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 Life, Adventure, Family, Writing what else is there? Random thoughts. |
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WELCOME TO: GEMINI RISING   UPDATED INTRO 30 JUNE 2025: Just a little about me. I've been married for 33 years this past NOV and currently live in Southern California, but I grew up in New Hampshire. I've got 2 boys who are young adults. I work as a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I enjoy my job a lot. Still. If you can believe that. I love to write. Thankfully both of my boys achieved Eagle Scout. My Scouting days are over and I'm back to focusing on my writing. I like to get out in nature, drink coffee and watch football. Here's a little bio about my zodiac. GEMINI: Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless. Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts. Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers. BLOG ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SEPTEMBER 2025:
SEPTEMBER 2025:
Merit Badges collected and earned from "Earn the Badge 2025" ![Merit Badge in WdC Supportive Friend
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Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September
2nd Daily Task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/community-WdC_Supportive_Friend.gif) ![Merit Badge in Earn the Badge
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Thank you for your donation to [Link To Item #2133333] - from Purple Princess.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Earn_the_Badge-2093257_1.gif){kind=icon} ![Merit Badge in Music
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Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September
3rd Daily Task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif) ![Merit Badge in Contests
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Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September 1st daily task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Contests-235.gif) ![Merit Badge in Growth
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Good job earning the Growth Merit Badge in [Link To Item #2133333]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Growth-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in Word Searches
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Great job participating in [Link To Item #2133333] and completing the September 5th task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Word_Searches-19000.gif) ![Merit Badge in Teamwork
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Great job for picking a teammate and completing the September 6th Task at [Link To Item #2133333]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Teamwork-210.gif) SUMMER 2025:
Merit Badges Collected from Virtual Blogging &Virtual Blogging Friends: ![Merit Badge in Let Dreams Take Wing
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To my upcoming virtual traveling blog companion. Dream big and fly high!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Let_Dreams_Take_Wing-2335469_1.gif) ![Merit Badge in Normal Is Boring
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here's to another week of creating adventures!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Normal_Is_Boring.gif) ![Merit Badge in Blog Camping
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Thanks for completing [Link To User elusive4lyn] July 2025 blogging vacation!! Great job!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Blog_Camping-1788309_13.gif) ![Merit Badge in Travel
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Woohoo! We’re halfway through!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Travel-1975.gif) ![Merit Badge in BCoF 2
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Thank you for your participation in BCoF's 50 States Virtual Blogging adventure.
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51 days of blogging takes commitment, and you rocked it.
*^*Heart*^* Lyn](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Endurance.gif) SEPTEMBER 2024: I participated in the
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Congrats on your Honorable Mention in Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Nonfiction.gif) Big thanks to WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger   for hosting the contest! OCTOBER 2024 & 2025 : I participated in the
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You rose to the poetry challenges in 12 Poetic Days of Halloween in grand style.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Determination-2500.gif) ![Merit Badge in Ghost
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Thank you for your successful completion of 13 Poetic Days of Halloween *^*Heart*^* Lyn](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Ghost-700.gif) Big Thanks to A Warped Witch I Be  for hosting the contest!Find me at: WEBSITE: http://www.stephanieburkhart.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor GOOD READS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart YOU TUBE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee  WARNING I intend to be open, honest, and forthright. No topic is off limits from religion to you name it, I'm going there. If you think you might be offended...back up now - this blog isn't for you. For those who "dare"  check out the "Gemini Rising..." 
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Maid of the Mist Most Macabre  drove the Party Bus to our hotel in Washington DC and we all checked in. There’s a lot to do and see in our nation’s capital. WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger , Giant Phantom Jelly  , and Maid of the Mist Most Macabre wanted to see all the monuments. It’s embarrassing to admit I’ve never been to Washington DC, but I haven’t. Maybe next year. My husband is talking like he wants to go and I’m game. Our first stop is the National Law Enforcement museum. I’m not a police officer myself, buy my husband is, and we’ve been involved with law enforcement since we’ve had jobs. I was an MP in the Army and he joined LAPD in 1997. I just dispatch for LAPD. Law enforcement means a lot of us, so seeing the museum was very touching, especially since I’ll be retiring in about 18 months, and my husband in 30 months. Next we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. There was a long line to get in even though the museum was free! Giant Phantom Jelly loves Space and stargazing, too, so we were two peas in a pod as we shuffled out way through the museum. We saw mockups of shuttles and rockets. The planetarium had a great show about the constellations. They even had a Soyuz exhibit.Afterwards we went monument hunting. AmyJo-Zombie hours  thought the Washington Monument was cool. It was an obelisk. She loved the view from the top! You could see the whole city. {embed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDSxKC3hOdk} The Lincoln memorial was a big hit with Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka  and A Warped Witch I Be . The Lincoln memorial faces the Washington Monument and in between is the national mall with a reflecting pool. Spooky Kooky Krista snapped a lot of pictures for her Instagram. Princess Megan Snow Rose  liked the Jefferson memorial because of all the cherry trees planted nearby. The cherries smelled sweet and the blossoms were beautiful. We also visited the Vietnam Veterans and Marine Corps War Memorials. Very sobering, but I’m glad we paid tribute to the brave warriors who served the nation. That night we went to Tiffany’s Bar & Bistro and had a light meal. We laughed over our past adventures and some of our favorite moments – Especially when AmyJo-Zombie hours Nalgene flew off the trail and she found a dinosaur egg. There were some hair-raising moments, too like in Colorado and all that HEIGHT. We wouldn’t have eaten as good as we without Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka researching all the food places. Ah, well, there’s always next summer. Thanks for the fellowship, friendship, and smiles:A Warped Witch I Be Maid of the Mist Most Macabre WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger Giant Phantom Jelly Princess Megan Snow Rose AmyJo-Zombie hours Spooky Kooky Krista andŠuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka |
| Wyoming is one of the western states. I always thought the western states possessed rugged land and cowboy things. So today, we’re all channeling our inner cowboy/cowgirl. Princess Megan Snow Rose wore her pink cowgirl hat. Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka had on a Stetson hat. Maid of the Mist Most Macabre was concerned that Wyoming didn’t have any 7-11’s so she stocked up on her Big Gulp as we passed through Minnesota. On our way to Jackson Hole I made Maid of the Mist Most Macabre stop by Cheyenne (the capital of Wyoming) so I can stock up on my favorite coffee – “Warpath Coffee” WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger loved it and bought a couple of cases for herself to ship over to Europe. Once we made it to Jackson Hole we went to our hotel, The Rusty Parrot, and unloaded our stuff. A Warped Witch I Be booked us to take a horse ride and we headed out to the Bridger Teton National Forest. I’d never ridden a horse before so I was game. Horses are chill. I liked my horse. Princess Megan Snow Rose was having too much petting all the horses she didn’t go horse back riding. AmyJo-Zombie hours made sure her $50.00 nalgene bottle was clipped to her leather belt with a massive carabiner. Let me tell you – everything in Wyoming was BIG. Spooky Kooky Krista  her horse and wanted to take him home. Maid of the Mist Most Macabre Giant Phantom Jelly and WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger skipped the horses and took a guided bus tour through Yellowstone. Can’t say I blame them. I hope they saw that massive geyser that likes to go off. We visited the world’s finest wildlife museum. I mean it was alright. There were lots of taxidermy and it got old for me quick. Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka thought it was cool seeing all the stuffed animals. They had a pretty cool gift shop, though. Spooky Kooky Krista , A Warped Witch I Be and Maid of the Mist Most Macabre bought a couple of native American ponchos. A Warped Witch I Be bought us all shots of tequila at the Million Dollar Cowboy bar. Let me tell you, that was a BIG shotglass. Everyone was smiles after that tequila. Next, we went to the rodeo. Princess Megan Snow Rose kept yelling, “Buck him off!” It was wild times watching the cowboys ride those bulls. Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka channeled his inner cowboy with his leather boots, leather belt and silver belt buckle. He wore a leather vest over his flannel shirt and his Stetson. At one point all us cowgirls thought he was going to ride a bull, but I think the tequila wore off and he came to his senses. After that rodeo, we had the munchies and went to the Mangy Moose for some late night yummies. I had the mangy moose burger. That thing was BIG. Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka had the Elk Stroganoff. Giant Phantom Jelly and WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger had the fried green tomatos. They were HUGE. A Warped Witch I Be had the venison tenderloin and shared it with Spooky Kooky Krista and AmyJo-Zombie hours . Princess Megan Snow Rose kept it safe and had the chicken with the Wyoming Chicken au jus. Maid of the Mist Most Macabre was hooked on the Idaho Fries which looked a lot like poutine. Well, after all that fun we went back to the Rusty Parrot and passed out. One more trip to Washington DC and our summer travels will be over. I’ll be honest, I kinda got used to Maid of the Mist Most Macabre driving the Party Bus, Princess Megan Snow Rose petting all the animals, Giant Phantom Jelly English accent, Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka taking us to great foodie places, AmyJo-Zombie hours high maintenance Nalgene bottle, Spooky Kooky Krista taking her Instagram pictures, WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger ’s coffee, and A Warped Witch I Be organizing this whole adventure and herding us like cats. Only one more day to enjoy… |
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