Keep Me Accountable - Day 18

I wanted to help start your day with a pretty sunset taken on Lake Lanier in Georgia.

Waving to my sister in law, Kari, who is celebrating a birthday today. She works near the lake and can probably enjoy a scene like this from her office. Happy Birthday, Sis!



Yesterday was a no writing day. Not because I didn't want to write, but sometimes, business and responsibilities take over.

That's okay. Today will be a better day. It's back to my normal routine. Like a child, I do better when my normal routine isn't interrupted.

I only have 12 days until my deadline day of April 30. I wanted to have the book finished and pretty much edited by then. I'd better stomp the proverbial "gas" on this one then, as my time is quickly running out!!!

Keep Me Accountable - Day 17

Monday was a beautiful, pollenated day, yet I didn't get any additional writing done after the morning hour. But thank God for that morning hour!

(And no, this picture isn't the lake or anywhere near my home... just a few hours south in Florida. My husband took the shot while on his fishing excursion last year. It's a sunrise and I was in the mood to share a photo with you :)

Yesterday was a day full of accomplishments... It started off getting up early enough to work on the book. The rest of the morning I took care of business that had been lingering and had put off for too long. The rest of the day was standard work stuff for my employer. The evening was filled with family business.  Getting up early and starting the day with writing is what I prefer because then I am free to spend the day as I need to.

This morning, however, I've been fighting to wake up and plan to work midday on the book. Being up all night with two kids who are both suffering from a cold or an allergy to all that blooms wears me out.

Yet I can't keep quiet about how excited I am about my progress. I'm further with this storyline, further in following the outline I've prepared, than ever before. Still, I have about 8 scenes to write to really complete this.

Eight is a liberal number. I figure I will need to expand those scenes to make the story better and slide into "THE END" mode as a baseball player slides into home plate.

Current Word Count 54,938 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you all know, Target Word Count is 55,000 - 60,000

SO CLOSE!!!

I'm gonna make it this time and so are you! Keep plugging away!

Celebrating Twelve Years of Marriage Today

Black Bear Cabin Rentals

Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving Getaway!

Starting inside, the cabin had beautiful wood walls and floors.

Outside, here is a low view of the lovely cabin, clearly on the side of the mountain, but with a wonderful view of the river below.

This is a fly-fishing river and my husband brought his weighters to give it a try. The water was cold, it was in November, but it was so serene.

I loved sitting on this porch, listening to the river rush.

My daughter standing over a small ledge overlooking the river.

Here is a side view of our cabin. We had several clear, cold days there. The cabin was located a couple of miles beyond the town of Margret, Georgia. Anyone have a clue where Margret is?


If you'd be interested in renting a cabin like this, book through Black Bear Cabin Rentals. Click here for their website.

More Blairsville Georgia - October 11, 2008 Trip

I just love the landscapes up here. What a beautiful day God painted for me. A glorious day to travel!

Where do you think this road leads?

My parent's pond... suffering from the drought and very green.

This is a cabin in front of my parent's house. I'd love to have a place like this to just get away and hopefully write lots of entertaining Christian fiction!!! Someday....

Blairsville, Georgia Trip October 11, 2008

The weekend we headed to Blairsville was the same weekend of their annual Sorgham festival. The square was packed. A parade came through at the same time we got up the mountain. The festival was taking place at Meeks Park, but I wanted to get to my mother's first.

I detoured somewhere near the hospital, trying to avoid the square. But the bridge was out on 76 and I couldn't pass through. I had to turn around and head back up 129. I took a route that ultimately ended up at Mulkey Gap, which was cool, as that was closer to my parent's home.

The scene below is one I captured on the way to Mom's. I can't remember the street but it was between 129 and Mulkey Gap.

Isn't that beautiful! There's a house perched on the hill. 129 runs in front of it. I love going north just for the scenery.

I just had to take this shot, not because I'm fond of power lines, but look at that sky and the mountains and all that farm land. We always see plenty of horses and cattle on the way to my parent's home.

Just another breathtaking landscape I couldn't resist. Can you believe I took this AS I was driving? No, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Yet, I'm a mom of a toddler and I've learned to multi-task.

Fall colors are popping out all over!

Here, my daughter waters my mother's impatiens. The last ones of the season. I believe this was the last warm weekend we had in October

A butterfly among the impatiens.

Burt's Pumpkin Farm

Beyond Dawsonville Georgia located at 4801 Highway 52 is a place I know has become a tradition for many families. Burt's Pumpkin Farm is a place my family has gone for years, every year as the seasons turn from summer to fall. Here are some photos.

Note this very informative and important message from Management at Burt's Pumpkin Farm:

Downey tries to push the pumpkin!

Gotta get you some deee-licious boiled peanuts!

My niece Savannah with all those pumpkins!

My nephew Landon, Downey in the background, climbing and sitting on the pumpkins.

As you can tell, the Smith's don't adhere to directions very well ;)

Landon and his dad Blake waiting in the looong line for the Hay ride!

And we always have to get a slushie.

Downey, Savannah & Landon's Nana musing over the kids.

More pics to come....

Lake Lanier at Sunset

See, you don't have to go far to witness God's glorious beauty.



These were taken tonight from the boat looking over Lake Lanier Islands Golf course.





Did you think you'd see a more beautiful view over our very own, quickly diminishing Lake Lanier?

July 2008, Lake Lanier

You never know what you'll find along the banks of Lanier...

This is an old boat ramp. The dock is out so far you can't see it in this picture. I remember swimming in this area and the water clearly covered the concrete pad near the tree line.

A cove about dry.

Here, we stopped on an island and started exploring!

A Proud Day

For my dear husband... Check out Billy and this 23 pound Striper he caught on Lake Lanier today!

Writing Retreat!

My crit partner, Christina graciously opened her Lake Hartwell Cabin to us last weekend. This time last week, I was scrambling to get my daughter to Grandma's and be back by the afternoon to meet my other crit partner Dianna to drive together to our weekend of writing, writing, writing!






Let me also mention, I won a critique for my local ACFW chapter. By Monday I was to turn in the first five pages of my WIP. I knew this weekend I would have ample time to work on those pages and have them ready to go come Monday. I hoped I would have more than the five pages accomplished. As a matter of fact, I was sure of it!




It was beautiful at Christina's cabin made me a little homesick for the house I grew up in on Lake Lanier. The water was clear and like a bath to swim in, which I did later in the afternoon. This picture below was taken shortly after sunrise. Unfortunately I didn't capture the beautiful rose hue the sky held when I first woke up. But you can see a little shadow of that pink over the water.























I ran back up to the house, eager to start my full day of writing.

I made coffee. I put my laptop on the screened in porch and prepared to write something marvelous. I read over things I had written. I read over files and files of revisions for the same story. I considered doing a character sketch. I thought about the weather there at Lake Hartwell. I read over some of my CP's work. We brainstormed a little. My CP's got to work writing. I moved from the table to the couch, back to the screened in porch.












The scene below invited me back to the water. My creative senses were dry. It didn't take long to realize this. Perhaps they needed a drink.




I took off down to the water and ended up spending a few hours swimming and sunbathing, trying to think of where to go with my story. My CP's joined me after a while and we went for a boat ride. It was warm and refreshing. When I returned, I briefly sketched four new characters for another story I've been cooking on the back burner in my brain.













My CP's critiqued the first five pages that I intended to send in to the critique I'd won. They agreed that was the revision I should go with. They made some helpful suggestions and I made the changes I agreed with. While Dianna was able to scoot through several of her chapters and get them revised, and Christina plowed through chapter 19 of her rough draft, I twiddled my thumbs, frustrated with myself that I wasn't more productive.







By Monday when the weekend was over and I was back home, I had a creative push work its way through my thick skull. I got seven pages down to five of the first chapter and sent them off to my local chapter for a critique that will take place later this month. Of course the week at work has been insane, jerking any energy I may have for writing completely out of me. But I would like to close in assuring you all that the weekend was not a loss. Not one bit.




The weekend gave me the rest I needed. Christina didn't let me lift a finger. Both she and Dianna gave me the reassurance I needed to keep going. All in all, the weekend reminded me that my passion is for writing and one day it's something I want to be doing full time. It forced me to realize I have to fulfill promises I've made and submit my manuscript. I have to continue to strive to reach my goals, no matter what conflicts are thrown at me.

Pray for Tonka

Poor Tonka is probably super humiliated in this picture, taken a few months ago, but today I ask you to remember my little puppy dog in your prayers.

She started getting sick on Sunday and today I will be taking her back to the doctor. It's expected she will have surgery as we believe she has an obstruction. Tonka has been through many tests and x-rays. The doctors started off suspecting she had Lepthospirosis and now we believe she has swallowed something that has gotten lodged somewhere near her stomach area. She is eight years old and a part of our family. I am praying for healing and for the doctor's wisdom to help Tonka feel better.

A Mother's day Funny

Isn't this cute!


Downey made it Wednesday night in her Missions Friends class at church.

When we first left the class, it had two plastic bottle tops glued to either side of the cup. This made it look like a wheelbarrow. Of course by the time we got home, all ten minutes later, the wheels were gone. Its still cute, though.

What's funny? Well, when I picked Downey up from her class, she showed me what she made and I oohhed and ahhhed over it, because it was cute! I wasn't being fake.


But Downey informed me, her little flower in the wheelbarrow was for her Daddy.

So when Daddy came home that evening, I told her to show him what she made HIM for Mother's Day. And she did. "Look what I made you, Daddy!"


By Mother's Day, I was helping Miss Ruby with our Sunday School class. The kids were making cards for their mom. Of course Downey was in one of her ill-red-headed moods(These are moods brought on for no apparent reason, but my deep rooted belief is there is something about our red hair that makes our tempers volatile from time to time).

Downey didn't want to participate in the class, and sat on the floor a couple of times, crying and being fussy. Even the other kids weren't sure what was up with her. Finally, when she did come to the table, she chose a pink piece of construction paper and started to color on it. She announced that her card was intended for her Daddy. Fooey on Mommy.

Ruby chuckled and said, "Well, maybe she'll make you something on Father's Day."

I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Little Darling & her Daddy

Home in my Heart

This may look like a peculiar and worn stairway to you, but to me, it takes me toward a path I traveled the first 20 years of my life.




To me, this wooden rail and stairs is not old. Its new. The last time I walked onto that rocky Lake Lanier beach, this structure wasn't built.

The rocks weren't there. We never had the money to invest in securing the erosion of this bank.

You may think this yard needs weeding, but this isn't part of anyone's yard. It's Corps property. Part of Lake Lanier shore exposed when the water levels went down and are slowly returning.

The new owners of this property have made some nice additions. This walkway and the rock was needed. It was something my grandparents weren't able to do. My grandmother moved from this location when I married, at 22. I've missed this property ever since.








Look closely at this picture.

Nestled behind the trees is the house I grew up in. Behind the thickness of the vines and ivy is a lovely lake cottage, built in the fifties. The new owners have built a deck around the front of it and maintained it. This quaint gray house belongs to someone else. But to me, it will always be home in my heart.

THE WATCH DOG

TONKA: Ferocious(not!) Bulldog ~ Barking at nothing.

Happy Birthday, Billy!

Happy 32!!!

I Love you!!