This year has been insanely busy so far, and amazingly fabulous as well. The holidays are always extremely active, but since the New Year started I have been running around on overdrive for weeks! First just a lil bit of information about the graph information I am cursing you with today. While most people only play SL, there are some of us that are intense gamers and play other MMOs that include fighting, leveling, crafting and for some, PvPing (player vs player). I've touched on it just a bit in the past but when someone came to me out of the blue and asked if I was a bad PvPer I was a little bit surprised. No one in SL really plays EQ2 with me, save for Sands of course, so I had to ask why they were mentioning it at all. When I found out why I had to laugh, some poor uninformed ignorant soul thought the best way to attack me was at my PvPing abilities. Even better, it was obviously a blatant story made up for attention! Sands and I had a good chuckle and moved on. Then, last night we had yet another fantastic PvP fight with our guild and I just had to share!

For the sake of the feeds I kept these graphs small, but simply click on them to see them larger and get a better understand of what the heck I am talking about. What we are looking at here are damage taken, and damage dealt, parses. Basically in a large battle you are going to have people that take the most damage (that would be Sands in this case (Zhouyu)) and those that put out the most damage...and that would be me. We had a pretty even fight, 19v19 though they did have a few people outside of their raid helping. Well, helping isn't exactly the word I would use for it since they lost! Oh yea, I love PvP in this form, a couple of large raids worth of people is far more organized than random tossed together fighting. These graphs basically show that we were both doing our jobs, and darn well. He took the most damage as the tank because he was doing his job of taunting and keeping people hitting him instead of the rest of the raid while in that graph I am pretty far down on the damage taken list because I was de-taunting and keeping people away from me with some of my spells. The damage dealt, well, that's pretty self explanatory. I hit hard, I hit often, I kill lots. Ahhh SL needs PvP.

Ok, back to Second Life. I've been working pretty hard with Kerra and Sands on our new blog lately, getting the template done and the rest up and running. Having had strep throat this last few days I do admit to slacking on blogging period. Going to see if I can toss up a few posts today to make up for it and just post date them. Shhh, I have a cold, be nice to me!! Oh the best part to the new year yet? On the 3rd Sands decided that we more than proved to the SLworld that we aren't just a quicky fling and that being partnered was long over due. Some people partner at the drop of a hat, they partner often, and they unpartner just as fast. We both had talked about what it meant to us when we first got together and waiting just seemed to be the best idea. Neither of us wanted people to glance at it and say oh yea, well, it wont last. We have proven without a doubt that it has, and will continue to last for the long haul. I do love opening up my profile and seeing that name there, poor guy is kind of stuck with me now though huh. You can send your sympathies to ....

Thats as much of an updated blog post I can do for now. I'm fighting with just 4 hours sleep and looking forward to a nap! More soon though, the strep throat is finally starting to get better and I feel semi human again. Yay for me, aww for you. Again, send sympathies to .... oh shoosh, no one is forcing you to read. Well, except you, yea you have to read...and you over there, no behind...yea you. Other than that the rest of you don't have to. Ok you do...have an awesome day SLers!!! Its been a great year so far and wishing you all the best for the rest!!

Dina's Duds: Hey, I am wearing clothing in that picture!
Hair: Truth
Skin: Belleza
Jeans: Decoy
Top: Bublee Bing

I am confident it is going to end up on the feeds and blogged by a few people, and normally I tend to shy away from things that may end up flooding said feeds but I had to have this one. The sweater is by AOHARU and comes in 8 colors. I was tempted by the pink or even the red or green for the holidays but I figured the blue would be perfect for me this season. Doesn't mean I wont go pick up another one. but for now this will do. I stood around in just the sweater for a while but decided that wasn't exactly the warm wintery look I was going for! Tossed on jeans from Decoy, one of the many fabulous tanks I've gotten from Miel and my favorite boots from Pixel Mode and was better armed against the cold of my new home.

These pieces from MB Creationz are absolutely my favorite holiday decorations so far this year. I created a mini skating rink and set them out for visitors and friends to enjoy. I love the amazing detail, the crisp colors and textures and the sit animations are as fun as the holidays are going to be this year! I didn't get a chance to pick them up yet but I will be heading back for their gift boxes to slip under the amazing tree they have (you will see more of that tree in upcoming entries, no worries) for my friends to open. I don't have a chance to decorate as much in RL this year since we wont be here most of the holiday season, so this gave me the perfect setting to let out my passion for Christmas.

A couple of weeks ago I sat and chatted with Sands about the holidays. We each have had some pretty bad seasons the last couple of years and promises, with firm devotion, that this year was going to be vastly different. So far, its been amazing. Getting quality time with him each evening, and well into the morning, has already proven to make my holidays much brighter and I am very thankful for it all. I have had to make some tough choices in regards to SL in the last few days, but I think in the end those that I settled on with his help, as well as a couple of friends, is going to make SL the fun place it needs to be when I have time to log in. When SL becomes more work and stress than just fun it means you need to take a step back and do some adjusting. No, you weirdos, this doesn't mean there was drama, people can be stressed without it involving drama. Can you belive it? With how much people assume I was all drama for a bit there (because heaven forbid I have a bit of it once) isn't it just simply amazing how those same people are continually involved in drama while I am nowhere in sight? I must be causing it from a distance, yep, that must be it, shame on me. This must mean I am going to get coal in my stocking this year from Santa! Oh noes!

Sigh. In all seriousness, it is really disappointing to see so many people that are causing others problems come through and leave traces of pain and confusion in their wake. I see it from a safe distance in plurk, in SL, on the feeds, and then am disappointed in even myself for staying out of things I wish I could just speak up about. Others openly speak up, are encouraged and applauded for doing so, even when they are actually just causing more issues in their vocal outbursts. They are tearing others down and being rewarded for it, and its causing that great divide among friends through plurk and SL again. It was calm for a week or two, wasn't it? I suppose that good hearted nature so many were trying to foster, posts that were uplifting and positive towards people couldn't possibly last long in this community. So, why is that? In a time when people are supposed to be happy, spreading joy and all that sappy stuff, why are some of the very same people that asked 'why do we have to tear each other down' doing just that? Is it acceptable to tear certain people down? Ok to rip them apart when others are? These people arent even people I know really, on either side, but where did the 'tis the season' part of the holidays go for everyone else?

I know where it is for me, and I hope you do. I have had a fantastic weekend and wish it for everyone else too! Sands has the day off and we are just starting to play, make plans for the evening and such. I haven't really said it in my blog lately, but goodness sakes alive I love this man to pieces. You know what I wish for people today? Take a chance on someone new this season. That's right, step out of your box, out of your safe place, don't worry about what other people may think or say and just reach out to someone without pre-judgments based on what you may have 'heard'. Everyone has altercations with someone at some point, but there are indeed always three sides to a story. It might backfire, sure, but you might be surprised. I may have to hunt out someone new to do this with as well. Over the last few months I have met a handful of people that I might have judged by what other people said or thought of them and I am extremely thankful that I did not! Try it. Go on. You are braver than that, right? Right!

Dina's Duds
Sweater: AOHARA
Tank: Miel
Pants: Decoy
Boots: Pixel Mode
Pose: So Many Styles
Hair: Truth
Skin: Belleza
Glasses: Persenickety
Furniture: MB Creationz

I honestly don't have a lot of time for a post today, but wanted to toss up this LOTD for you all. Made a fast stop over at Kunglers and picked up a few pieces, including their group gift. The pants are from the gift and the top is a separate purchase. The shoes are from the Pixel Mode sale. I love the pieces, they go together extremely well and this is pretty much how I wandered around today.

Yes, see, very short post today! Why? Because Sands is home from his work trip! Oh my goodness I cant believe how much I missed him on this simple few day trip, but I did, and I am so extremely happy to have him home that my evening is all his. Its crazy, I know, even though we are apart technically...but I love him so much that I missed him more than I thought I would. So here is to the end of my evening, with him in my ears where he belongs. Have a great evening all! I know I will for sure!

After literally days offline, not wanting to log in because of a little person being ill, I came in simply because I saw these items. First, the skirt is the latest release by Zaara, as I am sure you can tell by the massive amount of blog attention it will be receiving. I couldn't resist it, didn't try and very happily dropped the money out for the fatpack. I love it, its beautiful, extremely well done and detailed and the colors make me sigh in joy for just having them. Yes, I am odd, I know.

The shirt and shoes were gotten at the Decoy sale event, also bound to get plenty of blog affection. All of the items in the store, including the fatpacks, are marked half off with some of them being absolutely free! Now, who can beat free? Really. I picked up quite a few things and thought these pieces worked perfectly together. Hair by Maitreya, skin by Belleza and poses by LAP, the little bit of time I have had to spare online was well spent.

Not so much in a rambling mood, still. Obvious by the lacking of blog posts period. Just a bit down, not exactly in the mood to let my fingers tippity tap at the keys for long. Wanted to share that little bit tonight and wish everyone a fabulous weekend. I'm looking forward to the end of it though, can I speed up time yet? *just sighs softly and whispers* I miss you.

Dina's Duds
Top & Shoes: Decoy
Skirt: Zaara
Skin: Belleza
Hair: Maitreya
Pose: LAP

Needed a bit of a pool side distraction this evening as I wait for the day to end and Sands to come home. While almost all of our 'game' time together is spent in EQ2, we both still hold forever a fondness for the world we met in, here in Second Life. Many people have a few preconceived notions about him, myself, even our relationship and instead of fighting against it tooth and nail, I figure its time to just let people judge as they wish and get back on track to just being me. No amount of discussion is going to change peoples minds if they have already taken the word of someone else about how a person is, so isn't it just a waste of energy to focus on it? I saw an amazing quote posted today that has helped me to refocus on the people and things that matter most.

"The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present." Barbara De Angelis (Plurked by Berry)

There is no need to holding onto a past that makes you unhappy, no purpose in focusing on things that may have brought you pain. So today's shots are taken with the setting of a painful past falling behind me without even turning back for a final view. Holding onto an amazing future and a life filled with only love, passion and joy. Looking forward to and wishing everyone a fabulous weekend. May your SL and every life in between bring you everything you need to find happiness, starting...now.

Dina's Duds
Hair: ETD
Skin: Redgrave
Top: Decoy
Skirt: +KiiToS!!+
Shoes: Maitreya
Jewelry: Balderdash
Pose: Imagen