The Big Apple

In my last post, I promised a recap of my trip to NYC. And you know me (or if you don't, you will soon learn): that means picture overload!! (and also a plethora of CAPS and PUNCTUATION!!!) ;-)

I still can't quite believe it really happened. A large portion of my brain is still pretty sure it was a prolonged dream. The only reason I'm sure it wasn't all in my head is because I took pictures to prove it happened. Not to be corny, but it was, quite literally, a dream come true.

So here we go: Sara's first time in NYC!

In the air, still unable to believe this is really happening! I was also so nervous... not quite sure how I was going to handle being in NYC by myself. This might sound silly, but I was told my hotel was within walking distance of the Scholastic offices--only 7 blocks. Cue UT girl freak out. I'm supposed to walk 7 BLOCKS in my HEELS in a massive city BY MYSELF?? I was working on my whistle so I'd be ready to get a cab.

(My Hotel Lobby)

 And then I got to NYC and all my fear disappeared. As we drove through the streets I learned two things: 1. I LOVE NYC. And 2. It would be much faster to walk than take a cab. Holy traffic jam!

 (View in front of my hotel)

I had a little bit of time before I was supposed to meet Editor Lisa for dinner, and I decided to go wander around the city a little bit. (Like I said--all fear was gone.)

 (Me, being a nerdy tourist in front of my hotel)

Walking up and down the streets of NYC - this is Broadway. You guys, I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved it here. There was such an amazing, cool energy in the city. I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face as I wandered around, taking it all in. If I weren't married with 3 kids, I think I'd be tempted to up and move here. Not forever, but maybe for a year. It was just so... I don't know. I just loved it!

 Then I got to meet Editor Lisa for the first time in person and we went to dinner at this amazing restaurant in SoHo. She was kind enough to let me take pictures with her, even though she was due in only a couple of weeks. She's so beautiful and wonderful! I honestly can't imagine a more perfect editor for me and DEFY.

 My delicious breakfast as I got ready for my luncheon with Scholastic! I got up early, even though it was SUPER early for this UT girl, so I could have time to wander around the city some more. I brought a big bag to carry my stuff in--including my heels--put on my flip flops (yep, with my fancy outfit) and headed out the door!

 Anyone else out there a fan of FELICITY? My sisters and I used to watch it all the time, so I had to take a pic and send it to them!

 I found a (relatively safe looking) stranger to take this nerdy picture for me in front of the Scholastic building (complete with my awesome flip flops haha). She positioned that street sign just perfectly, don't you think? ha. Oh well! Here I am!

 Coolest building ever, right?? Notice how there are two doors--one said "Scholastic Store" and one said "Scholastic" with the Bldg number on it. So, being the savvy tourist/author that I am, I decided to go into the store first, and then head over to the other door and go to my luncheon.

 When I walked in, there was this huge lobby with security guards... weird for a store, right? But oh well, whatever! Nice to know my book will be well guarded once it's on those shelves.

 After I wandered back out front, I asked one of the nice security guards to take my picture with Harry. He asked if I liked the store and I told him how cool I thought it was, and then said, "My book is going to be back there in five months!" He was excited for me and asked me about it, so I told him a little bit about it and that I was actually there for a luncheon with my editor. "So, I better get going!" I said and breezily waved and walked out of the door. A different door than I walked in. And yet it still didn't click. I blame it on the nerves. So, anyway, I walk out, turn left to go in the "other door" and realize I'm past the Scholastic building. WHAT? I panic for half a second, until it FINALLY dawns on me. HELL-O! I had to turn around and go back in that door I'd just walked out of, straight up to those same two security guards and said, "Remember how I said I was a totally dork? Yeah, um, I need to go upstairs and see Lisa Sandell." I still can't believe I was so dumb. Haha. Oh well! The guard was very nice not to laugh at me as he printed off my badge and buzzed me through to go upstairs.

 Me and Lisa in her office with my ARCs of DEFY!! 

 The luncheon was absolutely amazing. I loved meeting the other authors there, and all of the incredible people at Scholastic. I'm so incredibly blessed to be working with all of them!! It was so fun to talk to people who love my book and are as excited about it as I am. I can't even put it into words.

 Just a few of the awesome people at Scholastic - Sheila Marie (my publicist), Bess and Emily! I don't want to go on and on, but this day was just... wow. I don't have words.

 The skyline on my way back to the airport. I hope I can stay longer next time and see more of the Big Apple, but I was also so excited to get back to my family. It was so strange to be the one on a business trip instead of SHH!

And speaking of him... he surprised me with the best "car service" (and sign) of the whole trip! Have I mentioned that I'm so blessed??

If you're still reading this -  congrats! You made it! That's the end of the recap. Phew, right? But here's the thing. So much of this journey is hard. Years of rejections, being told no over and over... Feeling like you're not good enough and never will be, and yet you somehow keep pressing on. I did that for seven years. It struck me the other day--I've been trying to get published for almost the entire time my oldest son has been alive. I started writing again and pursuing publication when he was eight or nine months old. He's 8 now. And it's finally happening. 

I don't know what lies ahead of me--I don't know how well DEFY will do. I don't know how many more books I'll be able to publish. I don't know--and can't control--SO MANY THINGS. But I can control one thing: enjoying the journey right now. 

And that's what this post is. Putting down my feelings right now, my happiness and excitement. So I can always come back to this and remember. I've learned this very important lesson through all these years and years of dreaming and working and hoping: You have to celebrate any success that comes, no matter how big or small. Savor the happiness that is there; find the joy and cling to it. 

I don't know what the future holds, but I do know this. Right now, I am happy. And that is an amazing feeling. 

A triumphant return to bloggerville

So... it's been kinda quiet around here recently. Sorry about that. This summer has kicked my trash and I can hardly believe it's almost over! Deadlines and kids and vacations and birthdays and everything you can possibly imagine took up every last second of my time, and unfortunately my blog had to be one of the things that kind of fell by the wayside. 

BUT. 

I'm back!! Or, at least, I hope I can get my act together enough to be back! At least once a week! (Aim high, my friends, aim high.)

Anyway...

At least I'm returning with a bang! Yep, that's right. Awesome stuff has been afoot in my absence. (Prepare yourself for much capitalization and usage of the dreaded exclamation point...)

FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS!!!!

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE*

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I got a little package in the mail recently...!

 YES - those are my ARCs of DEFY!!!!!!

 HOLY SMOKES! IT'S A REAL BOOK!

 Yes, I am a nerd. But how could I resist?? I mean, seriously. That thing is GORGEOUS.

 Yes, SHH loves them, too...

And you may have noticed a little somethin' somethin' on the front...

I can finally share one of my happy secrets: YES! That is a blurb from MARIE LU!!!! I about died of happiness when I found out she had read it and loved it enough to blurb my book. I still can't quite believe it, honestly. (THANK YOU AGAIN MARIE!!)

Well, so as not to overwhelm you with pictures and rambling and a plethora of exclamation points and stuff, I will stop there. But stay tuned! I will recap my amazing trip to NYC soon!

For now... just join me in drooling over my ARCs some more. Come on, you know you wanna! ;-)

So much gratitude

*warning, this post is long, but hopefully worth reading

Wow. Just, wow. The response over the last few days since my book deal for DEFY got announced have been absolutely amazing. So many messages, emails, comments, tweets, and more--some of which even made me cry! An amazing book blogger that I admire and have followed for years already added DEFY to Goodreads and it just made it that much more real: my book is going to be a REAL BOOK. People want to read it! People are excited about it! I can't even begin to express my gratitude to all of you for making this such a wonderful moment in my life--and for being excited about DEFY!

Guys, most of you know what a looooong road this has been for me. And I linked to a bunch of posts about that in my last post, so I won't repeat it again. Instead, I'm going to talk a little bit more about this particular book, and how it came to be.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of Josh's death. My sweet cousin Megan's birthday is today. I can't believe a year has passed since we lost him. After his death, I couldn't write. I'd sit down at my computer and nothing would come out and the reality of Josh's death would hit me over and over again, and I'd just sit there and cry. This is the post I wrote after we lost Josh: sometimes the answer is no. 

It was a very difficult time in many lives.

One thing I didn't talk about on my blog, was that three weeks before he died, I'd made the gut-wrenching decision to leave my first agent after two years of working together. Within a couple of days after his funeral, my month of waiting was up and I began querying again. I was terrified. And broken in so many ways. Everyday that I sat down to write (because as I've said before, the best advice anyone gave me was to always WRITE ANOTHER BOOK), no words would come. 

Then one of my friends told me to just let whatever I was feeling come out. To not worry about a story or a plot, just write what was in my heart. 

So I did. It was a dark scene, in a jungle. Someone had just died. I poured all of my emotions into those words.

And that scene became the first words I wrote of DEFY. I had no idea what it would turn into. I had no idea who these characters were--yet. All of my pain, the stark reality of death I had just experienced, and my wish for eventual happiness in the face of death became a story that is full of hardship and loss, but also a story of courage and life. A story of magic and love and sword-fighting and defiance and characters who surprised me and took me places I didn't know we were going, and who I love so intensely, I can't wait to share them with all of you. But it was a difficult story to figure out. I wrote the first 10k quickly, within a few days. And then I hit a wall. I had a different idea that I decided to pursue instead. I figured DEFY (which was called Daughter of War at the time) would be nothing more than an exercise to help me sort through some of my emotions after Josh's death. 

But it wouldn't leave me alone. And when July came and I still hadn't received another offer yet, I decided I needed to come back to this book. To figure out what the heck was going on with it. 

For weeks, I tried to figure out where the plot was going, what needed to happen. I barely got any words written. It was unusual and so frustrating for me. I barely managed to eek out another 5-10k words. By early August I had almost come to hate this book. It just wouldn't speak to me. And the book I was querying, while it garnered some very serious interest, a near-offer, and a request for a revision, ultimately didn't seem as though it was going to get me another agent.

It was the closest I'd ever come to quitting. I knew I couldn't quit--I knew I wouldn't quit--but after six and a half years of rejection and trial after trial after crazy trial, and now seemingly unable to write a new book, I didn't know what to do. 

Did I truly want this dream or not? Was I willing to give up now after everything I had been through, suffered, pressed on and endured? 

Yes, I wanted it. And I was NOT going to quit. So I sat down, and just made myself write. It didn't happen that day, or the next, but about a week later, suddenly, it clicked. The plot FINALLY fell into place. The characters finally told me their secrets. And I wrote the last 60k in about five days, including one marathon session on a Saturday from eleven in the morning until eight at night. (I had to hire a babysitter because my husband worked.) When I finished DEFY, I was crying. I was drained. But I'd never felt more proud of a book in my life. I knew there was something special about this one. I love all of my books, but I truly felt like this was the best work I'd ever done. 

I revised it for a couple of weeks and sent it to some readers. Two had read for me before and one hadn't. The one who hadn't loved this book so much, it blew me away. I waited for the feedback from all three, and then spent another month revising it, and then decided to bite the bullet and query it. 

Well, you know what happened next. 

And now, here we are. DEFY is going to be published in about a year. 

Life is so interesting. One year ago, I was the one in the hospital wondering why the whole world hadn't stopped spinning, why so many people were living their lives, blissfully unaware of the heart-shattering loss we were enduring. 

Today, one year later, my sister is in the hospital, but not because of death. Instead, she is there to deliver life--to welcome her first child, her newborn son, into the world.

And today, one year later, the book that grew out of grief and loss, and turned into so much more, has been announced to the world. 

All around us are triumphs and failure. There is joy and devastation. As I sit here, trying to figure out how to put my gratitude and excitement into words, I can't stop thinking about my cousin who is celebrating her birthday for the first time without her sweet husband. I can't stop thinking about my sister, about to usher new life into the world. I can't stop thinking about everything that has brought me to this moment. Death. Life. Joy. Sorrow. Life is made of all of these and more. 

DEFY is a story that grew from a broken heart and a desperate hope, and became something that I am truly proud of and excited to share with all of you. I hope that when you get the chance to read it you will love it as much as I do. 

And I hope that no matter what your dream is, no matter what heartaches you may be enduring--or that may come someday--that you will never give up. That you will keep fighting for your dreams, for happiness, for the joy that will always come, if we just believe long enough

And I hope that when that day of triumph comes, that you will have as many wonderful people to celebrate with you as I have been blessed to have in my life! I have been so fortunate to have very supportive family and friends to celebrate with me and here is some picture proof:

 Going to The OG with my family to celebrate! (This is the sister that is having her baby boy right now!)

 Another one of my beautiful sisters (and my darling niece)!

 Most of the family (a few had to leave early). This was such a memorable night! The server at the table next to us shouted out to the whole restaurant that someone had a birthday, so then my dad stood up and shouted to the whole restaurant that I had sold my book and was getting published! Everyone cheered, and the women at the birthday table were very excited to ask me about it. The most ironic part is that a couple of weeks ago, we all went to Chili's and the same family was there and she remembered my dad and came up and asked me if we were the ones from the OG who he'd yelled about getting published! A memory I'll never forget, for sure.

 My husband's parents, a couple of his cousins, and his aunt and uncle also wanted to celebrate with me! We went to dinner, where his aunt brought me flowers, his mom bought dinner, and SHH had the sweetest surprise for me!

 A personalized pen!

 This is the box the pen came in (as I said, the book was originally called Daughter of War).

 The pen inside has my name on it and a bunch of inspirational words/phrases. It was the most thoughtful, wonderful gift. I saved that pen so that the first time I used it was to sign my contract a week ago!

 And then my parents surprised me on Christmas Eve by giving me a Christmas/Congratulations present: my very own Le Creuset!! (Any of you chefs out there know how amazing this gift is.) That is the face of super excitement and shock!

And I also had some wonderful friends take me to dinner: Natalie Whipple and Michelle Argyle made me feel so special! Thank you girls!

I also celebrated with many other wonderful people in many ways. But this post is already SO long, I better stop. I just want to say thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

And don't ever, ever give up. No matter what. 

Mr. Darcy and kissing and bangs and whips and more

Today's random post brought to you by Analytics. Here is a taste of some google searches that brought people to my blog recently:



#4 on the list was: Mr. Darcy! I'm happy that many Darcy lovers have been guided here. I'm not sure that I've posted about him THAT often, but I do love him. Let us all pause and think of Mr. Darcy for a moment. *sigh* *dreamy eyes* Ahem. Ok. Moving on.

Right underneath Mr. Darcy however at #5 was "22 inch baby." Apparently the length of Baby Girl (did I even mention that on this blog? I guess I must have...) has garnered a few people's interest. When they got to this blog, they probably weren't too excited to realize it was an author blog and not a mommy-blogger or something. But if you stuck around, Yay for mom's with LOOONG babies!

"Being married to a writer" also made the top of the list. SHH would be thrilled to know that, since that was his guest blog post (which I have to say was quite good).

Also in the top ten was "brunette bangs." Not even sure how that would get anyone to my blog. Hm. I suppose I have them, but don't recall ever mentioning that. Maybe they saw a picture of me? Eek, that kind of freaks me out actually. Heh.

And #10 made me smile (and scratch my head since once more, I don't remember ever blogging about this specifically): "Ky and Cassia kiss." Yay for Ally's books! Yay for Ky and Cassia! But intriguing that such a search brought them here.

In fact, kissing is a theme of sorts. Besides that there was also: "fun with romantic kisses" and "kissing scenes from movies." Do I talk about kissing that much?

Other random searches:

"Despicable Me castle." Absolutely no clue what that even means.

"Cute girl holding a whip." Yikes. Again, no clue.

"My husband is hotter than me." Yes, I refer to my hubby as "SHH" (super hot hubby). So, I guess that might be why. And he probably is hotter than me, too. Let's be honest here. :-)

And not to be outdone, Mr. Thornton showed up a few times, too. Love him just as much as Mr. Darcy. *sighs again* Love those Regency Men.

So, yep! There's a random roundup of just some of the whacky searches that brought people to my blog recently.

Happy Wednesday!

Lots of Love

So, recently, my blog hasn't had too many lighter posts. Time for a little change. It's Valentine's Day, the day of love. (Or at least the day we're told we better spend money and let everyone know that we're loved, right?)

Well, today I thought I'd write a little love note, to some special people in my life.

First, to all the writers.
I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends and partners in crime. (Candice, Kasie, Renee, Natalie, Jen, and Chantale) Writers are a quirky bunch (some a little bit more certifiably crazy than others -- sword fighting in the aisles anyone?), but hey to each their own, right? Thanks for the laughs, for protecting our "special corner" while I, ahem, you know what, basically for a fabulous weekend at LTUE. I love you girls!

THIS is SUSPENSE!!!

Oh look! More authors! More people that I am so grateful for. (Brodi Ashton, Natalie Whipple, Bree Despain, and James Dashner.) Dinner with such amazing people was just what the doc prescribed. We are all glowing because we are all so fantabulous we're practically angelic. Or else the flash went wacko on my camera. It's one or the other.

Look! MORE awesome authors! (Cute preggo Natalie and Renee) I am so blessed with great, supportive friends. Even when others go totally wackadoodle on me and try to cause me stress, all these lovely ladies here and previously pictured and even those who aren't pictured in this post help keep me laughing and sane. Oh, and the boys, too. Like Dashner. There is just a plethora of female authors in the YA world.

LOOK EVEN MORE AWESOME AUTHORS! (Are you seeing a trend?) I love all of you. And I love yummy food. This was a good night. :-)

And all the authors who I don't know, but whose books inspire, uplift, and transport me to your worlds of intrigue, danger, and romance--I love you, too. But not in a scary, stalker kind of way. Just an "I hope I can be like you some day. And maybe meet you, too" kind of way.

I also love my family. I am so blessed to have three of the (in my completely unbiased opinion) best kids in the whole world. SHH and I heart attacked the boys' door this morning (and surprised them with some new shoes for when spring gets here).

The cute Valentine's Day "Card" we made the grandparents. Yep, I refuse to support Hallmark this year. We're all about the cheesy homemade goodness. I have the best parents. Love their guts.

And my four little sisters -- I don't have any giant cards for you with my kids feet plastered on them, but I do love you all VERY much. My first and most special besties. :-)

And of course the rest of my family and my other amazing friends, who are some of the coolest people and most wonderful friends on this earth. MWUAH!

Aw, tenderness, right? You know I love ya SHH. My friends are the wind that help me to fly, but you are the one who builds (and constantly repairs) my wings.

Had enough mushy-mush? Well, it's not over yet! I love all of you, too! This blogging world is amazing. I have met so many amazing people through my blogging adventures and I am so grateful for all of you--your support, every comment you leave (I honestly cherish them all), and just how rockin' you all are. BIG AWKWARD ONLINE HUGS TO EVERYONE!

Who do you love today?

Monday Motivation

NaNoWriMo. (National Novel Writing Month.)

I haven't ever done it before. I'm a pretty fast writer, so I've honestly never felt the need to try and force myself to get a book done in a month. When inspiration hits, I can whip out a book in 4-5 weeks. Not always, but sometimes.

But this time, I decided to bite the bullet and do it. Why? Because I'm in a bit of a slump. I have a new idea, but I'm having a hard time making myself find the time to write. Maybe it's because SHH is traveling so much, so I don't have help with the kids at night so I can write like I used to. And by the time I get them all to bed and could write, I am so worn out emotionally and physically from not getting a break, I can barely find the energy and motivation to get myself ready for bed and try to read a book, let alone write one.

But, my goal is for this to be a career. So I'm treating it like one, and making myself put in the time. Signing up for NaNo was my way of trying to get myself to do it this month. I got off to a good start, but had a crazy weekend and now I'm behind. I'll keep going though, and hopefully I'll at least hit the 50k, if not finish the entire novel.

How about you? Are you doing NaNo? How do you make yourself stay motivated and moving forward when you're overwhelmed and exhausted?

Friday Five

I knew you guys were smart! All the advice you've shared this week has been absolutely perfect. There's a lot of wisdom in what you all wrote. So, once more, thank you very much!

Here's what's on my mind today:

1. This week SonA has had school off for spring break. I had so many fun activities planned. And then the forecast changed from mid-sixties and sunny back to our norm for the year. Freezing cold snowing/raining/doom. We've managed to still find some fun stuff to do, but overall, this has not been a week of spring break win, that's for sure.

2. Last night we celebrated SHH's birthday a few days early (since his birthday is actually on Easter Sunday this year, which has never happened before since I've known him). I surprised him with a couple's massage and then we used his free birthday meal at Benihana for dinner. Ahhh, what an awesome night. We both could have slept until noon today after the relaxation and delicious food overload. Instead, that cute alarm clock (otherwise known as SonB) was up at 7 am on the dot like usual, telling us all to wake up and get him out of bed. Oh well. ;)

3. I'm having a minor complication with my pregnancy (nothing that will cause the baby any harm, just discomfort and pain for me), that requires me to lay down on my side with my legs as elevated as I can get them multiple times a day. Or that's what I'm supposed to do anyway. Usually I find the time to do that about twice a day if I'm lucky. I thought it would be a great chance to catch up on my TBR list, but instead it turns out whenever I finally do lay down is exactly when my kids suddenly need me. Hmmm, interesting how that works.

4. Isn't it intriguing how some days when you're writing the words just seem to flow, and other days.... not so much. Yeah, I'm glad I'm not alone. Right?

5. Dessert is yummy. With this pregnancy I can't seem to feel full until I've had some sugary goodness. Usually I'm good about resisting sweet libations, but it's been a bit harder this time. Okay, a LOT harder. This girl must have a serious sweet tooth.

So, what's on yor mind this Friday? Any fun plans for the holiday weekend?

Falling in love...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Any romantic plans for today/tonight?

I am very lucky to have an amazing hubby to celebrate V-day with, and two adorable little boys. We're going to have our "official" ultrasound this morning to see our baby girl again. Very exciting! I am in love with all of them--all the people I am lucky enough to call my family. We're just planning on having a family dinner, and celebrating together at home. Pretty low key, but hopefully will be fun.

I'm also in love with my new WIP. I got this idea the end of last week, and started writing. I have one document full of notes about the plot and characters, and the actual document, which is already 6,000+ words. (In less than five hours total of writing--despite my excitement level, I had to curtail my writing time over the weekend. SHH got home from Mexico Saturday morning, and I figured it wouldn't be too nice to say "Welcome home! See ya, I'm going to go write!") But even with the lack of writing time, I'm pleased with how much I got done. Not too shabby! It's been a long time since I've been able to feel this excited about my writing, or that I've written something new this fast. Yes, I usually do write quickly, but recently my self-doubt has been a hindrance. Words have been painfully slow, plots hard to decipher, characters kept slipping through my fingers. This new WIP has been flying out, and I LOVE it. I am definitely in the infatuation stage. I'm hoping it lasts long enough to bust out a first draft. Then we can move on to the "figuring out what your flaws are" stage, where I can hopefully continue to cultivate my love for this project, despite it's inevitable problems.

Who knew the stages of writing/revising could be so applicable to real relationships? Ooh, except for this stage: the "I've figured out what your flaws/trouble-spots are and now... I'm going to fix them all" stage. In real life, you love someone in spite of their flaws (or maybe because of them). In writing--you find the flaws and you grind them out. You whip your WIP into shape, and make it perfect. Or as close as possible, anyway. But for now, I'm just focusing on having fun and enjoying being in love.

Lots of love for me to be happy about today. How about you?

Blogfest: being married to a writer in the words of SHH

When I asked SHH to write this post, I was expecting a tell-all piece on the trials of being married to a writer. (The messy house! The piles of clean--but unfolded--laundry! The bleary-eyed wife begging for him to take the kids for just two hours so she can finish this revision!) But instead, well... read for yourself.

At dinner for our 7th anniversary in September of 2010

Being married to a writer is like having a full time job in the elevator industry. Need I say it’s full of up’s and down’s? We eat, drink and sleep inside the elevator. Among the hundreds of floors, there is only one special floor we are looking for. At times we climb so fast to the top that our ears pop. When we reach what we think is the very top floor, we hold our breath to see what greets us on the other side of the doors. Is it the welcoming hand of a publisher? Is it another pass? The suspense at times is overwhelming. Only Sara and Hannah (her agent) hold the combination that will get us to the right floor. I can’t choose the numbers for them. All I can do is encourage her to continue to try.

At times the elevator plummets, seemingly uncontrollable. We have to hold the handrail to stay steady and try not to throw up. Our stomachs twist inside out and force their way into our throats. The bell dings. The door opens. We find ourselves face to face with a two-headed evil beast named Despair and Failure. Now I’ll be honest here. We’ve had a couple of lengthy conversations with this beast. As ugly as Despair and Failure are on the inside, they can come across as an old friend looking for someone to join them. We have to remind ourselves that to step off the elevator at this level would only bring discouragement. Lucky for me, I know Sara has the strength and incredible support group to resist the temptation of this evil beast.

We must stay on until we’ve made it. To believe is to achieve. I know you can do this Sara! I believe in you. You are amazing! You inspire me to be better. Thank you for this wonderful ride!

Love, Trav

Halloween 2010 (we dressed up for a party the week before, but not the night of)

Thank you so much for believing in me, and for writing this post. I am so lucky.