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Not sure what to name this post, so it shall remain like it is.

Winter has finally descended upon us! It's absolutely freezing outside! Thankfully, winter weather is still beautiful in its own unique way.

As you can probably see by this video above, I...well, I guess I'll let the video explain for itself. I'm...not sure how to explain it, other than I was bored. And lonely. And those two combinations do weird things to my mind. Haha. Enjoy.

November Ends

...and I am still writing!

Both this year and last year, I participated in NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month. Never heard of it? Well, allow me to explain. Every November, thousands of people participate in NaNo by attempting to write a 50k novel. Sounds crazy, right??

Well, yeah. Most of us that participate are a bit crazy. Myself included.

This year, I decided to write a sequel to last year's NaNo, and it's going quite well. I'm loving my main character and the plot is revealing itself to me as I go, so it's pretty fun. I'm one of those writer's that just fly by the seat of her pants (also called "pantsing"). I've honestly tried several times over the past years to plan out my novels with notes, timelines, and character sheets, but it just doesn't work for me. For some reason, I go much better if I just let my characters do the talking.

That especially goes for this year, as my main character is somewhat a ham and can't help but get himself into some pretty strange--and often funny--situations. He's one of my favorite characters to write (shhh! Don't tell the others!).

Since my mother's out of town for the time being, she had to take my notebook computer with her...which just so happens to be my notebook in which I write. At first, I was at a loss of what to do when she left, as the smart drive I have all of my books saved on doesn't work on our main computer, but I finally came across this ancient, dinosaur computer that manages my drive nicely. It's sort of a pain to lug around (I don't like writing at the same spot for too long) but as long as I'm able to write, I'm happy.

Not sure if you noticed, but I changed my blog header! I thought the old one was, well, old and a bit too spring weather-y, so I tried to change the mood of the blog to a bit more autumn feel. Let me know what you think of it! I appreciate feedback.

Another thing I appreciate? Sleep. And I've been failing that class, I think. ;) Best get some shut eye. Goodnight, my friends.

A Rainy Day

It's been raining nearly all day, which is the sort of day I love. I love everything about rain.

Another reason I should move to Ireland. I will not give up on this!

Now that the weather is finally starting to act like it should in November, I'm afraid I won't be doing any photo shoots for a little while. I've really been needing to get some pictures taken of my family, but the time has escaped me. My mother will be out of town for a bit, anyway, so I know when she gets back I definitely won't be getting any photos taken of us all. I don't think my parents would be too willing to sit in the snow while I set up my tripod.

So I guess I'll just be spending my liesure time writing. I started a new book a couple of weeks ago (as if I don't already have enough started!), and I'm really enjoying writing this character. He was a secondary character in the last novel I wrote, but now I'm writing the new book in his perspective and he has a very interesting personality. If you're not a writer, you may be thinking I'm a bit crazy by saying that a figment of my imagination has an "interesting personality", but I promise you I'm not! It truly does seem that my characters all have minds of their own.

If that makes me crazy, then so be it. I think all writers must be crazy, anyway, to be able to create and write about so many things.

Speaking of writers, I am really looking forward to The Hunger Games movie coming out in March. The movie's based off the book by the same name (written by Suzanne Collins) and I think it's going to end up being quite popular. At least it should be, since the book series is so popular. Here's a link to the movie trailer.

I think I actually figured out how to make the link all fancy-fied! :O

Well, I suppose that's all for now. This isn't my best post but oh, well. Maybe things will slow down and I'll be functioning properly soon.

Shooting with a couple of Cowboys

The beginning of this week, I managed to have the two photo shoots I've been planning, and the pictures really turned out great. The guys were great at listening and they were patient with my craziness--they're also very photogenic, so that helped.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce the models!

Logan

                                

















  &
Jared

Two days of shooting = 270 photos

The first day was with Jared, who's quiet and nice, and he smiled pretty much the whole time.

And the second day was with Logan, the troublemak--I mean...he's nice, too.

This really was a great opportunity for me to see just how a photo shoot would go, and I'm so glad I have friends that will put up with me taking picture after picture of them and bossing them around. 

8 hours of editing = some pretty great photos (if I may say so myself ;) 

These are just a tiny showing of the pictures I snapped. Like I said, I shot hundreds and the boys are natural hams, so it all worked out. Thanks, guys! You were great subjects!

                                                                                                                                             

The Coolest Web-mag I know!

 

  Okay, so I don't know of any other web magazines besides Lilies Among Thorns. But it's a magazine I write for, along with lots of other great Christian girls, so it should be a pretty great magazine! I definitely think it is, and if you haven't checked it out yet, then head on over to http://www.liliesamongthornsmagazine.blogspot.com/ ! Like us on Facebook!

  Our magazine is dedicated to helping young women deal with the thorns of life and to striving to be lilies among those thorns. We write spiritual and inspiration articles to help you through the tough times and lift you up, fun articles to give you ideas for crafts and activities, fashion columns to show you simple and modest outfits to keep ya stylin', and lots more.

  Our editor, Haylie, got the idea to start an online Christian magazine written by teenage girls sometime last year, and I was lucky enough to be asked on as one of the regular writers. Our first column came out last October, so we've been at this for nearly a year now. So far, we have 55 followers, but I know we can do better than that!

  I also know that I can do better than just ONE follower. Right? Yep.

  Take a look at the mag, follow it, like it, let us know what you think!