One Lovely Blog Award - Part II

Once again, I am the recipient of the One Lovely Blog award.

First of all, Thank You Tricia Drammeh for nominating me!  Tricia is a fellow Missouri writer and author of The Claiming Words.  You can find out more about her here:

http://www.blog.triciadrammeh.com/

Now for the terms of this illustrious award:

Here are the rules for the One Lovely Blog Award:

• Include the blog award logo in your post.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Provide 7 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 7 other bloggers and let them know you have done so.

Seven Random Facts About Me

1.  I love the Christmas Holiday Season.  For us, it starts on November 1 and we try to make it last until January 6th (the Twelfth Day of Christmas).

2.  I have written two novels.  Both are in the editing stages and should be ready for publication next year.

3.  I use Pinterest as a To Do List rather than a dream board.  What I mean by that is I truly intend to follow through with most everything I pin.  If you look at my Pin Board "Pins I've Tried" you'll see some of the recipes and projects I've already completed.   (Now with that being said, once we build our dream house or decorate a home we purchase, I'll probably delete the boards I've created for each room in the house and post pictures of our final results).

4.  We have two cats that keep us entertained.  Bandit is my writing buddy.  Right now he's hanging out on the desk while I prepare this post.

5.  I collect penguins.  They are my favorite animal in the animal kingdom.

6.  My favorite color is blue, most all shades.

7.   I am an elder in my church and will be starting my service on our Session in January.

So now...the nominees are:

Gigi LaStrange

Elaine Calloway

Chris Gattis

Nicholas Taylor

Arthur Crandon

Alice Audley

Lee Allen Howard

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Life Worth Living

Solitude is for me a fount of healing which makes my life worth living ~ C.G. Jung

I think most of us are winding down our holiday celebrations.  A few might have some New Year's plans, but not this author.  The older I get, the more I hate being out on New Year's Eve.  We even almost had some plans this year, but hopefully the forecast snow will keep us in.

No matter what your holiday schedule, I hope you were able to find some alone time as well.  If you're pursuing a dream goal, I hope you were able to achieve your goals for the month.  If you're working in sales or any other business, I hope your December was as successful as you wished.

And I hope you had some alone time so you could think about next year's goals.  It's during times of solitude that I am able to reflect on my success in the past and develop a set of goals for the next year.  Even though my partner and I have been on this vacation from work together, I still make sure I get some alone time each day to ponder my goals for 2013.

Do you make sure you get alone time each day?

Making My Pinterest Dreams Come True

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce

So I've definitely been spoiled by Santa this year.  I saw a picture on Pinterest some time back with decorative shelves used above the toilet for additional storage.  In my small town home, we don't have a linen closet to store towels.  When we moved in nearly three years ago, we purchased a wire rack that fit over the toilet.  It was flimsy and, well, um..., ugly.

But thanks to Santa, we had the cash to purchase the shelves today and my partner, Thomas, installed them.  They look fabulous!  For pictures, look at my Pins I've Tried board on Pinterest.  I've also posted them of Facebook.

The reason I'm sharing my DIY project with you is because it's a "mini dream" that I made come true this year.  I saw that Pinterest pin some time ago and knew that was the solution we needed in our own home.  Just like with my writing.  I knew I wanted to write a novel one day and I sat down and did it.  It took me four years, but I did it. 

I hope your 2012 is as successful as you wanted it to me.  I surprised my self and went above and beyond my 2012 goals.  Now it's time to relax and start thinking about my goals for 2013.  I had a great 2012 and want to keep that momentum going in 2013.

What mini-dream have you accomplished lately?

The Best Moment

This moment is always the best one in which to express your care for others ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach


I am typing today's blog post on my iPad using my new bluetooth keyboard! I hope you're enjoying your day, no matter if and how you celebrate this day. Now that the holidays are winding down, it's time to start thinking about goals for the next year for me. I'll be sharing those goals with everyone in the next few days.

How are you spending the holiday?

Taking a Break Part 2

I still wanted to share this quote with you today, even though our family traditions are starting in full swing:

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say ~ Anais Nin

Taking a Break

I'm taking a bit of break from blogging this weekend, but I wanted to share this quote with you:

A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects ~ Herman Melville

Whatever Light You Can Hold

But we can't live in the light all of the time.  You have to take whatever light you can hold into the dark with you ~ Libba Bray

It's when I've gotten most frustrated that I've looked back at my dream board to get me through those times.  My dream board is the little bit of light that gets me through the dark.  Now most of that is on Pinterest!

I hope you're enjoying the holiday season.  For the first time in years, I've been able to take a "guilt free" break from writing.  I will be off my J-O-B next week through New Year's, so I'll get back to editing then.

What is your little bit of light that gets you through the dark?

Alone Time

Alone time is when I distance myself from the voices of the world so I can hear my own ~ Oprah Winfrey

Even if your dream journey is building a sales organization or a team of people, you still need your alone time to plan, regroup, and energize yourself to be the best leader you can be. 

I appreciate the alone time I have every morning.  I get up, play on the Internet, work out, and then work on my writing or editing task for the day.  That is my alone time.  After that it is fair game for whomever needs my attention (until it's time to go to work, of course).  The morning is the time of day when I am most alert and most productive in getting these task completed.

When do you get your alone time? 

Every Alphabet of Your Work

Watch your life as if it were a film.  Absorb everything. What you see, hear, and feel will stamp every alphabet of your work ~ Nikky Finney

Little Changes and Choices

Little changes [and] little choices add up to be revolutionary changes in your life ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

I made one little choice/change this year, and boy has it made a difference in my life I changed my schedule from a traditional 8-5 to 1 pm to 9 pm.  It has made a difference.

I get up by 7 AM most days of the week, I work out six days per week, and write after I'm done working out.  I relax and watch TV until it's time to get ready for work.  I work from 1 - 9 and then come home, watch one program that I DVR'd earlier then I'm usually in bed by 11.

I've finished my first novel and completed a second novel this year.  I can't believe it myself!  I am happier than I have been in a long time and part of it is due to my schedule.  And I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of taking such a schedule at first.

I'm still amazed that such a small change has created such a huge impact on my life. 

What's a small change you made recently that had a big impact on your dream journey?

Reap the Harvest

At night I read and write, and things I have never understood become clear; I reap the harvest of the rest of the year's planting ~ Annie Dillard

A Loving Silence

Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention [...] A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words ~ Rachel Naomi Remen

I'll never forget when I was first nomination for the Lovely Blog award.  I nominated another "old" Facebook/Twitter friend and then I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she was reading my blog everyday.  She wasn't an official follower but subscribed to it through her Google Reader (I think). 

Anyway, I was enamored by the fact that she included me in her daily reading and that's when I realized that even on my darkest days there are quite a few people out there silently rooting for me.  And that makes me feel good.

If you have a presence on social media and you're regularly sharing your dream journey adventures, I bet you have the same cheering section out there, even if you don't always know it.

Have you ever had an aha moment when you realized there were some silent cheerleaders out there cheering you on?

Your Joy, Your Happiness, Your Dreams

Right in the difficult we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams:  there against the depths of this background, they stand out, there for the first time we see how beautiful they are ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

As crazy as it seems, it's been during some of the most difficult times of writing and publication process that I've seen the fruits of my labor and my dream even more clearly.

When I was challenged by my writing routines or challenged by what I was actually writing about, it was during those times I resolved to figure things out and get moving on my novel again.

Now during the editing and submission process, I also feel that surge of energy and tenacity to get it published.  An ex-boss once told me that we learn the most in some of our most dire circumstances. 

I use the energy I find in those dire circumstances to figure things out and move forward.  And usually, I don't just move forward, but I leap forward towards my dream. 

What have you learned along your dream journey when things seem bleak?

In a Room by Yourself

Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself ~ Arthur M., Schlesinger, Jr

Although there's a time for solitude and getting work done, I'm excited that the holidays are here.  We've been decorated since the end of October and had most of shopping done since the middle of October.  Tonight is our Christmas party with our friends and local family.

I hope your December is a productive as you want it and need it to be. I have been taking it easy, but I will be at it after Christmas since I will be off my regular job completely. 

Happy Holidays!

Life is Revealed

It is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed ~Vida D. Scudder

Remember creativity can be found in the most everyday tasks.  If you are growing your business, you are creating.  If you are going to school, you are creating.  And of course there are the creative businesses:  writing, film making, graphic arts, etc.

I have found that the happiest moments in my life have been when I've been actively working on a dream goal.  My life has revealed itself to me through these creative pursuits to better myself.

And the last year has been an extremely happy one as well.  After completing the first draft of my first novel, I kept on going and wrote a second novel.  Now I'm in the editing process for both and looking into self-publishing options for them for next year.

What has your dream journey revealed to you lately?

Live Passionately, Love Passionately

Those who live passionately teach us how to love.  Those who love passionately teach us how to live ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Do you have mentor in your dream journey?  Do you have someone you look up to?  Do you have someone to bounce ideas off of?

I've made a lot of great friends through Twitter and Facebook and follow many authors at my same level.  But I've also made some great friends with published authors who have given me some great advice. 

If you don't already have a mentor, this might be a great month to reach out and find a mentor.  That way, when the new year starts and you're ready to go with new goals, you'll have your mentor in place to help you out.

Do you have a mentor for your dream journey?

Driving a Car at Night

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night.  You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way ~ E. L. Doctorow

If you've been following me for a while, you know I would substitute "writing a novel" for "following a dream."  It is just like driving a car at night, the whole trip is made by only seeing as far in front of you as the headlights, but you make it there eventually.

Believe me, I have run into the realities of the current publishing world and it's stalled me a bit.  But I'm not stopped.  Just stalled.  In the meantime, I'm working on editing for my second novel until I can move forward with my first novel.  It probably means I'll publish two novels next year through Amazon!  Woo Hoo!

I have dreamed of the time between November and December being a vacationy type time for me for quite some time.  This is the first year since I started writing my novel, that I feel like I can relax and not stress about the editing of the second novel.  In years past, I always had those feelings of guilt because I hadn't participated in NaNoWriMo and then wasn't working on it all.  But not this year.  With a well thought out plan for for next, I am easily taking some time and enjoying the season.

Are you enjoying the Holidays this year like you imagined?

Love is Universal

If love is universal, no one can be left out ~ Deepak Chopra

Once again, I have nothing to add to today's quote.  I hope you are enjoying the weekend and getting ahead in your dream journey, whatever that might mean for you.