Gone to Wordpress.com

My blog is now being hosted on Wordpress...please proceed....

JannaAnne Wordpress Blog

Thank you for sticking with me!

Trying to sleep in the pit of DEATH

Have you ever tried to cool down a large, open aired house that has been baking in the sun for 5 days with no open windows and no circulating air? Let me tell you, I have never been to hell and I hope to never GO to hell, but this had to be as close as it gets!

We left Sacramento a cool, breezy 75 degrees. We spent 5 days in cloudy, misty 58 degree Washington. We come back to a 98 degree, suffocating Sacramento and a 8 month old boxer who is having a near death experience because she has never experienced heat before.

So then you ask yourself, do you turn on the AC and try and fill up this empty space with cool air and know that you are charging up your cooling bill as you do it? Or do you open some windows, turn on a few ceiling fans and try and circulate the hot air around in hopes of stirring up some cool air?

Decisions decisions...we have lived in this house since November and this is the very first night that we have had to deal with this. Amazing...so we chose the later option and had the worst night of sleep EVER. I was so hot and grumpy the next morning it wasn't even funny. Following night we took the high road. Turned on the air as soon as we got home, windows closed tight as a drum until the air outside dropped below 80 then opened them up and let in some breeze and turned on the fans...I slept like a baby and so did my pup pup...

Next stop: Whole House Fan...hum baby!

Seattle gets an A for awesome, Sacramento gets a B for better?

As Derek and I took off on yet ANOTHER adventure (I don't think I ever wrote about our recent Mexican Riviera Cruise) I left the wide-world of social networking to spend some much needed time with my immediate and extended family. The reason for the season was the graduation of my youngest cousin from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wa. She has been apart of the graphic Design program at WWU at was not only graduating, but displaying her wares (DESIGN wares) at a portfolio viewing over the weekend...HERE is a bit of what we saw from her workings.

My family, consisting of my husband and I, my parents and my brothers family (three kids in tow) all flew in to Sea/Tac and then cruised up Washington a few hours to B-Ham as we came to call it. Washington is beautiful country if you have never experienced it. We did our best to fit everything we could in to 4 days of Wa Wa state bliss...So what did our trip look like? {Enter Word Cloud}

Cloudy Skies, rental car (20-inch blades on the Impala), flashing lights, Washington State Trooper, "License & Registration", Bellingham (B-Ham), janky hotel, beautiful Western Washington University, Subaru's, hippies, artists, self-expression, When was the last time you showered? logos, printing press, family, Olive Garden, garlic fries, wine, Dairy Queen, The Liqueur store closes at 8pm? Wal-Mart, hard hotel bed, continental breakfast, pedicure, Starbucks, 100-proof vodka, graduation party, Alternative Library neighborhood, naked bike ride (yes) Rumba the 117 lb Labradoodle, The Bellwether Hotel, the harbor, the rock jetty, "Danger, do not cross, Do not Walk" Me and my 5 year-old niece: the climb, the fall, the scrapes, the bruises (me not her) The mosquitoes, the lounge, the family brunch, the family photos, Seattle at last, Stella the English Bulldog with the worlds worst under-bite, old friends, new friends, Game 6, BBQ, wine, the lookout, tourist Seattle, Pike's Public Market, the fish throwers, the very first Starbucks, The monorail, Seattle Science Museum, Mariners game, Elysian Pub, Potato croquettes, sweet yam quesidillas, scalpers, patron, The Black Swan, creepy, sleepy, airport, return home....

98 degrees? WTF happened while I was in Seattle?

So much time gone by...

I hate that I haven't posted in forever. I suppose I can say that there is only so much time to write in a day and currently I am writing a weekly column for the Sacramentopress.com, updating 4 Twitter sites daily and 5 facebook sites daily plus doing all of my other daily work...
I have also enter the world of writing competitions.

I say that gambling on the fact that my husband is not going to read this because I haven't even told him!

I penned a story not long ago and entered it into a Writers Digest writing competition...I won't know until nearly October if anyone liked it, but I took a bold step and did it anyway. I have had a few people review the story and so far their reviews have been positive. If the story wasn't so long, perhaps I would be bold enough to post it here. Or maybe I am using its length as an excuse not to...

Anyway, I have found myself restless recently and I am not sure what my next move is. I think it is a professional restlessness, but if affects life as a whole. Personally, life is fantastic. I love being married, owning a home and having a dog (even though I want to kill her on a daily basis.)

So what is my next move? How do I cure a restless spirit? I don't know. When I find out I'll let you know.

Expanding my horizons

Last night I attended a workshop at the Sacramento Press headquarters that specifically addressed writing about wine. For anyone who isn't aware, I have been guest writing a weekly relationship piece for the website for a few weeks now. I also posted a few pieces about the Sacramento Kings arena issue and my very FIRST article with them was about (drum roll please) my current obsession: Wine...more specifically, the Old Sugar Mill.

Anyway, all of that to say, I attended this workshop for two reasons: the first was to get certificated as a community contributor for the website. They have to meet you in person and check your ID before they will do that. Second, if I am going to write about wine, I want to do it in an intelligent manner...so I went. I really enjoyed the workshop. It was taught by former Sacramento Bee food and entertainment writer Rick Kushman, who is quite the little wine expert.

He talked about wine, his love for wine, his credentials to teach and write about wine and what we need to know to write an informative and readable wine piece. Notice I didn't say an "intelligent, educated or anything else that has to do with being a wine expert" piece. Rick addressed several of my concerns when writing about wine.

The first, and might I add largest concern was that I am not an expert. I only started drinking wine 4-5 years ago and only added red wine to my pallet a year or so ago. So who wants to hear what I have to say? Well, maybe people just like me. Maybe people who are me 2 years ago who want to get into wine but don't know where to start.

The second thing he addressed was that the "lingo" isn't what people want to hear. There is only a small population of people who even speak that language so trying to tailor your writing to them is a waste. Write to the masses.

The best piece of advice Rick gave us was to remember that writing about wine is fun. He said that everyone who currently covers wine is angry and boring. He doesn't know WHY, but they are. Wine is fun, it is relaxing and it is meant to be social and enjoyable. So write about it that way.

I can't wait to draft my first real story! Now I just need to go have an experience to write about!

Adventures in Aerobics

I didn't think I would ever USE the word "aerobics" until I was at least 45 because that word conjures up images of old women in spandex in front of a gym mirror jiggling around...

However, I think maybe I was stereotyping (nooooooo) and aerobics is just a word for contained exercises with a leader...what do you think?

Anyway, my point is, after reading my dear friend Lizzy Lou's blog entry about Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred video, I decided to order it and give it a go....I giggled after watching the first video because everything Liz said in her blog about hating Jillian was so true, although I myself work out in big baggy pants and a sports bra when at home (until I lose the muffin top, don't talk to me about "running pants") so I can't empathize with her there.

So goes my mornings; my alarm goes off at an un-godly 5:45am and I quickly turn it off before it wakes my grizzly husband, I tip-toe downstairs and try not to stir Cali, because then she'll be dying to join me (I made that mistake the first day and actually nailed her in the face while doing "butt-kickers") and I turn on Jillian.

I spend exactly 22 minutes with her...2 minute warm up, 18 minutes of work-out time (3 six minute circuits) and 2 minutes of cool down. By the time I am finished Derek has woken up, taken Cali out to pee and we are ready to start out day. Typically the coffee's automatic timer has just started to grind the beans and I am ready to pour a cup as soon as I get out of the shower.

On those rare occasions that Derek has sat down to watch me finish up my work-out, I find myself a bit embarrassed that I am standing in front of a TV, hand weights above my head, balancing on one foot and following after Jillian. He isn't snickering, but he might as well be for the way I am feeling. Then again, I look at Jillian and her two "best girls" on the screen and I say, if I can end up like THAT, I'll do this all day...

I am now nearly three weeks into my little routine and I am feeling great. Getting up in the morning still sucks, but I am more awake and feeling better about life when I get to work. Better yet, when I get home from work I feel better about concentrating on cooking dinner instead of trying to fit in a work-out and then heating up a frozen pizza. So really, Derek wins too.

This week I decided that I wanted a little more focus on my abs, so I decided that Tuesday and Thursday I would skip the video and just do abs. So Jillian gets me 3 days a week (and maybe once on the weekend) and I handle my abs alone (using some of her techniques) two days a week. I haven't seen a huge drop on the scale, but I am feeling leaner for sure, so I may just be toning and swapping fat for muscle...hopefully...

I still have yet to progress to level three in the video. I haven't fully embraced every aspect of level two withoutbreathing hard, so I don't think I am ready to see what Jillian has to throw at me in level three yet. I am thinking this is going to be a 60-Day Shred...

I guess aerobics isn't all that bad...

Weezypalooooza

This weekend we had what we affectionately called "Weezy-Palooooza"

In case you don't get it, and if you aren't specifically related to me on the Ruckle side I don't know why you would, my maternal grandmother's name is Lousie, we have always called her Weez and Sunday was her 80th birthday. She and my grandpa Ben live in San Diego and they hiked their senior tails up here with a few other family members for a full weekend of birthday celebrations so that my grandparents could be with each one of their three grown children.

My uncle came over from Hawaii, my aunt came up from Monterey and of course, my mommy lives here. The family partied for three straight days which included the traditional birthday breakfast complete with bubble wreath and family pictures at 7:30am at my parents house, BBQ lunch at our new place so everyone could view it and was capped off with the oh-so-traditional Leatherbys dinner on Sunday.

I have a few observations about family get-togethers.

1. They can be extremely stressful when several people that don't normally hang together spend copious amounts of time together in a short period of time.
2. Ignoring things that are annoying is probably better than making it awkward by saying something
3. We spend 1/3 of the time talking about the present and 2/3 of time reminiscing about times past
4. As my grandparents get up there and no one knows how much time we have left when them, these times are meant to be cherished. I only get to see them once or twice a year and every time might be my last. I need to treat it as my last every time, say everything I want to say to them, listen to everything they have to say to me and make sure I tell them how much I love them.
5. Nothing else matters

I love you G-rents

What do you want to do today?

Today I am sitting at my desk, on hold for the 32nd minute with AT&T and I am slightly frustrated so I thought, now is as good a time as any to blog! If they finally decide to put down their lunch and answer my call, I can always halt my blogging tirade and finish up my call, then get back to it...

Anyway...before I decided to actually make a blog entry I went back and read some of my old posts...most of them actually. As usual, I kicked myself for how far and few between my entries are. I freaking LOVE blogging...why do I let days go by between posts? I don't know. I wish I did. Sure, some days I am busy and frantic with life, but some days I am not. Every single one of those days I should have an entry up here.

Life is pretty good right now. I am loving married life, owning my own home, having a puppy, being gainfully employed...and exploring the options that this big world has laid out before me. Although I am fairly content with life, I want to live it to the fullest and not regret what I never did.

There are so many activities and experiences to have that if you never do them, you'll never care, but if you pursue them and succeed (or even if you fail), you'll never understand how you lived without them. I want to know the difference...

What do you want to do today?

Oh blog, how I have missed you

A mile a minute doesn't even begin to describe how fast I have been moving these last few months. Work, home, dog...where to begin?

Honestly, who really cares? All that matters is that I have found my way back to my little world of writing that I love so much. The beauty of that is, it means I am also breathing again...trying not to stress and trying not to be consumed with things that don't matter to me...like my job. I don't mean to imply that my job isn't important to me, because it is. It pays the bills...ok, not even some of them but it pays a few of them (like my cell phone bill and occasionally I can take myself out to lunch) but what I meant to say was that I don't want my job to rule my life.

I don't want to think about my job when I go home after work, or when I am laying in bed at night. I don't have that kind of job and more importantly I don't get paid enough for it to occupy my thoughts after hours. I do my job and I do it well. That is enough for me. When I go home, that is my time to chill, to see my husband, to play with my dog. Those are the things I love, the things that occupy my thoughts after hours...the things that matter to me.

I am remiss about all the writing opportunities I have missed the last few months. I think about stories in my head that I could have put to paper (or computer screen) or thoughts I could have shared that may have given you a laugh or helped you in some way. More importantly by not emptying my head of all those things I haven't created room to breathe new life into my thoughts, to create new stories...that is what I regret the most...the stories lost.

Getting back to it...

The holidays have a way of taking a bite out of me, chewing me up and spitting me back out. Now that I am finally on the New Year side of the latest spree of holiday bliss I can finally breathe!

The Haynes household was the hub of this years Christmas extravaganza. We hosted 3 Christmas parties in 3 days...what a whirl wind THAT was. I think all in all we had nearly 40 bodies in and out of our house in 72 hours. It took a whole lot of food to feed all of those people, but apparently not nearly as much food as we MADE, because I was left with piles and piles of food afterward...bad, naughty food...the kind you want to eat but know if you do, the scale will be mocking you for weeks to come.

For New Year's Eve thank GOD we ventured outside of our diggs to ring in 2011. We spent a robust evening with some friends throwing beans bags into a hole, playing beer pong and eating more of that "naughty food". Derek and I made it until about 12:24am and then we headed home amidst jeers. On New Year's Day I found myself again with a room full of boys watching the UFC Fights and stuffing pizza and cheesecake into my mouth.

So what does that mean for me today, the first day back into my routine of the new year? Is it diet time? Well, I won't go THAT extreme, I will just say that it is back to oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, light lunches and I need to MAKE dinners instead of buying them...at least Derek would appreciate that.

My first efforts will be tonight with some chicken thingy...we'll see how it goes...

More importantly, I am committed to blogging more consistently in 2011. I need to make my passion for writing a priority. I love to write and I need a creative release for the thoughts in my head. So far this is the outlet provided for me....until that changes, stay tuned!

Lunch with Friends

There is nothing that will clear the work-day fog from my brain quicker then having lunch with friends. Although sometimes expensive, meeting friends for lunch is one of my all-time favorite week-day things to do.

If I know that I have a lunch date planned with a friend(s) it starts my whole day off brighter and more positive. I come to work happier, I am more productive and I come back from lunch in a better mood than I typically do in the afternoons on a normal day.

There is also something to be said from an impromptu lunch date. What a terrific surprise to get a call or an email from a friend asking to have lunch together! "What are you doing for lunch?" "Nothing. You?" "Nothing...wanna meet in 30 at La Bou?" Ah...sheer bliss!

Perhaps in order to curb some of the cost, I should start have lunch picnics with friends...we both bring our lunch to work as we normally would and then find a neutral spot to meet and dine on our bag lunches...

The joy is in the company and the conversation, not the purchase of the food! Ok, I take that back...I think anyone who knows me knows how much I love food...

Anyway, the point is I want to have lunch with friends more often (but not break the bank) and keep the joy and productivity at an all time high in my life! Lets do lunch sometime...

Settling In

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted! Then again, things have been a little busy for me. I mean, we finally closed escrow on our house, moved into our house, bought a puppy, had Thanksgiving, Derek was in trial and it goes on and on and on...I think things are finally settling down now.

So which of these changes has been the hardest? Hands down: Miss Cali Posey Haynes.

Which one of these changes has given us the most joy? Hands down: Miss Cali Posey Haynes...she is the best. She is so fun, so active, so full of love and joy....she brightens my day every single time I see her. She loves completely, unconditionally and is full of forgiveness! Don't get me wrong, she is a hand full. We have had our moments filled with frustration and anger, but as with every new family addition, they are worth it!

Moving into our own house has been such a surreal experience. I remember back, just 7ish short months ago when Derek and I got married and moved in together. Sending him off to work was as surreal experience. Now, waking up inside our very own house, with a bubbly puppy and sending him off to work is a surreal experience. It is amazing how life just creeps up on you and all of the sudden you are living it to the fullest and you don't even know how you got there!

Our house is amazing. Although we have had our struggles with it (invasion of the ants, power outlets that don't work, gaps in the fence etc) this house is more than I could have EVER imagined...cooking in my own kitchen, inviting my friends over and hosting in my own living room...it is enough to make a girl giddy. I don't get giddy very often.

Husband+House+Happy Puppy=Happy & Content Janna

They call me "The Examiner"

So remember a few blogs back when I wrote about Embarking on a New Adventure? Well, my adventure has begun.

Nearly three weeks ago I responded to a post on craigslist for a "Relationship Writer" on Examiner.com. The Examiner is an online news, entertainment, and advice source that is nation-wide. They have local entities that are powered by local writers like me in 240 cities across the country.

Once I went through the application process and submitted a writing sample I was approved to join their team as the Sacramento Conflict Resolution Examiner. I published my first article, "Learn the love language." the following Monday. Once my first article was approved and went "live" I now have the freedom to post whenever I want and can post content of my liking under the scope of "conflict resolution" and more importantly; relationships.

So....what does this all mean? It means I am trying to build up my writing portfolio, polish up my skills and expand my knowledge and network of this business called writing. It is going to be up to me to market my article at Examiner.com and increase my page views, article subscriptions and feedback. This could become a money-making venture for me if I put in the work. More importantly, I need to produce read-worthy articles to keep people coming back.

I welcome your feedback, suggestions and anything you know about marketing my article to the outside world. Also, I hope you'll read it...

Ultimately, I am not sure what the final destination is, but I am looking forward to the journey.

Giants fans UNITE!

As we sit 2 hours from the first pitch of the World Series I can't help but chuckle at the SF Giants FEVER that has hit this city. HECK, this half of our STATE. Northern California is starving for a champion, for a Cinderella story. It has been a few years since any of our major sports franchises have reached the big one. Both the Oakland Raiders and the Giants made it to their respective "big ones" in 2002, before that we had the glory years of the Sacramento Kings. I was just a kid when the 49ers were in their hayday. I hear rumors of the Oakland A's being good once, at least every time you get in an argument with an A's fan they say "championship" because that is all they have to say....maybe this year we'll have a little something to throw back at 'em!

Anyway, my point WAS, even those who wouldn't have considered themselves Giants fans, or even really baseball fans have jumped on the Giants winning the World Series bandwagon. Typically, I am not cool with fare whether fans partaking in the glory of a winning team that they have not lived and died with all season. HOWEVER, in this case, I am going to say "GIANTS FANS: UNITE!"

The Gigantes need all the juju they can get and you know what? It is freakin fun to see post after post on facebook on a game day. It is fun to see people with their colors on, people wearing hats and eye black and girls with cute little girl Giants shirts on. I know that I can barely concentrate at work today, hence this blog post...I can't wait to get home tonight and hopefully watch them take Game 1. If they don't, well...tomorrow will be even MORE important. This is our year, I can feel it. Can't you feel it?

I have a fever and the only cure is A WORLD SERIES RING!!

Reflections: Looking back at 6 months of marital bliss

Not to get mushy on you but today marks 6 months of marriage for the Haynes'. I have never been a "monthly anniversary" celebrator....I just don't see the point, but today I have some thoughts I want to pen down, or I suppose, in this case type down.

For anyone who has known Derek and I any length of time, you know that not only did we date for YEARS ( I mean, like a lot of years) before we got married, but we also did not live together before we got married. I think that in this day and especially for our age, that is pretty rare. However, I think that has made these last six months that much sweeter for us.

There is something to be said for the discovery of your partner in day to day life. I didn't know exactly what Derek's habits were early in the morning when getting ready for work. I didn't know how he slept every night, how he snoozes his alarm 2-3 times each morning and how he turns on the shower before he shaves his face at the sink.

Derek didn't know that I never snooze my alarm (or maybe he did because I make disparaging comments about snoozing all the time) that I apparently talk nonsense in my sleep (I didn't know that either) or that I throw elbows when I sleep (I guess we need a bigger bed).

These are all non-starter parts of our lives (except the elbow throwing, that is serious) but I am just making a point; there are so many things that even 8 years of dating didn't teach us about one another.

Something I didn't expect about living together? How sweet our evenings together would be. How fun it is to be home making dinner for Derek when he gets home from a long day. How appreciative he is when he comes home to a clean house and clean laundry. How even though I am not the greatest cook in the world, he loves it when I try and make something new.

Things that are special to me after 6 months of marriage:
When he brings me a cup of coffee in the bathroom each morning while I get ready before he leaves in the morning.
When I wake up with an Afro of a hair-do he makes a silly comment like, "Stay back boys, she's all mine"
When I cook dinner, he races to the kitchen to clean up the dishes after we eat.
On the rare nights that I get home later than he does, there are always comfy clothes laid out on the bed for me and a glass of wine poured.
That most weekends we do the grocery shopping and the laundry together.
That he sends me random "I love you darlin" texts during the day
That whenever I am gone from the house, he sends me "What are you doing? What is your status?" texts...
That he always calls when he is on his way home
That whenever I walk in the door he says, "There's my wife"
That we still can laugh together about the dumbest things...like me falling, hitting my knee on the coffee table, or him making a "law situation" out of everything
Our dinner date nights together
Our yogurt runs
The fact that we can still do things with our friends, separately
When we do things with our friends together
That we make time to get together with our parents and my brothers family
That he is my greatest supporter and he encourages me to step out in faith into uncharted territories and follow my dreams
That he make me a better person, every day
That together we try and be a blessing to those around us

There is no one I would rather face trials with, no one who makes me happier, no one that I feel safer with, no one who can make me laugh more and no one who I would rather spend the rest of my life with than Derek. I love you Derek.

Being a better friend

I was inspired this week by a blog post I read that challenged women, in particular, to do a better job of understanding each other in each other's different walks of life. It struck a chord with me because I have friends in various stages of life; single, dating, married, married with kids, single with kids, divorced, divorced with kids....

Every person has their own unique situation and their own life circumstances. No one has a full understanding of another person's life circumstances and frankly, it seems sometimes that no one cares to try and figure it out. After reading that blog post I had to stop and ask myself, "Do I do a good job of being understanding of other people's challenges? Do I reach out to my friends even when they don't reach out to me?"

I was ashamed to answer NO to both questions...at least most of the time. It is so easy sometimes to just hang with the friends who are like me; in a relationship or married and kid free. How can I possibly understand what it is like to have children? How can I possibly understand what it is like to be a SINGLE parent? Well, I could certainly do a better job of offering friendship to my friends who are in that place in their life.

So what if they are busy? So what if I am busy? Does that exempt me from picking up the phone and giving them a call? Does that mean I cannot go to their house when they cannot go out for the evening?

Today I made the first step in a new resolution to be a better friend and to make an effort to understand what life is like outside of the bubble I live in. One of my friends who has children invited me to come watch her daughter's soccer game. In the past I would have likely declined because my Saturdays are precious time to me. I either need that time to run errands, house clean or simply spend time to Derek if neither one of us is working.

However, I realized that the time requirement would only be about an hour, I loved playing soccer as a kid and I love my friends. I would have time to see Derek when I got home. She was making an effort to reach out to me, which she did not have to do. Was it so hard for me to meet her half way and come to the place she was already going to be? I could see how SHE spent HER Saturdays.

So I went. I am glad I did. It was nice to watch the kids run around, it was nice to see a friend I don't see often and it was nice to take part in the lives of her children. We may not be as close as we once were, but I will always be there for her and I want her to know that. It isn't likely that we will ever be walking step by step in life again. However, I don't think that means that we can't take a walk in this life together every once in a while.

There aren't many friends that you can hang onto for a lifetime so when you find one, do everything in your power to understand them, to love them and to reach out to them. Time is precious, but friendship supersedes all time.

I could use a little humor

Seems like work goes through the same 'ol phases week after week...I'll have a good week at work followed up by a frustrating, stressful week. One week I am loving my job, the next week I am searching Craig's list for a new opportunity...

Needless to say, I could use a good laugh...unfortunately it comes at the expense of myself...of course.

So the last several weeks I have acquired 5 or 6 bites on my body. They are either spider bites or some sort of bug (dare I say "bed bug"). Now, because of these bites, I get into bed and lie awake feeling like I have spiders of bugs crawling in my sheets. I DO have restless leg syndrome, which cause me to feel like I have ants constantly crawling up and down my legs, but this is different, TRUST ME.

I realize this is irrational and unlikely....however, where did the bites come from?! My husband is so ashamed of me...and I think that he thinks I am going insane...I check my sheets before I get in them and they appear harmless, but now I am not sleeping at night....what am I going to do?

Welcome Fall, I've been waiting for you

I absolutely LOVE this time of year. I love the chill in the air, I love scarves, gloves, hats, boots, jeans and blankets. I love hot tea, fires, warm beds and hot showers.

I am ready to travel to Apple Hill and buy pie, cider and apples (maybe even wine taste??) I can't wait to drive up to Tahoe and see the snow, maybe even ski a little.

Falling leaves, overcast skies and a drizzle in the air...these are a few of my favorite things. How can anyone not love Fall in Northern California?

My favorite fall activities:

• Apple Hill
• Wine Tasting
• Walking (don't judge me)
• Motorcycle riding
• Watching Football
• This year: Watching the SF Giants in the post-season ;)
• Trying new baking recipes
• Also this year: Moving into my first house

Embarking on a new adventure

Well, this blog was the first step in what I hope to be a long-lived adventure of writing extravaganzas! I can't say I have found a brand new love of writing, because I have always loved it, but I suppose that I could say I have found new inspiration, new support and a fresh wave of courage to take a step I have always wanted to.

I am going to see if I can expand on this writing thing and take it to a new level. What that MEANS exactly, I am not sure, but it does mean I am going to hang myself out there a bit, open myself up to be rejected, criticised, turned away....and maybe... accepted as a good writer.

I am currently exploring potential avenues to take my new found courage and seeing what options are available to me such as online writing contests, freelance opportunities, story submissions etc...

Perhaps even one day I shall write a book...would you read it?

I know that I may never find success, but I also know that I love to write and that even the act of writing is love to me and that is enough. If I can find success in the process of doing something I already love, then I have succeeded twice. If I don't try, than I will never know and I may miss perhaps the greatest opportunity of all.

After I am gone...Let It Be Said

After I am gone from this world let it be said...

That I loved without limits
That I served without thanks
That I listened without talking
That I hugged without knowing
That I prayed without ceasing

After I am gone from this world let it be said...

That I showed compassion to those who were without
That I heard the cries of those who couldn't speak
That I gave of myself when there was nothing in return
That I looked for the lost so that they might be found
That I listened to my heavenly Father in my darkest days

After I am gone from this world let it be said...

That I was a friend to the friendless
That I was a lighthouse to the drifting
That I was hope to the hopeless
That I was joy in midst of the pain
That I shared pain in midst of the sorrow

As I walk into the arms of my Father in heaven let it be said...

That I loved deeply, laughed often and lived life as God intended me to live it. That I loved my neighbor as myself and I loved God with my whole heart, my whole mind, with all my soul and with all my strength.

Amen