About Me

In an attempt to connect with any readers I may have out there, I am going to share a little info about me. I was married this past September to the only person who can handle me with all I come with, understands me, and loves me for who I am. The first year of marriage really is the hardest, but it is worth it to share my life with someone who just "gets me." Besides, what other man would willingly live with our six cats? (Yes, you heard me, SIX.)

We bought our first house in this bad economy only a few weeks before our wedding. We got the deal of the century, it just needed a little TLC. Ok, ten months and counting of really hard work. I learned how to add pages to my blog yesterday, so please click on the link "My House" when you get a chance. I have yet to add 'before' pictures, but I will have to because you don't know just how big of an improvement we've made so far if you can't see what it used to look like.

I love living here. I love being able to call something HOME. I don't miss having to cart all my belongings around once a year because my lease is up. And I think this is something we all aspire to. I spend my days now looking at chandeliers and area rugs in hopes that my house will look even better. This is something my mom and I do, and we won't ever stop because a house is never finished. There will always be tweaking and makeovers and new purchases. A home should be filled with the things you love, and there should always be room for something you can't live without. My husband is always happy having people over because he is so proud of this house. I started this blog so that I could show other people images and advice that would motivate them to be just as proud of their own home.

Here are some of the things I do in my free time: I am currently writing three young adult novels and one Depression era novel, and I hope to edit and draw pictures for a children's picture book that my mom is working on. It is a collection of cat stories she told me at bedtime, and I am a very nostalgic person. I never quite let go of the past. I am also a nature lover, so the few poems I have had published are nature-y, and I hope to one day publish a book of poetry with a nature feel to it.

I am also a name lover. I got into names when I started writing stories, drawing pictures of characters, and after a while I just got obsessed with names. I have a list of baby names I would like for my own children, as far off in time as they may be, and tons of names stored in my head for any other purpose.

"Silvana"

Glittering night –

stars aligned in their famous positions,

moonlight shining down upon your skin,

the forest mist suspended below the branches,

and all I want is to kiss you.

Twigs are breaking under our bare feet

and the smoky blue sky feels like a tent.

You are mysterious to me

and supernatural.

The way the silky strands of your hair,

like spider web galaxies,

fall past your hips and cling together

is like magic. But you are magic all your own.

You move lightly, swiftly,

like a dream. I see your eyes

reflecting light like aqua gemstones,

singing silently of the night,

and the moon is trapped in them as if it were your soul.

Ultimately, I am too captivated by sight

to move on to touch. I imagine

your snow white skin might feel like satin.

A kiss from you would be like breaking a spell,

but this spell is ethereal, and almost sinful.

I dare not pass my hand through the starlight to catch you.

A nightingale, you must be left wild,

and as if you had never noticed me,

I will let you disappear among the trees.



I am also an experimental cook. My specialties are minestrone soup and Chicken Nina, my own special recipe. I learned this "way of the accidental cook" from my mother, who has a few time-honored recipes from her mother and from years of entertaining, but sometimes just happens upon a recipe that turns out well.

And, lastly, I volunteer for a local cat shelter that also does Trap-Neuter-Return. This is the most fulfilling, since I have loved cats since I could crawl. I love knowing that just by catching feral cats to be spayed and neutered, then returned to where they were found, there will be less and less the next year, meaning less and less euthanized in humane societies and other shelters. As for my own cats, I have come to realize that there is nothing else on this planet that will love you so unconditionally and faithfully as your own pet. People hold grudges, leave, change, or just aren't around sometimes. Your pet will always be constant, and although they will leave you behind one day, their image stays clear in your head forever.