Oh Winter, how I missed thee.

Not kidding guys. I actually have missed winter. REAL winter, not this dreary grey, bipolar, thing the South calls winter. The ice storm, while slightly inconvenient to cook in the fireplace, was pretty and made me happy. I loved walking around crunching on the ice and seeing light refracting from a thousand crystalline trees.
We ate Naan bread and cheese, apples with nuts and beer. No worries about going anywhere because at the mere mention of snow our town completely shuts down for days at a time. Unless you are unlucky enough to work at the Wal-Mart you got the day off.
A day to drink hot coco and play board games, in our case, by candle light. Sleep by the fire all curled up in fluffy blankets. It's what I imagine it's like to be a cat, and I loved it!

Now all the snow has melted. We have power which will be nice, till I get the bill. *laughs* I'm already missing winter. At least it came to visit for a little bit; even if it did cause more than a little havoc as it passed by.

Till next time my lovelies,

The light heart lives long.

OHMG! Is that the Sun?!

Greetings Friends!

This is Ashes reporting from her less hectic life.
After a storm damaging our roof, killing most the garden, cuts to the military making our paychecks very very small, and buying a new car I finally have something good to post about! Yaaay!

I made a collapsible hula hoop. Oh yes. It's awesome! It's also way too big to hoop with in the house, but that's ok, I also made a smaller one. I went from -1 hula hoops to 2! It's amazing! *laughs*

Yup I'm purposefully sounding manic, for the hell of it.

Life really is doing better though. Our new car is super fancy. I told my friend, because you can TALK to my car, that I really want to make all kinds of Star Trek references when I'm in it. I've already asked it about sky net. It says it doesn't know anything, but I know the truth. *laughs* Still haven't figured out why it won't recognize my phone so I can tell it to call people.
Oh yes. It calls people for me. Well it would if it would recognize my phone! I think the car thinks it's better than my cell. My cell is, after all, not a 'smart' phone. It just has a fold out tactile keyboard. (I totally just tried to spell fold as phold, what the heck brain?)

I'm still trying to learn more hoop tricks, but I fail, and comically hit myself in the face or launch the round piece of irrigation tubing at my husband. Though I think that one might be a little bit of karma.

Oh, and I'm going to be a Zumba instructor. Soon. I'm so excited, and freaked out. One the one hand it'll be a fun job and I'll never have to actually 'work out' in the traditional sense ever again. Score!
On the other hand, I'm not so awesome with strangers.
As you've noticed by my choice of words and references I'm kind of awkward. My kind typically are. Throw computer parts at me and I can help you, throw a room full of strange women, maybe even a token male, and I might be able to help you... maybe... it depends.
Luckily the first class I'll be teaching will be all the really rad elderly people from the church Jex and I hang out at. Who knows, maybe I'll get a kids class after that and work my way up to the frightening mass that is my peer group.
But that's off in the shadowy future.

Till next time my lovlies!
God is good, but don't dance in a small boat.
 PS, I don't know why but I have this urge to post pictures of the wreck.

Notice how our car, the red one, is trashed while the silver one took next to no damage. Figures.
Good news is that my knee is finally healing. I smashed the ever loving crap out of it on the steering column when we collided.

The moral of the story; Honda beats Ford in Life Paper Scissors.

Zombeeez and Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo

My friend Doorf just told me yesterday about the Zombie walk in SandLand! And as luck would have it we'll be around there at the same time!!!!!! I'm so EXCITED!!!!
I've already figured out what I'm going to do this year. Year before last... was it? Oooh it was... I went as an attacked-while-fleeing-in-the-middle-of-the-night zombie. I wore a white dress that looked a lot like a night gown, some easy to throw on leggings and unlaced boots that one would likely find by the front door. I wasn't as bloody as a lot of other zombies but I felt the more subtle look is way more fun because some people don't realize you're a zombie till they get too close. *evil laugh*

This year I think I'm going to be a little more overt, aaaaand I'm going to use liquid latex. Not for anything super rad, I'm nowhere near that high leveled in the makeup arts (hell I can barely put on mascara without loosing half my vision) but I'm damned good at painting and that's basically what I'm going to do. On top of all the excitement for myself is that JEX SAID HE'D DO IT WITH ME!!!! He's going to be at my mercy! I'm going to make him the most awesome zombie EVAR!

Except for one thing.....
We have a NerdKingdom appointment that night. I'm totally fine with showing up late, and zombified, to the shindig. Count Beowulf of the Sands might not be so ok with us being late. However, I'm not giving up! I'm going to cling to and ride this excitement into the ground. Dammit.

The Cherry on the Sundae of Reckless Joy is that National Novel Writing Month (aka: NaNoWriMo) is coming up and THIS TIME I've got a handle on it.
You see, up till now I've spent the first 3 days or so running around like a dying chipmunk trying to get an idea and simple plot thrown together. Supposedly you're supposed to be thinking of all that stuff through October, getting characters polished, smoothing out idea wrinkles, and the like. No one tells you this. Hell the first time I heard about it (three years ago) it was the middle of the month already and I just jumped in head first with some craziness about zombie dragons and atlantis. Last year I was a little more on my game. This year, not only will I make the 60k or whatever word count, I'll actually finish a story. I know, I know, it's a sign of the apocalypse, but it's going to happen! It might not, but I'll try my hardest to make it so!

I've already pared down my ideas to one light and fluffy story about princesses saving themselves, a fully narrated mythos type back story to an island I created in the NerdKingdom, and a rewrite of a dark kinda spiritual story idea I kicked around in my only year of college.

I like having things to look forward to. It makes me feel like I can fly.

The light heart lives long~

Hats are Amazing Things

I realized not too long ago that I have not shared my fanatical  completely normal love for hats.
Sadly I don't look very good in a hat because I have no forehead and my ears are too high so they end up getting in the way of said object as it sits on my head. This issue has not in any way dampened my love for hats.

Hats are amazing inventions. Not only are they useful (they fight the evil rays of the sun) but their pretty damned spiffy. I really think I was made to be born in the 1930's -50's when a proper lady still wore a hat and gloves into town. Anyreincarnation, I'll be digressing and regressing in order to share with you denizens of the interwebs the wonder that is 'the Hat'.

My favorite, and most giggle inducing hats, are the oldest ones.

Rice hats for example are super awesome and have been around FOREVER. I wear one when I garden and I love it. It's not too heavy, it doesn't get in my way, and it protects my shoulders too. Though I'm fairly certain that I look like a complete weirdo to my neighbors.

Bonnets can be really elegant and lovely but tend to end up on the dorkier side of dress for some reason. Maybe it's all the frills people try adding, or that if their made poorly the look like bad chef hats. 

My favorite Era for hats (other than the fun animal beanies that have hit the markets within the past decade or so) is really the Victorian Era. The top hat is the single greatest hat ever invented. Not only does it fit with both fancy and casual dress but it tends to look decent even when ridiculously decorated. 

And the Victorians were just as silly with their hats as we are with ours. I mean come on, I have a hat that has big yellow-green cat eyeballs and ears on it. 

ah silly victorians

Which leads me into some more modern, if less common, hats. The Steam Punk hat. 

I love the clockwork and steam theme that is (more often than not) elegantly worked onto the hat. And Mini-top hats are probably the coolest miniaturized item invented. 

Before I get too into the modern Hat. I want to do a quick montage of the fun hats that have passed through the mid 1900's.

1920's

1930's

yes

Oh no, batman. No.

1940's

1950's

1960's

Best known for the Pillbox Hat and Other Stuff

^ See... Other Stuff...^

1970's

I think this is when Beanies were invented... but the internet won't tell me much about 70's hats... Maybe everyone was still recovering from Woodstock or something.

1980's

This is when the UFO hats and baseball caps got popular

Or at least that's what I remember being popular (I was kinda tiny)

Since we're close enough to the present for me I'm going to start gushing about my own  hats. 

I own something like 5 ball caps, 1 fisherman's hat (for fishing, duh), 1 mini top hat I got in Harajuku a few years ago, 2 berets, 1 rice hat, 2 beanies, and 2 duck hats (I don't know what else to call them). 

Of this not so vast collection (I'm very picky about what I actually buy not what I oogle) my favorite hat is my mini top hat. Unfortunately I don't have very much to wear it with. *sadface* Lucky for me Jex is the best husband Evar! and lets me buy little things here and there so that I can wear my hats, even the ones he thinks are the ugliest things ever (read: my duck hats). 

My favorite Ball cap is my Guiness hat. It even has a bottle opener on the bill!!! Wah! Close behind is my Deutschland cap that I bought during the 2006 world cup. Stupid Italy... *grumbles* Stupid Chelsea... *grumbles again* 

I don't have access to my external hard drive (read: I still haven't freaking unpacked all our shite) otherwise I could post fun pictures of me and a friend with all her hats. 

I miss you Louda... I miss you a lot. 

Like unto the ball cap is my duck hat. It's a beanie with a bill. And I LOVE IT! My husband thinks I look like a complete and total Dork. But they make me happy so I will keep wearing them, even if I look stupid. 

                                                                             ^^^

This the the Duck Hat I found in a Seria (japanese dollar store) parking lot. It was so dirty and messed up I couldn't tell what it was and I thought. Ha! I'll take it home and throw it in the wash machine and see what it turns into. Voila! just like that I had the most comfy hat in existence. 

And I can't wait to get my hands on one of the freakishly cute/silly animal beanies. (^_^)

In closing. Hat's are awesome, customizable to the point of stupidity, and super useful. Which is why I love them and why they will never fail to make me laugh, or grin. If you haven't go to a store (like Ross, or Burlington Coat Fac. or wherever would have a bunch of different and fun hats) and try on a bunch of hats with a friend and have a laugh. Or just google them and have a laugh. It will make your heart lighter.

And as a wise people once said: "The light heart lives long."

Quirks

When I have to type security words in order to submit comments I think: "Hey that actually sounds like a pretty cool word. Litexy Ntriad, ooooh! That can be a name for the capitol city in a fantasy book." Before I know it I'm liberally sprinkling hyphens and apostrophe's over nonsense letters pretending that, like sprinkles, they make anything look appealing and snazzy.... maybe even edible? *laughs*
And off I go to worlds known only to myself.

Smiling Saturday

There are some things that make me really really happy.
One of them is a character from a Nerdtastic show called Babylon 5.

He looks ridiculous, acts ridiculous, and is funny in the Eeyor 'I'm never happy' kind of way. There are some things he says that never fail to make me laugh or smile.

I couldn't find my favorite quote on YouTube, so I'm going to write it out and post my second favorite bit.

The Quote that never fails to make me smile: "Do you know what this is?Hm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes that says: Hold my head to your ear, you'll hear the sea..."

I Spy: Colors!

Yay! I love I SPY! It makes my weeks more happy when I'm looking for something different that hidden behind the grey backdrop of familiarity.

This week's prompt has been my favorite so far.


COLORS!!!!!

Typically I don't shop at Target. However, they tend to carry things I like/need.
Lo and Behold the moment I walk in the door I had to take a picture

And that's not all! Apparently the 80's have attacked Target's accessories.

I was going to show you my super awesome bathmat, but the dog kept getting in the way.
This was the last attempt before I gave up.

The stack of Candy I still need to send to Norie!

Come to think of it, just about everything in my house is saturated with color.
I must like it or something.
This is some of the stuff that's on the Television. A dragon statue, a Dungeons and Dragons character sheet in the background, and of course pretty rocks!

My Choice

This is not something Ashes likes to see.
Why?
Because Semi's are freaking scary!!! Not only that this is a Semi that still doesn't know what it's doing! That raises the fright level to x10.
Luckily Jex was driving

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif


Well that's all for this week.
Next week: Junk

Come jump on the bandwagon and snap some shots. Then Link up with Dazee!

He says: I've still got it.

But I'm only 23!

Yesterday was awesome. I got offered a job AND was respectfully almost asked out by a marine. I love the library!
Anyways, though those were awesome, Mr. Marine said something that kind of caught me off guard and made me wonder wether or not I looked old.

Mr Marine: "Are you married?"

Ashes: "Yes!" *happy face*

Mr Marine: "Damn.... I was going to ask you out."

Ashes: "Oh. Well thank you, I'm flattered."

Mr Marine: "Well, you've still got it."

I've still got what? Is getting married supposed to make me instantly frumpy? Maybe he thought I was actually in my 30's? Oh no! I'll be 30 in 7 more years... Am I going to be that lady who's 40 and everyone thinks I'm my own children's grandmother?! My tiny little vanity had a hissy fit, and I asked Jex if I looked old. He just looked at me like I'd swallowed a whole watermelon and told me I was rediculous.

Then I went back to the thought of marriage making one frumpy and unhappy. Is that really what happens? If it is, that's actually kind of sad. "Yay! I found the ONE and I'm going to be with him forever... yay... oh god..." *instant frump*
Whatever it is I was supposed to lose and to what, I'm still slightly confused. But that doesn't change the fact that I still have IT. Whatever IT is. (^_^)

Some Happy

Before I lose internet I want to catalog some happy.
And for those of you who know me, yes 0600 is ungodly early in the morning for me. The only reason I'm up is that I couldn't sleep all night. Thank you weird shadows dancing at the foot of the bed.

Anyways that's not the point.
So my best friend from grade school got in contact with me again recently. I'm going to call him Platypus here for the sake of not remembering what I'd called him the first time I mentioned him. (Okay so I remembered after a few paragraphs, it's CM... but Platypus is more interesting)

I'm so happy! We talked and I feel better than I have all week! (it was a rough one for both of us) And he said one of the most encouraging things I think I've ever heard in my life.

"...You get to curl up next to a man who loves you makes you laugh kills scorpions and can believe in a land where midgets steal socks and people throw fireballs at dragons
i'd say you got the best deal out there."

Do you know how good it is to hear some one else praise your man?! If you don't it's the best thing ever! And he's so right!

I am one lucky girl and I just want to shout out the internet that I'm so happy to be with Jex! So very giddily happy.
I hope this newlywed thing doesn't wear off, it's awesome.

Not only that but I have two of the bestest best friends anyone could ever ask for and then some. If my life consisted of only Jex, Platypus, Solace, Norie, Michelle and Fiero I would count myself the luckiest person in the world.
But I have even more! And the bloggers I've been able to read and interact with (Chicken and Dazee mostly) have been fantastic additions to life.

I know it may sound like I'm gloating or something. It's just rare that I have so much happy it's literally bursting out. I'd like to remember this moment.

Blessings and Happy to all! If misery loves company I want to spread Happiness like the plague.

Yay! and not so yay.

We get paid!
I'm happy the government worked itself out. This is probably why I stayed away from politics for so long, it's full of drama and I get really worked up.




---- The happy ends here---------------------------------------

And so today I've tried to read about the Fair Tax stuff. *sigh* Why does everything about government have to be so conniving?
Actually, why does everything about everything have to be that way?
Sales' Man: This is the best product ever! (actually it's a piece of crap that will cause you grief and isn't worth the money you pay for it, but hey I've got bills to pay so my Honor and Pride are going to have to take a back seat)
*sigh*
My Utopia has a Dystopia (I have no idea how to spell that word) I'm sure. But at least in the world I'd love to live in the majority of people have the kind of Self Worth that kept them from putting their name to anything of poor quality. My grandfather taught me to never do anything I wouldn't want to put my name on. Dad taught me the worth of a Good Name. If I do anything I want to do it right.

So, I'm going to provide a link to the Fair Tax bill and the places that are of special interest. Since I thought I knew what I was talking about based on the information that I'd gained prior to my last post. Honestly in this day and age it's hard to tell who's speaking truth and who's running off of bias/emotion/self interest. I hope that I can be a voice of truth, to the best of my human ability.

Fair Tax Bill Sections of interest are Section 2, part 7: Section 103: and Section 703 parts a-c.

Seeker posted a link to This Blog for me to read.

Here's a Blog I found.
I tried to read a panel that was done by tax professionals but it felt like I was reading Portuguese and I didn't understand half the words and I don't have the time to be going back and forth between the dictionary and finding my place in the text.
And now I'm going to do laundry and get ready for guests.
~Rem

Walking with my husband

Marriage weight. Someone somewhere cursed me with it (and don't deny it! I heard "I hate you for being skinny while eating brownies" all throughout high school), and even though it took a year and a half to find me, now I have this little extra squish that jiggles when I go up the stairs too fast.
Nooooo! My habits haven't changed (with the exception of three letter long married people stuff.) What the heck is this? *pokes squish*

So, my husband (who just got called by someone's 98 year old Pawpaw trying to get a hold of a Joseph, who just called back again... and my husband is just talking to the old guy and having a nice conversation. I love him!) is nice enough to go on walks with me. And tease me till I feel the need to chase him, and con me into playing rock paper scissors to see who has to carry who up the hill, and make me push him up the hill just because.

Walking with Jex is something like the Olympics of walking. It's never just a route around the neighborhood or block. It's usually a mile and a half experience that includes a few obstacles, side quests, and aggravation. But hey, I've lost a pound and a half. (man I use a lot of parenthesis)

An Award?!

On Feb 17th I got an award from Chicken. It took me 6 days to find it. XD!
That's pretty good considering that since my husband took the little japanese toy that meows off of my key chain I've lost my keys every day... and once for nearly three weeks. I think he got tired of me walking around running into everything every time he asked me to go to the store.

Here's my Award!!!Isn't it beautiful?! It's my first one too! I love it and the words that went with it were the cake. Yes, the award was just the icing, or cherry for those of you were aren't fans of buttercream. mmmmmmm.

Now I'll have to pass it on to some one else.

I think I'm going to have to give it to my lovely Norie. Her blog has encouraged me to deal with my third culture/ reverse culture shock head on instead of simply longing to go back overseas.
Norie, gambatte! You're soul is so bright, your heart is so kind, and your head is so wise you can make it through everything. I'm sure of it.

Okay something you don't know about me?
Hmmm... I only buy shoes I can run in or have the potential to be used as a weapon. I can run in all three pairs of heels I own.
What else? I watch Dr. Who every chance I get.
Brittish comedy makes more sense to me than other forms of comedy.
I can still remember the theme songs to Captain Planet, Gummy Bears, Digimon, Sailor Moon, My little Pony Tails, and Darkwing Duck and sing them on a regular basis.
Most of my personality is linked to the Cartoon Mighty Max. No really... it's scary.
I was a Virgin till 2 months before my 22nd birthday. And I still do my best thinking After the Fact. (^_^)Y

Again, thanks so much Chiken. You totally made my week!

Oh and here's the link to the whopping 2 pictures from the fashion show. I have one more that my husband took that I haven't wrestled with his camera to extract. But I will.