Okay, so it's been over two years since I've posted here. But it's always fun to pop over and visit Livejournal, like pulling an old diary out of the closet.

Though, sometimes, I have alterior motives! Just wanted to put the word out to anyone crafty who might happen upon this that I have a new craft blog, In a Whipstitch. Pop on over if you like knitting, sewing, cooking, photography, and crafts in general! I'd love to see some of you over there!

Hey strangers!

So my newest thing now is crafts. Sewing, mostly, but crafts in general. Other than that, work and college full-time. I don't have a lot of time on my hands, but I'm thinking of making this my craft blog if I can get the ambition to get it started...because I have so many fun things to show off and I can never get enough oohs and aahs, lol. So keep an eye out for that, especially after Monday, when I have my last final.

HOORAY FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK! It can't come soon enough.

And for all of my JG friends out there: CHRISTMASALBUMFINALLYOMGABOUTTIMEGROBAN!!

So I have finally been officially accepted into KSU. Not that I was worried, but it sure was much more of a hassle than it should have been. Completely my own fault, of course, but still. So now I just have to wait until May, and I can finally get back into the school groove.

Surprisingly enough (to myself most of all), I really, really miss school. I was sitting around the other day, all bored, and started thinking, GOD, what I wouldn't give to have a paper to write. That's very, very abnoraml behavior for me. I loathe paper-writing. SUPERLOATHE. But I wanted too. My brain is protesting to being wasted.

Guess that's a good thing, eh?


UGH. No more Bones for another whole WEEK. *is grumpy*

Tickets came today! Finally. I was beginning to worry they had disappeared into the mass grave of junk mail in the kitchen basket or worse *gasp!* had been thrown away. But they are here, and are tucked safely in an envelope that's been duct-taped to my wall. I even left myself a sticky widget on my computer's Dashboard that says "Josh Groban tickets are taped to your wall." 'Cause that's how ADD I am.

Have begun to read Kathy Reichs' books, and am beginning to serioiusly consider taking up biological anthropology when I get back to school. After all, I was voted "Most Likely to be a Scientist" in 7th grade (though I wasn't amused at the time). Funny, but I'm really beginning to miss school. I guess it's like they say...you hate school until you can't go anymore. So I'm definitely ready to go back. Kids are fun and all, but definitely not what I want to do for the rest of my life.

So that's it, really. Just wanted to drop in to assure everyone that I hadn't dropped back into LJ deaddom. The holidays were more than a little hectic this year, between regular work duties, making gifts for the kids and their parents, shopping for my own family, and going out of town. Plus my assistant was out for three weeks, so that was an emotional/physcial/spiritual strain in many, many ways, lol.

Hope you guys had a great holiday.

I LOVE BONES. I really, really, do. That show just keeps getting better and better, and it almost killed me not to have an episode to watch last week.

A couple of quotes to prove how amazing it is:

Booth: "You see, Bones? The Gravedigger is not like God because God doesn't make mistakes."
Angela: "Mmm, I don't know...putting testicles on the outside didn't seem like such a great idea."
Booth: *nods reluctantly in agreement*

or

Booth: "We call you people 'squints,' because you're always squinting at things."
Brennan (Bones): "You mean people with high IQs and basic reasoning skills?"
Booth: "Yeah."

It's been a long time since there's been a show on TV that's so wonderfully smart and so entertaining at the same time, without all the sex and violence and profanity other shows use to make up for bad writing. In fact, it makes me feel smart just watching it. Plus I love watching sexual tension SO much more than watching the actual getting it on. There's no fun in it when characters get together easily. So that part (between Booth and Bones) is cool too.

So yeah. RANDOM. Like I said, off my meds. Watch Bones on Fox, Wednesdays at 8PM! Okbyenow.

Just a quick little meme I stole from autumnjedigirl.

1. open your iTunes library
2. put it on shuffle.
3. press play.
4. for every question, type the song that's playing.
5. when you go to a new question, press the 'next' button.
6. don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.
7. don't skip songs


(1) opening credits: Smile – Josh Groban
(2) waking up: Peace Train – Cat Stevens
(3) first day at school: Push It – Salt n’ Pepa
(4) fight song: I Love the Rain Most – Joe Purdy
(5) breaking up: Portions of Foxes – Rilo Kiley
(6) happiness: More Than It Would Seem – The Gabe Dixon Band
(7) life's okay: Hard to Handle – Black Crowes
(8) mental breakdown: Learning to Fly – Tom Petty
(9) driving: What Can I Say – Brandi Carlile
(10) flashback: Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well – Mike Doughty
(11) getting back together: Do It To It - Cherish
(12) wedding: Suddenly I See – KT Tunstall
(13) birth of a child: Over My Head – The Fray
(14) final battle: Verita – Josh Groban
(15) death scene: Gravity – John Mayer
(16) funeral song: Fools Like Me – Lisa Loeb
(17) end credits: Dreaming With a Broken Heart – John Mayer


That is all. :)

So I got mine. To Atlanta, needless to say. Very, very excited, though the fact that the show is still 5 freaking months away dampens it a bit, lol. I think I've spent more money on Joshly things in the past two weeks than I ever did the first time I was obsessed with him. That's the nice thing about working full-time, I suppose. The sweet moolah. But doing school AND work full-time is going to be a shock to the system, I'm afraid.

It rained ALL FLIPPING DAY TODAY. I was stuck in a room all day with 10 stir-crazy toddlers and it was mostly UNFUN. When I got home and my mom asked me how my day was, I looked at her for a minute, said "It rained ALL DAY," and stalked off. Lol...now that I've had an hour or so to be in my happy place, I feel much better. All I can say is this: no matter how creepy they are, I thank God every day for the Wiggles.

Did some photoshopping the other night, and sucked much less than I expected to. Still a lot to relearn, though. Here are a few icons I came up with (from the movie Perfume: The Story of a Murderer...I just love Rachel Hurd-Wood, ever since Peter Pan):



Kind of awkward and somewhat bland, mostly because I was too cowardly to break out the text. Maybe next time, lol.

If anyone is interested, or are fans of the books A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray or Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, I have a few somewhat current fics over at FF.net, as well as a single chapter Firefly/Serenity one (not because it's a oneshot, but because I never added to it after the first chapter...0.o). You can find them here.

I know I'm probably flattering myself to think that many people will see this after being gone so long, but to all of you lovely sweet people who are kind enough to still drop by, y'all are the best! :D

So I finally made it over to the Georgia Aquarium for the first time today with my mom. It's actually pretty amazing, but would have been a lot more fun if I was still 5. They have a lot of little pools where you can touch a few different kinds of sea life, but at the age of 20, I have no interest in sticking my hand anywhere near a horshoe crab/shrimp/sea cucumber. Ick. The Beluga whales were my absolute favorite, even if I was forced to endure 15 minutes of having "Baby Beluga" stuck in my head. And if I could, I would totally get a pet sea otter. How freaking CUTE are those little guys?

My mother mentioned, as we were listening to Awake on the way home, that she thinks I have a very mature taste in music. *snickers* If only she could see me in the car singing to "Moneymaker" a la Bald Asian Guy in the bathroom in that Amp'd mobile commercial. Oh yeah, I'm so much more refined than any of my peers. Totally.

Going to the Varsity afterwards didn't suck too much either. Who can turn down an FO and a chili cheese dog, I mean, really? And no, I refuse to make any cheap grease jokes about the onion rings. Grease is good for the human soul.

Am currently trying to relearn how to use Photoshop. After I lost almost all of my graphics to that stupid server crash, I figured it was about time I remade some of the images to my tutorials, but had no idea how difficult it would be to remember my way around. Coming back to Photoshop after a year is NOTHING like riding a bike, unfortunately. God, it really sucks. I mean, a year ago, I thought I was pretty hot stuff when it came to graphics...so this whole re-education thing is really humbling. I'm currently still a little in denial, blaming my slight awkwardness on my new laptop (it's much harder to manipulate a touch pad than a mouse, IMO) and my fingernails being too long. SERIOUSLY.

Have to go pick up my sister somewhere. *groan* I thought it was funny that she lost her license for speeding until I started getting asked to drive her around. Seriously? Seriously!

Yes, I've been missing for a while. Yes, that is old news. Lol.

I've basically popped back in (hopefully it's not just temporary) because I'm re-in love with Josh owing to the release of Awake, which I kind of expected to happen.

Things weren't working out at Samford, so I'm working full-time as the lead two-year-old teacher at my daycare this semester and plan to start back at Kennesaw/UGA (depending on whether I decide to keep my job and go to school part time).

Teaching two-year-olds is fun and rewarding, but very, very exhausting, as is to be expected.

Anyways, just thought I'd drop in with a short little update. I'd love to hear from you guys if you feel like stopping in to say hi.

On a random side note: If anyone has any of my graphics, any at all (including those from tutorials), is there any way you could e-mail/post a comment with them please? My host's server crashed a few months back and I basically lost everything (the copies I had on my computer got corrupted when moved), and it just now occured to me to ask around and see if anyone had hung onto some. If you have, I will be forever grateful. :)

My God, I'd forgotten how amazing he is.

Wow. So yeah. College. College is beating the crap out of me.

Other than that, life is good. I hope all is well with everyone else!

You know, I've never realized how Scottish I really am. In fact, aside from my random Italian grandfather, pretty much both sides of my family all the way back to before the Revolution have been Scottish.

Did I mention I have Campbells on both sides too? How weird is THAT. Of course, there are so many Campbells, it isn't likely that my parents are related. XD

I love Scotland. I want to go. NOW.

So yeah, I've kind of been getting into this whole genealogy thing. Especially when I found out that my best friend's 6 times great uncle married my 6 times great aunt. Which was totally WEIRD. Oh, and I almost fell over backwards when I sawa my 7 times great-grandfather (Reverend James Campbell) and one of the churches he founded (Barbecue Church) mentioned in one of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books.

So that's been fun.

I've also finally started on a story that has publishing potential. I'm only 10,000 words in, but it actually has a plot and stuff, which is nuts.

If anyone is interested in reading it, let me know and I'll post it. I'd be delighted to get some feedback!

Hope you guys are great!

Hey everyone...yes, yes I know, I've been MIA for quite some time. It comes with ADD...I have little blips of disinterest and I just have to take a break. Plus I've been on vacation all week, and you know how that goes.

That, and there's just not much going on. It's been just me and my mom this week...my dad's camping in Minnesota and my sister's at a ranch in Colorado (with strep). But we've been having all kinds of fun...shopping and knitting and cooking. You know, girl stuff. Today we're going to Decatur for no reason in particular. But I made some killer Texas chili last night. Mmm mmm good.

Corinne and Katie...I'm so so sorry for not getting back to you about getting together...I've just been having one of those bum weeks. I don't know if you're still in town, Katie, but Corinne, you and I definitely need to get together before I leave! Apologies for being so bad at following up on things, lol. Forgive me.

Other than that, nothing else is really going on. Oh, and don't forget to pray for London and the people that were killed/injured this morning. God bless!!

Um. New icons.



( Fandom is good for the soul )

Whew. I can't believe I finally finished this. I've been working on it for three days straight and it's finally ready for action.

Under the cut, you will find an extensive icon guide, covering everything from sharpening to coloring to text.

If you are an icon-maker, particularly a newer one, please come have a look!

I know the images are down, and have been for some time. My host's server crashed and I basically lost EVERYTHING. I know this is a longshot, but if anyone happened to download some of the images and still has them, PLEASE get in touch with me, so I can get this tutorial back into working order. Sorry for the inconvenience!


Click here or on the cut to view. ( Campbell's Ginormous Guide to Icons )

So Orientation was this past week. I have never been so excited about leaving my comfort zone in my life.

Not only are the professors and administrators incredible, the incoming freshmen class consisted of some of the nicest kids I've met in a while. Yes, the dorms are old, and even that doesn't bother me in the least. I cannot wait to go.

Oh, and another thing. Up until Thursday morning (first day of Orientation) I had planned to study Psychology. But I don't think I ever planned to stay there - I simply couldn't think of a career that I'd love using a Psychology degree. So my dad just happened to point out the Graphic Design major to me and it was just like DUH. It was so funny that I'd never really considered that as a major, knowing that A) I have a background in it, B) It's the biggest hobby I have, and C) You take more art classes than academic ones. I'm beyond ecstatic.

So my classes are as follows:

Monday/Wednesday:

Structure 1 (theory and concepts of art, etc.) from 8-11:20 AM
Drawing 1 (OMGDRAWING) from 11:45 - 2:15

Tuesday/Thursday:

Communication Arts 102 (I got to go straight to 102 'cause of my SAT/ACT scores, thank heavens) from 8:00 - 9:50
Fitness Walking (all the good PE classes were taken >.<) from 11 - 12:50
Cultural Perspectives from 1 - 2:50

Friday

OMGNOCLASSESFRIDAY. :D :D :D

My roommate is the coolest, and is doing the same major as me, so that makes her even cooler.

And OMGCUTEBOYS. There was this adorable guy from NC that tutored Special Ed kids on the weekends. *swoon* Alas, he has a girlfriend. But she's going to college in Indiana, so (not to wish doom on his relationship) it looks like he might be single soon. XD

I. CAN'T. WAIT. OMGCOLLEGENOW.

I guess it's about time for an update, eh? Let's see...what's been going on the past few days?



1. My roommate and I went dorm shopping...once we get moved in, I'll post a picture. But it's all really cute...and making our own curtains and pillows, so there's a bit of originality to it, lol.



2. Father's Day. Was fun. First time my whole family went to "big church" together in a while. I usually go to Sunday school, lol. But, eh. It was cool, because we got to see a tape from the Manchester mission trip, which looked AWESOME. I'm so jealous.



3. Oh, this was awesome. We went to the Container Store for more dorm stuff. I got this adorable pig trashcan, 20 hangers, a laundry bag, a cute little organizer thing, computer cable organizers, etc. It all totalled to about $50, or so I thought. But when the guy totalled it at the counter, it was only $23. Which, for those of you who have to watch your money, know that this kind of thing is the BEST. Since they had some sales, I figured I had just gotten lucky; until I looked at the receipt when I got home and realized I had only been charged for the trash can and the organizers. (Can I first insult the cashier? How dense can you get?). Since I'm such a good girl and I felt guilty (although it totally wasn't my fault. But still, it's just like stealing) I called them and told them what happened. OMG. They told me not to worry about it, since it was a cashier error. OMG. OMG. You guys have NO IDEA how much I needed that. THANK YOU GOD.



4. Went to see Batman Begins. Enjoyed it thoroughly.



5. Added 250 new songs to my iPod (mostly through the assistance of my cousin. Who is a music GOD). I'm up to 463 now. And I haven't even taken up 2 of my 30 GBs yet. 0.o Suppose I oughta add some more pictures.



6. My mom left for Brooklyn. She'll be gone until Wednesday.



7. My sister left on Western Tour. She'll be gone 3 weeks. *sniff* I'm going to be sooo bored. I wasn't made out to be an only child. XD



8. 25 DAYS 11 HOURS 'TIL HARRY POTTER!!!



9. 3 DAYS 'TIL ORIENTATION!!!!





All in all, it's been a pretty good couple of weeks. So there is my update! I've fulfilled my quota, lol. XD

In order to clear up my user info a bit, I'm going to put all my icon award banners in a seperate post...so at least they can be put to use.

FEEL FREE TO IGNORE THIS POST. It's just so I can get everything in one little place and still make use of the hard work put into the banners.

( I'd like to thank the Academy... )

Speaking of Liz...didja get my e-mail, woman?

( Because I'm bored like Liz )

New icons!

( We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you? )