Category: Life

Posted in Life, Writing

List Five Things You Do For Fun.

Posted on by jennrae

I enjoy drawing. I have a cartoony style that is unique and unpolished. I have used it to create portraits for characters in the past. But it is mostly just fun doodles. I’d like to try my hand at painting, I used to paint years ago.

I write short stories or character studies for fun. I like to write short fiction. It is fun to wrap up the story quickly. Short timed writes are especially fun because there is no pressure for it to be perfect.

I also listen to music for fun. It is also fun to see live music. I think music is the secret to changing a bad mood to a good mood. I can change my energy based on what I am listening to. And live shows are especially fun because it is like you are one with the crowd. It is a different kind of energy.

I also like to get out of town and see new things, find new experiences. Sometimes we will pick a place to explore and see what’s there. Get to know a different place. We found a virtual arcade that way and go carts, drive in theaters too. It is kind of cool to research a place for fun things to do that isn’t typically a tourist spot. You can find some fun shopping areas too with unique finds. And I enjoy bargain hunting and finding treasure.

I also like to walk or hike for fun, or just be out in nature. Camping is awesome for getting away and recharging the soul. We hiked to the lighthouse one year which is five miles one way. Walking in sand that is also cold and rocky with the sun on your back was a unique experience, but the tour of the lighthouse was well worth it. I need to do that again. It has been awhile.

Obviously I enjoy movies and books of course, and going to the theater or even the local playhouse is also very fun for me.

Daily writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.
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Posted in Life

Can You Share A Positive Example Of Where You’ve Felt Loved?

Posted on by jennrae

A recent example of where I have felt loved was probably when my son noticed that one of my favorite coats was missing a button, and so he made it his mission for mother’s day to find a button and sew it on the coat, and he did just that. I can honestly say I was very touched. It meant more than a card, flowers, or candy. It was the most thoughtful thing. I hope his girlfriend realizes how lucky she is, because he is a good soul and has a kind heart.

There have been many times where I felt loved by someone for various things, but that is the one that stands out for me. It brought a tear to my eye because it was unexpected and I didn’t think he would really do it. Sometimes just noticing something and fixing it is worth more than spending a ton of money.

Daily writing prompt
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
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Posted in Life, Writing

Where Can You Reduce Clutter In Your Life?

Posted on by jennrae

If we are talking physical clutter, I am bad at keeping manuals and paperwork. I think I have had is known as a junk drawer just filled with various manuals of different gadgets and doodads. I also, as I am sure most of you know, have a plethora of DVDs and books. The DVDs I store in binders, although I need to buy more as my collection has outpaced my current ones.

I also have a 200 disc cd changer that I got when I was a teen, still works and holds my cd collection inside it, with folders telling me what disc is where, although I need to go through and reorganize it. I also tend to put the mail down on a desk or table and I don’t get to it right away.

I have a couple magazine subscriptions but I am getting better at letting them go into the recycling. If I really need a recipe I can always find it on the internet, so there is less reason to keep those.

If we are talking mental clutter, yes, I do worry about stuff I cannot control, although I am getting better at letting that stuff go too. You can only do so much, and I just don’t want to use my energy on things that I cannot solve.

Meditation and trying to clear my mind is something I want to do daily or at least every other day. It is so freeing to just let yourself be even if it is only for five or ten minutes. If you don’t do this, you should start. It is like setting aside time just for you. It is very calming and I can usually get more done afterwards.

I do need to reorganize my writing space so it is more inviting and gives me the right mood. I did have a eureka moment at the gym which I did jot down. I do not know if this idea is a new novel, or a new short story, but it will be something, that I do know.

Daily writing prompt
Where can you reduce clutter in your life?
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Posted in Life

What Is Your Favorite Animal?

Posted on by jennrae

I like most animals, unlike most people, as far as real life animals go, I do prefer cats. Big cats, little cats, weird cats. If we open it up to the fantastical, I love dragons and unicorns. There was a time where I had dragon, unicorn and white tiger figurines all over my house. I have over time lost or gotten rid of most of them. There are still some tigers around here, but it is a bit more subtle.

Kitkat broke a glass dragon when she was a kitten. She killed every houseplant I had, she just would uproot the plant and knock dirt all over the place. She just didn’t want them to live. I gave up on having houseplants, or most glass objects.

She was a chewer too, I had to get her dog toys. Cat toys would be destroyed in seconds, and she still would break the squeaker in the dog toys. She has a Kong ball. I am convinced she is a African wildcat that somehow escaped from the game farm. She would chew through wires too, so we had to get a wireless mouse for the computer. I told her she was hunting the wrong kind of mouse. But, despite all that, I still love her, and most cats I meet.

I also like dogs, I am just away from the house a little too much and have no yard to speak of. So, can’t really have a dog at the moment. But I do fuss over my parent’s basset hound, Bilbo who is incredibly cute and goofy. Maybe someday if I can get some property, I would love to have a dog. I had a sheltie as a kid named Buddy that I loved a lot. He was fun.

I had some bad experiences with horses, I am sure they are great. I always liked the look of them. But I had one that didn’t like me and one that was terribly skittish, so I didn’t bond like the girls in the books I liked to read did. But I love drawing them. They are beautiful. I guess if I had a pet dragon, or unicorn it probably would have ended badly as well, so I might just stick with my wildcat.

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite animal?
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Posted in Life

Think Back On Your Most Memorable Road Trip.

Posted on by jennrae

My most memorable road trip as a child was when we drove down from NW Washington to northern California. We stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory in Oregon, and the redwood forests. I remember fitting into this tree that was so massive. And, I remember going to rest stops and I think we went to a beach someplace. The details are fuzzy. I think I was eleven.

I went on a more recent trip a few years ago with my son where we went from where we are to Hillsboro, Oregon. We stopped at Vancouver and went to the mall there. He had never been to a two story mall before, and it was busy so it reminded me of what malls used to be like. They had an arcade on the bottom part, and a go-cart racetrack outside the mall.

A lot of options besides shopping which made it more fun. In Hillsboro we ate at a good burger place called Killer Burger, and I took my son to a place for airsoft, which is why he wanted to go there. Someday, I’d like to go a little further, maybe down the coast, or perhaps further east like Idaho, or Montana.

Daily writing prompt
Think back on your most memorable road trip.
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Posted in Life

What Snack Would You Eat Right Now?

Posted on by jennrae

Quesadillas or chips and salsa sound good about now, maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When I get really hungry it doesn’t really matter.

Although, I don’t snack a lot, I keep it mostly to a couple meals. I usually skip breakfast, although I want to stop that, unless you count coffee.

And, then I have lunch, and then later dinner. If I am watching a game I may snack a bit more, but that is only occasionally. Or at a picnic, or potluck or a social event. Something unusual.

Although it is getting close to my lunch time, so I very well might make quesadillas since that sounds really good right now. Hope everyone is having a good Sunday.

Daily writing prompt
What snack would you eat right now?
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Posted in Life, Writing

What’s Your Dream Job?

Posted on by jennrae

My dream job would be to get paid for my writing and to make enough to not need another job. Something that allows me to have the time and money to travel and experience things without worrying excessively about money.

I would be my own boss and make my own schedule. It would be nice to be able to be creative from morning until night. Of course, things are always less fun once it becomes work.

It ceases to be fun when the stakes are higher. I do think I would be better suited to that type of work due to my introspective nature than the customer service work I currently do.

My current work can be draining and I have to pretend to be more sociable than I usually want to be. I come home exhausted mentally from all the interactions, most of which are the trivial “hey, how are you doing”, type of things.

I would be worried that I need to improve my self discipline in order to make that work as I am used to having a set schedule that is made for me. It would be worth it though. Just to be my own master and to do what I love doing.

Daily writing prompt
What’s your dream job?
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Posted in Life

Describe An Item You Were Incredibly Attached to as a Youth. What Became of It?

Posted on by jennrae

There were a few things I was attached to as a kid. One was this music box, with a girl on it holding an umbrella. You took the girl off she was a part of the lid and there was a circular container for whatever treasures.

I think I was five years old when I got it. You would wind it up and it would play Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head. I always stop when I hear this song even now, and it takes me back to that music box. Whenever I watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I just love the scene they use this song in, it is just a happy go lucky scene. I still like the rain, and I bet it is due to this music box.

I don’t remember what happened to it. I was rough on my things as a kid, I was one of those girls who would give her barbie’s a haircut, and often broke their heads off. I wanted to see how they worked. I wasn’t nice to my stuff until I was a little older. It was made out of plastic, so, I am sure my Mom tossed it when it became damaged.

The other item was a little ring with a fake sapphire in it, I think it may have been from a yard sale, or something. Sapphire is my birthstone, and dark blue is still one of, if not my favorite, colors. I kept that thing so long. I think again, I was five or six when I got that, I begged to get it, and my Mom said okay. It wasn’t expensive it was like a dollar ring.

I lost it on my high school graduation day. It somehow slipped off my finger along the pathway. I have very small hands, almost child like. I think it was on my pinkie by this time.

I went back to try and find it, and I couldn’t. I guess like my childhood, the ring’s time with me was up. I have had some sapphire rings since that were real, but I lost all of them in the move. Maybe I’ll buy another in the future.

Daily writing prompt
Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?
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Posted in Life, Writing

What is Your Mission?

Posted on by jennrae

My mission in life is to leave things better than I found them, and to hopefully make people smile or at least think about things a little deeper, a little more perhaps. I guess my mission would be to write and have my writings leave a mark on someone somewhere.

To be read, like Jules Verne, or Edgar Allen Poe long after I am gone from this world would be amazing. It is a form of immortality in a way. I don’t want to be famous, per se, I just want my ideas to live on, in some capacity. Even if it is just a family heirloom of a book that my family passes down, or if somehow I influence someone who becomes more successful than I.

Just to know I have done something worthy, even if it is just for me. That I didn’t just work myself to death day in and day out doing the same thing over and over and over. I guess I want to gain and pass on knowledge to others, and hopefully things get better in the future and people are brought together and are less hostile to other viewpoints.

I want to foster discussion and discourse, I want to encourage thinking and thoughts, outside of the obvious. I guess, ultimately I want to become the best version of me that I can be.

Daily writing prompt
What is your mission?
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Posted in Life, Writing

What Could You Do Differently?

Posted on by jennrae

That is hard to answer. I could do a lot of things differently. How I approach my writing, my web page, or even people I meet on the street. I usually skip breakfast, I can get ready for work pretty quickly. I am not one of those girls who primp for hours in front of a mirror. I can get ready in like fifteen minutes. And, be out the door. I don’t like to keep people waiting, and I like to be on time. I am a punctual person.

It does mean that I usually have coffee for breakfast, but then my lunch is kind of early. I have lunch when some eat breakfast. Late breakfast, but still early lunch. I have been going to the gym consistently, but I could probably add or vary my routine.

I plan on cutting down on my sugar intake, just still have a lot of garbage from the holidays laying around. Once, that is gone, I am planning on it staying gone.

I could be more organized. My room and my life is sort of chaotic at the moment. I could use more structure. I plan on structuring my time in order to be a bit more efficient.

I need to plan a new story and it just won’t happen if I don’t set aside a time slot for it. I am also trying to focus more on what I all ready have, instead of pining for what I don’t.

I need to be more grateful for the abundance that is all ready here. I need to get this writing gig off the ground so I can get away from a work environment that is at times hostile and not always good for my mental health.

But, I can’t wait for someone to step in and save me. I have to save myself. I have to try harder, and do more. More efficiency and better time management are definitely something to work on. Healthier habits will have healthier outcomes. I need to knuckle down and do the hard work. I need to do this for me.

Daily writing prompt
What could you do differently?
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