TIDBITS: Blender. The “Self-Taught” Way

So I’ve recently been farting around with a few potential new hobbies…

One of them is Blender. Blender is a free to download and use 3D content creation ‘SUITE’ as they call it. It basically is a 3D animator! There are many things you can do with blender. Some of the more popular things being Modeling, Rigging, Animation, Realtime 3D/Game Creation, and Animated Movies.

Recently I began to look into this program, courtesy of Matt. He helped me navigate around the interface of the program and also found a few tutorials. I am going to teach myself this program, and maybe hopefully make a game or a movie using my newfound skills!

I’m really excited about it and if you would like to join in on the fun, go ahead and get the download, and try out some of the tutorials!

And now, I present to you, my very first animated character…
Gus the Gingerbread Man

Kinda neat, huh?

I will keep you updated on my Blender adventure!

-Nat

Video Re-Blog: My Dialects!

So a friend of mine, Stephanie, is a big blogger (here’s the link to her blog …) so naturally she has TONS of blogging friends that she made online. One of them is Leigh-Ann of The Freckled Nest! She is my source for this fun little Vlog!

Enjoy!
P.S.- I have a small translation for those of you that can’t understand my mumbling, and would be happy to go further in depth if need be HAHA!

My Midwestern Dialect!

Say these words:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught
Now answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

In case you couldn’t understand my mumbley introduction…
I was just saying how I got this idea from Leigh-Ann (her blog here…) who is one of my friend’s best friend. Therefore she is my friend by default. :)
I also said that I like this idea because I am always teased here in California for my “silly Midwestern accent” which is in fact… VERY close to a Canadian Accent. Something tells me that Leigh-Ann and I will get along well when she comes to visit for Stephanie’s baby shower. :P I close out my introduction just saying that I think my family will enjoy this video because they know how matt teases my accent… and now it is in full video form to enjoy again and again… HA!

Thanks for watching this goofy video. :) If you want… you can leave a comment with a link to YOUR video!

Thanks for watching guys and gals!
And a THANKS to Leigh-Ann at The Freckled Nest for supplying me with such a fun little post!

Til next time…
-Nat

I return... with LOTS of news! :)

No longer out of commission! :)
You may notice I changed up the look of my blog.

NO I'm not having problems haha... I just think it is a very beautiful picture. I wish I knew the artist's name!

ANYWAY...

So the past few weeks have been extremely eventful. That is why I haven't been able to post until NOW! :P

A few weeks ago our friends Justin and Felicia came to visit from SoCal and Washington.

It was FABULOUS
Here is a slideshow of all our fun!

Then after the visit I got right down to turning in JOB APPLICATIONS...
I turned some in to little cafes and restaurants but alas... no luck there...
Then I turned one in to a little Veterinarian Clinic. Haven't heard back from them so I am guessing they don't need a receptionist. Then I turned one in to Panera Bread Company... and I found out that if I would have submitted it just a BIT sooner, I would have probably gotten a job there... The gal told me that they JUST hired someone... :(
HOWEVER!!!! The future is looking bright! I submitted an application online to Target and they were looking for help. I'll be calling them tomorrow to see if they've looked at my application and to get them to call me back for an interview! Hehe! Hopefully all works out, because I am going NUTS sitting in the apartment all day!

Then this past weekend was EASTER! We went to Matt's parents house to visit and stayed overnight. On Sunday we left early to attend the San Francisco Giants EASTER game! It was fabulous and I think I am in love with Brian Wilson! :P
Here are the pictures!

ANYWAY that is all I have to say for now. I'll keep you posted on the little tidbits of my recent happenings!

Toodles!

-natalie

NEW APARTMENT NEWS: Moving Day (Picture Heavy!)

MOVING DAY!

BUT FIRST...

A tour of the new apartment...

Stairs leading up to our door...

The stairs to the patio!

View when you walk in...

Living room...

Kitchen...

Bedroom doorway...

Bedroom...

Walk in closet

Bathroom...

BRAND NEW WASHER AND DRYER!

And now... the moment you've all been waiting for...

Moving Day Pictures

Good Morning...

We have to move ALL OF THIS?!

Luckily we have a truck...

Partially cleared out...

Getting clearer!

All the boxes in the living room are in the truck!

Bedroom all ready to move!

The first thing to move in... THE FOOF.

A freshly foofed Foof is a happy Foof.

I wouldn't trade the Foof for any other piece of furniture... this thing ROCKS.

Matt was tired... so he rested on the FOOF! Problem SOLVED!

Living room!

All the stuff moved into the dining area...

Bigger view of the newly messy dining area...

Messy kitchen!

I told him to make a cute face...

And of course... computer is the first thing to get set up...

DUH!

Bedroom...

Can't unpack. Everquest 2.

WASHER AND DRYER AFTER IT'S FIRST LOAD!

A bathroom with PERSONALITY!

Thanks for peeking at the pictures!

I'll have more up after we get the new couch and the new dining set!

Then you will get the REAL tour! :)

Stay tuned! Thanks for reading!

NEW APARTMENT NEWS: Goodbye, Apartment.

So this is me, about to get all sappy and nostalgic about leaving this apartment...

One thing you should learn about me is that as excited as I may get for something new, I never fail to get nostalgic and sad about what it is that I am replacing/leaving. It is during these times that I have to take pictures.

So here is my goodbye to the very first apartment I lived in:

Goodbye, silly door with locks that are confusing and make me look like a dork when I can't open them quickly enough when someone knocks at the door.

Goodbye, "Rollercoaster Driveway" that never fails to make me poo my pants when I go too fast down it.

Goodbye, Parking Space #17 that is always taken by the jackass that doesn't even live here, but thinks he can park in your parking spot.

Goodbye, Dirty and Nasty "There's-Puke-In-The-Washer" Coin Operated Laundry Room. You never failed to surprise me.

Goodbye, Dryer. The only dryer in the laundry room that SOMETIMES doesn't sound like it is going to explode. Not to mention You have the only lint trap that is intact.

Goodbye, Long Hallway back to the apartment from Laundry Room. I will always treasure the memories of walking up stairs in the rain only to find a pot of sunny flowers at the top to brighten my day. As well as the memories of ALWAYS awkwardly leaving or entering the apartment when the cute old Mexican man neighbor was at his door.

Goodbye, Cool Stairs. You were the BOMB! And also very squeaky.

Goodbye, Apartment Door #12. I will forever miss the remains of missed package stickers that didn't quite get peeled off all the way, and the click the key made when opening the lock.

Goodbye, Entryway View, and your stacks of moving boxes, and empty bookshelves.

Goodbye, Messy Entryway, full of boxes and clothes and packaging paper.

Goodbye, Chaotic Kitchen, and your dinette set that is rickety and unstable, but oh so quaint.

Oh man... I hope I don't cry tomorrow! These darn hormones... I TELL YA...

In other HAPPIER news... TOMORROW WE SIGN THE LEASE!!!!

:D

Stay tuned!!!

-Nat

NEW APARTMENT NEWS: Moving Mess

Not going to type much...

but this is a peek at what I did all day...

Organized Chaos.

AWESOME DAY! - Dungeons & Dragons, Meatballs, and Couch Shopping!

Today was GREAT!

Matt and I went to our friends Dustin and Stephanie's house for our "Weekly Dungeons & Dragons Session" and we had a blast!

Sadly Stephanie wasn't feeling up to snuff today so she didn't play today. She napped like a baby on the couch the whole time. It was adorable!

So ANYWAY!

We have been in the process of removing Matt's character, Herbert, from the current story because he wants to play a different character that uses magic.

So tonight we had an EPIC battle with two wizards, a crazy gadget man, and a bunch of lizard men ("jafras"). I even made an epic battle playlist for Dustin! Dimmu Borgir FTW.

So we made it out, barely clinging to our lives, and the whole place rattled and shook and collapsed. We didn't kill all of the bad guys... in fact... the REAL bad guys are still out there! :O JUST AS THE BUILDING COLLAPSED a group of 20 women in black robes and big white hats came out of the shadows and addressed my character. They told me that Eve (my character) should prepare for 'The Calling' for the Shadow Network (my guild/job). Which means a possible promotion for me? OR MAYBE A DEMOTION! BE PREPARED FOR THE WORSE AND BE SURPRISED BY THE BEST IS WHAT I ALWAYS SAY!

I have a feeling that sweet Herbert (Matt's character) is going to go venturing with the treasure hunting group of Rugans (cat people) that wear blue sashes, and take his leave from this game.

I will however have my little Eve give him her contact information... JUST IN CASE he ends up needing a little bilbee help! :)

ANYWAY!

That was our D&D session tonight... and it was AWESOME! I am planning on drawing out my character (Eve) so you can see just how adorably bad-ass she is. She is a midget with a tail that uses throwing daggers. HOW CUTE IS THAT?! I ASK YOU!? :P

After our D&D session Matt and I went to IKEA to look at couches and grab some grub! I had the ever so popular Swedish Meatballs with mashed potatoes, lingonberries, and a creamy white gravy sauce to top it. DELISH! We then proceeded to test out the couches and we ended up finding this beauty:

Pretty cute eh? It just folds back and it even has a little storage compartment underneath for the bedding stuff for when you have guests sleeping over! I'm glad the cheapest color was this dark grey one, because it gives me TONS of options for decorating ideas! I can get pillows in various colors and I can change the pillows according to whatever color I feel like whenever I want! It's quite the versatile little couch/bed! :)

Well, I'm going to wrap things up now because Matt is going to finish his mini-game of D&D with me and then I'm headed to bed... MAYBE. If I can calm my excited little brain! :)

Moving day is Friday and we just got 20 boxes from sweet Sir Dustin for moving! I'll be a busy girl tomorrow! :)

Thanks for reading and I assure you there is more to come! :)