Hey!!!

Just another reminder that I'm not gone for good and even though I don't blog here anymore, I still blog at my Tumblr, She Dreams of Paradise. If you want to hear my thoughts and my fangirling, head on over and check it out, and do follow me if you have a Tumblr :3 Be forewarned: my blog is basically my brain. There's nothing dirty, of course, I'm just a tad odd/crazy. Hehe.

Adios for now :) AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

Shout-out

Heyyy! *starts singing Hey, Soul Sister* ahem.

I'm just posting quickly to tell you about this amazzzing giveaway hosted by one of my besties, Katelyn.

She's giving away a $20 giftcard to the Etsy shop Paper and Ribbons. The designer has some INCREDIBLE pieces of jewelry--lots of French and vintage looking stuff--so I'm sure you're gonna love it. It ends on March 17th, so go and enter!!!

xoxo,
your "I'm going to ask for season one of Robin Hood for my birthday!", Phoenix Burning writing, giveaway entering, homework doing, photo-taking blogger,
carolion :)

Cup o' tea, how's your mum?

Have y'all seen that Geico ad? Where the Geico dude and the Gecko are drinking tea? No? Well, it's awesome. :) Now, I shall treat you to some excerpts from my life and things that I've been thinking about lately, so do enjoy =D (because all you want to hear about is me, right? It's all about me. NOT...I was kidding. Sarcasm.) :)

1. Flu. I don't have it, and I really, really, really hope I don't get it. But it's going around my church at the moment, and tomorrow morning I have to work in the nursery with two and three year olds. As I told Shaynie, I plan to keep my bottle of vanilla scented hand sanitizer with me at all times. This morning Paige and my mom and I were going to go get the Flu shot, until my mom did some research online and discovered that the flu shot often doesn't protect against the flu. So we're not going to do it, and I plan instead on taking preventitive (sp?) measures against the flu. Observe:

Eat healthier. I'm not good at this, but eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking more liquid (I read that green tea is good) is one of the first steps to being healthy. It's actually probably the first step. Who knew? :P

Aerobic exercise. It's a bright, beautiful sunny day in the 60's, so soon I'm going to go take advantage of that and go on a nice long walk. And perhaps when I come back, I'll practice with my volleyball in the backyard.

Wash your hands. I already do this a lot, but this is one of the key ways to keep from getting sick. Also, cough and sneeze into the crook of your arm instead of your hand, so germs won't get all over your hands. And secondly, I mean thirdly, wipe down your
faucets and doorknobs with cleaning wipes so they're disinfected.

Drink lots of water and other liquids.

PRAY!

Check out this website for a list of what to do to prevent flu: http://www.ehow.com/how_3451_prevent-flu.html

2. Egypt. I'm sure you've heard what's going on there. Riots, protests, deaths, and the government dissolving? Normally I'm not into politics, but I guess that's when it concerns things like the Stock Market or the politicians or whatever. I find most of that boring. But this thing about Egypt scares me. Did you know that it's like the oldest country still around from the ancient times, from the very beginning? Persia is still here and Iraq is still here, but they've been renamed. Other civilisations like the Sumerians or the Assyrians have been wiped off the face of the earth. Egypt still stands. But with it's government like this, I wonder for how long...I don't mean to be a downer, but this is really serious stuff. Just watching the news makes you like, "Whoaaa..." and wonder about the outcome of the country (haha, sorry about the "whoa", it was the only way I knew how to describe it. And I call myself a writer). I really hope this thing with Egypt just a phase and that it passes.

warning: slight spoilers ahead for Merlin; Nahla, if you haven't finished season three yet, you might not want to read this. :) Molly, you too.

3. I'm gonna move on to a more light-hearted subject: THE SEASON THREE FINALE OF MERLIN. I saw it last night, yes I did. IT WAS GREATTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Omigosh omigosh omigosh they HAD THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE!!!! ARTHUR AND GUINEVERE AND MERLIN AND LANCELOT AND GWAINE ( ♥) AND ELYAN AND PERCIVAL AND LEON!!!!!!!!!!! (+Gaius:) And then the Sword in the Stone!! I have been waiting for both of those things, for the show to actually resemble the ancient legends of Camelot and King Arthur, and last night, even though they took some liberties with it as they always do, it was the most truthful they have ever come to the old legends. It was magical :) I was squealing at the Roundtable and the Excalibur part--just ask Paige :)

l to r: Leon, Percival, Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot, Elyan, and Gwaine

♥

But you know what's just not right? I have to wait until 2012 for season to come out. 2012! How will I survive until then?! As I remarked to Molly, the world can't end in 2012 because we have to see season four of Merlin.

4. I'm taking a Journalism and Economics class starting on Thursday (in addition to my physical science class which is also on Thursday). I'm really excited, cause I haven't been busy enough (isn't that the lament of all you people, that you're too busy? I wish I was) and a Journalism class is right up my alley. :) Plus, Katelyn is in it, which makes it all the better.:) I miss my classes. It's gonna be so nice (and busier:) to have them back.

5. It's a beautiful, sunny day in the 60's, meaning I should save this post for later tonight when it's dark out. We're going to a park in a couple of minutes (I'm gonna bring my volleyball:) so I'll continue this post later!

6. We went to the park and had a lovely time (including taking some pictures of Paige and I kissing Otis, our dog) and there was this big beach volleyball pit with a net, and I forgot my volleyball. Typical Caroline. :)

7. I made these for my characters in Enslaved the other day. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with this book--for those of you who don't know, Enslaved was my first novel, and it's been rewritten three times--but I want to do something. My ideas for it a new version all seem pretty floppy. It irks me, cause the characters are calling to me, but I don't have a plot. :(

Merien; the quote is one of hers

Will
The lyrics are from It's My Life/Confessions by Glee (I don't watch that show, but I like the song.)

Torene

There's a lyric in one of my absolute favorite songs, Viva la Vida by Coldplay, that says, "And I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of sand". I don't know if I was trying to copy that or not, I don't think it was, but it turned out sounding like that.

Lo and behold, those are my graphic making skills. I get excited when I make things like that, even though they're pretty basic. I have Photoshop on my computer, but I have no clue how to use it. Guess I'm not a graphic designer :)

8. BOOKS. Ha! I just finished my second reading of The King of Attolia today, making that the third book I've finished in 2011...I'm not a very fast reader (the other two were A Conspiracy of Kings and Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters, which I got for Christmas). Now I'm going to start On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (great title, no?:) and also waiting in my pile are Scarlet, Pegasus, and The Queen of Attolia and The Thief, both of which will be rereads. :) OH! I just realized (not for the first time) that I never finished reading the Benedict Society books. Those were really good. I need to go order them from the library. :)

9. Have you noticed that I've been using wayyy too many parentheses? (yes?)

10. A few nights ago I dreamed that The Patriot was actually a trilogy of three films, and I was the director of them *plus* the Percy Jackson movie. And we won Oscars. So, um, yeah. xD

______________________

Have a wonderful night, my adventurous friends!! Maybe we'll all dream that we win Oscars. :)

Looky here!

Alright, so I know it's late, but it's better to do it now than never, right? I'm entering Gwenea's giveaway. As you might have heard, Ara at My Designer Girl is closing up shop permanently, so this giveaway--the grand prize being a design by Ara--is a great way to get one of her last designs. Check it out, this ends TOMORROW!

I might write a post tomorrow, if I have the time (I have the ideas, you know, but then there's the matter of writing all of them down). Oh, and y'all, I'll reply to your comments as soon as possible!! :)

Guess WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEY EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD

GuEsS WhAt!!! It's Molly HaCkInG Carolines blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So... what now????? Wellll.... from now on everyone should call Caroline CARALION!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is just sooooo much funn!!!!!Anyways...... Caroline is my bestest freind and we're total geeks and imma hang out with her soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)))) YAY!!!!!! And ya' know what?! She's not even gonna get angry at me for this, shes gonna laugh because thats how awesome of freinds we areee :) Shes used to my craziness now anyways... soooooo does anybody like ROBIN hood?!?!?!?!?! I DOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!!!! Because Robins just like ZiP and shoots things right on the mark and Allans eyes areeee SOOOO AmAzInG!!!! And Will, is suppeeerrrr CuTe-TaStIc, and Djaq KiCkS BuTt! and Marian is AwEsOmE!!!!!! And Much likes to SiNg and SO DO I!!!!! And Little John (LJ) Is HuGe!!!! XD Sooo.. That was my 'GuEsT PoSt'.. umm yeah.. lets go with that... hehe.. sooooo!!! Byeee!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^-^

*this is an edit by Caroline: I'm working on a post about characters (check back soon, Ara, so you can read the end of it!) so...look forward to it. XD

So there's this epic, awesome, amazing story...

and it's called Phoenix Burning. Molly and I created this back in August, and though for a while PB (peanut butter!) was dormant, we recently brought it back to life. It's a story that takes place in a medieval-esque world about this princess, Tiegan (Molly's character) who can control the elements. My character, a blacksmith's daughter named Aeronwen who can speak to animals (birds most prominently), through a series of events becomes Tiegan's maidservant. And the rest is history. There's a lot of swordfights, battles, and horribly lazy characters like Erik. But to know who he is, you'll just have to read the blog, won't you? We do it in the loose format of a tv show, like Robin Hood or Merlin. If you would like to read the Phoenix Burning blog, then you may comment and tell me so, and since I already have all of y'alls emails, I'll send you an invitation promptly. We want more readers! :)

Tiegan (above)

Aeronwen

You could WIN Torn Heart!! *jumps up and down*

So, folks, you heard--er, read--me right. Right here on Ellyn's blog you could win a copy of her newly published book, Torn Heart. Wait, don't click on that. Because I would really, really like to win that book.:) *crosses fingers* Y'all will probably see this too late--the giveaway ends tomorrow--and I really should have posted this earlier but I didn't it, so here it is now. Anyways.:) I have a post planned for tomorrow, but it's 9:10 PM and I have a science project to finish...so I must sadly bid you adieu. Have a nice night!

Bravo! (my sister's post)

some of you mentioned not getting a chance to read Paige's lovely post...so, here you go. just keep in mind that i did not write this. haha. hopefully this'll tide you over if i find myself not posting for a few days. :)
____________________________________________________________________

First of all, hello my lovely lovely people. It's hard to believe that you all actually follow me on a daily basis as if I'm this wonder woman or something. Let me tell you, I am. I am all that and more. Because wouldn't you know it, I have a long and interesting story to go with that. One day...

I was taking a walk in the park, carrying my dog Otis on my head (he always liked a good view). The view was lovely, the wind was carrying pink umbrellas, and the birds were pooping. Altogether it was an enormously fantastic normal day in LaLa Land. Otis started bouncing up and down excitedly on my head like a moose who really needs a restroom. I set him down on the grass and turned away as he joyfully bounded off in the direction of a nice brown tree.

Turning away, I spotted someone in a dark and hooded trenchcoat. He seemed mysterious and slightly diabolical, so naturally I was intrigued. I squished through the mud until I got back onto the cobblestone path and hurried after him.

Okay, so it turned out to be a she.

But how was I to know?

"She" was a skinny, orange haired person who sported a variety of longbows. She said her name was Christine the Mean and that carrots are not welcome.

"... my name is, uh, Caroline," I said at a loss for words. I felt so let down next to someone who had an awesome nickname. I shuffled my feet in the grass and tried to think of something to say.

"Ya know, vegetables aren't..."

"Do you want superpowers?"

WHAT THE HECK.

I didn't say that but I'm pretty sure I looked like the mirror image of the large mouthed bass I pulled from the pond a while back. A dead large mouth bass at that.

"Sure!" was the first thing that flew to mind. I laughed. Boy, had I stepped in it now.

Before I knew it, I was swimming in the sea of happy unicorns and mushrooms. It was a joy filled place of happiness... and blue goo... I was swimming upwards in blue goo...

"Snap out of it!" Christine the Mean was standing above me. Otis was peering down into my face, apparently arrived back from his business trip. All I saw was a halo of orange hair and big, wrinkly jowls. Obviously the latter were Otis'. I looked down at myself and felt my arm. It was smooth! It was... it was... SPANDEX!

I was covered in Spandex. How glorious. But my moment of triumph quickly diminished from there. Christine the Mean shoved a finger in my chest.

"Remember, pal," she said, looking pretty darn serious, "Spandex is a priviledge, NOT a right." I grew pale. Did it look that bad on me? I supposed not since I had a right to wear it.

"Is there anything else you require, earthling?"

"Umm..." I was thinking of one of my childhood dreams. "Can I... can I have a beard of my very own?"

"Nooo," was Christine the Mean's slow reply. I began to break down in tears. Now it would never come true. Christine the Mean continued. "Otis asked first. Sorry, Caroline."

I paused and looked down at my wrinkly Boston Terrier. Indeed, there it was. A pointed beard. ON A DOG!

Life isn't fair.

Christine the Mean had disappeared in a puff of plaid smoke. Without even telling me what my superpowers were!

TO BE CONTINUED.

FYI, this story takes place in a dismal place called LaLa Land.

Otis and Me are real people.

So is Christine the Mean.

She lives in a virtual place that has to do with Saltwater.

I, Caroline, am also a very awesome dork.

Please visit these sponsors below. I can tell you right away that you will NOT be disappointed!!

PixelPaige.com offers the most awesome blog designs EVER! At no set prices. Basically it's name your own. She is known for working with colour and images, and is a photographer as well so can create you the perfect photo blog. PixelPaige.com also hosts websites for only $2/month (unheard of!) if you have any other ventures you need help with.

Click here to go to PixelPaige.com! You won't be disappointed.

Also, let me point out Saltwater Skyline. It's getting a revamp at the moment but is an awesome blend of storytelling and general humor.

Love you guys!

*hangs head in shame.*

Wow. I am bad. Very bad. I've been home for a week and I haven't posted a singe thing. Now, don't get yourself worked up and think I have any intention of leaving any time soon. Wait, strike that. I do intend to leave in two weeks for Nanowrimo, and throughout the month of November you will catch sporadic glimpses of me haunting my own blog, but that'll be about it, seeing as my time will be spent on a.) schoolwork and b.) writing until my hands go numb. And yes, I'll try to stick to shorter sentences from now on.:)

Alrightey! Well, as you can see, I used the second picture for my new sidebar picture. I happen to like that one better--the only reason I really asked was because my sister and my cousin both said no, that's an awful picture of me. Thanksss, guys. Love you too. :) (not that your input wasn't appreciated!)

I made this the other day on Picnik and love it. I feel like such a nerd when I get all excited about a collage I make on Picnik, and other bloggers and photographers know Photoshop and HTML like the back of their hand. But, it makes me happy.:D

(the big picture was taken by either Ellie or Olivia.)

_______________________________________________

Ok, so I'm finally getting around to posting the results of the poll, "What do you want to see more of on my blog?" Can we have some cheers, people? Hip-hip hooray!
The Golden Eagle did this originally, posting her results, that is, just to give her credit.

The winner is...
Tell us more about your writing!

with a whopping 21 votes.

I'll do my best to oblige! During November, I'll probably be posting a lot about writing. However, I can't give away too much about my novels for fear of the ideas and characters stolen by evil internet people who aren't smart enough to write their own books, but I will try. I have a post waiting to be finished on Enslaved as I speak.

Secondly:
More photography
with 19 votes.

Hmm. Well, I already post a lot of photography, seemingly like every other post or something like that. I was actually trying to cut down on posting so much of it. But, if you voted for this, you probably like my photos, so thank you!:) I do want to focus a little more on writing--after all, the blog is called "A Writer's Life For Me" but I won't stop posting my pics!:D

Thirdly:
Writing tips
with 17 votes.

Yeah! I'm glad people want to see some writing tips! I might not be the best writer in the world, but nonetheless I am a writer and I like to think I have some knowledge, however small, of the craft. Writing tips aren't the easiest thing that come to me, although writing often is, but I will make those posts more frequent. Go writers!

Next:
Everyday life
with 16 votes.

I am interesting? You want to know what I'm doing when I'm not chatting away to all of you wonderful people? haha:). I'll admit that my "everyday life" posts aren't my favorite, but I'll update you with my exciting happenings from time to time. After all, one can't be deep inspirational all the time (*grins*) and I'm really not in real life:).

Then:
Book reviews
with 11 votes.
I do not consider myself very skilled at writing book reviews. I did actually have a book-review blog for a time, but discovered it's not my gift (hence the deletion of the blog). However, if I do manage to find the time, I'll write some.:)

And...sixthly? Yeah, it works:
God and the Christian life
tied with the above for 11 votes.
This is something I'd love to write about, and do love to write about! God has done amazing things with my life and I intend to share that love.

Last but not least:
Write more inspirational, deep posts
with a measly little 6 votes. *cries*
LOL, I guess I'm not the best when it comes to deep and inspirational, huh?:)

Well, if this poll proved anything, it proved that I enjoy going my own way and not listening to people's advice! Hahaha:D. But I DO thank you very much for your input--it makes me happy to know you want to hear more about my books and like my photography!

__________________________________________________

I think that's everything! Again, I am sorry for being a naughty blogger--I hope I didn't scare you too much. Have a nice night, friends! :)

A shout-out for my buddies, and the tossing of my computer out the window

So I was going to post the beach pictures, but I have a bad computer. It's terrible, and I think it's out to get me (most computers are.) You see the problem is, my screen is covered in little pink and green dots. This makes it difficult to post photos and to see other people's photos. *sigh* So beach pictures, I will try to make it the next post, unless our monitor isn't fixed by then. :) This isn't the first time I've threatened to toss my computer out the window. The first time was while I was writing my book. That was worse, actually.

Anyways! Two of my favoritest people have a blog. And it's freaking awesome. See, they're a band. They compose songs, they compose lyrics, they play the piano and violin and guitar and it's amazing to the person like me who cannot, for the life of her, write a song. Or play the violin. And I just know these girls are going somewhere with their music. They've both (all three actually, since the band is a threesome) got a huge love for God and music, and they are fantastical friends. So please click HERE to visit their blog; after all, who doesn't love more followers and comments? Follow, really do. Or you'll have me to answer to, and as my friends will tell you, that's a scary thing.

(have you followed yet? yes, no? drop a comment, perhaps?)

Hehe.
I think I can post one picture, if my computer won't flip out and go completely boneless on me.

That's the truth!


Alright. I couldn't resist. You can have Edward and Jacob; give me Sherwood Forest!

I've never had a wishlist like this...

Well, maybe I have. But that was a long time ago, when my life centered around PollyPockets (which are really cool by the way...). What I mean is, I've never had a wishlist this expensive.

I think I've been bitten by the electronic fever.

Observe:

My own laptop...how amazing would that be? I do have one, but it's about eight years old and I recently broke its power cord, so it no longer turns on. Plus, something NEW and FAST and that is mine would be bliss.

My current iPod is a first generation Shuffle. It plays the music, but it's primitive. I'm so jealous that Molly has, like, six episodes of Robin Hood on her iPod. Yesterday I even wrote a list of the episodes I want to buy from iTunes.

Ah ha. A camera. The most important of all of these. I have a computer (obviously; how else would I wrote this?) and I have an iPod, but no camera. I do have a digital, but it's rather pointless since I have no batteries and I lost my camera card. Plus, the thing is a piece of junk. So yeah. A camera would be nice.

Speaking of cameras, could y'all recommend some to me? I love Canons but I'm still not sure what to get.

I really need to get babysitting.

What's on your wishlist?

Mad ninja skills

I could not resist this. Picnik.com is just too much fun for this kind of thing.





{by the way, I cleaned out my sidebar area. So most of the pictures that were there before, as well as some new ones, are on my "amusement" page.}

Help!!!!!!

Guess what? I won Olive Tree's Former Glory contest! The prize is a complete, free blog redesign.

That being said, I seriously need your help deciding which blog should be redesigned--this or my photography blog.

So help! What say you? And please say something SOON cause I don't want to keep Olive waiting:).

Tootles my friends!

Former glory, versatile blogging, and header questions

First order of business! *bangs gavel on desk*

Alrightey then.

1. Olive Tree at HorseFeathers is having a giveaway! The prize is a complete blog makeover! Do be sure that you tell her that I'm the one who referred you, as this earns me an extra entry per person! So what are you waiting for? GO CHECK IT OUT!!!!!

2. The Golden Eagle awarded me! Thank you!




1. Thank the person who gave you this award (check)
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (in no particular order…)
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.


I think I broke my toe today, the littlest one. I stubbed it, it bled, and it now hurts like heck. Not much the doc can do for broken toes:(( But it could have been worse, so I am thankful that that is the only thing wrong with me!

I am obsessed with the band Sanctus Real. If you have not heard of them, then... well I don't know what but you really need to hear them!! Their cd "Fight the Tide" is excellent, as are their songs "We Need Each Other" and "Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)". They're Christians and have some of the best Christian rock I've ever heard.

My shirt is the color of lemonade!

I'm reading The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner right now. OH. MY. WORD. Doesn't that tell you enough?

Last night I watched the movie The Patriot. It was really good but extremely violent. Not to mention the fact that my favorite character dies. Hel-lo? It seems nowadays that good characters always have to die which REALLY ticks me off! It happened in Artemis Fowl, in Christy, in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, in The Lord of the Rings... the list goes on and on, my friend.

I am completely going to rewrite my book Enslaved. "Not again!" you groan. MUAHAHAHA!!! I'm giving it the new title of The Crossing and using the plot I had for the sequel for this first book instead. And no, no good characters are going to die. I'm not that evil. (well...)

I ♥♥♥ gorgonzola cheese!


I now award...
Molly
Ciara
Memzie
Katelyn
Lizzy
Shaynie
Melody
Nahla of the Eastern Winds
Ivorydancer

Sorry, that's only nine! I always have trouble with this:)

3. Last of all, a question for my wonderful blogging friends. Do you know if it is possible to save my header to my desktop? I want to work on it in Photoshop.

Adios my dear amigas!

Don't freak!

Please don't freak out, I am in the middle of redesigning my blog! (which will probably take a while). So...bear with me. Things will be back to normal. Someday. Wait, normal???!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Things shall never be normal!!!!!!

(sorry. i am feeling extremely random. don't mind me. go read someone else's blog if you don't like random.)

Edit: I have a question. Yes I am still somewhat clueless when it comes to blog design... so give me a little help here. I am trying to change the color of my font in the header and I can't find out where to do that. They used to have an area for that but it appears it is now gone. So HELP!!!!!!

Someone needs a blog makeover

So, ah, I think lil 'ol me needs to redo her blog, huh? Do you agree? I've had this background and header for months now and I'm feeling that my blog looks a little... unorganized. Like not very well designed, in other words. Plus I've seen my background on a lot of different blogs. My sister is going to help me "recreate it", so to speak. I want something that screams at people to stay around and look at my blog for awhile before hopping off again. And I don't want people to come to this blog and think of me as just some schmo. Here are some of my favorite templates. All credit goes to createblog.com.

Astounded (though I'd put a picture of me in place of the other girl)

Or perhaps...

Tragic Scene

Or possibly even

Dear Diary

And that's it! So, what say you? I would really appreciate your comments on this. And if you know of any sites that you think have templates I might like, do tell!

Leaving for a time

I've decided that I desperately need a break from Blogger. It takes up too much of my time, and besides that, I'm always wondering if I've got any new followers or comments, and it's driving me crazy. I know there are much better things I could be spending my time on on. So I'll be gone until next Saturday. I'll miss it, but I have to break free of my blogging addiction! Fare you all well until next weekend:).
~Caroline

AWESOME day!!

Hey! I had a GREAT day today! First of all, my mom and I left around 11:30 and went to the library, where I proceeded to get seven or eight books eight-- the usual:). Then we headed on to 'The Shoppes on Main' which was a collection of stores in one building in Fuquay. Yeah, that's the name of my town-- Fuquay-Varina. Actually it's two towns combined, so there's two downtowns:D. Anyways, at one lady's used clothing store, my mom found a smallish bulletin board covered with a vintage-like cloth that says that "Rome, Paris, London, and Madrid" and each place has a famous landmark from there. It's hard to explain, but maybe I'll someday be able to get a pic of it. There wasn't a price on it, so I asked the lady, who was Spanish, and she said 3$! I think she liked me (she was pretty funny!). After that we went to an antique store. Now, let me just say that antiquing is not my idea of fun... no thank you:). But this store was different-- they had a ton of vintage, shabby chic stuff, just my style. I found some amazing pieces for my room that will definitely be on my Christmas list. In the way back of the store I found a pair of shoes. They're black, low-heeled, with gold stitching and silver sequins on the front. Sounds cheesy, I know, but they're BEAUTIFUL... and they were only four bucks! Can't beat that with a stick! We went to a coffee shop in Varina next, The Chocolate Bean. I got a Raspberry Mocha and a seasame seed bagel (I was starved!). They were great! Oh, in the coffee shop that a machine where you could create your own pixie stix! I didn't do it, but I bet I will sometime:). We went grocery shopping and then came home, at about 3:00. A few minutes we went back out again, this time with Paige and my dad, to a gorgeous park 20 minutes away. There's tons of woods and an AMAZING, huge blue lake in the center. It was stunning. And they have a volleyball pit! Need I say more? We had a blast, of course. Now it's 6:40 and I am hungrily waiting for pizza and a movie. Yay! And at 9:00, one of my fav tv shows is on, Monk. Only three more episodes of the series left!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
But, anyhow, it was a wonderful day!

Elvish Devotion

Last night I found an awesome site, elvishdevotion.com. The lady who created is an amazing artist who draws characters and scenes from The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and others. I'm stunned at what a good artist she is, and I aspire to draw like her... some day:). Check out the site!

Packing maniac

It's official... Well, okay, it's been official for two months, but now it really feels like we're moving since we really started packing today. I finished my room tonight, just one more bag to fill and a bed to make:). There is a huge stack of boxes on and next to my couch, but other than that, the room has been cleared. EXCITING!! I'm very happy, exhausted, excited, and wondering if it will really all actually happen.