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OKC was not my best con and I was definitely struggling with anxiety from chaotic changes in schedule and my worst enemy, "comparison is the thief of joy." But there were still a few cute ops out of it.

Squish with Alaina and Jeannine in which I did know what to do with my arm.

Louden Swain, sans Mike (who was MIA for this con) in which Shanda and I made a confused Billy the star of the show.

I missed out on this op in Austin so was happy to snag one for OKC. The Radio Company panel was the absolute highlight of the con <3

Once again, I failed to look at the camera, but got a good ol' squish. And was briefly delighted that Jensen called me "sweetheart" as I was exiting... until I almost immediately heard two other people say he'd called them the same and it took all the wind out of my sails (I was having a hard time, okay).

This is one of the Cas-iest, Cas ops I've had. And Mish did this cute arm grab squeezy thing as we were separating that did actually make me feel pretty okay for a bit.

I mention I was having a hard time not for sympathy or anything but because sometimes it feels like sharing how many cons I do feels like this ideal world I'm painting, when the reality is that I'm often feeling invisible and like I'm chasing interactions that others grab with ease. I spend far too much time at cons alone, stuck in my own head, and often undermining myself in interactions. And leave each one thinking, "I'll do better next time." Sometimes I do. We'll see if I manage to do better in Novi.

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My "home" con in NJ is never my fav of the year as the vibe is always just a little off, but it did produce some cute pics and a truly hilarious op series.

Had to stop by for a couple photos with Jared's Lil Bro.

Haven't had a Jake op in a while but Jeannine and I got a cute squish <3

Could not resist the last minute opportunity to get an op with God and his sister.

Another cute squish with the moose and angel.

And now it's story time... I went in for my Jensen op with a reference photo. It was an older op Jeannine had done and sent me as a recommendation. I gave it to Shelley on my phone, she shows Jensen, tells him "looking at each other." I go to get in the pose, and Jensen stops me and goes "no, no, no, put your arm around me like a normal person."

Now, why there is a photo of this moment I do not know, except Chris must had started clicking early.

So I follow instructions but in my head i'm thinking, "like a normal person? What are you implying, sir?" And that is written ALL over my face in this version. And you can tell, Jensen is just laughing at me.

And then I panicked and looked at Chris and went "oh my god I screwed that up, we have to do that again." And it only occurred to me later, that's not the done thing... but in retrospect Jensen was was also saying do over at the same time, and Chris was clearly on my side. So we got this...

And then Jensen grabs my arm as I'm leaving and says, "That was some serious side-eye you were giving me. The judgement!" And he was not wrong!

Honestly, the second is my favorite of the series despite my face because it's such a moment in time and Jensen's grin is priceless.

Not for nothing but that was the second time I had that grin directed at me during the con, because I had a chance encounter with Jensen when he bisected my path while he was walking into ops and I was walking to a trash can. He pointed that beam of sunshine grin right at me and even after all this time, I am not immune to it even a little. <3

Oklahoma City is up next!

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First con of 2025 in Boston, after a five month break for me. So good to get back into the swing again. Outside in the freezing cold to say hi to Jared's Lil Bro, looking handsome as ever.

Julie is the sweetest person and I highly recommend anyone going to a con this year taking the time to meet her.

Getting to meet Danneel was an absolute highlight of this con and boy is she stunning! I have one more duo with Jensen that I did with a friend that I'll add in once she gets her JPEGs back.

Got a retake on this one with the band because Jeannine forgot to take her glasses off but honestly they both came out super cute and she ended up likely the glasses-on one better anyway!

We cute <3 (That sweater was very soft.)

I have no explanation for the duck face here, but dude did go "What's uppppp?!" when I walked up to him so I guess he was just being a goof.

I'm not usually a selfie person but I snagged one with Ruthie because I had something to give her.

And a moose hug to round out the weekend (not sure what happened to my hair in this one).

Next up for me is New Jersey, and I'm already regretting that I didn't squeeze in Minn so here's hoping the next month goes by quickly.

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I would be remiss if I didn't also post the two ops from the one non-CE con I did in the long gap between Chicago and Boston.

Was in Vancouver anyway for location hunting so had to stop in to FanExpo Vancouver for a moose hug and to meet John Rhys-Davies, who was the sweetest, most polite human. (Don't ask me why I was standing so far away from Jared - that op definitely came out odd).

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Went to go post ops from the first con of the year, and I guess I never put up the ones from Chicago last year? 8 years in and I had never gotten an op with Jason so had to fix that.

This Misha/Baby was ridiculous. I could not keep a straight face and he was just laughing at me.

After a string of better efforts, I once again lost the ability to find the camera with my eyes.

This, right here, is the most ridiculous and chaotic op I have ever taken. Thanks to my friend Carrie who pulled me in at the last second because this is just pure joy. Hope you enjoyed your nap, Mish.

I love this op so much. I got completely flattened.

This was an impulse purchase on the last day because all my ops were Saturday and then I had ended Sat autos on a weird vibe and was heading into five months without cons and needed a better memory to end on. No regrets.

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A small but delightful set of JPEGs from SPN Charlotte, starting with this adorable R2M where the instruction was "We're all going to squish Robbie." What is Rich doing? No one knows! But it sure is funny.

Gather round for story time on these next few. I had decided I was going to be brave and do the leaning against the car pose for my Jensen/Baby. Go into the op thinking I'm going to tell the handler this but she walks away right when it's my turn and I'm left to deal with Jensen on my own. Strike one for me being flustered. So I tell him what I want and then get into position against the car and I'm looking down making sure my hands are in an okay spot by my sides and he goes, "No, give me your hand." I do, and he proceeds to place it on his shoulder and hold it. Strike two for me being even more flustered.

I finally look at him and he is way closer and staring way more intently than anticipated and that was strike three. My face immediately starts to break and I am just desperately trying to hold it together long enough for the two snaps and not bust out in giggles. By the time I decided I had fought it long enough I'm curled over with my head practically on his shoulder in embarrassed laughter apologizing, and he's got my arm and goes, "That was so smooth. SO smooth."

The op turned out way better than I was expecting given what it felt like in the moment, but you can definitely see in the close up that we are both trying not to laugh.

Took me a while after that op to recover myself. And then I start panicking because I had already selected another pose for my solo that involved looking him in the eye and in my head I'm thinking, "He's going to think I'm nuts trying this again."

So I go in for the solo with a reference photo and after the handler shows it to him, I walk up and go, "I'm going to keep my shit together this time." And he says, "I don't believe you." And then I proceeded to stare him down like a pro. And after the photo was done he went, "You did it! Look at you!" Yes, yes, I did, thank you very much.

Is it just me or does it look like he is staring extra intently trying to break me?

Finally, moving on to Sunday, we've got this adorable Misha/Alex with kitty ears and bouncy pumpkins. A'int we all cute?

Just one more con for this year, so a few more ops from Chicago coming soon.

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SPN DC was very low key compared to the events of my last couple of cons. But still had a cute little batch of ops.

Uncertain how much of this was a misunderstanding on what exactly we were doing for this pose and how much was just Misha being a chaos demon but a) it's hilarious and b) that man is not light and I was struggling not to tip over.

This is the result of me walking up and holding my arms out and saying, "Hugsies?" Moose hugs remain the best hugs.

Not really a fan of how this one turned out (my fault!) which serves me right as Jensen's comment on my pose explanation afterward was "I feel like that was more complicated than it needed to be." :-P

I told them one of them got to hug me and the other was gonna be mad about it and they could choose which was which. Jensen immediately volunteered to be mad. And then one of the handlers goes, "you've been waiting to be able to do that all day." LOL

For context on this one, you need to know a few things... 1) I have been a They Might Be Giants fan for many years and have seen them in concert more than 200 times, 2) I have known Val through the TMBG fandom for more than ten years before either of us discovered SPN, 3) the very first time I got an op with Misha at my first con, Birdhouse in Your Soul was playing in the op room, and 4) I have a tattoo based on a lyric from the song that features the bird I am holding in the op. So when Val suggested we do a Birdhouse op with Cas, it took zero convincing on my part. And Misha was even familiar with the song when Val was explaining the op and started reciting the lyrics. Could not be more pleased with how well this turned out <3

On to Charlotte...

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SPN Indianapolis was a bit of a rough one for me. Was supposed to have this fabulous fan week doing SPN Austin, then both Radio Company shows and then Indy with my friend Jordan. And it all went great through the first RC show. But at the second one, my body gave in to the blazing inferno that was that venue and I collapsed and had to be take to the ER by EMTs before the show even started. Missed the whole thing. And everything after that was kind of a messy emotional and physical struggle. But you wouldn't really know it from the photos. Unapologetically stole Billy for myself in this Louden Swain op.

For context on these two you need to have watched the Misha panel and seen the interaction with my friend Jordan. https://x.com/timxoc/status/1827392136305897705 The Cockles op was right after the panel. And, yes, Misha stole Jordan's glasses in the Mishalecki.

This was one we were excited about from the moment it was announced and it came out so friggin cute with the were-pire lovebirds.

This was absolute chaos to get the hands arranged correctly and I am clearly still panicked laughing about it in the photo.

And then there's this. Like I said, I was in a rough place. not finding a lot of comfort in the aftermath of something traumatic. Walked up to the boy and said, "I need the best hug you can muster." He said, "I got you." He most definitely did. Closing my eyes was involuntary. I knew it happened in the moment but wasn't sure when Chris snapped the picture. As usual, he nailed it.

Ended up buying an extra auto to get this signed the next day, so I could say thank you because I needed that hug so badly. And he just grabbed my hand and squeezed.

Here's hoping the next con adventure goes a little more smoothly.

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Quite possibly the fastest JPEGs ever from Austin.

Squishes for the birthday boy.

Lil Bro, Jared's screen used car, is clearly the star here.

Jensen gave me such a strong double thunk on the back after this op that I think he knocked all sensible thoughts out of my head for a good hour afterward.

I let him pick the pose for this one and the totally botched the instructions but not at all mad about the results.

Couldn't pass up the first opportunity for an op with Misha and Baby.

Just your typical family photo op. (I assume... I don't actually have siblings.)

This one is just super cute.

Misha understood the assignment here almost too well.

"Do you have bigger cups?" This op was conceived of over a year before Austin ever took place. Moose got it instantly and complimented the good callback.

Had to get these up quick before Indy. More to come soon... and I'll maybe try to throw out some mediocre phone shots from Radio Company in the meantime.

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Columbus JPEGs have made their landing!

Robbie squishes <3

Happy Pride! Was pleasantly surprised to realize that MishMish picked up on fact that his sign was a speech bubble :-)

Jensen definitely understood the assignment on this one (even if I can to reposition him a little to get Jordan in place).

Awkward family photo. So on point.

I think this is my fav. Mark is such a sweetheart.

And finally... If anyone can clue me in to what I keep doing in ops that makes Jensen pull away from me like this, please do because it's starting to give me a complex.

Full disclosure, I'm struggling with how I look in these ops. I don't seem to be my best self. But I feel like sharing anyway is important.

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And while we are catching up... New Jersey!!

Super cute Kimmie hug with my friend Jenna.

For some reason rejected the hug he wanted to give me in favor of this...

Halfway attempt at the distracted boyfriend meme with Jensen's actual Hero One Baby <3

Jensen's face in this close up sends me :-D

Intense stair is intense...

Somehow in all my years of con going I'd never gotten a solo with Mark... he's such a sweetheart.

This op was the human highlight of my whole con. Moose saw me next in line and just gave me this "Oh, you..." look and then held out his arms and said "Get in here!" And the op is just pure joy.

This op with anonymous friend was chaos to get lined up but came out pretty cute!

Randomly acquired this free op with DJ and dragged my friend Liz along.

And closing out the day with angel snuggles.

Also adding in some photos of the non-human highlight of the con... Baby. I was literally vibrating in this first photo I was so excited... absolute core memory.

Had to go back and see the girl again on Sunday and brought one of my green army men I got in the prop auction to visit.

I promise I won't wait so long to share Columbus ops :-)

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I am so behind on sharing ops here! I came with the intention of sharing my NJ ops while I wait for Columbus JPEGs but apparently I never shared Burbank? So have some Burbank ops first!

Bunch of beautiful ladies... including me and my friend Shanda.

Adorable R2...

The very charming karaoke master, DJ.

In this birthday op for Cindy we discover that I am TERRIBLE at doing heart arms :-D

What's that? We actually got my dude to smile? Miracle of miracles.

MishMish squishes.

This is my favorite of the weekend, I think.

Hello, I do not not know what to do with my arms.

Angel hugs <3

And thus concludes this blast from the Burbank past.

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Apparently I posted this on the wrong blog and never noticed. Whoops!

Just realized last night that I somehow never shared my ops from SPN Hawaii here.

In 30+ cons I had somehow never had to have a photo retaken and then suddenly I ended up with three retakes at this con. The first was this Kim & Bri that I shared with my friend Shanda - I didn't end up with the JPEG of the second but it was pretty similar, except Bri wasn't sticking her tongue out.

Round two of the retakes was my MishMish, both of which came out cute. Supposedly one of us blinked in one of them, but them both look fine to me! Not gonna complain about an extra MishMish hug :-)

This dude never ceases to be a knockout <3

Shanda's favorite op... she's definitely in her happy place <3

This op with my friend Jenna was chaotic and involved a lot of me steering Felicia around while I had no clue what the boys were doing behind me. As we were walking away I heard one of them go "Was that supposed to be a totem pole?" We look a bit more like the kids doing So Long, Farewell in The Sound of Music but I love it!

Jenna invited me to share her J2 so I got an extra Moose hug, which I am never going to complain about.

My own J2 is my favorite of the con, with a Moose attempting to knock Jensen and I over with me squished in the middle, and everyone looking perfectly delighted to be where they are <3

Someday I am going to achieve a perfect J2M smooshy hug where all of them are smiling - each time I try gets a little better and this one is pretty close, which hopefully means next time will be perfect.

The last retake was this Mishalecki I shared with Jeannine so she could have her first Jared hug while Misha and I pouted. Chris retook it because she closed her eyes but I actually like that one best of the two.

And finally, completing my J2M selfie series for the year with a Moose, and also discovering it is possible to get a selfie and a Moose hug at the same time.

For a little bonus, also had a Meet and Greet photo with the kings of the con, but I can tell from my face how awkward I was feeling in this moment. They, of course, look great.

Hawaii was a pretty spectacular weekend all in all, despite a higher than normal anxiety level on my part, and a good way to wrap up the year!

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This this this this ⬆️⬆️⬆️

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SPN DC, aka #KristaCon, was pretty heavy on the heart emotionally but the ops came out fantastic.

This is absolutely the cutest MishMish op I've ever had.

This came out even better than I hoped. "Can we do hug from behind? And you... just fawn over the car." (He understood the assignment.)

After testing out the selfie pose with Mish last con, I took it for another spin. Also Jensen's shirt was ridiculously soft.

Philemon Chambers (Gus from Walker:Independence) was an absolute delight. He brought his mom to the con!

Even though I cried my way through SNS and left on Sunday feeling pretty deep in the emotional thinky thoughts, I am so glad I was there to experience this con. It was a demonstration of all that is good and beautiful about the #SPNFamily. <3

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First con since April! I know that doesn't seem like very long, but it's a long time for me after averaging one a month for a while. Charlotte Con was a blast and a bit of a unique experience with the strikes ongoing but that didn't put a damper on ops!

Nate Torrence was a delight. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was listening to Rich fanboy over Nate TO Nate on stage - just absolute joy.

I love Drake so much, I wish I got to enjoy his presence at every con. The mini-moose brings me joy <3

I will forever call them "the kids" because they are almost young enough to be mine - such a delightful group of talented young people.

The incomparable Jojo showing off some lovely art my friend Jordan made for them

I had the joy of surprising my friend Christine with this op with the boys and the Impala. Her first Jared squishy hug <3

I do not like selfies at all so I always avoided the selfie pose, but I keep seeing other people's photo with the pose and they are always so flattering so I decided to use MishMish as a guinea pig and try it. Pretty happy with the results, I gotta say.

Running out of cute ideas for ops with my favorite dude. Please send help :-D

On the other hand, I apparently no longer even need to ask for my squishy hug... the moose saw me coming and just opened his arms <3

EDIT: Late arriving JPEG featuring so much cuteness <3

In all the times I've been to cons since they started offering ops with the Impala, I've never actually done them, but had to make an exception here for this exceptional restoration.

All in all Charlotte was up there among favorite cons, not the least of which was because of these wonderful ladies that I had the pleasure of getting to know.

Onwards to DC!

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SPN NJ is somehow never my favorite con despite being the one closest to home but this year was made so much better by wonderful friends <3

Friend number one chooses to remain incognito and graciously invited me to join their Misha/Ruth op.

I have always wanted one of those Dean hug ops but I never liked that he always looks so somber in them. So I walked up and said “Can I have a Dean hug, but like a happy one?” Jensen contemplated this for a second, like he was trying to figure out what that would look like. And then gave this tiny little smile and said “Yes.” And then I had to basically snuggle and his hand was in my hair and my brain absolutely separated itself from my body, because I walked the wrong way out of the op.

Absolutely adorable Winchester kids photo with my wonderfully talented friend Liz.

Jordan drove all the way from Ohio to join me in NJ just to hug this man. I think it was worth it.

Some serious adorableness going on in this one. 

Jordan needed an “I don't understand that reference” op. Misha delivered. And then promptly broke character to wink at me. Because Misha. 

My big take away from this con is “do more ops with friends” because I’m more relaxed and less in my head and everyone looks so happy. Good times <3