After working on this for months, plus trying to get other wedding stuff done, I finally have the site completed. I wanted to make sure it was done before I sent my Save-the-Date cards out since they include information about the web site. Now, the only thing I am waiting for is my Disney Honeymoon giftcard which will allow me to activate our Disney Honeymoon Registry so people can contribute to the honeymoon.

I have one more week left before I go back to school. My 3 weeks of summer vacation have been pretty much all dedicated to wedding stuff, both my wedding and my future sibling in-laws; they’re getting married on July 18th, so we’ve had a lot to do. Last week we went shopping for bridesmaid dresses, and I ended up finding my wedding dress. Monday night we all went over to my in-laws house to put together their wedding favors. It has been crazy!

Then tonight Joshua, Amber, and I are heading down to San Diego to pick up Bobby; he fractured his ankle playing ultimate frisbee and since his car is a stick there is no way he can drive all the way up here. We’re heading down to pick him up and tow up his car (it’s crapping out) all within tonight and tomorrow. It’s going to be a LONG trip!

Speaking of long trips, this Saturday we’re leaving for the family vacation in Bandon, Oregon. I’m having several people look after the house while we’re gone, so I know my kitties will be taken good care of. I’m looking forward to taking a break from everything and enjoying my last week of summer vacation in the great outdoors!

FS102 – Fundamentals of Design – Tuesday 8-11:50am
MM1123 – Fundamentals of Web-based Programming – Tuesday 1-4:50pm
FS103 – Color Theory – Wednesday 8-11:50am
FS101 – Fundamentals/Observational Drawing – Friday 1-5:10pm

I’m so excited even if they seem like not-so-interesting classes. They’re all related to my major, and that’s what matters! I am general ed free! The only downside is I still have to take one more math class. They require “College Algebra” and because my JCs didn’t offer anything like that it’s one more class I have to take. I did have to take a placement exam, and luckily I placed right into the class. Still, gahhh can’t get away from math!

My school isn’t like your regular school. Every 3 months I get a one week break and then a new set of classes. It appears that I wrap up “spring” around June 19th and then I get a 3 week summer break. It’s pretty sweet. This means I’ll be done with school a lot quicker!

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On another note… (since I know a lot of people will be coming here for it)

In regards to the “situation” let me just say this: I wouldn’t have behaved like I did if I didn’t know what I was talking about. My friend deserves to be defended, especially when lies are being spread about her and people don’t stop to verify the facts. How would you feel if someone wrote a lie about you in a public community and then to read the comments supporting that lie? You’d be hurt and upset, especially since it was suppose to be private business. You’d be grateful if you had a friend come in there and stick up for you!

My friend wrote out her side of the story and is willing to share it – just ask. Before you judge my behavior, read it. As the antagonist said, there are two sides to every story. I love my friend, and I will defend her to the end. I just wish people knew that instead of thinking I am just a drama llama. *sigh*

January: Happy New Year! I have never been happier to start over!

February: Over the weekend Joshua and I ventured to our hometown to celebrate his 22nd birthday.

March: So this nasty, nasty cold is still plaguing me.

April: The Friday Five ~ 1. What is your favorite fizzy, bubbly drink?

May: I had a very busy weekend!

June: The Friday Five ~ 1. What bugs truly freak you out?

July: As of right now the only two rooms that need some TLC are the dining room and kitchen, while I’m fairly certain I know what I want to do with the dining room, I am having major issues with the kitchen.

August: Yesterday I picked up some adorable wall art at TJ Maxx thus completing our master bedroom.

September: The Friday Five ~ 1. What story did you love reading, as a child?

October: First major achievement of the day… I found a dress for the wedding I am going to tomorrow!

November: This year’s Halloween was SO MUCH better than last year’s Halloween!

December: 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Rules:

List three things you’re good at, three things you like about your life, three things you like about your personality and three things you like about your looks. Then challenge five people to do the same.

My answers:

Three things I’m good at:
1. Web design
2. Music
3. Interior decorating

Three things I like about my life:
1. I am surrounded by supportive and loving family
2. I am marrying my best friend. He is my everything.
3. Overall I am happy with my life!

Three things I like about my personality:
1. I am honest
2. I have a good sense of humor
3. I am open minded

Three things I like about my looks:
1. My hands
2. My feet, even if I do have Hobbit toes hehe
3. My smile

I tag Holly, Poppy, Carolynne, Vira, and Meggan!

Spanish was torture because we simply went over food vocabulary. Not only were we talking about food, but our teacher put up some pictures on the screen of specialty foods in the different Hispanic countries. Talking about the different fruits, especially pineapple, led to me talking about the pineapple whip from Disneyland. Of course this led to little side conversations about Disneyland and now I am just all the more excited for this weekend!

In other news, I put up a temporary “under construction” page for Lovely Geek. Turns out LovelyGeek.com is registered by someone else so I was forced to go with LovelyGeek.net. I also bought another domain, but I can’t tell you yet, hehe.

Yes, I know Cena is being secretive. Don’t worry, things won’t stay secretive for long… hopefully.

What’s your favorite genre of music?
I don’t know if it’s considered a genre, but my favorite is soundtracks. Whether they have various artists or it’s a movie score, I like them all! If you look at my Last.fm profile you’ll see that Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings), John Williams (Star Wars), and Thomas Newman (WALL-E) are my top artists, all of which who compose movie scores.

Do you listen to that genre while designing or does it change?
I like to listen to music that doesn’t have any singing, which mainly is my movie scores. I find that if I listen to something I can sing along to it’s distracting.

Do you tend to listen to any artist in particular while designing?
In general, not really. If I am working on themed design – like a Star Wars design, for example – I’ll listen to Star Wars music to get me in the mood.

Do you find that different song styles or beats influence the style of your designing? Vice versa?
I think so. Again, I find that instrumental music suits me best than songs I can sing along to.

What program/site do you use to listen to music?
I just use iTunes! A lot of times I have it on shuffle through soundtracks.

And finally, could you live without music? Design?
I can’t live without either. Bother are a HUGE part of who I am and what I do.

And one last request for the compilation playlist: What song best sums up your design style and/or the music you listen to while designing?
I’ve always had trouble picking the one song that best describes me. A couple of the songs that really get me going are from the Kill Bill soundtracks. One of my favorites is L’Arena (From “Il Mercenario”) (Album Version).

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If you have a chance, please take part in this project!

Man, I can’t tell you how much I fought with this layout trying to get it the way I wanted! I even had a hard time deciding whether or not I wanted a sidebar. I made the decision to have one after Melly helped integrate WordPress with my MediaShelf.

New things around here include fully updated MediaShelf, integrated WP 2.7 comment threading, and a few other plug-ins lurking here and there. Things finally look how I want them! I still have a few minor things to tweak, but in general I am very happy!

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? Anything, please!

So what is this day all about? It’s about showing off the bare bones of what truly makes a web site: mark-up.

I also wish to quote Melly as she made some good points about joining us in the buff!

Oh and not to censor anyone or anything, hehe, but I’d rather not see comments going on about how you can’t LIVE without your pretty colors and images and whatever or you’re “too scared” to turn off your design or worried about your visitors not EVAR coming back, oh noes! If you think you’ll have a panic attack just by turning off your stylesheet for a few hours, then you may want to consider trying to make it a goal to have your site look sexy at the code-level. It’s not just about the shiny-ness. :P

I’m not going to judge or persecute you if you don’t participate in this year’s CND, but I think the only remotely valid reason for not doing so is that you’re just lazy. ;) Oh, but you can’t really use that as an excuse either because there are several plugins and other tools you can set up on your site to automatically take care of everything. ;)

Totally true, as I am using the WordPress Naked Day Plugin that simply strips my site every year on April 9th. It works in the background and it’s beyond easy to use!

So, join us! I did this in 2007 and 2008 and will continue to do so to spread the message of sexy coding. Woo!

Anyway while scrolling through the comments of the latest ad I came across this exchange.

Commenter #1: Benchmarks NAO.
Commenter #2: What does ‘NAO’ mean?
Commenter #1: Two things to consider:
1) You just failed the internet.
2) NAO = NOW.
Commenter #2: I really don’t get you.

HAHAHA. I’m sorry but what computer geek doesn’t know LOLspeak? I mean, seriously?!

2. What is your favorite deep-fried food?
French Fries!!! Mozzarella sticks come in at a close second. Oh man now I’m hungry.

3. What is your favorite hot beverage?
COFFEE plus 4 tablespoons of fat-free French Vanilla Coffemate, plz.

4. What is your favorite really messy food?
Enchiladas. At least for me they get pretty messy, especially when making them.

5. What is your favorite recipe for a blended or mixed beverage?
I don’t really have a favorite recipe. Besides, I’m still experimenting with mixed beverages.

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That whole meme made me really hungry. I really want Mozzarella sticks! Arghh!!

Anyhoo, I’m busy working on a new layout featuring my new mascot, who has shown up via a new avatar all over my social networking sites. This layout is going to be very different than anything I have done in a LONG time, and I’m pretty excited about it. I got the design part done, and now I am dealing with the coding. The coding is what is going to take awhile. I hope to have this layout up by the end of the weekend.