Versatile Blogger Award
Welcome to The "Write" Blog. I love Science Fiction, Comedy and life in general. Thanks for stopping by!
I recently had the honor of being interviewed about my life and my novel, The Deep Freeze. The opportunity to share some of my goals and accomplishments was very exciting. My humor also manages to sneak its way in there so feel free to read and laugh!
http://amybethinverness.com/2011/10/28/interview-with-tammy-holloway/
Have a sci-fi day! ~ TLH
Stanford University is Offering Computer Science Courses Online, Free to Anyone
Go here to read about it:
http://www.geekosystem.com/free-stanford-courses/
Deadline is today!….October 9th….Register. I did.
Sorry it is so short but I wanted to post this as fast as I could! Awesome!
That’s a good word to describe this prestigious award that I found out I was nominated for. Thanks to a group of wonderful bloggers, this award came to be and people like you and me get recognition for all of our hard work;-) Never in a million years did I intend to receive such high recognition, yet Kimberly of Kimberly Inspired felt I deserved it. How wonderful to think I made someone feel that good to nominate me! I inspired the inspirer! How cool is that?
Just type Versatile Blogger Award in your google bar and hit search. There are countless numbers of bloggers being recognized across the internet and the comments are all so positive and happy! What a great way to show other bloggers just how wonderful their stories, poems, life, photos, art, etc. actually are!!
The Rules of the Versatile Blogger Award:
1. Thank the person(s) who shared the award with you by linking back to them in your post.
2. Pass this award to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know that you included them in your blog post.
3. List 7 things about yourself.
Now for my part in this endeavour:
#1 – Great big hugs to Kimberly Inspired for nominating me for this award! How wonderful to find out how much someone appreciates my blog! Thanks Kimberly!!
#2 – This was the hard part. I did not take this award lightly. I wanted to make it as special as Kimberly did for me. That meant I had to sacrifice some of my writing time and homework time to get it done. After researching the award on the internet and finding out just how many people were honored by receiving it, I knew I couldn’t just put together some half-hearted list. After 2 days and several hours of research and reading blog after blog, these were my picks for this award:
http://kimberlyinspired.wordpress.com/ 
Yeah sure, this is the blog that nominated me, but she too has something to say that should be recognized. Her happiness gleams through her posts which pours over into the world of bloggers. I love reading about how happy someone is and her blog should not go unnoticed. She is amazing. She also loves photography and is very good at it. Pictured above is one of her beautiful shots.
http://laughteriscatching.com/ Aka: Tinkerbell 
I am impressed when I read her blogs. She is young, smart and to the point. Great blog!
http://astoryeveryday.com/ 
This blog shares our work, if we so choose. They have a great amount of followers that read these stories and it is a wonderful way to share a variety of stories to the public.
http://belchdini.wordpress.com/ Aka: Stabs in the Dark 
A great blog for reviewing horror with a side of humor. Love it!
http://mdweigand.wordpress.com/ Aka: Tales of a Fairy Lantern 
His stories and poetry and absolutely wonderful. Every word draws you in more and more.
http://www.homesteadersheart.blogspot.com/ 
What can I say, this blog inspired me to start blogging a couple of years ago. She is sweet, funny and makes you feel the comfort and laughter that is shared in her own home. Her latest challenge….to join her in giving up the one thing we all love so much….SUGAR:-)
http://riverunderwater.wordpress.com/ Aka: Colleen Ponce 
The art work on this blog has to be seen not described. Stunning! I love horses and this drawing touched my soul.
http://diaryoflifeloveandme.wordpress.com/ 
I just love this blog. She shares her every day through a diary. Very cool!
http://nmichaelhawe.wordpress.com/ Aka: The Realms Between 
From beautifully written stories and hand crafted metal sculpting to sharing recipes on how to brew root beer…This blog is a must see!
http://whileitwasfallingapart.wordpress.com/ 
What can I say, her blog brought back some wonderful memories for me. She also reminds me of myself and how I fell into writing. Oh how I hated those term papers:-) One of her latest posts made me smile – “Carrot Love”
http://suehealy.wordpress.com/ 
She helps writers! That’s right…She has some really awesome information on her blog to help us out from competition websites to making her own “write a novel in 6 months” competition. The contest started October 1st but I am sure she would let you in on it!
http://bardicblogger.wordpress.com/ 
Yet another helpful blog for writers. This blog is incredibly informative and I strongly recommend visiting it.
http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/ 
Her site offers writers a chance to win a contest! It is from October 21-23 and all you have to do is visit her site, read the requirements and sign up! Too cool! Thanks Brenda:-)
http://ronsrants.wordpress.com/ 
Survivor of a lightning strike, his sadness of life with illness and his fight with COPD brought tears to my eyes as I read some of his experiences with depression and encroachment on an unknown fate. His blog deserves recognition as he brings to light some of the “real-life” trauma from all of his medical conditions.
http://neekswrite.wordpress.com/ 
Monique has a very clever way of writing, which she picked up from the movie “Out of Africa”. She has bloggers give her 3 random words, then writes a story with those 3 words in it. She gets quite a response from it and I love the stories she makes from the words! Great blog!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU! YOUR BLOGS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD:-)
#3 – Now it’s my turn
Hmm, 7 things about me…. If you really want to know:
FEW – A FEW…things about me
Family – Education – Writing – Adventures – Fun – Emotions – Working
Family:
“A”- number-one in my book! I love my husband with every inch of my being and we share a special bond. Nothing pleases me more than putting a smile on his face every day. He lights up a room with his beautiful personality and I am one lucky woman to have him in my life.
Buster is one of three dogs we have. He is 12 years old and still going strong. He has been a great dog through the years and we take the best care to cater to his elderly status. His fame brought him more friends than either of us lol! His silly tail trick landed him a space on The Planet’s Funniest Animals and managed to win $100 and an exclusive T-Shirt.
Daisy was a second edition and turned out to be a very compassionate, loving, nurturing dog. You wouldn’t know it if you pulled up in our driveway though. She sounds like she is going to eat your face off. However, that said, at six months of age, she helped us raise two baby groundhogs we found stranded on the side of the road. They were successfully released into the wild which was sad but rewarding all at the same time. We bought her because of my depression after four miscarriage and our plans were to breed her in the future.
Rush is the newest edition and the smartest of the bunch! Border Collies are typically smart dogs anyway, but Rush tops them all. He amazes us with the amount of words and sentences he can understand at less than 6 months old. He is also very agile with strong herding instincts. He crouches and waits for Daisy as she runs back and forth in the yard and it is quite the attraction lol! In the evenings, Nathan kicks the soccer ball high in the air for the dogs. It only took a couple of turns before Rush figured out where the ball went and actually looks up for it to return. Buster and Daisy never really picked that up for some reason. The ball would just land and they ran for it. Rush jumps high in the air to catch the ball and usually falls short or jumps way too high and that is hilarious to see! He is our stud dog for Daisy. I think we will wait a couple of years for breeding though. It is a lot of work and time. Just having them all around us is a great feeling. We love our four-legged kids.
Education:
Important, necessary and I feel very accomplished with a Bachelor’s Degree on my wall and a certificate showing I graduated with honors (Magna Cum Laude). I always wondered what that meant. Now I am proud to know and have the honor written on my degree.
I am well into my Master’s Degree now and keep pushing forward. The classes are much harder but understandably. It is my master’s after all. I am studying Accounting of all things. I actually love math and enjoyed tutoring for several years. I like to work numbers and have a meticulous way of doing things. Accounting is much more than numbers though but it makes the idea even more challenging. I just hope to become the best CPA I can be!
Writing:
This has to be third on the list for obvious reasons. I have to put my education first in order to get the grades required in the master’s program. They are much higher than undergraduate studies.
I love to write. When I was in high school, I wrote poetry and did not realize it was an outlet for me then. I loved to draw and paint with oil also. I must have painted dozens of pictures. One picture made 2nd place at the fair. I painted a picture of Hank Williams Jr. lol! I guess they thought it was good enough to place.
I now write with all of my physical and mental self. I write as if the whole world is reading, but I write without thoughts of what will make me money or not. I just…write. I do have a novel well underway and that is what got me started on this blog. I knew I needed improving before I could finish The Deep Freeze and I wanted it to be my absolute best before finishing and publishing it. I have since attended several writers workshops, joined a writers association and chamber of commerce, and try to write something every day (pending homework of course). I entered two writing contests and placed in the top ten of one. My piece “About My Mother” is published on Amazon! I was so excited about that. I realize how important it is to build a platform as a writer so I was off to a good start! I now have a second story submitted in a contest. I will hear the results one way or another by the end of this month (October).
Adventures:
This one is best left to pictures, so here are a few…..
Fun:
Nathan and I are always goofing off, wrestling, chasing each other or the dogs and creating affordable ways to have a good time. Last year, we had a good snow and couldn’t leave for a week. We made a seven-foot snowman and sled down the driveway on huge trash bags….seriously. We’re nuts! Two peas in a pod. Anyway, the list goes on and on and would be wayyyy too long to write so instead I will share a few of our funny pictures with you.
Emotions:
Boy do I ever have them! My feelings (no pun intended) on the matter are simple. They make me who I am! If I went to a shrink there is no doubt in my mind they would diagnose depression but duh! Of course I have some sad moments in life. Who doesn’t? I suffered loss and so have many other people in the world. At my worst, I went through mourning over the loss of my spouse at the time. It was sudden (car accident) and I was immediately traumatized to such an extent I had to make myself live. I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to move…heck I didn’t want to breathe! I took something for about a week and it just numbed me. I didn’t feel like myself. I couldn’t shed a tear…which I normally do on command. I decided to do my own therapy. Whether that was the right thing to do, I don’t know, but I wasn’t taking zombie pills anymore, that’s for sure! I watched comedy and laughed and laughed all day long. I must have seen Dumb and Dumber a thousand times! I love that movie. Every so often I would take every picture out, watch the wedding video and cry so loud people could hear me in other countries. Buster was always right there by my side licking my tears away.
Through determination, I managed to come out of the slump and push forward with my favorite metaphor – A bulldozer. I now have Nathan in my life and we cherish everything about our relationship. Our time together is well spent and our friendship is incredible. I still have bouts of depression and he is always right there by my side. That comfort gets me through anything every time. I guess I could say he drives my bulldozer!
I am empathetic and genuinely “feel” for others when I find out about their pain. I have to be careful with it because I get too caught up and have to refocus on myself. I truly want to change the world and make it a better place. I want others to have happiness and comfort as well. My “giving” personality made some people take advantage and I have to pick and choose the direction I take now. I do not regret the countless places I volunteered at though. They are a part of my life….my adventures…and they fill the part of me that yearns to be filled…..to give of myself without asking for anything in return.
Working:
Every once in a while, I get the chance to help my husband put up garage doors. It is our dream come true. We enjoy every waking minute together and had hoped to run a business for ourselves one day but for now, this works! About once a week or more, Nathan comes home with the work truck and we make an evening of putting up garage doors and openers. It sounds boring but, believe me, far from it. I’ve learned so much that a lot of the grunt work is left to me while Nathan magically puts together a working garage door. It feels great for me to be able to help and we get to spend that much more time together. It is uninterrupted, quality time. Nathan is very good with his hands. He has experience in construction from building a house from the ground up to rock-work. Every now and then he is requested to do a side job (usually family) and we also go together on those jobs. His sister has a farm and once in a while we help out. It has been fun learning about farming. We’ve loaded hundreds of bales of hay, planted thousands (yes thousands) of collards and cut and loaded them when they were ready, chased down calves and herded cows. We really enjoy helping them out.
Re-roofing the Farm House after a Bad Hail Storm
Planting Collards
Other than that, I stay home for the most part. I take care of the home and the dogs while spending as much time as I can on homework. From time to time, I travel to thrift stores and try to save us money wherever possible.
Well, that wraps things up for the Versatile Blogger Award requirements folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride! Again I would like to thank Kimberly for my nomination! You truly inspired me to pass on this prestigious award:-)
“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”
Tammy Holloway
“Dozer” 
Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH
Homework homework homework! I have a ton of it but thought I would share some of my enjoyment this morning. I make sure to take several breaks throughout my study sessions to keep my mind sharp. (If that’s possible.) If any of you ever decide to go to college here is my recommendation: Go! But seriously….Start off at a community college. Make sure it is an accredited school (meaning other schools will transfer in your credits). Do NOT…I repeat..DO NOT take online courses until you have been in school a while and can no longer be teacher dependent. (Like I was when I first decided to take an online course…geesh!) Now that I have been in college since the stone ages, I feel quite comfortable with online schooling. In fact, we are hours from any college campus out here in the boonies anyway lol! Don’t know what you wanna be when you grow up? That’s okay…I didn’t either all the way to my Master’s. My credits range is so far apart, I can’t see from one end to the other. I do, however, have a Bachelor’s Degree hanging on my wall, with honors. Now I am finishing my Master’s in Accounting. The things you learn in college are hard to explain. I guess you get a wide range of exposure to well-educated professors in all types of fields and they are all willing to give more information. After all, they are teachers.
College is NOT only for smart people. Don’t be discouraged to go. I was the first in my family and I (this is the God’s honest truth) did not know what semester was. I walked up to the financial aid office at Laramie County Community College and spoke with someone there. They were very helpful in answering all my questions. It had been 10 years since I was in high school so I had to start at a low-level of Math. No biggie…I did it. People seem to always want to point out bad things about college. Yeah it is expensive, yeah it can be hard…but I am not the brightest bulb in the pack. I spend much more time on homework than my husband. He is more along the lines of one of those people you hated in high school because they never did homework or studied but got straight “A’s”. Don’t get me wrong, he is very smart and I am very proud of him but I just want to make a point about college. I made that leap. I joined the military for GI Bill money…which I used up back in the 1800’s (jk). I belong to two honors programs…(not looking good for my Master’s though). How do I do it? I make sure I do all the homework, attend classes regularly (online I have to participate 3 times a week), call the teacher for help, (that’s what they are there for) and last but not least…I study! I have heard it a million times….I can’t….I can’t…I can’t PHOOOWIE!!! YES YOU CAN! but you have to work for it….just like everything else in life. Our economy isn’t doing too good these days and many people are out of work. The competition is much higher for filling the positions we want so college is a great enhancement to help get you in the direction you want to go.
Now look at these next pictures, have a laugh, and go look into attending college;-)
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! Laughter is gooOOOood. Laughter is REAL good;-) Now back to homework.
“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”
Tammy Holloway
“Dozer”
Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH
Don’t get me wrong, I love to write, but my education is top priority. If I thought I could write for a living I wouldn’t. (Gotcha!) I enjoy writing and had enough years in college where I “had” to write on a specific topic. Writing is a hobby for me. However, I do take writing seriously and continue to improve on my skills in order to get my novel the way I want it before it becomes available to the public.
Many writers have different lives. What’s yours? One of mine is garage door installation and repair of all things. Well, I help my husband once in a while anyway and we enjoy the extra time together. He does the hard work. I just hand him tools now and then. Another path I am taking is Accounting. I have always enjoyed Math (not that it makes me any better at it lol). I love crunching numbers and that is how I came to the decision of becoming an Accountant. The money wasn’t my choice. I tried that when I first started college (a loooong time ago)…HA! Hey, I didn’t give up;-) So here I am, sitting on a Bachelor’s Degree, headed for a Master’s in Accounting. 
To tell you the truth, I never imagined the path I am on. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a Marine Biologist working with whales and dolphins…..go figure. I did get to do an internship with Sea World (Camp counselor for K-12) so that was my adventure into that field. lol! My job was to take the kids to the shows around the park (while singing SpongeBob Squarepants and other chants on our way…LOUD I might add and people DID get out of our way. Who wouldn’t?). It was fun and I did get to see Shamu on a daily basis. The free pass to Discovery Cove was unforgettable for an animal lover like myself. Here is a picture of me kissing a dolphin:
So whoever you are and whatever your dream I say go for it. We get one chance at life. I choose to fit in any and everything I can if it is my desire. I feel complete, even though I ended up someplace totally different from where I assumed I would be. I’m not saying I had it easy. Lord knows I did not; but through it all I am happy with where I am today. Just like my statement for writing:
“The keys on your keyboard are the controls to your bulldozer. Take the keys and drive until you are finished. Everything else will kindly move out of your way or be forced to become a part of your path to success.”
“Dozer”
(Dozer was also the name of one of the Walrus’ at Sea World.)
I always used the bulldozer as my metaphor to get through hard times. It can go through almost anything. The negativity gets run over and the positive feedback rides in the cab with me;-)
Have a sci-fi day everyone! TLH
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