Pookaville is officially up and thriving.

This is my last entry on this site.

Bohemian Jubliee has been a lot of fun. We've gone many places together, and I will always keep a soft spot in my heart for this page, and a link for ancient archives. Meanwhile, I'm way excited about my new site. I've been posting a bit, and although it's not all the way ready yet looks-wise, the site is a baby blog and adorable. So please check it out.

My new site doesn't have 'new entry notifications' but Kyle found a program that will moniter every blog you want (except it hates blogspot for some reason). So go to BLOGLINES and sign up, add your sites, and you'll have a place to check when people have updated. You can download a little notifier that goes in the corner of your screen and when somebody updates, a little red dot goes in the blue box. I've been using it to keep posted on peoples, and it's quite handy. I can even see when there's new comments on my site.

So anyway, I love you, my reader kin! Thanks for keeping up with the Warrior Princess. She now goes under the code name Pooka at http://pooka.gofishmen.com .

So in our new car, which we christened, "The Yacht" we drove to Napa Valley. Grapevines at all stages of growth bordered the road. It was quite beautiful.

Our bed 'n' breakfast was the Hillcrest Inn, which looked more like Hawaii than Napa Valley. There was palm trees all around, buckets of blossuming flowers, a pool with a waterfall, and a jacuzzi. Around the town of Calistoga there was a variety of attractions, including a geyser and a petrified forest. We saw the geyser erupting from the road, and the place actually cost six bucks to see it up close, so we decided to take our chances with the petrified forest.

The forest cost another six bucks apeice to get into, but we thought it sounded interesting enough, so we paid up, grabbed the video camera, and headed in for a peak-see. What we saw in there was enough to send us grasping in desperation for the video camera. It was so utterly anti-climatic we were astounded. They had a lot of big, rockified trees laying on the ground. We decided to call that trip, 'You've seen one big dead tree, you've seen 'em all.'

The next day was the climax of the trip: San Francisco. We crossed the big Golden Gate bridge (For those who haven't seen it, it's actually orange. No gold on it whatsoever. Usually not much sunshine either.) and headed into the city. This was Kyle's first shot at huge city driving, and San Francisco has this pesky habit of putting their stoplights to the side of the intersections rather than stringing them above. We found a place to park and headed for the bay. After a quick look around, we discovered that all the Alcatraz island tickets had been sold out for two weeks, only attainable by paying the travel agency $60 per ticket.

However, fishing boats were offering tours of the bay, the bridge, and Alcatraz for $10 a go. Kyle and I raced over to In & Out Burger, grabbed lunch, and boarded the boat. It was windy and fabulous out on the bay. We had a funny tour guide and saw much of the city from the water. Pelicans sailed over the water past us. We got an excellent view of the the outside of Alcatraz.

After our blustery tour, we hit Pier 39 and had many adventures. They have a 'Magic Carpet Ride' where they shoot you on a bluescreen riding a carpet, then you get to watch yourself on a video where they've shown you on a carpet ride over San Francisco. It was so hilarious! Kyle and I did it together, and they have you do all these 'stunts'. Then, after you watch it they try to sell you the video for $35. Pah!

We checked out Ghiradelli Square, and got mucho free samples. That rocked. All the time, when we'd walk from place to place, we'd see performers with all sorts of acts. The famous 'Bush Man' scaring people, one man spray painted silver doing the robot, a steel drum band, spray paint artists, and all sorts.

The excitement of cities tends to brew up in my blood. The noises of the street performers, all the crowds of people, the colors, the shops, all lend to an intensity that suburbia cannot hope to achieve. I really feel that I am part of a population, a true anybody in the grand masses.

Clam chowder dinner, chocolate sundae, San Francisco sunset and strolling in the evening air provided a peaceful exhale to the day.

The next leg of our journey was a camp-a-thon. The beautiful redwoods of highway 101 awaited our exploration. They call them the 'Trees of Mystery'. Indeed, the gigantic redwoods do make one ponder the mysterious nature of God's creation.

Sequioa redwoods are the earth's largest living beings. There is something utterly awe-imspiring about walking amoung the giants, gazing ever upwards at the leaf-freckled sky. Kyle and I wound our way through the trees, exploring, laughing, thinking quietly, holding each other. Even fallen trees have wonderous aspects to observe. Gargantuan roots with chunks of dirt raggedly clinging to them. The twisted foundations, even though they no longer hold the tree up, still have the essence of strength and stability lingering.

After a few nights of camping along 101, we decided to meet up with the Baker family in a campground near Florence. To get there, we drove along the Oregon Coast, admiring La Pacifica and the little seaside towns. I couldn't help but notice that every blessed one of them had a Dollar Tree. Why? The world may never know.

The Bakers awaited us at a secluded campsite. Joanna, my favorite kid on earth, greeted us enthusiastically. Sue, who was visiting from England, was with the gang, along with Aunt Deana and our cousin Scotty. With a relaxed round of chatting and being amused by the begging chipmunks, we closed our honeymoon, and headed home.

It was nice and long, random, relaxed, and eventful honeymoon. Kyle, who had been planning it ever since we got engaged, was a marvelous master of ceremonies. It was full of romance, fun, and had the essence of the supreme vacation: Fun without parents or children, in unique lodgings, and being in love with the most incredible man on earth. Even with the car breaking down, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It started out a marriage which I am still enjoying immensly.

So, I'll 'fess up.

I have a new blog. It's here.

It has a taste of outback about it, I daresay.

Click on the magic words:
WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA!!!!

So, I was trying to change my page back to the original brown and gold template, but when I did, it suddenly decided to die on me. My page went all bazwacko with funny error lines everywhere and everything in the wrong place. This makes me sad. I may decide to go have my blog on Kyle's site. Which will work perfectly, may I add, with my scheming plans of THE NEW THEME!! (queue dramatic music).

So, just in case anybody is still reading this to find out what's up in my life, here is an entry actually explaining such. I know some of you didn't make it to the wedding, and you missed a rockin party, so it's just your loss. The rest of us who did come had a lot of fun and it went by faster than the hour before your World Thought final. It was a blazingly sunny day, everybody looked great, and the amazing people working behind the scenes made it so I didn't have to worry about and do things on my wedding day. One of the most extraordinary things was the generosity of people, in money, in services, in goods, etc. WIthout what everyone gave, the wedding would not have been possible.

I believe the wedding's claim to fame was the Unity Kool Aid. You see, the Unity Candle deal was disappealing because of the whole having to deal with the flame and it being done by every Christian couple. . .so we talked over a few different options and decided to combine two different colored liquids, blue and yellow (WBC colors!) into a main vessel, signifying the two different people who combined to make a being that was different than both, with both within. (Let me tell you, it's also drastically cheaper than buying candles and hurricane vases.)

All in all, it was beautiful, it was a blast, and I have hundreds of pictures and a videotape to proove it. He he. Then, Kyle and I went on the honeymoon. And from here on, countless details will be omitted.

Our honeymoon wound up being a mini-tour of the lands south and west of Sweet Home, staying in delightful bed and breakfast's and camping. Our first stop was in Glide, a little town inbetween 1-5 and Crater Lake. RIght on the banks of the Umpqua River. We stayed there for a few days and went to Wildlife Safari. Here, Kyle and I discovered the joys of the video recorder. Oh, there was animals too. I almost got eaten by a cheetah, but I was too quick for it.

Next we headed towards the coast. The beautiful, untamed, famous, and all that jazz, Oregon Coast. We went to Gold Beach, where a woman named Bev greeted us at Endicott Garden B&B. She was slightly crazy, very enthusiastic, and very friendly. She gave Kyle tips for a great date in Gold Beach, which included watching the sunset on the beach, and the otters play in the river. We wound up waiting and waiting and waiting on the beach, waiting for the sun to set, then decided to go take a break and get an ice cream at Dairy Queen. As we walked out of DQ, we noticed the sun was suddenly close to setting, so we vrooooommmed back to the beach to watch the sun drop like a stone into the sea. Then we watched the otters, which were actually sea lions, play in the river. One came extrememly close. He totally went, "Pssshhhoooooooooooooooffff!!!" They are very noisy breathers.

The next day we headed down to our next destination, which was to be Hillcrest Inn in a little city called Calistoga, in the heart of Napa Valley, CA. However, after we passed through the not-so-famous town of Ukiah, our car suddenly died while climbing a hill. We got out, kinda freaked out, checked the fluids and all, and upon trying the engine the car started like magic! We praised God and drove about three miles down the road, past the little-known city of Cloverdale. Then, Quillacolla heaved a great last sigh and would drive no furthur. We hauled her to the side of the road and tried the start-up trick again, but this time, no cigar. After making lotsa phone calls and finally walking into the South Cloverdale exit, we finally got a hold of a tow truck.

This was incredibly stressful. I couldn't believe this was happening on my honeymoon. I watched Kyle talk on the phone, his right ear plugged against the noise congestion of Highway 101. I thought we'd be stranded, the honeymoon ruined, and have to take a Greyhound back to Salem.

But I am more blessed than that. I have a husband and a father-in-law who both are level-headed in times of trouble, and wise in many ways. Through many phone calls and praying and tow truck rides, we finally solved the problem. The results were:

1) Kyle and I stayed at a hotel conveniently located next to a Ford Dealership for two days while we were trying to figure this whole deal out. This included talking to many many people about our reservations that Kyle had so carefully made weeks before. Many showed much grace.

2) Quillacolla was towed to Ukiah Ford Dealership after we emptied her of our every posession. We left the title and the keys in the car. We never looked back.

3) Jon & Linda, Josh, Rosa, Joanna, and Sue of England traveled all night long all the way down to Ukiah in the Baker's minivan and a 1996 Ford Escort, from the same dealer as Quillacolla. They delivered the Escort, we had Grand Slams at Denny's and the Baker bunch departed north, planning to enjoy the redwoods.

4) Kyle and I continued on our merry way, two days off track, to the merry land of Calistoga.

That concludes the first half of our honeymoon.
To find out where Kyle had us bound for, tune in next post!

And remember, check out Kyle's new blog: HERE!!!

Three things: 1) I am working on a big post. 2) Kyle has started blogging again! Check out the new improved Kyle blog! 3) The plans for the new improved Diana blog are underway. I'm going to unleash it soon. . .be prepared!!!

Yeah, I have just discovered there is more time in my life than I thought I had. Wow. That is a super-cool revelation. I also realized that a lot of people far away, like my sister Sarah from Louisiana and my Southern Oregon cohorts, read this to keep updated on my life, and it's not cool to suddenly drop this. So anyway, I figure I'm going to start a theme. . .just to see how it works. And be messing around with the look of the site and all. Cause this is fun. :-D Or something. I may even get around to reading other blogs. . . meanwhile. . .a cool theme is in the plans, and hopefully it turns out amusing. . . Kyle says hi, everyone, and he feels sorry for all the other married guys out there. . .because he sees them walking around with THEIR wives and he thinks. . ."They've got nothing compared to what I got!" You see what I suffer through all day, folks-comments like that one. It's taxing, but I manage somehow. . . Watch for. . .THE NEW THEME!!!! Coming soon to a blog near you.

Yup.  We art wed.


I art a Baker.


We dwelleth in Salem, and liketh it.


The honeymoon was fabulous and adventuresome.



This is the end of the blog as you know it.  The official end.  I may start it up again one day when I have nothing else to do, but my life has changed a lot (imagine O_O )  and I have things to do.  I still love you all, and wish I did have the time to keep up on blogs.  But now I am working on being married and finding out how a lady's life changes when she puts on the big ring and a new name.  So far, much work to do.  But all is well on 12th Street.  Kyle is officially my husband, and he makes an even better husband than he did a fiance or a boyfriend.

Anyway, I really hope to make more contact with people the old-fashioned way, face to face.  I don't know where I go from here,  but I have Jesus for sure, and now I have Kyle as well.  That's a feeling I can't rightly describe. 

Marriage is not prefection.  It is the lifelong pursuit of being selfless in a whole new dimension.  I have a long way to go, and a whole lot to learn, and I will have my share of muddy and sunny days.  I always have, but now I can say 'we'. 

So, I got a little call from Dr. Blake's office yesterday, and it is official. Kyle William Baker has infectious mononucleosis. Kyle was so excited. He emailed his parents, called his friends. He also got some steroids so the itty bitty little opening that was his throat could be a bit bigger to allow for activities such as breathing and drinking.

Kyle was gifted with extraordinarily big tonsils. With this little disease called mono, the big tonsils have their chance to show what they are really good at: obstructing airways quickly. Yes, Kyle's monstrous tonsils had swelled up to touch his uvula. (I just found out, boys and girls, that the little dangly thing in the back of your throat is called an uvula. Well, Kyle's tonsils were well on their way to becoming one with the uvula, so nice Dr. Blake gave Kyle some happy pills. And now Kyle and I know by eyesight verification that his throat does extend past the uvula. Most of the pus is gone, even, from the much smaller tonsils. He's feeling much better, has more energy, and even ventured forth from the house today with Joshua to go buy donuts.

Mama Linda has proved the immense power of the Mama-ray. A Mama-ray is an inexplicable phenomenon that occurs when a maternal affection, powered by concerned, becomes a ray so persistant and far-ranging that grand motherly things happen according to the concerns of the emmitor. Mama Linda's Mama-rays have become so fine-tuned over time that when Kyle became sick, she aimed a powerful Mama-ray at Kyle. Kyle indeed was hit by Aunt Deana, sister of the emitter, who carried Linda's Mama-ray in form of berries, broth, and non-dairy sorbet to the afflicted mono patient's cupboards.

So far, I don't have mono. To my knowledge. According to Dr. Blake, 97% of the adult population has had mono, but only 20% remember having it. Mono has many levels of severity. Apparently, you can get it and mistake it for a bad cold as a child, build up anitbodies then, and never get it again. So, I technically could have had mono before. But the only way to be certain is to pay $40 for a lab test, and I don't feel like it. I really don't want to have it. I have a wedding to plan. We're not moving it.

So, now the audience is all in suspense to uncover the mystery: does the Bride have mono lurking in her system, waiting to emerge and ruin the plans for the next month or so and put a serious damper on the wedding planning?

What about those rumors of apartment shopping in Salem? Will Joshua's obsession with Diet Coke eventually lead to mass destruction? Will the killer deer devour the flower beds? Who was that masked man, anyway?

I have discovered a brave new world.  The world of scooter.  I think we're going to call it Puppy.  It's black, short, and dashing.  On Tuesday, perhaps my helmet will come and I will ride off into the sunset on this new marvelous toy up at the Baker house.  So glad I have a leather jacket.  I will pretend I am a wild biker woman carousing around town.  Papa Jon says scooters are all the rage-in some communities.  Sweet Home is not one of them, but perhaps it can be.  My future brother in law Josh and I will be parading the glorious scooter about this place, and we're going to set the town ablaze with fanaticism of the jauntiness and gas-efficiency-ness that is the scooter.  With a bit more work, I have no doubt that scooters will heal the SUV-scarred nation, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, smite the wicked, and bring about a world peace.  Or just be a really cool way to scoot about town.  I won't ask too much from my new Puppy.  Now we just cruise up and down the Baker's driveway.  So far, we've discovered it's biggest limitation is turning sharply.  It just can't. 

I am not completely jobless anymore.  Megots a job caretaking for a lady who has multiple sclerosis.  Her name is Karin and she's a Christian grandma of many who is very sweet.  It's only two hours a day on weekdays, but that's a whole lot more than nothing, which was what I was working. I do a lot of cooking and cleaning.  I'm still hoping for a job at McDonalds or Thriftway.  Poo.  Who knows. 

It's weird to blog because mentally I connect blogging with college life, which now seems like a faraway dream.  This is the most challenging summer I have ever faced.  I am becoming a housewife, I think.  My life becomes more and more adultified.  Recipes and houseplants have taken on a whole new light for me.  It's rather peculiar, but definitely not bad.  I have a few other loves along with the scooter.  LIke fuschias.  They are like a painting in flower form.  They are my soul flower.  One day, when I am not as poor and job-deprived as I am now, I will have some. 

Another one of my new friends is Mrs. Dash.  She was my first new friend this summer.  She's a fun seasoning that goes with much more than I ever imagined.  She makes everything from pasta to salad a bit more joyful.

A new friend that I'm rather wary of is ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery).  It's a Rogue-like game, which means no graphics.  All text.  You are represented by a little @ sign on the screen.  Walls are made up of the #.  Trees look like: &.  bad guys have different letters.  Goblins are g.  Bats are B.  It's a lot of fun.  I play an elven archer most of the time.  I'm not that good at it yet.  Kyle encourages me to figure stuff out on my own.  Which means I die a lot.  When you die in this game, you don't get to go back to the last save point.  It's over, just like in real life.  Which is incredible frustrating.  But challenging and addicting.  I have to limit how much time I spend.

My new best friend is my Divacup.  But because this is a blog read by males and females I can't really tell why here.  Gals, this is worth checking out.  Everything the site says is true.  This is the best thing to happen to my cycle ever.  I love my Divacup!!!

My best fiance is still Kyle.  Same model, but better than ever.  He works at McDonalds with his brother Josh.  IF I had a choice between the above mentioned objects and Kyle, I'd have to stick with him.  We've started marriage counseling.  It's interesting.  I think we should have eloped back in January.  It would have scared the pants off of everybody.  Some of you probably wouldn't even be talking to me.  But this whole drawn out wedding thing is getting on my nerves.  I wish it would plan itself and not cost anything.  So, a word out for anyone who falls in love out there. . .if God tells you to get married, then save everybody and yourself a lot of trouble and ELOPE.  If your mother will kill you then bring her along as a witness, or buy her a trip to Hawaii or something.  It will be cheaper in the long run.  Did you know the average wedding costs $19,000?  Yeah.  The wedding is currently not my friend.  Why, oh why, can I not find cutting gardens online?  I know they are all over Oregon.  We are just too hick here to put up websites.  Yargos.  And we are so terribly behind on the invitations that if anyone comes it will be a miracle.  Luckily all the important people already know when it is.  I have lost my address book, which I had been collecting addresses in all semester long from people I knew I wanted to invite.  In all the wild and crazy moving, it deciding to become another Unsolved Mystery. (Did anyone else ever watch that show?)  So yeah.  And, to top it all off, music is another mystery.   I wanted to have a fun and unique wedding.  Like, the happiest day of my life and stuff.  I miss my Mommy. 
I hope something happens that makes weddings happy again for me.  Right now they are too complicated and expensive for my taste.  Thank goodness it's a potluck. 

I will now sign off because I am well into rant mode.  I am sorry I don't update.  Don't expect it too often.  My life is different now.  I still love you all, but blogging is nothing compared to actual faces and voices.  I feel very far away, with much inbetween.

Happy Birthday to me!!!!