Where You At?

Well now.  I’m not quite sure how to broach this delicately, or if it’s even proper to mention such things aloud.  But in the habit of being born without filter and an unwavering need to always solve the issue(s) at hand… I’ll confess:

Readership is down, yo.  Way down.

i’m one sad buggie =(

In fact, I’m seeing about 10% the average of readers I used to see.  So, what gives?  Am I boring these days?  Am I writing about things that no one cares about?  Is Western New York so boring and Hawaii was so awesome?  I’m trying to gauge the correlation between the periods of heavy readership and the topics that I discussed and posted on vs. these times of slimmer pickins.

Other blog friends have encouraged me, explaining that views-by-the-number will wax and wane, that things will go up and down. That more importantly than the stats page of my Dashboard is the community I have here.  This is a sentiment with which I heartily agree.  To my regular readers, the ones who comment and whose blogs I follow – whose lives I share: I LOVE YOU AND I THANK YOU!  I feel like I have the best readers ever, and through this silly little blog of mine, I’ve made all kinds of friends and contacts I had never imagined.

But plaguing me still is that gnawing issue: to those who have chosen to overlook my trusty page, here: Did I do something wrong?

would you like more pooch pics?

I know that such feedback is uncomfy and awkward.  No one wants to be the friend of mine who comes along and says, “Hey Rose, you’ve lost your edge!”  I get that.  No one wants to be hurtful.  Well, if you’re a troll than you do.  But there’s a way to help me out and be constructive while trying to leave my pride intact.

I think I’m a good writer.  I fully acknowledge that my content has shifted some, and that I’m not writing as regularly as I once did… that perhaps the time constraints of my job and the move have over-shadowed my zest for blogging.  In simple words:  I’m probably not giving the effort here that I used to.  I admit that, and I sincerely apologize.  It’s not fair to have a blog and ask for readership and want to make friends if I’m not on my A-game.

But that said, I feel that since taking on a job in writing and social media – the caliber of my writing has vastly improved.  My craft is honed, my tools sharpened daily on the stones of the Internet as I analyze, report, and write, write, write.

So…

Help me out!

i bought a new blender, wanna read about smoothies and protein shakes? we can do that.

Do you crave different kinds of content?  Do you want more hippie stuffs, like crunchy money saving ways (a post I have in drafts right now).  Do you want to hear about eco-friendly habits that are easy to adopt?  Gardening?  Do you want more about Happy Hippie Rose at play… like hiking stuff?  Outings?  Running, nutrition, and/or training – fitness stuff?  Did you care about my health and now you’re bored when I don’t gore you with details of the doctor’s office?  Do you want more photos and crafts?  More recipes?

running and training stuff – boring or do you want more?

we can talk about music…

more book reviews perhaps? laters, baby!

Or just more… ME?  Am I not being honest and vulnerable enough?  Do you want to hear crazy stories and revelations from my personal life and psyche?  We aim to please, after all.  (Ha! See what I did there?  Maybe some more cleverly placed pop culture references would tickle your fancy).

Or do you crave controversy?  Want me to get political and preachy?  Shall I talk about faith more often?  Daily struggles?  Politics?

Do I end too many a sentence with a preposition?  Am I arrogant? Aloof? Not naked enough?  Too married?  Not discussing romance to your liking?  Do you need more pooch pics?

Whatever it is that you’ve originally come here for, and now you find a lack of, LET ME KNOW!  I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken.

If I’m boring as all get out, you can say so.  Honestly: I’ll probably be sad; but for the sake of self improvement and delivering a blog that I love and will be proud of… I’m willing to go through the potential pain of exposure to difficult truths.

Thus, I ask that you lay it on me.   Feedback, please.

gardening talk? or do you come here for my sexy good looks? two birds with one stone right here? (oy… i am joking-ish, you know).

for real though, we can talk all about gardening. and we should!

If you don’t want to comment on in here, safely email me from the privacy of your own email client!  Happyhippierose@gmail.com will get you right to my green little eyes, and I’ll try my best to respond in a timely manner.

That’s another thing you know, as a reader of many blogs – I have my own pet peeves, and I try to avoid those.  Ya know, I hate commenting on a blog and having the author NEVER reply to myself or any of the others who comment.  I do try to get back to everyone!

My suspicions are that it’s a combination of timing (it’s summer y’all), content, and irregularity of posting, with a sprinkling of commitment issues and lack of effort, creativity and revelation on my part.  All of which I vow to improve.    Not only do I want you to like me – because honestly, I do – but I want this blog to serve some purpose.  I want to inspire kindness, happiness, fun.  If I enlighten just ONE person to experience a lifestyle that’s more gentle on this planent or towards one another, well then I’m happy as a clam!  If the trials through which I’ve been fuel strength in just one reader, I’ll be pleased.   If by being myself, open and vulnerable, anyone out there can connect – this blog is worth it.  This isn’t Live Journal, I don’t need such a fancy record of my life just for myself – I want to serve a purpose.  So if I’m missing the mark,  I need to figure out why my shot is off and correct.  If we were at the range, I’d know that I’m anticipating the shot too much and wavering on the trigger.  But when it comes to this her blog o’ mine… I’m grasping at straws.

Do me a favor, and just hand them to me, will ya?

i can do arts and crafts! i can, i mean it!

gadgets. we can gadget gossip. whatever you like, just lay it on me!

Thanks – I mean it.  Thank you for reading and thank you for any insight you can offer.

 

MUCH LOVE, 

Happy Hippie Rose

PS. If you’re a loving unwavering reader and never sensed that I’ve effed up or slipped at all – then bless you!  Could you maybe tell me why you come back?  What it is you expect and enjoy over here in my small corner of the Interwebs.

 

And PPS – Please, I hope this doesn’t reek of desperation the way it likely does.  My intentions are altruistic as possible.  I just want to be good, damnit.  Really good.  And I know that comes from genuine work, trial and error… but I feel like this is part of getting me there too.  Okay, I’ve said enough.  I’m out.  *Braces for the worst*

Happy Mom’s Day, Catching Up, and Other Bloggy Stuffs

I know most of my posts have been about our big move.  It’s been pretty consuming.  Don’t think the ole wheels upstairs aren’t turning though!

After staying in so many different households over the past couple weeks, I’m excited to work on some posts about my happy hippie ways that have saved us money and helped to run our home in an eco-friendly way.  I’ve been passing on my tips to our gracious hosts along the way, and it made me think that I should do a post with a bunch of my household tips and tricks!  So that’s on my mind.   Of course I want to show off all the photos from the trip (from the nice camera, I haven’t posted any of those yet) and I want to show off Fredonia and what we’ve been up to here.

Oh, and the climate change has inspired me to keep track of my outfits.  Hehe… it’s not the same style that I could get away with in Hawaii.  So it’s been fun dressing in layers and changing my daily garb.  So there’s that too!

in pottersville on a dreary day- i’m wearing jeans, boots, and long sleeves. i can’t remember the last time i had all this on at the same time. it’s fun!

In good time, once I have more magical interwebs power I will post lots of fun and exciting happy hippie idears and posts (I know I always say that, but really I’ve been on the ball the past several days – Idk if it’s getting away from the moldy house or just moving in general, but man has my energy and motivation been coming back to me.  I’ve been incredible industrious since we’ve arrived in Fredonia – it’s outstanding!).

For now though, it’s great just to say hi!  I hope everyone is doing well.

To all the mothers out there, I hope y’all had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!! We spent the afternoon at my Aunt Patty’s house and had a lovely family dinner.  It was great.  I hope all the mommies out there spent time with your loved ones and were able to feel the love and appreciation that so many have for you!

aunt patty and nick, yesterday at dinner celebrating mother’s day and us being up here finally!

…I have to admit, it’s a holiday that’s a bit bittersweet for me… I can’t wait to be a mom someday and get to enjoy the celebration in a different way.  It’s certainly a day that made me wistful.

But I know things all happen for a reason, and that God’s got us covered.  So when the time is right, I know our family will grow.  And until then, I’m all about make the best of the millions of blessings we sure do have!  There’s a lot of exploring to do in our new home, so much to see and do, so many new places to check out.

Even though Mother’s Day made me a teensy bit sad, it’s a very exciting and happy time for us.  And sharing in that positive energy is so fun for me.  So keep your fingers crossed that we’re able to get some decent high speed and then I’ll be back up and running in full effect!

As always, thanks for reading!! xoxo, hhr

30 Days Continues – Day 10: The Last Time I Snooped…

Day 10 — The last time I snooped into something I wasn’t supposed to (like a medicine cabinet in a friend’s bathroom), I found…

a whole lot of trouble for myself. 

Ehh.

Curiosity killed the cat.  If you go dig, you’ll get your hands dirty.

Snooping, huh?  I used to snoop.  I used to have a hard time trusting in serious relationships, and I used to be too curious for my own good.  When I put my mind to it, I can have this detective-like ability to sort through facts, find patterns, figure out out the order of events.  I like to try and predict what will happen next.

nothing gets by me! image from here.

It’s not that I have a good BS-detector, I have a great memory for conversations and details, and I also observe.  A lot.  I can notice when things don’t match up.  When someone changes a detail about a story, when an item is out of place, when something physically seems off.

I’m not so straightforward and cold though.  Not at all.  I actually have a weird mix of perception sensors.  In many many ways, I’m super gullible, naive – I trust too easily.  I like to think that I can read people and then based off the impression I get, I’ll either trust very easily or be looking for BS all the time.  It burns me.  Often!  I’ve been fooled by people in real life and online.  I dated a really serious pathological liar, I dated a really scary psycho guy too – because I was a poor judge of character.

I see the good in everyone, and that often blinds me from the bad. 

the glass is half-full, y'all! always. photo from here.

But, I do have good strong instincts, it’s just a matter of properly applying them.

So.  When was the last time I snooped?  Some people will read this and right away know what I’m talking about.  There was a member of an online community I’m part of who struck me as being “off.”  I noticed some stories didn’t line up, it seemed like the whole projection of this person didn’t really add up to something believable.

"my name is tiffany, i'm 22, blonde, and i love modeling... i just don't post pics because i'm shy." been there, done that! image from this page.

I was “close” with this person, too.  We talked on the phone, we texted.  I felt like we “knew” each other.  So taking a step back to see the reality was very, very hard for me.  Due to some serious commonalities, it was hard to take the wool off my eyes and really consider that maybe this person was lying.

So, I did a little snooping.  I’m not a hacker though, and I don’t live near this person (according to where this person claims to live).  Snooping was hard.  I tried my best.  I dug through some old posts and compared details.  I talked to others who knows this person and got their take on things.

To say it ended badly is a serious understatement.  It was terrible.

This character did not go down without a fight.  I lost other “friends” over it, and things haven’t been the same since.  It was really ugly and hurtful, and I still consider most of what went down to be unfair.

friends were lost, backs were turned. sad face. pic source.

I called a spade a spade, and some people just didn’t want to hear that.

Honestly, I feel like the others being duped weren’t offended at being played and instead many were miffed that I wanted to stir up the peace.  Others thought I was the one full of crap.  Accused of drama-seeking and manipulation, some angry parties, loyal to the other person totally flipped out on me.  I was called a bully (and anyone who knows me for real can tell you that these days, I’m about as far from a bully as people come).

It was tough.  Being called a liar and accused of being shady really got under my skin, I took the fallout really personally.  You see, I’m a super transparent person.  You can spend five seconds checking out my online life and get a pretty full picture of who I am.  I have multiple outlets that all match up – photos, writing style, my real life interactions with others, social media, even third party confirmation of who I am (like being published on various sites, appearances on the news and stuff like that) … just proof of who I am and what I do abounds.

i am whatever i say i am. what you see is what you get!

Not to mention, I’ve gone out and personally met so many members of this specific community – I felt so confused at being so misunderstood.  I thought after years of friendship and how clearly open/public I am about who I am, that people would see my POV much more readily than they did.

Because I’m so open, it’s harder for me to take people seriously who are super “private.”  I know that not everyone wants to spill their guts online… but some privacy is just too much, and it reeks of BS.

When no photo of you exists, and your phone breaks, when you’ve never met anyone else in real life, when you don’t go by your real name or provide any details that can help confirm a real life – it just seems fishy to me.

So anyways.  I snooped, I found what I consider to be evidence of fakery and lying… and it blew up on me.

rose duggan, interwebs detective. this is me looking serious at the compy.

and... kaboom. image from here.

Every time I’ve snooped in the past, it’s ended badly, honestly.

I’ve found stuff that I wish I could un-see.  I’ve discovered things that hurt my feelings.  When I think about people snooping around in my stuff and my life, I don’t really like the idea at all.  I put enough of myself out there, so what I keep private – I would really like to stay private.  I’ve had my identity stolen before, and my home broken into, my online email and social media hacked and used in an anti-Semitic hate crime (hateful photo captions and posts were published on my MySpace and my original Fb accounts, calling me “an ugly fat Jew” and so on) – and having MY STUFF snooped into really really hurt me.  Knowing that my closet and drawers had been rifled through, disturbed me.  Big time.

I found out an ex was online dating, because I snooped on his phone.  That hurt.  I found out about drug use by snooping through someone’s trash can and that was awful (disclaimer – I was coerced into that one, though.  I was a kid).

Bottom line? Snooping sucks.  

I’ve come a LONG WAY as far as self confidence and my own strength goes.  I no longer feel this need to look for for things.  Duggs and I have a really cool policy about email accounts and stuff like that – we’re anti-snooping.  We both have each other’s passwords for everything, but we only use them for legit purposes (like when he was deployed, I could check his email if need be, etc.).  But pleasure reading his inbox? Nope.  Not gonna happen!

For now, I’ll keep my detective skills to predicting the end of TV shows and books.

as always, thanks for reading!! xoxo, hhr

Wondering what this is Day 10 of – and where the idea to write about snooping came from in the first place?

It’s 30 Days of Blogging Honesty:

I’m participating in a fun blogging event.  Tom Baker and Cherlyn Cochrane created the “30 Days of Blogging Honesty” challenge – chock full of 30 writing prompts + one dare at the end!  To read all the rules and prompts, click this link.

Check out the other bloggers playing along:

Participants
Cherlyn Cochrane, Jenn Miko, LJ, Melanie, Last Civilized Woman, Princesa Musang, Primadonna Zel,Caroline, Koi, Aurathena, Terriblethinker, Sleep and Salami, Marliz3e, Prysmatique, DLonelyStar, AnonymousBurn, Nicole, Sylvia Garza, Mariana,Nenskei, MyNakedBokkie, Bluefiadiarries, VeehCirra, Bannatreasures, Sajeev, Happyhippierose, TheFerkel, Tom Baker, *Sofia, *Everything Love & Lust,*TemptingSweets99, Sites with an * contain NSFW material. If erotic or sexual material is offensive to you, please do not visit these three blogs.

30 Days of Blogging Honesty – Day 7

Alright, alright – I’m hellbent on playing a quick catch up here.  I mean business!  Upper respiratory funk?  So what!  I’ve given up enough of my precious time and productivity to this sickness (was there a productive cough pun in there?  you betcha!). 

Today is another catch up day: here’s “day seven.”

I know I posted “day six” just a little while ago, but I’m trying to get back on track and post in line with the other participants.  So you’re getting another installment today, and it’s a doozy!  (Seriously, as per usual I went nuts and just typed and typed and typed).  Not everyone participating is exactly on the same day, and that’s okay – but I don’t want to be a week behind.  This is getting close enough for me though, and I’ll probably go back to one a day after this.

I’m super duper thankful for everyone’s patience, all the new readers who I’ve met during this event so far (I love that new people have been checking out my happy hippie place! hooray!), I love the encouragement… and even though I never imagined I’d write about poop and pre-marital sex, I’m excited to have something pushing me.

Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Read up here, my intro.  I’m participating in 30 Days of Blogging Honesty, a blogging event created by Tom Baker and Cherlyn Cochrane; you can check out the rules and see all of the prompts right here.

Want to see who else is playing?  Check out this list: Cherlyn Cochrane, Jenn Miko, LJ, Melanie, Last Civilized Woman, Princesa Musang, Primadonna Zel, Caroline, Koi, Aurathena, Terriblethinker, Sleep and Salami, Marliz3e, Prysmatique, DLonelyStar, AnonymousBurn, Nicole, Sylvia Garza, Mariana, Nenskei, MyNakedBokkie, Bluefiadiarries, VeehCirra,Bannatreasures, Sajeev, Happyhippierose, TheFerkel, Tom Baker, *Sofia, *Everything Love & Lust, *TemptingSweets99, Sites with an * contain NSFW material. If erotic or sexual material is offensive to you, please do not visit these three blogs.

Read the crap I’ve already spewed as part of this 30 Day craziness: Day One, Days Two, Three and Four, Day Five, Day Six.

That’s a lot of links, eh?  If you’ve any time at all left to actually read this post, let’s get to it now!

….

Day 07 — I went to see a psychic, and was given the opportunity to ask three questions – I would ask…

Nothing? 

I don’t really believe in psychics to tell you the truth.  At least not most of the ones, the kind that charge a bunch of money and claim to read your future.  Many of the ones I’ve ever encountered seem to be rip-off city.  And well, you can never truly know the intentions of someone trying to use and harness supernatural powers.  That kind of stuff can get real serious and real dangerous, and I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to go and open yourself up to that kind of thing.

heh, this cracks me up. do you agree? money-making scam? or legit future/spirit insights? image was found here.

Don’t get me wrong – I believe in psychics.  I’ve had plenty of my own unexplainable encounters, I know that the supernatural is real.  I’m open-minded to all kinds of unexplainable things… I truly believe I’ve experienced ghosts (or whatever you want to call that phenomenon), I think that there are all kinds of things that go on that we don’t understand or even know about, non-human supernatural things.  God and Jesus are supernatural entities, as well as the miracles and all kinds of wonders explained in the Bible (immaculate conception and burning bushes aren’t the typical stuff our earthly existence is made of).

So it’s not for lack of believing!

My viewpoint and thoughts on this matter are actually because of how serious I know this type of stuff can be.  Some things we just shouldn’t go meddling in.  Self-protection is one thing, being faced with something when you don’t ask for it or open yourself up to it is one thing – going out, seeking it, looking for trouble, that’s another thing altogether!

I’ve been to psychics in the past and from my experience there’s a lot of bullcrap that goes on, a lot of generic fluff that could be true for anyone.  Sometimes I think I have my own borderline insights.  I’ve had dreams come true, I’ve guessed things or known things that I had no way of knowing based on the info available to me.  My hunches and instincts are usually pretty right-on, and in an attempt to be modest and keep my nose out of trouble, I chalk it up to being a good observer, with good common sense, people skills and insight.

I used to be REALLY superstitious.  Probably OCD (I’ve been diagnosed as OCD by two diff doctors, I do NOT use that term as slang or hyperbole for when I’m quirky or hyper-organized, I mean legit OCD).

In an attempt to break off some of my more intrusive habits, the ones that infringe on my day-to-day like (like counting steps all the time, being unable to pick anything up that’s “face down” on the floor, and so on… they get way worse)… so in order to break off of the control these weird unfounded fake beliefs had over me AND to show my true faith and trust in God, I walked away from a lot of this crap.

gah! this so used to be me, all of these and more. i'd make my own up too. my mom used to always tell me those little superstition rhymes.. i think that's where it started for me. found this image over here.

I used to make up ultimatums all time – weird stuff.  I’d tell myself, “if I grab a red Skittle first without looking, I’m going to have really good luck today,”  or “if my friend calls me back within 3 minutes, it means I’m totally going to pass my test.”  It gets weirder too… it gets more intense.  I hated all the counting I would do, I used to do this weird “layered thought” thing where I’d narrate all of my thoughts and once I would start doing it, it was so hard to turn off.  Like when you think about breathing, it takes so long to go back to just breathing without obsession.

So yeah.  I decided to make a clean break.  No more rituals.  No more counting, over-thinking, no making weird fictional “deals” with myself.  No horoscopes.  No tarot cards, numerology, none of it.  So in that pile, I toss on psychics and other seers. I think that God is stoked on my decision.  I’m telling Him that I trust Him, and things will happen in His time, as He sees fit, according to His plan.  And my end of the deal is to chill, let life happen, have faith, and handle things as they happen – and reach out to God whenever I need reassurance, help, comfort, guidance.  Him and Him alone!

i love this pic - I turn to my God for all my needs. I found this pretty picture right over here.

But… of course there’s a but.  This IS the 30 days of blogging HONESTLY, and I have some hypocrisy to cop to.

I watch the TLC Reality Show, Long Island Medium.  It’s the wackiest show, I know.  I actually first started reading it as more of a lark than anything serious.  The star of the show, Theresa Caputo, is so very over the top.  She’s a super stereotypical Long Island mom who claims to be a medium – she has access to the spirit world of deceased people, and she can communicate with these souls.

here's theresa, the long island medium! have you ever seen this show?

(^The pic above is from TLC’s website.  I’m giving you the link here, because the last time I opened it up to check it out, it totally froze + crashed my whole browser (Chrome).  So annoying, right?  I hate that.  The page runs slow and takes forever to load… so I’m pretty miffed right now, lol.  I also am trying my durndest to NOT be superstitious.  I sit here and say how I’m not into psychics and people who try to meddle with the super natural, and then I go and blab about this one medium I’m okay watching and bam! The page for her show crashes.  Is that a sign?  Or just coincidence.  You tell me.)

My Duggs is from Strong Island, so when I first heard about this show I had to tune in just to get a good giggle.  He loves where he’s from, and he’s also super annoyed at all the crazy behavior that just screams I’m-from-Long-Island!!  I tuned in to get a laugh back in the first season, and what I found instead was the really sweet show about a pretty amazing lady.

she's soooooo long island! photo from this site.

She claims to love God, she’s a Christian.  And what she does (as portrayed on the show) is actually a nice thing.  Her “gift” brings an awful lot of closure and peace to people.  She delivers messages of hope, encouragement, love and peace to those she “reads.”   Theresa claims that “spirit” (that’s her word for this other plane that she communicates with) seeks her out, it’s something she can’t shut off or ignore.  She’ll be out running errands and feel compelled to tell total strangers the messages she feels nagging at her, she also takes private paid readings.  It’s her career.  She says her bookings are full for more than a year in advance, she’s world-renowned.

she makes hilarious and awesome facial expressions, she's such a character! found this photo here too.

I’ve seen the old John Edward show, Crossing Over.  I thought that guy was super fugazi. He did those big studio audience readings… he’s say, “I’m getting the letter A… does anyone have the letter A?”  Everyone knows the letter A, so a ton of hands would go up – “My mother was Annette,” or “My cousin passed and we used to call him Ace as a nickname,” “I’m from Austin, TX – it’s where my uncle died.”  And then he’d pick one and keep going with more vague imagery, and often the person being read would lead him there, proving the info he needed.  That + strong observation + educated guesses + who knows what back-stage pre-show research went on = he could deliver a reading that seemed impressive.

john edward, totally bologna - right? what are your thoughts? found this pic on this page.

Theresa does the letter thing, and she scribbles down little notes… like times, numbers, catch phrases, expressions.  On a recent episode she was reading a widow and Theresa wrote down “11:11.”  When she asked the client if that meant anything, she said, “Do you know what 11:11 means?  Do you find yourself always looking at the clock when it’s 11:11?’  The client said that her husband died at 11:11, and she always notices that time.

She’ll do the letter thing, sometimes she guesses a name… “They’re telling M, like Mike or Mark.”  “Oh yeah, Michael was my brother.”

The 11:11 thing could go either way.  LOTS of people notice the clock when it’s 11:11, right? It’s a superstitious time.  I think that people who would be down to chat with a medium are likely the kind to be into other beliefs like that.

But when she pulls these other things out of thin air, I’m impressed.  She’ll know the way someone died, she’ll bring up memories of specific events, or talk about significant things – she knows the hobbies and interests of those who passed, she’ll be able to describe the personality of someone.  She claims that all she knows about the client is their first name and a phone number (in case she needs to cancel and/or to confirm the appt time).  And like I said, she’s always going up to total strangers.  All kinds of super skeptics give testimonials after a reading saying that Theresa knew details and tidbits that there’s no way she could have known.

Here’s a video clip that shows a little bit about what she does and in her own words she explains her abilities:

Long Island Medium Star Discusses Her Gift

(if that doesn’t work – my attempt to embed it – here’s the link).

(Why do I always write so much?  Why am I so long winded?).

Anyways.  I’m not sure how I feel about her.  I think that if her ability to connect to the dead is real, well, that’s AMAZING.  For so many people, death brings with it a lot of unanswered questions, hurt feelings, loose ends.  If there’s a woman who can bring peace and closure – well, I think that’s a wonderful thing to offer others.  I get the impression that she truly has good and noble intentions.

I fully admit that I’m super duper gullible, easily duped.  I’m naïve as all get out.

But, I do like her.  I get the vibe that she’s a good woman and she’s helping others.  She’s a family lady – her kids and hubby are on the show too.  And she’s funny, thoughtful, she seems to really take her gift seriously and she employs a lot of tact.  Well, she is from Long Island… so how one defines “tact” is up in the air, lol.  She’s delicate when she has something sensitive in nature to say, though.

Another cool video, the show’s producer explains Theresa, the show, readings, how it works, and more:

Long Island Medium’s Executive Producer

(again, the link in case that doesn’t show up the right way).

So, maybe she is evil or on the wrong side of the spiritual spectrum, and she is using her powers for dark purposes… maybe she’s in communication with the devil and that’s where she gets her insight?  Perhaps she’s unwittingly doing so.  I know that those things are vital to consider, and I don’t rule anything out.  I don’t know, nor do I have a way of knowing.

But, I sure do believe in the gift of prophecy.  I know that sometimes God really does use us to help one another in a special way, providing us with divine insight.

Also, I’ve read “Heaven is For Real” and I totally believe the story the Burpo family tells.  (If you haven’t read it yet, do so!  It’s a quick read and it will just warm your heart.  A little boy technically “dies” during surgery and has an incredible vivid experience in Heaven with Jesus).

love this book! here, go check out the amazon site to read more about it. it's also whereabouts i snagged this lovely pic.

So, I’m very open-minded to all kinds of paranormal / supernatural occurrences.  I want Theresa to be legit, and I want her to be on the good team, a believer in God, and speaking the truth about the people who are up in Heaven with Him. I really want her to be for real!

If Theresa was legit and good and her gift is God-given AND I had the chance to get a reading from her… I can think of three things (at least!) that I’d want to know.  Oh man, there are so many things I’d like to know.  But this prompt asked me to name three.

1. Are all of my deceased loved ones doing okay?  Are they all in Heaven? (of course I’m asking multi-part questions! ha!).

2. Are the encounters that I’ve had with deceased loved ones real?  Was it really them – when I sense someone watching or with me, looking out for me, is that real?

3. Are there any messages for me or for other living loved ones that I can pass along to offer peace, closure, or say something that needs to be said?

I’d love to know more.  I can be patient though.  I know that once I get to Heaven (to which I’m in no rush to do, I love being alive and in this life on earth), I’ll get to be reunited with everyone, and I’ll get to have so many questions answered.  But there’s a lot of sadness amongst my family over people who’ve been taken too soon, I have passed friends who I think about often, and I miss them.

I’m named after my maternal Grandmother.  She died before I was born, but I have so much in common with her, and I so badly want to know her.  I’d love to have a conversation with her, to know that she’s proud of me and she watches out for me.  I want to know that she’s in peace now and she’s not suffering anymore.

Yeah, if I ever got the chance to really break that barrier and have a chat with our angels there would be tons of things to talk about.  A million questions to ask.

I guess from the tone of this blog and my abundant enthusiasm, it’s plain to see that I really do dig Theresa Caputo and I extend a lot of credit to her.  It’s a balancing act though, a fine line.  I don’t ever want to follow a false prophet or insult God – I don’t want to get mixed up in something dark or bad, evil or untrue.  I know when it boils down, the best and safest, most sure way to do just this is to trust only God!

But much like I trust in various Pastors to teach me about God’s Word, interpret, to pray for me or with me… I think there’s some amount of trusting one another that’s okay.  Usually I just defer to my gut and my hunches (it is, afterall, that part of God within me that steers and guides my own conscience).

So while I must play it safe and keep Daddio as #1 forevs – I do have curiosities, which I hope are harmless.

WHEW!

Was that a doozy of a post or what?  Man.  These crazy prompts, I tell ya!  I was going to try and write up Days Seven AND EIGHT in here but yeah, I went on way too long for all that.  Times a million.

Stay tuned for day eight’s post very soon, and keep encouraging me.  Are you digging these 30 Days?  I feel like I’m certainly finding inspiration in the topics and that while doing so I’m getting out of my normal comfort zone.  It’s been fun, albeit very very wacky.

As always, thanks for reading!! xoxo, hhr

30 Days of Blogging Honesty – Day 6

Day 06 — My worst cooking disaster involved _____________ and this person/these people…

rice and my family, when I was growing up. 

I’m going to do one of the blog-a-day things, in conjunction with other bloggers.  It’s this one, called “30 Days of Blogging Honesty.”

My family is pretty Italian.  I grew up just knowing how to make pasta, now I can make all kinds of Italian fare from scratch, it’s certainly my comfort area in the kitchen.  I’ve since branched out and I do like to cook quite a lot.

But there’s this one ridic incident that stands out in my mind so clearly!

I must have been like 12 or so… and I offered to make dinner.  I can’t even remember what the whole meal was, I just know that there was rice involved.  I’ve NEVER been the kind of person who reads instructions.  In fact, I always just jump into a project and teach myself… I do the same in the kitchen too, hardly ever consulting recipes.  Now a days, it works out alright for me, I have a great natural sense of flavors.  I have a good sense of direction, good instincts.

But back in the day, tween Rose had NO IDEA how to cook rice.

I thought it was just like pasta, and so I just filled up the pot with water.  I didn’t measure how much water, I thought I could drain it later.  I didn’t realize there was a precise absorption thing going on with the making of rice.

Instead of cooking, the whole pot turned into this terrible weird paste.  It was rice mush.  Basically, porridge.

My Dad laughed SO HARD.  Man, he still cracks up about that rice ordeal to this day!  The best part was that even my little sister knew how to make rice, and as the whole thing played out – she was cracking up too.  Even she knew you had to measure the water!

My whole family just LOLed hardcore.  To this day, they still ask if I’ll be cooking rice or if I need some help, etc.  It’s a long running family joke.

I’ve made all kinds of crazy cooking snafus, but that’s totally the earliest one, one that really stands out in my memory.

As always, thanks for reading! xoxo, hhr

30 Days of Blogging Honesty: I’m Doing It!

I’m going to do one of the blog-a-day things, in conjunction with other bloggers.  It’s this one, called “30 Days of Blogging Honesty.”

Instead of just linking it and getting started though, I somehow de-railed, let my fingers fly, and I cranked out this massive, twisty, tangents-a-minute, intro post that is one of the most convoluted things I’ve ever typed, but I’m feeling silly enough to just let it fly.

Here goes:

I know I’m not really one for bandwagon blogging or photo day-by-day thingies.  But… but… let’s get real here: I am in dire need of some regularity with my posting, some accountability, structure, framework.

I made a hot minute comeback last week with a post or so, and then I went and got wicked sick.  No worries, it’s nothing hardcore serious, I just have a nasty chest cold that’s had me laid up, blah, tired, yucky, coughing and voiceless.

waaaah, i'm sick! see, i'm all swaddled in a throw blanket - it's a visual affirmation of the nasty cold i'm harboring.

Yep, voiceless. Hooray for Duggs, right?  I can only whisper, and even that is quick to bother my throat.  Talking seems to trigger crazy cough attacks, so I’m FAR quieter than the ushje. (How do you phonetically spell uge? Like an abbrev for usual? Yooge? Yooje? Who knows).  Anyways, I’m not talking much and my personal blogging has been slack for at least a month – so, the ideas and thoughts are getting cram jammed, back logged, and I have lots to say and lots to write about.  So this 30 day + a dare challenge seems like a good idea.  I’ve read through the topics and there are ways to post about pending ideas I’ve been mulling over as well as some creative new thoughts that the prompts have prompted.

I did not make this game up, create the image, start the trend, or anything!

A blog I sometimes read is actually doing this 30-day game, and I got the idea from reading this post.  I followed a link back to the original creator of the idea and read this (NSFW) post, the full list for each of the days (sans dare choices, I haven’t found those yet), and decided that I’m in!

NOTES ON THE LINKS I’M SLINGIN’:

-The first blog I just linked, West End Singleton – I’m not really sure how I feel about that blog.  I started following it because she liked a couple of my posts, and when I went over to check out her stuff, I liked the gist of what she was saying.  But as my subscription goes on, I’m just not so sure how I feel… I don’t really relate, and a couple things have totally rubbed me the wrong way.  I’m not saying this for the sake of being a bee-otch, I’m just being open with anyone who may click on over because I’ve posted a link.  I’ll tell y’all when a blogger is my pal or when a blog is one that I really enjoy, respect, turn to for info; similarly I’ll point out when it’s a blog that I don’t always jive with, just to give some context.

I know I’m being more tangential than usual – THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MY CREATIVE TYPING GETS ALL COOPED UP.

this is my brain on drugs. and congestion. really!

-The second blog that I’ve linked, this one, who made up this 30 day honestly blogging fun: I put the ole NSFW disclaimer on earlier.  Well, i’m playing safe > sorry.  Tom’s blog is a new one I’ve recently had the pleasure of coming across.  His actual content is rated PG, if that; he does admit to an occasional PG-13 or R-rated post every now and again – to which he dutifully indicates with a warning.  The name of his blog, a harmless, natural, term for a most regular and sturdy of human behaviors, might be posted in a big enough font to make you wish you hadn’t opened it two feet away from your boss, though.  I always link to stuff that’s not work-place friendly, and after nearly causing heart attacks in a couple corporate readers, I’m trying to be a bit more aware of these things.  Witnessing my personal growth and selflessness is nice, right?

Anyways, I keep things family-rated here. I know that I have family who reads my blog sometimes (well, to offend my biological family would take both extreme acts of determination and lewdness, and I probably could only get like half of them to blush. maybe.  but my husband’s dear sweet family pokes their heads in here from time to time and they deserve better than most!  also, I blog about my faith and Christian children’s crafts, and thus I like to just keep things easy on the eyes over here as you never know who’s reading and their own sensibilities and so on).

But now I’ve piqued your curiosity, and you’re dying to check out Tom’s blog – aren’t you?

Oh go on, click and come back.  I’ll be waiting!

you don't want to leave this behind now, do you? so open the links i post in other windows or tabs but don't you dare leave me here. i'm wearing the couch throw blanket as a shawl of sorts now. it's like half regal, fancy, smarmy and half loony toons hobo-chic.

Hurry up.

Welcome back.  Yeah, as I was saying, I like Tom and his blog.  So far, the best part about this 30 Days of Blogging Honesty ordeal is that I found him and nicely made web place.  His blog is extensive, his writing is great, I like the kind of content he’s creating and the community he curates.  It’s good stuff.  I hope you’ll go check him out for the freaky name and then stick around for the good reading.  I did!

I did, also, however, commit a major faux pas while I was over there.  Great first impression, I’ve joined up to the 30 days blogging tandem, and I had to go act like a weirdo right away.

You see.  I was reading his blog, just cruising around and checking it out, skimming, site seeing (heh! did I just make up a new term?  I love that, I’ve been making up SO MANY terms lately)… okay, so I was checking out Tom’s blog of manly, early-day expression and I saw this post about his blog’s legalities.  And what do you know- one thing just honestly led to another.  My wheels started turning, the ideas start cranking, and I had an ideagasm that honestly erupted.

Here’s my train of thought:

I was thinking about intellectual property as defined in Tom’s legal disclaimer,

–>

then I thought about this other recent new blog I’ve discovered, BornAtTwentyFive, a lovely, upbeat, beach-y, honest blog, that I really like; but that nonetheless, I awkwardly butted in and gave some unsolicited advice to the blogger about citations, copyright and intellectual property…

–>

Which of course is just calling to mind all the hubbub on the recent Kristin Ruiz plagiarism debacle,

–>

and the subsequent work-blog posts I wrote about her cheating ways and their industry impacts (Part 1 and Part 2);

–>

and with all this hulking chain of a thought free-wheeling through my dayquil-encroached mind, I just went all nutso loose cannon, and I made this HUGE IMPOSING comment.

So yeah.  That was weird. and probably a very weird outlet for the many recent thoughts I’ve had in regards to Internet plagiarism, intellectual property, citations, copyright, for-profit vs. noncommercial, public domain, and other such condundrums of the web-based self publisher.

For anyone interested in the fallout, Tom was really cordial about it all.  Whew!

I do have so many questions, though.  If you thought I’d already posted enough open-ended, my-voice-goes-up-as-I-ask?, over-curious kinda sentence fragments, then just stop reading now.

I has questions?

Tom’s 30 Day Blogging Honesty event is a series of prompts that he has created, and every day I’ll use one of his prompts to write a post.  So is that me using his intellectual property?  Since he just made up the skeleton and I’m creating the flesh, is it my intellectual property?  Both his and mine? I don’t advertise on my blog or make any money directly from it (at this time) – so am I exempt, according to Tom’s specifications of fair use, from not being able to re-use his material?  Is my tie dye ‘biz an indirect means of commercial gain affiliated with this blog?  Is the fact that I’m paid to write on another blog important?  Since he’s encouraging others to use the contest and play along, is it a moot point?  He’s asked that we link to him and use a graphic he’s provided – am I required to cite anything else?

And not to mention that the whole name of this contest is BLOGGING HONESTY – and I’ve been so preoccupied on that goal, its pursuit, those who fall short, my own mess ups and so on.  It’s all about being honest vs. lying.

So circle of life, right?  Comeuppance.  Circular thinking.  Justification.  Great minds think alike.  My own preoccupation and/or fixation.  Regardless the light the idea is bathed in, It all links back to where I started.  Such continuing idea cycles are totally my jam.

And, end scene.

You’ve just experienced like twelve seconds in my brain.  Honestly!  A couple more tangents about gummy bears and the lot of it expressed in a weird tuneless singy-songy way would have totally brought you into my dome.

In summary:  I, as of now, haven’t even started this Blogging Project and I’ve already gone bonky all over a stranger’s blog and had an almost manic episode on my own.

I’ll be an optimist and choose this to say – well, that’s how you know it’s gonna be a good ole time!

nothing to see here, everything is fine! (oh, you can disregard the crazy person, the disarrayed couch, all the latent weirdness and just see the VERY VERY CUTE pooch).

Coming up next, and right away – I’ll actually start my participation in this 30 Day of Blogging Honesty. Woohoo!

As always, thanks for reading! xoxo, hhr

P.S. – who cares about my lame-o apology posts and regurgitated old content.  Today’s random intellectual train wreck felt like a proper comeback! Hello!

Oh, Hi There Bloggies!!

Hi Blog Readers!  How are y’all doing?

I know, I’ve been busy.  This new job of mine is going really well.  It’s a lot of writing though, and I find myself spending hours more at the compy than I ever intended to do again.  It’s funny – I thought I was totally done with this kind of work, and yet,  I love it.  I’m so very glad to be at this kind of a job.

I’m not being very exact here.  I can explain…

I have a job with a great company, ICUC.  I love working for them, it’s challenging and exciting, I’m sharpening my pre-existing skill set as well as learning new things on the regular.  I’m confident that I’m a good fit.  The job I do is a mixed bag of sorts – I work on projects, I work on tasks.  I meet with others.  I’m both a lone wolf and a collaborator.  I make my own hours most of the time, I manage my own schedule.  And… I WRITE.  I write daily, all the time, and in many different ways.  I get to write creatively and I do lots of technical writing.  Sometimes it’s just emails and emails.

At the end of the day, I’ve spent hours staring at the monitor and my writer’s energy is tapped.  Hence slacking at this blog.  And let me say this – once you get out of the regular blogging habit, it’s really overwhelming to jump back in.

My health has been so-so.  I’ve had this little cold on and off, I’ve had some weird upset tummy issues.  But mostly, I’m okay and just super busy.

Check out the work writing I’ve been doing on the daily for my company blog here.  I’m pretty proud of what I’ve been doing work-wise.

So about blogging… I totally have a kajillion ideas all backlogged in my brain and scratched out on my paper notes, and I want to get them out onto hhr!  This is my first attempt at biting the bullet and trying to get back into the groove.  So, if you’re still with me and reading now – know that I’m so appreciative and I’m excited to keep striving for a better balance.

We have some HUGE changes coming up soon.  We’re moving next month, Duggs really got orders so we know it’s real now!  We’ll be saying goodbye to a lot: our friends, Hawaii, this lifestyle, the USMC… as well as being so far away from family – yeah, there’s a lot we’ll be saying hi to when we move back East, and we’re so excited for that.

Even though I’ve been workin’ my tail feather off, things have still been wacky as ever around here.  Poor Duggs, never a dull moment!

So, It’s good to be back and say hi, I hope to be posting more and more, with regularity and consistency.  Cheer me on, yo!

As always, thanks for reading! xoxo, hhr

 

 

seek and ye shall find

Seriously, who are you?  Who are you people who keep typing in these random, intriguing, relevant, and sometimes wacky terms into Google and find me?

Warning: foul language ahead. ish. 

Seek and Ye Shall Find

Every time I check out my blog stats, a task made super easy-peasy via WordPress, I notice the list of search terms that have landed a reader or two or sixty my way.   And it more than piques my curiosity, I want to know who you are.  Really, I do!

When you type in porphyria, I want to know you! 

Do you have porphyria?  Are you searching on behalf of someone you know?  I hate seeing that you’ve found me via the very mechanism that creates my blood, differing me from so many and yet likening to so many (it’s a genetic blood disease, yo, get it?)… and you don’t SAY HI.

Who are you?  Whatcha doin here? Do you agree with what I’ve posted? Have I helped clarify something? Wanna be friends?

I like when people search for “vegan recipe crock pot banana” and find me. Yeah! One of my all time most popular posts is about my steel cut oats crock pot cookery.  Lots of people look for something to do with chicken, chile and lime in a crockpot too.  That’s so rad, I like sharing recipes.

Tons of readers come a-looking for tie dye, tie dye instructions, how to start a tie dye business, and with tie dye questions.  Seeing as I am a super rad tie dye expert, I’m totes cool with that.

There are tons of fun search terms. 

When you type in something fun, or cool, or a word that denotes we have something in common – I sure do wish you’d leave a comment.  That would be rad, and polite!

Lotsa crafters, OCM inquiries, hiking and Hawaii stuff – that’s all pretty much stuff I expect.

this is beyond defining

I like that my blog name is in two of top four All Time terms.  I think that’s good?  It means people are seeking me out purposefully.  I do like that.  But if you are one of those, who are you?  Are you my aunt or a friend from home? Maybe a work colleague who wanted to check out my ramblings?  Regardless, feel free to holler!

And then there’s the crazies.  Some screen shots from my “Search Engine Terms” section:

better than paying for it. i guess?

yikes. REALLY?

And let’s be clear… the seeker of scar-related porn has searched thrice in the last seven days.  Or worse, there’s three of y’all out there.  Woof.

And hippie porn?  Really?  I mean, I know that if you imagine it exists, it can and does.  But what are we talkin here?  People with dreads and beanies? Woodstock photos?  Haha… I don’t want to know, actually.

And now to lure some fun new readers, I will type a list of random words and phrases that may reel in some cool new people:

• crock pot master chef
• peace be with you
• smokey eye addict
• porphyria patient seeks pals
• quack attack is back, jack
• super trendy awesome writer
• hawaiian sun tan
• hot pink nail polish
• free GOOD hippie porn
• just kidding on that last one

So more than likely you found your way here from a link.  Or your purposefully went and mashed my url into your browser bar (yeah, maybe that’ll make me searchable for geek porn)?

Whatever you’ve done, I appreciate you reading.  You’ve totally given me a kick, and you keep me laughing.   No matter how you got here, well almost no matter how, I am ever grateful for your readership.  I mean that.

As always, thanks for reading. xoxo, hhr