Teaser Tuesday: Quiet by Susan Cain

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. 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 75 of Quiet by Susan Cain:

If solitude is an important key to creativity then we might all want to develop a taste for it. We'd want to teach our kids to work independently. We'd want to give employees plenty of privacy and autonomy. Yet increasingly we do just the opposite.

Relax - it's ok

I need this reminder sometimes. Last night I went to bed at the same time as my kids and actually fell asleep when they did. I woke up this morning just before my alarm would have gone off. I definitely needed the extra sleep! 

More flowers

These are my birthday flowers from my husband! Our daughter arranged these, too. When I told her she has a wonderful eye for floral arrangement she beamed and said she really loved doing it. She has an amazing green thumb, too. 

Floral arrangement

My husband's grandma had a birthday earlier this week and we went down to see her and took her some flowers. There was a big family gathering yesterday to celebrate her and a few other birthdays. Mostly her though she might not like hearing that but hey, in the family's opinion, she's more than earned all of the praise and attention. She is the matriarch of the family, after all. 

The were caboodles of flowers around her house which was so beautiful. However, all things considered, she hadn't been able to arrange some of them. So my oldest daughter offered to do that for her. So she and I spent some time together last night cutting stems and arranging flowers in vases then scattering them even more widely throughout her house. It felt like we'd brought the garden indoors. It was so lovely! Pictured above is my daughter's first floral arrangement that she did completely on her own. I think it's beautiful, of course! I also think she has an eye for color and arrangement. 

Words to live by

Stay Humble,

Work Hard,

Be Kind!

BB-8 beanie

Wordless Wednesday: The Last Jedi

Teaser Tuesday: Times Change by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. 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 36 of Times Change by Nora Roberts:

He intended to pick her brain, about her family, her sister in particular, her impressions of Cal. And her wanted her firsthand account of life in the twentieth century. 

Exercise the writing muscle

Yes! I believe this with all of my heart! I get cranky if I don't write. I get cranky if I don't exercise, too. I need both to feel my best. WHen I am writing and physically exercising on a regular basis I feel like a better mom, wife and person in general. 

A rainy day

We are getting much-needed and appreciated rain in Southern California. I sincerely hope all of the rain (and snow in higher elevations) we've had recently means we're no longer in a drought.

My family and I have enjoyed a cozy day indoors. I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 earlier today with my kids. Then all of us, my husband included, had ourselves sorted into our Hogwarts houses at Pottermore. We consist of one Gryffindor, one Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuffs. It's quite fun knowing this!

After we did the sorting my kids and I talked to my mom. My kids have alternated between reading and watching television. WHile I have alternated between reading, writing, revising and crocheting. All with a hot drink at hand. 

How has your day been where you are?

Loving these colors together

I made another square using these colors and I love them even more now! 

Color Inspiration

I love a rainy day! I love the way rain manages to clean the air and make nature so much more vibrant than it already is! I took this picture outside a couple of hours ago. I'm going to use these colors in something in the future. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the movies

My kids are in the midst of a major Harry Potter phase. This evening we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part One. They so desperately wanted to stay up and watch part two but we said they have to wait until tomorrow night since they have school tomorrow. So the trailer for part two was used to, well, tease them and hold them over.

Also, they can't wait to read the book! I'm so glad that my kids love the Harry Potter books. The movies are great but the books have so many more details. I understand that they like to see the movies because they get to have the gist of the story in a couple of hours rather than much longer time it takes to get through one of the books. I am pleased that they have continued on reading the series, though. They are currently reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Wordless Wednesday: Tulips!

Teaser Tuesday: Time Was by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. 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 63 0f Time Was by Nora Roberts:

"Toughen up, Hornblower. Think about something else."

He set his teeth and concentrated on her face. The burning pushed his breath out in a hiss. Her eyes reflected both determination and understanding as she went competently about cleaning, treating and bandaging the wound. 

Keep a notebook

I came across this quote by Jack London on Facebook. I LOVE it so much! Considering that I already do exactly this I decided I had to write it in my journal and share it, well, everywhere! LOL 

Now I am off to use this very same notebook to jot down some character notes and story ideas that I have running around in my head for a new book. I don;t want to lose the ideas while I am finishing the revisions on my current book. 

Great quotes on my child's school work

"Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off." author unknown

"Treat the earth well. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." Native American proverb

I absolutely love both of these quotes. They were on some of my daughters classwork that I was looking through this afternoon. We wound up having a lovely discussion about the meaning of both quotes. She loves knowing that I look through what she does while at school.

Now I'm sipping a coffee and about to get some writing done. I'm not going to reach my goals unless I do the work.

Cupcake clock and goal setting

This clock is made out of cupcakes and symbolizes the New Year of 2017 and also goal setting. Specifically making smart and attainable and TIME oriented goals. I love this and think it is so clever! This was at my Romance Writers of America chapter meeting this morning. They asked us to make an attainable writing goal that we will complete by April 8th. I did, so now in addition to submitting a book by January 31st - I will finish revising and submit a second book by April 8th. This makes me nervous but also really excited! 

A day for myself

Plugging away

I had breakfast and a revision session with a friend this morning. We do this once a week and it is so helpful to me! For one thing it is super nice to have a friend who absolutely understands what it is to be a writer and working toward publication. I am very fortunate to have supportive people in my life: my husband, our children, family and friends but my writer friends understand on a different level. This morning my friend was working on her synopsis and realized she wanted to change the order of some of her story arcs. I knew exactly what she meant just as she understood my ramble about not getting stuck in revision and not submitting my book.

This brings me to what I've been struggling with for a month or so. I have been hyper revising. I don;t really know if that is a 'thing' but it has become a thing for me. I'm absolutely nitpicking my novel to the point that I am annoying myself! My friend helped me to realize that I need to stop this! So, I have decided that I will finish the round of revision I'm doing now and submit the story. I've given myself a goal of January 31st. I originally said I'd do it by next week but pushed it until the end of the month so I can write the synopsis. Maybe with the next book I'll write the synopsis first. At any rate, I am so thankful for the support system I have - especially writer friends who get all the quirks that go along with this endeavor!

Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful

Teaser Tuesday: One Snowy Night by Jill Shalvis

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. 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 18 of One Snowy Night by Jill Shalvis:

"We've all seen it, Max, the way you come by the shop with Carl for more groomings than you need, making sure to do it when Rory is there."

"Maybe I just love my dog," he said, not happy to hear that he'd been that transparent when it came to his uncomfortable and complicated feelings for Rory. 

Organization

The beginning of my mission to purge and organize our home. I started with the kitchen drawers today and it feels so darn good! My goal is to make progress and reduce, reuse or recycle every day. I know if I can take this enormous job and do it in small chunks then I will be successful at it. If I try to do it all at once I will be overwhelmed and not complete it. So, my new motto for all things is, "Make progress every day." Today it was kitchen drawers and tomorrow I will start on my desk and deal with my messy linen closet. 

Sing

Has anyone seen Sing yet? My kids really want to see this movie and I have to admit it looks really good based on the trailers. I figure my husband and I may as well take them to see the movie since we have half the songs from it in our heads already. Thank you YouTube. LOL

Week one of 2017

I can't believe we're already a week into the new year. We're taking down all of Christmas decorations this weekend. It makes me a little sad but I know it's time. My kids are trying hard to convince their dad and I to 'just leave them up all year'. They make me smile with their enthusiasm and their spirit but I have a feeling they'd get tired of it all eventually, too. Maybe not, though.

In addition to putting away all of our decorations we've been continuing on with our Harry Potter movie marathon. I love seeing how much my kids love something that was/is so important to me, as well. My oldest is reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She keeps excitedly sharing with me from the book. Her main theme is: "There are so many details in the book that aren't in the movie!" She is a visual person and absolutely loves the movies so I'm thrilled to realize she loves the books just as much and possibly more. Thank you, J. K. Rowling for all of your wonderful and vivid details that make your wizarding world come alive in the imaginations of my children - and all who read and love your books!

Gorgeous salad

I took the time this afternoon to make a huge salad for the weekend! My kids eat raw vegetables far better than cooked so I'm thrilled to be able to do this for my family. It's fortunate that my husband and I prefer veggies this way, too. We've been doing our best to eat clean and I have to say it gets easier as time goes on. I read recently that the green leafy stems on radishes are incredibly good for you. I'm embarrassed to admit that I always chopped those off the radish and threw them out! Now that I know though, I cleaned them really well, chopped them small and added them in the salad along with fresh spinach. My kids cleaned their plates this afternoon - none the wiser about the spinach they claim to dislike. Although, in their defense (and mine) what we dislike is cooked spinach - raw is apparently fine!

After the rain

We've been having a lot of much needed rain. I love the rain and appreciate it so much! Today was one of those rainy days. However, the sun finally peeked out this evening - just in time to set. It was incredibly beautiful!

Wordless Wednesday: Floral Kaleidescope

Teaser Tuesday: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. 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 44 of The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher:

I grimaced each time one of the blanks noisily exited my laser gun so I had to take shooting lessons from the policeman who prepared Robert DeNiro for his terrifying, psychotic role in Taxi Driver. Actually, it wouldn't become a laser gun until post-production. Thus, the expression, "We'll fix it in post."

Musing Monday: Currently reading and 2017 reading goal

 Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by The Purple Booker that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

This week's random question is: Have you joined any reading challenges for the new year? Do you have any general goals, book or otherwise, for 2017?

I'm going to answer a couple of the questions this week. First, I am reading The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. I'm not too far into it yet but so far it is really interesting and fun to read. It is also rather bittersweet to read considering Fisher's recent passing. I literally grew up with Star Wars and so did my husband. We have been so thrilled to share the Star Wars world with our children, too.

Second, I always make a goal to read 52 books per year. I usually end up increasing that goal but it's what I start with and that works for me. I also track my reading on GoodReads. 

Hello 2017

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you New year's Eve and holiday season were joyful and safe. I also hope for a happy, hopeful 2017 filled with love, adventure, prosperity and good health!

I am super grateful to all of my family, friends and readers of my blog. I am looking forward to 2017 with a hopeful and gracious heart.

I'm going to make a new afghan this year and would like to share the colors I've chosen with you: