To the Dentist!

So yesterday I went to the dentist for a cleaning. I'm surprised how quickly the three months went by. Must have been the day or time that I set up but it was so quick, I was only able to read two pages before called in.

We rechecked my gums. What she did was she takes a tool and pokes it between my teeth. She puts it down into them until she finds out how far until my guns and teeth meet. Apparently this time around it was much better than last time. Almost ever tooth had improved at least a little save one (and those that weren't bad in the first place). She kept telling me how happy and excited she was about that.

Then we did the normal scraping clean. Then she put some kind of medicine in my gums which tasted awful, though I suppose most dental stuff does. Sadly she didn't do the fluoride or polish. I really enjoy the polish because your teeth are so smooth afterward. I think these three month appointments might just be the scrapings but I'm not sure. I am so glad the insurance covers it. For the 45 minutes that I was there, it would have cost over one hundred dollars.

When I went to put my next appointment in my calender, I noticed something that is making me stress. Next week is May. That is my last month in this apartment. I don't have a new apartment yet. I just sent out to e-mails to check for available places and to see about setting up a showing. Still, I wish something nice would come up. Both these places have been on my mind as back ups for when nothing came up and sadly I'm reaching that point. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Silly Doctors

So yesterday I went to the Quick Care concerning a weird swollen spot on my leg. We didn't have to wait long in the actual waiting room, at least it didn't feel like it, I was reading. Then after getting all the vitals down (my scale is sadly accurate to the doctor's) we ending up waiting even longer in the check up room.

After a pretty long wait, he came in and in like five minutes told me it was some kind of fungal thing and prescribed a cream. As soon as we checked out, we went straight to the store for the prescription. The Pharmacist took a bit before telling me that my insurance wouldn't cover the costs. She then explained that it was due to the fact that this was something I could get anywhere. So my doctor was going to have me buy this tiny tube of stuff that would be expensive when there was a cheaper, bigger option one isle over. Athlete's Foot cream, that is it. Like he couldn't say "go get yourself some Athlete's Foot cream" instead of saying"Terbinafine Hydrochloride 1% Antifungal Cream." Thankfully the Pharmacist showed me which kind to get and just told me what the directions the doctor had sent for usage.

I'm just glad that it was something so simple (he thinks). I just have to keep my eye on it for the next couple of weeks and hope the cream kills it. Hope you are all well!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Out and About

I have been doing quite a bit the last couple of days.

Friday night, right as I was starting to think about my dinner, my "sister-in-law" called. She said that there was burgers on the grill but I was invited to come over. Apparently they had intended to call much earlier but had forgotten til then. So I went over, we had dinner, then after much hassle, we watched a movie (Frozen). Surprisingly, we hung out, the two sisters, their counter parts and "mom-in-law," until almost 11. The mom is usually super tired by 8 or 9 and one sister almost always falls asleep if out too late. I was okay with staying out that late though, cause that meant I only had to wait an hour for Mr to get home.

Saturday I personally didn't do much. Mr went out to the bar with a bunch of work mates though. It was fun having him text while he was out because he was giving fun commentary. Mr was the most sober of all of them, however, he was drunk. One reason I think they sobered up is because they were too scared to go down the stairs for more drinks. When Mr got home at 2am, he was insisting he was only tipsy but as he sobered up, he acknowledged he had been drunk.

Sunday, Mr went over to one of the aforementioned work mate's house to buy an electric drum set. Now he is extra excited to move in hopes that he'll have space to set it up. After he got back, we went over to his sister's place and all the kids hung out and talked.

With all of this, I've been having a really hard time keeping track of my days of the week. It is always such a pain when that happens. Hope you week feels shorter than it is!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Calling People

One thing that sucks about moving out is having to make your own appointments. I would go to the doctor much more often if the appointments just made themselves. The only reason I am able to go to the dentist so often is they set appointments ahead of time. So then I can either just show up or reschedule it due to conflicts and that's it. (Can you tell I'm putting off calling about an appointment.)

Well I didn't have any excuses, their number is programmed in my phone (yet another sign your are becoming one of those "adults"). But now I have to figure out how to write a professional e-mail because I would rather figure that out than a phone call. Dang dentists and rental companies.

Sorry about all this random talk but it is helping me get important chores done. This post will also be pretty short because I was thinking of working on my "Weekly" review today.

While I would love to continue giving you play by plays of this, I have log out of this e-mail to send then e-mail though a more adult address.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

P.S. This is how I am feeling right now: Youtube video

Banana Cake

Last night I was finally able to make my banana cake/bread thing. I use a banana cake recipe and it makes a 13x9 pan of bread. Then I just slice it into 3 or 4 loaves! I think this recipe varies only be two teaspoons from my recipe for bread but makes so much more.

Not long after it was finished baking, we had some slices with a bit of butter on it and it was so wonderful. This morning we had a breakfast dessert which was a slice topped with some bananas cooked in butter and brown sugar.

In case this all wasn't enough to make you crave some, here is a picture of it for ya!

This is a photo from the last time I made this recipe. That is what I had after breakfast, though this time around we didn't have ice cream.

Before I was able to make it, I had Mr grab some ingredients on his way home from work. He accidentally got us some powdered buttermilk. It didn't seem to change my bread too much but I'm going to have to use it in a couple other things before I'm sure about it. If it works okay, that will be awesome cause it good in this form for several years whereas normal buttermilk would likely go bad.

I suppose I have gone on about how awesome banana bread is for long enough. For those interested, here is the recipe for the cake.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Break Over!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday (or Sunday if you don't celebrate). My family went out for some Mexican food. It is amazing how big our core family has gotten. I feel like it wasn't long ago that we didn't need to make reservations because there were four or five of us. Then there was six, then seven and now there is eight and a half!

Nothing much happened through out the week. Mr got extremely sick and had to miss three days of work. Which means in the last two weeks, he was worked four days. He had a five day weekend for his birthday, went to work for two days, lost his voice for another three days. When it started snowing  last night (really weather?) we worried whether he would be able to get out of the drive way to get to work. We just got the snow tires taken of and our car is no good in the snow. Luckily none stuck so he was able to go to work.

This Sunday we went out and walked around the Arboretum. Things are just starting to bud and it is so beautiful. None of the trees had any green though so we'll have to go back in a couple of weeks to see how much has grown! We were lucky and got to see a gaggle of baby geese. We were standing on the side of the pond and they actually crossed the pond to stand on the same side as we were. I think they were hoping for food from us. I also got a photo of the most fluffy robin.

Yesterday I started actually sketching out some of the characters of my webcomic. They are posted in the link "Statistics" Tab but also under the new link under the "Webcomic Quest" Tab.

Well I think that is enough catching up for now!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Hello April!

This week has been going so quickly!

Saturday I spent hanging out with family. Mr's dad (who was in town) and his sisters were all there along with my family. I also was able to get some pictures taken.

Look spring is here!

Sunday, we were able to just hang out and have the day together. Monday we went to his mom's for his birthday. We taught her Phase 10 and had dinner together. After hanging out for several hours, we went to the store and got the weeks worth of food. I also got myself a week/month planner. I'm writing my to do list on each day and using it as a check list. So far it worked cause look! A post! and I was able to do several other chores as well. 

Tuesday we took the car in to switch out our winter tires. Well, we discovered there that our normal tires are so bad that they were hesitant to put them back on the car. So this weekend we have to get new tires, a new belt and a general check up because the engine light is on. So that should be fun and expensive... Amazing how everything related to cars seem to pile up all in one month. Luckily next month's rent is already paid for so we can save for our next apartment starting next month.

Anyway, we will see how well this planner can keep me on track. I wouldn't hold my breath but lets hope for at least an entry every other day!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful! 

Birthday

So yesterday was my Mr's birthday. He turned 22 this year, though his dad posted on his facebook about him being 23...

All this month I was sure that he didn't get the day off. So we got up Thursday at the normal time, we went through our normal routine before he goes to work, and ten minutes before he would usually go, he told me that he had the day off. So that was exciting, though it made it so I couldn't download his game while he was at work.

We had a good lazy day. And because no one else knew he had the day off, no one was bugging him to hang out. I made my first ever apple pie instead of a cake and it turned out pretty good. I'm glad I asked what kind he wanted because I didn't know he even liked apple pie none the less want that for his birthday. I would have made a coconut cream pie.

As for the rest of the week, I have been juggling Dragon Age (There was a new DLC), Papa's Donuteria (on Flipline.com) and working on my webcomic some. I am kind of starting to try to write the first chapter so I have no excuse to put off starting. Part of me keeps forgetting that the whole point of this comic is to get better at my art. I keep wanted to wait until I have my style figured out and am better but that is literally why I'm doing the webcomic. So yes, I must get my scripts written up and some thumbnails done and just start. Whether I feel ready or not.

Sorry for another late post...

Until next time (in a long time I'm sure); have a wonderful day.

Caught Up?

Doesn't appear that my readers have all caught up but that is okay. I'll write a quick post.

I haven't been doing too much this last week. Been struggling hard core with my art. One project is going fine and I could probably finish this week. But the really project I want to be working on is being so hard. I just don't know how to go from realistic reference work to stylizing it. I know what style I want to be working toward and I keep checking it to see what little details help make the style but I still can't quite get the over all effect. Part of me is wondering if it is the pose or if it is something else.

I'm also trying to decide how I want to outline. Do I want to continue to have extremely clean line work or do I try and keep it closer to sketch work? It would certainly be quicker to not do the line art but I think I would also feel really unfinished.

Man I have stared at so many art works the last couple of days I'm not even sure of anything any more. I think for now I'm just going to do some practice sketches.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Weekly Review: Settlers 7

The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (Deluxe Gold Edition) is a real-time strategy and city building game that came out in 2010 (though it doesn't look five years old). There are several game modes: campaign, skirmish and online modes. The goal of the game is to build a thriving economy and to win the map by getting enough Victory Point, which can be earned through many different methods. You are also able to edit your castle and the maps.

I personally really enjoy this game, despite it having received fairly mixed reviews. One reason I believe I can enjoy it is because I haven't played previous Settlers games so I don't feel the need to compare to them. The graphics are amazing, the music is beautiful, the AI (computer run) characters function really well and I have yet to have any problems with the game.

The amount of detail that went into the game are amazing. All your citizens look different. You have chubby and short and lean and tall, guys and gals... Each worker worker looks different so the farmer looks different from the flour maker who looks different from the bread maker. The creators could have so easily just used plain default people who all looked identical but instead they all have these tiny little personalities you can see if you zoom in to watch.

The environment is stunning as well. The leaves on the small bushes are detailed; there are flowers and butterflies in the grasses. I could stare at the water indefinitely. You can also have it cycling through day and night and have different weathers (the rain sounds amazing).

Some people complain about the 'replay ability' of this game, but I believe that it is just the nature of the beast with these types of games. Not only that, I believe that this game has better replay value than some other games of a similar genre. There are many maps and many AI to choose from. You are also able to win each map in a huge number of different ways. You can use trading or religion/science or pure military power. There are special criteria on each map as well that you can try to meet to win. On top of all of that, you are able to edit these maps (to a lesser degree). Any of the maps can be changed by editing how resources are in each sector as well as what criteria are available to winning.

There are only a few things that I would change about the game. The first is that it has to be played through Uplay. I recently purchased this game for my computer (the original being on Mr's computer) and I had to spend a good amount of time figuring out how to get Uplay to stop crashing so I could play my game.

Another is that this game constantly requires being connected to the internet. If your internet hiccups and cuts out for even a few seconds, your game instantly pauses and all you can do is save. You can only continue actual play once you have connected again to the internet. I understand that this mechanism is to help prevent illegally playing or to keep people from cheating in someway. However, the only people who are affected by this are the people who legally play the game. Everyone else will just find a way to change the game so that it is no longer doing that check.

The final, and smaller issue that I have, it always asks if I want to post my accomplishments on facebook. It could be a fun option for those who are interested and have connected to facebook, but if you don't connect to facebook, it shouldn't keep asking.

Overall, I would recommend this game to any one who was interested in this style of game.

One week later...

Man time flies when you forget about your blog. I just know I better get one in before Saturday and J keels me. (Speaking of Saturday, I am thinking about doing a 'special' I guess on Saturdays. Each week I think I will review something, whether it is a game, a movie or a book. It will probably often cover really old products but that is okay, just cause they are old doesn't mean they can't be good.)

Tuesday I babysat my little niece. She is getting so big and clever. It was a nice easy going day; she seemed a bit tired and spent a good part of the morning cuddled in blankets. Which is fine by me, I had gotten only one hour of sleep that night. I even tried going to bed earlier than normal but I just spent hours laying there. This happens to me probably several times a year but I wish this one hadn't lined up with the day I had to get up way earlier than normal. 

Then Mr came and got me which was awesome. He took the day off because it was his mom's birthday. Though Monday he said he hadn't gotten the day off so that he could surprise me but I feel bad cause I was mopey that whole rest of the night. Hopefully it was worth my surprised look when he said he would be picking me up later.

We spent a good part of that evening trying to get a hold of his mom. When we asked his sisters if they knew where she was, they didn't know and asked if we could go to her house and check on her. Finally we gave up on her, came up, settled in for the night and started ordering dinner when she called. She had gone fishing for the day but hadn't told any of us. It was alright though, dinner was good.

Nothing much worth noting has happened since then. I did some coloring/drawing for someone's birthday on Deviantart and I bought a second copy of a game so Mr and I can co-op now (It was on sale for $5 which was so amazing!). Hopefully it won't take another week before I update!

Until next time; have a wonderful day!

Been Drawing

Saturday I sent a good part of my morning working on a landscape which I probably won't finish. Ended up being a bigger project than I had anticipated. Then we got invited to dinner over at Tawn's which was pretty unexpected. We only have a two hour warning but at least it was more time than Ella gave us...

Sunday, we had only been up for probably 45 minutes when Ella was trying to get a hold of us. While Mr thought they were still in the middle of texting the plans, he suddenly got the "I'm at your door" text. So he had to stop eating breakfast and head out. This family is awful at planning, tis like trying to herd cats.

But I was able to finish a drawing I started in August. Sometimes I surprise even myself at how bad I am at finishing anything in a timely fashion. It was a commission for someone. I offered to give it to her for free but she insisted on still paying which was super kind of her. I wish I didn't enjoy doing commissions so much. I'm so bad at getting them done but I have fun with them and I am so proud when I finish.

So there you go my one particularly art watcher, I did art for you! Two in a weekend even!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Quick Post

Just going to a small (late) update because my tablet is calling my name.

Nothing really of note happened Wednesday.

Yesterday I spent a good amount of the time talking to Ro online. We were video calling though, I don't have a webcam so it like half phone call, half video call. Most the time was spent discussing Dragon Age as it has been for the last couple of weeks.

I'm surprised that it is starting to warm up enough that I am comfortable with the window open most the day. The walk this 'morning' was super pleasant though that makes me worry that soon it will to be too hot. Despite it being March (can't believe it is already and only March... That also means that we only have one more month's worth of rent at this apartment).

Alright, I'm off to do something on the tablet. Just have to answer the artists' age long question: What do I draw?

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Being Social

I went out side into the real world and was social... crazy. It started out with my friend and I busing downtown and getting coffee. We were at the coffee shop for a couple hours, most of which was spent talking about Dragon Age cause we are adults. I wish they hadn't closed my favorite coffee shop. They one we went to was alright but it just isn't as good. The atmostphere and drinks were better in the old shop, and that shop was special to my boyfriend and I.

Anyway, after spending some time at the coffee shop, we went to the bar to meet up with more people. My boyfriend's sisters were there along with two of their friends. I have met one before, she is really nice but sometimes hard to understand. She has the slowest speech pattern I have ever heard in my life. The other woman I have never met but she was so quiet I barely remembered she was there. Which is saying something with two really unsocial quiet people there as well. I imagine she might have felt out of place. I know I hate being in that kind of situation where you know only one person and everyone else knows everyone else.

These are really hard to write without putting peoples names.... I think I am going to have give everyone nicknames. Maybe I'll make a page with everyone's nicknames on it. Here are what I can come up with:

Mr = My boyfriend
J = My sister
Tawn = Mr's Oldest sister
Ella = Mr's second oldest sister
Ro = My friend
Vi = Tawn's Friend

Well, I'll try to think of more later.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Seeing Everyone

I can not believe that it is already March! My boyfriend just did his taxes this Sunday, but if feels like he did that just a couple months ago. Time seems to be getting faster and faster! I can't imagine how it will feel once I have kids...

Anyway, catch up time (cause I suck at this daily thing it appears), Friday I babysat for my 'sister' (she isn't really related, just sorta adopted many years ago).  My niece is getting so smart and is really into her imaginary play. She pretended to go to work by putting on imaginary hat, shoes, gloves and jacket. She 'brushed' her teeth and even handed my my toothbrush, though at first I wasn't sure what she believed she was handing me until she pretended to spit into a teeny tiny doll sink. She also ended up having an argument between her to hands about not wanting to share the cracker one hand had. I can't believe I ended up trying to tell each hand that they should take turns and share.

I also got to see our friends and their two kiddos. They are getting so big and their little guy is a total flirt. At one point, the mom said "I think he likes you" and we looked over at him. He game me the most coy look before hiding behind his hair and we both just rolled; it had been so perfect.

Saturday I went out to my mom's to hang out with family. I think that was the closest we have gotten to finishing a game of Phase 10 but we still didn't manage.  We did walk up the hill to my mom's mailbox. I'm sure that doesn't seem like much but it is actually quite a hill. It was probably a ten minute walk up (20 total) but those kinds of walks are so much better with other people and a fluffy dog.

Sunday was a good lazy day as they usually are. We didn't end up at the store so hopefully we can manage to get there tonight. The weeks we don't go shopping we eat awfully unhealthy food. I probably should go get the shopping list made up so it is easier to go right after boyfriend gets home.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Crying at Movies

What is with getting older meaning you cry more? As a kid, I always laughed at my parents for crying at TV shows and movies... and now I do it! I have restricted myself from watching too many "Vet returns home from war" videos or I'll cry. I just watched This video and it made my well up and spill a tear or two.

And this kind of caught me unawares when it first started. You would have thought it happened slowly, like I would start getting closer and closer to cry every sad movie until finally one movie I finally actually cried. But no. I was happily watching the last Harry Potter movie and before I knew it, I was bawling. Like my boyfriend didn't know what to do, level of crying. Then came the first Hunger Games. I just don't trust myself not to at least tear up in movies any more. When and why did this happen?! Lets just hope it doesn't get worse... I don't want to start crying at events like weddings or dropping kids off some where...I'm doomed.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

No Excuses

Well this is the first time but I straight up forgot about these posts. I'm so sorry.

For the catching up: Thursday, my boyfriend (he would rather his name not used) and I rolled out of bed and delivered my friends computer right away. We finally got it set up to realize she didn't have a necessary cord so we ended up at the mall. I didn't mind, I got an Orange Julius. Orange Julius' drinks make all trips to the mall worth while.

Friday, the aforementioned friend came over to hang out. She figured that that would be the only motivation she had to go to classes that day. The make reason she got her computer was to game so getting up to go to classes was going to be hard. I totally understand, it is always hard to leave your new games and technology. So I offered to hang out for an extra motivation to leave the house.

Saturday I was going to hang out with my family but they all ended up sick. I'm glad my boyfriend hasn't brought home anything yet and lets keep our fingers crossed it stays that way. We didn't do much Saturday besides hang out.

Sunday was pretty lazy as well though we did do the weeks shopping. It is because of this that I realized I hadn't been making posts. When planning for the weeks menu, I find it easier to write the list here than just try to remember it. Plus, maybe it will help other people come up with ideas for their meals too.

Well, my "Breakfast" is finished (said as such being it is 1:00pm).

Sorry again about the long absence!

Until next time; have a wonderful day!

Starting to Think About Comic

 Yesterday I actually started some pages for my characters. I still haven't really pegged their exact traits but I'm getting there. A girl on another website I frequent wants to try creating some outfits for the girls so that will be really interesting. I think the characters will change clothes throughout the webcomic, unlike most. Problem is that I'm no good with coming up with styles...Hopefully it will become easier the more I do it and the more I know the characters.

I actually find that having other people draw my characters helps me learn about them. Kind of like learning the character wouldn't want to wear a color or that the character really likes that setting... Plus it is just a lot of fun to see other peoples take on my OCs ('original characters' for those who are unfamiliar).

I feel like these are so very random. I wonder if I should change that or stick with what is just naturally coming to me when I open a blank post. Don't forget you guys are free to post if you have suggestions if you have any, or just post for fun!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

(And my mouse stopped working... Now to figure out how to post this without being able to click the post button.)

Walk and Pizza

I wish my internet and computer could communicate better. One will say there is internet while the other does agree... Luckily we might have found a way to restart the modem that makes it reconnect right away instead of 12 hours later. This plus looking at apartments is making me really wish that it was May already.

But in more current news, Tov and I have started walking every day. We are going to just walk for a certain time then walk home. Today we walked up a hilly road for five minutes before turning around and coming home again. We started with 10 minutes total because not only are we unhealthy, we had delivery on the way. Every day we are going to add a minute, probably until we are walking 30 minutes total (don't want to have Tov spending his mornings walking instead of fun stuff!). It will be fun to get to see the different places we will go in that time. Also, I bet by the time we get bored of the area, we will be moving!

Have I mentioned I'm excited to move yet? Cause I am. Very.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope that everyone had a amazing day! Even if you don't have that "Special Someone" you probably have some "Special People" in your life. I hope you got to share your love and appreciation with your friends and family!

Love you guys!

Until next time; have a wonderful day!

FINALLY!

I'm so sorry for the long absence!! I missed posting last weekend because I was busy but as soon as I was going to make a post earlier this week, our internet gave up again. It wasn't until some time yesterday that it decided to work again. So here is a review of the week!

Saturday the morning was spent making sure the house was all together then my family came over for dinner. We had a lot of fun playing Phase 10 again. I really enjoy it because everyone joins into the game. I wonder how it would be with even more people joined in. I imagine it would be hard to keep track of what everyone else was doing.

Sunday I spent mostly hanging out and working on getting all the dishes done again. Luckily I have been able to keep all the dishes done this week. So much easier to do when you only have to do a couple dishes a day instead of everything you own.

Monday morning was spent waiting for someone only to have that someone cancel. It was all and good though, spend the rest of the day gaming (surprise, surprise).

Tuesday my friend came over and we hung out for a good part of the day. It was her birthday and she also had mail to pick up and a check to drop off. Not really sure why I got her mail but I did. She is having Tov build a gaming computer for her using the money she got from her school loans.

Wednesday I spent a good couple of hours working on my finances. I didn't have internet so I couldn't add the newest transactions but I was mostly working on coding the excel sheet. It is tough work but I really enjoy it! I finally got it so that it will do all the math for me and now I can see how much I spend on what. It was horrifying to realize just how much we spent on 'take out'. We only went out to dinner or got delivery like 5 or 6 times but it ended up being almost $200 dollars. We spent only double that on actual food for good homemade meals! It doesn't see much to get fast food but goodness it adds up way too fast. Luckily, despite that, we made a bit more than spent.

Yesterday I finished adding the transactions. The check from my friend is going to really make this months numbers look weird. It was really hard deciding what categories to add it and the computer bill under.

Through out the week I have also been starting to play Don't Starve. We have played quite a bit together but I have finally started one on my own. I'm hoping that all the stuff we have figured out together will still work when I'm trying to survive alone.

Today I think I am going to make some brownies for Valentines. I don't think I did that last year but I would like it to be something I do most, being that is what I did for our first Valentines. I just need to find a good recipe for making them from scratch. My normal recipe is good but it makes them a little more cake like while we're in the mood for denser ones right now.

So I will now leave you with a ton to read while I look up recipes and apartments.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Been Together for Weeks

Well, I decided to just push through and finish my Dragon Age story line. There is so much that I could still do that I can't even comprehend but it just doesn't feel right to play that save any more. I feel so bad for my character after what has happened. It is amazing how attacted/ familiar you get with your character. I spent literally days with this character and this game is so good at getting you emotionally involved. When it was all said and done, I felt really off and sad.

I tried making a new character but I am finding that I don't like her... Her voice is wrong and she is big and clunky though she is very pretty. I just got so used to seeing and hearing the previous character that it is hard to change modes. I considered having the same voice for this character but I associate it so strongly with the previous one... And it doesn't help that some of the voicing is done but the first voice actress? Not sure why they did that but the two difference voice options have the same voice for things like jumping, falling attacking etc. It really matches the first one but the second voice is much deeper than the first so those audio clips sound so out of place.

What got me thinking about all this is I stumbled upon some videos last night that go into the psychology of Character Creation. Being so into psych like I am, I found them fascinating. Here is the first episode and here is the second.

Regarding the first episode, I don't usually find myself recreating myself but more based off characters. The first time around in a game, is usually created purely based on what I think is pretty. From there I base it on characters that I have for gaming purposes.

For the second video, I never really play as a male character because I feel like taking every chance I can to play as a female. Unfortunately not every game has a female character so I like to take the opportunity when I can (not having female character available doesn't bother me, just as a side note).  And I prefer looking at a female for all those hours. Tov quite often plays as a female and he doesn't really know why. It is probably for all the reasons mentioned in the video. I do wonder how empathetic a person is, affects it all.

I suppose I shall stop rambling on about games and psychology!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Working on the Blog

I've been thinking about editing my a bit. Not sure about the title and some of the formats of it all. I guess I am still trying to figure out exactly what I am going to be doing with this blog and what it should be about. I think I might change the title to the same as the URL's. I also tried editing the link colors so that they stand out some but it is hard to not make them stand out too much or too little.

With the weather changing as much as it is, I will probably have to get a new background soon. I want the background to reflect the season it is here. The bigger question is, from what game do I get the screen shot? Do I continue with the Skyrim theme or do I get it from a different game? I suppose for right now, it depends on if I can find spring like pictures in the game.

Sorry about the short post but I think I will spend my blogging time working on the blog itself instead of a post.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Dependent Internet

Nothing like spending a good amount of time off the internet to realize how much you regularly check in on. One website has almost 200 notifications. Though,of course the site where my real life friends and family has no notifications but that is fine, I just use it to spy on everyone. There is another site where if I didn't 'work' there, I wouldn't be checking in on it much any more.

I have also found myself following many webcomics (all following titles will be links to the webcomic). Gunnerkrigg Court was the first webcomic I ever followed. I am still blown away by how much his art has changed from the beginning. This is the biggest inspiration for me to start my own webcomic just to improve. If you are getting into this one, expect to have a lot to back log and don't ever expect any questions to be answered. He has gone on a bit long on this but I still cant bring myself to stop reading.

Namesake is probably my favorite of all the webcomics I read. The art style is very unique and the story is awesome. While the art has improved, I think more than anything, it is the style that has really evolved in this one. Kind of in the same way that the next one has, it started out more complicated and turns into a simpler but much cleaner style.

Monsieur Charlatan is an awesome webcomic though if you get into it, you should be ready for irregular updates. She used to update weekly but at this point, it is just whenever she can manage. I understand life can get in the way but it also makes me forget about the comic for prolonged amounts of time. All the better I suppose, so I'm not disappointed every week (also makes me super happy when it does finally show up).

The newest that I am following is Headless Bliss. It is done by an artist of another webcomic I read but won't mention due to its occasionally NSFW nature. Headless Bliss is only 28 pages in but I think it will have a very interesting story line. The art style is very fluid and beautiful. It is nice to see this work colored as her other isn't.

All this talk about artwork makes me want to draw. Probably won't happen for a while but inspiration might be starting to bubble again.

Until next time; my your day be wonderful!

Fluffy Rain

Of course, after my previous post about having no snow, it snowed. Not much mind you, but it still managed to snow all day yesterday (and be foggy). Most of it has melted now, only standing on the roofs and hills. But that is okay, at least I can order pizza (the hill I live on is such a pain, that as long as there is snow, people won't deliver and I don't blame them).

Saturday we finally went out to see my family. I was so happy to see one of their pups as we almost had to put her down. Luckily, we were able to figure out a way to help her so she could live, she is the sweetest puppy I know.

While out there, we also got to hang out and play cards. The game we played was awesome though I was losing most the game. That's okay though, I'm used to that. I almost always loose games. What was nice about this one was after a while, I was able to pull ahead a bit (more from other people getting bad hands than from me doing well). I think that it is called Phase 10, which that makes me realize we should have been calling them 'phases' instead of 'tiers'...

Sunday we worked on the apartment a bit. We got a good portion of the Christmas decorations packed up. Now we just need a box or something to get everything officially packed up. It is so much easier to get chores down when we both do them at the same time. There is no excuses then!

Another thing that really helps is setting alarms. I used to do the "well, I'll start cleaning at this time" But then if I missed it, even by five minutes, I would tell myself "Well, missed that chance, now I'll start at This time." So now I give myself time limits instead. I set a timer for an hour and I can do anything I want during that time. Then I set it for 20 or 30 minutes and I have to work during that time. I also make sure that the alarm is somewhere across the room so that I have to stop and get up. Then it is easy to switch to chores cause I'm already up.

I think I might do that routine again today but we will see. For now, I'm going to go curl up and read!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

For Now

It looks like this 'posting every couple days'  thing will continue for a bit longer. I think I will start demanding a post daily again after this next Tuesday. Though, no promises!

I can not believe that it is already the end of January. When did that happen? But at the same time, Christmas feels like it was a very long time ago, not just one month! Sometimes I can't believe how much time can vary.

Days are also getting longer, and quickly. The other day I looked out side and I could see some daylight at later than four o'clock. And so many robins. I wonder if spring is going to be here months early. I think this year has had the smallest amount of snow that I can remember. In the past, Tov and I have cut a snow flake for every time it snowed. This year, had we done it, we would have had probably no more that five total. Which is really unusual for this area.

What we have had a lot of, is fog. As I am typing this up, there is fog outside and there has been most all day. Before this year, we rarely had fog. Last month, we ended up having fog for several days straight which is so unheard of.  Our weather has been so strange.

I sure write about strange things when I write at 3:00am

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Books and Games

As you would expect, I have been spending most my time playing Dragon Age. I keep having my mind blowing at just how large this world is. I thought there might be two or three open world maps but no, there is a ton. And there is so much more you can do even outside wandering the wold. It is crazy. This game is pretty close to the prefect game for me. I could use a little more city building kind of deal but that is it. I love everything, including the saving mechanism (weird point to love but it makes saving over other saves easy to avoid!).

Though I have been mindlessly playing Dragon Age, I have also been able to do other things. Not many mind you, but some! I have been playing Don't Starve Together with Tov after he has gotten some DA in. I have started working on my apartment because my family will be over for dinner this weekend (I think). And one day, I only played the game for two hours because I spent the rest of the day webcam-ing with a friend.

I am also reading when Tov is home but I had to set the Abarat to the side and start reading Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. I was putting up with everything in the Abarat but when he had the main character fall deeply in love with a character she had known for an hour, I had to be done for a bit. I am all about love at first sight and all but the way she is acting, it is as if she has known this character for ages. It could have been so easy to make her go from not trusting to loving him and not have it in a boat ride. "As the weeks went by, things changed. First Malingo noticed; then the Johns who shared jests and snickers when out of Candy's earshot. It wasn't long before the whole crew knew, Candy was falling in love."

There a reasonable time of getting to know than just the other persons name and down in three sentences. I understand that there isn't that kind of time in the current plot but I wish they had met earlier. Maybe close to the book? There have been many times that would have been perfect. Currently it just feels like one character asks if she has ever fallen in love then the author was like "hey, know what? I should make that for shadowing and make her fall in love! Now!" Candy is asked that, then meets her crush at the end of the same chapter.

Enough rambling from me though!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

I tried

I really did! I sat at the computer yesterday with the post open and and the "insertion point" blinking but I couldn't think of anything to say! "I played Dragon Age Inquisition. That is all. Good bye."

Though to be honest, this post won't be much different. Except this one contains an apology.

I have been reading when I'm not on the game. I'm reading the third book of the Abarat Series and it is so much darker. I still haven't decided how I feel about this book. So far, it has felt extremely rushed. If for some reason I loose something I have written, I quickly, and poorly rewrite it so I can get back to where I was. That is how this whole book has felt up to this point.

Another aspect of the book that is strange is that despite only being the middle of the book, it feels like we are at a climax. Like all the bad stuff is happening which really feels like it should have happened at the end of this book. Maybe that is what feels wrong over all, like this book should have been split into two but instead it was shoved into one.

Hopefully it will get better as I go. And I'm crossing my fingers that Cliver Barker rediscovers his passion for the tale so the fourth book can be better.

Anyway, enough about my book rambling...

Until next time; may you day be wonderful!

-edit- For whatever reason, this didn't post the intended day! So sorry!

Wandering

Well, if you read the previous post, you will not have any doubt about why there was no post yesterday. Dragon Age: Inquisition. It took 32 hours for it to download but it finally happened.

The whole day it was downloading, I played Final Fantasy XII 3, read my book and just general staring at the download bar. Since then, the only thing I have done is played the new game save for when Tov is home. My poor computer must be so tired.

What I can't believe is that even my custom built, gaming computer gets tripped up on it sometimes. It is understandable, the graphics are stunning and amazing and must take so much processing power. Luckily I haven't experienced any extreme glitches or problems yet. I was so worried about it because it has gotten such poor reviews for the PC version. But all is well! Especially because I got the deluxe version. I could not be happier that I get a deer-esque mount. It actually reminds me a lot of the mount from Princess Mononoke.

I would say that now I should talk about something else, but there really isn't anything. Dang games and their ability to consume your life. Ah well.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful! 

58% and counting!

So I decided to purchase Dragon Age: Inquisition yesterday. As I write this, it has been 21 hours since I started downloading and we are at 58%... I can't believe I started downloading on Sunday and I might be able to play it late Tuesday. Dang slow, free internet...

But that is okay, only a couple more months and we will be moved out! I am so excited about everything; hopefully a washer/drier, dishwasher, not living on a death hill, better internet...not living on death hill (it is very difficult to deal with in the winter or when dumb college kids are around).

We want to try and clean everything in the apartment at least once before the final clean in May. Having been an apartment cleaner for many years, I know how gross apartments can get in just a couple of years. I also want our move to be as stress free as possible. So if everything gets to be too much, and we can't get the cleaning done in May, at least it won't be too bad.

Because of this, yesterday we started on the bathroom. We got the first round of bleaching the mold done. Amazing how it can grow but kind of go unnoticed for so long. It starts out so small. Now that we have started cleaning it off, I realize just how much was there. The walls are so white and the bathroom seems a little bigger! While we were at it, we also bleached one of the walls in the kitchen.

Sadly, somehow the bleach got a hole in the bottom?  I came back a while later and it had leaked all over out counter. Thankfully it didn't seem to affect the color any. But we had to toss what we had left because it was leaking so much.

Well, I'm off to stare at my download bar. I'll probably update this to say when it finished downloading.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Queensryche!

Yesterday, pretty much my entire family went to Queensryche. My mom, stepdad, sister, her boyfriend, my boyfriend and I went together. I still can't believe that they came to such a small town area! We hadn't been planning on it for a long time or anything, my mom just called up like two weeks ago to say they were going to be in the area.

This was my first ever concert! I wish I had known more of the songs but it was still amazing. It was hard to remember that we were feet away from 'famous' people. I mean these people have traveled the world and can afford to do anything they wanted any time. My mom got to shake hands with Todd La Torre twice during the concert. The light show was pretty awesome except it continued to shine straight into my eyes.

It was such a strange feeling how we couldn't hear afterwards. When the music first stopped, people's clapping sounded almost like ping pong balls clacking together. We stayed around after everyone filed out for several minutes, letting our ears recover and
to let the traffic thin.

When we got home, we were able to force ourselves to the store for the week's groceries. It is a pain but it is so worth it. I would recommend to anyone that they make a week's menu and get all the ingredients in one trip. I find the weeks that we do that, I have much healthier meals. I don't plan which day I have what, that way we don't feel forced into any meal.

Yay for Encore! (though the crowd started doubting if we would have one)

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Late but Worth It

So I went to my first concert tonight! It was Queensryche and it was awesome. However, that is a discussion for another day (tomorrow). Of course I had to start writing about the previous day, the day I have a concert I want to talk about!

Yesterday was a good but not very productive day. I worked a bit on character outfits but that's it really. I spend a good amount of time on Final Fantasy 13 2... There is one area in the game where you have a quiz machine and honestly a lot of the questions are unrealistically difficult. Imagine an alien came to Earth and they joining a game show. Their questions would be like "What book was written by J. K. Rowling." "What is the first line of the last song of the show Friends" "Head or Tails."

Seriously, how can you even know? So I decided I would write down the questions and what answers were right or wrong, though apparently there is a huge question pool. After three pages (of a small notebook), I answered all 10 questions correct at the machine. After all that work, I then realized that all the other machines, have different question pools. So much unhappiness after that; I even dreamed that I was answer the questions last night.

So that is what I spent my night doing (until Tov got home and we played games together). The rest of tonight probably won't be much different!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Feeble Internet

So sorry for all the days that have been missed! No I haven't forgotten about this; my internet is pathetic. At first it started where I could use Skype to message people but that was it, It couldn't even load google. Finally, I decided to restart my router to try and get it working. It took it nearly 24 hours to reconnect. Of course, it reconnected right as we were about to take it into our provider to get a new one. I am hoping to be able to stick with this one just a little longer being we will be moving soon.

Though I complain, I am also grateful for it, as the internet we are using is free (well, included in our rent at least). There have been times in the past where I don't know if we would have been able to afford good internet. That being said, I am extremely excited for an internet that runs a bit faster. Most things that we want to do, we are able to, but it is really, really slow to download anything. We don't really notice until we have something to compare to though. Once we were chatting with Tov's Brother-in-law and said that the download had taken just 15 minutes... it had taken us over an hour.

But enough about the internet. What else have I been up too? Well for the fun stuff, I have been working more on my art and my webcomic. I'm still struggling with the same character. I also have found out that I am still struggling with my style. Headshots have been coming along nicely but now I'm not sure how to do the rest of the body in my new style. I managed to make a really nice, realistically proportioned body only to find that my head style doesn't work with it many more. So I'll have to work on figuring out that style when I get my tablet back from my sister.

For the not so fun stuff, I have been to the dentist twice this week. First was just for a routine check up and cleaning. I got a new hygienist who I adore. I have always had a really hard time with my gun health (thanks dad for those genes haha) and often the hygienists criticizes me, saying that I need to work harder. This one, Angie, she was super supportive, helpful and kind.

The second visit was the next day to do something called 'Scaling and root planing' aka she took evil pointy tools and scrapped my roots and jaw clean. Needless to say, my mouth now hurts quite a bit. I am also taking an antibiotic for the next three months and have to get cleanings done four times a year instead of twice. Hopefully this works to help keep my teeth in my head for as long as possible.

Final note before we go, I think from now on, I'll be writing my post about the previous day. This has been much easier and I can do it any time of day instead of having to wait so late that I may forget.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Missed Again!

What is the saddest part of missing my posts is both days, I had been ready to write them. The problem having been that it was to early to write them. When you stay up until three, writing about your day at six is hardly "writing about your day." More of a "Writing about your morning" kind of deal.

But enough about that missed opportunity, today has been a good day! Five years ago, two high schoolers stood outside her house as he asked her to be his girlfriend. With a quick "sure" before fleeing into the house, my first relationship began. Fast forward and here we are, filled to the brim with too much food and having played games together all day.

I can't believe that it has already been five years! Half a decade! We are both so silly that neither of us thought of anything to give each other, so we have just made sure to spend plenty of time together instead. We might get a digital picture frame next time we are at the store so that I can put all our pictures of us on there.

Well, rather than make you read any more about my relationship, I shall be off to play more Don't Starve Together (We have made it through two, almost three winters!)

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Late!

I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!

Missed my deadline but I'll still write something up anyway. The reason I missed it is I may or may not have fallen asleep waiting to Tov to finally be home.

I attempted to work on my webcomic characters again to day but I am super stuck on one character. I have her basic bare bones of a personality but that is it. She is going to be a really tricky character for me to work with and I want to make it as painless as possible but I'm not sure how. The reason it will be so difficult is she's so very different from me and so full of energy.

I eventually ended up playing some video games instead after spending too much time agonizing. Luckily I didn't feel bad about my video games because I worked out first thing this morning. Tov has been working out with me which makes it easier. But I do feel bad that he is spending what little time he has doing silly work outs with me. Maybe once the habit is easier for me, he can spend his time doing other, funner stuff.

Sorry about being late but at least I still wrote one!

Until next time; may your day be awesome.

Yay Internet!

I have been without the internet all day long. I got it back probably ten minutes ago. It is always interesting to see how differently a day will go if you don't have access to the internet! I can't imagine if I had gone with out internet several years ago. I would definitely say I was addicted back then.

Luckily, now, I just randomly want to research something every once in a while but I can easily and happily do other things. I read some of the third book in the Abarat series which is always fun, though I can tell this book will be much darker. I also worked on my webcomic some, figuring out more about my characters and starting a character sheet. Unlike normal, I have having a much easier time with their vices than I am their virtues.

Dang internet didn't leave me much time to write this up! Who knew the internet was so important (besides everyone really...) Anyway, off to make some hot cocoa!

Until next time; may your day be wonderful!

Back from the Abarat

I always found writing in a journal or diary difficult. I did it maybe fifteen times in my whole life. I guess I just have never know what to say. And here I have set out to do it every day to the internet. Wonder what I have gotten myself into... I could do stream of consciousness when in school so that is probably what these are going to be for a long while.

Maybe I am having trouble today cause I'm still in the "Just finished a book" haze. It is even harder to get over when you are leaving behind a wildly fantastic world. I just finished The Abarat; Days of Magic Which is such a vivid wonderful world. Terrible, but wonderful. I also have a version of the book containing so many of Clive Barker's paintings and they are just brilliant. If you are interested in fantasy books, the Abarat series is well worth diving into!

Tov and I always thought it would be fun to decorate our walls with fantastical maps. We have one of Skyrim already, though it isn't up yet, but I think an Abarat map would be awesome to hang up as well! Oh, maybe one of Middle Earth too... Well before I venture too far into that awesome realm of thought, I shall be off to do my chores before Tov gets home.

Until next time; may your day be awesome.

Oops.

I was laying in bed at 4am this morning trying to sleep, as you do, when I realized I had completely forgotten last nights post! I would apologize but there isn't actually anyone out there to apologize to yet! That and "these things do happen." It may be the first time I have forgotten but it certainly will not be the last!

So in the last post, I mentioned that we had a good half foot of snow. Out at my mom's she had so much snow, it took her 30 minutes to travel less than 10 miles. She lives out in the country and the plow hadn't gone out all weekend. And my mom is an expert at driving in the snow... So I can not even imagine what it was like out there.

Lucky for all my family, the snow is gone. It was gone by the morning yesterday! Amazing how fast we both got and lost that snow fall. Today, even the snow up on the mountains is gone. When I look out the window, the only evidence of snow I can see, is a little stubborn pile that the plow made.

I am sad that it is gone, I find snow to be so beautiful, but I am very happy my family isn't driving in it any more. My mom is probably still dealing with it out at her place but hopefully it is manageable now.

On another note, I think my poor kitten (I use that term loosely as she is over two years old) is sick. A couple of days ago, she had a runny nose but since then she has been super warm to the touch and sleeping all the time. She is usually such a spunky kitty. I wonder how long I should wait until I start worrying about her (seriously worry at least, as I am already worrying).

I feel like I should decide what I should talk about in these. I wonder if I should keep posting just general life posts or if I should start planning a head...

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

First Real Snow!

Today we finally got the first real snow of the season. It started falling last night around this time and didn't really stop until late this evening. I believe that we have about six inches where it has been untouched.

We live pretty much a cross the street from a big playing field that has hills surround one whole side. Because of this Tov's (pronounced like Tod or Tom) sister called us saying that she was going to sledding down the hills. At first, it was only Tov who was going to join but after he had left, I decided to get all bundled up and follow suit.

I didn't end up using the sled, not really my thing but I did try to take some pictures. They probably didn't turn out well just because it was so dark but it was still fun, and freezing, to hang out.

Of course, they had to decide to go down the steepest longest of the hills in the area! My face was on fire and I was huffing by the time I got to the top of the hill. Yet another reason not to sled down in my opinion! The combination of that and just the general trudging around in the snow, gave my quite the workout today.

Sadly that was really the only work out I got done this week. It sure has been chaotic. Tomorrow I think the both of us are going to work out together and that should help be me started on that habit. I also didn't get all five days of chores done though I did work around the house a couple of times.

But that is okay! Not forgiving myself for mistakes will get me no where, Tomorrow is the start of a new week and I'll do better this time around! (Wouldn't want to fail you, my invisible crowd).

Also, I think I will save really talking about my progress until Sundays because I believe that talking about my workouts and cleaning daily would get boring for the both of us.

Look how long this one turned out... Amazing how starting a head of time really helps.

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Hanging Out With Family

Today didn't go quite how we thought it would. Not in a bad way really, just not what we had planned.

Here we were, about to start our games with a teapot heating up, when we get a phone call. It was my mom asking if she was supposed to be picking us up in an hour so that we could head out to my sister's place.

Originally we had planned that today the boys were going to help my mom out and afterward, we all were going to dinner at my sister's. A couple days ago, mom cancelled on the morning business so I thought the dinner was cancelled as well.

So, we were caught quite unaware, lounging around in our PJs still, by that phone call. But it was well worth it! I finally got to see my sister's place all set up cute and has a super tasty dinner. We also played Apples to Apples; my step-dad even joined!

Now off to try Don't Starve Together again. My boyfriend doesn't seem to be having nearly as much trouble with it as I am. Luckily I can easily respawn and find my supplies again...

Until next time; may your day be wonderful.

Oh No Titles!

When I posted my pictures online, the hardest part was coming up with titles... Now I'm going to have to come up with a year's worth for these posts! Hopefully more things will happen so that I can have more creative posts in mind!

The other thing that is going to be difficult about this, besides posting every day and working on my quests, is getting the posts typed up on time! (Yes, I love exclamation points and ... s). With my boyfriend working night shifts, nights seem to fly by. One minute will will be surprised he just left an hour ago and suddenly he will be home in five minutes. And, that also happens to be the time that I want these blog posts... posted.

Ah procrastination, way to help me wait until ten minutes before the post is due. When it came time for our special occasion speech in my Speech 101, my boyfriend and I jested about my procrastination. He gave Award speech, presenting me with the Procrastination ward and I did the Acceptance speech.

When everyone realized he was referring to me, a good portion of the class turned around to see if I was okay with it. It was so very amusing, especially because it had been my idea in the first place.

While I did procrastinate on writing this post, I did manage to do some chores today! I know that should be that exciting but it is to me!

So with only three minutes to spare, I present to you my post! Sorry that it was random but I imagine that most future posts will be.

Until next time!

Hello World!

Wait, this isn't a program.

Hello people of the internet!

Welcome to the first post of many. Hopefully, I will be able to stick to my guns and make a post every day of this year. The goal of my blog is this; complete my quests!

To the left is where all my quests are listed. My hope is to have them all finished by the end of this year. My quests are to loose weight, finish my mod, start a webcomic, get moved, and get into several good habits. I also have a section where I will be posting my smaller, short term goals.

The reason I started this is because I finally decided that I was ready to start changing myself for the better. And what better way to hold myself accountable than to tell all of the internet? My posts won't only able about my progress made on my quests but also just normal blogging material.

With that all out of the way... I hope everyone had a wonderful and save New Year's Eve! My boyfriend and I stayed home and drank sparkling cider because we are cool like that. I didn't get much done today. After hanging out with family this morning, I came home and purchased a new game, Don't Stave Together.

The combination of feeling like a weekend, having a new game and starting to feel sick, has made for a very unproductive day! At least it was a good day.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be feeling well enough to be more productive! But for now, I need to see if I can find something to stop my head and ear from feeling like an explosion.

May you have a wonderful rest of your day!