Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Hey there, readers!
   Look who's back and posting early. :D Well, I've been tagged with another blog award, which is so exciting, ohmygosh!! The wonderful Emmarayn Redding tagged me in this one, and you can check out her 
blog here.
 I think it's so much fun to answer questions and tag people and all of that jazz. So, that's what I'm going to be doing today!
   Let's get started, shall we? 


   1.  If you were tossed into a fictional world, which genre would you want it to be?  (In other words, which would you have the best chance at surviving?)
   
   Well, I would want to be tossed into a fantasy genre, but I can almost guarantee that I would die very, very quickly. 
   Yeah.
   So I'd probably say something a little calmer survival wise. Like, drama, maybe? I don't know, I can just see myself being that one character that dies no matter what genre I'm thrown in... 
   Heck, let's just go with fantasy! Maybe I'll be lucky and I'll have some kind of hidden talent with the sword. :)

2.  If you could take three people with you to that world, who would you take?

   This isn't so hard. :P I would take my friend Mikaylea, 'cause I think she would kill me if I didn't take her with me, and also because I can see her being pretty handy. I'd also take my dad. With him, my chances of survival would escalate drastically. And I'd probably also take my friend Emily as well, because she would also be upset with me if I didn't take her. 

3.  If a stranger broke into your house, but didn't see you immediately, what would you do?  (Assuming you didn't have a phone within arm's reach.)

   Aha!!! All those hours I've spent thinking about this haven't been a total waste!!! 
  I'd slink as quietly as I could toward a phone or a weapon, whichever was closer, but in the end I would be sure to get one of each. Depending on if they saw me or not, I would either hide or fight the little low-life out of my house. :P Of course, if said person wasn't a low-life, like if they were just trying to feed their family or something, I'd help the poor guy out. After explaining that just asking for help is always better than breaking into someone's house. 
    But I've just gone down a long and winding rabbit trail on this question. Oops. :P

4.  What would be the ideal way to meet your future husband, in your opinion?

   Oh yay, I've thought about this one before too! :P
   There are multiple options. 
   Church is always a good one. But I also like the idea of meeting him in a library as we're both reading books we each love, or asking him to get a book of the shelf for me that's too high for me to reach, or something just utterly ridiculous and cute. :)
   Also, meeting him in a little cafĂ© would be nice. Maybe we're both writing or reading or looking at nerdy things on our favorite social media sites. Yeah, you get the picture. 

5.  If there's one character from a book/movie you would never want to find sitting in your living room, who would it be?  (Leaving out the ones that are too big or abstract to sit in your living room- i.e. Sauron...)

There are many. So very many. 
   I'm going to give you a few because I can't decide on one. :P I would never, ever want to find Excellinor from the HTTYD books. I mean, like, ever. Just think of coming into your house when all of the lights are still off and you can just hear her breathing and her nails clacking against the table and your heart starts racing 'cause you know it's her.
   Yeah! Thank you Cressida Cowell for scarring me for life. 
   I would also never want to find people like Moriarty in my living room *Shudders*. Ugh, no. Also not the Beast from Over the Garden Wall, because DANG he is scary!!!! And I am quickly learning that I would definitely not like to find Bill Cipher in my living room either. *Shudders again and wraps blanket around shoulders* 
   Now that I've scared myself....


6.  If there is one character from a book/movie you would want to find sitting in your living room, who would it be?

SO MANY HARD QUESTIONS!!! WHY MUST I DECIDE ON JUST ONE?!?!?
   There are so many I could choose!!!!!!! Gaaaahhhhhh, I hate picking favorites like this. I love all of my sweet wittle favorite characters! 
    Okay, okay. I would love to see a lot of characters. Like Sam Wise, or Bilbo, or Hiro, or Dipper or Mabel, and many, many more. But I'm going to have to settle on Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third from the HTTYD books. Again, I don't like picking favorites fictional characters, but if I had to choose one! 
   It would be him.
   *Sniffs* So there. 

7.  If you could live one day of your life in the style of a television show, what genre would you pick?  (Sitcom, comedy, romance, crime drama, etc)

Hmmm.... I'm not sure. Maybe drama? Comedy? Dramatic comedy? Is there such a thing as that??? 
   No. Nonononono. I know what I'd choose. I'd just choose a blessed cartoon series, because those sure do have both comedy and plenty of bloomin' drama and heartbreak in them!!! Waaggh!!!

8.  What character role would you take in the "episode?"

Are you wanting a realistic answer or what I'd like to envision myself as being? :P 'Cause I'd want to be the awkwardly adorable main character that everyone loves but who has a hard time loving themselves, but I'd probably be the equally awkward sidekick/best friend/sibling/whatever-you-know-that-one-character-I'm-talking-about. 

9.  If someone were to compose a soundtrack for your life, who would you want it to be?

Yes. Oh, yeeesssss.
   I would choose Hans-blessed-Zimmer. I don't even need to think about it. He's utterly amazing. 
   But if for some reason he couldn't do it, I would fall back on John Powell, because my love for the HTTYD soundtracks is limitless and I would love that kind of magic playing in the background of my life. 

10.  Can you give us some examples of their work?

You bet I can. Although, I am slightly too lazy to actually include the videos at this time, so I'm just going to give you a list that you can look up.
   Go listen to all of Hans Zimmer's stuff. Specifically the Interstellar soundtrack, the Inception soundtrack, the Batman soundtracks... Just go listen to them.
    And for John Powell, as I stated earlier, just go listen to the HTTYD soundtracks. They are some of my all time favorites, and just YES. 


Wahoo!!! I did it! :D I have a lot of fun with these, so thank you so much again, Emmarayn!!
Now it's my turn to tag people and come up with questions. I must confess, I don't yet really follow a lot of bloggers, so in the last tag I did I pretty much tagged all of the people I followed. So I'm only tagging two people, pleasedon'tjudgeme. 

Darrion http://sincerelydarrion.blogspot.com/

Bronze the Sling http://squigglyrambler.blogspot.com/

They both have truly great blogs, so go check them out! 
And now it's time for my questions. :D I'm going to keep them all Christmas themed since it is Christmastime after all!!!

1.What's your favorite part of the season?
2. Do you have your decorations/tree up yet? 
3. What is your favorite Christmas decoration?
4. Your favorite Christmas tradition?
5. Your favorite Christmas memory?
6. How about your favorite Christmas song? 
7. If you could get anything you wanted for Christmas, and I mean literally anything, what would it be?
8. If you could give one thing, anything, what would it be?
9. Do you prefer online shopping or, er, the other kind where you actually leave your house?
10. What do you do on Christmas eve? 

There we go! I hope you all enjoy this post and that you all like the questions! Have a wonderful Christmas week, my dear readers!

MR

Sunday, December 6, 2015

S'more Christmas Music!!!!

Hello again dearest readers!!!
   How's your week been? Mine's been quite good, thankfully. I have a recital coming up a week from today so I'm extremely nervous to the point of tears. But yeah, I'm cool.
   So. I was going to do a blog tag today, because I have two that I need to catch up on. I started writing it like, Wednesday, and I had a few of the questions answered and things like that. And I finished it up tonight. But I've had the tab minimized all week, and went I went to publish it it wouldn't let me, so I thought I'd save it and try again from a new tab.
   But apparently it didn't save.
   I had only three of the answered questions saved, and I... I just couldn't. So I'm giving you all some Christmas music instead!
    Actually, I've been compiling a list for this very purpose. And I've got some pretty good ones, if I do say so myself. Let me begin by saying that these aren't "traditional" Christmas songs. I covered most of my favorites in that genre last year. So I've got a few songs that are written my CCM artists that are just some of the greatest not-traditional Christmas songs I've ever heard....
   Let's begin.

1. "I Believe" by Natalie Grant



2. "The Night Before Christmas" by Brandon Heath



3. "Joseph's Lullaby" by Mercy Me



4. "How Many Kings" by Downhere


5. "One Child" by Natalie Grant



(I don't really get how the pictures in this video really go with the song, but I couldn't find a good video, and the song is amazing, so whatever. :P)


   I have, like, a lot more I could do, but then there would be at least ten songs and that's just too much for you guys. So, I'm going to stop here! 
   Hope you all enjoyed it, and that you have a very merry, wonderfilled, Christmas-y week!!!

MR





Sunday, November 29, 2015

End

Merry Christmas, dearest readers!!!
   How are you all doing? I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a marvelous week! I certainly did. We got all of our Christmas decorations up and ready to go, and our house just looks so purty. :) I've got lights up in my room, and stockings, and a big red bow and a little Christmas tree. Agh. I'm just so happy!!!! Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year. :D
   But hark! I bring good news, good news indeed! Something that I am most excited about.


   Nearly one year ago, in January 2015, I finally started writing my book. You might even remember the blog post I had dedicated to it. On Thursday of this last week, I reached an even more monumental point in my journey as a writer.
   I finished the first draft of my book.
   The finished page count is 253. There are 34 chapters. And, minus chapter titles and the like, it has 167,488 words.
   Guys. I looked it up. The average maximum acceptable length of a first time fantasy novel is 115,000 words. Yeah, editing is going to be soooooo much fun, I can hardly wait! *Insert sarcasm here*
   I have a lot of work ahead of me still. I will, however, be taking the month of December off. This way I can get my mind to cool down a little, focus on this crochet order that I am desperately trying to finish before Christmas, write some short stories and enjoy the season in general! So starting January 2016, I'll get to work on editing.
   But until then....
   I don't want to stop writing entirely. There are at least 2 fanfics that I'd like to write during this time, and maybe a short story. So hopefully next week I'll have a fic for you. (Sneak peek: it'll either be one for Winnie the Pooh or one for BH6. What a shocker)
   Yeah, I'm excited about a lot of things at the moment, hehheh! One of which is the fact that I'll be turning 16 this month, which I actually find more than a little scary...
   Anywho. I'm not going to be ignoring Christmas in my blog posts, though. My fanfics might be Christmas themed, we'll see. Either way, there will be Christmas-y things included. For starters, I'll be including a Christmas song or two I like. Maybe a Christmas verse, or a Christmas memory of mine. And maybe, maybe, there might be a few bonus blog posts having to do with the season...
   So keep your eyes open for those. And I'd love to hear some of your guys' favorite parts of Christmas! So yeah, it'll be fun! :D
   Before I stop rambling and leave you all alone, I wanted to quickly share some of the things I've learned the last year in my writing adventure that really helped me to get through and write as much as I did. Hopefully, it might be able to help some of you all who are doing the same. :)

1. Write persistently and as much as you can stand. Then write a little more.
   This was an incredible game-changer for me. For about the first 9 months, I was writing nearly everyday, but only about 500 words. Now don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this. I was getting stuff done, but I wasn't really feeling what I was doing. I wasn't getting involved with my story. But for about the last 3 months, I started pushing myself to write 1,000, 2,000, sometimes even 3,000 words a day. And that helped me so much. Not to mention that I would have gotten my book done a lot sooner if I had done that from the beginning...

2. Find the time of day where you're most inspired.
    I feel most writerly in the evenings. Or late at night. Or in the wee hours of the morning. Obviously, this can be a bit of a problem, but it helped me get more done and to enjoy what I was doing a little more. And if you feel inspired at some other point in the day besides the time you set aside to write, you stop what you're doing and go write. 'Cause if you're feeling it, you gotta get it down or it's gonna be gone.

3. Stuck on what you're writing? Get up and move!
   Sometimes when something wasn't working out for me, I wold grab my outline and pace back and forth in my room. I'd quietly talk to myself about what I was doing, what wasn't working, what I wanted to happen in my story. And nearly every time, if not every time, I would figure something out. I got past some huge plot holes, added some huge things to my story. It helped me. A lot. 


Wow guys. I have so much more I feel like I could share. Not that I am BY ANY MEANS an expert, or even have the slightest clue of what I'm doing, but I feel like I've learned a lot by doing this. And man, it feels so good to be done! Wahoo!
   So yeah, I hope these few things could help someone out a bit. On one last note, I want to remind you to never give up. You might need to re-write that last 1,000 words you just slaved over for the last hour and a half or you might have to rethink some things. Whatever you do, don't. Give. Up. And that's an order.
   To start the Christmas season off, I'm going to share this song with you all. It's "Christmas Is" by Francesca Battestelli, and it is a great one to get you in the Christmas spirit! Hope you enjoy, and have a wonderful week!

MR
 
 

Monday, November 23, 2015

Thanksgiving Thankfulness: Part 3

Good day, readers!
   I hope you all are doing well. :) And I hope you're ready for Christmas time, because it's almost heeeerrree!!!! :D
   Today is the last post in my little series on things I'm thankful for. This has probably been a bit boring for you all to read, and I'm really sorry guys. *Sheepish smile*
   But you know. I think that this has been really good for me these past few weeks. Sometimes I really just need to step back and think about all of the things I'm blessed with, and not just focus on the bad things in my life. Because I am so blessed. Even in just the thirty things I've mentioned/will be mentioning in my blog posts. There are so many other seemingly "little" things that I'm thankful for, so many things I just take for granted in everyday life. And it honestly feels really good to remember all of these things and and just realize...
   Life is really good. In spite of all of the ups and downs. And that's what these past few posts have helped me to remember.
   But enough is enough. Let's go ahead and wrap this little series up, shall we?
   Ah. Wait just a moment. I must give you all a little NaNoWriMo update, mustn't I? Hehheh, yes indeed. This week I have written 9,296 words. Not quite as good as last week, but get this.
   I have one more chapter left in my book before it's finished. One. More.
   And that's it.
   So yeah. Yeah.  I'm just a little excited.
   But gosh! I'd better get started on the real part of this post...

1. Salvation
   This is one of the things I am most thankful for in the entire world. I cried out in my darkest night and Jesus pulled me out of my guilt and set me free to live for and serve Him. Oh, yes I am so thankful for this!!!!!

2. Piano
   I've been playing the piano for, oh, about 8 years now. A little over 1 year ago, I kind of stopped playing. We couldn't afford the lessons I had been taking, some things weren't working out so I was no longer taking lessons at all, and I just... Stopped. But about 6 months ago, I started taking lessons again. I've started playing, and I've realized once again how thankful I am that I can do this. Playing the piano can be hard and frustrating, but man! I still love doing it, because it can also be a whole lot of fun. :)

3. Clothes
   Yes, I really am thankful for clothes, okay?! I love to dress up and make different outfits and find inspiration for them on Pinterest, I love to put on my dresses and my skirts and feel good. I just like them, and I am thankful for them. So there.

4. Growing Things
   I love flowers and plants and trees and grass and growing things in general!! Greenery and shrubbery and flowery... All of those things. I love going out in the summer and seeing everything green and alive. I love going out in fall and watching as they let go of that life with a blaze of fiery glory that takes your breath away. I love going out in winter and seeing the bare branches clothed in white snow, a still beautiful skeleton of their life and a promise for it to return soon. And then in spring when everything blooms again and takes a breath of the fresh, clean air and prepares to be alive. It's the circle of life and I love it. (Yes, you can go ahead and sing the song)

5. The Bible
   Just the very fact that I have a Bible is wonderful. So many people all over the world aren't allowed this, so many people in history weren't allowed it. It is such a blessing that I tend to so easily forget. Without it, how would I ever grow as a Christian? How would any of us? And yet we all just tend to take it for granted, even though people sacrificed their lives, shed their blood for this Book...

6. Solitude/People
   I am sure that this sounds very strange when you first read it. But let me explain. I love to be alone. Right now I'm sitting all by myself  in my room, wearing my Winnine the Pooh PJ's, writing this blog post with rather cold fingers and listening to "Multiplied" by NeedtoBreathe on my tablet. And I am perfectly happy. I love solitude. I could plug in some earbuds, grab a notebook and/or sketchbook, maybe a to read book and just chill all by myself. And I totally dig it, man. It's great. I'm an introvert and that's how we roll.
  But at the same time.
   I also do enjoy being around people. For example... Today I had church. This evening I had a really great time hanging out with my good friend Mikaylea before, after, and actually during services (that sounds a lot worse than it actually was. But it would take more time to explain at the moment than I am willing to give). And it was great. We didn't really do anything, just hung out. It was awesome.
   All this to say, I am thankful that I can be alone. But I'm also thankful that I'm surrounded by wonderful people who not only tolerate me, but actually want to hang out with me. At least, I think they do...
   But yeah. I'm am really grateful for that.

7. Nostalgia
   Ah yes. I love those feelings of nostalgia you get. Like when you pick up a book you haven't read in forever, or you listen to that one song, or you watch that one show. You get what I mean. It always feels like a reminder of how much you've lived your life, what you've done, how far you've come, how wonderful your life was and still is. It's a great feeling, in my opinion.

8. Freedom
   Let's just think for a moment about all of the people who don't have this. The ones who are just fighting to survive, who can't own guns, who can't speak freely, who can't even go to church or own a Bible. I honestly have no idea what this is even like. I am so blessed to live in a free country, to live in America for goodness' sake!! Amen and hallelujah!

9. The Future
   This kind of ties in with my last point. I have the opportunity to have a wonderful future. A wonderful, hopeful, Christ-filled future that I can live with my whole heart. Now, I don't know what the future holds. Honestly, it scares me quite a bit to think about, but man! Am I ever thankful that I have one, long or short as it may be.

10. The Ocean
   (Laura Scimeca actually gave me the inspiration for this one!! :D) I LOVE THE OCEAN, GUYS!!!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!! If you've been following my blog, you'll know that back in June my family and I went on a trip to the Washington coast. It was absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the best week of my entire life so far. It was so beautiful and inspiring. I can still hear the waves as they came clawing up onto shore, still hear the wind, still see the beach, still see the endless water stretching on forever. I could live there. I could move right now and live in a trailer by the ocean and be totally happy forever.


And will you lookie there. I survived another blog post series!! Yay!!! :D It's even more exciting that you all survived it too, haha. :)
   I hope you all kind of enjoyed this, and that you have a great Thanksgiving!!! Remember to count your blessings tell me some of them in the comments below.
   Have a great week and a great start to your holiday season!

MR

Monday, November 16, 2015

Thanksgiving Thankfulness: Part 2

I'm back once again!!! :D
   So yup, here's the second part in this wee little series type thing in which I talk about ten things I'm thankful for. But first off, a NaNoWriMo update. :) This week I've written... *Opens document**Checks wordcount* *Spews iced tea all over room*
   'Kay, so I didn't realize I'd written this much. Apparently I've gotten down 11,136 words this week. Which is like, by leaps and bounds, more than I've ever written in a week before. So yeah, NaNoWriMo has been pretty good to me. :P But on that note, I can finally say with confidence that I have no more than three chapters left in my book. Three chapters, guys. I'm almost done. 

   Yeah, I'm pretty excited!! I'm gonna take a break before editing, and I have some things I want to write during that time that I'll tell you all about when I officially announce my finished book. Hehheh. :D
  But yes! I hope you all are having a marvelous week. And if not, just remember that things are going to get better, and that Christmas is right around the corner. Even if it doesn't look like you're going to have the best holiday season, just relish the fact that is is Christmas, and remember the whole reason that we celebrate it is because God came down to earth as a baby to give himself on the cross for our sins. That should help to lift your holiday spirit a little. I know it's helped mine. :)
   Let us delve into this list! And I'd love to hear about some things you're thankful for, dearest reader, so be sure to leave them in the comments below. :D 

1. Food
   Amen and hallejulah. I love food. So. Much. It probably shows, but it is totally worth it. :P I mean, not only do I have plenty of food to eat, but I also have plenty of good food. And I do mean plenty of it.

2. Writing
   I have a confession to make. I'm really not that great at writing. There are so many people that are a far cry better than me, but you know what. I still love doing it. I really, really love to write. Sure, I get stuck and I get frustrated, and sometimes I just wanna give up on the whole darn thing. But the joy I get out of it is totally worth the struggle. And someday, all of this struggle might give me a real-life, published copy of my book. And maybe not. But no matter, because writing is something I love doing, and it's worth whatever disappointments I'll run into along the way. So yeah, I'm thankful for it. :)

3. Nights
   This is totally my favorite time of day. Or, I guess it's technically not the day anymore, but that's beside the point. I love the nighttime. I am such a total night owl, it's ridiculous. I come alive at night. Just ask my family, they know. It's the time of day I get the most work done. Or it can also be the time of day I do the most procrastinating because the internet is so pretty and shiny. But, I am thankful for this magical time of the day. :)

4. Fall/Winter
    *Sings* It's the mooost, wonderful tiiiiimmmeeee, ooff the yyyyeeeeeaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!
   (But seriously it is.)
   I can finally pull out my tights and my sweaters and my hoodies and my boots and my socks and ggggaaahh! I love it! And it's also Christmas/Thanksgiving time!!! SO YEAH!!!! :D

5. Yarn
   Ah yes. I do love me some yarn. :D Allow me to show you a picture of my stash that I've recently organized...

Pretty crummy picture, but whatever. It's also not very organized,
but I have no idea what organizing even means and this is way better than before.
   I just love what I can make with it, and I love crocheting, and yesh. :)

6. The Outdoors
   So, I really love going outside. But for some reason, I don't really do it much. We live in the middle of town and we don't have much of a yard, so maybe that's why. And I'm not a major fan of camping, but when I do get in the woods I really enjoy it. I guess I just find sleeping in the same tiny trailer with my other three family members not the most appealing thing, especially when one of them snores like a lion and another one of them talks, haha! XD But yes, I am so grateful that we can get outside and we live in such a beautiful area to do so. Even though I don't do it enough...

7. Health
   Yes, I am so thankful for this! Of course, I get the occasional sickness, but I'm actually a very healthy person. I don't have any health problems or anything like that. And man, that is definitely something I am so thankful for! :D

8. Sight
    Do you ever stop and think about what you would do if you lost your sight? Yeah, I think about these kinds of things. I mean, really. What would I do? I could probably still write and I might (maybe) be able to crochet, and I could still read. But I couldn't draw anymore. I couldn't look at the sunset or the fields or the faces of the people I love as they get older and grow up. I could never look out at the beautiful ocean again, I could never have my breath taken away from a beautiful piece of artwork. What would I do without my sight? Yes, this is something I am so very grateful that I have.

9. My camera
   You know, I really am quite thankful for my little camera. My dad found it at the high school where he works and he brought it home after no one claimed it. I was wanting a camera, so it was passed down to me. And I use it all of the time. I'm not very good at it, but I love taking photographs and just capturing moments and being able to share things through it.

10. Hot Beverages
   Oh yeah. I love my hot coffee and my hot tea and my hot cocoa. Yes, I love my hot drinks. That's actually just another reason why I look forward to winter so much, is for all of the nummy warm things. And of course, I wouldn't be able to survive without my coffee. :D


WHEW!!! Man, this one was hard! But I made it through. :P
   I hope you all enjoyed this post and that you have a great week. Thanksgiving is almost here! I can nearly smell the pumpkin pie and the mashed potatoes and the turkey and all of that other good stuff. Yay!
   Until next week!!

MR

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Thanksgiving Thankfulness: Part 1

Hello readers!!
   We are now 9 days into November! Geesh, we're almost halfway through the month! I'd better get cracking on my NaNoWriMo goals. How are yours coming along, if you happen to be participating this year? I've succeeded in writing about 8,000 words this last week, which isn't too bad over all. I'm going to shoot for 10,000 this week though, so wish me luck!


   So guys. Even though places like Walmart and everywhere else are trying their best to convince you that there's no such thing as Thanksgiving and it's time to just go ahead and move onto Christmas, they're wrong. Thanksgiving does still exist and it just so happens to be on the 26th of this very month. And since I am desperately trying to finish my book before the end of the month, and since Thanksgiving is all about being thankful, I have a few blog posts lined up that are in line with that.
   Every week for the next three weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I am going to be listing ten things I'm thankful for. Along with my reasons behind that. I'd also like to challenge all of you to do the same in the comments! I'd love to see what you guys are thankful for. :)

Let's begin!

1. Jesus 
   Of course guys. Of course. How could the first thing on my list not be Jesus? He freed me from my sin, from the guilt tearing at my soul and gave me new life. OF COURSE I'M MORE THANKFUL FOR HIM THAN ANYTHING ELSE!! He meekly gave his life as an offering for the sins I had committed. He gave himself for me. So yes, Jesus is the first thing on my list.

2. Family
   I truly love my family. I love my mom, my dad, my brother, even though they all mess up and make mistakes. I do the same thing more than they do and they still love me. My family is just pretty amazing. :) I don't know what I'd do without them. Even my little brother, annoying though he can be. :P

3. Beagles!!
   I love my tiny beagle babies!!!! :D Buck and Beulah, who I've posted pictures of before. Buck is such a cute cuddly sweetie, even though he can be a little cranky at times. And Beulah is just this squishy ball of cuddliness who always wants to give you loves... She's just sweet, okay?! They both are!!

4. Home
   Man, I have a house to live in!! That is so awesome! Not only that, but I have a totally awesome room that holds some big ol' bookshelves, a bed, a yarn area, 2 small desks, all of my art junk, a dresser and a shoe rack, and it even has a book nook! My house is nice and cozy during the winter and nice and cool during the summer. I am truly blessed in this area.

5. Friends
   I've only got a couple friends, but those I do have mean a lot to me. You guys are all awesome, and I am so glad I have each of you in my life!!! :)

6. Church
   I am so grateful that I have an absolutely wonderful church! Not only that, but I have pretty much the best church family ever, but the fact that I can even go to church without any persecution is amazing. Amazing, guys. Sure, we have some issues with space and stuff, but man. My church is wonderful, and I love you all!! :D
 
7. Art
   Mmmmm, I love art!! Man, some of the things people create from a chunk of wood and led and some mushed up trees....

8. Boookkksss
   Yeah. OH yeah. I am so thankful to live in a place where I can get whatever kind of books whenever I want. Like, have you ever thought about the Dark Ages? I mean, thank about that, all of you book nerds. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO HORRIBLE!! You not only couldn't buy books if you were the everyday average citizen, and there weren't libraries like we have now. So yes, I am very thankful that I have books and that I have access to them.

9. HORSES!!!
   *Screams* Yesss!!!!!!!! I love these animals so much! So beautiful, so powerful, just... Horses!!! Even though I don't yet have a horse, I just love them so much and am very thankful for them!

10. Music
   What would I do without this? It inspires me when I write and draw, it comforts me when I'm upset, it speaks to me on a deeper level than most humans ever directly ever could, it fires me up, it cools me off. Music is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Yeah, there's some pretty crummy stuff out there, but there's a crummy part to everything. But there's also a whole lot of good stuff out there, and that's the part of it that I love. (By the way, does anyone listen to Andrew Peterson? 'Cause you should)

Ah!!! There! I did it. :P Now to just think of 20 more good things, which is surprisingly difficult when you actually have to make a list.
   So, what are you guys thankful for? Leave them in the comments below! See you all next week, and have a great 2nd week of November!

MR

Monday, November 2, 2015

Inktober/October in Review

'Ello dearies!
   So guys. I officially have finished Inktober. GUYS. I DID IT!!! I REALLY, TRULY DID!!! Which is even cooler for me, considering I have never been able to finish a 30-Day-Challenge-type-thing before. But I done did it this time dudes.
   In case you don't follow me on Pinterest, and also because I just really wanted to, I am now going to show you a collage of all of my inktober pictures. Hehheh. :)


I actually had to do 2 collages for formatting reasons...


   There we go!!! 
   I really enjoyed doing inktober this year. I mean, it was honestly a lot of fun! I did some experimenting with different things, got some good practice done... Yeah, I think it was pretty successful. 
   And now it's time to pick favorites. My favorite out of the month would probably be... em... my "Clockwork" picture? I don't know, I'm not good at picking favorites. 
   What about you guys? Anyone have a favorite or two? 
   October itself was a good month for me. My dad and brother had a successful hunting season. My brother got a nice doe, and my dad got a very nice mule deer buck. Whilst they were gallivanting in the woods, my mom and I got some time to hang out. Which is always fun! 
   And yeah. I feel like October was just a good month. Hope you guys feel the same about yours. :) 
   But now we are moving into the month of November. Which means Thanksgiving, which is then followed by December, which then leads into Christmas, which then leads into the New Year. 
   2015 is almost over guys. 
   That's insane. Where did the year go?? Regardless of where it went, it's almost over. So it's time for some of us to get finished with our resolutions of 2015. 'Some of us' being namely me. Which translates further to, I need to finish my blessed book. 
   Allow me to give you all an update. I now have 203 pages, 30 chapters, and 132, 949 words. And I am so close to being finished. 
   This is where NaNoWriMo comes into play. I'm not going to be really participating, meaning I won't be shooting for the 50,000 word goal. But I am going to try and do 2,000 words a day, and even more importantly, I will have my book done by the end of the month even if it kills me. 
   I just need to buckle down and get 'er done. So. I should have a finished book by the end of the month, boding some accident, the end of the world, or complete and utter failure on my part. 
   HUZZAH!!! 
   And otherwise...
   I have a bunch of art I wanna do, a bunch of Christmas and birthday projects to start/finish up, along with starting an Etsy for my crocheting and drawings. Hopefully November will be a pretty successful month. :) 
   And I've also been thinking about changing up my blog's appearance? And possible splitting my blog into different blogs? As in, having a writing/fanfic blog, and a main blog. Any thoughts on that? 
   And yeah. That's about it. Thanks for enduring this post of boringness. I'll have something better next week, I promise. :P 
    Have a great week everyone!

MR

Monday, October 26, 2015

Enjoy the Journey

Hello readers!
   I hope you're all doing well. :) I'm doing pretty good. I need to finish crocheting a couple viking beard orders, finish Inktober, finish my book before the whole blessed year is over. But yeah, nothin' too big. :P
   And I am so sorry this is a bit late!! Last night it was either do my inktober or blog, and I desperately wanted to stick to my inktober commitment. :P The post is up now, though!
   So. In case you didn't all already know this, which you probably did unless this is your first time reading my blog, I like to draw. I like to draw a lot. As a matter of fact, I'd like to become a professional illustrator one of these days. Unless of course God would rather me do something else.
   But man. Someday's it can pretty diggity-darn difficult to draw. Sometimes the picture just isn't working out. So I might finally give up and get on Pinterest for a little while and look at other people's art. And guys.
   People are good. 

   I mean, stinkin-blinkin good. Well, of course the people who have been drawing for 30 years are going to be good. But not even those people. I mean the art students or the 13-year-old's who are good.  Yeah, all of you artists and art lovers out there know exactly what I mean. Those people who when you learn their age you don't believe them. I mean, you're 13 and you drew THAT?!?!?! What even????
   Yeah. Those people.
   Now don't get me wrong. Those people are so cool and amazing and inspiring. But sometimes it can be a little discouraging.
   Like, my little brain doesn't understand. HOW ARE YOU THAT GOOD??? It's downright incredible and breathtaking and unbelievable.
   But then there's me. After looking back and forth at my art and theirs, my art and theirs, then beating my head against my desk and crumpling up my failed WIP picture and throwing it into my garbage can, I get to wondering this.
    First off, how??? And second, why? Like, how and why are you so much better than me?
   After this I either drown in my own depression or push it aside and throw myself desperately into my art like a viking into a roasted boar. The second option is always better, by the way.
   But you know, I've been thinking.
   I'm 15 years old. I'll be turning 16 in December. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember.(As a matter of fact, I have this sketchbook from when I was about 7 or 8 that is full of these pictures that make me question my mental health at the time, but that's beside the point.) Though I've only gotten really serious about it in the past few years, since probably about 2012 or so.
   Fortunately, I have noticeably improved in that time. But to me, it sure doesn't feel like much.
   I mean, look at how good all of these other people are!!! They are amazing! And look at me! I'm just... me. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who thinks this way.
   There's nothing wrong with looking at someone else's art and getting inspired by their awesome ability. Sometimes this can give you that push you need to try again and keep moving forward.
   But sometimes, it does the exact opposite.
   I quite often think something along the lines of 'why am I such an untalented loser?' But I shouldn't think that way. No one should ever think that way. Even if you don't draw, but you write, or you don't write, but you make woodcrafts or whatever.
   No one should ever think that way. 
   Why not?
   Well first off, everyone has their own pace of learning. Some people learn faster, some learn slower, some have plain just been doing it for a long time and that's why they're so good. Maybe you learn a little slower than that ridiculously good 13 year old. And that's okay!
   'Cause you know what? No matter what creative thing you do, drawing or writing or whatever, we are all on a long journey. A very long journey. A journey that actually never ends until the day you die.
   Every time you take up your pencil or other creative tool and put it to use, you're taking another step forward on that journey. Even when whatever it was you were trying to do turns out nothing like what you had imagined and it feels a lot like you're taking a step backwards, you're not. Every time you draw, you are learning something new, or learning how not to do something.
   You're taking a step forward.
   And every step forward you take is a step closer to where you want to be as an artist, writer, crocheter, woodcrafter, musician. As a creative person.
   It is so easy to get focused on the goal and forget that you are on a journey and that this journey is supposed to be fun. Because I mean, this journey is going to last your whole life, so it had better be fun.
   Sometimes you've gotta take a step back and think.
   Sure, I'm not where I want to be as a creative person right now. I'm not always (read 'hardly ever') happy with what I make.
   But that's okay. 
   Because even though I'm not at that shining beacon in the future of artistic perfection, I am somewhere. You're on the road, you're walking in that direction.
   You're moving forward.
   And as long as you keep moving forward, and you stay on the right path, you're going in the right direction.
   I mean, just think about what you're doing. If you draw, you literally take a blank piece of white tree mush and a wooden stick and make something out of it. If you write, you literally take these thoughts and visions in your mind, and create something out of them. If you play an instrument, you are literally making an inanimate object sing. Yeah, I stole that last line from Pinterest.
   But do you see what I'm saying?
   No matter what phase you're on in your journey, you're still a creative person and you're still doing these things.
   That's amazing!!!
   So dearest creative person, remember this:
   Don't give up. Keep moving forward. And enjoy the journey. 'Cause in the end when you're looking back on it all, the journey is going to be the part you remember the most.
   So make the memory good.

    MR
 

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Inktober Prompts

Hello all!
   Guys. October is almost over. Can you believe that?? Where has 2015 gone to????? But at the same time, the end of October leads to November which means Thanksgiving and NaNoWriMo, but that in turn leads to DECEMBER. WHICH IS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR, IN CASE YOU WEREN'T AWARE OF THAT!!!!!!!!!! *Proceeds to have a major freakout over Christmas*
   *Takes deep breath* Alright. I'm okay now. Time to move on to the actual topic of this post...
   I have been participating in Inktober, in case you didn't know. And I am rather proud to say that I have 18 drawings thus far. Meaning, I have actually stuck with this and drawn a picture everyday. Aren't you impressed? :P

   But yes. Counting today, there are now only 13 days left in the challenge. And at this point, you just might be running out of ideas. I'm having the same struggle.
   So! I thought I would give us all 13 prompts for the rest of the month. There are tons of things like this out there, but I don't know, I thought it would be kind of fun. :)
   Let us begin.
 
   1.Personified Element
   Draw an element (fire, water, earth, air) in human form. You could also broaden your scale and consider options from the periodic table itself
   2. An Animal
   Hehheh, this might get some of us out of our comfort zone
   3. Book Character
   There are many of these. Have fun, my fellow fandomers!
   4. A Song
   Choose a song you like/a song that inspires you. Think of what you see in your mind when you listen to it and draw it out. Listen to the song while you do it for extra inspiration. 
   5. A Landscape
   Choose a picture and run with it. 
   6. Black Background
   Start with outlining what you want the focus of your picture to be, leaving it white. Then color in the paper around it black.
   7. A Bunch of Vines
   Long, curly, twisty. Fill your page with them 
   8. Mythical Creature Meeting.
   A centaur running into a fairy, perhaps. Or maybe a mermaid talking with a sea dragon. The possibilities are endless. 
   9. Something Cozy
   A person drinking cocoa in a big sweater. Someone curled up reading a book. Cuddles on the couch. You get the point.
   10. Broad Horizons
   A traveler finally getting to the place he has wanted to see his whole life. 
   11. Human and Animal at Odds
   Just like what it says. A human hunting down a beast, or the exact opposite. A frustrated puppy owner. A disgruntled cat glaring at its human as it makes funny faces and calls it undignified names.
   12. Selfie Time!
   Do a self portrait! Draw yourself normally, or as your favorite character, or in a strange place. Something like that. 
   13. Playing in the Leaves
   It is fall, after all (Yes, that rhyme was intended). Draw some kids having fun in the leaves, draw adults having fun in the leaves, draw one person. Ya know what I mean. 

And there you go! 13 Inktober prompts to hopefully help get you through the rest of the month! Have fun my readers and fellow artists, and I'll see you all next week!
   
   MR 
    

Monday, October 12, 2015

FALL IS HEEERRRREEE!!!!!!!

Hello my readers!!
   'Tis I again! :D How has everyone's week been? Anything exciting? :)
   Well lemme tell you. I have been waiting. Waiting for fall. We have had a hot, horrible, endless summer. Very unlike Northern Idaho where I live. And I love cold weather, so this has been hard on me, I'll admit.
   But I see a light at the end of the tunnel.
   It's finally been cooling down to mid/low seventies. I think the high for today was 65!! HALLELUJAH AMEN!! I am so relieved.
   Friday and Saturday, my family and I went up into the woods. Well, we went camping/hunting. Ahem, rephrase again. My mother and I went camping and the boys went hunting. And since I am still writing on my book (Update time: 192 pages, 28 chapters, 125,979 words) I thought I'd post some of the pretty fall pictures I've gotten.

Outside of our church

Leaves! :)

Sunset over the mountain
Firrreeeeeee

Tamaracks and sunlight

The trail

Another trail picture

Trees!

Tamaracks and the Trail!

A pretty little gazebo surrounded by golden leaves. :)

More trail

A home and the luscious mountains

The old bridge we were walking to

The river

Close-up of the bridge


From the other side

Bridge and river... 

Pretty river and golden trees

More river

I do believe this is my favorite picture from this walk.

Bridge

Old cabin and the bright sun.

   And there you go! Some fall-y pictures for all of you fantastic people. :) Have a great week everyone!!!

MR

.......

*Bonus Beagles*


Buck









Beulah






Look at these little sweeties!!!!!!! :D:D:D