Dear You

You are beautiful. Sometimes the world will say otherwise. Sometimes labels will be slapped on you and weigh you down. Sometimes those lies will seem an awful lot like truths. Sometimes you’ll wonder what is the point in your existence. Do you know why you exist? Because God loves you. Just as the world is screaming you’re worthless, He’s whispering gently in your ear, “You were worth it.” Don’t ever apologize for your existence. I know people like that, that seem as if they’re ashamed of even breathing. That they’re just here to get in the way. And they’re the…

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Focus

The old canvas—filled with messy scratches and beautiful scenes and a chaos of life painted across its surface—has been tucked away and a brand new one sets out before us. White and pristine, ready for new colors of life. We’ve said goodbye to 2015 and 2016 is here and ahead of us. Waiting. For the laughter. For the scars. New hopes and fears in the horizon. Endless possibilities. I’ve yet to write down any goals, to think far in the future. The realization that it’s a new year hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Christmas decorations are only just now being…

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My 2015

Here we are, on the last days of the year. Were we not just waving hello to 2015? Scribbling down new goals and anticipating a fresh canvas, full of unknown adventures? Now we’re saying goodbye, laughing at all the goals we failed to keep past the first week of the year, and hoping for better this coming year. Perhaps I didn’t quite do everything I had hoped to this year, but it’s been an amazing (if not a little wild) ride anyway. I think this year was something like riding in the back of a pickup truck. Where you hope…

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The Christmas Tag – Where I Flail Excitedly About Christmas

GUYS. It is Christmas week! Are you excited? Because I am excited! Also a little in shock because IT’S ALREADY ALMOST CHRISTMAS AND THE YEAR IS NEARLY OVER HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN? Ahem. But I digress. In celebration for this Christmas week I’m participating in a delightful Christmas tag, full of Christmas-y things (which I guess is why it’s called The Christmas Tag, who knew?). A huge thanks to my dearest buddy Deborah @ The Road of a Writer for passing this my way. She’s basically the bestest person in the world and if you’re not following her then…

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These December Days

One morning just a week ago I opened my eyes and realized: It’s December. December. Where the world seems a little cheerier, the days a little cozier, and life a little brighter. These are the days frost covers the ground in the early morning and the sky is soft in the afternoon. Where boots and scarves and gloves are donned for outings of Christmas shopping to find that perfect gift to make a certain someone smile. To bundle up in the car with the family and gaze at the colorful lights illuminating neighborhood homes. Where the Christmas music is pulled…

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Well, That Was Unexpected a.k.a My NaNo 2015 Adventures

Let me tell you about my NaNoWriMo. We’ll start at the beginning, well, before the beginning. The prologue if you will. October hit with all the excitement and cheer of the NaNo season. Time to plot and get pumped up for a month of too much coffee consumption and mad writing. So, with anticipation, sometime during the beginning of October I sat down and began my usual chapter by chapter outline for my NaNo novel. This particular NaNo I’ve been waiting for since my first one basically. Because this NaNo was going to take all the previous books, which had…

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In Which I Compete With Myself (and lose)

So there I was, happily lost in my story, grinning at my characters’ antics, my fingers click, click, clicking away at the keyboard, when it happened. Out of nowhere. Right between my computer screen and me with its deafening demands and ludicrous responsibilities. LIFE. NOOOOOO!!!!!! How could it? Doesn’t it know it’s NaNoWriMo? Does it not understand I’m far too busy destroying my characters’ lives to deal with my own life? How can it not see? The nerve. I’ve tried to ignore, I have. So hard. But it keeps wedging itself between my NaNo and me and refuses to leave…

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Beautiful Books #2 – The Day and the Life of a NaNoer {November 2015}

GUYS.We have survived the first week of NaNo and are halfway through week two! How is this even POSSIBLE?! My NaNo has slowed down considerably because apparently there’s this weird thing called Life that you actually have to do when you grow up. I thought that was just a myth! I didn’t mean to grow up, it was an accident! Where’s Peter Pan? I need him, quick! Despite Life being rude and trying to wedge itself between NaNoWriMo and me, I’m still surviving (. . .I think?) and continuing to absolutely love my NaNo and spend what time with it…

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That Time I Painted a Pumpkin, Accidentally Got a Job, and Didn’t Have Fun Adulting

Sometimes very unexpected things happen in life. Some are good, such as accidentally getting a job even though I wasn’t exactly looking for one. Some are bad, like getting stuck on the side of the road. My week was filled with both kind. But hey, at least it wasn’t boring. It all started with this adorable little secondhand bookstore in our town that we frequent often (because we all know I have an obsession with secondhand bookstores). Recently they moved locations and were so busy with that, Mom and I thought it wouldn’t hurt for me to ask if they…

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Why I Believe in the Power of Happily Ever Afters

Way back in April I wrote a post about why I believe we enjoy dark and gruesome things in our fiction. Today I want to share with you my completely opposing thoughts on that. You should know, I’m a paradox. As in, I somehow manage to be two totally contradictory things at the same time and have utterly contradictory thoughts on basically any subject. Seriously, I could make an argument for both sides for almost anything. It’s ridiculous. And confusing. (But also sometimes useful because I often can serve as a mediator.) Anyway, you might want to read that first…

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