I'm baaaaack

My old computer died and for some reason it took me a while to purchase a new one, but now I have one, super exciting, right?

I think Angel is just as excited as me...

Well I'm going to try to get back to blogging for a bit, but I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo again (I've never won but attempted it the past two years).  I think I have a good direction with this one and have done more prep then I have in the past so we will see how it works out, maybe I'll even share some of it on here!

Compose Yourself, Writing Link-Up

Nikki over at Travels with Pen and Paper has started a weekly creative writing link-up.  I helped her come up with a fun name for it and I'm finally getting involved and writing from the first prompt she had!  Read mine and let me know what you think (I'll happily take constructive criticism, as long as you're nice :), then head over and check out hers.  When you're ready, join in the fun! I can't wait to read everyone elses' submissions.
 
The prompt this week is (I guess it was last week at this point):

Make something conventionally beautiful seem ugly, or something ugly seen beautiful.

Here is my submission:

As I skidded out on my bicycle cursing the turd looking slug in the middle of the path, I thought to myself “Why the heck did I just avoid that?”  I could’ve easily run over the slug in the middle of the trail, avoided my now skinned up left leg, and continued with my ride.   From my place on the soft damp dirt I noticed the thing still moving, not realizing the chaos it just caused.  When I first saw it I didn’t realize quite how brightly colored it was.  It suddenly looked a radiant yellow not just a dull brown.  Slowly creating a slime trail behind it, the closer I got the more fascinated I was.  It had two perfect looking antennae on top of its head and two just below, nearby where a mouth might be.  The symmetry of these four were perfect.  The calmness the little guy showed in his slow trek across the trail was poised, without a care in the world.  Suddenly, I felt relieved that I hadn’t run over this creature.  He was magnificent, like only a banana slug could be.

Since I pretty much missed this week, here is the prompt for next Monday:

This has to do with writing from different senses. Have a sound, smell, or taste lead the way.

I'm back, and so much to talk about!

 Been a while, time for some updates:

Well I took a slight break form blogging to attempt NaNoWriMo.  Unfortunately, I didn’t complete the 50,000 words during the month of November, but I did complete just over 10,000!  Even though that number isn’t huge it’s the most I’ve ever put into one story and I feel like I have much more I want to write to finish the story, so in a way I do feel like a winner and am happy I attempted it!  Another part of the reason I did it was to help support Rob with his, but he fell apart about halfway through the month, I’m upset I didn’t try to continue to encourage him. I really hope he picks up his story again, like I plan to with mine.

The next (and probably biggest) new thing in my life is that I am moving!  I got offered a temporary job assignment and decided to accept it.  It is in Kentucky, which is a far cry from Oakland, CA, but I’m excited.  All the moving and packing is stressing me out, but living in a new place and working on a new project should be worthwhile.  The assignment will last 6-12 months and then the plan is head back to Oakland where I’ve been working for the past 4 years. 

On my last day at work in Oakland I was pretty sad to leave my office.  I’ve been there for almost 4 years and it was my first job since college so it’s all very strange to be leaving.  I’ve been in Kentucky for two weeks now and I’m heading back home for a few weeks for Christmas.  Then Rob, Angel and I are driving all the way across the country to set up home in Lexington, KY.  I’m ready to live somewhere new so I think this will be a good move for me, but at the same time I really loved everything about Oakland (except the cost of living) so I’m sure there will be a lots I will miss.

I’ve already found a place to rent!  It’s a house, which is a huge deal for us.  It’s so expensive to rent a house in California so it’s nice that we can afford one in Kentucky.  It is a perfect size for two people and we finally get to have a yard for Angel.  I’ve already been scoping out the local restaurant scene and getting advice on places to try.  One of my biggest fears was that there would only be chain restaurants, and at first glance that’s how it appeared.  But after talking to others it sounds like there are lots of local gems and I can’t wait to find them!

In other news, Michigan football had a tremendous season!  They ended the regular season at 10-2 with a win over ohio!!!  That hadn’t happened since my freshman year of college, so it was a nice weight finally lifted off our shoulders.  Our coach, Brady Hoke, was also named the B1G coach of the year, and very deservedly so.  I’m so excited about this team in the future and am proud as always to be a Michigan Wolverine.  We are headed to the Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech.  I’ll do a more in depth bowl preview as they get closer, but just having Michigan in a BCS bowl is beyond awesome!

So that’s a lot new for me, wish me luck in my move (did I mention how crazy my life is?)  I’ll keep you all updated on my new life in Kentucky!

Should I NaNoWriMo?

I love to read but I've never been much of a writer.  I don't think I've written a story or anything creatively since middle school (I didn't have to take a single engilsh class in college).  I enjoy writing (hence the blog) but I just haven't had much instruction or practice.  This brings me to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writting Month), where you are challeneged to write 50,000 in the month of November.  I think that I have good ideas for writing a novel but I've never sat down and organized my thoughts and tried to write them all down as a story.  I think I'm ready to try, and I think NaNoWriMo is a good opportunity for me to do just that.  I haven't signed up yet since I'm still a little unsure but I like the idea of it and I'm almost ready to pull the trigger!

I'm hoping to get some pointers from anyone out there who has done it before (or something similar).  I work full time so I'm worried about how much time I can commit and how to be the most productive with the time I have.  Should I update my blog during that month or devote all of my writing to NaNoWriMo?  How can I keep myself interested enough in my story to keep writing so much everyday? Anything else I should prepare myself for?

Since I think I will be writing a dystopic novel (my favorite genre right now), I decided I should read as much as I could in that genre before all the writting starts.  This brings me to the second point of this post a link up with Seven Day Push.  The challenge this week is to read a book and I will gladly take on that challenge.  I'm going to read Genesis by Bernard Beckett (a nice short book, yes) but it is one I've been wanting to read for a while.

Hello!

I finally made a blog, yay!  One of my New Year’s resolutions was to write more and use more of my creative side, so I will be using this to help with that.  I’m not a very good writer and my spelling and grammar is horrible, but that can only get better, right?

You may be wondering why it took me so long since New Year’s to actually set up a blog, there are two reasons.  Number one, my boyfriend started a blog and everyone loved it and I knew mine would never compare to his interesting and changing life (not to mention he is a much better writer than me).  Number two, see below:



Yeah, I took that with my new fancy phone



I must’ve stared at this page for the longest time (we're talking days).  I really tried to come up with something creative, but just wasn’t satisfied with any of it.  I asked for help from my boyfriend and facebook friends but that didn’t get me anywhere either.  So I looked around the internet and found this fun little site which helped me find the name explanniefyfed.  I know its ridiculous, but that’s why I like it!

I live a very average life. I go to work everyday for 9ish hours, sit in a cubicle and do what others tell me to do, not much room to be creative there.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy what I do and where I work, but at times I do feel like a corporate drone.  If anything exciting happens (don’t hold your breath), I’ll probably talk about it here.

I enjoy reading, eating, the place I live, and being active. These are some of the things I plan on discussing here.  I also plan on adventuring into things I’m not so good at or familiar with such as cooking (another thing that my boyfriend is better at than me), making my apartment more comfortable, better looking and more functional, finding my green thumb, being more crafty, and to get better in touch with my personal style in general.  That sounds ambitious, I guess we’ll see how it goes...

I will also probably discuss some sports, since I’m a pretty passionate fan when it comes to all things University of Michigan, USMNT (soccer), and anything relating to the Olympics.  I also dabble in tennis, other soccer leagues, college football in general, and most things local.

Not sure if anyone will be interested in reading this but at least I’ll be writing more. Please try to ignore all the poor grammar and spelling errors (you know who you are!), I’ll try to improve them over time.  Enjoy!