Welcoming Juan

My amazing sister is expecting her second child in November. This will be nephew #3. (I have one niece.) We're all really excited for him to come. Since he doesn't yet have a name, I've decided to call him Juan Pierre. I think it offers some needed ethnic variety. (Their last name is of Scottish flavor, which makes it even better.) I don't think they're sold on it yet.

For fun, my mom, sisters-in-law, and I are throwing a very small baby shower for my sister on Saturday. I guess it's called a 'baby sprinkle' when it's for the second baby. No lame games, just food and conversation. And gifts. Yesterday, I did some shopping. I got a bunch of diapers and wipes and some cute outfits. As part of my gift, I will be painting adorable pictures on some white onesies. I also have a little surprise up my sleeve. I'll share pics of everything later on. I won't be doing a post on Saturday so I can get stuff ready. I'm sure you'll survive the weekend without me :)

Closed... For Now

I've decided to close my blog shop for the time being. It has not been profitable as of yet, so I'm going to use some of the merch for other purposes. I will likely try again at some future time, like when I gain more than a few fans :)

I'm going to start thinking about the next Super Fan fun. Now is a good time to join!

Wii!

I mentioned that we got a Wii U a few weeks ago. It's been super fun! I pretty much rock at Mario Kart 8. Hubby and I beat Super Mario 3D World, mostly due to his skills. I died a lot. We've borrowed some games from one of my brothers, who has a HUGE collection of all sorts of consoles and games. This is good for us, because we can test out games to find ones we really like and buy them ourselves. So far, my hubby really likes Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. We both like Pikmin 3. We also tried Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Though the graphics are stellar, the controls are kind of awkward. And it's not as two-player friendly as Return to Dreamland. The last we one borrowed is LoZ Windwaker HD. I haven't played many Zelda games, but I might give this one a try. My bro has Splatoon and Mario Maker, which we hope to try in the future. Anyone out there have any other suggestions?

My day job has started up again, which cuts into my writing time. Hopefully I'll get both done, so I can have a paycheck AND finally publish Foretold!

Picture Book Idea

Sorry this is so late. I was creating a little art piece to honor a young lady I know who just found out she has cancer. She's strong and has a lot of support.

A while back, I was doodling and came up with a cute picture of a girl. I called her Amelia and decided she was about five years old. Since then, I considered using her in a series of children's picture books. Now, I have only a vague idea about how to make a children's picture book, especially if I self-publish it. I'm sure figuring it out won't be that hard.  And I won't start on it right away. I have too many other things that need to be finished first, but it is something I want to do. Here is the little star herself:

Isn't she cute? :)

Art in Many Forms

I like finding new sites to sell my art. This latest one is redbubble.com They've got some different products from some of the other places I use, like leggings, scarves, and bedding. Feel free to check out what I've got so far, which includes some new stuff.

I'm working really hard on Foretold. Things are still a little rocky as I try to get events in order, but it's coming along. Sorry again for not having it finished. Just know when I do get it done, it will be awesome!

Over the past several weeks, I've continued to upload pictures on my webcomic for Grim's Days Off. He's been traveling around the world, visiting famous landmarks. He only has two more stops on his grand adventure! If you've been following, do you have a favorite?

Hail Mary

I'm a HUGE fan of BYU football, and have been for about 16 years. Most of my family members are U of U fans, the rival school here in Utah. Anyway, I watched the opening game on Saturday evening against Nebraska. Both teams had their ups and downs. At the end of the forth quarter, Nebraska was up one point. BYU had the ball with one second left. One. Second. Now, I believe in miracles, but wasn't really expecting one that evening. The quarterback threw a Hail Mary pass toward the end zone and the receiver caught it just inside the line. It was AWESOME! I danced around the room, cheering. My husband, who couldn't care less about any sport, thought it was amusing. It was a great game. The only drawback was that the starting quarterback broke his foot and is out for the season. He broke his leg last year. Poor guy can't catch a break, except his bones. (Hahaha!) I live close to BYU, and hope to someday go to a home game. They usually have a game around my birthday each year, so maybe it will be my present one of these days.

Goodbye, Summertime

I'm still alive, in case you were worried. During the weeks away from blogging, many things happened. I hurt my back and was stuck in bed for a week. I have back problems on occasion. This particular time I was making sandwiches. Ta da! Seriously though, I must have done something earlier in the day that I didn't notice at the time and standing at the kitchen counter, scooping out an avocado was the kicker. Pinched a nerve like a champ. Hurt like a swear. It also prevented us from going camping with my family. Something we had planned months in advance.

Hubby and I went to our local water park. It was my first time there. If you didn't already know, I can't swim and I have a moderate fear of water. Needless to stay, I had a hard time relaxing and having fun. We'll try again next year.

I got to babysit my adorable niece for a couple of days. She turned four in August. She is so smart and creative. I just adore her!

Hubby and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and also his birthday. They are one day apart. For our anniversary, we ate out at Olive Garden (yay for gift cards). For his birthday, I made Thai curry, a copycat version of the Bangkok Curry from Noodles and Co. It was delicious. The gift we got for both occasions, and probably for my birthday in October, was a Wii U. It's a fun little distraction from other things that need to get done, like dishes and day job.

I'm sure some of you are wondering about a little goal I set for myself to finish writing Foretold by the time I got back. Don't hate my guts. I'm still not done. I'm not disappointed in myself, though. It hasn't been working out the way I wanted, which means a lot of rethinking. I want it to be the best I can make it, so until that happens, I will keep working on it. Please have patience with me. It is coming.