Holiday Madness

Gah! I still don't know how anyone writes a novel in November! I hope everyone's NaNo went well though. Sadly, I haven't had time on the computer a lot lately. Which leads me to my major point for this post.

I realized today that my holiday season is packed, more like jammed full of events. And most of those events take preparation. Which, sadly, is where my free time is going for the next four weeks. Between school events, family events, friends, and church...well, it's a good thing I have January to devote to writing a novel :)


And I'll also be playing catch up in the blogging world during January as well. This doesn't mean I'm totally out for this month...just on a tighter schedule with less time to post and follow.


I'm sorry. I hate the feeling that I'm making excuses. I know everyone's busy. And somehow you all have time to blog as often as you do. You're awesome. Just know that I'm in awe. I hope to post at least once a week and share some fun during this holiday season! 

My Christmas lights are on, my yummy candle is burning, and I just ate an orange and hot chocolate for a snack. Mmm...mmm! 

What do you like to snack on during those cold winter evenings? And is your life as crazy as mine during the holiday's?

Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is turkey day! Unfortunately, I don't like turkey very much. But I am thankful for many other things in life :) I sent my hubby to the store to buy a small turkey (think turkey breast) and he came home with a whole 12 pound turkey. That was not what I had in mind. And it's frozen. And I don't know how to cook. It should be interesting! But I'm definitely thankful that I have a wonderful hubby who will do my shopping for me :)


And we might stand in line Thanksgiving night for one of those ridiculous sales on something that we may or may not get. But we really want it.

And my goal of finishing my latest revision by the end of the month may not happen, but I'm not giving up yet. I'm just busy with life and well, the bazaar I'm in charge of at my daughter's school.


But I have an awesome pile of books to read.


The Help.
The Iron Knight.
The Book Thief.
The Forgotten Locket.
Silence.


Awesome right? Why aren't there more hours in a day? 


And I'm certainly grateful for many things. Here's a few that just barely scratch the surface of my life's blessings.


#1. My family. The one I grew up in, the one I married into, and the one that my husband and I are lucky to be raising.


#2. My faith. What would I do without the help of My Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Ghost? 


#3. My friends. Both those that live near and those that live far. They are just like family.


#4. My talents and abilities. I've been blessed with a (mostly) healthy body and mind. I can do many things and have the potential for so much more. I'm excited to tread into the unknown.


#5. A home (no matter how small) and a job (my husband's) that can support our family in order for me to stay home with the many little kids we are blessed with.

I'll stop there. I could go on forever, but this post is already getting long...


What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Are you cooking your own meal? Going to brave the Black Friday lines? Are you still doing NaNo (if you ever were)? What books are next in line for you to read? And what are you Thankful for?


Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe and have fun :)

Breaking Dawn...Part 1?

I used to be a die hard Twilight fan. Like, I was a Twilight mom, tried to be in the movie, went snooping around filming locations, and pretty much dreamed of the characters day and night. 


My feelings have changed, or more like simmered. They filmed the first movie here in the good North West, though, and that's just where I happen to live.


Since it's the opening day of Breaking Dawn (part 1), I thought I'd give you some sneak peaks and short stories about my first obsession. And to put to rest the question of whether I'm excited about Breaking Dawn (part 1)...well, let's just say I'm not a big fan of breaking a book/movie into two. There's a reason it's written as one and I prefer it all together. So, although I may not be waiting in line anytime soon to watch Part 1, you can for sure find me in the lines when Part 2 comes out :)

  This is the picture I sent in to be part of the movie. The only "cool" thing was that they called me in for more sizing to be Victoria's stand in...or something like that. I didn't get it. But it was a great experience anyway!

 This is the fence you have to hop over if you want to get to the baseball field they used for filming.

 So, one afternoon we were driving around town and saw bright yellow posters to guide the filming crews to a park. Like no one else is going to see them right? Weird. So my hubby and I took our kids to the park. They weren't filming yet, but they were setting everything up. Don't worry...I went back when they were filming :)

 Actor's trailer's. Saweet!

 Food tent.

 A couple days after the hubs and I snooped around, my friend and I took my kids back to the park. As we drove in, they were in the middle of filming a scene right off the side of the road. My friend was yelling at me to look, but I had to inform her that if I took my eyes off the road I would definitely hit one of the millions of film crew people glaring at my red van! Yeah, SO not inconspicuous. 

 This is the fog machine they used for the "reveal vampire in the woods" scene. Pretty awesome!

And my friend took most of the pictures so I don't have anymore. But we did see Robert on a break and tried to get his autograph...but when a red van parks nearby, apparently it's time to hide in the trailer.

 Another awesome Twilight mom's thing I got to be a part of was a dinner at the View Point Inn. For those of you who might now know, that's where they filmed the prom.

 Apple bracelet anyone? 

 Oh wait! Does he look familiar? This is the guy who played Sam in the first movie. He's really nice and was awesome to come to a dinner with a bunch of "not quite teens anymore" that were obsessed with Twilight.

 Yes, I stayed true to the color scheme :)

 And this is the Breaking Dawn book release party at Barnes and Noble downtown Portland. It was a Prom theme. Hence the nice dresses and, of course, vampire make up!

 Oh yeah. He was there this time too. 

Have any of you done anything crazy like this? Ever tried to see an actor? Been so obsessed with something that you lived and breathed it? 

A Fun Read.

So, any of you like a light, fun read? How about one filled with fairy tales, backstabbing sister's, and unexpected love? Want a wish or two...or maybe three? How would you deal with the way the wishes were granted?


I just read My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison and it met all these expectations. Totally fun, light, funny, entertaining, and yes, included all the fairy tales we love :)




What have you been reading? Are you excited for Breaking Dawn part 1 that premiered tonight and is coming out this weekend? Find out Friday if I am...and get some behind the scene fan pics from the first movie! See ya then.

Setbacks.

Some of you may really be following my progress...or the lack thereof. I like to report what I'm doing, and some of you may be wondering why I've been working on my final revisions and pre-querying process for a good five months now. 


Well, things come up in life. And sometimes our body and mind choose different paths. I've been diagnosed with something. Don't worry, it's not too bad and will be gone soon enough, but here are the ever present symptoms that scramble my mind sometimes.


Fatigue.
Sickness.
Mood swings.
Dizziness.
Headaches.
Absentmindedness.


Yeah, that last one is a killer when a good idea won't come together. No matter how hard I think. Sometimes the harder I think, the worse it gets.


Some may say these symptoms are the caused by a parasite, but I like to refer to it as a baby! Yes, baby #5 will be here sometime around April 2nd.

So, if there are times when I make a comment that doesn't make sense, or I just forget to check your blog. I'm sorry. My brain has other plans most of the time. 


For the first four months, I couldn't even write. Editing was fine...but only for others. Nothing happened on my novel. I had to come to the conclusion that that's just the way it was going to be.


But some of my brain has returned...along with a growing stomach that doesn't get along with my laptop. 

What kind of setbacks do you have?

NaNo Check In...or check out.

Holy cow! I finally have a chance to sit down and write a post. And I'm not even doing a NaNo novel. Life is BUSY! And we're already one week into November. Wow!


So, how is everyone's NaNo novel's coming? Are you far into it? Just getting started? Or decided to sack the whole thing and try again next year? Don't give up yet. You can still write a novel. Maybe not such a long one, but you can do it! Even if you haven't started yet, start now! 

Even though I'm not writing a novel, I've come up with a goal for myself. I want to finish my final revisions before the end of the month. 


That way I can send it to beta readers during December and start querying after the holiday's. 


Yay for goals! Good luck to everyone on whichever part of the journey you're braving right now.


What are your goals? Are you writing a novel this month?

What? There's something big in November?

Of course there is! And once again, I won't be a part of it. Why NaNoWriMo has to be in November is beyond me. I don't know how you all find the time to write a whole novel in November. I mean, yeah...another month would be great. But November? Okay, so maybe it's not a usually crazy month for anyone else.


I must be a loner.


But that's okay. Because I'm going to try my JanNaNo again in January. What does it stand for? Well, certainly not National Novel Writing Month. Or January Nation Novel something, cause that would be untrue. It's just my name for writing a novel in January. 


But since there are so many of you who do write a novel in November, I'm throwing my blog plan out the window. That means no interviews. I know, sad. But I don't want to bother anyone who might be working on something big :)


I'll still be posting, but it will be more random. More fun. Stuff people can read to relax from the whole writing thing maybe. Or just light writing stuff. And it won't necessarily be on Tuesday's and Friday's. Just when I feel like it. 


I have some fun stuff planned and I'll probably throw in a few holiday traditions. Let's face it. I've been listening to Christmas music for six weeks. Shocking, I know. But it's kind of my favorite. And who doesn't listen to their favorite music all year? At least I'm limiting mine to three months!


But good luck to anyone writing a novel in November. I'll be here as your cheerleader! 

Let the fun begin!