What's Been Goin' On

     Whoah, my last post was the 2nd of November when Julianne was born! That month leapt away from me. It's hard to remember a lot of it. Thank goodness for my daily journal keeping!
Anyway, so I thought I'd come back to my loyal fans and let everyone know about what's been goin' on.
     The biggest news would have to be that...I finished my book for Nanowrimo!!!! **Runs around in tight circles while making "jazz" hands** Yeah, I'm kinda stoked about it. It's 45,969 words long which makes it the longest novel I've ever written. I wrote the whole thing in 30 days, and I finished it at 10: 30 at night...so I was cutting it close to the wire. The book, 'cause I don't remember what I've already told you guys, is entitled Elsewhere. It's really a hard story to lay out in a brief summary, though, so I won't try. It's definitely my best work as well as my favorite of what I've done! If any of you are interested in reading my book, just post on here; I'll add your name to my waiting list. (Yes, I do have a waiting list.) :D

     My niece is doing very well. Pictures are posted constantly on facebook, and she just gets cuter with each new one. I'm dying to see her and enjoy seeing the days roll by until I can meet Julianne. Here is a recent picture!  

     I'm really disappointed in myself at the moment. Usually, the Saturday after Thanksgiving every single Christmas item we own has been unwrapped and stashed somewhere. However, because of my writing so much, I knew nothing was going to happen until December 1st. Well, something else happened Dec. 1st, but I don't exactly rememeber. Anyway, it's now the 5th and not one thing is up in the house. I do have the outside lights up, but nothing inside. What makes it worse is that for years I get on people's backs for not being prompt in their decorating. This year, I've finally had to shut up and commend others for being dutiful. I might end up pulling out a few boxes of stuff tonight, but I doubt it. Oh well, we'll just have to squeeze a lot of holiday cheer into a small span of time.

     My choir that I've been a member of for five years gave it's Christmas Concert on the 2nd. It was really great, but sad because it's my senior year. Today was our Ministry Day where we go to nursing homes and sing them selections from our music. It was the probably the most fun I've had during the actual singing part.

     My school semester at the college is nearly completed. I have a week left of classes and then finals. AHHH! No, I'm fine. I'll be ready. It's not really stressful for me, 'cause I see it as just another test.

     For dinner, we're having Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Yum! It's soaked in root beer and "crock-potted" for several hours. Don't you love how I make up words? :D Oh, and there's coleslaw on the side, 'cause who can really eat Pulled Pork without coleslaw?

     I'm extremly happy with the weather right now. I prefer colder weather to warmer weather most of the time. I don't like freezing cold, but cold enough to pass off a scarf, hat, and coat down here is perfect for me. Again, most of the time. ;)

     I'm not really sure what else to say, but I promise to be a better poster and keep you up on life here. I would like to sprinkle some holdiay cheer into your mood right now and encourage all of you in your writing...even if you don't write. (You should!!!)

Julianne Helene is Here!!!!!!

Julianne Helene is here!
Wonder and Joy surround us.
Radiant sun streams from her smile;
Glorious Happiness squeezes out
from between Her tight shut eyes.
---
Julianne Helene is here,
unknowlingly the center of attention.
Endless, unbroken love winds around her.
Such a tiny infant,
Already so strong in her family.
---
Julianne Helene is here!
Excitement is at it's peak.
The precious girl is held in all our thoughts
As she's held in the arms of her parents.
Pure joy is the only emotion.
---
Julianne Helene is here!

7:28 am, 8bs, 11/2/11

Saving My Face

Horror of Horrors! The last time I posted was exactly a month ago. SHOCKING! So, even though I have nothing to write on, I'm writing this post to save face as a writer.
Many of you will not remember, and that's why I'm going to tell you, but Nanowrimo is almost hear as November rears it's head. (I can't say ugly head 'cause my brother was born during the month.) Anyway, with the approach of such a huge thing in my young life, I've started seriously hacking out my plot for my 30,000 word book I'm going to try and finish. Yes, I did say 30,00 and for those of you who didn't raise your eyebrows in surprise, 30,000 is a very large number of words to write in a month. For Nov. it's 300 words a day. However, this is manageable since I've written well over a thousand words in a day. Yes, I'm very excited for this book since it will be the 9th in my total of completions. Also, it will be the biggest book to be completed. Plus, the story is intriguing for me. Who knewthat a plot could stem out of a title that was thought up, trying to help a fellow writer name his book. :)
However, I should really stay on what's happened in October, since that's the stuff I've bypassed. I've been heavily preparing for the next audition in the Region process I explained before. I passed through the District level and on this Saturday, I'll enter the next audition hoping to pass as well. The outcome of it will definitely be put on facebook, so you needn't worry. ;)
Kathryn had a birthday in this month as well. Yes, she turned twenty which was very strange, let me tell you. Being the only teenager in the house, as well as having to remember to say that she's twenty, will be somewhat of an adjustment. For her birthday, we celebrated by going out to dinner at P.F. Chang's where I got the best Orange Chicken ever!!! So good! Also, we hit the movie theatres to see Real Steel.
Let me take a moment of this post to inform you of how good that movie was. Oh, my goodness! I was so impressed. I expected to like it, but not nearly that much and not for all those reasons. It had a good story, believability, and great acting. Hugh Jackman was perfect for the role, and I actually got mad at him a couple times 'cause I thought he was being too mean.
I've also been sick lately. For almost two full weeks I've been sick. Not fun. It's just a cold, but waking up day after day with a full head, clogged nose, and no voice gets REALLY old, REALLY fast. I'm just hoping that my voice will clear by Sat.
Well, that's about all I got. Hope that filled you in a bit. Hopefully, I'll have more and better stories next time!

A Dream Fufilled

Dreams are pretty amazing things. I'm not talking about the kind when you go to sleep at night, though those can be amazing as well...or not. I mean the dreams when you sit around with nothing to do and think over the little things in life. Those daydreams are exciting, yet they're even more exciting when they're attained and accomplished.
Let me fill you in a bit on a certain dream of mine. For several years, I've wanted a red coat. For some reason, a red coat seems to be about the epitome of winter fashion to me. Because of this view, I wanted one. However, I knew that if I was going to get one, it had to be perfect. 'Cause it's not like you just amass coats of the same color, right? The criteria was that it had to be lower than my hips, had to have a belt, was made out of the "not scratchy sounding" fabric, and had to be the right shade of red. These 4, mostly the last one, proved very difficult to find all together. Mom kept looking in stores, yet none were quite right. Still, I was not discouraged. My red coat was laying or more likely hanging manufactured somewhere.
Well, the day finally arrived. Mom found a coat online that would hang below my hips, had a belt, was made out of the "not scratchy sounding" fabric, was the right shade of red, AND even had epaulets!
A few days later the coat arrived in the mail. I tried it on and....

Well, what do you think? I like it immensely and can't wait for the weather to get cool so I can wear it out and feel like I'm wearing the epitome of all winter fashion. :D

Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Prom Dresses

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my heavy days in school. I go to the community college by our house for Government 2 and History 1. After coming home and a few hours more, my live SAT prep class goes for two hours, ending at 6. Now, aside from those I have all of my regular "home" classes. Well, yesterday, I finished all of my "home" class work before I had to leave for school. This was unheard of!
On the way to the college, Mom and I discussed dinner. I realized, because of the late end of my SAT class, dinner would have to be able to make ahead of time. Or, it would need to be assembled very quickly. I settled on a new dinner salad recipe that Mom found in a magazine.
Fast forwarding 3 hours, and Mom picked me up from school. Then, she told me that there was a possibility of me babysitting that night. (Well, then I won't be able to make dinner.) So, we waited to see how things played out.
I ended up babysitting, so Mom and Kathryn fended for themselves with dinner. I went to sit for my 8 year old neighbor, Sophie.
She finished her homework for the day, and we decided to eat dinner. She jumped up and announced that she wanted to make both of our sandwiches. She wanted to make them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches too!
(Pausing here, I must insert a small statement for the next part of this story to make sense. I don't really like peanut butter. Yes, it's true. You can gasp all you want. I've never really cared for it. So, peanut butter and jelly was never something I really enjoyed eating when I younger. Because of this, I haven't had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since I was probably 7 or 8.)
Naturally, I was not thrilled about the idea of eating PB&J, but Sophie was so excited to make it for me that I knew I couldn't say no.
She asks me to get down the plates and glasses while she gets the bread, peanut butter, and the SQUEEZABLE jelly. Squeezable jelly is Bama grape jelly in a sqeeze tube, but Sophie seemed to think it was this specially made thing. After a few minutes of me being in the kitchen, she asked me if I wanted to use the jelly first. That's when I figured out she wasn't going to make my sandwich.
Sitting down to eat, I prepared myself to take a bite of this sandwich. "Who knows?" I thought. "It might have changed it's flavor over the years." I took a bite. It was as if I was trying to remember a dream, and the plot of it slowly came back. The taste was like that. The taste hit my tongue, and the rememberance of eating them so long ago cam back. Very interesting. I wouldn't say I liked it, but I definitely was gagging while I ate it. Later on in the night, Sophie and I played some games and then danced around to Elton John music. :)
________

Today was my "Day after my Day of Jubilee." (That reference is not supposed to make sense to anyone but fellow West Wing watchers. So many things went excellent!
First, I got my school done very early. Then, it was time for my voice lesson with my choir conductor on my Region music. (Region is a competition for high schoolers to get into the Texas State choir. You're given music. You learn it with a CD, and then you audition it. There are multiple auditions and the first is this Saturday and is called District.) Well, my lesson went beyond well! I'm so ready for District! Coming off this high note, Mom took me to Skcubrats for a treat. Skcubrats is our nickname for a certain coffee place. (Hint: It's spelled backwards.) After going there, we stopped in at Marshalls where we looked all around.
Now, I was almost ready to go to the fitting rooms, but then I spied this dress. This dress was a floor length, strapless, cream colored with black polka dots prom dress. It was gorgeous! Fitted on the top with this really puffy and cool fabric layering on the bottom, oh, it was just gorgeous. I knew I would never wear it 'cause I don't go to prom, but I still couldn't resist trying it on. It. Looked. FABULOUS! Oh man, I just loved it. It was so cool, unique, and just really, really neat. Mom didn't really like it that much though. :) So, I stopped playing dress up, and we went home.
At home, Mom asked if Kathryn and I wanted to go to Chick-fil-a? You see, I didn't want salad which is what I was going to make from last night's planned dinner.
Yeah, it was a really great day! I hope tomorrow is just as good!

Journey Through the Kitchen with Meaghan Kelly, episode 1

Menu item? Crockpot Chicken
Sides? brown rice and vegetable medley

You know, I use to want to have a show on Food network. I'm not sad ot lose that wish. I much rather prefer to dabble in the kitchen and experiment here and there.
Anyway, you guys probably remember that in August, I was the chef for a week. I planned the menu, went shopping for the groceries, and cooked everything. That was during the summer, though. Now, I've got a crazy schedule going on, so it's not been as easy to shop and plan or even be home to make stuff. Thus, I decided to do some family recipes that were quicker to make.
Mondays, as a lot of you know, is choir for me. I usually get home at 5. Well, that doesn't leave much time for dinner. Foreseeing this problem, Mom encouraged me to make something in the crockpot.

I settled on the classic recipe for our house, Crockpot Chicken. So good!!! So, I put the chicken in, mixed the soups, sprinkled all the spices on top, and put on the lid. Then, you just let it sit for about 7 hours.

Because we were getting home especially late from yesterday, Kathryn was gracious enough to get the rice done for me. Then, I got the vegetables ready, and dinner was ready. A picture of my plate is below. Yum!

"Are you crying?"

Why, yes I am, thank you very much. Oh, it's an old story, and I thought one you might like to hear. Kathryn always says that I cry too much in movies. It's true, too. I mean, I readily admit it. The slightest thing will make me tear up, and then, look out. It doesn't even have to be REALLY sad. Even if it's like a kind of sad
moment, there I go. So, I felt like posting all the movies that I remember crying in. And, this is not all of them, I'm sure of it.

(One other thing. Don't judge me.)

Little Women
Star Trek
The Last Samurai
Anne of Avonlea
Finding Neverland
The Patriot
A Walk to Remember
MI3
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
A Journey to the Center of the Earth
Spider Man 3
Valkyrie
The Last Song
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Cheaper by the Dozen (The old one, not the new one.)
Remember the Titans
Pearl Harbor
Toy Story 3
The Ultimate Gift

Yes, I'm a very emotional person. Oh well. :D It makes me feel more attached to a movie, if it can make me cry.
Leaving you with a quote that's appropriate, and it stems from the title of the post.
"Are you crying? There's no CRYING in baseball!!!"