New Website/Blog!!

Hey all! I now have a new blog (AND official website!)

Check it out here: http://creative-ten.com/

Pre Class ramblings

Location: Classroom.
Feeling: Very tired.
Listening to: Aerosmith blasting in my ears.

I'm currently sitting in my classroom, 25 minutes until class starts. My bus gets me here about half an hour early, but I don't really mind because it lets me relax or finish up things before class begins. There are a couple other people who get here early as well... I like to dub us the early birds. There are a couple people who I will also dub the late fates... those who are constantly late for class... Seriously, how can someone be chronically late every single day? This baffles me... If you're late every day, then leave earlier..

Anyways, I'm exhausted. The last week or so I've been having nightmares again, keeping me up or waking me up constantly throughout the night. I'm not sure why. Haven't been sleeping well and lately I haven't been feeling well either. Blegh. The last 2 weeks was spent profusely working on multiple (about 12 or something...) projects that we had a 2 week window to complete. We handed them in on Friday. I hope I did well!

G. design has been awesome so far. My instructor is pure awesome and most of the people in my class are great too. We're just beginning to learn Illustrator and we just finished sketches for our own personal identity project which includes us making our own personal logos, letterheads, business cards, envelopes, etc, etc. And after we're done learning Illustrator, we'll be creating them. Awesome.

On our first exam I got the highest mark in our class. For our second "exam" (which was more like a project) I got the second highest mark. So I'm not doing too bad so far. :) I really enjoy it and can't wait to see what else this course brings.

Not exactly sure where to begin updating about the Life of Ash... I'm really sorry for not updating in the blogworld lately. Yikes! I really need to get on this and keep going. I'll say that basically since I've moved there have been things that have made me extremely happy, some that have made me sad or mad... Tired, giddy, excited, down... The list goes on. There are a couple reasons for it, but things have been looking up pretty well lately. I find myself smiling a lot more, laughing a lot more, and just being happy. I've missed that. I hope it sticks around for a while.

Anyhow, should cut this one short. I'm going to try my darndest to keep updating this more often.

Happy Hump Day!

-A

Annabel Lee - Edgar Allan Poe

(One of my favorite writers. Figured I'd share this beautiful poem with all of you on this Sunday morning.)

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Orientation Day!

Good morning y'all.
So today is good ol' Orientation Day for school. At 2pm today I'll be brushing elbows with my new instructor and classmates. Hopefully everyone is awesome! I can't believe this whole school thing has snuck up as quick as it has, but I guess it's almost time to start cracking down. School officially starts on Monday!

Still no luck with the jobs.. Got a call back on one that I REALLY wanted, but they were looking for full time. It's really too bad too because it sounded like they really wanted to hire me, asked if there was any way I could switch my school courses to evenings and everything. So, damnit! It was a really good opportunity too. But oh well, guess I just have to move on and keep trucking.

Getting fairly used to the new apartment and living alone. I actually haven't been alone all that much (except for during the days, but errands and a lot have been keeping me busy...). Lots of people to keep me busy so I don't have time to just sit and think about everything.

Anyhow, this is kind of a short blog post, but once again I have to get at 'er. I'll let y'all know how the Orientation goes!

My question to you: Those of you who have gone to post-secondary school, do YOU remember YOUR first day? If so, post it in a comment! I'd love to hear your stories.

-A

The Job Hunt

Well, anyone who lives in Edmonton knows that the job market has been struggling for a while now. When on earth will it be back up again? That's what I'd like to know. Job hunting/searching is proving to be quite difficult. It doesn't really help that the last time I had to look for a job like this was over 5 years ago... I hate the feeling like you're starting from the bottom, starting ALL over again, the last 5 years just wasted. But I know that's not the case. I have a pretty beefy resume, thanks to these last 5 years, but it's just a matter of finding a decent part time job for while I'm in school that also pays enough that I'll be able to cover rent, bills, etc (basically all of the FUN things of LIFE. Ugh, give me a break.)

I've applied at a couple great sounding places and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's a little stressful seeing that school starts on MONDAY (yikes), and I'm beginning to worry about being able to pay rent while in school and everything. Luckily if need be, I DO still have some savings that would cover my ass for a couple months, but being me (the financial wizard/money squirrel), I really don't want to have to go to 0$ in my bank account.

So it's a liiiiittle bit stressful over here on my end. Nothing compared to about a month or so ago, but it's more of a different kind of stress. Anyways, I think that's enough bitching for now. Hopefully next post will be filled with great news, rainbows and sunshine and all that jazz. Hope everyone is doing fantastic and not shaking their fist too much at mother nature for this cruel weather we've been having.

Ash out.

Queens Will Play

Thanks to @TysonDueck, I'm totally addicted to this song now.

A Quiet Moment

Alright. New place, check. Move complete, check. Buzzer hooked up, internet *finally* hooked up, check check.

Ashley getting used to living alone? Wellll lets come back to that at a later date.

Move went well, or as well as a move can go. Was hard, for obvious reasons, but got through it. It was a REAL moving weekend, as the ex-bf, me, AND my brother and his gf were all moving in the same weekend. What a rush.

The new place is slowly (but surely) coming together. I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done getting stuff organized and put away, etc.

I have to admit, yes I'm relieved the move is over and done with. It's probably the worst part of ending a relationship with a significant other whom you have lived with for 4 years. On the other hand, I'm still coping with it all, but have been (definitely) keeping busy. This last week has been non-stop equaling exhaustion and a bit of disorientation. I'm hoping things will start to calm down (dear god, please...), but I don't think that will happen for a bit. See, I'm still stressed as I need to start looking for a part time job now, knowing it will be a stressful encounter to endure. Hopefully getting said part time job before school starts (another slightly stressful key) on Sept 20th. Holy. That's come up quite fast.

Big (huge) life changes flipping me upside down. I just hope I'll end up right side up with a smile on my face and the sun shining. I'ma working on it.

Almost moving time

I hate moving.

I don't think anyone likes it really. Having to pack up EVERYTHING and I always feel so disorganized, even though I'm TRYING to be organized this time. I even made a list of things I need to do beforehand, things I'll need to get after I move, places I need to call to change my address... These lists just seem to keep getting bigger.

It sucks having to split up a lot of things over a 5 year relationship... Who gets this, who gets that... If you get that, then can I have this? It's a good thing me and him are still friends, because that part of things has been going fairly smoothly. It's going to be VERY different living alone. I've actually never lived alone before, have always had a roommate or him living with me. I think this will be a good step in the Life of Ash in creating more independence and learning, etc, etc. I think I'm ready to take on this new chapter in my life. Will it be hard? Yes. Will it be a big adjustment? Oh yeah. But all in all, I'm SO grateful to have the wonderful, supportive, and amazing friends that I do to help me through these times.

So, I'm worried, stressed, overwhelmed... but I keep trying to look at the positives and focusing on THAT instead of worrying about future stuff. One day at a time...

Anyways, I have more packing to do. Will give an update soon!

Losing Ourselves & Soul Searching

Hello friends, Ash here.

So in these past few months I have been a terrible blog post updater, and I apologize profusely for that. You see, a lot of things have been going on in Ash's life that has forced her to be MIA and distracted and such. I figured now would be a good time to blog some of these things off my chest, get 'er out in the open and explain a bit of why I've been internet absent. Step 1 (or 3.. or 6...) of coping, dealing, and accepting hardships of life.

Lets travel back a few months (ok, 5 months.. Has it really been that long!? Dear god...). I was laid off, as you all know from a previous post a while back. I STILL have no job, things kind of gotten in the way of that and took priority. But don't worry, I'm on EI right now so that is tiding me over for the time being.

Within the last couple months, I had to deal with a LOT of stress at once. The job loss was the beginning, and then I found out my parents were separating. That was a shocker, I mean these things don't happen  when you're 23 years old. But I mean, I knew they were having problems. It was a very hard thing to deal with and still is at times, but it's getting better. My mom moved away from home and I finally took the long drive to see them (separately), which was hard, but I'm glad I did it. Like I said, this situation is slowly getting better (or I'm just getting used to it), and I know it is for the best right now.

Enter anxiety. I've been dealing with anxiety for a while now, and this all has affected it in a really bad way. The anxiety skyrocketed and I was having the worst panic attacks (almost had to go to the hospital) which was SCARY as hell. Thank god I have an AMAZING friend who has gone through this same ordeal and has been my 'coach' through all of this. I honestly have no idea what I would have done or where I would be right now if it weren't for this person. Anxiety is something I've been dealing with for a while, but it has never been this bad or scary. He finally convinced me to talk to my doctor about it (something I had never even thought about doing, possibly because I was ashamed or figured I could deal with this on my own). And yes I am not on medication for it and it HAS been helping (was rocky to start and I had to switch medications and dosage, etc a few times, but now I think we're on track).

Next was issues with the boyfriend. We have been together for almost 5 years and the last year or so has been kind of rocky and I'm sure we both realized it, but just never brought it up. We had a huge talk a few weeks ago and then recently we decided that a break up is the best thing for us. Something I never really thought would happen, but when I realized that neither of us were happy then it was time to do something about it, something needed to change. This didn't feel healthy anymore and I know we were both hurting because of it. I won't go into detail, but basically this will be best for both of us. I know it was a huge stress load for me and adding a lot of anxiety.

All in all, now is the time I need to do some serious soul searching. In these last few months I feel like I've lost myself and I need to find her again. I haven't felt like myself a lot lately, but now is the time to do something about it and start building myself back up again. I know I won't be the same person I was, but I'm hoping that I will be a better person because all of this. What doesn't kill you just makes you stronger, right? Right now I'm currently in the process of moving (found a place - thank god I have the most wonderful landlords in the WORLD. Gave me a steal of a deal on a place in another building they manage), so we'll be out by the end of the month. I know it's going to be hard, but hopefully after it's all done and over with I'll be able to focus on myself and get my head on straight. I'll be starting school on Sept 20th (which is creeping up WAY too fast...) so I'm hoping to be all settled in, with a part time job, and able to concentrate again by that time.

I'm taking things one day at a time and trying to deal with them as they come. Baby steps. You can't overload yourself or you will go crazy. Bat them off one at a time and it will make the rough road a little smoother to drive on. You'd rather be driving over potholes and bumps opposed to crashing into a tree.

I think one of the reasons for this post was to let anyone out there know who may be going through hard times that there IS sunshine through the clouds and darkness. There IS blue sky over the horizon and that everyone deserves to be happy. As hard as things may seem, they will get better, even if you have to give yourself a little push or force yourself to realize things you'd rather not. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm pretty sure it's coming my way. It has to.

-A

She's a pro, I'm a pro, you're a pro!

So today I was TRULY touched and smiley this morning when I was reading my dearest @CourtneyReese86 's blog, and she honored me with the Prolific Blogger Award. Amazing!
It meant a lot to me, especially considering I've been seriously lacking in the blog updates lately (sigh.. apologies..). Check out her blog here (DO IT!) - http://courtneyreese86.blogspot.com/ . A gigantic hug and humongous thank you to my dearest CP/soul mate/favorite Texan, for making me smile and making my day! Luvers you! (sincerely, your favorite Canuck <3)

Now, for me to pass this lovely award on. I give my fellow Albertan, and amazing lady @nataliexmurphy the Prolific Blogger Award! She is fantastic in keeping her blog updated frequently and always has an interesting post to read! She also loves Monty Python as much as I do. On top of that, she just recently completed her first draft of her medieval romance novel! Congrats Nat!! Give her blog a read (you know you want to!) at http://www.nataliemurphy.blogspot.com/

Funnies.

So, @Nataliexmurphy on Twitter had an awesome blog post that took me back to the Monty Python days (http://nataliemurphy.blogspot.com/2010/08/she-turned-me-into-newt.html ) and it reminded me of MY favorite scene from The Holy Grail. So I decided to share it with all of you for a laugh.

Happy Songs

Here's a post for anyone who needs a bit of a cheer up. Some happy, pick-me-up songs for you:

Ok, maybe the last one isn't really a cheer up, happy song (Midnight Train), but it's one that always cheers me up.

-A

Bubbles

I thought this was funny. If only my brother had been cool enough to blow bubbles with us, the comparison would have been much more funny. Sigh.

Still a youngster at heart.
-A

Things I've realized in the last few weeks.

So I've been going through a bunch of things in the last few weeks, nothing I'll go into detail about, but it's made me realize some stuff that's pretty important. I figured I'd share some of them with you.

1) When things get cloudy and dark, sometimes you just need a double rainbow to cheer you up. Go here if you don't already know what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

2) It helps to be honest.

3) A good doctor is extremely important. If you go to a doctor and you tell them one symptom and they write you a prescription immediately and send you on your merry way... They are not a good doctor. Get a new one. I've recently got a new doctor and she is great. Extremely helpful, kind, thorough, explanatory, and takes her time with her patients. She doesn't get bothered by my many questions if I'm unsure about things, or if something isn't clear she makes sure to explain so I understand. Great doctors like this are hard to find (in Edmonton anyways).

4) The power of putting a smile on someone else's face is indescribable. For me, the ability to put a smile on someone's face, puts a smile on MY face. Try it sometime. Go out of your way to do something nice, whether it be a family member, friend, stranger... I do this often, and it gives me warm fuzzies (perverts). It also creates a nice domino affect. Cheer someone up, there's a good chance their good mood will cheer someone else up, etc, etc.

5) When a medication you are taking advises you not to take any calcium (aka dairy) while on said medication, DO NOT EAT DAIRY. Not even creamer in your coffee. Seriously, don't.

6) No matter how much technology has helped us thus far and has made things so much more easier, efficient, etc, nothing beats snail mail.

7) Sometimes in life you get stuck between a rock and a hard place, and you can't do anything about it. You just have to deal with each separately, and try to stay positive.

8) ..which leads me to this one: TRY TO STAY POSITIVE.

9) #VLAT was fun and should be done on a regular basis.

10) Music is a powerful tool to help you escape, distract you for a little while, or just make you want to forget about everything and dance. (I've realized this a loooong time ago, but figured it was post worthy again).

11) Lastly (because it's hard for me to concentrate on any more right now) Friends are one of the most important things in the WORLD. Never take them for granted. Take their advice (even if you have to take it with a grain of salt sometimes), listen to them. They know you (most of them do anyways). The true ones are just looking out for you and wanting what's best for you. It's these friends that you need to keep close and try not to lose. They help make you who you are, help you through tough times, put a smile on your face, and the trust between true friends is something that is very precious.

Ok. That's enough for now. I leave you with an overly cute picture of a reminder not to upset little Ash (that's my brother as Cookie Monster)
.

The new ink addition

As promised, I'd post pics on blog once it was all done. The great thing is, my friend (@spencerjmarie) came with me, the tattoo artist is pure AWESOME, and we got to watch Zombieland (which, ironically is the exact amount of time it took to do the tattoo). In the future I'll be adding something to the left of the writing so it's not so straight-lined (something vertical along the spine that semi wraps around the writing perhaps).

Something, dear god write something. (also, Tattoo news)

Alright. Due to recent events and such and life basically being life, I have not blogged in a while. I haven't even written in ANY of the WiPs in a long while either (don't even get me started...*grumble grumble*). I'm hoping that will change soon. Reeeaaallllyyyyyy hoping, but in these instances I guess only time will tell.

Anyways! Apologies for the lack of posts. I decided to do up a quick one. So as spontaneous as my last one was, I'm getting my next tattoo tomorrow. Yay! I've been wanting to go foreverrr, and then I got laid off and there's the whole 'money woes' (blah, blah, blah - I'm a total penny pincher, financial whiz, so it's hard for me to part with money). But! With everything going on I have decided to splurge and do something for myself.

The tattoo is an excerpt from one of my favorite poems by William Wordsworth, here is the font of what I'm getting:

And then eventually I'm going to (I think) get a large flourish of forget-me-nots (flower) beside it. This bad boy will be going on my shoulder blade (right one).
Originally, I have wanted to get this as a memory/dedication, etc for my grandparents who passed away two years ago, which was an incredibly tough time for me. Now, in light of everything else going on in my life I have come to realize it IS a great piece of prose to apply to a lot of life's hardships.

Anyways. I'm going tomorrow afternoon with @spencerjmarie (on twitter). If you follow me on twitter perhaps there will be a tweetphoto or two... If not I will post on zee blog for sure.

Argh matey! It be the Bickerin' Blogfest post.

So my lovely scalliwag of a friend, @kristenyard , has decided to host a super awesome blogfest. She be a grand mate o' mine on Twitter, she be. Yargh, a wonderful lass indeed.

For those of you who would like to see my fabulous co punk pirate's blog, it is http://kristen-takeitasitcomes.blogspot.com/ -- Go read all of the other fantastic entries!

For the record - my scene, which is in the 2nd 'book' of a trilogy my friend and I are writing, isn't so much of a friendly bickering as a minor cat fight. (Caught your attention, didn't I?) But no, it's not that great (as in this one hasn't been edited/revised yet), but sadly, me forgetting about the blogfest made for fast action in remembering a good 'bickering' scene. (A warning for the many f-bombs dropped in this one. Lexi can be a little... Well, you'll see)

---------------------------------------------------------

Lexi sat in her parked, running Mustang as she smoked a cigarette and stared out the window. The only light cascading from the darkness was from the dim, overhead street lights. The silence of the night enveloped her; it was nearing 1am, but there was one thing she still needed to do.

The large white house was quiet and there was only one car parked in the driveway. There was no traffic on the street and for a second she worried that no one was home, but she could see the bright light on inside the house. She took one more drag on the cigarette and flicked it out the window before turning off the ignition and stepping out into the brisk air of the night. Standing for a moment and closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before walking up the sidewalk to the side door.

Raising her already clenched fist, she knocked loudly three times and began pacing as she waited. Faint footsteps were evident as they approached the door from the inside, then the lock sounded and the door swung open.

“What the hell are you doing here,” it came as an obvious statement opposed to a question from Allison as she stood on the other side of the door wearing pink pyjama pants and a matching tank top. Her hair was up in a messy pony tail, but Lexi could tell she hadn’t been sleeping.

Lexi stared at her for a moment before replying, “You know how much you fucked things up?” Lexi asked, her tone coming out unusually even, surprising even herself.

“Excuse me?” Allison replied with a frown as she placed one hand on her hip. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You fucked around with my friends and you don’t even care, do you?” Lexi asked incredulously and let out a low chuckle. “God, Allison I knew you were stupid, but fuck.”

Allison looked taken back by the comment, but glared at Lexi with venom. “Don’t call me stupid. You can get the hell out of here and take your ridiculous accusations with you.”

She began to close the door, but Lexi stepped forward and placed her hand on it to stop. “You screwed around with Reid and hurt him bad. And of course you had to fuck around with one of his best friends too, God Allison, you’re such a tramp! How could you do that to Reid?”

Allison stood shocked for a brief moment before she recovered and returned her iced expression.

“I’M the tramp? Geez Lexi, practice what you preach…” She laughed out loud as she brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face, obviously showing no remorse for any of it.

“You fucked with too many people, and now look what happened. Stay away from Reid or any of my friends or I swear to God I’ll hunt you down myself,” Lexi spat, staring Allison down while trying to control the clenching of her fists at her side.

Allison only laughed, unfazed by her words. “Is that a threat from little Lexi? Get the fuck off my property.”

“I mean it Allison, stay away from him. You’ve hurt him bad enough already, he sure as hell doesn’t deserve it. Ever since you came into the picture you messed everything up.” Lexi started to turn then, figuring that she had said all she came to say, but Allison replied back without missing a beat.

“Are you sure that was me? I think you’ve done all of that yourself Lexi. You’re the one who was hurting poor Reid, leading him on and messing with him. You think I really hurt him? You’ve been doing that all on your own because-“

Before Allison could finish, Lexi found herself lunging forward and throwing a punch right at the blonde’s face. It was done in a matter of seconds, but Lexi couldn’t even remember stepping foot inside the house until her mind came back to reality and Allison’s hands were up at her cheek. She cursed loudly while shoving Lexi back outside.

“Get the fuck out of here you stupid cunt! I’m going to call the cops on you and have you charged with assault!” Allison screamed at her from the threshold, but Lexi only frowned and shrugged carelessly as she began walking backwards towards her awaiting car.

“Go ahead. Won’t be around anyway,” she replied back just as Allison slammed the door shut. After inhaling a deep breath, Lexi walked briskly back to her Mustang, mildly satisfied with the small outcome.

River Valley Funny

So, earlier the bf and I went for a nice long walk down in the River Valley. I had my camera to take pretty picture of things and stuff and at one point there was an elderly lady walking ever so slowly up the huge stairs. My initial plan: Take video of old lady walking and make something awesome when I get home. New plan: Fast jogger lady decided to storm the stairs like it was nobody's business. In my head I had a plan. And here I have showcased EXACTLY what was going on in my head at that exact moment.

For the record, I have no idea who any of these people are.

Team Lizash at the Ledge

My lovely Lizzie Bear and I hung out today at the legislature grounds, and had a fantastic time (I heart her). Here is a small taste of our awesomeness (go team Lizash). (Also, I have collaborated the video with fun music!)

Haunted - Kelley Armstrong (get 'er done, Ash)

It's all about procrastination, right? Enter random book post of my frustration.

First, let me say that I'm the type of person who goes through a HUGE reading binge (while procrastinating the writing), where I'll read nearly a book per day for about a week. Then the reading spurt subsides and off to writing frenzy it is. Actually, a couple weeks ago I read 4 books in 4 days (Rachel Vincent shifter series - amazing!). Anyways, seeing as this writing procrastination has been lasting a LOT longer than I could ever imagine (or want), I've been reading a ton. Now I'm stuck.

Second, I must say I love Kelley Armstrong's writing and Otherworld series. (The fact that she is Canadian makes her even better! Represent!) Anyways, a friend recommended Bitten a while ago (first book of this series). I was looking for good shifter books for inspiration and things. Anyways, FLEW through Bitten, instantly grabbed up Stolen and flew through that as well. Then with Dime Store Magic , I was a little leery because it switched narrators at this point. I'll admit, I'm not HUGE on the whole narrator switch (especially in the same book), and was a little dubious in the fact that this one was focusing on a witch's POV now. (I wanted shifters damnit. Bring back the werewolves!) But to my surprise I really enjoyed this book and also the next one, Industrial Magic. Then I got to Haunted...

Now, to be fair my friend who recommended the series WARNED me about this book and said I could borrow it instead of spending money to buy (if I like a book/series, I always buy it). She warned me this one was hard to get through and probably the worst one of the series. And I'm not huge on the whole 'ghosty/paranormally' novels. Then the lay offs happened (this friend is someone I had worked with) and haven't seen her since then so I DID buy it. Oy. I don't know if it's my non-interest in ghosty things or what, but I am STRUGGLING to get through this one. But it's one of those series where you NEED to read the book, because there will be things referenced in later ones. *Sigh*.

It's not that it's bad writing... Maybe it's hard for me to relate because the MC in this one is, I'm guessing in her 40s (I'm 23). Although, the male MC Kristof, well he's an alright vision in my head. It could be the whole fact that she's a ghost and it's all about HER on the "other side". There isn't a lot of action, mainly just a mission that keeps taking her in circles and blah blah.

Seriously struggling. I'm on page... *grabs book from coffee table to see*... 227/448. If I'm really into a book I will continue reading it until I'm DONE (one of those "can't put the book down" people). This one I've mainly been reading in the tub. I'm trying though. Really, I am! I can't WAIT to get to the next book (bring back the werewolves! YES. Can't wait.)

Although, I DO have to admit that there has been one exciting part in this book for me because it involved PIRATES. My reaction: YES!! And then the pirates were done and it's back to trudging through. I'm hoping the plot picks up or at LEAST gives me some action here.

Even with 'the dud', I HIGHLY recommend Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. (besides Haunted), her writing is fantastic, plot lines are great, and her characters are really well written (Gotta love Clay... *dreamy sigh*)

-A