A horse, of course

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Galloping Horse Lanterns #6

Galloping Horse Lanterns #6 (Photo credit: chooyutshing)

Gung hai fat choi! Welcome to the year of the horse!

Last night I conveniently remembered that I still have the t-shirt from the previous year of the Horse, in 2002. I participated in Wash U’s Chinese New Year Festival, singing the US national anthem with a fellow showchoir member, and presenting a fashion show of Chinese clothing. I wasn’t skinny enough to fit into any of the dresses, but I did get a nifty gold robe. And the t-shirt I’m wearing…bright red with a hand-drawn logo that wraps around to the back, where a horse leaps.

Hard to believe it’s been 12 years since I did that.

Anyway, the year of the Horse traditionallyย an optimistic time, with opportunities for travel, surprises, and sudden victories, but it’s the year of the Wooden Horse, which could mean explosive events. I guess we’ll see…May your year be filled with happiness and optimism!

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Say yes to the dress.

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Detail of a Vera Wang wedding dress.

Detail of a Vera Wang wedding dress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m somewhat at loose ends, now. I picked a wedding dress over the weekend, and it seems like I don’t have anything to do for a while, wedding planning wise. Now it’s just save, save, save, since I have to pay for the dress, and put down another deposit on the venue, and book all the vendors…but that’s for later. The wedding is still nearly a year away, so I have a little time to catch my breath before the next big thing.

(The picture isn’t of my dress, by the way. My fiance doesn’t want to even hear me talk about it, much less see it on the blog! I could never afford a Vera Wang dress anyway.)
I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t have that magical moment when I knew I had on THE dress. Honestly, I don’t really like trying on clothes (though I don’t mind buying them. I certainly have enough) and I don’t think I’ve ever fallen in love with a pair of shoes, much less a dress. I think I’d be pretty happy with whatever I found, and I’m lucky to have somewhat of a nice shape so most things look okay on me. I tried a few, figured out pretty quickly what looked good and what didn’t, and even gave my mom’s picks a chance. I’m glad I did, because it turned out that the last dress I tried was her choice, and  that was the winner. It took a while and listing the pros and cons of other ones I liked, and a discussion about price and alterations. This dress was on clearance, so the store couldn’t order a different size. Luckily the dress fit, but with a few additions, it could turn into the perfect dress, AND save me some money since I don’t have to search for one with every single specification. It’s not super fancy, it’s not designer, but it looks good on me and turned out to be even less expensive than we thought. SCORE. The alterations won’t add too much to the price, and I’ll end up with a dress I like when I walk down the aisle. I might even look a little like a princess.
That teary-eyed moment may not have happened, but thinking about the dress kept me up last night. I usually wake up during the night, and I couldn’t keep myself from thinking about wedding things. Every time I’d get frustrated with that, I’d tell myself to quit and just get back to sleep, but I suck at Zen. I’m excited about the wedding, of course, but I’d rather have my sleep, thankyouverymuch. I hope now that I have some time when I don’t have to think about weddings I’ll relax (she says, with NaNoWriMo looming). I’m really glad I got the dress out of the way now. I can concentrate on NaNo and enjoy myself for a while, without spending money. Next up, in a few months: creativity with pictures, I think.
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Happy, happy day

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Stairs at the Moonrise Hotel

Hello from the Moonrise Hotel! You should go. It’s awesome. Expensive, but super fun. Mike got us a room for my birthday…and another little thing. But before I tell you about that…
I turn 32 today. Happy birthday to me! Today is the first day of my week-long vacation. The past weekend we played softball in the rain and won, then played some accountants and lost. Ironic how it didn’t rain all season then dumped a bunch of precipitation on us in one weekend. Good thing we’ve got this hotel room to enjoy…
Especially since this happened.

I said yes

Jen’s a happy birthday girl.

Spellcliff

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NaNo 2011 Winner badge

I know I haven’t said much about NaNo here this year, but it was sort of a busy time, being ML for the St. Louis region and all. For year eight, I wrote another fantasy (of course). Here’s the one-sentence summary:
When a librarian finds a murdered historian in the undocumented vaults of the library, she discovers that magic, unusable for centuries, is returning to the world, and those who once wielded it are returning to take back their homeland.

It kind of ended up being like that, so I guess I stuck to the synopsis better than I have in previous years. Yes, I did manage to actually have a dead body show up in the first chapter right when it was supposed to, as opposed to last year, when I didn’t kill the person I was planning on until the very last section. Planning, it is your friend when writing.
There’s still more to go. I’ll see how many words I can put down tomorrow night, but I’ve got that purple bar of win, and it makes me smile.
Here’s to those of you who took this jaunt into literary abandon with me, and those who are still chugging along. Keep writing, my friends!

(Google+ edit:
Scrivener says 50,148; NaNoWriMo says 50,033. Either way, I just won NaNo for an eighth time.

Anthony MatheniaWay to go Jen on your eighth win! Thanks for all the hard work you do to support others!

Jennifer ShewThanks +Anthony Mathenia for all your good posts this year! I don’t know where you found the time ๐Ÿ˜‰ Congrats to you too.

30

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Well, I’m 30 now. I’ve started a new decade of life. Honestly, I don’t feel any different than I did at 29–still working the same job, doing the same things. Sure, there have been changes, and ones that can be measured in years instead of days–I bought a car and a house, my boyfriend lives with me–but I don’t feel all that much different than when I graduated. I guess that’s a good thing, right? Feeling–well, not young, exactly, but certainly not like I’m going to have a mid-life crisis. I don’t mind, in the main. I don’t really like big changes. They make me nervous. I do wish I was more spontaneous sometimes, though.

I’m happy with my life as it is. I wish I had more time to do the things I want to do, but everybody wants that. I’ve got a place of my own, family and friends that love me, a good job, and now, thanks to my parents, a stockpot so I can cook real chicken and dumplings. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) There isn’t a lot I need. The house needs some work, but nothing urgent: the garden could use a loving hand; the basement wants for a few new outlets; the bathroom needs a fan; and the attic needs new insulation. There is a lot of stuff I want, but don’t need. I keep telling myself that. I’ve got what I need.
Unfortunately I still haven’t finished writing a whole book; that is one thing I regret. I don’t know why I procrastinate so much, but there are just so many things I could also be doing: knitting, crocheting, gardening, playing with the cat, fiddling with the iPod…yeah. Maybe this year.
I don’t really like being 30–not the age, but the connotation of the number. I don’t feel like it fits me. Maybe in a year or two I’ll resign myself to the fourth decade, but I still think of myself as younger. But I don’t know how much younger; certainly not the low 20s, when you’re just out of school and aimless (unless you were a pre-med and then you knew exactly what you were doing for the next seven years of your life), not the mid 20s when quite a few of my friends were getting together with the person they would marry…I guess there is something about staying 29. Although I’d pick 27, just because. I don’t feel old, unless I see a bunch of kids doing something crazy, but I’m reasonably up on tech stuff, so I’m not lost in an electronics store. I can still pull off shopping at trendy stores (if I ever shop there) and I still get carded. But I can remember the days before the Internet and I don’t have a smartphone, so I suppose I’d be regarded as a fuddy by the younger set. But I don’t mind. See, I’m getting older and smarter.
We’ll see what the coming year brings. Maybe I’ll finish a book. Maybe I’ll finish the afghan that’s been sitting around the house for years. Maybe the garden will actually look like a garden instead of a place where there are some flowers and more weeds. I’ll try to make it a good one. 
Thanks for sharing it with me.

Keys!

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I guess I’m officially an adult: I closed on a house yesterday. I have my very own address. Excuse me while I squee.
ZOMG keys!
Ahem. It’s small but well proportioned and just the right size for me. There is so much work to be done, but eventually it will look really nice, and be, you know, livable with actual appliances and furniture.
One of these days I’ll have a painting party and you can all come. I’ll have a reason to use the tiny grill. And for those of you who don’t want to get your hands dirty, yes, I believe I’ll have a housewarming party too ๐Ÿ™‚ Details to follow…sometime.
I’m excited. My bank account cries, and I’m sore already from lugging purchases and cleaning, but this is a good thing. An investment in my future–a life step, a part of the American Dream. Now all I have to do is write the Great American Novel and I can get out of debt. *wink wink*

Happy () Day

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AttS is SEVEN today!
My parents celebrate their anniversary and my friend Kate and my coworker Gordon (sorry I can’t be there for drinks) can tally up another year on this day.
Huzzah to all of you.
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If you’re in town looking for something to do (other than the book fair, that is), head on over to the St. Charles Spring Artwalk. My mom will be displaying her artwork at 222 N Main Street, and there is plenty of parking behind the building. We’ll be there all weekend, so why don’t you stop by and say hi, and pick up a gift for Mother’s Day?
Happy weekend, all ๐Ÿ™‚

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Booklist

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Because I’m a geek, here’s a list of what I’ve read this year. I’ll keep updating the page all year, so I can finally write one of those “books I’ve read last year” posts when the New Year rolls around again ๐Ÿ˜‰ And if you really wanted to, you could click on the book covers and buy a book from Amazon, and I’ll get a few pennies ๐Ÿ˜‰
Check it out.
Oh, and happy half-birthday to me. Tomorrow it’s off to a bachelorette party! Whoo! Hope I planned enough fun. I probably don’t have to worry…drinks are fun no matter what, and I bet that’s mostly what we’ll do ๐Ÿ˜‰ Huzzah Leo!