Happy to be alive, because...

In case you missed it, the title of my book is Happy to be Alive, Because. 

I love thankful Fridays, and I thought it would be fitting to move them in a new direction by making them happy to be alive Fridays. 

1.  My book is available for P R E - O R D E R.  What?!  When I woke up on Wednesday, I had no idea the day was going to end by hearing from friends and family that they had just ordered my book.  There were a lot of happy tears. 

My dad sent me a video of him, my mom, and my little brother standing at the computer ordering my book.  Tears on tears on tears.  I love my family

2.  My husband is officially done with his second year of medical school!  He's halfway to being a doctor and that's just exciting.

3.  There are so many good people in my life.  I had to write my book dedication/acknowledgments yesterday, and I really could have filled up roughly seventeen pages with all the things I would have liked to say.  I've never been one to keep a lot of people in my life at one time, but the ones I do have are downright amazing. 

4.  It's supposed to be warm again soon.  This whole, pool one day, winter coat the next day saga is getting old. 

5.  The incredibly encouraging words you guys left on my blog.  Blogging is such a weird and wonderful thing.  This is such a crazy journey for me, and getting to share it on this little space on the internet is amazing.  On that note: I wanted something to keep track of all of this excitement, so I'm going to use  #happytobealive2014 on instagram and twitter.  I would love for you to use it too!  For anything from talking about the book to simply pictures or tweets about why you're happy to be alive. 

So!  What makes you happy to be alive? 

s h o p  h e r e:

This is Real Life: A Book Update

It's late at night and I know there's no way I'm going to be able sleep because I'm so excited to share all of this with everyone. 

In case you're new around here: I wrote a book.  I've been so nervous that something was going to go wrong or fall behind schedule, so I've been afraid to post updates because I hate publicly saying something and then having to follow up with, "Oh wait, that's actually not happening."  Again with the need to be brave.  Geez. I will get there!

However, it appears that everything is on schedule, so here goes nothing everything.

BOOK COVER

First of all, let's just talk about the fact that MY NAME is on the cover of a book...because I wrote said book.  Dream.  Come.  True.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?


This is the description on the back of the book.  Look at you, getting a sneak peek and stuff. 

Avery is a seventeen-year-old girl whose reality has just been shattered by the death of her mother. Feeling a desperate need to flee from what has become her life, she follows a travel plan meant for her mom and her that leads her to the little beach town where her mom grew up. It's there that she meets a group of three adventurous friends who adopt her into their circle, allowing her to experience a summer she never thought would be possible after suffering such a great loss. Unfortunately, her summer full of experiences threatens to end abruptly when she realizes that one of the three has a secret that causes her to question everything about the new life she has been building.

Avery must learn to balance her grief and her desire for a future in order to achieve her mother's final wish for her: That she would be happy to be alive.

WHEN DOES IT COME OUT?

April 14th, 2014. 

Also known as my twenty-second birthday. 

Also know as nineteen days from today. 

This is real life. 

I have about a billion and seven more things to say, but I'll end this before it gets way too long.  Be warned, though.  A billion and seven book-related blog posts coming your way. 

You can also find me here:

send someone flowers today.

Happy Monday!  

I added a few new things to my shop yesterday, and these are probably my favorite. 

Felt flowers in a tiny mason jar that you can send to your friends.  Or yourself.  Or both, because they're a heck a lot cheaper than sending real flowers.  And you get to keep them for longer than a week. 

Happy Monday.  Happy spring.  Happy almost April.  How has this happened?!

send someone flowers today.

Come say hi here:

A happy pup, exciting news, and warm weather.

This week was a real peach, so I am especially happy that Friday has once again shown up with a cup of coffee and a day off. 

1.  This guy is feeling so much better.  If you've ever had a dog, you understand how terrible last week was.  And you also understand that him feeling better means that by default, I feel better.  Celebration coffees all around!

2.  The cover for my book is finished!  It is so incredibly perfect and I've pretty much been crying over it since I saw it.  On that note, next week will include a book cover reveal and a book update--I am so excited to share it with you!  Any questions or suggestions for this post?

3.  Warm weather.  Also known as:  pool, pool, pool. 

Happy Friday, beautiful people! 

What are you thankful for this week?

You can also find me here:

and that's okay.

Sunday started with my computer crashing and ended with me at the emergency vet with my sweet pup.

And things pretty much went downhill from there.  The past few days have been a struggle. 

So this isn't a happy blog post about how you should stay positive when things go wrong.  This is a real life blog post about how sometimes life is just hard.  Sometimes so many things will go wrong that it will take everything in you to just wake up and get work done. 

And that's okay. 

Because that's real life, and real life isn't always rainbows and butterflies.  Sometimes it's two hours of sleep and six cups of coffee and sweatpants and dry shampoo. 

And that's okay. 

via

Friday, I love you.

1.  One of my best friends wrote the sweetest thing about me. 

"Rewind 3 years ago, a time where we cut each others hair because we had no money, and ate Taco Bell 3 of of the 7 days of the week, and you have a moment of raw emotion where two college girls tell their dreams.  Those words held the weight of all our hopes and dreams and fears, and the best part: here we are."

I'm telling you, guys.  Surround yourself with people who will dream with you.

2.  Today is my day off.  I woke up, drank two cups of coffee, and went back to sleep.  If that's not a good way to start your weekend, I don't know what is.

3.  This guy. 

Just doing some work and enjoying a snack, as one does. 

What are you thankful for this week? 

A Letter to English Majors.

When you're forced to empty out your bank account to order novels and poetry and books filled with scholars debating whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote anything, be happy with your budget diet of ramen noodles and taco bell for the rest of the month.  You will never again have an excuse to empty your bank account on books.

When you think that maybe you've chosen the wrong major because all the boys in your class wear pants tighter than yours and all the girls in your class have perfected the air of not caring and have twitter bios quoting an obscure author you've never heard of before this semester, don't.  They're pretending too.  And if you stop pretending, you'll learn some really beautiful things.

When you're tempted to give in and read the spark-notes version of everything so that you can sleep and actually have a life on the weekends, don't do it.  One day you will think of Coleridge and Byron and Kerouac as your best friends that you've never met, and any time with them you cheated yourself out of will be time you regret.

Pay close attention to the red marks on your papers.  Don't be too offended that you actually did not write the greatest paper in the world and you actually are not the voice of your generation like you maybe thought.  Because after this, you will have to pay hundreds of dollars to get someone to edit your writing with that much care and precision.

When you're on your fifth cup of coffee, trying to stay awake so you can finish reading only to wake up a few hours later to go discuss it, enjoy it.  Because one day you will stay up late reading only to have to wake up a few hours later and go to work, where no one cares to discuss what you read.

Try not to complain too much about how you've singlehandedly paid the light bill at Starbucks.  I promise, you will look back on that late-night-turned-early-morning studying and debating with classmates and realize it was some of the most meaningful conversation you've ever had. 

Enjoy the late nights, the burning eyes, the writers block, the thees and thous, the plays and poems and stories. 

Because one day, on a Tuesday, you will be getting ready to start your job that has nothing to do with writing or reading great authors, and you won't be able to think of anything that sounds better than spending the day reading books you don't understand.  And you will wonder...how has it been two entire years since you sat in a classroom, overwhelmed and undereducated and desperately trying to keep up? 

Enjoy the best of times and the worst of times, because secretly, they are all the best of times.

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Thankful Fridays: An Amazing Website and a Cute Little Fox.

Sometimes on Fridays, I can't wait to write about what I'm thankful for. 

And then there's this week. 

I'm having a bad week and to think of five things I'm thankful for seems so tiring.  Isn't that stupid?  But that's exactly why I have Thankful Fridays.

1.  The Hunt. 

 This is one of those websites that I'm insanely confused about how I had no idea it existed until this week.  You know how you will find the perfect thing on pinterest that you must have immediately, and then you click on the link only to find it goes nowhere?

Apparently there's an entire website dedicated to tracking down those things.  People post pictures of what they want to find and other people comment if they know where to get that exact thing or something similar.  Look at mankind, helping each other out. 

2.  No matter how rough my day is, this guy is always waiting to take me on a walk. 

3.  Your comments on Tuesday's post.  I got a lot of advice on how to deal with the stress of unexpected news, most of which included wine, pizza, and praying.  Obviously I have smart blog friends.  

4.  I get to spend today making orders for you guys.  I'm making things (which I love) to pay for my book (which I love) and it's a very fulfilling process.  

5.  Things with my book are on track!  I got an email from the publisher yesterday saying we are officially at the halfway point for everything that has to be done.  What?!  So exciting!

What are you thankful for this week? 

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The Plan.

I'm learning a lot about myself lately.

Which, you know, can be a good thing or a bad thing.

One thing I'm learning--maybe not so much about myself, but about humans in general--is how quickly we forget the good things.  How something so small can so greatly diminish all the big things.

Some not so great bad news came on Sunday, and I'm pretty upset about it.  It's not the worst news in the world, but it doesn't go along with "the plan."  I'm a giant planner.  Especially with the kind of lifestyle we have right now.  It makes everything peaceful and less hectic.  I'm not a crazy person--I don't have every minute of the next five years planned--but generally speaking, I like to know what's going to be happening and plan accordingly.  It puts me at ease about our future, because we've taken the time to be responsible and plan for it.  So when things like this happen, it makes me extremely anxious.

So anxious that maybe I forget some things for a second.

Maybe I forget how amazing it is to live somewhere I can lay by the pool while the rest of the country is covered in snow.

Maybe I forget how wonderful it is to curl up and start every morning with a cup of coffee and my puppy.

Maybe I forget how sweet it is to come home to someone who loves me every day.

Maybe I forget how freaking unbelievably blessed I am.

So screw the plan.  But not really, because I need the plan.  Life is good anyway.

Just because this circumstance isn't good, doesn't mean my life isn't good.

via

So this week, I will focus a little less on how the unknown freaks me out, and a little more on what I know for sure:  that life is incredibly good.

How do you deal with unexpected bad news? 


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