At Dawn

So, I lived up to my blog's name Thursday. Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve morning, actually.
My alarm went off at 5:30.
I left the house by 6:15.
I arrived at the barn some 7-9 minutes later.
I got to drive the truck. That was fun. :-) It was cold and wet and rainy and very very windy. It was pretty much the front end of the storm that brought the sleet and eventually snow through Tulsa.
It was before the sun came up. Actually, the sun didn't really come up until a few moments before I left the barn at 7:30.
Why would I wake up at 5:30 am on Christmas Eve to get out in that horrid weather by myself in the dark, you ask? [Or maybe not. Maybe I'm just hoping. Or maybe you're a person of average intelligence that has read some of my blog before, or you know me, and you already surmised my reasoning.]
I went to ride my beast. I had just gotten into a good habit of riding at least 5-6 days a week, and I didn't want to lose too many days when I went to Missouri for Christmas. And we had to leave the house before noon [so we wouldn't get stuck in Tulsa with all this LOVELY weather! (/sarcasm)]. I also wanted to get it over with before the temperature dropped. It was supposed to drop from low 40's to low 30's and below at 7:00. But I think it waited until 8:00. Which was just as well, because I spent 30 minutes longer than I meant to at the barn since I didn't get to the barn right at 6, as I had planned.

So, there I was, out in the dark at the barn with the wind howling. I jumped Koda in the indoor. Obviously, we had to go to the indoor so that we wouldn't get soaked through in the awful rain. He was a brat at first, mainly because [okay, this is a guess here. but I'd like to think that I know my horse well enough to say this] the weather was freaking him out when it made the doors creak on their hinges and the rain pound against the roof and walls. I was a little creeped by it too, just because it was dark out, but I locked us into the indoor and once we started trotting I was much more comfortable with the whole alone-in-the-beginning-of-a-storm-in-a-metal-structure-in-the-dark scenario.
Well, it wasn't completely dark. There were lights inside. But outside it was still dark, so you get my drift.

Anyway... we jumped. A lot. It was fun. :-) Once he got his manners back. We jumped pretty high too. About 3'2. Though the third time I had to get off to put the pole back up I remembered why I usually don't jump that high without Kim. But we got it. He was good about it. We did lots of tight turns with three jumps set up in the indoor. :)
And so, add in 4 hours of travel, several hours of watching REAL TV channels [not just the basic channels we have at home], and insisting to my Grandpa Pat several times that no, I wasn't freezing without socks on and that in fact, I was a bit warm all over, and there was my entire Christmas Eve.

NaNoWriMo on fictionpress.com!

So, my NaNoWriMo story is on my fictionpress account... here: http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2737067/1/California_Widow

So far I have written exactly 5,280 words. In case you're wondering, that is the amount of feet there are in a mile! I learned that because my math teacher taught us to say "five two-mate-ohs" in a mile. Five tomatoes! Isn't that clever?
Haha. Wow. I needed more than seven hours of sleep last night, obviously. Well.. I must get back to my homework so I have time for my daily 1,667 or more NaNo words today!
And I'm glad that the very few who read my very short excerpt seemed to like it! So you can go check out my fictionpress. haha.
Tina

NaNoWriMo Excerpt.

Ahh.. the first day of NaNoWriMo!
Daily word count: 2,723!

So... Here's an excerpt from my prologue.... in case anyone out there is actually interested:

The rainy New England day fit Lacey Jefferson's mood perfectly. Her husband Jonah was about ready to join the wagon train to California. He wanted to work the mines! She ran her hands through her long blonde hair before wrestling it into Jonah's favorite up do. Lacey looked at herself in the mirror, hardly believing that she was already twenty four years old. Twenty four, and about to become a California widow. That's what they were calling the women these days, wasn't it? When their husbands would run off to chase the gold, these women were left alone as if they were widows. Widows because of California and that darn gold rush. Lacey was quite happy with their station in life, and couldn't understand why Jonah had to leave them to make it better. She could only hope she wouldn't become a widow in the true sense of the word before she and Jonah were both at a ripe old age. In their mid eighties, at least!

That is the first paragraph of the prologue!
Does it have anyone intrigued? It shouldn't give away too much, but should hook the reader's attention right away! I'm very picky about my beginnings. :)

Tina

More NaNoWriMo Goodness.

So. At the moment I have a headache and should be sleeping, but I have to write this out or I shall a-splode. :) I've decided that the more I talk about NaNoWriMo the more I will be guilted into completing my daily word count [which is 1200, by the way!] because I know ALL of you will be disappointed if I don't. [And I know all of you means about 5 people who probably don't really care if I can write 50,000 in a month, but I'm convincing myself that I'll be seriously letting down about 100 of you!] Plus, the shame and humiliation of letting the project die off after a week or two, AFTER having said all of this about my excitement, should keep me on the right track. :)

Anyway. I've decided to bare my writer's soul to the world and share what my novel will be about. I'm extremely sensitive about letting people I actually KNOW [as opposed to the anonymous people on, say, fictionpress.com] see my fiction works... But if I'm going to attempt to get my finished product out in the world I might as well start with a tentative working title and synopsis, yes?

Working Title: California Widow.
Intrigued, are you? Good. haha. This working title chose itself. I did not. If you don't get it, you probably never will. I wasn't even sure I actually liked the phrase.. if you can call it that.. especially for a title. But those two darned words just would NOT go away. They wouldn't let me think of any other title, so ta-da! Zee title eez here!

Synopsis:
Lacey Jefferson was a widow. But she wasn't just any widow. They called her a California Widow, because her husband was off on the other side of the country, caught up in the gold rush. It was Jonah Jefferson's plan to make himself a modest fortune so that he could better care for his wife and daughter. What Lacey didn't know was that her California widowhood turned into true widowhood a year ago. When she decides to hitch a wagon ride west with her daughter Becky to go find Jonah, what will she find instead?


If you're thinking it sounds like a historical romance novel... then you would be correct. haha. I'm going to attempt to make it as non-cheesy as I possibly can. Because I love a good romance novel that manages to be as non-cliche'd as possible. And cheesy & cliche' usually go hand in hand with these things. :P

So.. even though I haven't gotten ANY feedback on my blog AT ALL for the past... 3-5 posts... tell me what you think! ..or not.
Tina

The Perfect Morning

I had to kick myself out of bed this morning, and it took until AFTER I already got to the barn at 7:45 for my contacts to settle and me to see completely clear. However, I still managed to get tacked up on time and almost completely warmed up before Kim came down from the house. I had opened up the indoor arena and turned the lights on, but Kim asked me if I was ready to jump. I jumped at the chance [pun intended... which makes it not as cool, but oh well] and we went outside. It was pretty much just misting at this point. I finished my warm-up by cantering in the big arena.

Side note: I LOVELOVELOVE Koda's canter after the Lurena Bell clinic. I'll have to post once or twice about that. It was this past weekend.

So, we did a tiny bit of gridwork in the dressage arena to get both Koda and me thinking about jumping. Then we went down to the stadium. It started raining a little bit harder, almost a legitimate rain at that point. Koda momentarily freaked out about a new log, which was out of character, but we jumped it without an issue. We also jumped the barrels, the bullseye, white picket fence, tires, coop, rolltop, brick wall, polkadot panel, and the other white panel as well as the double. Yesh.
My boy's still got it. :)
Kim was pleasantly surprised and impressed. An exact quote: "this is the type of thoroughbred you want." She was referring to the fact that Koda picked up almost everything immediately after about 10 months off. The footing was kind of iffy. Once when I asked for a lead change I felt him try, but he didn't and Kim and I both suspected it was because of the footing. It was kind of slick since it was, you know, raining. It was definitely a legitimate rainfall by the time we were done. Kim was huddled up in her jacket, hood over her head. haha. I was in a long-sleeved t-shirt thats about two sizes too big and a pair of summer breeches. It was great.

Pretty much the SECOND we walked under the roof of the barn, the downpour started. I mean... the heavens opened up and it rained BUCKETS. So I put bigeloil on Koda's legs, took a picture of the funny looking dry spot on his back where the saddle had been, cleaned his crib collar, and put him up. I had to close the indoor, then went to starbucks.

When I got to starbucks in Target, the barista waved at me. haha. After he was done with the guy's drink in front of me, he just started making my drink without saying a word. :) I didn't even have to clarify what size I wanted. :P Which the last few times he asked just to confirm.
Then the two guys that are always sitting in the round table next to the counter started talking to me. The first time it was a comment on my breeches: "So, you ride horses? Do you do that jumping thing?" The second time it was on a rainy day: "Isn't it a bit too wet to ride today?" My response was, "Oh, we have an indoor arena." "Oh, that's nice."

Today I walked in, my front was soaked from riding, and I'm sure I looked a fright with my hair all plastered to my head and no make up on, but I didn't really care. I'm still happy at how great Koda did! My long-sleeved t-shirt was plain grey, so it was really easy to see the wet spot that pretty much took over my whole shirt. And the front of my breeches were dark with water too. As Lee [the barista that knows my order by memory now] started making my drink, one of the guys goes,
"So, what happened to that indoor arena?" I laughed.
"I didn't feel like riding in it today."
The other guy speaks up, "I was gonna say... that must have been one big leak in the roof."
I laughed. "I felt like jumping today, and all my jumps were outside."
"Does your horse ever get a break?"
"I try to ride six days a week. So he gets one day off. Plus we're getting ready for a show next weekend so I'm trying to ride as much as possible."
"Wow, working people at least usually get two days off," said the first guy.
"Where is the show gonna be, the fairgrounds?" asked the second.
I laughed at the working people comment. "Its going to be out in, um, Okeemah." I always forget what its called where Doug lives.
"I thought there were only rodeos up in those parts."
"My trainer married a cowboy that lives up there, and bought some land next to his. So we're probably the only english spot for quite a few miles."
"I bet."

For some reason, that conversation made me smile a lot. haha. It was just amusing to have that convo while I was waiting for my drink - that I didn't have to order - while I was standing there soaked. And the funny thing is that these guys look like they're in their thirties. Shouldn't they be at work? But I guess some people would say I should be in school, so... whatever. :P haha.

Tina

NaNoWriMo!

What, you ask, is NaNoWriMo?
It is the abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month. During NaNoWriMo [and if you want to make it EVEN shorter... NaNo] the main goal is simple: to write one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time. Of course... this means no editing, no back-spacing, no re-reading or correcting. The only thing that matters is quantity, not quality.

My inner perfectionist is going to get whacked over the head with my laptop. But this is a good thing! Haha.

I already have my novel idea [haha, pun not intended... until I realized what a great pun I'd just made!] set up, and my pre-writing is pretty much done. On http://nanowrimo.org my username is dappleddakota [obviously]. Right now I'm trying to come up with a plausible way to actually show up in person at one of the write-ins that's going to happen in Tulsa. I know of one that will happen exactly 11 minutes from my house [I mapquested the location!] on a day of the week that I could potentially attend.. But would my parents go for it? I'm not sure.

One thing is for sure... I must also keep up with my schoolwork! That will be the challange. Anyone interested in doing this with me??

I'm going to expect to have one craptastic nanonovel by the last day of November... I wonder how long it will take me to edit?

Tina

Mandibular Hypoplasia, Pt I

So. This is a little story about a condition called mandibular hypoplasia. We'll call it MH. When I was a tiny girl, I had a normal face. At one point, both of my jaws were growing together in harmony. Then something happened. My lower jaw [the mandible] got tired and stopped growing. However, my upper jaw was still going strong. When my upper jaw stopped growing, my bite was still off and there was a huge gap between my front upper teeth and my front lower teeth. Unfortunately, my orthodontist could do nothing about it. My teeth were as fixed as they were going to get with braces.

I had to have surgery.

It took seven months to get the surgery scheduled. In this story, the insurance company is the bad guy [booo!]. Anyway, after getting denied several times we just said oh well and did the surgery anyway. So, we went to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning. I changed into that weird paper gown and nearly froze to death while waiting to be pushed to the operating room.
At this point, MH began to get very scared. He wasn't going to last much longer!
The first anesthesiologist [haha! SCORE! Spelled that right on the first try..] was kind of odd. She asked me the same questions I'd already been asked at least two times that morning [is my name spelled correctly on my arm band? is my birth date correct on my arm band? had I eaten anything past midnight? had anything to drink past midnight? had I ever had a known reaction to anesthetic? was I allergic to any medicines? was I currently taking a daily medicine? do I know what surgery I'm going in for? etc, etc, etc.]

A different nurse came in to start my IV. My mom had to leave the room while she was sticking me. It actually wasn't bad at all. She found a vein, gave me a shot to numb the area, and I hardly felt a pinch at all. Though the saline solution they ran through my veins made me even colder for a bit.
This nurse repeated the questions the first lady had asked. Then she left.
Finally, my surgeon showed up, as well as a very pretty anesthesiologist. I bet she wasn't any older than 26-27. They repeated the questions AGAIN [what is this, now? 5 times?] and had to make an addition to the paperwork to state that they were going to, indeed, take out my upper wisdom teeth as well. [Double whammy! My lower wisdom teeth were taken out over a year ago.]

My surgeon is a very nice man. He's a great Christian and very nice. However, at that moment, while I was laying on the little gurney bed trying not to freeze or have a nervous breakdown [I wasn't scared of the surgery. I was nervous about waking up after the surgery. Pssh. Who cares what they do to me while I'm passed out under anesthetic?!] I wasn't too fond of my very nice, smiling surgeon.

And the pretty anesthesiologist made me spray nasal saline solution up my nose, which choked me when it went down my throat. [And believe me, if I'm bothered by a nasal spray, its bad. I used to take a nasal spray daily for my allergies.] But she apologised. So I forgave her.
Then they stole my glasses so I couldn't see, gave them to my parents, and wheeled me down to the operating room.
Next installment coming soon. :) haha. I know y'all are just waiting on the edges of your seats!
Tina

RIP Christina Lester

I realized that in my lack of posting-ness... I didn't make a post about Christina. She was a 13 year old girl that I used to ride with. I rode her horse Ed many times when he was still on school horse board. I was the first person at the barn to talk to her mom, besides Kim. Christina passed away along with both of her parents and her 16 year old sister in a private plane crash. It was very sad, and happened a little over a month ago. It was the first time a lot of the littler girls at the barn had to deal with a death of a person so close to them.

However, they were strong believers in Christ, so I know they are all in heaven. :) Which makes it not so sad. When I went to the funeral with the rest of the Southern Hills gang, they had two whole pew rows reserved for us in the main sanctuary. Apparently, people filled the main sanctuary, balcony, gym, and many classrooms of the school attached to the church. It was a funeral times four, which was hard. I think the hardest part was seeing those four caskets, and seeing Christina's helmet on top of hers.

During the funeral I realized that I knew Christina's brother from my freshman year at Metro. He sat beside me in spanish class. I met Christina two years after that, though, so I never made the connection.
Anyway... I made a video for Christina several days after I heard about the plane crash. The day I learned about it there was a meeting out at the barn and we had a big hug/cry/groom Ed/planting flowers for Christina/signing a posterboard for Christina session. The older girls were hugging and comforting the younger girls. It was pretty tough. But Kim's youngest daughter, Nicole, was the one that asked me if I could make a video. So I give her the credit for the idea. Every time I hear this song on the radio now, I think of Christina and my eyes get kind of misty. But I know she is in heaven now. :) So it isn't too sad.
Anyway. An update from the big void in space and time when I wasn't updating my blog at all.

Tina

Way Too Long!

Gah! It's been way too long since I've had a blog post! I need to start doing these more often again.. My life has been SO busy lately. I had jaw surgery. I suppose I could do a series of blog posts on my surgery. They would be interesting to look back on. Maybe I'll do that over the next few weeks. Anyway. This is a sad, short little post. I'll probably make a few more today or in the next few days to make up for not posting. Tina

My BEAST!

Lookitlookitlookit my BEAST! He's better again! Mostly. haha. He has a wound that he got several months ago that is still scabbing over & breaking open & scabbing over again. But I can live with that, and in the meantime, we can walk, trot AND CANTER! Awesomeness. We went and hacked out with Kimberly & Chase behind the barn property, on Target's property. haha. It was FANTASTIC! And very freeing. I got this huge rush of adrenaline and we weren't even cantering that fast, cause Kimby was working on her poppy stadium canter. haha. We were just special and extremely heavy on the forehand, but I didn't really care. I had all the boots I owned on Koda, splint boots & bell boots, just as a precaution. haha. I love the sound that bell boots make slapping against hooves! It's great.

So yeah. Anyway. About every three days the scab peels off and a new one forms again. So every three days I have to put my pink lady wound care stuff on it. Using my new purple latex gloves. haha. I feel special when I use them. Although they're from a bag, not a box, which is really, really annoying. haha. I am a lazy bum! But that's okay. I'm thinking next month the scab will be totally gone, and we can start jumping. w00t!!!! :D

Tina

#B90x

So. B90x. If you follow me on twitter, you've probably heard that I'm taking on B90x. It stands for "Bible in 90 days." I'm going to read the Bible in 90 days. I've actually just finished my day 4 reading, which was the end of Genesis. Tomorrow I start Exodus!
The reason I've started this, is because I saw that on Pastor Steven Furtick's twitter, he challanged himself and his staff to do this plan.

“B90X is a revolutionary system of intense, truth-absorbing, brain-busting Bible reading that will transform your understanding of Scripture from intro to nitro in just 90 days! Your personal trainer, Ruach “The Breath” Yahweh, will drag you through the most intense infusion of His vision that you have ever experienced and you won’t believe the results!”

I've decided... I'm going to actually finish it. haha. I've started reading the Bible all the way through, but I usually forget or lag behind by the fifth day. However, this thing is so intense there is no way I could ever forget it. Plus, on twitter, with the hashtag #B90x, I'm always reminded. And I write two days worth of scripture-reading deadlines on my full-length mirror with a dry-erase marker.

Here's the PDF file that is on Elevation Church's website that keeps me on track.

I'm bracing myself for some awesome Bible reading & revelation here. :) I'm also determined to not need the "grace days" that have been stuck at the end of the schedule, in case you miss a day or two. Nope. Not for me. ^_^

So... I'm in it to win it. And the fun thing is... everybody wins! Even if you only make it a third of the way, or halfway, or three-fourths of the way through... hey... You've just read that much more of the Bible, right? How about you? Are you in? Heck, if someone I actually know [not just random twitterers, which is awesome, but I don't really know them. haha.] does it with me, we'd both be just that much more accountable & able to finish the whole thing. But even if no one else does it, I'm committed to this thing! I might update on my readings weekly or something. Like on Sundays. That sounds like a good plan. :)

Till next post, God bless!
Tina.

I'm Not Normal. [I Hope You Aren't Either.]

Haha. How's that for a title. Anyways.... Ever since I got back from my 8 day trip with my youth group to North Carolina, I've been listening to Pastor Steven Furtick's sermons online. [www.stevenfurtick.com, click on the "watch sermons online" button.] Furtick was the speaker for our first evening service. And besides being very easy on the eyes [all the females in the audience were having to concentrate very carefully on the message & God, and NOT bemoaning the fact that he was married with 2 children.] he had a GREAT sermon. :)
I also found him on twitter. I favorited this tweet: "Now that was fun. I might never preach to non Pentecostals again. They screamed for me to keep preaching about 40 mins into the msg."
Yeahh buddy. :P Wow. I just stole that from Courtney. I will never do that again. Sorry Courtney, I love ya, but... I don't need another "dude" situation on my hands. [I love you too, Kate. ^_^]
Anyway. Besides the fact that PH kids are some of the most fun kids around [myself included], Furtick's sermon really was good enough that I wish he had kept going a little bit longer. It was on throwing Jonah out of your boat. You know, the sailors would have died if they hadn't eventually thrown Jonah out of their boat. So whether what's keeping you in the storm is a habit, secret, or relationship, you need to throw it out and give it to God. Yadda yadda yadda. It actually was pretty awesome. But I digress.

I've been listening to several more of his regular Sunday morning sermons. My favorite series so far is Cow Tipping [tipping over the church's sacred cows that no one wants to talk about]. But that's not even what I wanted to type about. You need to see cow tipping for yourself.
What I wanted to blog about was his Purple People Leader series. I've only watched the first sermon [writing this takes the place of watching the second, and I don't have time for anything else], and the title of that sermon is "You're Not Normal."

Anyway, he goes on to say that Christians shouldn't be just like everyone else. We're supposed to be different. Peculiar. Strange. Not normal. Unique. But, there's a fine line between being unique and being weird. When we cross that line to weird, then we aren't useful any more because people just think we're weird and won't take us seriously.
So... bottom line: You are special. NOT just like everyone else. God has a vision for your life. You need to be unique to fulfill it. When you are unique you are useful in the hands of God.
However... when you cross the line to weird... you're just.... weird.


That was my mini-stolen-sermon of the day. Yay!
Tina

Harry Potter & The [Understated] Half-Blood Prince [SPOILERS!]

This is my official review of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince. First off, let me make this point: I LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVEDDDD it!
Now. That aside, it is time to DISSECT it like any true Potter-head would do. ^_^

I have to keep reminding myself to separate the books and the movies in my head. They are not the same, and they should not be treated as the same. If I don't look at it like that, I go beserk. And the books will ALWAYS be better [duh], but I find that I can love the movies for themselvs easier when I think like this.

GOOD STUFF!
Okay. Point Uno.
HUMOR! [or, in honor of HP - HUMOUR! heehee] Anyway. The humor was AWESOME. I'll put the rest of my points with bullet.. points. haha. So they're easier to keep track of.

• Ron [and therefore Rupert Grint] really had his shining comedic moments. Won-Won under the influence of a particularly strong love potion is a MUST-SEE! He is hilarious! His comedic timing is PERFECT.
• Dan is an amazing actor! He had all the comedy down pat! Harry under the influence of Felix Felicis was also a MUST-SEE! Oh, goodness! "I think I'll go to Hagrids!" haha. His cocky, yet still awkward way of portraying that assuredness that can only come from liquid luck was pure comedic genius. Or just plain ol' genius. Also... Dan's gotten really hot. Sorry. Had to stick that in! [Not that he hasn't always been good looking, but ya know.]
• Four words: Word for word conversations! I'm not even done re-reading HBP for the 5th time. I started it last week. I have like 7 chapters to go, but whatever. I read enough to remember WORD FOR WORD CONVOS that the characters had in the books AND movies. That, needless to say, made me squee with happiness!!!
• Hermione [&, again, therefore Emma Watson] has really gone through a journey! Emma was able to stretch Hermione to her emotional and academical limits! I LOVED the 'opugno' birds, chasing after Ron. EXACTLY like in the book!
• Neville [Matthew Lewis] in that waiter outfit. Priceless.
• McLaggen was hot. And a jerkface. But he's more of a jerk in the books, and not quite as hateable in the movie. However, I would have liked to see McLaggen hit Harry with a bludger and have Harry say, "I'M GOING TO FIND MCLAGGEN AND KILL HIM!" Then Pompfrey could have said, "I'm afraid that comes under the heading of overexertion." But, that's a teensie tiny little thing that I don't really care about. Just had to comment on it.
• Ginny/Bonnie got TONS MORE SCREEN TIME! YAY!
• Luna/Evanna was AWESOME! Her dresses were fabulous, and her Spectre-Specs were amazing. Her lion hat was perfect too! "Wrackspurts. Your head is full of them." hahaha.
• Little Tom Riddle was CREEEEEPY! I LOVED IT!
• The memories were flipping fantastic.
• Gambon's acting was VERY MUCH improved. Two movies too late, but it was VERY MUCH improved. ^_^ yaaay!
• I also loved ALL the Slughorn scenes. And Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!
• And Kate was excited that they kept Arnold in, Ginny's pygmy puff.
• How Harry tried to defend Ginny when the burrow was surrounded by fire.
• When Harry's trunks showed up at the Burrow. Ginny: "Mum! When did Harry get here?" Mrs.: "Harry who?" Ginny: "Harry POTTER!" Mrs.: "Don't be silly, I'd know when Harry Potter is in my house!" Ron's head pops up: "Did someone say Harry?" Hermione's head pops up: "Harry? Did I hear his owl?" pahahaha.
• When the inferi grabbed Harry.
• Tom Felton can CRY. And he's hot. I wanted to give him a hug when he was crying.

Not-So-Great Stuff [That I dislike just enough to complain about, but I don't really care that much.]

• The last 1/4 of the movie seemed a bit rushed.
• There was no death eater/whole school fight at the end. The death eaters broke in to stand around and wait for Draco to kill Dumbledore, then they high-tailed it. Didn't really make sense.
• PG my butt. That was totally PG-13. Psssh.
• Dumbledore was clueless about the Horcruxes. They messed up the memory about it too.

Stuff that Really, Truly Sucked [Even though I still luffluffluff the movie! It is a surprisingly short list! Just THREE things!]

• Snape goes, "I am the Half-Blood Prince." Anticlimactic. By this time, no one is even wondering anymore. No one cared. Because they didn't emphasize Harry obsessing over the HBP. They had him hide the book, but he didn't get in trouble with Snape for using Sectumsempra! That would take 2 minutes.
• In the book, Dumbledore has a split second to stupefy Harry, so that he is forced to watch, immobilized, as the Death Eathers corner Dumbledore. However, in the movie, Harry is footloose the entire scene. That he does not act appears to be a moment of cowardice, or doubt. It is not becoming, and I haven’t yet thought of a good reason for this change. [word for word from another blog. Couldn't have said it better myself.]
• The Harry/Ginny kiss. Same awkwardness, same camera angle, even less duration than the Harry/Cho kiss! Put some mistletoe over them, give Ginny a blonde wig, and it would have been the same. dang. kiss. Besides, Harry is supposed to pick her up in a room full of cheering Gryffindor Quidditch fans and give her the greatest kiss of both their lives. Dean Thomas got a better snog out of Ginny than Harry did! And Dean & Ginny were in public! Not the freaking room of requirement. And after the kiss, there was NOTHING else between them. Not flirting, no obvious couple-ness. Nothing. Except for Ginny comforting Harry when Dumbledore was dead. But she would have done that anyway, so. yeah.

I know, this has been long. But Great. :)

Agree with me... disagree? lemme know! *points to pretty notes button*

Donald Barthelme's Game

I'm too lazy for pictures again today. haha. This shall be a picture-less blog post. Again. Anyway. I read this short story called "Game" by Donald Barthelme. It was about these two guys that were confined underground for an indefinite period of time. They had a mission thing to carry out, and it most likely dealt with nuclear weapons, since it was about life in the nuclear age. And one of their orders was to shoot the other guy if they started acting wierd. Anyway, this one guy had a ball and jacks to play with, and the other guy used something to write on the walls to pass the time. Looking over their pass into infantilism, I started thinking. If I knew I was going to be locked underground for an indefinite period of time, what would I take with me?? More than a ball and jacks, thats for sure. So. I think I'll write about that. This is sounding a lot like an english assignment, isn't it? Too bad the assignment that actually went with this story was much more boring than this. Anyway.
I would have to take my Bible. I don't read it enough as it is. And being locked underground is a poor excuse to finally say I have the time to read it, but I figure its the one thing I could read over and over and still feel like I'm getting something out of it.
A big, fat notebook and a pack of pens. To write stuff in, obviously.
My big hardback book of Jane Austen's complete works.
My iPod, if there was going to be an electrical outlet.
My own pillow and blankets.
The full set of Harry Potter books.

And you can bet your butt I would fit all of that in one suitcase if necessary. Along with things such as an extra pair of clothes or two, toothbrush/toothpaste, shampoo, etc. I wouldn't agree to this thing if there weren't showers somewhere. hahaha.

But yeah. This was a random weird post. I just felt as if I had to explore my confinement options. I don't think I would revert to infantilism [at least quite so quickly] if I had these things with me. haha. Heck... these things are what keep me sane anyway.....

Love Taps. :]

I thought I'd give y'all [y'all as in my, like, 3 readers. hah.] a little break from HBP happiness [though why anyone would need a break I don't know] and show a bit of NCIS loveliness. Notice when Gibbs smacks HIMSELF. I think that's from the "Family Secrets" episode. And I love when Ziva makes those "boop" noises. And Abby's yell at the end.

heehee. Enjoy!

#Dumbledoreness Galore!

Yuss! 7 more days to go! In case you follow me on twitter as well... you should have noticed my massive amounts of #Dumbledore posts. haha. This is because of http://www.whatwoulddumbledoredo.org/. I'm seriously thinking of taking up the Dumbledore Movie Night challange. Just in case I decide to go through with it, I've compiled my favorite Dumbledore quotes/lessons.

• "Sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often. It's best not to say anything."
• "Let us pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."
• Just because it happens in my head doesn't mean it isn't real.
• We must choose what is right over what is easy.
• "By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many."
• "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
• "...It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."
• "Don't count your owls before they are delivered."
• "Oh, you know about Nicholas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you?"

Haha. The last quote was, obviously, from Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone. I'm convinced that I must call it Philosopher's now. Have been for a few months actually. When I told my dad he just rolled his eyes. I mean, really.... Philosopher's sounds so much.... better. Don't you agree?

Anyway. KATE BOUGHT OUR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE TICKETS FOR 11:55 AT THE RIVERWALK MOVIES! w00t w00t! :DD

And today I watched the live streaming of the UK HBP Premier red carpet interviews and such with some ladies from the Press Association. They annoyed me a bit with some of their rambling. They said Hagrid was an ogre [*ahem* half-giant, thankyou], they forgot that "Lucius" was Malfoy's first name, they almost completely forgot that they needed to interview Rupert, then they proceeded to waste precious interview time with him with MORE THAN ONE question about his bout with Swine Flu. I mean, really. He's there, he ain't dead, obviously it wasn't that bad. Letsmoveonnow, kthanks. :) They also asked Gambon how he felt about filming his LAST MOVIE. Hmm, okay... TEN SECONDS earlier they had just been talking about having read all of the books. Apparently DH doesn't count? Gambon looked at them for a second like they'd lost their minds. haha. Made me laugh. Oh, at least they gave Dan some AWESOME questions. I was really happy about their interview with him. Dan was SOOO hyperactive it was hilarious. He was bouncing from interview to interview as if he wasn't soaking wet and had just consumed 3-4 double-caffeinated coffees. Of course, they had to ask the prerequesite, "What's different about this film?" And he answered with the standard, "Its getting darker again," answer. But he also talked about the romance and the comedy. And he talked about the obsessive nature of his Malfoy-hunt. I'm glad to know this movie won't be all quidditch and kissing. Even though those two are GREAT. ;) haha. I do hope they'll make clips of that interview available. I want to watch the Dan interview again. And I loved his suit. ^_^ It was beige with white piping, paired with a salmon button-down. I forgot what color his tie was, but I liked it. Stacy & Clinton would have approved. ;) Emma was wearing a gorgeous full-length dress, if majorly low-cut. Her interview was probably the least exciting. Her answers were vague, but to be fair her prompts were horrible. Then they wasted her last question on her college decision, which she isn't talking about. There were, of course, the kissing/teasing questions being bounced around. The full list of interviews I saw:

• Dan
• Rupert
• Emma
• Jason Isaacs [LUCIUS Malfoy]
• Matthew Lewis [Neville -he was the first interview -LOVED IT!]
• One of the Patil twins [dunno her real name, I assume it was Parvati?]
• Tom Felton [of course. ^_^ Gorgeous boy, that Tom!]
• Jessica. [Think that's her name. The one playing Lavender Brown.]
• Bonnie Wright [I wantsss her hair! And the dress she was wearing!]
• James&Oliver Phelps
• Jim Broadbent [Sluggy!]
• Robbie Coltraine [Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service!]
• David Yates [at least they asked him some decent questions!]
• Michael Gambon

They either didn't get to interview Alan Rickman, or I somehow missed it. :( Because they had some spotty streaming for a bit. Maybe it was the rain. It was POURING down. Apparently that's tradition now for London HP premiers. haha. Everyone was soaked. But that's alright. Rupert, Dan, & Tom look very handsome when they're a bit soggy. ;) haha. And I was very amused with all the accents going around. And British slang words. I loved it.

I am SO FREAKING EXCITED!

SEVEN DAYS! W00T W00T!

So. Be sure to put #Dumbledore in as many tweets as you can! Even random, non-HP related ones. ^_^ And remember, What Would Dumbledore Do? [Even though I disagree with the fact that they are using it as a blatant advertisement for LGBT/equal marriage rights/equality. Which, I'm not surprised. But, I'm disappointed that it seems to be the main focus. But who am I to complain... little miss conservativist.] Anyway, ranting aside, I'm scheming a way to get sticky-sticker paper for my "What Has Dumbledore taught Me" nametag/stickers on HBP night.

[7 days!]

Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! [14 Days!]

So. Yes. In case you didn't catch the memo from the title or the countdown....

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE COMES OUT IN FOURTEEN [14, ONE&FOUR] DAYS!

In the spelling of my bestie, Kate....
YUSS! Make that a HECK YUSSS! :D

Disclaimer for Post: Do not expect complete sentences, correct grammar, or any form of maturity. Because...

HBP comes out soon! w00-w00t! :D Yay. Twilight fans don't kill me if I'm more excited for HBP than Twilight & New Moon put together, because Twilight will always be my Harry Potter rebound series. Sorry guys. And Jo has a better writing style. But I still love Twilight. Just not as much as Harry. Dear, dear harry. :D

Come on, guys! Do your happy dance with me!!

*happy dance*

*pause*

*happy dance*

New Moon Trailer Analyzation

Okayy. So. I just couldn't resist. Had to put my two cents in. This post won't be any amazing tribute to grammar or structure or anything.. It's going to kind of jump around. And it is also going to have some over analyzation. So bear with me.
1. "Kiss me." Okay.. that eyebrow "come hither" thing isn't really Bella. At least I don't feel it is. And Edward is just kind of standing there like... "Do I know you?" BUT, once I started thinking about it, and once I listened to my latest Imprint podcast episode, I realized.. what if she suspects something is up and she's testing him? Its a good theory that I have to attribute to Imprint.
2. Bella is slightly more tan! [Plus!]
3. So is Edward. [Negative.]
4. Edward looks hot in a crisp navy button down & suit jacket.
5. I hope the custom grey pea coat comes back in at least one scene.
6. The rest of the Cullens/Hales look a bit less pale.
7. The birthday party scene was almost exactly how I imagined it, minus the overabundance of candles, and the cake that looks like a green striped stack of hat boxes.
8. The paper cut scene, and Jasper flying through the air, was AWESOME!
9. Poor Bella. :(
10. Dude. Taylor is BUFF!
11. Laurant is CRAZY scary. It's AWESOME! I LOVE it! [And he has some added facial hair.]
12. Favorite part of the trailer:
Bella: "JAKE RUN!!!" *throws herself at him*
Jacob: *BAM!* He morphs into this monster werewolf on steroids!
Even though they just effectively ruined the surprise for the movie-only fans, it was awesome. And they deserve it for not reading the books. *cough*Courtney!*cough* Hah. Like Courtney would ever take the time to READ this. I love her to death, but the girl would ONLY pick up a book to save her life. Maybe. Anyway, random tangent! Back to the trailer: I think I'm going to like Chris Weitz. The jury is still out on the overall sepia-like tone to the trailer. What happened to the gorgeous GREEN? I like green. Especially with all the trees. I mean, I expected the golden/sepia tone for the Italy section. But for Washington? I guess I'm not taking into account the La Push reservation. Maybe that's what the sepia thing is all about. Which would be good, since, you know, she goes to La Push to get away from everything.
13. I am SOOOOOOO fangirling about this!!! Kate called me and we squealed together. It was awesome. :)
14. Dramatic ending = perfect.

So... with the ups and downs...
Positives and negatives...
I think this trailer was a win overall! Two thumbs up. :]

Ohh, and apparently Kellan says that Rob's abs are REAL? Not airbrushed? Hmm..

Summer Camp Time!

Whoahh. This was a picture I took a long time ago. pre-Koda-surgery picture. Highly dorky. But oh well. Look how happy we are! haha. Anyways.
Summer Camp has started again! I took last summer off so none of you have heard about any of my summer camp woes yet. haha. Don't worry. I'm a senior counselor now. Have been for the past 3.5 years. I've already paid my dues. I've been around for 6 years. Now I get to teach the kids when they're on horseback instead of only having to walk alongside the horses, constantly getting sand kicked in my shoes, making sure the kids don't fall off, and enduring the constant, "Can I ride by myself now? .....how about NOW?" haha.
Although... when I was a "junior" counselor... we didn't really HAVE "Junior Counselors." We just knew our pecking order in accordance to who could ride the best, who knew the most, and who had been around the longest. And we also had to be AT LEAST 12-13 to be a counselor. Now Kim is letting girls as young as 8-10 year olds be junior counselors! Some of the CAMPERS are older than them! Gahh! They know their way around the barn so in some ways they are harder to handle than the campers! They're too short to tack up the tall horses, they're too short to WALK WITH the tall horses, and they're too small to be strong enough to trot/run alongside the majority of the horses.. tall or not.

But at least I have the most seniority now! haha! :D
It also helps that I've been teaching ORU for the past 2 years now. Kim knows I won't get anyone killed.
And I can play Red Light-Green Light on horseback with the campers to pass the time! Somehow I don't think that would go over as well with my college kids. haha.

Well.. I could type on and on and on with things I love and dislike about summer camp. But to wrap this up in a neat little package..
Summer camp has been where I've done my hardest work ever, made the BEST [and sometimes not-so-great] friendships, and learned the most about myself, other people, and of course horses.

Til next post.. God bless!
Tina

Birthday Branson Trip! [Day II]

This picture is me, obviously. More specifically, it is me driving into Branson. With Kate. By ourselves. wOOt wOOt! Haha. :]

It is a 45 minute drive from Taneyville, where my grandparents live, to Branson. 30 if you manage to not hit any traffic.... i.e., someone determined to go 35 mph the whole way to Hollister. The drive is pretty simple. There's a turn at the Taneyville/Forsyth junction, and a turn at the Hollister city limits. But its sooooooooooo pretty! I love Ozark back roads. Tulsa roads are boring, slow, dirty, and ugly compared to the Ozark back roads.

But anyway. We had some fun drive time on the way to Branson! Blasting chick music, Twilight music, Paramore, Imogen Heap, Panic at the Disco, some random folk music [Kate had control of the iPod - haha], a White Stripes song, and some others. Kate and I are both pretty embarassed about our singing voices, so we don't mind belting it out in front of each other. haha. I mean, I don't sing in front of my friends who can sing well, normally. Unless I'm roped into teen talent choir. WHY they want me singing in a choir is beyond me, but I digress. Again.

We went straight to the Landing. Finding a parking space was horrible, but at least I was driving Tibby [My mazda tribute has a name. Tribute.. Tibby.. get it? So I name lots of inanimate objects. My computer's name is Gerty. Short for Gertrude. Whatever.] The weather was PERFECT! And I got a twitter direct message from Jason, but I had no idea how to send a direct message back from my phone, so I didn't respond. Sorry! haha. And no internet connection until we got back home on Sunday.

Kate was still doing the Gossip Girl thing. haha. And we found the BEST. STORE. EVER. Bath Junkie. I'm in love now. haha. I made my own scent. Amber and Sandalwood. I bought exfoliating scrub, lotion, and conditioner that all smelled like Amber and Sandalwood. And my mom got exfoliating scrub and lotion that smelled like Pink Grapefruit, Honeysuckle, and Sweet Pea for mother's day. I got my Grandma Low [mom's mom] lotion that smelled like Oatmeal, Milk & Honey and Sweet Rain. Kate got lotion & conditioner in.... Rose and Sandalwood? Or Amber and Rose? Augh. Don't remember.

But anyways... .it was the BEST STORE EVER. Kate and I were in there for a good hour mixing up scents and stuffs. haha. When a birthday party of 14 year old girls came in wearing slutty prom dresses, we went to eat at Famous Daves [LOVE that place! Best chicken ever. Well, the one at the Landing has the best chicken ever. The Famous Daves in Tulsa doesn't taste as good.]. Then we went to Victoria's Secret. Love their sales. And then we went into Yankee Candle Co. They have a new scent... forgot what it was called, but I loved it. We went into a few other stores to look around, but we aren't rich so we saved our money for Bath Junkie. haha.

Then we went back to Bath Junkie to make our purchases. :] It was fun watching them mix all the stuffs up and then adding colors to it all. haha. We walked around a little bit after that. Went into the 5 & Dime store, it sprinkled some rain, but not too much, and then we had a fun little time trudging back to Tibby in the parking lot.. .all the way at the back of the parking lot. haha.

We drove up 76 to Wal-Mart to buy mother's day cards. That was fun. And some facewash that we both ran out of. Then we went back to my grandparents' place to get ready for the Haygoods. :]

Tina

Birthday Branson Trip! [Day I]

Haha. Yeeeaaaayahh! :] Okay. I must tell the truth.... I was much more excited about going to Branson for my birthday than actually turning 18. I mean... I watch kids go crazy over turning 'legal' all the time. I don't see the point. I mean, sure... I can legally now buy cigarettes, tobacco, and lotto tickets. But I don't really want to buy any of those, soo.. basically my biggest perk is being able to drive after midnight. If I have any place to go after midnight. haha.

ANYWAYS! Already I digress.
BRANSON!

I was ecstactic that Kate came with us! Unbelievably, undeniably, irrevocably elated that she came. :] The whole time we were gone she kept sending Gossip Girl posts to her sister. haha. I told her she needs to put them all up on her blog, 'cuz I didn't see them all. Especially when she was up until 2:00 am typing away on her blackberry the last night. haha. It lulled me to sleep actually. :P
Anyway. The drive up to Taneyville wasn't complete without some Backstreet Boys [Everybody (Backstreet's Back)], Imogen Heap, D.H.T. [Listen to Your Heart], and Grease [You're the One that I Want]. Haha. And that was just the stuff we played where my parents could hear and become annoyed with our antics. And sing-along skills. I sound like a little boy going through puberty when I sing my voice cracks so much, so the fact that my parents can still hear is amazing! haha.

We went through Branson before Taneyville instead of bypassing it as usual. We picked up our Haygood tickets, saw Dom & Daddy Haygood in the Americana, went to Steak & Shake, and then did indoor mini golf at the Grand Country Square place. It was fun. Though no one let the birthday girl win. haha. I got 2 under par, my mom got 3, and my dad got 4. How unfair was that?! haha.

Then we went to my grandparents' place and watched my grandparents & uncle [Dad's side] ALL attempt to get the TV to work. It was hilarious. Haha. Kate also got the grand tour of the house, and then we read before going go bed.

Day one... complete. :]
Tina

INFJ: Introverted, Intuition, Feeling, Judging

In case anyone ever wondered what makes me tick. haha. :]
Quote about my personality type:
"INFJs, making up an estimated 1% of all people, are the most rare type (males even more so). They are introspective, caring, sensitive, gentle and complex people that strive for peace and derive satisfaction from helping others. INFJs are highly intuitive, empathetic and dedicated listeners. These traits tend to act as a "tell me what's wrong" sign on their forehead, hence the nicknames Confidant, Counselor or Empath. INFJs are intensely private and deeply committed to their beliefs."

INTROVERTED - 63%
Introversion is a preference to focus on the world inside the self. Introverts tend to be quiet, peaceful and deliberate and are not attracted to social interactions. They prefer activities they can do alone or with one other close friend, activities such as reading, writing, thinking, and inventing. Introverts find social gatherings draining.
INTUITION - 63%
Intuition refers to how people process data. Intuitive people focus on the future and the possibilities. They process information through patterns and impressions. They read between the lines, they are abstract thinkers.
FEELING - 53%
Feeling refers to how people make decisions. Feeling people are subjective and make decisions based on principles and values. They are ruled by their heart instead of their head. Feeling people judge situations and others based on feelings and extenuating circumstances.
JUDGING - 63%
Judging is the preference outwardly displayed. Judging does not mean "judgmental". Judging people like order, organization and think sequentially. They like to have things planned and settled. Judging people seek closure.

I feel quite special to be one of the most rare personality types. haha.
But I do feel like it sums me up quite well.

My Multiple Intelligences test top results...
Haha. I'm just choosing a few little things about each intelligence to write here. I'm sure you don't want to read it all.
VERBAL/LINGUISTIC INTELLIGENCE - 95%
People with Linguistic intelligence love and are talented with words. They enjoy reading, writing and learning languages. They have an ability to teach and explain things to others. They learn best by reading, taking notes and going to lectures.
Common Characteristics:
Notices grammatical mistakes [haha. I have the grammar police in my head. Usually I don't correct out loud unless I know you won't mind, though. ^_^]
Often speaks of what they have read [Yep.]
Likes to use "fancy" words [I absolutely adore them.]
Loves word games [Depends on what kind of word game, but yes.]
Cherishes their book collection [I LOVE MY BOOKS! Hence the "Remember your priorities: If my house burns down, save the books!" flair. haha.]
Easily remembers quotes and famous sayings [I keep a list of my favorites on my computer.]
Likes puns and rhymes [Haha! Yesss.]
Enjoys writing [Of course. ^_^]
Enjoys foreign language [Not so much.]
Always enjoyed English class [Yes!]
INTRAPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE - 90%
People with intrapersonal intelligence are adept at looking inward and figuring out their own feelings, motivations and goals. They are introspective and seek understanding. They are intuitive and typically introverted. They learn best independently.
Common Characteristics:
Introverted [Hit that nail on the head. ha.]
Prefers working alone [Depends on what it is.]
Philosophical
Self-aware [Pretty much.]
Perfectionistic [HAHA! Total perfectionist.]
Often thinks of self-employment [Haha. Planning on starting my own wedding planning business. Or else becoming a psychologist.]
Enjoys journaling [I've kept a diary since the 1st grade. Well, I've switched diaries since then, but still.]
Intuitive
Independent [Yeah.]
Spends time thinking and reflecting [Yep.]
Likes learning about self [Hello. Taking this test. haha.]
BODILY/KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE - 75%
People with Kinesthetic intelligence love movement. They enjoy sports and/or dance. They are good at building things and like to stay active. They have good motor skills and are very aware of their bodies. They learn best through movement and experimentation.
Common Characteristics:
Learns by "doing" [True.]
Would rather touch than just look [Yep. Unless it's the inside of an animal. Then I just like to look. haha.]
Well-coordinated with good motor skills [Generally true. I have my klutzy days.]
Likes figuring out how things work [Sometimes. Depends on what it is.]
Enjoys the outdoors [Very true.]
Likes to work with hands [True.]
Can't sit still for too long [Not true for me. haha.]
Enjoys sports and exhilarating experiences [haha. What sport is there that's more exhilarating than riding?]

Other intelligences:
Musical 70% [I have no musical ability. At least, I've never spent time working on any musical ability. I just love it. ^_^]
Naturalist 65% ["They are gifted at nurturing and growing things as well as the ability to care for and interact with animals." I hope I have the ability to interact with animals. haha.]
Interpersonal 65% ["They are good at reading, empathize and understanding others." Yesh.]
Visual/Spatial 60% ["They are very aware of their surroundings and are good at remembering images." They also like to read maps. Which is a coincidence, because **I** like to read maps! haha. ]
Logical/Mathematical 50% [I "look for rational explanations" and "organize by category." I do NOT like math OR have a mind like a computer. Blehh.]


Anyways.
I think this all describes me quite well.
:]
Wasn't really surprised.
http://www.mypersonality.info
If you wanna take the time... take the quiz and lemme know what it says. I enjoy reading these things about people.
And yes... I copied and pasted this from my facebook note. So either leave a comment here with your quiz info, a comment telling me you put your info in a blog post, or put your results up on facebook. [puh-lease?]
I will NOT hesitate to use puppydog eyes on you!
Heh.
So... yeah. Kim & Jason have already done it. Cool points to them! Who else now?

Tina

Countdown Time!!!

Teen Angst is Overrated. Seriously.

Ughh. This is just a little rant from me. :]
I really am tired of always being the mature friend who calms situations down and is otherwise ignored. I'm an enabler. I enable some of my friends to be dependent, self-centered, emotional wrecks. Its draining. And annoying. I was talking to my mom last night for forever because I'm so sick of just being the shoulder to cry on. Augalkdha;kllhteilaho. Its rediculous. I'm always the good example, I'm always the parents' favorite. I have a freaking pastor asking me to always drag his daughter to church. Don't get me wrong. I love her to death. She's one of my best friends. But she gets herself into these social and emotional situations and NEVER uses her common sense. So I get to be the comforter, the advice-giver, the "I-told-you-so" teller, etc. And when I have a problem... it lasts for about 30 seconds before we're back to someone else's. If I dwell on my life in the conversation for more than 3 minutes, I feel like everyone else feels I'm "hogging" the conversation. Its always been like this. I had a "friend" once who wanted to kill me every time I opened my mouth.... which isn't all that often. I mean, seriously. People need to get over themselves. I've always been the people-pleaser, the situation-diffuser, and I'm frankly quite sick of it.


Just once I want to kick up a little dust, throw a little fit, and NOT have someone tell me I'm overreacting.
Someone's crush doesn't pay attention to them, and its the end of the world. Quite literally.
I grieve over the puppy I had to put down after 14 years, and after THREE DAYS I'm a drama queen.
My generation needs to learn how to suck it up, submit to some authority every now and then, and control their tempers. Going off on someone for accidentally offending you is considered being STRONG? Get a life. It's considered being a jerkface.


Rant over. :]
I feel better now. hahh.
I'm just tired of being ignored by my peers and only getting positive attention and reinforcement from the adults in my life.
I need some more barn-friends and Kate time. Ugh. I know where I'm appreciated. And I appreciate the appreciation. :]
I dunno how Dr. Phil does it. After the 100th show, I just whack everyone upside the head, say USE YOUR COMMON SENSE, YOU IDIOT, and walk away.. And mom thinks I should major in phsycology and be a therapist. hah.

Some Little Poems for My Puppy. [Not so depressing now.]

Okay. So... I went to ORU for college weekend. It was a blast, and helped me a bit. It isn't as hard to deal with Pokey being gone when I'm away from home. And now I can smile about her and only have to blink a few times instead of bawling my eyes out when I think about her. I found this pet loss website, and they had lots of pretty poems. I liked so many of them... I'll just put up my favorites.
I Only Wanted You

They say memories are golden
well maybe that is true.
I never wanted memories,
I only wanted you.
A million times I needed you,
a million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you
you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place
no one could ever fill.
If tears could build a stairway
and heartache make a lane,
I'd walk the path to heaven
and bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.

Author unknown

Tribute To A Best Friend

Sunlight streams through window pane
unto a spot on the floor....then I remember,
it's where you used to lie,
but now you are no more.
Our feet walk down a hall of carpet,
and muted echoes sound....
then I remember,
It's where your paws would joyously abound.
A voice is heard along the road,
and up beyond the hill,
then I remember it can't be yours....
your golden voice is still.
But I'll take that vacant spot of floor
and empty muted hall
and lay them with the absent voice
and unused dish along the wall.
I'll wrap these treasured memorials
in a blanket of my love
and keep them for my best friend
until we meet above.

Author Unknown

I also had a third favorite... but it's too long to put on here. So I'll give you the link instead: http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=67597829093&h=uWkDF&u=iSSCf&ref=mf RIP Pokey. March 1995 - April 1, 2009

My Pokey Little Puppy [Warning: Depressing Post.]

This is the hardest blog post I've ever had to write. I'm sorry if this is really depressing. Its a good thing I can type without looking, because right now all I can see are tears. Today my puppy was euthanized.
She'd just turned 14 about two weeks ago. I'd had her since I was four. I wanted to type this out tonight, because I know that if I don't, I might never get it out. I'm horrible at keeping the worst things in. That's what I had Pokey for. I've cried with her so many times. This is the first time I've cried ov,brer her. For her. She was one of my best friends.
I know I did the right thing, putting her down today. But it was the hardest right thing I've ever done. She went downhill so fast. Yesterday she couldn't walk at all. At least she felt slightly better today. The vet said she had a scale 3 heart murmur and her kidneys were going bad. Since her heart wasn't as strong she got less blood flow, which made the kidneys worse. And her lungs weren't expanding right. She'd lost a ton of weight in the last week. Her cataract got worse. Her arthritis got worse. She was tired all the time. And that was my baby, growing old. My wonderful, smart, loyal, sweet baby. Everyone that met her just loved her.

After the vet confirmed what we already knew... that it was her time to be put down... I think I sat in a chair with her on my lap in the vet's lobby for a good hour. It felt like thirty minutes. My mom started tearing up every time I'd finally get my eyes dried, which made me cry all over again. Until right before we left, I thought the worst thing was listening to her labored breathing and watching my tears hit her back. I didn't think I'd ever be ready to let her go. Everyone who walked in got to walk out with their dog. I had to hand mine to a lady that wouldn't give Pokey back to me. More than anything I wanted to be in that room when she fell asleep before they put her down. I didn't want to let her down. But I couldn't do it. I wouldn't have been able to handle it. So I handed her off and walked away. And the thing that's making me cry the most right now is the look on her face when I was walking away from her. In my head I know it isn't rational to feel guilty about it. But I can't tell my heart that. I know I'm already going through the grieving process. I know its going to take awhile. I hate it. Emotionally, I feel like I let her down in her last time of need, but in my head I know it isn't true. I just hate the thought of her being anxious, with no familiar surroundings, without me. She never did well in kennels and vets offices.

At one point mom put Pokey in her lap so I could see my baby's face. Pokey rested her head in my hand. That helped me to know it was the right thing to do, if nothing else had gotten through. She'd just been so out of character this last week. It hit all at once. Six months ago she didn't have a heart murmur or bad kidneys. She wasn't having a difficult time breathing. We could keep the arthritis under control with anti-inflamatory medicine.

I'm not sure what I believe about animals and heaven. If pets go to heaven, what other animals go? Its hard to believe they just cease to exhist. But if dogs do get in to heaven, I just know my puppy has scrounged up a tennis ball from somewhere and is bugging the crap out of heaven's inhabitants to play fetch with her. She hasn't been able to play fetch for at least eight months. Not with her arthritis. She's probably found another dog and a sock to play tug-o-war with.

I just can't stop thinking about these last few days. I spend as much time with her as I could. That's one other thing I've felt guilty about. The past few months I hardly gave Pokey any attention. I tried to make up for it these past two to three days. She spent all yesterday on my bed with me. And all of today until we took her to the vet. Last night I watched Slumdog Millionaire with Pokey in my lap the whole time. Today I took over 40 pictures of her. I don't have enough pictures. It seems as if 14 years wasn't enough time. That hour in the chair at the vet's wasn't enough time.

Mom told me tonight that I did the right thing. That we were right to take her to the vet when we noticed she wasn't herself. That Pokey was a good one to cry over. And she was. It just kills me to talk about her in the past tense. My eyes are raw. I'm numb yet I feel everything. I almost wish I was still in denial. That I could believe any minute she'd come walking into my room just to take a nap on my floor. But I know she won't. I know I'll never get to cuddle with my puppy again. At least on earth. If puppies make it to heaven....

There's so much more I can say. So much I can't. So much I feel that I can't or don't have the energy right now to put into words.
Lord, give me strength. Give me peace.

NUMB3RS Promo

Ahahaha. I love this.
Just so you all know, David Krumholtz makes me happy. And now, so does Rob Morrow. The men behind the brothers in the TV show NUMB3RS.



So... This promo makes me laugh. A lot. Watch the promo... watch the show. =]

NUMB3RS.

Disaster Saturday...

Ugh. Have you ever had a day that just did NOT go well? At all? I was just about mad enough to cuss Saturday. At my horse and my dad. Since it would take forever and a day [and several pages of typing] to let you in on everything... I'll give you the SparkNotes version. =]

*The day started kinda sorta all right. Dad & I got out to the barn about 45 min late to load Koda up in our borrowed little two-horse step-up trailer to take him to Jamies for a few months.
*Koda didn't think he could fit.
*We wrestled with him for about 3.5 hours total. Here's some special things that happened during that time:
1. Dad & I both got rope burn.
2. We put a pony in the other slot, so maybe the trailer would look more inviting. Didn't work.
3. We tried coaxing with food. Didn't work.
4. We tried pulling.
5. We tried pushing.
6. He started bucking.
7. He started rearing.
8. He almost sat on & crushed Dad.
9. He almost sat on & destroyed a brand new Mazda in the parking lot.
10. He scraped the skin off my fingers.
11. Dad almost lost a fingernail.
12. We both got really sweaty.
13. Koda got really sweaty.
14. We tried a chain under his lip.
15. We tried a whip.
16. We aced [TRANQUILIZED] him.
STILL DIDN'T WORK.
17. Koda ripped my wraps. Now I have to buy new ones.
18. Dad tried playing horse whisperer extraordinaire. Which led to a stare-off between him & Koda and me getting banned from helping. Needless to say... it didn't work.
So. After almost 4 hours... we gave up.

*We stopped at Sonic on our way to returning the borrowed trailer. We had to go through the drive thru because of the trailer.
1. They got Dad's order wrong.
2. Dad got gypped [sp?] out of a dollar, even though it was Sonic that messed up.
3. It wasn't till we left the parking lot that I realized they got my order wrong.
4. Dad wasn't going back.
5. They didn't give me enough marinara sauce.
6. They didn't put vanilla in Dad's coke.


The only redeeming thing that happened was Pastor Tommy let me ride Peppy for a few minutes. It was his trailer we borrowed, and he was riding his horse when we pulled up. Gahhhh.

Saturday = FAIL.

Contacts.

Wow. I haven't posted in FOREVER! But anyways. I don't have much time [hence not posting] because schoolwork is crazy. I have two weeks to finish a course, so I'm pretty much working around the clock. That's what I get for procrastinating, but this course's teacher is EVIL! I mean... I'm that nerdy kid who is usually the teacher's pet and makes straight A's. But this teacher hates my writing style, and its never good enough. Long story short, this class is a nightmare, and got me extremely discouraged, so I kept putting it off [we have a whole year to complete courses, and I have two weeks left... and I'm one of those 'overachieving' types, so this class was HORRIBLE for me...] and now I'm just getting through it as fast as I can, not caring if I fail. Its one class on my transcript. I can still get a good scholarship if I fail this one, especially since I take so many other honors classes, it brings my GPA back up. I just want to burn this book. Its a history class. I LOVE history. I watch the History channel for fun. But I HATE HATE HATE this class!!!

Sorry. Ranting over with. :)
Anyways... I got contacts! They thought it would take me about an hour to learn how to put them in. I was paranoid out of my MIND because my mom used to wear those small hard contacts all the time. She had a horrible time with them. If there was the slightest wind they would give her issues. So it took me forever before I finally said enough was enough, my glasses are bothering the heck out of me. It took me 30 minutes to put them in 4 times and take them out 3. I walked out with them on, and could barely feel them. I went to the barn, where it was windy, sand blowing everywhere, and taught a class of 3 little girls [probably ages 8-12 - it was MUCH easier than teaching ORU, BTW. They tacked up by themselves (YAY!), didn't need me to run with them (double YAY!), and all of them could jump really well (triple YAY! - cuts down on the boring factor).] I had NO problems with them, at all.

I was excited, to say the least. After I got over the feeling of disorientation. I felt strangely removed from everything around me for about 30 minutes. Kind of like I was watching everything from a TV screen or something. And I was able to take them out in less than a minute. So... I think they're keepers!
Yay for contacts.
Oh... we also ordered new glasses for me! They're Coach [my mom picked them out while I was in the exam room thingy - whatever they call it... my dad just loves the fact that they're such a big name brand such as Coach... haha.] and green, and all purdy. They make my eyes actually look blue instead of green or grey. I think my eyes can't make up their minds about which color they want to be sometimes. They're supposed to be blue.
Oh, something that made me happy.... I went to my mom's hair lady last week for a trim & color. My hair is more red/brown instead of just boring brown now. =] And that makes me happy in and of itself [even though the lady thinks she's phsycic [sp?] and can communicate with the dead - its wierd]. But... she was the first person to ever tell me I have my dad's eyes. =] My dad's eyes are very pretty. Although I think mine are a bit darker. He has light blue eyes... mine are closer to teal-ish. A girl out at the barn asked me if I had color contacts in. Give me a compliment and I'm your friend for life [compliment/encouragement is my primary love language, go figure] so that made me happy too. I got so many compliments just being out at the barn with my contacts. So.. yeah.

Me = happy.
For now.
Even though I'm working through this hateful, hateful, torturous class.

God bless! ^_^
Tina

Tina's Bookshelf

Okay. I just made my third blog.
I'm insane. :)
I started a book review blog.
http://tinasbookshelf.blogspot.com

Now... I haven't actually started the reviews yet, but I will!!! I'm actually reading The Great Gatsby right now, so that will be my first review. Yay! They won't all be classics, but right now I'm on a classic binge.
So... in a few weeks, check it out! =]
Until next post... God bless!
Tina

The MPAA & HBP

MuggleNet just posted on twitter with the MPAA's rating of Half-Blood Prince. It's PG. PG?!?! What the crap? I mean... with the talk of horcruxes, and the inferi, and sectumsempra... Seriously... people were surprised when GOF got a PG-13 rating. But now we're all surprised when it gets a PG rating.

I hope that this doesn't mean HBP is going to be another SS. I mean... I love Sorcerer's Stone for being the first movie when they're all cute and little. And eleven. However, now they're almost legal. Voldemort's upped the ante. And the MPAA has watched this movie and given it a PG?!

Not that I mind movies that are rated PG, mind you. Don't take this the wrong way... but I would think that with all the action in the book that there should be action in the movie accordingly, which doesn't always make for PG material. Lots of scary images and fake blood and inferi should not a PG movie make.

Seriously.

I'm done with my rant now.

Tina