My Cakes and Bandana Apron are in This Months SCV Magazine!!!

Open up your SCV Magazine to page 56 and check out my cake designs as well as one of my bandana aprons! It is apart of our Cookies Kitchen uniform!

I did it! 7 miles!!!

I went to work and decorated cakes and cup cakes. I have been there a year and have not got a raise. Any suggestions on how I should ask? It's hard economically for the little businesses right now but I am helping them pull in more cakes and I have upgraded the quality and appearance of their cakes. You can see the pictures of my cakes in their add in the SCV Magazine that just came out!
I walk/ran 7 miles and I wanted to stop, cry and finish it! I skipped the self pity part and finished! Kids have friends over and when I take a break I gotta do something fun with the kids.

Present Meets Future

Just wanted to share a little epiphany I had while struggling to run 3 miles a day for the past couple of days. While running I envisioned myself finishing the 3 miles and writing about it. I kept telling myself that I only had 30 more minutes, 10 more etc. until I reached my goal... until I reached my future. I started saying to myself that "Present meets Future" in 20 minutes, 10 minutes, etc as I journeyed through the run. It made me feel so alive and in control (as much as one can be) of myself and my future outcome! I was making my own present and future collide. With determination and an eye set on a goal we can all make our own "Present meet the Future" in what ever goal we set. Whether it be personal, family oriented or religious, we can make the "Present meet the Future" and celebrate in the steps to get their. When I get on the right path and realize the joy in the journey I feel more alive, confident and successful in even the smallest of achievements. These little successes prepare me for the more challenging trials ahead. I hope this helped. It helped me and hopefully my children in their journey though this amazing thing called life.

Mile Stone Moment!!!!

I just ran 3 miles (no walking at all this time) and it felt good. Really and truly good! I even increased my speed! I am so excited!

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. I really shouldn't relax because that is when I fall behind! That should be a day to do scouts and young women's and stuff! I got to get into that again. I updated the http://www.mormmonmommies.blogspot.com/ blog today. I have manic Mondays :)

Church was soooo awesome and spiritually inspiring. We have been making a point to get there earlier, I am a nursery leader, so that is all the church I get for the day. We sat right smack in the center front pew! The kids were actually quite reverent! They even listened to the speakers. I quizzed each one after church and they all listened. I am amazed! They are growing up so fast. They didn't even need snacks (just Jack) or anything to write with. I am shocked!

When I gave Jack some fruit snacks I was reminded of Singles Ward 2 ( I love movies). A mom with a bunch of kids was passing out snacks. Her snacks weren't just snacks! They were meals, like a bowl of cereal! She even got out a gallon of milk when a kid asked for some milk! But the funniest was when she got out a Costco sized jar of peanut butter and started making sandwiches. I had to laugh!

gotta run, literally and put jack down for a nap (my fingers are crossed on that one).

It was a busy day at work today. I had to get up at 6:30 and be at work by 7:00am. For the next 7 hours I was on my feet baking and decorating cupcakes and cakes. They were really easy cakes today. Nothing that ornate but not so plain as to cause boredom. I do love decorating cakes:)
After that I knew what had to come next. The 6 mile run!!! Dun-dun-dun-duuuuuunnn!!! I have been worried, scared and not quite sure I could actually do it! It is 2x as long as what I have been running during the week (except for the 4 miler, and I thought that was a killer). But yesterday I went and got new shoes. My feet and knees were killing me and I knew that if I did not get new shoes that I would not be able to continue to run. Let me flash back to yesterday...
I went to a local place called Runners Lane in Santa Clarita ( I hate to drive far away and the other store was in Encino). It is a quaint little runners store but I love, love, Loved it! The sales woman was awesome! She examined my walk and jog and found me the most perfectly perfect shoes (I am pronated and have high arches that flatten out when I run). I instantly felt more secure and comfortable in my new shoes. After that I wanted to switch my cell phone service to my hubbies and in the process get a new phone. I got an IPhone and I absolutely love it. It is soooo easy to use, even I can figure it out:) That leads me back to the photos and work......
I took these photos with my new IPhone! So after work I got ready to run/jog/whatever you want to call it :) The moment after my 5 minute warm-up, I was done! I did not want to go on.!!!But I kept trudging on. The sales woman at the shoe store suggested that I run for 4 minutes and walk for 2 (since walking for 1 minute was too short). I tried this and I was able to push myself to run/walk in this manner for 1 hour! That is the longest I have been able to run. I was getting nauseous, tired and my knee was acting up a bit. I said a little prayer asking HF to help me be able to continue without any aches or pains, I then told myself that I would not use the GU(an energy booster that runners use to refuel and replenish electrolytes) until mile 4. After the hour passed I didn't think I could continue at this pace so I switched to 2 minutes jog-2 minutes walk. At this pace I was able to continue (the entire time I was telling myself that I could do this..I can make it to 3 miles...now I can make it to 4 miles! This running thing is really a mental journey as well as a physical one.). Finally when I got to mile 4 I took the GU. This was a first and I feared it would make me hurl (I was already nauseous). But I took a little at a time and drank it down with water (It really isn't that bad). Within 2-3 minutes I was feeling really good. My knee was bearable, my nausea was gone and I had energy!! Wow! I could do it! 90 minutes total time (including 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool down, I know that is slow but heh! I'm just starting!!!), 6.22 miles and 799 calories ( I don't know how accurate that is but it sounds good to me:} ). I am just excited that I did it without stopping (except to go to the bathroom)!!! I think I can actually do this. I felt great after the run, but now I am a little soar. I am not going to quit. I really want to check this off of The 100 Things to do Before You Die List, lose weight and feel healthy!

I Need Running Music

I jogged for 30 minutes today without stopping! Woo-hoo! This has been sooooo hard for me. It has been a really long week for me (running wise). I can usually catch on to things but my body is in such bad shape that it is going to take a while to get the hang of this. I am really motivated though. After a week and a half I have already lost 6 pounds. My motivation is that if I have to do any kind of presentation or workshop or demo for my book, I am not letting people see me at this weight. No, NO, NO!
I didn't quite finish the 3 miles I am suppose to do today (it was time to pick up the first round of kids)but at least I ran for a solid 30 minute block. That is more than I have in a long time and I actually feel good today. I am worried about my long run this weekend, 6 miles.
Anyways I need your help!!!! PLEASE!!! I need good upbeat, fast paced music or just something with a good beat kind of beat to keep my spirits high while I am running. If anyone has any suggestions please, please, PLEASE help me and let me know!!!
I love Mika, Match box 20, some mainstream punk, etc. I guess I like what mainstream America likes. I'm pretty generic. Gotta go pick up kids, homework and all that stuff, but please drop me a song or two. Thanks:)

Mormon Mommy Writers

I've just been invited to contribute to Mormon Mommy writers at http://mormonmommywriters.blogspot.com . The sharing ideas thing is really fun. It is what I've been praying for for the past year. So come check it out :)

I changed my blog back ground. Let me know what you think! I'll most likely will change it again soon. It needs some more tweaking to get it just right but I was excited that I could do it myself, sans the aid of my computer genius hubby! My daughter does not like the header. She wants it to still say olsens7. So that must go!

My kids mean a lot to me and I love sharing about them and with them. I love involving them in this whole writing process. My children have been models in my book, my oldest son Scott (he is a 10 year old genius for naming things) has helped me title several of my books as well as projects, they have been giving me creative ideas for my projects etc. They are my little muses (along with my totally awesome rad agent, Emmanuelle). This has been a family process and we have grown closer together by listening and appreciating each others ideas.

My agent just sent out the finished proposal to publishers, so we will be hearing back sometime next week. Keep your fingers crossed :)

One last thing before I go and I am almost affraid to admit this new one, but what the heck! I have been wanting to do this ever since my aunt Judy ran one when I was a child. (Maybe it will make me have to do it now that I told the world!) I am begining to train for the L.A. marathon. My marathon group says that I have enough time to train. At 18 weeks, I'm having some doubts. I am sooooo out of shape. But at least I will get in shape if not for this one then the next soonest one for sure.

In the mean time, back to laundry, dinners, homework, my 2 jobs etc. :)

Life Coaching? You Need It!

I have to give a shout out to John Henshaw, my Life Coach, friend and father. He has been a life coach all his life. When ever we would sit down for family meetings or one-on-one Dad time he would always ask, "What are your goals?" He is always coaching his children and helping them as well as others attain their goals! That's John Henshaw! When I was a child he would be my life coach in any thing that I decided to do. When I was on the track team and wanted to improve my time, he would help me map out my training, envision the finish line and obtain my goal. You may think that I was an only child with how much individual attention I got. No! I was one of 4 kids! We were all given that special attention. His goal was and is to help his family succeed. He took class after class to perfect his Life Coaching talent. He has tried many new, innovative ideas and concepts with us. He has perfected the art. But that does not stop him! He continues to pursue new ideas and concepts even now. His knowledge and life energy are so powerful, you can't help but have it rub off on you.
Through my journey writing this book he has been there. Coaching me and motivating me. His excitement and energy has rubbed off on to me and I am ready to succeed. I envision that finish line and ready to achieve my goal. Thanks Dad. You can check him out on Linkedin under John Henshaw Professional Coach & Organizational Development Specialist at Northrop Grumman.

Still Working!

I am still working on my proposal for my book ideas! There is so much to learn in the world of writing and getting a book published that I never knew. You think it's somehow like the movies. You write la-di-da and then you publish...pow!

Movies lie. Why? It's a lot of writing, re-writing proposals and back and forth. So if you are wanting to write a book, just know that you are in for a lot of rejections and work. Many of you want to know how to get your book published? Well all I can tell you is how I am trying to do that. The #1 thing is to get an agent. If that doesn't work, try re-writing your query letter and re-sending it or find new agents to send it to. A query letter is a small synopsis of your work. Kind of like what you would find on the inside of a book jacket. Something that tells a little about you and the book. Something that will really reel them in! Here are some sites to go to to find agents (remember to research each agent and find out if you are the right fit for them and what they are looking for in a query letter). Here are some of the sites that really helped me:

Start with this one first! It was the best. I went through the entire list and e-mailed every agent that I thought would fit the bill. Some only wanted paper/snail mail queries so I skipped those. I am going green like many agencies and I couldn't afford the money to print and mail to all of them so I did all the e-mailed ones first. If I didn't get a response then I was going to do the paper/snail mail ones. I was't going to give up no matter how many rejections! I knew that this was an awesome book and that I had soooo much more to share!

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/3575/wn/writerstext-uspublishers.html

http://www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp

http://www.spywriter.com/litagency5.html This guy really kept me going! Check out how many query letters it took him. He's got me beat. I sent out 350 individual query letters (do not spam agents, they do not like that and you will most likely be rejected. Personalize each query. It's slow but do it!).

http://www.author-network.com/agents2.html

I also went to Stephanie Meyers website here http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

and read about how she did it, got a subscription for a month to writers market http://www.writersmarket.com/ and went to Janet Evanovich's website http://www.evanovich.com/. This is where I learned to write a query letter. Then by researching on agents sites I found out more and more. When agents tell you that your work is not right for them but offer suggestions, take those suggestions as if they were pure gold. Take them into consideration. I did. An agent told me that it wasn't long enough. I had about 16 ideas in the book then. So I added a bunch more and it really has been good advice!

So #1 FINISH YOUR BOOK

#2 get family and friends to help you edit it

#3 Send out a million query letters and don't give up until you get an agent or if you have tried your best, then go for a publishing house that takes un-agented work. But don't go that route unless you have queried at least 400 agents. Yes really that many!

I hope this helped and good luck!

WOW!

WOW! WOW! WOW! Is all I can say right now. I actually have a literary agent! She is awesome! Already she is putting not only my finished book out to editors but my future book ideas as well! How awesome is that. I knew she was the one when she emailed me for my proposal. It was inspiration! I already emailed the 4 other agents and told them that I already had representation! I am still in shock! Can you believe it! I might actually be in print some day! I can't wait to show everyone all the cool things they can do with very little money, some elbow grease and an imagination!

Oh ! About the image above. I drew it several years ago as a part of my pop couture t-shirt line. I hate to leave my posts pictureless!

Have Fun, Be Creative, Look Fantastic!

Bandana Girl

Just started this blog, www.crazy4bandanas.blogspot.com for the re-launch of my latest book: Bandana Girl, 118 fun and fashionable bandana creations! (working title). I finally finished and sent out queries for Tie It Up, I am awaiting 3 agents response. My friend Sarah, a writer, said that I needed to wait patiently on the agents to respond (a book I am reading said up to 2 weeks) and write the next book in the mean time, in order to not go crazy! So I took her advice and I am back in the game! After that, I can finish a sequel to Tie It Up, called Tie It Up in the Home (working title).

I am really excited to getting back to a schedule but not having the kids in school. I love them at home. We can do stuff together, have friends over, no stressful homework, no getting places on time, did I mention no homework? I am already back to cleaning the house, dinner on the table, and grocery shopping! For most of the vacation I was just writing, creating and photographing and letting everything else just go.

Hope you all had a great vacation! Thanks Heather and Gabby!

Work! Work! Work!

Just sent out over 250 query letters and I got 2 agents back that wanted to see the entire book! So my entire Holiday Season has been dedicated to the book and getting a house full of relatives and kids over sickness after sickness! Did I mention the garage was cleaned out too? Now the real work begins. I have to make up proposals, work on my Tie-It-Up.blogspot.com page, my http://www.tie-it-up/ web page (I want to add video and better graphics). Who knew that writing a book was so much work?