Welcome back!

I’ve been away from the blog for several months. One major reason is that I found out I was pregnant at the end of March! We found out we were having a girl during Memorial Day weekend. Her original due date was December 4th, but I had some complications due to preeclampsia, so our baby girl officially arrived on October 22nd. She needed some time in the NICU, but she’s home now and doing well! We have enjoyed loving on her and taking care of her. Being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it’s totally worth it. She’s small but feisty.

Thanks to everyone who continued to read my posts during my months-long absence. I’m excited to be back!

Here are my goals for the month of December:

1. Continue incorporating my editor’s suggested edits into a more polished draft of “Specialton.”
2. Prepare to market, promote, and publish “Specialton.”
3. Publish at least one Book Review.
4. Celebrate Christmas!
5. Continue working on my American Girl inventory.
6. Schedule regular blog posts.
7. Reconcile my thoughts about NaNoWriMo.

What about you? Do you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

Here are my goals for the month of June:

1. Begin incorporating my editor’s suggested edits into a more polished draft of “Specialton.”
2. Publish my Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023 recap post.
3. Enjoy the 2023 P.E.O. Virginia State Convention.
4. Celebrate Father’s Day!
5. Continue working on my American Girl inventory.
6. Prepare for Camp NaNoWriMo July 2023!

What about you? Do you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

Here were my goals for the month of May:

1. Begin incorporating my editor’s suggested edits into a more polished draft of “Specialton.” — Did not accomplish yet.
2. Publish my Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023 recap post. — Did not accomplish yet.
3. Publish at least one Book Review. — Did not accomplish yet.
4. Celebrate Mother’s Day. — Accomplished!
5. Spend some time away at the farm. — Accomplished!
6. Continue working on my American Girl inventory. — Did not accomplish yet.
7. Prepare for the 2023 P.E.O. Virginia State Convention. — Accomplished!

I’ve been so busy this month that a lot of writing projects have been put to the side. But, I’m determined to work on one project per month going forward!

Mother’s Day was really nice. Al and I took Chinese food to my parents. There’s a great place near our house called Dragon City. Their portions are huge! My parents got at least four separate meals out of what we brought!

We enjoyed a long Memorial Day weekend away at the farm. Look for a new Adventure Time post coming soon!

I’m very excited for the 2023 P.E.O. Virginia State Convention. Instead of co-chairing the convention, I get to be a visitor this year and enjoy it. I’ll also be participating in the annual memorial service for those women who have died in the past year, along with a fun skit to encourage new ideas and strategies for membership.

What about you? Did you have any goals for this month?

Come back soon to see my June Goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

Here are my goals for the month of May:

1. Begin incorporating my editor’s suggested edits into a more polished draft of “Specialton.”
2. Publish my Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023 recap post.
3. Publish at least one Book Review.
4. Celebrate Mother’s Day.
5. Spend some time away at the farm.
6. Continue working on my American Girl inventory.
7. Prepare for the 2023 P.E.O. Virginia State Convention.

What about you? What goals do you have for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

Here were my goals for the month of April:

1. Donate blood. — Did not accomplish.
2. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023. — Accomplished!
3. Incorporate edits for “Specialton” from my editor. — Did not accomplish yet.
4. Continue work on my office. — Semi-Achieved.
5. Finish my Stranger Things LEGO set. — Did not accomplish yet.
6. Make progress with my American Girl inventory. — Did not accomplish yet.
7. Celebrate Dad’s birthday! — Accomplished!
8. Publish at least one Book Review. — Did not accomplish yet.
9. Keep my desk at home clean. — Semi-Achieved.

April was a whirlwind!

I wasn’t able to give blood at the beginning of April, but that’s okay. There will be other blood drives! It was great to volunteer like always.

I had a fantastic experience with Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023. Look for a recap post on that very soon.

I’m actually going to start incorporating the edits for “Specialton” in May. One project at a time.

Most of our weekends were full of family visits, in between getting estimates for house projects. The joys of home ownership!

I’ve started to read again, chapter by chapter. I’m currently about eight chapters into re-reading Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. Super excited to see the movie adaptation very soon with Lane!

What about you? Did you have any goals for this month?

Come back soon to see my May Goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

Here are my goals for the month of April:

1. Donate blood.
2. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023.
3. Incorporate edits for “Specialton” from my editor.
4. Continue work on my office.
5. Finish my Stranger Things LEGO set.
6. Make progress with my American Girl inventory.
7. Celebrate Dad’s birthday!
8. Publish at least one Book Review.
9. Keep my desk at home clean.

What about you? Do you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

Here were my goals for the month of March:

1. Publish two Book Reviews.
2. Spend some time away with Al’s parents.
3. Make progress with my sci-fi time travel outline.
4. Continue inventory of my American Girl collection.
5. Help Al re-do the flower beds in the front of our house.
6. Continue reading as often as possible.
7. Do at least one act of kindness.
8. Continue writing in my journal / notebook during my lunch breaks.

March was a great month!

I published two Book Reviews – Isabel’s Journal and Nicki’s Journal. I look forward to their big first story – It’s scheduled to be published later this year.

We enjoyed time away with Al’s parents for Al’s mom’s birthday. We had a great weekend with them.

I’m ready to start writing my sci-fi time travel book for Camp NaNoWriMo April 2023!

I’m slowly working on my American Girl inventory – Bits and pieces.

Our flower beds look so much better! We took out the old rock and replaced it with landscape fabric and 20 bags of shredded brown rubber mulch. What a major difference.

I was able to help a local woman get her dryer fixed. That felt so good. I want to keep doing acts of kindness.

I’m really enjoying unplugging from my phone during my lunch breaks and writing in my journal / notebook. I’m hoping to continue that trend.

What about you? Did you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

Here are my goals for the month of March:

1. Publish two Book Reviews.
2. Spend some time away with Al’s parents.
3. Make progress with my sci-fi time travel outline.
4. Continue inventory of my American Girl collection.
5. Help Al re-do the flower beds in the front of our house.
6. Continue reading as often as possible.
7. Do at least one act of kindness.
8. Continue writing in my journal / notebook during my lunch breaks.

What about you? Do you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Welcome back!

I had an amazing February!

I gave blood at our drive on February 4th!

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I re-read the latest draft of my second novel, tentatively titled “Specialton,” to get back into the groove of editing it. I’m really excited about this one. This one has series potential, folks. I’m excited!

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I was able to take some time off work to meet up with a few friends early in the month. I had coffee with my former director at Riverside – Two hours went by like it was nothing, like we hadn’t seen each other since 2019. I enjoyed seeing Newport News again, shopping at 2nd and Charles, plus I looked for some gifts for friends at other nearby stores.

I still had time before I met with my college friend Amy for dinner at Panera, so I decided to drive along the Colonial Parkway for a while. I listen to a great podcast called Mind Over Murder. One of the hosts, Bill, is the brother of Cathy Thomas. Cathy was/is one of the victims of the now-called Colonial Parkway Murders. With Bill and Kristin’s excellent storytelling and deep dives into the Colonial Parkway Murders, I knew one of the places that’s been discussed is Cheatham Annex. I followed my GPS and headed that way, thinking I was heading to the public access part.

Nope. That’s definitely not what happened. I ended up at the entrance to the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. I was incredibly embarrassed and handed over my ID to the military police (MP), explaining that all I needed to do was turn around and leave. The MP was very nice and sent me on my way, although I knew it had to have been annoying. Oops. I told Al about it when I got home from dinner with Amy. Al suggested that I message the podcast, and I did! Thanks, Bill and Kristin, for reading my tale and responding. I’m glad I wasn’t too suspicious, either.

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The other big news is that I successfully uploaded and launched my first novel! Check out the Books page here on the blog for more information. I’m in the process of creating a website for my pen name as well, so stay tuned for that. More to come soon.

I’m thrilled with the feedback I’ve received so far. Thank you all for your support over the years of me talking about it and dreaming about it. It’s finally happened. Bucket list item checked.

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I’ve also made a lot of progress with my office this month. I took several hours on a Saturday and went through all of my American Girl items. I had an empty box ready, and I started filling it for Trey’s Dolls. I love this charity, and the people behind it, so much.

The next step for my American Girl stuff is to do a complete inventory of what I have – Dolls, clothes, accessories. I started an Excel spreadsheet years ago, but I need to finish it and keep it updated.

I also caved and purchased quite a few items from the new collection – Nicki and Isabel Hoffman. They were released on February 22nd as part of the historical collection. The historical collection part hurt. Nick and Isabel’s story is set in December 1999. Yeah. I was 11 then. They are nine in their stories. Ouch!

I didn’t buy the two dolls, but I bought quite a few of the accessories and Nicki’s skateboarding outfit. I hope to get their meet outfits and their journals at some point. I may end up buying the dolls eventually and either selling them or donating them, but keeping the outfits and journals.

I’ll make a post here once my items arrive – I’m ridiculously stoked about the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! set and the computer that lights up and makes dial-up sounds.

What about you? Did you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂