Saturday, June 22, 2013

Insignificantly Significant

There's something about living in my state.  If you never been there, I can explain but I'm not sure you'll care.

I've been to several other states around our country, and other countries on top of that.
Yet nowhere...

Nowhere...

Has the skies we do.

The world is large and vast and covered with land.  It seems everywhere else I've been that's been the biggest factor - the land. Everywhere you look you see tall, green trees (Tennessee); big brown hills and desert 'beauty' (Arizona); tropical plants and vast bodies of water (Hawaii).

In Our state, we have beautiful land, but it isn't the first thing you see.  When you walk outside the greatest, grandest, and sometimes most stunning feature is our sky.

It's so large you feel like you'll never be able to see it all, yet at the same time - when the clouds are just right - you feel like you can reach up and touch it...maybe brush a few away and see the vast universe beyond.

It's storming today.  The grey, billowing clouds are my favorite.  There's something MASSIVE and POWERFUL about them. They're a reminder that this world, this universe, is even bigger. A reminder that the world doesn't revolve around me (though I wish it did).

It can make a girl feel insignificant.

But the best part about them, for me personally, is how they make me feel insignificantly significant.

I am staring at the sky that's been there since God put it there in the beginning.  I am staring at the amazing hugeness that is our life.
There are many others all around the world seeing pieces and patches of it as well (and in some places, just as much as I see).
We're all seeing it together.  We all pass through time in a blink, some of us without making a dent large enough in history to be remembered.
We're insignificant.

And yet...

And yet I know I can walk into my parents home, and to them I am significant.
I know I can run and embrace my best friend because to her I am significant.
I know that to God above I matter. To Him I am (undeservedly) significant.

In a world where I am nobody...I only need to be somebody to a few people. It only takes a few to make me feel like I am loved, special....kind, important, smart.

We can sometimes strive for importance and significance. We can fight, claw, cheat, steal, whatever we have to do to get ahead.
But you know what?
I don't want that.
I don't want to be North West - infamous baby at only a few days old.  I don't want the pressure of the world always staring down on me as I strive to be just as "significant" as my parents.

I want to be me. I want to be loved by those who I have been blessed to have in my life.

I want to be insignificantly significant.

Friday, June 14, 2013

The Wrath Of Ice Cream Withdrawals or Why My Dad is Awesome

Ben & Jerry's Brownie Chew Gooder Ice Cream.  The greatest ice cream known to this woman. Everything I've ever loved about ice cream bundled together in a neat little pint.



It's a Target exclusive. Didn't you know?

My first and only affair with this delectable treat was while in Scottsdale AZ for a Mumford & Sons concert. While the concert experience trumped the ice cream...it was in second (a far second, but still).

Upon returning to the cozy haven that is my hometown, after relishing in the cool breeze my state has in droves (while AZ has NONE), I knew I had to find that ice cream again.


Photo from the Concert of the beautiful Marcus Mumford
You see, I know I'm not going to find Marcus Mumford or the boys in Chardeau, but the ice cream...I thought that would be possible.
So I went to Target.
It wasn't at Target.
I checked Albertson's.
Walmart was also searched.


Wondering why it was so hard to locate, I went online. Google can tell you almost anything and is sometimes very accurate.  The interweb was where I learned of Target's exclusive hold on my dream treat. MINE must just have sold out.

Like any good web surfer, I went to the source.  Target.com listed the ice cream, OBVIOUSLY, not sold online. However, there was a "find in store" button.

I clicked it.
Entered my zipcode.
Was given a list of Targets in my state.


The two (TWO) in my city had the following words listed next to their location:


Not Sold At This Location

I blacked out. Fainted, maybe. My world spun and I crashed to the ground, only to be found later in a pool of my own blood...

Okay, no. I didn't do any of the above. But man, did I pout. Pout. Pout. Pout.

So what does the fact that MY town doesn't SELL my awesome ice cream have to do with my dad being awesome?

Well let's head there.
My dad is awesome.  He just is.
He's one of those guys that's pretty willing to do anything for anyone who needs it, regardless of how inconvenient it is.  He worked ridiculously hard while my siblings and I were young so that he'd be able to give us things he didn't have.  He doesn't make promises he can't keep.  He LOVES going to movies and takes me to them whenever I have one I want to see (and pays for everything, despite me being an adult able to pay for myself).  He's good and he's kind.
He's logic. Like, Spock logic.  When I need to work through a situation, I go to him because I know he'll help me rationalize the best situation.

He is WICKED good with numbers. Scary good. "I'm kind of creeped out by how fast you just did that immense multiplication" type good.  (Ex. The other night he guessed a whole bunch of stats for a show before they appeared on the screen.  He does the math in his head and it 99% right 98% of the time.)

Enough of my gushing.
My awesome dad, who is awesome in his own right, is going on business trips next week. He's driving up to a few other cities in our state.

He's planning on taking a cooler of sorts, going to their targets (which list as In Stock) and buying me my Brownie Chew Gooder Ice Cream.
Picture from Christmas 2011

My dad is the best.

Father's day is almost here.  How awesome is your dad (or father-figure in your life)?  What's the BEST or coolest thing about your dad?
Let's celebrate dads :)

Monday, June 10, 2013

You Like Me....You Really Like Me...

I have been nominated. Always a good feeling, though it is generally a friend of yours who loves you and therefore thinks you and your blog rock.

I owe the pleasure of receiving this award to Katie Cross - a fantastic writer/book reviewer if there ever was one.  Want an idea of what to read next? Head over to Katie's place and see what she recommends! She also does this nifty "Question of the Day" thing that will entertain, amuse, or provoke thought.

So, because Katie said so, here I go!
Rules for The Sunshine and Versatile Blogger Award are as follows: 

1. Post the logo above

2. Accept the nomination and link back to the blog that nominated you

3. Answer the questions

4. List seven random facts about yourself

4. Nominate blogs and inform them of the nomination

Answers to the questions I KNOW you've been dying to discover:

Favorite color: Always green, though I do love a nice blue.

Favorite animal: I love animals. Ocelots have always had a special place in my heart for some reason, but aside from them...wolves. Or maybe panthers.
Photo Credit : thelife-animal.blogspot.com


Favorite number: 3 (and any repetition of three. Like 33)

Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Dr. Pepper, Raspberry Lemonade, or Throwback Mountain Dew

Favorite alcoholic drink: No alcohol for me, thanks. Not a fan of the taste.

Facebook or Twitter: Neither and both. Twitter used to be my favorite, but I haven't the time for it as much these days.

My passions: writing, reading, people, artistic ventures, baking, cooking, carbohydrates.

Giving or receiving gifts: Both. I LOVE being given gifts. Feel free to give them to me whenever. I also love to give them - finding just the right thing for the individual on the receiving end.

Favorite city: Most people don't count Chardeau as a city (Though I like it).  Other than that...I've been to Jerusalem. That was a heckuvuh city.
Sunset over Jerusalem


Favorite TV shows: I love TV.  It's a list. Arrested Development, Teen Wolf, The Killing, Merlin, Sherlock, Downton Abbey...all for their own reasons. I'm missing some. Oh, New Girl. A.T.L.A. and L.O.K (yup. Cartoons. Well written cartoons)






Seven random facts (I think I've done this before...)

1. I can't handle the feeling of velvet (everyone should know this from Christmas)

2. I have an over sensitive Ulnar Nerve (for that potentially hilarious story, click here)

3. I want to go to Ireland. Bad. I want to be where my people are from. I intend to make this a reality within the next two years.

4. I work in a fish bowl. A big glass container. Or as one coworker affectionately refers to it...the Penalty Box.
My fish bowl. The glass wall doesn't even go all the way up...

5. My office has an entire wall of posters from TV shows, movies, musicians, and actors (mainly classics like Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant).  I intend to get more. The most recent Star Trek is the newest to my collection (Placed just below my Star Trek TOS poster)

Portion of my wall. It's hard to get the whole thing in one shot.
6. I went to Israel this year - my first time over seas and out of the country. Had a hilarious time with Brosef, Owen, Joanne, and many others (See those stories here

7. I spend an inordinate amount of time day dreaming. Sometimes I'm playing with the muse and we're writing books, but more often than not I'm imagining up things in my own immediate future (Like time with Brant-CCW. Haven't told you about  Brant? I'm sure I will. Drool.)

BONUS FACT: My bestest buddy Goose and I have British Dinners. We go to our favorite restaurant and speak in accents the whole time.  We also have a fondness for dolphins, geese (surprise, surprise) and squirrels. More on Goose to come.

You have been selected as Tribute:

Stephanie Karfelt of the Glitter Globe fame: theglitterglobe.com

LaDonna Cole the Beta Warrior : http://www.immortalportals.wordpress.com

JB Lynn - the woman who can make me laugh better than any other published author : http://jblynn.wordpress.com/

Karen Amanda Hooper, the fantastic fantasy fiction femme fatale (say that five times fast. Oh wait, I did and it wasn't that hard.) :http://karenamandahooper.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 7, 2013

And The Winner Is...

Katie Cross!!!

Katie takes the first prize win for the 5 blog blitz!  Our lovely first prize consists of all these goodies PLUS a neon monkey:


True to my word, there will be a second runner up who gets a CR Smith CD, a little something from Israel, and a monkey as well.  Who is THIS lucky person? I will tell you right now :)

Donna Kilgore!

Donna and Katie, please contact me with your info so I can send you your treats! Also, Katie you need to pick which $10 gift card you would like.

Now I don't want to leave you all with the sadness of defeat, so I am going to let you in on another give away going on from now until Sunday.

Follow this link to the blog where you can enter to win an ebook bundle from author Karen Amanda Hooper!


For those who still want a bit more from me...here's a book review for an upcoming novel that I know you'll love.

Warrior of the Ages book review:

What is there to say about S.R. Karfelt's Warrior of the Ages? Sheer genius, that's what.
When I first nabbed a copy of this book and read the back cover blurb I thought "Immortal Warrior protecting his world and people from a far too instinctual blonde bombshell? Count me in."

Falling deeply in love with the characters was something I didn't know to expect. I ping-ponged between Kahtar - our immortal hero - and Beth - the woman who would ruin everything he's worked for. Several times I stopped to ask myself "Whose side am I on, anyway?" only to dive back in for more.

Kahtar is the epitome of duty, honor, and steely intimidation while Beth encompasses my vision of an intellectual woman with a loving heart.
Opposing clans, murdering rogue warriors, and bloodline prejudice threaten to tear apart everything they've fought for and drive a wedge in between the two already clashing individuals.
Duty has been the only thing Kahtar has ever fought for. Beth White offers something more, something he'd never thought possible. Choosing her truth might unravel everything Kahtar holds dear.

But the question remains:
How far would you go to protect what's yours?

Not Actual Cover*
Warrior of the Ages comes out August 15th. You can guarantee I'll be talking about it - as will many others. Stay tuned!

If you liked this giveaway/blog blitz, let me know. I'm always willing to do another! I'm thinking maybe in August. Hint. Hint.

*Official cover not released yet.