Well...

This post was supposed to be about canning and gardening and what not, but I'm on Momma's computer and I haven't uploaded the pictures from our canning adventure (if adventure is the appropriate word here?) yet, so this will just have to be a random post. Randomness Friday rather than Wednesday.

1. I hate wedding invitations.
2. I would so elope if Superman, Lys and my parents would let me.
3. I'm thinking about starting online college courses.
4. I've been working with so much teal fabric I sware I'm seeing teal.
5. I miss Lyssa!

Now for the explanations.

1. I have been getting emails and magazines about wedding invites to chose from... and they are not exactly the prettiest things ever. I've only seen a few I like and several of them weren't in my colors. I may make my own... Weddings have never been my cup of tea.
2. Superman wont let me elope, but I sware I'd make him if Lys and Mom weren't here to help me. Well.. Lys is bossing more than anything ;) Love ya Lys...
3. I am thinking about doing either Ambassador Christian or Photography Institute or maybe I'll even see what options they have for history... I don't know. I just love school and I would like to study something, plus it's always good to have something to fall back on. Who knows what could happen?
4. I am almost done with Lyssa's skirt. It just needs a zipper and to be hemmed. That teal is beautiful and will be comfortable to wear, but it stretches soooooo much that its hard to work with until you have it fully stitched to the eyelet over skirt. Oh well, it will be very pretty - or at least I hope so. I'm not exactly confident in my sewing skills.
5. Lys has been keeping busy. Camp, work, baby sitting (no, seriously I think she sat on one of them ;), and the internship. Yep, so busy she barely has time to blink, let alone talk to me. **Sob** I miss you my Lyssa!

That's it.. I'm hoping Mom is done sewing sunflowers now. I would like to go read or work on my special project or watch Monarch of the Glen, but she's keeping me here for company... Love ya Momma!

- Miah

Captain America! and more...

I saw Captain American (in 3D I might add - amazing!) on Sunday afternoon - it was AWESOME! It did help that the guy playing as the Captain was super cute!! :) You should have seen me and my friend Kellie and her sister Anna, after he got his muscles -  hahaha - Dakota (the young fella that was with us) was laughing at us. :)
Kellie, Anna, Dakota and myself are all staff at the summer camp I've been doing. Anna was actually a counselor in training... but still staff - lol - Dakota is 15 and has kinda a hard home life - we won't go into it. Here is a picture I took with my awesome new iPhone 4:

Yes - He has a Mohawk  - but it's actually pretty cool - Kellie and I put those 3D glasses bags on his hair because it was hilarious. His hair is great entertainment. hahhaa.

But yes, Captain American was an excellent movie - I will see it again and then will own it when it comes to DVD. That's all I will say about the movie - Don't wanna ruin it for you too much :)

So I just started my last week of camp - I'm so excited that it's almost over - I've been sun baked for too long - haha

- I might have another job along with the photography job - we are going to give it a try before saying yes or no to it - but I'm almost hoping it works out so I can leave the bookstore and not deal with them again! :)

And now I'm off to sleep - got another long day of camp and then work ahead of me!

G'night!

Macro and Damsel's Daybook

I decided to join in both Autumn's Daybook and Lisa's Macro Monday!

Here is my Macro picture:

And here is my Damsel's Daybook!

Outside my window... It's storming. Thunder, lightening, rain. Fun fun. But maybe it will help cool down this heat wave!

I'm thinking about... Taking pictures after it quits raining, sewing and cupcakes. I blame Jocee! ;)

From the kitchen... not much.

I am creating... Lyssa's skirt - I haven't been brave enough to pick it back up since I tangled with that needle. And I just found out I have to restart my secret project! Grrrr!

I am reading... Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

I am hearing... Momma in the sewing room, siblings chatting, the tv and thunder.

I am hoping... That I'll be able to go out later this week in my bathing suit and get drenched in water. I'm so sick of the heat and if it's going to be that hot I'm going to use the water hose to cool down.

I am planning... On watching Downton Abbey, Monarch of the Glen, Doctor Who or Bleak House tonight. Hopefully Downton Abbey.

I am wearing... Blue jean skirt, cream cami, an over sized purple shirt tied at the waist, my engagement ring, a "I<3U" silly band T. Lynn gave me, an anklet and a heart with a key necklace.

Around the house... Nail polish and laundry.

My wish of the week... That I'll be able to catch up with my project. I'm not sure I'll have it done when I want it to be... Ugh!

Thats it!

~ Riah

Surface of the sun... and HI!

Hey Y'all!
I feel like I am completely out of the loop in blogger world! I miss you! Life has been quite interesting the last few weeks. I'm really excited about most of it. :)
To start... as you know I was doing a Photography internship for a couple of weeks at a Sunflower field - it was AMAZING! I don't think I have had that much fun in a long time (except at Ri's house of course :D). I learned so much from the photographer; more than I thought I could in such a short amount of time. She taught me about the camera settings, lighting, framing...ect. I even got to shoot along side of her some (look at previous posts to see some of the pictures). I know I still have so much to learn, but I am on the fast track to improvement!
At the end of the internship Julie (the photographer) told me that she has loved working with me and that I have been a great help. She then proceeded to tell me that the internship was really like one big job interview and that if I wanted the job she would love to hire me! So, I'm sure you know what i said! YES! I have been praying for a job in photography come the end of Summer and here I have one! God is so good! We still have to talk about all the details, but it's basically locked in. :) YAY!
If I can get enough hours/pay with her then I can leave my current job! I hope that is how it will work because I am so DONE working where I am. (I have some snotty co-workers) Ehem... moving on. lol

Life has really kept me on the move this summer - on top of interning there has been camp all day/ working at the bookstore at night. The only time I'm home is to sleep and then several hours on Saturday and Sunday. Ask Ri - I've not even had time to talk to her much. I don't wanna think about it though because I miss her something awful and I might cry if I keep on... **Sniff**

So today it was SO HOT outside - one of the campers actually got sick (as in sick sick) in the barn - she got too hot, didn't drink enough water and just threw up right there on the floor. I couldn't handle it - i turned around and walked into a stall so I didn't hafta see it. (I don't handle throw up very well...). No worries though, Jill (the owner) took care of it! YAY! And moving right along back to weather.... the heat index was about 105 degrees I believe. When I walked outside it felt like a was slapped by a warm, and damp towel - gross! Humidity in the south is super high - but hey, at least we don't get bad snow storms in the winter! To every negative there is a positive! lol.

I'm going to see Hillsong United in concert on the 9th and 19th of August! I'm so excited! Ri was gonna go with me to the one on the 19th but our plan didn't work. **sniff sniff** It makes me sad - but I'm so excited about going! I've waited for this for YEARS!

Moving on to yet another topic....
Riah mentioned to y'all about the friend of my family with cancer.... I don't know much about what's going on. This woman and her daughter used to live in my neighborhood and we went to the same church for years. Our family kept her little girl during the day time while she worked from the time Hailey (little girl) was 10 mos old to 4yrs old. Hailey was just like a little sister! Stuff happened and we stopped keeping her... long story...
We haven't seen them in about 3 or 4 years, maybe less. My sister was online looking at some blogs or something and saw that Lauren (Hailey's mom) posted about the cancer. It's a very big shock. My mom emailed Lauren's mom to find out more - now we can hope and pray for a response!

Well, I'm off to bed - I have a VERY early morning -
YAY for the last day of camp for the next to last week all together! lol
Love and many yawns!

My day...

Has not been fun. Our AC upstairs died yesterday (we have two AC units- one for upstairs and one for down). I woke up this morning completely sweaty. By 10am it was already 84 degrees upstairs. I went to take a shower, but Bree was in it, so I went downstairs and stole Kay's shower (Kay is the only one of us children with a room downstairs and we have three bathrooms; one upstairs and two downstairs). I then went and rescued my camera, ring, glasses and book from upstairs. I've barely been up there since. I started sewing later just to find out that my sewing machine hates Lyssa's teal fabric. It tunnels horribly and then it wouldn't grab the fabric and kept stitching in the same place over and over. Mom fixed it... So I also realized that I forgot to change the tension on the machine and had to stitch over what I had already done and I left the denim needle in and ended up having to change it to a universal needle half way through sewing the teal underskirt. So I finally finished stitching the side seems on the teal underskirt and had finished a little over half of the eyelet overskirt when I jammed a pin into my ring finger (right hand). It was in there good. I originally thought I had just pricked it, but when I looked down it was stuck. I tried to pull it with my left hand, but I couldn't get it out, so I took a deep breath to steady myself and gripped it between my teeth and pulled. It started to bleed instantly. It bled all over three of my fingers and onto my other hand and between those fingers (I was cupping my finger in my other hand to keep blood from getting on the while eyelet) by the time Bree grabbed a tissue from the bathroom down the hall and handed it too me. It couldn't have been more then 10 seconds. It's bruised now, but at least it doesn't hurt as bad anymore! After that I gave up sewing and haven't even picked up my hand stitching. I think I should stay away from pins and needles for the rest of the day!

-Ri

Some of my favorites - But first...

...may I ask for y'all to pray for a friend of Lyssa's family. Lys just found out that the lady has stage four liver cancer. From what I understand, she's had it for a little while, but Lyssa's family didn't know about it until now. I'm sorry if I have some facts wrong here... Lys was a little rushed when she called me to let me know. She will probably either update this later or inform me of what's going on and I can update it. Please pray!

Here are some of my favorite bloggers, in no particular order by the way. Oh and no offense intended to anyone. I follow a lot of blogs, so if you aren't in my list, I apologize.

Mary or Sue Sue from Sue Sue's Stories!

She never fails to amuse me with stories about her family and I love to just read the day-to-day goings-on at her house. She seems to love vintage-y pink and flowers... I love that she is willing to answer what must seem like endless questions about Mennonites and her beliefs. Thanks bunches Mary!

Hannah from Banana Blog. So she is from Canada, extremely fun! She used to live in Nova Scotia - which is on my bucket list! I love to read about her adventures in house living, boating, writing, cross stitching and so much more. I miss her posts a lot when she isn't able to post... I'm not going to let you get on another boat Hannah! I miss your posts too much when you're gone!

My very dear, dear friend Amber from Joy of Dawn. She is so unbelievably sweet. Besides being an amazing writer - both in letters and books - she is also a extremely loving and giving person. I value her opinion when we're talking about scripture or books or life in general. I enjoy getting her emails and letters and I love reading what she has written! I love you so much Amber!!

Bleah from The Daydreamer's Reverie. She is funny, loves Owl City and Ted Dekker and doesn't like Taylor Swift. She loves camp and photography. She stands up for what she believes in and isn't afriad to. I love reading her posts! Thanks for being so interesting Bleah! :)

Autumn from Storygirl. Well for starters she lives in AUSTRALIA! I know, that is so amazing! She has very cool posts, I love her "A Damsel's Daybook" posts. She comments the most and her comments always brighten my day, whether she knows it or not. Thank you for always giving me a smile!

And last, but certainly not least: Jocee from The Cupcake Dictionary. She loves all sorts of music and is possibly the biggest Narnia fan ever. And she IS the biggest William Moseley ever. She has what sounds like a very interesting little sister and she has very sweetly offered to teach me how to swim - sadly she lives way too far away, states away in fact :) She likes to come up with new trends and yes Jocee TYPING LIKE THIS DOES LOOK LOUD!

-Ri Chelle
*note: I can't figure out why it's spaced so much! Agh!!!
**2nd note: I tried to pick pictures that somehow fit the blog or blogger.
*** 3rd note: Thank you Jocee, I realized I worded that part about the cancer badly. Sorry!!!!! I fixed it!

Just a random post!

I am... Watching Monarch of the Glen with Momma, Kay and Bree.
I am... Eating a Cookies 'n' Cream Hershey's bar.
I am... Dying to have this journal or this one!
I have... Just finished reading Catching Fire and I can't quite decide my feelings on the matter.
I am... Going to buy an iPhone just to get this case!
I am... IMing with Lys, sending each other links about Aussie.
I am... Now wanting this mug!
I am... Thinking that maybe I'm a bit obsessed with Australia...
I am... Mad at my book. I know it's not it's fault I can't get anywhere, but its annoying!
I am... Eventually going to post about characters and bridal shoes and other fun stuff, but right now I'm too tired to think about it and I need pictures of the shoes anyway!

Goodnight!
Riah

A Damsel's Daybook!

I thought I'd do Autumn's daybook. I can't think of anything to post right now and it looks like fun. So without further ado here is my daybook!

Outside my window... Gray skies. I wish it'd go ahead and rain!

I'm thinking about... My book! I just can't seem to get it right. I'll have to post about it later, so y'all understand my problems.

From the kitchen... Dishes that I need to wash and I am currently ignoring them.

I am creating... A skirt for Lyssa and a surprise project. Bree is trying to talk me into going and working on her blog design. I'll do that eventually too... right after dishes, maybe ;)

I am reading... Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

I am hearing... Siblings talking about Bree winning a trivia challenge, the tv, someone banging around in the kitchen (I think it's Kay and Mom).

I am hoping... That T. Lynn will share the Fig Newtons with me. Oh yay, she did!

I am planning... My wedding, very, very slowly!

I am wearing... a tan skirt (made by yours truly), blue and tan plaid shirt, white cami, my engagement ring and a necklace. I didn't feel like wearing earrings.

Around the house... Not much going on.

My wish of the week... That I'll finish reading two books. That I'll finish Lyssa's skirt. That I'll get further along with my project. That I'll at least start Bree's design. That I'll get a letter from Amber. That I'll get somewhere with my book... so on and so forth.

That's about it!!!

Much Love,
Miah

My bucket list

Everybody has been doing bucket lists recently since someone is hosting a giveaway based on bucket lists. I don't want to enter, but I'm going to write out my bucket list! I think it'll be fun.

1. Go to Australia with Lyssa!
2. Go listen to the Sydney Opera house.
3. Be on the Webb Bridge in Melbourne, Australia.
4. Go to the Hillsong Church in Australia.
5. Travel all over Australia with my camera taking tons of pictures!
6. Go to Maine.
7. Go to France.
8. Go to Nova Scotia.
9. Go to Colorado.
10. Go to Germany.
11. Go to England.
12. Go to Spain.
13. Go to Prince Edward Island.
14. Go to Egypt.
15. Go practically everywhere except South America and Africa.
16. Read 100 books in one year (I've only read 28 since February).
17. Get a second ear piercing right above my first.
18. Go to a Hillsong concert.
19. Make a Caramel Pecan Cheesecake.
20. Finish my sewing projects.
21. Finish a book.
22. Publish a book.
23. Sell at least one of my pictures.
24. Become an amazing photographer.
26. Get married (I'm almost there).
27. Make my bed every day for a week (ha!).

28. Co-write, finish and publish a book with Lyssa.

29. Meet Amber in person.

30. Bake a Creme Brulee.

31. Watch every Fred Astaire movie with Lyssa.

32. Learn how to dance.

33. Finish my surprise project in time.

34. See the movie Hunger Games in theaters.

35. Grow my nails out and not file them down.

36. Stay strong and not cut my hair before the wedding - Lys would kill me.

37. Get my skin clear.

38. Have 5 or more kids.

39. Learn to play His Glory Appears without having to look at the music.

40. Play piano beautifully.

41. Learn guitar.

I think that's about it for now. BTW: Lys, I'm still attached to your skirt!

- Ri Bell

Try not to...

Be anywhere near your Mom when she decides to caulk the kitchen. If you are near your Mom when she decides to caulk the kitchen then you may end up like me; laying on a kitchen counter cleaning excess caulk off of the tile and counter. Turns out I am very good at cleaning up excess caulk. Don't laugh Lyssa... I can hear you laughing - Mom don't laugh with her. Oh never mind.

So onto more business... I need to cut out and sew Lyssa's skirt together by Sunday. Yes THIS Sunday... Yes I am aware that I have one day to do that in, y'all aren't really telling me anything I don't already know. I bet you I know more then you do... I can prove it. It's a blue skirt with a white over skirt - so its almost like making two skirts in one day. Ha! Told you I knew more.
I'm also working on another -topic secret - project. Y'all will hear about it eventually.
I have about a million more books to read before I reach my "read 100 books in one year". Wow, y'all are back talking today. Yes, I know a million is more then a hundred. I am currently reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, second book in the Hunger Games trilogy.

So now I am going to do something very Jocee-ish.  

I want to be here...

...wearing this!

Yep, I want to be walking around in Australia, near the Sydney Opera house at sunset in this beautiful vintage lace dress! Blame Jocee for this idea... but it totally works.

-Miah

My trip

Tuesday evening we went to eat at Hams and rented movies from Blockbuster then headed home. Wednesday we ate breakfast, got ready for the day, watched some tv, went to eat lunch with out at Tex and Sherley's with our Aunt (and Grandma was there too :), then we went to see Monte Carlo.

It's a cute movie for kids, if you don't mind them hearing (I think) one cuss word. They didn't have to put it in there, so I'm not sure why they did. Maybe they thought they'd get a bigger audience with a PG rating rather then a G rating. It had a thin plot line and wasn't overly stimulating, but it was alright. FYI: there was a cute Aussie guy in it, which was just about the best part :) The actresses were pretty good. Selena Gomez did a very good job playing her two characters and it seemed well cast. Over all it was alright.

After we saw the movie we went to get ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and then went to the grocery store. Thursday we went to Blockbuster again and the Bicentennial Gardens and I took tons of pictures.

This was a favorite! The moths weren't a bit shy. If you follow our photography blog you've probably already seen it.

Friday spent the morning at home and then we went to see Kung Foo Panda 2 after we ate at Applebees.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with this movie. I'd rate it under Monte Carlo, but I didn't really like the first Kung Foo Panda movie either. I wouldn't recomend it.

Saturday we went out to eat breakfast at Ihop with another Aunt. Then she came to the house to visit for a bit, we packed and ate a very light lunch, watched the rest of our movies. After that we headed home, but we stopped to eat at Kimono, a japanese restaurant near our house. Then we were home!

Almost every night we played Wii and watched movies with Grandma. She loves movies. We watched the newer Star Trek movie on the blue ray player and it made the effects really stand out. I love Star Trek anyway (we all do, including Grandma), so we would use any excuse to watch it, never having seen the blue ray version before seemed like excuse enough for me! We also watched Tangled, Megamind, and Confessions of Shopaholic. Oh, just so you know, only Bree, Kay, Grandma and I watched Star Trek and Confessions of a Shopaholic, the littler girls didn't.

So that was my trip!
Riah



A Character Interview

This looked like such fun that I just had to do it! I know I was supposed to post about my trip, but I haven't uploaded pictures yet, so that will just have to wait. I found this tag on Abigail's blog and she in turn found it on Marian's blog. I'm going to sorta follow Marian's format, but with my characters, who knows how it will go. I am going to use more than three characters though.

Catherine Jane Alexander - Originally named Jane Alexander, but that is now her mom's name, plus Catherine only had that name for about one page, then I changed it. She is from the first book I ever attempted to really write. The book is now in about it's 4th re-write and it has yet to ever be finished.

Grayson Lee - His named was originally spelled Greyson with an "e" rather than an "a", but it looks more sinister with an "e" so I changed it. He isn't supposed to be sinister, he is just a tad too stupid sometimes. He is from the same book that Catherine is from.

Dillon Clark - I bet you'll all be surprised, but his name was not only always Dillon Clark, but it was always spelled like that too! I bet you are about to pass out, right? He is from the same book too!

Echo Abbiss - a newer character and I reverted to my old bad habits. Her name was originally Cassia, but Echo sounded more mysterious and Cassia sounded bubbly. Hint: Echo is supposed to be mysterious :) She does not belong to the other book, she has her own. Lucky Echo!

Lander - I eventually chose this name for him. The options were Kalden, Lander and Taavi. I ended up chosing Lander because Kalden sounded like a tall, dark and handsome guy's name and Lander is not that and Taavi sounded like a little, quiet guy and Lander isn't that either. He is in Echo's book. Oh, he doesn't have a last name yet.

Alright, now to start the interview!

Interviewer: Hi everyone! Welcome to the In Your Author's Brain show. It's so nice to have you here. Please introduce yourself, starting with you on the left.

Lander - Hey, I'm Lander.
Catherine - Just Lander?
Lander - Yeah, what's it to ya?! Our author decided that my last name isn't important right now, take it up with her if you got a problem **crosses arms**
Echo - Lander, be nice. She was just asking a question, you need to quit being so easily frustrated.

Interviewer: Let's get back to the introductions...

Lander - Like I said, I'm Lander **cuts Catherine a look**
Echo - **glares at Lander** I'm Echo Abbiss
Lander - Oh, she get's a last name!
Echo - Oh, move on Lander! It's this guy's turn to talk **gestures to the guy beside her on the sofa**
Lander: **crosses arms and sighs**
Grayson - I'm Grayson Lee **smiles at the interviewer**
**Lander mumbling something that sound's suspiciously like a complaint in the background**
**Echo elbows Lander rather hard in his ribs**
Catherine - Hey everyone, I'm Catherine Alexander! **waves**
Dillon - **smiles a little at Catherine** I'm Dillon Clark
**another mumble from Lander's general direction followed by a grunt**

Interviewer: Now that we all know each other now **sharp look at Lander**, do you want a hug?

Grayson - Depends, who do I get to hug? **quick look at Catherine**
Catherine - **looks between both Dillon and Grayson and blushes** Um... not really
Echo - No!!
Lander - Absolutely not!
Dillion - I feel like this should be a no response question.

Interviewer: Do you have any children?

Echo - Certainly not. I just got my first assignment from **breaks off abruptly and clamps lips shut**
Lander - No, absolutely not.
Dillon - **looks and Catherine and chuckles** not yet.
Catherine - **blushes again** I will, eventually.
Lander - Ok, what is up with Miss Blushes and her two suitors?
Echo - isn't it obvious? They both like her and she likes them both.
Lander - Well, pick one and be done with it.
Catherine - **turns red from anger** I did - or will - but he picks his family over me.
Lander - Then quit sending eyes that guy's direction and stick with the other
Dillon - She does, but then I die!! She can't help that.
Grayson - How is this any of Mr. No-Last-Name's business?
Echo - It isn't. Just ignore him, he has serious problems.
Catherine - Wait, you die Dillon? **starts to tear up** How do you know?
Dillon - take my word for it and don't go backstage after the show. Our author has some ideas that are none to kind **sends Lander a smug look**
Echo - can we please move on?
Grayson - Wait one minute! Catherine gets married to him?! You have got to be kidding me!
Catherine - You didn't want to marry me, remember?
Grayson - That was my parent's idea!
Dillon - You had the chance to have her and gave her up, so you have no right to get mad.
Echo - Interviewer, do you have anymore questions? Please?!

Interviewer: Have you ever killed anyone?

Catherine - Absolutely not!
Grayson - Never!
Dillon - Certainly not!
Lander - I might eventually, our dear author doesn't know yet. She needs to make up her mind.
Echo - Same here **says casually**
**Catherine, Dillon and Grayson look at Lander and Echo in horror**
Lander - Don't look at us like that. You live in a fantasy world with an evil king and a missing leader and then cast judgement!
Echo - I'd have to agree with Lander this time.

Interviewer: **looks a little scared as she reads the question** Um, do you love anyone?

Catherine - I love several people. My mama, my poor dead father, my soon-to-be step-father, my little sister who will be born after Mama remarries, Dillon, our son that will be born and named after his father, Grayson, Victoria Lee -
Lander - Are you through? **huffs**
Echo - Lander that was rude.
Lander - Oh really, Miss Manners?
Echo - You don't have any manners, that is for sure and certain **angerly**
Lander - Aren't you supposed to know how to control your temper?
Echo - All the training in the world couldn't keep anyone from getting irritated with you!
Lander - Or maybe your training wasn't thorough enough!
Echo - How dare you? Mistress - **clamps mouth shut again**
Dillon - Does anybody get the idea that Miss Abbiss has a secret? **says smilingly**
Lander - Get used to it, she doesn't finish half of what she is saying.
Catherine - Should we get back to the question at hand?
Lander - Sure. Well all know you have quite a list, so shall we move onto who Echo is in love with?
Echo - I'm quite sure you know I am not in love with anyone
Dillon - Why not?
Echo - Oh, our dear author hasn't decided if I'll even be in love.
Lander - That is a lie.
Catherine - **looks around worriedly** Do you think you should be talking about our author that way? We're in her brain you know, she can probably hear us.
Echo - **ignores Catherine** That is not a lie.
Lander - Well even if that isn't a lie, you secretly want her to make you fall in love with Kalden.
Echo - That is not SO!

Interviewer: Ok, that is plenty of answers for that question! Let's move onto a safer topic. What is your job?

Lander - I am just a traveler. I do odd jobs when I need the money.
Echo - And now you lie. You work for a secret underground group. You are trying to find the missing leader so he can over-throw the King.
Lander - **slaps hand over Echo's mouth** Hush up, dont you know that they could be lurking anywhere in our author's brain and they could over hear you.
Echo - **Laughs** You really think our author would let them roam over her brain with free will? She isn't stupid.
Lander - She let Dillon backstage...
Echo - He snuck back there, I saw him.
Lander - And you think they can't sneak around?
Grayson - Are you two incapable of staying on topic? I work with my Dad with our family business which is import. We have our own ships and we import valuable goods to the states.
Lander - How boring **yawn**
Grayson - we don't all live in imaginary worlds!
Echo - It isn't imaginary!
Grayson - Oh yes it is!
Catherine - Stop! **coughs** my job is stay-at-home daughter then stay-at-home wife.
Dillon - Mine hasn't been decided yet. Our author is thinking either Military or Law.
Echo - I'm not supposed to mention mine.
Lander - You mentioned mine!
Echo - I am currently a student
**Lander snickers**

Interviewer: Favorite season?

Lander - Fall.
Catherine - Spring.
Echo - Spring.
Grayson - I really don't have a favorite. **shrugs**
Dillon - Neither do I. What is with girls and spring?
Echo - Springs in our world are absolutely beautiful. More colorful than yours.
Catherine - Not so! **offended** But everything is very lovely and coming back to life.
Grayson - Catherine has death issues since her Father died.
Echo - Doesn't everyone have issues with death?
Grayson - well, yeah I guess so.

Interviewer: **interrupts before the conversation can go further** Who is your best friend?

Lander - I don't have one currently. One day it will be Echo **smirks**
Echo - Shoot me now! **raises hands in surrender** Mine is **fake gags** going to be Lander. But my other best friend, currently, is Marlon. She attends the same school I do. We stay close friends.
Grayson - Catherine and Taylor Price. He does end up mad at me when I give up Catherine **glances at Catherine and coughs** but he always tells the truth.
Catherine - Lucy Tibet, Mercy Price and Victoria Lee, although eventually Victoria gives up our friendship for a time as she wants Grayson to marry a rich girl from England.
Dillon - Catherine and my cousin Sylvia.

Interviewer - **sighs in relief that it didn't break in another argument** Hobbies?

Dillon - Um, not sure.
Echo - Does archery, sword fighting and horseback riding count?
Catherine - Embroidery and reading
Lander - **chuckles** Wow, you two girls are way different. I don't know that I have a hobby. I like to hunt.
Grayson - Reading, riding, fishing.

Interviewer: **looking more and more relieved** What color are your eyes?

Lander - what a silly question. Cant you see them?
Echo - Not really, you don't have a color yet. **laughingly**
Lander - She, our author, is thinking green, but I'm pulling for brown.
Echo - Mine are deep, indigo blue.
Catherine - Emerald green.
Grayson - Gray.
Echo - Oh, so original. **dryly**
**Grayson laughs**
Dillon - Green!
Lander - Miss Author, if your listening, you have plenty of green eyed characters, mine should be brown!
Author - Your request is duly noted and is being processed **from somewhere above, behind, in front or below them**
Grayson - Whoa! Where'd that come from?
Catherine - I told you she was listening!
Lander  - Oh no.

Interviewer: **laughs** Are you good or bad?

Lander - Good in some people's eyes, bad in others.
Echo - And annoying in others! I'm good.
Catherine - I try to be good.
Grayson - Same.
Dillon - You failed at being good Gray. You are the "villain" of the story. **smiles smugly**
Grayson - I'm not the villain, am I?
Catherine - Well, you sorta are.
**Grayson hinds his face in his hands**
Lander - **laughs** You are a sad little villain Grayson. Our villain's kill and rule ruthlessly. You just break a girl's heart.
Catherine - Hey, that's me we're talking about here! **crosses arms**
Lander - Oh, I know. In fact, I bet he breaks Miss Rich's heart too, right? The girl his parent's want him to marry.
Grayson - It doesn't break her heart. She didn't care about me.
Lander - How do you know?
Echo - That is quite enough!

Interviewer: What is your greatest fear?

Lander - I don't know... That I'll be alone.
Echo - That I'll fail those who put their trust in me. **blinks eyes as if to blink away possible tears**
Catherine - That more of the people I love will die.
Grayson - That I'll lose Catherine completely.
Dillon - My-oh-my, we all got suddenly serious. **not quite jokingly**
Lander - Answer the question man.
Dillon - That I will hurt Catherine worse then Gray did when I die.
Catherine - Oh, Dillon **hugs Dillon** I know you wont die on purpose.
**Dillon's eyes get moist**
Echo - Miss Interviewer, lets move on if you please.

Interviewer: **eyes moist also** What do you think of your parents?

Catherine - They are the best, even my step-father! **smiles brightly**
Grayson - **sighs** They try to do their best, but they don't care much beyond their own wants.
Dillon - They are the most wonderful people I know.
Echo - I don't know who my parents are. **looks away embarrassed**
Lander - Mine were wonderful, or so I'm told. I don't remember them.
Catherine - I'm so sorry for you two.
Dillon - Is that a running theme in your world? **raises eyebrow**
Echo - Most of the people are missing family members, yes.
Catherine - Remind me not to visit.
Lander - We hope to put an end to it.
Grayson - Good!

Interviewer: Any siblings?

Echo - Not that I know of. I think of the girls I go to school with as sisters.
Lander - One brother, but he is MIA. **says almost calmly, but a slight tremble betrays him**
Catherine - Your world is sad. **with pity**
Lander - You're telling me!
Catherine - I have one sister, or I will. Her name is Lydia.
Grayson - I have one sister, Victoria.
Dillon - I don't have any siblings either, Miss Abbis **gives her a brotherly smile**, but I think of my cousin as a sister since we grew up together, like you and your school mates.
**Echo smiles back**
**Lander coughs awkwardly**

Interviewer: This is quite a sad interview. **Smiles** Maybe we should just go back to arguing? **teasing** Alright, Was it fun to answer all of these questions?

Lander - Not all of them!
Echo - Ditto!
Catherine - Some were fun. **optimistically**
Dillon - Others were uncomfortable.
Grayson - I'm not going to another interview.
Echo - I agree. I might sign other characters up next time!
Lander - I completely, completely, agree! **hands raised in agreement**

Interviewer: Do you have any weaknesses?

Catherine: too trusting!
Echo - Go figure. Mine is losing my temper with Lander.
Grayson - That could be anybodies!
**Lander glares at Grayson and Echo**
Grayson - Not standing up for myself against my parents.
Dillon - **snickers** No kidding!
Lander - Yeah, that could be a problem.
Grayson - Hey. You aren't perfect!
Lander - Nope, but I can stand up for myself.
Grayson - So what is your weakness? **crosses arms**
Lander - Thankfully, our author hasn't come up with one, so I get to skip out on the embarrassment.
Echo - Oh and arrogance can't be a weakness? **sarcastically** And let me guess, lack of manners isn't one either?
**Dillon and Grayson chuckles**
Lander - Knowing when your good is not arrogance **smiles arrogantly**
Echo - Oh, whatever!

Interviewer: Okay.... What is your favorite element?

Echo - Wind. **excitedly**
Catherine - Water.
Lander - Fire.
Grayson - Fire.
Dillon - Fire.
Echo - What is with men and fire?
Lander - It's cool!
Echo - nothing about fire is "cool". **crosses arms**
Grayson - It's useful. You can cook, scare away wild animals and heat yourself with fire.
Catherine - He does have a point.
Echo - True, but wind is wild and free. It goes where ever is pleases, when ever it pleases.
Dillon - You wish to be wild and free?
Echo - Doesn't everyone at some point?
Grayson - I believe so. **smiles sadly**

Interviewer: Do you care what others think of you?

Dillon - Not unless it's someone I care about myself.
Catherine - Only if I believe they are someone who has a valuable opinion.
Lander - **chuckles** Not really, mostly if I believe what I'm doing is right, it doesn't much matter what others feel are right.
Echo - I almost agree with Lander, although there are a few people whose opinion matters to me.
Lander - **gasps and places his hand over his heart** she agrees with me!
Grayson - My problem is caring what others think **sadly**

Interviewer: Do you have a theme song?

Dillon: Faddle Fiddle - song on the soundtrack from Leap Year.
Catherine - Realize by Colbie Caillat
Echo - Realize, really?
Catherine - SO? Why do you care?
Echo - It just seems like a sappy song. **shrugs**
Grayson - I don't have one.
Lander - Can I use the Physc theme song?
Echo - You want that song? **shocked**
Lander - Yes, it's funny!
Echo - Sure, have fun.
**Lander laughs**
Catherine - What's yours, Echo?
Echo - I don't know.
Dillon - Maybe it should be Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas **laughs**
Echo - **laughs** Sure, why not?

Interviewer: What is your species?

Lander - Human
Echo  -Go figure, annoying human man.
Dillon - Hey, I'm a human too!
Grayson - So am I!
Catherine - So am I!!!
Echo - *laughs harder** Well, Catherine you should fine, you are just a girl, not a man. I'm an Elf.
Lander - You must be the one with the problem... Not us humans.
Echo - Elf is better than human!

Interviewer: Before you go any father, I must announce that we have fill our time. Next time on the In Your Author's Brain show we are going to interview one surprise guest! Goodnight to all!

Y'all still reading?! Well brovo! Here is a piece of cake!

Isn't that the coolest cake?! But it doesn't look at that nummy, so I'm going to give you another piece.

There you go!

-Ri

note* underlining is in place of italics. I could italisize it because our font is italic.

I'm back

HI! I'm home. I got back yesterday. I got home, unpacked my things out of the car, took them upstairs (some of the books and a few other things still remain in my bag), talked to Mom and Grandma, searched wildly for my notebook which I found later in my bag, came back down stairs and talked some more then I just read, embroidered and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest until I went to bed. In case any of you are wondering, the first Pirates movie is better than the second.
Today I got a slight bit frustrated. My wrist has been bothering me worse and worse lately. I guess it got a bit lazy not writing, typing or embroidering for several days, because I had a bit of a time yesterday trying to embroider and today I couldn't get the scissors to hold steady. I swear, if I had been alone on I might have started crying from sheer frustration. Ugh, please ignore my ranting. I'm just a bit upset right now since even now my hand is tired.

Before I go look at these:

These are my new flats! Way adorable, right?

Aren't these the cutest?

Please ignore the scars and scratches on my feet... I'm a bit hard on them.

I'm going to go get a small slice of thin crust pizza, ice tea and settle in with my book Cascade until I go to sleep.



Goodnight,

Ri

Sunflower Field pics!

This week I'm doing an internship with a photographer who has legal access to a privately owned sunflower field. It is amazing how much I've been learning about lighting and camera settings. Today I was able to take my camera and shoot some pictures between family shoots, and then I was able to take a few of this adorable 7 week old baby! I was so excited to be able to put my knew knowledge to the test... and I'm super glad about the results! Please leave me a comment to let me know what ya think.
I didn't do much editing with these shots - three of them I did a few changes but the others just got a water mark.

I am beaming!

If you could see me right now, you would be almost blinded by my smile. Not that I have super white teeth or anything - I am just super happy! I am doing my photography internship right now and am learning so much (such as my ISO in my shots has been WAAAAAAY too high... lol) - You know that you're doing what you're called to when you come home at the end of the day smiling and excited for whats next!
I was able to shoot with the photographer a little today (with my own camera)!!! I was so excited - I will post my favorite shot in a little bit - Gotta go clean first -
With love and smiles,