Major Update

Since I haven't been blogging a lot lately, here's an update on some of the things that have been going on in my mind lately. I hope you enjoy it!

We're already halfway through the month, which means Camp NaNoWriMo is halfway through. In the beginning, I was striving for 55,000 words, but I reluctantly knocked my word count down to 50,000 words. Because you can't control the crazy things that life throws your way, I've had to lower my word count again! Had this been towards the beginning of the month, I would have been disappointed in myself, but that's not the case anymore. I'm not disappointed because I know my struggles better than anyone else, and I know that I've been going through a lot, so just the fact that I have over 10,000 words amazes me. Writing an entire novel in 30 days isn't as easy as it sounds, but it's not dreadful either. Because I haven't thrown in the towel yet, I think it proves how dedicated I am, and how much I really want this for myself!

As most of you have heard, George Zimmerman was found "not guilty" for the murder of Trayvon Martin. As much as I would love to rant and rave about why I'm against this verdict, I realize that I'm in the midst of creating a name for myself as an Author. I have an image to uphold. Sometimes that means falling back a little and let everyone else do the talking. Like the election, this verdict brought out people's true colors. The night of the verdict, I had to unfollow some people on Twitter and unfriend some people on Facebook. I refuse to allow such negative comments bring me down, or make me feel ashamed for being African-American. No matter what anyone says, they can never make me feel bad for being African-American. I'm comfortable in my skin, and if people aren't okay with that, then that's their problem! Whether I think this case was about racism or not is irrelevant, but what's relevant is that a child was still murdered; parents still lost their child. So instead of focusing on skin color, focus on the fact that a child is dead! As a country, we may have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go!

This week, we lost an amazing and beautiful little girl, Talia Castellano. If you don't know her, then you have some serious homework to do! My heart was heavy when I learned that Talia passed away due to her battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 7. Although she was only 13, she made a huge impact this world. Although she's no longer here physically, I'm positive her legacy will still live on. So before you say you can't do something, think of Talia and everything she was able to accomplish while she was also battling cancer. She is definitely a hero (well, heroine)!

During this month, I planned to outline my next novel, and write it in August before I started school again in September. This novel is entitled, Beyond Their Beliefs, and deals with the heavy subject of interracial dating. The idea came to me back in 2010, but it was originally an idea for a movie, back when I aspired to be a Screenwriter. Since 2010, so much has changed; for example, in 2011 my father was diagnosed with renal failure, so I felt more compelled to share a story dealing with an illness such as renal failure. In 2012, I changed my mind about wanting to be a Screenwriter to NEEDING to be an Author. During this realization, I've met some amazing men and women who encourage and support me daily! I didn't think BTB was a story that needed to be told at the time. After seeing people's reactions to the Cheerios' commercial, I've decided BTB is something the public needs to read! Interracial dating is something that's looked down on majorly. It shocks me that the close minded people that are so against interracial dating only sees interracial dating as a black and white thing. They don't realize that an Asian person dating a Caucasian person is also interracial. Fortunately, my parents only care about my sisters and my happiness, and whether that person is Caucasian, Japanese, or whatever they support us and stand by us. You can't help who you fall in love with...it doesn't work that way.

Recently, I have been on this fitness journey with my "twin" sister, Nay. We're not really twins, we're a year and some months apart, but we might as well be twins because we're exactly alike, but also very different. Anyway, I've been on this new kick where I'm working out every night. So far I've done calm yoga, core yoga, lifted weights, and did squats. I've been participating in the July Squat Challenge, and as of tonight, I'll be doing 205 squats. This fitness journey, to me, isn't about losing weight, it's more about being healthy. I've been doing yoga on and off for this year, and to this day, I can barely hold my own weight. People think yoga is easy, but if you can't hold your own body weight, then you're going to run into some serious problems. So I've decided to put a pause on the yoga, and work on strengthening my arms. My sister is the best person to workout with because not only do we like the competition every once in a while, we also motivate each other. Last night when I didn't think I could get through my arm workouts, she was right there rooting me on, and I got through it! Tonight is 205 squats, abs, and arms, so wish me luck! Since my iPhone never leaves my side, the apps that have made this fitness journey a complete breeze are Cody and Nike Training Club. Cody helps you keep track of your workouts and NTC contains different workouts. Even the 15 minute target area workouts are a killer!

Last, but certainly not least, if you remember, instead of coming up with a list of resolutions that I'd forget, I came up with a to-do list. Since it's halfway through the year, I decided to go back and take a look at my list. So here's the list and my progress:

• Read at least 30 books (I've read 16...and I'm currently reading 2 at this moment)
• Complete at least 2 scrapbooks (I've completed 1)
• Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo (I'm currently participating in Camp NaNo)
• Publish a novel (currently editing it)
• Write my second novel (planning it)
• Start a portfolio
• Get back to doing yoga (in the process)
• Make more time for myself (if only this were true!)
• Get an A in at least 1 class (I finished last semester with 2 Bs...it was a rough semester, but I'll get it this semester)
• Believe in myself (done)
• Blog more frequently (failing miserably!)
• Buy NKOTB'S new album (you already know this is completed!)