I put on my I-Pod headphones on and headed outside for my daily walk as I always did, but this night was different. Something was different, I could feel it but couldn't see it.

The Carolina blue sky above me gave me a show of dark blue clouds outlined in pinks and yellows- it was absolutely gorgeous. The hot summer weather took my breath away as soon as I stepped outside, and I immediately thought how I couldn't wait until next month when the weather would start cooling down.

I took the three flights of steps downstairs and noticed how much more comfortable my feet felt since I had bought shoes specifically for running and some insoles that supposedly made my feet and back hurt less. But that wasn't it either...

What was it that was different?

I turned my I-Pod to song 37 and turned my volume up as loud as I could, before stretching my legs and taking off to run.

"Hung my cotton dress on rusted wire," blared LeAnn Rimes as she sang "Nothin Better To Do" loudly into my ears. I was in my running mode, paid attention to nothing and no one around me. I ran my five miles and headed back up the three flights of stairs to my apartment.

I took my end of the day shower and was getting ready to get into bed by eleven. As I stood beside of my bed, I looked down at my feet and thought how wonderful my feet still felt with my new shoes and insoles. I couldn't believe it.

I lifted one leg to get into bed when I felt it and knew what was different- excruciating pain in my ankle and something wet running all over my foot. I looked down to see a deep gash along my Achilles Tendon with dark red, thick blood pouring onto my foot. As soon as I set my other foot down, I saw it- a hand with a sharp surraded knife slashing a gash into my other ankle. The movement was so quick that all I saw was a swift motion, but I felt the pain and soon fell to my knees and collapsed onto my stomach.

I was starting to feel faint and cold and started losing consciousness. I was slowly starting to bleed to death... guess I wasn't going running tomorrow.

Copyright: Amanda Vittitow.

Idea #2

The last thing I wanted when I left Ohio was a relationship. I wanted a change… no, let me rephrase that…I needed a change. I had been stuck in the same Podunk town since I was a child and had gone to college to have the experience- thinking it would change something for me. But after the same parties, the same situations, the same thing day after day, I had finally had enough. I packed all of my stuff into my car and headed for home, but when my exit for home came up- I kept driving.

In front of me stood nothing but open interstate and the clear, blue horizon in front of me. I had no idea where I was going or what I was going to do when I got there, but I was going and that’s all that mattered to me.

As I drove to my destination unknown, I thought about my life… kinda boring, definitely uneventful. I had grown up in the rural area of Southeast Ohio, in the typical house with my parents and siblings- one older brother, who everyone thought the sun rose and set with, and one younger sister, who according to my parents was, “the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.” Gag me. Being the middle child did have its advantages because while my parents were tending to my siblings, I was getting away with things that I never would have gotten away with if I was the oldest, youngest, or even the only child. And as much I pushed the limit and wanted to get caught or punished to get my parents attention, it never happened. I was the forgotten child.

The forgotten child, I thought as I continued to drive. It had a nice ring to it. I mean what would truly happen if I never went home? My parents wouldn’t miss me, my siblings wouldn’t miss me, my roommates back at college definitely wouldn’t miss me. The girl that played her music too loud when her roommates were sweating exams the next day, the girl that came in way too late and clattered around because she wanted Ramen noodles at four in the morning… yeah they definitely wouldn’t miss me.

Copyright: AmandaVittitow.

And Thoughts..

Still writing articles and such.. trying to get back into grant writing. I'm going to meet a grant writer on Tuesday for her to teach me some things to see I like it and want to get into it.

I have also had a lot of fiction ideas come into my head. Only thing is I don't know where to go and what the characters should or can do to make them stand out and be different from everyone else. I mean let's face it, writing a book is a great accomplishment but I'm not proud of it. I think if things were handled different with the publishing company, I would be more proud of it.

May be writing different ideas to put on my blogspot... just a tip: I own the rights- all of them. It's my original work, and I am proud of it- so it's MINE.

Idea...

I haven't blogged in a while but have had a lot of ideas running through my head. Finally had to write an idea down to see where it took me.. here's the result. Who knows where it will end up if anywhere.

I own all rights to this.

I woke up the morning after and looked around his bedroom. It looked a whole lot different in the morning sunlight than it did in the dark- where the only light coming through was the softness of the moon. Now the morning sun made everything look extra bright, almost translucent. I rolled over to see him sleeping soundly next to me with his arm draped over his eyes to block out the sun, or maybe he was he was doing the same thing I was- trying to avoid me, like I was with him. But oh my god it was fun—ten years of playing catch up wrapped into two hours of pure, animal, never-going-to-see-you-again sex.

I peeled myself out of his bed and tried to step lightly across the hardwood floors. One of the boards creaked underneath me, immediately causing me to stop and turn around to see if I had woke him up. I sighed under my breath to see that he was still peacefully sleeping and continued walking through his room picking up my clothes that seemed to be in order from his bed to his bedroom door. First was my black, lacy underwear, second was my matching bra, third was my simple, black cocktail dress, fourth and fifth were my shoes and my hair barrette that I tossed as soon as the door was closed.

As soon as I was dressed, I opened the door and was just about out of his room- thinking I had played it safe.

“Hey,” I heard behind me.

Damn it. I was busted.

Word of mouth advertising really is free!!!

All right guys!!! The time has come to talk about my book and to get word out!! My publishing company says the more I talk about my book on the internet, the better off I will be. So here it goes: My first official blog to promote my book.

The title: Carry On, Oh My Soul

Genre: Fiction

Soon available as an E-book (will be available for download on Amazon, Google E-books, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, etc) and/or on Print.

Due Date: Around August or September... keep checking back for an official release date (trust me, Josh and I are just as excited about the official release date as we are about anything else).

Cost: $14.95 plus tax

I could give a short synopsis, but it's hard to do that without giving too much away. I will say this: The book talks about love, life, baseball, and fate.

I have put a lot of thought and hard work into this book, and I am very proud to call this my own.

The concept of this book came from a dream that I had had, and as soon as I woke up the next morning, I knew that this would be a great book. So you know what? Don't ever ignore your dreams. You never know where they might take you.

Please, please spread the word around about my book. I know if you buy it, you will not be disappointed. Thank you guys and gals!!! I really appreciate it!!!