NaNo Update!

You've been waiting to hear me say these words, haven't you? Don't lie; I know you're just as excited as I am. These words are so, so, SO amazing, like music to my ears...

I BROKE THE 100K WORD COUNT.

*cue leaping, screaming, celebrations with dessert, and a good night's sleep*

Er, that's what should be happening. Unfortunately, I'm still trying to beat the clock (I know, blogging isn't on the schedule, but I had to tell you all), because my novel is still UNfinished.

I'm trying to focus but I can't; I keep telling myself that if I can't finish it, then I can always cut it short and write a sequel :) There's just not enough accomplishment in that, though, haha.

Other Wrimos, how are you doing??!?

~ This is key: the end of the world may be tomorrow or in a thousand years, but no matter what, I'll know that today I did what was right...won't I? ~

A Moment

There are those times when you just stop and see life as being encompassed in one single moment of time. You can feel the seconds slipping by as you sit there. And then you get up and move on.

And forget that time is borrowed. That a second wasted is worth so much more than you think it is...

But don't go overboard with that. You could get messed up that way, viewing life in seconds, and focusing on every little movement you make - bad idea.

Do stop and think, though. About what you're doing and who you're doing it for.

Today was my oldest brother's birthday :) So we celebrated, ate good food, played some games, and acted lazy [it wasn't just an act :P]. I missed out on quite a few hours of NaNo writing...oh, don't remind me...but I wanted to spend time with my family. God knows how much I've ignored them all November long.

Meaning that now, when I'm ready to curl up and read a book before climbing into bed, I'm going to go upstairs and write as much as I can for the evening. Write until my eyelids won't stay open, my fingers are cramped, my legs have fallen asleep from being squished by the laptop, and my body is going crazy from too many late nights.

The problem with late nights is that I have to reward myself with something, such as watching a movie or eating a carb-high snack...but this is life. Crazy, demented, a heck of a rollercoaster ride - with more downs them ups, it seems - and a journey of faith <3

KEEP WRITING ALL YOU NANOERS!!!

KEEP WRITING ALL YOU WHO REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE IN NANO :P (we still love you anyway)

...and for those who just don't write...KEEP LIVING CRAZY!

Out of Control:)

I'm on Day 27 of NaNo!!! That means I have 3 days left to write, not counting today. My word count is getting up there, but the problem is that my plot looks like it's going to over-reach the word limit. Meaning that I'm going to have to squish and yank to get my plot to fit this format of 100k.

I think I put too many superfluous scenes in my novel. lol. But I am enjoying this creativity of babbling :).

This blog is looking dull to me again. Should I change it? Or does anyone enjoy the notebook paper background? Or is it that I need more of a focus to have everything else about my blog revolve around? Hmm.

I'm going to be so sad when this month is over. December is going to hit me hard, with all the schoolwork, Christmas shopping, parties to plan, and cookies to bake. My hair has a million split ends, I have a giant zit on the side of my nose, my reading has been sorely neglecting, and our car is dead, but this month has been one of the awesomest months of my life! :D

Although...I have begun to miss people, a little. My social life has been sort of lacking during November, even though I've been on Facebook way too much x).

In short, my life is haywire and crazier than ever. But...I can't help but like it when it gets that way. Life isn't meant to be perfect and organized - or at least not all the time. When we accept that, we get a lot more done AND we learn to appreciate the spontaneous. Those delays that make us impatient, those mix-ups that drive us insane; it's all a part of His plan. We're not in control.

So here's to writing, living, dancing goofily, and loving the ones around me in a way that accepts this crazy life that's so out of my control <3

(Feel free to comment, or email me at elizabeth.marie.inked@gmail.com)

Crapulous

It really is a word. I wouldn't have thought so. If someone had come up to me today and said something about seeing a bunch of crapulous freaks, I would have laughed and called them a dork (is dork a word, technically? lol). But although I am a word connoisseur, I cannot boast in my vocabulary at all.

That is why I've subscribed to a couple of online dictionaries that send me Word of the Day emails, thus adding to my vocabulary on a daily basis. :) (There is one small problem with that, though: I don't always take time to read and/or use that word every day...fail.)

Crapulous is quite fun to say, though, and even more so because I can guarantee you that practically NOBODY knows that it's a real word, and even LESS people know what it means!!!

Crapulous: marked by intemperance, esp. in eating or drinking; sick from excessive indulgence in liquor.

So there you have it. Crapulous. And let me just tell you, there were a lot of crapulous people at the wedding I served on Saturday night...why, oh why, do people have to get drunk? It really is not attractive. Nor does it make your life glamorous.

I must remind myself not to judge others, though. We are all equally sinners and fail-ers and mess-er-up-ers. The only thing that makes me different is that God is in my life :)

The Weekend

Struggling to keep up the fight
Holding onto my sword
All I see is the beautiful sight
Of everything I do not own

Stand, you've got to stand strong
So I tell myself
But no matter if what I feel is wrong
That's what I want inside

So there's my weekend summed up. I'm reminded of the post I wrote last week, about making WAR against sin in my life. But all I can think about is doing things that I'm not able to do right now, and being places that I'm not, and hanging out with people who aren't here.

I'm not content at all. It's awful! The worst part is that there's no one to blame it on but me. And even though I know that there's a purpose, I know there's a God who loves me, I can't seem to focus on that.

My eyes are turned downwards. Today seems like it's flying by without my consent, and yet it's dragging, too, because I'm not doing anything that I want to do.

Anyone else struggling with things on this sunny Saturday that should be gorgeous and amazing because - guess what? - we're alive!?! Just post a comment so that I know I'm not alone :) Or...you could try to make me laugh. I'd make you laugh, too, except that I don't seem to have many smiles to share today =/

Lord, help me to see Your plan and to trust in You.

The Triumphant Returns!

I don't mean to brag, but I've just got to tell someone about today's achievement! And it feels spectacular, just spectacular, I tell you.

I wrote over 8,000 words today!! (Almost 9,000!) :D That's twice as much as my daily word count is supposed to be!

Needless to say, it was a good day. But now that it's over, and I'm headed for bed, I find myself wishing I had reached 10,000. Now isn't that just like me to never be satisfied? Honestly.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for here - a pat on the back, a reward in cash, a hug from a friend? - but I feel like I'm not getting it :P

Is anyone else exceeding their NaNoWriMo expectations? I'd love to know about your nano story, even if it isn't going so well. It's all in the learning and fun. And, of course, the words.

While we're on this subject, let me just say that all this time, I've been pronouncing it wrong. I pronounced it Nan - oh - wree - mo, when in reality, it's supposed to be pronounced nan - oh - rye - mo! Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner? I've been disgracing the name! Oh well. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet (at least, I think that's how that quote goes...).

Goodnight. I'm off to bed with a *gag* sore throat. That's what I get for drinking two cups of coffee today -_-

Passion - On Fire

Jon Piper has a three-part AWESOME sermon called How To Kill Sin. You can listen to it for free, or read the text for it, here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Along with that, listen to this song that actually begins with a short excerpt from this sermon! Which is a really cool idea, if you ask me.

Tedashii - Make War

We are not here to be "okay" Christians, "safe" Christians, or "boring" Christians. We're here to glorify God with a life that shows how passionate we are about Him! Safety, easy, impossible - all those words are myths that we have fallen into the trap of believing. Life is not easy, for either the good or the bad. Life is not safe, because "safety" implies lack of risk, and you know what? We cannot escape risk! (Okay, that's a bit of a rabbit trail, and if you want to hear more about that, read Jon Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life.)

To be these great people on fire for God, we must first become new. Changed. And conquerors. Conquerors over our own fleshly lusts and sins, conquerors over our bodies and our thoughts and our emotions, conquerors that are not afraid of what is temporal and human and vaporous.

We fear God, and nothing else.

Do you want that? I do. So here I am, bending the knee, and praying that God will change me and give me His Holy Spirit to teach me to do all of these things, to give me a passion for Him <3

Looking Like a Sel-Fish =/

This verse really hit me this morning.

~ Philippians 2:3-4 ~
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

It's convicting, isn't it? All of God's Word is. You cannot escape the truth; and why would you want to, when it can set you free?

Yeah, I'm still writing. Still focused deeply on nano. But this verse just reminds me how much I was focused on ME today. And it's making me incredibly sad.

Everything that goes through my head, every day, is about me. Not about God, not about others. You know the kind. Here's a sample: I'm thirsty; I'm hungry; I hate washing the dishes; school is getting worse every day; why me? And so on and so forth. There's no escape from self.

I have become a fish. A selfish person. No, scratch that; I always have been selfish. Now is the time to change, though.

So I quote the verse again, promising to memorize it, to quote it whenever I start complaining. I think about the wistful looks my brother gives me when he's bored and he misses his recluse-of-a-sister who won't play a game with him, and I know that I am selfish. I picture all the friends that I've neglected...there's always something I want. Always something that isn't mine to have and to hold, and I WANT IT.

But when the day is all said and done, or when my life has faded away, what will any of that matter? Even if I become famous, or successful, this life will just burn - all my hard work to make something of myself will blow away on the wind like ashes. So where do I stand?

On the brink of God's ocean. Waiting to be swept away, afraid to dive into the murky depths. I won't be able to see in there; I'll have to walk by faith. And I'm scared. Being selfish sounds really easy, doesn't it? Or just ignoring the truth. Yeah, that's nice, too.

But not for me. I'm going swimming :)

Day Three

Hold your breath. It's only day three.

But I have now reached a total of...

NINE THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED, AND NINETY-THREE WORDS!!!!

Wow. That's a lot of words. Also, it sounds more impressive when written out, instead of just putting four little digits. Just sayin'.

First two days were cake. Absolute cake. I have no idea why. I started to worry that I would get cocky, or just totally deflate in about a week O.o Today was somewhat harder, but not difficult, per se. My brother is encouraging me to go for 100k (normal is 50k) since I'm not having trouble meeting my word counts. 100k! My first year!

Can I do it?

One thing I know for sure is, I won't do it unless I decided to do it. I'm just not one for snappy decisions. Wish I was, but that's not how it's going to be. Sooo after some consideration, I've come to the conclusion that I am going to try to write 100k words during the month of November in a worldwide "contest" of sorts (aka NaNoWriMo) that may or may not end up killing me/ruining my social life/and making me into a recluse forever!

How's that sound? Forceful enough, you think?!