On your mark, get set... go!

Go the Distance- from the movie Hercules

Good motivation for the start of new semester. 

Today was my first semester of my spring semester and my first semester being a full time grad student. Now I won't usually post about every day in school... I don't want to bore you guys. But I want to celebrate this small accomplishment of going full time. As much stress as it causes me my grad school is a big BLESSING for me. I have wanted to go to grad school since I was in undergrad but I took a year off so I could claim independent financial status. But then due to personal reasons I had to make a year off a year and a half off. I have also been going to school part time for the last year and working full time so to have the stability now where I can go to school full time feels AWESOME. Last night I was thanking God that he has allowed me to go to grad school and he has kept this door open. I am also lucky/blessed that I get to go to school in a city I love so much. 

Let me start off on a good note. Today with the weather you would not know it was the end of January. If you remember on Sunday I posted pictures of the snow around Boston. Well today the high got up to the 50s. I grabbed an ice coffee after my second class to enjoy while I am doing homework. I even saw people sitting outside during my lunch break... it does not feel like winter. 

Snow mostly melted from Simmons Campus

I also caught up with a friend in the cafeteria, and we had lunch together and I saw my roommate twice in on campus. Last semester I never saw her I guess, not that I will be on campus more I will see more people.  That will be nice not to be running into class after work or running to work after class. But I sadly think that is where the good news ends. 

After my first class I was doing to many things at once and dropped my traveler mug in just the right place where the handle broke off.  It can still hold coffee... but I won't be using it on the T any more. 

Also I did have a Legally Blonde moment today where I was not prepared for my management class. It wasn't as bad for me as it was for Elle Woods because most of the class wasn't prepared... due to a miss-communication about where to find the syllabus. Which means instead of doing one week's assignment I now have to do two weeks.

I don't know if this is good or bad but I am thankful that I don't have a Valentine this year because both my Tuesday classes have assignments due that day and it looks like I will spend the weekend before Valentines Day and probably Valentines Day in the library doing homework. 

My Calendar for Valentines Day 

I know you probably don't need to see a picture of my calendar but I did make a blogging goal to take more pictures of life and I thought it was funny. 

Again I don't think you need a picture of my desk but in my blogging goals to take more pictures of my life I thought I would share that right now my desk is pretty organized but I am sure in a few weeks it will be covered in papers. (I will keep you posted). 

Well now I should hit the books at least until Parenthood tonight. 

Have a good day!

Snowy Days in Boston

"Snowfall (kind of love)"-Ingrid Michaelson

Good song for this kind of weather

Hello lovely readers,

Here in New England we can't say winter really starts till January. I think it is so we can convince ourselves that winter won't last forever. But I think I can say winter has come to Boston. Last Sunday when I checked the weather before going to church I checked the weather on my phone and it said 6 felt like -12. By the time I left church it was 12 and felt like -6. Even though I have lived in Boston for 6 years I still don't know how to dress for that weather (maybe you just can't). Over the week we have had flurries of snow but nothing that stuck. But yesterday we had our first snow. Now it wasn't much but I took some pics of it.

Right now I like the snow, when I was home watching it come down it was nice and quiet. I made myself a cup of hot spice tea and watched a movie. Even when I went outside it seemed like the world was quiet. It was very nice to have an excuse for a quiet day.

Now it wasn't much snow but I took some pics of it on my walk home.  

The Fens under snow

I love seeing paths of people who ventured away from the sidewalk 

I was trying to capture a couple walking through the snow

Icicles from a car. Also the thing I don't like about the snow... when it turns to brown.  

I don't have a great view from my window but here is the park across the street from me. 

The little sparrow on the top of the tree... very brave birds to brave the cold. 

I liked seeing the red berries on this bush. 

The fence of the park...I liked the contrast between the black and white

Winter Break... Part 3

My winter break is about to come to an end. 

Here is a song to end my winter break on.

Winter Song by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

I start back to school on Tuesday. It is weird in a good way to be going back to school. I know I have only had a month off but in some ways it feels like it has been longer. I mean I went home for Christmas for a week and got some down time but I also got to see a lot of family. I loved my down time, there was one day I was sitting on the sofa with my lab top in my lap and I was working on my story but I was still in my pajamas and my dad asked me if I was okay. Yeah I was great I wasn't thinking about school or work, I was just having a care free day (it was wonderful). But since coming back to Boston I feel like I have had another month to adjust to real life. 

In the month I have had off I have done...

1. A lot of reading...I finished off North and South (a book it took me all semester to read), A Jane Austen Education and started reading The American Heiress.

2. I have written a lot. I started the winter break with only 9 blog post on my blog Sisters of Pine Haven I am now up to 17 blog post. In other words that comes to 66 pages and 28,000+ words. It is not quite the 50,000 words that people had to write for National Novel Writing Month. I know that was in November but I wanted to see how many words I could write in my month off. Oh well maybe one day I will finish the novel. 

3. I have spent lots of time with my friends. My friend had a great New Years Eve party, where I felt I danced all night. I am not a good dancer but I do love to dance around. One of my best friends and I have hung out a lot rather watching the Golden globes, episodes of Downton Abbey or going to to go see the movie The Artist. 

The movie The Artist owes a blog post of its own it was so good. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did but I loved it a lot. If you don't know anything about it, it is all silent (minus a few parts) and black and white. But the plot takes place during the end of the 1920s when the film industry switches from silent films to talkies. The main guy, George Valentine, is a big silent film star doesn't embrace the idea of talkies. 

Of course when I left the film I wanted to see Singing in the Rain, Jean Dujardin, has a very Gene Kelly way about him. I was so happy when The Artist won so many Golden Globes and I wish the movie well in the Oscars. 

4. I also spent way too much time on social media from Facebook, my blog, to YouTube (mostly looking up Downton Abbey videos), and Pinterest getting lots of great pictures that really helped inspire my story. 

5. Most importantly I have left my full time job in order to be a full time student. It is weird to leave a job I have had for a year and a half. It was not in a career I wanted to pursue long term but I did make it a part of me, I guess that is natural to make something you do every day a part of you. But I didn't realize how much it was a part of me until I left.

Over all it has been a good break...nothing too big but lots of time to relax and great time with friends. I loved having dinner on a random Tuesday night at the Cheese Cake Factory. That is probably my favorite thing about breaks having my nights free to do what I wanted. 

Have a nice weekend. 

Winter Break... Part 2

In my last post on Winter Break  I wrote the number one thing I wanted to do on this break was to work on my story. I have done a lot of writing in my notebook but now I am trying to transcribe it and post it on my blog. Yesterday on my flight home and today I have been typing a lot to bring my computer and blog up to speed. So now I am up to 10 post (yeah it is a slow process). But I have enjoyed it. I will keep posting as I get more work done.


If  you missed it November was National Novel Writing Month and the goal of it is to write 50,000 words. I knew I could never do that but lots of the blogs I followed did and I have a new respect for them. In my story I have written about 34 pages and I have only written 16,000+ words. It would seem like a lot if I was writing a paper but I am trying to write a novel and it is not much at all. Oh well maybe I will finish my novel one day (it is on my bucket list). Thanks for reading...hope you enjoy.


Here is a preview of The James Family (part 3)

That night at dinner Emmy sat next to Brandon.

            "Your sister, Mr. James, tells me you are the British Ambassador's right hand man."

            "I don't know if I would say that, my sister is always too kind."

            "Didn't you just return from a trip to England where you met the Prime Minister?"
            "I did."

            "Well I would say you are quite important then."

            "You are kind Miss Cromwell."

            Emmy laughed, no one ever called her Miss Cromwell, no one called her "Miss" anything she was just Emmy. But she could see laughter was not the right thing to do by the way he looked.

            "I am sorry Mr. James, I was not laughing at you, I was laughing at being called Miss Cromwell, that title belongs to my sister. I am Emmy."

            "How old are you?"

            "Sixteen."

            "It is not right to call a lady by her first name."

            "But everyone does. Everyone calls me Emmy minus Miss Pembers. Though my real name is Emmaline."

            "That's an interesting name."

            "What you mean is odd."

            Brandon saw her sulk a bit. "No I mean not common but beautiful."

            "It was my father's middle name, I was born a month after she passed away. But everyone calls me Emmy. I am not graceful enough to have such a name as Emmaline."

            "Why do you say that?"

            "My Grandma Danford tells me."

            "Well I don't want to dispute your Grandma but I disagree."

            Emmy smiled.

            Then it struck Brandon how much this young girl looked like Marianne his love from Oxford. Their faces could almost be identical with the same almond shape eyes and sweet smile that made her nose crinkle a bit. Before he could speak again her sister Gloria had grabbed her attention. He overheard them talking about the piano.

            "Do you play the piano, Miss Emmy?"
            "Hardly, Gloria and I were discussing how she and Laurel should put on a musical number for you and Miss James. They have the beauty and musical skills. I can barely play hot cross buns."

            "You don't find music amusing then?"

            "To listen to yes, but I cannot play, even though to appease my Grandma I practice. I have neither the ear nor the talent."

            "Then how do you delight your time?"

            "With stories. I love to write stories, one day I hope to be published. Maybe be a great author like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell or the Brontë sisters," she saw his little smile. "I know it's silly," she said lowering her head.

            "Not at all," he saw her smile like she had before. "What do you write about?"

            "Adventure, passion, knights fighting for the girl he loves, princes in Africa. Everything my life is not."

            "What do you mean?"

            "I have live most of life in this house and this little town not very adventurous, and my Grandma Danford tries to stifle out all passion. "

            "Maybe one day you will see the world."

            "Maybe but it is unlikely."

            "Really?"

            Emmy realized maybe she had shared too much. After all Brandon James was a stranger and he seemed so judgmental before. But now he seemed the polar opposite of judgmental and not as cold as Emmy originally casted him as being. But he still was a stranger and Laurel would be ashamed that she had shared even a bit of their financial hardships with a stranger. So Emmy changed topics quickly asking if he played the piano. He said not really. For a bit after that they sat in quietness not knowing really what to say. After dinner the men and the women separated for the men to have a smoke and a brandy.

            "You seemed to be talking to Mr. James," Laurel said.

            "He is very nice."

            "Oh Miss Emmy," Kathryn approached Emmy "thank you for amusing my brother during dinner he seems so lonely so much of the time. I wish he could find the happiness I have found with Nicholas."

            "Is he not married?" Laurel asked.

            "No he is an old bachelor, he is far too devoted to his work and my mother and myself to have time to look for a girl to settle down with. I keep trying to match him with one of my friends but he has shown no interest in any of them. The girl who does capture his heart will be the luckiest girl in the world he is so devoted and loyal."

To read more click here

Next to come... the introduction of Caleb James who plays the Mr. Willoughby character in my story.

Winter Break

Hello lovely readers,

Thanks for much for your continuous support as I took a little time away from this blog as I worked on finishing up this semester. But now it is winter break... YEAH!!!
 

Of course it hasn't actually snowed here.

 The number one thing I want to do besides seeing my family is writing. If you don't know I have been attempting to write a story similiar to the plot line of Sense and Sensability. Sadly though with school I haven't had that much time and energy to write. So if you want to catch up on my writing click here for my story The Sister's of Pine Haven. (I only have written 9 post on that blog so it will be easy to catch up.)

I want to write so much that I even started carrying my little notebook around with me and have written a bit on the T (subway for Boston). Which is quite difficult when I am standing and holding my travel mug of coffee. But I must write... or else I will go bonkers.

I also want to read a lot. I have been reading the same book since October. Usually I am a much faster reader but like I said before no time.  I have been reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. (It is not about the Civil War.) And the only reason I have been able to pick it up and put it down so much is because I watched the minniseries on it a few months ago. I wrote more about the minniseries in my Love some Melodrama? post. I am happy I have a flight home to get some reading and writing in.

I also hope to watch some good Christmas Movies. I have done well on listening to Christmas music thanks to Spotify. (An online service kind of like Pandora but you chose your own music and you can re listen to songs). But I haven't watched many Christmas movies and I want to. (From the classics to the not so classics.)



I am also looking forward to spending unscheduled time with my friends. True, genuine time not just a pass by "hello."

Any way that is my winter break list. I know it will go by too fast and soon I will be in school again, so I want to remember to enjoy the month.