Let's see if you can guess.

The Man graduated from ASU (go devils!!) last December. Now he wants me to go back to school and finish my degree. So here I am, wracking my brain to think of something I want to do besides writing oodles of best-sellers since that career isn't such a guaranteed win.
So I thought. And thought. And wondered. And scrunched up my face with all the wondering and thinking. This is what I've been thinking. What if I went back to school to become....

A bride? Nope. I've already done that.

Jennifer Lopez? Uh, no. Impossible, not to mention creepy.

Completely insane? Maybe.

Notice the nicely visible amalgam filling on her mandibular right molar. wow. I have been a dental assistant for WAY too long.

Have you put it together yet? If not, keep going.

I'm thinking about becoming...

A tee-shirt.

No, a Wedding Planner. 

But I'm a little freaked out. It's a huge commitment, a lot of money to invest, and I'm not sure I'm cut out for the business-woman thing. Plus I don't want to be the career-oriented type because I want to be a full-time mom someday.

But oh, I love weddings!! I'm hoping I'll get to help plan for my bff's wedding coming up in July. I immediately began thinking up a place for her shower, cake, photographer, flowers, venue for reception...

I'm hopeless.

I also have an eye for details, I like helping people, I'm REALLY used to getting ordered and bossed around, and I am sooooooooooooo ready for a career change. I know that wedding planning is not at all like it is in the movies, but being a part of lots of "big days" would be so cool.

Wouldn't it? I don't know.

Happy Birthday!!!

Whew! Final B-day in March. My little younger brother. Happy 22nd, Steve! You're the greatest!



Larsen. Steve Larsen.

Book Signing!

It wasn't for my book. Heh heh. I'm not there yet. It was for the fifth and final book in the FANTASTIC Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull.

He's a very nice guy. Very warm, very kind, and very appreciative of his fans. I waited for two hours and it was totally worth it. I'm so glad that I got to meet him again. (I met him the first time when I got the first two books from the series signed a couple years ago).
Now I have a FULL SET of signed Fablehaven books!!!

 Me and Brandon Mull.

Special thanks to the very nice lady who so graciously agreed to take these pictures and email them to me!

Funny Story...

You know how you sometimes have those AHA moments in the oddest times and places?
Here is mine. Funny story.
I was in the shower. An odd place, but there I was.
And I got an idea. Out of nowhere.
And this was born:

New story blog!

Letters to Lizzie

by Kadence

This is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Kadence who writes letters to Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine from the popular Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice.

It's just a fun little story blog that will hopefully bring a little twinkle in your eye or a chuckle to your tummy.

Spread it like wildfire. If you want. I'd appreciate it!

Happy Birthday!!!

Again. We have lots of March birthdays in our family. The first one, I failed to acknowledge. (Sorry, K!)
March 1st, my future sis-in-law celebrated her 21st B-day. We love you! Welcome to the family!
Here she is with me bro.

Today is my daddy's birthday!
Here's a picture of him with me mum.


Happy Birthday, Dad! Lunch with you and Grandpa today was so much fun! Thanks for all you do, you're the best!

Rain?

I woke up this morning, obscenely early I might add, and couldn't sleep because of an incessant tapping noise. Where was it coming from? The ceiling fan? Probably.

As I lay there and tried to go back to sleep, I listened more and realized... IT'S RAINING!!

Wait... it's not raining! It couldn't be raining. It was sunny as ever yesterday, not a cloud in sight. How could it be raining? I'm imagining things. Or maybe it's just the sprinklers. Wishful thinking. No rain. Nope.

I even looked out the window that overlooks our garden. It didn't look like it was raining. But then again, it was around 5:40 in the morning.

So I got up. Oh it's definitely raining. I can tell it is now.

I looked out the window in the front door to see the cascade of water running off the rooftop!

HOORAY!!! It's raining!

Arizona people are so weird. We love rain. If I wasn't sitting in my robe and socks and if I wasn't trying to conserve energy for my long work day ahead, I'd go play in it.

Happy Birthday!!!

To this lovely, talented lady. No, she's not a weirdo like me who likes to dress up in Medieval Garb. This is just a picture I photoshopped. And there's more where that came from, guys!

Hope you have a wonderful day, Jen! You're the best! I'm so grateful to have you as my big sister!



Lookin good! he he he he he

How does yo garden grow, baby!

Pretty freaking great, if you ask me! This is exciting because it's our first garden. At our apartment, we had no dirt. Now we have dirt. Not just dirt...soil! And now we have things growing in our soil!!
I shouldn't take much credit for the cool things growing in our backyard, since the Man turned the soil, planted the seeds, and does the majority of the watering. I'm terrible, I know.

Peas! YUMMMM!

Some peas are looking a little sad, but they'll be okay. Then we have broccoli, spinach, green leaf lettuce, and carrots. There's something else growing in the row between the peas and broccoli but I can't remember what it is. It's just barely poking its head out.

Luuuvely lettuce! And carrots.

We're planting tomatoes in the next garden box soon. We also have some bell peppers that survived from the last gardeners, but none of the peppers are big enough yet.
Soon we'll have some home-grown goodness. I can't wait.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

They're always after me lucky charms.

If you have an open evening this week...

Go see Westwood High School's production of Les Miserables!!!! It's running tonight and tomorrow night @ 7:30.

It's only five bucks and they put on a FANTASTIC show!

They also slimmed it down just a little so it's a little faster moving than the broadway show...only you don't miss any of the great stuff i.e. "Look Down," "I Dreamed a Dream," "Who am I," "On my Own," "Bring Him Home," "Master of the House" and all those other great Les Mis faves.

The lead actors are all amazing, especially Cosette (but I'm a little partial cuz she's a dear friend) but the Thenardiers are HILARIOUS!

A bunch of the kids in the show were in my old ward... sniff... miss you guys!!! You are all brilliant!

Have your cake and eat it too....

... or not cuz it looks so dang cute!

My beautiful, brilliant BFF from high school Carlie Brosemann is starting her own custom cake making business. The cakes are ADORABLE!! You have to check these out for yourself and consider hiring her for your own custom cake! Check em out here, or she's on my blog list under Cute Cakes by Carlie.

Here's a little shample of her cakies:


Yeah... can we say YUM??

On a lighter note...

Working on more paintings!

This one is MASSIVE. I'm about 5'7'' just for comparison.

and here we have moi sporting a very fetching paintbrush apron.

You can't see very well, but I have the pencil sketches in first.

And first layer of background.




And first layer of princesses. The client wanted just these four.



Puhlease note: these are just base layers. Belle will not actually look like she's totally shrugging her shoulders, Cinderella will not have a receding hairline, Snow White will not have a crooked head, and Aurora will not have a goiter coming out her face. Oh, and everyone WILL have hands. And faces. Someday.

work in progress. ain't it great?

Rejection Letter

Well, I got another one. This one is even worse than the last thirty or so. It's worse because they liked the story. They might have signed me on. I might have had this book published within the year. But they already had an author with a mermaid story too similar to this one.

Why is this a problem, you ask?

This one was supposed to be one of a kind. The breakout novel. The one everyone's been waiting for. The fresh, new story. The one that began a whole new trend.

I was so sure that that's what this one would be. Well, I don't know now. Maybe yes, maybe no.

But here it is. As part of a tradition that I started three rejections ago, I have burned it.

This company required a lot of detailed information (marketing proposal, sales handle, promotion ideas, chapter-by-chapter synopsis, the works). But it didn't go to waste! Because I had all this stuff written down, I was able to use it for the next company. I sent a query letter to them that same day...

along with more hopes and dreams.

So here's to treating myself to one more girl scout cookie and never giving up.

Never.