Some of you are probably confused as to why I was in Tuscaloosa instead of Atlanta. Well this January I re-enrolled in the University of Alabama to finish my undergraduate degree. I had to take care of two medical incompletes I received due to my surgery. Since 4 years had passed I opted to retake the courses. And yes, that means my husband, William, and I have been living apart for 4 long months

When I was young I was terrified of thunderstorms. My parents and I never really knew what brought about this phobia but I managed to overcome it by college. After last Wednesday I’m pretty certain the fear will be returning…

I was running back and forth between the tv and the front porch since I was determined to catch a good ol’ southern twister on my iPhone. I assumed this was just like any other severe spring thunderstorm and wasn’t taking it seriously at all. That’s when I saw the scariest image on tv I’ve ever seen: a massive tornado sitting atop downtown Tuscaloosa. The next words from the voiceover made my heart stop: “Kicker Road, Hargrove Road, it’s headed for you.” My house is a block away from that intersection. The power immediately went out. I grabbed my Shih Tzu and a dingy antique feather bed and headed for the closet under the stairs. Once inside I pulled the bed over our heads. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. As I heard the tornado approaching I prayed that God would spare my life so I could see William and my family again. Then I was struck by a comforting realization. Although I heard the winds spinning violently outside I repeated to myself, it’s not loud enough to be on top of me. Everyone says that a tornado sounds like a freight train. Well this sounded like a freight train in the distance.

I emerged from the closet after a few minutes of silence. I checked my backyard to see if the towering trees behind my house were still standing, which they were. My cul-de-sac had minimal damage. Tree limbs were down, a portion of a fence had been blown away, and some siding was stripped from my neighbors’ home. My neighborhood was extremely lucky. The location of my house is marked on the tornado path map below [full-size]

(Map courtesy of @tuscaloosacity)

All of my family and friends are safe. My friend Mike’s apartment was in the path of the storm and suffered damage but he’s still here, and that’s what matters. President Obama toured the area Friday. He remarked that he had “never seen devastation like this.” My heart aches for the city I called home for 7 years

• Alabama tornado relief: How you can help
• GiveTuscaloosa.com
• Follow @tuscaloosanews & @thecrimsonwhite for updates on the aftermath
• Video of the tornado on 15th Street in Tuscaloosa
• Photos of the Tuscaloosa tornado damage
• Aerial view video of the damage in Tuscaloosa

An ounce of happy news — the university cancelled finals. Students have the option to take their current grade or a makeup exam at a later date. I took B’s in both of my classes. That means that after a lengthy college career I’m finally a graduate of the University of Alabama! No more school until I decide to return for my Masters

So what is Santa bringing you this year? I’ve made my list…

• iPhone 4 – I wanted to wait for the white one but my iPhone 3G was rendered practically useless by the software upgrades Oh yeah, I also want this case in Baby Pink.

• 2 Hello Kitty Tees:

  

  

• Hello Kitty 2011 Planner
• Black touchscreen-friendly gloves
• bareMinerals Blush in Velvet
• Visit to the Salon – I had my hair dyed dark brown in August. It was fun but I’m ready for a change. I’m still deciding if I want to go darker or back to red. Also, my bushy brows need waxing.
• Wii & Animal Crossing: City Folk
• Boring stuff like a water filter and sink faucet
• Perhaps a couple of HTML5 and CSS3 books
• Pre-order of LittleBigPlanet 2

I suppose that’s more of a general wishlist since Santa won’t be able to afford all of that

Before closing I wanted to thank Hanna for brightening my day last Saturday She photographed some octopus candy that was made for me!

If you look closely you can see BUBS printed above their legs. You can read more about them on her blog ♥

Happy holidays everyone!

Wanna trade Animal Crossing: City Folk friend codes with me? ♥ [April 2011 Update: Follow my AC:CF updates on my Tumblr ]

Last weekend my parents bought us a Wii as an early Christmas present

Now we own all 3 gaming consoles Are you a gamer? If so, add me as a friend!

• Xbox Live: QueenSiD
• PS3 Network: QueenSiD
• Wii: 4753-2286-4412-6615

In case anyone is wondering, I will soon publish Part 2 of my Dragon*Con summary. I wrote most of it but Thanksgiving distracted me

Dragon*Con 2009 was my first fan convention experience. I felt like a 6 year old visiting Disney World for the first time. Thousands of people were dressed as their favorite characters from sci-fi, fantasy, anime, etc. An army of nerds like me from across the country had invaded Atlanta.

I dragged my poor husband throughout four different hotels forcing him to take photos of me with wizards and Klingons. Surprisingly enough William seemed to enjoy himself but I knew that other arrangements were needed for 2010. See, my husband is an overworked corporate accountant, and Dragon*Con happens to fall in the middle of his busy season. William is also only a budding nerd (he hadn’t seen a Star Wars movie until we started dating 8 years ago) who would prefer to attend the season opener for the Crimson Tide than a panel discussing Lord of the Rings.

I didn’t want to attend the con alone so I started recruiting some college friends. I also started hanging out on Cosplay.com and the D*C LJ in hopes of making some new friends. Some D*C twitterers expressed interest in a ‘tweetup‘ so I offered to organize one.

The aspect of the con I enjoy the most is the costumes. I knew who I wanted to dress as, but since I can barely sew on a button I needed to commission my costume. I discovered Erica last year via a group of BioShock Splicers I met who were wearing her creations. Although I contacted her a bit late, she agreed to make my costume and worked with my tight budget

My costume was lined up, badge pre-registered, schedule highlighted, entourage assembled. I thought I was prepared for the 4-day geekfest. However, I made a fatal mistake. I assumed we would be completely moved into our new apartment by the week before the con. Instead, I was still moving junk the day before the con Luckily I still managed to pick up my badge Thursday night (after waiting in line for 2 hours) and meet Erica with my costume.

Friday morning I had intended to be at the con by 10am. Instead I was wading through the chaos that was downtown Atlanta to drop off my costume with Erica for her to make some critical adjustments (thank goodness she offered to do this for me ♥) I didn’t make it back to my apartment until after 2pm, and I needed to be in costume and at the Hilton by 5pm for the D*C Tweetup I organized. I somehow managed to leave my apartment by 4:30, which normally would be more than enough time. But alas, I sat in traffic for an hour and wasn’t inside the Hilton until 5:45. Needless to say my Tweetup had fallen apart since the hostess was nowhere to be found

Despite the insanity and lack of sleep, I had a good opening night William even stopped by and people-watched with us for a while. I also got to meet a lovely lady from the Westeros forum. We talked A Song of Ice and Fire for an hour which put my weary mind at ease.

We were exhausted Saturday morning so I missed the parade again but the highlight of the day was attending the Star Trek: The Next Generation panel with my dad. I’m not a big Star Trek fan, but I did grow up watching TNG with my dad. He records all the reruns on SyFy for us to watch when I come to visit ♥ The panel, featuring Riker, Geordi, Troi, Data, Tasha Yar, was hilarious. My dad had a blast! He even got to shake hands with Q at the Walk of Fame. He’s coming back with me in 2011 so I hope there will be a good selection of Trek guests again. I overheard my dad telling one of his friends over the phone all about the day So cute!

I’ve rambled way too long so this is the end of Part 1. Part 2 is dedicated to my costume (Daenerys Targaryen from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series) and my first cosplay photoshoot:

(My Dragon*Con 2010 Photos on Flickr)

Ooo Someone commented on my last entry…that makes me happy! I like comments {hint hint} Today was a good day! It snowed, so we didnt hafta go to school til 10 (and to think it was 60 degrees outside Monday haha) I didnt write anything Monday because I was really depressed. One of the guys I was hoping would ask me to prom asked another one of my friends. I was glad for her because she had liked him for quite a long time, but I liked that guy too. I was totally heartbroken. But yesterday, the other guy I wanted to ask me ASKED ME…I am so excited. He is so precious! Oh, and he looked so good yesterday!

I ordered my dress yesterday…here’s a pic of it, but mine is white. I went with Rach to buy her dress after softball practice. Im excited about prom already!

I think I have a new crush…hehe

The guy I hoped would ask me is my good friend Alan, and Rach is still my best friend. William did look cute that day. I remember exactly what he was wearing! Glasses (he usually wore contacts), gray Timberland sweatshirt, jeans, and boots. I was at softball practice when he asked me. Who would ever believe that we would still be together 8 years later?

Aww, the lovebirds in their cheesy prom photo

Below are a few more posts in case you want to relive my high school days

• November 3, 2001
• November 15, 2001
• November 19, 2001 (I have no clue who the boy is)
• February & March 2002

The aforementioned blog deterrent is, you guessed it, my Tumblr. I use it to share (i.e. spam) cute nonsense that makes me happy but isn’t appropriate for a blog entry. With Tumblr I feel as though I’m reliving my high school days on Geocities hotlinking animated gifs of Sailor Moon transformations I blame my newfound Dragon*Con friends for this new obsession (I’m looking at you, Elfgrove!)

Speaking of Dragon*Con, I haven’t forgotten about my 2010 summary. I’m waiting on the rest of my photos from my first cosplay photoshoot. Here’s a teaser:

(Photo by Judy)

I also still plan to publish my wedding details. For those of you unaware, I married my high school sweetheart last Halloween I realize that almost a year has passed, but I didn’t receive our photos until April and I think the details will make an appropriate first anniversary post.

(Our Wedding Photos by Rae Leytham Photography)

Now that wasn’t so hard, was it Bubs? I’m so OCD when it comes to blogging, which explains why I have 4 unpublished posts that I penned between January and May. Although I labelled my Tumblr as a deterrent, it has obviously brought me back to the blogosphere. I can’t make any promises but my goal is to update at least twice a month. What sort of things would you enjoy reading about on BubblesSOC? I’d love to get your input

P.S. ~ If you have a Tumblr let me know so that I can follow you ♥

She’s really small, only about 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) tall.

(More Photos on Flickr)

I drew the octopus and the adorable Jenny of Timeless Tattoo in Atlanta inked her for me

Not only is Jenny super sweet but also an amazing artist (be sure to take a peek at her work!) While researching tattoo studios in Atlanta I came across her website and knew immediately that she was perfect ♥ She corresponded with me via email prior to my visit and answered all my questions. We are definitely kindred spirits. Her office is full of cute toys, including a Domo-kun, which my husband pointed out to ease my nerves as the procedure began. Even her tattoo machines are Hello Kitty

Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t painful. Uncomfortable, yes, but not painful. I was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to take the pain. A few years ago I had laser hair removal… the pain still haunts me. For laser hair removal to be successful, you must endure 5 sessions. Needless to say, I barely made it though the first; therefore, I still have the pleasure of shaving daily William maintains that my procedure was botched. I did have a scar on my belly for some time where my “happy trail” hair was singed. Perhaps he’s correct…

Do you have a tattoo? If so, what do you have and where do you have it? Does it have a special significance? Feel free to share photos

P.S. — I suppose I’ll honor William’s request and refrain from referring to my tattoo as “my little octopussy,” a line about an octopus tattoo from the James Bond film Octopussy

• Create a profile
• Hang out in the built-in IRC chatroom
• Socialize in the custom, private, spam-free forum
• Participate in monthly activities
• Win awards and earn special shrooms
• Donate and collect free*bees
• Volunteer as staff

Of course, you don’t have to participate in any of the above to be a part of the club (Nor do you have to be good at pixelling, which is a common misconception.)

Interested in joining? Buzz on by! We’re waiting for you ♥

Will: That’s probably because he hasn’t used Engorgio yet.

I LOL’d