Happy New Year!

Stephen Hayford

2012 is over already? A while ago when anticipating the release of The Hobbit the year seemed so far away and now it's done and we're all still alive - no apocalypse yet!

I'm going to mirror my post from last year and go through a few good things from this year...

Early in the year I went on a young women's retreat - it was silent (we didn't talk much but listened a lot) which was awesome because it was a lot easier to focus on talking to Jesus, and also great because I didn't have to awkwardly try to socialize! Ok, mostly the first reason, but it was the best retreat I've been on and I'm so thankful for it.

I did another musical this spring/summer and it was, well, pretty much the best show I've done too. Since it was my fourth show with this group I felt more comfortable than I had before and that was so nice. And the musical itself was a ton of fun too. Though I still had some challenges in it, I totally loved it.

Got my learner's permit in May and drove as much as I could to get my license in August! Thank you Mom and Dad for helping me!

Star Wars Celebration VI, which I already talked about in another post so I won't go on and on about how great the experience was again.

This fall I started college! And so far I've survived!

What really helped me survive was joining a small church choir that I absolutely love! We have a really nice group and the music is really enjoyable.

And as I mentioned at the beginning, we finally got to see The Hobbit! I would say it's pretty worth the wait.

Oh, other fandomy things - I finished all the Ace Attorney games (and sealed my obsession with the series), got through all of Once Upon a Time and Fruits Basket (loved both) and started Doctor Who (I currently have one episode left of season 1).

I said this last year, but connecting with friends and family meant a lot to me this year - meeting new friends and strengthening old friendships. I love you guys (that includes you, followers)!


I had two lists last year, things I planned (did them all) and some things I was hoping to do. Let's see how I did on the second list...

Make a fanfiction.net account and write more. (Technically it's not midnight yet so I could make an account real quick but that sounds like cheating. So no, I didn't do that, and didn't write too much either - writing seemed particularly difficult this year, though I do have some blog posts I'm proud of.)

Do Script Frenzy in April. (Yep! Did an Ace Attorney fanfiction script which I think was pretty bad, but it was still fun and I got to the 100 pages. Unfortunately, the program ended this year so if I do it again it will be unofficial.)

Get better at music, writing, and my recent interest of drawing. (Definitely better at music, a little change at writing maybe, and drawing...I'm not really sure because I'll get lucky and draw something good once in a while, but then aren't so good the rest of the time so it's hard to tell)

Make a Jedi costume for Celebration VI. (Yes! Mostly...I still don't have a belt or boots and I recently discovered my tunic has a hole in it after washing it, so it needs work all around.)

Read more...and not just fanfiction. (I'm afraid I didn't read much of anything this year. There was the Fruits Basket manga and a few other things scattered through the year.)


Don't have many plans for next year besides school, so skipping that and on to things I hope to do this year and resolution type things:

Watch The Avengers (maybe even tomorrow), Doctor Who, Sherlock, more Once Upon a Time, Star Wars 3D movies, and The Hobbit part 2!

Costuming - fixing my Jedi costume, and I'd love to do an Ace Attorney cosplay (specifically Maya Fey who I think wouldn't be too hard), and maybe LotR-ish cloaks.

Write - blog posts, stories/fan fics, and lyrics (I have several big projects involving lyrics-writing I really want to work on).

Better manage computer time - drag myself off Tumblr more in favor of sites where I talk to friends and/or have way to improve myself (through writing and some reading).

Try to exercise once in a while (which would be more than I do now), eat a bit more healthily, and get to a place where I'm healthy and feel good about my body (also known as wanting to try and lose some weight without worrying my parents).

Work on my spiritual life. Way.

...This list looks a lot harder than last year's. Wish me luck!


Guess that's all for now! I'll just be here listening to people bomb us--I mean shoot off fireworks. Hope 2012 was a good year for you all, and hope 2013 is even better! (and that it doesn't take you too long to remember to write the correct date!) May the Lord be with you!

Bilbo Baggins on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

councilofelrond.com

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS for The Hobbit.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit of The Shire and an elf-friend. He recorded an account of his famous adventures in his memoir There and Back Again, which was translated by J.R.R. Tolkien and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

I was quite looking forward to seeing this adaption of my book and I must say it did not disappoint! Of course quite a bit was changed from my memories of the adventure, but the film was quite enjoyable. For one, the locations are beautiful. The country they use to represent Middle-Earth, New Zealand was it? has remarkable landscapes that I must say do my land justice. The sets they build, such as Bag-End and Rivendell, are quite good, and I hear that many fans are happy to see them again after the Lord of the Rings films and "come home" in a manner of speaking.

Martin Freeman did an excellent job portraying me, I thought. Not only did he bear a good resemblance to me in my younger days, but he also provided a fairly accurate representation of me back then. I laugh to see how distraught he (I) was at all of the dwarves coming to tea! Yes, the old Bilbo Baggins didn't like surprise visitors, but now I always look forward to visits from my old companions.

The movie Thorin was a bit different, perhaps more likable for those who do not know him, but still showed his importance. His motivations are changed from the simple want for gold to wanting to help his people, and although it was not a focus in my book, I'm sure the thought of winning back their home did not escape the real Thorin.

His rivalry with Azog was quite interesting, and I am quite glad he never actually attacked our company! We had plenty of adventures without him! For that part of the story, I am quite in the dark. How strange it was to sit in the theater on pins and needles, knowing the outcome and being quite safe, but still wondering if 'we' would survive our encounter!

Unlike my book, the film also showed many of Gandalf's dealings during our adventure. It was nice to see Radagast the wizard in it, as I have never met the fellow, and understand a bit more of just what Gandalf was up to when he wasn't with us. He told me a bit, and described an encounter with Radagast during the Council, but seeing it made it much more real.

I must credit the filmmakers on their research! While the story of the Bullroarer is common knowledge in the Shire, not as many outside know of it. Also I believe I never mentioned that the spiders were from the line of Ungoliant in my book, did I? I've forgotten now. Perhaps Frodo mentioned it somewhere.

There is so much to talk about but I'm running out of paper! Let's see - the rest of the dwarves were all right, the singing good, the plate-tossing quite amusing (though I fretted through the whole thing!), the appearance of my friend Lindir was nice, oh, and Smaug! What a clever idea to avoid showing him throughout the film. It made for interesting shots during the battle. And his large eye opening at the end! Sent a shiver down my spine. I look forward to seeing the dragon in his entirety, but only on film! I should never like to meet a live dragon again.

I suppose that about does it! I'll likely remember something I wanted to say after I send this off - I'm getting old now! I hope you all have a merry holiday season and happy New Year! Sílo Anor bo men lín! May the sun shine on your road!

---

Arda here! I saw The Hobbit the Sunday after it came out and loved it! It was so wonderful to go back to Middle-Earth and see familiar places and characters. But now we have to wait a whole year! Well, we waited even longer for this one so I suppose we'll make it. Anyway, Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all! May the Lord be with you!

The Tolkien Tag - Nessima's blog party

councilofelrond.com

Nessima of Arda Nessimava is having a blog party! Today she did a tag and it looked like fun, so here we go! (spoilers ahead if anyone is being careful)

1. How did you first hear about LOTR & The Hobbit?
I can't remember the first time, but it was around the time the LotR movies came out. My brother read the books and got my mom and I to read them.

2. How many times have you read LOTR/The Hobbit? Or have you yet to read it at all?
Probably 3-5 times each...the first time Mom read them aloud to me, sometimes I'll just read parts - it's hard to remember.

3. Would you name your child after a character from it?
I'd like my kids to have normalish names, but I might consider Melian (Silmarillion character) for a girl's middle name.

4. What are your thoughts on Tom Bombadil? Do you think he should have been in the movie?
He's a lot of fun - really like his songs! It would have been fun to have him in the movie but he doesn't move the story along so I understand leaving him out.

5. Do you have a favourite piece of poetry from any of Tolkien's books?
Oh my...The song of the troll, there is an inn, Lay of Luthien, to the sea, and of course In Western Lands!

6. Have you read any of Tolkien's work besides LOTR and/or The Hobbit?
I've read The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales (and Bilbo's Last Song but that's really short). Liked them a lot, especially Unfinished Tales, but a bit hard to understand!

7. Can you write in the Tengwar?
Only if I have a guide! It's really pretty.

8. Were you at all disappointed that Prince Imrahil wasn't in the movie?
I don't remember considering it much when I first saw the movies - I like him, but it's another character to introduce and explain who doesn't do too much so again, I understand.

9. What would happen if you and Denethor were put face to face?
He would probably think "who is this and why is she here this is unimportant why does Mithrandir keep bringing these people..." and I would think "oh my goodness he rules Gondor but Faramirrrr." Or I'd be terrified because he's dead.

10. Would you rather reside in Edoras or Minas Tirith?
I guess I'd go Minas Tirith because of Aragorn, and the city is really cool. I love Rohan though.

11. What think you of Éomer's armour?
Never noticed it...I thought his helmet was a little weird, but I don't hate it.

12. What do you think of Boromir?
I like him, the poor guy. I can't say he's completely responsible for blowing up at Frodo since the Ring was influencing him, and he's human so more susceptible than a hobbit or elf (I think anyway). I like his relationship with Faramir a lot.

13. Which is your favourite LOTR couple: Sam & Rosie, Aragorn & Arwen, or Faramir & Éowyn?
Sam is my favorite character and I go by the name Rosie on some websites so I love them, and Faramir is adorable and Eowyn beautiful and they're both so strong so I love them too.

14. Did you shed any tears when Thorin died?
No...sorry, never liked Thorin too much. He's kind of grown on me recently, but...maybe the movie will make me like him more.

15. Which is most terrifying of the following: orcs nabbing you in your sleep, giant spiders crawling out of dark tunnels and forests, Nazgul standing right over where you're hiding, or a ghost army that doesn't like you very much?
My first thought is the spiders - I can't take spiders a fraction of their size, so I wouldn't do too well with that. I think I should be more worried about the others though.

16. How well would you enjoy life as a hobbit? Would it be preferable to being something like, say, an elf? Or a Ranger?
I'm most like a hobbit so I think I'd enjoy it pretty well, but I'd like to visit the others!

Can you guys believe that there is actually a live action version of The Hobbit in existence and the general public, regular people like you and me, will get a chance to see this movie in less than two weeks? And said movie looks awesome?

That's why the world is ending. It can't handle it.

Kidding of course! Thanks for reading all, and may the stars shine on your path!

Piñatas, Puzzles, and Princesses

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been meaning to post and worked on a couple, but, and sorry I keep saying this, I'm busy and "one thing drives out another," but here's a quick one about what's been up with me.

School is good overall, though I've felt behind the last couple weeks. I like all my professors and enjoy homework...occasionally. No it's ok, just takes a lot of time. This week to celebrate the upcoming Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), we had a piñata in Spanish class (that teacher is pretty great). We did it under an outside balcony and a few random passerby's were smiling and one guy was saying "is this real?" and taking pictures. There was candy inside the piñata and when we went back to the classroom we had an opportunity for extra credit points. Whichever candy we had the most of corresponded to a certain question, like name five of the "evil ten" irregular infinitives in the future tense (it was open book too so super easy). So that day was fun. I also like my computer class a lot - my teacher is really nice and the classes are fairly relaxing. Math was ok until I took a polynomial to the knee, and English is ok but finding the meaning of stories and poems can be hard. So there's my quick school update!

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (for 3DS) came out on Sunday! My brother came to my school with me on Monday so we could get it afterward. So far it's fun - the story and characters are good as always, puzzles good, but the new features and look it has because of the series' transition from the Nintendo DS is difficult to get used to. It's fun to be playing a new one though!

I didn't do much for Halloween but my brother and I made a couple simple costumes from stuff around the house and played around a little bit. We did Phoenix Wright and female!Klavier Gavin from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. For my brother's costume we made the hat that Phoenix wears in that game and it turned out really cool!

Other things...I joined a choir at church and really like it - a couple good friends are in it and I'm getting to know the others, and I'm singing alto which is fun (I'm kind of a second soprano so I end up in whatever part needs people...).

Haven't been doing a lot of reading, but really enjoying the Fruits Basket manga when I can get it from the library - I think I'm past the parts covered in the anime, so it's all new stories to me now and still awesome!

Oh yeah, apparently there was some big news about Star Wars the other day. Yep, Disney bought Lucasfilm which was surprising, but they've had close ties for a while so at the same time it's not too surprising. The announcement of three new movies, though, I still can't believe that! Trying to stay positive about that right now. The thing is, I know what it's like to love the SW movies that everyone (exaggerating) hates, so I don't want to be one of the haters for the new generation of fans. If all else fails, maybe they'll be fine movies but not in my idea of how the Galaxy Far Far Away goes. But a lot of good could come from this change too - it'll be interesting to see what the next few years are like for Star Wars. The worst part is that the news broke on Facebook when I was trying to do homework. Who cares about how mind mapping works for math when you realize Leia is a Disney princess! Haha, I don't think she'll be included but it's still cool.

Thank you to those who tagged me in the 11 tag - I wrote up most of a post about that but need to shorten it - I'll get to it eventually...hopefully.

Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't been commenting much on other blogs. One day there were a bunch of posts to read that I didn't have time for, so I got behind for a while - just now trying to say something on occasion.

Well my brother just finished playing Layton so I'm going to play for a bit before dragging myself to bed. Thanks for reading, hope I can post more soon. May the Lord be with you all!

The Pirates of the Ring

Ahoy, me followers! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Today's the day to bring out all o' those piratey words ye have picked up and shout "Arr" to the world! To celebrate the occasion, I have here a script o' sorts - I give ye, The Council of Elrond: Pirated Edition!

Captain Elrond: Avast ye seadawgs, mateys of old. Ye be summoned here to meet the threat o’ Mordor. Ye’ll unite or ye’ll go down to Davy Jones’ Locker. Each race be bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Nine-fingered Frodo. (Nine-fingered Frodo places the Ring among the pirates.)

Barnacle Boromir: Shiver me timbers, it be true! In a dream, I saw the starboard side grow dark but on the port side a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: ‘Your doom be near at hand. Isildarr’s Bane be found…Isildarr’s Bane… (He nears the Ring.)

Captain Elrond: Blimey!

Gandalf Greybeard: Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Drink and the devil had done for the rest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum…

Captain Elrond: Arr, never ‘as a soul spoken those words ‘ere, Gandalf Greybeard.

Gandalf Greybeard: I isn’t askin’ for your pardon, Captain Elrond, for the Black Speech o’ Mordor may yet be heard in the four corners of the Earth! The booty be altogether evil.

Barnacle Boromir: Belay that, it be a gift! Why not use this Ring? Long has me dad, the Quartermaster o’ Gondor, kept yer waters safe from the brigands o’ Mordor! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him!

Arragorn: Ye can’t wield it! None of us can. The One Ring be answering to Scurvy Sauron alone. It has no other captain, savvy?

Barnacle Boromir: And what would a landlubber know of this?

Arragorn: Don’t do anything stupid…

Long-legged Willy: (Jumps up.) Arr, this be no mere landlubber. He be Arragorn, son of Arrathorn.

Barnacle Boromir: Arragorn? Well blow me down! This… be Isildarr’s heir?

Long-legged Willy: Aye, and ‘is granddad be the Captain o’ Gondor.

Arragorn: Sit down, Long-legged Willy!

Barnacle Boromir: Gondor has no Captain. Gondor needs no Captain.

Gandalf Greybeard: Arragorn be right. We cannot use it.

Captain Elrond: You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed.

Gangplank Gimli: What be we a’waiting for? ARRR!! (Gangplank Gimli attacks the Ring.)
Captain Elrond: Belay that! We can’t be destroying the Ring that way, Gangplank Gimli, son of Grog Gloin. The Ring was made at the world’s end. Only there can we destroy it! It must be taken up to the crow’s nest o’ Mordor and cast deep in to the sea. One of ye must do this.

Barnacle Boromir: One does not simply sail into Mordor. Its black gates be guarded by more than just bilge rats. There be evil there that does not take sleep. And the great deadlight be ever watchful. Not with ten thousand buccaneers could ye do this. It be folly!

Long-legged Willy: (Jumps up.) Have ye heard nothing Captain Elrond has said? The Ring has to go to Davy Jones!

Gangplank Gimli: (Jumps up.) And I suppose ye think ye can do it?!

Barnacle Boromir: And if we fail, what then?! What happens when Scurvy Sauron takes back his booty?!

Gangplank Gimli: I will walk the plank ‘fore I see the Ring in the hands of a scallywag!

Gandalf Greybeard: Do you not understand that while we bicker among ourselves, Scurvy Sauron’s power grows?! None can escape it! (They argue.)
Ring: Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Drink and the devil had done for the rest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum…

Nine-fingered Frodo: (Stands up.) I’ll be taking it! I’ll be taking it! I’ll take the Ring t’ Mordor. Though I do not know how t’ hoist the sails.

Gandalf Greybeard: (Goes over to Nine-fingered Frodo.) I will help ye on yer voyage, Nine-fingered Frodo, so long as it be yours to sail.

Arragorn: If by me life or death, I can protect ye, I will. Ye have me cutlass.

Long-legged Willy: And you have me pistol!

Gangplank Gimli: And me cannon!

Barnacle Boromir: Ye be carryin’ all our fates, lad. If this be the will o’ the council, then Gondor be seein’ it done.

One Eyed Sam: (Appears.) Avast! Mr. Frodo’s not goin’ anywhere without me!

Captain Elrond: Nay, it be nigh impossible to separate ye, even when he be summoned to a secret council and ye be not.

Merry Morgan and Pegleg Pippin: (Run in.) Wait! We be comin’ too!

Merry Morgan: Ye’d have to feed us to the fish to stop us!

Pegleg Pippin: Anyways, ye need sailors o’ intelligence on this sort o’ pillage…voyage… thing.

Merry Morgan: Well that be ruling ye out Pip!

Captain Elrond: A crew o’ nine… So be it! Ye shall be the Pirates of the Ring!

Pegleg Pippin: Great! What be our heading?


Yo ho ho, what a tale that be! Thanks to me dad for the original idea, and to me brother for namin', suggestin', and proofreadin' the script. Twas originally copied from Council of Elrond before being translated into pirate. Hope ye all enjoy, and fair winds!

Star Wars: Celebration VI - My Experience

So I said a while ago that my brother and I were going to Star Wars: Celebration VI! We went on Friday and Saturday and it was really really cool.

Since it seemed weird to me that my last several posts have just been me talking, I got Captain Rex to recap part of it for me! Take it away, Rex.

Captain Rex: Thank you sir. Once Arda and her brother got in the convention center and picked up their badges, they headed right up to the exhibition hall, where the 501st Legion was holding their Troop-Athlon. It's a competition we sometimes have amongst us Clones, and these Stormtroopers I keep hearing about (there were a few other troopers, Bounty Hunters, and even a Jawa involved as well).

Anyway, each team has to complete various challenges while in full armor. Now I don't mean to complain, but this stuff we got has its problems - lack of peripheral vision and maneuverability just a couple. Actually, they had this saying there, something like "Can't see, can't sit, can't shoot." Now again, I'm grateful to the Republic for the armor we have, and it has improved, but...well, I suppose that saying they have is pretty accurate. You get used to it though, and once you go through all the training on Kamino you tend to forget about the shortcomings a lot of the time. Until one of your brothers walks straight into a door, but that doesn't happen too often.

I'm getting off track - a few of the challenges were the Ewok toss (one team member tossing stuffed Ewoks to another), using a Death Star bowling ball (keep seeing this Death Star around - wonder what it is) to knock over pins with Representative Binks drawn on them (I must admit I got a chuckle out of that. Arda'll be mad if she found out though), and riding a segway through a short course. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, and I'm sure some of these guys will be hearing their fellow trooper's opinions on how they did in the barracks.

The course where both the Troop-Athlon and Droid Races took place.

Thanks Rex! (Heh, I think he had more fun than he's letting on.) Next, a bunch of the girls from The Lakehouse Forums met up - it was so cool to meet online friends, and somewhat surreal as well! We hung out for a while, then went to a special Her Universe cupcake party we had been invited to. There were some TCW cast members there which was really cool - I was too shy to say much, but I was with my friends as they talked to Dee Bradley Baker and Matt Lanter, and I saw Dave Filoni (should have tried to talk to him - he's so cool!) and Tom Kane (also saw Ashley's husband David Eckstein, but didn't realize it until later). Then toward the end, we all got to talk to Ashley herself! I've heard people say she's really good at remembering people, but I was surprised that she recognize me from our brief meeting two years ago at the last Celebration! Her support of TLF has been amazing, and it was so nice of her to spend time with us. After the party most of the TLF girls went to wait in line for the Clone Wars premiere. I waited with them but ducked out to join my brother, who had gone to a panel called the Obscure Character Face-Off, before the show started, and after a bit of hanging around the exhibit hall, called we it a day.

On Saturday we didn't go to too many events, but it was still fun. The first part of the day I spent doing photo shoots with the TLF girls. There were a bunch of neat props in the exhibit hall that we posed with - a random Stormtrooper joined us for a couple pictures as well.

My brother and I spent the rest of the day in the exhibit hall, 501st room, droid builder's room, and just looking around, me taking random pictures once in a while. We did get to see some TLF friends one more time before saying goodbye, which was nice. Before we left, we did a bit of shopping - he got a volume of Star Wars Tales and I bought a Her Universe shirt and a couple Jedi Apprentice books (only $5 for two of them!). There were also these Galactic passports that you could take to the different publisher booths and get them stamped - that was pretty cool. Then we basically wandered around a bit before heading out.

Meeting and hanging out with my online friends was definitely the highlight of my weekend. It was really neat to see people I knew from online, and that includes others like costumers and SW celebs I had seen pictures of. When I went to Celebration V, I didn't know or know of too many SW fans so now it was really cool to have friends there and recognize people from the internet. And like last time, there were a bunch of great costumes and it was so fun to watch everyone! I kind of wish we could have seen more panels, but it was still an awesome weekend and I'm so glad we were able to go.

And now for pictures! Here are some others I took:

There was a small collection of items from Rancho Obi-Wan, including the Great Holocron! My Jedi-obsessed self was really excited to see this - I didn't even know a real version existed!

As I was taking a couple pictures of this mannequin, I start to hear heavy breathing behind me. Really heavy breathing. So I turn around and there's a live Vader standing over me saying, "She's taking pictures of a mannequin, for crying out loud!" Whoops, didn't see you there, my lord...

Just cool. I love Star Wars fans.

In the droid builder's room - R2D2 and Leia's message!

This was in the Rebel Legion area. I want one of these!

Also in the Rebel Legion area. It's so cool how you can imagine you're in the galaxy far, far away there, like this seemed like it could be from the rebel base on Hoth.

Bail Organa! I was so excited to see him - his costume was awesome and he really looked the part too. He said to vote for him in November. Guess who my write-in candidate for Senator is...

One more from the Rebel Legion area - should have leaned on this and tried to sell some death sticks.

Yes, this was in the exhibit hall, and yes, I had to take a picture of it. What an awesome Gandalf mold!

One last shot from the doors of the convention center with a bunch of Sith taking pictures together. Seeing this makes me really miss this place.

Oh yes! And I promised to show you the Jedi costume I was making! I give you, the headless Jedi-man!...girl...person...(ok just look at it):

I wore it Saturday of the convention. It still needs some work (I finished the sewing only a night or two before the con!) but I'm happy with how it turned out and it was fun to wear.

So there is my somewhat long, hopefully entertaining report of Star Wars: Celebration VI! Thank you all for reading, and may the Lord and the Force be with you!

Getting Ready

Thanks for all the votes on my poll! Your answers are really helpful, and I'm flattered that so many choose "updates on me" for a post topic, so that's what this is about! Though I hope I'm not too boring for you all...

Lately I've been getting ready for school and Star Wars Celebration VI, both of which are coming up soon!

This semester, I'm taking Intermediate Algebra, Composition II (focusing on literature I think), Spanish II, and a computer course (covering Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, etc). I think Comp might be kind of cool, because although it will probably have a lot of reading, some of the stories might be cool. The syllabus mentioned "The Gift of the Magi," a short story I read for high school lit a year or two ago and enjoyed, so I'll have that to look forward to. Hopefully math won't be too hard (my brother said intermediate algebra is easy), and I'm not sure what the others will be like.

As a (now former) homschooler, it will be my first time being in a classroom part of the time, which I am both nervous and excited about. As long as I can get used to the new environment I think this semester will go well. Let's hope!

One thing I did in order to prepare for school is get my driver's license! It's really weird to think I can just randomly drive myself somewhere now. I got it on Wednesday and haven't been driving alone yet, but I may go out briefly tomorrow morning. Somewhere I can get to easily. Not ready for any big unfamiliar roads...

For Celebration VI, I've been working on a new Jedi costume. Two years ago for CV, I pieced (literally pieced) a costume together from leftover fabric and by guessing without a pattern. It was fun to wear, but had a lot of room for improvement. For this one I got adequate fabric and a real pattern and so far it's looking great! I have a small list of things left to do on it, mostly adding velcro and hemming (and hawing), and I'm pretty excited about it!

Today I finished watching Fruits Basket, an anime about a young girl who is taken in by a cursed family - whenever they are hugged by someone of the opposite gender, they turn into an animal of the zodiac. Some online friends liked it a lot which is how I knew about it. It was really fun but had deeper themes as well. Now I must get the manga from the library!

Yep, so life is kind of moving forward right now. I'll try to check back in a couple weeks from now once Celebration and the beginning of school are behind me - if school doesn't eat me first! Hope you all have an awesome weekend and may the Lord be with you!