Tag Archives: Journals

06.05.18
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Adventure Time: Portsmouth, VA Edition (The Visit From The Vacationing Doll)

American Girl Dolls Sandcastle

Image Credit: Flickr – Julia Monroe

As most of you probably know by now, I love American Girl.

I’m also a part of a huge Facebook group called Obsessed BST (Buy/Sell/Trade), which has well over 14,000 members.

At the beginning of May, a woman named Kammi proposed an intriguing idea: Doing a traveling doll, kind of like a Flat Stanley idea. I immediately wanted to sign up!

Kammi lives in Ohio, and was great at keeping in contact with me!

The doll, Emily, belongs to Kammi’s 7-year-old daughter. Emma is one of nine children! Amazing!

Emily came to Al and I on Tuesday, May 29th. Kammi included a journal, and asked everyone to write in the journal, add pictures, and write a short bio of the family who has her. I was so excited, and Al got in on the fun, too.

Emily is now on her way to the next destination – North Carolina! – so I wanted to share my photos of The Visit From The Vacationing Doll!

Tuesday, May 29th

Emily was so excited to get out of her box and get the packing peanuts out of her hair. She made seven new friends almost immediately. Here she is spending time with my dolls.

Emily meets Autumn, Chrissa, and Z. The photo got cut off – I was so excited!

Emily meets Stephanie, Molly, mini Molly, and Kit!

They apparently had a nice slumber party. I thought I could hear them trying to be quiet!

Wednesday, May 30th

Emily spent most of the day with my dolls, when we were at work.

Once I got home, Emily joined us on the couch while we ate dinner and watched TV. We’ve been re-watching Chuck on Amazon Video.

For dessert, we made s’mores in the microwave! We had the traditional Hershey’s chocolate, but I also had one with a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Yummy!

“Oooh, yum!”

Yummy!

Emily wanted my extra candy!

As much as Emily wanted a taste, I didn’t want her to get messy! S’mores are really sticky!

Thursday, May 31st

Today was my Friday, since I was off work on June 1st for my P.E.O. Virginia State Convention! Al proposed the idea of going out to dinner, like we normally do on Friday nights, and showing Emily downtown Portsmouth.

This is the historic Commodore Theatre. The Art Deco-style movie theater was originally built in 1945, and was fully restored in 1989. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

This is just one of several murals in the downtown area, honoring local musicians and other celebrities.

We stopped by the Portsmouth Courthouse. Built in 1846, it’s now home to the Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center. The fence was beautifully decorated for the recent Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Naturally, we had to stop by the Children’s Museum of Virginia, also on High Street. I think Emily was sad that it was already closed for the day. It’s been open since December 1980, but it’s been at this location since 1998. From 2009 to 2011, the entire building was gutted, expanded, and revamped to offer more interactive and spacious exhibits.

I think Emily really loved our mini-adventure!

Friday, June 1st – Sunday, June 3rd

I was in Blacksburg, Virginia, all weekend. I thought about taking Emily with me on the road trip, but was afraid something would happen to her. So, she happily stayed home with Molly and all her new friends. Al tells me they had slumber parties every night!

Monday, June 4th

Emily had to say farewell to her friends today. But, everyone was very excited for her next leg of the journey. I even wanted to send her along in a new outfit!

Before. I kept the pretty handmade dress, but the pink shoes were specifically requested to come back to Ohio. They’re in a secure baggie in the box, I promise!

After. She’s ready to go!

The School Stripes Dress was introduced in 2014. Emily is headed to her next destination in style!

We loved having a visit from the vacationing doll this past week!

Have you done anything like Flat Stanley?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

05.07.18
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Writing Adventures #1: Creating A Success Journal

Success Journal

Image Credit: Stacia Pierce

Welcome to a new series on Hot Shot Headlines!

After my rousing success with my first-ever Camp NaNoWriMo in April, I’ve decided to make more writing happen in 2018. I’m determined to finish the novel that I started in 2012, and outline the other novels I have in development. I have so many ideas!

So, when I stumbled upon this post from What Inspires Your Writing last week, I figured that starting with a success journal was a logical first step.

Here’s the link to their post:

I love this idea of a success journal!

In fact, I already kind of have one, but I haven’t written anything in it yet.

And, a success journal is certainly not limited to writing. Not at all! I encourage anyone to keep a journal, diary, whatever works for you. Writing is like therapy for me, so it makes sense that I document my progress, my successes, and my failures!

So, I’ll be posting about my writing adventures periodically on the blog. My initial goal is to post about once a month, at least in the beginning. And then, we’ll see what happens.

I’m excited to take my success journal everywhere I go!

Check back here about a month from now, and we’ll see what adventures I’ve gone on, and what adventures are to come.

Thanks for following along on this exciting journey!

Do you have a success journal?

Are you writing anything special?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.24.17
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Book Review #46: “The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins, a World War II Soldier” 

The Journal of Scott Pendelton Collins

Image Credit: Amazon

Scholastic has published three particular series that I have loved since the sixth grade.

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It all started with finding Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic, 1912 in the Western Branch Middle School library. I had never heard of it, or that it was part of a series, but my best friend Melissa immediately recognized it, and recommended I read it. I did, and an obsession was born!

I have a good number of the “Dear America” books in my personal library, and my goal is to eventually own all books in all three series.

When Al and I visited 2nd & Charles in Newport News recently, I found this book on the shelf. I couldn’t pass it up for $3.45, since most of these books retail for at least $10.95, or more.

I don’t remember reading this one as a kid and young adult, but I’m glad I did now.

Summary: A seventeen-year-old soldier from central Virginia records his experiences in a journal as his regiment takes part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and subsequent battles to liberate France.

Written by Walter Dean Myers, this is a impressive, fictionalized account of what hundreds of thousands of men went through during World War II.

It was also really interesting to realize this character was raised in Roanoke, Virginia, and talked about life in Roanoke and Winchester. It made the story even more real for me, and sobering. It also makes me want to re-read several books by Myers, who has written books about African-American life, as well as the Vietnam War, among other topics.

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Reading this book inspired me to re-read the Dear America books that I already have, as well as seek out other My Name is America and The Royal Diaries books that I haven’t read yet.

Although these three series are designed for younger readers, the authors work hard to accurately portray history. Plus, I usually learn something new every time I read or re-read one.

Look for more Book Reviews on these series, coming soon!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth