Day of Grrr...

Today is not a good day. Today, I am crabby.

Today, I am going to tell you why it is that today I am crabby.

1. I have no focus. I've been sitting at this computer for two hours and have facebooked(btw, have you ever been instant-messaged by four people all at the same time and tried to keep up a flowing conversation with all of them??? Not an easy feat, but I mastered it, although I had to keep double checking to make sure I wasn't sending someone a message meant for someone else.), tweeted, emailed, and blog-read. I want to start writing a thousand words a day on my novel and here I am. Complaining about wanting to do it but not actually doing it.

2. People who say one thing and then do another while in the presence of others with the sole purpose of trying to make the original someone they said the first thing to look stupid drive me crazy. Less clustered? I hate hypocrites.

3. People who stand in line too closely to the person in front of them...ugh!
I took my sister to Dave and Buster's for her birthday last night and it was so packed, we had to wait in line to play every single game! And people jam up on each other like sardines, all pushy pushy and 'hurry up, we're waiting in line' and I'm all 'stop sucking my new body spray scent off of me because it's not cheap!'
Seriously, people? BACK OFF.

4. Because of my crabby mood, I decided that a grande mocha Frapuccino would be just the thing to lift my spirits. Buuuuuuttttt...I didn't get it. And I'm still crabby.

5. People keep telling me that 'things will be fine, just do this' rather than actually taking the time to have a meaningful conversation with me and that really just.....OOOOH!!!

I need to be reminded of the things that make me happy and hope that they work their usual magic.
Is it weird that I'm looking forward to work's distractions tomorrow???
I think yes.

On Inspiration

Whoa. I'm dangerously close to taking an unwarranted coffee break again! People need to call me out, I swear it!

Anyway, I know I'm totally the last one on this bandwagon:



But I don't care. It's my turn to rave.

I talk about the things that inspire me all the time. I find it in the smallest things, and without it, I'm sure I'd be a lot less happy.
I know that it's easier for me to be inspired by music or movies, someone else's vision of something everyday, things we overlook for whatever reason.

I also knew I wanted to see Avatar, but I wasn't sure I wanted to take three hours out of my life to sit down for a movie in the middle of a packed theater, listening to people talk and chomp on smelly popcorn(yes, I'm a popcorn hater, yes, I know it's un-American, no, I don't care).
But I went anyway.
And I'm so glad I did.
Have you ever watched a movie where you literally sat with your mouth hanging open and your heart thudding in your chest throughout the entire thing, and when it finally ended, you were disappointed??
That is what this movie did for me.

I wanted to stay in their beautiful, magical, amazing world forever. The whole storyline, the themes, the location...I've never witnessed something so perfect.
After it ended, I cleared my mind of all of my other 'favorite' movies...this one takes the cake.
I am so envious of the people with imaginations that are able to create these whole other worlds...and then to relate them to the problems of our own real world! To send a message without being preachy.
To open the eyes of non-believers, of all the pessimists. To teach people something worthwhile.

This is what I want to accomplish as a writer. To be able to inspire someone to take a second look, to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to just open your mind to something, anything new.
It prompted me to take a deeper look at my own writing. At the messages I try to convey. Am I doing it correctly? Am I forcing my beliefs on someone? Am I going to succeed at instilling the passion I feel into my readers?

I can only hope to do so, and I'm going to try my hardest to create something worthwhile.

On a lighter note, is it strange that I found myself attracted to Jake as a big blue Avatar?? Because he was supercute and I love how his character changed.
And this?:



Was the greatest 'no kiss' scene I have seen in, like, forever. I almost squeed out loud in the theater.

Also, I sobbed so hard at one point during the movie that when I finally sucked in my breath, the entire room could hear me...and that was embarrassing.

I will be seeing this movie again. I'm totally pimping it as well. Go see Avatar!!! You won't be disappointed.

How about you? Is there a movie or a song that has inspired you more than anything else? Which one? Did anyone else feel the same way about this movie, or am I just overly-emotional??

And now...back to the show!

My coffee break is over.
I swear it!

It's been so long since I've been here, I barely know what to do with myself! For a quick explanation: it's 'end-of-year' at my work which means the entire place is running amok, flailing their arms around, and yelling at the tops of their voices. This also means I'm exhausted before, during, and after work and cannot function as a normal person.
Also, our internet activity is being closely monitored at work because SOME PEOPLE don't know when to quit.
So I'm kinda nervous about posting while on the clock.

Anyway...a million and five apologies for my absence. I'll try to post more regularly from now on!

So. How is everyone?

Today is going to be a lazy blog day. Over the past month, I've received four FOUR! awards which is the coolest thing ever.
And today I will list them all and pass them on! One variation from the rules: I'm only going to pick two blogs per award, and I don't care if they already have them. It's my blog and I'll award who I want.
Ahem.

First up, I received the Kreative Blogger award from the extremely talented Victoria.



Thank you, Victoria! If you've never come across her blog before, now is the time to do it! She has such vision, and an inspiring voice! I'm so happy to have her as a blogging friend.

And the two recipients of the Kreativ Blogger award are:

Susan Mills at A Walk In My Shoes because she can relate all of her posts to shoes! Come on, people, how creative is that??

Natalie Whipple at Between Fact and Fiction because not only is she a writer whose blog I adore, but she graces us all with her artistic talents once a week as well!

Moving on...

From the always entertaining Carol Valdez Miller and the sincere Jemi Fraser, the One Lovely Blog award.



The two winners are:

Sherrinda at A Writer Wannabe because her blog is, well, lovely.

And Jody Hedlund because, well. Do I really need to repeat it? Lovely. Check her out for excellent advice and insight.

The final award I received from Tiana Lei at Spilled Ink. I just started following her tonight and I have no idea how it's taken me this long to discover her awesome blog! So, thanks for the award, Tiana! This one is a new one for me, and while I'm breaking the 'pass it on' rules, I will follow the 'ten things that make me happy' rule.



Here we go!

1.

2. My dogs. Who better to turn to when you're in need of a pick-me-up than your faithful pooches?

3. Books. Seriously? If someone told me I had to choose between my husband and my books, I might just pick the books. Because without them I would cease to exist. Sorry, honey.

4. Fridays! Jeans day at work, drinks with the coworkers at the end of the day, and the beginning of the weekend!

5. Tea. It fixes everything.

6. Taking pictures. I am such a nuisance with my camera...people should just know to look picture ready when I'm going to be around. It's just the way it is.

7. My clean house. I love sitting on the couch and just breathing in the cleanliness after a sweaty few hours of scrubbing.

8. Music. I love music, and all sorts of it! Lately, I've discovered how inspiring Christian music is and it's literally propelled my creative juices forward. I think opening my mind to something new kind of helped that...

9. My blog. It is proof to me that I'm not wandering alone in the world. And it's also a huge motivation to keep writing.

10. Shoes. Because they're pretty. :)

Now, I pass the Happy 101 blog on to:

Sara McClung at The Babbling Flow of a Fledgling Scribbler because I find a lot of similarities between the two of us and that makes me happy! (Yes, that was cheesy, and no, I don't care)

And Mary Campbell at Writer's Butt Does Not Apply To Me because she is very inspiring and that also makes me happy!

Thank you again to everyone who's passed awards on to me. I'm very touched and very excited!
And congrats to the recipients of those awards!
Check them out, people!! You won't be sorry.

And I promise to be back very very soon.

Official No-Kiss Blogfest!!! Woo hoo!!!

It's here, it's here! Glad you could stop by to read what I have for you today. Frankie over at Frankie Writes came up with the idea to post a scene that has an 'almost kiss'.
They're always terrible in that amazingly good way. When you just know that it's the perfect moment for one, but maybe the events surrounding aren't quite so ideal, so it doesn't happen. When it's just interrupted, or reality hits...any way it goes, the almost-kiss is always a great guilty pleasure of mine!

I didn't have a decent almost kiss to give you guys, so I had to come up with this at the last second. Like, an hour ago. So forgive the rough draft form and it's wordiness.
This scene comes from one of my WIPs, a story about a girl whose parents die and then she finds out she was adopted. So she goes on a cross country trip with her best friend to find her biological parents and where she actually came from. When we meet Paige and Brian right now, Paige has just discovered that they came all this way only to find out that her real parents are also dead.

***********************

Paige didn’t bother with her jacket. The heat of the cramped diner was suddenly too much to bear, the weight of those words pressing on her chest like lead.

The icy winter air provided instant relief, filling her lungs with sharp pricks of oxygen. She breathed deeply, forced herself to close her eyes and count to ten.

All those people must have thought she was nuts, driving across the country on a whim only to find out that the one thing she had been searching for no longer even existed. Then to race outside in the middle of the revelation…

She shuffled to the side of the building where she wouldn’t have to feel the eyes of the entire town on her as she broke down alone. The dirty snow crunched under her feet, throwing her off-balance as she struggled to find a hiding spot in a place where your every secret seemed to be stamped on your forehead.

Footsteps came from around the corner, pausing as the pursuer tried to locate her. Paige pressed her cheek against the cold red brick of the diner and faced away from whoever it was.

“Paige…” Brian. Of course. Always the rock.

Brian came up behind her and slid her coat over her shoulders. “Look at me?” He stamped his feet and wondered why he always ended up out in the cold when it came to her. His breath came in white puffs and already, his nose was running.

Paige pressed her lips together and closed her eyes as she slowly turned to face him. She was embarrassed. He didn’t need to be here, and yet here he stood, freezing, in a town thousands of miles away from his home on Christmas Eve.

Brian tried to read her face, but it was dark and her eyes were squeezed shut. He reached out and brushed his fingers over her cheek. They were wet with cold tears, her bottom lip trembling. Without a word, he pulled her against his body.

Paige fought to keep herself from sobbing. She buried her face in his soft blue sweater, breathed in the scent of coffee and maple syrup from the diner. She wrapped her arms around his waist and felt him grip her tighter. He slid his arms inside her jacket and rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

She wondered if the goosebumps that appeared were from the cold or from his touch, and her cheeks flushed from the idea. Brian had been her best friend for longer than she could remember and there had never been feelings beyond that between them. But he’d been there for her from the word ‘go’, driving when she was too tired, running into the convenience stores for coffee when the ice storms hit and she didn’t want to move from the warmth of the car, footing the bill for the dingy motel rooms, tracking down this small town that didn’t even exist on the maps.

He never complained, never argued. And here he was again, her shoulder when her world was crashing down around her. She felt his heartbeat quicken against her cheek and she raised her head to look into concerned blue pools.

Brian shivered, the weight of her hands on his back the only thing he
felt. They gripped him in need, ten fingertips desperately clinging to something real. Her eyes, like melted chocolate, were intense and full of sorrow and confusion.

He hated to see her this way, hated that she had to go through this. He’d give his life to be able to reverse time, go back to the way things were when she was happy. Before he’d fallen in love with her.

He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against hers.

Paige’s breath caught, her fingers dug. She molded against him, their hearts banging together.

Brian shifted his weight, felt his nose brush against hers. So close. He felt her breath mix with his, hers thick with the scent of hot chocolate, a bit of peppermint, his syrupy sweet.

A little closer…

He’d been waiting forever to feel her lips on his, to know what it would be like to taste her, to nestle in lips like soft pillows. A kiss would fix everything right now. Escape the world and all the bad news that came along with it.

Or it could yank them apart, create a catastrophic disaster in her already broken world. A moment of desperate emotion leading to a lifetime of regret.

Brian pulled his arms out from under her coat and wrapped them around her shivering body. A bear hug was something he could do, as her friend. And right now, nothing more.

Against him, Paige sighed, her tears dampening his skin.

*****************************

::Sigh::

I hope you enjoyed! Check out Frankie's blog to read all of the other entries! They are all swoon-worthy. :)