Famous Last Words: Week 5

Geeze, February, where did you go?? I know it's a shorter month, but still. I can't believe it's almost over, and that it's almost March...isn't March when we have spring break??

I'm already almost halfway done with my novella (at least according to word count). We're scheduled to finish them before spring break, which just seems nuts to me. But I'm glad, too, to have such big project completed and out of the way before we're barely halfway done with the semester. Everything after that will seem like a piece of peanut butter cake.

And still, I'm enjoying my writing! (I guess I should, since that's my major, and later possibly my profession...) I like this story better than my novel from last semester. I feel like I connect with the character better; probably because I gave her a little sister like mine, and although she has the ability to turn into any reptile, she lives in a "modern" world on a magical country—unlike my novel, where the character was taken from this world and ended up in a completely new, magical place. That was harder for me to write, because I had to create an entirely new world. And, well. I'm not God. It was like trying to create this...

(Map of Tolkien's Middle Earth)

(Tolkien's balrog) 

Versus trying to create something more like this:

(The Hogwarts Express) 

Not to say the world of Harry Potter wasn't new in itself, but in my story, there are more elements of the real world that make it easier for me to make connections. 

I'm sure this doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I get it. 

On another note, this writing has really made me want to reread Harry Potter... something I frequently long to do, but resist in order to make time for new stories. 

Sigh. Decisions. Book struggles. My to-read list grows every day. 

I wasn't super thrilled with my story for this week (in this class). Nothing really stuck out to me in the stories I read...at least, not in the sense that I found a new story I wanted to create from them. Maybe it was just because I've been so focused on my novella because that's something I'm pretty excited about. 

Maybe this is just a lesson to write more of my milestone before I write my story for this class; then, maybe, I won't just be itching to get back to writing my novella while I'm trying to think of a simpler short story.

That gives me an idea, though...I could write my stories from the perspective of characters in my novella! That might be fun, and it would give me a way to work on my novella (not directly, but some character development or scene setting) while writing a fun story for this class! Ooh, how writing makes my brain work. Thinking doesn't do much for me, but if I start writing it down, thoughts come clearer. 

I won't bother to talk about History of Journalism or my Health Promotion Evaluation class. Because...because.

Dance class, though! I wish I had a picture of our class dancing. It's an enjoyable class, if I'm not totally swamped by the time I get there. Our instructor, Rose, is great. She knows how to make it fun but teach us at the same time. She's also super pretty and enjoyable to watch. She was totally made to be a dancer. 

Things are good.  :)  I'm excited it's Friday, and my classes and work are going well. I can't complain! I want to find a venue soon, and that's a little frustrating, but I know it will work out when it needs to. On a random note, I've got the super-munchies. I want to eat everything. And no, I'm not high, and I also shouldn't be PMSing, so I don't know what it is. (I'm sure you wanted to know that.) 

Here is where I would insert a funny "eat everything!" meme if I could find one labeled for reuse, or knew how to create my own.

Famous Last Words: Week 3

Things are picking up! (As if they were slow before...)

The crazy month of January may be over, but February doesn't seem like it will be any slower. This week, I have a test, a quiz, a video day in dance, and I'll start actually writing my novella (5,000 words a week—for one class—here I come!). That's not to mention all the reading and writing from this class.

I am proud of what I accomplished this past week, though. I got my outline ready, kept up with my homework, made a lot of progress at work with our leads, (I feel like I'm finally getting into a groove there), and I cleaned my house. I also somehow managed to spend time with Josh over the weekend, which is always nice, and something I didn't think I would have time for these past few days.

I'm actually pretty excited about my storybook. I didn't think I would be, since it seemed like a big project I would have to squeeze into my schedule, but when I view it as writing four interesting stories (without the stricter guidelines of my PW class), it sounds fun. I love stories; I always have, and this is just an opportunity to explore that passion. I'm interested in learning about the historical mysteries, too, especially the Scottish Lighthouse. My dad's side of the family is from that area originally, and I've always wanted to visit Scotland or Ireland. Maybe I could tie the story into my lineage...

I'm also pretty proud of how I've handled moving out/in. This semester is the first time I've lived "on my own" since freshman year in the dorms. I lived with my parents the other semesters to save money, and I didn't have to worry about buying groceries or things like toilet paper. But it's the start of my fourth week as an "independent" (after my parents and grandparents helped a lot with the initial move-in expenses), and I think I've done a good job of budgeting for groceries, cooking, and taking care of things in general. I've always been independent, though. Even when I lived with my parents, I did all the cleaning, and cooked quite a bit for myself anyway. So that part isn't new to me.

(My first batch of homemade popcorn at my house! I eat a lot of popcorn, always stove-made, so this was a pretty monumental moment.) 

Anyway, it's been fun living with my best friend again, and living with two other college students (who are gone or studying a lot) has actually helped me be more productive. At home, I talked to my parents, spent time with my little sister, we would eat together, someone would need help with something... all good things, but not super conducive to studying. At my house, Kessa and I spend a lot of time in our own rooms, getting things done. With my parents, that made me feel like I was missing out, but now, since that's what we're all doing, it's a lot easier.

And with that, here's to another week of hard-core study/work sessions at home or the library! :p

Famous Last Words: Week 2

The other day, I woke up and started thinking about the past few weeks of my life. My first thought was, "Dang, January has been a long month!"

It hasn't been bad, by any means, but so much has happened since the New Year began, I feel like I've lived a whole life in just four weeks! The month feels like it's stretched on forever. For instance, this is what I keep thinking...

It was December 31st when Josh took his DAT and told me his score, which was kind of a big deal. A major life step, even if it didn't go as well as he wanted.

And then, it was January when we left for Disney World—January 1st! We left to stay at my uncle's house in Midlothian, Texas, and our journey still hadn't officially begun. Since then, we've had an amazing (and long), much-anticipated road-trip as a couple, rocked Disney World (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, even a bit of Disney Springs), gotten engaged (AH!), made the long trip home, visited my aunt in Arkansas, celebrated our engagement with my family, spent a week returning to "regular life" with new responsibilities at work, spent the rest of the time that week mentally preparing for the fact that I was moving out of my parents' house (and my little sister's, *sniff*), moved out, cleaned my new place, decorated my new place, started wedding planning, nailed down a cake, gelato, and coffee-bar caterer, started a new semester (Two weeks? We've only been in school for two weeks?), and decided I'm going to graduate in December. Of 2016, of course. It's all coming full-circle.

 

(My Brain this month)

Man, if that wasn't a run-on sentence if you've ever seen one... but that's what January feels like! One long, if not totally exciting, run-on sentence. But tomorrow is February. So if you've got another major event to throw at me, Life... better do it now, while it's still your month.

Famous Last Words: Week 2

I know it's not quite the end of the week yet, but I want to write this anyway. It sort of feels like the days have flown by, with MLK day off, it being the first days of classes (usually less work), and only having one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I like all of my classes so far, and it feels like they're all going to be pretty manageable. That is, if I can summon an idea for my novella. Once I have that, I'll feel a lot better about the rest of the semester. We'll have four weeks to write 20,000 words (5,000 a week), and then the rest of capstone should be like coasting downhill after killing yourself to pedal to the top. I just need to find a place to put my feet.

Yesterday, I went to my adviser and asked if I could graduate early (this December). Four years for me would end in May of 2017, but our wedding is in June, and I want time to find a full-time job and plan the wedding without school getting in the way.

So, after waiting through three other advising sessions, I walked into Monica's office, and the first thing she said was, "Let me see your ring!" It's nice to know that our advisers are interested in us on a personal level, too.

Anyway, because I'm ahead (hurray for concurrent enrollment in high school and an AP test!) and my last two semesters were going to be light anyway, I can do it! I can graduate in December. I'll have to take three summer classes and a full fifteen in the fall (surprisingly, I've actually never done that), but since they'll all be electives, it shouldn't be too difficult. I haven't officially told my parents yet... I guess part of me wants to get through the summer classes first. Last summer, I enrolled in one that was pretty difficult and ended up dropping it. I'll just need to choose wisely and remember why I'm taking the classes in the first place.

Here's to being done paying tuition before next year!

(My hopes)

And then I'll get to pay for fun things, like insurance and phone bills. Yay!

Famous Last Words: Week 1

I'm glad (and a little proud of myself, but not very, since I feel it was necessary) that I decided to get ahead in this class before the semester officially started. My goal was to be an entire week ahead (finish Tuesday's assignment on Tuesday before school, weekend stuff before MLK Day, etc.), and I fell just short of that. I finished the weekend assignments today (Tuesday), but since we had no assignments for Monday, I think I should be able to "meet" my goal be the time the day is over.

One of the reasons I decided to get ahead is that I'm a little worried about this semester. (Although, thinking back, I think I get stressed before every semester starts. It takes me a while to "get in the groove," figure out my schedule, and realize that I can do the workload.) I still don't have an idea for my capstone (where we'll be writing a 20,000 word novella), and wedding plans are forcing themselves into my schedule, no matter how many times I tell them that the wedding is more than a year away.

(*wedding ring* Weddings are expensive. Meme courtesy of Post Memes)

I feel like I need to get ahead of the game to stay on top of the game, so that's my plan. I'm enjoying the assignments so far, since most of them involve writing our opinions. I also love writing stories, as long as I have an idea, and the assignments for this class look like they're going to spark many ideas. I'm happy with the short story I wrote, If the Boot Fits. It was a helpful way to get back into the storytelling groove, which is something I really need to do for my capstone. We haven't done much reading for this class yet, but I'm looking forward to investigating the "untold" stories of Mary that Laura recommended to me.