IT hit me today and IT hurt...real bad

It really hit me square in the jaw today what I will be leaving;

*(I say square in the jaw not literally, but figuratively of course because it hurt so bad it made me cry as though I had been hit hard, like square in the jaw hard, not that I have ever been hit like that but you get the idea)

-Family (Not just any kind of family but the kind that you choose as friends)
-Blue Sky Country
- Friends( Not just any kind of friends but the kind you consider to be family)
-Support (Sewn together as tight as a quilt that you can blanket it around yourself whenever life gets too cold)
-Children at Little Lites (That I love and have already become so attached to and don't want to stop being their teacher)
- VW Slo-Going Club
-Knowing a City so well that I don't need a GPS to navigate me(Which I would like to ask all those reading to be thinking of a name for my GPS girl voice, she will I am sure become a beloved new friend... also if I start talking about her too much in future blogs after I have moved please call my mom Ellen with concern :)
- My Children's Friends (all of which I adore and who's sadness makes it so hard to be happy)
- Nevada Day and the Parade that I love oh so much!! (That's right people I will miss this tradition with my Mom and kids)
- Being only 3 classes away from my degree (only to have to start all over again. I am being a bit dramatic with that because I am sure some classes will transfer it's just it never ENDS. Well, here's to me for trying!!)
-The community of people at Hillside, really good... no great people who have been nothing but supportive and generous with me and my family.
-Granite Counter Tops(wondered if Mo could take those also? just kidding!!)
-My Neighbors( I have really great neighbors, even mean old guy next door has been nice lately, prolly cause he's happy he will have a little peace and quiet now)
-My brother coming over to use our garage every so often
-People who come over unannounced(this is truly, truly something I will miss because it means people not only know where you live but that you love them)
-My new found Gym instructor who kicks butt and takes names, Shalisa
-2 bathrooms( at least I got to have this luxury for a little while)
- The group of newly tattooed people who kept my family a float this summer with their purchases of new ink


I walk slowly away from all of this and so much more, knowing that what the future holds is promising, but the past can't be replaced.

Some Places that Victoria Traveled this summer

I have yet to find anything blog worthy these days so I am reduced to posting more summertime pics.

ENJOY!

Life is running..

Life and all it's events has a way of creeping up on me.

Before I go any further, let me point out that it wasn't always this way for me. There was a time I vaguely remember about 11 years ago, yes 11 years ago exactly, I remember that life came and went at the normal, natural speed that a human being can keep up with. But, since a certain life changing event that happened 11 years ago on May 28th, 1998, I have not been able to catch back up with life.

I feel like life is running so fast and even if I screamed at the top of my lungs, "LIFE SLOW DOWN WOULD YA, I CAN'T KEEP UP!!" it still wouldn't matter.

So because life is a runner, not a jogger or fast walker, but a full blown runner I am finding it essential that I get in better shape so that I don't get left behind.

Some things... about cleaning... and Me

Some things I hate cleaning...

The Inside of a Microwave when something has exploded.

The underbelly of a Toilet.

The remnants of any and all excretions from my Dog.

Any and all dusting.

The inside of my junk drawers.

The corners of my kitchen floor.

Food that has been left to forever change the shape of a dish.




Some things I enjoy cleaning....

(Pshh, who am I trying to kid you all know I hate to clean!! )

Still there are a few things I don't mind cleaning...

My Bed, love the smell of clean sheets

Ironing, love the smell and warmth (I have shared this before but thought it deserved mentioning since my list is so short)

The outside of a dishwasher, oven, refrigerator and microwave.

My Car.


Some people that make all cleaning tolerable for me ...

Dean Martin

Frank Sinatra

Billy Holiday

and ... Louie Armstrong

Optimism and Me

Despite the fact that there has been a whole lot of negative things that have been happening all around I am determined to be The Eternal Optimist.

I found this quote today on a quotes page that I often visit;

"The point of living and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come." Peter Ustinov

It's true that optimism might be foolish but better to be a fool and happy than be right but you are all alone and miserable. I will be the fool that continually looks for and hopes in the best.

Now, don't get me wrong I am grateful, very grateful for the pessimists or realists or whatever you want to call them, in my life. They keep my feet on the ground and when their truth is spoken in love I can handle it. It might take me a while to get on board but thats just because it's not in my nature to be that way. A balance would be nice but then what fun is there in that ? I have noticed though when I slip out of optimism(very rarely but it does happen) suddenly those around me no longer carry their pessimistic traits. It's the strangest thing but when you want to hear the voice of optimism you can hear it.

So despite the fact that there is the possibly of looming bad things right around the corner I say, Here's to Looking Up!!

Picture is of the Redwood forest, taken last Fall.

And So I Start Again...

I like the idea of new beginnings.

I am amazed by the fact that our bodies no matter where we are in life can respond to starting over with exercise and eating right.
I have for several months not done a single thing in the exercise department. It is an area of great frustration for me how inconsistent I have always been with all things physical.
In January of this year I set out as all New Year's Optimistic people do to finally be consistent in this area. I lasted until the time change occurred in March and since then have not lifted a finger or a muscle I should say.
About a month ago my sister encouraged me by signing me up for a new gym. I was on my way to getting around to do this myself, but I can procrastinate like it's nobodies business when it comes to something I don't want to do. Don't even get me started about my upcoming, pressing need to register for a math class in the fall!!

Anyway, back to new beginnings. I am back at it again and have been going strong with the weekly workouts for over a month now. I am hopeful that it will last and I will finally be consistent in this area. I am hopeful that I won't come up with excuses or reasons why I can't do something that should be as important to me as bread, water and air.

I like the fact that God is a God who supports new beginnings. In fact He is all about new beginnings. His middle name could be NEW BEGINNING. I love how His motto is NOT- "Oh you screwed up forget it. You are a loser and you will never get it right but rather Grace and Mercy triumph over Judgement. That is His way. I think that is why He made us so that even our bodies respond so well with new beginnings.

Okay now for the random song in this blog;

This all reminds me of that old 80's song or maybe it was 90's...ya know how pretty much everything can remind me of a song right?

"Here I go again on my own,
Going down the only road I've ever known"

Okay all you song trivia people out there who sings it and what are the rest of the words??

Some favorites from the Johnson Wedding

For those of you who aren't on Facebook...ahem Shontell

Finding A Literary Agent

I have found my searching for a literary agent to be quite difficult. As difficult as getting published, (ahem... by a legit publisher that is) will be I am sure. It is a more agonizing process than I thought it would be. The ability to be rejected several times without taking it personal is not an easy one to come by. I am sure this is a skill that comes over time. I haven't acquired it yet. It's not as though I am devastated every time a rejection email comes back, it's just each time I see an agent has written me back, I let the letter sit for 2.5 seconds before opening it with the high hopes that this might be the person who wants to read more of my work. So far, I haven't got that hopeful letter back YET!!

Every agent requires that you send them a query letter. Basically, it's like a resume for your book. Some require if you have illustrations to send those and some won't even open your email if there are attachments. IF you don't follow their specifications to a T (yes that is a capital T folks) they won't even consider your work. All of these things I didn't even know before entering this wonderful world of publishing.

I set out originally to find someone local. Much to my surprise, (I am being totally sarcastic here in case you didn't notice) there is no one in the Reno/Sparks area or even Northern Nevada area for that matter.
I did however get in touch with an agent in the San Francisco area, who referred me to this very helpful website;

agentquery.com

When I went to that website I then began to realize that I am a very small fish in an ocean of talented writers who were much more educated about this process than I was. I was scared. I was discouraged. I felt grossly underqualified to even be considering my work as something that should go public. My first query letters I was embarrassed by now. I did exactly what they said NOT to do before learning what a query letter even is or was. I didn't know that there are agents who specialize in certain genres of books and that I should be looking for those agents to even consider reading my query letter, let alone my books.

Then I remembered why I started this process in the first place. I regrouped and thought; some lucky agent is going to GET to be my agent, is going to GET to help me publish my book, and is going to GET to reap the Harvest of promises I have awaiting me.
So, once I realized all of this, I did some refining on my query letter, made a list of the agents that I wanted to pursue, and started sending away those queries via email. I have been rejected several times. I only have 12 more agents to pursue on that list that was 23 agents long.

I KNOW one of them will be the lucky winner.

Laugh Insanely, Love Truly, and Forgive Quickly!!

laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

I liked this version of live, laugh, love. Not sure why I liked it but here is an insight to my thought process on this one.

I feel as though my laugh is insane. Many people have told me it's loud that's for sure. But how would you know if your laugh was insane? I know I find myself often times being the only one who is laughing. That might be considered insane. I know I often get looks of shock for my laugh. Now that I am thinking about it, I am not sure it's a good thing to have an insane laugh.

I know I love truly because I am not sure I have ever loved falsely. How would you know if your love wasn't true? Maybe it's someone who is a phony or insincere. Although I not sure you would know what that would look like if you were a phony.

I forgive quick enough I think. I mean right now as I am sitting here thinking if there is anyone I need to forgive and I can't think of anyone. Nope not a single person do I have an offense with that needs to be forgiven so yeah, I think...

I GOT THIS!!

Just Thoughts

Three weeks left of summer break. I need to get this family back to real life time instead of island time. We have successfully once again thrown away the clocks for the summer and I fear we will go into shock if we went cold-turkey back into school schedule time. So really, I am thinking we only have two weeks left of break and the week before school starts is always busy with school stuff and getting back into the groove.

Emma has really taken to baking and cooking things in the kitchen. Tonight it's cinnamon cupcakes with creme cheese frosting. Mmm...mmm good!!

Moses marinated a steak for this evenings dinner that I am pretty excited about.

I am not going with the first publishing company that offered to publish my book. There was some things in the contract that just didn't sit well with me and so I decided not only did I have no business looking at a 10 page legal document but that it was time to look for an agent. Looking for an agent has been interesting to say the least. More on that later.

My neighbors down the street are getting ready for the big Burn. They are coming into town at their usual speed for this time of year. Always provides for some free entertainment. They are all so nice and very excited that you can't help pick up on that energy. Hope they don't get rained out this year.

My other neighbors have been unusually nice lately. Bringing over all kinds of fruits and vegetations. These are not the usual nice neighbors.

We still haven't heard any news back from our bank lenders about getting "Help for Homeowners". They said it would be 30 to 90 days before we heard anything. It's been 37.5 days so there is still some time I guess before we have to start packing.

Picture of my Dad and Isaiah at Savy's 2nd b-day.

Full Moon Poem

It is a full moon tonight.
I am sitting outside on this beautiful summer evening and I am thinking about all the many things I have to be thankful for.
Here is a silly poetic list

The Moon,
The Breeze,
The sound of the wind through the trees.

The Love
The Joy
The sound of my girls and all three of my boys.

My House
My Cars
My Dogs who sometimes I wished lived on Planet Mars.

My Family
My Friends
My Neighbors who are always giving without end.

The Creator
My Savior
Without which what is this life for?
But with whom all blessings come from and so much more.

Ramirez and Ortiz

There will always be a special place in my heart for these two boys and one other Johnny Damon who brought the Red Sox to the play offs in 2003.
It makes me sad however in recent news to hear that they both have been in the press for alledgedly using drugs to enhance their abilities as ball players. Nothing of course has been proven about Ortiz but Ramirez being suspended in May, even if for another team, was a bit sad to me.
I am not sure how I feel about the use of steroids mostly because I am not that knowledable about what exactly it does to a person. I do however know that it's not something they are allowed to do when in contract with these ball clubs and that should be enough for them to not do it, right?

Happy Birthday Isaiah

Brodey the Bishop and the Process of getting Published

I never imagined a year ago when I sat down at my computer to finally create a children's story that I would be here. I have been accepted by a publishing company, but now I am considering getting an agent and going with a bigger, better publishing company.
After reading a 10 page contract and having no idea what I was really getting into I have been reconsidering my first choice for a publisher for a lot of reasons.
I am still conversing with them about the book but I have also sent out queries to two separate agents that I am excited to hear back from. These agents in the world of children's books are HUGE!! So, if they like my pitch and my books then I am going to take the leap of faith and hope for something better for this book.

Health Care and CHANGE

I have been trying to think about a topic to blog about for a very long time. Most of my blogs have been more of updates than topical, which is fine but I do love the topic blogs so much. The blogs that really get everybody's attention and get conversations going.
So the other night I was having a conversation with my hubby about the recent health care topic that is on the forefront with our country right now. We have somewhat of opposing views being that he voted for a different person than the one that is now in office and who is also the man I voted for. Needless to say the conversation about this topic is one that always is interesting around here.

I don't know how many people know this but my vote this presidential election went to the person who had the greatest proposal FOR health care changes. I have my reasons for why which is not really what I want to get into here. What I want to talk about is this; recently we have a somewhat distant relative(ex-brother-in-law to Moses and our niece Kaylanne's dad) who was in a terrible motorcycle accident. He was out of state, out of work, and obviously therefore having no insurance. He was taken to a county hospital and is still being cared for there. He has had to have several operations and has been in the hospital for several weeks.
Is he being cared for with government money or are The good tax paying people of California footing this bill ( even though he lives in Mississippi) ? OR are both government and the people responsible here?

He has had nothing but quality care since the moment he arrived. There was no one at any point and time that even looked at him funny because he didn't have insurance or a job. So my question is this, what exactly will change?

Do people honestly believe that Doctors and Nurses will suddenly turn into these villains who only care for the people who have the biggest pocket books? Do you people not know that the Doctors and Nurses who would do that are already doing that and will continue to do that? BUT- there are those Doctors and Nurses out there who didn't take that vocation for the money and they will continue down that road of service whether there is money in it or not because that is their lives calling.

This is my big question- Do you think that the current health care situation is a good one in this country and should therefore be left alone? IF so why or why not??

I do hope people can converse about this openly and honestly and know that none of our conversations will do a damn thing and are strictly for some playful adult bantering only !! (unless of course you are a politician or related to one that has lots o money)

New Project

It never ceases to amaze me how my hubby can just take a project and run with it. We were having lots o fun at all the Reno Art Town stuff when I came upon a booth selling hair accessories. I have been checking online for some flower hair accessories to go with my fifties style dress(borrowed from none other than Mrs. Heifner). This ensemble will be for a photo shoot that is for our VW clubs calendar(more on that later). Anyway, needless to say the flowers that I had seen online were quite expensive so when I found a booth this weekend selling these pretties I was so excited and bought one right away. Soon after my purchase my new found excitement was met with even more excitement when my ultra talented hubby Mo took one look at what I bought, and said what I have heard him say countless times before... "I can make that" and he did.
Now I have a flower accessory for every outfit, and some for my friends as well.
The one I bought from the art fair has already broken and so of course my genius husband saw that coming and made these new hair "pretties" to be much more functional.
So I am pretty much set and once again so impressed by my boy.

Introducing...

Brodey the Bishop and The First Day of Spring

Brody the Bishop

I have been working on a series of children's books since last year. It has taken a long time to get the perfect artist. I have been through 3 other artists before landing the greatest female artist Natalie Rose Heifner. She has finished the pages of artwork that we need to submit this project and I am getting nervous now.
I am of course hopefully optimistic about it all, but still there are some nerves involved there.

Will they say yes and and sign me finally after all this time?


It remains to be seen whether this will be the artistic adventure of mine that will finally come to pass.

Here's to Hoping!!

Things I know for sure

Some things I know for sure-

I have found myself to be a person in process and I am okay with that.
I am no longer the person I once was when I started walking with Jesus 20 years ago.
I have not forgotten the wonderful things He has done for me in my life nor will I ever forget.
There is a passion still there to learn more about Him.
There is no where else I could go to find the Love that He brings.
He has a beauty that is beyond compare.
His way is the best way.
His character is one that has proven to be so unlike that of human nature.
This is what still intrigues me.
This is what I pursue.
He is what really matters.
I have realized some interesting things along the way though.
Things about humans that I wish weren't true but alas they are.
It's not about what a person speaks but rather what they do.
It doesn't matter if you say you are a follower if you don't follow.
You are not a leader without followers.
No one can speak to my heart and change it better than He.
People tend to take for granted what they are given freely.
Human- is a race that feels entitled.
Gifts are given freely from no one other than Jesus.
No one can take from you the gifts that God gives.
There is nothing better in life to pursue than Love and God is LOVE.