Montana Sapphires!!

So, this summer, my family and I went to Montana on vacation. We went to a place called Gem Mountain where you can actually find your own sapphires (and other gems, but mostly sapphires). You buy a bucket of rocks ($15 for 1) and you wash them and search for them yourself. I know that it might now sound like a lot of fun, but the minute you find your first gem (looks like glass against everything else) you're hooked.

To find the stones, you are given a tray you use to wash the dirt off the stones and shake it so the sapphires sink to the bottom of the tray and directly in the middle. Then you take the tray to a table and flip it over. You should find the gems right smack in the middle of the rocks, shining in the light just like glass.

What you might not know, is that sapphires don't start out blue. Almost all of them are crystal clear. Some of them will be yellow tinted, or even a light green. They're easy to see if they're where you shook them. (Sapphires are actually heavier than regular rocks so when you shake them, they sink to the bottom.) The people that run the place give you a film canister with slits on the top to push the gems through so they don't go all over the place. (Which is really, really, bad.)

If you happen to look like you're not doing so good, some worker(s) will come up, as if you're finding anything... SO NO!! They will get you a whole tray full of rocks not in your bucket and clean them for you. I found 15 stones in one tray whereas it was rare to find more than 5.

One of the rare sapphires you can find is the pink sapphire. I found one. a 1.73 carat one. I was so excited when they said that I had found something. Unfortunately, it had a spiderweb crack through the middle of the gem.

Unfortunately, out of all the gems that my family and I, there were only three stones that were big enough (without any cracks on the inside) for us to be able to have fired (That's where they get their color), send to China to get cut (yeah, long way to get cut), and about 6 months later, you get a sapphire mailed to your house.

Now, you don't have a say in what shape the stone will be cut into. It just depends on the shape of the raw stone. The one that I got was cut into what's called 'Princess' style and went from over a 1 carat stone into a .44 kt beauty. Perfect for me, I know. ;) While my mom's was cut into a 'Round Brilliant' and was cut into a .34 kt gem. Both of the colors are a little different. My mom's is more blue and mine has more teal in the center. Under the right light, in the middle of both stones, looks crystal clear. It's pretty awesome.

So, since I've been talking about this, I thought I should add some pictures.

Using a macro lens, we're able to see the detail in the gem. Pretty, isn't it?

Then, using photoshop, we magnified it so you get an even closer look. Hehehe, I found that all on my own. I dug (not really, but it felt like it) it out of the dirt, cleaned it, and am able to call it my own. Oh, how it love it!!

If you want the address to the mine, you can access their website by the following link: http://gemmountainmt.com/default.aspx

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. aka: leave a comment, please. ;)

Snickers

Yesterday I posted a blog about my dog, Snickers, and I thought I should post some pictures of him.

Isn't he just the cutest?? :)

Puppies

Puppies are just so cute aren't they? They're so innocent looking and stupid and they just make you want to grab their cheeks and kiss them right on the nose. I had a Shetland Sheepdog and when he was a puppy, he was the CUTEST little thing you'd ever seen.

Snickers was his name, and being silly was his game. He loved to be around you no matter what you were doing and just wanted to be in the room with you (even if you're in the bathroom). He loved to chew on anything he could get too (socks, toilet paper, underwear, the wall itself) and would give you that look that says: "What did I do?" Hard to punish them when they're like that.

We had to put Snickers down last year (after 9 years of having him with us) because of cancer in his lungs and a mass in his intestines that made him not want to eat anything. I will miss him, since he was my first dog. How can anyone not?

When I grow up, and get my own house, I'm going to get a Siberian Husky and Belgian Shepard puppies. Why do you ask? Because:

One: They're just the right size that I want.
Two: They have enough fur so I don't have to worry about them getting terribly cold in the winter.
Three: They are just darn cute!

Of course there are other reasons why I would want them. But first things first... I need a house with a big fenced in yard.

Flute Amazingness

This is a video that my brother sent me, saying that I had to learn how to do this. I watched it and thought... wow, yeah right. This guy is really good and he's just fun to watch as he does this. Take a look:

"Message for ya sir!"

Well, I finally received word from the agency that I sent a query too. As I thought, they rejected it in a nice manner; saying that they "did not feel it was the right fit for [their] agency." Well, I was right to hope that they would send it after finals. I was so shocked to see that I got an answer from them. After 2 weeks.

I haven't let that put me down. I guess that's because I wasn't really expecting to get an instant acceptance. I have sent another [better] query to another agency and am hoping that this will go better than the last one. One of their clients is an author that I read and she has a book in the same 'genre' that mine it so I'm hoping that this one will have a better response. *Crosses fingers

Since Christmas break is here, I have more time on my hands and I have no idea what to do. I have ordered some books off of MEL so I can have something to read. Hopefully they will give me incentive to continue to write my other story.

Fear

"I will show you fear in a handful of dust" - T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land

We don't actually fear death; we fear that no one will miss our absence. That we will disappear without a trace. It reminds me of the bible quote, "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

What do you think?

Nerves Are A Killer

I've written before that I've finished a book. Well, I sent a query to an agent/agency. I don't know when I'll hear back from them, maybe in a week or so, but...

I'M SO NERVOUS!!!!

I don't really expect to get an answer saying they want to represent my book on the first try. But there's that hope that it will happen. Hahaha, yeah right. I just hope I don't get the rejection letter before finals. That would suck.

Even Stephenie Meyer didn't get an instant acceptance letter. She had to send letters to multiple agents before someone showed interest.

I can only send a letter to one agent at a time. I can't send a query to multiple agents, unless I tell them I am. But chances go down that they'll be interested in it. If this agent doesn't work out, I already have another one in mind. Both of these agencies have represented authors that I read. A coincidence believe me. I thought that must be a sign or something.

*Crosses fingers.

If I get a rejection letter, I probably won't send another right away. I believe I should have my second book more developed before I do that. I have a tendency to get bored with a book after a few months. Then I start/continue another book before going back to the other.

I believe this will change id I actually can get a book published. And that's a big if.

But I have confidence that I will. Sooner or later.