Writing - Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Grow Where You’re Planted

Posted on March 20, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

Word Nerd=word is PLANT

Are you like me–reluctant to change?

Does God plant you somewhere and expect you to grow?

I live in a military community and admire those families. They wake up planning their days and weeks only to find out by evening they are moving. Packers, moving trucks, saying good-bye to friends can’t be easy for them. And yet, they do it with grace. But what I find the most amazing thing is that the military families in our church plant themselves.

They walk in the door arms out ready to serve in the church. VBS, (vacation Bible school), Sunday School, take the youth to a concert? No problem.

They take “the grow where you are planted” seriously. Get right in there and get their roots anchored, then one day they are gone.

That’s hard on us who have made good friends. We miss them, but the seeds they plant when they are here continue to grow. Our church has an amazing children’s ministry, our youth group is strong and when we step outside we can see the playground that one young “almost a man” did for his Eagle Scout project before his family moved.

I’d like to be more like them. I’m not moving so have time to act.

OR do I?

Complacency sets in for those of us who have lived in one place for a long time. There’s always tomorrow or next year for us.

It’s dangerous to look at life that way. It’s time for a change. A quick trip in an airplane that disappears, a semi-truck hits an electric pole and takes out several cars, a helicopter crashes next to the Space Needle and someone’s life changes in an instant.

Image credit: alexey1985 / 123RF Stock Photo

The transplanting begins. So why wait until a life change pushes you over your comfort line? It’s time for God’s people to grow where they are planted.

I’m guilty of not even sprouting a bud. Time for me to step out and embrace the outside world, VBS will be coming up in June. I hear the craft time calling me to come help.

How can you plant roots or spread seeds at your church home or in your community?

How to Frame a Shot

Posted on March 13, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

Word Nerd: FRAME

Now that I have my new iPhone I’m attempting to frame my shots. You’d think by now that would come natural with as many photos I’ve taken. It doesn’t.

Do you remember your first camera? I do, a Kodak Instamatic. I would save my allowance to buy film, then send it off to be developed, positive I had the best photos ever. When the photos came back most of them weren’t want I expected. The subject I wanted weren’t in the frame.

It would have been nice to have my aunt –on the left in the photo too!

After taking a photography class I discovered that the camera doesn’t focus on what we think is important. It just takes an image of where the camera lens is pointed.

With the use of photoshop elements I’ve been able to correct many of my images that weren’t framed the way I wanted. That takes a lot of time because I would take multiple photos hoping to get the right one.

It seems it would be easier to start with the idea of a frame around the image I wanted to capture.

I’ve seen people making frames with their hands so I thought I’d try it.

This one made my husband laugh because my frame was rather unusual. Seems this isn’t the way it’s done.

This time I didn’t have my fingers close enough for a tight frame.

Got it this time, but I didn’t like what I saw in my frame. I turned around and took the other end of the suspension bridge.

What do you think? Did I frame this image right?

Next time you have your camera ready take time to frame the shot. You’ll find things you don’t want in between your hands, there may be a person, a trashcan or a power line. If you do it right you won’t have to spend time in a photo editing program removing unwanted items or cropping to get the image you want.

The camera doesn’t focus on what we think is important. Tweet This!Save time frame your photos before you take them. Tweet This!

A Sign is Needed!

Posted on March 6, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

Word Nerd Day and the word is SIGN

I don’t know about you but I need a sign that spring is on the way.

I’ve had enough snow, ice, sleet and COLD! According to the Belleville News Democrat this is the 4th coldest year for the state of Illinois. Enough! Bring on the signs of spring please!

I wouldn’t even mind seeing this sign of spring!

A Writer’s Chest of Tools

Posted on February 27, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

Word Nerd Day! TOOL is the word!

Have you ever wondered what kind of tools a writer might use?

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It seems obvious that we would use the standard writing tools and dictionary but wait there’s more!

Here are some of my favorite tools.

There’s no writing to be done if this isn’t filled with Chi Spice Black tea, my favorite brand is STASH.

Using from the Inside…Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you! by Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck helps me grow my characters from a name to almost real.

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women timelife

Research takes time. When I’m writing about the 1800s, I like to go through my collection The Old West series by Time Life. I love the embossed leather covers.

My favorite notebook–yes, it’s pink, but that isn’t the only reason I love it. It has six pockets to hold all the extra things I find.

My homemade POST IT board helps me keep me on track.

Read my POST IT post to see how I made it and make your own.

I use a program named Scrivener to write. It’s a grand program that allows me to move scenes around or look at photos I’m using to describe my character and settings. Sometimes I need the Scrivener for Dummies book to figure out what I’m doing.

If you’ve read many of my posts you might have noticed I have a comma problem. I write the way I talk so sometimes I go really fast and forget to put in a comma or I drop off

….in thought…

and come back. That’s why this book is good for me.

I’ve shared some of my favorite tools with you. Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you do along with a few of your favorite tools.

An Exotic Experience at Home

Posted on February 19, 2014March 27, 2017 by Diana Brandmeyer

Exotic at Home?

Hold on to your britches my exotic experience at home isn’t what you might think. I’m a Midwest girl through and through and if getting exotic means heading to an airplane with a passport in hand let me educate you.

When the Word Nerd Word of the week popped up I wasn’t sure what I could do with that, not much happens in my life to claim the exotic title. Ordering pizza in the middle of the week instead of Friday night tends to be as exciting as it gets.

I set out to change that this week. What could I show my blog readers about living the exotic life at home? It was quite a puzzle. I grabbed my camera and chauffeur and hit the road.

It’s St. Louis Missouri’s 250th birthday this year and there are birthday cakes all over the city. We found this one at the St. Louis Art Museum at the top of Art Hill–known as the place to be on a snowy day because sledding is perfect. And yes I have on a lot of clothes–that exotic temperature is not beach friendly.

Not far from the Art Museum is Turtle Park where there are sand sculptures of–turtles! There’s also a snake but there was too much ice on the ground to risk getting the photo.

And last but not least how many can say they have one of these nearby their home?

Yes, that is Santa climbing the bottle and it’s after Valentine’s Day. It’s been cold and icy here. I’m sure it’s too dangerous to climb on the roof to get him down.

How’s that for exotic? Not what you expected? When you do the “out of the ordinary” life at home can be exotic.

Discovering Chihuly Glass

Posted on February 13, 2014November 2, 2016 by Diana Brandmeyer

Word Nerd Word Is: GLASS

Glass! It can be used for so many things, drinking glasses, eyeglasses, windows and art.

At the St. Louis Botanical Gardens I discovered the artist Dale Chihuly. He works with glass. If you would like to know more about him check out the Dale Chihuly page it provides visitors with Chihuly’s bio, over 40 of his works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Chihuly exhibition listings.

This grand Chihuly glass piece hangs in the entry of the Botanical Gardens.

Here’s a close-up. So intricate!

I love the colors he used in the glass. It must have taken him a long time to get all of those pieces connected the way he wanted them. Working with words is much easier I think than standing over a hot fire waiting for the glass to melt.

Don’t Let Your Giants Win

Posted on January 30, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

How do you slay your giants?

Are you familiar with the story of David in Goliath in 1 Samuel in the bible? If you are skip ahead, if not let me tell you about him.

David was a shepherd boy sent by his father Jesse, to check on his older brothers who served in the Israelite army. When David arrived he watched as soldiers ran from a giant of a man who served the Philistine army. His name was Goliath. He was huge–a giant to the Israelite army and he made fun of God’s army.

David who had slain large animals to protect his family’s sheep took the challenge to defend God’s army. With a rock and and a slingshot he took down that giant and the Philistines became slaves to Israel.

You can read the full story in 1 Samuel chapter 17.

We all have giants in our lives—not usually people and please if you do—don’t get a slingshot and rock to take care of the problem!

Today giants take different forms and we have to learn to take them down. But how do we do that?

Prayer is the best place to start. When I ask for guidance about my giants it seems that God opens my eyes and I discover that not all of my problems are as big as I make them out to be. That God has equipped me to handle the overwhelming to-do list, the big project I’ve begun or just figuring out what I’m making for dinner. *yes sometimes that is the biggest giant of all for me!

Other days my eyes are opened to the heartbreaking problems others have and I realize at this moment my giant is a very small thing.

I have a friend who is waiting for heart transplant for his daughter.

I have a friend with ALS.

I have a friend trained as a Chaplin who heart is breaking because she wants to help those in need but can’t find a position.

When I look at those true giants I know that I’ve faced some of my own– Seeing my first husband die from cancer, losing 3 brothers all before I reached age of 30 and having a father that left us and didn’t come back when I was 15.

Those were hard and yet I survived, I changed and my faith grew.

Are all my giants gone?

I don’t think so as long as I’m leaving on earth as one of God’s people there will always be someone that wants me to go away. There will always be a tragic incident around the corner. It’s what I do with those that will make the difference.

If I choose to be like David and step out with the faith of God the biggest giant of all, the evil one will not win.

How do you handle your giants?

Please check out the other giant posts!

Gone Fishing

Posted on January 23, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

GONE FISHING

The Word Nerd Meme starts today with the word FISHING. Writers love words and can spin a word into a story, a past memory or a devotion faster than you can spit. Look for more WORD MEME posts below the words BLOG HOP.

WORD NERD WORD IS “FISHING

Fishing is something I don’t do. I don’t like to bait a hook, catch a fish, or eat one. What I like is the attempt.

When Andy and Opi went fishing it was in a world where phones were connected to the wall, there wasn’t a smart phone, kindle or iPad to take your attention away from the task at hand—fishing.

The only distractions were from Opi talking to Andy, maybe eating a sandwich packed by Aunt Bee and sometimes a fish was caught.

There are lessons to be learned from those fishing trips. Taking time to be with a family member and listen to what they are saying or just being still together taking in the warm air, the lap of the water on the beach or the rocking of a boat. Nothing pulls them away from that moment and I think that’s why fishermen like Andy and Opi love fishing.

So what’s a girl to do if she doesn’t like to fish?

There are things I like about fishing, the warm weather and the river banks or lake beaches but that doesn’t help me when it’s 11 degrees and I’m not near water. But I crave that time of doing nothing on purpose.

I think it’s time to hang out my “Gone Fishing” sign. Turn off my computer, phone, television and pack my gluten free lunch and head to one of my favorite cold weather spots-my chair by the wood stove. I think I’ll take a book a long and read slow instead of fast just so I can finish and write a review.

If Ed happens to be home perhaps I can encourage him to ‘go fishing’ with me too if I bring along a dish of ice cream.

This weekend I won’t be available.

gone fishing_edited-1 — created by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

This is a BLOG HOP!

To Zip or Not to Zip

Posted on January 17, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

a2z: “Z” is for Zip

We’ve come to the end of the a2z meme and my choice is Zip. I’ve found there are times in life when I should have zipped my lips and others I wish I hadn’t done so.

So the question is when “to Zip or Not Zip” your lips?

Keeping this verse in mind I’ve made up a list of Zip or Not Zip list.

“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart”. (NLT) ( Luke 6:45 )

ZIP IT!

Don’t mention you can see the dust on a friend’s TV screen.
Don’t ask your friend if they’ve gained weight.
Don’t tell a volunteer they should have done better.
Don’t ask your husband, “Why can’t you love Downton Abbey as much as I do?”
Don’t tell your neighbor not to hang multiple dead deer in their front yard. *this is a hard one for me.

UNZIP IT!

Do offer advice when asked—after searching your heart.
Do give compliments when you find something you admire. *my neighbor has the most amazing row of lilac bushes that I enjoy every spring.
Do not be afraid to offer praises to God when told of something good.
Do tell your family and friends you love them—often!
Do unzip those lips when a friend or family member has put themselves in danger.

I’d like to think evil doesn’t lurk in my heart but it does. It comes to life when someone almost rams their car into mine, or when I feel something unjust is happening to me or my family. It’s hard to beat it back. It takes me at least 10 minutes to realize my lips have come unzipped when they should have stayed zipped tight.

CLICK TO TWEET!

Tweet: Don’t ask your husband, “Why can’t you love Downton Abbey as much as I do?” @dianabrandmeyer http://ctt.ec/2W9em+
What about you? Can you add to my list of to zip or not zip?
This is a blog hop!

Word Nerd Fun!

Posted on January 13, 2014September 20, 2014 by Diana Brandmeyer

Confession: Blogging takes a lot of brain power and I don’t have a lot in reserve.

That’s why I band together with other bloggers and do memes. We help each other and have fun along the way. =)

The A to Z meme is coming to an end this week. *pout* (Yikes! I need to do a “Z” post!) To keep the momentum going, my friend Patty Wysong and I have been brainstorming and have a short, fun meme idea…

Word Nerd!

Rather than using the alphabet as prompts, Patty and I have put together a list of ten words to use in your post. Use them however you’d like. There are no rules. You don’t even have to use the actual word in your post–just get it… the concept, the idea, the meaning… in the post. However you want.

*you don’t even have to be a writer! Just someone who blogs. J

The ten words and their posting/linky dates:

Fishing – Jan. 23
Giant – Jan. 30
Construction – Feb. 6
Glass – Feb. 13
Exotic – Feb. 20
Tool – Feb. 27
Sign – March 6
Frame – March 13
Plant – March 20
Nuts – March 27

The Word Nerd meme will be starting next week on Thursday (*note we posted the A to Z meme on Friday we are switching the meme day to Thursday–First one is Jan. 23!)

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us. It’s a come as you can thing–no commitment, just jump in and post on the week’s letter as you can.

I’ll be posting a blog hop linky so each of you can have the linky gadget on your sites. It’s more user-friendly that way. =) If you’d like a list of the words and the linky codes, leave a comment asking for them (and your email addy) and I’ll get them to you so you can schedule ahead or simply have them handy.

Here’s the deal for Word Nerd:

Anyone can play. Some of us will be continuing from A to Z, but any one can join us and we would LOVE to have you along! The more the merrier! Grab a friend and join us!!
Anything goes. If you’re pressed for time, pressed for brain cells (a common ailment of mine), stumped, whatever… a simple list will work! Or a picture or a verse—anything to get a post up. Seriously. Just make sure it ties in with the week’s word. It can also be as focused or even a complicated post about a word that starts with that letter. Anything goes, related to the word.
One word a week. Only ten words and we’ll finish on March 27th.
Thursday’s the day. Posting day is Thursday. Or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. ROFL. If you’re like me, you might not remember on Thursday, so any day works. I don’t care, but that brings me to…
Let’s link together! Part of the fun of a meme is linking together so we can encourage each other on. The linky will go live each Thursday, shortly after midnight so you can link up.
Guilt-free participation! Time is a precious commodity for all of us. If you participate, all I ask is that you take a few moments and visit and comment on TWO other participants’ sites. No need to visit everyone, but a couple is very appreciated.
Please remember this is about helping each other so if you love the post tweet it, G+ or facebook it.

Want to know more about memes and why you’d want to participate? Check out Patty Wysong’s page Making the Most of Memes for more information.

Here’s another confession…

This meme is going to push me to write on time—what a deadline? Yes, if I make it one. It’s not going to be easy and I’m sure I’ll be searching through photos on my camera as a quick post. But that’s okay. I’m ready for rut relief and creativity building!
We would LOVE to have you join us!!

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments or email me.

Word Nerd=word is PLANT

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Word Nerd: FRAME

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Word Nerd Day! TOOL is the word!

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Exotic at Home?

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Word Nerd Word Is: GLASS

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How do you slay your giants?

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GONE FISHING

WORD NERD WORD IS “FISHING

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a2z: “Z” is for Zip

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Word Nerd!

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