Hi! I'm Crystal, your friendly neighbourhood guide!
Feel like talking to someone or need some help? I'm your gal! I enjoy helping people, talking to people on the TNO forums, going on Neopets, and talking to people in general. If you want to chat, go ahead and contact me!
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What's up with the Council?
Alright, we admit it. We don't have real lives -- we just live on Neopets, but go outside everyone once in a while. :P No, seriously, this is a community blog for us Council people to share what's going on with us, what we're doing, and sometimes our views on certain things Neo and non. Why don'tcha visit us every once in a while? :) Don't forget to meet all of the Guild Staff!
Hello 2008! It's already almost Valentine's Day! Btw, if you haven't already you should definitely check out what Team Heaven Sent has in the mix for that special day ^^
I got a Golden Award! Thank you guys so much for nominating me. I really was speechless when Ally sent me that pm...I still don't know what to say in my thank you blurb! It makes me remember why I love TNO in the first place. People like you who take the time to say something nice about others. It really can make a world of difference to someone, and you may not even realize it. *TDW squishies*
Spring cleaning for TNO is underway, we know the forums have been annoyingly slow lately, and we're really sorry about that! Doing everything we can to figure out how to speed them up *crosses heart*
Also I want to say thanks to my team (TDW in the house!) for making Sloth Day and Jhudora Day so much fun! We've got a few new members, and they're rocking the team out in style.
In other words - I didn't get enough sleep last night, so if this makes no sense to anyone except for myself, forgive me! *waves* /random tangents.
Okay... so.. this place is dead. Council News, that is! I'm reviving it!
I don't know how many TNOers are about to enter their senior year of high school.. but I am! After surviving a harrowing year full of in-class essays, all-nighter homework, and, perhaps worst, AP exams, we juniors (now rising seniors!) are rewarded with college application season. (Psst: Yes, we finally discover where Ally has been this past year!)
Oh, joy!
I'm fortunate to have a close friend who is absolutely obsessed with college hunting.. without him, I'd still be the uninformed blob I was this time last year, for sure! As such, I've already started my own college hunt. Unfortunately, I've bounced around college choices. My own state, North Carolina, has some brilliant colleges and universities, so naturally, I began my search there.
For a while I was stuck on Duke (maybe you've heard of it? XD).. then Davidson. Davidson is so nice. Quite expensive. Small, quiet, liberal arts.
But now I like Harvey Mudd! Which is all the way in California. But they like girls, because it's like 60% male. I think females have a 48% acceptance rate. Kinda nice because overall it's 20-something%.
Anyway, none of this makes sense, and I'm rambling, so... this has been a day in the life of Ally's poor, overworked mind Thanks for reading!
Hey there! Finally figured out how to get myself and Joy up and posting in our Council News section! xD Which means now I have no excuse for not posting tidbits about my life in here.
I don't really have anything news worthy to report, except I'm off for a few days and catching up on chores/TNO duties! Yay for days off. They allow me more time to plan for TDW's eventual takeover...
And on a lighter note, my partner, Ben is out of town competing in a national tournament for one of the online games he plays! I hope he brings home some good prizes xD.
I can't get over my excitement about my new baby cousin! My aunt just had her second son (at a twenty year intreval...it's about time! ), John Derengo (picture). He's my little Ringo!
I was there for the delivery and got to hold him a few times before they took him off to the nursery. He's a very quiet, sweet little guy...I wish they didn't live three hours away so I could spend more time with him. I'm going to visit again next weekend, I can't wait.
This is my first post here, as if it weren't already painfully obvious (omg council news!!! omg cute buzzer plushie picture thing!). I don't really know what to write. I have 3 bug bites on my elbow, though, and they're really itchy. I don't know why a bug would want to bite someone's elbow - it's not like they'll get much blood. Maybe that's why it kept biting, in hopes of finding something better to eat! lol.
Okay, bugs are gross.
I just reformatted my computer! I forgot to copy over PSP, too, and I don't have a CD for it. I'm doomed! Also, my CD rom drive won't open and I have no sound because I can't install the drivers.. because of my CD rom drive not opening and allowing me to insert a new disk! So my brother (resident computer geek) is coming by after work tomorrow to hopefully fix it. Yay!!
Also, I watched Eight Below tonight. VERY frustrating movie. It was okay.. the ending was pretty good though. But ugh, it was so frustrating. I love huskies (I have 2 of my own!), so when bad stuff would happen, I would get even more frustrated! I feel so incomplete and I kinda wished I hadn't watched that movie in the first place. Gosh
Okay, I'm done. I didn't expect this to be that long. Umm, bye?
I start school on August 1st, but already it is the focus of a lot of my attention. I have summer work for AP English 4--read three books, make book cards for one, and write three totally seperate essays (one of which involves reading another novel/play). Still, the fact that I passed my first AP exam gives me motivation to actually get this stuff done! I will no longer be intimidated by a class. After all...you can't have happy without A.P., right?
Who knows how much time I will have during the school year to chat in TNO, but I always have enough to get my behind-the-scenes duties done. If you ever need to contact me, you're better off sending a PM than waiting to catch me on AIM. I usually only get on AIM when I have nothing to do in TNO...and that's not often, haha!
Yay! Now the latest council news post isn't so ancient!
So as many times as I say I'm not a slacker....I probably am. I do have some good excuses! But all they are is excuses--and me trying to have fun while learning a new area.
As you may already know, I just moved for the 3rd time in 3 years to my 3rd state. And I think I can officially say that while I like the change and the new city, I am DONE with moving for a while.....at least for more than a year, mmkay?
I've been stealing someone's wireless signal for the past month, and while the free net's kept my internet addiction alive and kicking, theh signal is spotty at best. So rather than battle a bad signal, trying to do important work on the web, I've been taking a pseudo-break. Expect all operations to return to full speed once the internet connection is hooked up at my new place.
It's been much too long since I wrote anything here at all. ^^;
So, the big news for me at the moment - I'm a student again. Back at university (college, to all you Americans), part-time for three years, working on a *deep breath* Post-graduate Diploma in Archives and Records Management. That's a fancy thing to let me become a fully qualified archivist. Which is like being a librarian, except more dusty.
I've already cut back a bit on some of my work around the guild to make time for studying, but except when my assignments are due, I don't think it'll steal me away from you all too often. I won't let it, anyway - I need this place to keep me cheerful when study becomes hard. I'm really looking forward to studying again, though, even if it does mean returning to having homework! I'm crazy like that. ^^
So, if you read the news you'll know that there's been a few more Golden Awards given out. And yes, that's a link to mine. ^^;
I was meant to write an acceptance speech, but I like Hava's one so much that I'm not going to. Nyah-nya.
Really, sillies, I don't give back anywhere near as much as I get from TNO. The love and support this guild gives me is just amazing. It's something that helps me through my toughest times - I know that there is always kindness and grace to be found here. That goes beyond just being a Neopets guild - TNO is a real community, and one I'm proud to able to help in anyway possible.
Truth be told there's a TON of guild news that's happened since I last posted. But I figure most of you have already figured that out. However, I will take a moment to encourage everyone to enter a contest or two! The contests are there for every member of TNO, so go ahead *prod* enter one!
I know the lot of you are tired of hearing about me getting ready to move, but it's that time of year again *groans* This time I'm looking at a permanent move, so you won 't be hearing this story from me again!!! No word yet where or when, but it's looking fairly likely it'll be soon after the beginning of the year.
It's time for me to go find some Christmas presents! Wish me luck!
Swoopes says:"We interrupt your regular programming..."
...to bring you this late-breaking rambling.
I have yet to post any council news on my behalf since I never really had any, but after this GREAT weekend; I just had to share.
On Friday, my new Dell Inspiron 6000 notebook arrived. I was getting tired of having to sit in my bedroom in front of my desktop. I'd much rather sit in my La-Z-Boy recliner, watching TV, and chatting with my TNO buddies. Now I can!
Then on Saturday (with my notebook on hand) I watched my Northwest Bearcats compete in the semifinals of the D2 Football playoffs. In the last minute, we scored a touchdown and won the game! I have no fingernails left now, but next weekend I will be heading down to Florence, AL to watch the Bearcats play in the National Championship.
It's a 14-hour road trip to Florence and by far the longest trip I have ever taken. It should be alot of fun and something I will never forget. Of course, I have finals the Monday after the game so I guess I'll have to study while on the road.
Wish the Bearcats luck and if you want you can watch the game on ESPN this Saturday (December 10th) at 3 CST.
Look even Pace is getting into the Bearcat spirit.
Special thanks to Joy who made this picture for me last Halloween. It's Pace as our QB!
We will now return you to your regular scheduled program.
I think this week has been a little more exciting than I really like my TNO-weeks to be. And while some stuff has been good (I know a lot more about the website than I used to!), a lot of other things have been very disheartening.
The website loss last weekend was a big blow - on a personal note, I lost my first ever Council news update. It just made me sad to not have it any more. On a wider guild level, there's been a lot that needs to be updated, and having no pets in the halls was just kind of eerie. It was a relief to be able to put Kingley back up there as the first pet added.
Then the avatar lending program... Yeah, it's been more eventful than I really like things to be.
When it's all getting me down though, I just have to look at the forums to be reminded how wonderful this guild is, how many amazing people we have, and to know that we will pull everything back together.
But, for now - I'm going to go have a really long nap.
For the last two weeks, I've been away on vacation in Europe. I visited four countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Czech Republic. I did lots of touring, shopping, and laughing, but I did miss you all terribly and I'm glad to be back!
I think that the most exciting part of going out of your own country is really absorbing other cultures and meeting new people. Even the simplest things over there are completely different! Also, if I had to pick, I think my favorite country would have to be Austria. It has the most beautiful countryside and very kind, good natured people.
All in all, I was happy to return to America, and I can't wait to get back into the flow of TNO!
miraged says:"Who is this strange person called Miraged?"
Remember me? Yup I'm still here....although I'm working more and more behind the scenes as I have less and less time....You see, Jen's getting ready to move. Again! Yes, this makes 3 times in one year, but this one will be for good (meaning at least a year!) as I'm starting a new job in a new state. So bear with me just a little longer...in a few weeks I should be all moved into my new place, and ready to go
I haven't forgotten about my million little projects here at TNO, but it's been hard scrapping enough time together to get them ready properly. The Roleplay Team is still going to be a go, but with a few modifications that I think everyone will like Team Insanity seems like keep kicking along happily without my constant prompting (You guys are GREAT!)
I've also seen suggestions for more themes for the forums. This can be entirely possible, and I think it can be arranged that other forum members can help, but this is one of those projects that needs more time to get it rolling.....
So in conclusion, Jen is busy, happy, and still living! Till next time....
Cat says:"I'll be wanting that bottle right about now..."
<--How cute is that? I mean, c'mon guys, tell Joy how cute a devilpuss she created!
*ahem* Jessi wore me out, she's a slave driver, she is she is!
What I meant was - we got a lot of stuff done today... things you might not notice if I didn't point them out to you. So I'm going to point them out just in case you thought I was on all day today for absolutely no good reason Ready? Here goes!
+ Sorted out my PM box (you know you cared!)
+ Updated Forum Usergroups (adding new staff / removing inactive staff)
+ Added 6 new Mall Shops
+ Cleaned up the Staff page (adding new staff, removing inactive staff)
+ Cleaned up the Welcome page (adding new staff, removing inactive staff)
+ Updated Adoptee Spotlight (guild and site front)
Jessi tells me we have to put up the lost stickies, too... but that's for another day Apparently, she even has a to-do list for me - the horror!
All joking aside, none of what got done today would have been done without Jessi *or* her evil tendency to pinch ears... so big thank you goes out to her ::hugs::
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What's up with the Council?
Swoopes's
Ally's
Veggie's
Joy's
gwennie's
So. 2007 flewww by. Vrooom! Gone.
*waves* /random tangents. 
Discuss
Link
Hey!!!
I can't get over my excitement about my new baby cousin! My aunt just had her second son (at a twenty year intreval...it's about time! 
), John Derengo (
Hey!!!
I'm doomed! Also, my CD rom drive won't open and I have no sound because I can't install the drivers.. because of my CD rom drive not opening and allowing me to insert a new disk! So my brother (resident computer geek) is coming by after work tomorrow to hopefully fix it. Yay!!
I start school on August 1st, but already it is the focus of a lot of my attention. I have summer work for AP English 4--read three books, make book cards for one, and write three totally seperate essays (one of which involves reading another novel/play). Still, the fact that I passed my first AP exam gives me motivation to actually get this stuff done! I will no longer be intimidated by a class. After all...you can't have happy without A.P., right? 
I usually only get on AIM when I have nothing to do in TNO...and that's not often, haha!
So as many times as I say I'm not a slacker....I probably am. I do have some good excuses! But all they are is excuses--and me trying to have fun while learning a new area.
It's been much too long since I wrote anything here at all. ^^;
So, if you read the news you'll know that there's been a few more 
Truth be told there's a TON of guild news that's happened since I last posted. But I figure most of you have already figured that out. However, I will take a moment to encourage everyone to 
...to bring you this late-breaking rambling.
I think this week has been a little more exciting than I really like my TNO-weeks to be. And while some stuff has been good (I know a lot more about the website than I used to!), a lot of other things have been very disheartening.
For the last two weeks, I've been away on vacation in Europe. I visited four countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Czech Republic. I did lots of touring, shopping, and laughing, but I did miss you all terribly and I'm glad to be back!
Remember me? Yup I'm still here....although I'm working more and more behind the scenes as I have less and less time....You see, Jen's getting ready to move. Again! Yes, this makes 3 times in one year, but this one will be for good (meaning at least a year!) as I'm starting a new job in a new state. So bear with me just a little longer...in a few weeks I should be all moved into my new place, and ready to go 
<--How cute is that? I mean, c'mon guys, tell Joy how cute a devilpuss she created!
