A Dark Knight

I love costumes, and I love cosplay! And if there is one thing that kills me, it is a costume that looks like I pulled a plastic stretchy thing out of a party city bag. So this year, I decided to make a costume for Halloween that looked cool. That is how this little page started.

I might do some tutorials for little things later on but right now, the finished product. Now this project was a simple one but it felt like it took me forever to make. That was because this is my senior year in high school and its been killer.
So it consists of (and I cheated with a few things)
A pair of black smooth pants from kohls
A pair of cool looking leather boots I got last Christmas
a black pirate shirt I bought on amazon
A cape
a tunic
a belt
and of course...
WEAPONS!
PS. you might also need an awesome friend who owns a horse and a nice camera and loves to take pictures! These pictures were taken by Evelyn Ashby at "The Raven and the Writer." go take a look at her stuff here http://intothewesternwild.blogspot.com/

And with out further ado.....the pictures

Yes I know, I am pretty sure they did not have combo's back then, beg pardon, it was the only black bow we had and I was not about to paint our expensive one

   Yes they really let me ride the horse, she just forgot to give me the reins for that picture, (I can ride)

 

Sorry there are so many, haha you are just seeing a droplet compared to the amount we took. These are my absolute FAVS. Thank you Eve! (And Mal and Chester)

Festive Fun Foods Part II Chocolate Trolls

So here is the second holiday treat I promised. A recent Christmas tradition in our home, these little guys are Chocolate Trolls after the trolls from the movie Frozen. Disclaimer: they do not look like the trolls in the movie! My baby sister called them that and it has....stuck! But they are just as cute and yummy!
Anywhooo

*this is what they look like flattened*

What you need:
A frying pan
A wooden spoon
A cookie sheet or cutting board (anything that wont crack in the freezer)
1 Cup of chocolate chips
1 Cup of peanut butter (with nuts is always better!)
3 Cups of cereal (we use Kashi Go-Lean, it is the best!)
1 Cup of mini marshmallows

Take your chocolate and melt it in the frying pan. Make sure the heat is on low. Better to learn patience then burn your chocolate, and trust me, it burns fast!
Now add your peanut butter, mix till it looks like melted frosting. Now we add the cereal, stir it really well and remove from your burner. Give it a few seconds to cool down just a little bit, you don't want to liquefy you marshmallows, but you do want to be able to work with it, so make sure it is still warm.  Now that it looks like Rocky-Road ice cream, take a spoon and make little balls or hills on your cookie sheet. Now put them in your freezer, this part takes about fifteen minutes. When they are done you can put them in a Tupperware or baggies, but keep them in the freezer.
These little babies taste SO good frozen, they are nice, chewy and cold!
Enjoy!

Festive Fun Foods Part I Apple Butter

In lieu of the holiday season so fast approaching us, I though I would share with you two of my favorite holiday recipes that our family has used since I could remember.

For the first; a harvest delight: Cinnamon-Apple Butter. If I ever what to make my brother happy I say I will make him some.


What you need:
A large bowl (depending on how many apples you use, I used 20+ so I needed a big one)
A large Teflon pot (Dutch oven)
Wooden spoon
Mill or grinder (a blender or food processor will work too)
Cinnamon
Vinegar (any vinegar will do, but our family prefers apple cider vinegar)
Sugar
Nutmeg
And of Course.....Apples, I use ones that we would not necessarily eat i.e.. bruised, cut or just ugly/old looking.

So if you are using the mill you can simply cut your apples into quarters. If you are using a blender or  food processor then I highly suggest you peel and core your apples. You may now proceed to boil them in your large Teflon pot just as if you were making mashed potatoes.

When the apples are soft, and basically falling apart, is when you can take them off the oven. You now grind them through your mill, or food processor, blender, whatever!
It should look like applesauce, does it? If it does, great! If not, keep blending/grinding.
Now, you can put your sugar in it right now and have applesauce, but that's not what we are making so, continuing on...
I used roughly 20 apples, so if you are not planning on using that much, please do downsize.
I put my applesauce back in the pot.

Add the following:
2 Cups Sugar (you can use whatever kind, even sugar in the raw, cause it will just boil away anyway. I cannot vouch for splenda though, we have never used it.) I used organic.(also, if you are not a health nut like my mom you can use 4 cups of sugar, if you don't you will just have to boil the dickens out of it)
1 Table spoon cinnamon (who cares about the measurement! Pour that baby!!!)
2 Cups vinegar (now this is key, if you don't add it, you will have cinnamon applesauce, the vinegar adds a small sweet tang that we LOVE in our butter)
The smallest pinch of nutmeg (this is not an apple pie, we don't want to be overwhelmed with the scent) you can add other spices too!

Mix it together, then let boil on low till done, or at least that's what mom says, and because I never know when "done" is,  she says its roughly (depending on how much you made)  up to five hours, but sometimes all day! (depends on how much sugar you use)

Now you can it and enjoy!  You can also freeze it and have it all winter, spring, summer, fall and winter! (it lasts a loooooooooong time in the freezer) I can't say that it lasts in the fridge very long in our house, I don't know how long it would take to ferment because it is simply gone before the due date ever arrives.
 There you go, I hope you enjoy it, its always fun to make and just as fun to eat! It goes on EVERYTHING! seriously, you can put it on toast, bread of any sort, your meat! on sandwiches, in cookies! the possibilities are endless!

Part II Chocolate Trolls coming soon

Haters gonna Hate

I have been on YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook and Tumblr recently, and one thing I found in common with each of them. HATE! I am going to get on my soapbox right now, I hope I do not step on toes or hurt anyone's ideas.

Disclaimer, I am a conservative republican, I hope that doesn't change the way you look at my blog, we all have our preferences. The following has to do with how I was raised and is based off of my own beliefs.

 

"Haters gonna Hate"

Its a joke, its a meme, its all over the place. It is used very often and I am pretty sure we have all heard of it. What does it mean? It is pretty self explanatory. And for the most part, its good to know, so that you don't spend your time with blood boiling, trying to think of a good comeback for someone.

But the haters..... As a person who has been slammed on the internet, had their family made fun of, had their militaristic background spit on etc...I would like to know what they are thinking. I would like to know what goes through their heads, why they think like they do. Are they just some thirteen year old with a trash mouth? Were they harmed by someone in the military when they were younger?

"Sticks and stone may break my bones; but words will never heart me"

This one I am sure we have all heard. Its a lie, my grandpa and both parents were in the military for years, and I hear so many people who think that the military are just bloodthirsty war mongers who crave death.

Really? Really? My mom was a doctor, and my dad flew armored helicopters. My grandpa faced disease, frostbite, and death, right in the face. He tries not to cry when he remembers his buddy being blown to bits.  He will always thank and look on the Marines as his heroes. (Frozen Chosin: look it up)

My dad was one of the first TSA inspectors, who when the military gave the call, he answered and went to New York days after 9/11.

I remember crying for days thinking he would never come home.

He and his coworkers are all but spit on by people I KNOW!

I have been called an ignorant (fatherless child)  when I voiced my opinion on YouTube {which I may add was actually pretty sound and in a  particular field I am very familiar with}. Sadly that was when I learned not to enter arguments with clientele on YouTube. I have also been put down for wanting to join the military like my family.

 

WHY? Just saying 'haters gonna hate' does not take away the wounds and scars we have been awarded by our deeds to America.

Why?

Some one please tell me?

 

Thunder and Lightning

The Moon rose with a blood-red hue, not a sound was to be heard. Soundless lightning streaked across the sky; every once and a while a long white-hot finger stretched down to touch earth. The clouds finally rolled in to obscure the bloody moon. White tentacles  continued to silently fill the sky. A few minutes later the booming noise could finally be heard. A fat drop of rain kissed my nose, slowly followed my its brothers and sisters, each hitting the ground with a soft 'splat'. More soon followed their perishing siblings till they filled the night with their sound. And just as swiftly as they had come, they disappeared. More thunderous lightning sang its midnight song to the dieing moon. In a few hours, it was gone. The stars peeped out from their cloudy blankets to wink at the silent earth.

This really happened last night. It was so exciting, I felt as if I had been pulled right into Dracula or some vampire hunter novel. It was pretty thrilling.

ps. this is not photoshopped

The Thrill of the Hunt

I am sitting here watching the sun rise above the trees in front of my house. It is warm and inviting. I put my blanket and sweater aside and just soak up the sight and smell of the early morning. Dew is now gone, the birdsong is quieter too, and the red morning has grown. Silence is golden.

Ah words! Are they not beautiful?
Have you ever sat yourself down and thought how exciting they can be?
Words...they take the reader (just as they do the writer) to far off and amazing places.

"With a book you can be a princess, or a knight! And no one can tell you that you are too young to slay the dragon, because it is all done right here in the comfort and safety of your home." ~Marty Davis (Love Comes Softly)

The power of words truly do have a great affect on life, both positive and negative. With words one can build an army! The same can tear down a kingdom.

For me as a writer there is nothing I like better then to sit down at my laptop, with a cup of tea and by my open window (only on warm days....but sometimes I do it in the winter too) and write.
Currently I am working on three novels and multiple short stories, and I can not start to tell you how amazing it is to get that adrenaline rush as you and your character push on! As you guide him through a deadly assignment. As you and she shed tears over a loved one. As you and he spend his last moments together. As you and she stand over a gravestone remembering someone who has passed on.
Why is it the stereotypical 'adventures' get credit for doing fun things? I think that everyone is an adventurer at heart, and you don't have to propel down Mount Kilimanjaro to prove it! We writers are just the same....the only difference is that we can do it without moving a muscle, how cool is that?
We put people on the edge of their seat, we make them cry over fictional characters, we are the ones riding the horse, aiming the gun, letting the arrows fly; we are writers and we love nothing more than the thrill of the hunt.

Beauty and the Beast

First off as a disclaimer, I do not wish to offend any one who happens to waltz by and read this. It is an opinion of mine that I would like to make known to others, I would also like to shed some light on a well miss-thought and common error in the cyber world.

Beauty and the Beast

Disney's 1991 adaption of the classic tale has taken a story ,that to some made no sense or to others was not worth the time in reading, and turned it an unforgettable story that has grabbed the hearts of many around the globe.

 I recently watched a YouTube video that claimed the stories heroin as a whore who struggles with bestiality, among a few other nasty things that I do not wish to mention.(I beg pardon but this was something that I had to speak about)
 It was not long before I found it on a blog I had been following and then Pinterest and Tumblr. I wish to dispel any false notions through this post about these terms.

First, If you do not know about the term I mentioned above please take the time to look up the word in the Dictionary, (Note: I said dictionary, don't use your computer, you will get all sorts of nasty things....speaking from experience and I would like to save you the trouble as well as keep this posting G.

Now that we understand the meaning of the term I would like to go into a little history of B&B

The story was thought to have originated in Japan many many many many MANY years ago, and I never found out it this was false or rumor.
The French adaption "La Belle et la Bête"  came about in 1740. It is said that the woman who penned it on paper had heard the story from her nanny. The nanny had created the story for the woman and her sister as a way to reassure them that not all times were arranged marriage's bad (I am not condoning it, what I mean to say is that not every man and woman who had an arranged marriage hated each other and some even learned to love the other) but is some circumstances he would seem to be a 'beast' but was actually a 'prince' in disguise. 

The story goes like so (very abridged version :D )
A merchant who has three daughters and three sons and lives stylishly and lavishly in the city, goes bankrupt when his merchant ships do not return. The two oldest daughters are very snooty and proud whereas Belle or Beauty, is a loving, caring and when it gets down to it, hard working daughter. With very little money, the merchant and his family are forced to move to the country. They reside now in a small cottage. The two eldest remained snooty and proud, forcing Belle to do most of the work.
A few years later, upon hearing that one of his ships might have been found, the merchant leaves for the city, before he leaves he asks each of his daughters what they wished for. Of course the two eldest ratted of a long list of the following: jewels, silk dressed, new clothes, expensive trinkets etc. etc.....
Belle simply replied "A Rose."

On his way the merchant becomes lost in the forest, he soon finds himself at what appears to be an ancient castle! Food and gifts start appearing from unseen hands once the merchant steps inside. He eats his fill and sleeps. When he wakes up his saddlebags are filled with the gifts his daughters had requested. Silently thanking the mysterious giver he mounts his horse and begins to ride away, but of course spies a rose garden near the gate. He plucks a rose, no sooner does he do so when a beast appears! Half man and half (the translations through the years very GREATLY but in the French adaption it was 'Boar')! He accuses the merchant for stealing his rose and orders his life or the life of the daughter that the rose was for. When Belle hears of this she goes (against her fathers wishes) to live with the beast. Belle is at first scared and very unhappy about having to spend the rest of her life as a prisoner, but she does so willingly so that her father may return home. She learns to not judge the beast and in time comes to think of him as a friend. What she does not know is that the beast (who was a cursed prince) has defiantly fallen head over heals in love with her!
When one day she is pining to see her family the beast lets her go. He tells her that she must return though in one week or he would die. Belle promises and off she runs to daddy!
Well, before you know it, the week is up......but Belle's loving sisters pretend to cry every time she tries to leave (by rubbing onions on their eyes....I know, you should try reading Grimm's Fairy tales....these people were CRAZY!) So then the one week turns into two weeks and before you know it its three weeks! Belle remember her promise and uses the mirror (the beast gave her so that she could see him....yes that part is true, Disney did not come up with that) and finds out that the beast is dying of a broken heart, she rushes back to the castle and tells him that she loves him. POOF! the spell is broken and blah blah blah, happily ever after.....was that the quick version? It took forever to write!

Anywhoo....back to the topic at hand. I would like to point out that
1.) before 1920 most of us had morals and certain things were not even thought of (yes yes I know what your are thinking and I have read my history....France was not the great of a moral place for a while....but bear with me....) this was thought of in a day where certain things were treasured and you waited, so that should put away any thoughts of "improper actions before the wedding" that I keep hearing so much about.
KEEP READING
2.) To keep along the line of 'they had more morals then most up us in the 21t century' bit, You have to look into the characters a more. Belle is a hard working and caring person who wouldn't dream of committing even the smallest of sins, much less bestiality!
The beast? Well we know that he was a spoiled brat that fell under an enchantress's curse, but with that in mind he had many years to reflect and I think we can safely say not only did he learn his lesson but I am quite sure he learned many others as well. He would not dream of hurting Belle! Neither would he hurt her dignity as a woman.
3.) There was no hanky-panky going on, alright? Lets just get that one out of our head. We live an a world where that is the norm so we have no problem with thinking it must have been back them too. That could be no further from the truth!
IF YOUR ARE STILL READING THIS, CONGRADULATIONS.....PLEASE CONTINUE
4.)The Beast was a MAN! A MAN PEOPLE! who was cursed with looking like an animal....."LOOKING!" I don't remember any 'animal instincts' in the original do you? If you don't even remember the original then I would consider you go look it up.

There it is, I said it.....I don't think I was to do that ever again! Can we stop taking Disney and perverting it for our agenda's? Please?
WOW! This was long! I guess I had a soap box...
I will follow this post up with a more happy one later.

Winter meets its Death

So because I love this picture so much I have chosen to write about it.

I really do think that it shows the meaning of what Mr. Tumnus says, "He is not a tame lion."

The two faces;  it is as if he is both human and lion together, with both peace and rage.

The man is the human like emotion with wisdom and righteousness; the lion is courage and tenderness with a sense of protection that the animal kingdom possesses.

 I really like how this picture came out because it really emphasized what my brain was trying to tell me. Even though Aslan is an animal there is something so human about him.

I am trying my hand at making graphics. Though I am no where's near as talented as my good friend Evelyn, I am proud to say I made this and the Narnia picture to the right of this blog that is under the title "Follow me on pinterest " They were fun to make and it stretched my mind. So I am happy...for now.

"Smells" by Christopher Morley



WHY is it that the poet tells
So little of the sense of smell?
These are the odors I love well:

The smell of coffee freshly ground;
Or rich plum pudding, holly crowned;
Or onions fried and deeply browned.

The fragrance of a fumy pipe;
The smell of apples, newly ripe;
And printer's ink on leaden type.

Woods by moonlight in September
Breathe most sweet, and I remember
Many a smoky camp-fire ember.

Camphor, turpentine, and tea,
The balsam of a Christmas tree,
These are whiffs of gramarye. . .
A ship smells best of all to me!      

 

 

 

 I believe the reason I love this poem so much is because it describes me! I love to just breath in a clear morning, or the scent of something baking, or perhaps when I am sitting by the camp fire...all these smells make thoughts come so easily, and when I can think... I can write.

Desert wanderings

For my first ever post I want to tell you something about today. Today in Texas, they are celebrating San Jacinto Say. The 178th Anniversary when Texas won her independence from Mexico. Now I can just see the confusion of your face or the look that seems to say, "What on earth does this have to do with her blog?" Well let me tell you a bit about myself. I happen to love the desert. I love the colors, the animals, the heat and most of all the peaceful aloneness. The desert, though dangerous, is a most beautiful place, and as Sarah Wheaton (from Sarah, Plain and Tall) said,  "My name is written in the land."  Being in love with the desert has made me study much about it. Since I can remember my father has let me watch action movies with him, once he brought home the 2004 The Alamo. It was love at first watch. I learned everything I could about the Alamo and longed to see the San Jacinto field. The Mission Alamo was massacred on March 6th, 1836 and on April 21st 178 years ago today Sam Houston and his small army took revenge for there fallen brothers crushing Santa Anna's forces in San Jacinto after only 18 minutes.  I am sorry, but I can ramble, now you know a bit more about me and what goes on in my head sometimes. From me, Happy San Jacinto Day Texas!