What is a cosplay that you’ve always wanted to do but were afraid to commit to?
For me, it’s a genderbent Winter Soldier (ala CA:TWS). I’ve seen some AMAZING Winter Soldier cosplays and it is incredibly intimidating. Primarily the build of the arm. That’s what I have the most fear of trying.
Do you ever sit looking at a blank screen WANTING to write something, but feeling like you have nothing to say? That has been me for the past few months. I’ve been searching for what to talk about and something to say for a while, but nothing comes out of my fingers.
I think this is a feeling everyone has at some point or another. Wanting to have something to say, but not knowing how to say it. Or feeling like the more you talk about it, the more annoying it is for those reading or listening. The biggest obstacle for me is feeling like no one cares about my news. I know that isn’t true most of the time, but when I talk about a big thing that happened recently, I feel like I’m being selfish.
But you know what?
Because chances are, you’re not being as selfish as you feel.
What do I feel like I’m being selfish about? A lot has changed the past few months. The biggest and most exciting is that the husband and I got custody of a 1 year old little boy. This has thrown our whole world upside down. He’s very sweet and super smart and I’m excited that in just a couple months we will be able to officially adopt him. Being a mom is something I’ve always wanted, and this little boy has made all that happen. This whole adoption process has been so emotionally, physically and financially draining. But every time that little goober claps or laughs, I know it will all be worth it.
As this change continues, I find myself rediscovering how to balance wife life, mom life, fandom life, blogger life, and work life. That’s a lot of lives for one person. It seems that the blogger life has be the one to suffer most. If y’all have any advice, I’ll gladly take it! đ
With this new life to balance, I’m also trying to figure out where I want to take this blog. Will it be a nerd!mom blog? Maybe I’ll try my hand at some reviews or some nerd crafty how to’s. Whatever I decide to do here and whichever way I choose to go, I hope you’ll be patient and bear with me and stick with it. Sometimes its just time for something a little different.
Now that you know what’s been going on with me and the reason for the radio silence, drop a comment below and let me know what is happening in your life! I’d love to catch up a bit!
In 2015 I committed to running in four 5ks. While it was more difficult than I care to admit, I’m very glad I did. I ended the year with an 88 mile run (over the course of 2+ months), and felt like I was on top of the world. Of course then the holidays sank in and now I’m dreading my first race of the year.
I am not a runner. I am trying to be a runner (sort of), and Geek’d Out Events is one of the ways I’ve been doing so. They host nerd themed 5ks throughout the year all benefiting AMAZING causes.
In 2015 I participated in a Star Wars 5k benefiting Adoption Exchange, Harry Potter 5k benefiting The Childrenâs Justice Center, Doctor Who 5k benefiting American Childhood Cancer Association , a qualifying Video Game 5k, and then a Back to the Future 88-miler benefiting the Michael J. Fox foundation. I benefit greatly from living in the state where the 5ks are hosted. Those that don’t have that benefit, Geek’d Out still has your back. GOE does a great job of organizing virtual races for the 5ks, so that anyone who wants to participate can do so on their own time in their own town and still get the amazing medals.
In 2016, GOE is planning on doing SIX 5ks through out the year, but keeping the themes pretty under wraps. One of the races will be Harry Potter themed (this year is RAVENCLAW), but the rest are a mystery.
Speaking of mysteries, GOE just announced that the first race of the year:
The race is a virtual run as a 22.1 miler (as in 221 B Baker Street), called Baker Street Bound. In addition to getting a killer medal out of it, it benefits an amazing cause, Badges Supporting Fallen Officers Families (Fallen). Additonally, GOE has also organized a mystery to solve while running. Reaching certain milestones gives you clues to a mystery, anyone that participates and helps solve the case is entered to win a Blu-Ray gift set of the seasons of Sherlock.
Honestly, GOE has exceeded all of my expectations with every race. GOE is very well organized and chooses awesome groups to benefit. With every race, they get better and better. If you’re looking for a fun way to work out (a bit) and also benefit great causes look no further.
Sound like something you want to follow? Tune into Geek’d Out Events on the interwebs:
Geek’d Out Events on Facebook
Geek’d Out Running Club on Facebook
Geek’d Out Runners Group on Facebook
Geek’d Out Events on Twitter
It’s almost halfway through the month, but whatever. In addition to saying “Yes Please” to more things, I’m going to try and do things that push me a little out of my comfort zone. I’ve said before, I’m not a very adventurous kind of person. I usually have to grip onto the Gryffindor part of me pretty hard and convince myself that I can do whatever is out of that zone. I haven’t died yet, so I know that I can do it.
Last year I stepped out of this zone by participating in a crazy amount of 5ks (more on those for 2016 coming later this week). But this year I’m going to try and push it a little bit more.Starting with January. But January is mostly going to be about planning out my comfort zones and where they end.
Today I participated in my very first Cosplay competition. My local comic book store, appropriately named “The Nerd Store”, hosted it’s second annual cosplay competition. I’ve slowly been getting more and more into cosplay, I enjoy seeing how much effort other people put into their costumes and seeing how they take certain items to make an awesome costume.
When I signed up for it the other day I went in not wanting to “win” just wanting to see what the experience was like. What the people were like. And boy was my opinion changed. At first I was really nervous to go by myself. I knew that if I asked my cousin or something she would come with me, but I thought it’d be good to try and do it by myself so I could branch out a bit. This turned out the be really good for me.
I went dressed as a Lakitu. For those who don’t know (a lot of people didn’t at the competition) this is what a Lakitu is:
Isn’t he cute? I came up with the idea first when I was trying to come with something to wear to my video game themed 5k at the beginning of October. And when I think of racing video games, I think of Mario Kart. I had to narrow down what I wanted to wear and since I didn’t want to carry a huge kart with me everywhere, I went with the Lakitus. Immediately I knew I wanted the cloud the he swoops in on, to be a tutu. It just seemed like the easiest (and cutest) way to do it.
After purchasing an INSANE amount of tulle (I still have a ton left over) I sat down on my couch with a season of Psych and just tied it to a satin ribbon. I took it to work and tied it during lunch, I was tying this almost 3 days straight before it was done and looked full enough.
The rest of the costume was pretty simple. I bought some Aviator goggles as well as a Ninja Turtle shell from Amazon. Then bought a dowl, some plywood and twine to make the “Final Lap” sign.
Overall the best part about this wasn’t the competition itself, but meeting people who were just as into stuff as I was. After the winners were announced we went back to the store and just talked. A handful of us wanted to keep talking, so we went to Chili’s for lunch. In our costumes. A Lakitu, Ariel, Captain America, Starlord, Black Widow, Green Lantern and the Joker just bonding over chips and dressing up.
I wasn’t expecting to win, and I didn’t. But that was okay. I really just wanted to experience it, and now I’m hooked.
Items:
Ninja Turtle Shell : Amazon
Aviator Goggles: Amazon
Tutu: made by me
Sign: made by me
As a newbie to cosplay I would love any pointers on how to become better. Pattern suggestions and so forth are welcome!
