Inspired

The link below totally inspired me to actually write an entry about... me. Not about my knitting but about me, my home, my life, etc. (I'll update the post with some photos later... as I'm at work right now)

http://crazyauntpurl.com/

So here goes...

Me
My name is Amber and I'm 28 years old. I've lived this first 28 years in the San Francisco Bay area. And I've lived in the North Bay (San Rafael), the South Bay (Mountain View... I didn't like the south bay much. Everything is beige, tan, or cream colored there.) And currently live in the East Bay (Berkeley). This is definitely home... I love where I live. I live in a great little 2 bedroom house that was built in 1929. But I think I'll have to live in a different state or country at some point...

We (me, my boyfriend, our 3 cats, and our lizard) have lived in this house for the past 5 years or so. Being that it's such an old house and we own it... there is a huge list of repairs/remodels that we either need to or want to do. It can be a bit overwhelming at times (we gutted and remodeled our kitchen several years ago... it's still not quite done as there is no trim around one of the doors and one of the windows... also need to finish the tile on part of the counter and paint said trim). We also ripped up most of the carpet in the house last summer and re-finished the hardwood floors. And when I say we... I mean me and my boyfriend... we did it ourselves and it was a TON of work. I know people who can afford to pay people to do this kind of work and I am seriously jealous. So like I said the house situation can be a bit overwhelming :)

Me and the boyfriend have our 10 year anniversary coming up in September of this year. The 29th. This is a bit scary because about a year ago I threw down the gauntlet and said he'd better marry me as I didn't want to "date" him for a decade. In essence I told him that I either wanted for him to make that commitment to me or I was going to leave him. And gave the 10 year cutoff. And this sucks because I really don't want to leave him... I love him and think he's a great guy... I just want the type of commitment that marriage symbolizes to me. To me marriage is for always, truly "in sickness and in health till death do we part". I realize that most people end up divorced.. I swear I live in reality. But for one... my parents are still married and happy. They've had some ups and downs but they are mostly happy. Alas my boyfriend's parents divorced when he was an infant and he's never met his father... and then he had a crappy step dad to boot. So I know we see marriage differently. But I still want him to look me in the eye and tell me that he wants me and only me forever... now is that really too much to ask? ;)

Well that covers the home and boyfriend. So here's some more stuff. I make a living as a commercial artist of sorts... I do 2D digital painting on CG movies. So far I've worked on Shrek2 and Madagascar (comes out 5/27 so go see it). I love where I work and the people I work with. My only gripe about work is location... It's about 45 miles from my house in the dreaded South Bay. Bay area traffic is a bitch... today it took an hour and a half to get here. People freak out when it rains.. it's like their brains fall out their ass.. it's truly amazing. Most days (no rain) my morning commute is about an hour and my evening is about the same. So 2 hours for travel and a 10 hour work day sure do eat up a lot of time. Thank god I love it there because from 8am till 8pm that is where I am. But I do get to paint and listen to my ipod all day long... not a bad gig really.

Well I'm getting a bit bored typing about myself so I'll assume that you (all 2 of you) who are reading this are getting bored too. So I'll just talk about my pets for a moment and call it good.
So the pets. Jack and Jill are my/our 2 8 year old brown tabbys with white markings. They are litter mates and so damn cute. About a year after I met my boyfriend we moved in together and I really wanted a cat. I was almost 20 at the time and had never really had a pet of my own and I've always been a HUGE animal fan. I actually like animals more than I like most people. So we found a kitten rescue in Marin County and checked it out. Of course it was the wrong time of year ( I think it was January or February) for kittens so I had to wait till March. then they got a brother and sister pair that they wanted to place in a home together. Since we were both students and not home a lot we figured it's be good for them to have each other for company and took them home. Jack was a pound and a half and Jill was a pound. He is now 17 pounds (just big not really fat) and Jill is 11 pounds (she's a bit fat and runty but sooo sweet). They are great. Then last April a coworker took in a stray cat (read a pregnant stray) and he found himself with 5 kittens in need of homes.... well that's how we got Seamus (Shay-mis). My coworker sent me kitten pictures every week until he was old enough to take home in June. I was told he was an orange tabby so I gave my redhead an Irish name... well he was and still is beige. So the name is a bit funny but I still like it. So our 1 year old stalks and tortures the older cats and gets swatted on the nose now and again. But we sometimes catch them all sleeping on the bed together so I know that all is well.



Last but not least we have Lydia the Bearded Dragon. She's about 3 and a half now. Very cool pet but a lot of work as she eats live food. She has to have king meal worms and adult crickets every other day. So it sounds like camping in our living room because that is where she and the crickets live. Someday when I'm not gone 12 hours a day I really want a dog... a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Here are some cute photos.

ok that's enough about me :)