Spooky Stuff

Hey, guys!!! Sorry I’ve been a bit redundant recently! Today I’m going to get off the beaten track some.

Today I would like to tell you guys something a little crazy, but I’ve been gathering evidence for YEARS. So my point is super valid. Ready? Here goes….

My framily is haunted. Not their house, not a possession they own…. They are insidious-style haunted.

All rights for the pictures in this post go to this movie, FYI. So first, I would like to let you know that I love the Insidious movies. Second, I would like to say I get scared stupid easy. You can yell “boo”, and I’ll be creeped out the rest of the day. That’s just how it goes. That being said, I’ve been super brave researching this theory. I deserve an award.

So it all started when I was a senior. This was the first time we were roommates. They weren’t married yet. But that’s not really pertinent to the story. We were all living in this house that we had loads of fun in, and I just wish we could go back to then sometimes because, like I said, we had loads of fun.

Well one night we had a really good, long walk and came home. Sara and David had gone back to their perspective bedrooms, and I was just kind of chilling on the floor in the living room. As I sat there, I saw a creepy looking weirdo with a white face walk by in the laundry room. Now there isn’t much room to walk by in the laundry room. It was a pretty small space. I would’ve seen a door open if the one door in there had. BUT I SWEAR TO YOU I SAW IT HAPPEN. I think I’m going to have nightmares tonight.

Second scenario, we are in a completely different house. They are now married and have a kid (one of the greatest kids I know). So we are sitting there just chilling in the living room (note to self: stay away from the living room from now on), and all of the sudden the Playstation randomly turns on by itself. It beeps to life, and the fan starts whirring. I freak out a little bit, but they console me by saying it “happens all the time” and the console is “about to go out”. Doesn’t seem like it to me. In fact, I would say it turns on quite well. Then not long after this little scene happens, the baby chair turns on and start singing and lighting up by itself. Obviously there is something wrong here. They remain calm, but I know when to freak out. And this one a time to freak out. This happened so many times too!! It was not an isolated incident! Stuff would light up all by itself. The TV would turn itself on, the toys, the Playstation….. it’s enough to make anyone cower under their sheets.

So here’s the punchline story…. This last weekend when I was staying with them some nonsense happened that made me really realize that they were haunted. There’s no denying it anymore. So now they are living in a house that is TWO HOURS AWAY from the last house. It’s not just the houses. It’s them. Alright? Do you understand this? Anyhoo, so we were all hanging out in the office, and Clouse was playing in his super cool room.  Now, they have this alarm system that beeps anytime a window or a door gets opened. Which is cool since they have a three year old that likes to play outside. You always know when someone left the house… Well like I said, we were all talking in the office and we hear this alarm beep and just stop. We all look at each other in silence for probably what probably wasn’t a long time, but it felt like a few minutes. We all yell, “Clouse,” and run out the office to find Clouse playing in his room, completely oblivious to what’s going on. We immediately run around the house checking the doors and windows.

They are all shut. The windows are all closed.

They are haunted. They act like it’s no big deal. But I know. And I definitely didn’t sleep well at all that night.

So what do you guys think? Are they haunted or have I just watched these movies way too many times? FYI new movie is set to come out in October of next year!

Keep it classy! Check under your beds and in your closets!

Framily Time

Yeah, no. That title was not a typo. Jerks. Sitting there thinking that, “Here’s an editor who can’t spell family right!” HA! Jokes on you, jokers. It’s a pun.  (But not a very punny one.)

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that I may have lost my humor somewhere growing up. Shoot.

Anyways…. So this past weekend was spent with some of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Who would be so lucky? Well, my best friends and their kid, Clouse. For those of you who have read the book (I’m looking out and seeing, nope. None of you.), you would know that Clouse is in our book as well. Actually Clouse, the kid, is named after Clouse, the character. Fun fact. I digress, so the kiddo has a birthday coming up and we celebrated this weekend. He loved Thomas the Train so we decorated his room, had jello cake (not shots), and scared him by suddenly bursting into song (Happy Birthday Song).  It was loads of fun, and being basically a child in a fat, woman body, it almost felt like my birthday.

I ended up staying two extra nights, thank goodness I took an extra vacation day, and got to spend quality time with a family I consider family. These guys have been with me through some pretty ugly times, especially recently. They always listen to my groans and pains whether they are justified or not, and normally have a sassy comment to let me have too.  They are always ready to party with me, and basically they aren’t friends who just ghosted after high school. Yeah, we’ve been friends that long.

I’m feeling particularly blessed right now to have such amazing friends to always be able to count on. I feel blessed to be able to be around during their milestones, and I can’t wait for more to come. Obviously we hit a bit of a milestone ourselves recently releasing a book. Yeah, this book may not make me a JK Rowling, or David a Stephen King, but it makes us happy. And personally I feel proud. But I think the best benefit I have found in releasing this book is that I have found yet another way to come a little closer to the people that I can always rely on. They don’t even have to help me out, we aren’t really related!!

Because I was asked to help out with this book, I can see myself doing something I actually love for the rest of my life. And it is going to be a struggle to get to work tomorrow. I’ve been thinking of a good reason to call in for the rest of the week all day. (Earthquake trapped me in a Dairy Queen?) I want to be able to just set my desk up in David’s office and work on writing. On his writing, on the other book I have been so graciously bestowed with editing, on maybe a little of my own, and even the marketing and promotion of these books. It’s been so fun. I enjoyed every minute of it. I was working with my best friend and doing one of my favorite things ever. It really made me realize, I don’t have to live with the fear that I’m going to hate what I do forever. If I really work at this, I could do this.

Today my dad jokingly called me a starving artist. I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of a label. And I’ve been labeled a lot. (Side note: Parents are proud too = maybe less chores? Hint, hint.) My framily has always been there for me. We have fed off of each other and helped each other out. And now they have done my a huge favor and I don’t even think they know it. I haven’t felt this fulfilled and optimistic since I was five. Dad had made me a burrito to eat after kindergarten instead of a sandwich.

My purpose of this post was to talk about the great time I had this weekend and how much I love my friends. I guess I sort of did in a way. If anyone could hit me in the head with a frying pan and give me the light bulb that shows me what I love to do, it would be them. I’m really excited moving forward, and I’m ready to show you people my artistry. Sort of. I mean, the last three blog posts have been all about the same thing basically. But I do have a really good idea for my next one to get me out of the rut. I’m just really excited about writing and being a grammar Nazi!!

Last thing, David and I posted the video to explain the book and answer some basic questions about it. Go look it up on our page! Like the video, or at least our writing page!!!

Keep it classy, folks!

I Came Back

Heyyyyyy, people! I came back! I don’t always do that recently! I’ve been super wishy-washy the last few times I was blogging. I am going to continuously make the effort to keep writing though! So stay tuned. Otherwise, I’ll just be talking to myself again.

God, she’s so talkative this time of night. You can just ignore her.  So… Heyyyyyy, people! I came back! I know I’ve been wishy-washy and that sort of crap the last few times I’ve blogged. But I’ve been feeling supery-dupery creative recently! I even decorated for a birthday party today!!

Man, I can’t believe she interrupted me AGAIN.  Ugh, what I was going to say is that I’ve been feeling super creative recently. Like, I actually decorated for a three-year-old’s birthday party today! It was pretty fun actually. He’s really into Thomas the Train right now. His parents spent all this last week decorating his room.  The repainted it with clouds and hills and stuff on the walls. It was super cute! I got him a toy box to keep all of his toy trains in, and we put stickers of all the engines on the walls, and his bed is literally Thomas the Train.  It’s pretty awesome if I do say so myself. And I say it’s awesome.

So you probably all have heard that I’m a published editor now. No biggie. Just throwing it out there. (Why for $3 on Kindle, ya’ll.)

Annnnyyywayyyysss, so I’m not too sure what I was going to write about necessarily. I just wanted to make sure I kept writing. I always enjoyed writing. I’m not the most amazing writer in the world. I’ll never be a famous writer like JK Rowling or Moses, but I’m slightly better than average. I think.

So, I’m going to keep writing. One of my favorite outlets, of course, is my blog. But I’m definitely probably going to try and pick up a couple of my stories again.  Through this whole process of getting Why published, I’ve had a light bulb moment about something I think I’ve been coming to terms with for a while now.

I’m not the most amazing human being to ever exist.

You may be laughing, or perhaps you think I’m just being stupid, again.  But in all actuality, it’s a real and ever-present problem I have. I want to be perfect. However, I didn’t know what perfect meant. I mean, I knew what other people wanted from me. I knew what other people thought was perfect. So instead of pursuing what I wanted to, what I thought would make me the best me, I pursued what other people thought I should do.  I always felt like I was failing at life in general, but I was because I expected so much out of myself. Because I was expecting something I couldn’t achieve. But that’s okay. Because what I was pursuing was not me. It was someone else’s version of me. And I bet that person is still awesome. But it’s just not me. And I like me a lot. Have you ever talked to me?

Everyday.

Well, nobody asked you.

Anyways, what I’ve been trying to get to is, I’ve made a lot of mistakes.  Some really big mistakes. Some pretty small, but I thought they were huge.  Editing this book helped me realize what I enjoy.  And that even if people think it’s cliché, or basic as the yungins say, it’s me. And I enjoy it. And I may never be successful. I may never make a living out of editing my friend’s books. I may never publish my very own novel. But I’m happy. And I think I’m even closer to my friends now. And that’s hard to accomplish, we are pretty tight. I think I  am kind of rambling here.

So here’s the point for reals.  I’ve learned I don’t need to live for how other people perceive me. I’ve learned I am my own person, and I need to do what makes me happy. I don’t have to be the best at everything. I’ve been so caught up in being the best at everything, I screwed myself over, and a lot of people around me. Because I was trying to be the best of something I have no right to try and do. Because I wasn’t doing it for me.

So I’m still the most amazing person I know, because I am finally learning who I am.  And that’s awesome. Even if it has taken almost 23 years for me figure all this out.

So keep it classy, folks. And see you on the next turn.

“Juice makes me happy. Yes.”

What’s Up

Heyyyyy, people!! It’s so awesome to finally get the motivation to open up my wordpress and start blogging again. I know that it has been ages. I feel as if I should tell you about all the crazy CRAP that’s happened since my last post, but I’m not up to the challenge right now.  Maybe I will come back letter and address it, or just inform as needed.

First up, thanks for reading if you are!  I’m super excited right meow because I am officially published!!  More than just published blog posts too!  My friend, David, wrote a book back in junior high/high school, and we were talking about it one day. I mentioned that I could edit it for him if he needed someone to, so it became a thing.  As of September 1st, 2016, I became a published editor!  Woot, woot!!

If you want to read it, which I know that you do, you can purchase it on Kindle.  The book is called Why by David Orr and Brittany Nichole.  Yeah, I know. I used my Christian name. I have decided it will be my editing name.

So I want to let you know a little bit about the book.

1. It’s a young adult book.
2. It was written by a high school student. Even though both the author and I are out of high school, it only just now came to fruition. It was my first time to ever edit anything like this, and I wasn’t too sure how much I could change.
3. With that being said, it is a series and we are going to move forward with the series and learn from the experience! I’m going to be a lot more intensive with my editing. I will make sure the writing style no longer looks like a high school composition.
4. However, despite numero 2 and 3 listed above, this book’s story definitely transcends the high school sentence structure.  It has mature themes, and the characters become very well developed throughout the story.  Why made me laugh, cry, and get angry. There were times I texted David and told him I couldn’t move forward because he made me mad.

Everyone knows how much I love books. I mean, c’mon.  Books make up most of my life. I live vicariously through all of the characters’ lives.  I know a good book when I see it, and this is definitely a good book! I’m not just saying that because one of my best friends wrote it. Or because I edited it. It’s legitimately a good book, and it’s only going to get better because we are both learning from the experience.

This has been such an amazing experience. It was so exciting when I finished the book. I felt so accomplished and proud. I’ve always had trouble finishing my own books; editing was perfect for me. I got to be a grammar Nazi and read a good story all at once!  It’s been so fun helping to figure out the cover, getting the format down, getting it up on Amazon… It’s been such a rush. I feel like such a professional now! Guys, I’m a real adult now. At one point, I was driving home, talking to my friend about the book release and the new book, all while planning a promotional for the book.  I made my first “business trip” this weekend. We are working on a YouTube video to promote the book and tell you a bit more about the storyline and characters.  I never realized everything that went into making a book and it’s been such a process. I know we didn’t send it in anywhere. I know we didn’t have to worry about queries or anything like that. But just self-publishing is so extensive, but I love the feeling. I feel accomplished. I am so proud.  I enjoy myself.  And I really hope you will all give the book a try. It’s only three dollars on Kindle. What do you have to lose?

Keep it classy folks!! And go get the book! Be sure to let me know what you think of it!

https://www.amazon.com/Why-David-Orr-ebook/dp/B01LE8XWBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473025662&sr=8-1&keywords=david+orr+and+brittany+nichole