A small plug

I just had to do a plug for my favorite new website, Etsy. If you haven't heard of it before, it is a website for crafters and artists to sell their wares. Every time I visit I am amazed at the beautiful things that people can create! If only our marketplaces were still filled with items like these...

Pepper(ed) Bacon

Maegan and I were watching Iron Man a few weeks ago (amazingly well done), and noticed that the woman's name in it was Pepper. Maegan said to me, "Pepper. That's a pretty girl's name." I started wondering why would someone name their daughter after a spice. But then she said, "Oh, wait. Pepper Bacon. That won't work at all." At which point I started laughing. Hmm... Pepper Bacon. And we could name a boy Hammond Bacon. And there's the ever popular Chris P. Bacon.

Fred FredBurger

This is Fred FredBurger. He made himself at home on my doorstep a while back and seems to be under the impression that I'm his keeper.

Matt named him after a character on The Grim Adventures of Mandy and Billy. Fred FredBurger is sweet, enjoys food and is very, very talkative. I think that about sums up my little friend here.

If you happen to know anyone looking for a cat let me know. This little guy needs a better home then my apartment stoop.

Presents

Well, not exactly presents. Where I work, they have a reward system in place where if you do something really great, they award you "spirit points" which can be redeemed in their "spirit catalog". I ordered an 8.1 MP camera, a 7" Digital Photo frame, and some flatware with Bamboo handles. At least they look like bamboo. They arrived yesterday.

I've been sticking with film cameras for quite a while because the quality was so much higher. But as digital cameras have gotten better, it's not that way anymore. And it sure is nice to see if the shot worked right then. It's also much more convenient to just plug it into the computer to get the photos there, rather than developing them, getting the CD, and moving them from the CD. I'll probably still keep my film camera around though. Some things I wonder if you can do digitally. Maybe it depends on the quality and features of the camera.

Dorkitude

My favorite quote of the day:
"They are dorks, and they are happy to help other dorks make a living off their shared dorkitude."

I don't normally read the Dallas Observer but this weeks cover about Monster Hunters at Scarborough Faire caught my eye.

47 days and counting...

This whole wedding thing finally feels like it's coming together. This week I got both my dress and the invitations! I would love to share photos of my dress (it's so pretty) but it has been deemed propriatary information. ;P The invitations are also awesome. Matt and I designed them ourselves. I guess they will be revealed on a need to know basis!

Getting to Know You

Yay to first posts! *High Five*
In honor of this momentous occasion I thought I would complete 27 Random Questions to introduce myself.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes. I think Maegan was from my Moms favorite soap opera. Ann is my Aunt Sherri's middle name and Elizabeth is my Grandmother Mary's middle name.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Earlier today. I am transportationally challenged at the moment. It stresses me out to think that I might have to take a 2 hour bus ride to get to work after we move.
3. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey
   
4. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I would like to think so.
5. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? No (hehe)
   
6. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
7. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No. I'm accident prone enough. I don't think I should dare God by tying a cord around my waist and stepping off a cliff.
8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Kashi Crunch
9. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes. Helps save wear and tear on the back of the heel.
10. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I'm like a weak kitten. Strong only in voice. ;P
11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Ben and Jerry's Phish Food. Mmmm chocolate fishies...
12. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Chipotle! Burrito bowl with chicken, although I had to get some help from Matt to finish it.
13. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My cat Jack crying for attention and Imogen Heap Goodnight and Go on the ipod
    
14. FAVORITE SMELLS? Fresh cut grass. The Mediterranean.
    
15. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Matt
16. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Hockey. Baseball is great live but boring on TV.
    
17. FAVORITE FOOD? Mexican
18. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings <3>
19. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Iron Man. (It was awesome btw)
20. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer. must have sun and heat.
    
21. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters. (It's a great series if you're looking for fun summer reading)
22. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? World of Warcraft map. It came with the Burning Crusade expansion pack.
    
23. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? a bad Time Life Soft Rock infomercial before I fell asleep. I think i was singing Total Eclipse of the Heart in my sleep...
    
24. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? humm, the Beatles have better music but I love Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones; and the Stones starred in the best concert documentary ever- Gimme Shelter.
    
25. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Marmaris, Turkey
    
26. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Combustion! Increase critical strike chance with fire damage spells by 10%... oh wait that's my World of Warcraft mage.
    
27. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Dallas, Tx
    

NY Times Article on Steampunk

Maegan sent me this link a few nights ago with the comment that I was once again ahead of style. I love this quote from the NYT article: “Steampunk is not dark and spooky. It’s elegant and beautiful.” While I don't own much in the way of steampunk clothing or >accessories yet, I've always been a fan of that high-tech neo-victorian style since reading Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. It's often envisioned as having mechanical and steam based technology instead of electrical. Or if there is electrical, it's along the lines of Tesla coils and jar capacitors. And of course Airships. Gotta have Airships! It will often have a Victorian look (turn of 19th-20th century) with lots of bronze, wood, gears, and cogs. But it's not just historical re-enactment. It's much more a "what-if." Plus, it has lots of overlap with another of my favorite genres, space cowboy frontier.

On the web: a keyboard modded to Steampunk style over at Steampunk Workshop.

Trebuchet: Parts 01-04

I'm trying to build a bouquet trebuchet for the wedding. I've been taking pictures of the progress so far with the little camera in my phone. This post is to show the story so far.

Part 01: (03.20) The Sub-Frame

Part 02: (03.21) 1st side A-frame. The rubberbands have same function as clamps: to hold until glue dries.

Part 03: (04.02) The other A-frame

Part 04: (05.13) A-frames together with bottom cross beams. I need to make pegs out of that long dowel rod to hold in the cross beams.

Quick Answer to Prayer

I already understand that God answers prayer. It's happend so often in my life and the lives of those I've known, it would be impossible to ignore. But sometimes there's such a quick response that it reminds us how amazing that really is.

The past few days I've been looking at tuxes to either rent or buy for the wedding. As I was thinking about that this morning, along with other wedding, honeymoon, and moving expenses, I prayed for help with my budgeting and an increase in funds. My boss just offered, on behalf of another department, a chance to work an additional eight (8) hours Saturday for the next four weeks. Not only is that extra work I didn't have before, but it's all overtime pay, too.

Not only is this a great reminder that God answers prayer, but also of God's sovereignty and goodness. The other department's desire to bring in additional help for the weekend did not just start today. God set into motion events and hearts to answer my prayer before I even prayed it. He knows our desires even before we do. And He brings about what needs to be brought about when it needs to be brought.

First Post FTW!

Maegan started working on a Wedding web page last night. I thought it might be a good idea to even continue it after we got married. A work in progress. She came up with a good idea of having a separate blog for that. It's a great idea. I just hope we will remember to post more often than once a year.

Anyway, so here it is. I'm sure starting out it will have lots of info as we plan our wedding. But after that, I'm hoping it will fill with our lives' stories.