Celebrate the Small Things - June 7th

Happy Friday! Once again I'm going to list off the things I had to celebrate this week per the fabulous VikLit's Celebrate the Small Things blog hop. If you'd like to remind yourself of all the things life has to offer, sign up for the hop below.

Today I'm celebrating a very BIG thing, and that is my son's 11th birthday! Hard to believe that much time has passed already. Before I know it he's going to be taller than me with a deep voice and a gaggle of girls knocking on our door.

Career-wise, I'm celebrating the fact that I'm halfway done with the edits of the re-write on my first novel What I've Done! I have an amazing editor with the best ideas, and together we're making this story even better than before. Stay tuned for an updated release date.

I'm also celebrating the fact that I added nearly 10,000 words to my zombie sequel this week after signing up for JuNoWriMo. I knew it would be the motivation I needed to get past a major case of writer's block as the very first time I signed up for NaNoWriMo, I finished the first draft of What I've Done.

Hopefully by this time next week I'll be celebrating the fact that summer has finally arrived, my friends and family are all healthy, and we're done planting crops for the season. Keep your fingers crossed.

It. Is. Time. To. PARTY.

Happy Friday!!! This is not just any Friday, but the last Friday or any day my kids have school for the year!

even Hank is excited

Man, it feels good! This year has been one helluva ride, and I'm so relieved it's over. I have serious plans to sit back, relax, write and read a sh*t-ton of books over the next three months (check out my 2013 summer reading challenge on the left sidebar). As part of the fabulous VikLit's Celebrate the Small Things blog hop, I'm going to quickly list the things that had me do jumping jacks (in addition to the kids being done with school thing):

1. The re-write of What I've Done is still going amazingly well, and my editor just helped me add a new scene that brought a giant, gale-force wind of fresh air to the story.

2. I found an amazing designer to give my blog a facelift, and our vision of the new look is going to blow you away. Just. Wait.

3. Someone close to me is dealing with some health issues, and I'm just going to say that I'm so grateful to have her in my life, as well as all my family, friends, and fans! Three middle-aged people in our small community tragically/suddenly died in the past week and it has, once again, opened my eyes to the importance of life and just how precious it is.

4. I chaperoned my 13-year-old's class trip to the Minnesota Zoo on Wednesday. It has been many years since I didn't have a toddler in tow while visiting there, and I have a new appreciation of how much fun it can actually be. I thought for sure the 7th grade girls would become bored, but I literally had to drag them away from petting the sharks and stingrays.

I'm sure there were other things to celebrate, but my ADD is kicking into high gear and I need to close this post up as I started it a couple of hours ago. So I hope this Friday gives you lots of reasons to celebrate, and I hope you're gearing up for an epic summer!

Celebrate the Small Things

Happy Friday and long weekend to everyone! As part of VikLit's Celebrate the Small Things blog hop, I'm going to give a quick rundown of the reasons why I'm partying like it's 1999 (okay bad reference because I was extremely pregnant with my firstborn that New Year's Eve and didn't party at all).

1. The re-write of my first novel What I've Done is going so well it has me doing several fist pumps in the air per hour. My original editor was able to help me and I think we make an awesome team. It couldn't be going any better. I'm also working on an updated trailer, so stay tuned!

2. Today I get to go to our lake home for the first time this year! I miss my friends out there so badly and cannot wait to sit by the fire and drink a beer...or two (who am I kidding, I'm bringing a whole case). Plus my favorite band is going to be playing at the local bar there, which means I will get to dust off my dance moves after a long winter...

3. My cold is going away and I've been able to continue running. I feel amazing after a good run and have to restrain myself from doing it every single day. I probably owe all my running friends an apology for telling them they're psycho in the past...

4. School is almost over for the kids and I'm slowly regaining my own life back. Hopefully this will equate to more writing time so I can kick out the sequel to my zombie novel!

5. Some of my best writing friends and I got to hang out in another Google chat session. I got to beta read an awesome story for a friend. I am writing one of my editor's books and love it. Life in the writing world is awesome. This week, anyway.

Wishing you all a fantastic (and safe) holiday weekend!

Celebrate the Small Things

Happy Friday! This blog hop set up by the fabulous Vikki over at VikLit has been a great way to remind myself how precious the little moments in life are and to reflect on what I should be thankful for rather than what I wish I had.

This has really been a humdinger of a week. We welcomed one member into the family and had to say goodbye to another. When we buried my spirited step sister-in-law who lost her battle with cancer well before her time (at the age of 48), I was reminded of how precious life is and just how many things there are to celebrate by just being alive. She was one of those who lived every second of her life to the fullest with bright smiles, kindness and laughter. I've always tried to stay positive about things, but she has inspired me to bump it up a notch. What the result of that will actually end up being, I have yet to find out, but I can feel that there are some things that will change over time.

In that spirit, there really were a lot of small things to celebrate this week, but I'm just going to list off  the top 10 highlights:

1. My step-grandson was born and he's healthy and beautiful!

2. I broke through a major case of writer's block on my second zombie book!

3. I started running and lived (also got to buy first running shoes and running gear)!

4. After rescheduling my son's school concert three times because of weather, they finally had it and sang Phillip Phillips's song Home (one of my favs)!

5. My daughter had three track meets (thankfully before the snow hit) and did awesome!

6. With a six hour car ride we were able to spend time with all of our children on Saturday!

7. We celebrated my hubby's birthday!

8. I'm officially wearing one shirt size smaller than before!

9. My hubby won a decent amount of cash playing lotto and I won $100 playing pull-tabs!

10. I was reminded of how I'm surrounded by hordes of amazing people—family, friends and fans!

Of course there were the usual things to celebrate, like I don't have to report to a 9-5 job in an office somewhere, everyone in my family is pretty healthy, we have a nice home and food on the table, and I have the world's best friends. Although I don't plan to list them each Friday, I think from now on I will be noticing the really little things. Because in the end, it's all about the little things that make your life complete.

The Small Things Blog Hop

You're certainly not going to find me as perky this Friday as I was last week for VikLit's blog hop (sign up for the hop below). Last week was simply excellent and I'm still celebrating all the things that went down.

But this week has been a bit slower, so I'm going to have to dig for things to shout about. I haven't really had much time for reading, writing or a video blog this week, which was a bummer. Okay, positive things. Let's see....yesterday I sent off for a printed copy of 'Cheating Death' and Monday I officially launched the blog hop tour for it. And earlier in the week I made a customer happy with her brand new book cover design.

Sadly, I can't brag about losing weight this time as I barely lost any. In a moment of pure weakness last weekend, I was swept up by all the fun and cheated on my diet. As a result, I got majorly ill. I chalk it up to lesson learned.

Even JT is disappointed in me

But I'm basically down to my high school weight and found out that in exactly 2.5 weeks I'll be able to finally enjoy the things I've been craving for the past month (bread, cheese, pasta, M&Ms, alcohol...I'm probably gaining weight just thinking about it).

Other mentionables:

1. I almost finished the first season of Supernatural. Can't believe how much I love the show.
2. My youngest daughter's volleyball team took home the championship in a tournament. 
3. We got to spend time with our oldest daughter and her family. 
4. I was able to drive the Mustang out of the snow-covered yard.
5. I finally got to see Zero Dark Thirty.

Okay, now that I look at all these things together, I guess it was a pretty decent week. Minus the royal "mess" up on my diet.

Hope all of you had a great week and enjoy an even better weekend!

Celebrate The Small Things Blog Hop

Happy Friday, everyone! WARNING: my post this week for VikLit's "celebrate the small things" blog hop is filled with so much awesomeness, your screen may explode.

1. My editor wasn't so fond of the ending for Cheating Death and I've gotten a lot of crap for some of my harsh endings, so I rewrote it into something tear-inducing. I was a total mess when I wrote it, but I think everyone will love it. Or at least I hope.

2. I made the book trailer for Cheating Death. And I'm so proud of my creation. It was a lot of work, but it definitely projects the feeling I was aiming for.

3. I organized and hopefully successfully launched the blog hop tour for Cheating Death. Thank you to all of those who are participating! Find more info on the blog hop here.

4. I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of being a published author, and I will have released four books in that time. Seriously, can I just maybe take a nap now?

5. I was hired by a fellow author to create her book cover. Together we chose the most stunning image and I can't wait to share it at some point! I swear to you I'm a high every time I work on it.

6. I lost another five pounds this week, which means I am up to ten pounds in just two weeks. Plus I'm that much closer to being able to eat pizza and drink beer again. On a limited basis, of course...there's no way I'm going to screw up my weight and have to do this all over again.

7. I was given the okay to start exercising again, and that means I'm back to watching Supernatural episodes! I can't believe I didn't get into this show sooner. The paranormal stories are just awesome. And I'm so in love with Dean, Sam and their crazy-hot dad. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's smile can melt my soul into a mere puddle.

8. I got my first pair of Uggs. I was tired of my feet getting cold in cheap boots from all this snow and my daughter was tired of me borrowing her Uggs all the time, so I used birthday money from my in-laws and bought my own. They are heavenly.

8. I finished John Green's Looking for Alaska. That man can write. But why does he feel the need to reduce his readers to a blubbering mess each time? Review to come on next week's video blog.

9. My husband and I painted the outdated den that's filled with a million nooks and crannies. We also put new flooring in it, therefore finishing one of the last rooms in the house that needs remodeling. We were so relieved and exhausted that we celebrated with a small glass of alcohol. And boy, did it taste delicious.

So that's about it for my awesome week. If you're a blogger and want to take the time to celebrate the small things in your life, be sure to sign up below!

Celebrate the Small Things

Once again, as part of the blog hop tour set up by the fabulous Vikki at VikLit, I'm spending this Friday celebrating the small things that happened this week.

The first thing on my list is the fact that I successfully created a synopsis to go along with my book cover release for this coming Monday! Yay! Those little buggars can really be a pain in the rear to come up with. How do you summarize 75,000 words into a little paragraph without giving too much away? I promise you, it's a lot harder than it would seem. With the help of my fabulous blogging partners, I was able to whip up one that I think will grab your attention and have you drooling for more.

Another great writing accomplishment this week was that my major re-write of Cheating Death fell together in a major way. Sometimes there are pieces of a story that need to somehow be connected. When those pieces fall together it's enough to make a person want to dance around in their underwear.

And since this blog is celebrating "small things" in general and not necessarily writing-related things, I would like to add that I scored tickets to see Alice in Chains this May. They're one of my favorite bands and I haven't seen them in 20 years! I may have had a total freak out when I told my step-daughter and son-in-law that we were going and I may have frightened them a little.

Also, my daughter once again made the 'A' honor roll! If we didn't look and act identical 99.99% of the time, I would swear in a court of law that she was switched at birth. I hated school and was lucky to get passing grades (then I went on to college, actually cared about school and made the dean's list). Regardless, I'm extremely proud of her!

February is off to a great start!