New Year's Eve

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2014 was wonderful for you all and that 2015 will be even better!

Teaser Tuesday's: Rising TIdes by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Rising Tides by Nora Roberts:

It would be the first time the four of them had worked on the boat together. He was wildly thrilled.

Teaser Tuesday's: Rising Tides by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Rising Tides by Nora Roberts:

There were shadows in those eyes that Ethan also recognized. The wounded recognized the wounded.

Teaser Tuesday's: Sea Swept by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Sea Swept by Nora Roberts:

It occurred to him that it was probably a little different to sit here with his father's ghost, but what the hell. Nothing about his life was the same as it once had been.

All I Want for Christmas - Music Video

One of my daughter's favorites.

I See You Lyric Video

Wordless Wednesday: Our Christmas Tree

 

Day

 

Evening

Teaser Tuesday's: The Best Kind of Trouble by Lauren Dane

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Nook page 87 of Lauren Dane's The Best Kind of Trouble:

"I know you work hard. I know you volunteer in your community and so does my mother. That's what counts in my world. I'm sorry my actions made you feel bad."

Southern California Sunset

Our Sunday

Today was an interesting mix of must do, prep and enjoy the season. First, my husband played a show for friends of ours this afternoon. The girls and I went along to support him and to see our family friends.

After that the girls and I went shopping for their holiday dresses. Normally, this would be a quick and easy shopping trip. This was not the case today. Mind you, we've been looking at dresses together in every store we've been in over the past couple of weeks. Today had to be the day to buy the dresses, though. They are going to a Daddy and Daughter dance next weekend and today was the best day of the coming week to shop. So, we were in Target and my older daughter picked out seven dresses to try on and the younger picked six. The younger one flew through trying her dresses on and then had about a two minute debate over which dress to choose. My older daughter very slowly and meticulously tried on all seven dresses. When she was done she had discarded three of the dresses. It took about ten minutes to discard two more. Then she had to try on the last two again and then another that she had originally said no to. Finally, she chose her dress but it was after a lot of debate on her part. Believe it or not it was all fun and not annoying at all. I was just amazed at how long it took her to choose a dress. This is an entirely new thing for her and I can't help but wonder if this is what shopping for her is going to be like for the foreseeable future. Then we had to get her shoes. That went surprisingly quick and easily. It took us two hours to complete this shopping trip, though. We were all shocked by the time it took.

By the time we were on our way home it was dark so I drove through the neighborhood and we looked at all the Christmas decorations and listened to Christmas music on the radio. It was so much fun! And finally, we ended out evening with spaghetti and a viewing of one of our favorite Christmas movie - White Christmas.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday with my kids.

White Christmas

 

White Christmas - another family favorite.

Do They Know It's Christmas - 1984

 

With all the talk of this song and video turning thirty I've been wanting to see the video again. The song is a favorite in my family. I can't wait to show my kids the video. I'm sure they'll have a lot to say about the 80's hair and fashion and all the makeup some of the men wore. It should be funny to see and hear their reactions.

Christmas Eve/Srajevo by The Trans Syberian Orchestra

 

This Christmas song is a favorite in my family. Without fail, every time it comes on, someone says, "Turn it up!" Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Tree

Teaser Tuesday's: A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 26 of Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story:

The days groaned by. Now only three school days remained before Christmas vacation, that greatest time of all the year.

A November Wrap-Up

I am so very glad that it is December. Of course, I love November and NaNoWriMo and all things writing related. However, I am so glad to get back to a more relaxed, normal writing routine. I'm still writing everyday and will continue to do so. It's just that I'm not in a frenzy to write thousands of words per day. Well, I go for at least one thousand but that's quite different from the three thousand to six thousand I was writing per day in November. There were a couple of days that had less than that but not many. So, with the crazy writing schedule I managed to write an entire first draft of a novel. As many times as I've won NaNoWriMo I hadn't ever achieved this particular goal. It was my intention to do so this year and I am so pleased that I did. On top of that, I LOVE the story itself. I will definitely be editing this one and trying (and succeeding!) to get it published. Once the main novel was completed at around seventy-seven thousand words I started a second one and that is what I am will work on through December. My final word count for November is 100,207 words!

Last week I also participated in The Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon. I finished Sandra Brown's Mean Streak and liked it a lot. I read Janet Dailey's A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree which was okay. I also started Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright. I am loving this book and will probably finish this one tonight.

I am pleased with the success of November. And now I am ready for all the family time and fun of December and Christmas! We started in on the fun last week but now that it's actually December it really kicks in around here. Enjoy the festive month everyone!