Moving, Vacation, Signings, and Prizes for a Giveaway

Just popping in to let you all that I returned from vacation alive, rested, and happy. However, it is now officially moving week for my family.

The Caribbean Sea as seen from my own eyes.

Why yes, yes we did just move. In August. BUT that was from Texas to Utah, and I'll spare you the longer explanation by saying that we found and bought a house (we are not fans of renting), and we are now moving into that house to make this the last move EVER. Or, you know, until I'm a little old lady who can no longer get up and down stairs or whatever.

I am very excited about the house and the office in which I plan to finish a plethora of projects that are chilling on my computer waiting to be completed.

While I was gone, Water So Deep surpassed a milestone review goal, and because of that, I think a giveaway will be necessary. I picked up a beautiful jewelry set in the Caribbean, except, um, well... my husband sort of packed it away in a box yesterday, and we have about half of what we own at our new house, and half at the old house. So it might be a couple of days before I find it. So please be patient. I haven't forgotten the giveaway, just postponed it until I can actually find the prize!

But here's a hint. The more of my books you've reviewed (and the more places you've reviewed them) the more opportunities you'll have to win.

What else? The LDStorymakers writer's conference is coming up in May, and I am working hard to help that come together. Really excited to see all my writing friends. And also there will be a massive signing that includes a whole lot of fabulous authors--including yours truly. This will be my first signing since the release of Water So Deep, so if you want a chance to get a signed hard copy of it, plan to attend that on May 16 at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah. (No ticket required.) Time to be determined, but I'll let you know.

Okay, now that I've caught you all up on what I'm doing, what fun things are you doing this spring?

Inspiration

For the next two weeks, I am taking a short hiatus while we take a little trip and then finish our big move. I am so glad you stopped by to read, so I thought I'd share this lovely shot I took a couple weeks ago as my husband and I headed home from South Padre Island, Texas.

Here's a little writing prompt to go with it:

You have two characters, in a car, on this road. Who are they? Where are they going, and what happened earlier in the day that led them to this place, at this exact time?

Annnnddd....GO!

The Benefits of Practice

Well, actually, it’s pretty much everything. I mean, practice keeps us on our toes, right? But since this will be our third move in two years, and since two of those moves have been major, cross-country moves, I’m starting to feel like an expert this time around.

I’m getting good at packing. Not that I wasn’t good before—I’ve moved so many times in my life, that I’ve lost track of how many homes I’ve lived in. And that’s okay. But when it comes to boxing things up—yeah. I’m getting there.

I’m also getting good at throwing things away. I know it sounds funny, but this is not a strength I’ve always had. I’m something of a packrat—or I used to be. I kept everything, even broken Rubbermaid containers, because I didn’t want to have to buy new ones. But broken containers do me no good when we’re moving, and so away they go. Along with the bench I’ve kept in the garage for the last year, planning to paint it. I love it, but it’s damaged, and heavy, and will cost more to transport than it’s worth, and so…it too goes.

Since we’re selling our house in Texas, I’m getting good at quick cleaning. Not because my house is always spotless, but because we’ve learned tricks on where to hide our dirty clothes and how to load the dishwasher in record time.

Another thing I’m learning through practice is how to juggle everything else in life and still get my packing done. For instance, this weekend, my husband and I took a day off to visit a beach we’ve been wanting to get to, but that is just far enough away that we’d put it off. We were gone all day, so we didn’t get any packing done, but we didn’t feel guilty, because we have a Texas bucket list which is also important.

Even though all of the above mentioned things seem to be all about moving, I think the practice idea is true for EVERYTHING. Writing. Reading. Playing an instrument. Sports. Whatever. The more you do a thing, the better at it you become.

And now I need to figure out how to actually plant new roots and stay put, because people, I do not want any more practice with moving.

What about you? What are you currently practicing? 

It's Moving Week and Brave by Sara Bareilles

That's right, it's here. My second moving week this year. And once again, I'm going to take the week off from blogging because of a combination of me being crazy busy and not having a solid internet connection/finding my computer/hooking up stuff and whatever whatever.

So instead, please enjoy this fabulous new music video, Brave by Sara Bareilles. I love this song, and I think we should all do exactly this. Let's all be brave and let the words fall out!

I'll be back next week. Hopefully. Happy end of May!