37. Charles and Emma Darwin.
_{Tangent: Before I continue, I should mention - Emma's dress in this picture is extremely inspired by this painting by Franz Winterhalter as well as this historical interpretation of Cinderella. Charles himself probably looks nothing like the Darwin you're used to seeing because 1) he's not a Santa lookalike and 2) the one portrait I found of him when he was younger made him look bald, and so I tried to use a mixture of that picture, Henry Ian Cusick's portrayal of him from Darwin's Darkest Hour, and Paul Bettany's portrayal from the movie Creation.}

So when I was taking Physical Anthropology, I had to learn about evolution and, obviously, Charles Darwin. I honestly had never thought of Darwin as anyone particularly interesting until my professor had mentioned his marriage to Emma Wedgwood.

And then I became hooked. The more I read about Charles Darwin for class, the more fascinated I became and the more I fell in love with him. Charles Darwin went from being just some scientist who came up with the theory of natural selection to being one of my alltime favorite people and scientists, right up there next to Noam Chomsky. It didn't help when I had to do a research paper on the evolution of language and its acquisition and I read The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Because then I read his idea of the "musical protolanguage" and I was completely enamoured because Darwin is the reason why linguists are now able to be considered credible as scientists.

But the one thing that made Darwin become real to me was his marriage to his wife. Charles - the ever curious, ever scientific, father of natural selection and evolution that he is - at first struggled with the idea of marriage and even wrote a LIST of reasons why he should and shouldn't marry. Under the "to not marry" reasons, he wrote "children", "can't travel", "less money for books", and "terrible loss of time. Under "to marry" were the reasons "more money for books" and "better than a dog, anyhow".

But then if I married tomorrow: there would be an infinity of trouble & expense in getting & furnishing a house,—fighting about no Society—morning calls—awkwardness—loss of time every day.

Charles eventually proposed and fell in love, in that order, with Emma Wedgwood. However, Emma was a devout Unitarian. Although Charles had originally gone to school to become a clergymen, by the time he stepped off the HMS Beagle his opinion of God had already changed. Prior to their marriage they struggled with this question of religion a lot, and it was the subject of many of their letters.

Still, they had a good marriage. They had 10 children together, and coped through the death of three of them. They loved each other so dearly that I can't help but just love them - Charles has written some surprisingly poetic things about his own dear wife that I can relate to very much. Before they married, he once wrote in a letter,

My own dear Emma, I kiss the hands with all humbleness and gratitude, which have so filled up for me the cup of happiness -- It is my most earnest wish I may make myself worthy of you... Most affectionately yours, Chas. Darwin.

At their wedding, he said this, which I honestly think one day I'll end up using this quote at my own wedding because it rings so true to me as well:

"Excuse this much egotism, I give it to you, because I think you will humanise me, and soon teach me there is greater happiness, than building theories and accumulating facts in silence and solitude."

And one of the most poignant quotes from Emma's letters, to me, is this:

Everything that concerns you concerns me and I should be most unhappy if I thought we did not belong to each other for ever.

Not long ago I read Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, which is a really good biography which focuses on their marriage and devotion to each other, through the publication of On the Origin of Species to both of their deaths. It is an extremely good book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see the more human side of these two. One of the most memorable parts is near the end of the book, when Heligman describes Charles' death.

As he slipped away slowly into unconsciousness, he told her what he had said many times before, what she already knew, but what he had to say again: "Remember what a good wife you have been to me."

I in general can't help but look up to both of them. I love these two so very, very dearly and look to them as an example of a love we should really admire. Darwin himself - the scientist, the observer, and the surprising writer and artist - is someone I relate to a lot in many different aspects and has been a huge inspiration for my work on language acquisition as well. I hope to one day become a scientist worthy of his praise and to find a love as beautiful as Charles and Emma. ♥

38. Meeting Andres' dad and little brother for the first time.
This is a lot more thrilling to me than most people would understand, so bear with me XD

A while back I had mentioned to Andres one of my insecurities from my last relationship was that I never, ever met my ex's family or friends. This really upset me because even though my ex had been a part of my life for six months and wanted to be in a very serious relationship (as in staying together forever and getting married serious) with me and had met all of my friends and family, I never once met the people in his life that were important.

Unfortunately, this turned up during a fight the two of us had, so it wasn't necessarily one of the best times to bring it up.

Fortunately, Andres actually kept this in mind because not long after I met his dad and little brother for the first time when they gave me a ride home. I ended up bonding with Armand in the backseat over a Pokemon guide he had, and spent the whole time talking about Pokemon Platinum haha. But it made me really glad - Andres' family are really, really nice people and it meant a lot to me to actually meet them. I was smiling the whole way home.

40. Cooking green beans with onions, tomatoes, lemon, and butter.


I actually learned this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen. The haricot vert recipe is so simple, easy, and delicious and I LOVE it. In general I really love to eat green beans, and this recipe is no exception. I sadly always end up using onions instead of shallots because I end up having onions on hand more often than shallots, but it's still just as delicious. It's definitely worth a try!

I need to stop doing these last second blog posts for NaBloPoMo, man.



Anyway, here are some Anime Expo photos from this year, along with a lot of happy things! (Cos this is still my happy thought journal, you know...)

My gorgeous fabric that I bought for my Wigglytuff cosplay. It's a very soft, light, silk like fabric that constantly makes me crave strawberry cheesecake frozen yogurt from Yogurtland.

The mock-up for the dress I made for my cosplay. It turned out really well, I was so proud!

The low quality picture I took when I finished my monster.

My first official Pokemon Center bag and inside was...

THE CUTEST IGGLYBUFF EVER. She fits inside the palms of my hands ;w; I love her to pieces ♥ I haven't named her yet, any suggestions?
I also bought a Wigglytuff plushie as a commission from the artist ally (which was only 25 DOLLARS which a total steal!!), I can't wait to get it! And plus I bought this poster, some buttons that match it, and a bunch of presents for friends that I plan to mail out soon :)

Got an awesome picture with an adorable Clefairy~ I had joked that I would be all tough and try and fight all Clefairy/Clefable I ran across, but she was too cute for me to do that ;w;

And some other really awesome Pokemon cosplays. /nerdgasm♥

Some drawings I did on hotel paper. Beatrix, my usually tough angry Tuff, unusually adorable in the first pic. Underneath that is actually a sticker I bought from some really nice artists which I LOVE because it totally is Beatrix-Bea, haha ♥ The second pic is with her and her lovely Lopunny boyfriend, who belongs to tritodon. And the third pic is Beatrix with her right hand bunny Deanna the Azumarill, who I also love and need to give more lovin' to next year.

I had a pretty good time at AX this year, my first con in about... two or three years, I want to say? I haven't been able to go to many but I definitely miss it for quite a few good things. If I go next year I'll definitely do both my Wigglytuff and my Azumarill XD

Sorry for the super late post, you guys! I hope that it still counts that this was submitted literally a minute after midnight... I blame the fact that I've been out of blogging shape. Plus, I blame this monster of a cosplay - not too long ago (and I really stress this - I mean less than two weeks ago), I thought it'd be a good idea to work on a cosplay I've always wanted to do, which is a Wigglytuff cosplay (since I love my Bea ♥) and so I've been sewing practically nonstop since I woke up. _{I am literally handsewing as I figure out what to type next. Yes, I am a multitasker, why do you ask?}

With my excuses out of the way, I'll start my NaBloPoMo prompt first:

Where would you love to go swimming?

As I was sewing today in my ridulously hot dining room sweating over my outfit, Andres sends me this gorgeous view -



Which promptly makes me send a text along the lines of "Be glad you're not suffering from the wrath of my pouty face". See, Andres currently works by the beach. And right now more than anything, the beach is where I want to go. I'd love to swim in the cool ocean water, especially since California has such gorgeous beaches. Sadly, the only thing I get to do for now is read Andres' texts about him working on his tan after he's off of work.

The jerkface.


27. Tickle fights in the student lounge, just because.
Annnd ironically, this page is all about him. Grr.

The one thing that I love about hanging out with Andres is that when we spend time together, there are a lot of times where it feels like no one else in the world exists. In this case, we were just hanging out in the student lounge after a stressful school day and suddenly we started having a tickle fight out of nowhere. We were screaming and shouting at the top of our lungs at each other while assaulting each other in the middle of this room with tons of other students.

It was awesome.

28. Cuddling in my bed.
I am a cuddle whore. Really. A lot of times Andres and I will be hanging out with each other and I'll just say "Cuddle me, dammit!" (Yes, I'm demanding like that.)

But the first time we cuddled at my house in my bed was amazing. I know it seems silly to say that, but prior to this we had spent time together at school, at restaurants, in movie theatres... never in my house. I hate to sound cheesy, but it never felt more perfect. We just lay on my bed and I could press my head against his chest while laying against my bed. Like I've mentioned before, I have two serious relationships in my life, the one with my bed and the one with my dog. And to have the luxury of being on my bed while I was with such a wonderful person, that was amazing in and of itself.

...Okay, fine. Maybe Andres isn't such a jerkface after all.

Wow, I almost totally forgot it was Sunday! I suppose that's a good thing since that kinda-sorta means that my weekend feels really long except I'm supposed to be updating this on Sundays and I almost completely forgot!

To make up for this (and the fact that I'm going to be out of town next Sunday), you get two posts for the price of one! Yay for extra happy things ♥



4. My Bea plush.
Omigod, I was so so SO proud of myself when I finished this plushie! If you can't tell, Igglybuff/Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff are my FAVORITE Pokemon ever and Beatrix (also known as Bea or Bebe) is my Wigglytuff in my Pokemon games. I love her so much that I wanted to make a plushie of her. It took me quite a while to get the actual plush done due to how busy I was at the time of starting it, but I got the majority of her done within a few days thanks to a not-so-happy stomach flu. I don't really get the chance to sew as much anymore, but hopefully I get to sew Bea's best friend Deanna soon enough!

By the way, the picture I drew TOTALLY does not do her justice. Here's a better picture:



5. Linguistics.
I'm a really big Linguistics nerd -- in fact, it's kind of my major! I started taking a Sociolinguistics class this spring semester and it's some really fascinating stuff ♥

6. My Reading Partners student learns 2.18 months worth of material every tutoring session.
Aside from drawing and updating this blog, I'm actually a teacher. I teach both on my college campus at the Writing Center and at Reading Partners, which is an amazing nonprofit organization that provides free one-on-one instruction for elementary school aged students to raise their reading levels to meet grade level standards. I found out that one of the students I was working with learned about 2.18 months worth of material every once-a-week 45 minute tutoring session, which is an extremely fast improvement rate. That is seriously mind blowing!

If you'd like to learn more about Reading Partners and how you can get involved, click here to learn more! It is a truly wonderful program and it deserves all the support it can get.

7. The Sakura Micron pens aren't gone from the Student Store forever. They were just moved.
I use Sakura Micron pens to ink pretty much everything including this happy thought journal, and so I was SERIOUSLY upset when I couldn't find them in the Student Store come the first week of Spring semester. I am deeply in love with these pens and it was super convenient to be able to buy them on my college campus rather than having to go all the way to a Blick's to get them (especially since I practically live in campus thanks to classes and work). So I was really happy to find out that they were just moved to a different aisle now ♥

1. This necklace.
I am an Etsy addict. I bought this from Charms4You on Etsy a while back and I LOVE it. I get compliments on it all the time. It's so dainty and cute.

And then there are the obvious reasons of why I enjoy it...

2. Bill.
"There's always something new to look for in our lives and in ourselves."

<sub>If you know me well, then you'd know Bill McKenzie (Masaki Sonezaki) from the Pokemon series is my muse and inspiration. For those who don't know me well, it may seem a little strange that I think of a character (and a minor one at that) so highly. But trust me when I say I've yet to meet another person with such love for life and the work that he's able to accomplish and I admire that greatly. I don't care how silly that makes me seem -- this isn't some immature fantasy crush. In all the years I've experienced love, I've yet to express my emotions so purely to any other person nor feel so strongly about this.

I love this kind, honest and passionate man so much. He will always have a place in my heart.</sub>

3. Toto.
Toto, how I love you ♥ They're kind of amazing! I fell in love with Toto thanks to a certain comic and a certain video by a certain comedy rock band and I've never looked back.

If my love for Toto isn't obvious enough, this blog is named after a lyric in the song "Stop Loving You":

<sub>There a window in a heart
I've tried to look through from the start.
You're never really sure what someone else is thinking.
Someone's broken something new,
Another altered point of view,
Just a certain someone's conscience playing.
I had it in my hand,
I did not understand
What lives inside the wind that cries her name!
Trying to catch a shooting star,
What seems so close can't be far.
I'm living in a dream that's never ending!

I can't stop loving you.
Time passes quickly and chances are few,
I won't stop till I'm through loving you girl.</sub>

I love this band so much :D "Africa", "Bottom of Your Soul", "I'll Supply The Love", "Waiting For Your Love", "Rosanna", "You Are The Flower"... I am just thoroughly in love with this band. They're just too amazing.