Writing Retreat in England

I had the express privilege of traveling to Devon England for a writing retreat in November. It was hosted by Charlie at Urban Writers' Retreat. She spent the whole week overfeeding us with cake and vegetables and tea. The cottage was something out of Jane Austen. And the other writers were very interesting and fun to get to know.

I felt a little strange doing this. I'm not one to go somewhere just for myself. It was oh so fulfilling though. The vibe of just being around other writers was like a drug. I wrote a few blog posts, worked on a writing class that I'm taking this month, and finished a first draft of my novel. Overall, I wrote over 10,000 words in four days.

I learned that I can sit down and start writing at 9 am and keep writing until about 4 pm (with maybe a walk or tea break in between). I made some new friends that I can't wait to go back to England and visit again. It was the most relaxing and comfortable trip I've been on. I can't wait to do it again.

Passion - Urban Writers' Retreat Bootcamp Competition

Passion. Is it something we all inherently have or is it something I need to find like a magic flower hidden in a fairy forest among moss and squirrels? I have always been in the pursuit of passion. Witnessing dreams come to fruition for others sends me spiraling into depression faster than anything else.

If I have had anything that resembles passion in my life, it is for writing. There are certainly others: loving my loved ones, giving of myself, reading…

I dread every sunset when a day passes that I feel I haven’t done something, I haven’t made a difference. I want to be remembered, maybe even cherished. Writing is my chance at that. Who knows if I can evoke emotion or make someone laugh, but I will die trying simply because it makes me feel wonderful.

I have one novel finished. But I need another. Just to prove to myself that I really am a writer, that I don’t give up when it’s too hard, that I am capable of being passionate about something.

Urban Writers' Retreat is having a competition with a prize of winning a place in a four week writing bootcamp. This is my entry.

Egyptian Princess

I realized after I posted my Ireland pictures that I hadn't posted any of my Egypt trip. We went down there to meet up with my parents and cruise the Nile as well as visit the pyramids. It was heavenly (though completely, uncomfortably hot). And it was very safe, considering we hit this magic hole between when the revolution ended and when the Egyptians became riled up again. We were there just two weeks after the revolution ended. The tour guides kept saying, "Back during the revolution..." and we would all turn to each other and say, "Two weeks ago..."

I was sad that we missed out on Abu Simbel but it was way further south than we went. I love traveling with my parents, they do it in style. We had luxury hotels and a beautiful boat on the Nile. Tourism is dead down there (kind of understandable) but the poverty was a bit of a shock for my husband.

The Temple of Philae. They moved this temple piece by piece when they built the dam on the Nile and the area flooded.

My mama and I at Luxor Temple.

Best photo bomb ever by my parents' friend.

Lol. My mom is awesome.

Minarets and satellites.

All four of us at Luxor Temple.

This was happening on one side of the boat...

...and this was on the other.

Looking Back On My Year So Far

I've come a long way this year, from working full time for an engineering company to dropping to part time and then leaving entirely to freelance as an editor (my dream!).

I've read 66 books and written most of a novel along with multiple short stories and blog posts.

I am participating in the classics challenge by November's Autumn and have 3 classics to go. I'm running my own challenge to revamp original fairy tales (speaking of, I start reading Robin Hood next month, who's with me?).

I've moved to Belgium and traveled to Egypt, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and England. I'll be going to France to snowboard in December and who knows where else.

I consider myself a pretty well-rounded person. I like who I am. But I want to continue growing and learning. I always want to become better. I'm turning 26 in a little over a month. I would love to have a set of goals lined up for the coming year. Should I be cliche and do the 27 Things Before I Turn 27? (Ugh, 27 sounds so old.) Have any ideas for what goals I should reach?

Yoga for Life

I started a yoga class a few weeks ago. I've wanted to do it for probably years, I just never had the guts to go (I'm an extreme introvert and completely shy if you didn't know). I finally bucked up and went and wish I hadn't been such a chicken. But I'm realizing that I've been doing yoga my whole life.

When my mom has back problems, I've given her massages and given her advice that I think will help. One of those bits has been to stand on knees and hands and bend her back up and down while breathing deeply...cow and cat in yoga anyone?

WildVeda on Etsy

When I was in elementary school I found a trumpet in my friend's closet and started messing around with it. I had so much fun that I started lessons and then joined the school band a year earlier than normal and subsequently bought a shiny horn for myself. I played jazz up until high school when I decided to quit and sold my beautiful silver trumpet. Whenever I practiced trumpet, don't ask me why it was just comfortable, I stood with one leg propped up on the other like a flamingo...tree pose?

And probably the most obvious: as a child I slept with my butt in the air. My mom thought it was the most adorable thing, but honestly it's just wonderful to sit like that. Child's pose is my favorite in yoga. The back stretch is wonderful, and I still think I could sleep like that.

LindsaySatchell on Etsy

We're Moving to Belgium!

If you haven't heard already, we are moving to Belgium. My friends here in Stuttgart are begging me not to go (I feel so loved) but we will probably move back here in about six months or so. It's a quick there and back again. (Random side note: hate that The Hobbit will be three movies. Hate. Hate. Hate.)

Here are some photos of our new house. We got the keys yesterday and I'm dying to decorate. We don't move until next week though. Need to pack a few things and tear down the house this weekend and then watch the movers put it all away on Monday.

My new office. 

The living room/dining room/kitchen 

A real fireplace! 

Oh man I can't wait to enjoy the sunshine (what little there is) out here. 

Upstairs guest bedroom. 

Upstairs main bedroom. (There's another room between these two that we'll kind of use as a catchall I guess.) We have closets!

Pursuing Passion

All those movies, the ones about people pursuing their life's dream, the one thing that makes their heart beat faster, those movies are a bit of a downer for everyone who doesn't know what they crave.

You can't call someone a workaholic when they are pursuing their passion. It's just not right. If they love what they are doing, they will do it all the time. Anyone who actually knows what they want to be doing, what they dream of and wish for, they should be applauded.

But if you're one of those people who hasn't found that niche yet, keep trying.

I'm officially a freelancer

As of April 1st, I took hold of my destiny (that word is a bit strong but oh well). I became a full time freelance editor. And let me tell you, it is heaven. Now when I watch those movies - Soul Surfer, Save the Last Dance, Coyote Ugly (hmm, they tend to be aimed at girls...) - I don't feel this sense of emptiness. I can watch and enjoy and breath deep because I feel the same way.

Now that I'm on my own time (and trust me, it took a lot of work to get here and I still don't have enough work to support my book-reading habits), I can follow my callings. Notice the 's.' I have a few, though they may be related. I'm an editor, writer, photographer, book reader and reviewer, thinker, doer, immature geek, wife, daughter...the same as everyone, I am a lot of things. But now I get to dedicate my time to those things in the ways I wish.

I'm not meaning this post to somehow make you jealous (are you?). I want to share the utter giddiness and joy I have at doing what I am meant to do.

I Think I Have Officially Grown Up - *sad*

There is nothing like feeling you have officially grown up. I feel as though my personality has solidified. That this is the person I will be from now on. I’m sure little things will change, but overall this is me.

My Niece, Not Grown Up Yet

I don’t want that to be. I want to change and develop and become better and better. I don’t want to be a critical and judgmental person. Positivity is very important to me, especially because it is hard for me.

As a writer and a reader I want to push myself, read things I wouldn’t read, write in ways that would never occur to me.

What do you do to continue moving forward?

My Dog

When I was 11 I begged and begged and pleaded and begged my parents for my very own dog. I sent a letter from an anonymous source saying why I deserved a dog. I researched what kind of dogs there were. Then I begged some more. Finally I was allowed to get a dog, he was a corgi and his name was Buddy.

Last November we went home to Colorado and my dog was 13 years old. He wasn't doing so well so I took some portraits of him.

My sweet puppy had to be put down in February. I don't think it will really hit me until I'm back home again in just three weeks. I'm dreading the moment I walk in the door and he doesn't come to greet me.

He used to greet me off the school bus (yes, just like Lassie). We could leave a bag of carrots within his reach and he would go get one out of the bag, take it to a comfortable spot and munch it, then go back for one more. He barked at the vacuum, and he absolutely loved snow (like me!).

I miss him.

101 in 1001 Goals

I have a to-do list of challenges for myself that I've been working on since January 2009. That to-do list is 101 Things in 1001 Days. It ends in October of this year, just in time for my 25th birthday.

You can check out the 101 in 1001 Project here. Red is my finished color, orange is in progress, and yellow is a failure. I'm trying to finish these up so I can say I did it! But I think at this point I'm happy with how much I accomplished.

1. Finish this list 1/20/2009

Home
2. Buy a house (it's an apartment but a house in the German sense)
3. Decorate the house
4. Plant a garden
5. Start herbs 4/7/2009
6. Build a snowboard hanging swing
7. Keep the house picked up for 2 months
8. Have the dishes washed after dinner every day for 2 weeks
9. Organize the back room 1/19/2009
10. Organize the “stuff” closet 1/19/2009

Money
11. Have $5,000 in bank by December (had it, and spent it)
12. Put $10 in savings for every completed task
13. Have a “non-spending” month each year 2/2009 5/2010 4/2011
14. Pay off credit card debt and then only use a credit card when necessary

Artsy
15. Take 100 photos in 100 days, one a day (6/25/2009)
16. Finish the first scrapbook 7/21/2010
17. Buy a new video camera 1/21/2009
18. Buy a new camera 6/16/2009
19. Buy a new fancy lens
20. Learn to play 5 songs on the guitar well (this is changing to violin since that's what I'm learning now)
21. Draw with my charcoal

Health
22. Test 4 times a day for a month 7/14/2009
23. Take a dance class
24. Work out twice a week for a month
25. Play tennis every weekend for two months
26. Snowboard 10 times in one season
27. Drink 5 glasses of water each day for a week
28. Take 50 leisurely walks
29. Go snowboarding in Alaska (Or perhaps Germany?)
30. Go surfing in California

Friends/Others
31. Freerice.com – 15000
32. Have a girls’ weekend 5/3/2010
33. Visit Angie in Guyana
34. Write to Angie
35. Take photos at Bri’s baby’s birth 6/9/2009
36. Take photos of Samantha at 6 months 3/29/2009
37. Take photos of Samantha at 9 months 6/22/2009
38. Take photos of Samantha at 1 year 9/19/2009
39. Make freezer food with Mom and Kelli
40. Learn a language with Christie (although we are on different continents)
41. Write my dad a note listing the top 50 reasons why he means the world to me 2/18/2010
42. Write my mom a note listing the top 50 reasons why she means the world to me 2/18/2010
43. Write my sister a note listing the top 50 reasons why she means the world to me 2/18/2010
44. Buy gifts for others on etsy

Learning
45. Learn a language
46. Read 100 books (172/100)
47. Read 20 non-fiction books (32/20)
48. Read Beowulf 9/1/2011
49. Read 10 classic novels
50. Learn about Buddhism
51. Learn about Henry the VIII 2/20/2009
52. Finish all of Jane Austen’s novels (7/7)
53. Watch all of the BBC Jane Austen movies
54. Learn to become a better photographer
55. Learn the publishing world
56. Understand Photoshop better 2/6/2009

Family
57. Travel to 3 countries I haven’t been to (Germany, Switzerland, Austria)
58. Trade something on Freecycle.com (just gave things away instead)
59. Go backpacking
60. Climb 5 14ers
61. Adopt a pet
62. Take a completely impulsive, spur of the moment road trip 7/25/2009
63. Watch 5 sunrises together
64. Test drive fancy cars
65. Go to a Yankees game
66. Camp in the front yard
67. Go to Alaska
68. Work on the Mustang with Albert 5 times 6/16/2009
69. Have a meaningful date once a month for 6 months
70. Climb Devil’s Head
71. Climb the Rock 3/23/2009
72. Go stargazing with hot chocolate
73. Read 3 books with Albert (8/3) 3/25/2009
74. Write Albert a note listing the top 50 reasons why he means the world to me
75. Read Just Do It by Douglas Brown
76. And…Just Do It!
77. Go ice skating
78. Play hockey
79. Visit Paris
80. Write 5 letters to Albert (1/5)
81. Go to Niagara Falls
82. Play Scrabble 20 times (and some in German!)

Personal
83. Have a one sentence journal everyday for the duration of the challenge
84. Get published
85. Start a business 4/4/2009
86. Help Kelli with the non-profit
87. Step out of my comfort zone
88. Read the Bible
89. Find my niche
90. Write 5 short stories in 2 months 6/22/2010
91. Dye my hair again 2/24/2009
92. Take 10 bubble baths
93. Work on Papa’s book
94. Have a spa day
95. Write some letters of advice to my future kids
96. Stop swearing
97. Create my etsy shop 4/4/2009
98. Buy something on etsy for myself at least twice a year
99. Finish setting up my goodreads.com profile
100. Update the blog every week for 2 months 3/20/2009
101. Be content with life

This is the best way for me to accomplish goals. I'm always writing to-do lists. How do you accomplish goals?

Three Things Thursday - Favorite Season

What is your favorite season? There are aspects of each that I like: late nights in the summer, green and flowers in spring, crisp weather in fall, but I love winter.

Three things about...

your favorite season.

1.    I am in love with winter. I get to bundle up. In the summer you can only take so many clothes off, but in the winter you can always put more on! Plus the hot drinks and the fires. It’s all so cozy when it’s snowing outside. And the way my face looks with rosy cheeks and nose is just ten times better than covered in sweat and flushed.
2.    How many sports do I dare name here…ice skating, snowboarding, crunching the snow with boots (ok, not a sport), snow shoeing, skiing, sledding…I love it all.
3.    The snow, oh the snow. In Colorado it’s beautiful because we get snow and sunshine, not so much in Germany. We get the snow. And gray clouds. It’s still beautiful when I look out my window and see fat flakes drifting their way to the ground and covering the branches of the trees. Like my own personal wonderland sitting just outside while I sit inside with a blanket and good book.

Tell me your favorite season in the comments or link your own blog post in the linky.

Three Things Thursday - When You're Sick

I'm sick today. Everyone in my office has been sick, and I was really hoping not to catch it. I think I was successful considering what I have is nothing like what they had! So there's my positive spin on being home sick. Now I want to know what are your favorite things to do when you're sick.

Three things about...

what you do when you're sick.

1.    Read. I can never pass up a chance to read more. I devour books when I’m sick because I’m in bed anyways. It turns into a wonderful thing, unless I feel so awful that I can’t concentrate on the words. Then it’s a really bad day.
2.    Watch favorite childhood movies. This is when I pull out Aladdin and Robin Hood. Notice I’m not really into the princess movies. They are just complete airheads, and I can’t stand it. I need intelligent women in my movies.
3.    Catching up on house stuff like the mail and little errands. For instance today I signed up for a new internet service online. I should clean the house…but that’s a little too labor intensive for how I feel right now. Maybe later.

Tell me your three things in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post.

Three Things Thursday - Your Face

What do you think about your face? Do you have some pieces that you love and others that you could change? Overall, I like my face. I'm not the type to have lots of mirrors in the house or to do fancy make-up, so I don't look at it very often. So tell me three things about your face. You can be positive or negative, do with it what you want. For you writers out there here's a chance to really play with three things Thursday.

Three things about...

your face.

1.    My eyes. When I wear red they are stunningly blue. And when my hair was dyed red they were Caribbean blue all the time. I like to hope that when I’m truly happy they get a little glint just on the right corner of each pupil. Oh, that reminds me, one of my pupils is larger. It looks strange.
2.    My cheeks are way too chubby. I should have lost that by now, right? With my hair up they look skinnier. If I could just slim them down I would be happier to stare into mirrors…or not.
3.    My nose is adorably cute. But it’s so small that sometimes I just can’t breath. But it’s cute. I think my nieces’ button noses look like mine. People have even said the newborn, Ella, looks like me! That freckle is like a family member. If I woke up one day and didn't see it there I think I would have a heart attack.

Tell me your three things in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post.

Three Things Thursday - Jobs

I just started a new job two weeks ago, so let's get into what your job is like. Whether that's being a mother or a doctor...I want to hear about it.

Three things about...

your work.

1.    It’s actually my first job that applies to my college degree (English), and I graduated three years ago.
2.    I’m really loving it. I have an OCD personality to the point where I actually enjoy stuffing millions of envelopes for the satisfaction it gives me in finishing the job. So this job entails editing documents, designing documents, some photography, and even every once in a while, stuffing envelopes.
3.    I’m also loving having something to do every day. When I have a schedule and things pressing for my time, I usually get more done. When I have nothing and I get to do what I want…I don’t do any of it. So I’m really happy to have a job that fits me, but also fills my days so I can come home and write or cook or do the things I’m supposed to do.

P.S. Love that picture...it's so me. (The words, not the cat.)

Tell me three things about your work either by linking your own blog post or in the comments.

Three Things Thursday - The Past Year

I'm going to incorporate Three Things Thursday with the year anniversary of my husband and I being in Germany because exactly a year ago we landed in Stuttgart. So take a look at yesterday's post for my three things. I want you to look back on the past year and tell me three things about it. Maybe three things that have changed you or even just random things.

Three things about...

the past year.

Blog your own post and link in the linky below or tell me in the comments! I have to clean the house today and then get all fancied up to celebrate a great year.

One Year in Germany

A year ago today my husband and I left the United States for Stuttgart, Germany. It has been quite the adventure. I really believe it has brought us closer, but I wouldn't say it's a good form of therapy for the light-hearted. Stress is our constant companion. We are just now starting to untangle its fingers from around our necks.

I'm surprised to see that I understood Germany pretty well when we first got here. I'm reading through the old blog posts. Here is a photo I took of the farms behind our first apartment. Lovely Bonlanden, the place that smells like farts when the cabbage rots.

The adventure of going through buying a car. And then having that car break in the IKEA parking lot and be broken for another few months. (It's now having the same problem, oh yay.)

Finding a beautiful apartment, renting and decorating it, and very soon after moving in locking ourselves out of said apartment.

We've gone to fests and made a ton of new friends. As well as had my family visit. A lot of friends and family are planning on coming out next year, it will be another crazy year!

We discovered the Nürburgring car-racing track and have traveled so many places. I think Albert has seriously been bitten by the traveling bug, he's constantly wanting to go somewhere new now! (And it's funny because he's only been to Europe once...even though it has lasted a year! He's never even dealt with the jet lag on the way back to the U.S. so he doesn't have an opinion when people argue over which way jet lag is worse.)

It has really been a good year. A stressful one, but a good one nonetheless. I'm looking forward to many more either here in Germany or elsewhere. Tomorrow night we are headed to the restaurant we ate in on our arrival. Only this time we can actually order in German!

Three Things Thursday - Travel Wishes

Last week I asked you about where you have been. This week I want to know where you dream of going. I really wish someone would invent teleportation so travel would be so much easier. I'm not the best flier, but I love to travel places. If I could hop from one place to another with maybe a little dizziness and cotton-mouth as the only side effects, I would be set.

Three things about...

where you dream of traveling.

1.    I would like to someday see Japan. I have a strange fascination with the history of Asia and the beauty that can be found there.
2.    I need to go to Australia and South America, then I will have been to all the continents except for Antarctica. I’ve been a lot of places, but it would be fun to be able to say I’ve been to six of the seven continents.
3.    One of my dreams right now is to go as far north as is comfortable in Sweden in the summer to watch the sun never set. That or go to Iceland in the winter to visit the hot springs they have. I just like to travel; I want to experience as many places as I can in my life.

Three Things Thursday - Travel

My mother grew up in Saudi Arabia because her father worked for an oil company. They traveled a lot when she was a child, all over Europe and back and forth to the United States. Because she grew up a traveler, so did I.

Three things about...

where you have traveled.

1.    First I’ll list off the places: a lot of the States, Mexico, England, France, Netherlands, Germany, Tanzania, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Switzerland, Austria.
2.    We used to spend every other summer in Mexico just lazing in a resort. It was wonderful, and I miss that kind of traveling. Lately it’s just been hundreds of museums and castles. I need a relaxing vacation, not a tourist one.
3.    My favorite trip was Tanzania. It was my high school graduation present for my whole family to go on a safari there. It was absolutely amazing. If you can do it, go for it. The landscapes are beautiful, the animals are breathtaking, and because we were stuck in a safari jeep all day we really became closer as a family.

So post your own blog post about where you have traveled and attach your link here or tell me in the comments. I love getting to know all of you!

Three Things Thursday

There's not much going on, hence the tiny amount of blog posts lately. I'm just chilling out waiting for my work permit to be approved so I can start working. We're going to Oktober Fest in Munich this weekend, so I'll show you that. But for now let's do Three Things Thursday!

Three things about...

what you watch.

1.    Only movies. I’d rather live my own life than watch tv. But movies are like heaven. A little escape from the world. I'll watch action, comedy, romance. Pretty much anything except horror (remember I get nightmares) and stupid comedy. I absolutely hate to watch a movie that makes me feel like I wasted two hours of my life. Sorry Mike Myers, your stuff is just dumb.
2.    I watch my favorite movies over and over again. Whether it’s to focus on the deeper meaning or to just veg out. Pixar is amazing. A few of their movies are kind of meh, but none of them are bad. Finding Nemo and Wall-E make it into my top ten list.
3.    I have pages and pages in my scrapbook filled with movie tickets from going to theaters.

(By the way, the dress Keira Knightley is wearing in that picture is the wedding dress I imagine for Liza in my novel Her Daughter. Also the picture belongs to Focus.)

So tell me in your own blog post about what you like to watch or tell me in the comments.

Three Things Thursday

I'm terribly sick this week, but I couldn't miss Thursday! So after learning what you're passionate about (or in my case what I write), I'd like to know what you read. I think what someone reads says a lot about who they are. What you choose to read for hours at a time must be something you truly enjoy. Tell me waht that is so we can get to know each other better. Write your own blog post and add it to the linky or tell me in the comments.

Three things about...

 what you read.

1.    Young adult novels give me a chance to sit back and relax and just breeze through a book. Every once in a while I will come across one, like Looking for Alaska by John Green or Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, that makes me sit up and pay attention.
2.    I truly enjoy literature. Some people find it boring and useless or say that it’s only for students. But I really appreciate someone who can write an entire book on normal, everyday life and make it mean something.
3.    Jane Austen is my hero. I hope to be just like her. Well, except for dying in my forties, and being alone…ok so I want to write like her: cynical, humorous, a true skeptic of society. Only I already probably have broader horizons than she ever reached being a woman way back when.