And now...

After an evening of happy dances and spontaneous outbursts of excitement, I've decided to begin the editing process of the book I finished yesterday today. I originally thought I was going to wait until next Monday just to give myself a break, but I woke up really wanting to begin this new phase of the project.

Today is the first day of school and I'm sitting in the Language building waiting for my one o'clock class to begin. I already went to my Government class and it looks a lot like the one I took last semester. So while I have an hour to kill, I'm going to write this quick update and begin editing the prologue of The Lion. The way the story's title had morphed as time has passed amuses me greatly. I originally planned on calling it The Lion, the Rock, & the Bicycle for reasons that wouldn't make sense unless you knew the story. After writing about half of the story I decided to knock off Bicycle and just call it The Lion & The Rock. And now, after completing the first rough draft of this story, it is now simply called The Lion. The title may change again as I finalize the chapters and characters - who knows?

I really wish summer wasn't over. I'm sure that's the sentiment of most everyone right now, but I really really don't want summer to be over. I'm going to miss being laid back and hanging out with friends til all hours of the night - or morning - and having enough time to read, write, hang out with people, watch a movie, watch a show, exercise, and take a nap all in the same day. I've set a goal for this semester to make all As in my classes and to get abs. I know to reach those goals, I will have to be very careful with my time and use it constructively basically every waking second of the day. If I can achieve these goals, it will be worth being busy and stressed and tired all the time.

Okay, I've gotta go be productive.

M

You know that novel I've been workin on...for two years?

The rough draft is done! Done! I've finished something I started. The rough draft is done and I'm a little freaked out. It's rough in every sense of the word and no where near ready to be read by anyone but me just yet, but it's finished! I reached my goal of finishing the rough draft before school, which begins tomorrow!

The new goal: To get The Lion up to snuff so I won't feel horrible letting other people read it. By Christmas. :)

Please pray that I would persevere in this project to make it excellent. It's good right now, but I want it to be great.

Praise God. He's so good.

M

Excerpt

I've been working on my project tonight and I just wrote the quote I'm posting below and I just really like it. This is a turning point for one of my characters and marks a HUGE change for him personally. And, just so you don't think I'm allergic to proper nouns, I've taken out his name so nothing is spoiled. Ya know, for ALL those people who follow my blog and who would buy this story if it ever got published. ;) 

Anywho, here it is.

"Life was more than what he'd made up in his mind. He had a greater purpose and even if he didn't know what it was right now, the mere knowledge that something bigger than himself was out there made every moment more precious, every color a little brighter, and every day seem more like an opportunity than a task."

~Excerpt from The Lion by Molly O'Sullivan

M

I cannot wait to see this!

My sister showed me the trailer for this movie and here are the reasons why I want to see it...

• It looks like a great tear-jerker/500 Days Of Summer type flick
• It has the little Russian guy from Star Trek in it. 
• Ingrid Michaelson music was playing in the trailer
• The plot, from what I could decipher from the preview, looks great.

As the summer comes to a close...

It seems that when the summer started, everything went by so fast and now as the summer comes to a close, it's oozing by dreadfully slow. At any rate, I've not been up to much lately; just working and writing and spending time with people before life becomes a haze of schedules, homework, more work, and structure. I'm ready for the structure but I also don't want my laid-back time to be over. But all good things must come to an end. 


I didn't accomplish most of my summer goals, but I did do some and I also  modified a couple. You can read the long post here, but here is the list I made back in May. 

Read, read, read. I want to finish Mere Christianity, Franny and Zooey, Just Jane, and Breakfast At Tiffany's. I want to read more Nicholas Sparks and Anna Karenina, too. (This one was an epic fail. I didn't finish and/or read any of these. I know, the English major who can't buckle down and finish any book she starts. I ought to be taken out back and shot. I did, however, begin the first Harry Potter book and I am enjoying it.) 

I want to finish my novel. I'm seven chapters in and I think if I can dedicate a couple solid hours every day to working on it, I can get it finished. (I'm a much better writer than reader. I am about two or three chapters away from being done with my novel!!)

I want to do a study of the book of Jeremiah. I'm doing it on my own without a study guide. We'll see how it goes. :) (Again with the reading. :P I did five chapters of in-depth study and have learned a lot. I'm not going to stop reading Jeremiah, it just won't be done before summer's over with.)

Continue growing my hair out.  (Done. :) Still growing it out.) 

Find at least three new musical artists who I consider my favorite. (DONE! Noah and the Whale, Bon Iver, and Fleetwood Mac.) 

See those friends who will be moving away for college before they go. (I'm having coffee with a great friend on Tuesday before she leaves for OK and I will hopefully be seeing some other people before they head off to college.)

So all in all, it was a fairly decent accomplishment of goals, considering my tendency to procrastinate and get absolutely nothing done. Here's a small list of some of the other things I did this summer...

• Went on the most amazing mission trip. You can read a REALLY long post about that here.
• Watched both seasons of Make It Or Break It. Don't judge, it's highly entertaining. :)
• Spent too much time on Tumblr. Here is my Tumblr. If you're on it, you should follow me. ;)
• Saw new movies in the theater: Soul Surfer (meh), Cars 2 (pretty funny), Cowboys And Aliens (frigging awesome! Go see it!), and Crazy Stupid Love (also a great flick).
• Started a new book idea. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the old one and it will be finished in time! 
• Started my first job. I absolutely love my new job and coworkers at Justice! I like it so much, that I'm looking into merchandising at my school. I'm not rushing into any decisions and I haven't actually decided anything yet. :) 
• Celebrated many birthdays
• Saw my lovely friend who has been living in Mexico. 
• Ate at IHOP for the first time. I'm in love.
• Took pictures, as you will see later
• Saw fireworks
• Went to a Ranger's baseball game
• Made an excellent batch of arroz con pollo (rice with chicken).  It's something my grandma and dad make all the time and mine came out excellently. I didn't get any pictures of it, though. :P
• Ran into someone I hadn't seen in almost two and a half years at the most unexpected time. 
• Learned to love, trust, let go, and move on a little more

So yes, I had an excellent summer and will look back on it fondly. Here are a few recent pictures. :)

Sarah, my lovely best friend. :) 

Sarah and me

Sarah, me, and Kathryn. Best friends since our Sophomore year in high school. 

I tell you what, we four are DANGEROUS. Dangerous and inseparable. I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank God for friends and sisters who also happen to be best friends. :) 

Aren't they gorgeous? 

My dazzling big sister. 

After we took pictures at the Square that night, we came home and ate and tried to do Henna tattoos. They washed right off afterwards. :) 

Chloe - my little sister - and me while we were baking cookies 

Some lovely friends from church had a birthday party for their youngest daughter who was turning 3. 

So adorable! 

School starts on the 25th. I don't know if I'll blog before then, so ta-ta for now!

M

Jamie Cullum is awesome music to write to. He's a genius.