November 5 2018

Repeat (Five Minute Friday)

If there is only one thing on my mind these days that I think of when I see the word repeat, it is winning my sixth NaNoWriMo. If you’ve followed my posts for very long you’ve heard it a time or two, or twenty. I wouldn’t even be here writing this post if not for finding this wonderful and difficult challenge. Every year in November, since 2013, all of my free time has been focused on writing.

Finally this year Hubby gets it. He made plans to take an intense training class this weekend and he knew it would be fine because it was November and of course I would be busy writing. Winning the first year gave me the confidence to believe I really was a writer. It also gave me the knowledge in each of the years that followed to tell myself that I’ve done it before and I can certainly do it again.

Every time I find something in my life that seems too hard and I think it can’t be done, I tell myself you’ll never know if you don’t at least try and if you can win NaNoWriMo, you can do ANYTHING!

If you can win NaNoWriMo, you can do ANYTHING! Click To Tweet

Every year has been a little different. Some years I get off to a really late or slow start, some years I lose confidence in my story mid-month and have trouble picking up the pace again, some years I get sick and struggle with keeping up and recovering at the same time. I hate it when I hear other writers give up before the month is half over with excuses that they don’t have time, but I have worked full time every year and still squeezed in the time to write at least 50,000 words. You have to want to win enough to give up watching tv, NetFlix, social media, hanging out with friends and family, cleaning the house, cooking fancy meals or whatever it is that takes up your time the rest of the year. If you want to write a novel, you will make time. I didn’t say it would be easy, far from it. Some days, the words just flow and other days you have to really dig deep to find them and struggle to pull them out and get them written at all.

But, my friends, you will never know if you don’t try. If you try and fail at least you tried. If you don’t bother trying at all, you have already failed, now haven’t you. Write on!

Some days, the words just flow and other days you have to really dig deep to find them and struggle to pull them out and get them written at all. This is the life of a writer. Click To Tweet

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Repeat
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday, NaNoWriMo, Writing | Comments Off on Repeat (Five Minute Friday)
November 1 2018

London in a Week

At the end of September, hubby and I went on our second trip to London. We were with a group of 22 people, I was the youngest in the group. We went for the first time in September 2015 with a group of 29 people. That trip was fun and we knew when we got back that they planned to go again in about 3 years. I wish I could say we spent those years saving up to go back, but we, for any number of reasons, never quite got around to it. Once it became certain that the group was planning to make the trip again, we hustled to do whatever we could to make sure we could go with them.

Traveling to another country is not something we do usually. There is so much of our own country yet to be explored. But when an opportunity to go with a big group presents itself and someone else is planning all the things for you, I recommend you jump at the chance and go with them. When we travel, I am usually the one that has to book the hotel rooms, reserve the rental car, and all those pesky little details. It is a treat to have someone else buy all the tickets to all the things and all you have to do it pay the money and show up at the airport ready to fly away.

Note: This post is graphically intense, but a picture’s worth a thousand words, right?

Here is the list of where we went and the photos I took while there. They are in chronological order so it is almost like you were there seeing it all with me, I hope.

Friday:
Flew from Indy (IND) to Newark (EWR) to Heathrow (LHR)

Saturday: On our own until dinner.
Travel from Airport to Hotel via Motor Coach/Tour Bus


Check into Copthorne Tara Hotel
Tube ride from South Kensington to High Street Kensington where several museums can be found.


Science Museum of London (yes, of all the museums, we chose science) Continue reading

Category: Travel | Comments Off on London in a Week
October 27 2018

Moment (Five Minute Friday)

This week, the FiveMinuteFriday word prompt is moment. Let’s take a moment out of our busy lives to listen to these two songs below with moment in their titles and really consider the messages they share. Please also consider stopping by my 31 Days of 5 Minute Free Writes Challenge post which should be completed after I post this. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your musical moment by listening to the songs below.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Moment
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | 1 Comment on Moment (Five Minute Friday)
October 25 2018

Review: Amazing Grace DVD

Tonight, hubby and I watched the DVD Amazing Grace together. As I am culturally deprived, I only recently became aware of this movie. It, at once, sounded like something I had to see. I also knew it would be a movie hubby would also enjoy seeing. It was a wonderful movie depicting a part of world history I was never taught in school or at least not in a way that made it stick. The only complaint hubby and I had was the serious lack of accents in the film. We also wished that we had seen the DVD before our recent trip to London, specifically to Westminster Abbey where William Wilberforce is buried next to his friend William Pitt (played by Benedict Cumberbatch).

Until watching this movie, I had never heard of William Wilberforce, but after watching this story of his twenty-plus year battle to end the British slave trade, I can’t help but admire his dedication to both God and his cause. This movie ranks very high in my opinion and might well place near the top of a list of my all-time favorite movies were I to write one, where the number one spot would be held by another historical favorite, 1776.

Note: I was so moved after watching this movie that I wanted to review it for you here. This post was written and scheduled to post within the hour of finishing the movie. If you get the chance to watch Amazing Grace or 1776, I highly recommend both as a pleasant way to pass an evening. On the off chance that you happen to watch them in the presence of children, some history might accidentally be imparted in the process.

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. 
Please see this site's Policy & Disclosure Page for more info.

Amazing Grace

1776 Director’s Cut

Please note that some or all of the links above are 
affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, 
I might earn a commission if you decide to make a 
purchase after clicking through the link.
Category: Review | Comments Off on Review: Amazing Grace DVD
October 18 2018

Who (Five Minute Friday)

Kate says “who” this week. So timer set and here goes.

Who do you think you are to write and put it out there for the world to see? What makes you think anyone wants to read what you have to say? Sure the teachers told you that your writing was decent when they wrote the high marks on your essays in school. Then there are those older relatives, many of whom are no longer of this earth, that wrote in their Christmas cards how much they looked forward to your annual holiday newsletter because they liked getting to hear about the things we were doing throughout the year and that the photos were nice too. But that doesn’t mean the whole internet-viewing world needs to see what you write does it?

Well, why not? I have a lot of life experience to share, fifty-two years of experience and still gaining more every day. Why shouldn’t I write about the things I have seen and learned in my lifetime if I could help some younger person avoid the mistakes I’ve made? Maybe I DO have something worthwhile to say and share. Just because I put it out there doesn’t mean they have to read it, right?

Stop. That is where five minutes and my fast two-finger typing will get me. Until next time…

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Who
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Blogging, Confidence, Five Minute Friday, Writing | 2 Comments on Who (Five Minute Friday)