November is a Month without Weekends

Usually on the weekends you get to chill at home, go to church, maybe clean the house, and relax after a packed and stressful week.

But for me, November will be a month without relaxation on the weekends.

And (contrary to popular belief) I'm not complaining!

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This month I have two major things going on. And one awesome thing that leads into December :)


1. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

November is National Novel Writing Month (as well as no-shave-November and NaBloPoMo, but I won't go into those...)

Starting November 1st (today!!), people all over the world write as fast as they can and try to reach the 50k words goal before the end of the month.

I tried it last year... and failed miserably. Then this past July (for CampNaNoWriMo) I teamed up with my sister and friend and we acted as each other accountability partners. We checked in with and encouraged each other everyday. Whenever one of us got stuck in our story, the other two gave suggestions until we were back on our feet and writing again. By July 31st, we had all completed our novels!

There are some little prizes you can win for reaching 50k in November, but the real prize is setting a big goal for yourself and knowing that YOU finished it!

This November, I'll be writing a sequel (Stranger Tides) to the book I wrote in July (The Quest). I have a rough outline of the plot, a little head start on the story, and all the twists and dramatic changes mapped out. I'm good to go! :)


2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

This is a big deal guys! Even though this is my tenth show with Journey, the commitment is still just as big. By November 10th, the day we move into the theater, we've had six week of preparation.

4 hours Friday nights, 4 hours Saturday mornings... that's only 48 hours of rehearsal before we get to the theater!

This may seem crazy, but we do it! Like everyone on cast, I spend a lot of time at home practicing songs, memorizing lines, and running dances. We all have to work as a team to make this show the best it can be.

Even though there are only kids on stage, parents put a LOT of work into this as well. Props, sets, costumes... all of these things have been in making (or finding) since the first rehearsal. Parents are assigned to committees and they find everything we need for the show! So when you come to see it (which you will! Buy tickets here.) remember that you're not only applauding for the cast and crew, but for all the parents that made this amazing show possible.


3. Disneyland - Trip Six!
Yep :)

Ok, maybe this isn't an after-school or extra-curricular activity, but it's spending time with family which is just as important.

Here's a recap of our first five trips to Disneyland, in case you were wondering :)

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So as you can see, in November I don't have a lot of time to relax.

But gosh, now that I look it... this IS how I relax! I write, I perform, I create, and I spend time with my awesome family :)


Have a great November!!