Thanksgiving Daily

Writing and Harry Potter

Well, we're already halfway through November, so I thought I should take a minute to update everyone on how my writing goal is going (see previous post). I'm happy to say that I've met my goal of writing every day this month! They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, but after only a week of writing, I was hooked. Writing can become an obsession with me sometimes, especially with this novel, and I'm definitely obsessed once again. Ever since getting back into the habit of writing daily, I haven't been able to stop thinking about my story--at work, in the car, when I'm listening to music, ALL the time. It's really my favorite thing to do: come home, put on my pajamas, and sit at my computer and write. Unfortunately, most nights are too busy for this luxury, and I can only spend 10 or 20 minutes working on my novel, but it's at least something.

While I'm already adding a new post, I want to also say that Harry Potter is also my new obsession right now; at least, it's always on the brain. I was extremely lucky and got to see the movie the day before it was released in theaters! On top of that, I got to see it a second time the day it came out. My roommate and I also had a Harry Potter marathon and watched movies 3-6 every night this past week. SO, the past five days have been nothing but Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter. And I'm ok with that =)

Rain in Oregon?!

So this post is going back a few weekends ago when I got to fly home to Oregon and spend a few days with my family. It was GREAT being able to return home and not worry about work, my social life, roommates, anything--and simply spend time with my parents and sister. Yes, there were two small catches involved: my mom needed me to help her work on a "special" project, and I basically packed up my old bedroom so my sister could move in (LOTS of fun). But despite a few hours of "hard" work, it was still a great weekend and definitely the fasted 3 days of my life!

Having grown up in Oregon, I'm pretty used to the rain and often miss it living in this desert state called Utah. Well, my parents warned me it was supposed to rain the entire time I was there, and I got excited! Little did I know how much it would rain. Honestly, I forgot how hard it can pour! On Sunday morning, I woke up to the sound of rain hitting my bedroom window faster than you can blink. As I laid in bed for a moment, enjoying the warmth and coziness of my blankets, I suddenly heard my parents' shouting and realized it was coming from outside. Apparently, the tarp covering our boat and tent trailer was filling up with water and breaking.

So, being the good daughter that I am, I decided to take a few pictures of my poor parents trying to fix the tarp IN the pouring rain. There was no way I was going to join them; instead, I recorded the moment, which I'm sure my dear parents will appreciate a few years from now =)

Here they are trying to fix the tarp. As you can see, it's not easy with that much water pelting you. They were both soaked to the bone within seconds.

And a closeup of my dear parents, who I'm sure will love me for this ;) My mom's coat left a large puddle of water in our garage after this was over.

The view from my other bedroom window. I felt like I was on a ship in the middle of the ocean (well, minus large tree blocking view). Pretty exciting, eh?

So just to eliminate any doubts you may have, it really DOES rain in Oregon...crazy.

Oh, and on a random note, here are some fun pictures Kimberly and I took in Macy's dressing room when me, Kimberly, and my mom had some quality girl time shopping:

Oh, the blessings of digital cameras and sisters =)

The Princess and the Lady Bug

This Halloween, I was finally able to fulfill my childhood fantasy and dress up as a princess--Princess Fiona, to be precise. You know--the half-human, half-ogre from Shrek? The only difference was I didn't have to turn green come midnight. In fact, my transition from human to ogre was pretty simple. Let me demonstrate:

Princess Fiona the human:

(not the best picture--not going to lie...)

Voila! Princess Fiona the ogre:

I was also one lucky princess because I got to spend the evening at a ball (well, the YSA Halloween dance, which is probably as close to a ball as I'll ever get, although Prince Charming never showed up) and hang out with one cute bug:

Miss Sariah, the Lady Bug
(aka my roommate):

Here is Fiona modeling her princess dress (yes, this was taken in the bathroom...a minor detail):

After dancing the night away (Fiona even got to dance with Dwight from The Office and Napoleon Dynamite!) , the princess and the lady bug decided that they had had enough dancing for one night and headed home, but not without taking some cute pictures together:

(Yes, that is Casper behind us)

And they lived happily ever after.

(Well, they got to watch My Fair Lady and eat buttery popcorn the next night, which made both of them VERY happy. )

P.S. As an editing nerd, I have to point out the fact that I went from first person to third person in only a few sentences. Classic.