Counting down the days

I am counting down the days until Christmas and till my 20th birthday.

So first I will start with Christmas:

The last couple of years I have gotten into the giving mood. I love to get presents, don't get me wrong, but I LOVE giving them. This year I made most of the gifts that I am giving. In fact all but one were hand made. The only one that wasn't was the one for my parents, but that one is one that I know will get used a lot and it is something they really needed. I have given 2 gifts already. They were Leighton and Cait's gifts. They both loved their scarves. Cait's was shorter, becasue she doesn't like really long scarves, but I made Leighton's longer, because she seems to like that kind. Both really loved them and I have seen Cait with hers on and it makes me smile.

I still have to give Mimi her wash cloths, Aaron his hat, and Danielle her present, but I am sure they will all love them. I can't wait to see Aaron react to his hat. We are not opening our gifts until Christmas morning. It changes each year when we open the "Santa" gifts depending on Mom's work schedule. This year she works till 3 on Christmas Eve, but on Christmas day she is off. So we opted for just opening the gifts on Christmas morning. Then we will go have lunch at Mimi's. We will then play dirty santa.

The 26th we are going to my cousin's house. Cason and his wife Jessica are fixing breakfast and we will then play dirty santa also. Another cool thing is that tonight will most likely be spent scanning pictures. We got both my Mimi and my grandmother and grandpa a digital picture frame for Christmas. So we will be loading them up with pictures tonight.

So now onto my birthday:

My birthday is next Tuesday. I will be turning 20. I was going to have a party, but now I have opted for spending time with Leighton and Danielle as much as possible. I only get to see Danielle every 6 months or so and Leighton is about to go down to Orlando, so there is no telling how long it will be until I see her again. I am hoping to go see a movie or something maybe on my birthday with some friends. I have decided that is what I want most. Now I just need to figure out what is playing that I would want to go all the way to Oxford to see. I hope there is something good on.

Well now I think I will sit and read. I love being out of school. Even though it isn't that long of a break, it is still plenty of time for me to read.

Hopefully I will put pictures up from Christmas after all the craziness.

so Merry Christmas!

Quote of the Day= my life statement

So I was looking at the qoute of the day widget on the side of my blog *points to right side* and I couldn't help but feel a little giddy about it. It is so something I would say. So here it is.

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."
Jane Austin

So to explain. Not only did she describe how I feel about reading she also had the point about having a library in her home. That is me. I want to have a library in my house. I have it all figured out in my head. I know that at first I won't be able to, but one day I want to. It is on my bucket list. I may only be 20 (well almost), but hey, I want that in my lifetime. So I just thought I would post about how much I want a library.

On another note, Mom, Dad, and I played Scrabble. I got my first bingo word (when you use all 7 tiles). It was "Meiosis". I usually don't do that well, but tonight I was doing great. Mom and I tied for 2nd place and Dad won, but it was a close game. I think Dad was 122 and Mom and I were 117. Even with a 90 point word I still lost. *shrug* At least I got a bingo word.

Well I think I will go and read The Time Traveler's Wife now.

Night, and keep writing/reading!

Off The cuff

This post is going to be diffrent than any other ones I do. This is going to just be a poem that I write now. No editing. I might go back and edit it later, but for right now it is just going to be what comes out at this moment. so here goes (Well first I need to comb my wet hair, then it will be poem writing time)

Recovery

I've been heartbroken,

Had my heart torn in two.

I have given you all of me.

And now I am walking away.

I will not fall again.

I will not jump in that pit again.

I saw the edge,

I contemplated it.

Then I felt the tug.

The tug of the one who loves me more than you.

Not that you ever really loved me.

Not the way I need you to.

I saw the edge, but his pull was stronger.

I stand far away.

I see it in the distance.

I could jump if I want.

But-I won't.

I won't go back down that path again.

You won't-see-me-again.

I may talk, but that is it.

I can't tell you where I have been-

You won't-Understand.

I have something you don't.

-Love- from an ever present-God.

So go along your way.

Don't look back.

Don't go back.

Keep moving forward.

I see that pit.

I know its depths.

I won't jump back in.

I will stay away from it.

Kayla Goodwin

December 5, 2009

So there it is. Hope you like. If you don't understand, then good. If you do then great. I don't care. It is just a statement to myself and someone else or is it? That is for you, the reader, to try to figure out. :)

Throwing in the towel

Well not all together. I am just not going to finish "The Unwanted" which is the title of my NaNoWriMo novel. I will instead go back to working on Sunset Deja Vu. I am more passionate for it anyway. I did NaNoWriMo primarily to help me learn to find time to work on writing. I have accomplished that. I got almost 30K words. So to me that is great. I have yet to get that with Sunset Daja Vu, mainly becuase I have restarted it 3 times. :/ So I shall say farewell to NaNoWriMo 6 days early and work on my other novel.

So as I sit here and type this with a kitten attacking my hair, I start to ponder what research I need to dive into in order to accomplish my next goal: Sunset Daja Vu! Wish me luck. This will take me longer than a month, but I can do it. I am finally back to my old self and loving to sit down and write. My passion is back and I am ready to embrace it.

So put those pens to paper and write. Write anything. Write a note, a letter, a poem, a verse, a song, a lyric, just write. It matters not what you write, but that you write. For words are the very things that help our soul emerge into the world. So go write!

Playing catch up.

This Thanksgiving I will be grateful for time to play catch up on NaNoWriMo. I currently have 23,793 words. If I want to be on track I need to have 36,674 words by Sunday. I am aiming for 30K. If I can get that then I think I can easily catch up and pass what I need on my daily goals this week. I have no class this week. I will be starting to work on Thursday as I farm sit, but that will not take up but a few hours every day. I will be writing like crazy this Thanksgiving holiday. It will be great. I Think Thursday will go something like this. Get up, go to the farm, come home and get clean, go to the McFall's Thanksgiving feast at Asberry, then come home and crash for a while. I will then get up and write till my fingers can no longer take it. I shall get a lot done.

Saturday will be insane. I have to go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast for my Mom's side of the family's Thanksgiving. (Yes Cracker Barrel. Not your normal Thanksgiving food, but still yummy.)

Then I will come home for about 5 hours and write. Then I have to go to my great uncle's retirement party. Maybe I will be done with the 50K words by Saturday. Who knows. It would be great.

Either way I am going to take this 1,000 words at a time. If I focus on 1,000 words at once then it doesn't seem so daunting. :) I am aiming for 25K today. Tomorrow I will try to get in another 5K. I might get more than 25K tonight. I will just have to see how it goes.

So I shall leave you now. My characters are calling for me from their jail cell. Yep my book started out in a jail cell and now my main character is there once again. I love this story. Even I am surprised at where it is going to end. Not totally sure how the loose ends will be weaved in (notice the knitting metaphor there?) but I will find a way.

Until next time.... Keep those blank pages from just sitting there. Write something!

NaNoWriMo

I am sorry that it has been so long since I updated. I have been really busy lately and I am only adding fuel to the fire this month. Why? Well the answer is simple. It is November and this year is the first year that I am taking part in NaNoWriMo. What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month. Every year thousands of people sign up and dedicate themseleves to take on the project of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Are we nuts? Maybe. Do we all need to be placed in insane asylums? I don't think so. Will we all get published? Most likely not. So what is the point? The point is to do your best and have fun. It is not just about writing it is about putting your literary abilities to the test. It is about trying your hardest to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It may seem impossible, but it is not. Many have accomplished it over the years and I hope to be a "winner" this year. Even if I don't win it will still be a nice experience.

Now for those of you who want to know how many words I have so far here is my word count: 15,452. The goal for today is 16,670. As you can see I am well on my way.

I really didn't start until Friday so in the past 4 days I have done over 15,000 words. In fact in 2 days I did 12,000

words. Needless to say I was very happy with myself.

Well it is almost time for Biology to start. Which makes me even more insane for trying to do this while being a collge student.

I feel I am up to the challenge however.

So to all of you I say: Happy NaNoWriMo!

Oh and here is a link to my profile page so you can learn about the novel I am working on.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/587769

Waiting for school to start

So I am sitting in class waiting for class to start, so I thought I would update.

Victory

Very exiting,

In the end.

Comes only with hard work.

The thing everyone wants,

Only the best can have it.

You have done your best and just a little more.

Victory!

But victory can only come from,

Hard work.

Not sitting around,

Hoping it will come to you.

You must go out and gain it.

Kayla Goodwin

Revised: October 8, 2009

I don't have the journal with me but I am thinking about posting a new poem in place of an old one that I will later revise. This in memory of Anne Frank.

Anne Frank

Such a young life,

A young, creative life.

Taken so early.

Such a cruel world.

A very cruel world indeed,

That took her away.

If only they had known,

If only they could have seen.

Before they took her away.

In hiding for two years.

For two years she poured out her soul on paper

Then in an instant, taken away.

She fought so hard to live,

But in the end, she lost the battle.

Lost. Taken away from the world forever.

Such a young life,

A very young life.

So much potential, Gone!

Until next time.