Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful for sensors that go in on the first try! Also, thankful for this disease. Hear me out: I’ve had diabetes 21 years now, so essentially my whole life. It’s shaped me into the person I am today, and it’s been with me through every hardship and good moment. (half of which it caused I’m sure!) It helps me make healthier choices, and think long term about my health. It links me to an amazing community of other diabadasses. It makes me stronger, braver, and more hardened than I’d be without it. Yes I am hoping for a cure and would cut ties in an instant, but for now I’ll be thankful to have this never-ending love/hate relationship. ❤️ Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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One Post at a Time

It’s been a long time once again since I’ve posted! One of my best friends and I are going to start writing at least one story each week! Please go follow S.R.A.’s blog over at Yonder Worlds. You’ll find yourself entranced with the worlds she visits and the characters that come out of her mind. For now, we’ll be posting off the Daily Post’s Prompt of the Day. I hope this post finds you doing well my WordPress friends.

I’m sitting in a cabin in the Midwest. I’m staring at my laptop, wanting so badly to have a wonderful story jump into my head. Instead, I’m watching House in hopes that I’ll be inspired by something and not just sucked into the episode without writing anything down. Yet I’m here getting sucked into watching House and only writing down a few words or sentence at a time.

Maybe in a parallel universe I’m writing a follow-up novel to the previous two that people were clamoring to read. Or maybe I have my own groom shop and am finishing up the last dog of the day. Or perhaps it’s a parallel where I don’t even exist.

No matter, I am here in the now and my mind is entirely blank give for these ramblings I’m stringing together. I can’t say for sure why I haven’t written in so long. Perhaps life has just been busy, or I’ve just been scared to see what will come out, or what won’t for that matter.

There are definitely stories up there brewing, and tales I’ve started that haven’t been finished quite yet. They will come out, it may just take a bit of coaxing.

I appreciate you reading my ramblings, and I hope you will stay tuned for next week’s post. I’ll be thinking in the interim of story ideas and characters to hopefully make it a bit more exciting! Perhaps throughout the week I’ll write more of what’s been going on in my life as well.

Don’t forget to check out Yonder Worlds, and have a wonderful week and weekend friends. 🙂

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas my WordPress friends! Gosh has it been forever. I hope you all are doing extremely well and have a fantastic holiday season!! 🎄❤

..You can’t dance and stay uptight..

–King Harvest

 

Am I an Author?

Today marks the day I have published a book using Amazon’s KDP. Yes, I did it!! First of all, let me start by saying I absolutely love the way they guide you through the process of uploading your book and getting everything in the right place. They give you hints of what exactly to do, and make sure you have all the necessary fields filled.

Now, on to the exciting part – my book! 😀 It’s called First Kiss, and if you search for the title it should pop up after a little bit of scrolling.

There it is!! The red one. 😀

I’ve written it under a pseudonym, Cherry Simone. Some of the characters (all of them so far actually) are based off real-life people even though the story surrounding them is pretty fictional. (Can you guess who I am?) Therefore I thought it might be best to use a pseudonym for now for this one, and on future works perhaps use my own name. Although I’m telling this to you guys, so I guess what was the point of it? haha! 🙂

I have it up for $1.99 but might change it to lower it since it’s so short. I have done some research and it seems like erotic fiction short stories do pretty well which is why I chose this route. This is book one in a series of short stories that will follow the two main characters.

I must forewarn you that it is VERY erotic, and lots of in-depth sex scenes. If you aren’t into books like this I would advise against reading it. However, if you’re intrigued by that I would LOVE for you to buy and read it!! If anyone does, please give me honest input. This one was rather quickly put together, and I probably didn’t put in enough time on editing it, but I think I was more going for letting myself know I could actually do it. And I did. I’m pretty proud of myself! I thought I would share, and if you know anyone who likes erotic fiction please tell them about the book and let them know there are more to come! Jasmine and Schuylar’s story is just beginning.

Here’s the link!

Hello, Everyone!

It’s been awhile since I’ve written a post, after saying that I was going to try to make more scheduled posts in 2016! Well I still will try, it just might be a little bit later than intended. I haven’t been very active on here, as you may have noticed (sorry!), but I definitely have not forgotten you wonderful people!!

I think a few factors have influenced my ghost-like appearance here on WordPress: I’ve been working a lot and then feeling lazy when I get home, I’ve been busy with Rocky and hanging out with Lucas, plus I just have been feeling kind of anxious when I think about getting on here. Not really sure why, there’s no reason for it and I really love blogging and reading all of your blogs! That’s probably the main reason though, and it really bothers me because I do love being on here, I just don’t quite know how to make myself come back to it!

I’m going to be making an appointment with the doctor to get another checkup on my Celexa and see if that needs changed at all, and then my arm keeps going numb which has been SUPER annoying and I’d like to figure out why, and my right nostril hurts! Haha, maybe too much info there, but I figured I’d fill you in. 😉 So hopefully in a little time I will be back full-force to read through your blogs and continue blogging myself, perhaps with a schedule in mind!

I have read your comments, and I really super appreciate them, thank you! I will be trying to get back to them all in the near future. For now, I hope everyone is having a great week and things are going well! Talk to you soon. 😀

Let’s Have a Serious Conversation: Alcohol

I have made it through 2015 being a blogger! I’m excited to continue into 2016 blogging, meeting new bloggers, and connecting even more with all of you. Thank you so much for making this possible, and for continuing to follow me through my life. 🙂

I’ve learned a lot through this past year of blogging, and I was thinking of trying to make a schedule for my blog. Of course if there’s something I’d like to blog about in between scheduled post days I will, but I think it’ll help me to have something to stick to. I will continue to do my Band Photo Weekend posts, and I was thinking about adding this “Let’s Have a Serious Conversation: Insert Topic” posts too. We’ll see how this one does and what you guys think! Once I know more of what hours I’ll be working at work once changes take place, I should be able to make a better schedule knowing what days I’ll be tired from work and whatnot. I’ll keep you posted!

Now, without further ado, let’s have that conversation! I think it’s a good topic, seeing as it’s now the New Year and we’re making resolutions and have probably indulged over New Year’s Eve. I’ll start out by telling you about me and alcohol.

I never really started drinking until I was about nineteen. During high school my best friend would, and I would be her DBS- Designated Baby Sitter. I didn’t mind, and honestly wasn’t too upset to not be drinking! Once I turned nineteen I did start drinking more though. I had a few times of being black-out drunk which is never fun the next day. Honestly, it’s a little scary realizing you were functioning, talking, dealing with people, and have no idea what you said or did.

The past couple years I would drink quite a bit. Some nights were fun, but lots of other nights I would pick fights with Lucas, say things I didn’t mean and never would have sober, broke things, and was physically abusive at times. Not only that, but as I realized what I had done, I would start to feel horrible. Many times I would end the night cutting myself, and quite a few times I was trying to kill myself. I’ve also been hospitalized once for alcohol poisoning. Clearly, alcohol and I do not get along.

Not only that, but being a Type 1 Diabetic I really need to watch myself and my blood sugars while drinking, which is something I clearly don’t do. I’ve decided a few times to quit drinking, but this time I’m serious. Which is another reason we’re having this conversation, so not only am I accountable to myself, but to all of you as well. When I’m drinking I try to sabotage my relationship, make very poor decisions, attempt suicide, have no accountability or care for if I have to work the next day, and have a terrible hangover the next day. What will I be missing out on? Nothing. I can have just as much fun being sober.

There are many people who deal with alcoholism, and it also runs in my family. Another great reason to cut it off early, while I’m 22, almost 23. Lucas’s dad, Randy, will have a beer or two on the weekend but that’s it. He used to drink quite a bit, but then one night of hard drinking he woke the next morning with AFIB and quit cold turkey. It’s scary stuff after enough years! His brother is in really poor health now, and is continuing to drink. Not only that, but he’s known multiple people who have died from alcohol.

Moderation is key to all things, and I’m not saying to not drink. Everyone has what works for them, and a couple of drinks can be fun now and then. I just know that I don’t know when to stop, and to be the best me that I can, and to keep healthy, that is to not drink at all. There’s Sparkling White Grape juice that I got for Christmas and New Years, and it’s delicious! It was like $3 at Dollar General, and I had just as much fun than if I’d been drinking. Probably even more so!

What is your take on alcohol? Do you drink, or are you making a New Year’s resolution to cut back or quit as well? Comment and let me know, let’s have a conversation about it!

Happy 2016!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve, and that 2016 has been a great year so far for you!! For me it’s been fantastic, and had some excitement in it already! Yesterday we went shopping and I got Rocky a new harness and collar, he’ll have to wait for the matching leash until next paycheck! Lucas and I both got a pair of jeans, he got a t-shirt, I got a coat, and I finally got the present for my sister from our sibling gift exchange. Quite a bit late on that, but better late than never, right?

So that was a lot of fun! Plus I have a three day weekend, after working eleven days, so I’ve been really enjoying this!! Last night when I went to walk Rocky we walked toward the back of the cabin and a coyote started howling and then I heard a bunch of them barking at the end of the lane. It was kind of spooky! I made Lucas come stand at the doorway in case they tried to eat us. 😉 They didn’t, just were making a bunch of noise. But that was plenty of excitement for me! haha.

We had a Twitch stream last night, and that was pretty fun! Lucas’s cousin is on a break from the Navy and will be getting here sometime tonight to stay a couple days I think, so he’s really looking forward to that. We need to clean up a little but will still probably stream tonight, we’re debating it!

Overall, 2016 is looking to be a great year. I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions, since I figure if you want to change something you ought to do it whenever you feel the change is needed, not just at the New Year. However, I have made a change that I’m going to try really hard to stick with, and I’ll be sharing that in probably my next post. For now, I will leave you with a video Lucas took of me singing to Shakira – Hips Don’t Lie that he conned me into doing and then put on YouTube. haha! I hope everyone’s having a great weekend!! 🙂

Making Strides

Today’s post is full of good news!! I’ll save what I find the most exciting for last. First off, The Groomer told me today she’s wanting to transition me into doing the prep work on the dogs!! She’ll have to work it out with me still being in boarding and whatnot, but it sounds like she’s wanting to start that pretty soon. I’ll keep you posted on what I find out, but I wasn’t expecting that so soon! I’m really looking forward to it though! 😀

Secondly, this is very first-world of me, but I just wanted to say that I had some of the best service and food from Olive Garden the other night! Randy, Lucas, and I went out to eat on Sunday for a late Christmas dinner. We went to Olive Garden, and everyone working there was super friendly, very attentive without being overbearing, and just all around excellent! The food was delivered so quickly we remarked on it and they offered to take it back and wait until we were ready! Of course we just took the food then, hah. I’m not sure if we just lucked out that our Olive Garden is fantastic, or if they all are, but I would definitely recommend going!!

The final great news is that American Girl is coming out with a diabetic care kit for their dolls starting on January 1st!! The kit is $24 and will include: an insulin pump, glucose meter, lancing device, insulin pen, glucose tablets, medical alert bracelet, insulin pump skin stickers, diabetes log book, and a bag! These items are all things I have used, or still currently use with my Type 1 Diabetes. I’ve been a big fan of American Girl for many many years, having had dolls in the past as well.

This is such fantastic news for me, being a Type 1 Diabetic, and knowing that other younger girls going through what I did will have this to keep them company and feeling ‘normal’. Not only that, but other kids who don’t have Type 1 Diabetes can also get the kit and maybe learn a little bit more about their peers before jumping to their own conclusions.

Anja Busse (now 13) started a Change.org petition in January 2014 after being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. All the credit is due to her for being so brave to take a stand and ask for something from a big company that she felt should have been there all the time. I 100% agree and commend her for working so hard on it!! You can read the Daily Mail article here.

Here’s the doll complete with insulin pump!!

 

All the Diabetes supplies!!

Ahh!! If you can’t tell, I am super thrilled by this news, and I hope everyone else is too! Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease, and it really sucks. I applaud American Girl for taking steps to make it a little less horrible for children everywhere, thank you!!

I’m Still Here!

Hello, Blogosphere! I feel like it’s been forever since I last posted, probably because it’s been over a week now! I’ve been busy working; I had over 40 hours last week, and will have close to 40 again this week. I’m not complaining though, it’s just been pretty busy.

I am absolutely loving the groom room! The Groomer tries to teach me something new every day, which is really great. We still don’t have the proper dryer, so that’s been a lot of fun! In a way I feel like it’s been helpful though, because once we get the correct dryer, I’ll be able to do an even better job and perfect my technique with more ease! It’ll be nice. Plus it’s good to learn how to compromise early on.

My job right now is to help the other Bather with washing and drying the dogs. The Groomer preps them, and then we wash and dry them. The prep work includes: checking their ears and taking out any hair that’s growing in them, cleaning the pads of the feet (sometimes done later), sanitary trim (sometimes done later), clipping the nails (sometimes done later), and taking hair off if the dog is going to have a lot of hair coming off them. This way, when we wash we don’t have to wash a ton of hair and take a long time drying it when it’s just going to come right off anyway! When she does this, she just does a general trim of it, but goes back and does the actual groom once we’re finished with the dog. Some groomers refuse to do this since it can shorten the life of the clippers/scissors by using them on dirty hair, but our Groomer doesn’t mind and it helps our workload which is really nice!

It’s now Christmastime, which is how long they had scheduled me working three days in the groom room. Some changes are taking place; the team leader for boarding is being switched to someone else, since the lady in charge right now has some health issues and isn’t able to be there as often as a team leader needs to be. If the new team leader works out (which she should, she handles a lot of the stuff anyway), the Boss Man is going to hire someone else for boarding, and I will be moving solely to the Groom Room!! 😀 I am super excited. We’re not expecting that until March, but if things work out and he can find someone for boarding it could happen sooner. I’ll let you know! So for now I’ll keep my three days, but since I’m doing really well in there, and they can tell I want to continue learning and working in the groom room, I’ll be getting more hours in there in the future.

Depending on how everything works out, The Groomer and I have talked about perhaps having me come in sooner and take over the prep work as well at some point in the future, and then seeing how it goes with learning more on the grooming aspect of things, I might be able to eventually get my own dogs to groom! We have a lot of ‘regular’ dogs who get groomed every few weeks, so those dogs are much easier to do since they come in a lot. Depending, I might be able to get a couple of those dogs to do all on my own! It’ll be a ways away from now, but I’m really looking forward to that. It’s been a great opportunity so far, and I’m absolutely loving it which is great!

That’s what’s been going on with work for the most part, I’ll try to write again sooner than over a week next time! Since this is getting long, I’ll save my update on Rocky and the cats and whatnot else in life for the next post. I hope everyone’s having a great week, and looking forward to the holidays!! Any big plans for Christmas??