But as I started to get older, and phase the college partying lifestyle out of my life, I was kind of left with a void. I started getting really into books again towards the end of college, so I had those to pass the time, but I felt like I needed more… and did I find it.

Now, I’m in extra curricular overload!

I still have reading as an integral part in my life. I have built a brand, so to speak, with my blog and reviews. I have people contacting me asking me to read their books and have found myself turning people down because I have so much on my plate. This, I must admit, is the only constant activity in my life. I read every single day at lunch and every night before bed. It helps sooth my soul.

One of the other hobbies I have is writing. A couple of years ago, I sat down and started writing a book. Now I’ve finished two and have started a third. I have been sending letters to agents, hoping to get noticed, but I’m still trying. Unfortunately this isn’t one that I am as diligent with as I should be. I have definitely let the heartbreak of receiving “we are not interested” letters impact my writing and really need to look past it.

Over the past year, my other hobbies have come and gone including making button lamps, which didn’t last long because I got freaked out when I looked at the tax aspect and couldn’t force myself to pretend I didn’t know what is legal. I made three lamps and made some pretty good money off of them, but I just felt like it was more of a hassle than anything. Maybe one day I’ll get over my money anxiety and find a couple of more cute crafty ideas and reopen my Etsy shop.

Then comes the knitting. A few years ago, I tried knitting. I failed miserably and just gave up. Last year, I was sitting on the couch one day, with nothing gripping me on tv and reading a book that I wasn’t really into and decided to get out the knitting again. For weeks, all I did was knit. I made a horrible scarf, made a better one and then I made one that I love. Since the three, I have started two more, but I only knit about once every few weeks when again, I’m reading a book that I’m not in love with.

Baking has come and gone in the past few years and peaked again this past winter after my husband got me a KitchenAid mixer that I fell in love with. But with baking, it really for me just depends on what else is going on in my life. If I have somewhere to go, I will offer to bake something, or if I see something new in the store I can’t bypass, but I’ve been uber lazy lately and haven’t just thought, “Hmmmm why don’t I bake something?”. My husband is a chocoholic. He loves chocolate cake and plain chocolate cupcakes. Unfortunately for his taste buds, those are not normally what I make. I want something fun and interesting like raspberry scones and lemon strawberry cupcakes. He always tastes, but I end up eating them all myself, or taking them to work. It’s almost bathing suit season! I need to lay off the baked goods.

Lately I have also been into doing my nails. For years I wore acrylics, but decided to save money and take them off. But I have ended up spending so much more money with trying to be creative. I’ve bought the Sally stickers, Jamberry stickers, multiple new bottles of polish. I even dug out the craft scissors I got when I was younger to help do new designs. So much for saving money. And I have learned that there are only certain times I can do my nails… after the shower, a few hours before bed so they can dry, most preferably while I am sitting on the couch with nothing on the agenda because I always smudge them.

My husband got me a new camera a couple of years ago, so every now and then I’ll get this great idea to go around town and shoot some new pictures. That is actually what sparked this post. I was reading/vieweing some photography blogs today and decided that tomorrow morning would be a great day to go out and take some pictures. Then I thought of all the other stuff I could also do tomorrow before I have a bachelorette party to attend. Think I could do a little bit of all of the above?

One thing I know I won’t be doing this weekend, but will be back with next weekend is trying to find goodies from the flea market. My mom and I always go to the monthly flea market at our fairgrounds. But it wasn’t until the past year or so, since I’ve been on Pinterest, that I’ve had things in mind. My first flea market find was a cheese grater to hang my earrings on. During our last trip, I was looking for mirrors for my mirror wall. In the past month, I have gotten 15 mirrors for $30. I’m obsessed with making my wall awesome! Luckily this only happens once a month so it’s not a random, when I feel like it, activity.

I still do a little exercising, including walking with my mom and we go out on the boat with friends in the summer, and spend time at my dad’s pool. And my biggest extra curricular is spending time with my family. It’s amazing how when you grow up and start finding yourself how other things find you too!

What are some of your extra curriculars? Not that I have time for more hobbies, but you never know when I’ll need something new!

That was the case on Sunday. They kept pushing back when the storm would hit and come Monday morning, it was actually beautiful outside and the sun was shining, not a flurry in sight….at least not in my area. There were some towns in our coverage area that were hit pretty hard and have major power outages, so we weren’t totally off. Dang curving storms.

But, my Sunday wasn’t a complete bust for coming to Huntington early. I made a quick trip to the mall to pick up a couple of dresses that I had my eye on and passed up on Saturday when the hubs and I went shopping. They were too good of deals to pass up.  But my trip to the mall was very quick. I knew what I wanted/needed, I got it and got out. I am saving money for NYC so I didn’t want to spend too much.

So I happily took my dresses, Nook, notebook, laptop, iPhone and wallet to Panera. That’s normally a winter haven for me. When it snows or is supposed to snow and I know I have to stay in Huntington, I always spend time at Panera. I grab a coffee or some frou-frou drink, and depending on my mood, a yummy bagel or sandwich and soup. That was my plan for Sunday.

This weekend, my flavor was the light roast coffee and a strawberries and cream scone. Oh my, it was fabulous. As you can see in the picture, I cozied up by the fire place and got to work. I felt like a real author. I searched for a while for the first chapter of what will be the third book in the series I am working on, if I ever get it published. I couldn’t find it, so I started fresh. The words came to me and I did a little research, for the first time in my life as I took my new book from West Virginia to Wyoming…yes, fun right??

I got about 1600 words in and felt like I made a major accomplishment. I also sent a query to an agency. It felt like I got a lot accomplished…and of course I did some people watching too.

I am a major fan of people watching. I notice characteristics that I want to give some of my characters and I make snap judgements about people and then see if I was correct. I could not believe how many people prayed before eating lunch. Granted, I was there just after noon when the church crowd came. And in no way am I knocking them, but I have never seen such prevalence. Maybe something I need to add in when my leading lady comes back to West Virginia.

I wish that there was a Panera, or even a coffee shop, closer to home than an hour away. The closest thing we have is McDonalds and I just can’t make myself go to McDonalds and try to write books. It just doesn’t fit for me. I feel like I would get so much more work done if I had a place closer to home. I heard a little rumor that a company that is opening soon across the river from home, in Ohio, hopes to open a coffee shop. I promise I’ll come all the time if you do. It’s just so nice not to have a distraction of the TV or chores or anything. I now understand why writers hit up the local coffee shops.

Do you have a haven where you head to get work done? Mine at home is my bedroom because I

On My Bookshelf is a slight variation of In My Mailbox by Kristi at The Story Siren, a weekly meme to show off the good books you got the previous week, whether from the library, bought, borrowed, won from a giveaway, downloaded…you know the drill!

This week, I had my eye on a book I’ve been seeing all over Twitter and blogs and HAD to get my hands on it. Thanks to a gift card by one of my husband’s friends, I am considering it a late Christmas gift.

Yes friends, I got Cinder this week and I am PUMPED!!! But, as you can see, that’s not all I got, I also got a new notebook. It’s a canvas material and has an elastic band to keep it closed and a marker inside to let you know where you left off. I get one of these a year to keep track of the books I’ve read, days I’ve written and which agents I have sent letters to. A new notebook always gives me inspiration to do more work so I can fill it up and not waste my pages.

In case you have been living under a book rock, here is the description of Cinder from Goodreads.com:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Did you get any goodies this week???

Unfortunately, this book isn’t going to write itself and I haven’t typed a word so far this year for NaNo. Not even a title or my name.

I had high hopes this year for NaNo, but have recently added a few activities to my hobby list and focused on them instead.

Last year during NaNo, I went back to my quiet room around 9 p.m. I wrote for an hour and then read for an hour.

This year, that hasn’t happened one time. Instead, I’ve been knitting, shopping, button sorting and doing everything I can possibly get my hands on but write.

Yes, I know I could start now and POSSIBLY make up for lost time, but as much as I was feeling it before November actually got here, I’m just not feeling it now.

I know to be a writer, it’s simple: YOU HAVE TO WRITE! But I have to be in the mood, at the right place at the right time and with what’s going on the paper to be at the tip of my tongue.

Do I have to do NaNo in November? Obviously I can’t partake in the festivities if I do it another month, but I can set my own goals and I’m sure a few of you will cheer me along, right???

For those of you who are participating, I congratulate you and pat you on the back for pushing forward and just doing it!

For those of you who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it’s short for National Novel Writing Month, which is held in November. The goal is to start November 1 at midnight and write 40,000 words before the end of the month.

This is my second year participating. Last year, I didn’t finish in the month of November, but I did complete the book that I started and it’s in my editing process, which for now means it’s taking a little snooze on my computer.

I haven’t really been in the writing mood lately. Earlier this year, I hit the writing life hot and heavy. I finished edits on my first book and sent out tons of queries to agents. I finished the second book in the series and started edits, then I fell short. I started a third book, completely different from the first two and was going strong for a while, but then I lost interest in it.

But I am planning on writing my little heart out in the month of November. I always have a hard time deciding what I want to write about for NaNo, but for the second year, am tending to fall back on what I know. I will be writing the third book in my YA murder mystery series. I’ve had an idea for this book since I started the first one. Now it’s just time to make it come to life.

Maybe NaNo will also give me the push to get back to the grind and send out more queries and maybe even do some editing of the second one (although I will probably spend all the time I have on WIP on the one that has a deadline).

I do have a lot more going on this year than I did last year. It’s nothing like raising a kid, or working two jobs or anything, but I have taken up knitting and making button lampshades. I got my first order for lampshades this week, so when the buttons come in, I’ll have to spend some time on those, but I still plan on writing every night.

The goal is 1333 words a day. If I can get that many a day, I’ll be right on track to meet the 40,000 word goal. If it’s anything like last year, I’ll start out strong with 2-3K a day, then fall off, hardly reaching 100.

But, I’m going into NaNo with a positive outlook and the plans for at least a 3-book deal

Are you participating in NaNo? Want to cheer each other along????