The Final Truth - A Quote and A Snippet

(Here's my first post concerning this story of mine, in case you don't know about it yet.)

Quick rundown of the novel: It's called "The Final Truth," and is a mystery romance. It's set in London, England, and the two main characters are Tom Devries and Julie Rease. Tom is an investigator/detective for the L.I.D.A., and Julie is a writer for a newspaper.

I've got over 12,500 words now, compared to 2k last time I posted about it. Needless to say, I'm not a very fast writer... xD I've gotten stuck a couple times with ideas for it, so that has definitely slowed progress. But it is getting longer, slowly but surely. ;)

Anyway -- now to get to the new material from it! :D

My favorite quote from the story so far...

And a quick snippet...

~     ~     ~

     Tom’s head snapped forward and hit the air bag that blew up as he was jerked to a halt amidst the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass. Only slightly stunned by the bash to his head, Tom slid over to the passenger seat and quickly exited the damaged car, grabbing his briefcase and pistol from the center divider on his way out.

     Tom could hear his enemy pursuers after him as he ran down the street in the opposite direction. Bullets whizzed past him, just barely missing their target as he ducked behind a car parked on the side of the street. Tom crouched down while loading his gun amidst the sound of bullets hitting the car in front of him. He fired a few shots back at the pursuers as they began to close in.

    Tom knew he couldn’t hold them off by himself for long. He needed back up. Tom pulled out his cellphone and quickly dialed the special enforcement department of the L.I.D.A. The men continued to approach the vehicle which Tom hid behind while keeping a steady line of fire towards him.

     An automated voice came on the line as Tom fired another round at the approaching men.

     “Agent 104 requires immediate dispatch of reinforcement groups to the intersection of 7th and Landings Street!” Tom shouted over the gun shots. “Hostiles firing after attempted abduction and car chase. I repeat – send reinforcements immediately!”

     “Request denied. This number does not have authorization for L.I.D.A. commands.” The line went dead.

~     ~     ~

Avengers: Age of Ultron Cosplay Beginnings

It was a rainy afternoon in April when I entered of one of our local thrift stores. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but I was eager to shop anyway.

I slowly browsed through the books, dresses, shoes, and skirts before meandering over to the sewing section. I perused through the vintage patterns, sewing notions, and yarns, before finally stepping over to the large bookshelf filled with fabrics, each length carefully rolled up and tied with a piece of twine.

My eyes eagerly scanned the shelves before I began the task of scrounging through the fabrics. Some unknown treasure lurked there, hidden, cast away, in the recesses of those worn shelves, just waiting to be discovered.

My hunt didn't last long before I was rewarded.

Squatting down to search the lower shelves, a large, blue-hued bundle immediately caught my eye. I quickly pulled the fabric out from under the others and examined it closer.

Perfect.

~           ~           ~

And that is the story of how I found the fabric for my cosplay for "The Avengers: Age of Ultron."

Captain America.

That's right ya'll. I'm making a fem Captain America costume to wear to the midnight premiere of Age of Ultron. And I am beyond excited. :D :D

This cosplay is so different from anything I've done before, and it will most definitely be a challenge for me, testing both my sewing and creative abilities. But hey -- I'm always up for a challenge! ;D

So anyway, this fabric I found is crazy perfect for fem Captain America. Perfect color, perfect texture, perfect weight, and the perfect amount! 103 inches long and 60 wide -- all for 3 stinkin' bucks. Needless to say, I was beyond stoked when I found it. :D

(This is the most accurate representation  of its color.)

Another fabric also caught my eye during my little thrift store search: a similar type of fabric, but red, and only about a yard in length. For 80 cents. :O I knew it'd be great for the red accents of the bodice, since it won't require much anyway.

(they're both in major need of ironing. xD and the red really isn't that bright... o.O)

There were several other fabrics there that would work really well for my costume (for various accents and such), but I decided to hold off and only buy the two, since I do have a year until the costume has to be finished, and about 6 months before I allow myself to officially start working on it... xD

So yes. That is my not next, but second-to-next cosplay that I have planned. :D My next cosplay will be for the third Hobbit film. (which they recently renamed "The Battle of the Five Armies" -- yes, I like the new title. Kill me, but I do. ;D) I'll let you know what my costume will be for that soon, most likely when the first trailer for it comes out. (hyperventilates just thinking about the trailer coming out... xD)

Anyway! That's my cosplay happenings lately. :D

P.S. Here's my board on Pinterest for the cosplay... because you know I always do that. ;)

A Study of Spring

A photoshoot featuring the glorious Spring colors and me, myself, and I.

Photos also taken by me, myself, and I. ;)

Maybe leave a comment on your favorite? I'd be thrilled. ^_^

Happy Spring! ♥

My Life Lately

Very busy. That's me lately. :)

On the 8th I became a licensed driver...

On the 11th I had one of the best riding lessons I'd had in a very long time...

On the 15th I went to the dentist...

On the 20th I actually met my best online friend in real life...

On the 21st I went to the ER for the first time...

(Don't worry, it ended up being nothing serious, but I'll be going to the doctor for a normal check-up tomorrow just to make sure. I'd been having pain in my right side for the past 5 days without getting any better, and it was actually getting worse. So I freaked. :P We think it's some sort of gallbladder or liver problem... hopefully the doc will be able to get me fixed up. :) In the meantime, prayers would be oh so appreciated. It's caused more than a little anxiety for me over the past few days. Thanks in advance, guys. ^_^

So that's my life lately. (:

P.S. Happy belated Easter!

Jean Messenger Bag Refashion

I feel like the name of this post should actually just be "I made dis." xD

Hah! But, it really is a refashion. A jean refashion! Because I've got wayyyyy too many pairs in my sewing box... ;)

It's made out of the bottom half of one pant leg. I opened up the bottom seam and sewed the seam allowance together for a boxy sort of bottom. I then hemmed the flap thing, added a pocket (and reinforced the pocket edges with nail polish so they won't fray -- because I'm just resourceful like that ;D), and made a four-strand braid of various yarns for the shoulder strap.

I wasn't quite satisfied with it yet, however. Something was missing. It was just too plain.

Sooooo I rummaged around in my sewing box a bit, and found this pretty beaded ribbon that I'd had for ages and ages, but that I'd just not known what to do with. Well, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to finally put it to use!

After sewing the trim on in zig-zags across the front flap of the bag, it was complete. And voila! A new purse... bag... thing. ;D

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

MIND = BLOWN. You do not want to miss this movie, ya'll.

At the theater... Black Widow-esque, of course. ;)

First, about the movie-going experience... it ended up just me and my dad going to see Winter Soldier on Friday (yesterday), which was much fun. He's my "superhero movie buddy" because no one else in my family particularly likes those kind of movies. I generally have to force them to watch them.. ;D

But anyway, about the actual movie...

So, afterwards, I was literally shaking. Literally. It was that intense. In a good way of course! I just couldn't take it all in. During the movie, my emotions were all over the place. Shock, tears, laughter, and much armrest-gripping took place in those two hours. ;D

I won't spoil anything for those of you who haven't seen it yet -- I'll just say that this movie is a roller coaster ride from start to finish. You're constantly being shocked by plot twists and turns, wondering who is trustworthy, and sitting on the edge of your seat because of the insane action sequences -- which are, IMHO the best I've ever witnessed on screen.

Oh, and of course I stayed until the very end. Because every true Marvel fan knows it a no-no to leave before then!! And yes, there are TWO scenes -- one mid-credits, one post, just so you know... so don't leave early. ;)

So, like I said. GO SEE THE WINTER SOLDIER. And if you already have -- what'd you think??? :D

Music Spotlight: "Winter Soldier" Soundtrack

I love music (as I'm sure most of us do;), so I've decided to start doing "Music Spotlight" posts, where I share with ya'll some of my favorite albums. And today's post is the first of them! :D

Anyway, for my first Music Spotlight I wanted to share my new go-to movie soundtrack, which was just released April 1st:

I love movie soundtracks, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier's didn't let me down! It is now the latest on my long list of favorites. ;)

I love the "epic" feel of the music, and the few more somber pieces as well. Henry Jackman, the composer, I think did a really great job on it. A few other Marvel movie soundtracks had, to me, the problem of being a bit bland, (i.e., The Avengers and the first Thor), but Winter Soldier isn't bland at all, and is, in fact, really enjoyable to listen to. ;)

One thing that struck me while listening to the soundtrack for the first time, was the use of harsh, electronic sounds in some of the music. (Especially notable in #6, "The Winter Soldier.") It provides an interesting contrast to the otherwise orchestral instrumentals -- and while I'm not too big a fan of it, I think it does sound rather cool. ;)

So, all around, Captain America: The Winter Soldier's soundtrack is a marvelously exciting album that has immediately become a favorite of mine. And I am quite excited to see how the music fits with the movie... :D

If you've listened to it yet, let me know in the comments which tracks are your favorite!

A couple of my own favs:

1 - Lemurian Star

7 - Fallen

9 - Taking a Stand

15 - Into the Fray

17 - End of the Line

A Quick, Casual "Black Widow" Cosplay

So, of course you remember what I said in my previous post, that I was cooking up another cosplay, and that it had to do with the new "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" movie that releases next Friday. ;)

Welp, it's time to get into all the details! :D

Sooooo after finally seeing the first Captain America movie about a month ago, and Steve immediately becoming my new favorite superhero ^_^, I became totally psyched for The Winter Soldier (which, did I mention, COMES OUT NEXT FRIDAY EEEPPPP) aaaaand, of course, I wanted to make some sort of costume for when I go see it. ;D (I'm not planning on doing the midnight premiere, but hopefully the day of at least. ;))

So. The wheels began turning, and my first thought was to create a "feminine" Captain America costume (I was extremely inspired by this photoshop creation. Because tell me that is not awesome?) However, I decided against that idea after about two days, because 1) I knew the project would be extremely difficult and I didn't even have a game plan yet, and 2) I would have only had three weeks to make said project. (Someday, ya'll, someday...)

UPDATE FROM THE FUTURE: Well, a feminine version of Captain America did happen, one year later. :D

So, like I said, that idea was scrapped. But I still obviously wanted to do some sort of costume. ;)

Enter this picture (of Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow): (also this and this)

(This is, from what I've gathered, the outfit she wears during the final fight scene.)

Aaaaand I thought to myself, "Dude. You could totally recreate that outfit."

I immediately begin scrounging around through my closet and dresser drawers. Then, after finding all the necessary pieces, I try the outfit on all together -- and realize it's actually pretty decent.

Bonus: My cat, Fluffy, wouldn't move. xD

Casual cosplays for the win, right?? ;D The only thing is... I don't have red hair. And I'm too cheap to buy a wig and too chicken to try temporary hair dye. Oh well. xD So anyways, here's a quick breakdown of the outfit:

Shirt - Simple, black, short sleeved shirt. I'm pretty sure the original costume's is a cami, but I don't do spaghetti straps, and I wanted to be able to take off the jacket if need be.

Jacket - (Hehe, recognise this maybe? ;D) Brown, fitted leather jacket. No, it doesn't have all the buckles and straps that hers has, but it works. ;)

Pants - Dark wash, stretch skinny jeans.

Shoes - Slight deviation here. I'm using black, suede boots with a chunky heel. The original uses dark brown suede boots with a chunky heel. Hey, you work with what you have. ;)

So yes. That is my casual Black Widow in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" costume! ;D

And how 'bout ya'll? Any one else excited for The Winter Soldier?? :D

A Few Recent Projects [of varying forms]

Ok. This blog post has been a draft for almost two weeks now, and now I'm finally sitting down to make myself finish it. xD I promise I'll try not to take so long between posts in the future -- but, as I'm sure you're well aware, life happens. ;)

So anyway... It's been going well in my corner of the world. Last week was spring break, which was lovely and very relaxing, with friend get-togethers, silly games of "this or that" with my sisters, and, of course, a few projects, which I'm going to share with ya'll in this post! :D

Also during the week, Spring had begun to creep in with all it's glories: warm sunshine, green foliage, and cool breezes.

But now, school and the winter weather have returned... *sigh.* Well, life goes on, and the wait for spring continues. It'll be here soon. (:

So, about those projects I mentioned...

The first is this leather jacket that I thrifted for 2 bucks. It is seriously awesome... BUT it's a women's size medium, and I wear an extra small/small, so some alterations were necessary.

Before...

After!

It was a pretty simple fix, it just took a bit of time to complete. I just had to take in the sleeves and sides a bit (ok, alot xD). Bonus: it's now perfect for my next little cosplay project... more news concerning that in a later post! No, I won't take two weeks this time... xD

One other really simple alteration project I had was a maxi skirt from Goody's -- for $6! Hooray for clearance and coupons, right?! The skirt was a small, but the waist band was rather large on me and stretched out a little (hence the clearance). But it wasn't anything a simple seam couldn't fix -- and it was six stinkin' bucks! I just couldn't refuse. ;)

The last one I want to share with ya'll was something I whipped up on a lazy afternoon, when I was in desperate -- yes, desperate -- need of a project.

It's made of cardboard (lols xD), black satin, cream chiffon, vinyl stick-on letters, and some silver trim left over from my Arwen costume from a couple years ago. I basically just made it up as I went... because you know that's how I roll. ;)

And, in case any one didn't know, that's a quote by Aragorn from LOTR. ;)

Oh, and that cosplay project I mentioned? Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it. You'll hear more soon.

Here's a hint. ;)

Almond Flour [Edible] Raw Cookie Dough

Who doesn't like eating cookie dough?

Everyone -- DUH. Including people like moi who follow the Paleo diet, and who can't eat flour or sugar or anything like that. ;)

Ingredients -- ASSEMBLE.

Of course there's the problem of raw eggs and all that... But what if I told you, you could eat raw cookie dough without any risks?

*The internet collectively gasps.*

Mix together dry ingredients...

Yes, yes, now we can! Thanks to a little recipe I cooked up, us paleo peeps can now eat raw cookie dough to our hearts content! ;)

This recipe is for a single serving, so you can just whip up a batch any time you get a craving, and not have any tempting left-overs to make you over-do it. Which I know I would do, that's why it's a single serving... ;D

Add wet ingredients...

It's based on this recipe that I posted a while back, for SCD butter-pecan cookies. (Which are amazing as well, btw. :D)

Almond Flour [Edible] Raw Cookie Dough
SCD, Paleo, GAPS, Gluten-free, Etc.

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- tiniest bit of salt, about 10 granules
- little bit of vanilla extract
- 1/2 tbl salted butter OR coconut oil (add a bit more salt if using oil)
- 3/4 (or more) tbl honey

Directions:
1. Add almond flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and stir together.
2. Add vanilla extract and honey.
3. Cube butter into tiny squares if cold, or use softened butter or coconut oil, and add to the mixture. Combine.
4. (If using softened butter/oil, you could skip this step.) Mix as well as you can, then stick the dough into the microwave for 10 seconds. Stir until butter/oil is completely combined.
5. Obtional: If dough isn't sweet enough for your liking, add more until it's perfect. I ended up using about 1 1/2 tbl. :)

Enjoy! :D

An "Exciting" Riding Lesson...

Welp, yesterday was fun.

As some of you may know, I'm a horse-back rider. I'm currently taking lessons at a nearby stable, and have been taking there since... September I think? So yesterday we drove over there for my weekly lesson. I hadn't been riding in over 3 weeks because of a stupid stomach virus and cold, so I was very happy to be back. :D

It was a GORGEOUS day for riding, which was awesome. Perfect temperatures and glorious sunshine. ^_^ But my lesson horse, Athena (a dark palomino draft/quarter horse cross and a very big girl;), who is quite sweet, has loads of energy, and is basically a walking bull-dozer, ;D was being a bit of an... ummm... idiot. Yeah. (No offense, girl. I still love you. ;D)

So, after brushing and tacking her up, we head out to the outdoor arena and warmed up, then worked on some bending (which is basically getting the horse to "bend" around your inside leg. It helps the horse use their body better, and also looks quite nice ;D).

Next we picked up the trot. We were doing nicely for a while, just trottin' around, continuing to work on the bending in the faster pace, but then... Athena decided it was time to go back to the barn.

The arena was closed off with just a rope over the entrance, looped through a ring on both sides, and as we're trotting around, she just... bulldozed right through it. No joke. o.O

How I imagine Athena's thoughts at the time:

"Oh yeah, I don't care if that rope is closing off the arena we're just gonna trot right through it and yep go under that tree branch and practically take your head off... trot trot trot back to the barn..."

It was ridiculous, and maybe a little bit amusing... xD She got half way under the barn's roof before I could halt her, then I made her back out and march right back to the arena to try again. ;)

So, I was a little bit shaken up by this, but it has happened to me (horses running off with moi) quite a few times before, so I'm doing ok. Not too big a deal. She's a really sweet horse, so I'm not worried.

So, back in the arena, we continue the lesson with several more circles of trotting.

But, when we are passing the open "gate" again, she does a little rear/hop that makes me let out a "polite scream," as my instructor, Tracy, described it. ;D Aaaaand Athena trots us out of the arena -- again, almost breaking into a canter, and acting much more forceful about her little stunt then the first time.

This time I was able to stop her before she got to the barn again, but the whole thing gave me quite a fright, so now I'm in tears and literally shaking... :p

Seeing that this was more of a problem then originally anticipated, Tracy steps in and hops on Athena to work her a bit and make her realize she can't pull shenanigans like that, much to my relief, as I'm still fighting back tears and shaking like a leaf. ;)

So after showing me a few things to do in case Athena tried it again, Tracy then hands her back to me, and, with a much more heavy hand on the reins and a more "I'm in charge" attitude, I'm able to get Athena to do my bidding. ;)

So, yes. That was my exciting riding lesson. ;) I suppose it's just another "almost-spill" to add to the list... this was literally like the 5th or 6th time a horse has run away with me and almost dumped me... >.< But I gotta keep my record clean, ya know... haven't fallen off yet. ;D

And, although it was rather frightening, not to mention irritating, I do think I learned a valuable lesson yesterday. See, I'm the kind of rider that likes to keep a light hand on the reins and be very gentle and subtle in my riding, ya know? But, as I learned today, sometimes you can't always ride like that. Sometimes you have to really get on to a horse if they act up and disobey, and teach them that it's not acceptable. And it's ok to do that. You're not being mean, you're just teaching the horse. ;)

So yeah. That was my Friday! How was yours? :D

Just a Quick Shirt Alteration/Refashion

Hullo peeps!

I've got another refashion to share with you guys today... Well, I think "alteration" would probably be a better name, since that's pretty much all I did to it... ;D

So, I started off with this shirt:

I got it at a thrift store, but it's really nice and in like-new condition. I love the color of it, and it fits perfectly, except for a small problem...

The hip-area was too big. o.O

I haven't the slightest idea why it was made like this; I've never seen any other shirt with this problem. But I really liked the shirt, so I decided to go ahead and take the time to fix it. :D

First, there were two extra seams on each side that were there only for style purposes, so I went ahead and ripped those out so I could sew my new seams properly. Then I turned le shirt inside out and began pinning my alterations. I re-pinned it several times to make sure I achieved the perfect fit. ;)

First pin positions...

After several re-pins, I finally had them where I wanted them. ;)

The next and last step was to sew up those new seams!

Just keep sewing... just keep sewing... just keep sewing sewing sewing -- what do we do, we sew, sew, sew... xD

All finished and ready to wear! Crazy how just 15 minutes can change a shirt from meh to fantastique!

Daffodils and my Sweet Sixteenth!

Bonjour mes amis! (Hello my friends, to anyone who doesn't speak French. ;) Not that I'm fluent or anything -- hah!)

Welp, it's been exactly two weeks since I last posted... and over the course of those two weeks I battled the worst illness I've had pretty much ever. Needless to say, it wasn't fun. :P Skipping all the gory details, I'm finally over it... buuuuut now I've caught a bit of a flu. -_- Oh well. Lord willing, I'll be over that soon! :)

But anyway... yesterday was my 16th birthday! :D I FEEL SO DIFFERENT NOW IT'S JUST CRAZY.

Ok.  I lied.  I actually don't. xD Well, maybe a little. A little sweeter..? ;)

Birthday daffodils :)

So, I've got a little birthday tradition... every year my parents give me a pot of my favorite flowers ever -- daffodils!! They're now known as "my flower." ;) And this year I got my absolute favorite variety: giant and bright yellow. :D

And for my birthday evening, my family and I all watched Megamind, which my oldest sister, Alissa, gave me. I'd been dying to own it ever since I first saw it, because it is HILARIOUS! If you haven't seen it, go, now, go rent it. It looks dumb, but it. is. great. ;)

Anyways. Just wanted to say hey to ya'll and let you know I'm not dead -- just was sick for a bit. ;)

Hopefully a more interesting post will be up soon! I've been itching to get my hands on a new project...... :D