Views

I gotta tell ya, a month and a half ago, I was a sad woman.

We had been house hunting for months, and finally had an offer we'd put on a house accepted. The house was everything I thought I wanted, and even had a green belt in the backyard! (For those of you who don't know what a green belt is, it's a nature-filled piece of property owned by the government and gives you a great view).

Then things went sour. It was a HUD home, and although the folks in charge of the sell of this home originally agreed to our terms of using VA, they soon began fighting those terms and ended up denying VA. We had to use a different type of loan, or walk away. Eventually we walked away. If you were to look at me, I was fine. Great even. The very next day after we pulled out of the contract, I was house hunting again. But, while I knew I had to pull my big girl panties on and find my family a house, I also realized nothing I looked at would compare to the beautiful view of trees I almost had.

When I went house hunting that next day, it was a gloomy out. I had two homes to look at. TWO. I liked the floor plan of the first one, but it was just so...blue on the inside. And the second, I disliked the floor plan altogether. I mulled over this decision for days before putting an offer on the blue house. An offer that was accepted.

The day I visited the house (it's a two hour drive from where I was currently living) for the inspection, it was sunny. And what I saw took my breath away. Trees shmeeze. (I'm sorry trees, I didn't mean that, you know I love you).

I have a view of the water! The Puget Sound to be exact. And the Olympic range. Oh, and the San Juan islands. The very San Juan islands where my book takes place. The very Puget Sound my characters swim in. :)

So, here's a picture of one of the views. And as soon as I locate my camera, I'll take more.

Before and After Pictures

So, as you know, I've been knee deep in paint and boxes. It's a happy place to be when you've been wondering for the last couple years, and not because you've wanted to. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but I painted my house a deep purple (it's called Chianti) and a beige color. Just looking at my walls gives me an urge to write and sip red wine. Hum.

I thought I'd share my before and after pictures. I've painted and had the floors re-done. I plan on changing out the light fixtures, but all good things in time. ;)

 

Muse Muscles

It. Is. Done.

Well, the moving part. The unpacking part has yet to officially begin. And after a week of painting my new house, having all new flooring installed, and basically running myself ragged, the ol' body has a few choice words to share at the mere thought of unpacking.


So, today I sit. Today, after a super long time, I get to check in on my blog-world buddies and place my proverbial fingers on the writing-world pulse. With of course my dog on one side of me and a mug of coffee on the other.    


This last week was amazing. I have been moving at least every two years since I was seventeen. I have mainly lived in military housing and rental homes, with the exception of a home we purchased and then two years later sold. I have never painted the walls the color that I preferred. And honestly, up until a year or so ago, I hadn't even known what I liked.

So, painting my house, the walls that would surround me day after day, year after year, was almost, in some strange way, therapeutic. And as the deep, dark purple slathered those walls, I felt my muse grow and flourish. Crazy. I'd never felt that before. The hope inside, that I'd sign with an agent and ultimately with a publishing company, sparkled and shone until I knew inside that it isn't a matter of "if", but a matter of "when".

I want to keep going, excitedly ramble on about my house the way a grandparent would about her new addition. To post before and after pictures of the house and the breathtaking views from my porch and windows. But, I'll save that for future posts. Right now, I'll let you snicker at the pictures taken during laughable moments yesterday. My sisters and best friend (and their husbands) helped us move. And when we get together, there's always fun to be had.

My best friend Rayna pulled as I pushed the heavy piece of furniture. As you can see, I was also falling and grabbing onto another piece of furniture. I ended up on the floor.

You can barely see my sister back there. Packed into the SUV

So how about you? Have you ever done something that took you by surprise in how it strengthened your muse?

Sirens Conference

I am in the throws of busyness. Right, smack in the middle of buying a house. Literally. Like, yesterday we signed a ton of papers at the mortgage office, buying a house.

You know what that means? No lap-top time. :(


Which means, lots of iPhone time. Sitting in offices waiting, standing in lines waiting, sitting at the school waiting. Yeah, you get the picture. So, it's no wonder I've been reading lots of twitter updates, which I normally don't do. 

An agent twitted--that just sounds weird--about a conference in Portland Oregon called Sirens. Never heard of it. Have you? So, naturally I clicked on the link and checked this Sirens thing out. WOW. It's a conference on women in fantasy literature. How fun does that sound?!

Love these pictures. They were created to represent this conference. 

So, I thought I'd tell you guys about it. See if you've ever heard of it. What you've heard. And if you've been, what did you think?

Oh, and wanna see a picture of the house? How about a sneak peak?

My front yard is a hill--lots of beautiful ground cover. :)