What To Do When You've Fallen Dreadfully Behind...

Okay, so the past couple days have been hell for me. I went through a personal crisis on Wednesday and decided that I didn't want to do the nursing program anymore, and that I would quit. It was spured on by the meeting I had with my clinical instructor and the head of clinicals. I realized that I had had enough. It just wasn't my thing. So I called my parents and talked to them for an hour instead of going to my Assesment lecture. I made up my mind to quit. Thursday I skipped my lab. Friday, I had an appointment with my nursing advisor and told her I was quitting to pursue a major in French. She immediately recommended that I go talk to the Modern Languages Department, which I did. I talked to the head of the department about switching to a French major and what to do with, etc. Then I went over to ACAC and officially changed my major to French with a minor in English/Writing.

The thing that sucks is that I'm stuck in my current classes until the end of the semester and I passed the point where I could drop any of them. Of course, to remain under my dad's insurance, I need to be a full-time student so I can't drop all of them. But at any rate, I'm stuck in classes that I don't give a damn about that I have no motivation whatsoever to finish because I am not a nursing major anymore and will never use the classes. I don't even think I need the electives.

So now I'm behind in my classwork with a looming Pharmacology exam on Monday that I'm now scrambling to study for, plus a scholarly paper draft that I've only started.

So I haven't written much of anything these past couple days. And now I'm behind. I should be at about 10,000 words by the end of the day, but I'm currently at around 6,000 and it's noon. And I have no idea when I'm going to find the time to write and catch up. I keep getting distracted by everything and I have almost no motivation to write right now. I don't want to quit, though. I'm not going to give up. I think my plot is finally starting to move again, albeit slowly. And I hate almost everything I've written so far. It's just awful writing. I know it's supposed to be about quantitiy over quality, but my Inner Editor won't shut up. And I'm worried that the story is going to end before I reach 50,000 words.

Word count: 6,063
Characters killed: 0
Number of fourth wall breakages: 2
Cups of tea consumed: 1

Day 2 Woes

I know that today is the 3rd day of NaNoWriMo, but I never got around to posting last night because I was deep in the woes of day 2. I spent most of yesterday studying for my test-out so I didn't get much done besides that. But I passed the test-out. That's all that matters. I have another one tomorrow to make up for the one I FAILED the first time. So I'm going to be studying today. Somehow. I also have to write a 3-page scholarly paper and study for a Pharmacology test by Monday. I'm trying not to put these things off until the very last minute BUT IT'S NOT WORKING! Arrgh!

Anyway, back to my story. It went SO slowly yesterday. It was awful. One of my characters had a HUGE paragraph of dialogue explaining backstory.

Today isn 't much better.

I broke the fourth wall already. It's only day three. WTF? This is gonna be a long month.

"Aw, fuck this. I hate silences," Ayden finally said, angrily running his fingers through his short hair. "I don't care how stupid this sounds. How old are you and Keian?"
"That's a very good question. I'm not sure if the author has assigned us an age," Keian answered.
"Well pick one then," Ayden said. "It's probably irrelevant to the plot, but whatever."
"Keian and I are seveneen, mere babies in the eyes of our poeple," Kayden said. "How about you?"
"I choose to be seventeen, since the author didn't choose an age for me either," Ayden said. "Do you have any siblings, I mean, besides Keian?"
"No." Kayden shook his head. "Kayden and I are the only children."
"But you're Kayden," Ayden pointed out.
"You know what I mean!" Kayden hissed.
Ayden smirked. "It seems like the author still can't keep you two straight."
Can we get back to the story, please? Thank you.

See what I mean? Epic fail. And the NaNoWriMo website is being wonky, which REALLY annoys me.

Word count: 3, 385
Characters killed: 0
Number of Fourth Wall Breakages: 1
Cups of tea consumed: 0

It Has Begun...

Today is Tuesday November 2. It's officially the second day of NaNoWriMo.

I stayed up late on October 31 just so I could start writing when midnight came. And ten minutes in, I started over. I only wrote half a page, so it's okay, but still. If I'm already starting over in the FIRST TEN MINUTES of NaNoWriMo, it's gonna be a long month.

I need to find a way to silence my Inner Editor.

Maybe I should consider threatening her with throwing her into Lake Superior...

Writing went smoothly for a while, but then I got stuck for a while. And I absolutely hate what I've written so far. It's so wordy and redundant and just horrible. But it's normal. I just have to make my Inner Editor SHUT UP and keep plowing through. I ended up writing a LOT during my Patho lecture, especially after my laptop battery decided to die with an hour remaining in the lecture so all I could do was sit there and listen to her. And the saddest part? I don't think I really missed anything important because all the information we need is in the Power Point, which she gives us a copy of. So yeah. Don't think I missed anything.

The plot is going smoothly with only a few deviations so far from the outline I made, but they're very minor. The three main characters, Keian, Kayden, and Ayden have been introduced so the love triangle can begin. Did I mention that Keian and Kayden are twins? Oh yes, this is going to be interesting. I'm STILL wondering where the fuck my brain came up with the twincest. It's awful and sick and wrong but I'm going with it. I wrote twincest before, but they were the only two people left on the Earth, so they didn't really have a choice. This time they do. What the hell is wrong with me?! Seriously.

The worst part is the blatant lack of description in my novel and when it is there, it's just terrible. *bangs head against desk*

I suppose I should explain things, characters and whatnot. The characters introduced thus far are:

Keian-Prince of the Elves. Younger twin brother of Kayden.
Kayden-Prince of the Elves. Older twin brother of Keian.
Lady Mirai-Mother of Keian and Kayden. Ruler of the Elven kingdom of Kuhala.
Elenar-bodyguard of Keian.
Naharal-bodyguard of Kayden.
Ayden-prince of the human kingdom of Mer. Heir to the throne.
Connor- (only mentioned thus far) Ayden's younger brother.
Rei-Ayden's bodyguard.

So now you know. Those are the characters so far and a little about them. I'll probably add more to them later and stuff. And there are going to be a LOT more characters.

I did figure out the problem I had with my outline. I simply decided to end the book at a different spot, thus eliminating that problem, at least for now. But I'm sure I'll have to revisit it later when I write that book.

All that was yesterday.

Today? Have barely written anything. A paragraph, maybe. But I've been busy with school work. I no longer have clinical since I didn't pass the written medication administration exam so I have no classes on Tuesday, but I'm filling the void with other school work. For instance, today, I finished reading a chapter for my Foundations class and practiced the test-outs on the eyes and ears since I had my test-out today. I did fairly well, by the way. I missed a few things, but I still passed. So that has sucked up the majority of my day, hence why I haven't written anything today. But there's still time. Even though I need to work on making notecards for my upcoming Pharmacology exam. I really have to stop putting things off. It's not healthy.

Word count: 2,028 words
Characters killed: 0
Breakdowns: 1
Cups of tea consumed: 0

It's That Time of Year Again...

Today is October 1st, which means there is one month left until NaNoWriMo begins.

For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. There's an official website: nanowrimo.org that can explain things better that I can. But I'm going to try. It's this yearly thing, like a contest that writers do. The challenge: write 50,000 words in one month, basically a short novel. It takes place every November from the 1st to the 30th. This will be my third year doing this and I'm very excited. You don't actually *win* anything, just the pride that you wrote a novel in a month. And you can't write the same word over and over again; there's a system that will make sure you're truthful. There are fourums on the website, where I lurk quite a bit, especially once November comes around. It's a nice place for writers to come together, especially when they're in distress, which happens quite a bit.

This year is going to be a little insane because I'm in nursing school and it's a lot of work on its own. Plus I'm going to be blogging about my experience. I'm not sure if I'll actually finish, but I can at least try.

I've been plotting since about the beginning of September, I think. I can't remember exactly. Some people start even earlier. I just didn't start getting any ideas until about September. I'm working on outlining. I outline pretty rigidly. It just doesn't seem to work if I don't have a plan. So I'm outlining.

This year's novel is called The Gift of Fire. It's the first book of a series called The Desidar Chronicles. I've actually been trying to write The Desidar Chronicles since 7th grade, but I'm taking a new approach. This first book is actually something completely different though a couple characters from later books are starting to make an appearance. Right now, I don't have a point where Book 1 ends and Book 2 begins. I'm just going to worry about that later.

I'm still waiitng for the forums on the NaNoWriMo website to be wiped clean (they wipe them clean October 1st) because that's when things really start. It probably won't be wiped clean until this afternoon.

This is the summary for my novel: Darkness is spreading througout Desidar. Whispers of the dark Elf-witch Leillasa spreads through the Elven kingdom of Huhala. When the city is threatened by this strange dark power, the great lady Mirai sends the two princes away to seek refuge. However, the twin prices Keian and Kayden stumble by accident into the human realm of Mer and meet the fiery prince Ayden. Suddenly, things aren't so easy as Keian falls for the human prince, but he's been promised to another...

It needs some work. But I can work on that later. The outline isn't finished yet. I'm up to chapter 13, I think. No. Chapter 14. My bad. I'm a little stuck. I have a new MC (the other one kind of DIED) and he's rather reluctant to get going on his journey. It's really frustrating.

Playing Catch-Up

It's been a while. But I'm not surprised. It happens quite frequently with me. I'll start something and then abandon it for a period of time. Sometimes long periods of time. I've been sort of busy but not really.

Last week was a really stressful week because my grandma was admitted to the hospital on Monday. I'm not exactly sure on all the details, but she's just not doing well. She has emphysema and hasn't been eating properly. She's out of the hospital now, but she's in a rehabilitation center and we may have to put her into assisted living. Right now, well up until she was admitted to the hospital, she lived in an apartment for elderly people. But now she may have to be put into assisted living, if she is unable to live on her own. Which kind of really sucks. And I also had a CPR class.

That was interesting. Because I procrastinated for so long, I had to take the class in Waterford, which is about 40-45 minutes away. But the first night took me an hour and fifteen minutes, more or less. The second time took me about an hour. But I passed and everything so I am now certified in CPR so I can actually start the Nursing program (one of the requirements is that I be certified in CPR). So that's good. I'll be going back up to school in exactly one week. How scary is that? My classes start on August 23, which is in 10 days, actually. Wow. I'm really excited and I can't wait to get out of the house and away from my parents. They've been driving me insane. And it's been stressful because of my grandma, so I am very glad to get away.

The best news is that I have a title for the sequel to Dante's Requiem. It's kind of weird that I'm thinking about the sequel when the first one isn't even done yet, but I have a draft for each of them, so I guess it's okay. The title will be The Last Bearers. I'm really excited that I actually came up with a title. I hated the original title, Identity so I decided to come up with a new one. But nothing was coming to me. So I just waited and waited. And finally, today, I was playing Solitare and listening to music (I do that when I'm in writer's block because for whatever reason, it helps me) and the song playing was the music from the Lord of the Rings Two Towers trailer: Requiem for a Dream remix which is an epic song and the title just sort of came to me. So I'm going with it.

I've also been working on a short story that's turning out to be a bit longer than I first anticipated. It's called Only One Night. And here's a quick excerpt:

I’m not gay.

Gabriel Allen continued muttering that to himself as he hunched over his drink at a table in a crammed bar on a Friday night. It earned him several odd glances from the other patrons, who probably thought he was crazy, but he didn’t care. He probably was crazy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kissed Axel like that.

Gabriel pressed his fingertips to his lips at the memory and he could almost feel Axel’s lips pressed there, those warm, soft lips…

He gave a cry of disgust and lowered his hand. What the hell was he thinking? He was not gay. He had no idea why he had kissed Axel, but he wasn’t going to think about it anymore.

Gabriel drained the remnants of his drink and ordered a second, drinking it more slowly. The alcohol helped soothe his frazzled nerves. As he drank, he glanced around at the bar. He had never been in here before, though he had passed by it many times on his way back to his apartment from classes. It wasn’t anything special, just like every other bar in town. There was a bar, of course, and TVs suspended over it, broadcasting every sport imaginable. Small tables crammed the room and sports memorabilia from every century hung on the walls.

It was a fairly comfortable place where sports fans could come to watch a game, hang out with non-sports fans just there for the drinks, and have a good time. And gaze at the pretty waitresses. Gabriel quickly looked around. All the waitresses here had huge breasts, tight asses, and skimpy clothes. Speaking of slutty waitresses…

Gabriel gritted his teeth as one of them walked up to his small table in the corner, bringing with her the scent of expensive perfume that made his eyes water. Her hair was dyed red and teased into long curls that framed her face. She wore blue eye shadow and her lips were painted mahogany. She was a few years older than him, but obviously thought she could get away with flirting with him. Definitely not his type.

“Yeah?” he snapped at her.

“Can I get you anything, sugar?” the woman purred in a heavy Southern drawl.

“Another one of these, please,” Gabriel responded, holding up his beer bottle.

“Sure thing.” With a wink, the woman vanished.

Gabriel groaned under his breath and took a large gulp of his drink. The alcohol burned as it went down his throat. His eyes watered, but he took another sip. By the time the waitress came back with his third beer, the second one had been drained and sat on the edge of the table, waiting to be picked up.

“Here you are, hun. Need anything else?” the waitress said, setting the third beer on the table.

“No thank you,” Gabriel said politely.

The waitress grinned at him and took the empty bottle away. Why did she even bother flirting with him? He was obviously not into her. Sure, he was good-looking, but not that good-looking.

Gabriel had never really considered himself to be attractive. He was far too skinny and pale with a mop of unruly strawberry blonde hair and pale blue eyes. And he had never found anyone to be attractive, really. The guys were all muscle and no brains and the girls were all boobs and no brains. Not attractive at all…

He took a sip of his drink and resisted the urge to gag. He normally didn’t drink under any circumstances. In fact, he was underage, but no one in this bar needed to know that. He had an ID one of his friends had forged and he looked much older than he actually was. Luckily, no one really cared if there was underage drinking as long as it was kept in control. Gabriel never drank, but he had the ID in case of emergency, which tonight clearly was. He was extremely jittery tonight and required alcohol to soothe his nerves.

Even with the alcohol in his system, he still felt uneasy and he didn’t know why. He glanced around the bar. Everything seemed normal enough. All the patrons were laughing and chatting amongst themselves, unwinding after a long week of work or (in some cases) classes. Gabriel envied them. They could forget their troubles with a couple drinks. Not Gabriel. With every drink he consumed, his anxieties grew. Something bad was going to happen.

Gabriel blew several strands of strawberry blonde hair out of his eyes and sighed. Maybe he was being paranoid; it wouldn’t be the first time. He looked around again. Was it just him or was the atmosphere becoming more oppressive? Some of the patrons had lit cigarettes and the smoke hovered in the air, veiling the bar in a shroud of smoke. Gabriel choked slightly, claustrophobia setting in. The room seemed to be much smaller, the bodies closer. He fought off the anxiety that was building, but it was no use. He needed to get out, now. He couldn’t breathe. Oh god, he couldn’t breathe. Something was burning. Swallowing hard, Gabriel summoned the waitress.

“What can I get for you, sugar?” she asked, winking at him seductively.

“The check…please,” Gabriel responded, trying to keep his tone level.

“Oh. Okay.” The waitress looked disappointed. “Hold on a second.”

Gabriel bit back the urge to scream. “Okay.”

The waitress returned a couple minutes later with his check. He glanced at it and quickly grabbed enough money for the bill and a hefty tip for the waitress. As he rose, he stuffed his wallet back in his pocket, grabbed his coat from the back of the chair, and bristled past the other patrons for the door.

He shrugged into his coat, but he didn’t even bother zipping it up as he hurried through the frozen evening air. He felt marginally better as he stopped at a street corning, waiting for the light to change, but the anxiety remained.

“Fuck,” he muttered, rushing across the street as soon as it became safe to cross.

It felt like he was going to die. He hated that feeling so fucking much. His anxiety attacks had lessened over the years, but they were still a bitch when they came. His mind screamed at him that he needed to get as far away from the bar as possible or he was going to die.

Diet is No Longer a Four-Letter Word...

It's what I'm going to undertake. I really need to lose weight. At least 20 pounds. I'm gonna do it by eating healthy (limiting carbs, eating fruits and vegetables, etc.) and exercising. And hopefully, I'll lose weight. Because I'm not happy with myself right now. I feel terrible and I have to do something about it or it's just going to get worse. I know I can do it. I just have to exercise, which is going to be hard for me. But I can do it. I just have to get off my fat, lazy ass and do it. And no making excuses. It starts tomorrow for sure. My goal is to get down to 140 pounds. I'll be in the average for my height. Wish me luck!

Current weight: 163.3 pounds.

Revelations and Pancakes

Last night I was reading this book that a friend reccomended to me, The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing and I had one of the biggest revelations ever. Seriously. I realized that I was starting my novel in the entirely wrong place and that's why it was stuck. I started on Dante's first day of work and it was written from Gabe's POV, his partner, which doesn't really make sense because Dante is the main character. So I'm going to start the story 6 years later. It's making me really happy. There may be some hope yet.

I also cooked pancakes from scratch last night. For the first time ever. I've made them with pancake mix from the box, but not from scratch. I've slowly begun to learn how to cook. I know how to cook tacos and now I can make pancakes too. I'm getting there. I have no problem following a recipe (though I did have to ask my mom about a couple things I wasn't sure about) and I love baking. I just haven't cooked much. But I'm getting there. It was a bit of an adventure. The recipie is simple enough. I just was a bit worried because the pancake mix was too thick. But it was okay. The hardest part was getting the pancakes to cook on the finicky cooktop my parents have. It's SO freaking picky. It's either too hot so the stuff cooks too quickly and burns or it's too cold and the stuff doesn't cook enough. Needless to say, my first four pancackes were no good because they were gooey inside. But I got it down eventually and made plenty even though I was the only one eating them. My mom did try one and she seemed to like it. And they were good. I wrote the recipie down on an index card so, provided I don't lose the card, I will have the recipie when I get my own place. I'm planning on looking through all the cookbooks my mom has and trying out different recipies so I can write them down and actually know how to cook things when I'm on my own.

Went to the bank this morning to transfer another $200 to my checking account from my savings account. Now I only have about $400 left in my savings account. Yikes! I have no idea why I can't get off my lazy ass and get a job. Probably because the summer is almost over already. I did work in June at a preschool. My dad is not happy about that. But there's nothing that can be done about it now.

Driving into town this morning sucked. First, I had to take a detour to avoid Ann Arbor Road because they're doing construction there. And I also had to avoid Main Street in Plymouth because they're filming a movie there. Scream 4. It's probably not going to be a very good movie, but that's okay. I still feel proud that they're shooting at least some of the movie in my hometown. I don't actually live in the downtown area. I live about 10 miles out in the country. But I still consider Plymouth my hometown because I've been going there since I was a kid. I go to the library frequently. I've been to the park for Art in the Park and Music in the Park. I've gone Christmas shopping in some of the stores there. I've watched all the stores come and go over the years. Our zip code is for Plymouth. I will always consider Plymouth my hometown.

So I had to take a detour to avoid Main Street even though when I got there, it actually seemed to be open. There was just one small strip of road that was closed for filming that had no significance to me. But I took the detour anyway. Instead of going down Ann Arbor Road all the way into Plymouth and turning onto Main Street, I took North Territorial. Bad idea because they're doing construction on North Territoral now. UGH!!!!!! It was down to a one-lane road so it was BAD. I hate construction with a passion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I don't know what I'd do without the backroads here in Michigan. They're a real life-saver in a pinch.

Today I get to look forward to washing washcloths and towels and folding them. And I'm going to try and get some work on Dante's Requiem done. And I'll probably watch the Tigers tonight even though they've been sucking like crazy lately. If I can get control of the big screen TV in the addition, I can even work on my knitting and reading. It's a lot easier to sit up and knit rather than lounge on a bed. And even if I can't, I can still work on my reading. I'm currently reading 5 different books: The Simillarion by Tolkien, The Inferno by Dante, The Last Juror by John Grisham, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Montana Sky by Nora Roberts. I own all the books except the last, which is a library book. I have four books by her checked out by the library and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get them done on time. If not, I can renew them. Even though I'm going back to school at the end of the month. I'm really starting to make progress on Montana Sky. It's really good, but suspensful, which is why I can't read it at night. I'm afraid it'll spook me too much and I won't be able to sleep. What can I say, I'm a sensitive person. So I can only read that one during the day. Same with The Last Juror. And The Inferno as well. That one is really really bizzare so who knows what kind of dreams I'll get from it. I was reading The Simillarion but got bored so I started The Mists of Avalon. Both those books are going to take FOREVER to read because they're really slow reads. I've read The Mists of Avalon before, though I didn't get all the way through. Oh yeah, I'm also reading Harry Potter in French. I'm on the first one. Still. It's taken me forever and a half to get through it, which is understandable. But I still have a long ways to go. Sigh.

Blogging From the Road

Greetings from De Queen, Arkansas. This is my second day here. We arrived last night after spending a day and a half on the road. It was about two ten-hour days. I am down here with my mother and my maternal grandmother for a family reunion that took place today, actually. It's been an interesting couple days.

It started on Thursday at about 7:19 in the morning when my mom came in to wake me up. My alarm wasn't going to go off until 8, but unfortunately, that was the time my mom wanted to leave. Naturally, I went back to sleep until 7:25 when my grandma, who came down the night before from Ludington got me up. I had woken up at like 4 that morning feeling a bit dizzy and was worrying that I was having a dizzy spell. I did manage to go back to sleep. when I woke up, I was still felling a bit unwell, but I still got up, got dressed, and did my last-minute packing. I made myself breakfast and got ready. I was the last one up and the second ready. My gradnma was up first at an unnaturally early time (I wish I had her habits--getting up in the morning is always really hard for me, especially now that it's summer and I have nothing better to do than sleep) and she, of course, was the first one ready. My mom was up second and the last one ready. She had to take a shower and do who knows what else. Point is: we were waiting for her. We, of course, didn't leave at 8, but that doesn't surprise me. We are not a family of efficiency. I always like leaving early and I get that from my mom's side of the family. My dad is almost never early. Nor does he leave on time. Usually. Exceptions will occur. We left at about 8:4. I got a bunch of reading done. I finished Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, though truthfully, I didn't have too much to go in that. I started working on the second book I brought: The Last Juror by John Grisham. I really like his books. He writes leagal thrillers and they're very good. We stopped at a rest area outside the city of Marshall, after about an hour, because my grandma needed to use the bathroom. It was okay because I needed to pee too. After we got back in the car, I decided to put my headphones on and listen to music. And then my mom deecided she had to listen to music too on the car radio. Loudly, I might add. But my headphones block out a good amount of noise and if I turn my music up loud enough, I can't hear the music or my grandma and mom talking.

Lunch was at Wendy's. I find it a lot easier to eat on the road now that I've gone back to eating meat. My vegitarian streak of about six years came to an end last year. I've decided that for the time being, it's just easier to eat meat. It's a bit hard to be vegitarian while living n the dorms and surviving on cafeteria food. Though Northern has a vegitarian station. I think I'll check that out this fall and while I won't totally devote myself to vegitarianism I'll at least try new things.

We drove from Michigan to Indiana, though I can't tell you which highways we took. I wasn't really paying attention. Then we drove to Illinois. We drove through several rainstorms iwth insane rain. It was a good thing my mom was driving. We stopped at a BP, though I don't exactly know where. I had no idea where we were or even what state we were in for quite a while. We could see the dark storm clouds in the distance and in the direction we were heading. Here's a photo I took at said BP:

The storm came even before we left with heavy rain and wind plus a bit of thunder and lightning. This is what the BP looked like after the storm hit:

There were a couple more rainstorms we drove through and I took a bunch of pictures of the clouds. I won't post all of them, but these are my favorites:

They aren't in any particular order. I had enough trouble getting them where I wanted in the post. I'm still very new at this. Blogging, I mean.

We stayed in Marion, Illinois, which is in the south. It was very hilly there with lots of trees. And it was really cool becaues the clouds hung low in the sky. It was kind of like being in the mountains. It stormed when we got ther eand when we went out to eat at this Mexican place down the road. My mom got a margarita and I had two sips because I wanted to try it. Didn't like it very much. Still sticking to non-alcoholic drinks. Didn't get very much sleep. Between my mom's snoring and my grandma's, it's a wonder I got any sleep at all. Plus my left arm was hruting for some reason and it also kept me awake. Plus I had caffiene, which helped keep me awake. That's all for now. Don't like feel like writing any more right now.

It's Late and I'm Still Up Plotting...

I'm currently working on the planning for a novel called Holding On Until Tomorrow, something completely different from Dante's Requiem. What can I say? I have too many projects that never get done. I'm trying to get a sense of things, plotwise, and I keep getting stuck. It's a really long story. *takes deep breath*

So there's a guy named Danya who is a champion skiier. The best of the best. He has a twin named Dimitri who is not as good, but still really good. Jealous twin. Causes an accident that ends Danya's career. Danya was hurt really bad. He doesn't remember much of the accident. Does not know Dimitri is the reason he lost everything. Fast forward a couple years. Same ski resort as before. Danya is suffering from flashbacks and trying not to have a mental breakdown, which is hardly working). Meets Nick. They have a relationship. A short one. Then they part ways and meet up again a couple years later. Nick's father is killed in a car accident and he gets shipped off to San Franscisco where his mother lives (parents divorced when he was a baby). Danya remains in Michigan (where the story has taken place up until now). This is all great. Fine. I just can't, for the life of me, figure out how Danya gets to San Franscisco. Because he needs to go there so he and Nick can rekindle their relationship, the one his family doesn't approve of because they're highly religious and homosexuality is a sin in their eyes. Did I mention that Danya is almost 3 years older? Oh the drama.

So I just can't figure out how Danya gets to San Franscisco without making him out to be a total creepy stalker, because he's not a creepy stalker. And a long-distance relationship just isn't cutting it. And it's driving me crazy. He needs to go out to San Franscisco because he loves Nick and they need to have a relationship so there can be lovely drama with the family.

I already know how this is going to end and it's not going to be pretty. Why do I have to write such angsty stories?! There's no way this story is going to end happily. The good news is that I eliminated a few plot lines that weren't going anywhere, really, and created confusion. And I got rid of a character who made things eternally complicated. But I'm still stuck. Things were going so well. I have three chapters forming with more on the way. And more ideas and a general idea of where things are going. But not anymore.

And yes, it's after midnight and I'm still up plotting.

The other problem is that Bryan, a really close friend of Danya's who has helped him through all the drama he's faced with his family and stuff has randomly dropped off the face of the planet. Not to mention Danya's family and they had such a huge role in Danya's life up until the point his twin brother attempted to kill him or at least maim him enough to end his career so he could take his brother's place and win their parents' affections, not to mention all the fame and glory Danya has been enjoying plus all the moolah. And he got away with all that and I'm not sure how. I guess there weren't any witnessess or proof or something. I don't freaking know. So hopefully I'll be able to get some closure with Danya and his family when I finish fleshing out the rest of the first part of the novel.

I should really stop this because I'm tired and I don't think clearly and it's probably the reason why I'm not able to work past this little problem right now. It's not even that important because I haven't finished fleshing out the first part of the story yet. I'm doing an outline and I've only gotten to chapter 3 and all this stuff doesn't happen until later. I'm still trying to figure all that out. Danya needs to have a huge confrontation with his family (especially with Dimitri) because they were the ones who caused him to be so fucked up in the first place.

Why do the plot bunnies have to bite me so late at night? And it didn't start out this way. I suddenly realized that Nick's mom isn't married to Nick's stepfather until after Nick moves out to California to live with her--they're only dating and after Nick moves out there, they get married. And I started writing it down and now it's devolved into this. So I'm seriously hating myself right now. And I'm going to bed so I can give my poor brain a break. Me + being tired = me not being able to think coherently. As is illustrated by my above sentences which are epically run-on sentences.

Ugh

I've fallen very behind in this blog (not that it matters since no one is reading it anyway) and I've also fallen ill. It's summer and I have some sort of a cold. I blame my mom because she had it first. I've just started feeling under the weather. Sore throat, slightly stuffy nose (though that might just be my allergies), etc. And I'm starting to cough, just like my mom. She got some cold medicine that I've been sort of taking on and off though it tastes absolutely disgusting. My mom says it doesn't, but what does she know? I think it tastes disgusting.

I didn't get up until 1PM today even though I went to bed at about 11. I guess I really am sick. I was going to get up at 8:30 so I could return bottles at Kroger, and I even set my cell phone alarm, but after it went off, I turned it off, and went back to sleep. I did end up going to Kroger and returned the bottles. I didn't get very much money back. It didn't help that I spent money on White-Out and candy. Then I decided to go to Borders and look around there for a while. I got kind of distracted and spent a lot more time there than I probably should have. I only got one book to read because I have a huge pile of books that I need to read. It doesn't seem to ever get any smaller, only larger. Sigh. Maybe one day I'll be able to get rid of the pile and use the top of my dresser (it isn't very high) for other things rather than for keeping stacks of books. I'm so bad now that there are two piles of books on the floor. I keep swearing that I'm going to not buy any more books until I read my other ones, but that never seems to happen.

Dante's Requiem Character List

This list is subject to change because some charaters will be added and others removed. I'll try and keep it up to date the best I can.

Dante-main character
Arlen-main character
Gabriel-semi-main character
Heather-very minor character
Shepherd-main antagonist
Fyran-minor character
Alex-prominent supporting character
Naomi-minor character
Raphael-very minor character
Hunter-supporting character
Ivana-main antagonist
Raelynne-very minor character
Vance-supporting character
Dr. White-minor character
John-main antagonist
Ingleson-main antagonist
Devyn-very minor character
Taran-very minor character
Dr. Ryan-very minor character (I don't even remember who this person is. D: I have too many characters)
Daire-minor character
Aleksei-minor character
Xander-prominent supporting character
Caelyn-minor character
Hayden-historical character
Harou-historical character
Janet-very minor character (I don't even remember who she is. Hopefully no one important)
Jayden-historical character
Bryan-historical character
Kyle Ingleson-historical character
Aiden-minor character
Adrian-minor character
Ann-minor character
Basil-Council member
Brock-minor character
Carmine-Council member
Cassandra-minor character
Evelyn-supporting character
Inessa-Council member
Katina-Council member
Keagen-very minor character
Luna-minor character
Lisa-? (Who the hell is she? I forget!!)
Patrick-minor character
Rihanna-very minor character
Luna-Council member
Spenser-Council member
Taralyn-minor character
Yasmin-Council member
Yuki-very minor character
Zeke-Council member
Danielle (Dani)-minor character
Heather-minor character
Brad-very minor character. Named only.
Emily-very minor character. Named only.
Christopher (Chris)-very minor character. Named only.
Brenden-minor character
Rachelle-minor character
Henry-minor character

What To Do When You Realize You Don't Know Your Main Character Like At All

I just realized as I was preparing to write an entry about Dante, my MC, that I don't know him, like at all. Which scares the hell out of me because I've been writing him for more than a year. And I barely know anything past his basic info: Name, Date of Birth, Blood Type, etc., but other than that, I don't really know too much about him. I do know his personality a bit, but like I said, it's not a whole lot. So what I'm gonna do is head up to the store and buy a huge 5 subject notebook like I did for the other story I'm plotting for next year's NaNoWriMo (or this year's, I guess you could say now) and start writing down everything I can. The other thing I did for this story is use binder clips to clip each section together. Like for instance, I have a bunch of stuff about the main character Danya, so for all his stuff, I use a blue binder clip. And for plot stuff, I have a yellow binder clip. And for another main character's info I have a green binder clip. It's really hard to explain. But it works beautifully. So tomorrow I have to go up to the store and get another 5-subject notebook plus small binder clips that I can use to organize everything. Fun fun.

And So I Return...

It's been a while since I posted anything. Not that anyone reads it anyway. But I have decided that I'm going to focus on the book I'm writing. Actually, there are two books that I'm writing. The first is called Dante's Requiem. The second is its yet-unnamed sequel. It used to be called Identity but I decided that I hate the title so I'm gonna rename it. I just haven't decided waht to name it yet. It'll come to me eventually, I think. -_- I suck badly at titles. So I'm gonna start blogging about Dante's Requiem. Eventually I might post chapters here, if I ever get that far. Not that I'm expecting anyone to read this. I'll start my ramblings in another post and maybe I'll even figure out how to link the posts or something to make them really accessible. If I can figure it out.

Adventures in Driving

Worked again today. Got up earlier, at 8 instead of 8:15, so I could make my lunch. It didn't really take that long. I had to be careful about what I packed because some of the kids have allergies, some of them severe. But it was all right in the end. I was going to leave a bit earlier--I got ready at about 8:50 because I knew it was going to take some time to get things set up and stuff. It took me a really long time to get the GPS system set up. I ended up leaving almost five minutes late. But it was okay because I had plenty of time to get there. Traffic was actually light today, especially compared to yesterday. Yesterday there were a ton of people on the road. Today there weren't nearly as many though there were still quite a few. I didn't really have a problem until I got to 696. There wasn't really a problem until I tried to get off at Southfield Road. I just got a bit lost and mixed up. I got off 696 only to get back on it again. I had to go around the block and figure out where the hell I was going. I was only a little later than I thought I'd be and I was still early. While I was trying to park, I almost got hit twice while backing up. Scared the living daylights out of me. I was still early. I got settled in and started working. Today was better because I had a better idea of what to do. The kids were a lot friendlier. They were older. I think that's why. I liked them a lot better than the younger kids. They were a lot easier to deal with, although some of them were still a bit rowdy. And lunch was better because I actually had one to eat. I set it up all by myself though one of the teachers came in and helped. I was trying to be careful because one of the kids in that room was severely allergic to peanuts, milk, and shellfish, I think. Everything turned out all right. Oh yeah, they had a couple rooms open and I was in the art room. That was how I met a bunch of the kids. And one of them gave me a picture. It was so sweet!

Anyway, that afternoon, I stayed in the science room with Fabi, one of the teachers. They learned about bugs and stuff. It was fun. They split up into three or four groups and rotated. I could have moved to the different rooms, but I was happy in the science room. I got to go home early, which was nice. But I forgot my water bottle. I just emailed my boss and she said she'd rinse it out and keep it until Friday, when I work again.

Driving home was a pain in the ass. I got lost on Southfield road trying to find the freeway. I did a lot of driving around the block. I'm sure the people on the road thought I was nuts. There wasn't a lot of problems until 275. Like right before the ramp to 14, there was something going on. I'm not really sure what. A firetruck came and blocked the right lane, which is where I was, so I had to change lanes, which was hard. I was a bit less stressed after I got to 14. I finally got home. So I don't work until Friday, which is really nice. I'm glad I have the day off tomorrow. I need a break.

It's been a while. Heh, that always seems to happen with me. Things got hectic for a while. But I'm back home and all settled in. And I'm working. I got a job at a preschool called St. James in Birmingham. Birmingham, Michigan, that is. It's right in downtown and it's really nice. It was a long day, especially since I didn't bring a lunch. Gonna do that tomorrow. It was fun. I love working with kids. This group was 3 and 4, I think. I'm not a hundred percent sure. Some of them were wild and others were really quiet. It was a nice mix. I work in May and June and that's it. So I have to find another job because I really need the money. Oh. Yay.

How Time Flies!

It's almost May already. How the hell did that happen? Lots of stuff has been going on. The end of the year is always crazy because professors always want to try and cram everything in at the last minute. My 21st birthday was yesterday. I didn't go out and drink, as one might expect. My roommate and I rented videos from the library and Family Video (which was insanely cheap, by the way. If you want to rent videos cheap, go to Family Video. Their prices are wonderful) and we watched movies all day. Well, most of the day. I didn't even get up until noon, which was nice. Though I missed calls from both my parents and my grandma. Oops. But I called them back. Alyson and I watched movies for a while and then some other girls from our house came and we all went out for ice cream at this little place in downtown Marquette called Donkers. It's a nice little place. Then we came back and finished watching the movie Alyson and I had started when the others came around (they went to hike Sugar Loaf and then we planned to go out and get ice cream together), Iron Jawed Angels. It's a REALLY good movie about Alice Paul and Lucy Burns and the fight for women's suffrage. It has Hillary Swank, Anjelica Huston, and Patrick Dempsy (AKA McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy). Then we watched Sherlock Holmes, which was also a very good movie. I'd seen Iron Jawed Angels before. I hadn't seen Sherlock Holmes, though I really wanted to. And I'm glad; it was a good movie. Normally, I don't like movies based on movies (though there are some exceptions like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings), but it was really good.

Today is gonna suck. I've got three finals and I'm hardly prepared. I did get the written part of my French final done. Now I just have to memorize the five minute conversation for the oral part and maybe study the vocabulary for the other part of the oral part. I have my porfolio completely done and ready to turn in. The essay has been done for ages and I did some half-assed revisions for my two stories. So that's done. I just have to find time to study for my ASL final that's from 6-8. It's a signing quiz so I'm pretty screwed. Maybe. I never remember the signs for everything. This has the potential to be bad. But first, I've gotta memorize this stupid conversation we had to make up. By "we" I mean my partner and me. She's a really nice girl. I'm glad I didn't get one of the dumb kids (there are several in this class).

News

I've decided that I'm going to start sifting through all the pictures I have on my computer and start uploading them here, in my blog. It's going to be a long, very slow process, because there are a lot of pictures. I probably won't post all of them, but I'll post a lot of them. Some of them are mine that I've taken and some are taken by others. I'll make sure to distinguish which are which. I'm also gonna start talking about my past, things that have happened to me. And I'll upload the pictures as I go along. Some of it won't be easy for me to talk about, so I'll do my best.

Microsoft Excel for Dummies

Yeah, I'm totally not doing my homework right now. I started counting how much money I've got stashed at the moment to see how much more I need to hoard before I can afford a PSP plus the Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep game, which, according to Amazon, doesn't come out until December 31st. It took me a while to work with Microsoft Excel because it's been years since I've used that program. I took a Computer Applications class in high school that taught me how to use Excel, but it was years ago, and I haven't really used Excel since then, at least not to the degree that I needed today. I found an E-Book about Microsoft Excel 97, which is ten years older than the version I had, but I found what I needed. According to the spreadsheet made, I have $68.46 in both bills and coins that I've stashed away. The combined price for the PSP and game is over $200, so I have a while to go. I have some more coins stashed away at home, plus some more bills. Plus, I'm planning to seel back almost all my textbooks at the end of the semester, so I'm hoping to make some cash from that. Plus I'm getting a job this summer and although my parents expect me to help pay for college next semester, I'm still going to stash away some money so I can buy this. Because I REALLY REALLY want this. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it.

What To Do When Boredom Sets In

I was going through files on my external hard drive and deleting some of the ones that I no longer need because I'm running out of space on there and I found this, which I set as my new computer background:










Yes, it's from Kingdom Hearts. I'm a big Kingdom Hearts fan. I got the first game a couple years ago for Christmas and I instantly fell in love with it. It was SO freaking awesome! And then II came out and I got even more excited. Especially when Axel was introduced. I LOVE Axel. And then...well I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't played the game, but I cried. Not much, but I did tear up a bit. Then Re Chain of Memories came out and I got even more excited because Zexion was introduced. My other favorite Org. member. And it had even more Axel, which made me happy. Even though...well I won't spoil it. And then 358/2 Days came out and I was SO excited but then sad because I don't have a DS and so I can't play the game for myself. And finally,Birth By Sleep is coming out and, um....IT HAS THE ORIGINAL FORMS OF THE FIRST EIGHT ORGANZATION MEMBERS (Xemnas through Axel) AND IENZO IS SO FREAKING ADORABLE!! It's already out in Japan, so I know all this. It's supposed to come out in the US this summer, but I don't have a PSP so unless I buy a PSP and get the game, I won't be able to play it. But seriously. Ienzo is SO freaking adorable!!




I didn't realize exactly how young Ienzo was until I saw this. I knew he was young, but not *this* young. I mean, he's like 8. And all the others are all grown up. I'm guessing they're in their thirties and forties. Apparently, Ienzo's parents died and he was adopted by Ansem the Wise. That's what I've heard so far, but there's no confirmation until the English version comes out sometime this summer.

There's Even, the Other, I guess you'd say, of Vexen. It's what Vexen looked like before he lost his heart. I have no idea what the text says I don't read Japanese, though I actually am trying to teach myself. Maybe one day....

Ack, I'm getting really distracted here. I have a ton of reading to do for my Celtic Lit class.

I'm seriously considering trying to get a PSP so I can buy this game. I was originally going to get a DS and 358/2 Days, but I think I want this one now. I can't decide. I hate being broke. ;___;

Time For a Rant About Laundry

Yeah, it's time for a rant about doing laundry in the dorms. It sucks so much. There's just nothing good about it. Except that here, at least, we don't have to pay. Up at Tech, they apparently have to pay for each load. But it still really sucks. There are three washers and four driers. We have to share the laundry facility with Springfield, the other house on the first floor, an all-guys house. I live in an all-girls house. Believe me, I'm glad I am. I don't think I'd be able to stand living in a co-ed house. They're co-ed by suite, meaning there are two rooms that share a bathroom and they're shared by the same gender, so I wouldn't share a bathroom with someone of the opposite gender. But still. I wouldn't like living in a co-ed house. I'm happy here in Playground in the all-girls house. Well, it's all girls plus Brad, but he doesn't live there, he just has his office there. Brad is the Building and Grounds guy. Really great guy. His office is right across the hall from my room.

But anyway, back to the laundry thing. There are three washers and four driers and they're always breaking. And people don't know how to do laundry. Guys are the worst. Twice today, there's been laundry left around. Two of the washers had clothes left in them, there were clothes on the table, and clothes on the ironing board (though someone did come to claim those while I was in there). Due to the fact that the other two working driers were already being used and the third had clothes left in there, I took it upon myself to dump the clothes on the table so I could use the drier. They didn't leave a room number on the board (which is another thing that really annoys me) so I had no choice but to dump it on the table. I always get up early to do my laundry because that way, I have a choice of which washer/drier to use (though not today) and I don't have to worry about there being no open ones (though not today). I'm going to go talk to my RA Kendra about the laundry thing because it's getting really annoying.

She's sleeping right now. I'm not gonna wake her. If it gets too much worse, I'll talk to her. It's not really bad right now, but if it gets worse I definetly will. Ugh, now I've gotta start working on my homework.

Happiness is a New Pair of Sweat Pants

I got the house sweatpants I ordered a couple weeks ago. They're really nice. They're royal blue with "Playground Hunnies" down the side in white. Playground is the name of the house I live in in the the dorms. And I got them just in time to throw in the wash with the rest of my clothes. I haven't worn my sweatpants for a while because they smell musty from being in my drawer for so long. So I'm washing them. And I'm washing both sets of pajamas as well. One I wear all the time and one hasn't been worn because they consist of a shirt and a pair of capris, not really something you can get away with wearing in the middle of winter up here in Marquette. But we're starting to get warmer so I figure I can start wearing them. Now I have three pairs of sweatpants. I like my sweatpants. My laundry is calling. I hate doing laundry in the dorms. Maybe a rant later about that.

Weekend of Hell

This weekend is not going to be fun at all. My roommate went home for the weekend; she got a ride from someone in our house and so she'll be gone until Sunday I think. I'm not quite sure. Even so, it's not going to be a very fun weekend. I have SO much homework to do it's insane.

For Monday, I have to read and mark up several drafts for workshop and do the ones I didn't do for the previous workshop (I ran out of time because I was scrambling to get my long story done for workshop) and I have to type up a formal response to each draft, about half a page long, and print out two copies, one for the writer, and one for the professor. My printer is dry after printing off 18 copies of my long story for workshop, but luckily, I found another cartriage of ink in my bottom desk drawer so I don't have to go up to Target to get a new one like I thought I would. I also have a huge-ass in-class assignment for ASL that I have to study for because I didn't do well on the last one. It's like 60 points or so. And I also have a quiz in that class on the presentations that we did. I have to study because I didn't do well on that one either.

Then for Tuesday, I have a quiz in my Celtic Lit class on three sections of which I've only read one. So I have to read the other two sections. And I also have to read an entire freaking memoir. It's 245 pages. There are a couple pages of pictures, but still. It's a lot. And I also have a quiz in French that afternoon. So basically, I'm screwed.

I'm skipping French right now so I can get a head start on my homework. So far, I got this reading review assignment for my ASL class done that's due on Saturday. We have to post it online. I'm about to start working on the EN400 readings.

So yeah, I'm skipping French. She's giving us a large portion of the time to work on our group projects for the Children's Museum, so I'm skipping. I hate the project and I hate my group, so, whatever. I just don't fucking care. I have more important things to worry about, such as aforementioned long list of homework/assignments/reading.

Got a package from the 'rents today with Easter candy for my roommate and me. I left hers on her desk so she can have it when she gets back. I was going to call them and thank them, but then I realized that I was supposed to be in French so I'm going to wait until that class ends at 3:40 before calling them. I don't want them to know that I'm skipping French because they probably wouldn't approve. But like I said, I don't fucking care. It's the first time I've skipped a class this semester, which is pretty good because it's almost the end of the semester. I have a good habit of going to class so I'm not concerned about missing one class period.

Ugh, my homework awaits. And it's such a nice day today too.

Stuff From Yesterday I Neglected to Mention

I was going to write about this yesterday, but I forgot: French. I was too busy worrying about getting my short story that's due today finished. I hate deadlines!! Anyway, I'm taking French 102 this semester. I took 101 last semester. I took French all four years in high school and I went to Paris for a week my junior year of high school so this was a refresher course for me. So yesterday we played some games. First we played Pictionary. It's all right, just that I can't draw worth a damn. But we still did all right. Then we continued the game using the same points we got during Pictionary to transform these sentences and whoever transformed them first got the point. That was a bit harder because French grammar sucks and it makes my head hurt.

Guess what?

My team won.

We got some candy for that. Then we had to work in pairs for the next assignment. We were given a sheet and we had to do it correctly. After we were done, we took it up to her and she corrected it. If there were things wrong, we had to go back and correct it. If not, we were given the next sheet and we had to do the same thing. There were four sheets.

And my partner and I were done first.

We got more candy. After that, we had to write a poem based off the one we had read in the previous class. I think it was just busy work to keep us, well, busy, since the rest of the class was still on the four sheet assignment.

Normally, I'm not competitive. I don't like competing. But I couldn't help feeling at least a bit good for doing well yesterday in class. Thursday, we were supposed to have a quiz, but she decided to push it back and give us time to work on our projects for the Children's Museum. What we have to do is create a radio program in French and English and record it. We were given some time a couple class periods back to work on it, but there were only two of us present out of four. Now that other girl dropped and SHE had all the stuff we were working on. I think one of my other group members will be able to get all the stuff from her (they're friends) because I reeeally don't want to start over. I'm not happy with this project at all. I don't have the time or the motivation to work on it at all. I just can't bring myself to care. Which isn't good. But I just don't care.

Ugh, I have to go finish my short story for EN400. I have to pass out a copy to every student in my class today for workshop on Monday. Which is like 18 copies. And my story is currently 7 pages and only getting longer. Hopefully my ink and paper will last.

I'm off to go kill off a ton of trees by printing this behemoth off. Provided I get it finished. It doesn't have to be complete, at least I don't think so. I just have to turn in a full draft at the end of the semester. I'm going to talk to my EN400 professor about that today. We don't have a final, just a porfolio that includes a comparative paper and a revised copy of our long story. Well, the porfolio is due on April 26th (which happens to be one day after my 21st birthday). And guess what? I have two other finals that same day. So naturally, I'm dreading finals week this year. Hopefully, she'll let me turn it in beforehand. Not after. Before. Maybe she'll let me and maybe she won't. I hope she will because I can't handle having two actual finals, which are my two language finals too, meaning I'll have to study like hell, and the porfolio with the revised draft of my long story and my comparative paper.

Soo...Introductions

Hello. I decided to get a blog just for the hell of it. I have no idea what I'm doing so please bear with me. I'm not expecting a lot of people to read this so I'll write what's on my mind and it might involve some swearing. Okay, maybe a lot of swearing. I'll try and keep it to a minimun whenever I can. I also apologize for my spellling. I suck. There's a spell check but chances are, I'll be too lazy to use it. Also, my fingers fail at typing and I don't always catch the mistakes I make. And I don't always finish my sentences. Oops.



I am a Nursing student at Northern Michigan University way up in Marquette, Michigan. I don't actually live here--I'm from downstate, but I've been up here four years except for during the summer when I live with my parents. When I eventually move back downstate, I'll change my location back to my hometown. Like I said, I'm a Nursing student, but I'm also getting a Bachelor's Degree in English/Writing, which is kind of why I decided to start a blog. I love writing--it's my biggest passion in life, and this seemed like a good idea.

I'm actually going to be a senior next fall, but I'm just starting the Nursing program, so I still have at least two and a half years to go before I can graduate. Since I'm a double major, it'll probably take even longer. The reason why I just got into the Nursing program is because it's very competitive. First you have to take all sorts of prerequisites like Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, Psychology, Sociology, Microbiology, Nutrition, and so on. I didn't do so well the first time around in Anatomy so I had to retake it. Then because of that, I had to wait to take Microbiology because they only offer it in the fall. I ended up taking it over the summer at Washtenaw Community College so it didn't matter. But anwyay, I applied and didn't get into the Nursing program in Fall 2009. I applied again in the fall of 2009 for Winter 2010, didn't get in again, and finally applied this winter (Winter 2010) for Fall 2010 and I FINALLY got in. I was SO freaking happy that I finally got in. Even though my schedule sucks. Something to look forward to. Yippee.

I'm not going to go into all the boring details about myself. I have two parents, an 18 year-old brother who's graduating this year, and a dog named Jake. He's...ten or eleven years old and still acts like a puppy. He's a beagle mix, though he's a REALLY big beagle. I'm talking about 60ish pounds (though he probably weighs more now). We think he's part Australian Shepherd, which accounts for his size. But sometimes when he barks, you can hear the trademark beagle howl. It's really funny. The least you need to know is that my name is Katie, I'm 20 (turning 21 April 25th) and I currently live in Marquette. My hometown is a little place called Plymouth (though I actually live out in the country between Plymouth and Ann Arbor). That's all the personal information I'm giving out.

I'll probably post my some of my writing on here. It'll be a good way for me to get feedback (if anyone even reads it, haha). I'm very very picky about my writing. I'm not normally a perfectionist, but when it comes to my writing, I am. I like to write novels. Fiction. Sometimes short stories if I'm forced to for a class. I'm not the best writer in the world and it usually takes a bunch of drafts for me to produce something good, but I like writing.

I'll think of a name for my blog one of these days. I suck at titles. I also will eventually make my blog look more pretty. Once I'm able to figure it out.