I got SPOILED for Christmas!

Christmas was a little bit tight this year. So my husband and I kept our focus on the kids and bought Rock Band 2 (Just the game, we have The Beatles Rock Band with the Rock Band 1 Set) and a few new songs. Nothing too exciting, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Needless to say this Christmas came with zero expectations. I hadn't asked for anything.

SO ... when I got totally spoiled by my friends and family I was in my own little Chateau Poppins World!!!

And I couldn't NOT share with you some of my favorite presents!!! Well all of my presents were my favorite, but I think you'll understand why a few of these REALLY appealed to me.

Starting to get an idea yet?

Well let's look at these items a little bit closer shall we!
(OMG I'm so excited just thinking about them!)

First up was my Biggest Surprise because it was on my door step when I got home Christmas Night? I didn't even know the post office delivered on Christmas!

Look at these cute little Stationary Cards I got!!!

Homemade for JUST ME by my Mindy!!!

So I pulled out the cards and just look at how cute they are!!!

From the desk of Marybeth Smith
(And she even spelled Marybeth as one word. I'm in love!)

So at our family party on Christmas Eve I got pulled aside. Earlier this year I had inspired my sister to paint something incredible (wait till you see!) and apparently she loves me so much she gave me the painting. BUT not without a box to put it in.


OMG How cute is THAT!

And when you open it up it has all these Gnomes and Gnome Facts!

But the best part I didn't notice till the next day...Look at the umbrellas. (Tears are glistening in my eyes right now guys.)

She even decorated the bottom of the box. My sister rocks

And so inside the box held the coolest painting EVER!!!

And I inspired it!

Oh but I couldn't leave this out...FLUFFY BLANKET!

And to top it ALL off, one of my BFF's sent me this...(Along with some super cute Twilight stuff!)

Aren't we Adorable!

AND on top of all that I got a bunch of other stuff ... Including a super cool dutch oven with all the fixins for Cherry Cobbler and Chili and Cornbread from my parents for camping this summer (Going back to those childhood memories! My parents rock.) A gorgeous necklace from the in-laws and all sorts of other stuff. I can't even think I'm so overwhelmed with all the #windinmyhhhaaaiiiirrrr!

So thank you to all my awesome friends and family and super awesome husband who apparently has something brewing in the background for me once the Holidays are over...sneaky husband!

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

PS I hit 201 Followers which totally means Party Time! I'm shooting for the first of the new year, so you better watch out. We're going to ring in 2010 with a big bang!

And so I was Tagged....

Let met tell ya what! My lips are way chapped after all that snogging yesterday! Remind me to bring my Lip Smackers during the Tour de No Kiss Blog Fest hosted by Frankie over at Frankie Writes (about #windinherhaaaaiiiirrrr) I'm going to have to come up with a No Kiss scene before then. I think I'm way too naive to know if I've ever taken part in an almost kiss myself! But January 2nd friends...January 2nd....

So on my road to recovery after such an epic snog fest I read in my comments that Simon over at Constant Revision thought he would be funny/cool/irritating and tag me in this little Tag Game going around. I'm not sure who started it, but it's probably better that way. So without further adieu...

1) What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?

The last thing I wrote was the current MS I am working on right now. It is all sorts of awesome wonderful and we are in love and it woos me every day. It's a dystopian sci fi -ish YA novel. (As in it involves time travel) It makes me want to be 13 again so I can fall in love with one of my characters!

The first thing I wrote...hard to say. I really have been writing every since I could read Hop on Pop. I THINK the first book I wrote was a book about monsters. Nice monsters. In my closet. (Monster's Inc. totally ripped my idea off!) Now I feel the need to go looking for it.

2) Write poetry?

Not since I was forced to in grade school. I wasn't really that bad at it, but I didn't really enjoy it either.

3) Angsty poetry?

Isn't MOST poetry Angsty? Well at least half of mine was.

4) Favorite genre of writing?

I adore YA. (I hope that doesn't make me creepy) I just like reliving the fun life on not having any responsibilities even though it felt like you were holding the weight of the world on your shoulders! Plus young love is so adorable and pure. I do prefer it to be fantasy or sci fi-ish as well. Paranormal is fun too!

5) Most annoying character you've ever created?

I'd have to say one of the characters in my first MS, Rachel. I loved her and hated her all at the same time. I couldn't stand the things she did but I felt bad and totally understood why she was doing them. She was a blast to create!

6) Best plot you've ever created.

The one to my newest MS. It is so intricate and complicated in such a lovely perfect way with all these twists and turns and ... did I mention we are in love?

7) Coolest plot twist you've ever created?

The one at the end of this book. BUT like I'm going to tell you about it. What fun would that be. Let's just say it left people saying they were still thinking about it the next day (OMG seriously...isn't that like the best compliment ever! Or ... maybe the worst ... I'm shooting for best!)

8) How often do you get writer's block?

I spent the entire summer with writer's block. It was awful. So I read over 20 books and didn't stop reading until my mind got going again. Now I'm in idea overload. I can't keep up with any of them.

9) Write fan fiction?

Never. Not a big fan. People have tried to get me to read some too and I just can't bring myself to do it. Why ruin an already great story?

10) Do you type or write by hand?

Both. Sometimes I'll write a chapter short hand then elaborate as I type it out. All small ideas get written by hand. Each book I write has an entire notebook dedicated to it.

11) Do you save everything you write?

Yes and it drives my husband CRAZY now that I have 30 million copies of everything clogging up our hard drive!

12) Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?

My newest MS. I had the prologue written for months and all my ideas down in the notebook but I just couldn't figure out how to get it moving. So I picked it back up for NaNo and forced the words and once I started I couldn't stop! It was WONDERFUL!

13) What's your favorite thing you've ever written?

Something I haven't really started writing much of. It's kinda a memoir, but with totally different names and I intend on deviating from what really happened quite a bit. But I've written three chapters almost exactly as it happened and I love them! They are hilarious and oh the angst I went through was totally worth it to get it all down in writing!

14) What's everyone else's favorite story you've written?

Most people have only read the two manuscripts. And of both they tend to like the newest one better. But my sister has read the memiorish MS that I started and assures me I'm going to hit it big with that one. Gotta love sisters! Best confidence builders EVER!

15) Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?

I suppose my MS is somewhat angsty romance. But that is really just on the side, and not too angsty. But definitely teen!

16) What's your favorite setting for your characters?

The future that I've created in my newest MS. LOVE IT!

17) How many writing projects are you working on right now?

I am solely devoted to one right now. But I have a few that are waiting for me to give them attention again.

18) Have you ever won an award for your writing?

Well as Simon pointed out...do all those blogger awards on the side count? ----->

No, but to be perfectly honest up until recently I've never entered any of my writing into a contest. I did enter my latest MS into the First 200 words YA contest. But I won't know anything until February. So we'll just have to wait and see.

19) What are your five favorite words?

Angst, Snarkasm, Actually, Phantasmagoric and Totally (Good thing I write YA eh!)

20) What character have you created that is most like yourself?

Every one of my characters has something of me in them. I can't say that any certain one is more like me than any of the others. And if there was one that is, I probably wouldn't point it out because they have more of my bad qualities than good ;)

21) Where do you get your ideas for your characters?

I'm not sure really. I kinda just make them up as I go along. I know that's pretty lame, but it's how I do it!

22) Do you ever write based on your dreams?

My latest story came from a dream. I had this scene in my head and decided I needed to elaborate and figure out why they were doing and saying what they did. That scene never made it into my book....

23) Do you favor happy endings?

Not a big fan of happy endings. They are not realistic. I do like happy elements in my endings, just not tooooo happy. (What does that say about me??? Glass half empty anyone?)

24) Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?

I can't help it. I hate to see little red or green lines under my words. But besides that, if MS word doesn't pick it up, I can' usually move past them.

25) Does music help you write?

OMG NO!!! How can you guys do that?!?! I can not listen to anything except the sound of my fan as I write or I get so distracted.

26) Quote something you've written. Whatever pops in your head.

Paper back writer (paperback writer)
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

It's the dirty story of a dirty man
And his clinging wife doesn't understand.
His son is working for the Daily Mail,
It's a steady job but he wants to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

Paperback writer (paperback writer)

It's a thousand pages, give or take a few,
I'll be writing more in a week or two.
I can make it longer if you like the style,
I can change it round and I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

If you really like it you can have the rights,
It could make a million for you overnight.
If you must return it, you can send it here
But I need a break and I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

Paperback writer (paperback writer)

* * * * *

Sweet...now that THAT is done...I shall get back to editing. But not before I tag a few people. The problem is, almost everyone has been tagged. Hmmmm..... I tag Mindy and Hilary. Sorry Ladies! I Hope you enjoy.

Does this mean my kids are Future Snobs?

Last week I got the BEST news a parent can get. Well maybe not the best, BUT it felt like the best at that moment.

It was an ordinary day like any other. I was cleaning the house for my play date with my Fantastically Awesome friend Mindy and her boys. I was taking out some trash and spotted that the mail had already arrived strangely early. Sweet! So I grabbed it and walked back into the house to continue my cleaning.

I flipped through the envelopes and spotted two very professional looking envelopes. One had my daughters name on it, the other had my sons and both with the little seal on the top corner. My children had finally received their Hogwarts Letters!!!! Oh wait...they are still too young for that. These letters were from National Heritage Charter Academy.

I did not get too excited at first. We had applied for them to attend three of their academies thus far and two had already responded with my children being on the waiting lists. I could not deny however that these envelopes DID look different than the others. So I ripped them open! Here is what they held!



That's correct kids. These Gold Embossed letters with shiny gold lettering were acceptance letters showing my children would be now attending one of the wonderful Charter Academies! No longer will they be a part of the Public School District that has been less than mediocre and no longer will they be stuck riding a bus full of older children.

Life is Happy!

(I've ripped apart the first chapter of my novel. Read about it on my WEBSITE)