My Recent Writing Life

It has taken me a long time to think of myself as a writer, even though three years ago, I was hired to be one. But after my first week of work, I decided it would be too hard and instead took the "easier" (but not, just more familiar) route of being an editor. The book I always thought I would write stays in my head, and other ideas for novels never get written down.

But lately, since leaving the actual world of publishing and starting down a different career path, I realize that while I may not fit into the definition of writer I have in my head, I sure do a lot of writing, including what you read here on my blog. But here are some excerpts of other projects I've been working on lately, which maybe explains why posting has been so sporadic!

Wedding Graduate Post: I submitted a wedding graduate post to my favorite wedding/marriage blog, A Practical Wedding. Here's my favorite part from it--if it ends up getting posted, you'll be able to read the whole thing:

It’s been almost a year since the wedding, and I learn something about marriage every day. Marriage is not about colors, registries, a pretty dress, delicious food, and spectacular photography. Marriage is about two people joining their lives together
and committing to each other, and it requires an open mind and heart, compromise, dedication, love, and the willingness to accept someone, all of someone, for who they are. Sometimes you don’t even need a wedding to have that.

Toastmasters Speech #1: For those of you who don't know, I started doing Toastmasters to help with my public speaking. It's been very rewarding so far, and while I was not quite sold on the idea at first, I really love it now. I had my first speech a week ago, and while I need to work on pacing, it went really well. I did not follow the manual and start with an "icebreaker," but instead did a speech that I could use while speaking from a campaign. I used the theme of a $100 bill throughout, which tied into a story I told about my high school graduation day.

On the day of my high school graduation, the superintendent of Littleton Public Schools taped a 100 dollar bill to the bottom of one lucky student’s chair as a way of demonstrating success. Although I was not the recipient of said 100 dollar bill, I remember thinking that 100 dollars was a LOT of money and there were so many things I could do with it.

Toastmasters Speech #2: This was the speech I was working on before I did my practice work speech. It's the traditional first speech, called an icebreaker, about yourself, so other members can get to know you. Everyone says this one is easier, but I have to admit, I find it difficult to write about myself. This is my intro, and it's currently all I have written, but because this topic fits into the blog a little better than the first speech I gave, I'll definitely share it when I'm done.

The written word has always been a huge part of my life. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m a great speller, I have a fantastic vocabulary, or that I could take you down in a game of scrabble. No—instead, it means that as an avid reader and writer and former yearbook editor, English and journalism major, and magazine editor, I have chosen to let the written word dominate my life, if you will. And so, I think the best way for all of you to get to know me is through some words that I think best describe me.

Let’s start with the nouns. I am currently a wife, crazy dog lady, homeowner, and part-time fundraiser. I am also a daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, and cousin—and you can add in-law to most of that, too. I have been a Coloradan, a Goddard Rocket, a Littleton Lion, and a sorority girl. I am a friend. And I will always be a Nebraska Cornhusker.

But as I’ve moved from different states and different schools and had different jobs, I’ve learned that it’s the adjectives that really make me who I am. And while we're on the topic of writing, there's an article in my Toastmasters magazine that talks about speechwriting, and I think this part applies to all writing. It's what I find myself stuck on doing, and even did it while writing this post:

"Speechwriters say it's important to discipline yourself to write a first draft all the way through without getting too self-critical at this stage of the process. All good speechwriting, it seems, is rewriting. And until you have enough words on the screen and have let your copy 'go cold' for a sufficient amount of time, you can't effectively return to start honing, reorganizing, or 'wordsmithing' your content." --Speechwriting Tips From The Pros, by Dave Zielinksi, Toastmaster July 2011

Definitely something to important as we start, and complete, projects, writing or otherwise.

A New Day

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Mondays are normally really hard for me to welcome, and I feel like today's especially should fall into that category, as we had such crazy storms last night and I did not sleep well. But I recently heard this reflection at a campaign meeting and the reminder makes all the difference lately. So, I will share it with you to hopefully brighten up your Monday!

This is the beginning of a new day. 
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use if for good.
What I do today is important, because
I'm exchanging  a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes,
this day will be gone forever,
leaving  something I have traded for it.
 I want it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil;
success, not failure; in order that I
shall not regret the price I paid for it.

Thrifting: My Treasures

I consider myself to be a pretty organized person, and I seem to function a heck of a lot better when everything is organized and doesn't feel chaotic. However, with my new job, I get a TON of paper handouts (and email, for that matter) that seems important and I always reference, but I just don't have a way of organizing it without going too far over line and OVER organizing it (which, in my opinion, is almost even harder to deal with than not being organized). I mean, look at this mess:

THIS is why the dish drainer solution appealed to me as much as it did. And after searching (it seems like a lot of searching, but really, it wasn't that bad), I found this really cool-looking yellow dish drainer, for only $3.50. And that includes the cool mat thing that came with it! You know, if I was using this as an acutal dish drainer.

But before I could fill up my pretty new treasure, I needed to go through and file everything and THEN label my folders. It turns out I had a lot of folders already in place, but they were so overwhelming to use because I had to open each one to see what was in there. So I got out my trusted label maker and got to work, reworking folders and relabeling folders and all around having a good time. Here's my before picture (and yes, that's facebook in the background. I love distractions.):

Now, I know what many of you are thinking, and that's "Well, you know how they make these things called filing cabinets? You could maybe invest in one..." Let me tell you--we DO have a filing cabinet, but it's all the way down in the basement. And I love this solution because these are files I use on a daily basis, and while opening a drawer every time I need something might help me build some arm muscle (a girl can dream!) this solution gives me easy access to everything I need. And I mean, come on, how cute does this look?

I have to say, I didn't love the yellow color at first. I thought about spray painting it pink, until I realized that if I ever decided to use it for actual dishes (novel idea, right?) the spray paint + something you eat off of would probably = a no no. And then I overanalyzed even further: This room will become a nursery when we way down the road have kids, and when it does, I will have more yellow incorporated (yes, of course I've thought about how cute a nursery inspired by my childhood blanket my mom made me would be!) and as it turns out, dish drainers are also great for storing puzzles! So, that is how I eventually accepted the school bus yellow color.

Now, I said I went out with two missions: the dish drainer and a utensil tray. As it turns out, people who have super cute utensil holders don't give them away. Only people who have not-as-attractive plasticy ones (like us) donate them when they've outgrown their usefulness. So I had to find another solution for the keys, because Nathan was really desperate for one. And I didn't find anything I liked at the thrift stores, so I bought this cool white square bowl thing at Target for .  . . $3.50! That's right, the same price as my organizer, but new. It matches our dishes, and I think it looks pretty nice on the table here.

But I have one other thrift store find, and it's my favorite. A friend gave me a book by Sophie Uliano, and I found her health- oriented book there for $2. For a hardcover! Too fun. I can't wait to read through it and see what I can do to "live lean and green."

Now tell me: what's your favorite thrift store/garage sale/antique store find? Or even etsy find!

Thrifting: Overcoming The Fear

In theory, I should be a good thrifter. I'm cheap, I like hunting down the exact right thing I'm looking for, and I like to dig through things to find bargains. I'm also surrounded by people who are fantastic thrifters. There's my mother-in-law, who seriously finds amazing things at the lowest cost possible and also sees a potential solution in something I wouldn't have even looked twice at. There's my sister, who strives to live simply and be eco-friendly, and if buying used things doesn't go with those philosophies, I don't know what else does. And then there's my mom, aunts, and grandmothers who have given me a taste for everything vintage.

But, the truth is, I'm a horrible thrifter. I see all of these bloggers taking thrift store finds and turning them into something super amazing with spray paint, paper, etc. And I look at the process and think, I could totally do that. But, the project requires me to have some sort of thrift store find, which requires me to not only go into a thrift store, but to find something.

This is probably going to make me sound kind of snobby, but thrift stores stress me out. Generally, there are tons of people croweded in the small aisles, and they're generally on a mission and I'm scared to get in the way. Some thrift stores smell funny, and there always seems to be a ton of noise. The amount of stuff is so overwhelming, yet I can never find what I am looking for or even anything that has potential.  And then I just leave empty-handed and go buy something new.

I recently got an invitation to join pinterest and found some thrift store awesomeness I just had to mimic. The first was a solution for organizing file folders: a thrifted dish drainer. And the second is repurposing a silverware organizer for keys, wallets, phones, and all of the other stuff that seems to just end up on our kitchen table. So I decided to try and conquer my fear to find said items.

I went to a Goodwill yesterday and didn't find anything that fit my needs. Today, I stopped by another Goodwill and again, didn't find anything. On my way home, I passed St. Louise Gift and Thrift, which always has gorgous window displays and essentially calls my name every time I drive by. And it was there that I found what I will call Thrift Store Heaven. Seriously.

Everything in the store is displayed nicely, organized appropriately, and labeled clearly. It was easy to look at things and not feel like I was digging, and it was almost like shopping in a department store of used products. There was quiet, spiritual music playing and it was actually not super busy. And I found exactly what I was looking for and more.

I'm going to show you my thrifted treasures in use in my next post (trying to make up for being MIA this week!), so now I'll end by telling you what I didn't buy.

-Vintage Pyrex. This is all the rage over on pinterest, and it was so tempting because I found two sets. I might have to go back for it.
-Vintage copy of The Long Winter. Wanted it, but so particular about matching books that it seemed to be more of hassle than something I really wanted.
-A star-shaped candy dish. It would be so cute for the upcoming holiday.
-Picture frames. At 75 cents each (for 8x10), the were the right cost to buy in bulk for our recently-painted basement stairs and spray paint red, but I thought we should design first, buy second.

And there you have it--my adventures thrifting. I'm not sure if a good experience at St. Lousie's will help or hurt my apparent snobbery for other thrift stores, but maybe it's just something that takes practice. Or maybe I just need more pinterest motivation!

Driving Down Memory Lane

Last Thursday, I had a work meeting clear out south, which basically meant I had to drive from one end of Lincoln to the other. (Luckily, this was an endeavor that was less than a half an hour, but still.) Now, it used to be that I lived clear out south--in fact, about three years ago this week, we were moving into our duplex. I drove home using the route that I used to take to work every morning, and it reminded me of all the wonderful times I had in my "bachelorette pad."

Kaitlyn, Kelsey, and I lived in our duplex for almost two years, until last June when I moved in with Nathan, Kelsey bought a house, and Kaitlyn got ready to move to Dallas. I had just started at Sandhills, and my first paid holiday was the Fourth of July. So of course we had a party, and it was the party to which all parties will be compared to. It started in early afternoon and went into the morning, with fireworks, food, and cocktails. We lit of fireworks in the field behind the duplex and took over our neighbors lawn, because it appeared as though they weren't home. And it was so fun.

We had other parties, too, for St. Patrick's Day and birthdays, and we had fun without a party, too: Making dinner and watching TV, getting ready to go out together, "family" dinner, playing games, watching movies, and just hanging out.

I thought about all of this on my drive back to work, my new work, and thought about how much has changed since then. But what hasn't changed is that we're all still friends, even if we're no longer roommates.

Speaking of roommates, I was really bad and let Shelby up on our bed with me Saturday night, because Nathan was in Seward and she just looked so lonely down on the floor. I thought it would be fine because the bed is so tall, there's no way she'd be able to get in there herself. Wrong. Last night, she just all of a sudden appeared, and it was a suprise to all three of us. Needless to say, she was taken off after we stopped laughing.

Book Review: The Art Of Racing In The Rain

I've had The Art Of Racing In The Rain, by Garth Stein, on my to-read list for a while. I really wanted to read it on the way to Denver, but since we were leaving Shelby behind, and the book is about a dog, I knew it was probably just going to make me sad and miss her. But I started it last night and then finished it, because it was that good.

I have to admit, I had to stop reading and go cuddle with Shelby for a little while. Enzo, the main character, is a dog telling the story of his life on the eve of his death. (Don't worry, you find that out really early on, so I didn't spoil anything.) The life he has led, with his people, Denny, Eve, and Zoe, seems like just any other normal life at first, but it then, everything changes. I'll let you figure it out on your own, but it's definitely engrossing.

He is adopted by Denny, after being born on a farm. I love reading from the perspective of the dog throughout the book, but the first chapters, where Enzo is describing his parents, dogs in general, and his education have some of the best voice. For example, this description of his father:

"I never knew my father. the people on the farm told Denny that he was a shepherd-poodle mix, but I don't believe it. I never saw a dog that looked like that on the farm, and while the lady was nice, the alpha male was a mean bastar who would look you in the eyes and lie even if telling the truth would serve him better. He expounded at length on the relative intelligence of dog breeds, and he firmly believed that shepherds and poodles were the smart ones, and therefore would be more desirable--and more valuable--when 'bred back to a lab for temperament.' All a bunch of junk."

As a dog, Enzo is unique. He was educated by watching TV. He loves old movies, the weather channel, science programs, and especially racing, as Denny is a racecar driver. The most important thing he learned on TV though, is that when he dies, he will come back a man, and then he plans on finding Denny and finally communicating with him the way he always has, only Denny will be able to hear him.

As a character, Enzo is even more unique. He makes keen observations about life, many that come from learning about racing from Denny and his female master's Eve battle with her health. There are several passages I marked as "favorites," but this is the one I'll share with you:

"Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves."

This is where the title comes from--above is the art of racing in the rain. Rather than fearing the rain and driving like normal, you spin the car before it spins itself: that which we manifest is before us. And the book is full of similar observations, which is maybe why I liked it so much.

I'm sure I also liked it so much because we do have a dog, who we are crazy about. After reading the book, I like to think that Shelby is like Enzo--smart, incredibly loyal to us, and a keen observer of life. And it makes me appreciate the ti

Similar Book RecommendationsMarley and Me, John Grogan
The Dogs Of Babel, Carolyn Parkhurst

Movie Review: Midnight In Paris

I love watching movies outside in the summertime. The local independent movie theater here does "Screen On The Green," where it shows old movies based on a certain "theme" every Thursday night from around the beginning of July to the end of August. I haven't gotten to go to many in the past, so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't miss them this year. I went over to the Web site, and while I didn't any info on "Screen On The Green," I DID find showtimes for "Midnight In Paris."

I had come across the movie when searching for a movie for the family to see when we were in Denver, and thought it sounded interesting. Here is the synopsis, taken from the IMDb page: A romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better.

And so, Nathan and I had an impropmtu movie night, and we both loved it.

The movie opened with Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson on Monet's bridge in Giverney, so I knew I would love it. The movie, while dealing with feelings of nostalgia for time period you're not in and confronting the concept of living in the past, is hilarious, especially to literary/classical art/music dorks like Nathan and I. Or should I say nerds? In fact, there were parts where, as usual, Nathan and I were the only people laughing. (This seems to happen in every movie we go to.)

It's also about writing, and how sometimes you need to let go in order to move forward, which also applies to life. And Owen Wilson is lucky enough to experience Paris in the 1920s to help him do that. If only we could all be so lucky, too!

And even if you're not a super nerd like us, it's not a typical romantic comedy--instead, it has some elements of love while dealing with a serious theme, creating intellectual humor, and giving a history lesson. I definitely suggest you check it out if you can. It's at the Ross until Thursday, and I'm sure other cities have more availability for it, if you aren't a Lincolnite.

An Update

I just put a loaf of banana bread in the oven, and here's why: I finally went to the grocery store and made a week's worth (plus, after going Trader Joe's crazy) of meal planning and needed to get at least some of the gazillion bananas I have stored in the freezer OUT. And it's an icky day, and that's what you should do on icky days

After weeks of having a mud pit where a driveway used to be, we finally got a poured foundation last week, and today they managed to get the garage half-done basically. And they are still working. Now that we're back on schedule, hopefully everything will be back to normal-ish, soon. By that, I mean maybe Shelby will actually use our yard to go potty, rather than everyone else's.

We've been gone the past two weekends--we were in Denver the weekend of the fifth for my mom's birthday and had such a fun time. Then last weekend, we were in Gothenburg, Nebraska, visiting my friend Helen. Or, as we were saying on the drive, we were taking Shelby to the farm.

On top of all of that, of course I've been working like crazy (for me, anyway) and trying to get back on track with the house, the blog, etsy (which definitely needs to be a priority), etc. And this week is perfect for that.

And of course, because I've been doing so much living, there's lots to blog about. So hopefully I'll have lots of exciting posts for you in the next few weeks. Maybe even some with pictures.

Library Addict

Everyone, I'm starting to go a little crazy at the library. Turns out that it's OK to check out eight babysitters club books when you're 10, because you'll read all of them in the alotted library time, but checking out eight grown up books from library as a 25 year old means you might not finish them. I know I should just put them on a list or something and read as I have time, but I never find anything browsing the card catalog, only when I'm looking in person. And when I want to find lots of books to read, such as for a road trip or something, I can never find anything. Like when I give myself permssion to buy books, there's nothing there.

Thus, here is the list of books I currently have checked out, followed by books I've recently read and returned. Or read and kept, as the case may be.

To Read:
The Summer I Turned Pretty and It's Not Summer Without You, Jenny Han (picked up after seeing them at Barnes and Noble at a Sarah Dessen display)

Everything I Needed To Know About Being A Girl I Learned From Judy Blume, edited by Jennifer O'Connell (found in the same area as the above two)

Secrets To Happiness, Sarah Dunn (an author I really like)

Wedding Season, Katie Fforde (impulse grab; you know I can't resist wedding books)

The Art Of Racing In The Rain, Garth Stein (has been on the list for a while, and I finally found it at the library)

The Penny, Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford (impuse grab--1955 setting means I will probably love it)

Half-Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls (also on my to-read list, after listening to The Glass Castle)

Recently Read:
Boy Meets Girl, Meg Cabot: love Meg, and this was a fun, light story written in journal entries, emails, notes, etc. Kind of a fun concept.

Ape House, Sarah Gruen: listened on tape. Wasn't quite sure where it was going, but ended up loving the story. Also a good look into animal rights and testing.

So, what have you checked out lately?

Setting Out On Summer

I can hardly believe that today is the first day of June already. Last week's weather definitely made summer feel far away, but sometime over the weekend, it arrived. After cool weeks full of rain, summer finally made an appearance here Memorial Day weekend and hasn't gone away yet. We took Shelby for a walk Sunday night after seeing Thor, and I could smell that familiar scent that reminded me of what summer used to be: getting out of school, spending days at the beach, coming home for dinner, then heading back out with friends to play night games--capture the flag, ghost in the graveyard, and whatever else we could make up as we went.

Even in college, summer was still summer. Summer school was my favorite, and even though I was still in school, it seemed like a break from real life. The first summer I lived in Lincoln, I lived in a fraternity with some sorority sisters, both of whom I didn't know very well but we all soon became great friends, and it was a blast. We'd come home from work--internships and part-time jobs--and cook dinner in the huge kitchen (generally frozen dinners, thank you very much), have game nights, watch Law and Order: SVU, occassionally go out, and talk, talk, talk. I eventually learned how to deal with the humidity, finally, so the rest of my Lincoln summers were just as good.

I spent a summer in D.C., learning what I did and didn't want to do for a career, and figuring out a ton about myself. I attended a black-tie gala, spent the Fourth of July in the Capitol City, missed my friends a ton, learned to eat by myself, be by myself, take public transportation by myself, met a favorite author, and had an experience like no other in my life I can think of.

After starting my first, real full-time job, I lost my summer, or at least in the sense that I had more free time to play with. Instead, my summer days were just like any other--at work 8-5--except the pantyhose was a lot more uncomfortable in hot temperatures.

This summer, everything will change again. Unlike when I was in school, summer is the busiest time for me. I start working 18 hours in July, up 10 hours from what I was doing previously. And even now, we've really geared up on my hours, so I've been working about 15 hours.

I know, I know, that doesn't sound like a lot, but I sure come home tired. I think it's because when I'm at work, I'm at work, and using different parts of my brain than I'm used to. I could sit and edit all day and come home exhausted because I'd been gone for 10 hours. But now, I come home after a few hours mentally exhausted because I've been out challenging myself in ways that I hadn't before: public speaking, research, analysis, crazy organizing, and conversation, just to name a few. Though I suppose I've got the crazy organizing part down.

I have to admit, there have been a few times since starting work part-time that I've questioned my decision. NOT because of the actual job, but because of me and how hard I am on myself on days when I don't accomplish everything (or anything) that I wanted to and I feel like my etsy store and everything else I thought I would do at home are just not what I want them to be (cough, my only 84-word novel, cough).

But then I realize how much I love my part-time job, and that I'm living life full-time. Even if it's untraditional, I have so many opportunities that I didn't have before. I can do whatever I decide to, and I'm working at a job that has truly allowed me to take risks. I have time for friends and time with Nathan and time with Shelby and time with myself. And there's a ton of value in that, even if I don't complete a list of things I think I need to do. There's always time tomorrow to do the dishes.