Weather: Cloudy, a slight chill, but nice April weather overall
Working on: Final touches and one more chapter of “Spirit Vision book 3” and some final documentation for school before the MAP test for the next 2 weeks.
Currently Listening to: “I’m not an easy girl” by Lizzy
Currently Watching: “Your Lie in April.” Mr. Comnick finished with it and swears I will love it. I like it so far. I did just finish Chrno Crusade a few days ago.
Currently Reading: Just started “Fenris Firar” by the AMAZING Samurai Dan!
Currently Playing: “Pokémon Shuffle.” A free game, but SO colorful and addicting!
Wallpaper: Blue- Eyes White Dragon spreading its wings mystically with a kaleidoscope random background.
Holiday(s): Hug Your Cat Day! YEAY SOCKS! <3 <3 <3 =^o^=
Feeling: A little sleepy, but satisfied.
Icon: This picture is from “La Corda d’ Oro,” a lovey musical anime I deeply enjoy and since “Your Lie in April” ALSO involved a girl violist and a male pianist who he struggles with his talent, I thought it fit nicely. ^_^
Quote: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”- George Bernard Shaw
It. Has. BEGUN…THE MAP TEST! *Psycho scream* The test that throws your wits onto a bed of spikes, your brain in a fryer, your legs on the workout of their life and that is for the teachers! >.< It is an important part of our year and I am so proud of the students who are working so hard, seeing the importance, being flexible and patient. The staff at my school is so encouraging of each other, especially since this is our first year it is on the computer. I did my duty as a teacher as well and even let a student who had never HEARD of a Slim Jim (blasphemy) try one. It was a nice moment. ^_^ With transitioning the upcoming seventh graders, documentation over kiddos, and normal school life, it has been a little cray-cray, but we have 20 school days left! =D 4 weeks! I am making sure to take my time in the evening to work on writing, relaxing, and such. Stress can mess you up and I tend to me good at working myself to the bone! >.<
NOW! On the massive update for April! As the usual, let’s start with the World of Writing, Publishing, Promotions, and Paper Crane List! ^_^
WWPPP List:
- I am happy to announce that Spirit Vision 3 is now finished!!! =D Blow the whistles, strike the drums, and tune your tubas! In about a month or so, we will be working on edits for my second poetry and short story collection, Fallen Star Dust. And then, at the start of the summer, I hope to be doing College for Kids, Cosplacon, official press edits for The Power of Mortals AND writing on Spirit Vision 4! I think I will have enough to keep me busy when I am not with my friends.
- The Creative Writing class at Wildwood University that I spoke to last month composed the most inspirational thank you letters to me a few weeks ago. I was moved that these adults learned something from me and I gave a handful of them drive to continue their dreams in writing. ^_^ Even when I have rough days as an author, I will always remember their words and be grateful for a grand experience. They invited me to come next semester too! <3
- March Disney Villain Madness has been over for a month and Dan worked hard to give you guys this treat t thank you for the support. He did a mash-up between the T.W.A.T.S. cast and some Disney baddies. I do 8-9 voices in this, as promised and man! That was a challenge! Every 15 votes meant we had to do a voice (some were in other videos for the event). THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE SUPORT! Please enjoy the newest episode of T.W.A.T.S. WARNING: It is 18+ for content (none from my mouth), so if you are under 18, please DO NOT watch OR ask permission! Also, I just got Dan’s newest book, “Amanda Moonstone and The Missing Prince” in the mail! I can’t WAIT to read it!
- A major congrats to Autumn, Vanessa, Judy, and Beth for each winning a bundle (6 amazing e-books) in the YA Book Bundle Giveaway that was April 13th-17th. Almost had 600 entries! Congrats and thanks to the grand organization who prepared everything for us and supported us YA authors! This also increased the numbers of my author’s Facebook in a week. ^_^
- My new pal, Will Turner, and I did an interview exchange last week and it was such a blast! Here’s his with a few pages from his comic series, Reynard City, and the one he did with me WITH A FREE expert from “Spirit Vision” chapter 2! I hope to get to do more of these in the future with Mr. Turner and other interested authors
- Finally and thank you to my amazing publisher, our Poke Crew page is up! And on it so far are half of our profiles (that I will updating super soon in the next few weeks), along with a history of how it formed and a link to our gallery of events! We will add our events at the bottom as well! Please enjoy Pokémon fans!
- My Youtube has playlists now for Spirit Vision, New Beginnings, and The Power of Mortals, music that I see in order for the books. ^_^ This was inspired by my author pal Dan and it was so fun to do! See what music my mind sees when I go through my book!
- If you missed this month’s endearing Aspiring Author Spotlight interview with the awesome Mr. Ron Farrow, check it out here.
- In honor of Anime St. Louis since I missed it this year (and YES, my darling friend got ERIC STRUART to sign my poster!!! *fan girl shrill of delight*), I did The Top 15 voice actors I want to meet top ten. Also, want to know what I thought of Anime St. Louis last year? Check out my Anime St. Louis 2014 Review! LESS THAN TWO MONTHS until Cosplacon!
- I have a new link: Mr. Mark Piggott, author of “Forever Avalon!” Check back at the end of May to get more insight on this writer!
- Pinterest is heavily updated.
- Rewind to March major update here, where we discussed my first time speaking to a college class as an author, a FULL overview and link to March Disney Villain Madness, Pokémon Theme lip-syncing, April birthdays in my family and more! <3
- April is National Poetry month and my school challenged students to write 30 poems in 30 days. I tried to tackle this task, but I only got 4. Still, I am very proud of them and I hope one day I can share them with your guys through Paper Crane Books. I wrote two short stories for some contests as well.
- ALSO! A HUGE thank you to the 20 people who liked me on my author Facebook recently! YEAY! I heart you all! We are at 187 people! Can we make it to 200? ;D
- Come back May 13th for a SPECAIL post! AND on May 21st, we will have a guest!
My “Normal” Life:
The main event and chuck of this post: A WEDDING!!! =D
On April 18th, my dear high school friend (and my husband’s best friend) Nathan and our amazing friend Tabby finally tied the knot! They are Nathan Christian (our ghost trainer) and Miss Eevee in our Poke Crew. This was my first time being in the wedding (I was a bridesmaid…YEAY!!! And Derrick was the best man. Our best pal Evan was a groomsman and my pal Danny was also a groomsman). <3 The theme was Steampunk. The girls wore Victorian skirts, corsets (My FIRST time wearing one) with Japanese black fabric over them that had golden phoenixes and peacocks on it, and a white undershirt. Our bouquets were lovely fans with flowers, a purple leather handle, and a silver key and we had flower and peacock feather hair pieces, red and gold coil phoenix bracelets, and black gloves. The boys who nice tuxs with a long coat and a pretty purple vest and tie. The boys got jump drives in the bottle (decorated with Steampunk clogs) and the girls got a frozen purple rose cased in 24 karat gold with an official certificate! ^___^ It is stunning!
The wedding was in a local place called Stone Park that has a lot of stones. It was also my first outside wedding. I took off that Friday to take Socks to the vet that morning to get her stitches from being fixed removed (MAN! She was NOT happy! She HATES the carrier now since she got fixed) and then Derrick, Evan, and I went to the wedding practice. We did get lost for a bit, but once we found it, I got to get fitted for my corset, meet the other bridesmaids (they are such a fun group), and get our items. We worked out final details, and I got to walk with my bestie Evan! He has such a good eye for big events and we had so much fun being proper and walking down the aisle together. Derrick, being the best man, walked with Tabby’s sister. The bugs were bad, so I made sure to use bug spray on the wedding day then mask it with sakura blossom mist. We then got a look at the reception house, about a 7 minute walk away from the cave house (which is between the wedding ceremony field and the reception hall. The cave house is where the girls would change that wedding day and we started from there to walk down the aisle. There are steep spots, stones, and algae from the bad rains that week everywhere. Evan was such a gentleman helping me (although I knew I would have my flat dress shoes I was used to). The reception and dance floor would be on the porch and inside, there would be the buffet on the left, the wedding cake, the guestbook (which was a fingerprint tree that was so neato), the bar, and the gift table.
At 6:30 to 8:15, Tabby, Evan, Derrick, myself, Danny, Shelia, and their darling girls April and Lilly went to Applebees to help Tabby with her pre-wedding jitters as Nathan ate dinner with his family, many who traveled far for the wedding. It was a nice time and I had a good steak and mashed potatoes as Lilly (the wedding train holder and the oldest) and I discussed anime and April and I were singing along with the songs playing. The girls were so impressed with all the Pokémon voices I was doing and we had a grand time. After Applebees, we went bowling (Evan, Derrick, Tabby, Brown, who just joined us, and I. Evan’s name was Magikarp, Derrick Zubat Man, Tabby was Tori, Brown Ebon, and mine was Selene, which Evan and I said would be my name at the same time, us cracking up. When we first met, I was talking about the moon goddess Selene, so she is special to us) to relax. It was a good time. At 10:00, Evan, Derrick, and I went back to the house. I played two games of Smash Brothers with them before I hit the hay. Brown spent the night and I am pretty sure the boys stayed up late with The Smash…;)
Around 8:00 on wedding day morning, Brown, Derrick, and I went to Huddle House on the wedding day, I waking them up to make sure Brown would eat something. The food was SO good, especially the bacon! I grabbed the bill, paid for everyone when the boys stayed in the booth to wait for Evan, for at 9:00, I had my hair appointment with my dear friend, Chuck Carron at his salon. We had so much fun chatting and he made my hair better than in my dreams. For Steampunk, I wanted to a bird nest: curly hair on a side ponytail, high up, high, feathery bangs, and put on a Lolita hat I have and on the side, my flower and peacock hairpiece. In an hour, Chuck made my hair a masterpiece and I got so much praise for it! It stayed in tack too. He is so amazing!
I got home a tad after ten. Evan was over then and him and Brown gushed over me. Evan and Brown went to the wedding site together as Derrick and I finished up some wedding treat favors (S’Mores)! We then grabbed our stuff, got some wet whips and a replacement garter for the bride at her request (BTW: I was the messenger between the bride and groom and Evan was the man to call if we had questions in their spot), we arrived at 12:45 (the wedding was at 2:30). Tabby gave me a tour inside the cave house and IT WAS GORGOUS! It is built on top of a cave. The bottom was like a cozy man cave with arm chairs, a fireplace and such. The top had a full kitchen, a MASSIVE master bedroom (which was where we got ready), and even a closet with toys for kids. My favorite part? There was a pond downstairs WITH fish! It was beautiful and so naturally cool. The boys were setting up the tables and décor while we got ready (they got ready at the upstairs of the reception house). It was a fun time, but crunch time came sooner than we wanted, but everyone worked out. April, the flower girl, and Lilly, the train holder, looked darling and all the girls were pretty. My corset was unique to get used to, but I felt good, like a salon girl! I wore my Steampunk custom necklace my friend Sherry made for me and a phoenix pin she got me too. Tabby looked lovely. At 2:30, we were ready to go.
We were so blessed that the weather was so refreshing. Evan and I were watching our steps and talked a bit until our pictures were being taken. We grinned largely, and he kept saying “Mudkip,” trying to make me giggle. I did it back and then he said “poliwag.” HA! The ceremony was small, but it was full of love and closeness. They did a sand ceremony and had a singer and guitarist for the ceremony. As we walked out, our order got messed up and Evan and I ended up being last. He announced best for last, making the crowed laugh. After this, we walked back to the cave house and took pictures. The photographer was nice and fun. The boys, at one point, were outside and had to jump at the same time (it was cute). We kept knocking on the massive, long windows that fit two people and finally, they looked at us and we started dancing, hooting and hollering as they…”cheered” us on. One of the girls recognized me as Sailor V from Anime St. Louis last year and she told me she thought I looked nice in it *blushes* All the bridesmaids got individuals photos with the bride. When it was my turn, at the end, the same bridesmaid who knew me as Sailor V, ran behind us, flung her arms in the air, and yelled “photo bomb!” Tabby and I had such shocked faces, but we were stuck in our poses. He got it on camera and showed us and we were busting a gut. At the end, all ten of us came together and we took six random pictures. The boys all heard about Derrick and I having light sabers at our wedding and wanted in. The poses were fun. Derrick was the only one who moved to the girls side (we were stuck due to all the algae and water on the rocks) and he was acting like he was going to kidnap Tabby. One of the bridesmaids shielded her with her fan, two had freaked out faces, and I fanned myself with flirty eyes, wondering who the handsome Jedi was. Once we get the official photos, I will share them!
Evan and I came riding in on a pink unicorn with rainbows on it named Phillip, it making noises, yelling at the guests at the reception “The couples are coming!” We joked one day about doing this and when we found a stick unicorn at Deal…the bride REALLY wanted us to do it. It was fun! We got “yelled at” by the DJ and then the wedding party preceded in. Derrick, as the best man, had to give a speech and he was SO nervous about it, but…I think everyone was just looking forward to the champagne. Derrick was told to pour it in the glasses (and Tabby and Brown had the most STUNNING flutes; peacocks with blue gems) and he was stunned and nervous. I very rarely drink, but I took a sip after poor Derrick spoke (and almost spilled his…) for the toast and it was super sweet and I enjoyed it. ^^ Evan thought he was supposed to gulp it and was sad when he had none left. Speaking of Evan…He made a funny add on to Derrick’s speech, “You must remember Brown, there is one rule to rule them all…there ain’t no hanky-panky at Momma Dipple’s house!” xD This is something Tabby’s mom told Evan once. We had a nice pot luck food after that (they had my FAVORITE mini hot dogs in sauce)! They had a nice Steampunk themed cake with goggles on-top. They SO wanted to smash cake on each other’s faces and there were a burning light for fight in their eyes. After three times of this, Brown got some on her nose and she was after him, him arching backward like Neo from the Matrix’s! xD
I got to get my groove on. I had a blast with my jam, The Cupid Shuffle, shaking my groove thing, slow danced with my love Derrick, my wedding party partner/best friend Evan, and my dear pal Danny (one of the groomsmen), where we bowed to each other. We SO wanted to play Pokémon (we both had our DS’s), but we did not find time. My father-in-law was trying to two-step slow dance with me and I was so amazed! 0.0 He laughed when I could not keep up, but it was fun. Alesha and I boogied down towards the end. I also got to see my husband get excited to go up and dance the hokey-pokey! >.< Evan and I were floored by this! One of the bridesmaid’s caught the wedding bouquet (I cheered loud on the sidelines), but…Oh. My. Hobgoblins guys! THE GARTER TOSS! I was the one who bought the garter and the DJ took it a step further…she made Brown CRAWL to Tabby, on his hands and knees, in front of EVERYONE AND…OH! He had to get it off her with his teeth! xD It took a while and we were all cracking up. Then, Tabby, being a vet tech, she was petting his cheek like a cat! ME-OW! Finally enough, Evan won the garter (he wore it on his head). Glad I got a cute one!
As the couple got ready to leave (they had tickets to see Adam and Jamie from their LOVED show, Mythbusters, for their honeymoon), Brown’s cousins decorated his car to the max. Shaving spray, balloons inside, streamers, glitter inside…it was madness. The bride got a knife and was popping balloons one-handed at a ninja speed! Don’t mess with the bride! They said the show was wonderful! They got free parking there and at the hotel due it being their wedding, got to move up in seats at intermission, and had hardly any traffic. <3 As they left, Derrick, Evan, Derrick’s parents, and I loaded all their gifts and mementos to our spare room and my in-laws got to meet Socks for the first time. =^o^= They kept going on and on about how beautiful and little she was, laughing when she played with Evan. April and Lilly were so sweet when they told me bye. Lilly started talking about Vampire Knight as April and I were naming what the perfect dinner with desserts would be. She was telling me all about the kittens at her house and three times, invited me to their house, asking Danny. He chuckled lowly and said, “Well, how about it? It can be a date and we need to come down here more anyway?” It’ll be nice to see them Before got in the car, Lilly ran into her vehicle and gave me a plush puppy with bunny ears! =D It was so kind. Lilly wanted to name it Yugi and April wanted to name it Caramel. As they fought, I told them his name was Yugi Caramel. ^=^ As we left, they waved us off and made me promise to visit.
Then I got to untangle my hair, watched Sailor Moon with Derrick, and then we crashed! Major congrats and love to this amazing Pokémon couple! <3 <3 <3
On April 25th, we did our monthly Pokémon TCG event and our theme was Team Aqua VS. Team Magma! Tabby and Jason made Team Aqua and Team Magma cosplays. The story was that we got a tip from Officer Jenny that one of our member worked for Team Aqua. To pull them out, our cosplay queen, Tabby/Mrs. Eevee now was a spy for us and dressed like a member of Team Magma and brought out her fire Pokémon. I was going around, asking my crew and the trainers if they have seen anyone who is acting like they belong to Team Aqua. Now, it was SO Jason since he was dressed like it and had a new Team Aqua based deck, including Kygore! The kids either looked at me like I was dumb when I told them it could not be Jason (my joke being he passed his background check and I know the government does not lie. The adults lost it) OR they played along. It was fun! Mid-way, the crew and the trainers got to vote for which group was better. Depending on their vote, they got a Team Magma OR a Team Aqua cupcake. Team Magma won by a landslide and we exposed Jason (although I was spreading rumors about Gavin and Fabio, their characters already rivals, making it funny to see their reactions, poor Derrick in the middle). As Jason was eating his treat, a kid asked me why Officer Jenny had not arrested him yet. I told the student that Jason got his just desserts and he’s good now because of the treat. The Annihilator was next to us and said, “It’s more like his last meal.” Jason was so stunned, he began to choke! It was a riot! xD I <3 my crew!
I did get challenged by one of my high school students (I had 4 stop by). I won, but barely, thanks to my Mewtwo. Fabio danced again with Umbreon, grabbing Derrick (his brother), who was hexing him. ^_^ In the end, we got team pictures and I stepped in in my Team Rocket attire, informing Jason and Tabby, “You’re hot Team Magma, and you’re cool Team Magma, but I’m the original and the best so I win!” HA! After we cleaned up, Derrick, myself, Julie, Tabby, Jason, Alesha, the Annihilator, and Koga JR. went to Steak n’ Shake where we talked about food, anime movies, Pokémon, and how geeky my future child will be… -_- LOL! May 30th is our next event and it will have a mega evolutions!
We also got new shirts! =D Thank you to The T-Shirt Guy working so hard to make them fantastic for us! ALSO! I am still working on the final profiles for the Crew, but check out our Poke Crew page and all our photos in our gallery.
Last month, I mentioned how my school pulled together and raised money for two of our students who have cancer. A handful of staff members, including me, lip-synced songs and the students chose the Pokémon theme song for me. Here is the video link to the FMS lip-syncing contest video. Mrs. Eevee and I are the second act. Last week also, I got to see one of our students for a bit. It was nice to see him and I played with his dear little brother, who had giraffe and a bear puppet. ^_^ Bless these two boys for a speedy recovery. I am still beyond proud of the students at FMS for all the love and support they have given to their peers.
On April 8th, when I was on the bus, we had a tornado warning! We had to be cramped in a little room at one of our elementary schools in my district. I was with my two wheelchair students and about 100 kindergarteners and first graders and a dozen staff members. Luckily, I was able to call my wheelchair students parents and they got picked up before anything bad happened. We missed a tornado, but we got hail the size of softballs! 0.o We were getting reports on how the skylights in our buildings were done, cars being damaged. It was all crazy! I did not get back to my school (the bus took me) until 6:45. I was the last teacher there. One of our kind custodians went with my to check my car and…nothing! Most teachers’ cars got hit hard, but I only had a few baby dents you had to feel for. Everyone told me I was blessed. Derrick…was not so lucky… He was driving to my mom’s since she had a garage and basement and right when he was pulling into her driveway, a hail ball hit his back windshield and shattered it. He was so shaken up. Then he parked and his front one got hit. I am so glad he did not get hit with glass or a hail ball! So, the past few weeks while he has been working with his insurance company, I have been talking him to work when I can or he walks (he is only 10 minutes by walk away luckily). It has been hard though, but it could have been worse. I know my dad, brother-in-law, and Evan had a lot of damage too. Stupid hail!
Socks has been our adorable little, furry child still. She’s been sleeping with me still at night and loves her kitty cube and toys. She’s such a sweet people cat, but other than her HATING the vet with a firey passion in her little soul now and her getting behind Derrick’s Playstation 4 and X-Box 360 (which he HATES), no real issue. OH! She is a food thief too, especially with me. Silly girl!
I’m also sad because a few weeks ago, I dropped my I-Pod Classic! The outside is fine, but something inside is wrong for I only get the poison apple of doom now when I try to turn it on. I was able to set it back to factory setting like the website suggested, but when I tried to download my songs off my I-Tunes again, it said my I-Pod was corrupted. I am trying to find someone who can fix it because to get a USED Classic like mine since they do not make them anymore (everything is touchscreen now and no more than 32 GBs where mine is 160 GBs since I have a lot of music), it costs over $550! And being used, I am not sure how they will work. I take good care of mine and it kills me because I need my music when I walk for my me/relaxing time and it was the first gift I got from Derrick the first Christmas we were married back in 2011! I’m such a bad wife! I hope I can find someone to fix it.
My amazing friend Zelda pulled through and got my poster signed by Eric Stuart AND she said he was grateful for the poem I wrote him!!! YEAY! <3 It’s on my wall in my office now.
All right guys! That’s it for me. Frolic in the flowers, dance to the sun, and make bells out of the treasure you find! Until next time!