May the Fourth Be With You......My Fandom Anniversary

*BE PREPARED FOR UBER LONG POST!!!!!!*  You've been warned......

Okay, technically, TODAY isn't my fandom anniversary, but I can't remember the EXACT date, so I'm just gonna say it's this week.  I'm POSITIVE it's this week, just not sure on the date.  :P

A long time ago, in a thrift store far, far away.........

*record zip sound here*

Wait a second.....I think I should go back further.....

A long time ago, in a movie theater far, far away..........

*another record zip*

Hang on......this story actually starts WAAAAY back.  In 1977.  With George Lucas.  Then with my mom.  ;P  I'll be skipping around until the story picks up a LOT.  :P

A long time ago, in a movie theater far, far away........
My mom saw Star Wars for the first time.  She was an original Fangirl.  She loved it.  She went back and saw it a billion times.  She owned the books.  She had a Princess Leia doll.  She had and Artoo and Threepio shirt.  AND SHE GAVE IT ALL AWAY!!!!!!!!!!  *wants to go Dark Side on my mom......*

Anyway.....after about....I dunno.....30 years or so, she caught Episode 1 on TV, and we watched it as a family.  I didn't get it.  :P  Neither did my sister.  I hadn't really thought of Star Wars again until about......5 years later.  :)

A long time ago.....at a birthday party far, far away......
My sister watched The Clone Wars movie.  She was at a birthday party for her friend.  Her friend's name was Lucas.  He was a die-hard Star Wars fan.  XDD  LOL!!!

I need to give backstory........
Our private school we went to was being closed.  My sister was only in kindergarten when this happened.  She made tons of friends, and as an end of the year thing, she went to Lucas's birthday to see Star Wars The Clone Wars in theaters.  My dad went with.
End Backstory...........

So TCW became an obsession of my sister's.  She loved Ahsoka.  She loved Anakin.  She loved Obi-Wan.  She loved Rex.  She LOVED that show!!!!!  It was her and my dad's special thing.  I felt uninvited and honestly I HATED Star Wars.  *gasp*  Yes, it's true.  I was a........Hater.  :P

It took me a good year before I was 'converted'.  NOW we'll get to the story.  :P  How it REALLY all began. 

A long time ago.....in a garage far, far away.......
My dad broke the lamp.  XD  So we had to buy a new one.  Thus leads to the Thrift Store far, far away.

A long time ago......in a thrift store far, far away...... (man I am getting SICK of typing that.   XDD)

We bought a new lamp.  While my parents looked at lamps, my sister and I spent time looking at the movies.  My sister squealed in delight as she picked up a never-before-opened Original Star Wars Trilogy boxed set.  :P  It was only $1.50, and she asked my parents to buy it for her.  My mom said that she could use her own money, but she forgot it.  So I, being the amazing and loving older sister that I am, payed for the movies.  I bought my life-long fandom for $1.50. 

So that afternoon my sister immediately had to go watch 'her' (I BOUGHT THEM!) new movies.  I just really didn't want to do the dishes, so I sat and watched A New Hope.  I saw the whole thing, and when it was finished, I wasn't AS skeptical as I was when I started the movie.  I was thinking something along the lines of, "Eh, it's not bad.  The blonde guy is cute....and the other dude is really hot.  Princess Leia is cool.  Kinda sad that old guy died.  WOW!  Explosions!!!!  Aww, the hot guy winked at the Princess!  Nice!  I like the music....I wonder what happens in the next movie....."
SO yeah.  XDD  My mindset was kinda lame there...LOL!  So my sister put in Empire Strikes Back, and I made popcorn so we could watch and snack.  ;)
Empire started and I was a little more on the edge of my seat paying attention.  I was glad that the 'hot guy' and the 'cute blonde one' were back, And I kept waiting for the "Luke, I am your Father" scene.  My mom SAID it was in that movie!!  She also said the 'cute blonde guy' got his hand chopped off.  :P
So I watched.  After Han and Leia's scene in the Millennium Falcon, I fell in love with the movie.  I couldn't stop watching it.  I watched up until Han and Leia were on Bespin.  Lando just betrayed them when my mom stopped the movie so we could go to church. I was devastated.  I think I almost cried.  I begged to go to church the next night so we could finish the movie.  My mom said that I could keep watching when we got back, so I relented and got in the car.  :P  After church, we ended up going to the bookstore.  I couldn't stop thinking about Han and Leia, and Luke.  :P  My mom asked me what I thought about the movie, and I told her that it wasn't that bad.  I also commented that I liked Luke, and she said something along the lines of, "NO!!!!  You can't like him!!!  He's a whiny baby!"  She was and always will be a Han Girl.  XDD  I told her that Luke was CUTE, and that I liked him, so HA.  I also said that Han was really hot, and she quieted down after that.  XD  So we finished Empire Strikes Back.  I was SO eager to put in ROTJ that I was shaking with excitement.  :P  My sister was scared of the Emperor and of seeing Vader's face, so she watched part of it only.  She cried when an Ewok died.  xDD
When Jedi was done, I was officially an obsessed Star Wars fangirl.  I nearly immediately went online to learn more about the movies.  I discovered StarWars.com, and played games, read the databanks, and learned inside info on the movies.  Then I found Wookieepedia.  It still is my best source for Star Wars knowledge.  XDD  My sister was mad at me for almost a month.  She was SO mad that I was ruining her and Daddy's thing by getting obsessed with Star Wars.  I even watched TCW with them on Fridays, which I never did before.  Then it was the end of May, and after weeks of rejection from my Star Wars loving sister, I was accepted into the fandom.  But it was quite interesting HOW I was accepted.  ;)

A long time ago.....at Disney World far, far away in Florida..........
I made my first lightsaber.  My sister actually wanted to make one, and gave me strict orders to NOT make one, because once again, it was 'her thing'.  I was disappointed.  Then, I decided that I WANTED to make a lightsaber, and I would.  So while my parents bought my sister's lightsaber, I paid for mine.  I made my custom built blue lightsaber, which I still have and cherish today.  :)
How did I get accepted you ask?

In our hotel room........
We were in Orlando for a homeschool convention, and while watching TCW in our hotel room, my sister was getting ready for Star Wars Weekends the next day.  I had an extra ticket, and I begged my mom to let me go.  Mom and Dad agreed, but my sister practically threw a fit because I was once again barging in on 'her thing'.  But, I made a proposition.  We would lightsaber battle for my ticket.  If I won, I got to go, if she won, I had to stay with my mom at the convention.  I fought, we fought, and I won.  She did cry this time.  She was so mad at me.  I remember using the light of my lightsaber to make patterns on the ceiling and playing with it all night.  At the time, I had only seen the movies once.  But I loved them, and more than anything I wanted to go to Star Wars Weekends at my favorite place on earth, Disney World.

I went to Star Wars weekends kinda nervous.  I had only seen the movies once, but I loved them.  I got very excited!  But our trip was cut short because my sister got sick.  like, gonna-throw-up-or-pass-out-needs-wheelchair-to-get-out-of-park-for-fear-of-fainting kind of sick.  She was DEVASTATED!  She'd waited six months to go to SWW, only to get sick and NOT get to meet her favorite actress of her favorite character, Ashley Eckstien.  I honestly cried more than she did because I felt so bad for her.  :'(
But, again being the amazing and loving big sister I am, went to meet Ashley for her.  I remember it perfectly.  I said hello, and Ashley was SO sweet to me.  She greeted me and asked what I would like her to sign.  I gave her my sister's lightsaber (that she made the day before) and told her that she loved Ahsoka (and her) but got sick and couldn't come, so I came for her.  Ashely told me I was a good big sister, and that she hopes my sister felt better.  I wanted to cry right then and there, but I was grateful that Mrs. Eckstien was so nice.  I ran back out of the building and found my sister, who was SOBBING.  I felt SOOO bad.  My dad told me that it was a God thing that I was there though, because I was able to help take care of Nutmeg and get Ashley's autograph for her.  ;)

So ended my trip to SWW.  Hopefully this year will be better.  :)

One important, life changing thing that happened while meeting Ashley Eckstien was that she gave me two little stickers with the Her Universe website on them.  She was wearing her Luke shirt, and she told me all about HU.  I was really excited.  EVERY DAY after that, I waited and checked the site for it to open officially.  When it did, I was SO HAPPY!!  Soon after that, she opened her blog.  I commented, and thus began the life I live now.  :P

Seriously.  I was one of the guilty girls who used Mrs. Eckstien's blog to comment and talk to friends.  I think our main chatting post is still in the top three for comments.  xDD 
I met Endor, Leia, Satine, JediKnightGrl, Rachel, Rex'sgirl, and pretty much ALL of my Lakehouse sisters on the Her Universe Blog.  :)

I was obsessed.  I was on HU everyday, reading and leaving comments to my friends.  ;)  Then, while looking at the posts one day, I clicked on Endor's name.  It took me to her and Qui's shared blog, Lightsaber and a Script. 

*hallelujah chorus*

I learned about the amazing world of Blogger.  I read and commented on all their posts.  Then, by clicking on the names of the commenters, I found Amaranthine.  I was amazed.  I fell in love with her blog too.  Then, because of Endor, Qui, and Amaranthine, I found Ley's blog.  I knew what I wanted next.....a blog.

So, the next BIG thing that I discovered, was that Celebration Five was being held in ORLANDO FLORIDA that year.  (last year)  I LIVE IN FLORIDA!!!!!  I flipped.  I BEGGED to go.  I PRAYED to go.  My parents gave me a solid NO.  I was very disappointed.  ;(

THEN!  THEN!  This is incredible.  XDD  The first day of CV, I heard the rundown of the events on the radio.  I was so sad I cried.  It was SO CLOSE, yet I wasn't there.  :(  That night, I remember this exactly, I  wrote this in my journal:

8-12-10
" SIGH, tonight Celebration Five starts and I am here....happy and grateful....but wishing I was in Orlando.  I even heard the radio program of CV and it sounds AMAZING!!!!!  I wish I could sleep in the car and listen, but I'm sleeping on my new sheets in my new room.  I wanna watch ROTJ.  I'll read my ANH novel, but it's not the same.  I love SW SOOOOOO much and I wish I was at CV!!!!!!!  SIGH SIGH SIGH!!!!!"

That is an exact quote people.  ;)  I just found my journal.  XD
This is what I wrote the next morning.  ;) 

8-13-10
OMGOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My  mom is the BEST EVER!!!!!!!!!!  This morning she woke me up and asked if I would mind not going with to get the chicks.  I asked why and she said because she was gonna take me to CV.  I told her she's a liar, so she showed me the ticket conformation.  Now, as I write, my prayers are being answered and I am driving to Orlando.  (well, mom's driving).  It's insanity.  I'm on a WAAAAAAYYYY natural high right now!!!!!!  I <3 Star Wars!!!!!!  :D"

Another exact quote.  ;)  I can't even explain how much I screamed that morning.  I literally threw my clothes into a bag, shoved my few Star Wars things in it, and got in the car.  (I forgot my lightsaber though.  *facepalm*)

My mother truly is the best ever.  I love her so much.  I will forever remember the best day of my whole life......Celebration Five.  Everything was SO wonderful.  ;)  I can't even explain it.  Look:

That was me in front of the SW CV banner.  I was so excited.  :P

That was seriously the BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!  :D

Anyway, onto the rest of the story.......at the time of CV, there were no HU forums.  :P  I don't think......nope, I don't think so.  xD
Ooh, here's me with Ashley Eckstien!!!!  :D

That was at CV.  I was a tad bit over excited there.......XDD

So, soon after that, the HU forums were created.  I had a new obsession!!!!  *go figure*.  EVERYTHING was about HU for me.  I loved it.  I still do, just not the forums.  xP
I had a bad experience on there, when some of the 'older ladies' i.e. anyone who wasn't a teenager on there, started 'picking' on the younger girls for their beliefs.  Like being Christian or our political beliefs.  I was stupid and commented on something Political, and ended up leaving the forum.  :(  But never fear!!! For my dear friend Ley came to my rescue for that!!!

I remember crying when I had to send my friends goodbye PMs on HU.  I was so sad.  I kept Private Messaging (PMing) with Ley and Endor, and a few others, and then Ley told me that she was thinking of starting her own forum.  She told me early on that if she DID open one, she wanted me to moderate for her.  She asked my opinions on it, and we 'ranted' to each other for months on end.  Honestly, we still do, don't we Ley?  xDD

So, Ley decided to open The Lakehouse Forum.  I was ecstatic.  Amaranthine and I are the Mods, plus Ley of course, and Leia's also the Admin.  :)  I honestly feel at home on there.  I love it.  I have my 'Sistahs' and we can disagree about things without being all angry and mean.  I LOVE THAT!!!!!!!  :)  When I got the email that Ley made Lakehouse, (only Amaranthine and I got it at that point in time) I started jumping up and down and squeal/screaming.  I was in the bookstore.......and I got some VERY strange looks..  XDD
Anywho, now we're pretty much down to where I am today.  ;) 

My morning consists of pretty much this:
*mom bangs on door*  WAKE UP!!!!
*rolls over, groans, gets up* I'M UP!!!!
*grabs iPod, checks email*  Ooh, Ley wrote me back!  Yay!!!  And I got two comments!!  Double yay!
*checks fanfic.net*  YES!!!!  Favorite Story UPDATED!!!!!!!!!
*checks LOL Pics*  LOL!!!  That is SO funny.  Star Wars reference!!!!  XD
*gets yelled at*  I said I was UP!!!!
*eats breakfast, gets dressed, brushes teeth...etc.*
*goes back in room, logs onto Blogger, Gmail, and Lakehouse*  PM!  Yay!!!  Oh, and Endor's on chatbox.....and Amaranthine made a new post!
*gets yelled at again*  I AM UP!!!!!!  I'M ON THE COMPUTER!!!!!!!
*is informed it's time for school*  GAH!!!  I'm not done!!!!! 
*is told that's too bad, and the Wi-Fi is unplugged*  NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mom: "Stop being like Luke and get in the family room, your sister is starting without you!"
Me: "But I have four new posts to check from Blogger, and I told Leia I'd send her the next chapter of that story, and...."
Mom: "School comes first.  GET IN THE FAMILY ROOM!!!!"
Me:  "Okay......."  *sneaks iPod in pocket and gets it taken away*

You can see where this is going.......:P

But now that I think about it......I wouldn't trade my life for anything.  Because our private school closed, my sister liked Star Wars, and because we homeschooled, we got our chickens.  And because we got our chickens, we needed a lamp in the garage, which my dad broke.  Because my dad broke the lamp......I fell in love with Star Wars.  God is amazing, everything played out JUST as it was supposed to.  Now, I can't imagine life without Star Wars, or fanfiction, or my internet friends *you!* or Lakehouse, HU, TCW or ANYTHING!!!!!  It's amazing.  All because God is so amazing.  :D

So thus concludes my super long Star Wars post.  Happy anniversary to me. 

Special thanks to:
My daddy, for getting the chickens and breaking the lamp,
My momma who loved it first,
My sister, because this is all her fault,
Ashley Eckstien, for making HU and making me feel like I belonged to something,
Ashley Eckstien for creating her blog and forums, which led me to meet:
Leia, Endor, Rex'sgirl, JediKnightGrl, DuchessSatineKenobi, Amaranthine, Qui, RachelisaJedi, Rachel (QueenKarina), Sokafan4ever, Allishmalli, Sarahthegeek, FutureJediGirl0202, Barriss, JediDreamer, Jedigirl1990, and EVERYONE!!!!!!!  :)
More special thanks to:
Maryanna and I Heart Chewie, my dear 'real life' friends who are now Star Wars obsessed thanks to me.  :P  Love you guys!

Above all, thanks be to God, because it's all according to HIS design!!!!!!  :D

And, because y'all are SO amazing, and I'm SO blessed by each and every one of you, here are two awards.  ;)  They are for all of my followers!!!! :D  Love you guys!

Tons of love!!!!
<333