Christmas Greetings

I don’t have a lot of time (like anyone ever has any excess time?), but I wanted to take a moment to tell you all Merry Christmas and to share a little holiday blessing with you. We all get so caught up in the season that we sometimes forget the true reason for the season. I’m guilty of that, as much as the next person is. However, for the next few minutes, I’m going to take the time to remember that December 25th is to celebrate the birthday of our savior.

The Joys of Spell Check

Some days, spell check is my best friend in the whole world. And then, on other days, I just don’t think it likes me very well.

I’ll openly admit that I am not the greatest speller. All the time growing up, I thought there would come a magical moment – possibly the day I turned 15? – that I would suddenly just know how to spell things… that and how to do multiplication. I could always recognize those ah ha! and light bulb moments when they occurred – the same that any child experiences during their education. Why would spelling be any different?

Happy NaNoWriMo!

November is a much celebrated month among my kind – the writer folk, that is.

It’s known as NaNoWriMo, or “National Novel Writer’s Month” for those of you without close writing friends. “National Novel Writer’s Month” is a mouthful, so it’s no wonder that my kind decided to abbreviate it as NaNoWriMo.

Plus it’s just kind of fun to say. (I know you’re repeating it to yourself as you read this!)

But of course, going around saying NaNoWriMo makes me sound like a gibberish-speaking idiot, unless you know what I’m referencing. Either that or you’re thinking that I’m uttering a secret code – which is truer for those of you with writer friends.

I promise you, no such pretense is taking place. It’s just an abbreviation.

10 Things I Didn’t Realize About Living on my Own

Wow, where does time go? Last month marked a year since I moved out of my parent’s house and into my own place in town. (So far, I’ve not had to beg a rent payment out of them, which makes me proud!) So in honor of that milestone, I thought I’d share a list of ten things I’ve learned or come to realize about living on my own in the past year. I may add to this list later on, but these are just some things I thought of for now.

An old-fashioned calf branding party

I can’t tell you how many times people have come to me with the same line that Linda Byrum approached me with about a week ago. "I don’t know if you’d like to or not, but we’ve got something that would make an interesting story in the paper."

Linda told me that she and her husband Mark, who live about a dozen miles west of Agar in rural Sully County, were going to have an ‘old fashioned calf branding’ that weekend and she was inviting me to come along. This lead held interest to me not only because it would make a good story for the paper, but also because it gave me an excuse to get to ride my horse all day.

Communication Dependencies

When I came home the other night, my sister met me at the door of our apartment with tears in her eyes, obviously distraught. She immediately implored the used of my cell phone, quickly explaining that hers was ‘locked up’ and had been for several hours, leaving her out of touch with the world.

While this may seem like a trivial situation, the main cause of her anxiety was this: she’d promised her boyfriend – who lives in the next city – that she would call when she got home … and it had been an hour since. She was worried that he was worried that she hadn’t made it safely. Turns out, that’s exactly what he was thinking and had been about to start a search party because it’s not typical of her to be out of reach.

I gave her my phone right away and asked to see hers in return. An iPhone 3, I messed around with it for a while before I was able to get it to power off and start up again. (If only I had magic fingers when I was the one experiencing the technical difficulties!) She was thankful and began the process of returning calls and answering text messages from worried friends who all wanted to know why she had ignored them for so long.

We Will Never Forget

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our nation that took the lives of over 3000 innocent American people. As a 12 year old who was struggling on dreaded homework, I’m ashamed to say that I was just relived to get to put math away for a while.

I was sitting on the couch in my living room, trying to make sense of fractions. My mom came in from outside in a rush, having somehow heard of the attacks, and turned on the TV.

Shrine circus memories

My first memory of the circus is of a night show, after dark, sitting in the bleachers at the Ft. Pierre rodeo grounds for the Oahe Shrine Club Circus. I remember watching in awe as the tight rope walkers balanced with their arms outstretched, high above my head. Colored lights reflecting off their glitter-covered faces only seemed to amplify the excitement. I remember the taste of cotton candy in my mouth and having to share my seat with my sister because of the large crowd that was in attendance that evening.

The show featured many things I’d never seen before; colored doves appeared out of a magician’s hat and poodles did tricks in skirts, bears rode on tricycles and elephants danced to their trainer’s whim. There were also clowns and tigers and ponies and many other things to entertain a young child.

On Being Single and of Boyfriends

Attention all well-meaning individuals in my life:

I am a single white female – get over it.

I know you all mean well when you comment, jest or quip about my obvious lack of a significant other in my life; but with all-due respect, back off. I happen to take a certain level of pride at setting my relationship status as ‘single’ on Facebook and check marking ‘Ms.” on forms. If I’m happy for me, why can’t you be too?

Blog Post in Progress

I walk into my home office and sit down to my new desk, a pre-used gift from my mom. It’s not new, but it’s new to me so it works as a bit of much needed inspiration.

My laptop is still sitting out from when I was messing with it earlier. The power cord is nearby too. I know that the computer’s battery life expectancy is not much without life support. It’s just getting old, but it still gets the job done.

A Note About Me

I'm a writer who writes about writing. How boring is that?

I write about the pens I use, paper I write on. I write about how I feel when I write, I write about how I feel when I don't write. I write about the readers who read what I write about writing. (s'up guys) I even write about how my handwriting is a poor representation of my writing.

Trampling over Death by death

Thank the heavens above and all that is beautiful that I can celebrate a new life. I think that Christian contemporary artist Matt Maher nailed it on the head when he wrote the song Christ is Risen.

In it, he quotes the Bible, “Oh Death, where is your sting? Oh hell, where is your victory?” [I Corinthians 15:55]

Let's Take a Moment...

Did you know that a moment is 90 seconds?^[1] Have you ever thought that when someone says you should ‘take a moment’ that you should to stop for a minute and a half? Why don’t you try it now?

...Feels like an eternity doesn’t it?

Speaking of Eternity let me share an illustration with you about what a ‘moment’ in Eternity would be like; it’s an illustration given to me by my pastor. It’ll require a little bit of an imagination.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

There was a mouse in my house tonight. Literally. 

My sister and I were just relaxing in our apartment when we heard the rustling of the cracker package that had been left setting out on the counter. We both exchanged a look and knew what the source of the sound was even though we’d never had rodent problems before. Neither of us shrieked; we just went into action.

I Shall Be Great

I have great ideas locked up inside of me; it's just that I haven't mastered all of the skills necessary to get them out onto the page yet.

Every day I try a little more to give words to my visions; I write a few more sentences hoping that my outlook on the world will be properly expressed. And each time I set my hand to writing, I come just a little closer to saying exactly what I'm trying to say.