Friendship, Mayhem, and Mythical Creatures

Two weekends ago, my friends Sarah and Rosemary and I all took off for our second writing retreat at Sarah's family cabin. 

Before we left, Rosemary got to spend the afternoon at my incredibly messy house (pre-awesome living room makeover). Sweet girl, she didn't mind at all. ;) She also got to meet Middle Gal and Little Gal (Oldest Gal was at Sarah's house celebrating Sarah's youngest daughter's birthday) and Teddy, too.

Once Sarah got off of work, we piled into her car, stopped at Subway for dinner, and drove up the mountain for a few days of nothing but writing, brainstorming, and food. Chocolate and ice cream may or may not have been involved. ;)

The sunset was so breathtaking on the way up that we pulled off the road to get a few pictures. A perfect rainbow sherbet sunset. ;)

The cozy cabin from two different views:

Little M came along this time, so of course he wanted to pose in front of the cabin. ;)

I didn't take too many pictures (and actually, this one and several of the others are from Sarah and Rosemary...thanks, girls!), but here's the room where the writing magic happened. ;)

And here was where I slept this time. It's called "the hole," but it's actually quite comfy. It's a spot underneath the staircase (rather Harry Potteresque, but much nicer) and behind a shelf. It was quiet and cozy underneath the three layers of sleeping bags. I slept like a log...especially since I didn't have to listen for a puppy who needed to go out for a potty break! ;) My favorite thing was reading my book before conking out for the night, although apparently one night the glow of my flashlight reached the upstairs window and startled Sarah, who was sleeping in the living room. ;)

Here we are on a walk to clear our minds and stretch our sore writing muscles (backs, shoulders, and fingers). ;) You'll notice I was wise this time and took care to stand behind my skinnier friends. Much better. ;)

A few pics of the lovely scenery: 

The weather varied from rainy to beautifully sunny while we were there. A perfect combination. :)

Since Rosemary and I have birthdays in September and October, we decided to exchange birthday gifts this time around. I also got Sarah an unbirthday gift, because I didn't want her to feel left out. ;)

I got Rosemary, who is a dragon lover, two Beenie Boo dragons and a dragon necklace. I got Sarah two Funko pops, one from The Nightmare Before Christmas and one from Labyrinth (two of her favorite movies). I put Sarah's gift in a Star Wars Rogue One bag from the Disney Store, as she is also a Star Wars fan. ;) (Sorry, I didn't get pics of the gifts I gave.) :(

Rosemary gave me this great t-shirt, which I wore the very next day:

Isn't it perfect for me? :D

(Sorry about the wrinkles, that's the way it air-dried.) 

And Sarah gave me this:

It's kind of a joke from Mount Hermon this past March. I took my Poo-pourri and kept going on and on about how awesome it was, so Sarah got me another bottle for my birthday. I couldn't have been more thrilled. Seriously, people. This stuff works. I'm not a fan of their commercials, but I do like their product.

And now I'm going to move on before this turns into an awkward infomercial. ;}

Sarah also got me a wonderful cd by the Gettys. I love their music! 

On our last day there, Rosemary got this cute picture of Little M with her three dragons. (The two plushies are from me.) It was an odd role reversal to watch someone else taking photos of toys. ;D

The weekend was a big success for all of us. We each were able to tackle upcoming projects that needed our attention. One of the things I valued the most was being able to read my first few chapters to Sarah and Rosemary and get their immediate feedback. When I struggled with the dialogue and character motivation in one of the chapters, we brainstormed about it over dinner. I attacked it after I'd finished eating, and then reread it to both of them. It was so nice having their input. I've officially decided I want them to stay in my house all the time so I can be a better writer. Hee hee.

In return, I was able to provide feedback for both of them. There's something so wonderful about sharing your writing in an environment that is safe and uplifting. Both Rosemary and Sarah have great insights and are talented writers, so it's nice being able to bounce things off of them. Plus, I get to hear some of their works in progress, which is always a treat. ;)

We've officially decided that this needs to become a regular thing for us. ;) This weekend away was just what we all needed. I can't wait for the next one!

A Living Room Makeover

Hubby had a week of vacation this past week, so we spent it doing something crazy: totally rearranging our living room. ;)

It was supposed to be a simple matter of swapping the places of a few pieces of furniture, but it turned into a major decluttering/reorganizing/getting rid of operation that resulted in a fun, open new look.

Which is why I haven't been blogging. It was a huge project, and I wanted to use all the time I could with Hubby while he was off. We had a lot of fun, though, and it was great to have him around a little more than usual. :)

(For those of you interested in what my living room used to look like, you can see a few pictures in this post, but you'll have to scroll down through a few other pictures first.)

Here are some pictures of what our living room looked like throughout the course of the week:

And here's what it looks like now:

I love how much simpler and open it looks. I think my favorite part of the changes is my new work station: 

I get to sit by the window and look up at my fan mail, my awesome 25th Anniversary Beauty and the Beast calendar, and my character sheet. :) 

I have a fun little shelf with all of my art supplies and some of my collectible toys.

And I've got another shelf with more art supplies, writing materials, and doll repair supplies.

Unfortunately, tonight we had to bring several boxes and totes back into the living room (since they were stacked on our bed and we needed a place to sleep). ;) My goal over the next week is to continue going through things. I'd love to make the whole house a little simpler and a little more organized. I'm tired of feeling overwhelmed by stuff. Except for my toys. I never get tired of those. ;) 

Seriously, though, I'm trying to take an objective look at my collections and continue to thin things out a bit. I've already done some downsizing over the past few months, but there's still more to do. I feel like I have so much right now, I can't fully enjoy everything.

Of course, I'll never be a minimalist. When I get to my "bare minimum," it will probably still look like too much to a lot of people. But that's okay. I just have to worry about what works for me and my family. ;)

I'm sorry to keep you waiting on the earlier promised posts, plus my report on our writers retreat. When Hubby is back to work next week, I'll spend a little more time blogging. For this week, it was fun having a shared project and spending time together. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful new week when we start the month of NOVEMBER. (Seriously? Already?) I'll be back with more bloggy fun soon. 

Stop the World...I Want to Get Off!

This week has truly been a ride through crazy town. Between project deadlines, practices for the girls, late nights, and trying to get enough playtime in with Teddy so he sleeps well, I feel like I've been running in all directions.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll head up to the mountains for another mini writing retreat with my writing buddies Sarah and Rosemary. While the preparations for getting away feel a bit overwhelming right now, I'm looking forward to a few days of nothing but writing, brainstorming, eating, and visiting. ;) I'll be sure to take some photos and let you know how it goes.

I have a couple of posts still in the works, but haven't had enough time to get them all polished and ready for you. So here are a couple of preview pictures to show you what you have to look forward to in the coming weeks:

And some puppy spam, just because Teddy's so cute and photogenic:

Talk to all of you again soon!

P.S. Sorry I never responded to comments on Teddy's post! I'll try to get to that next week. :}

Ladies Retreat 2016

As you all know, at the end of September I had the opportunity to go to my church's Ladies Retreat. This year, it was held in Eureka, California, our annual vacation spot. I was so excited to connect with ladies from our church and other churches, and to visit my favorite beaches once again. :)

I brought Little M, my plushie unicorn, as my traveling companion this time. Mom R, Mimi, Patti (our pastor's wife) and I all rode over together and had a great time together. The time flew by as we chatted and laughed. :)

We stopped for lunch at Tops in Weaverville. :)

We got to stay at the Bayshore Inn in Eureka while we were there. I shared this beautiful room with Patti. 

Little M approves of the bed. ;)

The other side of the room.

The awesome spa tub that we never used. ;) 

Our bathroom.

We had a lovely view from our big sliding glass door. The balcony was pretty funny, though. It was barely wide enough to stand on.

The view below:

Little M above the koi pond.

The pond was beautiful, but the koi fish were ginormous and kind of creepy looking. :}

Our retreat took place at one of the local churches. We gathered for meals, singing, and uplifting messages from our special speaker.

Little M at our table:

One of our other yummy meals. The ladies changed the tablecloths and table decor between each meal.

One of the things we were looking forward to the most was introducing Patti to two of our favorite beaches, since she'd never been to Eureka before.

Our first stop was beautiful Moonstone Beach. :) The sky was cloudy and overcast (my favorite type of beach day). ;)

While we were on the beach, we wanted to get as close to a group picture as we could, so each of us took turns taking pictures of the other three in our group. Then another beach visitor kindly offered to take a picture of all of us together. 

And a close-up. :)

One of the reasons I love Moonstone Beach so much is that it holds a very important story location from my book! :)

This cave plays a crucial role in book two. ;)

I had a lot of fun taking pics of Little M on the beach:

Me and Patti :)

After the beach, we headed over to another of our traditional stops, "WindanSea," or as my girls call it, the shell store. ;)

Little M enjoyed exploring the shells for sale inside:

Once we'd finished at WindanSea, we headed to Trinidad Beach.

By this time, the sky was a brilliant blue, and we got some stunning pictures:

My pretty ring from WindanSea.

Mom exploring the beach.

I love this picture I got of Patti and Mimi! :)

We had a wonderful time on both beaches. I'm so glad we got to share these special places with Patti. And it gave me another great shot of inspiration for my writing. :)

Little M during our last session of Ladies Retreat Saturday morning.

When the retreat was over and we'd checked out, we stopped by the Bayshore Mall, and then headed to Old Town Eureka to check out a few of the shops.

Little M outside the mall...

...and Booklegger.

The pretty gazebo.

Patti and I wanted to get a picture together this day because we were twinzies! ;) We found these matching shirts at Kohl's a few days before we left.

On our way out of town, we stopped at a little market for a bathroom break and a snack. I have to admit, this dark chocolate was a little too bitter for my taste, even though it's supposedly better for me than my preferred Ghiradelli "Sea Salt Soiree" bar I love. ;)

We had to stop for construction a few times on the way home, but at least the scenery was nice! :)

All in all, we had a wonderful trip and made lots of wonderful memories. It's been so much fun getting to know Patti over the past year. I've always been in a church where my pastor's wife was older than me, a mentor and teacher. While she grew to be a friend as well as I grew older, it's entirely different to have a pastor's wife just my age going through the same stage of life I'm going through. Patti has three girls, just like me, got married the same year I did, and takes my gym class with me, so we have a lot to talk about. ;) I'm so very thankful for her friendship. It was great to share this trip with her, Mom, and Mimi. :)

Hope you guys are doing well! More posts to come as I have time. :)