Spread Some Indie Love Blog Hop

Spread Some Indie Love Blog Hop 2016

31st March to 7th April

Welcome to the 2016 Spread Some Indie Love Blog Hop! I have been an Indie author for over 5 years, and I love it! I love the freedom it gives me to write what and when I want to write, set up my own publishing schedule and design my books the way I want them to look. It has been one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.

Another benefit I love about being an Indie author is meeting other Indie authors and reading their work. One of my favorite YA Indie authors I have gotten to know over the years is Natasha Brown. Natasha has written one of my favorite series: The Shapeshifter Chronicles.

The series features an eighteen-year-old girl who is growing up with heart disease, just like me. When she moves to a new town, she meets Chance, and her life is changed forever. I love this incredible YA fantasy series. Be sure to check out all of Natasha's books, including the first book in her second series.

Natasha also designs book covers, and has designed the beautiful covers of three of my books:

Destiny

Fate

My Open Heart

I am giving away a free eCopy of one of my books, winner's choice. Comment below the name and author of your favorite YA book or series. Winner will be selected after the hop.

Thank you for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Wordless Wednesday

Today, I'm displaying some wonderful artwork by author Sheenah Freitas.

If you'd like to showcase your drawings for Wordless Wednesday, let me know!

foxyform

School Supplies

I don't really know why, but I love school supplies! I always have. Lately, I've had the urge to head to Target and stock up. Perhaps it's knowing that Spring will be arriving soon, and I'll coming out of my hibernation stage I always go into in the Winter. It's my time to stock up on the gear I need (ok, want) and get back to work.

So, in lieu of going shopping, I've been window shopping on, where else, Pinterest. Can you tell by now how much I love this app? I've been browsing and pinning, making my virtual list of wants for when it is time to go shopping. But let's face it; when I'm finally set free in the store, I'll probably grab all the cool-looking gear, especially anything pink and purple.

Here's a look at my current shopping list:

Notepads
Post-its
Crayons
Colored pens
Paper clips in various colors

I think that's a good start. The real fun is when I'm standing in front of the school supplies aisle and start browsing.

What's on your typical school supply list?

Building My Vocabulary

Today I'm posting a word that means something slightly different than I thought:

Emo

I thought this was slang for emotional, as in someone who is feeling a certain emotion, such as happy or sad, about a particular situation. But in looking it up, I see it means drama queen, which we know is not just about one particular emotion, but someone who is overly dramatic about everything that happens to them.

Have you ever had to deal with a drama queen? How did you handle it?

Visiting Colleges

Spring break is coming, and a lot of high school seniors may take advantage of the week off to visit colleges. Selecting your college may be easier when you have a chance to scope it out first. Pinterest has several tips on what you should do, see and ask on your college tour:

• Check out the dorms
• Visit the student union
• Pick up a copy of the newspaper
• Talk to the students
• Prepare a list of questions for your tour guide

Check out the pins for more ideas and several printable lists of questions. And don't forget to grab a t-shirt! Have fun, be safe.

Saturday Snack

One of my favorite appetizer's is Chili's Skillet Queso. I've always wanted to try it at home, but the closest I could get was mixing a can of chili with cubes of cheddar in a pot on the stove. Well, I just found this recipe from CopyKat Recipes and I realized what I was doing wrong. Can you find my mistake? I'll have to try it this way next time:

Ingredients

• 1 (2-pound) block Velveeta cheese, diced
• 2 (15-ounce) cans Hormel No-Bean Chili
• Corn tortilla chips, for serving

Instructions

Heat the ingredients together in a saucepan over low heat until melted, stirring often, or in a slow cooker for a few hours. For the most accurate texture, you should puree the cooked sauce in a blender.

Serve with heated corn tortilla chips. If you want to serve this just like Chili’s, serve it in a warmed cast-iron skillet.

Blockbuster Summer

I just saw this awesome new preview for X-Men: Apocalypse

Amazing! And another reminder of how incredible this summer is going to be at the movies. Take a look!

May 6 Captain America: Civil War

May 27 X-Men: Apocalypse, Alice Through the Looking Glass

June 3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

June 10 Warcraft

June 17 Finding Dory

June 24 Independence Day: Resurgence

July 1 The Legend of Tarzan

July 15 Ghostbusters

July 22 Star Trek Beyond

August 5 Suicide Squad

August 12 Pete's Dragon

In case you can't wait for me, take a look at what's coming out over the next 6 weeks:

March 18 The Divergent Series: Allegiant - Part 1

March 25 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

April 15 The Jungle Book

April 22 The Huntsman: Winter's War

Wow! What an incredible list this is! I cannot wait to start my blockbuster movie marathon.

What movies are you looking forward to? Did I miss one on your list? Comment below.

Pets

Our pets are our companions, our best friends, and our children. From the moment we meet them, a connection is made that won't ever break. Even on those occasions when we get really annoyed at something they've done, we still love them unconditionally. And they love us back the same.

I recently found a wonderful picture on Pinterest that also reminds me that when we lose our precious furry ones, they are still with us, and even still together themselves.

There is a doggy heaven: BJ and Cinnamon.

Cinnamon was my family dog from the time I was 12 until my mid-twenties. She was my best friend and was always there when I needed her. BJ was my husband's dog when we met, and he quickly adopted me as his mom. He was my first baby. We lost him several years ago. When I saw this picture of two dogs who look exactly like BJ (on the left) and Cinnamon, I caught my breath and my heart melted. Here are my two precious loves, who never knew each other, together. My heart told me they had found each other, and that all dogs really do go to Heaven.

I have two precious babies still with me, Wicket and Max.

Doggy bunk beds: Max on top, Wicket on bottom.

My girls are the most precious things in the world to me. Yes, they get into some trouble sometimes, but like all parents with kids, I have an unconditional love for them that will never go away. I know I probably only have a few precious years left with them, and I try not to think about that. But I love them every day, and I know when the time comes, as hard as it will be, I'll know that the love experienced will never go away, just as it hasn't with Cinnamon or BJ (whom I still see in my dreams).

Pets are precious, and we shouldn't take them for granted. We need to love them unconditionally, as they do with us, and enjoy all the time we have together.

If you have a pet, I'd love to see pictures. Share them in the comments below.

Building My Vocabulary

Here's another term I've actually used before: "I can't even." You know how you feel when something happens or someone says something that you just don't know how to reply to? The same things you would shake your head at and walk away from. Yup. "I can't even." I like this one.

Right now, I think the majority of time I use this term is listening to the mud slinging of the current political nominees. Wow. And how about when you have so many papers due, and suddenly, you're faced with a major test coming up, too. Ugh.

What are some of the things "you can't even?"

The Doldrums Zone

Do you feel down in the dumps sometimes? I've been going through a state of the doldrums the last couple of weeks, and I'm still crawling my way out of it. I hate feeling like this. It's so hard to get anything done, and lying around all day is no fun at all. I'm sure it's hard for you when you have to get up, go to school, do your homework, etc., etc, etc. So much to do, no willpower to do it.

So we need to find ways to get ourselves out of the doldrums and feel better. Only then will we be able to get back to living our lives to the fullest, and, let's face it, our lives are worth living!

So, for starters, make sure to avoid these four health mistakes that can cause you to enter the doldrums stage and keep you there for days on end. Try talking to a friend or family member to see if you can pinpoint what's causing you to feel so down. If you're not comfortable talking to someone right now, try journaling. Just write whatever comes to you. In time, you'll probably find that anything that's bothering you will turn up in your words.

Realize that you may just be dealing with hormones, and it may take a while for everything to shift back to normal. There doesn't always have to be a fixable cause to feeling down. You may just have to deal with it for a while. It sucks, but that's a fact of life.

Next time you feel down in the dumps, treat yourself right, eat properly, try to move around a bit, relax, rest as much as you can, and do some activities you love. You'll feel better soon.