of a bookish sort.

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

* I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
* Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
* Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

My questions from eveofdstruction :

1) What are your top 3 books of all time?

Oh gosh, this is a hard question! Dune, by Frank Herbert (Every time I read it, it still wows me), Red Bird by Mary Oliver (ok, so it's a collection of poetry, but it is AMAZING, and I'm not even into poetry all that much), and lastly I'll go with Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow.

2) What sort of music do you enjoy?

I feel like I enjoy a broad variety, but I do tend towards the Celtic/folk/rock mash-up genre. My favorite band is Great Big Sea from Newfoundland, and they do an amazing job of blending traditional and folk and their own rock. Check them out! You can't help but want to dance and sing along. Some others that are full of awesome are Leahy, Gaelic Storm, and I do love me some Loreena McKennitt.

3) So, I know you converted to Catholicism fairly recently. What brought you to that decision?

Honestly, it felt right. I know most people will dismiss that answer as being too wishy-washy, but it's true. I just kind of ended up here after exploring different paths, and even just being "nothing" for quite a while. I'm drawn to the tradition, the practices, and I do believe in the basic, core teachings/beliefs/values. Also, my favorite teachings deal with conscience. In all things, you are to follow your own conscience. And, if after prayer/consideration/study/etc your feelings don't match up with Church teaching, that's okay! We're to do what we believe is truly right (of course the official stance is that hopefully one day we'll be in full agreement, but as a man-made, ever evolving structure, I doubt that'll ever happen!:). Also, in all of my exploration of churches, this has been the only one that has encouraged me to examine my own thoughts and beliefs instead of just blindly following and accepting without question. Though I do recognize that I'm lucky to have found and been introduced to Catholicism through the archdiocese of Seattle, which does lean towards the liberal side of things, so that probably helped in speeding along the conversion process. :)

4) How did you and Tony meet?

Yahoo personals. Not even kidding. I had recently moved back down here from Bellingham and decided I wanted to meet some people, date, all that, but I didn't really want to go randomly meeting people in a bar or something. So, I signed up for Yahoo. And did a search for "redheads, Catholic" (embarrassing, but true) and Tony popped up. I thought he was cute, so I emailed him. After emailing back and forth for about a week, we talked on the phone, and then decided to go on our first date. Mexican food and "Whorton Hears a Who," followed by a sports bar because we weren't ready to go home yet. We made plans for our second date before the first one even ended. I'm lucky, because Tony had just been about to cancel his subscription when my message showed up. That was April 6th, 2008. By December of last year, we knew we'd be getting married, but he wouldn't tell me when he was going to pop the question. He asked me over Memorial Day weekend, after having had the ring for, like, two months. My entire family knew, as did his! And now, only about 7 months until the wedding...

5) I'm tempted to ask why the crazy people won't leave us alone, but instead I'll ask you to share your plans for Ginger domination.

Ginger babies. And one day, hopefully they'll have ginger babies. Also, since science fiction is coming true everyday, we'll most likely be able to choose things like hair color in the future. 'Cos, y'know, it's not like designer babies could potentially be unethical or anything...;)

Ha! Click to embiggen!

Ok, somebody have a baby NOW. So I can buy you these! :


These are the most wonderfully nerdy/geeky things EVAR.

My poor future children...

Courtesy of my favorite new shopping site www.thinkgeek.com.

And another.

"The original forbidden love..."

Barf x3.

Fiance. Beer. Happy hour sushi. Bookstore. Happy Sara.

Our marriage prep class was canceled at the last minute yesterday, so Tony and I went on a nice, impromptu date. The new Boom Noodle and Blue C Sushi in Bellevue have an excellent adjoining upstairs bar called Nomu. Happy hour is cheap (as in 5 beers, two rolls, two orders of salmon sashimi and spring rolls for $30)! And on Thursdays, it's ALL NIGHT. PLUS karaoke! I'd say a group outing in the very near future is in order.

In other news, because Tony picked me up from work last night, I forgot that I had driven to the Park & Ride that morning (I suspect the three beers might have had something to do with it). Thus, I forgot that my car was still there until this morning. Fail. Thank goodness for my steering wheel lock.

At B&N, I saw this:

(The tag line says: "The love that started it all.")



OH GOD THEY'RE TWILIGHT-IFYING ALL OF THE CLASSICS NOW. *headdesk*

Much like this, where the cover even says that it's Bella & Edward's favorite:



I mean, I enjoyed (with much guilt, and excepting Breaking Dawn) the Twilight series. But this is TOO MUCH.

Ugh.

Ok, back to my coffee, and reading of Anne Rice's latest, Angel Time. And then perhaps some NaNo-ing later on, but OH GOD so far behind! I have ideas surrounding a story, but no actual endpoint to work towards, so I feel like I'm hitting brick walls every time I sit down to write. Ah well. This is good for me, right? An exercise in patience and perseverance, as it were. Right.

Oh crap. NaNo has begun.

I'm already behind.

I'm super excited for this weekend, but OH MAN there is so much to do in preparation! Silly work getting in the way of my social life and hobbies. Blah.

Lots of cleaning (which I feel like I just did, but it needs doing again), shopping for decorations, foods, beverages, etc., baking, and some other things which I'm sure I've forgotten. I guess it doesn't sound like a lot when I list it like that, but each of those tasks entails multiple steps. But! 'Twill be SO worth it.

Does anybody have any suggestions for some scary movies I might want to have on hand, just in case?

Also, HOLY CRAP, only 8 months until our wedding. Engagement pictures are scheduled for next month (how the heck did that sneak up on me?! I'm supposed to have been going to the gym!), and then I've got my first dress shopping excursion scheduled in December. We have our wedding bands. Our marriage prep course through church is almost done, and we'll be ordering Save the Dates and invitations soon, probably next month. We're working on getting music playlists done (which is way harder than one might think). And guess what? We might even take a few dance lessons! The part we're really looking forward to, however, is the cake tasting. I'm thinking that a lemon or lemon poppyseed cake with lemon curd filling would be most delicious...mmm, cake.

Eek, so excited to see everyone come Saturday! :)

Alright! So it sounds like people are willing to make the trek to Issaquah for Hallowe'en happenings. Only thing is, poor Tony has to work that weekend (which I forgot). SO, we'd have to quiet down by about midnight so he could go to bed. We could always watch movies at that point if people were still up and in a festive mood. Or tell ghost stories. Hee! Now, that's okay with us if you still want to come on down, but I just wanted you all to know.

Our futon can sleep two, as long as you're willing to get cuddly. We have a couch that'll sleep one, and then we could probably get about four or so on the floor with sleeping bags.

What think you all? If the answer be "yea", then I shall commence party planning!

So, let's say I was to have a Halloween shindig. Would anybody come? I'd make delicious treats, dress up as a wench, and serve you delicious beer and things. Plus, we have Guitar Hero. And places for people to sleep, should they need to stay over.

Any takers?

Take the Quiz here!

I want to learn how to crochet, and knit, and sew. I want to be baking fabulous loaves of bread, cultivate a container garden out on the balcony, and basically just be an amazing domestic goddess.

So, on that note, does anybody have any good tips on beginning sewing books that I should look into, or a good beginner's sewing machine (I'm looking at you, blue_lalita !)? I'm having visions of one day making my own ren faire garb. Though I definitely wil be starting with things a bit simpler. I'm working on getting our spare bedroom in order (Tony gave me free reign of it! Woot!), so I should soon have some ready crafting space.

Onward!

I love my friends.



Is it time to get dressed up and go a-Faireing again yet?

So, I've been to the bookstore (and purchased things) like, 3 or 4 times in the last week and a half. I think Tony is starting to worry that I have a compulsive book-buying habit. Which I do. Hee! Have I mentioned that our three bookcases are completely full/starting to overflow? That's including the giant one I just got from Ikea not too long ago.

Fun things to look forward to this weekend. Friends from out of town, the Sounders vs. Chelsea FC game, wedding band browsing (eee!), seeing Harry Potter and possibly Transformers, meeting with a couple from church to discuss marriage prep/counseling. Lots of things happening!

Also, I've recently started Jenny Craig, and am slowly beginning to lose some weight. However, I still drink too much beer, thus hindering some of the weight-loss program. I'm working on it. I'm thinking I'll have to switch to MGD 64. Which is so hard after delicious microbrews. I've got a long way to go, but this is for health. Not just for wedding dress. Although that's a nice, swift kick in the pants. That and the doctor being all concerned.

Aaaaaand...that is all.

Ganked this meme from someone's journal who I don't know. I know, sounds stalkerish, but it was someone from one of the communities I keep an eye on! So...

List 15 science fiction and fantasy authors who will stay with you always - don't think too hard about this - just do it. This is my list, in no particular order, of sf and fantasy authors who've written things that have thrilled me, made me think, taken me to other worlds:

1. Susan Cooper 
2. C.S. Lewis
3. Madeleine L'Engle
4. Ursula K. LeGuin
5. Frank Herbert
6. J.K. Rowling  
7. Patricia C. Wrede
8. Christopher Paolini
9. Neil Gaiman
10. Philip Pullman
11. Orson Scott Card
12. J.R.R. Tolkien
13. Ray Bradbury
14. Mary Doria Russell
15. Charlaine Harris

Interesting! Ganked from tianas_knife .

SelectSmart.com/RELIGION Rankings:
 
 1. Orthodox Quaker - Religious Society of Friends   (100 %) 
 2. Seventh Day Adventist    (76 %) 
 3. Eastern Orthodox   (76 %) 
 4. Roman Catholic   (76 %) 
 5. Mainline - Liberal Christian Protestants    (75 %) 
 6. Mainline - Conservative Christian Protestant   (73 %) 
 7. Liberal Quakers - Religious Society of Friends    (72 %) 
 8. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)   (56 %) 
 9. Orthodox Judaism   (56 %) 
 10. Islam   (53 %) 
 11. Reform Judaism   (53 %) 
 12. Sikhism   (50 %) 
 13. Hinduism   (49 %) 
 14. Bahai   (48 %) 
 15. Unitarian Universalism   (46 %) 
 16. Jehovahs Witness   (40 %) 
 17. Jainism   (37 %) 
 18. Mahayana Buddhism    (37 %) 
 19. Theravada Buddhism   (35 %) 
 20. Secular Humanism   (35 %) 
 21. Neo-Pagan    (31 %) 
 22. New Age    (30 %) 
 23. Taoism   (29 %) 
 24. Christian Science Church of Christ, Scientist   (24 %) 
 25. Scientology   (23 %) 
 26. New Thought   (22 %) 
 27. Non-theist   (20 %) 

I've taken a couple of these quizzes before, and I always seem to get Orthodox Quaker as #1. Interesting!

But look! We now have a wedding website! Yes, I know, so full of cheese.

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/SaraJackman&TonyFabian

1. We have reserved our ceremony site for the wedding. St. James Cathedral in Seattle, y'all.
    
2. We have the reception site locked down, contracts signed. The Plateau Golf Club in Sammamish.
    
3. We've got catering, including beverages, all taken care of (because, most awesomely, the reception site does all that).
    
4. We've got an awesome photographer (my friend from/since the 8th grade; he's super good, and does this professionally).
    
5. I've started a wedding dres diet/regimen thing-gummy. If I'm supposed to start shopping/looking into buying 4-5 months from now, I've gotta get on this shizz!
    
6. I've officially moved in to Tony's condo. So now I live in Issaquah, for reals. Still a lot to do; stuff to go through, organize, get rid of, etc. It's not exactly the biggest place, especially for two adults who have all of their own house things. Can we say beaucoup kitchen stuffs?

Lots to do this weekend. The condo needs a big clean. I've been shirking all my house-fiancee duties ;), and reading instead. Muah ha ha. But seriously. My bathroom needs a good scrub. And the sooner I get stuff done, the sooner I can invite everyone over for a bbq sort of gathering! With Guitar Hero! I've also got a doctor's appointment, a funeral to attend (my godmother's mother), and a Sounder's game. And I'm going to get yoga in there somewhere. And the gym.

True Blood is back! Southern vampire-y goodness. Mm hmm. I'm reading all of the Sookie Stackhouse books as well, and they're so good. Or, at the very least, a lot of fun.

How'd it get to be (almost) July already?

Ok people! I'm sort of moving again (officially into Tony's, even though I've basically never left these last six months or so), and I want to get a handle on where my books are. Being that they are my most important possessions (duh).

So! If you have any of my books (or other things, ie dvds, etc <Kath, don't you have my Mists of Avalon dvd?>) could you please let me know? Then, if you're done borrowing them, perhaps we can arrange a time for me to pick them up!

Katharine & Jeremy: do you still have my Harry Potter 7, A Game of Thrones, Dublin, any others?

I don't necessarily need everything back right now; just would like to know what I've sent out into the world! Plus, I bought a huge new bookcase last night, and it needs filling up/organizing! Whee!

Thanks, folks!

I totally just finished reading this book. Be jealous.



It was fun! Up next? Spock's World. I kid you not.