Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away. - unknown

SHAINA

moi 22yo
college student, writer, reporter, artist, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, vampire, pirate, horror movie fan, fantasy movie fan, indie music fan, johnny depp fan, criss angel loyal, strawberry crush addict
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How quickly the time goes…

category: Uncategorized,life,school | 08/07/2010 | c5mments

Well, once again I’m getting everything ready for yet another semester of college. It looks like I’m finally set with my classes, I’ve ordered my ridiculously priced books, I’ve spoken with my roommate, and I’ve planned out my schedule. All that’s really left to do is move in and get myself settled.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous.

I am definitely excited about the change, but this is the first time I’ve ever lived anywhere besides home. I’ll be going back and forth all the time, I’ll be balancing my time between my family and school, and I’ll admit to being scared that everything I have planned won’t work in harmony with the rest of my plans. I just hope I can be in as many places as I want to be this year.

Then again, I’ve always been pretty good at multitasking. Plus that was always what I pictured the perfect life as: organized chaos.

As far as the site goes, I’ve managed to clean up a few pages here and there. I still have yet to rewrite the biography. That and I also have a small mini-site in the works, but I want to perfect it before I talk any more about it here. I have a few more writings that I want to post up in the next few weeks. And, finally, I want to upload a photo album maybe to a coppermine gallery or something. I’m sick of facebook photos… they’re okay, but arranging them is a huge pain in the butt.

I know I’m not consistently updating this page like usual, but Dare to Live still means a lot to me. So I appreciate your patience and I’m thrilled that most of my affiliates still have my back. :) Thanks you guys.

Wish me luck with all the moving!
- Shaina

It’s Alive!

category: Uncategorized | 07/19/2010 | c3mments

*Breathes fresh, upgraded and newly dressed life into “Dare to Live” after a long, painful absence.*

Ahh… much better. You’ll have to excuse the mess… I know it’s filthy in here. But at least it’s here, something I’ve been trying at for so many weeks now… I was beginning to give up hope there for a second.

It’s funny… most of the time a person gets a bad case of writer’s block during dark periods of their lives… times when they feel depressed, angry, overwhelmed with negativity, etc. I’m happy to say that it didn’t happen that way for me. The reason I’ve been away from this site for so long is actually because I have been busy enjoying quite possibly the best summer of my entire life. :) :) :)

*My long-time readers read the last sentence a second and third time, their jaws hitting the floor and their eyes bulging out of their sockets. They read on, searching for the typical emo rants I used to write that made Eeyore look like an Animaniac high on Pixie Sticks and Red Bull.*

I guess I’ll start at the beginning… I finally graduated community college with my associate’s degree in general studies. I’m honestly not sure which one rocked more: finally getting that piece of paper for in exchange for two years of sweat, tears and unnecessary drama… or hearing my family and friends blow the roof off of the building when I walked across the stage… or hugging my favorite professor and hearing her say that she’s proud of me… nope, there’s no way I could choose. That entire day was perfect. Even my gown was perfect! (I’ll put up a picture just as soon as I get copies from my father’s camera)

Graduation is only the beginning though. This fall I’ll be starting classes at the university (FINALLY!) and pursuing my degree in journalism. Things have been so hectic trying to get everything together… soon I’ll be moving my stuff on campus and getting everything ready to go this fall. I’m so nervous, but in a VERY good way. There were times I never thought I’d get this far with school, but now everything is coming together just like everyone always said it would…

Speaking of the world falling into place, my career isn’t the only part of my future that looks bright… this summer I also found something I thought I would never have in my life: true love. And now that I’ve found it, I can tell all of you that there’s more to the “friends first” suggestion than you think. It actually DOES work… and what’s better than winding up with your best friend? Well, I got that and a few bonuses as well:

Add those four smiling faces and you get my four-leaf clover… the four loves of my life. They are the ones to blame for the bright colors, the rant-less updates and the overall cheery vibe this place will have from this point on. From here on out, my life has definitely never looked better than it does right now. And it’s only the beginning.

But, for the time being, I think I’ll get back to tweaking the new layout and changing around a few pages. Time to get everything back in order before the semester hits and my life becomes the organized chaos I’ve always longed for.

All my love, affiliates, friends and readers! It’s good to be home.

- Shaina

The Block! AHHH!!!

category: life | 05/13/2010 | c2mments

My muse was so excited… she ran up to me earlier today with my pencil in her tiny hand and began tugging on my sleeve frantically. She jumped up and down and pointed in the direction of my desk. “Update now! Nowww!” she squeaked (because obviously, muses squeak as a primary means of communication). I nodded and followed her to my desk, where I sat down and began typing. My muse began yammering quickly, trying to fit every idea into every single second of time she had… when it happened.

Out of nowhere, this gigantic cement block fell from the sky like an off-course meteor, straight through the roof of my house. Yes… the dreaded Writer’s Block. No kidding… my room is freezing cold now because of the gaping hole in my ceiling. And guess where it landed… right on top of my little muse. She’s ok as far as I can tell, but the block is pretty huge… I can’t seem to get it off her right now. Far as I can tell though, she’s pissed. The mumblings I can hear under the heavy weight of the block sound like muffled four-letter words that I didn’t even know she had learned. Guess that’s what happens when you listen to too much Marilyn Manson.

Anyway, please send us your good wishes, prayers etc while we attempt to lift the block. In the meantime, perhaps some music from my iPod will inspire the block to move away on it’s own. Annoying, square little prick…

No more pencils, no more books…

category: life,photo goodness | 05/02/2010 | c5mments

I’m all done! And not just with a semester. Not just with a class. I’m done with my friggin DEGREE! I graduate on the 7th… so excited!!!

Side note: my professor is sending me these weird “I didn’t get your final” toned emails… I may kill someone should this be the case…

Anyway, I’m sure everyone has been wondering why in the hell I would take my site off of hiatus and then abandon all hope yet again (haha Mallory) but yeah, that’s been what’s going on… that and lots of geocaching, movie-watching, guitar hero-playing and sushi eating. It’s so fun being a freebird.

Freebird… ah, I may not have explained this one in detail last time, and I warn you, not much detail is going into it this time in order to spare a big blow-up… but if you’ve noticed around the website, small things have been changing, disappearing, etc. Yup, if you have a sharp eye, you caught it: Vampirateloyal is flying solo again.

But hey, before you start sending me a bunch of “Awww I’m so sorry!!!” messages, don’t. This is, trust me, for the best. Thus, the freebird status!

Freebirrrddd…

Ahem. Anyway, there’s been something I’ve wanted to do on here for a while, and I thought, why not now, when I’m about to move everything around into a dorm room anyway? Must preserve the memory somehow. Ladies and gents… click more for a virtual tour of the private lair of this cyber-brainchild’s twisted mother:

(more…)

Good to be back

category: Uncategorized | 04/21/2010 | c4mments

… and I mean that in more ways than one. Seriously, I haven’t felt this much like myself in years… probably since I was sixteen years old.

The hiatus is officially off. The stresses in my life are slowly sorting themselves out, stars are aligning and the clouds are clearing. I feel like for the first time in too long, I’ve found my path again. And I’m walking proud. This has freed up my muse as well, so I’m ready to pick up Dare to Live, dust it off and make it something better than it was before.

The next few weeks will involve a lot of cleaning up around here, the addition of several new poems and possibly a short story, a new bio, a photo album, and much, much more. I’m excited!

Thank you for your patience everybody during these weeks of confusion. I’m okay now, really! :)

<3

Shaina

Funny Link & Apology

category: Uncategorized | 03/28/2010 | c4mments

Hey everyone. I know I haven’t been very active. Things are really crazy with school and the transfer right now, and I just don’t have the time. I’m putting this site on an unofficial hiatus starting now. I’ll be back soon, no more than a few weeks, and I’ll do my best to stay in touch with my affiliates.

I thought this was hilarious, so I wanted to post it here so all of you could see it: http://godxiliary.com/alienvspooh/Medium/

Whoever did that was a genius.

Anyway, blog at you all soon!

- Shaina

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