Then and Now

Christy over at The colour 4 posted a "Looking Back" thing on her blog today, and I wanted to give it a try! She posted some specific points from the past, like 10 years ago and 5 years ago. We're supposed to think about what we were doing back then, and reflect on how much things have changed.

Sounds fun! And I even found some photos to supplement.


10 years ago: March 24, 2001
I was finishing up my sophomore year in high school. I was still discovering myself and who I was inside, and was quite uncomfortable in my own skin. I didn't have a boyfriend, although I had quite a few male friends, one of whom was Jon. I danced at the same studio where I had been attending classes since I was 3, and I was cheering on my high school's JV team, as well as an all-star team in the area.

Would you believe, my skin really WAS this clear!
I didn't do any retouching.

5 years ago: March 24, 2006
I was finishing up my 3rd year of college. I was dating a guy who I loved, but we didn't work well together. We knew it almost from the very start, yet we continued to date for almost 3 years, fighting each other and the truth until the bitter end. (This took an emotional toll on me and always left me feeling very empty and alone. Separating from him was like a breath of fresh air.) After living on campus for 2 years, I had moved back home and was cheering for a college-level team.




1 year ago: March 24, 2010
I was finishing up my Master's degree. I was dating Jon and we were so happy, even though I was anxiously awaiting his proposal. I knew it was coming, I just didn't know when. I was living on campus again, but I was miserable, and couldn't wait to move home. I was working part-time in the same job where I am now working full-time.




Yesterday: March 23, 2011
I worked most of the day, and was supposed to have class, but it was canceled because of snow. I was able to go home and have dinner with Jon, sloppy joe's over rice instead of buns and snap peas for a veggie.

Today: March 24, 2011
I am working all day. When I leave here, Jon and I have an appointment, and we'll be having dinner together again (which is a rarity). We're having mushroom barley stew in the crockpot. We are less than 5 months away from our wedding!

Tomorrow: March 25, 2011
I'll be working all day, as usual. When I come home, Jon will be out with his friends, so I plan to spend the night at home, writing a paper. Dinner will be pizza, because there is a place right by us that has great prices, tastes delicious, and delivers for free!

RAW(e) - Flowers

RAW(e) is run by Sami.
The only photos allowed are those that are
COMPLETELY UNEDITED.



What makes me happy?

Seeing these pretty purple flowers peeking through the posts on the deck to say hello to me.



Quick writing and BuNoWriMo update: Epic fail.

I wrote virtually nothing.

Getting engaged is really distracting.

Macro Friday #2 (on Saturday)

This is actually week #3 of Macro Friday. Oops!


Click on the buttons to join in!
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Writing

I am in full-on BuNoWriMo REBEL status. As I already mentioned, I am continuing my NaNoWriMo novel from last year. I've decided not to focus on the word count AT ALL. I mean, my main goal at the beginning of the month was to write every day. That's it. While I haven't exactly accomplished that, I'm starting to get back into my groove. Basically, out of nowhere, my main character (who had been sitting in the back in my mind the past few months) pushed herself front and center, and I felt like I NEEDED to write more for her. It also helped that, back in November, I had created a playlist for this novel. So I opened up the playlist, turned the volume up, and just listened.

That's it! That's my mojo. Music. When I heard a song that evoked feelings and helped me SEE the story, then I added it to the list. Listening to the playlist helps me take the visual story in my head and turn it into words. And there are still moments of the story that I see in my head, but I haven't quite gotten to that part of the story yet. I am SO anxious to get there, but I can't rush this.

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CSS winner

This past weekend was our first CSS with an open theme. I was nervous; I thought that no one would link up, considering that we had an all-time high last week with 6 entries.

But you all pulled through and linked in some beautiful photos! We also had 3 new participants, and a NEW all-time high with 7 entries! Thanks to all of you! Keep spreading the word and keep splashing color on your photos.

I had to pick a winner on my own this week because Jon's been busy with wedding prep for his best friend's wedding. It was so hard; you have NO idea. I looked at all of the pictures, looked at them again, stared at each one, narrowed it down, stared some more, narrowed it down again, and then stared some more. And then I finally picked one.

Congrats to Sam over at Raising Rida! She is this week's winner with her adorable scarf photo of her baby girl. You get a virtual prize - you get to pick a theme! The next open week is July 18. Once you pick a theme, email me! (My email address can be found in my profile.) You also get this snazzy button to put on your blog for bragging rights.


<center><a href="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csswinner.jpg"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/csswinner.jpg"></a></center>

Black and White Wednesday - A River

Black and White Wednesday is run by Lisa over at
The Long Road to China.

I am continuing my series about CT state parks.



This shot was taken at Indian Well State Park in Shelton, CT. This is the western side of Housatonic River. Apparently, there is a splash pool and a waterfall somewhere, but I spent my time at this park sitting on the beach and just enjoying the quiet. This park can get pretty busy during the summer months (based on the photo and information on CT.gov), so I am glad I went in October.
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My BuNoWriMo word count update, since everyone else is posting theirs:

Low.

I actually decided to go back to my unfinished NaNoWriMo novel and continue it. But I haven't gotten very far yet. Work has been unexpectedly busy, I spend my nights packing, I'm still editing photos from a wedding 3 weeks ago, and I am going to another wedding this weekend (for fun). So the whole weekend is shot, with the rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself, Jon being the best man, and then all the "day after" events on Sunday.

Although, I do have several days off from work upcoming, which hopefully will give me some time to rest, write, and gather myself together.

Black and White Wednesday - Chaos

Black and White Wednesday is run by Lisa over at
The Long Road to China.



This chaotic mess of trees and leaves and branches can be found at Hurd State Park in East Hampton, CT. I have to admit, I know almost nothing about this park, besides the fact that it covers almost 1000 acres along the CT river. So it's a pretty big park. *understatement of the year* I don't remember it AT ALL. I have one photo from my time there, and it's not even a good one. I have no idea what I was thinking, or what I did there.




I am entering a giveaway run by Amy over at Coffee Lovin Mom. She is giving away a copy of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland on DVD & Blu-Ray!

I freakin' love this movie! The costumes were simply divine, and I was enthralled with Wonderland. I truly loved the casting choices, especially Alan Rickman for the voice of "Blue Caterpillar" or Absalom, Helen Bonham-Carter as Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as White Queen, and Johnny Depp as Mad Hatter. Those are just my favorites, but there was brilliant acting on everyone's part.

The most important thing to take away from this movie is the lesson that Alice learned: If you believe you can do, you can do it. Nothing is impossible. And, it's fun to use your imagination once in awhile.


Six Impossible Things I Believe Before Breakfast:

1. I will get a second Master's degree.
2. I can easily lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks.
3. There WILL be world peace.
4. I can write a novel in 30 days.
5. I have the whole rest of my life to do everything I want to do.
6. My younger brother will live to be a little old man.

Also known as optimism.

YouCapture - Sky

YouCapture is run by Beth over at I Should Be Folding Laundry,
and this week's theme is sky.


Winter sky

Spring sky

Summer sky

Fall sky





And now, a bit about writing. I tried out NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November of last year. This a challenge of sorts in which everyone writes a 50,000 word (175 pages) novel in 30 days. I was very confident that I would be able to get it done. I started off writing everyday, sometimes more than the planned ~1,670 words per day. After about a week, I faltered. I tripped over the plot, the characters ran away, and suddenly, I was left with just a quiet setting, no rising action and no climax in sight. I stopped. Even after I took a few days off to simply look around, maybe find some hidden conflict, I couldn't get back on track.

I ended up with just over 12,700 words. Wow, I am horrible at this whole "meeting a goal" thing. I guess traveling for work made me busier than I thought.

Life goes on.

Now, I am gearing up to participate in the same event, only run by different people. This one is called BuNoWriMo (Burrow Novel Writing Month). Same goal - 50,000 words in 30 days. I was going to simply continue the first novel, but I've been reading through it. As much as I want to finish it, I feel like pushing myself to write it when I'm not ready, is just going to make it worse. I'd rather go back to it when I'm ready, and when it's ready for me. Until then, I've got several other ideas. I just have to pick which one I want to write!

Photo Story Friday - A Giggling Sneakergirl

Hosted by Cecilyand Pam



"These are my sneakers. There are many like them, but this pair is mine. My sneakers are my best friends. They are my life. My sneakers, without me, are useless. Without my sneakers, I am useless." This Sneakergirl Creed is a play on the Rifleman's Creed. It makes me giggle. Joe Swanson makes me giggle when he barks the Wheelchair Creed. Truly, I don't mean to offend. I want to make you snicker or giggle or even just smirk. What good is a giggling Sneakergirl if no one will giggle with her? What good is any giggle without giggling friends?

Inner Monologue

This concept of a 'stream of consciousness' post seems to be a new trend in blogging.

According to Wikipedia (my source for all non-academic research), “[i]n literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode that seeks to portray an individual's point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his or her actions.” (Since I’m not an English major anymore, this is not academia-related. It’s blog-related.)

The article gives examples of such, one of which is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. I read that novel in my senior capstone course, Literary Criticism. (How ironic, although we never actually covered stream of consciousness in LitCrit.) We only read 3 novels, but we tore them apart by criticizing them from every angle and every theory. WSS was my favorite of the 3. Antoinette’s (Bertha) stream of consciousness occurs in Part 3 of the novel, as she is describing her destiny (her suicide and the ensuing fire).

I’m surprised that Hamlet is not listed in their long list of ‘notable’ examples. I had to memorize the To Be or Not to Be monologue 3 times throughout the course of my education (enough that by the 3^rd time, I just needed a refresher). If that speech is not a stream of consciousness, I don’t know what is.

I repeat the monologue to myself often. It helps to calm me, and keep me focused. It also keeps my brain busy if I am waiting on line or in traffic and start getting fidgety.

*coughGEEKcough*

That’s enough of that.

If you are participating in my Color Splash Sunday,
or want to but haven’t yet,
check out the list of upcoming themes.
Now that the deluge of color themes is coming to an end,
I’m adding other themes.
Some of them are fairly easy,
while others will be more challenging.
If I can get more interest and more bloggers to link in,
I’ll start offering prizes.

I also added an About Me page up above.
Please go read and let me know what you think.
Too long? Too detailed? I like to write,
so I frequently need to be reined in.

On that note, I’ve been thinking about my NaNoWriMo novel a lot lately. The goal was to write 50,000 words (175 pages) in 30 days. I LOVE to write and I have the words in my head, but I was never motivated enough to sit down and write daily. If I recall, I ended with 25 pages, more or less. My goal is to finish it by the end of June so I can partake in the festivities of NaNoWriMo again in November. I’m really hoping that without school and without traveling for work, I’ll be able to devote more time to writing.

And now it's time for bed. NO, I don't go to bed at 8:30pm. But I had this post drafted last night, and realized that I never posted it. But I am going to bed now. At 11:08pm.

A koosh ball

My desk, complete with a koosh ball, my NCAA bracket, my cell phone, and a tin of tea. My bracket is doing well; I’m actually in first place in my office pool. I just need Butler to win this weekend. The tea is early grey supreme; it’s amazing. I drink it almost every night. But the koosh – it’s the most important thing there. It keeps my hands busy when I am watching movies or editing photos. It keeps me focused, even though it seems like it would actually distract me. This is me in March. Simple pleasures for simple minds.

Photo Story Friday - I'm a bird of paradise

A drabble, apparently, is a story written in exactly 100 words. (Thanks, Tami!) Since I've been neglecting my writing, I've decided that PSF is the perfect time for me to refine my skills. Drabbling will (hopefully) boost my clarity and conciseness. So, here goes!

I wore this shirt to dinner. I like the colors and how it doesn't draw too much attention. Jon saw it; he said, "So, you’re a bird?" I giggled and I said, not unkindly, "Honey, it means I'm one of a kind." He nodded, but looked confused. He thought for a minute, and then he smiled and nodded again. “Yes, you are.” Well, duh! I knew that, or else I wouldn’t have bought the shirt. And if I didn’t know, I certainly wouldn’t be so confident about our relationship. Confidence is key, my dear; it keeps a love life exciting.


Hosted by Cecily and Momma

RAW(e) - Beauty

I'm no good with numbers. I like math, to an extent... But I never know which equation to use. a-squared + b-squared.... the square root of pi over the diameter?! HUH?!

Verbal equations, on the other hand, now I have those down pat. For example, me + blog + photo editing = distractions galore, as was proven last week.

Also, for the commuters among us,city highways + roadwork + potholes - drivers with common sense = a 2-hour drive doubled in length.

On a more positive note, it's time for a weekly RAW(e) entry.

Snow + sparkle lens + flashlight - editing = beauty.


Join in with Sami over at Sailor & Co.

Writing Poll

One of my creative hobbies is writing. I do alot of it, but not much of it I do for myself. Most of it, right now, is for school. Since I was an English major in undergrad, I could mix in my own writing with class assignments, but not anymore.

At some point in my life, I found a website called HPANA. I believe it was sometime in junior year of college. This website had a very active forum that included a special place for fanfictions. In there, I made so many good friends. I've been able to keep in touch with several through fb, even though I'm sadly not active in the forums anymore. I keep hoping I can be active again after graduation. (So much of my life is on hold until after graduation.)

One of my friends from the forums is Tami, aka Tart. Her blog is a fun and insightful read for anyone who is looking to better their writing, and she blogs about other things as well. She put up a poll and is looking for ANYBODY to answer the following questions:

1)How old were you when you had your first fantasy of writing novels?
2)How old were you when you began writing FOR FUN? (rather than assignments)
3)When did you start writing SERIOUSLY (like trying to be published)?
4)Where are you in your career? (HAVE you published? How many books have you written?)

So, if you are a writer, please either follow the link and comment on her blog, or put your answers in a comment on my post and I'll pass them on to her. Thanks!