This is going to be short and sweet as I'm on my way to an all-day rock festival in Iowa with my daughter and son-in-law. Today I'm celebrating all my amazing friends and family who helped me through a tough week and celebrating the fact that I get to see two of my favorite bands live (Bush and Alice in Chains) as well as some other awesome bands (Halestorm, Papa Roach, Volbeat, Device). I'm also celebrating the fact that I'm running regularly and the weather is finally beautiful.
Hope all of you have lots to celebrate and have a great weekend!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Jake's Last Ride
Living on a farm for twenty years, I've had to say goodbye to many outside dogs. Today's experience was the hardest.
When I was little and lived in town we always had a dog in the house. Our family grew extremely attached to them as if they were a family member. Whenever one died it was so painful that we would have to buy a new one within a week just to cope and be able to function again.
After I met my husband and lived in the country for the first time, however, I was beginning to wonder if I should distance myself from the outside dogs since they seemed to have a rather short life-span on our gravel road. Most of them (rescued from abusive homes) were so incredibly sweet and trusting that they stole my heart. I couldn't help but love them anyway.
We finally managed to keep a dog without it getting run over for eight years in a row, and today we had to to put him down.
Jake was five when he came to live with us. A city boy himself, he was quick to adjust to life on the farm as well as life with our children who were two and four. He had quirks that included, but were not limited to, barking a little too aggressively at strangers, digging in the garbage, spewing his toxic urine on my new landscaping, leaving dead sacrifices in the front yard, doing his business right on the driveway, and running too far ahead when out on a walk to find some kind of mischief.
But don't get me wrong, Jake was a good boy. When you told him that, I swear to you, he smiled. And when we pulled into the driveway after being gone for a time, he would do a victory lap around the house.
Little by little, there were recent changes in Jake's behavior. He had a hard time climbing steps. He slept all the time. He growled at my girlfriends when he used to only growl at strange men. And then he bit my granddaughter. I was gone when it happened and my husband had his back turned for only a moment. Thankfully, the bite wasn't anything too serious and only left small scratches on her face. And thankfully my animal-loving granddaughter seemed
quite unfazed by the incident and was playing with other family's dogs right after it happened. It could have been so much worse. When I got home and was told what happened, I literally thought I was going to throw up. I still get sick to my stomach thinking of what could've happened.
Although we still think it was some kind of confusion and maybe even misunderstanding on Jake's part, we knew it was time to say goodbye before it happened again. Telling my now 10-year-old son with a heart the size of Texas was the most difficult part of this journey. I knew he would be upset. I knew he would be mad and I knew he would cry. What I wasn't expecting, however, was a major surge of maturity on his part when he told me, "I want to be the one to bury Jake. By myself."
[Insert knife to heart here]
So on Jake's last night with us, we gave him his last bone and took his last pictures. And this morning my faithful running partner was at my side one last time.
While I knew seeing a dog euthanized for the first time in my life would be difficult, it was his last ride that I was dreading. Did I mention Jake was terrified of car rides and usually got sick? That was probably one of his biggest failures—what kind of farm dog doesn't want to ride in a pickup with his owner? It killed me that in his last moments he cried and drooled and danced around in the car seat for the 40 minute ride to the vet's. Still, I knew it was the right thing to do, and thirteen years isn't too bad for a dog—especially a dog living next to our cursed gravel road.
As he was given his lethal injection and I told him a thousand times that he was a good boy, the vet said, "He has a great smile." And he did. There was comfort seeing my old buddy leave this world that way.
I'm not a fan of country music, but I do like that song that says, "If I die before I wake, feed Jake." Now whenever I'm held down against my will and forced to listen to country, that song will remind me of the dog who smiled when you told him he was a good boy. Because for the most part, he really was.
RIP, Jake.
When I was little and lived in town we always had a dog in the house. Our family grew extremely attached to them as if they were a family member. Whenever one died it was so painful that we would have to buy a new one within a week just to cope and be able to function again.
After I met my husband and lived in the country for the first time, however, I was beginning to wonder if I should distance myself from the outside dogs since they seemed to have a rather short life-span on our gravel road. Most of them (rescued from abusive homes) were so incredibly sweet and trusting that they stole my heart. I couldn't help but love them anyway.
We finally managed to keep a dog without it getting run over for eight years in a row, and today we had to to put him down.
Jake was five when he came to live with us. A city boy himself, he was quick to adjust to life on the farm as well as life with our children who were two and four. He had quirks that included, but were not limited to, barking a little too aggressively at strangers, digging in the garbage, spewing his toxic urine on my new landscaping, leaving dead sacrifices in the front yard, doing his business right on the driveway, and running too far ahead when out on a walk to find some kind of mischief.
But don't get me wrong, Jake was a good boy. When you told him that, I swear to you, he smiled. And when we pulled into the driveway after being gone for a time, he would do a victory lap around the house.
Little by little, there were recent changes in Jake's behavior. He had a hard time climbing steps. He slept all the time. He growled at my girlfriends when he used to only growl at strange men. And then he bit my granddaughter. I was gone when it happened and my husband had his back turned for only a moment. Thankfully, the bite wasn't anything too serious and only left small scratches on her face. And thankfully my animal-loving granddaughter seemed
quite unfazed by the incident and was playing with other family's dogs right after it happened. It could have been so much worse. When I got home and was told what happened, I literally thought I was going to throw up. I still get sick to my stomach thinking of what could've happened.
Although we still think it was some kind of confusion and maybe even misunderstanding on Jake's part, we knew it was time to say goodbye before it happened again. Telling my now 10-year-old son with a heart the size of Texas was the most difficult part of this journey. I knew he would be upset. I knew he would be mad and I knew he would cry. What I wasn't expecting, however, was a major surge of maturity on his part when he told me, "I want to be the one to bury Jake. By myself."
[Insert knife to heart here]
So on Jake's last night with us, we gave him his last bone and took his last pictures. And this morning my faithful running partner was at my side one last time.
While I knew seeing a dog euthanized for the first time in my life would be difficult, it was his last ride that I was dreading. Did I mention Jake was terrified of car rides and usually got sick? That was probably one of his biggest failures—what kind of farm dog doesn't want to ride in a pickup with his owner? It killed me that in his last moments he cried and drooled and danced around in the car seat for the 40 minute ride to the vet's. Still, I knew it was the right thing to do, and thirteen years isn't too bad for a dog—especially a dog living next to our cursed gravel road.
As he was given his lethal injection and I told him a thousand times that he was a good boy, the vet said, "He has a great smile." And he did. There was comfort seeing my old buddy leave this world that way.
I'm not a fan of country music, but I do like that song that says, "If I die before I wake, feed Jake." Now whenever I'm held down against my will and forced to listen to country, that song will remind me of the dog who smiled when you told him he was a good boy. Because for the most part, he really was.
RIP, Jake.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Celebrate the Small Things
Happy Friday! This blog hop set up by the fabulous Vikki over at VikLit has been a great way to remind myself how precious the little moments in life are and to reflect on what I should be thankful for rather than what I wish I had.
This has really been a humdinger of a week. We welcomed one member into the family and had to say goodbye to another. When we buried my spirited step sister-in-law who lost her battle with cancer well before her time (at the age of 48), I was reminded of how precious life is and just how many things there are to celebrate by just being alive. She was one of those who lived every second of her life to the fullest with bright smiles, kindness and laughter. I've always tried to stay positive about things, but she has inspired me to bump it up a notch. What the result of that will actually end up being, I have yet to find out, but I can feel that there are some things that will change over time.
In that spirit, there really were a lot of small things to celebrate this week, but I'm just going to list off the top 10 highlights:
1. My step-grandson was born and he's healthy and beautiful!
2. I broke through a major case of writer's block on my second zombie book!
3. I started running and lived (also got to buy first running shoes and running gear)!
4. After rescheduling my son's school concert three times because of weather, they finally had it and sang Phillip Phillips's song Home (one of my favs)!
5. My daughter had three track meets (thankfully before the snow hit) and did awesome!
6. With a six hour car ride we were able to spend time with all of our children on Saturday!
7. We celebrated my hubby's birthday!
8. I'm officially wearing one shirt size smaller than before!
9. My hubby won a decent amount of cash playing lotto and I won $100 playing pull-tabs!
10. I was reminded of how I'm surrounded by hordes of amazing people—family, friends and fans!
Of course there were the usual things to celebrate, like I don't have to report to a 9-5 job in an office somewhere, everyone in my family is pretty healthy, we have a nice home and food on the table, and I have the world's best friends. Although I don't plan to list them each Friday, I think from now on I will be noticing the really little things. Because in the end, it's all about the little things that make your life complete.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Enter to Win New Version of What I've Done!
And in my celebration mode, I've decided to host a giveaway. Enter to win one of three paperback copies every day between now and May 20th in the Rafflecopter widget below. Be sure to tell everyone you know about this giveaway...your friends, your family, your co-workers, your mailman and anyone else who can read and has an interest in paranormal romances.
Good luck!
Lily Rossow is used to taking care of her burnout mother and 6-year-old sister Rose. But when her mother’s attempt to move the family to California only months before graduation goes horribly wrong, Lily faces the challenges of making a life for her and her sister in a new town while hoping her complicated past doesn’t find her. Things take an unexpected turn when two beautiful and helpful strangers come into Lily and Rose’s life. But nothing is easy for Lily. And when she uncovers a dark secret about these two mysterious men, she must make a life-altering decision-one that threatens to break the balance in an ancient battle between good and evil.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Celebrate the Small Things
I just had a total Pretty in Pink moment. Remember when Iona tells Andie about her friend who missed the prom?
"I have this girlfriend who didn't go to hers, and every once in a while, she gets this really terrible feeling—you know, like something is missing. She checks her purse, and then she checks her keys. She counts her kids, she goes crazy, and then she realizes that nothing is missing. She decided it was side effects from skipping the prom."
I knew I was forgetting something and realized it must be side effects from skipping Celebrate the Small Things blog hop! Since I'm already a day late, I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Things that had me jumping up and joy for this week:
1. I received the proof for the revised version of What I've Done with it's fabulous new cover!
2. I started writing a totally new story that flowed out of me like lava. Last time that happened was when I wrote The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life so I'm expecting big things!
3. I finally got to "meet" three of my good writer friends that I've communicated non-stop with on Twitter for the last year.
4. The first reviews for my newest release Cheating Death came out and they were great! It's always nerve-racking to get feedback when you release a story into the wild.
AND FINALLY, in personal news:My step-daughter gave birth yesterday to a healthy baby boy! It's the first grandson in the family, so everyone is over-the-moon excited. We're in the car heading up to see him as I type this!
Hope everyone is enjoying beautiful weather and having a great weekend!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Summer Reading Challenge
I just realized this morning how slack I've been online. No video blogs, no Friday "Celebrate the Small Things" posts, nothing.
But I have a good excuse. Despite the fact that we still have snow on the ground and it's nearly May, my children are crazy busy. We've been running non-stop with volleyball, track, dance, confirmation, tae kwon do and that little thing called life.
I know that really doesn't excuse my daytime hours, but those have been filled with a major overhaul on my first novel What I've Done as well as trying to tackle my second zombie book.
So while I'm working from our lake home this summer, I plan to at least try to give you a video reviewing a book every week. We'll see how this goes.
And although I obviously love reading just as much as I love writing, I've had very little time for that lately. To remedy this, I've decided to challenge myself to read one book each week this summer (not PER DAY as previously stated *oops*). I'm not talking digital books (because if you watch my vlogs you know how well that goes), but honest to goodness books that I can hold in my hands and turn each page.
So I've started hoarding books for this challenge (see list on left side of this webpage). Most of them are of the paranormal persuasion, but I'll probably throw a few old fashioned romance stories in the mix to spice things up. Plus there are a couple of John Green's I have yet to read. If you have any recommendations for something that is sure to knock my socks off, leave them in the comment below.
I challenge you to set up your own reading goal for this summer. Even once a month would be an awesome goal for anyone who loves to read but can never seem to find enough time. Now if this freaking snow would just melt and it would warm up enough to wear a pair of capris for the first time in 2013, maybe I could actually believe that summer is really on its way...
Monday, April 22, 2013
Cover Reveal: What I've Done
I'm so excited to bring you this updated cover for my first novel What I've Done! Since the book itself is undergoing a rewrite, it seemed appropriate to update the cover as well. After a year of designing book covers, I felt there were some major improvements that could be made to make this cover more stunning.
The second edition of What I've Done will be available in both digital and paperback versions in May.
The second edition of What I've Done will be available in both digital and paperback versions in May.
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