Because when I find out about a really cool historical figure, I get excited.

Meet William Augustus Bowles

He is one awesome dude. 

I found out about him from a really good book called...

"The Lost States: True stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania and Other States That Never Made It"

by Michael J. Trinklein

You see, Mr. Bowles tried to establish the state of Muskogee

(hence, earning him a place in the lost states book)

(By the way, it is a really awesome book that is very educational, fun to read and tends to lead to many other rabbit trails of learning. Such as William Augustus Bowles and other little known facts(like the fact that Alaska was bought for 1.9 cents an acre) ) 

Back to William.

The reason I am posting about him is because his life, much like Robert Boyle's (whom I should post about sometime in the near future), was filled with things that interest me. 

Examples:

1) He was a pirate.

2) He was a comic actor.

3) He was a portrait painter. 

(I do not know if he painted the above portrait of himself)

4) He was married to the daughter of an Indian Chief 

5) He fought for the Creeks and Seminoles to get the Spanish out of Florida

6) His Wikipedia page calls him an "adventurer" which he really had nothing to do with, but I thought it was pretty awesome.

7) The Spanish offered 6,000 dollars and 1,500 kegs of rum for his capture, so he had to have done some epic stuff.

This link has a good synopsis of his life. 

(I really would love to read that book) 

Obviously, he wasn't perfect.

He had short-comings. 

Like marrying two wives and starving himself to death in a jail in Havana. 

(That last part may sound heroic, and, I don't know, it kinda is. For the most part it just sounds like pouting to me.)

But, you have to admit...

There really should be a movie made about this guy.

(Please read the "Muskogee" page of the lost states book)

If you would like to know more about William Augustus Bowles, start here.

(Just so you know, Robert Boyle still trumps William by a long shot.)

So, what do you think? 

This is the end of the eighth post of Me.

Lessons of a bridesmaid

So, I learned alot this weekend.

(I was in a wedding, just so you know)

(Also, just so you know, I'm skipping all the sentimental stuff I could say because I am not in a sentimental mood........Actually, I am rarely in a sentimental mood....Welll....nevermind. Either be satisfied that this will not be a sentimental post or stop reading now.)

Here is a list of things I learned and what I will do differently:

1) My groomsmen (or my husband-to-be's groomsmen--whatever) will be ninjas. 

There are several reasons for this:

a) They will look really cool coming down the aisle 

(if you can see them, that is)

b) They can do a crazy amount of work in a tiny amount of time. 

c) It's original

d) I like it

2) If I don't wear Converse, I will be going barefoot, even if it is an eight o'clock wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral.

I do not care.

3) The groomsmen and bridesmaids will  at least meet each other even before the rehearsal.

Reasons for this:

a) it may make it slightly less awkward when they have to hand you a tissue in the middle of the service

b) it may make it slightly less awkward if you fall over on them going down the aisle 

(note: no, this did not happen, but it very well could have)

c) the groomsmen will be ninjas and who wouldn't want to hang out with ninjas??? 

(besides my sister...)

4) I will eat food and drink water. 'Nuff said.

So, what will you do at your wedding?

I'd love to hear.

Seriously, if you just read this whole post, you must be bored so tell me about your dream wedding

(or spit out some goofy ideas like I just did!)

**DISCLAIMER** 

I may or may not have ninjas in my wedding... or will I? You don't know!

I will have a meaningful wedding. This post was meant to be humorous and doesn't accurately depict exactly how I want my wedding to be. Maybe someday I'll post about my "real wedding"...if enough people ask....if anyone reads this blog...  

This is the end of the seventh post of Me.

So many things to say....

This is how I feel so many times.

There are just too many things to say, and none of them really go together so how in the world am I supposed to make a blog post about what I am thing?

Here is what a post would sound like from my thoughts right now:

(don't expect it to make sense)

Wow, I had so much fun at my friend's house.

Can't believe I cried....

People put so much trust in rollar coasters

It's just over a week until I am a bridesmaid for the first time.

What if we've always misinterpreted dog's wagging tails to be a happy thing?

Interesting video on......inflated animals???? ooook...

He died proud and free! 

Why do I get so many emails?

It's cold

I need to bring in wood

Peach ice cream and seltzer actually taste good as a makeshift root beer float.

Red pens look so harsh and mean.

  I'M FREEE!!!

Why am I still hungry?

Why do people not hold their bows straight in movies?

I love back scabbards.

This is probably boring for everyone.

This is the end of the sixth post of Me.

What a weekend Part 2(two)

So this is part two(2) which is dedicated to one person.

The reason I am dedicating this post to this one person is simple.
She's getting married.
I guess that's not the only reason.
She's also one of my many older sisters.
(not for real....but pretty much)

Seriously.
There's alot going through my mind right now so I'm going to try my best to sort it out.
(And I know there will be alot that I want to say that doesn't get said)
Anyway
This person is getting married in less than two weeks.
Her bridal shower was last Saturday.
To be honest, I got a little teary-eyed at the shower.
I started thinking about how I always say,
 "Us six girls"
and now I'll have to get used to saying
"Us five girls"
(which does NOT have the same ring to it)
Or how our perfect "buddy system" has a kink in it now.
Or just simply the fact that nothing will ever be the same.
After March 9th the whole world is going to come tumbling down.

Ok, so I am being dramatic.

I don't know if you'll ever see this, but even though you and your "manfriend" are wrecking our lives,
 I am so happy that you found your prince charming.

(In all seriousness, I am really, honestly, truly happy for you. I wouldn't hold you back,even if I thought I could. I'm so blessed to have been part of your life up until now and I can't wait to see the life you make as newlyweds.)


 Thanks for being a great big sister.

Oh yeah
There's something I want you to know before you pop off
(because it was nice knowing you)
I love you.



This is the end of the fifth post of Me.

What a weekend Part 1(one)

You may wonder why I have divided this post into two parts.
I will tell you.
Part one is dedicated to two people and part two is dedicated to one person.
Because I enjoy irony.

This is about the two people because it is part one (1).
 

This weekend was a little crazy.

But awesome.

I spent it with two of my favorite people ever.

(well actually there were six of my favorite people here, but I spent most of my time with two of them)

They are the two people that are most like me.

A little crazy.

We watched some of the BBC Robin Hood series and Astro Boy

(I had the great pleasure of watching both of them cry at the animated film)

(They'll probably kill me for saying that...)

What amazed me the most about the whole sleepover is how much bonding you can do whilst drinking cappuccino, "insulting" bad guys, who are insulting bad Guys (yes, there is a reason that is capitalized), telling about  your most hilarious/creepy/strange dreams and taste-testing cupcakes and meatballs.

(Oh yeah, and groaning over Nicholas Cage's acting skills...or rather lack of acting skills)

What this all adds up to is this:

I really love these two people.

(You know who you are. And if you don't....I give up)

They have added so much happiness to my life over the years and days and hours and minutes.

I really can't explain how much you guys (haha!) mean to me. 

Thanks for making my life awesome.

This is the end of the fourth post of Me.

 

A Christmas sock type of day.

Today, I wore Christmas socks.

Do I need a reason?

No.

But here are a few anyway.

 

One:

 I like to do things like this

 

Two:

 When you look at them from the top they say "HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY"

 which is good for any day.

Three:

They have Snoopy on them.

Also good for any day.

(Something you may not have known: it is extremely hard to take a picture of your own sock)

Four:

They were the only clean socks I could find in the two minutes before I had to run out of the door.

(Obviously, there is no picture for this.)

So, why was I rushing out the door?

Because on Thursdays, I have two classes.

One, is a human class and one is a puppy class. 

Yup.

...

OK!

Because I can't really think of anything else to say, because he is so cute and because I may have lost half of my audience's attention when the word "puppy" showed up.....I'll finish off with some pictures of aforementioned puppy.

 

Enjoy.

Here he is, actually behaving.

"Can I chew on your sock?"

 

 "No."

"Can I chew on this bag?"

 

 "No"

"How 'bout yo face?"

 

 

I don't have a caption for this picture.....is just cute.

This is the end of the third post of Me.

A lady named Welcome.

Today, my mom and I went to visit a friend.

Her name is Welcome Mae. 

She ignited my passion for knitting.

She taught Mom how to make scrubbies 

(which I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing, considering Mom wants to make wedding veils out of them. *shudders*)

She's just an amazing lady.   

She always says the best things like, 

"You know, no matter what I do, I'm Welcome where ever I go."

or when she tells her little dog, Eddie, to get up in her lap and then quickly adds "or don't" to the end.

"That's so he minds me either way." she says with a laugh

But today, Welcome didn't have any funny sayings.

She hardly said anything at all.

Her life reminds me of an afghan knitted from scrap yarn.  

(That may sound degrading but keep reading) 

There are some really ugly spots. 

Some spots that are like rope. Scratchy and maybe a little course.

Some patches are fluffy and bright and others are flat and dark.

But you know what makes it beautiful? 

Everything. 

It has different textures and hundreds of stories that go behind each tiny thread.

The dark patches only add contrast to the light, making them even more bright and beautiful.

Welcome's blanket is almost finished. 

It really sunk in for me today.

She's dying. 

But you know what's great?

She lived and I got to meet her.

Don't let this post depress you, because that's not what I wanted. 

I just wanted to give you a tiny, little glimpse of an amazing lady named Welcome. 

Go meet someone amazing.

Psalm 116:15

This is the end of the second post.