Kaiya's hair

Color contrast


This picture is just to show the color contrast from the top of her hair to the bottom

-Britten

Rapunzel, Rapunzel.....

Kaiya's freakishly long hair

We call it "freakishly long" because we have no idea where it came from! Neither Andy's side of the family nor mine has ever had any kids that could grow their hair this long this young! Course, Andy's side has mostly boys so you know....

We've never cut it, just trimmed it occasionally. It's actually longer now than in this picture and it goes from dark brown at the top to blonde on the bottoom. It's gorgeous, darling!

Kaiya has to put it over her shoulder when she sits on the toilet and when people make a comment in public about it she will start to swing it as she walks and run her hands through it....Andy and I die laughing every time!!


-Britten

Just a splinter, my foot!!!

Okay....so this has been the week from hell. My whole family has been sick, including me which doesn't make waiting on the other sick ones any fun. This new blogging has been the ONLY fun thing!

On top of all that, on Friday my husband, Andy, stepped on a toothpick and it broke off inside his foot. I tried to play surgeon (which I love to do, actually) and get it out but it just kept going further inside. So he went to the emergency room on Sat. and they cut his foot open a little bit to try and get the rest out but weren't certain of they got it all. Wood is hard to find in human flesh...it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack because it absorbs the blood and such. Yuck....

So today he went to the foot doctor to get x-rays and they think he still has some in there. So now he is scheduled for foot surgery on Wednesday. Poor guy....he is a walking accident!

I am finding out that I make a better surgeon than nurse though. He has been on crutches since Sat. He is not supposed to put any pressure on his foot so I have had to get and do everything for him. I didn't realize how much that man requires to have with him at all times!!! Sheesh!! It's now to this point.....Andy: "Britten?" Me: (shouting) WWWWWHHHHHHAAAAATTTTT???

Terrible nurse.

After giving birth without pain killers, I am a cold-hearted snake when it comes to having sympathy for another person's physical pain. Being married to someone who battles with pain everyday has made me try very hard to be more sympathetic. Needless to say, there is much room for improvement.

Being sick for a week has taken it's toll on me and everything around me. I've totally let the house go, the children have been living off candy and running around like banshees, there is a mountain of laundry and dishes to do, and I'm depressed....mainly because it's nice and sunny outside yet we are all sick and stuck in a stuffy house. And now with Andy's foot thing...well, let's just say we are all about ready to kill each other!!!!!!

Tomorrow is going to be better!!!!

-Britten

Sorry Jared!

So sorry for anyone who is getting sick of this song. Wish I could change it from time to time, but I can't.....I don't know how. It's just a thing that I copied and pasted from ToriAmos.com to promote her new song. If anyone does know how, please enlighten me.

If you don't like it, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the pause/stop button...or you could turn down your speakers. I could just get rid of it, but I like it and I don't want to....so there!

And, BTW, there will be no complaints on this blog except by me ;) LOL!!

*Waves "Hi" to Jared, grinning widely*

See Rachel! I knew somebody over in your direction would be sick of Tori by now :-P! Reminds me of college....LOL!

-Britten

My Elvish Name.....

Galadriel the wise and Frodo the humble

So by now most of you are probably wondering what my name "FeyaVanya" means. Well, my hubby picked up a copy of The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth and decided that he was going to bestow upon me something truly wonderful, mystic, and endearing-- an elf name. It's one of the most romantic things he's ever done for me and on days when I am feeling like a pretty bad human-being, if I can think of my elf name it makes me suddenly feel once again like "a spiritual being having a human experience"....the way one's perspective about life should really be.

If I were to be a character in any movie, aside from Padme of course, it would have to be Galadriel. She is so wise and noble and loving, not to mention mysterious, beautiful and powerful. She can also really "see" people, to their very core and therefore knows exactly how to help them. I wish to be like this. I'm hoping that I kind-of give this impression....I mean, a new friend of mine on theforce.net says that they thought of me as some kind of "wizardly angel" when they were getting to know me better. *blushes*

That should count for something, don't you think??? And aside from the fact that I love the LotR trilogy, I also once gave a lesson on the Holy Ghost in R.S. (church) and talked about how having the Gift of the Holy Ghost is like being an elf!! Visions, light, understanding....all a "sixth sense". :) In tune with the Force, if you will.....okay, yeah, I also used a Jedi to compare it to......Total geek-a-saurus, I know! (BUT!!! Everyone was paying attention and liked my "visual aides"...I brought my dolls along :-p Hear that????? EVERYONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION AND SOME WERE EVEN LAUGHING, which was fine by me....it was meant to be a little humorous. Heck, it was an effective learning tool!! There's no doubt that they don't remember that lesson!! And if any of you ever need to know how to "jazz up" those can-be boring church lessons, talk to me!;) )

Anyway, if you are wondering what exactly FeyaVanya translates to in English well, "FeyaVanya" is actually not the correct spelling, it's just the way my husband pronounces it. The correct spelling would be "FeaVana". And if you are wondering what that means then you will just have to familiarize yourself with the Quenya form of Elvish ;). *hee hee*

Have fun!!

-Britten

Visions

Arwen on Asfaloth having a most tender vision

Of course, many of you know that this is the scene in RotK when Arwen has the vision of her future son with Aragorn. which I have posted for your viewing pleasure here:
http://www.theargonath.cc/characters/eldarion/eldarion1.gif
http://www.theargonath.cc/characters/eldarion/eldarion4.gif

Gosh, I think that is so sweet!!! Well, I've been known to have visions from time to time. I even had one of Kaiya before she was born!!

One day, I would love to raise horses like the one she is riding, "Andalusians" as they are called. They are the most beautiful horses I've ever seen and come from Spain. If I did raise them, I would only give them commands in Elvish. No, really!!! This would be the ultimate!!! And I would ride them everyday over lush green fields......ahhhh!

-Britten

Elvin Royalty

Legolas and his elf posse

The most gorgeous elf of all!! Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood!!! Shot his arrow straight into my heart!!

You know, Orlando Bloom just doesn't do a whole lot for me in real life. I mean, he was definitely hot in PotC, don't get me wrong, but anywhere else just didn't light my fire as much as in LotR!! It's odd....usely I can't stand the looks of guys with extra-long girly hair, but there is just something magical that happens with this combo here--the long blonde hair, the bright blue eyes, and that bow and arrows across his back! Not to mention the large amount of butt-kicking he does all over Middle Earth! *swoon*

Before I ever saw him in this shot in RotK, I had a dream one night that I was a high elf in the courts of Lothlorien and I was betrothed to Legolas. On our wedding day he was waiting for me at the top of a white staircase looking much like he does here. It was a good dream.....*looks dreamily off into the distance*

Did I mention before that I have visions like this in dreams all the time???? Visions of a picture that I would see in the future.....and here it is, only I am not the one he is looking at. Poor me :(

Btw, don't you think that Malfoy's father in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban should play King Thranduil (Legolas's father) in the forthcoming The Hobbit?? He's got the long, blonde hair going for him and King Thranduil is supposed to be a little "dark".


-Britten

Breena and Mitch

My sister Breena and her husband Mitch

Ha! I laugh at this picture!! It was taken in Washington D.C. last summer (funnest trip ever!!) in a little mexican restaurant not too far from the Capitol, which we had just seen the inside of. One word= Amazing!!! (The Capitol, I mean, but the food wasn't too shabby either!)

Just so you know....they are eating fresh tortilla chips with lime juice squeezed on top!! Yum, yum!! If you haven't yet, you should try it sometime!!

I love Breena and Mitch! Funnest and funniest people to hang with!! Mitch has mine and Breena's sense of humor so you can imagine :p!!! Lot's of "muppet mayhem" ! He's a total muppet!!

-Britten

Brad and Amanda

My brother Brad and his new wife Amanda

Here they are after just getting hitched in the San Diego Temple....they are so cute and happy!! :)

[said like Butthead from Beavis and Butthead] "Whoa! Huh, huh... Brad, is like, all smart and responsible and stuff now....it's cool."

[Beavis] "Yeah, heh heh....it's like cool and stuff...heh.."

He was balancing the check book the other day and Justin (his life-long partner in crime) was freaking out saying, "Brad....stop it! You're scaring me!!"

Too funny....

Love you, Brad! ;) *hugs*

I really like Amanda....she is so sweet and cute and funny. I can't wait to get to know her better which hopefully won't be hard since they will be living closer now!! Yay!!!

-Britten

Our little Vader

Vader and the kids

We got a dog right around Halloween. We got him from ARF (Animal Rescue of Fresno). He is part Dockson, part Chawuawua (sp?)....a little guy. He actually looks like a miniature, stumpy lab, with the face of a pacific flying fox bat: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/Grzimek_mammals/Pteropus/Pteropus_tonganus.jpg/view.html
Anyway, I have wanted a black dog to bestow the name "Vader" on for some time now, seeing as most of you know about my obsessesion with Star Wars (to be more frank, I'm really "possesed"! :p) Never did I realize though just how much he would live up to his name-sake!!

This is a copy from one of my posts in the Jedi Council Forums on TFN:

So by now, you probably all know my new dog's name is "Vader"- but that's not the freaky part....We've been noticing over the last couple of days that he has a "breathing problem". No, really....I'm not sure if dogs can have asthma or what (is there such a thing as a doggy hairball?), but from time to time he will just wheeze - about 10 of them in a row! And it really does sound like Darth, but in fast motion. Creepy! *plays "The Twilight Zone" theme*

Hope this name isn't jinxing him...

And that's not the only thing about this dog... Since we got him from an animal rescue place we know he probably wasn't in the best of circumstances before he was rescued. He was "found" they said, a "lost" dog and they had no idea of where he came from. At first, he was really shy and it took a while for him to warm up to us. It was as if he had forgotten what it was like to be loved, but once he did warm up to us, even now, he still backs away from us when we approach him and quickly steers clear of our feet whenever we are walking around him as if he's used to getting kicked or something! So we think he must have been "beaten" by his previous master(s) Hmmmmm..."beaten" then "lost then "found"...I wonder who this reminds me of!

And so we are teaching him how to "love" again just like Luke does for his father! Hee hee!!

But man, does he ever have a mean streak! Not towards us of course, no...towards sweet, beautiful, innocent decorations and plastic toys! I had decorated my sofa table with fall decor (I'm a decorator ), it was all beautiful with red, orange, and yellow leaves, candlesticks, flowers, pumpkins and a Thanksgiving cornucopia gushing with fruit and gourds. And then I had a rooster made to look like it was a real stuffed one, with real beautiful feathers sitting all amoungst this other decor on the table...it was just the right touch!!

Then we got home from the movie the other night and walk in the door to be graced with TOTAL ANIALATION AND DESTRUCTION!!!!!!! Chicken feathers EVERYWHERE!!

Little Vader had hopped up onto the couch and had easy access to the rooster. Yeah, he had some major fun while we were gone! The poor bird was unrecognizable when we finally found it, so R.I.P. beloved, fake rooster !

"Commander, tear this ship apart!" (Maybe he actually ordered the cat to do it!)

I don't know...first the breathing, the whole rescue bit and now with the killings.... this dog is certainly living up to his namesake a little too much!

Okay...I'm just getting started... We have more than one SW dog in the family. My grandma got a dog about 5 years ago which I encouraged her to name "Wicket". His face and coloring are a total match to the actual Ewok and he IS "a jittery little thing"...even does that same curious, inquisitive head tilt! Eerie.....

Then there's my son's name which is "Trooper". We named him that not because of SW, but actually because my husband always wanted to be a paratrooper in the military (he's had 3 back surgeries, long story). But I CAN say that my son's a little "clone" of me when I was little, looks and everything (no, he doesn't look like a girl...I looked like a boy when I was 3 , but I'm very girly now Let's hope his looks stay masculine! )

Then there's my brother-in-law's girlfriend whose name is "Anaka". Yes, my friends, it's pronounced like "Anakin" but with an "a" at the end like in the name "Christa". It's pretty, of course, but I do get weirded out every time I say her name! And yes, she has to tell EVERYONE she ever comes in contact with that no, her parents didn't get her name from SW! Poor girl...

Then there's (okay, I know I need to stop but I can't help it ) my daughter's name. It's "Kaiya" pronounced K-eye-ya...a name that I just found out DarthIshtar used in one of her SW fics over in that forum. Now Kaiya's name we DID get from something Lucas related. We got it from the movie "Willow". It's Willow's wife's name, if you remember...

More... My hubby just defeated a Sith and won playing on the lightside of the force in the PC game "Jedi Academy"...my hero ! Now he's decided to try the game on the darkside and become a Sith . AND his name starts with "An" !

And HERE'S THE ULTIMATE!!! Come May I might have the perfect EpIII Padme costume for the midnight showing... Yep...We've been thinking about getting pregnant again, not at the moment, but sometime soon. So I probably won't be too far along to make a huge statement, but it might "look" right. Can't start trying too far from now though - I want to be over the puking stadge before C3 ...kind of running out of time....

HOWEVER..... my father isn't my mortal enemy, my mother didn't die when I was very young, I didn't just find out I have a long, lost twin brother and I don't live in another galaxy. Give me a break here people, I have to reach!!

But there are times of the day I DO think I live in a Galaxy Far, Far Away!!

-Britten