Podcast

I have listened to my first podcast today... and then I listened to several more. It was one from the website Writing Excuses presented by Brandon Sanderson (how I found it through), Dan Wells, Howard Tayler and Mary Robinette Kowal. Since I am an aspiring author, it was very interesting. So interesting I went back to their season one and began listening from the beginning. They are right now on season ten.

NO SNS FOR 30 DAYS

I completed two days ago number 20 on my list.

I did not eat food from my work for 31 days. :) But that was because I miscounted in my head. Good thing I was keeping physical track on a calendar. I'm not so sure that I lost weight, but I know I lost inches. And I definitely have more energy. I'm still bad about cooking regularly at home. I find that I like to cook part of something late at night and then the other part of the meal early in the morning as I'm running out the door. That happened alot when I got sick of peanut butter sandwiches. I also noticed that I was way more hungry during the day. But still not very hungry at night. I guess I like having a big lunch and a little dinner, something that developed while on my mission in Guatemala since all of our evening appointments liked to feed us something.

It is nice to finish a goal. :)

Update

Glancing through some of my goals, some have laughingly not even started up. Others are already a work in progress. And still others no longer hold my interest. But hey, that's life, right?

Also, while finally going through my books looking for the unread ones, I've realized that most of the books that I thought were mine, are really my husbands. Hooray! More time to read my favorites!

I am currently enjoying some much needed alone time while my husband is out traveling west, which means that I will have lots of fun getting the house cleaned up this weekend.

I've been writing more, which makes me happy. It might also help that I've promised myself ice cream the next day after I write. 

101 Goals in 1001 Days

I love lists. I love to-do lists. And I like doing things. So this is going to be a fun challenge.

1. Run a marathon
2. Finish five short stories
3. Finish two novels  I have one finished
4. Go to Chicago with Dustin
5. Visit Anne (with Tina if possible)
6. Road trip with Hilary
7. Write every Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Grandparent at least one
8. Do an Archie Dunakey video
9. Do a Louis Kuntz video
10. Perform myself 100 ordinances for family names
11. Learn & memorize five songs on the piano
12. Go to Comic Con with Dustin
13. Write a living will and a deceased will
14. Work somewhere that doesn't serve food
15. Write Matthew a letter a month on average
16. Read Jesus the Christ and The Miracle of Forgiveness
17. Read 200 books (does not include manga) I have 43 so far
18. Write once a week on my blog (about whatever)
19. Start and Maintain a local politics blog
20. Do not eat food from my work for 30 days
21. Visit two new temples (with or without Dustin)
22. Learn Japanese
23. Pay off Credit Card Debt
24. Try out for a musical or play
25. Volunteer for WorldCon in KC
26. Dress up at a convention (for at least one day)
27. Pay off 1/4 of my 50,000 school debt
28. Cook a three course meal for me and five other people
29. Complete 4 cross stitch projects
30. Take a community dance class
31. Take a community art class
32. Learn German
33. Complete a NANOWRIMO
34. Spend 30 minutes writing for 30 days
35. Memorize 15 inspiring/encouraging scriptures
36. Digitize all my family photos at parents house
37. Read all the unread books on my shelf
38. Print and frame temple photos
39. Go to a general conference in Utah
40. Create and finish a Stumblingbear Cookbook (and share it with others)
41. Buy a DSLR camera (needs to record and take pictures)
42. Read every book club book before the meeting for a year
43. Finish listening to all my music on my iTunes
44. Talk to my mother-in-law once a month
45. Get a pedicure and a manicure (not necessarily on the same day)
46. Get dressed for 30 days (no pj's after work)
47. Wear makeup for seven days straight
48. Leave a comment on each blog I follow
49. Finish an EDX course within the allotted time
50. Spend one day a week away from technology (ie, computer, video games, tv, phone)
51. Play a video game from start to finish in one month
52. Do hair and makeup for one Sunday a month
53. Write in my journal everyday for a month
54. Brush my teeth twice every day for a month
55. Floss everyday for a month (after I complete the brushing)
56. Listen to a podcast
57. Make a risotto
58. Have a bonfire on a beach
59. Save $100 a month for the whole challenge
60. Go to Disney World
61. Spend an afternoon at a botanical garden (it was a morning though :)
62. Be a production assistant once
63. Write three screenplays from favorite books
64. Write one original screenplay
65. Direct/produce/plan a short film
66. Complete all items on a daily "Want to get accomplished" list (has to be a monday thru friday day)
67. See a rocket launch live
68. Get new glasses
69. Reconnect with all my facebook friends
70. Go stargazing during each season (4 times a year)
71. Take a defensive driving class
72. Let Dustin pick out an outfit for me to buy
73. Watch the top 100 movies on IMDB.com This one I am nixing because I just don't want to watch all those R movies. They don't make me feel good.
74. Read one of the Marvel comic series
75. Take an archery class
76. Learn to swordfight
77. Take a martial arts class
78. Learn blacksmithing
79. Learn glassblowing
80. Get my pilot's license
81. Learn trigonometry
82. Learn calculus
83. Buy myself flowers five times
84. Finish all DVDs in Netflix queue in a year
85. Eat at every restaurant in Lawrence, Kansas
86. Go to a film festival
87. Complete a large jigsaw puzzle alone
88. Spend romantic time with Dustin (at least once a month)
89. Buy a new car
90. Do a 365 photo a day challenge
91. Go to an opera
92. Go to a symphony
93. Go down to a size 10
94. See a movie at a drive-in
95. Read all Sunday lessons before church for six months
96. Hike around Clinton Lake
97. Get all employees certified and trained properly
98. Once a month, only cook food with ingredients that are in season
99. Couple trip with Dustin
100. Go out with the sister missionaries twice a month
101. Sing in church

Since today is the 12 January 2015, so my end date is 9 October 2017.

Sunday Update a Day Late

I like writing these posts occasionally. I think it's a good way to shout out what I've been up to. And reading other peoples blogs got me interested in starting a weekly update blog. Hopefully done every Sunday, since Sunday are the days I won't be writing on other projects.

So....


What have I done this past week: I have spent a lot of time this week working on family history and preparing a batch of names to take to the temple. Especially I am trying to get names ready to be baptized so Little Cub can experience working in the temple, since it is such an awesome feeling!!! I love the temples so much and I want to infect everyone with that same love.


Writing Goal Progress: I worked on plotting out my camp nano story. I also listed out all the stories I have somewhat in any form of process/progress and wrote down what I think the next step would be to move them forward. I'm also working on a screenplay of Alanna: The First Adventure.


What I am Reading right now: I am reading The Mask of Command by John Keegan. I'm almost done with his section about Alexander. I am also reading Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce in two places. One is for my own amusement and one is for the screenplay version I am doing.


What I am Watching right now: For girls night we are still watching EUREKA!  Personally, I have been watching "The Fades" which is a British show that only had six episodes. Interesting so far. I began "Lost in Austen" but it didn't really keep my attention, though the characters were very fun and zany. 

Life As a New Mom

Okay, no I didn't have a baby. But my husband's baby is now living with us. He's a strapping young man of 13 and I'm suddenly thrown into the situation of balancing the responsibility of being a mother and still building the relationship I've already started with him. He's visited many times before, but never longer than a month during summer vacation. And we all know that summer vacation is for playing and relaxing and being lazy. So, it isn't like I had to do more than tell him to go to bed when I came home from work at 3 in the morning. But I do have one great thing on my side. The kid likes me as a person. So, no, I won't be the evil stepmother, though I still have visions of us fighting with him telling me that I'm not his mother, to which I already know that I will reply with, yay, but you still have to follow the rules of this house. Or some such scenario. But we're still in the breaking in phase, and he's still on his best behavior since he has only been here a week and a half so far.

Happy Mother's Day to me?

Books and Dating

My question for the night is: What is your most humorous date story?

It wasn't funny at the time. But it sure is now. At least to me.

My friend wanted to date my roommate, but they lived an hour apart from each other. She was reluctant to drive to meet him for a date by herself, because it was in an unfamiliar city and she didn't know my friend very well. So he turned to me and pleaded me to make it a double date. He would find a guy for me. I at first declined the blind date because I wasn't interested in being set up. But my roommate, who had been clued into the plan, pleaded with me.

We were told to dress up. Then my friend told me that he was going to be taking my roommate by themselves for a little bit and my date and I were going to set up a special dinner on an overlook of the river. Okay, fine. The dinner would be all four of us. So, we were told to dress up.

On the day of, as we were driving to the city, he calls my roommate to say that I don't have to dress up. I give her a glower which she decided not to mention. Since we were spending the night at my parents house, which was in the city too, I had some very casual wear. So I ended up in basketball shorts with a nicer top. Not exactly flattering.

When we get there, his friend is barely civil. When my friend and roommate go off we start setting things up. He barely talks to me. Not even the type of talk which you engage when you are being polite or in a common situation because it was very obvious that we had been roped into this by the same person in the same manner. My roommate however was having a magical time on her date.

Which ended at the river overlook where we had everything set up. They sit down with us, we all start eating, I ask questions about what they saw and what my roommate thought about it, mostly so my friend would get immediate feedback. Then his friend starts flirting with my roommate. It wasn't subtle. At this point I'm just pissed at him, so I put on a smile and pretend he doesn't exist. My roommate, who knows me very well, recognized what that smile meant. My friend, who knew me less well, was oblivious.

So, now I get to say that I've been on a blind date who ended up trying to flirt with my friend. Which is a funny story.


On the reading front I just finished two amazing books:

Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz

Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara