Pages From My Journal

Proverbs 23:18 Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. ~      This verse hangs in my room. I'm a busy girl. I love to do so many things. I want to do a lot. Sometimes, we need to make the decision to put some things on pause. The good things don't have to end, but there are times where they have to wait.      Take it one day at a time. ~Alyson

       Though, I don't feel God calling me to teach in the classroom, He has given me a passion for teaching. In the future, I would love to go in to archeology and become a museum curator. Museums present a different and dwindling style of learning.       For now, I'm a teachers' aide at a preschool, a Creative Writing teacher to two fourth grade homeschool students, and a Sunday School and Children's Church teacher at my church. Even this blog has become a way for me to tell others what I've learned.      Through teaching others, I've learned more than I ever thought I would.  I don't know as much as I thought I did-  There have been countless times where a child asked me a question and my response was, "I don't really know." I know a lot, but I will never understand everything. It would be easy to say, "Well, if I can never know everything, why learn." But, the kids also reminded me that it's exci...

                          Coming off Captives, I was excited to read Outcasts. Jill set up amazing conflicts and characters in book one and kept them going in book two.              One of my favorite aspects of this book was the value of life. I loved the way the characters fought for the lives they loved and even the ones they didn’t. Without spoiling anything, I’ll say that there were times were killing would have been appropriate, but the characters chose not to. They saved lives without ending others.              The beginning of the story was a little slow. It seemed harder to get into the story than book one, but I’ve read much slower stories. By the last third of the book, I couldn’t put it down.      ...

     This year was crazy, insane, enjoyable, busy, creative, productive. Each month had its adventures. Each week had its moments. Each hour had its feelings. I know I'm not the same person as I was last January. God was with me every month, week, and hour.  A handful of friends joined me for a hiking trip for my 16th birthday. On this blog, you've seen a   little bit of my life .  Last December - I explained my views of goals and made some for my writing .   January - I decided to smile to start off the year .   February - My oldest foster brother gave his life to God.   March - I suddenly had to say goodbye to my three year old foster sister. For the next three months, I saw her scarcely. For the next six months after that, I saw her once.            - I also found out I had a digestive disorder/Gluten intolerance. This would be a new challenge for me.  ...

  I can't post a picture of my foster sister, but I can post a picture of  her favorite character : ) I've grown up watching Hallmark Christmas movies and enjoying how they made me laugh and cry. As I got older, I began to despise the stories. Predictable, unrealistic, sappy. Lives intertwine right around around Christmas time. Kids repair broken marriages. Letters mend hearts. Timing always works out. "Christmas Miracles" never seemed real or probable because of those movies.  My foster sister left our home 9 months ago. For the last 6 months she has been almost completely out of touch. I've only seen her once. I never expected to see her again. She was gone. We weren't her home anymore.  Two weeks ago, I was driving into the parking lot of a funeral. A friend of mine got hit by a car crossing the street after youth group the week before. I was sad, but then all of a sudden, I get a text from my mom. "B is coming here toni...

    I started my current story, Ideal Lies, last year, and this time, I decided to make it a trilogy. This story is a mix between dystopian and utopian. Living in the idealistic northern Ideal States of America, two teenagers are caught believing in an imperfect religion and go on the run as criminals to rescue their stolen family.     How I managed to keep this to myself until now, I'm not sure : )     Writing a series of any kind was something I'd never done before. I quickly found out that I needed a way to keep track of all the facts. I tried memory. My memory failed.  I tried little notes. I lost them. I tried computer files. It took me too long to find what I needed. So, with nothing else to do ... I created a fact manual. I spent hours gleaning the information from my memory, notes, and files. I created new documents and organized facts so I could put it all together in one cohesive notebook. I documented everything tha...

      I was putting together my lesson plans for my 4th Grade Creative Writing class and I saw "Archetypes" as the next subject to address. I was so excited!   I hadn't used them until my current book, but now I can spend hours studying their fascination.              Archetypes are a single word that acts as a pattern or model that helps in character development.   They help in creating variety and creativity. Choosing the right ones take time, but trust me it's worth it. Here is why I like them.  They give you insight on what the character is going to believe --what do they see as the most important thing in life? They give you an idea of what the character might stand up for-- what do they value--what matters most--what would they risk there life for? They give you a glimmer of what the character's attitude would be-- how to they respond to different situations--what is the...