I’m a university graduate!

I am officially a University of North Florida graduate now; just waiting on my B.A. in English literature (minor in History) to arrive in the mail. But I did, I graduated. Now to look for a job to help me save up for law school next year.

In the mean time, I’m catching up on all the books that I’ve been wanting to read (mainly series). Though I have read 3 books in their entirety already, I’m holding off on writing a review of them until I’m through with the series (Unraveling #1, Undone #1.5, and Clockwork Angel #1). You can check out my reviews of each book separately on my goodreads: http://dft.ba/-5DrM and when I’ve finished each of the series in their entirety I’ll write up reviews for them. Right now I’m reading Every Day by David Levithan so I am reading stand-alone novels, too. I just have a lot of genre fiction series I want to read as well.

I guess that’s all I have to update on. Keep an eye on updates for those reviews and until next time.

Blogging Fail

I seriously meant to blog at least once a month when I said I would in my last blog in January, but things got hectic with my last three classes. But I graduate with my B.A. in English Literature (minor in History) on April 26th at 4PM so I’ll have more time to remember to blog about things I’m into and my daily life after that. I’m so excited. I just turned in a final paper for one of my classes earlier today and I’m turning in my last final paper for another class on 4/24 (during final exam week) and taking my last final exam for another class on 4/22. And I’m finished with this semester’s reading materials/novels so all I have to do is what that last paper and study for the final exam. I’m so freakin’ excited to graduate in 2 weeks!

But anyway, I guess I’ll talk about some things I’ve been into lately while I’m typing this up as it’s only fair.

I haven’t been able to read as much this semester since I’ve had novels to read for two of my classes and then history texts to read for my other class, but I’ll recommend a few of the books I did read:

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult – I read this the weekend before the semester started in early January and really enjoyed it. Basically if you’re a fan of wolves than you’ll enjoy this as it all circles and ties back to the behaviors of wolves and how a wolf pack compares to the way relations of members in a family work. The ending is quite mind blowing since it really ties up the wolf plot of the novel with the contemporary so nicely. I highly recommend this novel. You can see my review on goodreads: http://dft.ba/-5zO0

The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater – I read these books over winter break and fell in love with this trilogy. The werewolves are definitely unique in the way they shift back and forth between human and wolf based on the weather temperature (the colder it gets causes them to shift from human to wolf and back to human when the weather warms) instead of from the full moon. It’s also a romance and it will naturally give you feels and cause you to cry. But this trilogy is so worth reading because you’ll fall in love with it.

The Raven Boys (#1) by Maggie Stiefvater – This novel will blow your mind at every twist and turn the novel takes so consider yourself warned. But you will love it. I don’t really know how to talk about this novel without giving away major spoilers so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it’s amazing and definitely worth checking out. You can always read the review I wrote for it on goodreads: http://dft.ba/-5zN_ (be warned, it contains spoilers).

The Madness Underneath (#2 of The Shades of London series) by Maureen Johnson – This novel, just gah, so many feels. You can see my review for this novel on goodreads: http://dft.ba/-5zyK (be warned that this review contains spoilers).

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan – This is a novel about a group of teens and how 9/11 affected each, and also how 9/11 brought this group together as friends. My review on goodreads: http://dft.ba/-5AMt

And that’s it for this post. I’ll probably talk about my make-up favorites next post since I’ve been wearing make-up regularly each day for the past couple months (I know, shocker). But honestly, I feel so much better about myself now; it’s amazing what a little make-up can do to boost your confidence. Anyway, until next time. (:

New year, new resolutions

I really should blog more. It’s always my main resolutions at the start of a new year, yet I always end up getting distracted from posting. But I’m hoping I can at least post one blog entry a month (starting small to get myself on a schedule). I’m not sure if I’ll post any more of my writing anytime soon just because I haven’t really had much time to finish the stories I am working on due to classes. But instead I’ll probably just post entries about books, shows, and/or classes I’m taking this semester. I’ll be graduating with my B.A. in English Lit this upcoming April and I’m only taking 3 classes this semester so I have a bit more free time than I normally would (since I usually take 4-5 classes in a semester).

But aside from this proclamation I’m making to blog more, there really isn’t anything else I can think to write so I’ll leave it here for now until next time.

Breathing Underwater

A/N: So, this is one of my favorite short stories that I wrote a couple years back. Decided I might as well post it up for others to read and get some feedback on it. Enjoy.

Breathing Underwater

   Leaves crunch beneath my feet as I run through the woods. I cannot say for how long exactly I have been running, just that my legs already feel accustomed to the pace I am traveling at. It had all started with something as simple as a small get together between family and friends, but then he had shown up with her on his arm. The happy new couple, the mere thought of it makes me want to gag.

I had not seen him since he had broken my heart into a million little pieces before walking out of my door without so much as a second glance. We had both screamed at each other that night; me, because I had found out from one of my guy friends that he had cheated on me, and he in an attempt to sway my beliefs. The mere thought of that night still brings tears to my eyes, and my heart would shatter even more if there were anything left of it to be crushed to an infinite number of pieces.

The idea that he could even consider cheating on me had never crossed my mind until he had. And it is because of this double-cross that my trust in him blew up completely and irrevocably in my face. I can’t believe I was so naïve as to think that he even loved me the way I loved him. But that’s not what really bothers me, no. The thing that really irks me is who he cheated on me with; someone that I had thought had looked toward me as a best friend, and I to her, and how she could do something of this extent to me.  In fact, she wasn’t only my friend and confident, but my twin sister.

To say that I feel a pain in my heart would be an understatement as it’s more like my heart has exploded in my chest. Can you survive without a heart? I ponder the question as I come to a halt beside the creek that I used to swim in numerous times as a child with my twin sister, brother, and some of the neighborhood kids.

The crystal clear water is steadily making its way downward in a slow motion, and as I slip off my shoes to dip my feet in, there’s a catch in my breath. I had forgotten how cold the spring had always been. As I get used to the temperature of the cool water on my bare feet, I think of him. I know I should forget about him, especially given what he has done to me, but I can’t help the fact that my mind is continuing to dwell on him and how things might be different if he had not betrayed me with my twin, or anyone else for that matter.

He had told me that he loved me and that we would always be together. What a lie that was as we are no longer a couple anymore and he obviously does not love me as much as I thought he did when he first confessed his feelings. People do not cheat on the ones they love, no matter the circumstances.

They just don’t.

I just feel like screaming my lungs out for thinking that things were perfect between us. Obviously I know differently now, but it would help if I knew what had had gone wrong, and why exactly he had chosen her over me. Instead I’ll settle for jumping feet first into the streaming, cold waters of the creek for now.

The water bubbles all around me, tickling my stomach and underneath of my arms. I stay beneath the surface for as long as I can hold my breath. I keep count while the thoughts continue to swirl in my mind like the water surrounding me is doing.

1…

What happened between us that changed? Did I do something to change his opinion of loving me?

2…

Am I too sensitive? I never thought I was the sentimental type as my mother always did tell me that I needed to not be so cynical and sarcastic about everything; especially when it came to love. But then again, I am so upset to the point of screaming and crying at this current moment over him that I simply cannot tell which way is up and which down. It feels as though my entire world is spinning out of control and I cannot keep up, it is as though I am falling into a pit of nothingness. A bottomless pit.

3…

Can you be overly emotional without being aware of your feelings?

4… 5… 6… 7… 8…

I look above me at the now smooth, glass-like surface. It’s so peaceful. How can something so tranquil at times yet be so dangerous in other circumstances? I blink my eyes at the sparkling rays of sunlight that are shining down and breaking through the surface of the water, dragging my hand through the water to use as a shield in front of my eyes from the glorious sun.

…16…17…18…19…20…

I should go back now before my mother worries. Despite being an adult, she still fusses over me, but I suppose that is one of the only things parents know how to do when it comes to their kids. But it is so tempting to stay in this safe haven that I barely register that I am running out of oxygen and need to surface before I drown.

…44…45…46…47…48…49…

I break for air, gasping with each breath I take as I swim toward the edge. I brush the water from my eyes and take huge gulps as though I had been running miles without stopping. It feels like it. I lay back in the dirt and leaves, looking up into the sky filled with a few of rolling clouds and the dazzling sun while my chest rises and falls in a slow rhythmic motion.

That is when one last thought bursts forth into my mind, and that is that everything will be better from this point on. I may not have Nicholas anymore, but at least I am not dating a two-timing jerk that cares only for his self. Any guy who cheats once will more than likely keep cheating in the long run. And I’m happy for this fresh start that I am being given for anything to begin anew.

The Mythical Pocket Watch

This is my response to tonight’s Inkwell Imaginings prompt:

The attic was a cramped room full to the burst with boxes; dust floated adrift through the confined quarters of the room, causing the boy to sneeze as some of it tickled at the inside of his nostrils. Aside from that, it was all normal save for the odd glow coming from a very old framed portrait leaning up against the wall that was full-length. The gilted frame was coated in a thick layer of dust. In the portrait was a sea that was literally glowing with churning waves crashing down on the sandy shore of an island.

Upon closer inspection of that peculiar picture with the magically moving sea there appeared to be something small and gold sticking halfway out of the sand on the beach. Leaning closer toward the frame, the young boy felt himself lose his balance and fall into – not against – and beyond the surface of the portrait.

Inhaling sharply, he went free-falling through open a murky type of mist and blue-ish smoke and wound up gulping in a mouthful of saltwater as he splashed into the water he had just been peering at from the other side of a portrait.

“What in the world – ” he sputtered out.

Looking around while pumping his skinny legs to stay afloat, he was able to find the strip of beach off to his left. At first he tried to fight the current to reach the shore, but then remembered what his dad about going with the ocean drift, which would eventually lead you to land. That took several minutes of him doggy paddling while being carried by any wave that floated into shore.

When he had reached shallow water where he could finally reach the ground, the boy wadded the rest of the way to the sandy shore and looked around. It took him no time to notice the glimmer of gold sticking out of the sand that had piqued his interest so much. He walked over toward it and leaned down to snatch it up once he had reached it: it was a pocket watch.

That was it. All that mystique and wonder he had felt over a simple, old fashioned pocket watch. He felt let down somehow. But then something suddenly happened to the watch. Or rather a couple of somethings. First, he could feel it in his hand thumping from within the device, shortly followed by bright green rays of slight stretching out of the cracks. Lifting the pocket watch up to his ear, he could hear the tinkering of the gadgets on the inside working, making a steady tick tock ticking sound.

What happened next was stranger, unexplainable. He went to pry the rusted edges open, which only engulfed him in the glowing green light that had been escaping through the cracks before, but now encompassed him within it. And just like that it all ended as the boy was snatched through time and space, leaving the mythical beach within portrait. What he saw when the green glow died around him shocked him.

New Year’s Resolutions

Here’s to New Year’s resolutions, which lead to new starts that I will do my very best to keep going. Besides, I figured since wordpress is a legit blog I’d be more inclined to keep up with it. So, the majority of my blogs will mostly be about my day-to-day life so I understand completely if you choose not to follow my posts since I’m pretty dull considering most of my time is spent doing schoolwork what with being a full-time university student and all.  But, anyway, it’s a start.

As I get used to posting on a regular basis, I’ll become more open about some of the fiction I write as I am a writer, as well.  And I suppose that’s all for this first post.  I’ll try to post blog posts on a weekly schedule as I doubt I’ll find the time to post daily entries.  But once a week is doable.  Tah for now.