Shanna's Life, Stories, and General Ramblings

Bound by C.K Bryant

2011-11-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

BOUND (#1 in THE CRYSTOR Series)

by C.K. Bryant

YA Paranormal Romance

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia, has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive.

BOUND is a heroic tale of true friendship, infinite sacrifice and untamed love.

There are a lot of books being published out there right now--books that maybe aren't so good. So how are you going to find the gems? Well, let me tell you about one of them!

This book seriously rocks. You'll be pulled into the world quickly, a typical teenage girl just trying to live her life. She's got a best friend, her mom's boyfriend sucks, but all in all life isn't horrible. Sure she doesn't have a boyfriend. Sure she feels like someone is watching her sometimes. But all in all, she's about ready to graduate and get on with her life. And with best-friend Lydia right along with her, things are going to work out.

Wrong!

Here are all the elements of a truly great paranormal romance. This isn't your boring, cliche vampire novel going on. Oh no. Believe me, Octavion will make you swoon. And he's not a vampire! What? Like I'm going to tell you WHAT he is? Please. Go read the book!

The plot moved quickly, the characters likable, fun, and intense enough to immerse myself into the book. And I was not disappointed with the kissing scenes at all! Come on girls--admit it--we all like a steamy kissing scene.

And for all the guys out there who roll their eyes at the kissing? Well, maybe you'll like things better when Kira is shooting her bow and arrow killing another man. Or learning self-defense. Or kicking butt! Okay, well Altair does that more often, but hey. You should check it out too!

You can order the book, well pretty much anywhere. I, of course, got in onto my kindle for 3.99. YEAH! Who can argue with pricing like that??? NOT ME!! SO GO CHECK IT OUT!!!

Go check out C.K Bryant's website for all the information you may need!

Here are what some other authors are saying:

REVIEWS

"BOUND is a tricky tale that takes your heart and mind on an exciting danger-filled journey. You start out with normal things, people you know, places you can relate to, only to discover that things are not as you'd expected, people are not just people and anything can happen.

"At least, that's how the story was for me. I liked Kira and could immediately relate to her feelings of insecurity and reclusiveness. So when Kira had to adapt to the changes around her, to learn and grow, I grew right along with her.

"C.K. Bryant does a brilliant job of writing a paranormal romance that combines what we know with what we don't, love with hate, danger with hope. She had me turning the page, sitting on the edge of my seat and wishing I could read the next book in the series right away. A truly excellent modern-day tale that I highly recommend for fans of YA novels that feature a strong female protagonist." (Ali Cross, Author of BECOME)

* * *

"In Christine Bryant's debut novel, she brings us a story of a girl pulled into a world completely different of her own to face not only danger and intrigue, but her own internal demons that have plagued her for years. Caught up in a battle between two forces from another world bent on tearing each other apart, Kira discovers strength she never knew she had and learns that no one can determine your worth for you.

"I really enjoyed BOUND - the distinctive use of language, the creativity in plot ... and can I just say, Octavion made my heart go pitty-pat on more than one occasion.

"This is a book I highly recommend for anyone looking for an adventure, a romance, a thrill-ride, all wrapped into one." (Tristi Pinkston, Author of HANG 'EM HIGH)

* * *

"It's got a sexy guy, cool world-building, and an awesome to-be-continued ending that'll leave you breathless and satisfied."(RaShelle Workman, Author of EXILE)

All Diets Work--That's the Problem!

2011-09-12T04:26:00.001-06:00

It's exciting to hear people say, "I've lost thirty pounds in the past six weeks!" or whatever it is they say.

And when you hear these people say stuff like that, you think . . . "Hey! Maybe I can do that too."

And the truth is--you can. The truth is anyone can do the cabbage soup diet, Atkins, HCG, or whatever it is they try. And for some people--I'd say a VERY few people it works and the weight stays off.

For some people. But the most likely reason it stays off is because these people developed some healthier habits along the way.

But you know what? Most people gain the weight back and start doing the yo-yo thing.

I've been there. Done it. Again and again. I've been in this process for the past five to six years. Before that I was just gaining weight and bemoaning the fact.

Wait a minute. Isn't this supposed to be a book review? Yes! It is. Trust me--this relates. You see anyone can diet--and this book says that anyone can lose weight--but that's precisely the problem. People want it now! They want it fast. Trust me--I"m guilty of this. Even when I lost weight over a period of eight months--if I wasn't losing at least two pounds a week I'd get upset and defeated.

The thing is this isn't JUST about losing weight. This is all about being healthier, losing weight, and what's best for our bodies.

The simple fact is you have to take in fewer calories than you burn. So if I burn 2000 calories a day, I'm going to HAVE to eat less than that to LOSE WEIGHT.

You hear about diets that say how you can eat anything you want to eat and still lose weight. Well, they're all about burning calories--building enough muscle so you're burning a TON of calories and therefore losing weight. HCG, cabbage soup diet, Weight Watcher's . . . ALL OF THEM TAKE IN FEWER CALORIES.

This isn't rocket science, kids.

Buck up. You can do this. And reasonably too. Yes, it may take you a year. Or maybe two years, but you'll get there in a healthy, happier, better way and you'll STAY THERE. And it will be HEALTHY for you.

And this is what the book is ALL ABOUT. It isn't a read straight through (which I did and it didn't take very long) kind of book. This is a reference guide from someone who has taught people how to lose weight and stay healthy. There are guidelines in figuring out how to track calories (even for those of you who hate the idea of tracking calories).

There are guidelines for portions, guidelines for what kinds of food we should be eating, suggestions for ways we can make little steps in becoming HEALTHIER.

So take your time. Buy this book. It's cheap. And keep it in the kitchen--I have! Or somewhere else where you just might open it up and read through parts of it. Start making little changes now and allow yourself to take the time to lose the weight in a healthy way. After all, if you start now, in a year, maybe two years from now you'll be the thinner, healthy you that you want to be and it's going to stay.

Don't be like I've been. Year after year of getting the weight down and then it's right back up, right back to where I started. Don't do that. And grab this book. It WILL HELP!

To date? I've lost around six more pounds and I'm at 190.4. Would I like this to go faster? HECK YA! But I'm losing and giving myself plenty of time and trying to eat healthy foods (along with my chocolate and the things I LOVE). Just not very much of it. And I'm feeling good about my choices. Good about my weight loss. Good that I can do this. And this book has HELPED ME!

Not sure if it'll be worth it? Go check out the author's website. Hey, that can't hurt. And maybe that'll convince you to take a first step toward the ultimate path of actually being HEALTHY and THIN!!

I'll be right there with you!

Am I STILL trying to lose weight? Yes. Yes I am.

2011-08-05T21:25:00.000-06:00

I've posted before about diet, etc . . .

So how am I doing with my weight?

Need I go on?

That being said, I've begun taking the right steps. Again. I did do HCG three times. For a while I was down to 185 and I kept that weight pretty well for probably eight or nine months. Then I fell off the bandwagon and started gaining. And gaining.

Hit 200 again. Hit 210 again.

Panicked. Hated myself. Called the doctor.

I've been meaning to get into the doctor for a while to ask about some things. One of them was my thyroid and just general health stuff. I came back fine. Everything was fine. Which is good in a lot of ways. I don't have to worry about high cholesterol, high blood pressure, a bad thyroid or any of that stuff.

Which means, that I can't blame my weight gain on anything BUT my own choices! Sigh. I guess the great thing is that I can start making different choices.

One choice? I've just started on some anti-anxiety medication (go see these two posts for more information). I tend to eat a whole lot more when my anxiety is high. So managing my anxiety through the medication and other things is important.

In speaking with my doctor we decided to also put me on an appetite suppressant. I'll only be on it for a total of three months, but it should give me a bit of a jump start and encourage me to keep on losing.

In the meantime I'm trying to develop healthier habits overall. The eating hasn't been as good as it should be, but my appetite is definitely smaller, so I have lost weight. I've also been walking more. I read about people doing all kinds of great exercise, running five miles a day, or spinning, or lifting weights and how they feel so good and blah blah blah. I hate it. Because I kind of have the belief that I won't get to the weight I want to (my doctor recommended 160), without doing that kind of crazy exercise.

But you know what? That's okay. I'm just going to start with walking. And so I have. I haven't walked every day, but I have walked a lot more this summer than I have in a long time. And I listen to an audiobook while I do it, making it pretty enjoyable. I don't even walk that far--probably 2 1/2 miles when I do. But hey. That's ok for now.

And I'm just going to continue developing healthier habits. Maybe after walking for a couple of years I'll go to the next level, and maybe start running. Doubt it, but hey miracles have happened before.

I just need to remember this process isn't just about being thin (although I love the idea!), but it's also about me being HEALTHY. Maybe I always figured if I was thin I'd be healthy. But that isn't necessarily true.

So I'm back. And hopefully I'll stay. I've gone from 210 to 196.2 as of this morning. Keeping on, keeping on. And this time, it takes as long as it takes, but I want to make sure I'm either maintaining or losing. NOT GAINING. And being HEALTHY.

I Did It--Deep Breaths, deep breaths . . .

2011-08-04T12:53:00.000-06:00

I went to the doctor today and talked it over with him in terms of getting on something to help with anxiety. If you'd like to read the post about how I made this decision you can either click here, or just look down three posts!

He made his recommendations and boom! Here I am! It was really interesting too as we talked about some different things and possible side affects.

My sister's doctor referred her to a couple of articles where they discuss that depression and anxiety are both symptoms of the same thing and my doctor and I talked about that too.

Imagine you and a friend get a cold. Your friend's nose is dripping and can't stop sneezing. You, on the other hand, have a terrible sore throat, a drippy nose, and a cough. Notice how you both have a similar symptom? The drippy nose? It comes from the same condition--a cold, but the symptoms just aren't the same. So will you take different medications? Most likely, you'll both take a nyquil or something like that.

Anxiety and depression act in a similar manner--they're both symptoms of the same thing, so there are often some crossover symptoms of both.

So with that in mind, the medicine I'm starting is called Fluoexetine--the generic form of prozac. I have an appt in about five weeks to meet again with my doctor and evaluate how things are going. I really hope it helps!

The Blog-osphere

2011-08-03T09:58:00.001-06:00

When I first started blogging it totally excited me and I really enjoyed blogging.

Then it got old! Real old. Same deal with Facebook.

My time started being consumed by checking out other people's blogs, commenting on them, and the thrill when they commented back on mine!

Just like any relationship, blogging is another one. It requires time and commitment. And give and take. Which means if I'm not active out there in the blogging world, it's highly unlikely that other people are going to be looking at my blog. This is how you get noticed.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm anti-social to the nth degree? Yet, I also like being noticed and appreciated--I mean who doesn't?

So there are two things that are fighting inside of me--be social and popular and spend hours reading other people's blogs, commenting on them, and then reaping the rewards of being social. Or the other choice became simply to just drop out of the blogging world.

For a while I just didn't blog. But now? I think I'm going to blog again. I think that maybe I need to start taking baby steps . . . baby step onto the elevator . . . baby step into the elevator.

So what if no one reads my blog? Let's take this a bit at a time. Maybe, someday, I'll make the time to comment like I did before and see my popularity rise. In the meantime? I guess just my friends can take a look at this blog and hopefully enjoy something!

Spock is an Elf . . .

2011-08-02T21:26:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure why I never realized this before. And maybe people will look at this and go, duh . . . or What are you smokin'?

But here's what I'm thinking, and I'm also thinking about Tolkien's elves, or the tall kind, versus the small kind.

They are all tall, very tall, they reason in ways different from 'mankind', pointed ears (duh), stronger than regular men (well, doesn't Spock have at least the vulcan pinch), and are dignified.

Yeah. That's all I got for ya,

2011-07-31T08:27:00.000-06:00

Author Tristi Pinkston is excited to announce the release of the third novel in her Secret Sisters Mysteries series.

Titled Hang ‘em High, this novel takes place on a dude ranch in Montana. When Ida Mae’s son invites her to come for a visit, of course she brings Arlette and Tansy along with her. They are expecting to spend the week looking at horses, avoiding the cows, and making amends in Ida Mae’s relationship with her son. What they don’t expect is to be stuck on the ranch in the middle of a blizzard and to be thrust headlong into the middle of a mystery.

***

Help Tristi celebrate her new novel in two ways. First, come participate in the two-week-long blog contest, where you can win a book nearly every single day! All the details are up on Tristi’s blog.

Second, come to the book launch!

You are invited to an

August Authorama!

Saturday, August 13th

Pioneer Book, 858 S. State, Orem

12 – 4 pm

Games, prizes, balloons, face painting,

and Dutch oven cobbler

prepared by world champion cook

Keith Fisher.

Authors Tristi Pinkston, J. Lloyd Morgan, Cindy Hogan,

Nichole Giles, and Heather Justesen

will all be there to sign books.

This is one book launch event

you will not want to miss!

Drugs . . .

2011-07-29T13:47:00.006-06:00

No, not the illegal kind.

I think about two years ago, my niece was experiencing severe depression and anxiety and she got on some medication for it. Then, when my older sister saw how much good it did for her daughter, she decided to try it too. Keep in mind that all of my siblings, including me, suffer from anxiety. Some of us more obviously than others.

For years, I've been telling my sister that she needed to be on something because it was easy to see how much she could benefit from it in her life. I really hoped it would help. Oh it did! I'm amazed at how much she has progressed and how some of the things I used to see in her are just gone. Which is awesome. Handling a divorce, dealing with emotional abuse, and three teenagers who have their own set of problems would have been impossible for her before the medication and counseling. Now, it's deal-able although I'm sure she sometimes thinks it isn't!

During all those years I didn't pay attention to my anxiety. I paid attention to my younger brother's depression/anxiety and was always full of advice to him to also get on medication. It's only been in the past year or so, as I've seen the difference in my sister's life that I've started to pinpoint times when I've been anxious and how it's affected my life.

Don't get me wrong. I have a great life. I have a wonderful husband, a good job, great family and friends. Yes, I don't have children, but that's been at time a blessing and a challenge. I also haven't had the problems I've seen in my sister. Or even my younger brother. So I thought I was fine. Just like I think a lot of people out there think they're 'fine'.

And the thing is . . . I am fine. I can deal with it. But, WHY SHOULD I? There is medication out there that may help me and if it could bring me more happiness in my life--or even make my life slightly easier why wouldn't I do that?

I don't have to make my life any harder. So yesterday I finally made the phone call to my doctor to talk about getting set up on some medication. I'm going to see what kind of difference it makes for me.

A lot of people feel like getting on medication for a mental illness, even a slight one, is too risky. We've all heard the horror stories and you do have to be careful. I also think there's still a huge stigma out there against mental illnesses and especially in the medications, because we still know so little about the brain. It's not like an antibiotic where we know exactly what's going on in the body. We really don't know what the brain is up to. And I think because of that people tend to ignore or excuse the depression, anxiety, or other problems they are having.

BUT, the possible benefits outweigh the possible risks. If I can be a better, happier person then I want it. And I'm willing to try to get it.

Are you?

Top of the Rockefeller Center In New York City

2010-10-07T08:54:00.004-06:00

I never got to the top of the Empire State Building, but I did get to the top of the Rockefeller Center, which was very cool. I also took some pics, and thought I'd share them!

I liked this one because there just seems to be no end to the buildings.

This is cool because you can see St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is amazingly ornate. I'll post pics of the inside later!

New York Skyline . . .

Oopsy

2010-09-26T12:19:00.002-06:00

Wow. I haven't posted in such a long time that I'm slightly embarrassed to be posting anything at all. Eek!

I do want to post about all of our vacations that we took over the summer. I had such a good time, but I have no idea when I'll post about them or even blog about anything!

Anyway. I did want to say that I'm beginning to be hopeful about writing again. I have several stories in the prewriting stage (well not several, but at least two solid ones), one story that I'm discovery writing (which means no outlining, just writing it and see what happens), one book that is almost finished with the revision processes so I can seriously start submitting that one, and one book that is in the revision stage.

One of my goals is to have something in each stage of writing--hopefully someday I'll add another stage called 'published', but until then I'm just talking about prewriting, writing, revising and submitting.

I'm almost there. Then my goal will be to do something in each of those stages everyday, which is very hard for me. But I figure if I'm to ever become a professional about writing, I'm going to have to act like a professional.

In the meantime I'm still teaching--I have two creative writing classes this year, which has been fun, but challenging. I thought it'd be easy, but I've had to figure out how exactly I want to run the classes. It's just past midterms, and I think I'm finally getting a handle on it. Next semester should be better--I get all new classes and I'll really be able to dive right in with the students.

Seven Followers!

2010-07-07T23:32:00.003-06:00

Okay, I'm sure some people have, like a thousand followers. But hey. I'm so anti-social I'm surprised I even HAVE a blog, let alone followers! So you guys who follow me . . . thanks! That's so AWESOME of you guys.

Sweet.

And I totally did not blog about the newest Apple event--the iPhone 4. I'll be getting one in February, but my hubby got it the first day, of course! He loves it and I have to admit the display is pretty sweet. Anyone who is debating about getting an iPhone should get one--they're fantastic phones--unless you're really hard on phones. Then don't get one. Like my older brother? I would never recommend a iPhone for him. NEVER. He's the kind of person who needs military industrial grade phones--and even those he breaks. So yeah. Not for everyone. Just most everyone!

Sky Coaster part 2...

2010-06-25T19:22:00.000-06:00

Shanna on the Sky Coaster

2010-06-25T19:21:00.000-06:00

At Lagoon, getting "suited up"!

Vacations

2010-06-19T22:50:00.003-06:00

I've been out of town for a little while--we went to Yellowstone and saw lots of buffalo and of course Old Faithful! My parents rented this cabin--it was so nice to stay in! After staying there a couple of days my hubby and I went to Montana and stopped by Spokane to pick up his sister (Tina) and brother-in-law (Augie). It was SO great seeing them!

Then we went on to Montana and surprised Damon's mom--she knew we were coming, but NOT Tina and Augie. We spent and few days there and then drove back home stopping over in Missoula so I could visit with a friend from where I grew up. I'd say an old high-school friend, but that doesn't really fit. I mean if you grew up where I grew up, basically you knew your friends from kindergarten on if not sooner. So yeah. An old friend from where I grew up!

I've never noticed this before, but in Libby AND Missoula the hours of daylight are way different. It's totally strange that I never noticed, but you basically have daylight from 4 am to 11 pm. Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you actually THINK about where you are, etc, it makes sense. But I never noticed on previous visits. Hmmm . . . I'm observant. Oh yeah.

We've been home for about five days--of those five we went to Lagoon one day, and then I had a writing friend come stay at the house. She just left and now my niece is spending the night and we just feel so busy!

But it finally feels like summer! YAY! HEAT! I don't typically love heat, but I've been very cold this winter . . . and now that I'm totally rambling, I'm done talking . . .

Next month? Arizona and New York! August? North Carolina to see some really old friends who we miss A TON!!

Welcome to Montana!

2010-06-10T13:25:00.000-06:00

I've maybe milked a cow once in my life? Maybe. When I was a little
little kid. I wonder how helpful people find this sign.

Lost on Lost

2010-05-24T21:37:00.004-06:00

Okay, I didn't know what to even imagine how the end of Lost would . . . well, end. BUT, when you have to explain the finale to your husband who has remembered every little detail of each show of each season? Hmmm . . . probably not the best ending.

His comment, at the end of the show was, "I don't get it."

Okay, for anyone who is into Lost and hasn't seen the last show yet, do not continue. There will be SPOILERS.

I explained the end to him. Now to get an idea as to how sad that I should explain the END to my husband I literally stopped watching the show for a while. I did get sucked back in for the fourth season, but I'm pretty sure I stopped watching near the end of the third season. I am NOT someone who would have continued watching if it hadn't been for my husband who remembers EVERYTHING about this show. In other words having to explain that they were all dead? And that time didn't matter and that they had to have Jack to cross over? Yeah. Not really computing there.

Were any of our big questions really answered? NO. Not really. Or maybe it created a larger question like . . . who cares if the island is destroyed or not? What's the big deal? Not ever really made clear. It was all speculation as to what would happen if the 'light went out'. You know, the end of all humanity? Or maybe the end of the characters we have known for the past six seasons.

But it WAS nice to see everyone get together the way they should have been. I would have totally been fine with the alternate reality becoming the true reality, instead of being something like . . . hmm not purgatory exactly, but something akin to it.

Ultimately--the title says it all. Mostly out of focus except for a second and then boom! Out of focus again. It never changed. BUT we can all take a lesson from Jack--moving on, moving on. Let it go! And I think ultimately--I'm going to let Lost go.

Comments anyone?

Weight Loss

2010-05-22T13:15:00.005-06:00

It's been a very long time since I posted about weight loss. About two years ago, I was doing very, very well. Then a couple of things happened.

My lifestyle changed. For five years or so I'd been attending college. I had a routine and I was used to it. I knew how to stick to my calorie intake for the day, and I did quite a bit of walking in addition to taekwondo.

I started losing weight my final year of college (I started in August) and lost forty pounds--220 to 180.

THEN I graduated. Right after I graduated Damon and I had a chance to have a couple of girls stay with us for the summer. Then I had gall bladder surgery. And stress levels skyrocketed. And exercise (a lot of it anyway) stopped. And I started eating. Then the girls went home at the end of the summer and I started teaching. And stress levels skyrocketed even more. I'd pretty much go home from school and start eating. I'd been at work all day, I felt like I deserved a reward for that and my reward was through food.

My weight, like my stress went up, up, up.

I hit 210 again. Only 10 pounds away from my highest weight ever, and I had to do something. So I started trying to be careful again, doing what I'd done before to lose weight. This time however, age had caught up to me. Before, I could lose around two pounds a week, now I was lucky to lose half a pound a week. I managed to keep up with it until I got to around 194. Then, for some reason, I don't know, stress, disappointment about the slow weight loss, whatever it was I stopped worrying about my food. And of course it started going back up. And weight goes up so much faster than it goes down.

I hit 202.

Then I decided that I needed to do something that could give me some motivation to stick to a diet. My friend was doing HCG at the time and she encouraged me to try it. So I decided to give it a shot. To date--I'm ending the diet tomorrow--I'm at 182.

Now there are problems with HCG--the yo-yo part of it. But I did the yo-yo thing before. I just need to be very careful. And now, my hubby is on board with weight loss too and that will make things so much easier.

AND I need to incorporate exercise. In a huge way. For a few reasons. If I gain muscle, muscle burns more calories so then I can enjoy food more. Taekwondo--I have some goals concerning taekwondo and if I don't get to a certain level of cardiovascular fitness and flexibility, then I'm never going to achieve some of my goals in taekwondo. And everyone I know who has lost weight and actually kept it off-they all exercise. My parents gave me a weight lifting machine so I have that, my rowing machine in the living room which I can use while watching television, and also my bicycle. I have options.

And I do want to lose more weight. I'd like to maintain this summer at around 182, gain some muscle, and go into the school year, with trying to lose weight the slow way--one pound every other week hopefully. I could do that.

I'm also planning on seeing a doctor this summer. I have often wondered if I have exercise induced asthma (wouldn't that be a nice excuse for me hating exercise?), and just talking about an overall health and fitness plan.

So that's the plan. As things change or not, I'll post about it.

Well, as long as I'm not in one of my anti-social moods!

Book Review: Secret Sisters

2010-04-21T07:51:00.003-06:00

Tristi Pinkston is not a first-time novelist and it shows in her writing. This is a lighthearted, funny novel that will entertain, and at the same time teach some important truths about how we should be as a person. BUT it is NOT preachy--not in the least.

One thing that I've noticed in this 'type' of LDS humor novel is how over the top the characters are--it drives me crazy. However, in this novel, the characters don't feel over the top, but real and the choices they make are logical given their situations.

Yes, the Relief Society President chooses to spy on a family they are concerned about--the sheriff won't help and she has a convenient grandson (I think he is a grandson) who is an electronics genius and wants to test out some of his own inventions in terms of spyware . . . and well one little thing leads to another. In the middle of all of this, other things are happening in the little town of Omni and to help out the Bishop, who is having blood pressure problems, well the Relief Society Presidency is going to do everything they can to help out! And if that includes spying on someone, they're going to do what it takes. I loved how Ida Mae often worried about her own personal challenges--such as judging people--just as much as she worried about being tossed in jail!

I thoroughly enjoyed the older ladies--just visualizing them in some of these situations made for a lot of hilarity. However, my husband, who also read the book would have preferred the women to have been younger--in their mid-30's. For me, sometimes I could totally see my grandmother in some of these women and it made it thoroughly delightful for me.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who knows LDS culture. In all honesty, if you aren't LDS or aren't familiar with the culture, a lot of the humor might be lost. Amy--if you are reading my blogs--you would love this book!

Another recommendation? Don't read this book when you are hungry. These are the ladies of the generation that didn't know or care that cookies aren't healthy food for you. I seriously wanted to go bake something--thank goodness there weren't any recipes in the back of the book. I think I would have gone and done some cooking! However, there are plans for an entire Ida Mae Cookbook eventually. I'm going to buy it too! And probably gain some weight in the process, but some of those treats sounded SO GOOD!

My only complaint about this book? I couldn't quite seem to get a grasp on one character--the secretary of the Relief Society Presidency. I kept getting her confused with other characters. I'm not too sure why.

All in all--buy the book if you are LDS, a female, have ever been in the Relief Society Presidency, or have ever had a grandmother who thinks cookies are a food group!

To buy the book go here.

Book Review: I'll Know You By Heart

2010-04-15T07:43:00.003-06:00

I grew up reading a lot of historical (Regency in particular) romances and romantic suspense (Mary Stewart). I also read a lot of the older authors of romance produced by Harlequin—such as Betty Neels. That being said, I don’t tend to read contemporary romance, and contemporary LDS romance.

Kimberly Job’s first novel, that just came out is titled I’ll Know You by Heart. As soon as I started reading I was sucked in—I’m sorry to say though that I was pulled out fairly quickly. I think that maybe I was pulled out because I had such a hard time relating to the main character—who I really liked, but didn’t understand. I’ve never been abused and the main character, abused by her husband, finally leaves him when he hits one of their children for the first time.

I’ve often thought about what I would do if I were abused in one way or another and every time my solution is fight back or leave immediately. So I had a really hard time getting it. However, even for someone who does not ‘get it’, I still felt the reality of the abuse and the reactions of the main character. I’ve read other books where someone is abused and it often comes across as unreal to me—the way the character reacts. This did not happen in this book—although I am the kind of “KICK HIS REAR-END” kind of person, I still got the main character’s reactions and why she did the things she did.

I’m not sure what I would call this genre of fiction, but I think it is a cross between chic-lit and romance or maybe just realistic romance. That being said, even though I felt a little distanced from the characters (for a little while) I was still interested enough to keep reading. By the time we started experiencing more problems I was wholeheartedly back ‘IN’ the book and never left until the last page. Darn Kim for making me cry! Yeah. I used a lot of Kleenexes.

Who would I recommend this book to? People who enjoy a romance that is realistic, that deals with real issues. I’m not a big ‘real’ issue kind of a person. I like escaping reality, not facing its harsher aspects. For anyone who has known someone or experienced abuse themselves, I fully believe this book will speak to you on a level that will give you hope and faith.

I also liked the lack of focus on the main character’s appearance. So often in our society we are so intent on the woman being beautiful and perfect (especially in romances) so the man can be attracted to her that we forget a real relationship does not come purely from attraction AND that we can be attracted to people who do not fit our society’s view of beauty. Relationships are about connecting. The main character and her love interest connect deeply on a level that we often don’t understand because we, as a society, are so focused on the superficial.

I appreciated the problems that came up to keep the love interest and the main character separated from each other. Too often romance books fall on the whole not talking to each other and jumping to conclusions about the other person. That does happen in this book, but just a touch and the characters actually learn from the experience deciding to be sure to communicate. No, the elements that keep these two separated feel real and valid. Especially at the end, I totally understood why the main character had a hard time overcoming her specific challenge.

If any of you who read this review are turned off by the “LDS” in the first paragraph, I would say that the religious parts of this book are natural and exist in the people’s lives. It isn’t a hit you over the head, but simply the religion is reflected in the lives of people who are doing the best they can.

Ultimately, even though I was pulled out of the book for a time, I would recommend it to anyone who likes these types of books and for anyone wanting to try to experience maybe a harder (emotional) book to read. Also, for those of you who are sick of books that purely ride on physical attraction to bolster the romance? This is a refreshing change.

To order the book click here.

Another Book Review

2010-04-07T08:36:00.005-06:00

When I first received Daron Fraley’s The Thorn, I wasn’t too sure whether or not I would like it. The books I most like are YA Fantasy, followed by romantic suspense, some mysteries, and some historical novels.

The Thorn takes place on another world—that seems like fantasy or sci-fi, right? But the thing is this takes place on another world that is realistic—it isn’t in the future, it doesn’t have ‘magic’ . . . it basically doesn’t have the elements I tend to love in books.

However, that being said I still enjoyed this novel. It took me a while to get into it—and I think it was because I’m not as familiar with this type of fiction as I am with other types.

The writing is crisp and clean, the characters have depth, and the plot is interesting. However, this book is NOT for everyone. The basic premise is that there are other worlds created by God. Those worlds were also inhabited by men (made in the image of God) who had their own scripture that also foretold the coming of Christ on another world—our planet. The people on these other worlds also expect to be visited by Christ when the time comes—basically after his resurrection.

For people who are interested in the views of those who are LDS, this is a book that delivers those views in an interesting and unobtrusive way. For those of you who are LDS and enjoyed such books such as Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites, you should enjoy this new series. This first book explores the lives of faithful men, men who convert, and the miracles that happen when one is faithful and able to put full trust in God.

For those of you who are Christian and don’t necessarily agree with LDS views this book deeply conveys faith in God and in Christian values. This is a work of fiction, so you don’t need to take the parallels to the LDS faith too deeply. This book, does however, touch the spirit and allows us to see people who believe in our Christian God to act like it.

All in all I would recommend this book to most everyone— I became involved enough in the book to care enough to shed some tears on at least three occasions. I'm not saying I cry easily, but I probably do. ;)

I would say there is some repetition of the way Fraley refers to women and as far as I’m concerned, and since I love female protagonists, I would have liked slightly stronger women—but don’t get the idea that the women are weak in this book. They follow their hearts and do what they believe is right—so they are strong enough, just not strong in the ‘I can beat up anyone I want to’ way that I love!!

Below is a short blurb for the book (I deleted some of it since I thought it gave too much away) and here is where you can buy the book. Enjoy!

Three tribes are at war on the planet Gan, unaware that the sign of Christ’s birth on an unknown world – Earth – is about to appear in the heavens.

During a bloody skirmish with Gideonite troops, Jonathan of Daniel spares Pekah, a young enemy soldier, gaining his trust forever. These two distant brothers from estranged tribes covenant with each other to end the war being waged by a self-proclaimed emperor, and soon discover the intentions of a far more dangerous foe named Rezon – a sinister general bent on ruling those he can bring into subjection and destroying all others.

The Sapphire Flute--Blog Tour

2010-03-15T14:45:00.008-06:00

The Sapphire Flute Blog Tour

I have the privilege today to post about Karen Hoover's first book--The Sapphire Flute, which comes out TODAY!

Just so you know . . . Karen is a good friend of mine. However, that is NOT why I am blogging about her book or posting a review about it. The reason I'm doing it, is because this book ROCKS!

I first read the book around three years ago . . . as soon as I finished it I emailed Karen and said, "Loved the book, hate you. Call me."

Any book that makes me hate the author (mainly because I wish I WOULD have written it) is a book well worth reading and her book has only gotten better as it has gone through revisions and then the publishing process.

I'm not going to tell you what the book is about--that is done for me below. However, it does have strong female protagonists AND antagonist. It's a wonderful adventure in the style of such authors as Patricia C. Wrede and Tamora Pierce. The writing is GOOD--you can tell that Karen writes poetry. She has great description and puts you into the story quickly and without effort. The characters are developed--but not too developed--which is perfect because this book is the first of seven. I hate books in a series that have the character grow so much that there is nothing left by the time you get to the second book.

I am definitely left with questions when I finish the book, but it also has a satisfying conclusion. I also hate books in a series that really don't resolve anything. Much is resolved in this book, yet much is still to be explained.

I love this book and would recommend it to everyone. I would BUY this book. As a matter of fact I am going to buy it TODAY at Barnes and Noble in Salt Lake City at the Gateway Mall. Karen, along with five other authors are having their book launch party. I think it starts around six for anyone who wants to come. For me there is no higher praise than to say I will buy a book so I can read and re-read it.

And . . . as a side note. I've had several students who have read this book already--some of them have read the older not as good version and others have read the ARC. Besides it being a great opportunity for them I just wanted to say . . . they loved it. This is a YA book and it not only appealed to me, but it appeals to kids.

I actually asked a couple of my students to write a little paragraph or so about her book. Here is what two of my students had to say.

Hmmm . . . okay. Never mind for the moment. I THOUGHT I put them in my bag to take home, but no such luck. So when I have a chance tomorrow--I'll insert their comments! But one thing I do remember is that one student said it was just like watching a movie in her head.

You can buy the book online on Amazon.

Here is a blurb for the book--but trust me. You should just buy it and enjoy it!

The world of Rasann is dying. The mages in the land have been working together to weave their magic into a net to hold the world in one piece, but those cords are breaking down. They need a white mage, the rarest of them all, to step in and take over where they are falling down, but there hasn’t been a white mage for over three thousand years. Their only hope lies in finding the magic keystones, long hidden, which will bind the world together.

Kayla has been given charge of one of those keystones, the Sapphire Flute, and been told not to play it. Along will come another, destined to play the flute and bring the magic within it to life. She has never met this player, and has no idea where to find such a person.

In the meantime, Ember has discovered a secret – her father had the ability to shift himself into the shape of a wolf, and she has that gift as well. When she takes upon herself her new appearance, quite by accident the first time, she discovers a family she never knew she had.

Lurking behind it all is C’Tan, the sorceress. She wants the keystones for herself, and she will stop at nothing to get them.

“The Sapphire Flute” is Karen E. Hoover’s first publication, and is the first of a series of seven. A new book in the series will be published each spring.

Lost Memories

2010-03-08T19:50:00.002-07:00

My husband did something this morning, and it was totally funny. I even said that I was going to post about it today. Yeah . . . so . . . yeah.

It's gone. I mean a full twelve hours have gone by since this morning. Did I REALLY expect to remember this? That's like . . . breakfast and lunch and dinner! And a whole day of work, with errands in-between. I mean can I really be expected to remember that far back? I don't think so. Too bad for you. You would have laughed.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

2010-02-26T14:20:00.005-07:00

This is not MY book review. A published author emailed me this review after reading the book. After having looked at the review I went online and looked at some other reviews and they were not positive. I'm not advocating harsh book reviews--I'm not. If you've read the book and disagree please post your response to the following review. However, this is a general trend I have begun to see in YA fiction--the edgier urban kind of fantasy--and it is NOT healthy.

As a teacher who sees teenagers every day--some who actually have to deal with these kinds of issues (rape and violence)--these books do NOT help these girls.

I will not be reading this book and have informed my librarian to NOT purchase it.

The review:

This is going to be a very hard review to write. I hate writing negative reviews, and often just delete the book from my Goodreads shelves instead.

But this book was not okay, and I feel very strongly that I should say something.

Rape is not romantic. It is not sexy. Murder is not exciting and mysterious. These things should not be portrayed as such, particularly in respect to teenage girls.

Nora, the main character, is treated as a sexual object by every male in this book. She is disrespected, subjected to lewd looks and comments, treated as a toy that could be used and thrown away at any time by everyone from Patch (the "love interest", although I shudder to call him that) to her biology teacher. At the beginning of the book this teacher encourages Patch to describe Nora, in front of the class, in terms of a potential sexual mate. Patch humiliates her, objectifies her, touches her inappropriately, and frightens her. The teacher is pleased to see Patch participating in class, and refuses to help Nora when she complains that Patch has threatened her and scares her, instead insisting that she tutor Patch outside of school.

This is not okay.

Patch threatens her with rape and violence. For most of the book, he is the prime suspect in the brutal beating of two young women, one of them Nora's best friend. He is indeed trying to kill her, he has killed people before. He has stalked her, violated her mind, and is a serial rapist, both mentally and physically.

He is not sexy and mysterious. He is evil.

It's hard to root for Nora, on the other hand, because she perpetually puts herself in harm's way, and then is shocked when there are negative consequences. She dresses provocatively- at one point wearing a silk scarf wrapped around her bust in lieu of a shirt- and seeks Patch out time and again, only to be frightened and upset when he comes on to her, tries to touch her, propositions her. She invites him into her home when she is alone, calls him for rides home, seeks him out in smoky pool halls. In one chapter he chases her through a parking garage, admits to having stalked her, and she realizes with terror that he could rape and kill her right there and no one would save her.

A few minutes later, she accepts a ride home on his motorcycle.

Not okay.

In real life, she would have been killed. He threatens her with a knife, almost pushes her out of a roller coaster, pins her down on a bed and talks about smothering her with a pillow. But it's exciting, because he's hot, and has a secret past.

This is not seduction. This is violence against a young woman whom the author has made clear is physically vulnerable and very, very foolish.

Not that any of the other female characters in the book come off much better. Nora's best friend is obsessed with food, sex, and shopping, like all standard best friends. She is brutally beaten, believes her attacker to be Patch, and yet in the same breath she asserts this, she eagerly asks Nora if they've made out yet. She, too, throws herself at a strange and mysterious young man who also might be a murderer, and later suggests shoe-shopping as therapy after nearly being killed.

A female angel (contrary to popular belief, angels are not sexless, and even the ones who haven't fallen apparently enjoy busy sex lives) is depicted in her "human" form as wearing jeans that are painted on, a pink tube top, no shoes, and sucking on a big pink lollipop. She isn't one of the fallen angels, but a member of the heavenly host in good standing. Later she goes into psychotic bitch mode and tries to kill Nora for "stealing her man."

Because that's all women are. Sex objects. Their role is to dress suggestively and hope that love will make the "bad boy" they've fallen for, even though he terrifies them, put aside his long history of violence toward women so that they can live happily ever after.

Now, I'm not one who thinks that every book should teach a moral lesson. And I don't believe that authors are entirely responsible for what people take away from their books, because everyone's ideas and impressions of a work are different. And yes, this is fiction, and fantasy fiction at that. But the constant, demeaning portrayal of women, the violence toward young women, and then the sunny message that someone who is, literally, pure evil could be redeemed in an instant by this girl's devotion, sickens me. Most particularly because this is a book aimed at young women, even as it seems to devalue them.

Damon Spoke in Church Today...

2010-02-21T17:54:00.001-07:00

And the world didn't end. That was the most surprising part, well that and he didn't get struck with lightning. The Bishop didn't even have to get up and ask him to sit down...All in all, he didn't do too badly, and he even had a few scriptures in there as well!

Magazine Poetry

2010-02-05T15:53:00.006-07:00

I'm not sure what this is really called. I just remember it as an assignment I had in a college creative writing class that I thought was SO LAME. And now I use it. Of course, I've changed it to suit me more, but I thought I'd share it with you guys.

So here is what magazine poetry does. You take a magazine article--anything with the written word on it--and then you start blacking out words. You leave the words that stand out to you, the words that speak to you in some way. You might think the words just look funny, or maybe it's a cool sounding word, or it means something. For whatever reason, you keep those words that stand out to you. As you start reducing your words you begin to see something emerging--then after you have finished blacking words out, read what you have. You find the meaning within that poem and then black out more words to get to the real meaning of the poem. Then, after you have found the meaning and you are done blacking out words, you start turning that magazine page into a representational piece--a work of art to accompany the poem.

You also have to follow the word order and if you accidentally black out a word you wanted--too bad. You're stuck with it!

On Monday we'll mount our poems on white paper and rewrite them choosing our own line breaks and stanzas to best represent the poem. I try to emphasize that they are trying to break the words up to help get their meaning across.

This can really get the creative juices flowing--there's something about the act of coloring that brings you back to your childhood. Plus, it really let's down your inhibitions. I mean, these aren't words you are coming up with--your just getting rid of them until you find what you want. I like it for students who are scared for poetry because they are amazed at what comes out. Every one of my students who I've asked about their poem from last year remembered theirs.

Last year, I had one student who was stuck with an article about parenting. She was so mad at me for giving her that article. But when she finally got to her poem, she had this fantastic poem about finding her own identity and having parents let their children go. It ROCKED.

Anyway. Here are the two poems that I did while the students worked on theirs.

This first one became what the article was about so I just blacked out everything but the picture that represented what they thought this Moche figurine would have looked like when it was first made.

I liked it because, for me the poem became the work of art even though it describes something made thousands of years ago. And because it was made so long ago, we'll never really know it or understand it.

This one was really fun because it was easy to turn it into an artistic representation. There was also a picture by the article that I blacked out except for one weird looking face--a mask if you will. For me this poem was cool because if we wear a mask too often that becomes the real thing and then what are we left with?

Just a side note: I stuck these on my computer so that is why there is this weird glowing light.

Also, if any English/Language Arts/Creative Writing/Poetry teachers want to try this, please, please buy odorless permanent markers. If the markers aren't permanent they don't work too well, but if they are permanent and you don't buy odorless markers, then you are really stuck with a bad, bad headache the entire day. And you get slightly nauseous. And your kids don't really appreciate it either. However, if your windows open, you're probably fine. Ours don't.

Yeah. I still smell like sharpie markers.

New Lightbulbs

2010-01-31T10:14:00.004-07:00

You can get all kinds of lightbulbs nowadays. Soft yellow, bright yellow, kitchen lights, bathroom lights. There are a lot of choices. Even LED lights with track lighting.

Damon and I went lightbulb shopping the other day. Home Depot even had a small display to show the different lights. The yellow lights were supposed to be more suitable for working areas and the whiter--the lights that look like 'sunlight' are supposed to be for reading, etc . . .

Here's the thing. I like sunlight. I like sunlight in my house. And if I can get a lightbulb that is supposed to look like sunlight . . . well why not? I like the sun!! Forget this working area versus reading area . . . after all I read in most places in my house--the bathroom, the living room, my bedroom, the kitchen. So if the white light is for reading then I should have white light everywhere, right?

Damon agreed. Damon agreed to such an extent that when he put in all the new lights and saw the disparity between the old ones and new ones, well he just had to go back to Home Depot. So all the lights would match.

This morning Damon turned on the bathroom lights. I was still asleep. He has to get up sooner than me to go to church (the curse of being ward clerk, ha ha). When I woke up I looked up, and I literally believed that the sun was coming in . . . from our basement bathroom--the bathroom that has no window. I couldn't believe it. And I didn't even think about it until I stood up and went into the bathroom. And then I had that 'Aha!' moment. So here I am in bed . . . yes I'm lazy . . . enjoying the look of sun coming in through our bedroom door.

I like technology.

Whale Watching on Our Vacation

2010-01-27T20:03:00.013-07:00

A three hour tour . . . The weather did not get rough . . . for Damon would have turned back at the dock . . . the tiny ship wasn't all that tiny . . . and there were probably 200 passengers versus five. But it was a three hour tour.

Luckily, no one was lost at sea! So if you did not get the whole Gilligan's Island reference . . . you're totally missing out on a piece of pop culture. Go catch some episodes.

I can't remember how we heard about the whale tour, but we did, and I told Damon that was really something I wanted to do. He wasn't so sure. But we both took some dramamine and set forth. And the first two and a half hours were sorely disappointing.

Well, not a total disappointment. We did catch sight of some sea lions!

The rest of the time however, was disappointing as far as catching sight of any whales or dolphins. BUT . . .

If you've grown up landlocked the way I have and have only been to the beach a few times in your life and have NEVER been out on the open ocean . . . well just being on the yacht with that huge expanse of blue meeting a lighter blue sky . . . wouldn't have missed that for the world. The way the sun reflects off of the water as it sets, the reflection so bright you can barely look at it, but you kind of have to because it's so brilliant? Again, would not have missed that for anything.

Needless to say I would have been disappointed not to spot anything, but still. It was so much fun being out there on the ocean. I loved it. However, after the first 2 to 2 1/2 hours we finally spotted something . . .

You can see the blow from two of the whales. The three we spotted were two adult fin whales and one calf. Fin whales can grow to 80 feet. Can you imagine that? Of course, I had no idea that I was looking at anything other than a 'whale' . . . that's what the captain told us!

At this point even Damon started getting excited. To the point where he went OUTSIDE. Yeah. It was pretty chilly out there I might add!

Of course, we couldn't get too close to the whales. Sometimes they actually go under the boats, but the people who do the whale tours try to be careful. They also have people who volunteer their own time--from the San Diego Museum of Natural History.

You can see we came pretty close, but if we'd disturbed the whales they would have gone under and stayed under for quite a while.

There was also a zoom on Damon's camera soo yeah. Here are the two adults--you really can't see it, but the calf was in the middle of these two.

It was so crazy seeing them. And to get a glimpse of a calf too? How fun is that?

But we'd taken up most of our time just watching these whales. Our three hour tour was just about up. The captains turned us around and we headed back to port. Seriously. I was satisfied with what I'd seen.

But our evening was NOT over!!

I know this is hard to see or hard to even know what you are looking at. Have you ever been driving home in the winter and have you ever seen a huge flock of those small black birds flying through the air? There are so many of them it looks like a long black ribbon. Well, dolphins look the same way, only in the water.

That's right. We saw dolphins! And dolphins aren't like the whales. Whales are fast, but they don't seem fast because they're HUGE. But dolphins are small, agile, and fast. Think of a bomber compared to a fighter plane and you'll get a good idea of how different this felt.

Here's another picture that gives you a better idea of what I'm trying to describe. See the difference between the 'calm' water and where the dolphins are?

Oh yeah. They got closer than that! There were probably several pods--probably around a hundred or more of common dolphins. I think when you have that many it's called a school? Anyway. The camera was dying, so I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to, but we still got some good ones.

They came so close to the boat--they were all over the place, just playing around and curious about us. It was so very cool to see. Just imagine a bunch of deer frolicking who 'seem' (because really I have no idea) to want you to come out and play with them. To the extent that they're running along with your car.

This is where the camera started to die. Stupid camera. Otherwise I would have had a shot with him all the way out of the water! You can see another one just under the water. And yes. They were RIGHT by us!

By now, however, the captain had to get us back. We came in quite late. BUT, I don't think anyone cared. I sure didn't. Here is one last picture of one dolphin who raced with us for a while.

For me it was such a fascinating experience. AND, since I have this idea about dolphins running around in my head--well this totally helped me out, just seeing them in the wild, in real life. And I totally was thinking of that as I watched these dolphins. It was SO COOL!!!

Writing

2010-01-19T16:46:00.004-07:00

I haven't talked very much about my writing lately.

So here is what my writing life is like right now. Revising. I have a lot of revising to do. I'm hoping to have Fall of the Horn in shape by December and January of next year to send out to my critique group--revising takes a LOT of time. The Middle Princess is one that I'm really focused on right now. It's out in a critique group right now, but as I've gotten critiques back I've been revising. For some reason I'm feeling a lot of pressure to get the story DONE ASAP. I don't know why, but I think I really need to follow my feelings. So that is what I'm doing.

I've been way more focused on writing--I feel like I'm achieving more balance this year between my writing life and teaching, which is really nice.

I also have two ideas that have a fairly decent start in my head and I'm really hoping to get the rough drafts out for them in the summer. If I do that then I think I'll feel like I'll be able to take writing more seriously. Or take myself as a writer more seriously.

Oh and on a more fun note--a friend of mine Lizzie did a bookcover for The Middle Princess-way fun!! She is planning on posting it on her blog, so keep an eye out for it. Things like this are so much fun to do with friends!

Also, I said that I'd take you guys through the writing process--at least mine. I had this idea with dolphins and time . . . I haven't posted anything about that story in a while. Don't worry. Ideas have to stay in my head for a while before they start sitting up and grabbing me. Here and there thoughts pop into my head about where I may want this story to go. That's where I've been in the process for that book over the past several months. I wonder when I'll actually start writing it?

If you want to see what else I've talked about--use the label of "Writing A Book" and you'll find the other posts.

YAHOO!!

2010-01-14T20:38:00.002-07:00

AWESOME ISN'T DEAD!!!!!

(I'm so happy)

(For all of you Chuck fans out there--this is what happens when you watch episodes off of Hulu--you don't see previews for next week. I've been very upset.)

San Diego

2010-01-10T16:30:00.001-07:00

I figured I’d blog about our trip to San Diego over the next couple of weeks. A big THANKS to Tina and Aug who made this trip possible—Wow you guys. What a great present!

A brief overview of our week or ten days: hanging out with Tina and Augie—honestly the best part of the trip, and playing on their Wii was fun too! Who knew? We went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Legoland, went to the temple, rode San Diego’s trolley system, went on a whale-watching cruise, attended an auto show next to our hotel, toured the Midway, and ate out. A lot! We had some good food. I won’t go into how much I gained over these ten days, but yeah. It was still good.

I did get sick with something—a stomach bug maybe close to the end of the trip, but I just stayed in for a day and was mostly better the next day. Then we spent one more day hanging out with Tina and Augie and came home.

One thing I really enjoyed about this trip is that we didn’t cram too much in. I hate going all day long when I’m on vacation. I want time to relax and enjoy it. To me, that means not killing yourself over seeing everything you can possibly see and doing so much you literally get blisters on your feet or something like that. We had some great things we did, but we also just got to hang out and relax. I even read a couple of books I’d brought with me! One thing we did not do was hang out on the beach—I really wanted some writing time on the beach, but ultimately our time frame and the way things worked out, it just didn’t happen. I know, crazy, right? We go to San Diego and don’t go to the beach—but we were on the water so that counts, right? A three hour cruise whale watching and our hotel jutted out over the water just a little bit too. So at least we got to see plenty of water!

Funny Things About Hotels

2009-12-22T22:02:00.003-07:00

My husband has discovered certain, interesting fact about hotels in the past couple of years as he has taken more business trips. The higher the 'star' on the hotel? The more expensive EVERYTHING is! Free internet? Are you kidding? Free breakfast? Sheesh. What do you think we are? Here to serve you?

No. I think the higher the 'star' on the hotel, the more you pay for an experience. Coolness, sophistication, trying to feel rich? I really don't know.

Now. Damon and I will be staying at a hotel in California. Originally we were going to stay with relatives, but they have pets and he is allergic. However, it's fun to stay at hotels. I prefer it in a lot of ways because it gives me time where I don't feel pressured by anyone else. I can just do whatever! Because we will be staying for ten days, Damon decided to cash in his miles and one of the hotels is right on the beach. I'm totally stoked.

BUT, it is a four star hotel. I'm not sure what that means. I've only stayed in a four star hotel once before--Denver. I recently blogged about our little summer trip to Denver and I LOVED the hotel. But it was a historic hotel and gorgeous because of the historic part. Beautiful, ornate woodwork and almost a sense of being in another time. Now you KNOW that appeals to the writer in me.

This hotel is brand new. And even in it's little webpage talks about their 'casually sophisticated vibe'. I'm not sophisticated. Not remotely. Casual? Yes. I've got that part down. How can I stay in a hotel that is 'sophisticated'? I don't have the appropriate clothes--I'm sure!

But whatever. It's the experience. And boy, am I planning on using it. I'm going to take a ton of pictures! And walk on the beach. And maybe go swimming too. But what I really want to use this hotel for is some ideas. Maybe I'll get to see people not like me . . . but the OTHER side--you know, those people who think staying in a four star hotel is beneath them and the only reason they're there is because of some weird accident. I need to see people like that . . . because I want to use them in books! I need to have SOME idea what they are like. I'll be really disappointed if they are just normal, like me. Rich people are not supposed to be normal, right? They're rich!! ;)

So even if we don't get the internet and a continental breakfast, I'm going to have FUN!!

What a Week

2009-12-17T18:43:00.003-07:00

Here is my last week of school: SICK.

I made it to school on Monday, and for first period on Tuesday. By second period, my voice had pretty much vanished. And if you can't talk, I mean, what's the point, really. So I went home. My voice started to come back yesterday and it is much better today.

So I'll make it back to school in time to say, "Have a great break!".

I feel really badly too, because I really wanted to help my kids with their projects. Basically tomorrow I'm going to give them the choice to hand it in, or hand it in right after we get back from the break. I feel like I SHOULD have been there to help out on the last minute things. Ah well.

However, I've really enjoyed being at home, resting. I finished up my edits with The Middle Princess--YES, I did get past that dratted Chapter 11, and way past it. I also read two of my friends' books--which both rocked by the way--ah the wonders of a laptop in bed, a large gallon of water, and plenty of medicine to keep one company!

But, now my voice is mostly back--and I've missed FOUR days (I started getting sick last Thursday, so I took Friday off) and it's kind of freaking me out how many days I'm missing. So, yeah. Definitely back to school tomorrow!!

Christmas Break is ALMOST HERE!!

2009-12-13T21:14:00.002-07:00

Progress on Chapter 11: Well I've gotten through it. Now I have to go back and do word searches on was, were, that, and possible looked. My characters look a lot.

School is tomorrow--last week before Christmas Break! Woohoo! I'll have a lot of papers to grade, but we also get to go to San Diego this year. Damon's sister, Tina, got tickets for us. What a great Christmas present, right? We'll be there TEN days! It'll be crazy, but I hope a lot of fun. I'm also planning on going to the beach to do some writing. Doesn't that sound like fun? Okay, well maybe not to everyone, but just sitting on the beach and listening to the waves come in? That sounds nice, right? At least it will be warmer than here!

Trying to Encourage Myself

2009-12-03T16:02:00.003-07:00

I'm trying to encourage myself to look at chapter eleven. I opened up my computer, put my fingers on the mouse pad and slowly, so slowly headed in the direction of Chapter 11. Yet, I paused as I ran the cursor over that little picture that said "Chapter 11". Just two clicks. That's all it would have taken, but I couldn't take the plunge. I couldn't look at it. Not right now.

So instead I went online and started blogging. Well, first I went to other people's sites and read a few things THEN I came back here.

I'm still not feeling any more prepared than when I first started surfing. Hmmm . . . obviously I should have just taken the plunge.

I was talking to a friend yesterday, complaining just a little about when my husband is home--it's hard to not want to spend time together, which means I don't get any writing or revising done. She suggested that I get home and get writing. It's a great suggestion. Literally, if I got home at 2:55 everyday (which isn't always possible) but if I did, I could conceivably work on writing for THREE hours. That is a LOT of time. But I told her I often come home stressed so then I want to do something that lets me veg. I'm trying to limit that vegging out time to one hour. Which still leaves me with a full two hours before the hubby gets home. And if I just ignore things like supper and laundry and cleaning--which I can, that's what weekends are for, right? Or just limit my cleaning time to 15 minutes a day (which worked great last year and I could always clean while watching something) then I could totally have two whole hours a day. Which, when you think about it is a lot of time. So I need to stop my whining (yes, Ali, I DO) and get myself in gear.

Look at the time. I still have 1 hour 50 minutes to revising.

Deep breath. I can do this. I can open up that file and START. I CAN!!!!

My Life to Date

2009-11-24T16:05:00.003-07:00

Ummm. Still alive? Does that cover it?

The last time I posted I was actually still riding my bike--HA HA HA. What a joke. Ever since it turned cold NOTHING. Walking wasn't so bad in the middle of winter, but biking? BRRR!! Especially in the morning, when the bike ride is mostly downhill. Talk about a wind chill factor.

Events of the past month or more?

School is hard. Harder than last year. Have I mentioned that yet? I don't know. But so far my second year of teaching has been a huge challenge. There are a few reasons why . . . I no longer can excuse myself by saying, "It's my first year teaching." Somehow saying, "It's my second year" doesn't have quite the same effect.

We are also doing this walkaway thing, where we have to agree within our department on the concepts we are teaching for the term and do a department test. We are supposed to really align it with the core. Last year, I didn't really pay much attention and then found myself stuck with stuff I didn't necessarily agree with. Since I didn't help out the way I should have last year and am just NOW putting in my two cents it's caused some frustration within our department. My fault, but it is what it is.

I've also been trying to do more with writing--well revising. My goal is to have The Middle Princess revised by the end of this month. It's been going through SLAG, a great critique group, but we only meet once a month so I've been meeting with them for over a year and only have 12 chapters done. But they have taught me a lot, so hopefully, even in the other chapters I'll be able to think about what they might say and fix it!

Revisions take me a LONG time. LONG, long time. Yesterday I spent an hour on two pages. Sheesh.

On the other hand I do feel as if I've been more involved with writing friends and that has been so much fun. My friend, Karen, had a writing retreat. When I told friends about this writing retreat and HOW MUCH I wanted to go they looked at me as if I were crazy. Writing? For an entire week? Are you insane? NO!. Of course, if someone came up to me and told me they were running a marathon for the weekend that would seem just as crazy as a writing retreat. So Karen had this writing retreat and it spurred me on to really start working on my revisions. I think after this last round, plus going through a critique group and then one FINAL round of revising--well it'll probably be good to go. I'll start submitting my book after that. A LOT.

I also went to a book launch party, which was way cool. If I get a chance I'll blog more about that later.

Ummm . . . I know I had more than that, but yeah. Good enough. I'll try to post more regularly, but no promises. BELIEVE ME!!!

Biking in the Wind

2009-09-14T16:40:00.003-06:00

Smoke follows beauty and wind, in a rainstorm, tends to follow me . . . as I'm riding my BICYCLE home. Well, the wind didn't so much follow me as turn against me. THE ENTIRE WAY HOME. How is that even possible? I mean I spent part of my bike ride going south, then east, then southwest, then west, then south again and EVERY TIME the wind was in my face. Trust me, I wasn't biking fast enough to create a breeze in my face.

Tomorrow? I'm definitely bringing a jacket. But on the positive side, my yard is getting a good soaking, which is really good considering I didn't water this week--AT ALL!!

Memory Loss--At My Age?

2009-09-09T17:02:00.003-06:00

Okay, I'm no spring chick. I'm not really that old either. I mean, I'm old to my students . . . but to most adults, I'm probably just . . . heading towards younger middle age. Right?

Yesterday at school I had some questions to ask the principal. He was busy and the vice-principal was the best person to talk to about my questions according to Mr. S, so he told me to talk to Dr. W. I headed on over to the cafeteria, but got slightly distracted talking to a couple of other people. When I finally found Dr. W I went up and said, "I have a question for you." He looked at me expectantly and then I found myself in some kind of brainless wonderland. He continued staring at me. I opened my mouth and then I felt my face flushing as heat rushed through me. My brain raced into high gear. I wouldn't have gone to the principal or the vice principal if it wasn't something I needed to know.

My brain faltered, sputtered, and died. I closed my mouth. I had just talked to Mr. S! I had just asked him the questions. JUST BARELY. My mind, now a void of complete blankness, was not helping me. I opened my mouth and finally admitted it, "I forgot."

Dr. W then went on to razz me about my 'blonde' moment. Sigh. I've never had a blonde moment quite like that before. I mean, I've definitely had blonde moments, but not like this. This was different. This time my age loomed over me.

Ultimately, my brain refused to work and I had to go ask Mr. S, THE PRINCIPAL, what we had just BARELY talked about. Yes, he laughed at me. No, I'm pretty sure he wasn't thinking, "Oh my gosh. I hired this woman? She can't even remember a conversation we had five minutes ago?" At least I hope he wasn't thinking that.

Then later that night it happened again. At taekwondo. We had to do pushups and sit-ups (not many), but we had to count to 10. We count to 10 all the time. I've never had a problem getting up to five--I always get hung up on number six, but I figure that's just because it sounds wrong. I thought I'd gotten over my little 'six' problem, but as it turns out not only did I have problems with six but also with two and three . . . and four . . . and six . . . and eight . . . and--well you get the picture. I CAN'T COUNT TO TEN.

I guess it's a good thing I don't teach math. Dumb brain. I can only hope these moments will be few and FAR between. At least for another good thirty years. Or maybe sixty years. Yeah. Sixty years. That's better.

Obama's speech

2009-09-08T16:01:00.004-06:00

Yeah. Go to school. Make mistakes and learn from them. Work hard. Put effort into what you do. We're not all naturally good at everything. Life is HARD WORK. You have to work hard. Commit to what you want to do and then WORK AT IT.

There was a funny note in the speech (at least to us writers out there). He said that we won't always know instant success-that J.K. Rowling was rejected TWELVE times before she got her book published . . . yeah. If only it was normally that easy to get published!

Don't let failures define you--let them teach you. Don't be afraid to ask questions, to ask for help. What are you going to do with your life? What contributions are you going to make? Get serious about school this year and work hard and you'll find success.

Anyway. That is pretty much the gist of the speech. It was a great speech and he was right on. No, he didn't go off about how we need to have socialism and how everyone needs to follow everything he does and says. No, he did not talk about abortion. No, he did not talk about his healthcare plan. Yes, your children paid little to no attention. No, he did not brainwash your children (even those who paid attention). If we could brainwash children that easily--and convince them that you should work hard at school, don't you think we'd already be doing that?

Truth is truth no matter where you find it--even from someone who you may believe is destroying our country--what he said today--was truth. And truth is always good, no matter where you find it. But, if you're still worried sit down with your kids and let them know that sometimes someone, even someone you might not agree with or respect, will get something spot on right. SOMETIMES. And today was the day for Obama to get something so right that everyone can agree on it. Well, maybe not the people who believe the earth is still flat, but pretty much everyone else . . . I hope anyway.

So NICE

2009-09-07T15:35:00.003-06:00

It is so nice to have a day off!! I've actually been working on school stuff all day, but it's been important that I catch up on grading stuff etc . . .

Just a few more things to figure out and a lesson for tomorrow and then I can enjoy the rest of my day. Oh wait! The day is almost over as it is. LOL. Ah well. The life of teaching, right?

A Troubling Day

2009-09-03T14:54:00.005-06:00

My husband sent me an email this morning with a link to a news-site with an article about Obama's speech that he intends to give to students on Tuesday. I read it and found it troubling to say the least, especially when I went on to read many of the comments posted in response to this future address.

Some schools have already decided not to show it. Some schools have sent letters home telling parents about this broadcast and in response parents have decried this move on Obama's part going so far to compare him to Hitler, etc . . .

Okay, first off--DUDE, this guy is not Steve Jobs. He has no device that alters the reality-perception field. Yes, it hasn't been proven, but I can almost guarantee you that Steve Jobs does have one. And he hasn't given one to Obama because believe me--having devices like that--makes you too scary to deal with. Jobs keeps it secret.

Second. We do not know what exactly the speech is going to be about--according to Education Secretary Ann Duncan he is going to "Challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning." Dang. I was really hoping he'd tell the kids that the only way to succeed in life would be to drop out. My class sizes are way too large right now. Stupid President. Can't he see that my job would be way easier if about half my students left school? Oh, and supporting a republican's idea for education (ie NCLB)? What is up with that? Doesn't he know he's a democrat? Sheesh!

Something else really worries me. Duncan said that "Obama will also call for a 'shared responsibility' among students, parents, and educators to maximize learning potential." What? People sharing responsibility to help kids grow up? What kind of socialistic crap is this? What is this guy thinking? I never interfere with my nieces and nephews. I don't help them with homework, with their problems, or anything like that, because they are not my children and who am I to tell them what to do?

My nieces and nephews would be the first to tell you too, "Oh, I'm SO glad that Aunt Shanna doesn't tell us what to do--like be more respectful to our parents. That would be LAME."

It's not like I have any valuable life experiences to share with them. It isn't like I'm older than they are, have suffered and enjoyed what life has offered so far and have learned things from life. Nope. I have nothing of value to help them with.

AND I definitely am not concerned with my students at work, because I am just there to teach them--how does concern over the fact that they may not have enough food at home have anything to do with me?

Plus, what about the whole brainwashing thing? There are going to be LITTLE kids listening to this broadcast. Little kids cannot think for themselves and listening to Obama natter on about some blah blah blah blah blah blah blah . . . oh wait. Sorry. I had the attention span of a fourth-grader there for a second. Okay, what was I saying? Oh yeah. As I was saying, he is going to totally brain-wah wah wah blah blah blah "No, he totally said you were cute!" blah blah blah blah, "Can you believe we aren't in class right now? Suweet!" blah blah blah blah blah blah, "I totally did not say that about her. We are so not going to be friends with her ever again" blah blah blah blah, "Dude, did you see that sweet shot I made last night? I'm so playing pro someday" blah blah . . .

Okay. Wait a minute. I'm back. I guess I was experiencing the attention span of one of my junior high students. Yeah. We definitely do not want Obama brainwashing our students. And if we don't allow our children to hear this speech they'll stay safe from the evils of politicians out there and safe from the possibility of hearing something that lasts longer than 5 minutes.

Do you know what this outcry reminds me off? People burning Harry Potter books because they are evil. People burning and trashing the Dixie Chicks' artistic work because they spoke out against Bush and should be killed. I vividly remember little kids smashing up cd's . That was such a terrifying an image to me.

People--trust yourselves. Trust your children. As parents you have far more power over them than not only any president, but any superstar out there. Talk to them. Watch the broadcast. If there is something in there that is outrageously against what you stand for, as a citizen of the United States of America, discuss it with your kids. Show them that you are not afraid to deal with someone who may be in the wrong. Show them that you support our right to freedom of speech, no matter who it is, even some crazy socialistic president who has set us on our way to ruin.

And always trust in PUBLIC RELATIONS. There is no way they are going to let Obama shoot himself in the foot by saying something like, "Do as I tell you to do. Support me, you little kindergartners because I'll be running for president for more than two terms. And I'm going to win. And Walmart and I are really going to take OVER THE WORLD." Then again, maybe public relations would put that message in subliminally. Yeah. Don't trust the PR guys either. BUT DO TRUST YOURSELVES AND YOUR CHILDREN!!

Fighting Scenes

2009-08-27T16:13:00.004-06:00

I just read a friend's chapter the other day. It was good--lots of interesting stuff going on. There was also a fairly involved fight scenes. Not only are fight scenes hard to figure out, but they are also hard to write, even if you figured it out really well.

So how can you write fight scenes well? I'm not sure. You don't want to make it too complicated and you don't want to make it too detailed. On the other hand you need to give enough details and enough emotion to make it interesting without it being too annoying.

So what makes a good fight scene? I read Graceling by Kristin Cashore. It had fighting in it and if I remember right I really enjoyed it, but I wasn't paying a lot of attention to how she made it good. So I think I'm going to have to check out that book again and re-read it. Also, maybe take another look at Hunger Games and the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins. And The Blue Sword by Robin Mckinley and Hero and the Crown. Hmm. Can you think of any other books that do fight scenes really well? And when I say fighting scenes I mean small groups--not WAR. No more than three or four people fighting.

Back to Life

2009-08-23T11:30:00.003-06:00

Last week was a busy one with LOTS and LOTS of meetings! Sometimes you feel like you learn a lot, sometimes not. Now that last week is over, official teaching starts tomorrow.

There are a lot of changes that I'm facing--so many (some of them my fault) that I almost feel like I'm starting my first year over. We are moving to 70 minute class periods, which means that I need to revamp the few lesson plans I kept from last year. I want to incorporate using the books provided by school more--not something I really did last year. I want to use more technology--my projector daily along with my interwrite tablet (think of a mobile smart board), more videos, and more interesting ways to get my lesson across to the students. There are some other things that I have to do--I have to teach more grammar. We won't get into my philosophy about grammar, but a quick note--there is no correlation between better writing and knowing grammar. NONE. However, there is a correlation between reading and better writing. What a surprise, eh? And I need to make sure that I'm following the core curriculum, much more closely than I did last year as our department now plans on what core we will be testing on for the term.

All of this is good stuff and will help my teaching. But now I have a lot more to figure out along with making up lesson plans. I'll get there eventually with figuring this stuff out, but this year I'm going to have to set aside time at home to work on lesson planning and incorporating technology.

At the same time I want to continue writing . . . when I say writing I mean revising and critiquing and writing! I have quite a bit of critiquing to do for friends, a TON of revising that I need to do for myself, and I NEED to write.

I'm also getting back onto a diet--I've only gained, gained, gained this past year and 1/2. While that doesn't always take up a lot of time, planning foods takes some time as does exercise.

And I also need to keep on top of housework and the yard.

How am I going to do it all?

I don't know. I do know that I'm freaking out--just a little bit. On the other hand I'm not nearly as nervous about starting school as I was last year. That's good, right?

Gearing Up For School

2009-08-13T13:00:00.002-06:00

No. I'm not really gearing up for school. In a way I am. I've bought some supplies for my classroom and I have some ideas on how I want to approach my classes, including my honors class. However, they are just vague ideas in my head and nothing really concrete. Last year I didn't use the books the school provided and this year I want to use the books in addition to other things.

I've also started working on my yard again. How is that gearing up for school you ask? Well, it probably isn't, but it makes me feel like I'm still doing something useful. Maybe it is just a good way to get OUT of lesson planning!

Tomorrow? I have to go clothes shopping--yeah. I weigh a little more (ahem . . . okay a LOT) than I did at the start of the school year and well-yeah. I have to buy some clothes that are good for school and that will fit me.

I'm also planning on riding my bike to school. Next week may be a little strange for riding my bike because I'm not sure when I'll be in my actual building or at meetings in other places. Other than that I'm planning on biking--it's 2.75 miles one way (roughly) and all downhill on the way there, which makes it doable. I have no desire to get to work all sweaty! Maybe that exercise will help me tone down my eating when I get home. Maybe!

Family Reunion

2009-08-10T11:25:00.018-06:00

For part of our family reunion we went to "This is the Place Heritage Park". I've been there before, but it has been years. It was a lot of fun. This park has moved historical houses from all over and created a small pioneer community. People work there--including a blacksmith--and they dress in appropriate clothing and do activities such as rug making, (in which you can participate), butter churning, grinding corn, basically typical activities of the pioneer era.

Above is a picture of my two nieces, Anna Marie and Bailey having their picture taken with Brigham Young--the second prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He brought members of the church to Utah to escape the persecutions experienced east of the Mississippi and because he was inspired to do so, of course!

One thing that I found a little disconcerting (and only decided to have a little fun with it when it was too late) was the fact that these people know a LOT and they are in character. So they treat you the way they imagine the people would have treated you back then. They answer your questions that way too. So if anyone who reads this blog is planning on a trip up there try telling all the people there (when they ask you) that you are a tourist from the future, where they have discovered time travel and you thought it would be fun to experience this era.

Wouldn't that be fun? I wonder if it would throw them at all or if they would totally take it in stride. When I went into the leather tannery place (I have no idea what you would call it) the person there asked me what I was doing there and I said I was a tourist. I didn't quite have the guts to say 'from the future'. If I ever go there again, I'm totally going to say that.

The houses were definitely not built for people who are tall. Richard, at 6'6'' had to duck quite often. His wife, Mindy who is obviously WAY shorter had no problem!

There are several houses that have been relocated to Heritage Park. There are also replica structures that have been built in order to give us a better feel for structures of that time.

Emma and I explored the tepees--they had a woman there dressed in Native American dress and she told us that these teepees are used by the Shoshone tribe--you can tell by the buffalo skins used on the floor and by the type of teepee? I think. But I got the impression that other tribes used this type of teepee. I could be wrong though! She also told Emma that the women of the tribe were the ones who put up the teepee and when Emma was older, had she belonged to the tribe, she would have had to put it up all by herself. Emma said, "If I were a big strong Indian woman I could". Which, I guess means that she is a small, weak white woman. Well, she is really small for her age, but weak? Not for her size anyway!

Bailey had a blast riding the ponies. After going around a couple of times she actually just held on tight and the lady was able to let her go. The workers there were amazed that she enjoyed it so much and was able to do it by herself. Mostly, kids that age (if our visit was anything to go by) screamed and cried the whole time!

Bailey, right now, is really into trains. Part of the reason we went to the "This is the Place Heritage Park" was because it had a little train you could ride on and the 'bus' they carried you around on was built to look like a steam engine. Because Damon works for the Rail side of things at UTA and he knows a lot, he got permission to give our family a tour of the Warm Springs facility where they maintain Commuter Rail and some light rail vehicles. This is a close up of one of their locomotives. I've gotten to ride in the locomotive before--WAY FUN--but this was just a tour. We did get to see inside the train though and that was cool.

Damon doing his thing! I am continually amazed at how much Damon knows about rail. He just took us there and was this fount of information. He didn't have any cards with information on it--nope. He just knows it all. Smart guy! As his boss puts it--he is a foamer. He foams at the mouth when he sees a train. I don't know if that is just his boss's term, or if that is a general term for people who really, really, love trains. Admittedly, I've taken a tour of this facility before, so I'd heard a lot of it already.

We had been planning on riding Frontrunner (ie commuter rail) after this tour, but everything took much longer than we thought so after we finished up with this, we went to our house and had dinner. After dinner most everyone left so that was pretty much our family reunion.

And you know how I am about writing so what can we apply to writing for this blog? Well, what if your story took place in a village like this one? If you want to do historical research getting a pass and visiting this park on a regular basis would help you really get into touch with the time period and the day to day kind of stuff.

If you are writing fantasy--what kind of world would have places like this? Places made especially for tourists? And what if something happened there? Or what if people were forced to live there and actually believed they were from that time period? How would you keep them ignorant of the real world or the more modern world basically keeping them as slaves?

Cute pics of nieces and nephew

2009-08-07T11:34:00.005-06:00

Zoos are lots of fun for most people to visit. One of my favorite zoos (I've only been to it once) is San Diego's Wild Animal Park. I like feeling less like I'm looking into cages and more like I'm looking into an actual habitat. Anyway, for a relatively small town for most people, but decent sized for Idaho this city has a good zoo. This zoo also had gorgeous walkways with plenty of shading from trees with plenty of places to sit down.

For some kids, petting zoos are the only way to connect to animals. They may live in the city or in an apartment that doesn't allow pets of any kind. At any rate, I think that I learned a lot of life lessons from having pets as I grew up.

I loved all the trees at this zoo. It really felt like you were in a forest a few times!

One of the nice things about zoos is if you are trying to come up with some unusual animals, but don't really know where to start? I mean come on! Go to the zoo. Observe some animals and their habitats and then start writing down your ideas. Funny how I always relate just about EVERYTHING back to writing. Hmmm, maybe that is because anything seen or experienced in your life will broaden your writing horizons!

Tom Hickey's Death RIDE

2009-08-06T15:21:00.005-06:00

A few days ago I posted about a multi-modal tour that we went on in Denver this past weekend. I wasn't too sure about the name, and now I think the name should be Tom Hickey's Death Ride versus Death March. We did do some walking, but we actually didn't have to do as much as they thought we would. We were going to have to walk 3/4 a mile to the cog rail and then 3/4 a mile back, but the bus driver decided he could go straight up there. I GUESS if we would have had to do that, in addition to some of the later walking we did then you might be able to call it a Death March, versus Ride.

I thought I'd post the schedule that they gave us for the tour. It might be hard to see, but you get the idea. We had to meet in the lobby of the hotel at 4:45 AM.

I liked the schedule--very colorful! And here is a map of where we went. Basically we started in Denver, went to Colorado Springs and up Pike's Peak, back to Denver, then on to Boulder then back to Denver.

Groceries from Chile

2009-08-05T22:49:00.030-06:00

You don't normally expect to get a package from someone SERVING a mission. For those of you who don't know, normal mission protocol is to send the person/s out there (wherever there may be) packages. I think my parents get confused sometime, but that is okay. (They're kind of getting up there in years--sshh, don't tell them I said that and maybe if the print is small enough they won't be able to read it because you know--they are so old and all that. Wa ha ha).

Anyway. I'm very glad that they DID send ALL of us kids a package. Mom has talked about some of the stuff they have seen in stores and I've been really interested to kind of get a better picture. Mom and Dad decided to send us kids some things that they see every day in the Chilean grocery stores.

Some of the stuff they sent was more because the packaging is so different from here in the States. So the picture above shows the difference between the United States and Chile. (Yes, I did have to look up Canela to figure out what the heck it was. Damon and I originally thought it was some kind of hot chocolate--only with a different name!)

The direct translation of manjar is food or delicious food. Mom said that we should use this as a dip for fruit. In the States our fruit dips usually come in small plastic tubs.

These are peanuts bought in the street, nice and hot. We are supposed to warm them up before we eat them. The packages almost feel like rice paper. It is fairly thin. I'm looking forward to trying the peanuts tomorrow. However, our microwave is broken and I'm not sure how to heat them up otherwise. Would you believe that we have survived without a microwave for over six months now? But hey, that is another story for another time!

Mostacilla means sparrow-shot, the smallest kind of bird shot OR very small glass, gold, silver, or steel beads. I'm pretty sure that this is for cake decorating--at least that is kind of what it looks like. Here they are called nonpareils (I figured that out after an internet search because I had no idea). Personally, I've always called them sprinkles. Soo yeah. Cake sprinkles actually. I guess it could just be candy, but I'm pretty sure. I'll double check with Mom though!

This is the candy section. I haven't tried any of them, but at the top is some kind of Nestle candybar, some cookies and small hard candies at the bottom. To the left is something . . . The technical translation of morocha really didn't help, but basically it is a chocolate covered wafer (I just tried it so I could tell you what they were). They're pretty good, too!

Now we get to the jello section. We have a box, Chileans get pouches. I'm pretty sure this is the equivalent of jello and of pudding. You can see the brand name of Zuko. Out of curiosity, I looked up the name online. No hits. Well, I did get a lot of hits--you know Prince Zuko from the Avatar? Yeah. I'm pretty sure this is different since that is a cartoon and this is food. Am I right about the jello, Mom and Dad?

I haven't actually tried to open any of these packages. Well I did the cookies, but just because I wasn't sure what they were! Yeah, yeah. That's it!

I wonder if the rest of the packages are easy to open? I think it is a bit nicer having the baking soda in a box instead of this kind of package because then it is easier to use with baking stuff. However, I could see advantages to plastic pouches too. Insects and other little creatures are a lot less likely to get into something sealed up tight in a plastic covering versus a box or paper. Hmmm. Still, it would be a pain to pour into a teaspoon for measuring purposes. And besides how many little creatures like baking soda? Blech!

Since squeeze bottles came along I'm good with that. I always did like the small pouches that come in those deli sandwiches though. So perfect to open, use, and discard. I wonder what different sizes these pouches come in. Is this a big one? A small one? A medium one? I mean, obviously Mom and Dad don't want to send us something that weighs a lot, so maybe they chose everything to size too, but does that mean these are the smallest packages? If these are the largest, I think it works for the mayonnaise, but I don't use a lot of mayo. Hmmm . . .

Again, I think a little bit of mustard goes a long ways, so this package is a nice size. However, what about sticking it the refrigerator? I refrigerate mine--aren't you supposed to? Maybe I should go look at the instructions. But I think all of these flat packages could eventually cause some problems in the frig. And when I say problems I mean big messes! But then again, if we had everything in pouches versus hard plastic I bet they would design refrigerators to hold these pouches upright. Mom and Dad? Do they have anything like that in the refrigerators in Chile?

Now ketchup gets used a little more in my family, so this seems like a pretty small package for ketchup. Just a quick description on the way these feel--very much like you'd expect. They seem to be very similar to the feel of the teeny pouches you get from delis.

And last, but not least is the gravy. The package from Chile has a very smooth plastic feel to it versus the package from here. The package here feels very similar to paper. I prefer the Chilean feel!

Mom and Dad, thanks so much for giving us a little feel for what it is like in Chile. This was very cool to get! I'm sorry I didn't get to open it sooner so I could call you, but this was way cool, especially since I've been wondering, just a bit, what the stores and things like that are like--and how they are different from here. So thank-you!

And I could totally put in a writing tip, but nah. YOU figure out how something as small as different foods or even differently packaged foods might give your worldbuilding a richer feel to it! Okay, okay! That was a writing tip after all!

PS. My sister just told me that those are drink mixes--NOT JELLO. Oops. I actually feel pretty foolish because the directions say one liter of water. Yeah. That would be a lot of water for jello. (Shanna blushes).

Plotting a Novel

2009-08-03T18:29:00.004-06:00

Plotting a novel can be nightmarish. Halfway through your book you may find out that someone just popped in who becomes one of your main characters (yes it happened to me!), or you may find out that you don't have near enough tension. Your characters don't have enough bad stuff happening to them and your book, as a result, is long and tedious. Or you may find that you spend YEARS plotting the novel, but not much actually gets written.

Most authors begin to figure out ways that they plot best. Some writers refuse to plot anything--they just start out with a vague idea and then go for it (what I did in my first novel). Others do a complete outline (what I did in my second novel) and others fall somewhere in between outlining and just coming up with a vague idea and writing.

I went to a conference once and Brandon Sanderson was teaching a class about plotting. One of the things that stuck in my head was if you just write, with nothing more than a vague idea, you will find that you revise that book far more than someone who has outlined it. And yes, that is very true. I can vouch for that!

So it really interested me when a friend told me she'd come up with a book called The Complete Novel Plotting Workbook. I bought one from her and so far I've been really impressed. It is really a workbook. Everything is in there for you to come up with an entire book and can be written in the book. Just what you need before you start writing the actual novel.

Now, if you are a writer who has your own unique idea of how you plot and it works for you this may not be an option you'd want to consider. For me, personally, the more ways I can approach a book the better it may get. Also, maybe this will eventually become a powerful tool for you to use and it will work BETTER than your previous system. However, if you are someone who uses something that works well, I suggest trying it on something that you'd be willing to experiment with. In other words, if you have a deadline for a book that needs to be written use what you are used to, but if you have something that sounds like fun, but no one is interested in it (in terms of publishing) buy this book and give it a shot. It may turn out to be better for you--it may not. The book, however, is very affordable and you won't be out that much if you decide it doesn't work for you.

And if you are a beginning writer? This is a MUST BUY. It breaks things down, makes you think of things you might have never considered, and gives you lots of thoughts and ideas to make your entire book better.

For more information about purchasing the book please go here.

And if you still are wondering whether or not you should try it out here is another review from author Tristi Pinkston.

What a day . . .

2009-08-01T20:27:00.003-06:00

Up at 4 am and now we are returning to the hotel on this bus. However, we
are in Boulder and our bus doesn't get back to Denver until 10. It's
been a long day of riding lots of different types of transit, but
still fun.

Goodnight!

The top-14,115 ft

2009-08-01T11:02:00.002-06:00

A more complete explanation

2009-08-01T07:39:00.000-06:00

It may be hard to read.

The cog railway

2009-08-01T07:27:00.000-06:00

Not that we are actually riding up using this locomotive-but this is
what they used to use. You can see the third rail in the middle-hence
the cog-hence cog rail.

Tom Hickey's Death March

2009-08-01T05:07:00.003-06:00

Today is the death march. Sound like fun? I don't know yet exactly why this is called a death march, but I think it has something to do with the fact that we had to be up at 4 AM and probably won't be back until late this evening.

The first thing on the itinerary? Front Range Express Bus then Mountain Metro bus then a 3/4 of a mile walk (uphill-steepness to be determined later) and then the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, which is a Cog Railway. I'm not actually sure what that is, but I do know that it is going to be extremely steep to the top of the mountain.

Then we do a tour of the Cog Railway Maintenance Shop, which should be interesting. The reason I'm blogging right now (as I'm on the bus) is because the have wi-fi on here and they wanted us to experience it so they even brought a couple of computers--how fun is that?

I'm not sure how posting pics is going to work, but I will post more pics when we get home! But I'll also post along for the rest of the day (via my phone) and we'll see how much of a death march this really is!

Tilework at hotel

2009-07-31T17:57:00.001-06:00

Oxford Hotel-where we are staying

2009-07-31T17:48:00.000-06:00

What used to be the carriage house.

Denver's system

2009-07-31T14:25:00.000-06:00

We are going to ride light rail around until 5:30 then take a tour of
our hotel. The hotel is the oldest hotel in Denver. I'll do pics of
that later! It is very cool!

No parking

2009-07-31T11:01:00.001-06:00

Finding an open parking spot can sometimes be difficult for vehicles.
But I never thought an airplane might have the same problem. Alas,
they do. We are currently waiting for a gate to open up so we can park!

Multimodal Tour Victims

2009-07-31T09:05:00.001-06:00

At least that was the title of the last email that we got outlining a
few things for our trip to Denver. And what may you ask is a
multimodal tour? Honestly, I'm not too sure. I do know that it
involves getting up at 4 am tomorrow and getting back at 9 pm-
obviosuly that is where the victim part comes in-and riding buses,
trains, a cog railway, and a fair amount of walking. I'm told though,
that the donuts at the top of the mountain are really good. Maybe that
will make getting out of bed at 4 am a bit better, but I kind of doubt
it.

Damon loves these trips. He has gone for the past three years-Toronto,
San Francisco, and Orlando. He loves seeing what other transit
companies do and he really enjoys the other transit people who go on
these tours. Spouses are invited and this year, since it was so close,
I decided to come too. I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm not
near the transit geek that my husband is, but it does sound interesting.

Hopefully, I'll be able to take pics tomorrow and blog about the trip!

On a side note my test for blue belt went okay. I'm sure I passed but
I made a few mistakes that I wasn't too happy about-I felt like I
should have done better! But hey. That's ok.

Sent from my iPhone

Revising

2009-07-23T09:56:00.004-06:00

This summer I've focused a lot on revising with my writing. I'm still searching for that perfect balance between writing, revising, working on new stuff, perfecting the old. Well, you get the picture!

I've always hated revising. Before it had a lot to do with the fact that I simply didn't know how to even do it. But thanks to my SLAG critique group and some other great friends (and critique groups!) I've learned a LOT. I didn't realize how much until I actually started working hard on revisions.

Revising can be painful and time consuming. I've met people who just love to revise--they can do it quickly and it just seems to go really well for certain authors. . For me it is painful AND time consuming! But, the one thing that I've realized is this: REVISING IS WELL WORTH THE EFFORT.

Even if you hate it, just the knowledge that your book is improving--even if it is very slowly-- gives you its own reward and makes it worth the effort and time. Typically I spend anywhere to four to seven hours on on chapter making it better. And then I have my group look at it. Which means I have to go back and spend another four to seven hours making it even better. BUT--it does make it worth it to see that your overall story and writing is getting better and better all the time.

So in short? Don't be afraid of revising and if you can find a good critique group! And also realize that finding a critique group that fits you is really, really important.

Four-Wheeling and Rock Crawling

2009-07-13T10:10:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago I went up to Idaho to visit my older brother. My older brother is way into off-roading--specifically rock-crawling. He's been doing this for years now, but no one in my family has really gone and done it with him. There was this big off-roading event in Idaho Falls this past month and he invited me to come.

Eric doesn't just pay to have his vehicle worked on, but he does it all himself. He also works on other people's vehicles building roll cages and doing a lot of other modifications for better performance off the road!

I had my doubts about whether or not I would enjoy it. I haven't been camping in years and well--I like running water. There is a reason I was born in this century (well technically last century, but you get what I mean). He told me when we were out on the trail to find a bush. Yeah. Not going to happen. And no, I also don't go on any of those pioneer treks. Luckily we weren't out there so long that I got desperate, so at least I didn't have that problem.

I also wasn't sure if I would like being out on the hot lava beds, but the weather was perfect! Clouds and some rain kept it just cool enough to enjoy, but not too cool to feel chilly. Unless you stood out in the rain--which I didn't! And ultimately I was a little concerned whether or not I would be BORED out of my mind.

However, I had a lot of fun. Eric even MADE me drive once, which was totally cool. You can also get out a lot and talk with people--and one of my cousins was there with her family. I hadn't seen her in a very, very long time so it was way cool to catch up with her and meet her children.

Eric also considers his vehicle part of his emergency preparedness, which I think he has a very valid point. In the vehicles these guys drive, they could go for miles and miles over most types of terrain getting to places that they need to or getting away from places that they might need to. Pretty cool.

Here are some pics. Eric's vehicle's name is Horton--named by his three year old daughter. I posted a picture of her a couple posts back. She loves Horton and anytime she got a little nervous we'd say things like, "Horton is doing such a good job, isn't he?" And she would say, "Yay Horton. Keep going Horton." So stinking cute!

Actual flowers in bloom out here--we've had such a lovely, wet spring.

One of the guys rolled his vehicle. They had to winch him out. Those jackets on the cable? IF the cable snaps the weight is suppose to help the cable snap in just one direction instead of going all over the place maiming someone. Kind of scary, I thought!

You can see some of the stuff that feel out of this guys vehicle (I don't remember his name). He also couldn't start it up because of the way he was tilted. But once he was up again he just had some body damage.

I never took a good picture of Horton, but you can see part of him in this picture!
I tend to like huge trees and streams and green, green grass--in other words NOT the desert. However, I thought this was absolutely gorgeous!
The easy part!

And for all of you writers out there--I didn't waste the experience as far as writing ideas. The weather, the view, and even the vehicles gave rise to all sorts of 'what-if' games in my head. I think I may use Eric's expertise someday in a book that has off-roaders in it--or I have this idea for a current book, where one of my MC's wants to be a storm-chaser. I think your vehicle would be very critical as a storm chaser, able to go off-road etc . So I may just use Eric's expertise a little sooner!

Our Yard

2009-06-18T11:36:00.008-06:00

About four years ago I took some pictures of our yard because we had some flooding. I wish now that I had taken more pics of the yard as it progressed. This is what it looked like, back then.

Then:

Now:

Then

Now:

Then:

Now:

In Idaho

2009-06-12T14:59:00.000-06:00

I'm visiting family in Idaho right now. We're hanging out at Barnes
and Nobles. My niece is having fun with the trains!

Later, we're going to the hospital to visit my uncle who has been
very, very sick. He's better now, though and hopefully will be out of
ICU in a few days.

Out of School!

2009-06-06T14:44:00.002-06:00

I've officially finished my first year as a teacher!

Next year--this could change, but right now next year I'll be teaching all seventh graders and one honors seventh grade class. I'm really excited to teach an honors class--but I want to be really good with how I approach it. I don't want to be the teacher who just adds busy work to the honors class!

I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to do a couple of creative writing classes too!

The Answer

2009-05-30T13:21:00.003-06:00

Okay, so this very first picture--another view from the car may help you figure it out. By the way the car has working taillights.

If you've figured it out, then these might be a bit sad. I thought about not including them, but this is part of these people's lives.
I liked this one because it kind of reminds my of what I think of, when I think of Africa.

Any thoughts yet?

Take another look at the first picture . . .

All of these decorative figurines are actually coffins. Yes, it is sad, but also fascinating.

I would never have thought to put something like this into a book. Who would put so much effort into a coffin? It's going to be buried in the ground. Even the car has working taillights.

I think this is an interesting tradition and one, if incorporated into a book, that would make the culture rather unique and different.

As an author, researching other cultures may just lead you to that next great book you want to write!

World-Building

2009-05-29T11:23:00.005-06:00

I once read that Diana Wynne Jones would take cultures that exist on this world and tweak them for her own purposes as she set them in fantasy worlds.

I really like this idea. I don't think we always realize what a varied and interesting world we actually live in that we can draw ideas from.

My parents have been getting forwarded e-mails from this senior couple in Africa. The writing is witty and entertaining as are the pictures so my parents have been forwarding the e-mails to us. One e-mail really set me thinking. Take a look at these pictures.

Any ideas yet as to what these are used for yet?

More coming tomorrow.

(Oh, and I did get permission to post these pictures!)

Bailey's Dance Recital (part II)

2009-05-26T20:36:00.003-06:00

She's in the same spot--second from the left.

Bailey's Dance Recital

2009-05-26T19:58:00.003-06:00

We were pretty far in the back, so it is hard to really see anything. Bailey is the second one from the left.

Cute pic of my niece! And I'm in it too!

2009-05-26T19:56:00.003-06:00

Damon and I went to see Eric and Kristle a couple weeks ago. Here is a pic of my niece. She is such a cutie and I do not get to see her nearly often enough. We went so we could see her in her dance recital.

Maybe I lied

2009-05-26T19:47:00.003-06:00

Okay--it's really a clock and that is a door leading to the machinery . . . but really it's probably a hobbit hole and the clock is a cover-up story.

The woman on the right? My mom. And I don't remember the name of the person she is with. Now Mom and Dad are in the Osorno mission--they were just transferred and they will be/are working in the mission office.

News Flash: Hobbits Found in Santiago, Chile

2009-05-15T10:56:00.003-06:00

Okay, maybe hobbits haven't really been found in Santiago, Chile. Or in Chile, because I'm not sure if this was Santiago where the picture was taken.

HOWEVER, if the lock were gone (but you know, modern day hobbits might need to have padlocks) and the door fancy carved wood . . . this is exactly what a hobbit hole would look like (at least in my mind)!

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

2009-05-13T19:34:00.005-06:00

When I picked up Damon from the bus today he told me that he'd read a book review and he thought that I might like a book he'd read about.

This really excited me. First off, Damon and have very little crossover taste as far as our reading goes. We do have some--Dean Koontz, a little Janet Evanovich, Michael Crichton--a few authors like that. Damon also does not like fantasy--at all. It is very ironic that I write fantasy and tend to stick to or around that particular genre. So Damon recommending a book to me? Wow. Not something he normally does.

This also excited me because I have a good friend whose husband is always looking up reviews and books and then buying his wife the books. He will often show up after work with a new book for Tina, and I've ALWAYS been jealous (and grateful because she lends me the books to read!).

As soon as Damon said he'd read this review, visions of my smiling husband coming home with fantasy books in hand FOR ME swam through my head.

Alas, alas. He began to describe the review to me, "It's about a fifteen year old girl who gets these bumps in her back and she finds out she is a fairy and was left on the doorstep when she was just a baby. It sounded like something you'd like."

I paused for a second, "Yeah, that's a good book. I liked it."

"What?"

I could see that Damon was not exactly happy. He'd gone through the work and effort to read this book review. He'd been excited to tell me about this brand new book that just came out, showing that he'd been thinking about me. He was excited to tell me!

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Maybe if I'd encouraged him to buy it for me, he might have made the effort to find more books for me. Instead he just stared at me and I felt like I had to explain a little further, "Honey, I bought that book the other day when we went to Barnes and Nobles. Don't you remember?"

Needless to say Damon was hugely disappointed that I not only KNEW about the book, but that I had also read it. I'm pretty sure he won't be coming home anytime soon with a book in his hand. Sigh.

For anyone wondering whether or not they should get this book? Well, I liked it. I THINK I'm glad I bought it. I'll need to re-read it a couple times before I know for sure!

In the meantime, go check it out. Aprilynne Pike (this was her debut novel) came up with a very interesting twist on fairies, a twist that I really, really liked.

Epiphanies

2009-04-27T18:57:00.003-06:00

I had an epiphany the other day. I went to the LDStorymaker's Writing Conference this past weekend. It was really good--like it always is. A couple of things happened. I didn't learn much. This is a big deal to me. This is my fourth year going and I've begun to realize there is only so much you can hear and learn about before you have to put it into practice.

Don't get me wrong. I have put some of this stuff into practice, but I'm talking about a LOT of practice. I need to write on a regular basis. Period. End of discussion.

However, that wasn't the epiphany.

Julie Wright taught a class and she talked about her experiences with publishing and then not getting published. She had two books published and then a long dry spell. And I can't remember exactly what happened--if she received a harsh rejection or if it was the discouragement of not getting her stuff out there, but it sent her into a 'fear' kind of a space. That space is something I've been inhabiting over the past couple of years. But as I heard Julie talking about her experiences I began to think about what she felt. How could she? She'd had books PUBLISHED and at a young age too. Didn't that PROVE how good she was, how talented and amazing she was (and is I might add!).

Then I started thinking about Karen. Karen is a wonderful woman and one of my best friends. I love her! And (I hate to say this), but I've been jealous of her. Terrible, right? It's just that Karen has had so many wonderful validations of how great her writing is. And I would say to myself. Well, if I had that happen to me then I'd KNOW I could write. Then I'd KNOW I could be successful at this whole writing thing.

It was in Julie's class, however, that I realized how WRONG I was. No matter how many validations we get of our writing, the one that gets to us, that really bites at us and says you can't write, you'll never be any good, no matter how many books you write, no matter how many books you publish . . . well that is the voice we seem to listen to again and again. And I instantly forget about the wonderful successes I've had and I only focus on that one invalidation (or many! as the case may be).

And I realized. I can't do that anymore. If I ever want to be serious, if I ever really want to give this a true try, I have to believe that I can get to where I want to. No matter how many rejections I get, no matter how many contests I lose, no matter WHAT . . . I need to go for it. I can't let that "Fear Space" control my life any longer.

So goodbye fear space and hello to a new beginning.

And guess what? I WROTE today--for fifteen minutes, which was my goal!

Hermit Mode

2009-04-09T16:14:00.003-06:00

I'm in hermit mode.

Well, maybe I'm emerging right now, but I've had spring break. I'm sure as soon as school starts back up on MONDAY (way too close) I'll sink quickly back into hermit mode.

Even though I may not be writing very much I am discovering that reading can really help with creativity. And whenever I go into hermit mode I read a lot! Also, watching television/movies can be helpful, especially in your genre of choice. If you tend to write romances then go watch some. You might be surprised what you find.

I've decided I'm going to incorporate something into a books someday. My mom--MY MOM sent us a link to a youtube video. I've posted on something similar before--where the actors all freeze at a train station and hold that for three minutes or so. Anyway, my mom sent me another one similar to that only they were dancing to the Do-Re-Mi song. It was cool.

Anyway. I've decided to use them--maybe they're fairy attacks. Hmmm . . .

The Advantages to Having Students who Love to Read

2009-03-10T16:20:00.004-06:00

You get to borrow books from them. I love that. I've read the last two books in the Pellinor series because of one of my students. She read the third book and everyday I'd ask her, are you done yet? Can I borrow it? So this time, when she got the last book she just let me read it first.

HOW COOL IS THAT??!!

So I made sure to read it quickly so I could have it back to her the very next day! Yes, there are definite joys to teaching.

PS. And I'm over my 'fifteen minute limit'. Getting off the computer now. On to cleaning!

Submissions and Failure

2009-03-09T19:55:00.003-06:00

So I haven't been submitting my books or anything. They simply are not professional enough to submit, yet. SLAG, my critique group, has been going over the chapters and helping me out a lot so at least I may be making some progress.

No, the submission I'm talking about is a conference that I will be attending in April. I have attended this conference for the past couple of year and love it. They have a first chapter contest and the first year I submitted I won the grand prize, which was very cool. My other chapter didn't even place, but hey, I was okay with that.

Last year I didn't submit anything. I told myself it was because I was too busy at school, and all that kind of stuff, but I think it came down to fear. What if I submitted and didn't win anything? You would think that having placed once that should be good enough, and it was, but the doubts run through my head anyway.

What if it was a fluke? What if that was the most memorable thing I'll ever be able to create and that was the beginning and end of my not-so-glorious writing career? What if I submit again and all of my friends win something, but I'm just sitting there looking like an idiot? What if it was just a fluke? Of course, even if I win something this year I'll still wonder if it was just a fluke . . . isn't that so silly?

And there is always the problem of not winning? I want to be positive and tell myself, hey at least I submitted, and at least I had something to submit. But when you see people you've known for years who started out with you or who were in the same place as you once were and maybe still are--to see them winning--sure you're happy for them, but there is that whole failure syndrome.

This year, I'm going to try my hardest to look at it as a learning experience. To just look at it as something that will possibly make my writing better and try my best to just be happy for those people who do win. Because, after all, just because I don't win doesn't mean that I can't be a published author someday.

Now I just have to convince myself of the truth of those words!

Writing Tips

2009-02-26T17:03:00.004-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Dreams can be great to inspire you into a story.

These past few days I haven't been sleeping so well--the con is I'm very tired. The pro is I'm remembering some of my dreams.

Last night was interesting and I was just telling a friend about it in an e-mail and it started developing into an almost story line about these people who can travel though the galaxy because they have this ability to become/move through dark matter by becoming it. Or something. And there is this guy on earth who is an alien and owns this complete dive/restaurant/bar who is recruiting this particular girl who can actually shift through wind, showing that she may just have the ability to be one of these galaxy travelers. That sounds interesting, doesn't it? Of course, there is no real problem or conflict there, but something might happen with it!

And it just came from a dream that I happened to remember. I love stuff like that!

Gotta take a Break!

2009-02-25T16:38:00.003-07:00

March and May are the two long months in teaching. At least as far as I can tell. They're the months with the fewest breaks--pretty much no break when it comes down to it.

I'm already feeling a bit overwhelmed and we haven't even hit March! So tomorrow, since we talked about Point of View today, I'm going to have my kids watch Hoodwinked. It will catch me up on grading and give me a break I NEED!!

I can do that, right? It has some teaching merit, doesn't it?

Oops

2009-02-13T19:46:00.002-07:00

If anyone has looked at my blog in the past couple of days and went, huh? There was a good reason. I accidentally posted something I was trying to e-mail to MYSELF!! NOT MY BLOG!! Anyway. It is gone now.

Ah technology.

Our Living Room

2009-02-09T18:47:00.007-07:00

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a long time. We re-did our living room a while ago and I just never got around to posting the pics. So here are the pictures from what our living room used to look like.

Damon and I both have really different tastes so we asked a neighbor, who is an interior designer, for some help. He gave us some suggestions and we actually ended up with something we both really liked. It definitely has a modern feel to it, which is what Damon likes, but by adding in the bright colors and the picture over the piano (which I chose and I LOVE it) it warmed up the room, making it perfect for me!
The picture above the piano also ties in the red, but not overwhelmingly so. Just a splash of color in the grey and black.

I don't think I would have liked this at all without the red. Damon chose the grey and when we put it on the wall it was way too dark. So we literally went and got a gallon of white and added around a half a gallon to lighten it up. The color totally reminds me of a stormy day on the beach. We both ended up loving the grey, but without the red? I would have hated it. I need some warmth!

This window treatment was really frustrating. We had to find something that would cover up the screen, which really complicates things. We found this system at IKEA and we both really liked it. Damon wanted the black so when the panels are slid back we get this 'home theater' feel, but I can still get these nice curtains. After we got the curtains hung up we realized the front was way too monochromatic and it didn't tie in the red color that is in the rest of the room. We went and got this large vase and some sticks, painted the sticks and it now breaks up the monotony of the colors and ties the whole thing together. Plus, in the section that opens up to the kitchen we also had a vase that matches the large one with red sticks too.

And that is what our curtains look like when the panels are pulled black, leaving only the black. Plus, the projector is on!

A Lesson that WORKED!!

2009-02-03T17:15:00.006-07:00

Yes, it is sad that I am blogging about a lesson I felt worked or even sadder that this is the FIRST time I'm blogging about it! However, the reason I wanted to mention it was because it worked better than I thought it would. I'm not too sure how the students connected to it, but I really ended up liking this and it even ends up being a great writing tip, too!

Last week I assigned my students to "act" out a scene without using words. For example: you are a group of firemen putting out a fire and have to rescue a person in a burning building, you are a group of thieves stealing something from a high-tech building, etc . . .

One of the points that I wanted to get across is that words don't necessarily tell us everything and they shouldn't. What we get out of watching someone do something tells us a lot about someone. Anyway, after each group we analyzed the people's characters as we had seen them portrayed. Most of the groups spent about 30 seconds doing their little 'skit'. We pretty managed to get a list of 10-20 characteristics out of every person.

One group that went were the thieves. They snuck around, rolled on the ground avoiding the lasers, had a look-out, the whole works. Afterwards, we were able to analyze who the leader was, who the newbie was, what each character did in tense and nervous situations, how skilled the people were at their job, and even got a little bit into possible motivations of the characters. It was so cool! Even the students were amazed that we could get that much out of a few seconds of SEEING how these 'characters' reacted in given situations.

So my writing tip? Actions speak louder than words and they often will show us what the person is like far better than any conversation.

Hopefully my students will have made a solid connection as they create characters for their stories. Sigh. I kind of wished my principal would have observed me on THAT day!!

Balance

2009-01-26T15:43:00.003-07:00

I'm trying to find balance in my life. Normally when I come home I just want to turn on the television and veg until I go to bed. Teaching is surprisingly exhausting and I haven't felt the need to do more.

However, that is finally beginning to change. First off, the house was a disaster. There are just two of us, yet, it was constantly messy and there was no way I wanted to clean and be the only one 'cleaning'. Damon and I have started this fifteen minute thing. We clean fifteen minutes a day. Laundry doesn't get included in this time. We also do a load of laundry a day. Previous to this we were waiting until the weekend to get this kind of stuff done and it NEVER happened. It is amazing what you can get done--cleaning wise--in fifteen minutes.

So now our house is in better shape and will hopefully continue to get into GOOD shape. Since this fifteen-minute rule has done so much, I decided to apply it to my on computer time for right now. So everyday I will take fifteen minutes to look at blogs or facebook or whatever it is I choose to look at. Then I'll be done! That way I won't start wasting too much time, but if I really want to blog I can and I'll have the time set aside.

Now. I have to figure out the rest of the balancing act: getting some kind of writing time everyday, daily organizing that needs to be done, less television/movie watching, exercise and diet . . . and . . . well I could go on.

But I do feel hope. Someday I'll get things figured out!

Can one be TOO connected?

2009-01-21T20:04:00.003-07:00

Our lives have dramatically changed. Socializing now occurs just as much online as it does offline. Over a year ago I started a blog. I had reasons for doing it--I could kind of keep a running journal, it connected me to writing and authors and publishers would make the suggestions at conferences . . . oh and it was an assignment.

Yes. My blog started out as homework. Since it started out that way I was able to become familiar with this particular site quickly. It also forced me to do different things so I also became comfortable quickly.

I haven't had the same experience with Facebook. Facebook intimidates me. I'm not sure why. I hear friends talking about their "friend" contests and then I look at how Facebook runs things and I think, how many friends could you really, truly keep track of? The whole reason I joined up was because I met this wonderful lady in a Spanish class. Really, she was a fantastic and very interesting person. She moved back to California as soon as she graduated and we really haven't kept in touch. Anyway. She sent me an invite and since I wanted to at least keep up with her a little bit, I got onto Facebook.

Mission accomplished right? I felt pretty pleased with myself. But now, as I get more friends on this whole Facebook thing and see what everyone is doing with it . . . well. I'm feeling the pull. Just like blogging can consume your entire world (okay, I never got THAT bad), but I could see how Facebook can do the same thing. Just consume your entire world. There seems to be so much you can do with it. I was just reading the news feed and posted my first news feed--oooh ahhh.

I also see people posting a lot. Just little things: So and so is doing this right now. How do they get anything accomplished??!!

It's also been a lot of fun to reconnect with people I haven't seen or talked to in years. But I could see how easy it would be to spend a LOT of time on facebook.

Writer's Ink

2009-01-13T17:29:00.005-07:00

Karen and I started a club at my school--Writer's Ink. Since it has been so long since I've posted I thought I'd talk about them

We're having a guest speaker come out and talk to us. I'm not too sure if I can mention names; I'll ask the speaker tomorrow. Anyway, she is a free-lance editor and has some amazing experiences to bring to the table for all of us! Karen knows her, which is how we got her out here in the first place. It always amazes me when people are so willing to share valuable time to speak to others who share a passion for writing.

I do know a few authors and would love to ask some of them out here to speak to my students, but I always feel like I could be imposing. You know? It is kind of strange. I know how busy writers can be and well . . . this IS their profession. How can I ask someone to come talk to students for free (well maybe a dinner), when this is their professional life?

So thanks to anyone who is willing to share their talents. I think you are amazing and I'll probably ask a few of you to come out and talk to the club.

We've settled into a fair number of writers in our club--about 20-25. We also have some amazingly talented writers who are better than some adult writers I know. I hope that this club will give them some real tools to help them go on and do what they want to do with their writing.

Anyway. Since I'm getting sick I'm going to take some medicine and go to be EARLY!! I'll let you know what happens tomorrow!

Breaking the boards . . . Oh yeah

2009-01-11T19:32:00.003-07:00

Alright. Here is me breaking some boards. I actually did this quite a while ago, but it has taken me until now to post it. I'm pretty sure, due to the scarcity of my posting that very few people even look at my blog anymore! To all those people who are going to miss the absolute beauty of board breaking . . . well, your life will be less complete.

To those who still faithfully check my blog: my sister, niece, and husband--thank-you. Enjoy the video!

Testing

2008-11-10T16:41:00.004-07:00

We've had this District Writing Assessment that the students have been taking over the past few days. I thought, going into this assessment time, that it would be easy and I'd have a lot of time to get a lot of stuff done, but I was WRONG!!

I think I've been more stressed-out over this district test than anything else. Well, except maybe my first day.

I'm not too sure why. There are so many instructions that we have to remember and so many very specific things that we have to do or not do as teachers. It begins to feel like there is a camera watching you and the "District Assessment Police" are going to come after you if you tell a student the wrong thing or give them too much information.

Can't you just see it?

(Me) "Students, make sure you do a five paragraph essay. The same thing we've been studying for the ENTIRE past term."

(Enter Assessment Police) "Take her down, take her down! She said FIVE-PARAGRAPHS! Get her outta here before she tells these kids too much!"

Maybe I'm just being paranoid . . . but giving this test has made me feel that way.

Also, if you have students who are absent they have to take it on a make-up day. So you're trying to get the students who have missed to make it up, you have to organize everything just so, and I'm pretty sure I threw away some stuff I was supposed to keep. Not the kids' papers, though.

After tomorrow the make-up days are done and over with and I'll be free to go back to teaching. Thank goodness!

Do you want to write?

2008-11-03T18:31:00.002-07:00

Go check this out--and be warned. If you don't write it may just start erasing your words or playing music at you, or flashing at you . . . it depends on which mode you choose! Wa ha ha.

Surfacing

2008-10-30T16:55:00.004-06:00

I just finished reading a book--Magic Burns, by Ilona Andrews. It is a sequel to a book I really enjoyed (Magic Bites) and I liked this one even more. I think I'll probably buy this series if it stays as strong as the first two.

There is just one problem. Sometimes I'll read a book and I'll have such a hard time surfacing from that book that I have to read another book to get some distance from it. The books suck me in and keep me there, even after I've returned to reality. Does this happen to anyone else?

I have a love/hate relationship with these kinds of books. I love it while I'm reading, hate the fact that the series isn't finished, and hate the fact that I just want to go back and immerse myself into that world. I also hate the fact that I have to force myself to disconnect.

Anyway. Now this is turning into a book review. These books are fantastic. They are more adult--ie they have more language and 'adult' situations. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone who have problems with those kinds of things. That being said, I really, really like this series. I like the story, I like the complications that are occurring, I like the mystery, the humor, and the strong female protagonist.

These books are based on a post-apocalyptic society--only the apocalypse wasn't an atomic bomb, but rather magic returning to the world or more correctly the balance getting so severely out of hand (technology vs magic) that the world has returned to magic etc with technology mixed in.

I'm not going to say more; I think I've said enough. I'd buy them. And I have a hard time resurfacing from them which means they've really pulled me in. Can't expect more than that.

Sigh. Wish I could write something as compelling!

PS. Kathleen reminded me that I didn't tell you the prequel or give out any information. I added in the name of the sequel and author above. You can buy them on Amazon- Magic Bites, Magic Burns, and Magic Strikes (not yet available). Thanks Kathleen!

Six-Traits Writing Workshop

2008-10-23T17:29:00.007-06:00

We've had this six-traits writing workshop for the past few weeks. I've learned a lot from it--basically its putting stuff I already knew into certain kinds of categories that will help students be better critiquers and writers. Friday is the end of the term, so I'm going to start with teaching these traits for next term.

We had to do a writing assignment--personal narrative and I thought I'd share mine here. It's sad, so be warned.

If Only

By Shanna Blythe

Jumbled impressions of Grandma run through my head when I think of her now: a wrinkled hand covered in blue veins that I held and played with as we watched television, hot vacation days at her house, mowing Grandma’s lawn, Golden Grahams for breakfast (something we never got at home), age, and Grandma’s slow walk as she moved between her trailer and our house.

None of this epitomizes Grandma. I remember playing with her hands, but that doesn’t describe what I felt on the inside as we watched television. I’m not sure I even can. Grandma was my Grandma. She took care of our family and we took care of her. Sometimes, however, I didn’t take care of her the way I should.

I worked at the bakery, twenty-five miles away from home—the late shift. Combine that with my love of sleeping in, well, Mom yelling at me to get up and go check on Grandma didn’t make much of an impression.

“Shanna, you need to get your Grandmother some breakfast and lunch. I don’t have time to check on her this morning; I have to get to work.” Ever since Grandma had gotten sick, Mom and I had taken care of her.

I replied in a ‘mumble-mumble, of course I’ll take care of things’ and promptly fell back asleep. I woke up much later, the sun streaming in and making it too warm to sleep. I stretched lazily and took my time getting ready for work. After all, I was now a responsible adult. I had a job and I was earning money for college. Besides, I had plenty of time to shower, get ready, fix lunch for me and Grandma, and still make it to work by 2.

Nothing felt wrong about the day. I had a vague memory of Mom wanting me to check on Grandma in the early morning, but why not just wait until I left?

I puttered around the house and finally, at the last minute started to rush around frantically. Grandma was getting better, but her appetite wasn’t back to normal and we were worried. She didn’t cook for herself anymore; we made sure that we got her food. I fixed the one thing guaranteed to get a few bites—a tuna melt with tomato. I loved tuna melts, but adding tomato to it made it nasty.

I grabbed the bread, being careful not to smash anything, and took some tuna already mixed with Miracle Whip from the frig. The cheese went next, and blech—the tomato. The pan was hot by this time; I spread some butter on the bread, and stuck it in the pan. Making lunch for Grandma made me feel good, like I was helping her, but it also made me feel especially close to Mom. We were the only ones who could even get Grandma to eat or take care of herself and Grandma’s illness had connected me to Mom in a new way--a way that made me feel grown-up, special. Of course, if I didn’t clean up any mess I made, horror of horrors, even our closer relationship and my new adulthood wouldn’t prevent the trouble I’d be in.

The strong smell of grilled bread and tuna wafted through the kitchen and I wrinkled my nose. Though I loved tuna melts, they never smelled that good. I flipped the sandwich over, got some fruit out, a dish, and slid the hot sandwich off the frying pan and onto the plate.

Grandma’s trailer stood a few yards behind our house. It gave her some independence, but we could still take care of anything important. It was a matter of seconds as I followed the familiar trail—out the garage, past the old swing-set, our plum trees, and up the steps.

When I opened the door the first thing I noticed was the silence. No television blared out to greet me. The house felt a little too warm, but Grandma liked it that way. She didn’t have any fat on her these days.

“Grandma?” I called out.

Silence.

Could Grandma still be in bed? I put the food down on a little table and glanced towards the kitchen. Silence. Emptiness. The house felt abandoned, but I knew Grandma was here.

A sense of dread began to creep into me and my hand trembled. I called out again and again, nothing greeted me. I should have known then.

I walked down the hallway, past the bathroom and straight into Grandma’s bedroom. The bed hadn’t been made. My feeling of dread, of wrongness grew. Grandma always made her bed.

The sunshine streamed through her windows, but as I turned back to go check the other bedroom and bathroom a sense of darkness began to permeate that little hallway. I knew something was wrong. Silence hit my ears like a siren. My hands were clenched by now, my back and neck like stone.

“Grandma?”

Why was I still calling her name?

I glanced towards the spare bedroom—the door open. She wasn’t there. The bathroom door was open too, but it was dark in there. Why wasn’t the light on? Or was it on? Do I just remember things differently?

I saw her then. She had obviously been using the bathroom when something forced her to bend over the tub and there she was, half-naked, bent over.

“Grandma?”

No response. Surely I knew then. Surely I knew that she was never going to respond, never going to say hello again. What force made me walk over to her? Did I really think that she might be asleep? In that ignominious position? Yet, I still walked over to her, repeating her name. Maybe I had to keep talking to cover up what the quiet screamed out at me. Maybe I believed my words could hold off reality just a little longer.

It wasn’t until I was there, bending over her, repeating myself that I saw the vomit in the dark green tub . . . and then I touched her. Hard. Stiff. Cold. I shook her, but it was like shaking a table: unyielding.

“No, no . . . “ My voice rose into a thin scream and before I knew what had happened I was out of the trailer, tears streaming down my face and I stumbled towards my house. I had to call Dad. I couldn’t call Mom. I couldn’t call and tell her . . .

The phone was in the kitchen and the smell of the tuna still lingered. I didn’t have to look up the number to Dad’s work. I dialed, my breath coming in hiccupping sobs as I tried to gain enough control to talk to the secretary. The phone rang and rang again. No answer. I couldn’t call Mom. How could I call my mother and tell her that her mother was dead?

I had no other option. I didn’t know what to do. I called and someone answered. I cleared my throat and shakily asked for Mary Lou. The moment I heard her voice I fell apart. I couldn’t even speak for a moment, “Mom? I went over to give Grandma lunch. She was in the bathroom . . . I think she’s dead.”

Thoughts ran through my mind. I should have gotten up. I should have listened to my mom. If only I’d been there in the morning. If only I had gotten her breakfast. The ‘if-only’s’ ran through my head over and over again.

Mom and Dad were there in less than ten minutes. I still hadn’t gone back into the trailer. Mom ran into Grandma’s house. Dad followed and then me. I wasn’t in a hurry to go back there. By the time I was inside Mom had disappeared into the bathroom. I looked at the sandwich.

Mom came back into the living room. The only time I think I ever heard her wail—she wasn’t just crying, not even sobbing; her pain went too deep. She’d lost her mom. I’d lost my Grandma.

“I should have checked on her, she shouldn’t have had to die alone . . . I should’ve been there.”

Mom’s litany was like mine. If only I’d come sooner. We shared the same pain, the same guilt. I should have taken care of Grandma better. To this day, a tuna melt is a reminder of that day, a reminder of if-only, if-only . . . if only.

Creative Writing Groups in Schools

2008-10-22T17:13:00.004-06:00

When I was a kid not many people liked to write. Not even my English teacher (yes, notice the singular there) seemed to like it THAT much. I just kind of figured that it was probably because I came from a very small town. Nothing has really given me much of a reason to think differently, until today.

Today I (along with Karen) started a new club at my school--Writer's Ink. We had 36 students come to our first meeting! I couldn't believe it. I really expected to see 6-15 students. Now this is totally exciting, but Karen and I got to talking a little bit and she said where she grew up she and her brother were the only two people who really liked to write.

This comment got me thinking. She didn't come from such a small place. What has changed over the past twenty or so years? Do we have Rowling and Meyer to thank for this increased interest in writing? Is that simplifying it too much? Is this increased liking of writing have something to do with more women writers and so more girls are interested in writing? I would have to say we had a lot of females, but we also had quite a few boys in the meeting tonight.

I wonder what it is? I wonder if this many people have always been interested, but now it is more acceptable, perhaps? Even looked up to? If so, how neat for the authors of today. Perhaps it is the accessibility of authors. Authors have blogs, extensive tours, podcasts, their books made into movies, and so many other things that they do now. Perhaps it is the ability to look at someone who does write for a living. It never crossed my mind that I could write for a living as a kid. Now it seems perfectly normal and we see a lot of authors.

What do YOU think?

The Santa Letters

2008-09-27T07:37:00.002-06:00

I don't normally read books like this. I stick mainly to fantasy-esque types of books. I especially don't usually read books that talk about losing spouses. I mean that is something I don't even want to think about.

That being said, you need to read this book! Yes, you'll shed some tears or a lot depending on what you're like, but you'll also laugh and feel, well GOOD. This book is not intended to depress you. It's REAL, if that makes any sense. Any book that can run the gamut of emotions like that is well worth reading. It is also great for anyone, anytime, but the Christmas season is approaching and sometimes it is hard to get into the swing of Christmas. This is perfect. It reminds us all about what life is really about and Christmas.

I don't want to give anything away. This is more of a 'teaser' kind of a thing to get you to go purchase the book!

One year ago on Christmas Eve, William died.
For Emma, the hit-and-run driver killed more than her husband - he killed her joy in life itself.
Now, as Christmas again approaches, Emma Jensen finds herself sinking into a depression that nothing can breach; not her job, not her love for her children, and certainly not the season!
Money is tight, emotions taut, and those realities are magnified tenfold by knowing that this year Christmas will be a meager, empty, and painful experience. Only six-year-old McKenna believes in miracles and the magic of Christmas. The rest of the family knows that Christmas can never be the same.
But when a mysterious package and an ornate letter arrive on the doorstep, things begin to change.
Each day, a package and a letter signed “Santa” arrive for the family, and together they come to understand that the joy of Christmas does not have to be lost forever and that God’s love can heal any wound,…no matter how deep.
The Santa Letters will take the Jensens on a journey through a Christmas experience that will have the power to heal them all.

Sound interesting? I hope so. Trust me, this is worth your time. Doesn't sound like your type of book? Believe me, it isn't mine either, but that doesn't mean a thing sometimes, and I think this is one of those cases.

Here are some quote below for you guys to read!

“Stacy Anderson’s The Santa Letters is storytelling at its best in the finest tradition of American literature. Her wrenching, lucid insight into to the human condition makes it impossible to read this book unmoved bringing us close as we can ever get to another person’s heart and soul through the written word. This eloquent an honestly told remembrance allows the reader to not only witness her story – but live it. A true Christmas classic for now and generations to come.” - Craig L. Clyde, Emmy winning screenwriter and director

“Stacy G. Anderson delivers a true holiday gem that will be passed on from one generation to the next. In the tradition of such classics as Christmas Jars and The Christmas Box, The Santa Letters is a story you will find yourself thinking about long after you’ve finished the last page. Funny, touching and inspiring. A definite Christmas winner!” – J. Scott Savage, author of the national young adult fantasy series Farworld

“The Santa Letters will touch your heart bringing you closer to the Savior. A timeless story that is certain to become a classic.“ - Michele Ashman Bell, author of A Candle in the Window, Perfect Timing and A Modest Proposal.

"I am writing you upon having finished reading The Santa Letters. It is indeed a powerful, thought provoking and potentially life altering work. It is a simple story with a compound message. It is true that we lose our way year to year as we lose sight of meaning and the things that really matter. The Santa Letters effectively and poignantly reminds us of those things. It is a journey that everyone who celebrates Christmas should visit. And, it is an awakening for anyone who has experienced loss. An element of the story; "pass it forward" was particularly meaningful and appreciated and 'Santa's' Survival Kit for the New Year' inspired. Thank you for sharing this touching & meaningful story." - Libby Brien, Producer/Director Flicker Fusion, Inc.

The Santa Letters

By Stacy Gooch-Anderson

Click here for her website

Parent-Teacher Conference

2008-09-22T18:05:00.003-06:00

Parent-teacher conferences start tomorrow. They go from 4-7 and I'm pretty sure I can't sneak out early to go to taekwondo which is such a bummer because Master Flora is doing weapon's training tomorrow night in addition to regular class and I love going to weapon's training. Maybe they'd let me sneak out about 6:20?? Probably not.

We have two nights of parent teacher conferences this week and I wonder what to say. What do parents want to hear? Surely, if their child is having issues in the class this is the time to clarify? I mean, I don't want parents coming to me at the end of term and saying something like, "But you told me my child was doing fine!".

Anyway, I hope it goes well tomorrow and the next day!

That gives me a no feeling

2008-09-21T18:12:00.001-06:00

See that motorcycle? Yeah. The guy had a gun-looked like a nine mm
and it was tucked into his waistband. That gave us a no feeling.

Illegal Activities

2008-09-18T21:49:00.002-06:00

Tuesday night I actually made it to taekwondo along with Tina. No, that isn't the illegal part. The illegal part came after. You know a couple of women away from their husbands? Yeah, they're going to have some fun while they can because, well husbands are such a drag. KIDDING.

What did happen is that Tina was doing a little house hunting and she wanted to take a look at a house she and her hubby had seen online. We finally found the house after going around in circles a few times (and yes we drove by the house a few times too, but it was dark). We found the place and Tina left the headlights on so she could look through the window and get an idea of what the house looked like. She also tried the doorknob--not too sure why, but anyway, the house was UNLOCKED.

Crazy, eh? When she told me it was unlocked I figured we might as well go in and take a look around. She was worried that someone might call the cops. I wasn't. I mean imagine this. One very petite lady and one ok, kind of large one (sigh) both in taekwondo uniforms, one has a black belt, and they leave the car headlights on. Does that seem like someone intent on thievery or vandalism?

"Yes, officer. When we break into house we like to do it at night, in bright white uniforms with belts showing our ranks at a martial arts school, and leaving our headlights on. I mean, really officer, if we wear dark clothes we can't see each other and well, we might just bump into one another and get hurt. We like to be careful. We also like to warn away other would-be thieves with our kick-booty uniforms. Oh, and the headlights? Hello? We have to be able to SEE what we are vandalizing or stealing, right? I mean what if we took some completely lame thing like . . . a piece of carpet instead of a cool rug. So we totally needed the headlights on . . ."

It might have actually been an interesting conversation. So . . . if we were to go into the house, would that be illegal? It's for sale which means people can go in and out especially if it is unlocked right? Could this have been a truly illegal activity?

So did we go in? Well, I'll leave it to your imagination.

Color Test

2008-09-17T20:45:00.005-06:00

What is your "Color IQ"? I took this test and didn't do too badly. The best score you can get is zero. I thought I'd do much worse. I don't think that I'm very good with colors and shades so I was really surprised. If Tina sees this however, and maybe Alison too, I would think they'd both do really well because they have the 'artistic' eye!

This is what the test looks like. Go check it out!

Education and YouTube??

2008-09-15T16:29:00.004-06:00

At the school there are a lot of restricted sites. I can get onto my blog which really surprised me, but I can't get onto YouTube. I wish there was a way to get onto it. There is a lot of educational value when it comes to media and so many ways of exploring it. YouTube is great because there are a lot of short clips that I could use to explore media and the world of language.

Alas, it is not to be. I want to use media a lot in my classroom. I know that a lot of teachers and parents are against this but we live in a world of media and it is only going to become more prevalent. So why not use it to further knowledge?

Right now I'm insisting that my students type up their papers. Why am I doing this? Well, yeah. I don't want to have to get through handwriting, but mainly it is because we live in a world where the written word is more often typed or done in a text message than handwritten. Some of my students don't have a computer available to them or they don't have a printer, or their computers aren't working. But they can always go to the library (public) the school library, or a friend's house. We live in a technological world. It isn't going away. Or if it did go away I would imagine that our society would be in enough disarray that we wouldn't be holding school on a regular basis.

I might as well start teaching my students skills they are going to USE.

Ok. I'll get off my soapbox! Also, in case you are someone who actually visits my site on a regular basis I think I've gone through and replied to all the comments. Sorry it has taken me so long!

It's weird

2008-09-11T17:54:00.002-06:00

It is still very weird for me to have my husband home in the evenings. You would think I'd be used to it by now. He has been working on a more regular schedule for over a year now. And I might add, it is a LOT easier to scrounge for myself!

Ah well. Damon got home earlier tonight because he is sick. He isn't going to work tomorrow. I'm still doing ok (knock on wood). I've had some signs that I'm getting sick, but it seems to be holding off. Hopefully I'll avoid it!

Oh, and I learned how to do screen shots in Windows today. It's pretty easy. I made up a worksheet for my students so they can know how to format a paper correctly. Some of them didn't know what double spacing meant and then other students would say, "You just press enter twice". Yeah. So I figured I needed to teach them about formatting a paper.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow!

Back to Taekwondo

2008-09-10T21:40:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I've actually gone to taekwondo. What really amazes me is how little I have lost in regards to the things I have learned. I mean, yeah I've lost some stamina (whoa, that means I must have had SOME stamina because I can see a difference), but I still know my kicks and all that kind of stuff. So that is good.

I've also noticed that I have been very, very stressed and eating a LOT of food and chocolate. This is part of the reason why I needed to get back to into some kind of exercise. I need that. I need to find something that is healthy and will help me manage my stress rather in a healthy way rather than GAINING weight!

So I'm going back to taekwondo and I'm going to try very hard, very hard to go there twice a week. I'm always happy after I've gone. It's just getting there that is so hard!

Another try for a laugh

2008-09-09T21:58:00.006-06:00

I know that this is kind of hard to read. If you can't make out the text just click on the picture or just read the text below the picture. I typed it in to make it easier.

(I like to get to these things before I have to be asked.)

(I made some Niman Ranch Lamb Tenderloin with garlic, black pepper, and Indonesian soy sauce for dinner. I hope that sounds OK.)

(Is that the baby? I'll get her.)

(As long as I have legs to walk on you'll NEVER have to take out the garbage.)

(Ooh, look, the NFL playoffs are today. I bet we'll have no trouble parking at the crafts fair.)

(I know. Let's take you shoe shopping!)

(Don't want anyone 'falling in' in the middle of the night.)

(I don't have to have a reason to bring you flowers.)

(Hold that thought a second. I want to pull over and ask for directions.)

Been a couple of days

2008-09-05T09:50:00.003-06:00

For some reason I have access to my blog today (at school) and I've been feeling guilty about not blogging so I thought I'd take a minute out of my day and say hi!

I've been really busy in the evenings this week--Wednesday I had bookclub and Thursday we had Welcome Back to School Night, which is why I haven't had a chance to post anything.

I've been having some frustration with one of my classes. It is, ironically, my smallest class, yet I have no control over it. Today I'm trying something new--something where I'm hoping I can avoid the constant 'consequences' that it is going to take for me to get this class under control. If they don't respond to this, I'm just going to have to follow through and hit (not literally of course) the class (and certain students) hard. I have to say I don't seem to be getting through to them and I don't think my idea will work.

Other than that school is going pretty good. I still have a lot to figure out, but I'm at least getting into actual assignments and feel like my students are now doing something. The back to school night was kind of fun, getting to meet parents and talk to them.

I've also been doing a lot of reading which in a way helps me be more creative, so I'm hoping that writing can still be a big part of my life even with this first year of teaching. I've probably read about five books this week. We have reading time in all of my classes (so I read then) and when I get home I just want to read because it relaxes me. It actually relaxes me more than watching movies or television. Lately I haven't wanted to watch anything very much, but just read because reading satisfies something within me--whether it is pure escapism or something else . . . I'm not sure what, but man I need it!

Okay. Back to work now!

Writing Blues

2008-09-02T17:47:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I worry that I'll never be writing again--school just seems to busy. I know, whine, whine, right? I should be grateful to have a job where I have it, but sigh.

I did come up with an idea though--or maybe more of a decision. I've had a vampire book idea in the back of my head (I know, I know, but I've always loved vampires) and I couldn't decide what age my characters should be. But I've been reading some YA lately thanks to the fact of where I'm teaching and I really think I could have some fun with doing this age group, around 13-15. I was worried that it might be too hardcore or serious or something, but as I've been reading some really enjoyable books lately I can see how easy it is to do something hardcore (and when I say hardcore I mean the kids may have harsh lives, but there is nothing like a lot of language, sex, drugs, etc in it), or something that isn't light and fluffy, but still really good.

So yeah. Maybe this whole writing thing is going to be possible even in my first year of teaching.