Changes

Well, here I am.

I've been in New York for two and a half weeks now. It feels like longer- much longer. Unpacking, organizing, school, and just life in general all have made those last two and a half weeks a bit crazy. But we're settling in and getting used to our new home. And trust me, there's a lot to get used to. Some of it's good. For example, we didn't have a view like this from our back deck in Virginia:

It's even prettier when the sky is properly blue, rather than the pale blue-white that just washes out and makes everything look cloudy. (I swear, the only clouds in the picture are at the far left- just by the only visible patch of blue.) Granted, more trees would be nice- but I'm definitely not complaining. We also have a lot more yard, which means more space for me to practice archery- if I get around to it before the weather turns cold. I'm not quite sure when that'll happen (October maybe? Hopefully not this month!), but I'm not looking forward to all the snow. White Christmases are lovely. I can even do with a snowfall or two in January and February, just to make things a bit prettier. But what I've heard about snow up here . . . nope. Not my thing at all. (Unless I take up snowshoeing/cross-country skiing/some other winter sport . . . but who knows if that'll happen?)

Another (mostly) good thing about New York: the library. There's two within a three-mile radius of us- but both are tiny. (One of them is actually kind of cute; it looks a bit like a fairy-tale house on the outside.) However, they're connected to a very, very large library system . . . which means that my first stack of library books (all of which I requested online) looks like this:

Forgive the lousy phone camera photo, please!

In case you can't see the titles, that's House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo, Relic by Heather Terrell, Swipe, Sneak, and Spark by Evan Angler (I'm still waiting for Storm, the third book, to come in), Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier, and Lion Heart by A.C. Gaughen. Five of these books I hadn't read before coming here; three or four of them I couldn't get at my old library. And I'm still waiting on more- the River of Time series by Lisa T. Bergen, for instance, The Princess Spy and The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson, and Legion: Skin Deep by Brandon Sanderson. And I'm certain I'll find yet others; I just haven't looked for them yet. The one downside I've found is that they don't have Andrew Peterson cds . . . or many cds at all, really. (That and they don't seem to have the entire Dreamhouse Kings series.) But I can live with that.

Then there's school. For the most part, it hasn't changed much, except that we do it in a different location and I'm down two subjects. All I have at the moment is English (same old, same old), Literature (I get to read Beowulf! and Macbeth! And some of the Canterbury Tales! and a lot of other British literature!), Calculus (the first chapter is all review, thank goodness), and Principles of Biology. The last is an online dual-enrollment course I'm taking through Cedarville University. So far, I'm enjoying it more than I expected- much more than I liked 9th grade biology! It's possible that I'll post some of the essays I have to write for it, if I'm particularly pleased with them- or I might not. We'll see.

Some of the changes, though, aren't so good. I miss my youth group and my Bible study friends even more than I thought I would. Part of that's because I can't help wondering, even though we haven't really been here that long, if I'll actually find a group of friends like that here. I've met one a few people who I think I could be friends with- homeschooled girls like me, both of whom love some of the same books and movies I love and talk about things like fandoms and shipping and series speculations and all that sort of thing. But there's no guarantee I'll see them on a regular basis, and not all the churches around here have youth groups- or even youth, period. I know God wouldn't bring me here and leave me stranded with no offline friends, no one who I can see on a regular basis, no one with whom I can talk and play games and watch movies. But waiting for Him to guide me to those people is hard.

And, in the same vein, it's hard to be the new girl after so long. It's one thing at something like Cedarville Summer Studies or WSS Support Staff- everyone's new, and just that is enough to break down some of the barriers between people. But here, it's just me (well, and my sister, who's old enough now to be counted in my age group), and everyone else knows each other already. I don't remember how to slip into conversations and find my way into established groups- if I ever knew; maybe I never did. Last time I moved, I was young enough that anyone who played nicely with me could be considered a friend.

But I'm not alone, and I keep reminding myself of that. My family's in the same situation, for one, and I have my online communities- Whitehall Forums, The Potter School, blogs, and Goodreads- standing behind me. And most importantly, I have the Great Author writing the story of my life. So, one way or another, it'll all work out. I just hope that happens soon.


What's been going on in your life lately? Please tell me in the comments! Thanks for reading!
 -Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Huzzah!

For the life of a novel, the battle was fought

Between our good Writer and foul Writer’s Block.

It started when Writer’s Block swooped in one day,

Captured the novel, and carried it away.

Anyone remember that poem? I'm hoping you do. (If you don't, you can read it here.) I wrote it this past summer for the TPS Summer Creative Writing class. Then, a month or so ago, I entered it in my library's short story contest. I really didn't expect it to get anything. I mean, I really like it, and other people have said they do too. However, I've tried entering this contest several times with no success, mostly because my style doesn't seem to line up with what they're looking for.

Then I got a phone call from the library. They said I was in the top ten. (My reaction, more or less: Oh. My. Pumpernickel. Really?) So, I went to the awards ceremony, thinking I'd gotten an honorable mention.

Nope.

Second place.

And not only that, but the winners got their stories printed in a book. A real book. Which you can actually buy at a particular branch of my library. They gave each winner a copy and I was possibly more excited about that part of the prize than anything else. I mean, I've had one or two pieces published in Clubhouse Member's Mags, but somehow, having my poem in a book seems more exciting than having it in a magazine (even if the magazine was probably read by far more people).

The same day as the awards ceremony, we had closing ceremonies at Awana. It's the end of my first year as an official leader. In some ways, it was a bit sad. Awana is a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing the T'n'T girls every week. At the same time, though, I'm ready for a break.

Then, yesterday, I met my Camp NaNoWriMo goal! Huzzah! My novel is not done, but I do plan to keep working on it. If all goes well, I'd like to finish by the end of May. Of course, I also have short stories and fanfiction that I want to write, and I'd like to work some more on Monster in the Castle. (I miss Hayden! And Pansy. But mostly Hayden.) But, hey, if I can write a thousand words of one novel in a day, I can work on a few projects at once. Right?

Finally, school's almost done! I gave my spring presentation in German class yesterday. I wasn't expecting to have to do it until next week at least, so I was caught a bit off guard, but I think I did all right. I am glad that it's done. And in Literature I just finished reading Romeo and Juliet, which I enjoyed. I did like Cyrano de Bergerac, the play I read last year, better, though. As for history . . . Well, the last chapter and what I've read of this chapter make me really want to go back in time and rewrite pre-WWII history. (Anyone have a time machine I can borrow?) But I only have two or three chapters left, and it should get interesting soon, so I'm not complaining.

How's your life been lately? Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

P.S. Titles are hard.