Back From the Future, List of Joy, Celebrate the Small Things

G'Friday to you all!

Today, M. Pax, Suze, and Nicki Elson, for the Back From the Future Blogfest:

You’re up before dawn on a Saturday when the doorbell rings. You haven’t brewed your coffee so you wonder if you imagined the sound. Plonking the half-filled carafe in the sink, you go to the front door and cautiously swing it open. No one there. As you cast your eyes to the ground, you see a parcel addressed to you … from you.

You scoop it up and haul it inside, sensing something legitimate despite the extreme oddness of the situation. Carefully, you pry it open. Inside is a shoebox — sent from ten years in the future — and it’s filled with items you have sent yourself.

What’s in it?

Reality:

·         A copy of my first published novel

·         A family picture

·         And a letter explaining how my life turned out. How I need to not worry so much. That God will take care of everything and lead me and family down the right path. That my children have turned out to be great kids and that all of my worrying was for nothing.

o   Side note: I got a little teary-eyed just thinking about it.

·         Maybe winning lotto numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 – (let's see who gets this)

Apocalyptic Future – because this is for fun right:

·         A map to a isolate location – preferably in the middle of nowhere

·         Winning numbers to the next big lottery so I can buy supplies needed for apocalypse – duh!

·         Blue Prints of compound to build

·         List of people to recruit/save

o   Family – duh

o   Engineers

o   Mechanics

o   Botanists

o   Doctor

o   A few military friends

o   Teacher

·         Supplies/food/weapons needed to procure before end of days hits.

Also, today, Kyra Lennon and Clare Dugmore are hosting The Bloghop of Joy! Post your List of Joy – with a minimum of FIVE things that put a spring back in your step!

1.       Summer Breeze by Seals and Croft

2.       Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyard Skynyard

3.       The sound of Locusts in the trees

4.       Frogs croaking – not the slang term for dying – lol

5.       My kids laughter

6.       The sound and smell of the ocean

7.       Sun-showers – when it rains while the sun is still shinning

8.       My toes in sand

9.       The sun on my skin

10.   Laughing so hard my stomach hurts

Celebrating the Small Things is also important! VikLit @ Scribblings of an Aspiring Author is always interested in what we have done during our busy week...

·         I listened to book 2 (audio); Fever of the Chemical Garden series by Lauren DeStefano.

·         Read Zom-B by Darren Shan

·         #amreading Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

·         Signed up for RunForYourLife 5k zombie run in June, Urban Adventures Bike Race in July, and Color Me Rad 5k in August. So excited!!

·         I won an audio copy of Splintered and swag pack over at The Valentines blog!! Go visit the author's of 2014!

Have an awesome Friday!

Memes, Bloghops, Blogfests, & Books

Oh, it’s only the first month of the post-apocalyptic year and there is sooooo much going on in the Bloggerverse.

Let’s see if I can do this in an orderly fashion, shall we…

First up… MEME’s!

Every week Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and myself host Express Yourself. It’s a weekly meme that comes with a Banner that has topics for us talk about each week. We ask a question that evokes more than a simple yes or no. This is our way of getting to know our fellow bloggers better.

Then of course you have the Ninja’s, Alex J. Cavanaugh and his monthly Insecure Writers Support Group. This takes place the first Wednesday of every month. The title is just what it means – we support one another through our writing woes and triumphs. It’s a pick-me-up and a high-five rolled into one.

Two new MEME’s I’ve joined…

Celebrate the Small Things comes to us from Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. Each Friday, post in your blog something you wish to celebrate achieving / doing that week. It can be anything from writing to reading to a simple life thing as cleaning out a sock drawer.

Kelly @ Dandelion Dreams is putting on Monthly Reading Challenge. Each month Kelly will post a new challenge for the month. These challenges won't be too difficult: just one book per month. Come back each month to see what the new Monthly Challenge – pretty simple if you ask me. OPTIONAL: Post a review of the book.

COMING UP BLOGHOPS / FESTS

Jan. 27^th – 28^th Some Dark Romantic is hosting the Lunar Lovin’ Hop! Take a pic of the moon on the 27^th and post it on the 28^th. Badda Bing Badda Boom!

Jan. 28^th  Steve Tremp, Elise Fallson, Carolyn Brown and Mark Koopmans are co-hosting Re-Introduce Myself. So on January 28th, feel free to take a moment and share something interesting about yourself. It can be anything. It can be about writing, or blogging or life.

Jan. 28^th – Feb. 1^st Sharon Bayliss is hosting The World Building Blogfest. Take your novel “world” and in a week, break it down in geography, cultures, religions, history, etc.

Feb 4^th – 5^th Nick @ Scattergun Scribblings is hosting The “Overcoming Adversity” bloghop.

Feb 14^th – On the most romantic days of the year, Precious Monsters is hosting Vampire Bites Bloghop. It’s all about vamps.

Feb. 18^th – 20^th Elise Fallson and Michelle @ Writer in Transit are hosting She Said What?! Click on their names to learn about the comic strips.

March 1^st M. Pax, Suze @ Subliminal Coffee, and Nicki Elson, for the Back From the Future Blogfest. If you were to send yourself a shoebox sized package from the future, what would it hold?

April – We should ALL know what April entails! A to Z Challenge. 26 days of pure blogging fun!

Yesterday I went to the library and grabbed a small stash of books to read. I’ve been wanting to get me hands on them and my moment has come!

Read on!