Q U E S T I O N S

Happy almost-Friday!  I don't know about you guys, but I'm loving April so far.

Florida life is the best life.

Anyway, a lot of you have either emailed me or commented here that you would be interested in hearing more about the whole book writing//publishing process.  That's great with me, because writing is my favorite thing to write about.  Ironic, yes?

I don't want to write a blog that doesn't answer any of the questions you have, so speak up!  Either comment or email me email me your questions, whether they're about writing or something else, and I'll do my best to answer them all in a post next week!

Have a beautiful Thursday! xoxo


come say hello here:

April is for dreamers & lovers & thinkers & doers.

I don't know that there's ever been a month that seemed so long yet went by so fast as March.

So many wonderful things happened in March and I will cherish this month forever.  I would be sad to see it go, but I'm way too excited for April.

So goodbye, March.

Goodbye to weather that can't decide if we live in Florida or Alaska.
Goodbye to a sick pup and a bad week.
Goodbye to getting too caught up in planning (read: worrying about) the future.
Goodbye to last minute writing and editing and making final decisions about my book.
Goodbye to chilly morning walks.

Hello, April.

Hello to living in the present.
Hello to warmer mornings and almost-summer nights and many, many days by the pool.
Hello to nights spent sleepless over how excited and terrified I am for this book release.
Hello to my very first book being available for anyone to read.
Hello to turning 22.
Hello to spending every day dreaming and doing.
Hello to celebrating being happy to be alive.

April is for dreamers & lovers & thinkers & doers.

What are you saying hello to today?

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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. 

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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.

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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?

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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. 

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