#Nerdlution Week One

This first week of #nerdlution has been a bit of a struggle for me. I suppose that's probably the case whenever one is attempting to improve their habits, though. I've gone from drinking relatively no water per day to fifty ounces per day. Honestly, each day I've had to force myself to drink the last few ounces. It's the knowing that I've made this public commitment that has me drinking the last little bit. It sounds (and reads) a little weird to struggle with something like drinking water but it's simply not easy for me. I'd rather have a coffee or a hot chocolate than a glass of water. I will say, that at the end of week one (and 350 ounces of water!) I feel healthier. Already my skin is less dry and I had less headaches this week.

The sit-ups are definitely challenging in that I can't do the 100 all at one time. I have to do fifty at a time. The last couple of days have been a little harder than the first few because the muscles being worked hurt when I do the sit-ups. But I know that's a good thing and a sign of things working.

Patience. This is where I thought I'd struggle but I have been much more patient this past week. I haven't been perfectly calm by any means but I've handled things that generally annoy me much better. My husband and children have noticed and they're the ones (along with myself, of course) I'm making this change for.

For me, #nerdlution is a success so far. I'm extremely pleased that I came across it on Twitter and decided to join in. I've been telling my family and friends about it and have a few willing to join in the next round. I've told them to join in now and we'll keep one another accountable. I'll let you know if they do.

Teaser Tuesday - Kissing Under the Mistletoe by Bella Andre

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 70 of Bella Andre's Kissing Under the Mistletoe:

When they'd first met yesterday in Union Square, she'd smiled so easily at him. Now her eyes were guarded.

#Nerdlution Round 1

As some of you may know, I have become a big fan of Twitter and its vast communities. I've posted before about my love and appreciation of #writeclub. Another that I adore is the #writechain challenge (make writing or editing a daily habit).

This weekend I have discovered #nerdlution. For the post introducing it you can go here and read all about it. The idea of #nerdlution is to pick something that you want to improve in your life and make a goal of doing it for fifty days. This round begins tomorrow, December 2nd and runs through January 20, 2014. I know daily practice and habits work! Since beginning the #writechain challenge, I have written every single day for 81 days straight. I know I will continue with this habit because it's just that important to me. I also exercise 4 - 5 times per week. I also end every single day with a book. However, there are some other things I'd like to make daily habits. So I'm going to use this first round of #nerdlution to create some new, healthy habits:

1. I do not drink enough water. So I commit to drinking 50 ounces of water for 50 days straight.

2. I really need to be a more patient person. I commit to actively learning ways and methods of being more patient and implementing them into my life.

3. I do plenty of cardio (and actually like it) but I need sit-ups in my life. I loathe them but will do 100 per day for 50 days.

I think these are all achievable goals and I'm excited to get started with them tomorrow. I will either blog or tweet my progress each day, perhaps even both.

Teaser Tuesday's - Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway

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 117 of Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway:

He couldn't afford to feel, damn it. Every agent knew that.

Teaser Tuesday's - Dark Witch 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 page 75 of Dark Witch by Nora Roberts:

"I brought my resume," Iona began. Business, business, business, she reminded herself. And stay out of trouble.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to this guy...

Simon le Bon of Duran Duran. And yes, I borrowed the picture from their Facebook page. :) I love this band with all my heart and can't wait for their new album next year!

Teaser Tuesday's - Thankless in Death by J.D. Robb

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 34 of J.D. Robb's Thankless in Death:

Since he liked to gloat, wouldn't he like to brag to friends? Maybe roll out and hit Vegas again, see if his luck improved there, or go sun on some tropical beach?

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

I love this readathon and participate whenever I can.  I signed up to do it in April and then unexpected life occurrences made it so I only read for about two hours.  Today, due to more of those times of life happenings, I am starting late.  Oh well, at least I still get to play along for more than two hours this time.

I started off by doing the Books on Books mini-challenge.  It was fun.  She has the title of twelve books covered up.  We're supposed to share the titles we know.  I only knew three but oh well, I still played.  Now I'm going to read my current book Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts.  I hope everyone is having an amazing day and reading lots.

Wordless Wednesday - Rainy Evening

Teaser Tuesday's - Midnight Bayou 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 page 68 of Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts:

You can scare me.  But you won't scare me away.

Writing Space

I will admit it - I was not the most ambitious writer this summer.  I had spurts of inspiration and writing time but nothing overly solid came of it.  I could say I was busy and that would be true but it's also an excuse because I'm always busy.  I have a husband and we have kids and jobs and extended family and friends.  Yeah, everyone, everywhere is busy.  And yet a lot of people still manage to pursue their creative dreams and goals.  Why was I slacking on that for myself?

I don't know the answer.  I don't mean for this to be an overly introspective post, either.  What I want to share is that I finally made the decision to take back my writing space both figuratively and literally.  In the middle of August I was on Twitter (a place I was hit and miss about before but now totally in love with) and discovered a seriously cool and amazing group @FriNightWrites.  We (yes I had to join in on this movement) are a group of writers from all over the U.S. and the U.K. who use the hours on Friday night to write together in thirty minute sprints.  It's actually a twelve hour period (11 a.m. to 11 p.m. PT). 

If you haven't done anything like this before you may be thinking something along the lines of, So what? I know this because that's sort of what I thought for about five seconds in the beginning.  I was wrong, oh so wrong, to think that way, though.  The people involved in this group (3,402 Followers at time of writing this post) are so nice and so inspiring and incredibly supportive of one another! It humbles me to be a small part of it.  This group has really helped me to focus on my writing again for which I am enormously thankful.  It has also given me a sense of community with other writers which I sorely needed.  The hashtag is #writeclub if you're interested in checking it out on Twitter.  It's so worth it.  In the six-and-a-half weeks I've been involved I've written nearly all of a manuscript and one short story.  That's really fast output for me.  Just check it out - I guarantee you'll love it!

As for literal writing space, I took over a corner at home.  No one is allowed to leave any of their stuff here! This entire corner is mine and I will guard it with a vengeance (especially during NaNoWriMo but that's a post for another day)!

Teaser Tuesday's - Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster

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 53 of Lori Foster's Getting Rowdy:

I'm not afraid of you."  Whatever secrets Rowdy had in his history, he wasn't a threat to her.

Wordless Wednesday - In Remembrance

Teaser Tuesday's - Take Me Under by Rhyannon Byrd

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 61 of Rhyannon Byrd's Take Me Under:

"Don't even try that innocent act," she snapped.  "I can't believe you didn't tell me he's my new landlord."

Teaser Tuesday's - Hotshot by Julie Garwood

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 28 of Julie Garwood's Hotshot:

It was a beautiful resort.  A little worn, but still charming.  There were a dozen bungalows, a small hotel and a two-story apartment building.