I have a NEW virtual home!

Hello everyone!

This was kind of a spur of the moment decision, but I'm tired of dealing with Blogger. I want more design options and I honestly miss the days of Wordpress. I had Wordpress for a while and then I kind of let that blog die. I shouldn't have, but at the time it wasn't affordable. Now it is, what with my full-time job of awesomeness! Ok, so the new home will be setup SOON, but not yet. The domain needs to get itself ready for visitors and I need to tweak some things. I am going to attempt to import my previous posts, but I don't even know if that will be possible. I'll keep you posted. Promise!

The new home will be exciting and official, hopefully for a long time. I look forward to seeing you all over there. Until then, enjoy this little VEDA video I made for Day 9...HOPES AND DREAMS PEOPLE!

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*skips away*

VEDA 2013 | Day 6

Hello lovelies!

It is day six of VEDA and I have a video to share with you all.

I hope to be posting the video I record each day, here on the blog, in addition to uploading it to Youtube. That way you have direct access to my videos each day. Also, it helps to get me back in the habit of posting here on the blog, which I have not done a lot of lately.

So, enjoy!

Gearing Up.

I cannot believe that we are halfway through the month of April already. Seriously, where did the first half of the month go? Before you know it, summer will be over. (No, Sara Bareilles pun intended - I swear.)

I just find it weird. Last time I checked the calendar it was March. March, people. Now it is April and temperatures are finally rising, the pollen has hit full force, and everything is practically in bloom. Don't get me wrong, I love the spring and seeing everything in bloom. There is a riot of color everywhere you look and that is truly one of my favorite things about spring. However, what I don't appreciate is the pollen. But hey, let's not talk about that evil stuff. It doesn't deserve the attention.

What does deserve some attention is the plethora of art and craft festivals that will be starting up this month. There is one in particular that interests me, the Marietta Artist's Market, which I believe I have mentioned previously (well - last year, actually). It is a small craft fair that takes place in downtown Marietta Square, a lovely little place, and is filled with some of the nicest people. There are quite a few artists who do the market each month, some of which I've gotten to know a little, and so I look forward to seeing them again. Meeting and talking with fellow art/craft enthusiasts is awesome. Truly it is!

I think that I will be partaking in the May markets, so if you are in the area, feel free to stop by and visit me! I'll post the exact dates and locations as we get closer to the day of the actual market.

On a lovely afternoon.

Lately I've been in a bit of a funk. I am not completely sure of how I got there, but suffice to say it has been mildly irritating. Last night though, I finally broke down and had a good, long cry. It always amazes me, how good I feel after I've let go and let myself cry it all out. That probably sounds odd, but it is absolutely true. I am one of those people who bottles their emotions, without even realizing it sometimes, and it always magnifies the feelings later. Magnified feelings = not so great.

But I am happy to state that the funk is gone. Score one for me! I had the loveliest afternoon today. Husband and I spent it in the park, celebrating a close friend's birthday. All that crying must have done some good, because it was wonderful and relaxed. Sometimes I feel like I forget to live in the moment. I love to be in control of everything, especially my emotions, and I will be the first to say that I have the hardest time relinquishing that control. Nick usually has to pry the control out of my fingers, because I totally have my emotions in a death grip. But that's one of the things that I am working on with my Happiness Project.

Speaking of the Happiness Project, I haven't mentioned it in a while. Or my progress for that matter. Needless to say that I have been quite bad about holding myself accountable. I'm working on that too, as you can imagine. It is a very long list and it takes time. But, I do want to share something small. This is just something that I've been taking the time to incorporate into my daily routine, simply because I take pleasure from it.

I love to sing, always have and probably always will. I sang for Nick at our wedding, because I know that he loves when I sing and to say thank you for loving me. It was a little present from me to him. Now, whenever the mood strikes me (and I'm not in public), I whip out my phone and shuffle through a playlist of songs that I love to sing to. It never fails to fill me up with happiness. And the things is, the songs don't have to be entirely upbeat or happy themselves. I am a sucker for lovely lyrics and sometimes, lovely lyrics come in the form of more somber songs. Here is what I've been listening to lately.

What have you been listening to lately? Please do share! I love to discover new music that I can play endlessly, annoying everyone in my household, including the kitten. Just kidding, sort of.

And then I changed my name.

I'm married. Wow, still getting used to saying that. It isn't that it sounds odd, but I've been waiting and dreaming about it for so long that it seems unreal at times. Unreal in the way that I finally get to say, I married the love of my life and hey, "this is my husband." Yeah, I'm having a moment here.

Yesterday I drove all around town, to various government buildings, in order to file the paperwork that's necessary when you want to legally change your last name. I began my morning in the probate courts, where you can not only request a copy of your marriage license, but a firearms license as well. Interesting how those two windows are right next to each other. Nick and I both found that amusing. Anyways, I paid for two official copies of our marriage license, the second being out of paranoia of losing the first. The lady handed me two very official looking documents that she happened to notarize right in front of me with her little magic notary device. It would have been magical if I hadn't walked through a security checkpoint and seen a smile somewhere along the way. From the probate courts, I paid a visit to my local social security office. The people there were oddly friendly, and within the hour, I had my receipt stating that I was now a Mrs. After the social security office, I decided that I might as well just go ahead and drop by the local DMV offices. Bad plan, very bad plan. Not only did I think that I was going to die there waiting in line, I took the world's worst photo for my new license. Seriously. Let's just say that I will be going back, paying the small fee of $15 or $25, and retaking the photo when I don't look like a hobo. Otherwise, I will be forced to hide my license (out of shame) for the next ten years. That's a long time.

I suppose the thing that surprised me the most about my whole journey, was that the process was not as hard as I feared it would be. Actually, with all things considered, it was virtually painless. Each time I walked into a different office, all I wanted to do was to tell everyone (and their mother) that I married the most amazing man on the planet. It's just something that I thought everyone should know, because I am so unbelievably proud to call Nick my husband. And it's odd that our relationship could deepen even more after our wedding, especially since it was so wonderful beforehand, but it has. Being tied to the person you love the most, legally speaking, has an effect on your relationship. I love him more with every passing moment and know that my love will continue to deepen with every day, month, and year that passes.

At some point, I will have some wedding photos to share with you all. Our photographers said that it usually takes about 2 or 3 weeks to process through everything, but I'm hoping I hear from them sooner rather than later. I am literally bouncing in my chair with anticipation.

SIDE NOTE: As a side note, I would like to draw some attention to the little badge sitting in my sidebar, on the right-hand side of the screen. (look to your right, below the blurb about me). I recently submitted a design for the annual Minted T-Shirt Challenge and would love for you to go vote. Of course, I would love you to vote for me, but please pick YOUR actual favorite. May the odds be forever in the best designers favor, as we might say if we actually lived in the world of the Hunger Games. Can you tell that I am excited to see the film?