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“All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither

deep roots are not reached by the frost!

From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

All Posts: 

• A Year in Reflection: 2025 – January I began the year in a sort of depression. The world up in Michigan was isolated, snowy, and dark. I began dreading the dark sunless days and the lack of community I encountered day in and out at my home in the Northern part of the mitten state. This was to be interrupted by […]
• Penny Wishing Guy – A cloudy evening, sun hiding behind the clouds, I walked behind two boys on their way back to their dorm. I was also on my way back to my dorm from the basketball game.  One: tall, dark, and animated. The other: short, pale, and laughing. Crossing a bridge, right before passing my dorm, the two […]
• Experiencing God’s Provision in Everyday Life – How have you seen God’s provision in your life? God’s provision follows you wherever you go if you seek him first and above all–even if you don’t. One thing God has taught me this past year: He will always provide me the things I need. If he doesn’t provide it to me, I probably didn’t […]
• Epilogue: Photograph on the Stair – Read the previous chapter hereRead the beginning here Janey: 21        Christian: 22 Eight months later, Chrissy came to visit me at school. In my senior year, it feels like I am finally exactly where I am supposed to be. The climbing club was out slack-lining, and we went over there for fifteen minutes. There were […]
• Photograph on the Stair: 7 – Read the previous chapter hereRead the next chapter here Janey: 20        Christian: 21 After seeing Abbie cuddle next to Chrissy on the brown-green couch, I looked back at the TV and nestled deeper into my armchair to block them from my view. Before the show finished, I ran up the stairs, past the photograph of […]
• Photograph on the Stair: 6 – Read the previous chapter hereRead the next chapter here Janey: 20        Christian: 21 October, 2021, Chrissy and I drove to Alabama with fifteen other Lee students to spend a weekend climbing. I woke up Saturday morning at the campsite to Lauren’s footsteps running over the gravel road next to our tents. Her face beamed, “you […]
• Photograph on the Stair: 5 – Read the previous chapter hereRead the next chapter here Janey: 19        Christian: 21 Beginning of September 2021, in my junior year of college at Lee, Chrissy transferred in as a math major. He had taken a gap year, spending eight months in Montana, learning how to use climbing as a ministry to spread the Gospel […]
• Photograph on the Stair: 4 – Read the previous chapter hereRead the next chapter here Janey: 17        Christian: 18 October, 2018, during my senior year of high school, I started working in the kitchen at Chick-Fil-A twenty minutes from my house. I sort of began making friends with the people I worked with. They were all friendly. We frequently had debates […]
• Photograph on the Stair: 3 – Read the previous chapter hereRead the next chapter here Janey: 16        Christian: 18 August 2018, it was the beginning of my senior year of high school and Chrissy’s freshman year of college at Embry-Riddle University in Prescott, Arizona. My whole family flew with Chrissy out to Arizona to help him move into his dorm. Neither […]
• My Dad always told me. . .  –  . . . Ask your mom.   . . . Let’s do some burpees.   . . . It’s nice to be nice. It’s mean to be mean.  . . . Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.  . . . Did you pray about it?  . . . Let’s pray about it. 
• Photograph on the Stair: 2 – Read the previous chapter hereRead the next chapter here Janey: 13        Christian: 15 September 2015, Dad starts re-packing the car at 3 P.M. in Asheville, North Carolina. Chrissy was in the locker room with his teammates in a game debriefing from his coach. Dad rearranged the trunk so we could fit Chrissy’s hockey bag and […]
• Photograph on the Stair: 1 – Read the beginning hereRead the next chapter here Janey: 8          Christian: 10 It was 4:30 in the afternoon, the middle of summer in 2010. Rain clouds, one stacked on top of the other, stormed the sky, daintily patting the window. The darkness outside was warmed by the mellow yellow lamps in the kitchen. Upstairs, I […]
• Prelude: Photograph on the Stair – The beginning of a seven part series Janey: 20        Christian: 21 Christmas Eve, 2021. Chrissy, my brother, and his fiancé were sitting at Oma’s kitchen table along with the rest of my family. My neck felt constricted as I choked on the urge of the tears about to burst from my eyes. No, I will […]
• Rhetorical Analysis of 1 Thessalonians 5:5-24 – Paul’s thesis is clear as well as specific throughout the whole book of Thessalonians; he argues in his letter to the Thessalonians that they should be living a life worthy of God. In chapter two, he writes: “we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy […]
• What I Associate with Spring – 8.24.22
• Una Cameron’s Raison d’être – To find out more about Una Cameron, check out the National Library of Scotland’s Website! https://reveal.nls.uk/aiming-high/ Una Cameron was a woman climber and mountaineer in the early 1900s. Her family stayed in Montreux, Switzerland during the outbreak of World War I in 1914 for two years where she found her love for climbing, as her […]
• Dear Josiah. . . – Dear Josiah, The Whim On a whim, I downloaded Hinge, a dating app. Just for fun, we’ll see where it takes us. I matched with a guy, his name was Josiah from North Dakota, an engineer in the Navy. He studied electrical engineering at the Naval Academy in Maryland. So he must be pretty smart. We […]
• How to Keep Fishy Alive – How to Keep Your Betta Fish Alive in Your Dorm as a College Student Level of skill: professional Budget: approximately $50 As a college student, it’s nice to have a friendly face to take care of and see every morning you wake up. Fish are a friendly companion to keep your room alive and fresh, […]
• Best Counselor Bunk – Janey darted back across the street. The all-in bell had already rung, and Janey was a little bit late. She was carrying her blanket above her head so it would not drag on the ground. Leanne met her at the bunkhouse door, “Did you just iron your blanket again?” Janey halted her run, “what?” evasively, […]
• Bread Wars – I was reading on my bed, in the middle of the day on a Wednesday when my roommate opened the bedroom door to leave.            “Janey!” enthusiastic and not my roommate’s voice. Huh? I peeked over the pages only to glimpse a pancake flying at my face. Slap! It smacked my face, hitting my eye and […]
• Moving to Egypt – a short play MORTIMER Guys! I’m moving to Egypt! JEREMIAH (drawing)  Hm? SHAYLI What’s up? MORTIMER I’m moving to Egypt! JEREMIAH Dang, ok. . .   SHAYLI I had a cousin who moved to India once. She left her family and got married to someone over there. My mom doesn’t talk to her anymore.  JEREMIAH Shayli, would […]
• The Wonder of Arahi Hokas – The whole world bobbed up and down. Two pairs of white Arahi Hokas paced the frozen cement in a steady rhythm. Blackness sucked in on all sides of me. A clear light shot a few yards in front of me directly from my forehead as a searchlight. Breath felt heavy and steam circled my head […]
• Becoming Significant in the Face of Insignificance – *Photos from Jimmy Chin’s Instagram*             Jimmy Chin, photographer, mountaineer, climber, skier, overall mountain adventurer, seeks to inspire his audience by providing exciting images of vivid mountainscapes and angular cliffsides. Looking up at the height and sheer face of a cliff can excite utter joy or complete despair in climbers as a competitive basketball game […]
• Ten Things I Do Every Day. . . – 8.24.22
• Year in Reflection: 2022 – January 2022 began much more exciting in comparison to years past; I was traveling abroad for a semester for the end to my Junior year in college. Driving down I-81 on my way back to school a brisk January morning, I imagined what the semester would be like in Cambridge, England with a group of […]
• Wilderness Drop Off – A comedic video series on survival shows and a satirization of the unreality of them. Enjoy! 🙂
• How Powerful is Music Really? – Have you ever been sitting in a movie theater crying, tears welling up in your eyes and toppling down your cheeks? More likely than not, the music in the background had a significant impact on your response to the scene. While it is not the only reason the scene made you cry – it probably […]
• A Baker’s Dozen Worth of Free Danishes – This is an ode, or an appreciation, whatever you want to call it, for Dereck the Bread Man From Cambridge, Dereck wakes up at 03:00 in the morning every day, baking fresh bread to sell at his stand in the market in the Cambridge city-center. He’s been doing this for most of his life. He […]
• Farmhouses and Karaoke Parties – What happens when you bring twenty American college students across the world to tour the UK? . . .#pt. 2 While we were in Northumberland, near Hadrian’s Wall, we stayed in a farmhouse, which overlooked part of the wall.  One evening, as any twenty restless students might, we stayed up late after dinner. It was […]
• Kilimanjaro, Play Auditions, and Protests – What happens when you bring twenty American college students across the world to tour the UK? I still do not really know. . . We traveled North to Edinburgh, Scotland, which was miseried with cold sharp winds and cloudy, snowy weather. One upside to the cold weather was the snow; it snowed one evening during […]
• Stranded on a Metro in Paris at Midnight – Shayli and I were on our way back to our air bnb when the metro suddenly terminated unexpectedly seven miles away from our final stop, which was 1 mile away from our air bnb, for a total of being stranded alone in Paris at midnight eight miles away from the safety of our home.  Only […]
• Our French Waiter and Six Appetizers – We were seated at three tables combined to make room for five people. Waiting for our waiter to take our order. The whole menu was in French. None of us knew french. We were reading the menu, with our phones open to our translator apps. “What is poulette?”  Our waiter finally came up to us: […]
• Snow Tubing and Fondue – On a warm spring day in Switzerland, two of my friends and I went to visit my family friends, the Burgers. After spending a few phone calls organizing our meet-up, they organized the whole day with us. We hopped on a 07:53 train in Zürich, the day of our meeting, waved our last goodbyes to […]
• Black Sheep and a Mystery Man – Something about traveling makes you so weary. We had been traveling for eight hours by train when we finally arrived in Killarney, Ireland, coming from Galway. It should never have taken that long to travel to Killarney, but we were traveling by train; public transport is not always the easiest thing to navigate—or on time. […]
• Skiddaw and an Ice Storm – Hiking Skiddaw in the Lake District in England was an irreplaceable experience: one of my top ten favorite days in England. Eight of us started up the mountain and only four came down. Well, not exactly; we’re all alive and well, but we ended up having to split up for various reasons. We had just […]
• Slacklining and Weed –             Intrigued by a group of Cambridge students slack-lining on Jesus Green in Cambridge, Addison, Zach, and I walked over to them, wondering if they would let us slack line with them. When we got closer, the smell of weed overtook us, and a girl in the center of the group, the most outgoing, welcomed […]
• London and the Tube Man – One of the most thrilling experiences of London was the tube. This was one experience I never expected to enjoy, but I did enjoy traveling on it. I actually looked forward to going into the city every day, just because I got to ride on the tube. It is probably a little strange, but it […]
• Evensong and a Pub –             Pubs in England are a really popular in the evening, and this is especially true from what I have found in the city of Cambridge. If you try to go out to eat with a large group of friends, you better be willing to split up because you might find two to four seats […]
• Meeting Tom the Barista from Bath – Wrapping my coat tighter around my chest and crossing my arms to hold it tight, I tried to warm myself up from the cold winter air of January. My cashmere scarf flapped in the wind, wisping up and down like a kite. Grace followed closely behind me, and we both practically skipped through the quiet […]
• My Mom’s Muscle Shirt – Nope! I got to stay awake. Chrissy blinked his eyes rapidly, stood up, and hopped up and down several times, looking down to his climbing partner, mechanically belaying him up the rock face.  Rising up over the grey and misted mountain-tops, the sun blew the clouds apart and dipped into the sky. Chrissy and Micah […]
• Clementine Guerrilla Warfare – So, there they were. Janey thought Morgan hated her. Morgan thought Janey hated her too. But it all changed one night right before finals of their freshman year of college. They lived in the same dorm across the hall from each other, but they were not friends. The week before finals, Janey came into the […]
• “Here’s to Looking at You, Kid:” Why We Should People Watch – You are sitting at your desk trying to think of the perfect line for one of your characters in the sequel to your bestselling novel. Several ideas glide through your mind, but nothing catches your attention. You decide to clear your head and go for a walk in the park, and as you stroll along […]
• Oma’s Piano – Silken black sheen glows against the sunlight which drips through the open window. Keys colored milky white glitter in poignant musical notes as Oma’s fingers dance across them in rhythmic tune, as notes fly from her fingers onto each key, into its body, into the open air bringing a triumphant chorus of laughter or melancholy […]
• In Newport News, Virginia – Two 4’8” ten-year-olds squat behind the front door of a split-story house in Newport News. Chrissy strides past right into the ambush in Grandpa Jim’s house in Newport News. They chase and lock him in the basement next to the Alligator Pit in Newport News. He hoists himself out a tiny square window to hunt […]
• Slip Slop Running Shoes – Poem after Allison Hutchcraft’s “Alice Goes for a Run, Considers the Year, How She Barely Shook” Her shoes smack the muddy street, racing with the wind like a lost  kite on the shore. Cicadas and crickets  crackling in the woods at her      running, away from her plush chair, away from her self? Bookshelves […]
• “A ready tongue is an evil tongue”: Silence in The Woman Warrior – “Chinese women are being squeezed out of the workplace by employers who penalize them if they have children” (Qin). Even today, women are suppressed, as they have been in China for years, constantly being told to be silent and passive. From birth onwards, boys have been favored over girls, who are taught to always be […]
• Year in Reflection: 2021 – January: The whole year started slowly, but the very first day of the year, my brother and I ran half a marathon of sorts: one mile every hour for 12 hours. I ended the day feeling sore and satisfied. In between every hour, we taste tested different cereals and rated them on a scale from […]
• Henry Stole a Watermelon – Because his friends dared him. Because it was county tradition. Because the dogs bayed at him through the open window. Because he stumbled through barbed wire fence. Because Farmer Rind howled at Henry like his hounds. Because the watermelon wobbled in his hands. Because it tasted like sweetened success. Because his friends: Bill, Jim, Pete, and Don followed […]
• Pilate Breaking Gender Roles in Song of Solomon – “I wish I’d a knowed more people. I would of loved ‘em all. If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more” (Morrison 336). Pilate Dead in Song of Solomon (1977) by Toni Morrison surprises readers because she allegedly has no navel. Morrison creates Pilate to contrast with Macon, her brother, and Milkman, her […]
• I Don’t Like This Penny, Not One Bit – CHARACTERS Neal: He is medium height in his twenties. He is wearing jeans ripped at the knees with a dirty t-shirt.  Penny: Neal’s girlfriend. She is short, in her twenties, and wearing sandals, a baseball cap, and shorts with a t-shirt.  Guy: Climber dude belaying his friend near Penny and Neal the whole time. OPEN […]
• “Prowling” in response to Sunni Brown Wilkinson’s poem “Don’t Feed the Coyotes” – Coyotes moan at the moon. Abandoned mines,      pacing. Like machines moving forward in blackness, faces      questioning the textured tracks of the carts, which used to wheel dirt on the trampled path to mounds of earth, rusting and old lamps on eroding handles,      thrashing hardened cave walls filling the halls with drip drops […]
• The Bag – He stands tense at the border Short tan soldiers rifle through each bag Scrutinizing every detail. Deep green caps. His red carpet bag weighs him down; Bag filled with      Hope Joy      Light People shift fretfully in line, shuffling To each checkpoint Simply one of many along the way. He inches forward; he’s next. […]
• The Climbing Ethos – When people today think of rock climbing, they might think of crazy high cliffs, dare devils and adrenaline junkies, but there is so much more to climbing than just the adrenaline rush climbers get when they set themselves against impossible odds. Climbers are continuously drawn in to climbing through the lifestyle found, friendships formed, and […]
• A Discovery –             The mildewy texture of the cave wall lit up as Reed and Isabella walked around the corner with their flashlights. They had been wandering for hours, and it was probably dark outside. Drip, drop. Water fell from the ceiling of the cave, and it broke the rhythm of the steady tread of their feet. […]
• A View from the Window – Peering out of her window, a girl balanced her chin on her fist, gazing into the starless night. Lights flickered from tall buildings, which reflected in her eyes. She angled her head to one side, trying to ignore her parents fighting in the other room and listened to the sirens blare in the distance. Muffled […]
• Stone Fort – Because of Covid-19, schools across the country have had to find new ways to interact and learn, and as a result my school cancelled Spring Break and elongated Easter Break. However, to replace Spring Break, they introduced two “Wellness Days” to the academic calendar which are scattered evenly through the year to help alleviate some […]
• A New Beginning – I creaked in the wind as if my floor boards were not strong enough to hold me up any longer. The sun set behind me, and I could see the golden hue of the clouds changing colors as the sun fell from the sky. Vines crawled up my brick and spiders hid in the corners […]
• Another Year in Reflection: 2020 – January My second semester of college started mid-January, and it was a tough semester for me. I honestly wanted to be home all semester, but school being a ten hours’ drive away made it difficult to visit home whenever I wanted to. But it was a time I found to strengthen my friendships with everyone […]
• Winnie’s Day at the Beach – The Wind floated through her white curly fur as she lifted her chin up to the sky basking in the glorious sunshine on that cold fall morning. She left tiny paw prints along the grainy sandy earth beneath her tiny four legs. Water roared around her crashing to the soft wet ground. It splashed her […]
• A Year in Reflection – January: January of 2019 was an uneventful month. However, this was a very exciting month for me. This was the month I toured Lee University for the first time, and the month of when I decided I would attend Lee for the next four years of my life. A ten hour drive from home, it […]
• On A Farm In Iowa — Fully edited with pictures! – On a Farm in Iowa  Introduction             With rolling hills, one after the other, the Iowa countryside welcomes travelers from far and wide with its beautiful scenery. In early spring, when farmers have plowed their fields, you see the rich black dirt by the side of the road as you drive swiftly past. In the […]
• • CW Awards — A Journey of Faith – Wow, it’s the end of another school year. This experience in Creative Writing has been amazing and I have to give a shout out to Janey Hall for being my partner throughout the whole thing. I have a few awards I’d like to give my fellow Midnight Writer. It’s been a pleasure, Janey! Best […] via […]
• S11 ~ CW Awards – To Faith, The best small group partner! Thank you for being my partner this past semester. I truly enjoyed reading your stories and getting to know you better! Yay, for the Midnight Writers, we made it! Most Creative Chapter Award “The Fate of the Dragon Knight” For writing a story which entranced me through the […]
• S10 ~ We All Need A Friend – Assignment: Round Robin.  The day was warm and the countryside was dense with rich green grass, the kind you could safely sink your feet into. I paused to breathe the fresh scent of springtime and admire the view before I headed out. A gentle wind signaled that change was in the air, and I was […]
• S9 ~ First and Last Lines – Assignment: Write both the opening and closing line to any ten novels. They may be chosen randomly or with a purpose, as in ten sci-fi or historical fiction novels. Which is your favorite and why?   I had a lot of trouble picking which books I wanted to write the first lines for. I went […]
• S8 ~ If Ted’s Life Were A Movie – Assignment: Answer the following questions – What song would be the film score for your story? What book would be your main character’s favorite? What TV show(s) would they watch? Perhaps do a celebrity casting. Which famous Hollywood actors would portray your characters best in a movie? What song would be the film score for […]
• S7 ~ Space Symposium – Assignment: Imagine your main character has been invited to give a speech. To whom would they be speaking? What would the topic be? Why? Write the speech and the scene. “Speech! Speech!” The crowd of engineers and scientists cheered chaotically as Ted strode up to the stage. Earlier, Ted had been asked to come to […]
• • On a Farm In Iowa ••• Plum Crazy — A Journey of Faith – You guys should go check out Faith’s ghostwrite of my memoir! It made me laugh! She was very creative with how she chose to describe the scene of my grandpa Ted and his brothers in the back of the car spitting plum seeds out the window at cars passing by. For this assignment I was […]
• S6 ~ Dinah, the Ornery Pony: the Remix – Assignment: Rewrite any scene or chapter from your story from another character’s point of view. Original post: Dinah, the Ornery Pony Dinah enjoyed her days on the farm, at least for the most part. There were some days where she wished she were elsewhere, but on the whole, she was content. Most of her time […]
• S5 ~ Only A Pawn Ghost Write – Assignment: GHOST WRITE: Write the fifth chapter for another student in class. Step into his or her character, setting, conflict, etc, and create what you think would happen next. Perhaps write a scene of flashback or add an interesting backstory for a character.  I don’t know that much about chess, but I hope that my […]
• S4 ~ Madlibs – Assignment: Create a mad lib from a paragraph from any one of your stories (either semester). Remove ten key words; replace them with a blank and the part of speech in parentheses, like this: ____ (verb). Words: 1) noun, thing 2) noun, person 3) noun, person 4) 3 verbs ending in -ing 5) verb 6) verb […]
• S2 ~ When Life does not go your way. . . – Assignment: List ten quotes related to your theme. Attribute each quote to its author. At least one quote should be your own words, and one quote should be from Scripture. “Fairness is not an attitude. It’s a professional skill that must be developed and exercised.” ~ Brit Hume “When you see something that is not […]
• S1 ~ “Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast” – Assignment: Write a scene with one of your main characters on any reality tv show. What show would he or she be on? What would your character do or say? Stay true to character, but have fun with it!  Hot and humid, the sun beat down upon Ted’s back as he sat in a boat on […]
• Sandbox ~Warmer Weather – Assignment: Write a scene of a person reading your completed novel project. Imagine your intended audience. Consider questions like: How do they find your writing? What do they think and feel about it? Does it inspire them to action or new beliefs? It had rained all week; the wind gave a frightful chill to anybody […]
• Pangram ~ An Important Phone Call – Assignment: Create a pangram mini-story, where each sentence begins with consecutive letters of the alphabet.  Anne casually drove down the dirt country road in her small white pick up truck. Bursting through the sunshine, she felt full of life and energy for the upcoming year. Cars from beside her zipped past her as her truck […]
• SA ~ The Parent Trap – Assignment: Complete a Story Analysis form (SA) for a well known story,  such as a classic Disney tale, CS Lewis, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.  Title: Parent Trap Author: Disney Genre: Family/comedy/romance Audience: young girls, family   Characters List the characters in the story and give a thorough description of each one (3-4 […]
• J17 ~ All About Journaling – Assignment: In your opinion, what is the value of regular journaling, if any? What is your favorite way to journal? How often? Do you think you will maintain your writing blog when class is over?    I like to keep a journal for a couple reasons. One: I can look back and see how far […]
• CW 17 ~ Special Memories – Assignment: Choose either ten books or songs (or a combination of the two) to create a media autobiography of your life. They need to relate to some important aspect or memory in your life Winnie the Pooh Of course, I could not complete this list without Winnie the Pooh, the loving old teddy bear. When […]
• J12~ Mysterious Hair Supplies – Originally posted on Island Girl Blogs:
  Women and men all around the world try to solve this mystery daily, where do ponytail holders disappear too? Ponytail holders come in large packs of up to 50, but somehow after two days there are only three left! Where do they go? Who takes them? Is there a…
• J15 ~ On Christmas Eve – Assignment: Describe your favorite Christmas memory. What do you like about the holiday? Does your family have any special traditions? Anything you don’t like? Whenever I think about Christmas, I think about all the memories from past Christmases spent with my family: Decorating sugar cookies with my aunt, going to my church’s Christmas Eve service (which […]
• CW15 ~ All Because of a Stray Snowball – Assignment: Write a sentimental, inspirational Christmas story that touches the heartstrings. Think Hallmark network or Lifetime movie. Mary sat with her hands folded in her lap at her window looking out as each snowflake drifted slowly and delicately to the dried, browned grass. Gently, she wiped a tear from her eye as she thought about […]
• J14 ~ Writing Tips – Assignment: What writing skills could you pass on to others? Write a list of three-to-five of your best writing tips. Include examples where you can.              My biggest struggle with writing is not knowing where to start. And so, because of this I usually end up putting off whatever writing I need to complete until […]
• CW 14 ~ A Wrong Turn – Write a creative piece using ALL of the terms given in class.  Kennedy – bellAutumn – spontaneousFaith – train tracksJacey – cashierAbby – NutcrackerChristina – excitementKimi – Lightning McQueen Laura – chocolateMarina – board gamesJaney – BarbieElissa – stuffed animalsToby – teddy bearDaniel – LegosShailyn – smilesStacy – shinyMs. Gaines – mom and dad “’Bout ready […]
• Christmas Music – Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love decorating my house and yard, seeing everyone else’s Christmas decorations, and all of the camaraderie we have with our friends. My absolute favorite part of the season is going to my church’s Christmas Eve service, the one where everyone has a candle they […]
• J13 ~ Till Death do Us Part – Assignment: Have you ever been in a wedding? What do you like about weddings? Tell about a special memory if you have one. Or what would you like for your wedding to be like some day? What little girl does not dream of her own wedding one day? I know I certainly dreamt of it […]
• CW13 ~ 12 Days Until Christmas – Assignment: Write a scene describing either a wedding or party without using the letter E. Yes, that’s right — no E! Do your best!   Read and try to find any letter “E“. You won’t find one! As autumn slams to a stop, in sails Christmas day. My family starts to plan for Christmas day […]
• J12 ~ The Mystery of Emotion – Assignment:  Has there ever been a mystery in your life that you couldn’t solve that still remains a mystery? I have always felt intrigued by what goes on behind people’s emotions. What is behind their motive for doing what they do? Do they have an unhappy past? Or maybe they are scared of the future. […]
• CW12 ~ A Murder on 5th Street – Assignment: The Mystery Mansion. Write a mystery involving these characters: a butler, a gardener, a cook, and a detective. Your story should end with the detective making an arrest. Test Your Awareness: Whodunnit? It was about six o’clock in the morning, and the air felt cool and sharp to his face as the detective took a […]
• CW11 ~ Sam and Emma – Assignment: Write a dialogue between the two characters in the picture above. Who are they? What are they talking about? Do your best to show who, what, where, when, why, and how in a short amount of time. Some narration is fine, but the main context of discovery should be dialogue. *Note: this picture is […]
• Protected: J11 ~ A Difficult Conversation – This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below. Password:
• Favorite endings – XOXO, Janey Lou
• J10 ~ A Family of Strength – Assignment:  Have you ever met someone famous? Tell the story. OR what famous person would you like to meet and why? I have never met someone famous, and quite frankly, I do not really have any desire to meet anyone famous specifically. However, I would not hate to meet someone famous. It seems like it […]
• CW10 ~ Ruggedly Handsome? – Assignment: Write about a chance meeting with a famous person — past or present. Anya skidded to a stop on the ice. Her hockey skates shredded the ice creating a snow cone sort of consistency and leaving snowflakes on the glass. Only eight years old and captain of her team, she had accomplished a lot […]
• J9 ~ Homi – Assignment: Rewrite an event from your life from a different point of view. The event can be positive or negative, life-changing or mundane. This journal entry is from the perspective of a little boy who I met on a mission trip to Costa Rica. He was the whole mission team’s favorite little boy during the […]
• CW 9 ~ A Basketball Game – Assignment:  Write FOUR descriptive paragraphs or short vignettes, each representing different experiences of four unique visitors to a specific setting. Lou: Whistles blew all around him, fans went into an uproar in the bleachers, and his coach started yelling instructions at him. Lou panted heavily. Sweat dripped down his face and fell to the floor […]
• J8 ~ My Favorite Things – Assignment:  It’s mid-semester and time to reflect on what you’ve written so far. Which Journal entry is your favorite and why? Which Creative Writing assignment is your favorite and why? Do you have a least favorite? Do you admire anyone else’s work? One of my lifelong dreams is to become a writer. But a writer […]
• CW8 ~ Oma – Assignment: Free write. This week you may submit any piece of creative writing you wish. The other day my grandmother, or as I call her Oma, which is German for Grandma, dropped by my house to pick something up. I came into the kitchen where she and my mother were chatting and said hello to […]
• J7 ~ Daniel in the Lion’s Den – Assignment: Do you have a favorite Bible story? What is it and why? Or do you have a favorite Scripture that has be meaningful to you recently? Daniel 6 (You can read it here) Daniel in the Lion’s Den: one of my favorite Bible stories. I love this story because it shows 1) how courageous […]
• CW7 ~ A Brand New Fishing Pole – A retelling of Genesis 37-45
• J6 ~ To Like, or Not to Like, That is the Question – Assignment: Do you like poetry? Why or why not? Include a copy of your favorite poem and explain why you like it best. It could be something famous or something you have written. I have always found poetry inspirational and intriguing. I find it mind blowing sometimes how writers can have such a consistent meter […]