#Backyard putting green Fort Worth

[lonestarsyntheticturf]

Synthetic Turf: A Game-Changer for Golf Courses and Putting Greens

Fore! Sorry my golf ball, like this blog, seemed to gravitate toward you! Isn’t it unbelievable how good the putting greens look right now? Especially with all the back-to-back PGA events, golf courses and putting greens must be perfect. Yet, how is the grass maintained? We have the answer to that, but it’s top secret! It’s, drum roll, please, synthetic turf! 

Artificial grass has been a game changer in the golf course industry. Fake grass is reshaping the golf experience for many by providing consistent playability, enhanced aesthetics, and fantastic durability. It also has environmental benefits such as water and chemical reduction.

Why synthetic turf?

Synthetic grass has been a popular option for many different landscapes. Natural grass has always been the answer from backyards to playgrounds to golf courses, but why are people switching to artificial turf instead of real grass? Fake grass has been proven to have several environmentally friendly benefits. It helps preserve valuable natural resources such as water, land, and energy. Synthetic turf also helps cut the need to use harsh chemicals. No more usage of unnecessary fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Another benefit of artificial turf is that it is low maintenance. It reduces costs and requires minimal upkeep compared to natural grass. Therefore, fake grass not only helps save the green outside, but also the green in your wallet!

How does synthetic turf impact golf courses and putting greens?

Synthetic turf has positively impacted the game of golf. Its durability and resilience levels are high by being able to withstand heavy foot traffic and maintain its quality over time. It can provide golfers consistency through its uniform surface, ball roll, and predictable putting conditions. Artificial grass is also customizable and flexible. With its flexibility, it can mimic professional putting greens while also being able to play all year round.

As golf season comes into full swing, so does the demand for the greens. Choosing to play on artificial grass not only enhances your game but the environment as well. As technology evolves, we can only anticipate more remarkable advancements. Whether you prefer to play on fake grass or not, the benefits of synthetic turf are too good to pass up for your next tee time! 

Live in an urban part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area? Lone Star Synthetic Turf can help you! Located in Dallas, Texas and servicing the surrounding area, Lone Star Synthetic Turf has been in business over a decade. They look to provide synthetic turf solutions for both residential and commercial spaces. For more information call (214) 341-4332. 

[andreafmn]

Running In Circles - Chapter 3

Word Count: 1,854

Characters: Female Reader Rossi Character, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ”Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Penelope Garcia

Story Description: (Y/N) Rossi is following in her father’s footsteps by joining the BAU team as a profiler. The girl genius knew almost everything but she could have never predicted falling for Aaron Hotchner, her boss and her father’s friend. in their world mutual feelings are not enough to push them together. Will all the adversities and obstacles they face pull them together or push them apart forever?

*DISCLAIMER* I do not own in any way Criminal Minds, all credits of the pre-established characters, script, and storyline belong to Jeff Davis and CBS Network. The only thing I own is Arden Rossi, any upcoming characters, and her storyline, as well as her effects in the others’ story line.

Chapter: 3/?

A/N: This is a short one. Just fully domestic fluff and it makes me very happy, but letting ya’ll know this happiness will be kinda short lived. If you enjoy my writing I’ll also be posting them in AO3 and Wattpad along with other stories (I also hope to start taking requests if ya’ll want) Hope you enjoy and all constructive criticism is encouraged.

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Chapter 3

“Okay, buddy, let’s see.” I looked at the instructions in my hands from the fort kit I had purchased. It seemed simple enough and something Jack would enjoy inmmensly. “Let’s do this.”

“Yeah!” Jack exclaimed. Hotch laughed from the kitchen, insisting he had to at least cook some dinner. In the oven were the batch of brownies I had put in 10 minutes ago. It took about 30 minutes to finish the fort and the look on Jack’s face was priceless. Then he spent 10 minutes perusing my movie collection until he finally landed on Toy Story, once again. 

“Well, dinner’s ready,” Hotch announced, bringing a tray with three plates of spaghetti to the fort.

“Daddy, daddy! Look at the fort!” Jack jumped up and down. It was a simple square base, big enough for three people and a triangle top. We covered it with thin sheets and hung wire twinkle lights on the top. Jack had run to my linen closet and gotten a thick comforter to lay on the floor, as well as most of the pillow that laid on my couch. He also arranged a couple of his plush toys in there to keep us company, as he put it. 

“I see it, buddy. It looks great!” Hotch smiled brightly. “Now, what do we say?”

“Thank you, (Y/N)!”

“No problem, little man,” I smiled. “How about you invite your dad inside so we can eat some spaghetti?”

“Yes! Come on, dad!”

Hotch sat down next to me and passed a plate to Jack and me, putting a napkin on his son’s collar. The small kid smiled at his dad and dug into his plate without another thought, the sound of the movie filling in the background. 

“You know,” I mused. “It was pretty bold of you to cook spaghetti for an Italian.”

“Right,” he chuckled. “Well, I hope it’s good.”

I smiled and took a bite of the noodles. Hotch stared expectantly to see if he passed the Italian test. I chewed slowly, dragging the process along, until finally giving him a thumbs up. Hotch sighed and smiled before digging into his own plate.

After finishing the pasta, I took the three plates to the kitchen and served three plates of brownie with ice cream for me and the Hotchner duo. When those plates were empty, Jack laid his head on my lap and his feet on his dad’s and watched the movie. An hour and a half later, the blonde boy was softly snoring and peacefully sleeping.

“Looks like the little man ran out of juice,” I said as I ran my hand through his soft hair. “I think we should take him up to the guest room.”

Hotch softly placed his hand under Jack’s arms and carried him up the stairs to the first door on the right, careful not to wake the tired child. I pulled the sheets away and Hotch laid the kid on the bed. I left the room to let Hotch change Jack into his pajamas and went downstairs to clean up and pack away the fort for Jack to take home.

“Thank you, (Y/N),” I jumped at the sound of Hotch’s voice and he laughed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay, and don’t mention it.” I sat down next to him on the island. “Whatever you need, seriously, I’m here.”

He smiled and engulfed me in a hug; time slowed down. For a moment, just for a moment, it was only us. There was no hurting, no unspoken emotions, nothing. I breathed in his scent and took in the warmth coming from the closeness of his body to mine. He relaxed into me and let himself be human for a change. 

All good things come to an end.

“Well, it’s getting late,” I said breaking the hug and clearing my throat. “Um, there’s towels in the guest bedroom closet and extra blankets just in case it gets too cold during the night.”

“Great, I’ll see you in the morning, then. Good night, (y/n).”

“Good night, Hotch.” I smiled and waited for his figure to disappear in the stairs before opening the doors leading to my backyard. I breathed in deeply and tried to easy my heartbeat.

“What are you doing, (Y/N)?” I whispered to myself.

I spent the night tossing and turning, trying my best to not think that the man I liked was sleeping just a hallway away. Before I knew it, the sun was peeking in through my bedroom window, announcing that I had wasted a whole night of sleep inside my head. 

So, I got up and went downstairs to work on breakfast. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, the works. I put a pot of coffee to brew and took out some toppings for the pancakes. As I was finishing with the bacon, I heard tiny feet running down the staircase.

“Morning, (Y/N)!” Jack exclaimed, hugging my waist since it was as high as he could reach. 

“Hey, little man,” I said ruffling his hair. “Wanna help me set the table?”

He nodded and grabbed the forks I was holding, placing them rapidly next to the three plates that were already on the round table.

“Jack, where’s dad?” I questioned.

“He’s still sleeping.” He shrugged.

“I have an idea, little man. How about we wake him up with some silly string?”

“What’s silly string?” My mouth dropped. I headed to the hallway closet and took out two cans of silly string.

“This, buddy, is silly string,” I presented the can. “You press the button here down and string comes out.”

“Like this?” Jack asked as a string of green plastic was expelled from the can. He shrieked gleefully and his excitement grew as he saw the grin on my face.

“Just like that, bud. Let’s go wake up dad.” 

He nodded excitedly and we walked up the stairs quietly. Once we reached the door, I turned the doorknob slowly and instructed Jack to go jump on the bed to surprise his dad. He smiled at me and when the door was completely open, he ran up to the bed and jumped.

When Hotch’s eyes shot open, Jack and I pressed the cans and shot silly string all over Hotch.

“Good morning, daddy!” Jack screamed as he flung the can around. Definitely a mess I’d have to clean later but very worth it at the moment.

“Morning, Jack!” The older man said as he brought his kid down tickling him slightly. “Is it safe to assume this was your idea, (Y/N)?”

“Yes, sir. It is,” I responded between laughs. “We have a very strict protocol in this household when it comes to wake up calls.” 

“That’s a very effective wake up call.” Hotch smiled.

“Well, now that we’re all up, we can eat some breakfast,” I said. “There’s some chocolate chip pancakes for you, little man.”

“Yes!” He excitedly left the room and ran downstairs.

“And there’s coffee, too.” I smiled and Hotch got up to join us downstairs.

“(Y/N), thank you.” Hotch said as he stood on the doorstep ready to go home. “This is exactly what Jack and I needed, and I have no idea how I’ll ever be able to make it up to you.”

“Hotch, there’s absolutely no need.” I laid a hand on his arm, giving it a squeeze for reassurance. “I meant it when I said I’d always be here for you both. Whatever it is you need.”

Hotch smiled and left with an ‘I’ll see you at work’, and a Jack frantically waving from the backseat.

And that’s how our sleepovers started. Most of the times we had days off Hotch would come over and we’d build a fort with Jack and watch movies or played games. On hot days, we’d play around in the pool. Sometimes with the squad, but more often than not, just the three of us. If ever he needed it, I would take care of Jack so he could have a day to himself. These nights were happening so often, I transformed one of the guest rooms into a room for Jack. Hotch started leaving some of Jack’s clothes and toys. My house started becoming a second home for the Hotchner boys.

Slowly we grew closer and closer as friends, even if I wanted more. His friendship was too important for me to lose what we already had.

Back at work, it was business as usual. The team was none the wiser, but they could see that our relationship had gotten closer. JJ would always give me a smirk when she saw us hugging in his office, Derek would wiggle his eyebrows at me, and Penelope would silently squeal and flail her arms whenever she saw us in proximity.

Today was no different. Reid, Emily, Derek, and I were in the briefing room each stirring their wanted sugars and creams into the coffees I had brought in the morning. Reid quickly examining the box of donuts I had also brought along to pick the best one.

“Come on, baby girl,” Derek chuckled. “What’s going on between you and the boss man?”

“Well, Derek, if you must know,” I played along. The trio closed in as I pretended to look around for any eavesdropping ears. “Absolutely nothing. We’re just friends.”

“Come on, (Y/N),” Emily responded annoyed. “There has to be something. Friends don’t look at each other the way you both do.”

“My dearest Emily, I’m serious. I’ve just tried to be there for him in these very difficult times.” I sipped my coffee. “And I very much enjoy Jack’s company.”

“You know,” Spencer chimed in. “Oxytocin and dopamine, which are often referred to as the love hormones, affect pupil size. The brain gets a surge of these chemicals when you’re sexually or romantically attracted to someone. This boost of hormones causes pupils to dilate. So, really, if we wanted to know if something was happening all we have to do is pay attention to their eyes.”

“Thank you, Spence.” I laughed. “Now I’m gonna have to use sunglasses everywhere.”

“So that means there is something to look out for!” Emily chirped.

“No,” I cleared my throat. “It means that I don’t want to be stared at all the time by profilers, thank you very much.”

“Whatever you say, (Y/N), whatever you say.” Emily laughed.

After that, playful side eyes and nudges were implemented to our daily routine. They’d smirk whenever Hotch praised me and stared whenever he was even remotely close to me. At first it was funny, but it made me extremely nervous to think that Hotch could catch on. Although, it had been a couple of months with this behavior and thankfully, the unit chief had yet to figure it out, as oblivious to our teammates’ behavior as he was to my feelings for him.

Our friendship continued to flourish and strengthen as I pushed my feelings down in an effort to forget about them. It did not do me any good but, if this was the only way to keep him close, I would endure it.

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Tag: @ssamorganhotchner

[idealturff-blog]

Ideal Turf Grass Installation specialist servicing the Dallas / Fort Worth / Houston and Austin area. Artificial lawns, putting greens, pet friendly. Call today at:- (512) 600-1695. Just browse us!!

[astrodances]

Early Presents

FF.net link || AO3 link

Well well well, it looks like everyone is posting their presents early for @ducktalessecretsanta2018​, eh? :D Puns aside, I’d like to wish a very, very happy holidays to @epos-da-cookie! ‘Tis I, your secret santa! I may have taken some liberties with your request and combined it with the love of skeletons that I noticed on your blog. I won’t say much more than that, except that this is basically some Webby + triplets fluffy bonding combined with a late-night mystery adventure, mainly from Webby’s POV. Enjoy, my friend!

“SLEEPOVER!”

“Sleepover? Who’s coming over?”

“No one, it’s just gonna be us!”

Three sets of skeptical eyes landed on Webby. The boys had been having a rather peaceful, lazy evening in their shared room when she’d burst in with the announcement.

“Isn’t that...basically what we do every night?” Huey questioned, his finger marking his spot in his Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook while he shrugged his other hand in the air.

"Maybe what you guys do," Webby retorted, before bringing her hand up to motion to herself. "But I'm in my own separate room by the end of the night. So come on! Granny said that as long as we stay away from the Christmas tree and the decorations, we can take over pretty much the entire downstairs!" She clapped her hands twice as if to say, "Get to it!" then raced out of view from the doorway.

There was silence as the triplets looked at each other from across the room–Huey from where he'd been reading on his bed to Louie, who'd been skimming over the Ottoman Empire website at their desk, to Dewey, who'd been hunched over a pile of paper all day with a set of markers working on who-knows-what. After a second, they all shrugged one-by-one, signifying their willingness to join in on Webby's fun. It's not like they were going to do anything else that night.

Within minutes, the three of them were standing in the entryway to the living room downstairs, their jaws dropped and their willingness transformed into something way beyond eagerness. A buffet table of snacks and sodas lined the far wall besides an old-fashioned popcorn machine, and at least three stacks of movies and video games rested in between the four bean bags that had mysteriously replaced the couch. There was some epic music seemingly pouring into every downstairs room, and nestled on top of each bean bag was a new 7800-series dart blaster–the latest and greatest in the line.

"Merry early Christmas!" Webby proclaimed as she squeezed in between the boys, wrapping her arms as far as she could around their shoulders.

"Webby, what is all this?" Dewey asked in as much awe as he could manage, as his face was squished against Louie's from Webby's sudden hug.

"An early Christmas present from Granny and me!" With a final squeeze, she let them go and walked forward into the room, raising her arms as she spun about. "Since Uncle Scrooge is out at some holiday party tonight, and you guys didn't have any plans tonight anyway, Granny helped me put together the ultimate sleepover so we could test these bad boys out," she explained, patting her own dart blaster.

The triplets ran excitedly into the room, and together the four of them opened up their dart blasters. Webby was the first to finish setting hers up, her hands swiftly loading each dart with the grace of a seasoned expert. As she turned around to start explaining the details of the evening, her blaster cradled in a carrying position, she was surprised to have the air knocked out of her as Huey, Dewey, and Louie tackled her into a group hug, all four of them landing on her bean bag from the momentum.

"Thank you, Webby," Dewey said, with Huey and Louie echoing his sentiment.

After the initial shock wore off, Webby returned the hug with an internal squeal of glee. This moment alone made the past week of planning and secret-keeping worth it, and she savored each second of it.

As they all stood back up and grabbed their blasters, Louie asked, "So, what's the plan?"

Webby tilted her head forward, a sinister grin winding its way onto her face. "The plan, dear Louie, is to survive." She would've chuckled at the way Louie's face drained of color, had she not been trying to keep up her serious demeanor. "The stakes? Last duck standing gets to choose the first movie we watch and the first video game we play. The rules? Only to stay away from Uncle Scrooge's rooms and the Christmas decorations. Otherwise, everything inside and outside on the first floor is fair game. No teams, and no safe zones."

Before any of them could protest the lack of safe zones, she continued. "You have until the end of the next song to establish a base camp as your starting point. After that, it's–" Here, she cocked her blaster for dramatic effect. "–game on. GO!"

She sprinted out of the living room, Louie and Dewey hot on her tail while Huey went in the other direction. Louie split off in his own direction after the foyer, and Dewey in his after the first hallway.

Webby already knew where her base camp was going to be; she'd had it scouted out for three days now. Deep in the depths of Scrooge's Wing of Secr-garage was a particular configuration of old storage boxes that, to her surprise, had a pocket of space between them, creating a natural fort that was easy enough for her to flip into, but virtually undetectable to the passing eye from the outside. Base camps were not immune to open fire, but with this location, she had nothing to fear in regards to that.

After checking her base over, Webby paced outside it, waiting for the song thumping through the speakers to end before she raced off, eager to put distance between herself and her base before anyone could find her near it. And eager to find her first victim.

Aside from the extra adrenaline rush, that was one thing to be said about the music: it gave everyone an equal tactical advantage. No one could hear each other coming, unless they made a loud noise. It heightened the senses. It heightened the element of surprise.

Still, Webby moved as deftly as possible throughout the mansion, her feet lighter than feathers as she peeked out from corners before somersaulting behind furniture. She made it all the way back to the hallway outside the foyer before she caught any movement: a flash of green hoodie heading for the back door.

"Oh no you don't," she whispered to herself.

In one quick motion, she leapt out from her hiding spot behind an end table and shot Louie with two darts, one to each shoulder blade. He stumbled to the ground out of surprise, and Webby quickly picked up her darts before leaping over him, reaching the back door first. But before she could open the door, a single dart flew past her face and stuck to the glass pane. She barely saw Dewey's reflection in it as she yanked the door open and bounded down the steps to the backyard.

The moon was full and bright up above, providing ample lighting to see, but not necessarily be seen. It made the light dusting of snow on the ground look ethereal, like a true winter wonderland. The three ducks made their way outside and ran about without a care in the world, with Huey soon joining them once he realized where they were. They were all still in it to win it as they ducked behind trees and dodged darts with leaps behind shrubbery, but the cold air added a sense of wonder and joy to the game, a sense that left them laughing and taunting each other between shots.

They were the Duck family, and the night was theirs.

Until Huey tripped inexplicably, that is.

His sharp cry of pain led Webby to believe that one of his brothers had gotten in a really good shot, but when she reached the row of bushes he was hidden behind to assess the situation (and possibly gain a few more points), she saw no one but him, and no stray darts either. Only Huey wincing as he rubbed his leg, and the end of a bone sticking out of the ground.

All thoughts of the game immediately abandoned, Webby immediately knelt down beside Huey and called out for Dewey and Louie to join them. The other two rounded into view with blasters blazing, but Webby simply batted the darts away until they took in the situation.

"Huey! Are you okay?" Dewey asked as he and his brother joined the other two on the ground.

Louie looked between Huey and the bone. "What happened?"

After a moment to gather himself, Huey opened his eyes and nodded towards the bone. "I was just running and...I tripped on that." He moved his hands to reveal a scraped-up knee that was sure to bruise. "I'll be fine, but that is just plain creepy."

Webby left his side to inspect the bone. The end was big and knobby, and the rest of it seemed to extend far into the ground. A femur, if she were to guess at first glance. She knelt down and dug away at the dirt surrounding it, then, with some wiggling and prying, she pulled it clean from the ground. Yep, it was a femur alright.

"Guys, look!" she exclaimed as she turned back to the boys with the bone resting in her palms. Louie immediately flinched back, appalled by the sudden presence of an unearthed limb in his face.

"What the quack was that doing there?" Dewey questioned as he helped Huey sit up straighter.

Webby turned the bone over in her hands. "I don't know, but look: the part that was underground is covered in a pretty thick layer of dried mud. It must've been there for years. Maybe even decades."

"Uh...maybe we should show this to Mrs. Beakley?" Louie suggested.

"Uh-uh, we need to investigate this. Look!" She pointed towards the ground a few feet away from them. "Footprints."

Indeed, there beneath the light layer of snow that had gathered were a set of footprints, hardened by time and an average, unassuming size. They trailed towards the bone's resting place from who knew where on Scrooge's estate.

Webby slid a sly smile towards the triplets. "Boys, I believe our plans for the evening just changed."

"Aw, but I was winning the game!" Dewey lamented, his chin dropping to his chest in begrudging forfeit as the other three rolled their eyes at him.

After Huey insisted that he would be okay long enough for a quick adventure, the group got up and began backtracking the prints. They traveled further and further into the woods behind McDuck Manor, traversing slopes and tree trunks alike. They had all brought their dart blasters along, just in case, with Webby carrying hers in one hand and the femur in the other.

Eventually, the tracks led them to a thicket of bushes near the corner of the property line, with two trees towering in front like sentinels. The branches of the bushes looked quite old and worn out, with no foliage to be seen anywhere. It was as if Scrooge's groundskeeper hadn't touched this area in ages.

The tracks disappeared beneath the wood, and Webby crept forward to poke away at some of the branches with the bone to see where they led. To the group's surprise, they found a wooden cellar door. Its handles were weathered with rust and a splintered hole had been punched through the center of it.

"Riiiight, so...get Beakley now?" Louie insisted again, looking hopefully between his siblings, only to be disappointed when they shushed him and kept moving forward to enter the cellar. "Ugh, fine. But I so get to choose the first movie then when we get back."

"No, you don't," Dewey answered without missing a beat, leaving Louie to groan in protest.

One of the new features that made the 7800 blasters so brilliant was the addition of a 2-mode targeting light–one normal light mode, one night-vision mode. The four of them each turned on the normal light on their blaster once they realized there was absolutely no light in the cellar aside from the moonlight pouring in from above.

What the light revealed left chills running down their spines.

The cellar looked like a cross between a medieval dungeon and a vampire's lair. The walls were made of stone and a small hallway followed from the bottom of the stairs, with two heavy wooden doors lining the walls on either side, and a single door at the very end of the hallway. Aside from an old table with a cabinet on top of it next to the stairs, there was nothing but cobwebs and doors.

"This place looks like it was built before Scrooge got here," Huey observed, swiping a finger across the layer of dust on the table.

"All it's missing are the torches," Louie joked.

Webby ignored them both. Something felt off about this place, aside from the obvious. Surely she would've stumbled across it herself in all the years she had lived here, if not some sort of record of it in the archives. Did Scrooge even know about this place? Did her Granny? Or Duckworth?

"I think we should split up," she declared amid a chorus of "huh?!" and "are you crazy?" from the boys. She turned toward them, shaking her head. "Just for a minute. We'll each take a room along the hallway and see what's in them, and whoever finishes first can start in on the room at the end. We can get out of here quicker that way."

The three of them looked dubiously between each other before nodding one by one in reluctant agreement.

With the plan in place, they each took a door: Webby and Dewey the doors to the immediate left and right of the door at the end, and Huey and Louie the doors closer to the staircase.

Webby's door took some extra pushing to get it to open, but she eventually did, immediately bringing her blaster and the bone up to ward off any sudden danger. Yet a cursory glance around the room revealed nothing of interest. It was small, and almost looked like a storage shed. There was a bench off to one side, and a half-empty wall of tools on the far side. Nothing more than some tools, some rope, some rusty hedge clippers. Maybe this used to be Scrooge's gardener's tool shed in the early days of McDuck Manor, simply abandoned to sands of time?

A scream pierced through Webby's thoughts, and she raced out of the room to find Dewey and Huey looking back frantically at her, before they all turned towards the room at the end of the hall, its door wide open.

"LOUIE!"

The three of them rushed inside the final room, nearly tripping over each other as they waved the lights on their blasters around until they landed on Louie, who was curled up in a catatonic ball next to the door, his face frozen in sheer terror.

"What's wrong?" Huey asked him as he dropped to his side. He got no response, which prompted Webby and Dewey to look around the room with their blasters for the answer.

Webby was the first to find it.

"Uh, guys?"

Dewey gathered by her side and shined his light alongside hers so Huey could see it as well.

There, leaning against the opposite wall with its limbs sprawled out on the ground, was a duck's skeleton. Its entire left leg was missing from the hip down, and Webby gasped in shock as she dropped the femur in her hand with a thud.

The skeleton had a snapped noose hanging loosely around its neck, and it was dressed. Derby hat, brown coat, and red sweater. Cracked spectacles. Faded and decayed, but unmistakable.

No one dared to read the marker above the remains out loud, yet neither source of light could seem to stray away from it:

HERE RESTS SCROOGE MCDUCK 1867 - 1967

"Guys, h-have we been living with...a ghost?"

[stevesharrlngtons]

hey.

steve harrington x reader

summary: he was such a staple piece in your life, that as a child and young teen, you never saw your life without him. late night promises and pinky swears were made in blanket forts that you two would be friends until the day the sun burned out in the sky. it was just a given that’d he be there, that you never worried about the two of you drifting apart or being separated. he promised he’d always be there, and you had believed him. you now corrected yourself, foolishly believed him.

word count: 5.4k

a/n: holy shit? chapter nine! 38,000 words later and it’s done!!! this is such a sentimental piece for me. i started working on this in november, right after st2 was released, and was just writing it for myself to read. but as time went on, i was four chapters in and decided i wanted to share it with other people. posting your writing online is terrifying, even if you do it all the time. so posting this, which i consider my baby in a way, was super scary. but i’m really happy i did. i’m glad that the few people i reached with story, really really enjoyed it. everytime i get a message saying that someone loves this story it always brightens my mood. for those of you who have been there from the beginning or just found this story, thank you for all your love and support! i love you all.  i know i mainly write for billy now, but thank you for sticking around anyway! hopefully i can get some inspo for more steve in the future. my love for him and joe is not gone, so here’s hoping!  and if you are still here, thank you for your patience while i took the time to write this, i hope it is enjoyable and worth the wait. 

here is chapter nine, please let me know what you think! and thank you for letting me share this story with you!

chapter i / ii / iii / iv / v / vi / vii / viii / 

                                                   chapter xi

The next morning you woke to your pillowcase cemented to your cheek from died spit, and a splitting headache. Remnants of last night were coming to you in bits and pieces but nothing too concrete.

Shit. Concrete.

The pain from your skinned knees started to become prominent, and your eyes felt red and puffy. Fragments of conversations came and went in your head. You vaguely remembered a fight with Derek, then Jonathan tucking you in, but everything else was a blur. You glanced towards your alarm clock, the red numbers brighter than usual, reading 11:46 AM. You sighed and placed your head back on your pillow in a huff. As you did, you started to feel all the old makeup, sweat and blood that caked your skin. As much as you just wanted to lay in bed all day waiting for the screwdriver in your head to dislodge itself, a shower was definitely needed.

Peeling yourself up from your sheets, you trudged your fatigued legs towards the bathroom, and once you were inside, the mirror above the sink was anything but forgiving. Black smudges painted your face, forgotten tear tracks in their wake. Your hair was knotted and matted, and your eyes were bloodshot to hell.

Rolling your eyes and shrugging, you discarded your wrinkled clothes, got into the shower and turned the water on to a blistering heat. Standing under the stream, you ran your hands slowly over your face, breathing in the already accumulating steam. The water soothed your tense muscles and eased your headache, and you were starting to feel human again. But as you calmed, more memories came up. Derek’s harsh words, calling Jonathan, making up with Jonathan, telling him you were in love with Steve, weeping after Jonathan left your room. You tried to push the thoughts to the side, they were causing your stomach to ache and your head spin. Right now, you needed to focus on shedding the layer of grime you had accumulated over the past twenty-four hours.

When you were sufficiently clean, you turned off the faucet and climbed from the bathtub, taking the two towels from under the sink and wrapped one around your hair and the other around your torso. At your vanity, you wiped away some steam that clung to the mirror with your hand, revealing a window of your broken, tired self.

Your head was still throbbing and your skin felt like sandpaper, so in the fruitless effort to make yourself feel better, you put on a face mask. Wiping the green goopy substance on your face, you were officially turning into the Hulk for the next fifteen to twenty minutes.

With nothing but your mask and towels, you went downstairs to get a cup of much needed coffee and possibly a slice of toast if your mother had been to the store. Thankfully she had. So, with two pieces of bread in the toaster and coffee brewing, you debated calling Jonathan. Not to harass him to pick you up in the middle of nowhere, but to thank him for the night before. You could be a fun drunk or emotional one, there was no in between. And last night you had definitely been emotional. If anyone was best equipped to take care of you in that state, it was Jonathan. But you would always call the next day with a load of apologies and appreciations and promises of a donut and David Lynch at a later date.

As you buttered your toast, you wondered if donuts and Lynch were enough to mend this wound? Not only yours but Jonathan’s as well. You both had been sucked under the Harrington and Wheeler ray of false feelings, but you always had a thicker skin than him. Maybe not when it came to Steve, but you would still put on your best face when you would inevitably console Jonathan about this situation.

Just as you were crafting the words you were going to say to your best friend, the phone started to ring. Thinking that it was Jonathan with some newly achieved ESP, you paused eating your toast and went to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“How’s it hanging?” The unexpected voice asked.

“Perry?” You furrowed your brows, surprised he was calling.

“Yeah, you expecting someone else or something?” He chuckled.

“Well, kind of. But this is a happy interference.” He laughed again.

“Dad ran out for the afternoon, so I thought I’d see how things have been.”

You laughed humorlessly under your breath, “Things have been things. How about you?”

“Things have been things?” Perry repeated with skepticism.

“Yeah, things have been things.” You sighed and shook your head.

“Fuck that cryptic shit, how have you really been?” His tone grew serious.

“Just drop it, okay? How are you?” You tried to push past his question.

“I asked for first. Now tell me, (Y/N/N).”

You leaned your head on the wall next to the phone and shut your eyes to have a brief moment of clarity before you told Perry what was happening. You couldn’t lie to him. You had that weird sibling connection that could always detect a lie.

“Remember Steve? Steve Harrington?” You said slowly.

“Yeah, last I heard he was dead to you.”

“Well a lot has happened since then.”

“Like?” Perry asked.

“Like, I sorta, kinda, maybe fell in love with him? And I thought he loved me, which he didn’t and it broke my heart. I don’t know…A lot can happen in a month…” You crinkled your forehead. You hated how naïve and young you sounded.

“How the hell did this happen?” Perry was trying to keep his anger at bay, but it was still peaking through.

“We ran into each other at a party, he had just broken up with his girlfriend and I guess I felt guilt or pity, I’m still not sure... He was sad and even though I hated him, I still cared about him, y’know? So, we ended up spending more time together after that and one thing led to another and I dumbly fell for him. He made it seem like he felt the same way. Trust me on that, he was very forward with saying how much he liked me. But I was scared. Scared because all the asshole men in my life, present company included, have screwed me over.” It was a low blow to Perry, but he knew how much his leaving hurt you. This wasn’t anything new. “So, I told him I needed the weekend to think about if I was really ready to be in a relationship, he was totally against it. Wanting me to stay and telling me all this shit, but I knew I needed some time. I thought about it a lot and talked with mom and realized that I really did want to be with him. When I went to tell him, I caught him with his ex, so…”

Perry was silent on the other end for a long moment.

“Steve Harrington did this? Are you sure?” He asked.

“Why the hell would I lie, Per?” You rolled your eyes.

“That just, I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like him.”

“A lot has changed around here. We aren’t playing superheroes in the backyard and drinking Yoohoo, anymore. It’s been years since you saw him.” You toyed with the telephone chord as you spoke.

“Yeah but he was so into you when we were kids. I always thought something would happen with you guys. I always told him he had my blessing. He seemed really thankful for that.” Perry said nonchalantly.

“This is new fucking news to me.” You said straightening your posture.

“What? He was a nice kid and you two were attached at the hip! I told him when you were like ten that if he ever wanted to be with you, I was okay with it.”

“So, even through all the shit talking I’ve done for the past few years, you always thought that we would end up together?” You scoffed.

“Yeah, I always figured it was just hormones or something.” You could practically hear him shrugging on the other end.

“Hormones? Are you fucking kidding me?” You roared.

“See! Right there! Fucking hormones!” Perry said.

“I’m going to kick your ass, I swear.” You mumbled.

“Try me!” Perry laughed, but stopped when you didn’t join in.

And when you stayed silent on the other end, he knew he needed to step up his big brother duties.

“Whether it sounds like him or not, he’s a piece of shit. He doesn’t deserve you. If I was there I’d beat the shit out of him and revoke my blessing! I would!” This earned a laugh from you and Perry knew he’d done his job.

“If you were here, I might have to take you up on that.” You sadly smiled.

“But I’m not. So what are you going to do, kid?”

“Mope, get over it. Move on.” You sighed.

“Fuck that!” Perry scoffed, “You need to tell that asshole off! Who does he think he is?”

He always knew how to work you up.

“He made you love him twice! Not once, but twice! Fool you once, shame on you, but fool you twice…”

“Shame on him.” You said tightly.

“Exactly. You need to make him feel like shit. You need some good old fashioned revenge.” Perry cursed.

“You know what? You are so right!” You nodded dramatically.

“Steve fucking Harrington doesn’t get to march into people’s lives just to destroy them! I need to tear him a new one!” Perry was putting you over an open flame, and the more he spoke, the more you bubbled over with anger.

“Now there’s the (Y/L/N) in you! Go tell that fucker off!” He cheered.

“I’m gonna!” You raged. “I’m going to go now before all this anger and hype wears off.”

“Yes! Call me when you’re home and describe his tears, okay?”

“Deal.”

-

Hastily, you had ran up the stairs, wiped off your mask and threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater. Your hair was still mostly damp and you looked an absolute hungover mess, but you had just enough momentum and energy to drive over to the Harrington residence. Thank God your mother had left her car this time she had gone out of town, because walking in the freezing weather would have no doubt made you turn back and sulk in your bedroom.

You had a lead foot on the gas pedal as you vibrated with anger. Your music loud enough to cover your insane rambles as you whipped around corners and California breaked at stop sighs. Soon, Steve’s house was coming into view, and your adrenaline was spiking.

The car lurched as you came to a quick stop. You yanked on your emergency break and took the keys from the ignition, the music cutting out and leaving you in a tizzy of silence. Upon exiting the car, your nerves began to set in. The cold attacked your damp hair and sent a chill through your bones. The cloudy Indiana sky was creating a grey mood that made you think that the universe was trying to warn you.

Turn back.

It isn’t worth it!

You don’t want to hurt him, you love him!

And yet, your legs did not stop as you stomped your way through the morning dew on the Harrington’s grass and approached his front steps. The large double doors seemed taunting and terrifying, but you paid no mind to this as you slammed your fist hard on the wood, your other hand relentlessly ringing the doorbell.

The surface for your fist to hit was ripped away so fast, you almost pounded Steve in the chest, but your arm stiffened when you saw him standing in front of you.

You did the best to ignore the flutter of your heart at the sight of his bed head and astonished gaze. This wasn’t the time to falter, this wasn’t the time for weakness.

“(Y/N)? What are you doing here? I was just about to come over and see you.” Steve said in a gentle voice.

This was half true. He had woken up at nine, gotten dressed, driven to your house, had a panic attack when he arrived, then came home and decided he needed more sleep before he confronted you. Even with being up all night trying to craft what he was going to say to you, nothing seemed good enough. Steve had wronged you before, and with you thinking he had again, that was how he was going to have to approach you. And it terrified him. It wasn’t going to be easy.

“I have some things to say to you, Steve Harrington!” You boomed, moving you arms down to your sides stiffly.

“I, um, me too.” Steve said, nodding.

“I want you to know that you are a two timing, pig! Who I hate by the way! You manipulative, piece of shit!” You screamed in his face, pointing an accusatory finger in his face.

Steve just stared at you and said nothing. These words were all expected. He was surprised you hadn’t called him anything much worse.

“You come back into my life and make yourself seem like I’m your savior! You make me let you in, you made forget all the rules I had set up- that you fucking made me set up in the first place! You make me fall in love with you and you fucking make me believe you loved me too! Just to see you feeling up Nancy Wheeler in the school parking lot? You are a Class A asshole, Harrington! I hope you rot!” Steve was sure by the decidable of your voice, that you had drawn attention from all of his neighbors by now.

After your speech, you stood on his doorstep, heaving with an enraged look on your face, your body slightly tilted forward. It must have happened sometime during your heated words and violent hand gestures.

“Can I speak now?” Steve asked calmly.

“No! I don’t- no! You can’t. I’m leaving. I have nothing left to say.” You said, going to turn around.

But ever the rule breaker, Steve spoke, “Nancy and I aren’t together. She saw us the night you left when she was coming to get some of her things. Monday we were just talking… mostly about how much I love you. I told her that we are soulmates and she agreed. We lost track of time and when I realized it, I freaked. She told me to wait for you, but you never showed.”

As Steve explained, he stepped closer to you. You were still fuming, but Steve could see the subtle changes in your face as he spoke. But he knew you wouldn’t let your guard down just yet, and he didn’t expect you too.

“I called your house and your mom cursed me to hell and back. I waited the rest of the day in the parking lot, hoping you would show but you never did. I thought, I don’t know… that you decided you didn’t love me after all. That’s why I stayed away. I thought you were avoiding me because you couldn’t face me after realizing that feelings were only on my end. It wasn’t until Jonathan showed up here last night to scream at me, that I connected all the dots.” He was in front of you now.

The information he was telling you was making your resolve of anger and revenge dissolve. Your mind felt like a static television screen, you couldn’t think or act- just listen.

“But that’s why I didn’t call or come to your window or bang on your door and fight off your mother. Because I couldn’t bear the idea of you telling me to my face you didn’t love me. It happened with Nancy and it broke my heart, but with you,” Steve placed a hand on your frozen cheek, “I would die. The pain would consume me, and I knew I would never be the same again. Because I love you, (Y/N). And you’ve got to believe me when I say that, and that I always have.”

Your jaw was tense as tears brimmed your eyes. You were hesitant and apprehensive to believe the sweet words he was crooning to you. It all seemed a little too good to be true. And you didn’t know what to think in this moment. Expect about how much you wanted everything Steve said to be the honest to God truth.

“How can I know? Because you have to understand my side of this too, Steve. You have to put yourself in my shoes.” You said sadly, a giant contrast from your tone just minutes earlier.

“You’re just going to have to trust me,” Steve’s other hand now made its home on your other cheek, “Trust me when I say that you are the only one for me. From now until forever. We will be the testament that movie love exists, our kids will know true love because we will be the example! And you will be my best friend from now until the end of time, because I will never let you go again, (Y/N) (Y/L/N). I love you. And I know its going to take time for us to rebuild, but it’ll be worth the wait.”

If you thought his words weren’t completely truthful, you knew by his eyes that he was. It was clique, but the eyes were the window to the soul, and Steve’s was screaming at you that this was real.

But that didn’t mean it scared you any less.

“Steve, I,” Your breath hitched.

Both of your eyes were glassy, Steve’s nose was inches from yours as he begged you silently to say everything he had been wanting to hear since childhood. He had just cut himself open to you, bleeding in front of you in the vain of forgiveness. He was in a vulnerable state and he needed your kiss for comfort and reassurance.

“I need a minute…” You gasped quietly, stepping out of Steve’s grip.

Before his hands felt like weights, keeping him grounded to the only thing that mattered to him, but when you stepped back, they fell from your skin like feathers. He felt like he could hear his heart breaking.

“But, I…” Steve choked out.

“So much has changed in just the past ten minutes, let alone the past month! I feel like I have whiplash.” You breathed heavily.

All of this was hard to digest. You had just been on the phone with your brother, plotting the best way to cut off Steve’s balls; but then this happened? Steve’s sincere words and heartfelt glances. It felt like you were spinning.

“I feel like I’m in a Twilight Zone episode or something…” You heaved, placing your hands in your hair, trying to find a way to ground yourself.

“Like, I came over here to tell you to never speak to me again and you just threw a huge wrench into that!” You rambled, Steve’s face was sullen as you did.

“This has to be more than a crazy misunderstanding, right? This has to be a sign or something?” You felt like your air way was going to close off as you spoke manically. You had never been this flustered in your life.

“Why can’t this be the sign? Why can’t Jonathan coming to me last night and you showing up here this morning be the sign? Or who cares if it is or if it isn’t! Because at this point, frankly, I don’t.” Steve said back to you.

“We have been in this round about for years, (Y/N). Getting close to our happily ever after, but always missing the exit. This,” He motioned between you two, “This is the exit. This is the moment where we decided to go out separate ways, or finally just be happy. To be in love with each other.”

You let a shaking breath and stared at the broken boy in front of you. He was right, this was the exit. This was one of the pivotal moments in your life that would set the course for everything. Drive off into the sunset or let your fears and haunted memories send you for the hills.

Steve was offering you a grand gesture, he was saying life is a fact, that people do fall in love. And you knew that was true, but you were still scared. A stupid feeling you were sick of always coming up.

“Steve, I’m such a mess… look at me today! And this past week. I just spiral and I just…” You shook your head as your throat choked up.

You wanted to give him one last out.

“I don’t care, I don’t care! When has it ever seemed like I did? I want you, all of you. I know you, every part, every chapter, every subsection and footnote. I have the PhD in you! I love you, nothing else matters. I know I hurt you. I know Jonathan and Perry and your dad have too. I know they fucked up. I know I did, too. But I am going to work every day for the rest of our lives showing you that I will never hurt you again. I can’t lose you, and I’ll do everything I can to prove that. You just have to let me.”

Steve’s words made your knees weak and your stomach flip. He really did love you. With tears peeking from your eyes and gracing your cheeks so said sweetly, “Really?”

“Yes,” Steve said with a small smile, “Really.”

And you believed him. You believed every word he was saying because your heart wouldn’t let you not. You loved him, and he loved you. You were ready to exit.

You took a stride towards him and slotted your lips with his. It took Steve no time at all to fall into your kiss, his hands flying to your waist as you gripped his neck. He was ready to stop wasting time and to make up for every kiss he was too afraid to give and every chance he had missed. The kiss made you feel electric, the cold fall air no longer affecting you. Steve was enough to keep you warm in this instant, and you guessed, for many times after this one. His lips felt like they were made for yours as you kissed him with passion and meaning. Steve pulled you as close as he could, wanting every section of his body to know you were there, that you were finally his. His heart had mended itself in no time and was working overtime beating out of his chest as he licked your lips and your nails grazed the nape of his neck.

Breaking apart briefly to catch your breath, you laid your forehead against Steve’s. His eyes were still shut as he stroked your sides and grinned wider than you had ever seen. You thought he looked so classically beautiful in this moment and smiled too.

“Steve,” You whispered, unable to hold back you words any longer.

He opened his eyes and separated just enough from you, so he could look you in the eyes.

“I love you, too.” You spoke softly.

You finally had said it. Not to Jonathan, your mother, or your mind. Finally, to the person who desperately needed to hear it. The second you said it, it felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulder. One that had settled itself there over years of repression and grief.

“Good.” Steve said, laughing lightly and you joined in.

You rested your forehead to his collarbone and he pulled you flush to his body. Steve couldn’t wipe the smile off his face if he tried, and he knew you couldn’t either. He was about to speak, when he felt something hit his head.

You pulled away and you both looked up and saw rain start to sprinkle down and hit your skin.

“This couldn’t get more cliché.” You shook your head playfully, looking back at Steve who was looking up at the sky with a happy expression.

“I told you,” He said, looking back down at you now as well, “Just like Holly and Paul.”

And as he kissed you again, rain falling all around you, you swore you could hear Moon River ringing in your ears.

It was cliché, perfect, and somehow, just like the movies.

It was all thanks to Steve Harrington.

-

                                                 Six Months Later

You stood outside the banquet hall, cigarette between your fingers as you watched the ash fall to your feet. You were leaning against a brink wall and listening distantly to the muffled pop music that was playing inside.

It was Dustin Henderson’s Bar Mitzvah, and you and Steve had been asked to be in attendance.

You had been his babysitter throughout your high school years, and always had a fondness for the curly headed kid. And when you were both roped into the police station on behalf of a giant monster and an evil lab, it caused you two to grow closer. You cultivated a protective nature over him, and even after his mom decided he was too old to be babysat, you would still drive him anywhere he needed if he called and asked. During some of these drives over the past six months, Steve had tagged along, and Dustin had grown to enjoy his company. Which earned you both not only an invite, but seats at the birthday boy’s table.

The night was a good time. Steve was in a great mood, chatting with Dustin and his friends, and even Nancy and Jonathan a bit- The four of you have reconciled nicely after you and Steve got together. Throughout the night, Steve’s hand was either around the back of your chair, fingers brushing over your bare arm, or planted on your thigh. You loved his soft lovely touches and how he always insisted on giving them to you in public.

After the kiss, that was now known as infamous to you, your mother, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, and anyone else who desired to hear your story, you and Steve had started dating. Confessions of undying love and eternal happiness weren’t swept under the rug or forgotten after that night. Yet, they were choice reminders of how devoted you were to each other. You couldn’t imagine not being together after something like that.

And things were great, and every possible synonym of the word. It was strange at first, to be so happy with the person you had always wanted, but now it felt like second nature. It didn’t feel weird to plan your future to together or look into housing options for you two when you went off to college. It was an agreed upon thing, both verbally and nonverbally, that neither of you planned on losing the other anytime soon- if ever.

You had found the love of your life, your soulmate. Some people never had a great love, let alone found the person they were supposed to end up with. And you had gotten lucky on both fronts. For some, this all would seem far too soon, the two of you were only eighteen. But the road to you two still felt like an eternity. You both had had enough waiting in that regard, so no moment was gone unappreciated or taken for granted. You were both just excited to have a lifetime of memories to make with each other.

“I wondered where you slinked off, too.” A voice said a little ways away.

“Just needed a minute.” You said holding up the hand with your cigarette in it, turning to watch Steve approach you.

“I would have snuck out here with you, y’know?” He smiled, leaning his shoulder against the brick when he reached you.

“You were chatting, I didn’t want to pull you away.” You replied.

“I missed you,” You smiled and playfully rolled your eyes at his remark, “I did! When you’re not next to me, I feel like half a person.”

“You are so cheesy.” You shook your head, your grin widening.

“Yeah, but you love it.” Steve smirked, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” You sighed dreamily, turning to your adorable boyfriend.

You went to drop your cigarette, but Steve caught your wrist, taking the small smoke from your fingers and inhaling deeply before stomping it out himself. He blew the smoke over your shoulder before stepping closer.

You placed your hands on his chest and migrated one of them of his thin tie to smooth it.

“God, you’re so beautiful.” Steve said under his breath as he watched you.

In gentle moments like this, Steve could only stop and stare at you. And thank the universe and every God in existence that you were his. In these moments, sometimes his overloading thoughts of adoration would slip out.

You looked up at his through your lashes and blushed, moving forward to bury your face in his chest. Something you often did when Steve would swoon over you.

“Wait,” Steve said, catching your cheeks before you could nuzzle into him.

“What?” You asked.

Steve looked down at you, pink cheeks and small dainty smile. It felt like he needed to take a beat and memorize this quiet moment, music humming in the background and your happy, tranquil expression. He was a giant sap when it came to you and he made no effort to hide it, but sometimes, when your beauty astounded him in such a way that made his knees weak, he kept to himself. He didn’t let these thoughts slip out, he just wanted silent reminders for himself about how wonderful you really were.

“I love you.” He said, moving slowly to your lips.

“Mm, I love you, too.” You said, smiling growing as Steve placed a gentle kiss to your lips.

“Ready to go back in?” Steve whispered to your lips after he pulled away.

He silently hoped you would opt for a French exit so you two could fool around in the backseat of his car, but then you would both miss the little trick up his sleeve.

“For a bit longer, we haven’t seen the chair dance yet, and I know Dustin would kill me if he was up there and didn’t see us singing along and smiling.” You said, moving your hand up to your cheek to take Steve’s and hold it down by your side.

“Okay, let’s go back in.” Steve nodded.

He shifted your hands so he could lace his fingers between yours and you both headed back to the entrance. As you rounded the corner and got closer to the double doors, the music became clearer, and you noticed the song change to a familiar one.

“Oh my god! You are so cheesy.” You stopped in your tracks, laughing.

“What? This wasn’t me. Dustin loves this song.” Steve feigned innocence.

“Oh, yeah. I’m sure he loves the Carpenters.” You rolled your eyes playfully.

“Well, this sure is a coincidence. We better head in so we can appreciate it.” Steve said as you watched try to hide his knowing smile.

“Fine.” You said dramatically, and Steve began to pull you inside.

“Actually,” You stopped him, changing your mind, “Let’s appreciate it from here.”

You closed the small gap between you, setting your hands on Steve’s shoulders as his instinctively were placed on your waist.

He smirked, “Who’s cheesy now?”

“Still you, but I have my moments.”

“I guess I’m rubbing off on you.” Steve puffed out his chest as you two slowly swayed and you laughed.

“Yeah, I would say so.”

A comfortable silence fell after that, as you were pulled closer to Steve as you danced, swaying to the soft beat of Close To You. Steve knew that it may not been playing at your wedding, but for now, he knew it was enough.

Because obviously, he would make it up to you later. He was going to make sure that this song was the song you first danced after you both said I Do’s.

And like the silent language lovers have, you knew this too.

And you were looking forward to it.  

-

tags: @kaliforniacoastalteens @tanovic54321 @chels-nyc @hoebliss @remorsefuul @keejan-turtle @captaintightpants58 @fandomsfavorite @comefindmesomeday @random-ffandom @thingsweneverhave @nowvoyagerruinedme @rachrose8 @midgardiansworld @cats-on-the-beach @secillyj @kyaramaya 

[woodfinder8754]

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[lostinaseaoffictionalbliss]

Another Hunt

A/N: I know this is super early as its only 3:24 am, but I  can’t sleep and seeing as I will be busy most of the day I decided to go ahead and post this

Summary: Rae is woken up rather rudely and informed of a new hunt. Dean asks her to join him.

Pairing: Dean X OC

Warnings: language that's about it

Word count: 1318

The incessant buzzing of a phone woke me the next morning. I looked at the clock and saw it was only 7:00 am. I was going to kill Jean for calling this early, but then I realized it wasn't my phone. I reached behind me and hit Dean to wake him up. “Your phone keeps ringing. So when you answer it tell whoever it is that most people are asleep at this ungodly hour and to kindly fuck off.” Dean grunted as my arm hit him, but he rolled over and grabbed his phone leaving the room to answer the call of whatever strange creature thought it was normal to be up at 7 fucking o’clock in the morning. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

Thirty minutes later I wake up to the smell of coffee wafting under my nose. I peek open one eye and look at Dean. I was still unhappy, but the coffee kept me from saying anything too cruel. “This better be important since it’s so damn early.” I sat up and took a sip from the mug my eyes barely open. Dean chuckled as he took in my unhappy morning state, hair most likely all over the place. “That was my brother on the phone.” I let out a hum, why would I care that his brother called? Not like I knew the guy and he was disturbing my slumber. “Okay and your point is what exactly?” I took another sip of the coffee hoping he got to the point soon.

“Some town in Colorado had what looks to be a werewolf attack. Two victims with their hearts ripped out. Thought we could use your help,” Dean explained. I looked up at him with a raised brow wondering if he was actually serious about this and seeing he was  I let out a sigh. “I don't know Dean, I generally hunt alone. Don't trust other hunters,” I told him. The green eyed hunter looked at me in confusion. “You trusted me enough to tell you where you live and to sleep with me.” He had thought they had at least some trust between them. “Oh cowboy, trust had nothing to do with it. You just got a good dick and know how to use it, but it does beg the question on why you showed up last night. I didn't actually think I would see you again. And had I known you were a hunter I wouldn't have told you were I live.” My location was something I liked keeping out of the hunting community; it had nothing to do with Dean himself.

Dean looked a little hurt at that, but quickly covered it up. “You said if I was in the area to swing by. So I swung by. Good thing I did.” Even I could admit he made a fair point. If he hadn't showed up the vampire might have killed me last night. I hadn't been prepared for her and she had caught me off guard. Maybe I should give him some trust, just a little. But I wasn't going to let him have it all. I barely knew him after all. Nor would I give him my heart like most girls probably had at this point. To me he was a good lay, possibly a friend and nothing more. I refused to let it be anything more. “Alright, alright. I'll come with you. Just give me a few minutes.” I finished my coffee and began packing a bag. Colorado was a good 16 hour drive for most. I knew though I could make it in about 11 if I pushed it. And I knew we would need to push it.

Once my bag was packed and I was dressed and ready to go, I met Dean in the living room who was sitting on the couch  looking around. “So let me feed Bragi and let my neighbor know I'll be gone a few days and we can head out.” Dean gave me a confused look for a second and then realized I was talking about my dog which he hadn't met yet, but I knew he had to have heard the loud beast last night. “How bout I feed him and you go talk to the neighbors?” Dean offered. “Yeah why not. Food’s in the shed.” I pointed toward the backyard where the shed resided. He nodded and headed that way while I went to talk to Mrs. Ashworth next door.

When I came back and didn't see Dean inside I grew curious. Walking out back I leaned on the back deck’s railing and watched as he played fetch with my dog. I smiled softly watching the pair. Bragi didn't normally trust men as he had been abused as a pup and Dean seemed too serious to do such a thing. It was sweet and I actually felt my heart flutter just a little when Dean smiled at Bragi and scratched his ears. I shook my head and scolded myself. He was a hunter, I was a hunter. This would be nothing more than sex between us. “Come on Dean we need to hit the road.” I turned and went back inside expecting him to lock the door behind him. With keys and bag in hand I went to the garage.

I hop in my car and fire her up. The engine roars to life and I smile as I listen to it purr. Dean looks at her, with wide eyed awe and admiration. “She's beautiful. This is the ‘67 right? With the…”

“383 V8," I answer his unfinished question. "Heart here has 280 horsepower. And I love her.” I smiled up at him.

"Heart?"

"Short for Queen of my Heart."

“Well, she is a beauty. Like to test her against Baby sometime. But we got a case.” He let out a disappointed sigh. I chuckled and hit the button to open the garage door. I moved the car to the driveway and parked long enough to get my motorcycle inside and then closed the garage and locked it. We were now ready to head to Fort Collins, Colorado.

And as I predicted Dean and I managed to shave time off the trip and pulled into the motel his brother had booked. Sam had ‘borrowed’ a car from the junk yard in Saint Cloud where Dean had apparently left him when he came to my place. I grabbed my bag and followed Dean to the room. It wasn't much; two beds, couple end tables, a small table with a coffee pot, and a dresser. I shrugged my shoulders and dropped my bag beside the couch. “Uh who's she?” I heard Sam ask.

“Rachelle and I'm the one who told you were the vamp nest was. I'm also boning your brother. Pleasure to meet you, Jolly Green.” I grinned at him. The bitch face I got in return possibly made this trip worth it.

“I guess having another hunter on board wouldn't hurt," Sam said, still eyeing me suspiciously. So get this, the two victims were on opposite sides of town, but their time of death was only minutes apart,” Sam said as he showed us the coroner's report. I looked over the pictures. With all the claw marks and the missing hearts we were definitely dealing with werewolves and more than one it would seem. “So any idea who it is? Or where they are?” I looked up at Sam. He nodded and gave me a notepad with a list of names. “So let's split the list and scope it out tonight. Hopefully we get big, bad, and hairy before they kill someone else.” I tore the paper and handed Dean some names as well as Sam and kept the rest for myself.

It was time to put an end to the big bad wolves.

Tags:

@thatfanficstuff @mirandaaustin93

[rapgodv]

How BTS, the World’s Most Popular Boy Band, Bought a Dallas Artist’s Paintings

read the full article here

It was mid-September and the K-pop band was in town for two consecutive sold-out performances at the Fort Worth Convention Center. BTS sold out their first U.S stadium show, at New York’s Citi Field in minutes. The entire “Love Yourself” world tour, with the exception of a few dates in which tickets have not yet gone on sale, has sold out.

So, when, by rainy happenstance, seven handsome young pop stars set out to explore Dallas, and ended up in Deep Ellum, and then in Kettle Art Gallery, it would end up being a cool story for Campagna. But it would be an even cooler story for artist Marc Dominus—this would be the first time he ever sold a piece of art to a complete stranger.

Marc Dominus describes himself as a “young 65-year-old.” He lives in a house in Little Forest Hills and recently installed a small painting studio in his backyard.

He was thrilled to be included in the Masstige exhibit at Kettle Art. It was the first time his work had been displayed in a professional capacity.

So, on a dreary Friday night, when a young man with bubblegum pink hair took a liking to two of his pieces, he was over the moon.

“The paintings were 24 x 36 acrylic on canvas,” Dominus says. “I painted them about 10 days before he bought them. As a matter of fact, he had bought two of the most recent painting I had done.

“There was a dark one; a red and orange one. And a green one. I did the red and orange one first. I was happy with it but when I got away from it I didn’t like the contrast so I put more colors around some edges. As I began to do that and I was flipping it, it began to look like a face.

“At any rate, that other one, the green one, was basically based off the orange one. Then, people that came into the gallery, started suggesting to me that it kind of looked like a robot face. Whatever a robot face looks like.”

Dominus’ favorite artist is Keith Haring.

“His images don’t look anything like mine, but his colors do. I don’t know. For some reason I’ve always been drawn to him.”

The paintings, radiant and jovial in nature, were sold to BTS member V for $450 apiece.

[designturf]

Design Turf began designing and building backyard putting greens in 1999 across Canada. Not afraid to travel to follow their passion even as far north as the North West Territories installing (9) 3,000 ft2 municipal golf greens for the avid golfers of Fort Simpson and surrounding communities. Always up for a challenge arranging for crew travel and accommodation, shipping products thousands of kilometers across Canada was daunting but well worth the challenge achieving accolades from the local golfing community.

[brooklynislandgirl]

Tagged by: @corinnebaileyrp

Tagging: @theregoesthebellhop, @lilxlionxman, @jerseysass, @hoouna, @vamptrampbamf, @eli-rochester, @sfdctective, @rxsmyers, @lucxsnorth, @tenderest-contender, @ronmanmob, @nctcricus, @rationedwell {and anyone who wants to}

Rules: Repost, do not reblog.

Answer 11 Questions, make 11 questions, and tag 11 people!

Cory’s Questions:

1. What is the proper way to eat an oreo? Twis’ open wi’ choke care so all da middle is one side, lick  da creme off or scrape lightly wi’ ya teeth, put two chocolate sides back togeddah an’ dunk in milk. Eat. 2. What is one essential item for a proper blanket fort?

ME! Uhm. Ya t’ink I say blanket but ya need room. Enough for you an’ ya person snuggle in, mebbe room for dogs too. 3. What is the last text you sent?  I had for text m’ Pilikia cause I was stuck in a tree.

4. You are dying to try this tiny restaurant everyone’s raving about. The line forms an hour before open, every day. Is it worth the wait?

No. I no believe in wastin’ time an’ money on pretentious kine lidat. My only experience wi’ da kine is being on da servin’ line at Sacred Heart, feedin’ our homeless community.

6. How do you pronounce gif?

“Gif. Like... Gif’ me a cup of coffee, mahalo.” {like Gift without the ‘t’}

7. Coffee.. yay or nay?

Is my survival food, my comfort an’ m’pleasure. Whole bean, fresh ground perfection. Also... Kona from da Big Islan’ is da bes’, but developin’ a kine for chicory coffee. 8. Best thing you’ve ever binge watched? 

Game a’ T’rones. I’m totally ironborn. 9. Backyard barbecue or dinner at a restaurant? Backyard barbecue. Ya mainlanders no have da kine patience to do it right, but ya invite every one for ya hale, cook a kalua pig or two. Some drinks, every bring some kine. Is all about reconnectin’ wi’ ya people over food and dance an’ relax. Restaurants like libraries. Loud, distractin’ too many people. 10. If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?

I woulda stop my braddah from enlistin’ an’ he no would have died.

11. Which would be harder to lose, wallet or cell phone? 

Definitely my wallet, cause license an’ da kine. But I got one kine on my phone dat if I lost it, I would be devastate.

My Questions:

1. What’s your favourite charitable cause? 2. If you woke up as an animal tomorrow morning, what would you be and why? 3. Describe your imaginary friend? 4. Stranded on an island. What five items did you come with? 5. Sunrise, daytime, twilight, midnight? Which is your favourite and why? 6. Pick something from your pocket or purse and share why it’s important to you? 7. You have to start your life over. What name and occupation do you choose for yourself? 8. A Madman who loves you, or a rich man who was once your friend? {change gender accordingly} 9. What happens when you throw a green rock into the red sea? 10. Do you believe in ghosts? 11. What is the one thing you want most in life? Would you hurt someone to get it?

[lovelornrocketscientist]

about meme

Tagged by @corinnebaileyrp

Tagging: @whydoyouthinkileft @secondchaircellist @whiskeyandtwoshotglasses @youhavesymphonies @agcntwilde @byscience @biochcm-jem @ms-potts-to-you @scvietassassin @dcublecross @aldrnaari @trustfundtony @inhumxnterrigenmist @sifshieldmaiden @frombehindpaleeyes and anyone else who wants to do it, tag me!

Rules: Please repost, don’t reblog. Answer 11 Questions, make 11 questions, and tag 11 people!

@corinnebaileyrp’s Questions:

1. What is the proper way to eat an Oreo? You take two, split them both, and then put the sides together with all the “stuff”. Doesn’t matter if they’re double stuff, the more the better. You dip the remaining sides in milk (or feed them to the dog if you’re weak and need that stuff).

2. What is one essential item for a proper blanket fort? I’ll go with a blanket. After that, someone to snuggle in your fort.

3. What is the last text you sent?  “That was sarcasm.” How apropos.

4. You are dying to try this tiny restaurant everyone’s raving about. The line forms an hour before open, every day. Is it worth the wait? Won’t know unless you try.

6. How do you pronounce gif? Not like the peanut butter brand.

7. Coffee... yay or nay? Nay. My stomach isn’t made of cast iron, it’s made of rice paper.

8. Best thing you’ve ever binge-watched? Recently, it’s Black Mirror. Ever? Idk. I’m not sure I’ve ever successfully binge-watched anything from beginning to end. I usually lose interest about half a season in. 

Oh, wait! I did! Wire in the Blood. It’s a British crime drama. That’s probably the best thing I’ve ever binge-watched. Sadly, it’s no longer on Netflix. :’(

9. Backyard barbecue or dinner at a restaurant? Barbecue unless I have to do all the work, then restaurant.

10. If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be? Prevent Trump from being elected.

11. Which would be harder to lose, wallet or cell phone? Since my cell phone is in my wallet, they’re kind of a package deal. That being said, I once lost my wallet and not my cell phone. I’ll leave the conclusions to you, reader.

My questions:

What’s your favorite Marvel movie?

What’s the best first date location?

Halloween or Easter?

Something you’ve accomplished recently that you’re really proud of?

Opinion on people who dye their dog’s hair for various holidays? (Green for St. Patrick’s, purple for Easter etc.)

Backyard fire pit or swimming pool?

Your favorite joke?

Your favorite way to kill an hour?

Last movie you saw in the theater?

One thing you have to do before you die?

As pets, fish or birds?

[nightmare-afton-cosplay]

Farm-Fresh to Your Door: 10 New Modern Farmhouse Homes for Sale

realtor.com

The modern farmhouse is now the aesthetic of choice for new-home builders across the country. The much-maligned McMansion has been replaced, and Tuscan-inspired turkeys have overstayed their moment in the sun.

Defined by neutral color schemes, clean lines, natural wood finishes, comfortable, functional spaces, an occasional industrial accent, and the generous use of shiplap, modern farmhouses offer a stylish combination of contemporary style and cozy family living.

For home shoppers in love with farmhouse style, these homes are now available in all corners of the country. Builders have embraced the desire for these types of homes, popularized by Chip and Joanna Gaines and their (former) show, HGTV’s “Fixer Upper.”

In fact, it was relatively easy to find 10 homes on the market turned out in all their modern farmhouse finest. Each offers a twist on the trend, but they all are exactly in line with what today’s buyers are looking for. Slide open the barn door and have a look…

15125 Valley Vista Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA

Price: $3,199,000

Modern farmhouse meets the Valley: Tucked on a tree-lined street, this new, light-filled modern farmhouse is an example of elevating the style to target deep-pocketed buyers. The five-bedroom home includes high-end extras like a floor-to-ceiling wall of wine in the dining room, a custom fireplace, modern upgraded lighting, and smart home technology. The backyard includes a pool, spa, poolhouse, built-in barbecue, and added greenery for privacy.

Sherman Oaks, CA

realtor.com

———

516 64th St, Willowbrook, IL

Price: $848,000

Windy City modern farmhouse: Located close to Chicago, this five-bedroom home was completed this year. It features a wide-open floor plan filled with natural light. Droolworthy home features include lockers in the mudroom, a family room with a fireplace that opens to the kitchen, and a breakfast room. Exterior finishes like white siding and black metal roofing are telltale modern farmhouse touches. A large yard with a deck out back is made possible by the roomy half-acre property.

Willowbrook, IL

realtor.com

———

8866 Taylor May Rd, Chagrin Falls, OH

Price: $798,000

Buckeye modern farmhouse: This Shaker-style modern farmhouse with a sweet yellow front door was recently finished. There are about 4,000 square feet of living space sitting on an acre and a half of rolling green grass. Interiors are warmed by hardwood floors, hand-hewn beams, and custom cabinets. The interior spaces are flooded with natural light, courtesy of walls of windows. A sunroom opens to a large outdoor paver patio, and the two-car garage includes plenty of extra storage.

Chagrin Falls, OH

realtor.com

———

6661 Lee Rd #401, Salem AL

Price: $312,000

Modern farmhouse meets Southern charm: Completed last year, this four-bedroom modern farmhouse sits on just under an acre-and-a-half lined with trees. Guests are greeted by a glorious front porch and then enter into a lovely home lined with neutral colors, hardwood floors, and a beautiful brick fireplace.

Salem, AL

realtor.com

———

4448 E. Fox St, Mesa, AZ

Price: $809,000

Modern farmhouse with a twist: Set in an exclusive, 53-home community carved out of citrus groves, this home brings modern farmhouse chic to the desert. The four-bedroom home was completed last year and sits on a lot with north-south exposure, to avoid too much desert sun.

Mesa, AZ

realtor.com

———

224 Clementine Ct, Fort Worth, TX

Price: $1,225,000

Modern farmhouse in the Lone Star State: Impeccably clean lines, walls of windows flooding interiors with light, and a muted color palette give this farmhouse the feeling of being so light that it’s almost cloudlike. Behind gates in the Rivercrest Bluffs neighborhood, this four-bedroom has high ceilings, barn doors, views of the Trinity River, access to trails, and—yes—a putting green in the backyard.  What’s more country than that?

Forth Worth, TX

realtor.com

———

136 Matthews Ln, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

Price: $855,000

Modern farmhouse near the sea: Completed nine months ago, this custom-built, four-bedroom home has luxe features throughout. You’ll find 7-inch wood-plank floors, quartz countertops, custom crown molding, and custom cabinets in the den. Out back, the nearly half-acre lot includes a paver patio and fire pit for outdoor entertaining and relaxation.

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

realtor.com

———

2410 S. Fillmore St, Denver, CO

Price: $2,695,000

Rocky Mountain modern farmhouse: Completed in 2016 and built for entertaining, this four-bedroom home has plenty of gathering spots. There’s an enormous center kitchen island in marble with double ovens, a large living room with built-in wine fridge, a glass-walled fitness space, and a big patio with gas fireplace, grill and bar top. It’s a showstopper property for any buyers who want to host all their friends and family.

Denver, CO

realtor.com

———

15 Fullin Ln, Wilton, CT

Price: $999,000

Scandinavian modern farmhouse: Built last year, this five-bedroom Scandinavian-designed modern farmhouse has wide-plank wood floors, a mudroom with tile floor, striking custom tile floors in the bathrooms, and black-trimmed Pella windows. The chic residence sits on over 2 acres at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, for serene family living.

Wilton, CT

realtor.com

———

4190 SE Knapp St, Portland, OR 

Price: $855,000

Northwest modern farmhouse: Built last year, this home, located east of downtown, includes high ceilings, tons of natural light, and a covered cedar deck. For buyers in need of monthly income, there’s also an additional two-bedroom unit that rents for $2,000 per month.

Portland, OR

realtor.com

The post Farm-Fresh to Your Door: 10 New Modern Farmhouse Homes for Sale appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/farm-fresh-10-new-modern-farmhouse-homes/

[albinohare]

Stunning $4,499,000 mansion in Fort Worth, Texas! The extraordinary Montserrat-s…

Stunning $4,499,000 mansion in Fort Worth, Texas! The extraordinary Montserrat-style estate occupying over two blissful acres in Fort Worth bequeaths approximately 9,998 square feet of masterful architecture, interior, and landscape design. Approached through a wrought-iron gated courtyard, the entry opens to a grand foyer with stunning stone and wood finishes. Formal downstairs spaces designed for entertaining flow seamlessly to more casual living and dining areas highlighted by a wet bar, media room, handsome study, guest bedroom, gourmet center-island kitchen, and private master retreat with double-sided fireplace, sitting area, and spa bath. Upstairs are five additional bedrooms and an expansive balcony with fireplace and living area. The extensive backyard oasis boasts a kitchen with grill, a multi-level diving pool with waterslide surrounded by a stone patio, a basketball court, batting cage, and putting green. Eight garage bays will fulfill the car collector’s dream Tag someone you’d live here with! Courtesy of – @jzfortworth Help us grow the community by following @BillionaireAvenues —————— #luxury #lifestyle #interiordesign #baller #millionaire #billionaire #rich #mansion #realestate #interior #goodlife #house #luxuryhouse #luxuryinterior #luxuryinteriors #villa #luxuryhomes #thebillionairesclub #architecture #modernarchitecture #luxuryhomes #luxuryrealestate #housedesign #dreamhome #garden #backyard

Source Authentic Pre-owned Birkin bag for sale

from WordPress http://www.amansions.com/stunning-4499000-mansion-in-fort-worth-texasthe-extraordinary-montserrat-s/

[galacticbugman]

Results of the City Nature Challenge 2019: The Nocturnal Adventures

Well I must say that the City Nature Challenge 2019 was my biggest and best nature challenge by far. I have added a ton to my life list and got to see some of the same creatures just in different forms. Here in this long reel are my highlights from the City Nature Challenge 2019. I worked till I dropped getting up at 12:00 AM right when the contest started and finishing it around at 11:00 PM on the last night of the weekend event. We are still putting in stuff but I have already put in all I had to the iNaturalist site. This was a tough four days I must say. I slept all day today after working all night to get stuff put in to the system. Before we dive into the observations let me go over the totals I made for each day. Friday I made 251 observations, Saturday I made 250 observations, Sunday I fell a little short and only made about 82 observations and Monday I rebounded just a bit and got 111 observations to finish off the challenge. It was a long process but heck it was fun. I went all across the DFW area to get the photos I needed to help the DFW area get pretty far up in the challenge. We have been juggling between 11th and twelfth place. We finished out at a total of _______ in the challenge with all one-hundred fifty cities competing. In the DFW ranks I placed ____ on the leader board. In all I made a total of 694 observations. I almost squeaked out at 700 observations. I made a few records with Friday being the day I made the most observations in one day. I was close on Saturday of making a tie or passing Friday’s record. However I don’t want to bore you with stats. You want to some animals right??? That is what I thought. 

A lot of my observations came from my own backyard. This Elm Borer was one of many Longhorn Beetles that showed up during the weekend. My house is a hot bed for Longhorn Beetles. This one is one of the most beautiful beetles I have seen at my Kitchen Window. On most days I will go out to my back porch and look at all the insects on the window that might show up. Let me tell you it is a lot easy to focus on them with my Canon Rebel T6. I made about sixty observations or so at my back porch alone. This was a very a cool one. I had about four come up to my windows over the weekend. I had some big ones. This was not the biggest one but it was one of the biggest I observed. 

On of my favorite observations came from Saturday during the moth night we had at LLELA or Lake Lewisville Enviromental Learning Center. This place is one of the coolest place I have ever been too. I don’t go out there too often but they have a lot of offer in terms of plants and other wildlife. Moth night was amazing for we had two of these Io Moths come up to our light traps. Mothing is pretty fun but on this night the bugs were much thicker than the ones I have been on in the past few years. It was so buggy that they got under our shirts, pants, in our noses, I most of us accidentally ate a few of the smaller ones. But heck these events are so much fun because you get the most interesting things. I only seem to find the caterpillars of these guys. I never have seen the adult moth until now. This is an adult female because the male is much more brightly colored. This one is a little darker but both have the huge eye spots. I often see this as our smaller version of Mothra from the Godzilla Monsters franchise. This is one of the most beautiful moths I have ever seen. Photos don’t really do it justice though you have to see them in person to get the full effect. These are in the Saturnidae group which is known as the silk moths. The adults in this group don’t have digestive tracts for there only purpose in life as an adult is to breed and die. They only live of only a week or two. Still these are some of the largest and most beautiful moths. This guy was about as big as my palm. An absolute giant among moths but some in the Staturniids can get much larger. 

As you can tell I love moths. This one is a little different than the last one and is a big smaller too. This one is not a Saturniid but in the line of Sphinx moths. This guy is known as the Virginia Creeper Moth. This one is a little smaller than most other Sphinx moths. This is my first time I have seen this moth. This was one of several new ones to my life list. This is a really greenish gray moth. It is very pretty and very neat to look at. This guy is is named because their young feed on the leaves of the Virginia Creeper but they will also eat grape leaves. These are very petty moth. This was not the only Spinx Moth that we saw over  the Bio Blitz Weekend here is another one that we saw. 

 Here is a old favorite that some people have a problem with when they are caterpillars. Meet the White-lined Sphinx. These guys are really common but are large and pretty. They are often seen in the daytime feeding on plants sometimes but other times they are sleeping on walls and other areas, When they are young they are known as “Horn Worms” and do a lot of damage to agriculture crops. They are only a pest from an agricultural point of view but in the natural setting they are not so bad. These guys are one of my favorites because I have a lot of fond memories with these when I was growing up at the old house. These are also one of the prettiest moths. Sometimes larger moths tend to be very colorful and have the most brilliant patterns and designs but don’t get me wrong there are several small moths that are very colorful and are very pretty too. Moths are just amazing in general. Whoever said insects were undesirable has never seen these kinds of moths or the previous insects that we have encountered so far. It really hurts when people say insects are disgusting. Some of them like the invasive cockroaches and things but most of the other insects are very pretty and very colorful. The insect and bug world is full of the most interesting and colorful cast of characters. If you can get past all the weird ways of attack and defense then they will seem more enchanting than alien. 

  A much weirder insects is this Spring Fish Fly. This guy is one I mistook to being a female Dobsonfly but these guys don’t have the weird looking jaws of either gender. Some people who fish catch these guys and use them as bait to catch fish. They are in the family of Stoneflies and such. They are quite large and are attracted to lights at night. We saw this one during our moth night. Most of the ones in these slides are the nocturnal creatures that we saw. 

A really cool beetle I have been searching for this last few years is the Fiery Searcher. This is not a small beetle but one of the largest ones in North America. This guy is known for its hunger for Caterpillars in fact it is a specialist of hunting caterpillars. It is a beautiful beetle with metallic greens, blues, and some black and white. We had quite a few of these guys come up to the lights during the night at LLELA. This one is another one that is new to the life list. I hope to see more of these at the next moth night I do which will be during National Moth Week which is always the last full week of July. Moth nights are so cool because you just set up a black light or lights with different wave lengths and let the bugs come to you. On this moth night we had the big lights at the green house. The bugs were so thick and most of them were midges but there was a lot of different things with all of the midges. These guys are amazingly beautiful. Lets look at something else shall we? 

Here is a cool one that has kind of an obvious name. This little guy is called the Half-yellow Moth. It is no wonder how it got its name. I call this one the Arnold Palmer moth because it looks like the color of lemonade and sweet tea. I like a good Arnold Palmer blend every now and again and just cracked up when I saw this. It is kind of a fun moth. It also reminds me of the color blend of Pikachu’s tail. It is kind of a cool little moth. Most times when I am insect watching or when I am watching insects a whole lot of things come to my mind of help me better understand and memorize their names. These guys are so cool. This was my first time seeing one. There was only one that we saw at the Mothing event. This was one of the coolest smallest moths we could find. I knew it had to be something like that but I just had to get this one in writing. 

We didn’t really have a lot of fuzzy moths except for the Io Moth but this one was kind of fun. This is one of the Hag Moths known as  Euclea incisa. Not sure what the common name is but this one is a wild looking one. I have seen this one before but I don’t see this one all the time so I often blank on it. It is a nice one and kind of a smallish but stocky. It is a very interesting one and has a lot of hair on its legs. It looks kind of fake when you are right on it. Sometimes animals look fake in some cases. This is one of those cases. It is amazing the creatures you can find at night. It is a strange and bizarre world at night. There are a lot of interesting creatures that come from out of nowhere in the nocturnal realm. 

A very pregnant American Nursery Web Spider we saw towards the end of the mothing event. She was sitting on the little plant just sitting as still as could be. She was really big. These guys get pretty big and I have only seen a handful of these. I don’t always see them on my hikes but I must say they are large and beautiful. They are very well camouflaged with that nice gray color. They are an amazing spider to look at. I remember back when I was doing the forest field trip to become a Texas Master Naturalist we saw one. We were in a little restricted part of the Fort Worth Nature Center and we were in the leaf litter there was a whole bunch of spiders from Wolf Spider to other spiders and walking around in some of the leaf litter we saw these guys walking about. This was a really cool encounter that stirred up the old memory bank. A lot of the insects I see are liked to many fond memories I have had in the past. Sometimes some are linked to very bad experiences but that is just the way it goes with the world of insects and arachnids. You have to take the bad with the good in all things. 

Sometimes during mothing events you kind of want to look around elsewhere to find other thing to allow more insects to show up or in some cases if you are me to go look for scorpions or other insects that may be hanging around else where. This is a really cool fungus known as a Violet Fairy Cup. This was near the work shed out where we were. It was kind of creepy back there and I was with our spider specialist and her friend and we went out there and looked for spider and we just happened up on this. IT was pretty fresh it was still nice and fleshy feeling. This is one of the most interesting bits of fungi I had ever seen. Not an insect but it was something pretty cool. 

Some times when you lure insects to your lights sometimes you will attract their predators. This Gulf Coast Toad was hanging around looking for a tasty bug to have as a late night snack. He was not a lone there was a couple of Gulf Coast toads out hopping around just waiting to snag a big moth or something. The lights do attract more than just insects as you can see. Of course Toads are just their to eat they are not interested in the light. They are just out to hunt their prey. It is always fun to see frogs and toads. There was something else that we found that proved that their were more dangerous things out and about in the forest. 

Do you see this lovely but dangerous snake? This is a Copperhead that we saw out by one of our other light traps. This was just one of the reminders that we all had to respect the land and tread lightly and look at our surroundings for this venomous snake was out. If we knew copperheads than we would know that their could be more. It is kind of risky to be out at night but hey at least none of us got bitten. Some people get the wrong ideas about snakes and that they will bite without hesitation. This is simply not the case. Snakes have a limited supply of venom. They have to use that venom on something they can eat. We can be eaten and they don’t want to mess with us. If you just stop and look at then they will not bite you but if you do something to provoke them then they will. In many cases you have to really agitate them for them to bite you. Most of the time if they do bite you it is a dry bite with no venom. I am not saying to go harass a snake because there are many times where they will envenom people but they are not mindless monsters. They need that venom to kill their prey like mice and insects. They are not going to waist precious venom reserves to take down something they can’t eat. People often get backwards ideas that are not true at all and that has really hurt them. So it doesn’t hurt to get the facts and separate what is not true from the truth. Many creatures have been hurt because of the misunderstandings that people believe. Snakes are good to have but you just have to give them their space. Just for the note I was not too close to it this is the zoom on the camera talking. The other animals in this post I did get up pretty close too but this one I let breath a little bit. Such a beautiful snake and very well colored to blend in right with the leaf litter. An absolute beauty. 

A pretty moth that I am just now seeing for the first time is the lovely Snowy Urola Moth. These guys are a beautiful moth with nice white shiny wings. These guys are pretty small but they are one of the coolest moths I have ever laid my eyes on. They are so mesmerizing. They are one of the prettiest moths in my book. I have seen many photos of them but to take a photo of one personally was a really neat experience. It is truly rewarding to get to take photos of the animals. They are truly interesting to look at and it is a way to hold on to those memories. As they say take a photo it will last longer. This is something that I have really taken to heart in the last few years. I love taking photos of animals and sharing them with people to tell them that their is a whole world out there filled with wonderful wildlife. I love to share the interesting world of wildlife with people. I could write a whole book on my experiences and photographs but right now I just make Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr posts about them. It is kind of fun to use these sites as a mediator to relay what I find in the natural world and the social media sites. I am sure I speak for many other here. Social media is a hotbed of hurtful things but I like to use it as a place to share passion and to show people things that are cool and defuse a lot of this negativity that goes on online. It is kind of fun to show people the world of wildlife. I may not be professional but I love to share my experiences with wildlife. Lets look at a few more before I start making more speeches.

The next thing I want to show you is this little beauty...

This guy is called the Harnessed Tiger Moth. We found him along the back entry way of the greenhouse. This was the most buggiest place for we had the big lamp out here which attracts the most insects. Trust me we could only stay out in this area for short periods before having to move because of all the bugs. Anyway this was one I had not seen before and hung around for a while. We got a lot of beautiful moths out there. This one may not be a Luna or Io moth but it was one of the coolest if not one of the biggest moths that night. It was quite amazing to see this one. I have to say it was one heck of a few nights to get all of these observations. I wound up with a lot of cool things under my belt. It was the best moth night of my entire life. The only thing that have made even cooler would have been a Luna Moth landing but that sadly didn’t happen but it was still cool to see the Io and this lovely little gem. Moth nights are so much fun for you never quite know what will show up. These were my top favorite observations from that night but there is still more to come from the other days of the CNC 2019 so stay tuned. 

[davidoespailla]

As Home Buyers Flock In, Fort Worth Embraces Its Cowtown Reputation

Amy Mikler for The Wall Street Journal

When Maridon and Jason Grochowski found a vacant lot in Rivercrest Bluffs, a gated community in Fort Worth’s River District, they signed on the dotted line right away. But they knew they had a long wait ahead of them.

The nearly 15-acre development on the Trinity River still lacked streets, curbs, sewers and other infrastructure when they bought their land for $375,000 in 2014.

Last year, the Grochowskis finally moved into their 5,000-square-foot, four-bedroom home. With views of the bluff overlooking the river and access to the hiking trails from their backyard, “you have the feeling of being out in nature,” says Ms. Grochowski, 47, a stay-at-home mother of two children and a real-estate investor. But when she and her husband, a technology consultant, are craving steak from Del Frisco’s or heading to the Kimbell Art Museum for an exhibit, Fort Worth’s Sundance Square in downtown and cultural district are only five minutes away.

Maridon and Jason Grochowski’s home in Rivercrest Bluffs, a gated community in Fort Worth’s River District.

Amy Mikler for The Wall Street Journal

Young professionals and families are discovering the charms of Fort Worth, a city of about 875,000 people with deep roots in the cattle industry. In recent years, this Cowtown has gone Uptown with the rise of upscale condo developments and gated subdivisions offering high-end amenities. Professionals coming from pricey cities outside of Texas are looking for larger luxury homes with a “yard for their dog,” says real-estate agent Martha Williams, co-founder of Williams Trew in Fort Worth. “If they’ve been living in an apartment in New York or L.A., they want a more a residential setting.” Proximity to the city’s cultural district and the Trinity River Trail system is also a draw.

The Grochowski kitchen in the 5,000-square-foot house, built by Fort Worth-based Village Homes and completed last year.

Amy Mikler for The Wall Street Journal

In 2013, the average price of a luxury home, defined as the top 5% of the market, was $672,825, with 358 properties sold. Today, its $716,729, with 651 luxury properties sold in 2018, according to MLS data provided by John Giordano, a residential developer and an agent specializing in luxury properties with Giordano, Wegman, Walsh & Assoc. This does not account for private listings or land purchases for new construction, he adds.

But the market is cooling. With more inventory recently, “the prices are softening a bit, especially in the high-end market,” Ms. Williams says.

Ryan and Jessica Dodson moved from suburban Mansfield to the Colonial Hills neighborhood of Fort Worth last spring. They gut-renovated and built an addition onto a 1942 home they purchased for just over $1 million. The design, inspired by one-story California contemporary ranches, features a wing for the couple’s three school-aged children and a master wing for themselves.

Ryan and Jessica Dodson gut-renovated a 1942 home in Colonial Hills near Texas Christian University.

Justin Clemons for The Wall Street Journal

“I was fairly particular on what I wanted,” says Mr. Dodson, 42, of the 6,400-square foot home near Texas Christian University. “We wanted something we could renovate and make our own.” While Mr. Dodson, a commercial real-estate developer, won’t disclose the cost of renovations, similarly sized, newly renovated homes in the area cost around $2 million, according to Realtor.com.

Those looking for new construction in the city are also buying in the Riverhills residential area and near the Clearfork development, an area that was once part of the historic Edwards Ranch, according to Mr. Giordano. New homes in Riverhills range from $800,000 to $3 million, and the development includes a Neiman Marcus department store and other luxury retailers as well as fine dining.

The Dodson kitchen includes a family heirloom table from Jessica’s grandmother.

Justin Clemons for The Wall Street Journal

For suburban-style homes, the gated Montserrat neighborhood on the city’s west side is another popular option because properties are still near the loop of Interstate 820 and offer an easy commute, says Mr. Giordano. The largest home on the market in the neighborhood is a 24,093-square-foot mansion, built in 2006, with an indoor pool and 13 living areas with traditional touches. It is listed for $7 million.

In the established Rivercrest neighborhood, Michael and Leigh Bornitz bought a French provincial-style house across from the River Crest Country Club for $600,000 in 2011 and spent 1½ years on renovations.

Leigh and Michael Bornitz purchased a home in 2008 and completed a 1 1/2-year renovation. The home has a French country-style exterior with a built-in ornamentation over the doorway.

Justin Clemons for The Wall Street Journal

Ms. Bornitz, a 41-year-old interior designer, says she took some risks with the décor. “The entry hall is lacquered green—I don’t think I can talk a client into those color combinations,” she says. Throughout the home she used bright wall colors, intricate woodwork and eclectic mix of vintage and modern furniture. In the kitchen, she had the original ’70s steel cabinets from St. Charles of New York repainted with a beige automotive finish to create a retro feel. Outdoors, she used vintage brick and a fountain to create a Savannah-inspired courtyard.

James, the son of Leigh and Michael Bornitz, rides a scooter between the dining room and the sunroom. Ms. Bornitz, an interior designer, experimented with colors and textures throughout the home.

Justin Clemons for The Wall Street Journal

Some sellers are capitalizing on demand for turnkey properties from out-of-state buyers who don’t have time to build. In the fall, Tiffany Figueiredo says she put her 3,800-square-foot home on the market for $1.2 million and it sold in 2½ months for close to asking price. The buyers, an-out-of-state couple, purchased most of the furniture as well. The contemporary home was built in 2011 a few minutes’ drive from the town’s Cultural District, home to institutions such as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Ms. Figueiredo, 49, who works as a travel adviser, downsized into a condo she previously used as a rental property.

A Venetian-themed wallpaper adds color to the guest room.

Justin Clemons for The Wall Street Journal

Lately, interest has broadened to land on the outskirts of Fort Worth’s more established neighborhoods. Steve Halliday, a commercial architect, purchased “a weird triangular lot” south of downtown Fort Worth to be close to his office in Fairmount for $30,000. To fit the layout of the land, he designed the home around a triangular swimming pool and spent another $130,000 on construction. “We used geometry to connect the lots and the lot lines disappeared,” says Mr. Halliday, who lives there with his wife and two children. Inside he created an open-plan living area with black granite countertops and black custom cabinets in the kitchen. In addition to the main home, Mr. Halliday, 39, built a separate structure for his mother-in-law to provide privacy.

For him, living close to the historic Fairmount neighborhood with restaurants and arts is key. “It’s a walkable neighborhood with more of an urban connection,” he says.

A Thing or Two about Fort Worth

Fort Worth started as just that—a fort. It was an Army outpost built in 1849 to protect the American frontier. Here, drovers trailed more than four million cattle through the city, earning it the name “Cowtown.” But that is all changing.

Exchange Avenue in the city’s historic Stockyards connects with its opposite pole, historic Magnolia Avenue. Both hangouts have vastly different characters crowding the streets on a Saturday night, but both were revitalized in recent years with their heritage in mind.

At the Stockyards cowboys and tourists grab a steak at Cattlemen’s Steak House and a dance at the colossal honky-tonk, Billy Bob’s Texas. On Magnolia, a passerby may spot a Range Rover parked in front of Craftwork Coffee, where two bearded men likely coiffed at the ever-popular Fort Worth Barber Shop step out for a vegan latte.

On Jan. 19, the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, one of the city’s oldest traditions, will take place for the last time in the beloved Will Rogers Coliseum—and event planners titled “Old School Cool.” In 2020, for the first time in 75 years, sparkling Dickies Arena will host the event.

Here, some spectators can be seen quaffing beer and eating a corn dog, while others sip Champagne in box seats while wearing an heirloom fur coat and $5,000 boots custom-made by Northside’s M.L. Leddy’s. It’s the spirit of Fort Worth wrapped up in one place.

—Jocelyn Tatum

The post As Home Buyers Flock In, Fort Worth Embraces Its Cowtown Reputation appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

As Home Buyers Flock In, Fort Worth Embraces Its Cowtown Reputation

[jaigeddes]

Turn Up the Music in Studio – Dec’18 Mix

As 2018 comes to a close, we normally find ourselves in a bit of a lull as our clients start shuttering projects for the holiday season … that behavior isn’t too crazy as there are parties and trips to take and between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, and everyone seems to have a lot going on. This is fairly normal for a residential architecture firm, except this year we are busier this November and December then we have ever been and as a result, I have been digging deeper and deeper into my studio playlist to keep myself energized as I put in some longer than normal hours.

One thing that brings me great happiness is when I play something that few people have ever heard of before … and they like it. With the current mix of people in my office, playing something that nobody has heard before is depressingly easy (they irreverently claim “youth” as the main reason they have never heard of the music I play for them) but I still think finding something that they like is a worthy goal.

So combine longer hours at the office with my goal of finding and playing music that exposes my office to something they enjoy and you get my current playlist …which I’d guess achieved a ±90% “I’ve never heard this before” rating.

Maybe you’ll fare better and have heard some of these songs before… or not. Okay, let’s get to it.

All Them Witches – Charles William While they are musically categorized as a “Metal” band, don’t let that fool you or put you off. Sure, they play loud at times but I have never wanted to whip my hair around or hold a lighter up during one of their songs. My typical response is that I do whatever it is I’m doing a little bit faster than I was previously.

I have two things about this video that might provide additional entertainment value to the song … First: Watch the right leg of the drummer, it’ll help show you how the bass drum is driving the beat. If you were me, you will also get a kick at the pattern of the hi-hat. Second: Stick around to the 2:30-minute mark and you’ll see what a rock-n-roll band looks like.

Bonus Track – When God Comes Back I don’t know many metal bands that play with a Rhodes keyboard, this seems more like stoner rock to me. Either way, if this song is playing while you’re working out, go ahead and slide an extra 40lbs onto the bench press, you’ll be able to lift it.

Matt Simons – I’m Already Over You Matt received his college degree in Jazz Saxophone Performance and you can definitely hear the jazz influence in his music. While this is probably not his most popular song, I like the keyboard … a trend I noticed that makes an appearance on a few of the songs on today’s list.

Leon Bridges – Coming Home Hailing from my backyard in Fort Worth, Texas, Leon Bridges has a great throwback sound and a wonderfully smooth voice that is reminiscent of 1950’s crooners Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

Bonus Track – Smooth Sailing From the genius that is the NPR “Tiny Desk” series, in this song you can get a better feeling for just how good a voice Leon Bridges actually has –

Passafire – Submersible I only recently discovered Passafire and for the last several months, they’ve figured heavily into my playlist rotation. Formed in 2003, they are a reggae band made up from students that were attending the Savanah College of Art and Design … that’s right, it’s a reggae band from Georgia … that makes total sense.

If you want to get your groove on, this is a good group to put on your radar.

Agnes Obel – Familiar Another new artist for me – I originally discovered her from tracking down the music from a “Peloton” fitness ad (which was September Song if you are interested, as you should be).

Pay attention at the 1:35-minute mark. That is still Agnes singing, it just has this interesting male timbre to it that made me go searching to discover who had contributed additional vocals to the track. I learned that Agnes sang that portion herself and had it slowed down to give it the sound that it has. Pretty cool I think.

The Temptations – Papa was a Rolling Stone This is definitely a throwback song for me – but you know how I like a solid bass line. A psychedelic soul song that was originally written for the Motown group The Undisputed Truth. It was re-written as a 12-minute song for the Temptations that went on to hit #1 on the Billboard chart and take home 3 Grammy’s … Most of the time all I can think about is how pissed I’d be if I was in The Undisputed Truth and didn’t get the new version.

But the Temptations are amazing AND this video has them singing the song on Soul Train. If you are like the people in my office and don’t know what Soul Train is, you need to go here  … you can thank me later.

Marvin Gaye – Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) Probably my most favorite Marvin Gaye song – which is saying something because all of Marvin Gaye’s songs are amazing … and it also has one of the best bass line hooks ever. This is one of those songs that I think everyone will know until I ask the folks in my office and learn that nobody has ever heard this song before.

Nappy Roots – AwNaw I don’t know what to tell you other than I like this song. Whenever it comes up in my musical rotation, you had better watch out because I just might start bustin’ a move … also, this track is best listened to with the volume turned up. Recorded in 2002, there are a handful of songs from this period that is similar in sound to this one … maybe it’s the unexpected addition of the organ that pushed this one onto the list. Do yourself a favor and try to make it at least to the 45-second mark of the song before you punt out. Besides, it was either this song or Trick Daddy and In Da Wind

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Rascal King This is one of my favorite bands from my college days. Affectionately referred to as “The Bosstones” they are a hybrid ska-rock band and have been around since the early ’80s. They have never experienced huge commercial success but their fans are fairly passionate about the group. My favorite album from them was the 1993 studio album “Don’t Know How to Party” but I couldn’t find any videos from that album so I went with the Rascal King.

Fun fact – there have been 15 members of this band through the years with only 4 being there the whole time; the lead singer, the bass guitarist, the tenor saxophonist, AND THE DANCER!  If you watch the video, the conductor is the dancer – Ben Carr. I can’t tell you how many times I practiced perfecting his moves. (FYI – The dancer in this video towards the end is not the dancer)

The Green – Love I I haven’t met anyone in my life who has heard of The Green – which probably wouldn’t be the case if I lived in Hawaii. The song I have included here is off their debut album, which was named iTunes Best Reggae Album of 2010. I first heard them in an ice cream parlor when my wife and I first brought my daughter there on vacation back in 2011 and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime I wasn’t going to include this song in today’s post but it fell into the “Everybody needs to know this song” category. In fact, I’m not sure that we can be friends if you choose to dislike this song. Another great bass line, the genius of David Byrne both musically and from a performance standpoint, what’s not to like? I typically try to avoid providing commentary on the video because they are only here as a medium to allow people to hear the song I am talking about, however, I specifically chose this version BECAUSE of this video.

So there you go – hopefully, there are some new songs and bands in today’s post that are worth adding to your office playlist. This is the 5th entry into my “What Am I listening to” series. Just in case you make it through today’s list and you’re hungry for more., here are the links to the previous four:

Turn Up the Music in Studio

Turn up the music in the studio

What am I listening to anyways?

Architects and their Deserted Island Music

Turns those speakers up to 11 and have a great week!