2: Weekend Update and Stories from my Heart

For those of you who anticipated a blog every day: I am sorry. Fail. It's hard to blog about life when you're out there living it. So maybe I won't promise to blog every day. Maybe every few days.

This weekend was very nice. Friday night Derrick and I had dinner with my family and played Apples to Apples. That was fun; the most enjoyable part is seeing everyone's different personalities come out in the cards they choose. There are certain cards that you know will be a hit with certain people. For me it was Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Canadians, and Dumbo.

Saturday I went on a day-date with my Mama and cousin Sara. I always enjoy spending time with my grandparents; sharing my life with them and hearing about their lives. And Saturday night Derrick and I went to dinner with new friends. We need a couple to go out with that lives closer than an hour away. Maybe we've found them.

Sunday we did video at church. I find it easier and harder to pay attention while doing video, and if I get too lost in the words then Derrick gets frustrated that I'm not switching fast enough. It went well though. The sermon was on being good stewards of our lives. After church, we headed to Cary in search of a television for Derrick. i love his patience with me, and the fact that he truly cares about my opinion. To me, though, most of the televisions looked the exact same. Refresh rates and blah blah ratios...I enjoyed looking with him though.

I'm ready to write again. Publish again. I am inspired on the tail of helping Ms. Ester get a book published, and now I'm ready to hold my own words, characters, and stories in my hands. There is something so amazing about creating a character, getting to know them, falling in love with them, and sharing their story. But the characters and stories aren't from my head. They are from my heart, and I do not randomly choose their personality or their story. It comes to me at the most random times and in the most random ways. My primary inspiration would be through music.

I have a gray locker/chest in my room full of things that I have written since 6th grade. And last night I popped in some CDs that held about a dozen short stories (30-80 pages) that I wrote in high school. In addition to that, I have a handful of conceptualized but never finished pages on my current lap top. The dozens of people in those stories have taught me something about myself. And all of these stories have taught me something about God. Oh, how He must enjoy knitting us together! Creating us. Choosing our personality. Celebrating in our triumphs. Knowing our story.

So maybe it's time to work on getting a collection of short stories printed. And getting a few new books published. Not really for money, but for me. So that I can remember these characters and what they taught me. So that I can remember who I was when I met them. So that I can share my heart with others.