Chapel of Love

Last week, Jack and I finally tied the knot!!  SQUEE!


We kept it simple and private, and it was totally perfect for us.  On Thursday, we drove to Annapolis, all dressed up, marriage license and rings in hand, and said our vows in front of the Anne Arundel County clerk.  It was just us, the super-sweet clerk (whose name we totally forgot to ask in our excitement), and our awesome photographer Tanya Kang.

As a side note, I was super pleased that Tanya was able to photograph our day.  Not only have she and I been good friends (and sometimes roommates) since college, and not only has she known Jack since he and I started dating back in 2007 - she is really talented as a photographer :)

Saying my vows was totally surreal - like, how is this finally happening?  Is this even real?  It didn't really sink in until the next night that it really happened. 

After the ceremony, Jack, Tanya, and I traipsed about downtown Annapolis taking photographs.  It was rather chilly, so near the end of our photo session we stopped in to Starbucks for lattes and hot chocolate.  We posed for some casual photos, but mostly we had a nice relaxing break and finally had a chance to catch up with each others' lives.  (We should be getting the photos back from Tanya some time next month - I'm so excited to see them and share them with our loved ones!)

That night, Jack and I celebrated with dinner at Thai at Silver Spring, where we had our first date and where we still often go to for dinner.  It was a sweet, romantic night, but more importantly, after such a surreal afternoon - it felt like us.  Best wedding night a girl could ask for.

After knowing each other for more than 7 years and being together for most of that time, I am so thrilled to be married to the person who has always been in my heart through thick and thin, and who knows me better than anyone else.

And who's just as weird as me :)

Weirdos 4 life!

New look, new name, & new URL!

I am so excited, you guys!  If you haven't seen my posts on social media lately, I am really pleased to announce that my blog has a new look, and a new name!!

Please say hello to Stormy Heart!

I am kind of in love with the font on my new header, you guys.  It is so, so gorgeous.

New Blog Name!
So why "Stormy Heart?"  Well, I'm a sea witch, so I draw a lot of my power from storms - especially thunderstorms and hurricanes.  I feel pretty energized by tornadoes, too, but we don't get many around here.  (Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever posted the story of how I conducted my tool charging ritual in a hurricane.  I will have to write that post soon!)  My magick and spirituality is definitely influenced by that energy - it can be wild and swirly, but there's a definite "eye of the storm" center somewhere inside me that helps focus and direct it, and keeps me grounded.

New Look!
Before I had even decided on a new name, I decided a new look was in order.  I found a spiffy free template online that was very blue and very blocky looking.  Unfortunately after a couple days of working with it on my blog I realized it was terrifically buggy, and wasn't really fitting the aesthetic I wanted after all.

So then I decided to start over (again) by creating a header image, and going from there.  I ended up going back to one of the standard Blogger templates and customized away - and I am much, much happier with it!

I still have a few tweaks to make, like the social media buttons in the corner, but overall I'm rather pleased with it.  I hope you like it too!

New URL!
Anyway, you may have noticed the new URL: http://stormy-heart.blogspot.com.  I set up a permanent redirect from http://heartacheintobeauty.blogspot.com, so hopefully that will help folks finding me.  And I'm in the process of changing my name & URL over on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin, etc.

However, I strongly recommend you update your RSS feed readers, bookmarks, etc. to pull from http://stormy-heart.blogspot.com from now on, to make sure it brings up the right posts.  (If you click on the RSS button in the top right corner of my blog, that's the easiest way!)

So, yay!  Seriously, I actually feel excited to blog again.  I haven't felt this motivated about blogging in a long time.  Is that weird?  It feels like part of what I really needed to get my creative mojo flowing again was to freshen things up around here.  And having a name that fits me and my blogging interests better makes me feel more authentic as a blogger.

Time for a New Book of Shadows

Now that I've been solitary for a while, I've been feeling a pull to start a new Book of Shadows.  My old one is in a binder, and contained a large amount of material that is no longer relevant to my path, like outlines for coven rituals and the Wiccan rede.  More importantly, the binder is falling apart big time.

Enter Etsy!  I debated getting a scrapbook from a craft retailer, but after poking around on Etsy I found this lovely sketchbook/journal.  I adore the color of the leather, the stamping, the rivets... :)  Blessedly the paper is unlined, unlike almost every other lovely leather-bound journal I looked at.  (I don't want lined paper so I can write in any size I want, draw, paste images, etc. without it breaking up the page.)  The paper is recycled too, which suits the sustainability ethic of my path. 

The only downside (which I did not know when I purchased it) is that the cover is not entirely leather but is cardboard covered by a thin layer of leather.  So, it's a bit flimsier and prone to damage than I realized, but I think it should be fine for a good many years if I take care of it.

I haven't added anything to it yet, but it's starting to take shape in my head.  I'm thinking I want to put in there the things like my personal prayers and invocations, the few spells I actually use, and the successful pathworkings I've used to start.  I may also add my knowledge about things like my gods and guardians and listening to Spirit.


But I feel like before I can add anything it needs a name.  "Book of Shadows" is a Wiccan name that just doesn't resonate with me, primarily because I don't believe my faith or work has to remain in the shadows.  So what the heck do I call it??

I have a few ideas, like Book of Magick, Book of Magickal Knowledge, Book of Lore, Book of the Craft, Book of Craft & Lore, and Book of the Work.  Right now I'm leaning towards Book of Craft & Lore.

Do you have a Book or journal where you write down things like your beliefs, or magickal/religious knowledge, or spells?  What do you call your Book?

Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Yesterday morning I awoke from a dream in which I was suddenly 14 again, getting ready to start high school - but with all the memories I've made and knowledge I've gained since then.  My mother announced that she had lost her job, and there was talk that we'd have to move somewhere far away. 

My greatest concern at the moment I woke up was that I needed to make sure I still met Jack.  I think I asked to move to Massachusetts, where he would have been living at the time.  Though, after I woke up, I wondered if the people we were as teenagers would still be attracted to one another in a way that stuck.

I wonder what my life would be like if I had the chance to start over, before I got sick and started having problems with anxiety and depression. Before I began to make ill-advised choices about college and my career path, and especially about some of the boys I really shouldn't have dated.

So of course I woke up wondering the eternal question we all ask ourselves - how would my life have been different if I could go back and make different choices? 

Would I have taken more writing classes and found my creativity earlier? 
Focused on a branch of science that doesn't require strenuous activity (like genetics work in the lab, which I still have fond memories of from college)? 
Better avoided the people that caused me more pain than my growth required? 
Chosen to seek my spiritual community in Maryland when I moved here, rather than desperately clinging to my life in Philly by joining a Philly-based coven?
Would I still be friends/lovers with the same people?  Or even be part of the same communities?