What appealed to me about self publishing was the low cost.  Since I had written my book a few years back; with all of the resources available online it just seemed foolish to not get my book out there.

When I decided to self publish online, I started with a blog announcement and it went from there!  Luckily I have experience with Photoshop and Illustrator and was able to design the cover of Creative Chaos on my own.  Next I had to file the copyright.  This can be done online really easily for approximately $35.

Then I had to obtain ISBNs, this is where the cost picks up.  I went with Bowker, I know there are several sites that will issue ISBNs and even take over and get your book published online for you.  I read that it is best to have an ISBN for each different version of your book you are putting out: Kindle, Nook, iBooks, PDF, physical book. When Bowker offered 1o for the price of 2, I figured that was the way to go.

Just as I was about to set out on the quest to self publish online, my friend David Yates at Ropewalkers called.  We’ve worked on a few projects together and he had experience with online publishing and asked if he could help me out. I of course said yes!

This means, I’m not going to be able to walk you through getting your book into the major online bookstores.  David formated it into the proper ePub form that works with your iPad, iPhone or iTouch.  But my understanding is, that much like the Apple App store, you have to be approved to distribute books in their iBook store.  So thanks to David the iBook version was made available on my site.

Next David got my book submitted to the Kindle store and within about 7 hours it was available for purchase.

After reading about how to self publish online to the Nook store, I ended up formatting Creative Chaos myself and submitting it to the Nook store.  Once again it took about 7 hours and bam, there was my book available for the Nook.

In the midst of getting the book online, I started having people tell me they wanted a physical copy.  Initially I was attempting to avoid doing this because of the cost to print.  However, I have lucked out in that department because my sister-in-law Tiffany works for a printer and her family has been in printing for years, and the company she works for uses a digital press so I can print as many or as few as I’d like without breaking the bank. In book form Creative Chaos will be available starting this Tuesday.

The one last thing place I need to get my book is iBooks, but that should be really soon.

To self publish online has been relatively pain free.  Like I have mentioned before one of the greatest things about this venture has been all of the encouragement I have received from so many people!

Need help to self publish your book online? Feel free to contact me.  I’d be happy to help!

Bonfire wasn’t one of the traditions that drew me to Texas A&M as I decided what college I wanted to attend, because I’d never seen it in person prior to my freshman year and just didn’t understand it. Which means, despite being a freshman in the dorms the push to get involved in Bonfire never pressured me into going out to cut.
Then I attended my very first Bonfire, and to say I was amazed is truly an understatement. The site of it burning and the heat radiating off it even at the distance we were at was unbelievable. By far my favorite Yell Practices while at Texas A&M were the ones held at Bonfire.

Junior year, my friend Ashley & I decided to take our small group out to Bonfire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows at one of the perimeter fires and watch the progress up close on the night of November 17, 1999. That year there was actually a burn ban and we didn’t realize it until we got out there, so all perimeter fires had been put out. We took a few group pictures and few pictures of stack and headed out, with no idea of what would unfold the next morning. (will try to dig out pictures this weekend and scan them in)

On the morning of November 18, 1999, I was awakened, like many of fellow Aggies, by a phone call from home asking me if I was okay. It was before 7 in the morning and I had no idea why I was being asked that. . . and then my mom told me that Bonfire had fallen. I was in shock.

It was a devastation I’m not sure I could ever fully put into words. I had never worked on Bonfire and didn’t feel entitled to the emotions I was experiencing. But with that said, Aggies are family, and if any Aggie is lost we all grieve for them. It is this very sense of family that made me fall in love with Texas A&M. Walking around campus that week was eerie; we didn’t know how to cope with the loss we’d just suffered.

As selfish and horrible as this may sound, I was relieved Thanksgiving was not far away and I had a reason to escape heartache and feel like I could breathe again.

This year on the 11th anniversary of Bonfire falling, it seems to hold even more significance to me. I think that has to do with my friend Bill (he’s the boy in the picture).

These two people are very near and dear to my heart and I am thankful today (well and every day) to be able to call them my good friends, and to see how happy they make each other… had things been different that night Amber would have never met Bill, which also means that while Amber and I would have still been friends, she might not have ended up in Dallas and who knows if we would be the good friends that we are today.

However, to the 12 who died, I did not know you, but you will forever be in my heart… and you will never be forgotten.

(feel free to post your memory in the comment section, I’d love to hear yours)

Before I really jump in, I should say, by no means do I call myself a movie expert, nor do I read up on movie reviews to determine what movies I want to go see in the theater. I’m just your average run of the mill movie-goer, so with that said. . .take this as you will.

I love a good chick-flick. The type of movie I can just run in the background for noise while I’m trying to get things done around the house or finishing up a project. Though I’m not sure this one would fall into that category. And, despite the efforts of the TV ads to convenience you that you’ll want to “see it again and again,” I was would not agree.

To say this movie is cheesy is an understatement. It was funny, in parts, but it was also painful in parts. Watching Kristen Bell’s character repeatedly trip, or spill something or hurt herself got old about 30 minutes into the movie.

Though if I’m completely honest, there is no way I could hate this movie all the way around because I do love Kristen Bell; even though she can be a bit corny, she is the voice of Gossip Girl!

On the positive side, movies like this always come with a healthy supply of eye candy for everyone. That is one thing you can always count on a good chick-flick for. The girls are beautiful and the boys are hot!

If you don’t believe me, then go check out Kristen Bell, Odette Yustman, James Wolk and Sean Wing’s IMDB pages.

Though, the number one redeeming quality of this movie was the comic relief of the screen stealer, Betty White. I mean who doesn’t love Betty White?

If you are a fan of overly cheesy movies, then this one will be right up your alley, if not then I suggest you wait to see it on DVD and save a few bucks!

Saturday morning I drove out to Arlington to pick up the cupcakes for the wedding at The Red Oven Bakery. They are the best!

Then I headed up to Frisco to meet up with everyone else and help set up the reception. They had almost all of the tables finished by the time I got there so I helped with the finishing touches and then worked on folding and cutting the programs. I thought the tables turned out really cute…

Of course we had the best entertainment while setting up the reception, Wesley…we served “crabby patties,” watched the trains pass by and even played on all the old train equipment.

Saturday night my Dad’s sisters hosted a fajita dinner so that we could get together and have some family time. Here is Dad and his two sisters.

It was really good to see the Branches and as always fun to hang with the Sanders, even if Chase and Brice weren’t in town. Fortunately, they were represented in spirit (or rather in stick form)!

Here are all the cousins (prom pic style), minus the two cousins on a stick and Jim.

We had a great time at the Sander’s house catching up, enjoying margaritas and eating some great food.

Sunday morning was pretty calm, Beth and I got to just chill at home before heading up to the mall to meet Tiffany & Chrystal to get our makeup done at MAC. That was quite a process. I honestly had NO idea we’d be up there for right at 3 hours. Though, on the plus side we did get to avoid the last minute panic of trying to put together one more table for the reception.

The girls all got ready in the Bridal Suite, which was a Victorian house situated in between the chapel and the reception hall. It gave us all plenty of room to get ready and goof off before the wedding got under way.

Tiffany looked absolutely beautiful!

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen my brother look so happy, and the smile on his face was the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on him. I could not be happier for him!

Since this post is already getting long, I won’t bore you with more pictures (if we are Facebook friends I’ve got an album of pictures posted you can check out). But I will leave you with this great shot of the Bride & Groom:

Congratulations Scott & Tiffany! We are so happy for you guys. Hope you have a great honeymoon and we will see you when you get back.

I don’t think Scott could have found anyone more perfect to marry. Beth and I are super excited to have a new sister, well really two because we adore her sister Chrystal too!

Not to mention, as of today, Beth and I are officially aunt’s to the cutest little guy:

That’s all for now. . .but wedding details and pics will be posted soon!

Congrats Scott & Tiffany we are all so excited for you!

The costumes were a bit trickier this year; you couldn’t just wear argyle or plaid. . .you had to put a little more thought in it. But I think they all came out great. We had field hockey refs, runners, tennis players, soccer players/fans, and spectators. I loved everyone’s outfits!

The “crawl” took place on McKinney Ave again because it worked so well last time. We were only at each stop for 45ish minutes. First stop was Black Friar, we met there at 4:00. I was so excited about this stop because they sell Leffe Blondes, and thanks to WhitforBrit and many mentions to Leffe’s I had been wanting try one for quite some time. (Quite tasty, if I do say so myself.)

After, Black Friar we headed across the street to Idlerich Pub, where we were joined by a few more friends at this stop. The challenge for that bar was Irish Car Bombs. Not sure why but I’m a fan of these.

Next we headed up to the MAT where Big Al Mack and Red Neck Steve were kind enough to buy us all a round of shots. This is where Scott and Tiffany met up with us; I was so excited they met up with us with all they have going on.

Stop number 4 was Christies Sports bar. . .where thanks to my friend Marshall I have found my new favorite bar game, that shall be left unnamed, mainly because I don’t know the name of it if I’m being honest.

Then we had a bit of a walk up to Frankies, stop number5, where we arrived shortly after the Cowboys game started, bad timing on my part because it was packed! But still we managed to give “Liquid Courage” a try.

I quickly headed to the Quarter, last stop, because they were kind enough to hold some tables on their upstairs patio for us. I am a sucker for patios, even if it’s a bit warm. We got to the Quarter about 8:30 and stayed there until almost midnight.

It was a blast. I feel like I didn’t really get to talk to everyone that was there. . .but I hope you had as much fun as I did, and thanks for coming out for Bar Olympics 2010. Let me know if you have any ideas for next year’s theme!

Oh, and I was lucky enough to receive a lap dance. . .sort of, click HERE to watch.

10. There was that one time she went missing on New Year’s Eve and I drove all over looking for her and even called the police station to see if she had been arrested (you’ll have to ask her where she really was ).

9. We get to see each other pretty much all day every day since we live together and work in the same office!

8. She keeps the house stocked with wine!!

7. I love her for growing out of Barbie’s and passing on a sweet collection to me when we were little (see the sweet dream house below).

6. She’s always available via facebook, gchat, twitter, BBM or text if you need her….well, except for that one time on New Year’s Eve

5. She made my website for me and so graciously helps me out A TON with it – www.lifesafont.com

4. I love that she’s having another cool birthday party this year!

3. Growing up we spent A LOT of time with our boy cousins on our mom’s side of the family….we lived in the same neighborhood for awhile and all attended the same school…..Kate was always my allie and bestie.

2. Because it was probably her idea – one time all 3 of us kids thought we were going to be in trouble (a.k.a. be spanked) with our parents so we all put on multiple pairs of underwear and multiple pairs of shorts before going downstairs to face our punishment….but it turned out we weren’t in trouble at all!

1. Because she didn’t kill me that one time when I gave a guy her phone number because I didn’t want to give him mine and he called her like 3 nights in a row at 1 or 2 a.m. (For the record….I’m still sorry, but I also still find it hilarious!! )

Happy Birthday again!! You are the best and my favorite sister!! Love you!

Beth or Beeper

I should probably start this post by saying. . .it was at the midnight premiere of “New Moon” that I saw the preview for “Remember Me” staring. . .Edward, I mean Robert Pattinson. While I would probably classify myself as Team Edward (if I had to), it was my desire to see how his acting skills were when his character was “alive” that made the movie stand out.

But, I totally forgot about it until it popped up on my Netflix que and showed up in my mailbox last week. I really had no idea what this movie was about, so I didn’t know what to expect. I’m going to pause here to say, if you haven’t seen it already I’m going to ruin the ending for you, so STOP reading if you don’t want to know what happens.

*SPOILER*

Cliff’s Notes intro: Pattinson plays a character who is estranged from his father and dealing with the suicide of his older brother all the while being a good role model for his socially awkward little sister. Early on he feels the need to step in on a street fight and then talks back to the police officer that tells him to head home and then ends up beating him up and throwing him in jail.

His roommate sees that officer drop his daughter off at school the next week and gets this brilliant idea for retaliation against him. Pattinson can date his daughter. . .

Only problem, they fall in love; I know you are totally shocked. Here’s another curveball for you, she finds out why Pattinson asked her out originally; insert awkward drama for about 20 minutes before a family crisis reunites them.

At this point I thought okay, this mildly depressing movie might at least end on a good note. . .WRONG! Oh I don’t think I mentioned, the movie is set in New York and the last day of the movie is September 11, 2001. . .ending scene Pattinson is standing on something like the 50th floor staring out the window of the World Trade Center. . .

I did NOT see that coming at all. I realize it’s been almost 9 years now since that day and, just like all of you, I remember exactly where I was when I found out the first tower had been hit. . .so seeing it portrayed in fictional movie seems a little too soon and inappropriate. . .

Or is it just me?

Because of this conversation I stumbled upon a personality test that I found very interesting and wanted to pass it on. . .hope you have fun determining what color your personality is.

Personality Test

These were my results:

Lately I’ve really been missing having an outlet for writing and the 140 characters Twitter affords me haven’t quite been cutting it. My hesitation in jumping back on the blogging bandwagon is , I don’t really feel like my life is all that interesting. . . so I can’t promise this will be anything exciting but hopefully I can provide you with a little entertainment and hopefully a few laughs.

My next goal is to try and figure out what my daily themes were/are and get back to those or tweek them to be more applicable to where I am now. . .have no fear, wine o. wednesdays will be back in full effect and because it is summer time and I will be reading more Mondays will still be about what I’m reading (guess that means I gotta pick out my next book).

Bare with me as I get my blogging legs back and get back on track. . .

That’s all I’ve got for tonight, wanted to keep it short and sweet but come back tomorrow for a wine o. wednesday critique!