“What’s Up Wednesday” is a weekly meme started by my friends Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk. From Jaime: It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you. If you’re participating, make sure to link your What’s Up Wednesday posts to the list on Jaime’s blog each week. That way, others can visit your post and check out what you’ve been up to.And now, here’s what’s up with me this week…And now, here’s what’s up with me this week…
What I’m Reading: Oh, gosh. I wish I’d had more time to read so far this month. December was a great reading month (I recapped HERE), but my book time in January has been pretty sporadic, what with all the unpacking and settling in. I did read Butter, by Erin Jade Lange, a book with a unique and compelling concept, and now I’m reading Rebecca Behren‘s middle grade debut When Audrey Met Alice, which is out next month and absolutely adorable. I’m also beta reading a fabulously unique manuscript by my friend Liz Parker. I see such greatness in this story’s future!
What I’m Writing: *sigh* I’ve had to put my WiP revision on hold over the past few weeks, but now that we’re happy in our new house and my girl’s back in school, I’m looking forward to diving back in and polishing this story until it’s shiny. I’m hoping to finish mid-February so I can send it out for feedback.
What Else I’ve Been Up To: Traveling. Settling. Exploring our new town. Want to see pictures from the last few weeks?
My husband graduated with a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School mid-December. We left Monterey the same afternoon.
First stop: San Diego’s SeaWorld, where we visited Shamu and Santa.
An Arizona sunset and an unbelievably blue New Mexico sky.
New Mexico’s Carlsbad Cavern, which was much cooler than I’d expected.
Christmas Day in San Antonio, a town we absolutely loved. That said, what we saw of The Alamo was slightly underwhelming.
My favorite activity of all… Trail riding in Austin!
Our first visit to New Orleans. Even though it poured rain most of the day, I kind of loved this city. Also, the beignets… Yum!
We got to celebrate New Year’s Eve in our new house, though we were all exhausted after spending the day moving in.
Scenes from our new area. The beaches are indescribably gorgeous.
We adopted a new family member… Meet Daphne Upperman!
What’s Inspiring Me Now: I’m sort of late to the party on this incredible blog post, but 2013: A Learning Year: Managing Expectations by author Jessica Spotswood is too good not to share. It’s a must-read for published and pre-published writers alike. If you’ve yet to check it out, please do! Also, the Goodreads 2014 Debut Author Challenge (YA/MG/NA) list has me all kinds of inspired. It’s so fun to see the names and books of my writing friends officially on Goodreads. Be sure to peruse this list and add the debuts that interest you to your To-Read list!
Tell me… What’s up with you today?
Katy Upperman ~ Author 
I love love love those pictures and Daphne is so very precious 🙂 Your daughter seems to have fallen in love with her!
This post by Jessica was definitely inspirational and so real 🙂
Hope you’re settling nicely and that you get to meet people who will be lifelong friends!
(and I need to hear your thoughts on BUTTER 😉 oh and lucky you to be reading Rebecca’s book, it sounds amazing!)
Yes, C is doing a great job caring for Daphne. We thought the novelty of having a kitty would wear off quick, but so far, so good! She’s a very good kitty, so that helps. 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week, friend!
Wonderful pics. I love New Orleans. Beignets. Yum.
Speaking of food, I have Butter on my TBR list. Sounds fascinating and an interesting concept.
Now I’m going to check-out Jessica Spotswood’s article.
Happy 2014 to you!
I hope you love Jessica’s post, Ron. (I think you will!) And you’ll have to let me know what you think of BUTTER. I thought it was quite well done. It had an interesting and rather disconcerting way of making me feel like one of the voyeurs on Butter’s website.
Happy New Year, and have a wonderful week!
Great pics! We moved from MT to the Gulf coast about 18 months ago. I love it but the move its self was an exhausting adventure. I’m going to have to go read about Butter now. I hadn’t heard of it.
Thank you, Sarah! Yes, this move has been pretty epic in length and distance, but we’re a military family and we’re fairly used to change. Every place is a new adventure. Plus, the gulf is beautiful. 🙂
I hope you enjoy BUTTER, and I hope you have an excellent week!
Great pictures! Sounds very exciting.
I highlighted Jessica’s post in my What’s Up Wednesday blog, too – I think every writer should read it.
Have a great week! 🙂
I agree with you about Jessica’s post, Emma. So thoughtful and important. Hope you have a great week as well!
That New Mexico sky! Stunning. I’m envious of your travels, and happy that you are settling into your new home. Enjoy diving back into your WIP! [And thanks for the kind words about my book :)]
Of course! I’m enjoying WAMA very much. 🙂 Hope you have a great week, lady!
I love your pictures! I’ve never done that much traveling around the U.S., only the Northeast, a little bit of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, Florida, and Colorado. And good on you for adopting a black cat. A lot of black animals get passed over just because of their color, and are often the first to be put to sleep.
I didn’t know that about black cats, Carrie-Anne. Our little Daphne has a few splotches of white, but she is mostly black. I’m glad we didn’t choose her based on color. Otherwise we would have missed out on her fun personality!
Can I come visit you in FL? That beach looks amazing! 🙂
Our guest room is open to you anytime, Jennie!
I saw your pictures on instagram. Moving during the holidays must not have been easy, but I’m glad you and your family stopped by several great places and had fun!
Oh, I didn’t see that post by Jessica Spotswood. Gonna check it out now. Thanks!
I hope Jessica’s post resonates with you like it did with me, Juliana. I’ve actually gone back and reread it because it’s full of such wisdom. Hope you have a fantastic week!
I love road trips, seriously love them. Your journey to your new home looked like a lot of fun. I’m glad you are setting into your new life and wish you nothing but the best in 2014. Also, I’m totally on that Goodreads 2014 debut author challenge list, so yay for that.
Congrats on being on the Goodreads list, Kate! So exciting!
I love road trips too, but this last one was looong. I think I’m good for awhile. 🙂
I loved seeing your pics from your cross-country trek on IG. It made me realize that there are more places in the States that we need to check out some time. I can’t wait to see all the pics of your new surroundings. Moving really does have a way of derailing a person on the reading and writing front. I can attest to that. Thankfully, like you, I’m starting to get back on track, too. Luckily, this all coincides with the new year, the perfect time for fresh starts and renewing efforts at in-progress projects. Good luck with your revisions, Katy! 🙂
I agree about the New Year, Jaime. It’s the perfect time to exchange old habits for new ones. It’s nice to be (mostly) unpacked and a fresh frame of mind for reading and writing. I look forward to diving into new projects with you!
I can’t wait to read Rebecca’s book! Lucky you! 🙂
You have a beautiful family. I love your pictures.
Thanks so much, Lori! I’m enjoying Rebecca’s book very much. Can’t wait for the world to read it!
congrats to your husband, what an accomplishment! Glad you guys are finally settled into your new house, moving is always an adjustment. Good luck with revisions, I’m sure you can get your manuscript nice and shiny by February. BTW, love all your Texas pics! Looks like you guys had a blast exploring.
We really did have a great time on our trip. But, of course it’s nice to be settled, too. 🙂 Hope you have a fantastic week, Prerna!
What a great adventure you’ve been on! My family went on a trip down the California coast over Christmas/New Years and had the best clam chowder ever in Monterrey at a place called CrabbyJacks or something like that. Anyway, I just spent a half hour following your links–totally helpful btw. Thanks, and nice to meetcha!
Lucky you traveling down the CA coast! We’ve done that drive a few times, and of course we’ve seen most of the Monterey area. I love it there so much. Glad you got to enjoy yummy clam chowder! The food in Monterey/Carmel is some of the best I’ve ever had. Hope you have a great week, Jessie, and I look forward to checking out your blog. 🙂
Absolutely love the pictures of your journey across country! And your new addition to the family is gorgeous! (I have a weakness for black kitties myself)
So glad that you guys are settling into your new home and here’s hoping that you will now have bocoodles of writing time ahead of you! 🙂
Thanks so much, Kris. Hope you have a great week. 🙂
It looks like you’ve done well to make what could be a stressful and traumatic experience (moving cross-country) into a fun family experience. I’m sure you’ve had your share of stresses (packing… eeek!), but you’ve got some wonderful pictures and memories that I’m sure you’ll treasure forever.
All the best with getting back into writing, Katy! 🙂
We really did try to make the best of moving, especially since took place at such an unfortunate time of year. Turned into a pretty fun family vacation. 🙂 Thanks, Colin, and have a fantastic week!
You always post such lovely pictures! I’m jealous you got to visit New Orleans. I was hoping to go last year but it never worked out.
I remember moving into our new house 6 years ago on New Years Day. Not the most fun start to the new year but still a welcome change.
I hope you make it to New Orleans one day soon, Melanie. We were only there a day, but we loved it. It’s just four hours away from our new town, so we hope to go back soon. Have a great week, lady!
What a busy month you had. Wow! Glad to hear you’ve made it to your new home ^_^
(Liz’s story is fantastic, isn’t it? What talent!)
Yes, Liz’s story is amazing. I feel like I’m reading a published book, and most of my comments consist of the words “like” “love” and “awesome.” She’s probably going to think I’m a horrible critiquer. 🙂
Congratulations to your husband on getting his postgrad degree! That’s awesome 🙂 I think a lot of people had to put revising/writing on hold during the holidays, so don’t feel too bad. It’s so great that you got to go to New Orleans. I spent all my summers growing up there with my grandma. I love the city. Please tell me you got to eat some beignets.
I did eat beignets, Kim! We went to the French Quarter in the pouring rain to find them, and it was totally worth it. Amazing!
Congrats on the move, Katy! I’ve been following your adventures via instagram and am happy to see you guys settled in. Daphne is sooo cute!
Thanks so much, Valerie! We’re glad to finally be here and settled in. 🙂
I love that you turned your cross country move into a vacation! Why not make an otherwise overwhelming experience into something fun, right? I’m glad to hear your family is feeling settled into your new home and that you’ve adopted a new family member. She’s adorable! Best of luck reaching your revision goal by February! I’m sure you can do it!
Thanks so much, Erin, and welcome back to blogging! It’s nice to hear what you’ve been up to. Hope you have a great week!
Awww…so you finally caved and got a kitten 😉 She’s adorable!
Glad you got to turn your cross-country drive into something fun. And beignets…I’ve had yummy “unofficial” ones and I can’t imagine how good the ones in New Orleans are.
The beignets in New Orleans are amazing, Jennifer! I’ve had unofficial ones too and while they’re tasty, they’re nothing like the “real” thing. Yum!
Hope you have a great week, lady!
Glad you’re all settled into your new place! The beach looks amazing. Sounds like your trip was pretty great, too! I went to New Orleans for the first time in 2012 and loved it. Beignets are so delicious! Really, everything we ate there was spectacular.
Everything we ate there was fantastic too, Ghenet. We’re only about four hours away, and I definitely want to go back. Preferably on a sunny day. 🙂
One word: kittyyyyyyy!
(I am such a sucker for kitties. Please post more kitty pics in future weeks.)
Haha… Will do, Stephanie. 🙂
Wow, you’ve been busy! Have fun in your new town! And welcome to the South! I miss it–there’s no place like it.