Bethjoy.com

Due to a little more spending than planned in January and February (after Christmas sales… And some gorgeous shoes) I decided to cut back my spending in March, by a lot. The phrase “cold turkey” comes to mind. I decided that I would go through march with only paying my Netflix subscription for my personal/entertainment spending. And guess what? I SUCCEEDED!!! It was incredible! And I had very enjoyable month playing with games I already had and looking forward to the DVD’s I had coming in the mail.

April however the ban on spending was to be lifted and naturally I have been looking forward to April for most of March.

On March 31st whilest browsing the used video games offered at Amazon.com thinking about what I planned to buy in April I noticed an incredible deal on a video game I had been wanting for some time now. However, it was still March, and there was only one of the video game… and I was determined not to break my resolve even though I would be sad that I missed the video game should someone else buy it before I did… Then I remembered that April started at midnight!!!

So at 12:07 A.M. April 1st 2008 I completed the purchase of my new video game. It was $8.98 including shipping. And despite being a bit sleepy today I am very glad I stayed up and got it and even more glad that I kept the goal I set for myself:)

Yesterday I made a comic book. I had previously made a comic book so this was my second one. The first took me two or so days to make. This one I did in less than eight hours from conception to finished product. Then I took the pictures of the pages home(I made it while at work(I wasn’t “working” or on the clock while I made made the comic book of course)) and tried to post them on my website but I discovered that my program I used to post with was broken and wouldn’t post pictures… So it is today, after begging my brother to fix it and him quickly granting my request, that I can now post the following comic book. And the first comic book may show up here sooner or later.

Incidentally… If the pictures following show recognizable characters from certain movies and/or books they are not necessarily the same characters in the comic book, though there is perhaps some connection between the two. Or something like that. I most certainly did make the action figures I just bought them (Most of the ones used in this comic book were recently purchased this weekend:)(I had a fun time shopping!)). And now for the comic book! Or comic strip… Or whatever the following is… And I didn’t have spell check on the computer I wrote the dialogue on so some of the characters may be speaking a “dialect” or talking about objects that sound similar to other objects but in fact are not… And there is potential for a sequel. And hopefully without further ado, the comic book!

This Valentines day I started a tradition that hopefully either I will remember to do it next year, or even more hopefully I won’t have to.

I wrote a valentine to “Someone”. I had just watched the Music Man in which movie is a song entitled “Goodnight my Someone.” so I was inspired to write “Happy Valentines Day my Someone.” I wrote the date on the valentine I carefully picked out so someday when I eventually meet/figure-out-who-is my “Someone” I can show it to him and he can know that on February 14th, 2008 on my nineteenth Valentines day, I was thinking about him. And I definitely wasn’t with someone else…

And since I am not expecting to get any valentines I thought that I would write one to myself from “Someone”. So I picked out one I knew I’d like and was appropriate to the occasion(and it matched the one I wrote him perfectly) and addressed it to “The most Charming, Gorgeous, Intelligent, Creative, and Talented young lady in this room.” I wanted it to be flattering but truthful and as long as we are alone when I show it to him I think it will be quite truthful. Hopefully when I actually have a valentine he will address my cards without the “in this room” and add even more pleasant adjectives:)

In the play “The Importance of Being Earnest” one of the heroines wrote letters to herself from her future husband. When she finally met him and said that she had saved all of his letters tied up in pink ribbon he said “I never wrote you any letters” and she said, “No, you didn’t. I had to write them all myself!”. I don’t think I’m going to go that far… But I did write a valentine:) And next year if I remember and if I don’t have someone else to do it for me, I’ll probably write another. My, next Valentines Day I’ll be TWENTY!!! That feels… Frighteningly Old. And by old I do not mean that Twenty is old but merely that when you are Twenty you are out of your teens and are probably going to be considered as an adult whether you feel like being one or not. One the bright side, my mother might consider me almost old enough to meet someone… In the meantime I am certainly waiting for the right “someone” and I trust that at the right time God will see fit for us to meet, fall in love, and get married. Nice thought

Primarily because it means you don’t have to go out and buy it and save so much money:)

On my last Library visit I picked up a book on fashion which had me wanting a nicely fitted suit that looked very elegant and like one could wear it with pearls. So low and behold as I was investigating clothes I had completely forgotten about I found a gorgeous pink jacket and skirt that look very elegant and probably could be worn with pearls. And it kind of looks like Jackie Kenedy might have worn the outfit and I mean that as a compliment to the outfit. And considering how much I like the outfit, I think it’s a compliment to Jackie Kenedy too. Apparently I had bought this epitome of loveliness and perfect fit at a Thrift Store long ago for it still had the price tag of $3.99 stapled to it’s tag. The fabric is a pink brocade(ish) and features pink pearl beading on the sleeves and large pink pearlish buttons on the front. It is very elegant. So I was very happy to find it as it probably saves me going back to the thrift store and buying another suit for $5.00 or so…

In other news I’m on the third day of having a cold. And I know I have been sick because I stayed home from work two days which not is a typical thing for me to do. It’s been very nice. I rediscovered my DVD collection and was very happy since I have a monitor on my dresser that points comfortably towards my bed so all I have to do is lay there holding the remotes(one for the monitor and the other for the DVD player) in my hands. I do have to get up to change DVD’s but I can’t complain about that. It’s been a very relaxing and fun several days. And I’m so relaxed I’m actually writing a post… How astounding! However, this post is now over.

Last night I got to go to the Library. I left with eleven lengthy books on the topic of finance. Lately my passion is financial matters. I’ve been reading everything I can about how to become wealthy the right way. There are indeed many paths to wealth. I’m already started on it, in a very small way right now but at least I don’t have any debt.

Back to the library… Anyway, my interest in financial matters pretty much replaced my interest in writing. My time lately has been spent in planning how much a month at what interest rate is going to turn into my goal amount of money, and working on getting that much money. But I digress.

This morning I spent in depthy readings of Dave Ramsey (The Dave Ramsey Show, Financial Peace, The Total Money Makeover) and Robert T. Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad series) and the afternoon… I found the most beautiful website which has the sweetest looking horses that you can feed apples and brush and have your own little cottage to decorate… and the clever marketing ploy is that you have to buy the trading cards packs to get more horses and pretty furniture. It has such pretty fairy tale castles and winged horses that… I bought a set of the trading cards. It was a very weird drive home with my parents. On minute I would be talking about deep financial matters and the next I would be talking about cute little Bella or chestnut maned Peter and about the cute pink graphics of BellaSara.com and then I’d be back discussing the investing strategies of Warren Buffet before exclaiming that if you got a winged horse you got a special stable that was different from the regular stables and you could feed your winged horse special berries instead of the ordinary apples the regular horses got!

As far as financial knowledge goes, I’m probably way ahead of most people ten years older than me. But when it comes to lovely winged horses I’m… Well, the website did say for girls five and up and I do fit in that age range. Nineteen is older than five you know. It’s probably good to stay young at heart. And I am glad I’m posting. I’d really like to start writing again. I think I’ve missed it. I really have done much writing lately, except to plan my finances. I haven’t forgotten my fantasy stories though, most of my goals are named after the many characters from my stories. The official registered name of my vending machine business is “Strylar Vending”, Strylar being the kingdom of one of my longest stories to date.

I just realized, in my subject title I used “Velocity” and if you are thinking velocity had to do with the speed of the winged horse as it swoops down to land in front of the pretty pink castle, you are only partially correct. Velocity actually is a financial term for how quickly a dollar changes hands. For example, and I’m using an example from another book though changed a bit so I’m not completely plagiarizing, if ten people sit in a circle and they each had a dollar in one hand and a pack of BellaSara trading cards in the other, and each person gave the person on their left one dollar and bought their pack of trading cards from them then the velocity of those dollars would be one. And by the way, a dollar for a pack of those trading cards would be a great buy!

Now, lets say instead of each person having a dollar only one person had a dollar. Now that person bought the trading cards from the person on their left, who in turn bought the persons to their left’s pack of trading cards on their left… and so on until the dollar went around the whole circle. The velocity would of that dollar would be ten… unless it would be nine… The thought of all of those trading cards is making me so excited it’s hard to think strait. Still, you see that the one dollar did the same amount of work as the ten dollars from the previous example. The speed at which money changes hand is called Velocity. So a little bit of money can actually do the work of a lot of money if it is fast enough.

There, I was able to put in some useful information into this otherwise rambly post. It will be interesting the next time I write a fantasy story… I have a feeling there will be some very financially literate people in it and it would be interesting if they were like me, one minute talking highly intelligently about finances and the next minute talking about something else, like cheese or toasted marshmallows or sweet little bunny rabbits or… Hmm… I’m now quite interested in the idea of finding out what my next attempt at writing is going to be like. Pretty much all I’ve read for the past several months is financial books. I could probably write a financial book of my own but I’m not sure the publishers would be impressed with frequent references to princesses and dragons and beautiful winged horses flying through the sunset to land on a glittering tower of the beautiful pink castle…

Anyway, it feels wonderful to actually be writing a post again. I think I’ve missed writing. I think I’ve said that already. We’ll see if this desire to write is enough to get me to post regularly again. Bethjoy.com has been rather neglected lately, but my mutual funds and my 401k certainly haven’t. Due to this being public website, for safety reasons, I do not want to appear wealthy. Indeed, I am certainly not wealthy… yet! But my day is coming and someday, when I am in my sixties and probably no longer as attractive as I am now at nineteen(Not that on a public website I want to sound attractive either, though I am), I will be able to cruise around on cruise ships as much as I like and that sounds like a nice goal to work for. I may not have my own car now, but someday, if I choose to get one, I could probably a really sweet looking sports car, and pay cash for it (Attention, if you are reading this and I am starting to sound like the girl of your dreams, I am currently single so just make sure you are a Christian, trustworthy, fairly financially literate yourself, patient, and a host of other things to lengthy to go in now and… Hopefully we’ll meet:)

Hmm, that reminds me. That’s one of the reason I haven’t been posting because I’m not supposed to be talking about financial matters (or my desire for romance…) and they are such a main part of my life right now (except for the romance) that its about all I want to talk about (except for the desire for romance). I used to talk about the stories I was writing, now I talk about either the investments I’ve made or the investments I hope to make. Though I did just go shopping for some absolute gorgeous boots that had a retail tag for $79.00 and I got for $25.00. I use my highly developed sense of bargain hunting for investments products too. My grandmother was extremely impressed when I found a Money Market Account that was yielding over 5%(and FIDC insured) and her CD was doing quite a bit less than that. Online Comparison shopping… only way to go:) Though I did get the boots off a sale rack in an actual store…

So now I think I’ll say goodnight to my gorgeous new winged horses and not winged horses(I like them too) and perhaps take one more peak at how my investments are doing because I have the same smiling warm feeling about them too and…

I just realized, I was embarrassed enough (afterward, when I remembered how people had politely left my vicinity) when I mentioned in public that I talked to my teddy bear and now I’m talking about winged horses… Oh well, I’m nineteen, I’m probably different from any one else you will ever meet and my teddy bear is probably going to go on more European cruises than yours. Maybe. Um… I suppose I should stop now.

Practically all of my life I have eaten very healthily. I typically eat whole wheat. I typically do not eat anything with sugar other than things like fresh fruit etc. However lately… I’ve been buying moon pies, M&M cookies, cokes, Dr. Peppers, Hershey’s candy bars (particularly the peanut butter cups), Lance Snack Crackers, Potato chips, Skittles, Doritoes, and even Diet Pepsi Max which I just found out existed a few days ago.

And now it is time for the “Haha” moment when I mention that while I’ve been buying all of that junk food I haven’t been eating it. You see, I bought a vending machine. Other people have been eating the junk food and every time they buy something from my machine I make a profit!!!

Right now my parents are moving their business to a larger building and the larger building had a larger break room with the perfect spot for a vending machine. So I decided to get the vending machine and earn a little extra spending money on the side. So I’m learning all about junk food:) Apparently Skittles are very important to some people… And Diet Pepsi Max seems to be almost necessary to life on this planet for one of the workers.

When I first bought stock for my vending machine(it is a big vending machine) I filled up a whole cart with my purchases. Mom was very amused when she saw it and said the headline ought to be “Health Food Girl buys cart full of Junk Food” so I used it as my post title.

Well, I will soon be turning nineteen. My birthday is the 26th of September for those of you who don\’t know. And as you can probably guess, I like getting presents!!! My absolute favorite present to receive this year be green portraits of dead presidents. So that no confusion arises that means cash! Money! Bills! The denomination and amount is up to you of course but the sight of cash will almost always get a smile from me. I put in \”almost always\” because I like being very truthful and it is possible in the past I haven\’t smiled at a present of cash but I can\’t really think of any instance of that happening…

The second choice would probably be a gift card, preferably a Walmart, Toys R Us, Best Buy, or Target one and in that order of preference. Oh, I forgot Amazon.com! That might come first on the list on the list actually.

As far as non monetary gifts are concerned here is what I like. Video Games, preferably E rated for Gamboy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Gamecube, those being the systems I own. The Gamecube system was an early birthday present to me from my parents. A specific game I would like would be: My Sims for Nintendo DS. Releases on September 18th. Typically though I like games that are either turn based or involve shopping. I prefer easier games to harder ones.

I still do like dolls, specifically ones with gorgeous faces and princess dresses. However I am phasing out of dolls at long last and into make up instead. Which I suppose as I am turning nineteen it\’s about time since most girls make the change many years before.

I also am very fond of fairytale/fantasy. Dragons (they have some in the toy section at Target that are quite nice.), Winged horses, fairies, princesses, princes, knights etc I enjoy very much still.

I think this is probably enough of a wishlist. Especially since very people will actually be looking it up.

Once upon a time there was a cat. This cat was named Sandy. She was very pretty with sandy brown fur and cream paws and she wore a lovely gold color collar. But she was not content.

In her mind the higher that one sat the more important that one was. Therefore her desire in life was to sit upon a doll house instead of sitting upon a pile of books. The problem with this was that a great dragon sat upon the only doll house in the room and one does not merely go up to a dragon and say, “I want to sit on top of the doll house so would you kindly move?”

Sandy was in a quandary. Oh how she longed to sit on that doll house but her fear of the dragon was holding her back.

“All I have are these stupid books.” she said looking down in disgust at them. And then she looked closer at the book she sat on. It was entitled Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien and on the cover was a knight, of sorts, fighting a dragon.

It was to be noted that the knight was getting the worst of the battle. However, on further reflection, Sandy realized that that was because the knight was actually just Farmer Giles of Ham and not a proper knight at all. So naturally he would be losing.

Her little feline mind began working and her eyes began searching in quest of a real actual knight to defeat the dragon and drive him off the roof of the doll house. It did not take her long to find what she sought. A splendid knight on a magnificent charger was actually on the same dresser as herself. true, the knight was only seated on the DVD player which wasn’t nearly as high as her stack of books but he was still a knight and he looked more impressive than Farmer Giles of Ham. Sandy decided to make the journey to see the knight.

Sandy reached the knight. He stood in a magnificent pose, sword raised, while his horse proudly pranced.

“Excuse me.” said Sandy the cat.

“For what?” courteously inquired the knight. It was to his advantage to be courteous for in actual size and probably weight the cat was at least twice if not four times that of himself.

Sandy was taken aback by his manner of reply. “I’d like to get the dragon off of the doll house.” she finally said.

“And why do you want me to excuse you for that?” The Knight asked puzzled.

“I mean…” Sandy paused, her opinion of the brightness of knights was dimming.

“Are you saying, with poor grammatical skills I might add, that you are cruel and unjust or “mean” as you term it or…”

Sandy did not wait for the knight to finish. She was not patient and she decided to go back to her stack of books. and perhaps think of some other way to get on top of the dollhouse. But as she returned to her place and settled down a great sleepiness over came over her and she settled down for a cat nap and forgot about the doll house, at least for the moment. THE END

Where is the trash bag you might ask? Well, the doll is wearing it. That is one complete and total, no scraps left over, black garbage bag and that is what my doll is now wearing. I personally think she looks very nice. The texture of the garbage bag has a sort of futuristic science fiction kind of feel which matches well with the styling of the dress. The skirt is very special in the way I did it and it\’s a very very very time consuming to even think about doing a skirt like that. However it\’s quite fashionable and I saved a lot of time by using a stapler instead of hand sewing each little bit together in the proper way and thus the dress was finished this morning instead of some time next week or never at all. I am quite pleased with how it turned out:) Garbage Bag Couture works quite well! And I\’m feeling very creative as most people wouldn\’t look at a garbage bag and envision clearly a dress like that…

Or at least I hope it won\’t be about mushrooms… Anyway… I\’ve been enjoying my new DS Lite. I got the program Brain Age with it and I was very happy this morning when the test said I was THIRTY!!! Considering that I originally tested at sixty and the optimum age is twenty I was very happy.

I\’ve started a new habbit this week. After breakfast and our family devotions are over I grab my purse and a book and sit outside on our patio furniture. I then read my Bible and pray for a little while. Then do a round of brain training. Then I take care of my Nintendogs. Then I read for a while. Then I come back in once it gets too hot. It\’s a very healthy habit that I\’m trying to form.

I\’ve been reading \”The Swiss Family Robinson\” which is an excellent book. And I just hit writers block therefore I think this post is over. I\’ve been trying to retrain myself for writing but not very much has been happening in that respect. But about the best thing I\’ve written so far was this paragraph…

Monkeys!!! Or actually, I think I went over that earlier. Anyway, it is time to write. Perhaps a cat shall arise and say that it is mightier than the dragon and why should it sit on a pile of videos and books while the dragon sits on the doll house. Then the wise three headed dragon shall say that not all dragons sit upon doll houses and the Idog shall bark in agreement while the cat shall still be unsatisfied with it’s position on the books and videos.

That was inspired largely by the fact that one of my stuffed cats was sitting on a pile of books and videos on my dressers and my favorite dragon stuffed animal was sitting on top of my doll house, also on the dresser. My three headed stuffed dragon sits on my video monitor which is also on the dresser. Hmm… It could be an interesting movie perhaps I shall work further on the idea.