Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Happiness Project :: Running through the sprinkler


Oh, hello.
It's been a hundred bajillion years 
since I last posted.
Sorry 'bout that.

Life has been busy.
I finally finished a revision of my novel
for a prospective agent
and nearly lost my mind in the process.

You don't wanna hear about that jibber jabber.
Instead, I'll tell you about how
we spent the weekend in the mountains.

It was relaxing and fun.
We set up a dinky sprinkler in the yard
and the kids had a blast.
 It was one of those moments
where I realized that they 
don't need a bunch of rigmarole to have a good time.

It felt all old fashioned and innocent
to see my kiddos laughing
and weaving in and out of
a lackluster spray of water.

Life is good.
Summer is in full swing.

 


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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

The Happiness Project :: Daydream headshots


So I did something kind of crazy...
I had author headshots taken.

Now I know that this might seem hasty,
seeing that I'm still on my agent search
but why not go for it?

I also created a Facebook author page
and changed my Twitter account to my pen name.
 I'm getting all of my ducks in a row, so to speak.

Because in my heart, I know this is happening.
I'm dreaming big, y'all.

Come on over and "like" my Facebook page
and follow me on Twitter!



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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

The Happiness Project :: Finally Querying for a Literary Agent


My husband and I have a tradition 
when we want to share good news.

We open a bottle of champagne in the kitchen
and wait for the other to be called in by the "pop".
When they come rushing from
wherever they are in the house,
we share the news.

So, I recently popped open a bottle
because I finally reached a point
where my manuscript was ready to query agents.

It's been a long process.
As you can see, I last celebrated
finishing the first draft
in Nov 2013.

This is a big step.
I should probably not shout it from the rooftops 
and be all professional as I wait to hear back
but I am an open book
(pun intended)
and I just had to share.

So...4 agents are currently reading the full manuscript
and I'm just waiting to pop open the next bottle
and write 
"LANDED AN AGENT"
 on it and perch it on my dirty window sill
so I can gaze upon it when I load the dishwasher.

I'll keep you posted.
This part of the journey
is crucial in my plan
to overtake the literary world.

Mwahahaha!





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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The Happiness Project :: Daffodils


It's that annual time of year 
when the Daffodils bloom in my yard.
It's always a hopeful sign that spring is on it's way.

What I love most is that no flower
in my yard is safe from my boys picking them for me.
A steady stream of blooms
are presented to me day after day.

The make shift sippy cup vase
on my dining room table
is replenished with a new offering
the moment the old one wilts.

Makes me mama heart swoon.




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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Happiness Project :: First Lost Tooth


So, my little booger lost his first tooth!
He's so proud and feels so big.
I live for these milestones.
I love being the toothfairy.

He's growing up so fast.
I love that little toothless grin, right there.
So sweet!




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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The Happiness Project :: Catching the apples


So, I got all swept up with life and forgot
to share about the night my mom and I
dropped everything and drove to Atlanta 
to meet one of the most amazing authors, Sarah Addison Allen.

During her lecture, Sarah shared that 
when she was working on her first novel 
she had a pivotal moment as she wrote a scene 
where a character came home after 10 years and 
when she got out of the car an Apple rolled in front of her. 

Sarah then had the idea that a grumpy Apple tree 
had actually thrown it at her
 and the premise of her book "Garden Spells" was born. 
Then when I met her we had this conversation.
 
Me: I'm an aspiring writer, will you write advice with your signature?
Sarah: Oh, so much pressure!
Me: (off the cuff) What about Catch the Apples?
Sarah: (clapping hands) Oh, that's so good!
Me: (with a wink) I'll give you that one.

How cool is that?




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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Happiness Project :: King of the Castle


Over the years we've kept Griffin's toys
so that Koen could play with them
once his brother outgrew them.
Add that to Koen's own collection
and we have a massive amount of 
castles, batman stuff, and pirate ships.

Koen will drag them all out
and form a village out of them.
He'll play for hours, slaying dragons,
fighting off the evil ogre, 
finding pirate treasure.

I love these simple moments.
When I can hardly walk through the living room
because his imaginative play has taken over.
When the house is messy.
I love hearing the fake explosions and wars waged.

I'm treasuring the time of innocence
 that comes with having a 5-year-old.




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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The Happiness Project :: The perfect little bookcase


My mom gave me this adorable thrifted bookcase recently
and it makes me super happy.

I'm like a dragon by nature
in that I like to pile up all my creative stuff
and sit amongst it,
like gold in a lair.

I realize I sound slightly crazy here.

It's true, though.
I'm one of those messy creative types
that loves junk all around me.
BUT the situation with my books
was getting way out of hand.

I had to wade through a big ol' stack
to get to my desk.
So, my mom found a place to hold
my resource books and inspiration books
and journals and stuff.
It fits perfectly next to my writing space
and everything is within reach.

It's been so nice to have a little orginization
and I feel much more clear headed
than I thought I would.

It's the little things, people.




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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The Happiness Project :: A New Year


So I have a hundred gazillion pictures
from our holidays that I could share with y'all
but it seems like ages ago and I'm 
all about moving forward.

So, happy new year!
Not only is this time of year for a fresh start
but I'm feeling energized and ready.

Ready to get this novel published,
(behind the scenes things are happening, I swear).
I'm ready to lose 500 pounds
and have a perfectly clean house.
I'm ready to blog twice day, every day this year.

Okay, most of that won't happen
but I like the possibility of it all.

I'll do my best to meet you here 
on Tuesdays to keep the Happiness Project going
and I miss having this space to document life with my boys
so I'll try to pop in more with photos of our adventures
and not so adventures of everyday life.

Happy 2015.
Let's make it the best one yet!




Want to join me in my quest
to scout out happiness in our lives?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.