Mona Shores, a local high school, celebrates the holidays every year with a singing Christmas tree. “A singing Christmas tree?” you ask. Yes, a singing Christmas tree. Look closely. There are over TWO HUNDRED high schoolers IN THAT TREE! mLive has an excellent article here that highlights the specifics — 67 feet tall, 300 singers, …
Melanie Hooyenga
Creativity and Inspiration
I’ve done it again. I’ve piled so many projects onto my plate that I find myself staring at the computer screen, unable to work on any of them. I mentioned awhile back that I often treat reading for pleasure as a motivator to get things done, and often don’t allow myself to read until reaching …
Unplugging
I’ve had several conversations in recent weeks where the other person laments how plugged in everyone has become. I, of course, am happily plugged in, but I do understand the point. We get so caught up in tweeting and posting and sharing that we don’t always take a moment to just enjoy the… moment. I …
DeceFiniMo
I know it goes against the purpose of NaNo, but I hereby declare December DeceFiniMo: December is the Month I’m Gonna Finish My Novel. Yes, I realize that acronym is all kinds of wrong, but that’s how it was said to me (thanks Stacey!) and I like it. As I said on Monday, I’m past …
NaNoFailMo
Well… it looks like my prediction of not reaching 50K in 30 days was accurate. I have, however, surpassed my personal goal of 30,000 words, and that’s with only writing 1000 words in the past six days. The good news? I have a solid start on my novel. Because it’s young adult I’m aiming for …
Thankful
–adjective feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative. Where to begin? Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving since 2007 and it really hit home how grateful I am for everyone and everything that’s gotten me to where I am today. I realize that given the fact I’m living in my parents basement and recently divorced, many may raise …
It’s Been Nine Months and I Still Spit in the Shower
I realize that to many of you, this makes zero sense. Let me back up. It goes without saying that you can’t drink the tap water in Mexico. People buy bottled water and use that for drinking and cooking, and only use the tap water for washing, etc. That includes showering. Well I don’t know …
You Held On to Your Hat!
As you can see, my new website is up and running! This site includes my blog AND my design and writing samples. Yes, a couple years ago I decided to separate my writing and design sites, but that proved to be more of an ordeal than it was worth. So until I decide to change …
Post Up at Ermas
Today my a post Can I Tell You a Secret is up at the Army of Ermas blog. Please go check it out!
OhNaNoMyNaNo
It’s that time — the midway NaNo update. I had planned to tell you about my progress a little more often, but here we are on the downslope of November (don’t get me started on that…) and I haven’t told you how it’s going. I knew going into NaNo as a gainfully employed person that …