I’m over a week late with this post! It’s been crazy since the end of September and there are so many errands to run and people to see. We’re HALF A MONTH out from our wedding! I can’t believe it’s almost here. It’s been a long year since we started planning, but now time is dilating so fast! Eric and I have been getting wedding jitters on and off. It’s such a one-time, big, lifetime event with so much invested of our time, not to mention financially, and emotionally. Can we just skip to the day already??

Many couples typically go to see a marriage counselor prior to their wedding. Marriage counseling is for couples to talk about what is really on their minds before the big day in a safe space. When it comes to solving marriage (or any relationship) problems, marriage counseling is one of the best ways to improve communication skills, come to mutual understandings, and figure out how to move forward as a couple. Eric and I decided not to seek marriage counseling, but instead we visited a psychic.

This was a referral through my friend and masseuse, Marj Selle, and an experience I highly recommend. Even if you’re not the type of person that believes in the psychic, spiritual, inexplicable vibrations of the universe, it was just a lot of fun to speak with Keith Sheldonport. Marj has known Keith for over 20 years, and I trust her judgement since she herself is a gifted healer. Keith is located in Denver, Colorado, and I booked him via email. Eric and I went to his office where the three of us sat in comfy armchairs.

Keith explained that the session would be a reading for both of us and our relationship compatibility with each other. He asked for our full name, birthday, and location where we were born (he did not have this or any other information about us prior to the session) and set up to record the session for us to listen to later as we pleased. Then he told us that he would be simply looking at us and reading from our soul’s Akashic Records.

The reading was fantastic! Keith touched on all the areas of us as individuals, our relationship, careers, children, and health. I won’t go into much detail, but he was very accurate about things that Eric and I have not shared with other people and gave specific predictions about our lives in the years to come. Most importantly, he said that Eric and I have met in our past lives and before we were even born, when we were simply light and energy in the universe, we decided that we wanted to be together in this lifetime. How romantic! Keith went further to say that our relationship is “till death do us part”. And that the age in which we met, after experiences in past relationships, allowed us to be together here and now because we are both ready and wanting a relationship that is till death do us part.

Keith was very specific that it was this kind of relationship because there are many types of relationships: till divorce, till purpose has been served, or until we grow apart. Whether he is forthcoming with those relationship types, who knows? But there’s nothing in it for him to give us inaccurate information. Especially when his business relies on referrals and good clientele. Taking it with a grain of salt, the man was about 85% accurate on everything that he spoke to us about. A psychic reading is never going to be 100%, and as Marj tells me, you also should take away what resonates with you. Overall, Eric and I enjoyed the session, and I feel like it was fulfilling for both of us. It placated some of those wedding nerves and shed some light on things we had on our minds that needed to be addressed in a safe space. The following is a quote from our reading:

If I were to describe what I see when I look at the two of you, it would be as follows: There is this golden light of love that Lily feels for you, Eric, emitting from her heart chakra and flowing over into your solar plexus chakra, where you are receiving it. And in turn, you are emitting your love back to Lily from your heart, and she is receiving it in her solar plexus chakra. The symbol this makes between you two is a golden infinity sign.

Keith Sheldonport

Our relationship is pure, cosmic love, until death does us part.

The Road So Far

Some good news is that my brother proposed to his long-time girlfriend. Congratulations to them! They’ll be planning their wedding for next year and I can’t wait! In July, my friend Katheryn & her fiance, Matt, visited us here in Colorado. They came in town to see the Red Hot chili Peppers and Eric and I took them around the Denver Bontanic Gardens and drove up to my favorite spot in the state, Mount Evans. Mount Evans is the highest scenic byway in Colorado and you can drive up all the way to the summit (but you do have to climb the last mile up to the peak). I liked making a trip up there once a year if I can. I’ve been 7 or 8 times in the last 9 and a half years. You can see mountain goats, sheep, marmots, birds, and of course the whole landscape down below you!

In August, I celebrated Katheryn’s Bachelorette weekend! She hosted hers at a family friend’s house right on the Lake of the Ozarks. It’s such a beautiful lake and the boating there is really fun. It makes me wish that Boulder reservoir was a lot bigger. The weather was perfect and it was a nice weekend getaway.

Eric’s Bachelor Party (remixed) ❤️ We celebrated Eric over Labor Day weekend. His friends took him to see Richie Hawtin (his favorite DJ) and I already had a ticket to go so I went too with my friends, Andrea and Emery. I made these foam fans of his face to bring it into the crowd. People loved it! Eric wasn’t so sure at first, but I think they grew on him. Ha!

At the tail-end of September, we were able to organize engagement photos from a friend’s fiance. Her name is Valerie and she does AMAZING engagement and elopement photography here in Colorado! Definitely check out her portfolio. I would highly recommend her to anyone getting engaged or married here in Colorado. We were able to time it perfectly with the fall colors up in the mountains. We drove to Brainard Lake and then also stopped at a grove of golden Aspen trees. Although it’s over a year after we got engaged, I’m happy we were able to get the photos done!

What Else?

It’s crunch time before the wedding, but since our nuptials are over Halloween weekend, of course we’re having a costume party the day after! I am working on a cosplay of The Heritor of Frost from Final Fantasy XIV. It’s a big project…I wish I had thought about it sooner in order to custom order the dress. Unfortunately, I have to make due with what was available on eBay. I have to individually cut out the armor accents from EVA foam. I’m not sure if I’ll be done in the next week…We’ll see how it goes. If it doesn’t work out in time for the wedding then I have a fallback cosplay of Weiss Schnee from RWBY.

What I’ve Been Writing

I’ve made it to chapter 6 and 7 in my newest book, Nine Kingdoms. I feel good about the plot so far and where things are headed. I need to add another scene in chapter 6 to flesh out the newest characters that I’m introducing and how their powers all work. I’ve decided magic is a rare oddity in my book’s universe and so I need to think about the logistics of the magic system and how it all works. I already feel that my main character, Rei, needs more work at the beginning of the book in order for her character arc to be successful by the end of the book. There are some ideas bouncing around in my head to improve her and reading, Ashlords, by Scott Reintgen gave me some ideas.

My plan to review any last minute query options for The Tower did not happen. It could possible happen by the end of the year, so I’m throwing this in here again as a reminder to check back in. My Dad gave me some good publishing links to check out and I need to look at them!

Three Favorite Reads

I have to say that I started reading “Once and Future” by Amy Rose Capetta and Cory McCarthy but I had to put it down. I talked to my friend Ellen, and I was telling her that I can’t remember the last time I did not finish a book. I really wanted to like it because the premise sounds amazing (King Arthur reincarnated as a girl, set in the future!). But the writing was very choppy and the characters were shallow. Ellen advised that she gives the book the first 3 chapters or first 50 pages to grab her attention and if it doesn’t, put it down. This makes sense since this is exactly how agents look at query requests. They often ask for your query and the first intro of the book.

I think this was a good experience for me because it’s important to understand what my dislikes are and to recognize what I think is poor writing so that I do not emulate the same. I’m pretty easy to please when it comes to reading. Basically if it’s something I want to read again, it’s 5 stars and if I enjoyed it as a single read, then it’s 4 stars. I did stop two books into “The Belgariad” series because I did not like where the story was going, but I did finish the first two books before stopping.

Next

The wedding! I have no idea how much, if any, progress will be made on my book until after we return from holiday.

Cheers to being the future Mrs. Eric Bender! ❤️

Thank you for reading!