I am just a Christian, horse loving, high school homeschooler. I love to read and write. It does not surprise me when I am called a movie buff, and I've always wanted to go to Australia! I guess you could say that's me in a nut shell. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:18:00 -0600 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:18:00 -0600 Word Count:  30,842  As the leaves closed in around them they heard Blake's scream, "I'll get you Ainsley. I'll find you and your brats and hang each and every one from the nearest tree!"      Kira shivered, and urged her horse to go faster, realizing that she also was included in that statement. So, how have I been doing with NaNo? Well I'm no longer as far ahead of schedule as I was a week ago. I am now only one day ahead, and trying to work my way up to more so I won't fall behind during Thanksgiving.   I've been surprised at how easily everything has been coming together, I haven't truly been stuck once. There was a day, or two when I had to stop and think about where I was going, but I never got that frantic writer's block feeling, I was just pondering. The other days I haven't written it was simply because I didn't feel like it, not because I couldn't.   I know November isn't over, but so far it's all gone incredibly smoothly. Maybe it's because I'm not crazy busy like a lot of my other friends doing it?   Whatever the reason, I'm glad my first NaNo hasn't given me to many challenges. Yet. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/745350/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/745350/ My interest was immediately perked when I noticed this banner at the beginning of Breezy's post over at a bowl of moss and pebbles. After reading the post I was even more interested. Giving thanks for everything God has given me in my life is something I've been trying to work on. I'd much rather thank Him for the things I have then think about all the cool stuff I don't have. That just breeds discontent. So almost the minute I saw the above banner I decided to join the Gratitude Community, and I encourage you to do the same. Today I'm Thanking God For... 1. A roof over my head 2. Parents who love the Lord 3. Our kitty 4. My Daddy's job 5. Blogger Friends 6. Instant Messenger 7. Letters in the Mail 8. Horse magazines 9. Crunchy leaves 10. A library in walking distance 11. My contacts 12. Netflix 13. A sister who makes me laugh 14.  The color green 15. My laptop 16. Being homeschooled 17. 27,300 words 18. Sunny days 19. Choir 20. A working camera What are you Thankful for? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/745017/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:47:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/745017/ Being a writer, I love to read. Being a christian I like to read books written by other Christians, and once again back to being a writer, I like to read their blogs. After all, you never know when they'll throw out a juicy tip, or two. So I was reading L. B. Graham's blog. Author of The Binding of the Blade series. (great books, if you haven't read them you should) His latest post was about Clive Staples Award. Okay.... what's the Clive Staples Award? This is an award giving you the opportunity to vote for your favorite christian author/fantasy book! So, head on over and check out the website, and if you so desire, vote for your favorite. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/744638/ Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:05:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/744638/ Word Count: 20,903 "How could anyone throw away this happiness? How could anyone reject such joy?"  ~ Wynn Ainsley Well I'm still plugging away, boosting my word count by the thousands every night, and every day when I wake up setting myself an impossible goal I know I can't reach, but I do anyway. The plot is coming along nicely, I've been rather surprised at how easy this story has been to write, then again it's been waiting for November for the last seven months. Its been amazing discovering more about my characters, and the places they live in. Each day of writing I find out something knew and exciting about one of them. I expected to grow tired of my book title, my names, and my characters, but instead they have gotten even more interesting to me, and I'm still totally in love with the name Wynn Ainsley. There have been moments of stress, in fact just the other night I was in near panic because I couldn't get the NaNo website to load, therefor making it impossible for me to update my word count. Since I had just breached the 20,000 mark it was rather disappointing I couldn't do it right away. After a few more tries however, all was well. So, that's how my NaNo has been going. If your interested in reading the progress of other NaNoers here are the links to friends of mine who are doing it as well. Defective Compositions His Beautiful Love In Word Alison's Writing Corner http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/743540/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:29:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/743540/ I'm not sure why I finally decided to post about this. Maybe it was because of my Mum's post about happy memories. Perhaps. I could say this has been on my mind lately, it would be the truth, but I could be more accurate if I said, this has been on my mind for awhile. Awhile as in, a year or two.  There have been a few things going on that have really brought this thought forward, making me remember, and feel more strongly about it then ever. So, what am I talking about? I'll put it simply, the happy things. I have realized that many, fights, grudges, contention, feuds, arguments, rivalry, and quarrels come into being because somebody, or maybe even everybody, wasn't remembering the happy times. Let me explain. More then once Eyebright and I have been angry with each other. There have been the times when she has taken the best for herself, leaving me with second best. There have been times when we've yelled at each other, and times when we haven't wanted to speak to each other at all. However there have also been times when we have laughed so hard together we made each other sick. There have been long walks filled with sisterly conversation, the times when she has given me the best being content with second best for herself. There have been times when she has been so happy and excited for me she didn't have time to be jealous. Times when she has comforted, reassured, and supported me. I didn't mean for this post to be a tribute to my sister though. My whole point in this was, there have been good times and bad times. Which paragraph was more pleasant for you to read? I would hope the second one. If it's Eyebright reading this, I know the second one. I have the good and the bad memories of every person in my family. When I've grown up and moved away, which ones will I want to remember the most?  Many a time I have seen, or heard of complete families breaking up because someone didn't remember those happy times. Someone didn't remember how much time the person they are angry with put into their lives. Someone was only thinking of those times when, as a human, they slipped, and did something not so happy. I don't want this to happen to my family, I want to always remember the happy times and even if some of the unpleasant family experiences stick with me, I don't want them to blind out the other times. So here I am today, encouraging you to remember the happy things with me. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/742291/ Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:13:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/742291/ I've been pretty happy with my progress with NaNoWriMo so far. I'm three days ahead of schedule, and my plot is coming together rather nicely. I wouldn't say it's one of the best things I've ever written, but I didn't expect it to be. That's what second, third, fourth, and so on drafts are for. Before NaNo started I had this idea in my head that I wouldn't have time for anything else this month. I would just be writing. My reasonable side however kept telling myself this can't be true since people with full time jobs and children have succeeded in the challenge. So I was not all together surprised to find out I still have time to live. It's a good thing too because I only have two weeks till my first big choir performance and practice is a very good thing. I've also been working with Kekoa on selling Christmas wreaths. We haven't sold one yet, but we haven't really done to much attempting. Not because of NaNo, but because of other things in the schedule.  An hour, or two everyday writing and I am above and beyond my word count goal for that day. Before November I thought the people shooting for 100,000 this year were crazy. Now I'm beginning to see they are simply giving themselves more of a challenge. I've been challenged, it's juts been an easy one. So far. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/741999/ Wed, 4 Nov 2009 09:29:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/741999/ Well the first day of NaNoWriMo has come and gone leaving me with a word count of 6,066. Since this is a good almost three days worth of writing, I decided I would be done for the night. I am incredibly pleased with the way things are turning out so far, and was amazed to discover how much this story would write itself. There are way to many turn of events I didn't expect to count them all. I tried to add a word count widget to my sidebar, but for some reason I'm having trouble with it. I might try again later, but for now if your interested in following my word count you can at my NaNoWriMo profile. Now I'd love to stay and talk, but I've got a word count to keep up, and my characters are calling. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/741393/ Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:09:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/741393/    This is the cover art I made for my NaNo novel this year. Georgianna Penn is my pen name. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/740781/ Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:23:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/740781/     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/740258/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/740258/ Once again I thank Kylie for the beautiful photograph. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/739960/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:44:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Bluejane/739960/