Happy New Year!

I was going to post pics from last night's totally amazing New Year's Eve Eve party, but I'm rather lazy today, and being that it's the last day of the year [and my 4th anniversary of starting this blog!], I'm more contemplative than anything else today.




2011 was a pretty full year for me. I mean, RL-wise, there was a lot of family medical issues going on and a lot of stress and anxiety, and my body is a little worse for wear, but we got through it. But there were good times too, of course, and I am grateful that I'm ending the year with both my parents still able to get around, even if their steps are slow. There were many times this year that I wasn't sure if that would happen. The walker and the wheelchair sit in the corner of their house, not necessary at the moment, and that makes me extremely happy.

In SL...well, who could call my SL anything but blessed? There were some tough times here and there, but on the whole, it's been so amazing. I cannot remember a time in my SLife when I have been happier. I've learned a lot, I've loved and been loved in return, I feel like I've really settled down into what SL should be. Are there still things I want? Of course. But that is what the new year is for, right?

My New Year's resolutions for SL are simple. Be more open to new friendships with people because not everyone is going to hurt me. Be more social and hang out with my friends because they have been by my side no matter what I've gone through this year. Continue building a life with Aldwyn and blogging our adventures.

Speaking of blogging, I'm re-starting the 365 Day Project. I know, crazy, right? But when I look over the past year, I didn't blog ENOUGH. I missed recording so many things. Whether I write a real post or not, a picture can totally do it. And I know there will be days that I will miss because I'll be out of town a bit this spring, but I will just keep going like I did the last time.

Happy New Year, everyone! Please be safe if you go out to party tonight. I need you all with me in 2012!! ♥♥♥

New Year's Eve Eve!

Awww yeah! I love the hours leading up to a party!! I especially love the time when I'm half assed dressed and look crazy.




Yeah, I totally went shopping like that. I didn't feel like changing. I hope someone took pics.

Anyway, the New Year's Eve Eve party on Bluebonnet is tonight at 8pm SLT!! The parcel is closed off to the public [except for Bluebonnet residents, of course] until party time because I set the landing point and I know that's annoying to people who really only came to see the ground level. Or who just wandered onto the sim for no reason.

I'm so very excited for the party tonight. I love getting the party room just right, spending some time making a playlist, getting my outfit ready. It's all good times to me!

I hope you guys can make it! It should be a good time! :)

I was a fashionista, then I took an arrow in the knee

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Aldwyn was an awesome hubby and got me Skyrim for my gift because he knew I'd been wanting to try it out! Well, that and he couldn't be around last night or today really, and he wanted to shut me up. I'm pretty sure it's a little of both.

Now let me preface this by saying that I am NOT a gamer. Seriously am not. Dragon Age is my real game of choice and that's mostly because I've played through so many times, I can enjoy it because I know what to do. I like playing by myself, using cheat codes, and always winning in the end. Plus the story is fantastic and I love Alistair. I did Rift for a time, but I sucked hard at it because I couldn't cheat and because I don't really dig playing with other people all the time. I did like the game, but it's dreadfully hard to solo as you progress and games, for me, are really more of a solo thing because I play games to escape.

So here is my little character. She's a Nord, because that seemed to be the best looking out of all the females to me.




I mean, really. Like I was going to be a reptile or a cat or whatever? Even the elves aren't cute! I will always want a PRETTY character. But I think the Nords are warriors anyway, which is good for me because I don't get into magic and junk like that. I just want to kill stuff and look pretty doing it.

The controls have been the hardest thing in the world for me to get used to. In Dragon Age, when I use the WASD keys, A & D turn me and the camera around. It's a lot like SL in some ways. But in Skyrim, I'm having to use the mouse a LOT to look around and it's highly annoying. I'm getting used to it, but it hasn't been easy.

Also not easy? The fact that if I steal something, people come after me!! I'm just trying to stock up on supplies, folks!



Hmm...should I take this coin purse or leave it?

But the funniest thing to me was when I stole a horse. I would have BOUGHT it but it was 1000 gold and I didn't have that. So what choice did I have but to steal?




I got on that horse and ran for my LIFE. But since you can't fight and be on the horse at the same time, when I got off the horse to kill something, the damn thing wandered off. No loyalty!!!

At least my character is pretty.




And MEAN. I can slash people down like nothing else!




I killed some bandits and they had a horse, so I got to steal the horse! Riding high now, y'all!




Well, until we jumped and I miscalculated how high the wall was.




Sure is hard to keep a horse in this game.

Buying for men is hard!

So Aldwyn's been mentioning that our tv is broken. I dunno why he cares. I mean, it's the holiday hiatus. There's really not much on. But when I wanted to watch something today, well...that's when I got mad that it's broken!




I have a little technical training, so I tried to fix it. I jiggled the wires. I blew in the back of the tv. I jiggled the antenna [you think he'd spring for some cable up in this house]. I even tried putting foil on top of the antenna tips! Finally I pulled out the last trick in my arsenal of tech knowledge.




But then I realized that I've yet to get him a Christmas gift so hey! A brand new television would be the perfect gift, am I right?? What man doesn't like electronics for Christmas? I quickly ran out and stopped in at the first television store I saw.

It didn't go so well. There were just too many options and all the televisions were as big as the house! Then Christina Aguilera and some guy started singing and wailing and I had to run out of there.




The next television store didn't go over so well, either. The televisions were, again, of monster proportions. I'm not about to let some huge ugly tv in the house to mess with the decor! Oh, and not only that, but they sold... well, see?




He can keep that stuff out in the garage, if he wants to.

I don't know. Maybe we're just not meant to have a new television. Do you think he'll like socks for Christmas?

New Year's Eve Eve!

Save the date! ♥





Landmark and all that to come closer to the party time. :)

Another letter to SLanta!

It's that time again for my yearly letter to SLanta to tell him what I'd like for Christmas! I know, I'm cutting it close this year!




Dear SLanta,

Hi! I've been very good and I think that this year, I deserve some stuff. Oh, don't get me wrong. I probably have more stuff than should be legal, and I'm quite appreciative of it all! But it's been a tough year in some spots, as you well know, so I think I should be allowed to ask for things this year! Are you ready? Here we go.

1. More mesh stuff! I need boots and shoes and dresses and tops and jeans and furniture!

2. More cute stuff to play with! A long time ago, I used to have tons of things to ride or pose with. But over the years, they've either broken or the quality is just ugly.

3. Jewelry. Casual jewelry, more specifically. Yeah, I know, I HAVE stuff. But I have a lot of big statement pieces or big formal jewelry. I need casual stuff to wear with jeans or delicate pieces to wear with dresses.

4. Cold hard cash. :-p Okay, just kidding, SLanta.

Really, I have pretty much almost everything a person could ask for in SL. I'm incredibly blessed. What I really want can't be delivered in a bag. I want to be happy, for my friends and family to be happy, and for all of us to enjoy the time we have together. If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that our time together could be taken away in an instant, and we should enjoy each other while we can.

Well, except for the invisible horse, saddle hag, frowny mouth girls. I don't enjoy them at all.

Merry Christmas, SLanta!

Love,
Ali ♥

In the mancave

I don't really go into our garage much. That's Aldwyn's mancave and a guy needs a place to like...get away from his wife. Or fix cars or whatever. I had run out there yesterday to grab some toys for the baby, but I hadn't really looked around in a while. Imagine my surprise when Ulaa was passing by and happened to look into the garage window. Immediately she had to tell me [and everyone] that Al had some...THINGS in there. When I got home, I had to go in to look.

No sir.




This is not what the mancave is for!! The mancave is for fixing cars and boats and puttering around with computers so parts don't get all over the floors!

But, I'm also not against things like this occurring. I'm not that much of an asshole. I just would rather he have good quality visual aids, if you get my drift. So being the good wife that I am sometimes, I ran back inside the house, set up the camera, stripped down, and got to work. After all, what would be a better visual for a man than his wife, am I right??

After getting my clothes back on, I hopped back out to the garage to fix things up for him.




I couldn't wait for him to get home! Sure, I had gotten on one of his computers. Sure, I had changed his screensaver and desktop picture. Sure, I drew some mustaches and Sharpie chola eyebrows on some of the girls in his magazines. But he'd be happy, right?




Yep. I was totally right. :)

But it might be a while before I venture back into the mancave.

Babysitting Day!

When Rylan announced that she was pregnant, I told her that I'd be a babysitter if she needed it. Well, you know, that's what you say when your friends are pregnant! I didn't know she'd make me stick to my word. When she asked me if I could babysit while she and Sixx went to buy baby Emma's Christmas present, I couldn't very well go back on my word. Especially when they rolled up in their "new" van. [And knocked over our mailbox.]




After they took off [and THAT was dramatic], I realized that I hadn't been with a baby in a long long time!




I settled Emma down for a moment and ran out to the garage to unpack some of our boxes. If you recall, I collect Linden bears and other teddy bears. I also have an assortment of cute little toys that people thought I would enjoy. I figured there had to be something in there the baby would like to play with.




We hit our groove pretty fast. She's quite the patient kid, but I guess that comes from living with her parents. She also has a great appreciation of music, so we sat around listening to some tunes. She liked the records a lot. I think she has a calling as a DJ!




Of course, Rylan kept calling. Nervous mother!




"Emma's just fine! We've got music on and she's playing with some toys while I do a load of laundry! Everything is fine!"




"Oh...I'm going to have to call you back. The um...the dryer is done! We're fine! Bye!"

Once Emma finished um...helping me with the laundry, I settled her back down with some toys. This motherhood thing really isn't as hard as people make it out to be. In fact, now that the laundry is finished, and she's happily playing with her toys, I think it's time to enjoy an afternoon glass of wine.

Gah, there goes the phone again.

"Rylan, she's FINE. We're just chilling and having fun and she's happy playing with toys and looking at the Christmas tree! She's FIIIINE. I'm looking at her ri... "




"She's very into the Christmas tree so don't worry andwe'llseeyouguyssoonBYE!"

Quite the explorer, little Emma.

After I put her back on the ground, I realized that me and my wine were going to have to keep closer to her. So we all sat by the tree while Emma happily plucked ornaments off for a while. Nothing that can't be fixed!




We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with toys and she was very happy sitting in the teddy bear chair for tinies that I got while on a mad Linden bear collecting spree a few years ago. I knew it would come in handy one day! But you know, I had the strangest feeling while we were on the floor playing that someone was watching us. I don't know. Maybe this wine was bad or something.




No matter, because Rylan and Sixx pulled up soon to take little Emma home. I went around picking up toys and putting ornaments back on the tree. The house was clean and quiet again, but it seemed a lot more empty. Who knows? Maybe it's time we think about expanding our family.

Another guest list?!

This year is the third annual New Year's Eve Eve party! I always have soooo much fun throwing these parties but they do take some preparation! Since I got up early today, I thought I'd hole up in my game skybox and work on the list of things I need to do for the party. But then it hit me.

This is going to mean working on ANOTHER guest list!




As you all might recall, there was some stupid stuff that went on when we were preparing our wedding guest list. Now it's not going to be so hard with this list because the party is usually well crowded and also it's not an intimate ceremony or anything like that, so I don't have to worry about which person is hating which person this time around. And plus, most of my friends are seeming to get along better these days, so you know, woot woot and all that.

But here's my dilemma, and maybe you all can help me out. For the past couple of years, the parties have been just adults because for 1, I didn't know any kid avatars, and for 2, the whole family thing wasn't quite as huge as it is right now. I don't have a problem with kids or families, but I'm wondering if the party will seem less festive & adult if there are kids running around. I don't want to leave my little friends out or ask them to please put on an adult shape to attend because some of them are very immersed in being a child of a family and I totally respect that. Of course, being immersed in their role as a child, they wouldn't really be expecting to come to a New Year's party anyway where there are adults and pixel champagne anyway, right?

So I was thinking that maybe, if there was enough interest, I'd make the big adult party, but invite the kids to come play in the game room for their own little New Year's Eve Eve sleepover. We have plenty of seating here, bunk beds, and there's Greedy and trivia for them to play. They could dance and listen to the music, too. And if any of their parents attending the party wanted to check in on them, they'd be right nearby.

Of course, maybe I'm just putting too much thought into this, but this is the biggest party I throw all year, and I want to make it a good one for everyone!

I got 2!

Everyone left me alone tonight!!! I was the saddest girl in the world again!




Aldwyn told me a while ago when I was whining that I should get a girlfriend to occupy my time when he wasn't around. I don't know if he meant it in the "Yeah baby! Girl on girl action!" way or the "Yeah....baby? Get some girl friends please because sometimes I need a break." You just never know sometimes!!

But, I took his advice and being an overachiever, I got two.




Awww. :)

Pumpkin and Ulaa came over to keep me company and then we spent the rest of the evening ... doing stuff. WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE.

[Well, if wink wink nudge nudge means being assholes on skype and laughing about nothing, because that's exactly what we did.]

But it's 4:30am, so it's definitely bedtime.

Guilt Trip

So Aldwyn's been pretty busy the past couple of weeks. He has 3 jobs because that's how many it takes to take care of me. LOL! Just kidding, just kidding. Poor guy has to fight just to ever get me a gift. But he does have 3 jobs and with the end of the year coming up, things have been pretty hectic for him.

Of course, I go in phases of needing time alone and needing constant attention. This works out well for us sometimes because when he's busy, I entertain myself with no problems. But unfortunately, I'm in one of those attention needing phases, and this whole thing with him working so much sucks for me. So while trying on some stuff I hadn't gotten around to unboxing yet, I thought, "Oh my God! This skin! I know what to do! I'm going to take a picture and use it as a guilt trip! Because I'm TOTALLY CRYING HERE."




Do I not look like the saddest girl in the whole wide world??

All was well and good until I got up. Then my guilt trip was just more amusing than anything else because you see, to get the shot that I wanted, I had to mod my hair a bit. And once I got up and saw myself...




It was nothing but flat out funny!

At least I found a way to entertain myself for an hour tonight.

But I'm still not down with him not being here when I want.

Up on the housetop

It always seems that the nights I want someone around, that's when no one is around. Hmmph.




I don't expect for people to entertain me. In fact, it annoys me when people seem to expect others to entertain them all of the time. But once in a while, I want someone around to skate with or go up and play Greedy or just sit around and do nothing together. Unfortunately, the two I am with the most are busy a lot, especially on the weekends. If all this alone time keeps up, I'm going to have to... I dunno, do something drastic.

You know. Like IM people or something.

Maybe I should get an SL job. Ooh, or I could make stuff and sell it! Yeahhhh! I'm not very good at building anymore, but I can make umm...boxes and stuff. Or I could buy sculpt packs and put shit together and tell people it's awesome and that they have to buy it. Or I could take peoples' pictures and because I can use shadows, I can call it art and charge them a lot of money. OR I COULD DO MORPHS! Plenty of skanks people in SL like morphs!

Hmm...or I could force my way into someone's SL family and make them take care of me because I am so cute with my antlers! That would work, right?

Or I could just shut my mouth, take off my Crankypants, log off, and go to bed. Maybe I'll do that instead.