So, NaNoWriMo 2009 is officially over! I won once again, which means my record is perfect. :) This year's story kind of got away from me as I didn't have a plan going into it, and I never did figure out exactly what the story was I was supposed to be writing. The last couple of days of writing was mostly rambling, and though I will get a Create Space code for a free proof copy, I think I'm going to use it for my novel from last year, as I never got around to redeeming the code before June because of a bunch of unanswered questions that were magically answered before NaNo started this year. :D I managed to write on my novel every single day this month, which makes me insanely happy, and I'm hoping I'm able to keep up the habit, as this is the first time I've attempted to establish a writing habit, and actually stuck with it. I'm kind of glad NaNo is over though, so I can focus on the rest of the semester and trying to keep my grades in the B range in order to keep my scholarship and remain on the Dean's List.

Speaking of school, I'm glad I have less than three weeks (well, more like 2 and a 1/2) left in this semester, as I've been pushed and shoved all over the place with the family issues I've been dealing with and struggling to figure out exactly how to get a good grade in half of my classes, whether it was because of not knowing how to really study for the material or not knowing what was expected of me from the professor. Even though I'm taking 20 credits next semester, I'll be happy to get it started, as the schedule I have is much more agreeable to me, and I'll have a buddy in at least two of my classes for sure. Plus, except for one class, I'm in all Accounting or Finance classes, which should help with learning the material and having it stick.

So, it's been awhile since I last updated. School has been piling up all over the place, but now that I've gotten two more exams out of the way and have actually started my Management term paper that's due in a couple of weeks, I'm feeling a little better about every thing I have to do. NaNo's been going pretty well considering things, though over the weekend I fell a little behind on my personal goals, as I was at Camp Brethren Heights with the Standing the Gap people for a Bible Retreat. I had a pretty decent time, but as I was stuck with 20-25 other people in a building that consisted of the two separate rooms for sleeping, the dining/game area and the rec room where we had all of our worship and lessons, I felt a little smothered, as I need my alone time on things like that, and on top of only having 4ish hours of scheduled personal/free time (everything else was doing something with the group), I felt like any time I sneaked away for a quiet moment, there was always someone already in the area I was retreating to, or it didn't take long for someone else to join me. Other than that, it was nice, and I did learn a lot about living the 'abundant life'.

We're supposed to go over to my aunt's for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and I'm kind of looking forward to it, as it seems like all I do any more is job hunt/go on interviews, go to school and do homework, which really sucks. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I had a more normal schedule, but because I'm taking 20 credits next semester and will have to take 4 classes May-June, I'm guessing it will have to wait until later this summer or next fall altogether. I'm glad I can squeeze the rest of my schooling into the time I have between now and May 2011, as it should cut down how much I'll have to pay back on loans, and it frees me up a year sooner than I anticipated to possibly move to an area where the job market is a little better, and prepare for graduate school without having to pay out-of-state tuition in order to go. :)



( Notes from Living the Abundant Life lessons, feel free to skip )