I don’t really know what to write here to fill up the space that’s been abandoned and neglected time after time over the past ~12 years I’ve had this site.

A lot’s changed since I initially got this domain name and site as a 16th birthday gift. I’ve changed, my attitude on everything has changed, for the better…I think. I used to think I was so unique and different and that people didn’t ~understand~ me. Turns out, I was just a dumb and emotional teenager with no concept of anything.

I recently got sucked back into that world where blogs (like what this one used to be and is currently trying to be again) were popular and blogs you visited daily (dailies, as I used to call them) were blogs run by friends you’d met through fandoms, not twitter or tumblr or facebook. The web archive is a great place to reminisce about the good old days but it’s also a haunting reminder of just how bad we thought high school and our teen years were. They weren’t bad, looking back now, but they sure seemed like it back then. I used to brag about how different I was, how I’m ‘not like you’. But really, I was just another kid.

If I could I’d scream IT GETS BETTER. DON’T WORRY AND COMPLAIN SO MUCH! at my 17-year old self. After all, I complained about not having a lot of friends and not really having much of a ‘life’ back in high school and college. Now, I crave days were I can do nothing and wear yoga pants all day. Nowadays, I call that a good day.  Back then, I felt I needed a lot of friends to feel validated. Now I know I don’t need a lot, just as long as they’re true friends that honestly care about me and how I’m doing and actually enjoy my presence.

I mean I still yearn to be noticed and I think everyone goes through this. We want to be heard, seen, respected. I  go through this a lot still – especially on Tumblr and other social sites when it comes to different fandom-related things like convention photos, which makes me want to scream ‘HEY! LOOK AT ME! I’M IN ROW D AND I TOOK (halfway decent) PHOTOS OF JARED AND JENSEN!! PLEASE LIKE ME!!!’. But it’s no where near the intensity of what it used to be.

For the most part, I can’t complain about life right now. I mean, I can always use a better, higher paying job and be about 20-30 pounds lighter but those are some things I’m working on. I have a good family and great friends. And tomorrow I’m headed to Las Vegas for yet another convention – which I’m hoping to use to kick off the ‘reinvention’ (maybe that’s not the right word…) of this site. Since I post my con photos on this site in the gallery, I may as well write about it here too.

I’ve neglected this site completely except for the gallery, which is going strong with the addition of photos from 2 new conventions and a concert/soundcheck. They seem to be kinda popular with viewers and that makes me really kinda happy. I’ll be adding another set of con photos when I attend the Vegas convention in March as well as hopefully more concert photos from recent shows and ones I’m attending in the future.

I want to start really using this site as a blog. I have Tumblr and Twitter where I post most of my ramblings but I feel my feelings and thoughts get missed or left out with the flood of fandom-related chatter, photos, and other media. Not that it’s a bad thing but trying to use a Tumblr blog as a blog when you post and salivate over photos of celebrities (and food) 99% of the time is really hard, and not many of your followers notice or care.

So instead of wasting their time with mundane things like having a life and writing about it there, I’m going to try my best to write here. And I’m hoping to do con recaps and post experiences from those events. I’m also going to try to post some of my photos that would otherwise get lost in the hustle of social media sites.

I’m considering a few changes for this site and when I decide what I’m going to do, I’m going to go at this full-swing.

This blog sucks. Go look at some photos.

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. First of all, we welcomed a new baby girl into the family on July 5th! Though she was past her due date, Novena Bowman graced us with her presence and we couldn’t be happier. Her whole family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins) was there to welcome her into the world. She’s now 3 months old and is just as adorable and great as we predicted. My parents and I have flown to Tennessee a few times since her arrival and we’re shocked at how quickly and how much she’s grown. It’s hard when you’re so far away from family and can’t see the new little ones as much as you’s like. We’re flying up in early November to see her and her parents again and then we’ll see them at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Patience is a virtue in this kind of circumstance and we thoroughly enjoy spending what little time we have when them up there and getting updates, photos and videos sent to us over our email and iPhones.

Another great thing that happened since my last post – and more recently – is my trip to Dallas. I attended the Salute to Supernatural event that was held there and had an amazing time – an even better than my first convention I went to last year! I met some really great people who quickly became great friends and met some of the actors from the show – some for the second time. I had great seats, if I can say that, and took pretty good photos. I’m planning on loading them to the gallery some time this weekend. I can’t wait to share them with those interested. I’ll go going to another convention in a few weeks in Chicago and I’ll be back in Dallas again next year. My friends and I are already planning our shenanigans for next year. It’s going to be great. I cannot wait!

One more milestone to mention is the fact that I’ve lost approximately 40 pounds since I started my ‘diet’ plan back in March. I’m back down and beyond where I was when I graduated from grad school in December 2010. Last year was tough for me in every aspect of my life, especially food and motivation to be healthy. I finally kicked my butt into gear and I’m trying to make a permanent change for the better. SO far, so good. The next challenge approaching is Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m hoping I won’t freak out like I’ve done in the past and eat everything in sight. I need to make better food choices, slow down, enjoy what I have and not eat like every meal is my last meal.

I think that’s it for now. Until next time…

I think my sister would probably not be happy if she knew I posted these pics places other than Facebook but I had it. I wanted to share some pictures of the day (which was last Saturday, May 12.)

I provided the games while her sisters-in-law and relatives on her husband’s side provided the food. My sister-in-law and I made her a diaper cake as part of the decor. We had it at her house, which is freshly renovated (and nearly complete). The food was delicious especially the petit fours and the sugar cookies. I could have eaten the whole box of everything.

Just a note: The third row includes all the ladies. Left – my mom, sister, sis-in-law and me in back, middle – my sister, right – my sister’s sisters-in-law and me aka the hosts. Also, some gifts! The bottom left is a handmade footprint blanket from her friend’s mother. The bottom right pic is one of the gifts I bought her, a heart-shaped box for baby’s first clipping of hair and first tooth.

These photos came from about 4 different cameras. It’s hard to get a good photo of something with just one camera (and photographer) and a lot of the choices were blurry or not everyone was looking at the camera. After all, events like this are a group effort.