Wrapping things up! :)

Helloooo!

I have been totally lost today… Scatter brain, remember? I cleaned up my apartment and am 95% done with packing. I have a last day of work tomorrow and on Thursday I'll be on a plane, on my way to my other home.

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately; I guess I just felt like I had nothing profound to say. My life has been pretty dull lately, but in a couple of days it will pick up! And you can be sure to hear everything about it ;) 

I'm not sure if I'll have time to blog during my vacation, and since I won't be coming back until New Year's Eve, this might very well be the last post this year. This brings me to my actual topic of the day: 2014. Next year I'm really hoping to blog more and make this blog more interesting and appealing to you. I would  like to change the appearance (for Blogger) and try to reach more readers. So, if you want to suggest ways to improve my blog, please leave a comment below! :) Every thought is greatly appreciated. 

I doubt you will have enough time to miss me, but in case you do, you can always follow me on Instagram and enjoy the pics I post :) But, if I don't see you anymore until January, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the year!

Talk to you later! <3

New beginnings for everyone! (Not you, Iira)

So far this week has been crazy, and it's only Wednesday. Well, I guess it's a good thing; at least time goes by faster. And I could just skip right into next Thursday! 8 days and I'll be USA bound<3

Yesterday I started making serious notes about my novel. Seems weird, considering how long I've actually worked on that novel, and how much I've told you. But I've never been that good in taking notes about anything, so this was a big step ;) And the more I wrote, the more motivation I gained, which is always a good thing. I'm going to start working on the notes again in a few, but wanted to blog first! I feel like I've been neglecting you and that's not good :/

We dined out yesterday with some family friends, and it was really nice. It was a special occasion, too, because one of them is moving to Germany on Friday. Today I said goodbye to him, and to be honest, I feel kinda empty now. He and I have known each other since we were little kids, it's going to be so weird not being able to see him anytime I want to. With whom am I going to watch the Oscars from now on?! 

Seriously, I have to move the heck away from here, too.

Ok, I'm calm now. 

Next year is going to be different. I don't know how, but somehow it will. I can't wait! Oh, wait, I totally can. I have an awesome vacation planned before this year comes to an end. 

Talk to you soon<3

Getting ready for Vacay!

Guys, next week I will be on vacation. YES! Seriously, I'm due. I haven't had a vacation in a year. I worked through the entire summer and saved up my vacation days for December, because I'm going to Florida with my family! :) I am so excited; this is my 7th time traveling to the States, but I've never been to Florida before.

I wanted to share our plans with you, so here's what we will be doing/seeing:

*Everglades

*NHL Game in Tampa 

*Universal Studios Orlando

*Daytona Beach

*NASA (Cape Canaveral)

*Key West 

*Swimming with dolphins

*Miami

*Sawgrass Mills

*A lot of beach life; body boarding, tanning, relaxing

We have 11 days to do all this, and we've got it all figured out! Turns out I'm actually pretty good at planning trips and stuff ;) If any of you, my lovely readers, are from Florida or have traveled there, I welcome all ideas and tips you have to share! 

10 days to go!

See you, soon, FL! <3

My Novel Soundtrack

Everyone has their own way of building and writing a novel, and for me, music plays an important part in every stage of the process. There are certain songs in which I've attached certain scenes and every time I hear them, they make me think of that scene. Each time there is something new and something to improve. When I write, I prefer to do so in silence. 

It's not just music that I find inspiring. Movies, books, walking around, pretty much anything can get the creative juices flowing. Something seemingly very simple can make you think of something, and before you know it, you have a basic plot all lined up. It's amazing how the mind works. 

But, for this post, my main point is music. Here are three songs that all have something to do with the novel, that I'm working on:

Evergrey: Different Worlds

Snow Patrol: Just Say Yes

Miley Cyrus: Stay

These songs don't really have anything in common, except that they all have a meaning to me. So yeah, that's my Novel Soundtrack for you guys:) I'm sure there will be more songs later. 

Enjoy the remains of this weekend! I'm off to work now. 

About people, writing and blogging

For writers, it's very important to surround themselves with people who also write, and with people who support their passion. I fully acknowledge that fact, but the truth is, I don't really have that many friends who love writing as much as I do. My friends and family do support me, but there isn't anyone that I could just sit down with, and have a deep conversation about writing.

Because of that, I rarely talk about my writing with my friends. I feel pushy if I bring it up and I don't want my friends to think I'm forcing them to talk about it. Sometimes they ask, and I get my chance to ramble. There are a couple of people, who ask frequently, and genuinely seem to be interested. You know who you are :) And you have no idea how much it means to me, that you care enough to listen and exchange thoughts. 

I guess this is where blogging comes into the picture. I'm writing this for me and for you, and my readers are very important to me. Just wanted to put that out there, in case you haven't realized how much I appreciate the time you guys take to read whatever I write here. I've been on Blogger for three years and I'm also importing these posts to Glipho (link: HERE). I'm very much impressed with Glipho and have gained a good number of followers. Thank you! 

Surrounding myself with people who love writing as much as I do, has become easier lately. I hope more people will find their way into my blog and we can all widen our circles still. I love being on Blogger and Glipho, where I can talk about writing as much as I want to, knowing there are thousands of others alike. 

Have a great weekend, everyone! <3

Updates on yours truly + plans for the rest of the year!

Hello, everyone. Another week has gone by and I have been swamped! Besides my job, I've been doing a lot of work at home; I got my new bed delivered and since the bed is a lot bigger than my old one, and I live in a studio apartment, I needed to improvise. I'm getting rid of one of my junk drawers, and now I have to figure out where to place all the junk. Right now it's all laid on my coffee table. I had to move all my furniture except for my couch and TV stand, and I'm very happy with the result. I still have way too much stuff, and I'm planning a major cleaning process starting in January. I wish I didn't hate cleaning so much...

The reason I'm not starting until next year, is that from now until December 18th I will be working a lot, and on December 19th I'm traveling to the States! Finally time for my summer vacation! ;) I am beyond excited and we have so much fun things planned! I will definitely take a lot of pictures and share my vacation with you guys, and I will also do some filming! Yay:) Talking about filming, sorry for the lack of videos since my very first one.. I'm not even going to explain what happened when I filmed a new video, so yeah, it will be a little while until I have something new for you! 

Getting a new bed and having to move stuff around the apartment has a lot of perks to it. Not only do I have a fabulous new bed (it really is amazing. I'm so happy I want to cry), and a new look to my place all together, but also a new, more inspiring environment. I feel like lately I've been lacking some inspiration... Writing hasn't come so easily, but I've been working on my stories in my head, which (as you may have read on this blog before) can sometimes be very exhausting mentally. I'm so bad at taking notes, and I lost a few nights worth of sleep because I had way too much stuff to think about. So for now, I'm taking a conscious break from working on my novel, and just focusing on other things. I will still write every day, but I am not exaggerating when I say I'm in serious need of a vacation. Three more weeks, you guys...

Do share, if the mental exhaustion sometimes gets you, too. And please let me know, if you have any tips! Hope y'all are having a good week so far! :)

-iira

My Bucket List

This post is way long over due; I don't know why it has taken me so long to do it. I'm actually a sucker for lists, so this was a lot of fun! Take a look and I hope this inspires you to make your own Bucket List! :)

*Tour around the world; my current must-go destinations are: Hawaii, Australia, Cook Islands, Abu Dhabi and Rio De Janeiro. Route 66 is also a life-long dream of mine, and happening next summer! S-T-O-K-E-D. 

*Go spot airplanes landing and taking off at St. Maarten

*Become a professional writer

*Dye hair pink (at least temporarily with a color that washes off)

*Swim with dolphins (this will happen next month!!!)

*Move to the USA

*Get a tattoo. Maybe? Still debating this... 

*Pack up your stuff, sell what you don't need, including your apartment (or lease it) and go somewhere. See where you'll end up.