…See the whole list here…

OK, this one is easy peasy! I am an avid knitter. And by avid, I mean whenever I’m sitting for more than 20 minutes or so. I have made so many different things, mostly for myself, but some for others as gifts. My biggest, most intense project was, by far, my wedding veil.

Personal photo. Lots of others here.

Crazy woman says what?

Yep, my wedding veil. It took me 4.5 months to complete knitting over 48,000 stitches. The pattern was quite simple; it was a modified doily pattern. The pattern designer and several others that had completed the pattern were immensely helpful. Oh don’t worry, I have pictures.

I have also completed a couple pairs of socks, steering wheel cover, thick head bands, scarves, hats, a wedding garter for a friend, fingerless gloves, and a few purses. This doesn’t even remotely take into account all the projects I started and are still sitting on the needles.

Oh, sure, I have other hobbies. I think. Oh, yeah, wedding planning, graphic design, web design, general arts and crafts, anything crafty really.

The wedding planning isn’t as much of a duh as you’d think. I’ve planned or help plan several of my friends and family member’s weddings for the last 10-12 years. Yeah, it’s always been a love of mine.

Graphic design was spawned from web design. As I mentioned in an earlier 30 Days post, I fell in love with the internet early on. I was so fascinated with it that I figured out how to rip the pages apart. From there, I learned how to use MS Paint (I know! *cringe*) and eventually Photoshop. I like to think I’m now quite proficient at Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator… and even Dreamweaver. I still can code by hand, but it’s often much easier to use DW.

As for the general arts and crafts, well, I’ve always been creative. I went to sleep away camp for like 8 summers and spent almost my whole month in the arts and crafts room. When I returned to the camp as a counselor at 19, I was the lead arts and crafts counselor. I am so fortunate to have found an equally creative and far more talented artist to spend my life with. One of our favorite “date day” destinations is Michaels Craft Store, as likely to be suggested by me as it is by Steve. Our children have no choice but to be creative!

…See the whole list here…

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I never in my life thought I’d be quoting from the bible, but hey, if it applies, it applies. Even if it is appropriate in this case. I love this quote. Love it!

This is actually a difficult question. I was a late bloomer, but certainly had my fair share of ridiculous crushes that I thought were true love. My most notable silly crush was my first love. Silly me, right? It’s much like the overwhelming love teenagers swear they have when they want to get married in or straight out of high school.

These days, having finally found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, I define it differently. It is passionate, comfortable, emotional, content, and compassion. I have many other words to describe it, but they are simply words. I know in my very core that I found my match. That he is everything I have been looking for.

The saying “I’ve kissed a lot of frogs” holds very true in my love life. Like I said, I was a late bloomer. I didn’t start really dating until I was 18ish. I honestly think more people should wait until later in life. Steve was also a late bloomer and we fully plan on teaching our children to do the same.

How do you define love? Has it changed over the years?

…See the whole list here…

image source

Bon Jovi. I loves them.

Anyone that knows me will tell you of my love and obsession for all things Bon Jovi. I became truly addicted to them early in high school. Since then, I have been to lots (maybe 6?) of their concerts with my bestie Jen. Early on, it was a trio, Jen, Diana and me hitting up the concerts.

I can still remember when I was just a kid
When friends were friends forever and what you said was what you did
Well, it was me and Danny and Bobby we cut each other’s hands
Held tight to a promise only brothers understand

Even now, 17+ years later, I still love those Jersey boys. My ipod has nearly 300 of their songs on it. And I’m talking songs from the entire group, several solo albums, and various covers and guest band members.

When we got engaged and were planning an actual wedding with a bridal party and full reception, I wanted to have an all Jovi song list for the ceremony. I had a list for each member of the bridal party, the procession, the recession, everything. It wasn’t so easy and I actually had help from several of the Bon Jovi communities on Livejournal, but I did it. The list was complete.

I am fortunate enough to be marrying a man that doesn’t necessarily understand my obsession, but is respectful of it. He actually knew our favorite song (Blood on Blood) and attempted to learn it on the guitar.

Now Bobby, an uptown lawyer Danny, a medicine man
And me, I’m just the singer in a long haired rock ‘n’ roll band
Through the years and miles between us it’s been a long and lonely ride
But if I got that call in the dead of the night, I’d be right by your side

Sure, I like other bands and a wide variety of genres, but Bon Jovi is still my rock, so to speak. I freaking love those guys. And what’s more, I respect the hell outta Jon. He’s been married to his high school sweetheart for 21 years and they have 4 children. Unlike so many celebrities and musicians out there, he has remained faithful (as far as the public knows) to his first real love. I love that about him!

…See the whole list here…

This one is a little bit touchy as he and I are still friends… or at least Facebook acquaintances. To protect the innocence of my past, let’s just call him Mufasa.

Image source

Mufasa. Oooooooh say it again! Sorry, inside joke.

OK, well, Mufasa and I met during my first year at college. It was a religious experience… and by that, I mean I met him during Passover when I was staying at a friend’s parent’s houses in Orlando. His family and several others were there and, I dunno, it was weird. I was smitten to say the least. Sure, he was a couple years younger, but who cares, he was funny and smart and we stayed up all night watching The Lion King over and over again. And by “watching” I mean sitting on the couch laughing, talking and tickling. Totally G rated.

Forward to the introduction of IRC to my life and we would spend hours talking online (back when it was completely safe!), on the phone and swapping emails. For the longest time, I had all those emails printed out along with a journal I was keeping. A journal that I made the mistake of letting him read a year or so into our friendship.

That’s right folks, friendship. I may have been head over heels crazy in love with him, but we were never more than platonic friends. No kissing or anything. Being in close proximity with Mufasa was painful and I was several times. He came to Gainesville for my birthday and I would go to Orlando all the time with either my friend or his sister. Every time I drove to Miami to visit my family, I would stop by Orlando for an hour or so. Yeah, it was pretty bad.

During the time Mufasa and I were super close, he was dating a few different women and I was dating BD and JF, and later got engaged to JF. I was crazy about BD, but he did a real number on me during the few months we dated. Like sitting in the back of my closet crying hysterically. He gets initials cuz he is also still a friend. JF, on the other hand, the person that should have been at least one of my first loves… not so much. Sure, while we were together maybe, but afterwards I realized I wasn’t in love with him so much as the idea of him.

Tangent, party of 1.

Anyhow, the last time I saw him was maybe 2004 or so when I was visiting another friend and we drove into Gainesville for the day. It was amazing just hanging out with him. Now, we’re both grown up and engaged to other people. I haven’t done more than keep in touch over Facebook for years. I haven’t even really talked to him other than to offer up my congrats on his engagement and to wish him a happy birthday. You know, the cordiality of being an adult with an old friend.

So… are you still in touch with your first love? Did you actually have a relationship with him/her? Even though our relationship was a non-relationship, I wouldn’t trade it for anything and I wish him nothing but the best in everything he does in his life.

There’s still very much a soft spot in my heart for you, Mufasa.

…See the whole list here…

This is me… surprised? I didn’t think so. I am very public with who I am, what I like and post lots of pictures.

I fell in love with the internet early in its public phase (yep, 1995) and became instantly intrigued with web design. I tore pages apart and learned what all that weird code did and what happened when you rearranged it.

I am a recent graduate with my MBA and love working on web and graphic design, knitting, baking, sewing and general DIY crafting. Also, I am a social media fiend!

This is my amazing almost-husband, Steve. The word fiancé just sounds odd to me this close to our wedding. That’s right, we are t-minus 46 days away from becoming Mr and Mrs.

He is an amazingly talented artist, but his day job is private home health care for an elderly client. Yes, he does have the biggest heart of gold on the planet. I’ve kissed a lot of frogs before finally finding my perfect match. (Cue the awwww’s)

What more do you want to know? We have a Miniature Pinscher named Lola and a big fat cat named Phoenix. We’re planning on having a couple kids (or more depending on when we get started) and will most likely be home schooling them when they’re old enough. No, we’re not crazy, the school system in Miami isn’t that great and we can’t exactly afford private schools.

I am a hardcore Florida Gators fan and graduate. I am also a very recent graduate from ECU. However, I really don’t identify with myself as a Pirate. Yes, huge Gators fan, but this pretty much is confined to football and occasionally basketball. I despise golf and baseball.

If you want to know more, just ask! My life is, almost literally, an open book.