I won! / How awesome is Sam Hart?

Firstly, a big thanks to Tabitha at From Single to Married... I just found out I won the $30 iTunes giftcard giveaway. I plan to buy some music for our reception in August, including Mario Kart Love Song by Sam Hart.

Which brings me to my next point; How awesome is Sam Hart? Seriously.

Mario Kart Love Song
the blue shell is coming, so I'll go ahead
if you hang behind, it will hit me instead
but, never look back, 'cause I'm down but not dead
I'll catch up to you

don't worry about Bowser or D.K.
just eat this glowing mushroom
and they'll all fade away

the finish line is just around the bend
I'll pause this game, so our love will never end

let's go again

Kitty Song
when I get a little angry
or I'm feeling like a jerk
I can scratch you on the chin
and feel the rhythm of your purr

and there's nothing that can faze me
when we're playing with a string
so I wrote for you this melody
though you hate it when I sing

it goes

kitty come, kitty play
kitty love, kitty stay
kitty jump to me
kitty land on your feet

TRANSFOOOORM!

So, obviously I failed April's NaBloPoMo. Miserably.

This is partially because I feel like I've hit a wall here, and partially because I'm saving my best ammunition for a new, potentially exciting project.

As I mentioned over a year ago, having "just a blog" can be rather difficult to manage in a world of food bloggers, craft bloggers, mommy bloggers, feminist bloggers and wedding bloggers.

Not long after coming to this realization, I tried to become a vegan food blogger. Lo and behold, I had far more followers and networking was much, much easier. Then I started a wedding blog, picked up a handful of brides-to-be, and everything was going swimmingly.

So, what happened? Long story short... terrible work schedules, no time to cook, nothing decent to talk about. I imported the wedlog, started blogging about my daily life... and it was all downhill from there.

--

Soon, I will be heading back to Wordpress after a year of Blogger. The domain name will stay the same, but the structure will be a little different.

I'm thinking about going magazine-style with a few separate subdomains focusing on different topics. (HumanGirl Eats, HumanGirl Plays, HumanGirl Nests, etc.) That way, if you just want to read about food, you can stick to the Eats feed on your readers and blogrolls... but, if you want to see it all, there will be a feed for that, too.

This should make networking much easier for me, too. When I leave comments or set up feeds on things like FoodBuzz or Offbeat Bride, I'll be able to show only the subdomain that will most interest the audience I'm talking to.

Frederik Meijer Gardens

For my birthday, Brad and I went to Frederik Meijer Gardens to see the Butterflies Are Blooming exhibit.

I've never been there before, so I don't know if this is typical... but, the place was packed. We waited in line for nearly twenty minutes, and even after buying our tickets, the line continued well into the exhibit. Not ones to shuffle single-file through an exhibit we'd just paid $12 for, we tried to step off the path to get pictures here and there, only to have people standing directly behind us... as if waiting for us to continue.

It thinned out a bit once we were into the five-story conservatory, and we were able to fully enjoy ourselves. The conservatory itself was gorgeous... I'd seen tons of pictures when I was looking at Meijer Gardens as a potential wedding venue, but it was still rather impressive.

I was a bit concerned about the safety of the butterflies, after hearing some horror stories about other exhibits online, but the staff seemed really attentive, and most of the other patrons were very respectful.

Since it's still early spring, there wasn't much outside the exhibit, and I'd like to go again sometime during the summer. Not this summer... just summer.

--

See the entire set here on Flickr.























101 Things in 1001 Days
Thing 004
100 Things in 996 Days Remaining

Vintage HumanGirl - Happy Birthday to Me!

First birthday, 1986

Tenth birthday, 1996

Twenty-fourth birthday, 2009

Okay, so the last picture sucks, but it's very hard to get a picture of yourself eating a vegan ding-dong at 11pm, after the boyfriend (and purchaser of said ding-dong) has gone to bed... without a) actually eating the ding-dong, b) looking all MySpace porn-y, or c) reenacting the first birthday photo.

Obvious.

My layout was making me cranky, so I deleted everything in a fit of boredom-induced rage.

Boo!

HumanBoy is making me a new template for my birthday... so, it should be up on Thursday.

Yay!

(Day 7 of NaBloPoMo and it's already come to this.)

Baby Rabies

Apparently Brad's family is currently expanding like Mr. Creosote at the dinner table, and we're quickly becoming the last of the post-pubescent children without children of our own. His mom told us today (not for the first time) that she expects "at least one" from us, though she's begun adding the disclaimer that it doesn't have to be biological.

Meanwhile, I'm a little bummed that my copy of Childfree and Loving It! didn't arrive today.

I could list all the reasons we don't want to have kids -- and I will, someday -- but, I really think this post over at Elliequent says more than I could possibly drum up tonight.

--

And now...

Six Names We Would Have Used for Our Non-Existent Children, But Will Likely Be Used for Pets and Toys Instead. (Plus Four Names Already Taken by Family.)

01. Olivia Mae
02. Abigail Lynn
03. Logan Clark
04. Parker
05. Ruby
06. Gavin
07. Braden
08. Aiden
09. Mikayla
10. Madison

My Lunch, Let Me Show You It III

Today's Lunch: Sesame noodles, grape tomatoes, Chocolatey Chip Teddy Grahams, strawberries, and dried pineapple.

Not much to say about this one. The sesame noodles were just sort of tossed together this morning before work... It's (completely unmeasured amounts of) rice noodles, frozen veggies, sesame seed oil, rice wine vinegar, and tamari. Yummy.

(Also, that's my argyle-wrapped birthday present in the background.)

Badge 01: Dare to Dream

The first badge listed in You Can Do It! is Dare to Dream, a badge about figuring out your goals, dreams and desires. Ideally, you should complete this badge before moving on to others, as it is a sort of jumping-off point... something that leads you to discover which badges you might like to take on.

However, I thought this seemed like a good one to work on in conjunction with Get an Inner Life because both focus on things like finding time/space for yourself, journaling and otherwise juicing your mind grapes.

1. Invite your dreams to come out and play.
Make three play dates with your imagination.
I hope to have at least one outdoor journaling session, as well as a bit of time in the bedroom nook I half-heartedly vowed to make in step one of Badge 52.

2. Jumpstart your dream machine.
Commit your dreams to paper.
There are a several essay-type questions in the book that I may or may not bring to this blog later on in the month.

3. Imagine, if you will...
Entertain the possibilities.
4. Envision it.
Picture yourself living the dream.
5. Make it real.
Let your dream take shape.

These three steps mostly deal with positive thinking, affirmations and the kind of thing I wouldn't normally admit to liking.

6. Take the first step.
Dream on!
Hopefully, by the end, I should have a good idea what I should be doing next.

--

While writing this post, I struggled to come up with several words that were right on the tip of my tongue... which has been happening more and more often lately. Obviously, a little juicing of the mind grapes is in order.

Growing (Up) - NaBloPoMo April

When NaBloPoMo went monthly, I was actually a little bummed. Something about having November as the official National Blog Posting Month just seems more fun. However, I told myself as soon as there was a theme I could get into, I give a non-November NaBloPoMo a try.

The theme for April is "Growing (Up)"

This month, I am going to try to meditate daily. (Growing.)
This month, I turn 24. (Growing up.)
This month, I plan to visit Frederick Meijer Gardens. (Growing.)
This month, I should start some seedlings. (Growing.)
This month, Max turned 11. (Growing up.)

...silly, yes. But I'll take it.

Badge 52: Get an Inner Life

So... Roughly eight months and seventeen days ago, I implied that I would post about You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-up Girls sometime in the near future. Now, 260 days later, I'm making good on that half-hearted promise. (I just scored an unopened copy, complete with workbook, on BookMooch. Yay!)

The first badge I plan to earn is Badge 52: Get an Inner Life. Every day in the month of April, I will practice at least one form of meditation. The guidelines are as follows:

1. Schedule some quality time -- with yourself.
Choose a sacred space and time.
With a one-bedroom apartment and a fiance who is nearly always home at the same time as me, finding my own space can be difficult sometimes. We've been talking about it... and I think a little de-cluttering and rearranging of the bedroom is in order.

Of course, this should have been step one, but I am making it an ongoing process throughout the month.

2. To start your day off right, write.
Write morning pages daily for a month.
Stream-of-consciousness writing can be fun, but I've never considered it a form of meditation. Perhaps doing it daily will change my opinion.

Day One was sort of awkward, and the entry was much shorter than the book suggests, but Day Two was a bit better... if not completely illegible.

3. Take a deep breath.
Meditate daily for a month.
Breathing meditation is really hard for me. I've been dabbling on and off since I was fourteen or so... and I can never last for more than a few minutes at a time. At this point, I think it's safe to say that it's just not for me.

Regardless, I'll give it a shot.

4. Read up on the subject.
Read and reflect.
Finding inspirational literature can be a little tricky as an atheist. Sure, I loved Gandhi's The Way To God the first (and second, and third) time I read it. I would absolutely consider it a form of meditation, and have used it as such numerous times. However, at this particular moment, it's just not something I care to delve into.

5. Make it a way of life.
Keep your spirit strong.
At the end of the month, I should choose the form of meditation that suits me best, and try to keep it up for another three months.

--

You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, was created by Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and published (with the help of her sisters) after her death aboard United Flight 93, September 11th, 2001.

A portion of the proceeds from You Can Do It! will go to the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation, which supports charitable causes and scholarships for women.

Happy 11th Birthday to Max!

Baby Max, 1998

...sometime last year.

If cats can be tweens... I have one now.