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I’m just not like other girls, you know? I mean, I’m skinny/conventionally hot in every way, sure, but like... I wear glasses. Once I watched Star Wars. I’m a total nerd. #quirky

Makeup? No thanks.

Hair? Messy bun, please.

Cellphones? I don’t even own one.

Heels? Try doc martens or converse for a change.

Dresses? I’d rather just wear my old skinny jeans and a Fleetwood Mac tee with a flannel shirt.

Twitter? What is it? I only read books.

Sports? I know every single rule of every sport. Most girls don’t.

Boys?

Some things I find as a writer that frustrate me to no end.

1.) when I’m trying to work or sleep and my characters keep interrupting me. They won’t let me do my thing. They nag me until their story is written, or they say what they need to say.

2.) character consistency in both dynamic and static characters. It’s so hard to create a dynamic character who goes through a growing process while still remaining consistent to their person. I read so many books and see characters do things that don’t jive with their personality, and it makes me cringe.

Perfect example of a dynamic character who always stays true to her character... Lucy maud Montgomery does an amazing job with Anne Shirley. While Anne grows and matures, she is still the curious and imaginative girl she always was.

3.) last names. I have the worst time with last names. I don’t know why.

4.) second person. I have been trying to write a story in the second person for years now. I can’t make it work without it sounding like a choose your own ending or a horror story. Ugh.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “I’m sorry, but those two things must be mutually exclusive.” Not in my case. You see, for the past two weeks, every time anyone in my family says just about anything at all, I have found some way to relate it to Anne of Green Gables.

“Can you pass the carrots?” -my brother

“What are you, Gilbert Blythe?”-me

Or

“Do you have work tomorrow?”

“Yes. I don’t like work. There’s no scope for the imagination.”-me

Perhaps

“Can you pour me another glass of lemonade?”

“You’ve already had three! What are you, Diana Barry! Good thing I haven’t mixed it up with current wine!”-me

Maybe

“I heard that (insert name here) was in a really serious relationship, but ended things because she wasn’t ready for a commitment.”

“You’re being a total Rachel Lynde right now”-me

Hi, so my family had a house fire about a month and a half ago. Since then, my family and I moved one town over to our church’s missionary home that they are letting us borrow until we find a rental home. The fire was mentally and emotionally draining, though we all made it out safely. Although the house, for the most part, is still intact, we lost all of its contents to fire, water or smoke damage. It’s been a really hard month and a half.

However, in light of all this, I have never felt more blessed. God alerted me to the smell of smoke just before midnight, when the fire was still barely the size of a campfire. Everyone made it out safely in a matter of ten minutes, including my sleeping brother, my two dogs (one of them barely able to walk), and my mom on the third floor with a newly broken foot. The fire was so small, my brothers were trying to put it out with cups of water. In fact, we thought we’d be back in the house and in bed in an hour. By the time the fire department arrived, however, and by the time they finally managed to get the water going, the curtains had caught fire, sending the flames up the side of the house And Engulfing our entire enclosed porch. I can’t imagine where we’d be if my sleeping brother, whose room was right above the fire, hadn’t made it out. But we’re all safe by God’s Grace.

Since then, my family has received countless gifts(monetary and physical), cards, and loving notes. Just today I received a package from our neighbor who collected money, cards and gift cards from the surrounding neighborhood. Our neighbors have offered us rooms, clothes, and simple gestures such as collecting our mail. People have given us food and hats and gloves, and things you never think about needing.

My father is an accountant for churches all over the US, and I work at his office. We’ve received checks from his clients over the past month and half. Churches collecting offerings for our family, people they’ve never met, because the pastor loves my dad and my grands father (who started the business) as dear friends.

It’s been really difficult living out of our home for a month and half so far. We will be out of our home for at least a year, and that’s heartbreaking, in truth.

And I’m not excluding myself. I knew a girl who kept sun butter in her locker. I kept tea bags and a mug in my locker. There was a kid who played the bagpipes unironically. There was this girl who would listen to you sing, come back the next day, and tell you that you were off pitch, and she knew becuase she went home and played the note on her piano. There was a girl who ate an ice cream cup and sour cream and onion chips every day with a coke. There was another kid who wore the same outfit every day for almost 2 months, on purpose. There was a girl who told people they were on her hit list... as like a sick joke?