With this Tartan I thee Wed.

This weekend I got married. Legally. After having done a commitment ceremony 13 years ago we finally got to go to the courthouse in San Francisco and tie the knot. It’s interesting to me that for the 2 days leading up to our wedding everyone kept asking me if I was nervous. What a silly question I thought, why should I be nervous. We have been married in our eyes for 13 years…this is just the day the government caught up. And of course we are moving back to Idaho in a couple weeks and Idaho is still one of those crazy states that won’t honor our marriage but at least we have something….at least DOMA is gone and so hopefully it will only be a few short years until the rest of the country catches up.

Since I’m new on my spiritual path and only had a short time to figure out what I was doing…and a civil ceremony at a courthouse isn't that flashy, I was trying to figure out some way to bring my spiritual and cultural identity into the day. So I asked around with a few good friends and on a few recon pages and came up with a few ideas.

13 years ago we exchanged rings so we decided we didn't need to do it again instead we decided to exchange Tartans as a way of accepting each other in to our clans. This comes from the traditions of some Clans pining on a piece of the husband’s tartan to the brides dress showing that she is now part of his family. Well with neither of us being the bride and both of us having strong connections to our families we thought this idea was nice. Additionally our friend who was also our witness brought in small shots of Barenjager (so we could start our marriage with honey on our tongue and shortbread to enjoy the sweetness of each other’s company. Also this would serve as our feast. She also was the one who wove us our tartan patches from yarn, following samples we found online. She also made some cute roses from rainbow ribbon and added them to the tartans to serve as boutonnieres.

Of course all this happened on Sunday during pride so instead of having a reception (and most of our friends and family couldn't attend) so we got to hang out and watch the parade and then go to the festival. After all how many people get to celebrate their wedding day with a million other people? hehe ok so they would have been there to celebrate without us but still I’m going with my delusion.

And for those of you keeping score…3 WEEKS TILL WE MOVE!!

Love you all

short update

So it’s official. Another milestone down on the path of the great adventure! Yup I just gave notice to my work. And I’m having mixed emotions about this. Part of it is that saying goodbye is always hard. Of course it wasn’t a job that I loved and I was not a fan of the managers I worked for (of course they  are moving on to other jobs as well…so that is different) but it was also a very exciting step because it helps make things feel even more real….wow…I have no words.

Over the last few weeks we have been going through our things and getting rid of lots of things…sadly not enough yet…it’s amazing how things pile up and collect…yes it’s probably an addiction I need to address ….but for now I’ll keep purging so It won’t cost too much to move. (but gods it’s a painful process to dig through all the wonderful things of your life and deciding what stays and what goes)

Bill has set his date at work also…mid July. So that’s a few weeks beyond my last day so I will have some time off to get us all packed and ready to move in time for his last day. Our new landlord is mailing us a lease so at least we have that all taken care of. Now to finish up everything here in California and then we are off to Idaho (wow only about 6 weeks left… a bit nerve-wracking to be sure)

Of course all of this leads us to the fact we will be moving just after my birthday (shhh…I’m not getting older honest) and just before Llughnasadh. It’s going to be nice to be home and around clan again during this amazing time of year! I can’t wait.

monkey wrench

So this past week has been something else…

We went to give notice that we would be moving mid-June (what’s with giving a 60 day notice anyway??) only to find that our lease is up at the end of July not June…so that has put the whole game plan back a month! Ugh! But still not that bad all things considered. Just means we won’t be able to open up shop until almost fall…as long as it’s open in time for yule shopping all should be well.

The good news this week is that we may have found the place to open up. It’s a good sized storefront with an attached apartment and the owner is willing to rent or sell. And both prices are well under what we were thinking. So yay for us. It does need some work but he is in the works on it and was planning on having it done in a couple months anyway…so good on timing for us. (me thinks the gods are at foot here how about you? Lol)

The rest of the trip was full of the usual chaos. Lots of family obligations meant lots of driving. But it was good to see everyone that we could see. And I got to have dinner with my mom which is amazing because the last time I saw here she was in the hospital fighting all sorts of not so good things (have I told you I hate the “C” word…stupid cancer.)

So now we are home safe and sound. And getting ready to start the fun of getting rid of most of our crap so we don’t have to move it across country.  Anyone want a library of mostly scifi/fantasy novels…lol. And then the packing. Ah yes the packing my least favorite activity (after giving up books and just before unpacking….moving sucks…lol) but some how this time I’m more excited about this adventure then my last one.

Bealltainn

You ever have one of those days where you realize you used to have what you needed most but don’t because you thought you’d never really have a need for it so you got rid of it? Yeah, that’s me today…

With Bealltainn around the corner and the hunting trip for the store front coming up I figure it’s time to do some prosperity work.  I was given the idea of making Rowan Charms using red thread and branches. Of course I’m not as up on the knowledge of tree’s as I should be. And then I discover that in America we have Mt. Ash as the closest thing. Well dang there used to be one outside of my house in Utah! I thought I still had some clippings from it…but all I can find is a bag of leaves. Perhaps I can work with this…

Well the good news is I still have a couple days of hunting before I need the branches, so maybe …god’s willing… I can still make one in time.

So we are about a week out from meeting with our Realtor to look at some options. One is currently a top contender it has a back yard and greenhouse on the property so we can grow flowers and herbs for tea and cooking. YAY!! I’ll let you know how that works out. Also I would like to take some dwarf citrus trees up to Idaho from down here. To have fresh citrus in Idaho without going to the store?? Yes please!

On another note I have been getting back into jewelry making and have made a few necklace’s this week. Hoping they sell well at the store! Here’s a couple pics:  

new adventures

So a while back I posted about our new year’s resolution and our attempt to make this year better than the last. Well today I get to announce one of the big changes we are putting in place. We are moving back home to open up a new gift shop. While we love California being so far away from our loved ones is hard. And with our love of all things Gaelic we decided to open up a store called The Kilted Viking. Check out our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TheKiltedViking to stay up to date on all the fun we will be having this summer as we open. And of course stay tuned here as I will try and share many of our adventures as we hunt for a store location do any redecorating place our orders and all other kinds of adventures.

So for now I will keep this short but fear not, I shall return soon with news and updates!

Slainte!

bridging the gap

With St Paddys day coming up I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. Over the past few years, I have been protesting the holiday and treating it as a day of remembrance for the burning times (that black mark in history when so called witches were burned at the stake) stemming from the myth of St Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland and the belief that this was about him eradicating paganism from the island. But this year with my new found connection to my Celtic heritage I’m struggling with the idea. To much of the world (or at least from my very American perspective) St Pats seems to be more about celebrating all things Irish (or supposedly Irish) and I want to get in on that…lol.

Another struggle I have is that in Heathenry, giving honor to our ancestors and venerated dead is very important and my protest of the holiday has given me another chance to do that. The other day I was reading “The Apple Branch” by Alexei Kondratiev  ( http://amzn.com/0806525029 ) 

and came across the Idea he put forth about celebrating the Saint Days as a way of honoring our heritage. He even put forth some ritual ideas for each of the Celtic Saints.

Now while I love his Ideas they just don’t work for me as I don’t have a group too celebrate with…and I’m getting less and less into be production rituals. But this got me to thinking, why not just light a candle for the ancestors of said country on that Saint Day? Whether at home or in a church. (I know most of my pagan/heathen followers just gasped..) but seriously take a moment and think it over. If you have a large amount of Irish ancestry chances are most (if not all) of them were Catholic (ok possibly protestant) and might feel honored by a simple prayer to St Patrick on their behalf.

Ok yes I know I’m delving into slippery slope territory of mixing religious traditions that maybe shouldn’t be blended. And I’ve been trying so hard for so long to not do that… and no I am not advocating a conversion to any belief system…nor am I converting myself. But just think about it for a min. many of us pray to (or at least give honor to) our ancestors in a religious setting that is foreign to them and expect them to just understand…well why can’t it go the other way from time to time. You know bridge the great divide and find some common ground? Or is this asking too much? Personally I think it just may work out after all, what better way to honor someone then with their own traditions?

So this year, I will pray to Patrick in the name of my ancestors and celebrate his day with as much gusto as I can muster knowing that it’s a new way to connect with my Irish blood. And hopefully I find a new connection to my past and my future.   

Sláinte 

The Kilted Viking

celtic pride

So it’s been a while since I’ve been on and blogged. I keep telling myself I need to get on here and post. Hell even my husband keeps telling me I need to post. But I’ve been going through a lot lately and I haven’t felt much like writing….I know I know that’s the whole point about blogging right? To talk about the things in life that get us down? …maybe…

Personally I have always been a bit more of a privet person. I keep a lot of my pain bottled up inside me (sometimes with the help of a bottle) then tonight while surfing facebook I found an awesome post on http://www.facebook.com/PrideOfTheIrish (one of my new favorite pages) and I was like yes!! That’s it right there…I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve had to pick up the pieces of my life dust myself off and  start over again.  And maybe it’s the Irish in me…or Scottish…or Welsh…ok well regardless I am a Celt!! Even if just part…

One thing I have been doing lately …while not blogging…is exploring more of my Celtic heritage.  Trying to understand what it really means to be Irish/Scottish/Welsh/etc. and you know what I have found. It’s not the food (although good) or the music (even though it does make my spirit sing) or even hot guys in kilts (seriously though…) that makes a Celt a Celt. It’s something deep down inside that drives you to want to be a better person…no matter how hard you have to fight to do it. It’s that drunk little leprechaun sitting on your shoulder cheering you on as you fight for the life you deserve.

We may be better lovers then fighters….but by God’s we are fighters when we have to be. Ok so honest truth time…I know I have given up on many fights in the past that just seem too hard to win, or just not worth the fight. But I haven’t given up on life and I won’t stop fighting for the life I want to live. And I think I may have finally had enough of life trying to kick me while I’m down that it’s time to stand up tall and say you know what life? You hit like a bitch! Have another shot of whiskey and keep on moving forward with my life rather the sit here worrying about what else Life has to throw at me.

This year I told my husband that my New Years resolution was that 2013 would be a better year than 2012 because we would make the changes to make it better. And even though life seems to be hitting hard right now…and so far I like 2013 less than 2012…I will not give up. And this WILL be a much better year !!

Slainte!