Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts

Thursday, June 14, 2012

What I've Been Up To


Hello, everyone! I’m finally posting another of my sporadic updates on what I’ve been doing lately. First, though, I’d like to apologize for not doing one of these updates since April. I’m going to do my best both to stop letting procrastination get the best of me this summer and to do more worth blogging about!
  • I finished writing the novel around the middle of May that I started on Easter. It ended up being shorter than I expected, though I think it still turned out fairly well. I’m currently in the process of editing it. It’s going well, though much slower than I’d like, since I’ve had to make a lot of changes from the original draft.
  • I also started a new novel around the end of May, based on an idea that I’d been playing around with for a month or so. Like most of my novels, it’s set in another world, though this other world is very similar to medieval England. It’s about a girl who’s grown up in a wealthy family, and thus is expected to be the perfect lady, wear the latest styles, attend social events, and think about who she’s going to marry. My main character, however, isn’t at all interested in this, and would much rather spend her time out in the forest. When her father is kidnapped, she goes looking for him and ends up, of course, on the adventure of a lifetime. It’s going fairly well, though slower than I’d like.
  • During the past two or so weeks, my family also went on our annual trip to the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. I had a lot of fun, especially since most of the hiking trails we did were ones I liked. It also helped that the weather was much nicer than it’s been in previous years, which meant we did a lot of marshmallow-roasting! Also, as you may remember, when we went to the area last October, I lost one of my arrows. Well, when we went back this year, we found it! (Actually, Mommy found it.) The tip is a bit rusty, but overall, it’s in surprisingly good condition.
  • Speaking of archery, on May 5, my sister and I went to a one-time archery class. It was very interesting, and I learned a lot, including that I’d been shooting with my non-dominant eye. It also made me want a new bow, a recurve bow to be exact. What’s a recurve bow? Well, you may know what a longbow looks like. It’s the kind that people like Robin Hood and Legolas use in movies. A recurve bow is similar, but the ends curve back.
  • I’ve also been doing the summer challenge from the Focus on the Family Clubhouse magazine with my sister. The challenge is to earn points by doing different types of exercise, and the goal is to earn 260 points by the end of August. So far, I’ve learned that when it comes to getting points, hiking is better than walking, and that jumping rope is more strenuous than it looks.
Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for waiting so patiently for this post!
-Sarah

Saturday, June 18, 2011

I'm Back At Last


Hello, everyone! I am back, finally! Sorry for the long wait, but one thing led to another, and my break ended up being somewhat longer than planned. In other words, every time I planned to write a blog entry, I got distracted. But now I am back, and I do not plan on taking any breaks, extended or otherwise, for quite a while. So, an overview of what’s gone on while I’ve been on blogging break:

·        During one and a half or so weeks of my break, we were cabin camping in the Pennsylvania mountains. This is my favorite vacation, despite the fact that it involves a large amount of something that isn’t exactly my favorite activity: hiking. However, even hiking can be fairly enjoyable if done in comfortable weather and I’m doing it on trails I like, otherwise known as easy trails with nice scenery. And, of course, there’s the fact that cabin camping involves roasting marshmallows over a campfire, something that is certainly one of my favorite treats, and pretty much makes up for the hiking. So, the main things that I disliked on the trip was the lack of internet access (which was bearable, since I at least had my iPod, a few books, and every notebook that I might want) and the mosquitoes and other biting insects. These, unfortunately, seem to view me as an all-you-can-eat buffet on feet. Still, it’s a small price to pay for an enjoyable vacation.
·        Despite all the hiking I did, I managed to find quite a bit of time to work on my stories, and I am very pleased to say that The Call, which I have decided will be the official name of my novel about the three girls, is approximately three-quarters of the way done. The remaining quarter is also the most exciting part of the tale, so I hope to finish this tale fairly soon. My other tale, which is still unnamed, is one-quarter of the way done, and since I plan on it being much shorter than The Call, I hope to finish this soon as well.
·        The reason for the amount of writing I’ve gotten done could have something to do with the lack of new books I’ve found. Although I have gone to the library since my return, they did not have the books I was looking for, a great disappointment to me. Still, I’ll find them eventually.

Well, that’s about it! Thanks for stopping by, and I’m sorry for the long wait for updates.
-Sarah