NanoWriMo Day 28

Well guys, I'm failing miserably at reaching my goal. I have not written anything in days. My family and a friend came into town for Thanksgiving break so I just could not get myself to sit and write. 


I am not blaming their presence for my slack, that is totally on me. Once I started slipping away, I just kept finding reasons to put it off even longer. Cassie, you should be ashamed.


However, I had so much fun this past week. Brandy and Mat came for Thanksgiving from West Virginia; Cody, Mom, and Dad came from South Carolina; Bubba came from Murfreesboro; plus, I had the rest of my extended family already in town.


Tuesday is when everyone came to Chattanooga. Brandy and Mat arrived first. We went to lunch and then Hobby Lobby so B could do some Christmas decor shopping. We then headed back to Pawpaw's house because Cody and Mom arrived. After hanging out for a while with them, I went to Bubba's house for Knox's 1st birthday party where I got to hang out with the Johnson's, Mary Kathleen, and tons of other people for a while. It was great; I love being around all of them. I then went to my aunt and uncle's house, where I found out that my uncle Brad is one of my biggest fans. [I love you, Brad! :) ]


Wednesday, after working half a day, Cody and I went to Panera for a while. I was supposed to be writing and he was supposed to be reading, but we ended up just talking, laughing, and watching youtube videos. Typical. ;) Then we went with Ash, Brandy, Bubba, and Jacob to River City Pottery (I think that's the name of the place) where we painted different pottery pieces. It was so much fun. I can't wait to pick up our masterpieces in a few days! I want to go again soon.


Thursday was Thanksgiving so it was just a relaxing and food-filled day. We ate at Mawmaw's first and stayed there to hang out with family until it was time to go eat again at Pawpaw's. We stayed there the rest of the day until B, Cody, Mat, and I came back to my house. Bubba eventually came over that night. He, Cody, and I stayed up all night until we got ready to head out for Black Friday.


Which brings us to Friday. Us three and B left my house at 4 am to go pick up Ash. We love to see the craziness that happens on Black Friday; that is the main reason we venture out on this crazy day. We started at the mall; more specifically, outside of Victoria's Secret. There was a large crowd huddled around the closed door waiting to get in. Cody, the funny guy that he is, started a slow clap and counted down from ten when the workers went to open the door. It was hilarious... people in the crowd went along with him. After the doors opened, we pushed our way in and had a few laughs. People were going insane. I think many of them just grabbed a handful of whatever was near them and got in line because by the time we got towards the front of the store, there was already a few long lines at the checkout. At that point, we shoved our way out of the store. We then ate breakfast with Mom, Stacie, and Hali and walked around to browse through the stores. Eventually, Bubba, Cody and I split from the others and left the mall. We visited a few places: Guitar Center, Academy Sports, Old Navy, McKay's, Walmart, and GameStop; The only thing I ended up buying were a few movies from McKay's. We also sat in Starbucks for a while just talking, laughing, and enjoying our delicious drinks. We even ended up with a free White Chocolate Mocha. (I ditched my drink and took that one.)
After the long day of shopping (which ended while it was still morning), Cody and I went home and I took a much needed nap. Then it was time to get things ready for my Pawpaw's wedding. That's right, my grandpa got remarried. It was a very sweet ceremony. Mat actually got to marry Pawpaw and Myrna, so that was really cool. After the wedding and reception were over, Brandy and Mat had to depart. :( My siblings and I cried... it felt like it did when they moved away from us last year. It was just as hard to say goodbye this time as it was the first time. I didn't like it... I miss them all the time.
Later, Cody, Charles (my cousin), and I met my dad at Steak and Shake which was fun. It is always so funny when my dad and Cody get together. They are hilarious.


Saturday, I had to work. Bleh. Daddy left that morning so he came by my work to say goodbye. After work, Cody and I met up with Ash, Jake, and some of our friends for dinner. We left there and went to buy me a Rubik's cube (which I have yet to learn how to do). Cody has been playing with his all week and is getting faster and faster at solving it, so I am determined to learn. The Locke's invited us over so we went and played Mexican Dominoes with Mary Kathleen, Douglas, and Will. I have never lost so bad in my life. We played so that each player accumulated their own points (lowest number wins, largest number loses). I came in last place with 701 points. Pathetic. I think Will came in first with a double digit score.


Sunday (which would be today), I went to church and got to eat lunch with the Johnson's. Cody left at 8 this morning so I had to say bye to him before I even got ready for church. :( I wish he would move here. And, Bubba had to go back to school (boo) so we had to say our goodbyes today as well. He did get to make his stocking, though, to hang up in my house. Jacob made one too. So now, along with those two, Ash, Leah, Chris, and I have our stockings hanging in my living room. We put up our tree and other decorations and it is finally beginning to feel like Christmas. :)


Alright, enough rambling about this past week. Time for bed so I can get up and make money. ;)

Accountabil-a-buddy.

So, you know how I said we were going to work on the scavenger hunt Tuesday night? Well, what do ya know... we procrastinated two more days and didn't get it done until Thursday night (with Jacob's help!). We will go far in life. :P

Brandy (my seester!) arrived last night from WV. She will be visiting us until Tuesday or Wednesday! It's so good to have her home. I wish Mat (brotha-in-law!) could have come with her, but he is taking some of his youth to visit Mid-America University this weekend. Cody (my brotha!) is also coming in with my mother to visit. This will be a fantastic weekend. :)

I will officially start planning my WriMo novel on Sunday, which gives me a week until I start. Guys, I am so nervous! I have butterflies. What if I can't do it?! *hangs head low*... I'll be a failure. I've built up everyone around me with my determination to win these 30 nights of literary abandon... I don't want to let them all down.

Oh my goodness, I sound so negative. I will need encouragement. And caffeine. Maybe if everyone holds me accountable for my word count each day, I will be able to drag my feet to the finish line. I will keep you all updated on here as often as I can. If I am not progressively raising my word count like I should be (at least 1,667 words per day!) I give you permission to punish/chastise me the way you see fit.

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I have decided to leave you with the scavenger hunt clues if you guys would like to read them. It is Twilight themed, and therefore I must warn you, a little cheesy. xD Feel free to leave a comment if you would like to guess the places in Chattanooga we will be heading to.

The party starts at a house where we will be having cheese (instead of mushroom) ravioli at "La Bella Italia" (the place of Edward and Bella's first date). There will be a Team Edward and Team Jacob, and I think they will be looking for Bella...

La Bella Italia was a beautiful site.
While it was their beginning, it's not the end of your night.
Let's head downtown and find who is waiting for you;
Jacob and Edward will have your next clue.

Let's head to the place where they serve treats on a cone.
Just like Edward's skin, it's as cold as stone.

The weather in Forks is always wet;
The same goes for these "raining steps".

"Hold on tight, Spidermonkey," it will make you say "ouch!";
When you  take a seat on this big, not-so-comfy couch.

The House of Cullen is a site to behold.
It's like a museum, beautiful and old;
What Bella expected were dungeons and moats,
but from this balcony, we can see the river and boats.

At the start of this trail,
give the dog a high five;
Then follow Jacob's paw prints
to the other side.

As Bella decides who will take her heart,
the end of this ride is also its start.

You have the two sides of Edward and Jake,
and each girl has a side that she will take.
Some say they're with Jake, others Edward, I am.
But it will always be the lion and lamb.

From cover to cover to the big screen,
Meet at this platform to make a big scene.

After the hunt is over, each team will act out a scene from the books/movies. They will have 15 minutes to put together then they will perform for whoever is in the park that day.

This scavenger hunt is only a small part of what is going on. My aunt does such a great job at planning amazing birthday parties. :)

Irony.

It's June! I can't believe five months have already come and gone for 2010.

My sister Brandy is coming down in a few weeks to visit for several days... I am thrilled! I miss her so much and haven't seen her in so long. We're planning to do some fun things while she's here, so that's exciting. I am positive that the fun we have will make it's way into my blog. :o)

The girls and I can check another activity off of our bucket list. We completed it yesterday, I just haven't gotten around to writing the blog yet. I'm actually turning it into a "scary" story, complete with pictures. We'll see how it turns out. We are having such a blast with this list. It keeps us busy and having fun in new, exciting ways. I definitely encourage everyone to make a bucket list... it makes it easier to complete the things you want to do.

Emily has actually had something crazy but ironic happen to her. (I hope she doesn't kill me for sharing this xD) Friday night, Emily, Ashley, Bubba, and I went to dinner and Starbucks. While at Starbucks, one of the guys working there starts talking to Emily; to us it seems like they know each other. When we sat down outside, she told us that this guy remembered her from months and months ago when her and Shelly went to this location to study. This guy (we'll just call him "Chase" for the purpose of the story ;D) came over and talked to them several times throughout the night, making witty comments and flirting a little. So, as she tells us this story, we encourage her to go back in and flirt becasue "flirting is so much fun!" She walks back in to "go to the restroom" but he was with a customer so nothing happened. Later, he came out on the patio and talked to us a little while he cleaned up. It wasn't really a big deal, just flirtation and small talk.
Then, on Sunday, Em, Ash, and I decided to visit a new church. As we're sitting down and looking around, at almost the exact same time, Ash and Em look at each other and freak out... Chase was on stage with the praise team. How random! We didn't even know he went there. We got to talk to him a little after church and told him we would probably be visiting again because we liked the church very much.

It's just crazy to me how things work out sometimes. I love it when things like this happen because I classify them as movie moments. Em and I had just been talking about movie moments a few days before this happened, so it was just so ironic that she had one. Oh, how I love motion pictures. :)

Have you had any "movie moments" that you would like to share?

Cassie needs a Mac.

Well, a week has gone by... I officially suck at blogging.

Many, many things have happened during this week, some of which I will leave out only because it doesn't need to be out in the internet world.

Two of my friends from where I grew up (North Augusta) came to visit for the weekend. We had such a great time! I laughed more in those three days than I ever have before. One of the reasons is because of PhotoBooth on Ashley's (my friend, not sister) Mac. Here are a few of the pictures we have taken:

And that is only a tiny amount of pictures we took. Hilarious videos were also made! You can see all of the pictures and videos on my FaceBook. My sister is probably the funniest person ever! xD

It was so good to catch up with my friends. There was so much to talk about that three days were not enough. So I expect lots more visits. :)

We also didn't even get to make a dent in our Chattanooga Bucket List, so we have to make sure they come back so we can conquer everything we had planned.

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My new obsession is Pride and Prejudice. I have seen it countless times in the past week. I'm sure some of my friends will probably get sick of me saying things about it, but it is such a great story. And you wouldn't think it, but the book is classified as a romantic comedy, and I can definitely see why. There are parts of the movie that are very comical. I love the sarcasm and awkward moments. My siblings and I are very sarcastic people (we get it from my daddy) so I feel I can relate to Elizabeth Bennet in that way. And Mr. Darcy... what a man. xD

I started reading the book today. In a way, some of it is hard to understand but since I've seen the movie and know what is going on, it's more easily understandable. I think I'm going to really like it.

Have any of you seen or read it? What are your thoughts?

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Inspirational Text #6:

Remember men that these are our proving grounds and we control our own destiny. On this night may we rain down on them with an unrelenting force and when we have them begging, we hit them even harder. Do not let up, do not stop. Tonight we taste victory at any cost.

-jcs