Seeing My British Boy Paylist Live

Last night I got to see two musicians from my British Boys Playlist...Sam Bradley and Marcus Foster!!!

I was excited to meet Marcus!

It was great seeing Sam again! I tried not to fan girl too much!

Yesterday, a friend asked if they're Twilight related and I told her well, kinda...they are really good friends of Robert Pattinson and both had songs on the Twilight soundtrack but they are great musicians in their own merit.

Just in case you don't know this...the songs that Rob sang on Twilight Soundtrack Let Me Sign and Never Think;  Marcus co-wrote the song Let Me Sign with Bobby Long.  Sam and Rob wrote Too Far Gone, and Rob performed the song on the Twilight soundtrack as Never Think.

This is the second time I have been to one of Sam's shows! I love his voice and he is such a genuine nice guy. He's very sweet and gracious.

It was my first time seeing Marcus.  He was very kind and it was great having a chance to meet him.

Enjoy the videos:

Just as You Are

My husband and I usually do not make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day because I feel we love each other every day and why do you need a “special holiday” to show one another you love them. We do have a tradition of getting each other a stuffed monkey for the holiday and usually that is it. This year I wanted to surprise him with something unexpected and I did!



Some of our monkeys

 About 2 weeks before Valentine’s I was saw on facebook that Crystal Ball Photography was having a special for boudoir pictures. I had always wanted to have them done but was a bit self-conscious because I am a big girl and I know that I do look better with clothes on than off. I decided what the hell and just do it!

I am so glad I did! Crystal was so great and she made me feel comfortable right away. I really felt empowered and beautiful. I have had issues with self-image for a while and this photo shoot wasn’t only a present for my husband but also for me. I did think about editing the photos to hide some wrinkles and blemishes on my body but then decided that I would be covering up myself. I have had lot of self-growth in the past couple of years and really loving the person that I am. It’s been a long road on this journey called life but it is fun to step out of our comfort zones and do something exciting!

Here are a couple of pictures that I will share…the rest are for my wonderful husband because he feels the same as Mark Darcy from Bridget Jones’s Diary , “No, I like you very much. Just as you are.” But change like to love. My husband loves me just as I am.

Oh…for my husband’s present I put the pictures in Microsoft Movie Maker and wrote all the reasons why I love him and set the movie to the music of Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years. I know it’s kind of sappy but he loved it and it brought tears to his eyes. *sigh*

Young Love

I had a vivid dream awhile back where I met Kristen Stewart. I had this dream back in February 2011 prior to my trip to Vancouver, BC to see 100 Monkeys. You can read about the trip here.


They look so happy!

 My dream:
I walked into a coffee shop in Vancouver and Kristen was sitting alone at a small round table. She had on a white hoodie with the hood up. Her back was to the door, so I didn't notice her when I walked in. I went to the counter and ordered a cup of tea. As I was walking out, I saw Kristen sitting there. We made eye contact and smiled at each other. I continued to walk out of the coffee shop but stopped and turned around and went back to her table. I told her that I was sorry to bother her but I was a huge fan of hers and Twilight. She did her little awkward shrug and thanked me. We started talking and she invited me to sit down with her. During the conversation I told her that as a fan I love the thought of her and Rob being together as a couple even though we don't know for sure. She looked at me, smiled, ran her fingers through her hair and nodded. She told me that yeah, they were together but she was worried about being so young and in a serious relationship. I told her that I can understand that because I met my husband when I was 16. We got together when I was 18, married at 19 and we had been married for 22 years. I remember telling her that young love can make it. They would make it if they make "Them" a priority. The dream gets patchy after that but I remember feeling like the conversation was like a mother/daughter conversation and once we finished talking we hugged good-bye.


She's thinking..."Yeah! He's mine!"

 When I woke up from this dream I was like WTF??? Why would I dream about Kristen and why was it so detailed?


He's thinking, "She's mine!"

 I am a fan of Robsten and I really do love the idea of them being together. I have pondered this question WHY do I care if they are together or not? I do not know them in real life...of course I would want them to be happy just like I would for anyone else but why them? I don't know why. It may be because they play the characters Bella and Edward and Bella and Edward's relationship represents true eternal love. I don't know. I just know I want them to be successful and happy!


Aww!

 I like that they haven't come out and said "Yes, we are together!" Their relationship is special and can just be theirs even in the crazy glass house they live in. I do love the hint's they give us. They have a dog together, wear each other's clothes, her boyfriend is "English", his girlfriend is back in "L.A.", London Apartment, holding hands...I could go on.


Holding hands!

 I absolutely love the way they look at each other! The first time I really felt like yes - they are together was back when they were on the Oprah Show. I remember watching the look on Rob's face when she was talking and I told my husband, "Look, he loves her." I believe they do love each other!


They love each other! 

 I often think that she is one lucky girl to get to kiss Rob and do whatever they do together (wink wink), but he is also a lucky guy! He is with a beautiful and talented young woman. I am happy for them! I really hope that their relationship can survive the craziness of Hollywood!

Last week I went on an epic journey…at least for me it was EPIC!

It was a journey of personal growth and fun. Last weekend I traveled on an airplane all by myself and flew down to Los Angeles. This was the first time that I had traveled by myself. I know for some of you this may not be a big deal but for me it was HUGE!!!! I do not like going anywhere by myself. I felt weird emotions. I was excited and scared at the same time! I did have a lot of incentive to go because I was going to the Twilight Convention to see Robert Pattinson in person!

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

My trip was planned at the last minute and the wonderful @TwiredJen said I could room with her, @17foreverlisa and @allthingsHHH on Saturday night. Friday night I stayed in a hotel by the airport that had a free shuttle and survived the night. The only misadventure was when I was getting out of bed at 4 am to go pee and wacked my head on a picture frame that jutted out 2 inches from the wall. I had a lump for days. Yes, I did a Bella!

The bump wasn't really this big but it felt like it! OUCH!

Saturday morning I took the shuttle back to the airport to catch a shuttle to the Hyatt where the Twilight Convention was. I met up with @twiredjen and we got to check in early. Yay! I was glad I didn’t have to carry my backpack around all day!

@TwiredJen and her Mini Edward

Since I waited until the last minute to buy my ticket, my seat was Q70 – the second to last row on far right of the stage. It was kinda far, but hey I was there.

View from my seat

Of course the most exciting thing for me was to see Rob and Kristen! I really wanted to see their interaction together. I love them and the thought that they are so in love! I really really really want to belie3ve they are. I think they are. I love the way they look at each other and casually touch each other…anyways, I’m rambling.

First up was Tinsel and Alex.

I liked Melissa Rosenburg’s interview.  I missed most of Christian Camargo and Mia Maestro panel because I went to get something to eat.

Cullen Panel of Jackson, Ashley, Elizabeth, and Peter was awesome. I was having camera issues due to the fact that I was so far away and the camera wanted to focus on the faces on the large screen behind them instead of the people on stage so I kind of gave up on having great pictures. If you want to see some great pictures check out my friends @TwiloveSue and @TwiredJen blogs: Twibite.blogspot.com and sotwired.blogspot.com

Jackson and his amazing smile!

This picture amused me...Ashley's mouth is twisted one way and Peter's is the opposite.

Cullen's signing the Huge banner. I tried to get picture of Jackson's bum but the Hillywood gal was in the way.

Oh look here it is!

They squeezed Charlie Bewely in between the Cullens and the main event of the Twifecta with Bill Condon.

 Charle Bewley!

When Rob, Kristen, Taylor, and Bill came on stage, I really wanted to just enjoy it and be in the moment. I tried to snap a few pictures but sometimes when I take pictures I miss out on the whole experience so I gave up and just took it all in. Rob, even from the back of the room, was so handsome and his adorkable self. Kristen was beautiful as ever but you could tell she was a bit uncomfortable. There were some fans just yelling out random stuff and it was distracting and I think a bit annoying to them on stage. Actually I really couldn’t tell you what they said at the time because I was so excited to see them. I had to watch it again on after I got home. If you want to see the panel you can see it here at Robert Pattinson News Once it was over I was feeling all sorts of emotions. I really felt like I could cry and I was trying to understand why and I still don’t understand. If someone figures it out please let me know.


The BodyGuards!



Love pictures of Rob looking at Kristen!



Ooooo! A glimps of Rob belly!



Handsome Rob!



Laughing Rob!

What is is about his hands????



I'm glad he didn't sign Bella's Boob.



Good bye! Until next year!


The rest of the weekend was great I had dinner with @MandysMind, @TwiredJen, @17foreverLisa, @dangrdafne.

@TwiredJen, @dangrdafne, & me

We went back to the hotel and Jen and I had great girl talk and Lisa joined us for a bit. Michelle finally joined us and we talked awhile she is great.

Sunday I really wanted to go see Rob, Kristen and Taylor’s handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater but they were not on display yet. I had no car to get around. @allthingsHHH and I went to mall and had lunch at the food court. Then went back to the hotel and hung out in the lobby until the group of people she was with headed out for the day. I spent the time reading and people watching. I found @dangrdafne and her mom and visited with them until they left to get dinner. They got back a few minutes before my shuttle was picked me up to go to the airport around 5:45.

I was sad and happy to go home. A weekend is was too fast to visit with online friends with whom you have become real life friends. I think this statement by Jackson sums up the weekend:

“It always makes me really happy to see fan inspired artwork or fan fiction. To me the most beautiful aspect of being a part of this series is how much you all love it. And not just the movies, but with each other. You have an amazing community you’ve created around the entire world. That’s amazing. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be here!”

I <3 Sam Bradley!

Sam and I. My daughter says I look like creepy fan girl! Oh well!

Last Thursday evening I got to go see Sam Bradley’s show up in Seattle with @tipsy_daisy. She is such a great friend and goes with me to events so I don’t have to go by myself.

Sam wearing a beanie!

We were the second group of people that went in. As we walked in Sam was standing along the wall and I said Hi and that I was looking forward his performance. He said thank you. After we parted I did a little squeeee dance in my head.



I wasn't quick enough to get his set list but another fan did.

 I had downloaded all his available songs on Itunes awhile back and had been listening to them during work so I would be familiar with his songs. I love his soulful voice. I love the song Details. You can download it free on his website.

Earlier that evening I sent a tweet that I was at his show and my friend @LCM174EV asked me to thank him for the help he did for Magnolia Disaster Relief (MDR). He donated an autographed shirt and set list for an auction that MDR had. After his performance I took a moment and chatted with him. I told him that my friend was the President of MDR and let him know that she really appreciated that he help out MDR’s auction. He was really humbled by my thanks and was glad to help out. I asked him if we could take a picture together and he said sure! He was really sweet and gave me a hug! I was giddy the rest of the evening!

Sam is the second one of Rob’s friends that I have seen live. I saw Bobby Long back in January. You can read about it here. I am looking forward to buying Marcus Foster’s music. I admit that if I wasn’t a fan of Rob’s I would have never heard about these guys.  Their music stands on their own! They are great musicians and I enjoy their music and show! Everyone should check out their music!!!

Below are the videos that I took:

9/11 Never Forget

The morning of September 11, 2001, I woke up nervous and scared. I was having surgery that morning and it was the first time going under general anesthesia. I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am PST. While getting ready to go my mom called and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Centers. I remember thinking that was terrible but I really didn't comprehend what happened. I was trying to mentally get prepared for my surgery and was "shutting" down to try and control my nervousness. While we were driving to the hospital we had the news channel on the radio and then we heard that the other tower had been hit. I was already a bit numb but felt like this was terrible.

We were checked in to the hospital and we watched the first tower collapse on the TV in the waiting room. It was so unbelievable that it was happening. Everyone in the waiting was quiet and watching the TV. When I was taken back to the pre-op area there wasn't a TV so I didn't know what was happening. The anesthesiologist came in and of course we were talking about what happened. He made a comment to me that was not very comforting basically he said, "It's still early out here on the West Coast we don't know what's going to happen when it's 9:00." I thought great, I'm going to be in surgery during that time. I remember saying prayers for myself and also for the people in New York. I didn't know what had happened in Pennsylvania or at the Pentagon at this time.

I went in for surgery and I of course I was knocked out and I think I was in recovery when I had this weird dream. I have not really shared this with anyone but now I'm sharing it with you…It was basically I was in a big white room and it was a chaotic there was a whole bunch of people trying to figure out what happened and to figure out where to go. I remember there was a playback of the towers crashing and it was from the perspective of someone that was in the room. It was like we were in the tower. There was screaming and crying and then as the tower crashed we were pulled and saw it from the outside then it was quiet. It kind of reminded me of the destruction of Alderaan from Star Wars when it was destroyed there was a disruption in the force. During my dream I realized that all the people around me were the people that lost their lives that day and we were like in a waiting area in heaven before going through the "pearly gates." Then nurse was there waking me up. I was kind of unnerved by my dream and never shared it because I always felt was a little silly.

The next few days the only thing that was on TV was the news. I remember it all being surreal. I don't know if it was from the pain pills and feeling off kilter after being under anesthesia but when the news banners go across the bottom of the TV screen they made me nauseous and to this day I still get queasy when I see them. Another thing I remember was how quiet it was outside. We live close by an Army and Air Force Base and they planes and helicopters were not flying. You get used to hearing aircraft as background noise but when it gone you only hear the birds.


As a person living on the west coast at that time I didn't know anyone that was personally in New York, Washington DC, or Pennsylvania so I feel like I was a bit removed from what the survivors and community were going through. My heart did and does go out to them. I can't imagine how it would be to have a loved one die that day or live with post-traumatic stress from the events.

It's hard for me to watch or hear stories about 9/11 because as an emphatic person my heart hearts. I cry and sob. Friday when I was coming home from work listening to talk radio and hearing stories about the children that lost a parent. I almost had to pull over because my eyes were all teared up and I could barely see. When I watched the movie Remember Me, I knew it had something to do with 9/11 but I thought it was set after the events that happened that day. When I realized at the end of the movie that day was 9/11/2001. I remember saying out loud in the movie theater "Oh No!" I sobbed in the theater and on the way home I couldn't talk about the movie because my heart hurt for all of the families of 9/11.

Living in a military community, we have been personality affected by the outcome of the events on 9/11 with the war on terror. I have had friends that have had multiple deployments. I have seen how it affects their families. The hardest part was when my good friend Capt. Cory Jenkins was killed in Afghanistan. I am thankful that there are so many people that are willing to serve in the Armed Forces to help keep the freedom that we enjoy as Americans.


I hope today being the 10 year anniversary we can honor the people that lost their lives. Thank the people that serve the public to keep us safe. Most of all tell your family and friends you love them.

WIP vs Completed Fics

In the Twi-fic fandom there are a lot of people who will only read stories that are complete and will not read stories that are WIP.


I went through a phase of only reading completed stories and then started a spreadsheet to put WIP stories so I would remember to read them.

So I was reading some pretty good completed stories but then I hit a wall. I went fic diving and looking for recs on web sites.

All the completed recs I had already read, I’m a fic h00r like that. The fic diving stories I found were ok but nothing really owned me. Sooooo....I went to my spreadsheet and started reading the WIP.

It is a different experience for me to read a WIP story. I love the excitement I get when I go to my favs on FFN and see that a story has updated or get the email that has updated it. I am a better reviewer for WIP stories. I usually review every chapter. Completed stories..not so much, I usually don’t review until the end. I also like the interaction from the writers when you are reviewing a WIP. Friendship can develop through supporting them with their writing and sometimes you get a bit more insight from them on the characters.

I do have a few "standards" for starting to read a WIP fic.

• The main one is if the story hasn't updated within the last 60 days, I will not start it. I will put it on my to read list and check back every so often.
• This isn't just for WIP but for all fics...if the story hasn't grabbed me with in the first 5 chapters. I will flounce...sorry but it's true.
• I usually can read through minor grammar errors as long as the plot is good but if there are a lot them I will give up.

It has been forever since I put Fic Recs on my blog…I have been reading some amazing WIP stories. For the most part I read Edward/Bella All Human stories. I am drawn to angsty stories. I think I like them because they usually make me emotional. I do like happy endings but I don’t need them. After reading a few angsty stories I like a sweet love story where they have overcome all of these obstacles and still love each other in the end. I am a romantic at heart. *sigh*



Bella & Edward forever!


Here are the stories that own me at the moment – I will try not to give any spoilers:


Beautiful Sorrow by DreamOfTheEndless

Author’s Summary: Bella worshiped Carlisle, so when he proposed she didn't think twice before accepting. But then she met Edward, her fiancé's half brother & the other part of her soul. Will they be able to survive the consequences of their betrayal?

This is another story that owns me! I love Issy's style of writing. I can visualize what is happening. In this one both Carlisle and Bella are very wounded. My heart goes out to both of them. So far, we do not know much about Edward but I'm sure when we do my heart will go out to him as well. This story makes me think...there isn't a clear good guy/bad guy. Mistakes are made by both Carlisle and Bella. This doesn't excuse their behavior and they haven't made the best choices as you will learn when you read it. Issy gives just enough of the story to keep me coming back to read because I have to know what happens or why the characters are the way they are. There are 15 chapters completed. Sometimes I root for Bella and Carlisle's relationship to make it and then I remember this will be an Edward and Bella story. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I also have become twitter friends with Issy. She is a sweetheart and gives great story recs.


There is light by belladonnacullen

Author’s Summary: This was 1987; before the Internet, before Twitter, before Facebook – this was back when it was still possible for people not to know about things: big things - like bands, and little things - like G-spots. AH, ExB, with some other parings along the way.

When I read the description 1987 grabbed me because it was the year I graduated from high school so I thought I would give it a go. The story starts off Edward is a rock star and Bella is still in high school. He is a lot older than her and the things they go through are a beautiful heartache. The flashbacks to the 80’s bring back a lot of memories for me of good and not so good times. This is one of the stories that makes me feel. My heart physically hurts when I read it. I want I Bella and Edward to be ok and I don’t know if they will be and it’s killing me. That is all I’m going to say about this story but if you like angsty stories then read this one. It’s on chapter 18.


Bring on the Wonder by Bronzehyperion

Author’s Summary: Bella works the streets of Seattle as a prostitute. Edward is waiting to be ordained as a Catholic priest. Is there anything they have to offer each other? Or are there just sacrifices they both have to make… All human. Rated M for a reason.

The writing in this story is amazing! It is so well done. I love the concept. This is not the usual Bella is a prostitute and Edward comes in and saves the day. There is conflict in their relationship. Bella feels like she isn’t good enough for Edward. Edward struggles with decision on becoming a priest or not. The priest and Carlisle do not support Edward and Bella’s friendship. I have thought about myself while reading this story. If I had a son would I want him in a relationship with a girl that was a hooker? I don’t think so. Now I feel like I’m a bad person…sorry I digressed. This story is on chapter 36. We are now getting answers to Bella’s past and I have a feeling it is coming to the end soon.


Here is a rec for a completed story for those of you that only read completed fics.

The Elusive Mr Cullen by dariachenowith

Author’s Summary: Bella is a high class escort, Edward her newest client. They soon realize that there's more between them than great sex and witty conversations. While Bella doesn't believe in fairy tales, her life seems to be turning into one fast. Or is it? AH/OOC

This one started out very hot. I'm not kidding, you may need a cold shower after reading the first few chapters. It really gripped me from the beginning and then something happened that blew me away! I totally didn't see it coming!!! I can't tell you what IT is or I'll give it all away. This very steamy story ends up to be a mystery. I also love Daria's writing style. She gives me shivers!


I hope you read the stories and please review. I know it makes the writers squeeeeee!