Aww Man! NaNoWriMo's almost Over!

In the past three months, we moved into a nice little duplex, we got to have our cute little kitty George back, I got a manuscript proofreading job, we created a small hydroponics garden in our sun room, I am writing regularly for iwriter.com and still an elite writer. It has been a pretty busy three months, and nothing is slowing down. It always seems like, when you want peace and quiet the most, then that is when everything goes sideways. 

The other day, we were alerted to someone from all the way across the country using our debit card, they actually swiped it at the check out station in three different places. Thankfully we didn't have the massive amount of money in our account that they were trying to charge, but still it was terrifying. We cancelled that card and looked through to make sure that they had not succeeded in using our money. 

These sort of experiences just go to show how hectic and unknowable this world is. There is no way to know if something like this could happen to you. Just imagine, if we had been paid that day, all of our rent, bill and food money would be gone. We are so thankful that it did not happen that way. Still, even though that card has been shut down, I still worry that it could happen again. 

Well, let's move on to more exciting things! We have moved into a wonderful, cute little duplex. It is a two bedroom home, with a kitchen that has room for our neat little table. One of the best parts about this little home is that it is right next to the house that I grew up in with my Mom and my little sister. I lived next door for about ten years, and now I am living right next door with my lovely husband, and adorable kitty. Oh yeah, and guess what! My Mom is still living next door, so we get to text one another or show up at the front door to either of our houses and say, "Hey, wanna play dice?" 

Here is the scene of one of our games... 

It is one of the most fun experiences ever, to be able to just play a bit of Yahtzee and drink Dr. Pepper with your Mom, just whenever you feel like. We chat and laugh our heads off over silly things. It is so much fun! If I were feeling better (I've been sick with a cold, and now a stomach thing *grrrr*) I would definitely go over and demand that we play dice... but I would provide the snacks.

In other news, NaNoWriMo is almost over! Today is day 28, so that means that there are only 2 days left, not including today, since it's already passed 5pm... I am at 40,000 words. So, I have 10,000 words to write by midnight on Friday. I know that I can do it, but I am not feeling that great, so I'm kind of anxious. 

Oh you know, just George lounging against my bookcase...

I planned my novel this year, I usually just go for it on November 1st and fly by the seat of my pants. But, this year I decided that I was going to know exactly what my story was going to be like, from the beginning to the end. Well, I discovered that even if I plan, outline and write milestones it just doesn't work out all the time. 

By the time I hit 25,000 words I had created a dragon who had been shunned by her dragon clan, all of the clan's, a sparkling underground city, and I completely cut out one of my most important characters. I even decided, on day 26, to completely move around the place where my main character is taken to after she is rescued as a child... there isn't an alternate dimension at all! It is only on the other side of the world!!! So, as you can see, there will be a lot of editing in December. I am having so much fun with this project, and I have to say that writing this blog post has actually rejuvenated my want to finish this novel! Yay! I can do it!!!!

Originally I had planned to write a post every day during November, but, life got in the way... it's hard enough to write 50,000 words in 30 days hahaha... Oh, here is a picture of my messy writing space.

Make the Most of What you Have!!

Apartment living is hard, but we do what we can to make it less stressful and more comfy. Travis has decided to build me a window seat in our bedroom. There is a large window there and the view is not much to look at, but I have plans to make it into a nice vegetable garden. There is a long, skinny sidewalk and then rocks around our small apartment complex. Definitely not pretty. We are going to have some fun with this. I have a very cute planter box and some nice flowers next to our front door and soon (a few months or so perhaps) I will be able to look out my bedroom window, from my window seat and look at my pretty tomato and pepper plants. 

I want my kitty George so much, but I know he is safe and very very happy with my Mom right now. So, I don't have to worry. Here's a picture of him. Isn't he cute?

Budget Your Money!
I am in the process of creating a budget binder. This is the envelope system, where as soon as we get our check I put the designated amount of money in each envelope. Some bills we pay with an online system, but I will still keep track of those in my binder as well. I've tried this before, but not since Travis and I have been married. It is such a practical way to keep your budget on track. I am very excited to start with this system again.


Remember, it's important to write down all of your bills and budget needs, that way you can find out where all of your money is going and where it really needs to be going. I discovered, which, I already knew but did not want to admit, that Travis and I eat out way too much. So, that is one area that we are going to work on. 


Meal Planning
Plan your meals in advance, buy groceries on sale and refrain from eating out unless you've planned it into your budget. I like to plan our meals on Mondays, make my list and go to the grocery store. It doesn't always happen like that, but the general idea is to plan and have all the ingredients at hand. That way, I'm excited about my recipes and I'm not sitting around wondering what I should make for dinner. That can so easily end in ordering pizza...

I must confess, we did this last night.