 58 pages long, called Confessions of an Unbalanced Woman by Emily Watts, a Latter Day Saint author. I just particularly liked this passage:

I learned a little trick years ago that helps me make a quick perspective shift when I need to. . . . A strategy that goes by the unlovely name of "reversing your buts." . . . It works like this:

Maybe you're thinking, "I love you, but you're driving me crazy." Instead, try thinking, "You're driving me crazy, but I love you." Isn't it amazing how different that feels?

Try another one: "I have a great job, but it's really stressful." In reverse, "It's really stressful, but I have a great job."

I just liked that. It sounds like a totally useful tool for perspective management. :)

It's a Virtue

2009-06-23T14:40:00.001-07:00

So, patience has always been one of the attributes that I've been quite confident I can claim for myself. In a very mellow, go-with-the-flow kind of way, I'm one of the more patient people I know. (And yes, I'm rather humble, too! ;) )

But it turns out there are a few things even I can't happily put up with for long.

Though I doubt many of you would know it, as it turns out I hide it pretty well. Which is a kind of patience still, I suppose.

Maybe sooner or later I'll give way completely, lose all patience, and expound on this topic. Or maybe not. It'll probably stop mattering to me in a few hours, anyway.

Oh, the Brick.

2009-06-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

So, my laptop died . . . again. I assumed at first that it died in the same way the old one did - it stopped registering that the cord was plugged in. I had my friend Fredjikrang look at it, and apparently the cord is missing a connector, so I've ordered a new one off eBay. So hopefully in a week or so, I should be up and running again . . . Which is almost too bad, because I really dislike a lot of things about my laptop, and would love an excuse to replace it . . . :P Mainly I hate the design. When I *do* buy a new laptop (someday), I want one with the fan on the back, not the bottom; the ports on the sides, not the the back; and of course it would be half the weight, have a multi-card slot, and an internal wireless card . . . but those last are on pretty much *any* laptop these days.

Really, I don't need or want anything more than a cheap word processor. In my ideal world, I'd like to have a nice, heavy-duty desktop that can handle whatever graphics, photo editing, movie watching, whatever nonsense I want to do. I'd do most of my work on it, be it story writing, web developing, whatever. Then I'd just want a lappy for, of course, being mobile. If I want to head off to the park and sit in the grass to type some story. Or if I'm traveling, or whatever.

I keep looking at the new fad of "netbooks" out there, because they seem to cover all of those bases . . . (well, I guess I don't know where the fan and ports are located and that stuff . . . but they're ultra-portable, very cheap, and intended for just the basics.) Only I really don't know if I'd like typing on that scrawny of a keyboard . . . though if I did go in for one, the Samsung NC20 is looking promising . . . (costs twice as much as the uber-cheap $2-300 netbooks, though, for which I could also get another refurbished brick, or something . . .)

My old laptop, the one that's definitely been broken for a good while, I let Fred go ahead and crack open and see what he could see. He's successfully opened a few laptops in his day, and this one had been gathering dust on my desk for a couple years anyway, so I figured it was worth the risk. He got it open and tested the power jack, and as far as his equipment would show, there was *nothing wrong with it.* That made me irritated. Stupid computer appears to be perfectly fine, but it definitely wasn't taking a charge at all, even with a cord I knew was working . . . which is why I bought that other one.

So we put it back together, but of course we couldn't check to see if it would magically work now, because of course the power cord is messed up . . . plus, I really didn't care to try any more with old clunky. So we salvaged the hard drive and put it in an external case Fred had lying around, and I'm just going to donate the rest of the computer to those people who take old laptops. If they want it. For parts or something. It wouldn't even be worth trying to sell anymore. So now I have a 40G external HDD. Which is cool, I guess. That's 40G that was just gathering dust before, and now can be put to use, at least.

So slightly-less-old-Clunky is now just chillin' in my living room, waiting for a new cord to come along so it can power up. Hopefully. The most frustrating thing about the whole mess is the fact that I had JUST reinstalled Windows in an effort to make it faster, give it a new life and all that jazz. I was having fun figuring everything out, getting it all up-to-date, making sure I had all the right drivers (which was a pain, because apparently that's the one manufacturer's disc that I *didn't* still have in my cd case, which fact I hadn't realized until *after* doing the reinstall . . .) I'd just gotten it back up to speed, with the sound and graphics and everything that'd been giving me trouble back into working order, when this nonsense with the power cord struck. So it basically made me want to blow the whole project and start over. I mean, for crying out loud! :P

But anyway. I'll hold off on that now, I guess, at least until the new cord shows up and I can see if the comp still does, in fact, work just fine. I hope so . . . even if it's just so I can hand it down to my brother or somebody, and still move myself up one notch . . . ;)

I mean, seriously. Even a netbook could do pretty much EVERYTHING I typically do on my Inspiron Brick, except play movies and burn/rip cds (netbooks tend to lack an optical drive). But how often do I even try to do that much? (Answer: never.) Plus, I have my friends' laptops for that for now, and someday I'll have a nice desktop . . . *sigh*

Anyway, I'm still not going to spend any money *just* yet . . . we'll at least wait and see if 'Clunky (aka The Brick, I've decided . . .) steps back up to the plate. But those are my thoughts along those lines.

Also, as far as my family's current home desktop goes, I'm pretty sure I could get it up to scratch, even for my sister Meagan's movie making endeavors. It just needs more RAM and a better graphics card, I think. If it needs any more, I'm sure I can figure it out . . . after all, it's a PC, and by definition is super-customizeable, right? ;) And that'd be way cheaper than getting a whole new computer. I've already gotten it to stop locking up, and if I could just dedicate some serious time to the thing, with a lot of help from Google and various techie forums, I might could make it into a high-performance machine. That would be kinda fun, and all sorts of enlightening and adventursome . . . :D I mean, it's already loaded with some really decent hardware . . . we just need to take better care of the poor thing. I'll totally teach Meagan everything I can about it, too . . . at least, everything she needs to know to just keep it maintained.

Seriously, with all the techie forums out there to give advice, it's not that hard to become a pseudo-computer-guru, if you want to take the time on it. It's kind of awesome. :D

Anywho, now that I've rambled myself into a better mood, I'm gonna run off and do other things, now. Like browse for some more cheap laptops to drool over . . . ;) Or go outside and play (except it looks like rain). Or go to the gym . . .

Tootles. :D

But at least I FOUND my STUPID iPOD!

2009-06-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

So, I guess I need to tell a story . . . . and chances are once I get going, I'll ramble for a good long while. Because this is, after all, a journally place for me, and I will write whatever I darn well please. :D So if you want the short version, why don't you head on over to Naazju's blog for the basics? :)

And, since It's popped into my head: "Now, this is a story all about how my car got flip-turned upside down. . . ."

:D

Intrigued? ;)

Oh, and I guess I should be nice and start by saying that Naazju and I, the only people in the car, came away from it remarkably unscathed (excepting a few bruises, a couple cuts, and some stiffness. And no other cars or people got involved. At least, not with the dangerous part. :P)

Anywho, so last week--around Tues. May 29, 2009--my roommate (Naazju) and I decided we'd take a quick jaunt down to Arches National Park to camp and do a little hiking and picture taking. It's wasn't the most planned-ahead trip, but whatever. On-a-whim trips are fun, too. :) However, since we didn't get there terribly early Friday night (around 10:00pm, infact . . .), and we hadn't reserved anything (reservations, at least for the sites I looked at, had to be made 4 days in advance . . .), we ended up driving some 30 miles up and down a particular highway, checking all the campsites along the way, and being completely unsuccessful in finding one. So we spent the night in a motel in the nearby Moab. (Turns out some other friends of ours were also camping that same night, and there was an extra site near them . . . Go figure. If only we'd known, and all that. :P)

So anyway, we spent a touch more than we'd planned, but whatever. We were content. Took some ridiculous pics in the Motel--reading the Gideon's Bible, laying on the hideous covers, nonsense like that. Then we read some Old Testament, got some sleep, woke up, ate some breakfast, and headed into Arches for the lovely picture-taking part. Which was every bit as fun and lovely as we'd planned. :) I'll get some of my fave pics up in a later post.

We left Arches at about 1:40pm on Saturday, because we wanted to get back home in time for a wedding reception and a birthday party, respectively. So we didn't have time to hike to Delicate Arch, or anything . . . but we'll hit that next time, maybe. Anywho, so we drove along to Green River, got some gas, and headed on up the freeway. Only apparently I missed an exit very shortly thereafter . . . (another result of not planning--we didn't have terribly useful maps.) Anywho, so we just coasted along westward on I-70. We'd have gotten home eventually . . . it just may have taken another hour or two. So much for making that reception . . . :P But whatever. If I'd not missed my exit, or if we'd left earlier or later, or if we'd stopped along the way for one reason or another . . . should'a would'a could'a. Didn't. Life goes on.

So we're coasting along I-70, and it's mostly a bright, sunny day, but now and again we hit patches of light rain. Nothing terribly concerning, but enough that I take it off Cruise Control and slow down a touch every time we get into some wetness. And then we're maybe halfway between Salina and Richfield, and we're driving through that very light rain, and I may or may not have been off Cruise already . . . I can't recall. Then I see in front of us this crazy looking phenomenon - it's like the mist that sprays up behind a semi driving in the rain, only there's no semi. Just ridiculous amount of rain coming down so hard on the road ahead that it's raising its own mist three feet off the asphalt. It was kinda nutty. So, knowing it'll be insanely wet for a while, I'm already tapping the brakes to slow down . . . I'm pretty sure I didn't "slam" on the brakes, because at that point I wasn't worried. Just impressed by the crazy wet.

We drive into the rain, and it's like driving into a waterfall. That abrupt, that loud, that plain-crazy-pouring. Just a deluge. It was actually kinda neat. :P

I'm still not worried, until a few seconds in I notice that the car's not facing full front anymore. And one of the thoughts that flits through my mind is something along the lines of: It's so weird how quiet it is . . . none of that brake-squealing noise, just silently spinning . . .

And then I'm trying to correct, and Naazju is advising me to "turn into the turn," which of course I've heard before, but never actually *practiced,* so I don't actually know what the junk that phrase even MEANS, practically speaking . . . So I try to correct for a while, and my brain and my body have two completely different ideas of what said correction should really consist of . . . and I basically just hope we skid to a stop in the mud.

Well, we hit the mud, all right . . . drove right off the road and into the median. At some point we got completely turned around so the car was facing east instead of west, and beyond that, I don't know what else happened when. I just know that the car did some crazy jostling, and when I heard the sound of shattering glass, that's when I screamed. (Sorry, Naazju. Guess that was shrill. . . .)

So we're stopped, and we're upside-down, and I look (a bit wildly) at the windsheild and at my window and take special note of the dirt clods and grass that are all I can see, and the first words out of my mouth are "We're on the ground, right?" And since that doesn't sound completely coherent, I follow immediately with "We're on the dirt? We're not in the road still, right?" Because, as I've noticed, my first impulse every time I get into a crash (I've been in three now in which I was the driver) is to GET OUT OF THE WAY of any more danger. Once I've stopped moving I'd like to stay stopped, thank you, until I am good and ready to start moving my own durn self again.

So there we are, upside-down, and I'm breathing pretty fast and hard, as might be expected. Naazju, remarkably calm in a crisis, asks me if I'm okay and I answer that "Yes, physically I am perfectly fine." Mentally, emotionally, maybe not so much. My voice is all sorts of shaky. She calmly tells me to unbuckle my seatbelt carefully/slowly, and I respond something like "Not just yet. I just need to breathe for a second." (remember the above? I ain't moving an inch until I want to. :P Also, I was quite comfortable where I was, nicely harnassed in, resting my hands on the wheel and practically able to rest my head on the ceiling.)

"Well," says Naazju, "here's something that should make you feel better." And what does she hold in front of my face but my iPod Nano, which I had lost in my car about 3 months prior. And dangit, I SEARCHED that car. With a flashlight. In the cracks. Under seats and in random holes. That stupid iPod. . . . In my head I'm pretty sure I said, upon taking the iPod from her, "HOLY FREAKING CRAP!" Out loud, I laughed hysterically for a moment before switching to a quick, equally hysterical bout of sobbing. A perfectly reasonable reaction, I would like to think.

Upon which Naazju gets to ask again whether I'm okay. I'm fine, okay? Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional. Perfectly f.i.n.e. Just need to cry for a minute. Plus, as I said then, "I'm okay, it's just . . . I broke my car!" *sob*

We're both still upside-down, me because I have yet to even desire to attempt to get down, and Naazju because she somehow managed to get wrapped in her seatbelt, so even though she's unbuckled, she can't get down. She makes a few quick phonecalls from this unusual attitude, leaves some voice-mails with parents, and arranges for Kralc to come pick us up, since we're pretty sure at this point I won't be continuing the drive myself. Even after some minutes to become fully coherent again. See? Ridiculousy composed in a crisis. I mean, I'd like to think I was *relatively* calm . . . after I got my breathing under control, at least. I could answer questions, assess our current safety, move about on my own, and all that. I could even form complete sentences, though they sounded funny, all pitchy and interspersed with sudden breaths. But I was a total wreck in comparison to the utter calm of my loverly roommate over there. Which is cool. Calm in a crisis is definitely a worthy skill to own. Just makes me look bad in comparison. :P (jk, of course . . .) ;)

What finally got me to start reacting again, instead of just waiting for calm to find me, was the sudden rapid tapping at Naazju's window. Ah, they're here, I thought, because of course one of the parts of my mind was rather curious as to when another car would pull over to help us out. At one point I wondered if anyone had even seen us crash, as there were a few cars on the road but they were pretty spaced out, and that rain was kinda blinding. But they came, a nice group of people down from Iowa on vacation. As soon as I heard the rapping my brain powered on again and I turned instantly to open my door, if I could. Turns out I couldn't. :P Too much dirt in the way, plus anyway my door just didn't open again, even when they got the car turned right-side-up. But that's jumping ahead. I also unbuckled my seatbelt at around that point, or possibly a little eariler. I forget.

Anyway, they got Naazju's door open, and the first thing I think either of us said was you're basic "We're all right. No one's hurt." Get that panicky idea out of their heads right away. As it was, they were still rather anxious to get us out of the car asap, which caused them to try to tug Naazju out, despite her still being quite wrapped in the seatbelt. Which efforts choked off her air for a bit. We both tried to direct them to unwind her in the right direction, and just as someone was offering to grab a knife to cut her out, we managed to twist the right way, and she was free. Huzzah! We both got out and stood barefoot in the mud (our flip-flops had flown off in the crash), with our rescuers holding towels over our heads to keep off the last of the rain. That's right, "last of." It was barely a minute, maybe two, after we'd first hit the monstrous wall of water, and already the skies were clearing again to a friendly, frustrating blue. Ridiculous.

One of the rescuers was a cute little lady in scrubs, conveniently just on her way to work at some local hospital. Not a minute later we also had a sheriff and an EMT on the scene, both of whom happened to have been nearby and saw the crash. We sat in the squad car for a bit, one of the Iowa fellows scrounged in the remains of The Shiv (my car) to find our shoes, Naazju's purse, and my cell phone, and we both made some more calls. Mostly to parents. Naazju called Kralc again to confirm that we were safe and well, and let him know where exactly we were. (which caused its own set of confusion, as that's the point at which we figured out we'd missed an exit clear back in Green River . . . but we got it sorted out eventually.)

By the time I got off the phone with my mom there was a whole cluster of EMTs waiting to check us over, and another police officer, and not long after that came the ambulance and the tow truck. Of course long before the ambulance arrived we'd already decided we were quite all right, but they still wanted to check our vitals and everything and get us to sign a waiver and such-like. Rain's completely gone at this point. Stupid rain. I've got my phone and my shoes, thanks to whats-'is-name, and my iPod. Still hanging on to that stupid thing. Put it in my back pocket for safe keeping.

Then it's all "Are you all right? Are you sure? Were you wearing seatbelts? Were there any other passengers in the car? Who was driving?" from about seventy-five different people . . . you'd think they could coordinate a bit better, so I don't have to answer the questions over and over again . . . "How did you crash? How fast were you going? And you're sure you're okay? Were there any other people in the car? Did you have your seatbelts on?"

*Sigh.*

Then the towtruck arrived, and we got to watch it flip my car back to its usual upright and locked position. Got some lovely photos, mostly on Naazju's camera and her phone. (my camera was still in the car . . . and then we discovered that it had broken. The LCD screen has a purty great crack in it now.) the car looked surprisingly okay, after what I'd been expecting.

Naazju has more and better pics on her camera. This is just what I took on mine, which as it turns out still *takes* pictures, at least, though you can't see them on the screen . . . I'll maybe get some more pics up later.

We rode with the tow truck guy to Richfield, where we got the car open again (it had managed to close and lock itself when it got turned right-side-up . . . which didn't help any with the police officer wanting my insurance information . . . but that's a different story. And one that's taken care of now. I think. :P) We got a few of our belongings out, including the breakfast brownies to munch on, and my purse, and we went to the Burger King next door to await Mr. Shining Armor, Kralc.

He arrived, we got *everything* out of my car and into his, less one Switchfoot cd (which was in the player, and we couldn't turn the car on because the towyard people had the key, and they'd gone home, as it was a Saturday . . .), and went home. Safe and sound, and not even gonna *try* to make the tail end of that birthday party.

Remarkably (miraculously, astonishingly . . .) the only casualties of the crash, other than The Shiv itself, were my camera and four novels that sustained water damage (two paperback "Once Upon a Time" books, one Calvin and Hobbes collection, and one hardcover copy of the second Fablehaven book). Nothing else was harmed, not even Naazju's scrapbook paper. And as stated at the beginning of this most lengthy of posts, only some minor bumps and bruises on Naazju and myself.

And yes, we are ridiculously fortunate, especially considering we were traveling at something just under 75 mph at the time . . . and I certainly express lots of gratitude to that effect when I take the time to talk to God. Which I'm constantly trying to do more frequently and regularly . . . but yeah. We're all glad it wasn't worse, and we're all quite happy that Naazju and I are alive and well.

And gosh dangit, It's ridiculous and stupid and frustrating and hilarious, but I'm happy that I found my STUPID iPod.

Gah.

:P

Deadline is a scary creature.

2009-05-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

But I guess they're useful when it comes to getting anything done.

Though it is hard when you're setting your own deadlines. As I (kind of) am with this Ward Directory nonsense. It'd be nice if it were out last week or so . . . but dangit, it's HARD getting a hold of that many people! And now I've forgotten email adresses. So I get to (with the help of my lovely and wonderful roommate) stalk the apartments one last time, push the deadline back one day more, and try to rangle in a few email addies. *Sigh.* Stressful.

But tomorrow - TOMORROW - blank emails, missing photos, and whatever else right or wrong, those dang things are going OUT.

:D
:P
:S

Gah.

So sometimes, randomly,

2009-05-13T15:33:00.001-07:00

I feel kind of depressed. Not like full-on depression by any means, of course . . . just ind of lethargic and less than content. I figure it's pms. :P

But that's not nearly as annoying as the times when I get this weird frustrating combination of energy and lethargy, where I want to do somethinganythingeverything and yet can't seem to collect the motivation to get off the couch . . . that sensation I generally attribute to writer's block. And either writing a few pages of story or watching a good action and/or dark fantasy flick will usually deaden it some. :P But I always have this strange urge to run at times like those . . . maybe I'll try indulging that side of it sometime. Go running. I don't like running. But sometimes . . . .

Anywho. Random. Ta-ta.

Ooh la la. :D

2009-05-07T14:45:00.001-07:00

So, the dream is to someday make up a web page that lists all my family's movies, is searchable, has a check-out form, etc. Until then, look what I can do with Google Docs! :D

Pomp and Circumstance

2009-04-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

Huzzah, I'm graduating! In like, 5 days! :D :D :D

And since I didn't want to spend all sorts of money on announcements, I made up just a few for mom and grandma and the like, and the rest of the world gets this lovely photos. :D Enjoy.

Brave New World

2009-03-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

So, I heard the weirdest radio commercial this morning.

A bunch of women were talking about making a little extra money, and how their moms used to do Tupperware parties, but "that's So 1980's."

(Naazju: More like 1960s.)

But the commercial goes on to say there's something new to have parties for . . .

Tasers!

Let's have a taser party!

Get all the women you know to protect themselves!

And I'm like, Holy-wha . . . ?

Tasers = Tupperware.

o.O

I mean, hey, protecting yourself is excellent. If you want to do it with a taser, fine. But a taser-PARTY? I mean, really??

I can just see a group of cute young ladies in polka-dot dresses, sitting in a kitchen with a teal or avocado-green fridge, ooh-ing and ah-ing over some lovely little . . . tasers.

Behold, the Brave New World.

What the heck.

Action, This Day.

2009-03-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

So, I really like this quote from Stake Conference. It's apparently something Winston Churchill would write at the bottom of his letters to the government, when wrote describing the problems his men were facing in the war, without the resources necessary to do their jobs.

I've decided I'm going to make this my new motto to myself. I kind of have a problem with self discipline/motivation, which makes getting my homework done and getting to bed on time and a variety of other good habits not so easy to maintain. I can plan out my ideal schedule quite happily, but implementing it doesn't always happen.

So, now if I want to get something done, I'm going to think to myself, "Action, this day!" Or this hour, or this second. So maybe I'll get up when I mean to in the morning. I'm already doing quite well at getting out and exercising regularly, which is fun. :D I like walking up to Rock Canyon Park of a Saturday. :) Especially now that the weather's getting nice enough to sit on the grass. (Less those few recent days of snow.)

Now all I've gotta do is make up a cute little plaque with my new motto on it. I'll get around to that one of these days . . . . ;D

Yes, awkward questions are FREAKING AWKWARD, why do you ask?

2009-02-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

Seriously, if you ask an awkward question, no matter how noble your intentions or how much you've steeled yourself for that brutally honest answer you're counting on, you're still going to get an awkward answer. Especially if the ask-ee doesn't do brutally honest. You're just going to get the run-around. And around. And around. And the roomates of the ask-ee (and probably the ask-er, too) are just gonna get annoyed watching the drama from the sidelines. (Because you're clueless if you think we don't talk about it. We're girls. We talk. Mostly we try to help, or commiserate, or happy-dance together, but we definitely spill.)

If you really want brutally honest answers, you're going to have to ask a brutally honest person, and not that friends-with-everybody sweetheart who feels guilty for being in the same room with someone who's upset, much less for making someone upset. It's not gonna work. Stop trying. Seriously.

What is an "awkward question"? Well, if you have to ask that, I'm currently offering a correspondence course in Tact 101. (Which, as you can tell from this blog post, would be the blind leading the blind. But at least I occasionally have a clue.)

And while we're on the topic of awkward, everybody loves an awkward situation. Right? Yeah, right. So here's a clue: if you think a situation has gotten awkward, you're probably right. In fact, you're dead-on by definition. If any member of a group, large or small, is feeling awkward or uncomfortable, then obviously something is awkward. Can I be any more redundant? (Probably, but we won't go there.)

So if you find yourself in such a situation, fix it. Change whatever it is that's making life awkward for you and/or the group. If it's your very presence, the solution is simple enough. (Harsh, I know. ;) ) But really, who of us hasn't been a third wheel at some point? I know I have . . . and it's even less fun for the third than it is for the couple, so you're doing yourself a favor more than anyone by just finding something else to do for a while. Don't worry about it, mushiness comes and goes, and the best friend will still be there later, with or without the bf/gf, when they're done canoodling. :P (On the other hand, if they're never done canoodling, then you are no longer the one to blame for the awkwardness. So long as you're doing your part and giving them their alone time, they can do theirs and be regular people in public. Am I right? Of course I right. *channels Fiddler's Yenta*)

Of course, the main thing to remember is that everyone is horribly, irretrievably awkward some of the time. Especially between ages 13 and 30. The thing to do is to recover from it, and avoid making the same mistakes again. DON'T intentionally make the same mistakes again - that's just dumb. And don't listen to me if you don't want to. I'm just a crazy person, anyway, who feels better after that nice, lengthy rant. Congratz for reading it all the way through, ya crazies.

I'ma talk to you later.
Buh-bye.

Wa-a-a-y too much fun . . .

2009-02-20T00:42:00.001-08:00

I'm playing with blog skinning lately, and I'm having way too much fun with it, and staying up rather too late. :P But it's exciting! I'm learning so many cool tricks . . . :D For instance, you may notice that I've removed the top NavBar from most of my blogs, because it really doesn't match anything, ever. That's the super easy part, though--hundreds of forums show various hacks to accomplish that. (And yes, it's legal--Google has officially that while they encourage people to keep the NavBar, they don't require it.)

The tricky part was retaining some of the buttons like the "new post" and "customize" and "dashboard" links. That hack was much harder to find, and while I can't take the credit for creating it, I'm still uber proud I found it and fitted it to my purposes! Of course, non of you can *see* my triumph, because "Blogger Buster" taught me this nifty way of making an "admin toolbar" that only shows up to the blog owner (me) when I'm signed in. It disappoears for you guys. Isn't that NEAT? :D
Yeah, yeah, y'all probably don't care. But I'm having a great deal of fun learning these tricks!

A couple of blogs I've skinned are in my bloglist to the right (Tryn's stories). They're also the intros to a couple of my stories, if you care to read them. I plan on actually working on the werewolf one for a while in the near future . . . I also plan to pop up any of my other story starters that I feel like sharing, just so I can design new skins for each of them! ;D
Yeah, way too much fun.

Most of the skins I've "created" so far are actually just modifications of layouts designed by others, who are still credited at the bottom of each blog. I'm just tweaking each one to fit my tastes. For instance, I hate a blog that's too skinny, and almost everyone's layout is too skinny. I need at least 900 pixels to feel comfortable. :) (This one's probably an exception right now--I'm still working on it.) The skin on "Tryn's Crow Story" is more or less mine, though. Not sure where I stole the image from . . . I guess Apple uses it a lot? I'll have to see if I can find a credit for it . . . Anywho.

That's what I'm up to the last few days. Blog skinning, and mostly keeping up on my homework. (hooray!) Oh, and starting a writing group with Merry. :D Huzzah, werewolf story!

New Horizons

2009-01-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

I read a TON, but it's mostly in the same genre (fantasy, with smatterings of Sci-fi.) But lately I've been expanding my horizons a bit, just for giggles. I read a western called Shane recently, and it was good. I started another western called The Outcasts, and it was super boring . . . despite have two gun-fights, a couple bounty hunters, and an orphaned baby dumped on a roving, wrongly-accused outlaw, all within the first 50 pages. I mean, how do you manage to make that boring?

. . . anyway. I've read a few skanky romance novels too (skipping the raciest parts), and one of those was actually pretty engaging. Most recently I read Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, which was very enjoyable, and I'ma have to nab the 2nd one. Admittably, there's a definite sci-fi twist to it, being about a 200-year-old Victor Frankenstein running around modern day New Orleans and building a New Race of super-humans to take over the world . . . but it read as a very good detective/mystery/suspense novel (which I understand is what he's good at). Kind of CSI crossed with X-files. :D It was lovely, and I think I'll check out some more Koontz after I read the rest of the Frankenstein series. However many are in it. (Oh crap . . . I just checked, and its a trilogy, the last of which is coming out this year . . . which means waiting . . . Bah.)

So yeah. Expanding my reading horizons. I'm especially open to suggestions for good books to read outside of my preferred genre . . . :) Easier to pick up something someone else likes than to wander aimlessly through unfamiliar parts of the library and end up picking up another Outcasts . . . :)

Yum!

2009-01-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of the chicken-apple-tacos I invented the other day. I've managed to make them twice, so it's not a fluke, and the process is totally easy and the results are quite delicious! :) I just fry a chicken breast with a few random spices (in this case, onion powder and "french fry seasoning," of all things . . .), make some rice, and then add apple slices right in with the (fully cooked) simmering chicken, and let them sit long enough to get all soft and mix flavors with the chicken . . . then I put the lot of it on a tortilla, and perhaps layer some cream cheese (as opposed to sour cream) over it. Very tasty. Cream cheese tastes quite good with the sweetness of the apples.

Just thought I'd share that. I'm rather proud of it. And I brought the leftovers to work today. :D

One of these days . . .

2009-01-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna have my own website, and not some limited blog incarnation. :P I want a place where I can not only ramble, but post story ideas and photos and all sorts of stuff in an other-than-chronological order. Some place with links and a site map and message boards and a gallery . . . *dreamy-eyes*

Next semester, perhaps, or maybe later (being after I've graduated), I'll take an extra web-development class so I can learn more of the ins and outs of building the web page of my dreams without being too dependent on costly outside services.

But for now, I guess I'll just use Google Blogger to ramble on about nonsense. Since certain people *really* want me to . . . ;)

So here I am. Happy, Naazju?