I can't believe I just did this.

I finished National Novel Writing Month yesterday. I wrote over 50,000 words this month. I still can't believe I did it. I know I was going to at least try it this month, but then when I got to week three and more than 10 thousand words got deleted I almost told myself I couldn't do it. But I did, and may all the glory go to God.

The first week was easy, I wrote like the wind. The second was harder, I got tired in the morning since I had to get up early, but I never thought seriously about quitting. Week three was the hardest, since that's when the document decided to be nasty and delete my novel. Thankfully I had most of it backed up. Week four was mostly just catching up, and getting excited because I was almost through. It really was an amazing experience, and I know I'll be doing it next year, if the Lord wills. I had so much fun, it's going to be hard not to do it every month!

Did you do NaNoWriMo this month? Are you still doing it? If you are, keep it up! Hang in there.

-- kendra

listening to - deck the halls // tenth avenue north

ps: a real post coming soon + new design

grateful thoughts

We have so many things to be thankful for here in the United States. We take too much for granted. I think back on when we used to live in Sudan, as missionaries. We didn't own half of the nice things as we have here, but we were gloriously happy. Take today off, and just sit back and relax, meditate on all the marvelous things God has given us. He deserves every bit of the glory.

Things I am grateful for ––


american freedom // bible // cool weather // daddies // eating // frisbee // growth spurts // health // ice-cream // jesus // kindred spirits // libraries // memories // national novel writing month (I'm almost caught up) + narnia // owl city // peaches // quiet time alone // runs // simple moments // tenth avenue north // un-perfect moments // vision // water // the x in algebra // yahweh // zucchini

update on my novel

I feel sooooo stupid. I just basically lost my entire novel. All. that. work. Gone. 

Or maybe not.


Alright. I guess I should explain some. I was heading to my grandparents house for thanksgiving where there is no internet, so I copied the whole document from google docs online to a notepad on my computer, so I can still write without the internet. Well, guess what happened? I only copied two chapters. And then when I finally get the internet working, I realize that for some crazy reason there are only two chapters left in my google document online. So I lost all that work except for a few pages.

The good thing about it is I've been backing up my novel every week (should do it every day, I know, I know) and so I have all of last week's writing saved in a different document. Whew. I was at almost 40 thousand (thanks for correcting me, Hannah -- I said 40 words before) words though yesterday. Last week I was at 31,000 words. That's what I'm stuck with now.  I was planning to back up my novel tonight. Oh, the joys of writing. But hey, I'm glad the whole thing wasn't deleted.

The internet has gone out (oops, now it's back again), and my stomach is sinking. I feel dread, but I'm not crying -- I can't be sad. I can still do this. If I write 3,000 words each day I'll be done before December. I have to read 50,000 words before then. I'll have to rewrite a lot that I've done, but I can't chicken out now. I can do this. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I'm off to read one more chapter of Bonnets and Bugles, then I'm going to write. Like a crazy person.

Wish me luck, encourage me please. Cause I'm gonna needs loads of it.


thanks, friends. hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving.

-- kendra

my story

This week has been a bit of a rush, as many weeks are. I’ve been rushing myself each day, with school, noveling, and running. Yesterday I decided to take back a step, and go along to with my younger siblings to a friends' house. None of the children in that family are my age, yet I had so much fun. I didn’t have have fun as in “I did what I wanted and I got what I wanted”, but I sacrificed a bit of my time to play with one of the girls who is about ten. She’s funny, smart, and sweet - usually she plays with my younger sister, but my younger sister was at home with a cold. So instead of sitting on the couch reading, or playing off with the boys (believe me, I’ve got a habit of going off with the boys - it’s a little bit more fun to play light sabers or kickball than to paint each other’s nails), I decided to play with the ten-year-old Shelby.

At first I was bored, we played in her “fort” and moved boards around to set up a house. Then it hit me. This was the same kind of thing I would do five years ago. Have I really changed that much? After that I started to enjoy myself. We chased chickens, looked for dead deer and cow bones (which really was fun, by the way) and then went inside and brushed each other’s hair. And washed each other’s feet. Funny, I know. But it was fun. I had fun just being a little kid all over again.


What is your story from this week?

authentic people >> blog party

Most of you who read my blog already 'know' me, but I'm joining up to this blog party and you're supposed to introduce yourself . . . so I'll go ahead and give it a try. 

My name is Kendra, and I'm a unique person - like everybody else. Hmm. that didn't quite sound right. Anyhow. I'm the eldest of eight children, I love serving and helping others. I'm a dreamer too -- I love to write. My room is very neat, and I love exploring nature (especially woods. or camping in the woods. even better). Those are just some random things about me. You can read more here. 

And here goes the questions. 

1 >>> what is the weirdest // geekiest // nerdiest thing about you? 

let's see. I'm sort of a 'weird' person, but I do like to chew on my toes. I used to, at least. I have dreams about tornadoes and bombs almost every night.

2 >>> if you could live in a fictional universe from any book, movie, or television show, what would it be? 

Easy question. Narnia, of course -- in the Golden Age.

3 >>> little or big, practical or frivolous, what is one of your favorite items in your house?

In my house? Let's see . . . I don't really have a special place in the house. My stuff is kind of mashed everywhere. Which is annoying, because I used to have a smaller room that I shared with only one sibling -- and I kept everything I owned all together. Perhaps my bookshelf?

Outside is where all my special places are. Big favorite is one of our pine trees, another is the barn and a secret door that leads out. I can't explain too much -- younger siblings + family might read this. There's a reason I have secret places. ;)

Oh and I just realized it said 'items' - not place. So, I'd have to say my Bible, my computer, or all my art journals and idea notebooks.

4 >>> do you like animated movies? If so, what is your favorite?

Hmm. Probably Bambi and 101 Dalmatians. Yeah, I know -- I'm strange. But I don't watch animated movies much anymore.

5 >>> favorite thing to drink at starbucks?

Okay, I hate coffee. I haven't even ever been to Starbucks before. O__o

So I'll go with hot chocolate.

6 >>> waffles or pancakes?

Waffles. All the way.

7 >>> have you ever let anyone win a game?


All the time. Hey, it's what happens when you have seven younger siblings.

8 >>> if you could put something in a safe under your bed, what would it be?


A big bag of chocolate and all my money. And all my dvds and stuff I didn't want my younger sibs getting into.

9 >>> have you ever thrown up on someone?

mwahahahaha. I don't think so. I have thrown up on a couple of people in my stories though. (hannah...!!)

10 >>> favorite + least favorite household chore?


Hmm. I can't pick a favorite. I love doing chores, if I'm in the right mood + especially when I'm surprising mom. I love how clean everything looks when I'm done and the surprised look on the persons' face when they say, "You made my bed?!" or "Wow! Who in the world cleaned the kitchen?". The best thing is to clean it all up and then go read, acting like you didn't do anything at all and they just stand there open mouthed, surprised. I like baking, vacuuming, sweeping, doing dishes, wiping down stuff, making beds, cleaning rooms. Though I do love organizing bookshelves too. I think I'd have to say I like that the most. And my least favorite would be . . . teaching kids how to read. Especially children that don't even want to.

(yes -- snow white is another favorite animated movie. except i disliked the ending. i dislike most princess ending stories)

11 >>> think fast . . . first song that pops into you head?


How Great Is Your Love -- Mercyme.

                                                                 >>>><<<<<

That's all for now, friends. I've got to head back to bed so I can get up early to write.

I'm the kind of person.

I'm the kind of person who knows she has to get up two hours early each morning to write, but instead gets up three hours early on accident.

I'm the kind of person who starts writing a novel about the Civil War, then goes ahead and starts another one about Narnia.

I'm the kind of person who has interesting points of view.

I'm the kind of person who takes 30 pictures of a friend + only one of the pictures turns out 'acceptable'.

I'm the kind of person who wears her pjs all morning.

I'm the kind of person who has perfect fashion styles.

I'm the kind of person who doubles some parts of a recipe, and quadruples other parts.

I'm the kind of person who has to look up how to spell 'quadruples'.

I'm the kind of person who listens to Narnia Soundtracks and runs around the yard with her headphones on, acting like she's fighting battles in her mind and knocking down Telmarines (yes, I'm fourteen).

I'm the kind of person who can't write a novel without making at least every conversation end up into a fight.

I'm the kind of person who wails inside when she realizes that there are only a few leaves left on the trees.

I'm the kind of person who must take a picture of the last leaf left.

I'm the kind of person who tries to run 3 miles in under 24 minutes for fun.

I'm the kind of person who has about 50 songs on her mp3 player, and half of them are Tenth Avenue North songs.

I'm the kind of person who can write over 50 thousand words in a month, but can't even get 40 problems of algebra right each day.

I'm the kind of person who runs outside in shorts and a t-shirt in 45 degree weather. 

I'm the kind of person who never reads the terms of use on anything. 

I'm the kind of person who needs to go write on my novel. Because I'm the kind of person who actually decided to go + write a 50,000 word novel in one month. 

I'm the kind of person who is a little more than in awe about how God could love someone who is like me. 

What kind of person are you? 

LISTENING TO ||BELOVED//TENTH AVENUE NORTH

                                                                  (old picture)