Numbers aren’t scary by nature. But sometimes, in a certain context, they can be. Today, the number 30 scares me just a little. Because today, that’s how many years I’ve been on Earth.
I mean, I suppose in a way it’s kind of thrilling. 30! Three decades of learning and growing and living. It’s easy to focus on what I haven’t done in 30 years, or just how old I will be in 30 more years, instead of focusing on what I have done in 30 years.
Graduated college.
Married my best friend.
Found a writing community.
Started the process of querying in hopes of becoming a published author (a long-time dream).
Bought houses and cars. Went on vacations. Other “grown-uppy” things that I couldn’t really do 10 years ago.
I may not be exactly where I had hoped to be in all aspects of my life, but it’s not a failure to not be on a certain timeline. The important thing is I am moving forward.
And as I move forward, I have two goals for myself that I feel encompass the things I have been learning lately about what kind of person I want to be.
I believe I have been improving in these areas over the past year or two, and I want to continue to do so. When I start to think of myself first, I want to stop and consider others. And when I consider not pursuing something I want simply because of fear, I want to move forward anyway.
I don’t want to think of life going downhill from here. I want to think of life as getting better, richer, fuller, and more meaningful. I want to continue to grow and learn and try.
This past Friday, I attended a concert that featured my two favorite bands, Swicthfoot and Needtobreathe. I cannot begin to explain the depth of my excitement when I found out that they were (1) touring together, (2) coming to Nashville, but if you imagine it was your two favorite artists coming to your town then I’m sure you can understand.
Some highlights of the show included all the guys of Switchfoot gathering around one mic to test the acoustics of the new venue the show was in to sing “Hello Hurricane,” and the opening acts + Switchfoot + Needtobreathe all on stage near the end singing Needtobreathe’s “Brother” together. Not to mention how inspired I always feel when I see Switchfoot (which has been more times than I remember), and how engulfed I felt in the moment when Needtobreathe performed “Multiplied.” I enjoyed both of the opening acts as well, Colony House and Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, but especially the former. I look forward to more of them in the future.
That low came on Sunday.
I was turning left onto a busy street that I have turned left onto a hundred times before. I thought it was all clear. It wasn’t.
I’ve been in accidents before, but not like this, where my airbags deployed, paramedics came, and my car got towed away.
My car that I love and haven’t had all that long.
But I am OK. I did get a little bruised and banged up, thanks to the airbags (I’ll just assume it would have been worse without them though and be glad my car kept me safe), but I didn’t need to go to the hospital or anything, and the other driver was fine too.
There were some witnesses to the accident that were so kind to me. One of them even went and got me one of those big bottles of SmartWater, which I will never forget and I am so thankful for, because it was hot and I drank most of it standing out there! I’m also thankful I got off with a warning citation instead of a ticket.
I had some family friends who saw the accident and came back to get my groceries home for me, while I waited for my mom and husband. That evening some friends came over with pizza and to just hang out for a while. It was a nice way to end an otherwise not great day.
It’s just amazing what all can happen in such a short period of time, from highs to lows.
When have you experienced a high and then a low in a short period of time?
Honestly, this a self-indulgent post, and it only serves as a way for you to wish me a happy birthday, ha ha. I was hoping to see the above guy and gal (Michael Dorn and Gates McFadden from Star Trek The Next Generation, for the uninitiated) today at the Nashville comic con, but sadly terrible scheduling + higher than expected price of admission (high considering I wouldn’t get to see everyone I thought I might that would thus make the price worth it) = not happening. So sad. Hopefully I’ll get to see them some other time. But I will be eating cake and receiving books, so that is the plus side, huzzah! I’ll keep you posted on my book haul! 😉
May turned out to be one amazing month for me. I applied for, interviewed for, was offered, and accepted a new job that is only ten minutes from my house. For those who may not know or recall, I was driving an hour one way before. I am now commuting less in a week than I previously did in a day (unless traffic happens, which I learned on my way home the second day that it can. Of course, traffic happened a LOT on my previous commute.)!
I also celebrated my 5/10 anniversary with my husband, that being 5 years married, 10 years together! It’s amazing to share life with my best friend.
The day after our anniversary, we left Tennessee for a seven night vacation on the beach in Destin, Florida! If you’ve never been but love a beautiful beach, I’d definitely recommend it! This is the third time we’ve been since we’ve gotten married and we love it there. We never want to leave, but alas, we have to eventually.
Because of all this glorious relaxing, I read way more than usual! I finished The 5th Wave, which I had started before the trip, started and finished The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, started and finished Shadow and Bone, and started reading The Scarlet Pimpernel, which I bought at a local bookstore in Seaside, a little over half an hour from Destin. I had heard about Seaside and asked if we could check it out one day on our trip, and of course the bookstore was a must-see.
They actually had a pretty decent YA section, which impressed me, but I didn’t see anything that I was particularly craving for at the moment, but when I spotted The Scarlet Pimpernel for $5, based on my love for the retelling Across a Star-Swept Sea, I decided to grab it!
And it came with a souvenir bookmark!
While reading I snapped a few pictures of some quotes I liked. From The 5th Wave…
“Cruelty isn’t a personality trait. Cruelty is a habit.”
From The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight…
“And in August it will be fifty-two years together.” “Wow… that’s amazing.” “I wouldn’t call it amazing… It’s easy when you find the right person.”
Coming back from vacation I felt refreshed and renewed, ready for new things, and excited about stories again after reading so many new books and revising my NaNoWriMo project one last time before I send it off to a few Beta readers… which I haven’t done yet but I will SOON.
And lastly, yesterday I found out I have been nominated for the YA Highway Web Awards, and I am EXTREMELY honored! Apparently the nominees went up on Monday but no one told me I had been nominated! I just happened to click on a link from Kelley @ Oh the Books‘ tweet when she mentioned their nomination, and was shocked to see my name under the Aspiring Author category! I don’t know how long voting lasts (probably not much longer), but if you feel so inclined, you can cast a vote for me here. Regardless of what happens, I am humbled to have been nominated… I mean, that means someone thought to vote for me to be a nominee! So whoever you are, thank you! 🙂
So how was your May? What are you looking forward to?
April is over, and I failed to meet my word goal for Camp NaNoWriMo, even though I lowered it 10,000 words from my original goal of 20,000. But it didn’t just slip past me. I simply stopped writing new material after the first week and a half and I knew what I was doing. My April was filled with a lot of things going on in my life, and I quite frankly wasn’t inspired to write any story other than my November NaNo project.
Now, I do understand that I need to write even when life is crazy and I’m not inspired, but I think you can take a break sometimes, so after about a week and a half or forcing myself to write in April, I just stopped, minus a little editing for my other project and a couple of other odds and ends added to older story ideas (I have well over a dozen story documents that have been started but are no where near fleshed out, but that’s another post for another time, I suppose). I was busy, but I had chances to make the time, and I knew it.
But over the next month or two, I believe I will have the chance to refocus. May is already shaping up to look like an interesting month, but a good one. So after my failed attempt at Camp NaNoWriMo, I do intend to reevaluate how I spend my time writing, and trying to construct a more workable schedule for me. I don’t intend to always allow the busy nature of life to delay my dreams. I need to keep writing, and keep practicing, and slowing down on this blog has been helpful. Thanks to everyone for their patience. Having friends who are rooting for me seriously helps me.
