All that glitters - which is suprisingly little

Alright, per usual, I haven't blogged in awhile.  Things have been hectic, but pretty good - all things considered.  One thing I haven't really talked about is my new hobby - nail art.  I have looked at a lot of different nail blogs and have a board on Pinterest with all the interesting ones I want to try.  Here are pictures of all the ones I've done so far (with some in between I didn't get pics):

stripey and fun

These are my first attempt at tape lines.  I did candy cane striped nails for Christmas before this look, but didn't get a pic of those.  Tape designs are probably my favorite because I have tape readily available.

Hearts for Valentine's Day

 This design was fun - I got the hang of the hearts by the time I did the second hand, so it all worked out.

Shamrocks (never say clovers)

Irish Pride!

 I did 2 designs for St. Patrick's Day because my husband is Irish and I wanted to celebrate.  Plus, the clover ones were bugging me, so I wanted to change the look.  I had to look up the Irish flag so I knew which order the colors went - even though I see a tattoo of it pretty much everyday on my husband's arm lol.  We also have a flag pinned up on our ceiling, but when I sit at my desk, it's upside down, so that didn't work.

It is always a timing thing when it comes to doing holiday nail art.  Paint a theme too soon and it could chip and be dull by the time the holiday comes around.  Paint it too late and people might not know what theme you've done.

It makes me look well read

 Since there aren't really any holidays coming up - according to my "office closed" list - I decided to do a design I've been wanting to try for awhile.  This one is known as "newspaper nails" because you literally put newspaper print onto your nails.  It was totally easy and I got a lot of compliments, so I will definitely be doing this again.  I think the gray nail polish was a bit of a problem, so I need to try a different base color.  Funny bit - I had the word "Google" on my thumb.

 These are my nails currently - in celebration of Emerald City Comic Con.  I asked my husband what he wanted to see on my nails and he requested Wolverine, so I took a look at some nail designs online and came up with the look you see above.  I also found a cool explosion looking design, so I wanted to do that - hence the two different designs on my hands.  I will definitely try the explosions again with different colors.

That's it for now.  I have a lot of fun with it and a lot of people notice and comment on my different designs.  I'm hoping to try more complex techniques, but that comes with time and practice.  Right now I'm wondering what I should do for my auditions coming up in less than 2 weeks, but it's more about what will stay on for awhile and not be too distracting.  I should be focusing on memorizing my music more than what my nails look like :).

Anyway - that's some of what's been going on with me.  I didn't get many pictures at comic con, but I'll see what they posted on the website and add what I can to a blog about this last weekend I plan on doing.

I hope everyone is enjoying Spring :).

Thanks for checking this blog out and hopefully staying around awhile.

My thoughts are being processed . . .

I have been reading The Bloggess a lot lately and am trying to push through all the ideas I have to start blogging differently . . . or maybe more realistically.  If you've ever read her blog or seen any of her online posts and know me, you know that this is right up my alley.  I tend to try to make things "fit" a little too much when I write things down.  I think it's the idea that I get a chance to proof read and change things to make them sound the best they can.  Well, after reading posts from The Bloggess like this one, which everyone should read, I think I should write more "stream of consciousness" rather than like I'm writing a short story.

So look out . . . I have a few things in mind and I should just put it to post instead of brooding over what to write about.

Also, there will probably be more "conversations" (if I can remember them, or maybe I'll make up what I don't remember lol) because I like that format a lot.

There I go, like I should care about a "format" anymore .  . . I don't think my stream of consciousness would really care.

Anyway, so that's my update for now.  Hopefully you will see a lot more blog posts in the near future.

And check out The Bloggess if you haven't . . . and why you haven't, I don't know, nor do I care . . . just do it!

Thanks!!

Breaking the Silence

It has been almost 2 months since I've posted on here.  I went pretty silent for longer than I had anticipated, but it's for a good reason . . . well good if you are in my life, bad if you're reading my blog.

It has been almost a month since the last time my husband was admitted to the hospital through the ER.  Per my last post, it has been almost 2 months since his surgery to help him stay out of the hospital. It seems to be working.

Since the surgery I've been busy at home and at work doing what I can to make what was only a dream into reality.

The rest of December was tough . . . even though we both had great plans for Christmas, they didn't really end up the way we wanted.  I did get to spend the holidays with family and friends, my husband was not yet well enough to spend that time with them also.  The last of the year was spent a lot like the beginning of the year, but I was hopeful it was just a hiccup to what was going to happen in the new year.

Our New Year's Eve was celebrated with a pop rather than a bang as we have had enough excitement for awhile.  It was spent at home, which was great compared to almost all the holidays of 2011.  It is still strange for me to have my weekends at home, the entire time, and including my husband.

As I look back at last year and also look ahead to the coming year it always hits me that what was "normal" for me over the last 2 1/2 years or so is no longer what will be "normal" going forward.  Also, what was "normal" to me is not at all what should be normal in my life.

I got so used to living life day by day and not scheduling farther than a few days in advance - always knowing that I might have to cancel any and all plans that were made.  It's sometimes hard for me to commit to any plans farther out than the coming weekend - and even then I hesitate.  It's all feels so new to me.

It feels so good to not have somewhere to go or places to be on the weekends.  It may sound so boring to some people, but my best time on the weekend is sitting next to my husband watching a movie.  How simple that is, but yet how new and vibrant it seems to me these days.

We are still in transition and are learning limitations.  I have to remind myself that it hasn't been that long since the surgery and it will take up to and including a year for everything to stablize.  This doesn't include emotions and actions, just the physical healing and stabilizing itself, which doesn't include my healing and changing.

We are having a party this month to celebrate my husband's birthday, but I think it's much more than that.  It's been so long since we could truly enjoy having our friends over to hang out and have fun.

I think we are both a little hesitant still about planning things too far in advance, but we long for things to look forward to and goals to accomplish.

I can now shift my focus to a few other things in my life.  I need to start looking at my own health more and really getting things accomplished there.  I should write about all that has changed there, but that is for another blog - this one is getting pretty lengthy.

Overall I'm thinking 2012 is going to be a good one, if not great :).

I will update more often - truthfully - now that I have some of the time spent on worrying freed up for other things.  It's amazing how much energy and strength it takes to sit in a hospital room watching tv or reading.  Time to get my booty into gear and get active :).

Thank you for sticking around.  I'm hoping to post more upbeat and interesting posts soon.