The Sunrise Story

Today is my last day at the beach. I'm always surprised at how much I yearn to go home at the end of a vacation.  Don't get me wrong, I adore the beach! The ocean. The sand. The sun. The cool breeze. The waves. Peace. All of that is why I come back again and again every chance I get...but, I love my home too. Waking up and writing morning pages at my desk. Walking Bella. A cup of coffee from my own coffee pot. Reading a good book. Just BE-ing. Today I celebrate vacations. I celebrate the beach. I celebrate family. I also celebrate home.  Thank you to Ruth Ayres for providing this space to share our celebrations. Please join us and share your own!

I'm at the beach. Wells Beach in Maine. The first two days were cloudy and cool. I woke up today to sunshine. Here are some pictures for you... Our beach house...mere steps from the beach. As soon as we arrived, we walked to the beach. YAY! We are finally here! Jack has begun his search for sea glass! Jillian and Grammy test the water! Jack is STILL searching for sea glass! Our first family game night! Uno ATTACK. The Marys telling secrets & figuring out technology together...yikes! 5:00am on the beach. Morning pages.  An early morning selfie... Reading starts our day. Auntie Chelle & Jillian selfie. This trolley looked like a good idea. (It wasn't!) The famous lobster roll from The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, ME. Best. Lobster roll. Ever. Waiting for the trolley...again.   Our version of rebellion. This was only our first day and a half. The sun and the beach and my family are waiting for me...

  from our last trip to the beach OBX Today I celebrate a summer filled with writing and learning and meeting new people. I attended the All Write Conference in June. July was filled with day after day of writing at the Invitational Summer Institute with the teachers at the Northern Virginia Writing Project. My goal is to carry those days with me into August and the school year ahead. I want to write morning pages everyday. I want to incorporate some fiction writing into my daily writing practice. I want to continue with my writing group. These are the goals I'm working towards. Today, my goal is simple. Pack my car. (Make sure I have my notebook and pens!) Drive north. Meet my family. Drive to the beach in Maine. We are celebrating my mom's 70th birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! The ocean is always good for the soul...the beach with family is exactly what I need.  Thank you to Ruth Ayres for providing this space to share our celebrations. Please join us...

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers . Do you have dreams? Kids are good at dreaming. I find many adults struggle with it. Speaking for myself, I get so caught up in the everyday drudgery of life, that dreams get nudged aside until they disappear.  It's important to have dreams. I've been writing about my dreams in my notebook and so I thought I'd share my dreams here... 1. Writing a book.  While I'd love to get a book published, my dream is to write a book...to complete the act of writing it.  I've started on this dream and it's hard and challenging and exciting and amazing.  2. Living at the beach.    I love the water, the waves, the ocean smell, the seafood, the sand...all of it! The Outer Banks is my favorite place in the...