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Monday, October 31, 2011

I Made It!

This is it!

The last day of BEDO. I have blogged everyday in the month of October!

I have enjoyed the challenge of sitting down and writing something everyday. Some days where better than others, but that's life.

I probably won't be blogging daily anymore, (especially with NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow) but I hope that I will blog a little more frequently than in the past.

I have a lot to do today. Now that NaNoWriMo is so close, I'm starting to feel like I'm not ready.

Since I'm running out of time, I'm just going to focus on cleaning up my writing space and go over my outline one more time.

I'm off to do that now.

I'll be updating here every so often to let you know how NaNoWriMo is going.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

NaNoWriMo



I've been talking a lot about NaNoWriMo this month.

With only two days until it starts, I can think of little else.

I thought it might be a good idea to just write a post about it.

I came up with a few very basic tips for anybody who thinks they might want to try writing a novel in a month. ( I should mention that everyone writes differently and what works for me might not work for you.)


1. Plan- It's a good idea to have at least a basic outline of your story before you start writing. I know not everybody works this way. There are some who don't like any outline at all, they just sit down and write. There are some who create very detailed outlines and character descriptions. I'm tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I like to have a very basic outline that I can follow, but not one that I'm so invested in that I get upset if the story starts to take a different direction.

2. Network- If you can find a friend to join NaNoWriMo with you, that's awesome. If you don't know anybody else who writes, check and see if there are any local write-ins. It's a great place to meet other writers who are going through the same thing you are. Also, write-ins give you a chance to catch up on your word count if you fall behind.  Last year I wasn't sure I would finish in time, so I went to a write-in and I was able to write about 5,000 words in a couple of hours. I was able to finish my novel a couple days early because of all the work I got done that night.

3. Write- This seems obvious, but it's also the one thing that keeps people who want to write, from writing. If you want to write a book, at some point, you are going to have to sit down and actually write. You have to find the time and you have to write. It can be scary if you've never done it before, but that is what #2 is all about, finding people who are going through the same experience.

That's about it. I could write pages of things you should or shouldn't do, but I wanted to stick to the basics and these were the first 3 things that came to mind.

I would add one more thing. If you do happen to reach your goal of 50,000 words in a month, you should celebrate it. My favorite thing to do when I win NaNoWriMo is to buy a winner's shirt.

Then you'll have something to wear to remind yourself and everyone else that your are a writer.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Feeding the Fish

Yesterday, we took little sister to the lake to feed the fish.

As soon as the fish (and ducks) see that somebody is standing on the walkway, they will start to gather.

They expect you to feed them. Why else would you be there?



You can buy a little bag of fish food for 50 cents.

They are not shy, they will fight over the food.




We spotted a white fish this time. I've never seen it before.


This is something that is fun to do that doesn't cost a lot of money.

The fish are always excited to see us.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Friday

Today was not my normal day.

My husband didn't have to go in to work.

I'm sure any wife who stays home knows that your husband being home changes everything.

Also, we had a visitor today. My husband's little sister was over here for awhile.

Anybody who doesn't have kids knows that having a six year old in the house changes everything.

I did have a good day.

- I bought some new nail polish.

- We went to the lake and fed the fish.

- I got to sleep in and when I did wake up, my husband had already made coffee.

Now I'm tired. Maybe I'll post about the lake tomorrow.

Now I have to go catch up on everything I missed on the internet today.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

You Capture: Cute

This week's You Capture was difficult for me. (I feel like I'm always saying that.)

I just could not think of anything to take a picture of that was "cute".

I did take some picture of my nephew this week and he is definitely cute, but I don't like to put up pictures of other people's kids without their permission.

(By the way, totally jealous of all you bloggers who do have kids. This week must have been an easy one for you.)

Anyways, these pictures are of the mug on my desk that hold my pens. I know it can't compete with babies, but I bought it because I thought it was cute. It's all I got.



 Also, my Mickey Mouse shaped pen is kind of cute, right?

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's cute pictures.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I'm here

I'm cutting it close tonight with the blog, but I didn't forget.

I didn't do a whole lot today.

I finally watched the movie Cast Away.

I've had the dvd from Netflix for 2 weeks, but couldn't find the time to watch it.

The movie was the most exciting part of my day.

The rest of my day consisted of laundry, dishes, and cooking dinner.

Right now I am...

Watching- The Office

Drinking- sweet tea

Eating- Zingers (not healthy, but very good.)

It seems like this week has gone by fast. I can't believe that tomorrow is Thursday.

I also can't believe that NaNoWriMo starts next week.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tuesday

I'm drawing a blank today.

I'm not sure what I should blog about.

I only have 6 more days after today and BEDO will be over.

I will have blogged everyday for an entire month.

That's actually very exciting. I've attempted month long blogging projects before, but I have never completed one.

That's all I have for tonight.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Monday

Mondays are always hard when it comes to getting back into the routine of the week.

The only thing I really did today was some laundry.

My husband and I drove around and looked at a few gyms. We would like to get a membership somewhere, but they are all so expensive.

We found one we really like, but it's not very close to us. We're not sure it would be worth it after all the gas we would use going back and fourth multiple times a week.

Monday night is our grocery shopping night.

We do our shopping at Target, so it's really easy to get sidetracked.

I got a new purse. I've seen it before and really liked it, but this time it was on clearance so I snatched it up before they were all gone.

We also picked up a couple of iTunes cards. My husband has been itching to buy an app for his new iPhone.

After we got back from "grocery" shopping, we watched the newest episode of The Walking Dead. We both really like this show. I'm surprised my husband likes it, he doesn't usually like anything scary.

Now he's playing with his new app, and I'm writing this post.

It's been a pretty good day. The weather was nice, which we really enjoyed because it's supposed to get cold again by Wednesday.

I am so not ready for winter.

That about wraps up this post.

Now I'm off to investigate my new purse and maybe buy some things on iTunes.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Finally a Day of Rest

Today was the first day in a long time that my husband has been home from work and we had absolutely nothing planned.

It was a nice change.

First, I have a couple of pictures from yesterday's disc golf game.




I guess I should have clarified that I didn't actually take pictures of people playing disc golf. Just of the course, which is very pretty this time of year. I have more pictures, but they are all of different trees, so I figured this was enough.

As for today, my husband and I went and grabbed some lunch and took it to the lake to eat. It was such a nice day we didn't want to spend all of it inside the house.



These are both the same picture. The second one was edited in Instagram on my phone.

The only picture I got of the lake was this one as we drove by it.


I think that's it for today. I can't believe I have blogged everyday for 23 days.

I'm pretty sure that is some kind of record for me.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Another Fast Post

Unfortunately this is going to be another quick blog post because I'm exhausted.

Today was a good day. It started with my husband buying my biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

The rest of the day mostly consisted of my husband playing disc golf. I got to see my adorable nephew and give him the shirt I bought for him yesterday.

We ate some awesome BBQ at Oklahoma Joe's.

Now we're home, and I don't feel great, but I think it's mostly because  I'm exhausted.

I took quite a few pictures today, but I'm not putting them up tonight.

Maybe I post some in tomorrow's blog post.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday

It's been a long day.

I haven't been home much and I'm about to leave again in a minute.

I wanted to write a quick post just in case I didn't get back in time to do it later.

I spent the day with my mom at the mall.

I found some glasses I like and I do need new glasses. I've had the ones I have now for almost 10 years.

I bought a cute for my nephew, so I'm hoping to get to see him soon so I can give it to him.

Sorry this is such a hastily written post, but I've got to go again.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

You Capture: Fall, Family, Fresh

It's been awhile since I participated in You Capture, but I'm hoping to make a comeback.

Given the amount of time we had to work on this assignment, I'm a little embarrassed by how little I have to show for it.

I pulled these off of my phone earlier today.





I don't have any pictures for family, just fall and fresh.

The rest of these pictures are ones that I have already posted before, but I'm going to post them again because they were taken after the theme was assigned.





I threw that last one in there because for me, the fall also means that it is time to start planning for NaNoWriMo.

That's exactly what I have been trying to do this week, which might be a reason for the lack of any new pictures.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Getting Somwhere

Yesterday I sat down and did some serious thinking about plot and characters for my NaNoWriMo novel.


What I have so far is a very basic and very vague outline.

I still feel like I have no idea where the story is going to go or what to do with it. I guess that is part of the fun of NaNoWriMo.

Also, you can tell from the picture above, I'm still having fun with the camera on my phone. I've been using Instagram and it's a lot of fun.

Just for fun, here's another picture I took last night.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Fall



My camera might be causing me problems, but I can still take pictures with my new iPhone. Plus there are a lot of fun editing options that I can use right on my phone.

I don't know when it happened, but all of a sudden fall weather is here. It's cold in my house.

My husband actually mentioned turning on the heat yesterday. I am NOT ready for that.

I'm hoping we can hold off at least till November.

Then, I'll be too busy writing for NaNoWriMo that I won't care about the weather as much.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Typical Monday

I took some pictures to share with you.

You'll notice there are no pictures in this post.

I must have done something to the setting on my camera because every picture I took was bad.

I tried adjusting the settings...still bad.

Then, I tried making pizza for lunch. Had the oven heated up and everything.

I took the pizza out of the freezer and opened it....it was covered in frost (freezer burn? Is that the same thing?)

At least having the oven on warmed up the house a little.

It's cold today, which surprised me a little bit after the really nice weekend we had.

I think that's all for today.

I'm off the find a new idea for lunch.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Busy Day

This post is going to be a short one.

It's been a long day.

The surprise I talked about yesterday....

I got an iPhone!!

I love this phone, it's amazing.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet as I haven't been home much today.

I'm hoping tomorrow's post will be a little better.

See ya then.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Food, Drinks, and Naps

The title of this post definitely describes my day today.

There was a party at the cigar store that my husband likes.

There was food and drinks.

My husband got some time to hang out with his friend.

We sat outside and it was a beautiful day today.

As soon as I got home, I crashed on the couch. I took a little nap, and it was great.

I have some exciting plans for tomorrow.

I'm not going to tell you what they are, but you will know in my post tomorrow.

I will say that I will be buying something awesome that I have wanted for a while.

See ya tomorrow.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Laundry Day

I've been slacking a little bit on the housework this week.  This means that laundry hasn't been done.

So, I've made today Laundry Day.

Laundry Day is something I do whenever I get really backed up with laundry.

I do at least 3 loads of laundry back to back. When they are done, I dump them on the couch.

Then, I put in a movie and watch it while I fold all the laundry and put it away.

I like this because it's really the only chore I can do while doing something fun at the same time.

I got started a little late today, so I'm only on the first load right now.

Doing this on Friday also insures that we will both have clothes for the weekend, which is always nice.

The washer just stopped.

I guess that means I'm done here.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Thursday



This is my tree now.

It finally lost all it's leaves earlier this week. I just haven't been able to take the time to get a picture.

I'm sad because I don't want fall to end. Our tree is always the first on our street to change and then lose it's leaves, so the good news is that I still have all the other trees to look at.

Still, I can't help but feel that before we know it we'll be getting out our winter coats and shoveling snow off the driveway.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Getting Somewhere

I might actually have a little bit of an outline for my NaNoWriMo novel.

It is very basic and very vague, but at least it's something.

I'm thinking about trying something a little different this year, so I'm a little nervous about how it will turn out.

I was going to do another Wordless Wednesday today, but I didn't have any new pictures on my camera.

Right now I'm going to get back to working on my outline.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to do some laundry...and wash the dishes...and other various cleaning activities.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Slow Day

I was up earlier than usual today. I had to get stuff for Chilli ready so that it could cook all day in the crock pot.

Now, I am waiting for the water to boil so that I can make my lunch.

After I finish this post, I'm going to try to sit down and start planning my novel for NaNoWriMo.

The new website wasn't actually ready until early this morning, so I didn't get to do much yesterday. Now that it's up, I'm pretty excited about getting started.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures lately. I just haven't had much to show.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Time to start planning

Today is the day that the new site is supposed to be launched for this year's NaNoWriMo. 

Today is also the day that I told myself I would start planning for NaNoWriMo.


This will be my third time participating in NaNoWriMo, and if all goes according to plan, it will also be the third time I win.

I'm only a little bit nervous because I have no ideas for a plot, but I know I'll think of something before November 1st.

I always do.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Sunday

Today has been pretty boring.

Mostly just running errands and window shopping.

The weather is nice today. It's almost a little too hot, but there is a nice breeze.

I can't believe the only thing I have to talk about is the weather.

I think I'll just end this blog here and hope for better tomorrow.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

I'm just looking...

My husband and I went into Party City yesterday.

We were in the store for less then 5 minutes. I only needed one thing.

About 10 seconds after walking through the door... “Can I help you find something?”

Big smile...”No thanks, we are just looking.”

I find what I need, and I keep looking because is there is so much fun stuff to look at.

Another girl walks up...”Can I help you find something?”

“Oh, I’m just looking. Thanks.”

At this point I’m getting a little annoyed. I know they are just being nice, but I hate being bothered when I really do just want to look.

I walk back over to my husband and we start to talk about something. (I don’t remember what.)

I notice someone standing next to us, so I look up.

“Do you two need help finding something?”

I’m thinking that this is the same girl that asked me the first time. If I needed help I would ask for it. So when I answered, it wasn’t in the nicest tone.

“WE’RE JUST LOOKING.”

The poor girl looks a little baffled, but says to ask if we need help. I notice my husband is looking at me like I’m crazy.

“What? Did I sound mean?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, isn’t that the same girl who asked us the first time?”

“No, that was a different girl.”

Now I feel awful because I was rude to this poor girl and she had no idea she was the third person to bother me in 3 minutes.

At this point I figured it was time for me to get out of the store. (Even though I would have liked to look around a little bit more, I didn’t think I was in the right mood for that.)

On our way up the the register, we get asked one more time.

“Can I help you folks find anything today.”

BIG SMILE. (Trying to over-compensate for being rude to the last one.)

“No thank you, we’re fine.”

Then we paid for our crap and got the heck out of there.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Me to the rescue!

I saved a little boy yesterday. (Ok, helped would probably be more accurate, but I felt like a hero.)

I was sitting on my couch minding my business when I heard the dogs next door barking like crazy. I also heard kids yelling and I figured that the kids walking home from school were what the dogs where barking at.

I look out the window just in time to see a young boy (8 or 9 years old maybe?) run up to my door. I thought he was laughing because the dogs had chased him up there. (They are pretty small dogs)

They dogs kept barking and I'm still looking out the window wondering why this kid chose my house to run to.

Then I hear the boy start to cry.

My heart breaks.

This is the kind of cry that tells you a kid is terrified and doesn't know what to do.

Those dogs had chased him onto a strangers doorstep and he had no idea how he was going to get away.

In between sobs I can hear the boy saying "I want to go home."

At this point my heart is in a million pieces on the floor.

I fall over myself trying to get to my front door. I feel so bad for him and I can tell he's terrified. I couldn't get to the door fast enough.

I open the door and step outside next to him. (I make sure my dog stays inside, that's all this kid needs is another dog.)

He tells me he lives down the street and that the dogs won't leave him alone. He thinks they want to bite him.

My plan was to distract the dogs while the boy walked home, or even possibly walk with him because I'm used to the dumb dogs and they don't scare me. 

By this time, my neighbor is outside calling for their dogs to come in the house, so the boy was able to walk the rest of they way home in peace.

I haven't been able to get that little boy out of my head. I know I didn't do much, but I hope I was at least a little bit comforting.

Also, it would be nice if my neighbors would actually watch their dogs.  There have been times when those dogs have ran towards me on my way to my car. They catch me off guard and it always startles me a little. I can't imagine how scary it would be for a little kid walking home alone.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Lots To Do

I have been so tired this week that I can't seem to get anything done.

I don't know if it is because I've started running this week, or if I'm just being lazy, but I'm hoping to change all that today.

These are some of the things that I have neglected this week and am hoping to work on today:

- Dishes
-Laundry
-Need to work on cleaning the office
-Ok, I need to clean the rest of the house too.
-Need to organize paperwork
-Showering would be nice
-It is seriously time to start planning for NaNoWriMo next month.

Just writing that down makes me feel like it really isn't all that much to do.

We'll see at the end of the day what I actually get done.

I would like for my house to be somewhat presentable by the weekend so I don't have to worry about cleaning. 

I want to just enjoy the awesome weather we've been having.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tired

Yesterday morning, after getting absolutely NO sleep, I decided to go running with my husband.

We only ran 1 mile. Usually my husband would run more than that, but I haven't gone running since my sophomore year in high school.

I thought it would be best to just stick to the 1 mile.

I think I did pretty good considering what horrible shape I'm in.

I actually kind of enjoyed it, the scenery was beautiful. I was able to watch as the sun rose up over the lake.

The only thing I don't like is that I can't take my camera with me when I run, and I am missing out on some really great pictures.

There is just no way I would be able to run with my big camera.

Hmmm....maybe I'll take my phone next time instead.

Monday, October 3, 2011

My Tree

I love the tree in our front yard.

I love it for a variety of reasons, but my favorite thing is how pretty it gets in the fall.

It changes everyday and I have been trying to get plenty of pictures.




I haven't taken a photo for a couple days, and right now the tree is bright red all over. I know it won't be too long before all of the leaves have fallen off. I'm hoping it will last at least another week.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Apples



A week ago, I went to an orchard with my sister-in-law to pick apples.

I had never done anything like that before and I was surprised at how much fun it was.

We got to use this picker tool and I was pretty good at it.






The orchard we were at was very pretty and apple picking was the perfect activity for a sunny fall day.



Saturday, October 1, 2011

FALL

Only 3 months left for 2011.

I love this time of year, it is my favorite.

The cool weather means I can drag out all my warm clothes.

It means I can open all the windows in my house and let the fresh air in.

It also means that the holidays are approaching.

I know that Halloween and Thanksgiving come first, but I have already started thinking about Christmas.

Actually, I think most people have. I can't be the only one.

Now, it's not like I have my tree up or anything. Decorations can wait till after Thanksgiving.

I'm talking about gifts.

I prefer to have most of my shopping done before Thanksgiving so I can miss most of the holiday shopping crowds. I say most, because I don't think you can ever avoid the crowds entirely.

I haven't actually bought any gifts yet. So far I have just been brainstorming and making lists, but I do hope to start in the next week or so.

I find that when I get all of the work out of the way earlier, it frees up my time closer to Christmas so that I can just sit back and enjoy the season and all that comes with it.