Dream a little dream of me

Dear World,
So the other night, I had a wedding dream. That's right, those are starting already. Awesome.
I was late to my own wedding. I was waiting to use the shower because I had to share it with my mom. Then I couldn't find my friend Laura (who I haven't seen since 9th grade) because she was supposed to style my hair. THEN I caught a cab, but didn't know how to describe where we were going. I just knew it was on the other side of the island we were on. After freaking out in the cab, getting to my location, I felt a tooth wiggle with my tongue. I pushed it out, spitting the tooth out into my hand. I felt the empty space of gum with my tongue and tasted the warm metallic blood in my mouth. While doing that, I felt another tooth wiggle. All at once, I'm spitting gobs of teeth out into my hands, and I am left toothless. And late. To my own wedding. Lovely.

In other news, I need a second (third?) job. I am broke. I have a lot of saving to do for this move, and I'm still buried in hospital bills from September. No wonder I'm having stressy nightmares.

On to the job hunt!

Love,
Stephanie

It's All Downhill From Here

What an amazing week it has been! Last Friday I flew down to the US Virgin Islands- AKA heaven on earth. (Warning, this one is long so if you're just here for eye candy, scroll down.)
It was unseasonably warm here in South Carolina before that, about in the 70s every day, until right before I left when it dropped to the 30s. Talk about great timing.
My chariot with wings arrived in time for me to meet up with Kevin and head onto the ferry to my future home, St. John. I had never been to St. John before. I enjoyed St. Thomas very much last time I went, but I had no clue how much BETTER St. John is! This small island has just under 5000 residents. 70% of the island is a State Park, meaning it will stay small and relatively uninhabited. There are beautiful beaches (which is to be expected), hiking trails, and a nice little spot with some civilization too! (I use this term loosely...)
Once I settled in, we had a fabulous dinner at Banana Deck, where I enjoyed Curried Shrimp, a quesadilla, and fruity drinks complete with cute umbrellas.
On Day 2, we joined Kevin's coworkers on a boat to the British Virgin Islands! This was technically my first time out of the country, although for some reason the passport didn't get stamped. I did learn, however, that they also make passport cards that look like driver's licenses. All you do is hand it over and get it swiped, which is pretty convenient. Ahh technology. So we go to this beach, and I still can't remember its name, but I do remember that we spent the day at the Soggy Dollar Bar & Grill. I had the BEST fish and chips I've ever tasted and we spent the day chatting and getting to know one another. I had a great time, even though I got slightly sunburned.
I could continue giving you a blow by blow account of my trip, but I'll leave you with this. On my last day on the island, I was walking home when I passed another tourist with his family. They had just come up this incredibly steep hill (which is what I had been taking to get into Cruz Bay), and seemed pretty winded. He smiled at me and said, "It's all downhill from here!" I laughed and said "Yes it is, literally."
This stuck out to me because maybe it is all downhill from here. Last year was CRAP, and things are finally looking up for me. I learned to say no to grad school, I get to move to a tropical island, and I have the love of someone willing to put up with my antics. :) It really is all downhill from here.

And now for pictures of my adventures:

These chickens were just hanging out on our porch one day.

The best drink garnish is a lizard. Duh.

I woke up to see this guys looking in my window every morning. Weirdo.

...and in crazy cat lady fashion, there are cats around. I fed them.

I made a commercial once

Dear World,
I made a commercial once. It looked like this:
SCCA Commercial
I need to make more of those.
Love,
Steph

Sunday Hikes

Dear World,
Today I went for a Sunday hike. It's not the same without my friend Melissa around, but being in the woods alone is kind of a nice experience. It's very peaceful. I realized how much I don't really go outdoors much anymore, and I need to change that. It gives me time to take it all in. And listen to some awesome jamz on my phone.

 + Lost Woods Song from Zelda = <3

So maybe I can remix this tradition and go it alone in the woods from now on. Like a pirate or something. 

Love,

Steph

Friday Night Smiles

Dear World,
Today marks the end of my first week back at work. I am already thankful for it.
I met up with some co-workers for lunch and did some catching up, which was awesome. I am now deeply involved with the Sutton Foster sitcom, Bunheads. It's not a bad week at all. I'm looking forward to more to come.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a random picture of Moobies:

Love,

Steph

Life on the Rock

Dear World,
My body may be in Columbia, but my brain is in the Virgin Islands right now. I've been looking up as much information as possible about the islands, and it's starting to look like there will be big changes in my future. I'm not sure how I'll react when I make the big move, but I get a test run coming up soon, which is good.

A few things that are super different:
1. The shower uses rain water. (Maybe there's a coconut phone, too.)
2. No AC.
3. No dishwasher.
4. No drinkable tap water.
5. Community washers, hang on a line to dry.
6. There are iguanas EVERYWHERE.


So basically I'll need to learn how to live without many luxuries. But they still have the internet. Thank God for the internet.

More to come, including pics of my future home!

Love,
Steph

Whine of the Week

This week's whine is brought to you by: Bolla Chianti, 2011.

Dear World,

I have never tried a chianti before, but I could use a nice relaxing evening at home yesterday. Since the grocery store had no Malbecs to be found (for shame!), I settled on a Chianti. I may have had one before, but I don't recall what it tasted like, so I thought I'd give it a try!

Speaking of not recalling things, here's the whine:

In September I got in a car accident. My health insurance has been terrible to deal with, and they're still not processing my claim. (Even though now I do recall filling out the forms they requested. I guess one got lost in the mail. No worries, they're sending me another.) The frustrating part is that my memory is REALLY bad now. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty bad before, but now it's...SuperBad. 

Yeah, how those guys look, is about how my brain feels.

I can still remember crazy details from long ago...like how I got caught singing in the bathroom in 2nd grade, or how to find the invisible extra life mushrooms in Super Mario Bros, or that one time that I made my little brother fly into a television. I could describe memories of yore in detail. It's just that more recent things tend to slip my mind. Like something someone texted me the week before about plans I didn't write down. Or something my gentlemanfriend told me about work the day before. I feel like a total dummy when it comes up in conversation again, but I'm not sure what I can really do about it. Maybe this will go away, maybe it is stress. Perhaps taking a break from school will help to de-clutter my brain. Perhaps I should start taking a daily supplement of Gingko Biloba. At any rate, it's frustrating, and I am thankful for my friends and family for putting up with it. 

I don't remember where I was going with that, either, so I may as well come to a close. I'm done being a Negative Nancy for now. Happier thoughts to come.

Love,

Steph

Family Ties Marathon

That pretty much describes my weekend. It's free on Hulu now. I never saw any of it before.


The theme song from this show is probably the worst thing I've ever heard.Listen here


In other news, I have bridal brain. I was thinking about doing bright pink shoes instead of white. In my best Linda Richman voice, I ask you, "discuss."

Weekend Pics

This was a journal I saw while out shopping today. I need to stop shopping at Claire's. 

Regarding Being a Cat Lady

Dear World,
The other day my friend Savanah said "Oh no, now you won't be the crazy cat lady!" (In reference to my engagement.) Fret not, my dear friend, for I shall remain a crazy cat lady for all my days. I know plenty of people who are batshit crazy about their animals AND married. I am estimating that at some point in my life I could easily have ten cats to my name. So far the most I've had is 3, but hey, I'm still young.
All of my friends and family classify me as their token "cat lady." My affection for these creatures can be quite odd, I suppose. Stereotypical, even. In fact, last week for Christmas I got this nifty little gift for myself:

It's pretty hilarious. The object of the game is to collect as many little colorful plastic cat tokens as you can before someone reaches the end of this Candy Land-like adventure. My parents and I played a round when I got it, which was pretty entertaining. But that's not the story I'm here to tell.

I'm actually writing to introduce you all to my lovely cats.



This adorable beast is named Chairman Meow. He's approximately 3 years old, and I acquired him through a student's family back in the spring of 2010. He enjoys peeing on my possessions and laying around your feet when you're trying to walk. He also loves sitting in your lap and biting you if you try to move. What a joy to have in my life.


Believe it or not, the two above pictures are of the same animal. This is Lucien, who technically belongs to my gentlemanfriend. We call him LuLu, and he's about two years old now. He currently resides with Kevin's mom, but we still talk about how much we love him. (Because we're both insane.) I also might have more pictures of LuLu than I do of Chairman Meow. Oops. (Can you blame me? He's such a fine animal.)



Here's another before and after for you. This is Moobies. His original name was Orko (like the floaty dude from He-Man), but he got super fat really fast. He was re-named Moobies in 2006 because that's what my friend (and roomie at the time) Kelly kept calling him. It was too funny/cute not to call him that. Plus I got tired of explaining who Orko was. Moobies is currently 7 years old. He has moved with me to five different homes, and I might love him more than most people.

So there they are. Expect to see a lot more of them because I'm obsessed with cats in general.
Love,
Steph

Top 5 Video Games of All Time

Dear World,
This post is a bit of a homework assignment for a podcast that I participate in with my friends, Dork Night. If you haven't listened to it, you should visit our site to listen to us chat every week about dorky things:
www.dorknight.com

Anyhow, on to my top five favorite video games of all time! I like mostly older games, because I don't really have time to play anything requiring too much of a commitment. However, when I was a kid, my brothers and I played the hell out of some games.

Number 5- Toejam & Earl- Sega Genesis
Found a cool gif that pretty much shows you the intro to the game so I don't have to explain much:

(Found at http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/toe%20jam%20and%20earl)
So yeah, if you looked at everything on the gif, you see that the object of the game is to collect pieces of a spaceship. Basically you wander around "earth" which is insane in every way. You have to avoid getting injected by a maniacal doctor, getting entranced by hula girls, or getting scared to death by the boogie man. It's a really fun game, and each level is physically above the previous level. (Traveling via elevator.) I have re-played this game as an adult and equally enjoyed it as much as I did as a child.

Number 4- Sonic 2- Sega Genesis

(Image from http://www.2-retro.com/2012/02/20/sonic-2-16bit-glory/)

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the one creature that taught us what the hell a hedgehog is during our youth. Featuring both Sonic and Tails, this game can have two players. Obvious choice in a multi-child home. Also, Sonic & Tails had some great levels in it. I used to just play the Casino Night Zone level for hours, never finishing the level, just letting the time run out over and over again. (I still have a thing for slot machines.) This game was nice to play because each level had a different theme, complete with appropriate music. (Which helps, because getting sick of game music can happen pretty quickly.)

Number 3- Super Mario Kart- SNES

(Image from http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/File:Super_Mario_Kart_(NA).png)
Okay, so when this game came out, I played it nearly every day. I would kick everyone's butt in battle mode, and I was obsessed with the races. Not sure why. Pretty simple game, but I liked it a lot. This is the only racing game I've ever liked. Ever.

Number 2- Super Mario Bros 3- NES

(Image from http://www.mariowiki.com/Super_Mario_Bros._3)
Of all the Marios, this one ended up getting played the most at my house. I don't think we had a copy of Mario 2 until later, which was also pretty cool. (I liked that you could pick your character in Mario 2. And that Princess Peach hovered.) This is such a step up from the original Mario game. The different worlds were awesome, and the cartoon was based specifically on this version of the game.
When I was in high school, I had a few slumber parties during which the objective of the evening was to beat Mario 3 without warp whistles. This game was awesome because it introduced us to the raccoon suit and the frog suit, both of which are rad. Clearly Mario (all of them) was and still is a big part of my life. Yep, so that's pretty much all I have to say about this one.

Number 1- The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past- SNES

This is the ring tone on my phone. This is my text message notification sound. My friend gave me an ocarina green rupee necklace (that's actually playable) from Dragon Con. I've seriously considered getting a Zelda tattoo of some sort. Naturally, the entire Zelda series could fill my entire top five, but that would have been a very boring list. So, of the Zelda games, Link to the Past is my favorite. It's gotten my family through some rough times over the years. It's nice to forget who you are and pretend you're saving some elf looking princess. I could seriously play this game over and over again and never get tired of it. However, I need to get around to playing some of the new ones. Twilight Princess is still in the wrapper...

(the Link to the Past image is from a cool ass article about a potential sequel, so you should go read that next: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2012/04/13/miyamoto-would-like-to-see-more-from-a-link-to-the-past/ )

Love,
Steph

Lamp, anyone?

Dear World,
Just yesterday I drove up to Columbia from Charleston, where I got engaged to someone I wasn't technically dating. Already my phone has been ringing nonstop. And so it begins.
2012 was just about the crappiest year I could imagine. It involved hospital expenses, car accidents, fights, and betrayal. I really hope that 2013 doesn't suck.
I do follow the tradition of making a New Year's resolution every year, but this year I'm torn. There's a lot about me I would like to change (the stereotypical lose weight, exercise more, get a new hobby, blahblah), but I think an important one that I always put off is to SLOW DOWN and enjoy life. So I'm trying that. We'll see how I hold up.
For me, slowing down means a few big changes:
*No grad school this year. I already have a Master's degree. So a Ph.D. is really unnecessary for me. I feel like I was doing it to please others, so that has to go. I can always pick up a course for leisure here and there in the future, but now my wallet and stress level can't handle that mess.
*I accepted a work from home type job. I'm going back to the company I worked for last year. I think it's relatively low-stress. I could have taken a better paying job, but that would mean having to move asap, and I'm not ready to move yet. Also, working from home means I can do laundry while I work. That's amazing.
*Moving slowly (not physically.) This means I do have to move eventually to join my life partner down in the Virgin Islands where he lives, but I'm waiting until this summer. Until then, I will gradually sort through the things in my house, de-clutter, and get down to the bare essentials before I go. Like right now I'm staring at a lamp I never use. I'm going to get rid of this lamp. Please take it.

*Weighing the stress of things before I get involved. I have too often caved to others pressuring me into doing things I really don't feel like doing. Or caved to people simply asking, just because I like to please people. NO MORE. This year I will be a homebody and take care of myself instead of getting caught up with other people's needs. Don't care how selfish that sounds. I almost destroyed myself last year so I'm allowed to be selfish in the name of keeping calm.

So that's my big fat New Year's list. Today I'm going to get some coffee, relax, and maybe get around to my to-do list. Happy 2013, everyone.

Love,
Steph