Sparks of Iron

Move to WordPress

2012-01-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

Due to the wider selection of design themes and editing options that WordPress offers, as well as the more user-friendly subscription option, I have imported my blog from Blogger over to WordPress. In the design template I use at Blogger, there is no option for subscribing via email. I hope that this change will make it easier if you desire to follow my blog. I have a few people who follow my blog via Google – I hope that you will not mind the inconvenience and join me over at WordPress as well! Thanks friends!

"Wherever you are, be all there."

2012-01-20T17:51:00.001-05:00

I’ve come up with some thoughts on how I want to spend my time the next several months. Here’s what I have decided should be my priorities:

Reading God’s word and talking to Him.

My job – doing the absolute best that I can.

Help Joanna Deal have the best wedding experience possible (maid of honor).

Helping out with things that need done for my church.

Helping my family – look for ways to honor them.

Praying for others and addressing the needs of others, whether close or far away.

Don’t think or worry about the future. It’s not mine, anyway.

I’ve also just started a list of some “wanna do’s.” Some of them will help beat the winter blahs. Some of these things I have never done, and that is part of the fun. :)

Bible word study on thoughts/the mind

Get a facial
Get a massage
Get a manicure & pedicure
Blog more
Redecorate/Repaint my apartment
Accessorize my apartment porch
Plant flowers around porch (have to check with my landlord about this first)
Help & nurture others, all the time
Develop closer relationships with others
Give my everything to Jesus*
Continue to exercise, eat better & lose weight
Highlight hair more?
Put my absolute best into my job
Develop my critical & creative thinking skills
Spend time in the sun
Be creative
Be reliable
Give more money to others
Piano or guitar
Read many novels & non-fiction

Now I know me, and like anyone else, I have a lot of aspirations I never live up to. I’ve identified what I think is important (the priorities), and I’m sure there are other things as well. Actually carrying out what I know to be important is a whole different thing, but hey, intentionally identifying them is a step. :) (For example, I wrote a post a while back about spending my time reading – I’m not going to tell you how that went…) I don’t want anyone to think that I already have disciplined habits in these things simply because I am saying I want to be disciplined – I’m not. As anyone might guess “giving my everything to Jesus” isn’t as easily accomplished as getting some sun.

If you think any of my priorities or wanna do’s are out of whack, please feel free to share.

*I have a feeling this one might cause a few of these others to not quite happen. I tend to feel guilty about spending a lot of money… unless it’s Starbucks. Then I squash the guilt.

It's Friday & I Have No Idea What I Did This Week

2011-12-30T10:27:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago I did a post about my "flip folder" - a way to keep and review information you want to retain. Here's another professional development idea that I need to get better at myself. This is not original to me - many people do this: Keep a running list of the things you are accomplishing at work. Even small things. Track what you do in a day, in a week, in a month. Also, start another folder, this time make it "Stuff I've Done." When you finish a project or task that benefits your business in some way, make a copy of it and put it in the folder.

Maintaining these lists and folder will help you keep what you are accomplishing for your company "top of mind." When you have a performance review you will be ready with an explanation of what you have been doing to fulfill your job description and make your company better-faster-smarter. This habit can also help you identify areas you need to improve - are there gaps? Do you need to become more efficient with your busywork so that you can spend more time on substantial projects? What tangibles do you have to show for what you have been doing? (Put it in the folder.)

Sometimes I become so busy with the ten million small things that make up my job that at the end of the week its difficult to identify what exactly I accomplished. Those ten million small things might add up to a very valuable whole - but I have to be able to understand and communicate what that value is.

This habit will help you take ownership of your job. Women in particular are notorious for underselling themselves. "Do I want a raise? Well... if you don't mind? But only if it's convenient for you, boss."

Know what you're doing and why you're doing it. If you're not doing the right things, fix that. Be prepared to confidently communicate your value to your company. At the very least you will end up with much greater ownership of your work and accomplishments.

The Father Christmas Letters

2011-12-23T14:53:00.001-05:00

When JRR Tolkien's kids were young, they received handwritten letters each year from "Father Christmas," complete with accompanying illustrations. These have been compiled into a book called The Father Christmas Letters. You and your kids may enjoy them, too. I have a copy, so if anyone is interested in looking at it, let me know.

Human Trafficking

2011-12-20T17:24:00.000-05:00

Image taken from www.notforsalecampaign.org/about/slavery

In college I had a few friends who were strongly interested in the issue of human trafficking, so I credit them with opening my eyes to it. Before then I really had never heard much about modern slavery. Slavery itself is bad enough, but I was horrified with the reality that women of all ages (not always women, but usually) all over the world are forced to prostitute themselves. They experience one of the most horrific crimes, rape, multiple times a day. And many of these victims are very young.

Trafficking is a rampant problem in less developed parts of the world, particularly because victims are tricked and lied to, and they lack the education to understand that they are being manipulated, or the means to protect themselves. Also, the authorities and laws in many of these countries do little to prosecute traffickers or pimps, or to aid victims. Many victims and their families already live in a state of desperation due to poverty; therefore, when someone comes to them and promises them a new life or job in "such and such" a place, they go, not knowing what is actually waiting for them. Tens of thousands (actually hundreds of thousands, I believe) of trafficking victims originate in the US as well, and of course many more are brought here from other countries.

People don't expect that something like that goes on in their own back yard, but there is no doubt there are victims of trafficking in all major U.S. cities, and many small cities as well. It is not a stretch to imagine that there are victims of trafficking in Northeast Indiana, or at the very least that they are brought through the area on their way to somewhere else. Where the sex trade exists, there can be victims of trafficking. Those who visit prostitutes are fueling this atrocious crime. Plain and simple. Traffickers are meeting a demand.

Here are a few stats about trafficking, taken from a fact sheet at ijm.org:

Human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest growing.
There are nearly two million children in the commercial sex trade.
There are an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 children, women and men trafficked across international borders annually.
Approximately 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors.
The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion.
Sex trafficking is an engine of the global AIDS epidemic.

I feel so strongly about this issue, I don't want to know that this is happening and not do anything about it. So, figuring out what way I am to help is something I am thinking about right now. It could be as simple as providing funding support to a good organization, which of course is a critical thing; but I think I want to be involved on a greater level than that. What if this is happening in Northeast Indiana? What can we do about it?

This blog post is inadequate; it barely begins to scratch the surface of such a serious issue. If you want to learn more, here are a few (of many) excellent organizations that combat trafficking and aid victims:

International Justice Mission

Stop the Traffick

Not for Sale
Traffick911

P.S. There will be a potential flood of trafficking victims in our state's capital in a few months, coinciding with the Super Bowl.

My Flip Folder

2011-12-14T13:01:00.001-05:00

Like most professions, in marketing it is essential to continue learning in order to stay on top of your game. Particularly with the constantly changing state of technology and media - if you don't subscribe to some blogs, read articles on "best practices" regularly, etc., you will fall behind. So, I do a lot of reading. And I find that I usually need to read something more than once to really absorb it.

Sometimes I find a really great article with content I feel applies to my business, and I know I want to save that information somehow (and I print a lot of things out - I get tired of reading from a computer screen) and review it at some point.

So, I created what I call a "flip folder." It's just a file folder, and any time I find an excellent article or post that I don't want to forget (but also don't want to have cluttering my desk indefinitely), I will print it and put it in my flip folder. I have a reminder set in my Outlook, and once a month, I am going to review the contents of my flip folder. Some of the articles I will read for a second time and decide I've got it, throw away. Others, I will decide are too good to risk forgetting - I need more time to absorb. So, they will stay in the flip folder and I will be reminded of them again next month.

I think this is going to help me immensely in terms of keeping clutter off my desk and absorbing good information. If you have any related tips or ideas, I'd love to hear them!

The Best Advice I Ever Got

2011-12-05T12:49:00.002-05:00

Over the past six months I've received excellent advice from very wise people. From each of my family members, and from a few others who are not technically family, but who are like family and are very precious to me. These people helped me more than they know, and I am so grateful to them.

Often they have the same message for me, just communicated in a different way. I've received lots of encouragement, advice, and when I needed it, strong words to keep me in line. I'm very grateful to you - you know who you are. I don't think any of those wise people would begrudge me for singling out something my Dad said - it sums everything up so well. At the end of the day things are really very simple.

"Thank God for your present situation including your mood. He is in charge. Find something positive to do and do it. Feelings don't matter unless they affect your obedience. Relinquish your demands for your own life. Let the Lord give you what he wants. Until you do that you will be a prisoner to yourself."

Highland Park

2011-12-03T13:09:00.002-05:00

My Uncle Ron and Aunt Nikki live in the neighborhood of Highland Park, Lafayette. Growing up, going to visit them was always a treat. They have a big, beautiful house full of interesting things, and a neighborhood to match. Several weeks ago Mom, Katy and I went for a visit. We had such beautiful weather, I took some pictures with my phone. (Incidentally, the house at Highland Park may soon be for sale, if you know anyone who's interested.)

The small park across the street from Ron & Nikki's.

Ron & Nikki's house.

One view from their front porch.

Their house has lots of neat features. This is the knocker on the front door.

And this is the peephole/knocker from the inside.

My lovely and charming Aunt Nikki. :)

Bamboo the kitty.

Lots of interesting things, art, etc. An actual opium den isn't one of them.

We visited the Farmer's Market in downtown Lafayette.

On one of the corners in downtown Lafayette.

Recipe: Galloping Horses

2011-12-02T12:08:00.013-05:00

I've had several requests to share this recipe, so here it is! This is a wonderful Thai dish that I learned from my dear friend and former college professor, Heather. She is an excellent cook and this is not the only dish that I've fallen in love with thanks to her!

Galloping Horses is a meat dish that has a unique blend of ingredients resulting in a sweet and spicy kick. When you look at the ingredients you might think they seem like strange pairings. But they are excellent, and it's not a strange blend at all - even those with a shy palette will probably enjoy this dish. It is, as they say, like a party in your mouth.

The meat is meant to be served with quinoa or rice, and lettuce. You wrap the meat and rice in a lettuce leaf to eat. (I often skip the lettuce and just serve meat and rice.) I hope you enjoy!

Galloping Horses

6 cloves garlic
3 jalapenos
2 lbs mixed ground beef & pork
6 tbs oyster sauce
3-6 tbs brown sugar
3-6 tbs peanuts
Cilantro (to taste)

Heat oil over med-high heat. Add garlic and peppers until fragrant. Add cilantro. Add meat, stir until brown. Add oyster sauce and brown sugar; caramelize. Add nuts and additional cilantro. Serve with rice or quinoa and lettuce. Serves 4-6.

Diversionary Tactics

2011-11-16T12:06:00.001-05:00

The devil is a butthead. And you know what, he’s good at what he does. He’s the “accuser.” He lies. He takes the truth and twists it. He knows how to play to our pride, our fears, our weakness, and our sinful nature in just such a way that unless we fight it, we end up tied in knots. He tempts us to sin, then he racks us with guilt when we fail. Then he tells us we’re a failure so we may as well give in to sin again. He tells us we’re not redeemable by God, that God does not love us, and also that the people we care about wouldn’t love us either, if they knew what we were capable of. He tells us that because he hates us, because most of all he hates God, and because he knows it isn’t true. He does not want us to be free. He does not want us recognizing the truth. He loves confusion and unrest.

Does that tick you off? It ticks me off.

Recently I read about a man who was caught up in Satanism until the Lord set him free from it. He said that he witnessed firsthand the fact that there are battles going on over us (meaning “about” us), and that prayer is a very powerful and important force in those battles. He said he knew the people praying for him helped set him free. This guy got himself involved in the spiritual realm on such a level that he could literally witness things the rest of us don’t normally see.

So Satan does battle. And one of the tactics he employs is diversion. I have become aware that this is being used on me. Tied up in knots, worrying and anxious over this issue or that, thinking that it is so important, I absolutely must focus on it, must worry about it, must figure it out. -And then realizing that it is only a diversionary tactic. The whole point is to keep my attention away from where it’s supposed to be. The whole point is in making me forget that what I’m supposed to be doing is relinquishing my desires to God. That’s it. That’s what I’m supposed to be focusing on. The rest is just deceit. Its grenades that blow up two feet away and make you shout “take cover!!!!!!!” and dive for the bushes, when in reality the only thing coming out of the grenade is a great big boom and a bunch of black smoke. (Also designed to make you feel really dumb when you realize what it is – Lucifer likes to pack in as many punches as he can.)

Almost always there will be elements of truth mixed in with the lies – this is why I get caught up in them. It’s not always just a blatant lie. A lot of the time, its twisted truth. Doesn’t matter. I don’t have to worry about that. It still isn’t true. What I need to focus on is exactly what Satan has been working so hard to make me forget. If it wasn’t important, he wouldn’t be so concerned with keeping me distracted. Once you’ve realized diversion tactics are being used on you, it’s a lot easier to recognize those tactics when they are tried again.

Satan doesn’t want us to become more like Jesus. The more like Jesus we become, the more difficult we are for him to manipulate. Jesus is his enemy - he doesn't want a bunch of little saints running around looking more and more like Jesus every day. (Plus he's already fighting a losing battle, and that's just got to stink.) He is afraid of what we will accomplish if we focus on Jesus and obey Him. And I find that… encouraging. :)

Ephesians 6:10-18

My 10,000 Hours

2011-11-08T12:31:00.001-05:00

In the book Outliers (highly recommend, by the way), Malcolm Gladwell talks about the “10,000 hour rule.” This is the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of practice, or work, to become an “expert” in something.

Gladwell points out that even people we consider to be geniuses in their field have almost always put in at least 10,000 hours of work to get where they are. Olympic athletes, computer geniuses, so on and so forth. You don’t become an expert in something overnight. It takes 10,000 hours of practice.

There are 24 hours in a day. There are 8,760 hours in a year. If we had the luxury of spending 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, working on our area of expertise, it would still take about 3.5 years to reach 10,000 hours of practice.

This concept has made me very aware of time. If it takes that much work and time and effort to become a true expert at something, I better be intentional with my time. And that means I better figure out what’s important.

So what do I want to be an “expert” in? I don’t know. I would like to be a wife and mom. That would be well worth 10,000 hours of work (and obviously would go way beyond it!). But that’s not my life right now. Though it doesn’t feel realistic to me at the moment, the reality is that I probably will get married and have kids. It could be a year from now and it could be ten years from now. But in the meantime, I am in a unique position in my life where I don’t have any attachments that require my focus. I could accomplish a lot during this time in my life, and you know what? I want to make it meaningful. I want to be intentional – it’s easy to waste time when you haven’t identified what’s important. It’s easy to do many things at once and do them well – but I would rather narrow it down to a couple things and be excellent.

So what do I want to do with my 10,000 hours? Right now I’m leaning toward Bible study and spiritual growth. Reading my Bible, praying, reading works of literature that challenge me mentally and spiritually. I don’t see how I can go wrong with that – spending 10,000 hours focusing on Jesus. I have a feeling that there may be something specific He has in mind for my 10,000 hours. But this seems like a good place to start. Then He can tell me what to do from there.

Livin' in the Country

2011-10-10T20:30:00.004-04:00

I love beautiful things. When I see something I think is beautiful, I feel compelled to take a picture, whether it's a flower petal, or candles flickering in a darkened room. The things I find beautiful may not be that interesting to other people, especially since I'm not a great photographer. I rarely actually capture in photo the full beauty of what I'm seeing.

I am really enjoying living in the country. I grew up in town. I love to travel, and I love cities, but I would be most happy spending my life with "home" being in the country. Here's a few photos I've taken this summer/fall.

A Question of Psychology

2011-10-06T11:00:00.000-04:00

Recently I’ve read in a couple of different places that psychologists believe a person’s personality at three years of age will be the personality they have as an adult. This raises a question I’ve wondered about before – what happened to me? This is a completely narcissistic post, but if you find psychology interesting (I do), maybe you will find this interesting.

When I was around two and three, I was a big talker. I carried on conversations with adults (not about the solar system – the point is I was very verbal). If they asked a question about me they expected my parent to answer, I answered instead. Give me a couple more years, and my nickname was “motor mouth.” I was a ham.

I’m 23 now. In many social situations I’m very quiet, especially in a group. Of course if I’m in a small group of close friends or with one or two people, I interact openly, but that is true even of very shy people. I’m not shy 100% of the time, but I often am. And I am definitely an introvert. I “recharge” by being by myself.

Sometimes even today in social situations I find myself caught between two instincts. My autopilot is quiet, but there are times I feel talkative Joanna rising to the surface.

So what happened to me? I’m not suggesting at 23 I should be as boisterous as a three-year-old. Concepts like courtesy are part of what separate adults from children. Growing up we were taught that it's not okay to be obnoxious, because it’s rude. That's part of maturity. But shyness? When did I go from being very talkative, to an inward person, and more importantly, why?

There are exceptions to every rule. Not all adults have the personality they did as a three-year-old. But most do. (For example, I’m just sure that at three my Dad sat around highlighting in theology books and sighing deeply every few minutes. -I had to share that mental image because I enjoy it so much.)

So, if you find psychology interesting and have any thoughts to share, I’d be interested in them.

Burdens

2011-09-29T13:55:00.000-04:00

You know how sometimes an image or concept will just pop into your head? It just comes to you.

I’ve been going through some hard times lately. Recently as I struggled over a specific worry I have not been able to let go of, I was thinking that I needed to hand it over to Jesus. I needed to mentally take that burden and place it on him, and take it off myself.

“You’ve never had that burden” came unbidden into my mind.

Suddenly this image came into my head. I’m standing in a big open field. It’s gorgeous. Clear blue sky. Cool breeze. Peaceful place. But I am not feeling peaceful. I’m anxious, I’m sweating, and I’m a little bent, as if there is something heavy on my back. Only there is nothing on my back.

So I look pretty stupid.

Then Jesus suddenly walks up beside me. He’s got a backpack (=burden) on his back. Only he’s not bent. He’s not struggling. He’s not sweating. He’s cool. He’s got his hands on the straps of the backpack, and he’s the definition of mellow. In fact I’m pretty sure he was chewing gum. As he stopped beside me he gave me a chin thrust greeting, like “what’s up?” and then just kind of looked around like he was waiting for a bus but had all the time in the world (based on his general vibe I’d say that bus was going to take him to the beach to go surfing). The only thing missing was a backwards baseball cap.

I just stood there, mouth open, looking at him like “are you for real?”

And that was it.

The message was, “you are struggling under a burden that isn’t yours. I took it when I died for you. I’ve had it all along. You are laboring under pressure that isn’t even there – you just think it is. Oh, and by the way – I can handle this. Look at me for Pete’s sake. I’m a casual gum-chewer.”

So there is a burden. It’s not that the burden doesn’t exist. It does. But I’m not the one carrying it. I just think I am. I’m a burden-hypochondriac.

Here’s to letting go of burdens.

Bah Bah Black Sheep

2011-08-21T20:11:00.000-04:00

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how God loves to redeem people. Not just in the amazing, overarching way that He redeemed us by sending Jesus to bear the price for our sins. But in the individual, you’re-a-mess-but-I’m-going-to-make-you-awesome way. The Bible is full of examples where God takes an absolute spaz, and transforms them. He loves to do that. How about the Apostle Paul. He was a persecutor. Complicit with murder. He called himself “the worst of sinners.” And how about the people that were already God-followers, but messed up. Like Peter. One moment he pledged complete devotion to Jesus, but in the moment where it really counted, he denied that he even knew Jesus. Three times. But he still was the “rock” upon which God built His church. His relationship with Jesus was still restored. Or how about David? Adultery. Manipulation. Murder. And to top it all off, he was a huge hypocrite about it! But God restored him, and used David’s lineage to bring Jesus into the world. David was a “man after God’s own heart.” In spite of the things David did, it is clear that God wanted a relationship with him.

I love how the Bible is full of stories of black sheep. God loves black sheep. Sometimes they are sheep that are lost and have always been lost. Sometimes they are sheep that scamper off, get lost, get tangled up in a thorny bush, and then are found and come back.

It’s in that image Jesus gives us of the shepherd who leaves his entire flock of sheep to go after the one, lost sheep. And when he finds the sheep, he carries it home, and rejoices with all his friends. First of all, the topic comes up because Jesus was doing what He always did – committing social suicide doing the absolutely non-politically correct thing to do. He was hanging out and having dinner with “sinners” and tax collectors. (So our modern-day equivalent of porn-stars and… Congress.) So of course, the politically-correct Pharisees and scribes had to make a big hairy deal about who Jesus was with. And Jesus’ response was – “Bug off. God is concerned about sinners. These people need Me. Heaven rejoices when one of these lost sheep is saved.”

So God loves black sheep. And that doesn’t necessarily mean the traditional definition of black sheep, as in “undesirable.” It may just mean that one sheep who just can’t get it together. Jesus will leave His flock and let them party on their own, so He can go rescue that black sheep. You know, the one that can be found continually banging his curly head against the fence post. Or chasing his tail in pointless circles. Always moving, but going nowhere. Or better yet, the one that, when he sees out of the corner of his ornery eye that the Shepherd is coming, darts away bleating “you can’t catch me! You can’t catch me!”

Silly black sheep. You’re so cute.

But the Shepherd is patient. He may follow that sheep for a while, keeping a distance, but always there. If the sheep looks over his shoulder he can always see Him there, a ways off, watching. Waiting. Black sheep thinks the Shepherd is there to annoy him. He doesn’t want to be “captured.” He doesn’t realize the Shepherd is keeping a wolf from eating him. Or that when he falls in a ravine and breaks his little sheep legs and cries out for help, the Shepherd will rescue him, even though the sheep never before would let Him get close.

So I guess the point is, God not only loves to save the black sheep, He loves to do something great with their lives (I refer you to paragraph one). The bigger the mess the black sheep is, the greater the power God gets to show in transforming them. God is a jealous God. I think He likes to show us what He can do.

Funny, I don’t REMEMBER getting in trouble for this…

2011-08-13T12:34:00.000-04:00

Recently I was going through some old computer files and came across a few things I had written many years ago. One in particular was an essay I wrote about a “disciplined mind.” I wrote this when I was 11, and it is clear to me it was the result of something wrong (or more likely stupid) I did, which caused my Dad to assign me an essay about having a disciplined mind.

Obviously I was not happy about my assignment, the fact that my Dad is quite so disciplined, and probably the general fact that in our house, if I did something wrong, instead of a normal punishment (or perhaps in addition to a normal punishment), I was assigned an essay. (Come on, why can’t I just wash the dishes for a week? I also have to THINK??)

After reviewing this essay, I can’t believe I didn’t get in big trouble for giving this to him! Can you say attitude? Probably the only thing that saved me was that he got enough of a kick out of it that he didn’t have the heart to spank me. So, here’s the essay in question:

The advantages of a disciplined mind

A disciplined mind: My father

If you looked up discipline in my dictionary there would be a picture of my dad. So, if you want to know the advantages of a disciplined mind, ask HIM!

-I would leave it at that – but that’s not very disciplined is it?

I am a great advocate (whatever that means) of discipline, and indeed I can see the benefits and maturity of it… but my feeble mind cannot come up with a way to tell you what they are. I could just write them all down, but that doesn’t feel right, so I suppose you are just going to have to look around and find them for yourself, and if you can’t find anyone with a disciplined mind, you can move in with me.

My, how things change. I’m 23 now, and I’m so glad my Dad is a disciplined person. I didn’t always appreciate it when I was a kid or even a teenager, but I am very blessed and grateful that I have a Dad who disciplined me, and wanted me to strive to be excellent. When you’re 11 all you can see is that your Dad makes you write annoying essays. A little bit down the road, you can see that your Dad is extraordinary.

And for the record, I do still think it would be appropriate for the dictionary to have a picture of him next to the definition of discipline.

Also for the record – I still have a long way to go.

The Stinkin’ Urinal

2011-06-04T14:06:00.000-04:00

I know, that’s a terrible name. But don’t blame me for it, blame my brother. You see, this all starts back when I was around 10-ish, back when I was, you know, a prolific writer. I was the writer, publisher AND editor of a very prestigious paper that circulated to a total of five people, including myself. You read that correctly. It was called the Lincoln Journal, which is a very stately name, I think. But. My 15-year-old-ish brother thought it more appropriate to call it the Stinkin’ Urinal. Just to show his support.

So what does all of this have to do with anything? Well, the Stink – I mean the Lincoln Journal represents the height of my literary achievement, the pinnacle of my creative writing prowess. I loved to write. I wrote stories and I did assignments using onomatopoeia and alliteration, and it was wonderful. Around that time, I even remember sitting in my room for several hours straight penning a mystery novel set in the 1900s. I realize now it was actually just a cheap knock-off of the Mandie series (hint: my main character’s name was Mandie) which I was really into at the time. As my family will tell you, I have the unfortunate habit of creating sheer art, only to be told “That’s an Amy Grant song.”

Anyway. Off and on through the years I’ve thought I really should return to some type of creative writing… writing just for fun. Of course, I had to do a lot of writing in college, and a lot for work, and I’m glad for that, but it’s not the same type of writing. So, the purpose of this blog is to return to my writing ways. I’m not sure yet what topics may be covered here, but they shall be various and sundry. If you choose to read this blog - I am guessing you are my mother. Hi Mom! :)

Note to my family:

Family, blog writing is by its very nature informal, and I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for you to correct my grammar since this is a blog. Just saying.