Oh right...

Well.

Hello, strangers.

Funny story... After surviving my first year of college, I've had a crazy two months of summer. It's almost July, and I've been gearing up for my first-ever Camp NaNoWriMo. This is the most writing I'll have done in a year if everything goes well (my goal is the infamous 50,000 words) and once I started focusing on writing again, I remembered--vaguely--a place I used to go and post stories and comment on other people's posts and...

Oh right.

I have a blog.

This poor thing has been empty for the last eleven months, and it's no one's fault but mine. Now that I have my Camp NaNo story underway, and a bunch of short stories, poems, snippets, and musings from my first year of college to post, I think I can safely say that it won't be that way for long.

So. Be prepared for badly edited pieces from my writing journals which have been toted around with me all semester and a few scenes from my Camp NaNo novel, which I'll be formally introducing in my next post.

Thanks for sticking in there--it will (hopefully) be worth it!

God Bless~
Elisabeth

Sweet Survival

Hey, guys!

Just a short update on how I'm doing at college... Well, I'm here. And I love it. It's been a crazy ride, but I'm just diving into my first weekend after a full week of classes, and life is sweet. College life is stressful and hectic--what with homework, lectures, work-study, and trying to keep up with the folks at home, I've been struggling to get enough sleep at night. Learning new things, being challenged in different ways, and affirming the things I believe as I explore my faith in this great community. It's been a blast so far, but there's definitely one thing missing: writing time.

I just got a big package in the mail, and inside along with snacks and gum was an empty journal. It made me think of my characters, and my stories, and how the flow of words has just about stopped for now. It's sad to think that I'll be squeezing in writing on weekends or between classes, but it's also kind of exciting, because now that it's not something I can do whenever I want, it will be sweeter when I actually sit down with a pen and paper. I'm looking forward to it.

So, yeah. That's life right now, and I'm loving it. I'm sure my optimistic freshman attitude will come back to haunt me when finals roll around, but for now I'm enjoying my blissful credulity.

What about you? How has your writing been going as school begins?

God Bless~

Elisabeth

Tomorrow?

That's all I can think today--all I've been able to think for the past several weeks. My thought process goes something like this:

Not tomorrow, not the next day, not the next day, not the next day, but the next day...

When large events pop up in my life, I count down. Every day I wake up and figure out how many days there are until THE day. Sometimes I do it with a sense of dread--Oh, good, I still have eight days until that conference I didn't want to go to. Other times, I check off the days with wild excitement--Yes! Only four days until we get to see that film and my life is complete! (Have I actually thought this? Sadly, yeah).

This is the first time I'm not exactly sure what to feel. Do I count down the days fitfully, pushing back as time rolls callously over my pathetic self? Or do I welcome change with open arms and a grateful heart?

I've always been able to categorize things: this is good, and I want to do it, so I'm excited. This is bad, and I don't want to do it, so I'm resentful. This time around, the categorizing doesn't work. I'm excited, but sad. I'm gleeful, but afraid. It's as if every emotion I've ever felt has decided to attend a party thrown by my over-analyzing brain.

I can't say I like living this way; I can't say I hate it. I feel tired and sick, but also alert and acutely aware of how excited I really am.

It's confusing and frightening, but also perfectly clear at the same time that this is normal.

Today I saw a girl and her mom in a store, shopping for college. I walked past and listened to a snippet of their conversation, thinking all along That's me! I'm going to college tomorrow. There are others out there who are feeling exactly what I am!

Not being alone is a comfort, but definitely not a cure. I think that the only cure for the college blues is to just go ahead--leave home tomorrow, move into the dorm, say goodbye to my family and not be afraid to show how I feel after they leave, pray, take a deep breath, and move on. Every other event I've ever counted down to has passed, even the largest, ugliest, scariest ones I thought I couldn't survive.

So this is the last blog post I'll make before college. Sorry it's short and kind of all over the place; so am I (except I'm not short, according to my doctor, who says I'm in the 79th percentile where height is concerned).

I'll try to update Something Solid Out of Air as often as I can. Fear not; my writing comes with me, stashed away on my laptop, on a flash drive, in notebooks, and in my mind. I just hope I can find the time to do what I love.

Okay. Well... here we go!

Signing off,

Elisabeth ~

Quickie Update

This is life right now =)

So. College is 3 weeks away. This coming week, we're going back to our lovely camp for the week. Next week, I'm working like crazy to save up that last extra cash for college, and I'm going to spend all my free time with my dear friends. And then... it's off to Georgia.

It's crazy.

I've been packing up my characters, trying to get my things organized and my ideas all put on paper before the whirlwind begins. It's really, really hard to write in a situation like this, when nerves are frayed and emotions are churning. I try to pick up my pen and scribble down ideas, talk to my characters in my head, and just keep in touch with the writer in me as school comes bearing down.

This won't be the last post before college. I've updated some of the tabs at the top of the blog, and I'm going to write something for you before I'm actually at college--that I'm determined to do!

 I can say for sure that this blog will stay, whether it's idle or updated every week. I honestly don't know how college will affect my writing. I truly want to keep it up and keep posting whatever comes into my mind on the blog, and I will try. But I can't make any promises =)

For now, that's all. And after that? Who knows!

~God Bless
Elisabeth