Happy Wednesday friends! I am pleased to welcome dear author Amanda Tero today, sharing her life with us! I have really enjoyed her Tales of Faith stories, which are kind of like a fairy tale and Christian message book all in one. I also enjoy the videos Amanda shares on facebook. I love listening to her songs đ Thank you Amanda for sharing your day with us!!
Not all writerâŠ
A day in my {crazy} life
Many times, people look at authors as this type of set-apart race who has all the time in the world for one thing: writing. Itâs such a dream world! Authors get to do what they love, and only what they love. I know⊠I used to think the same thing. Then I discovered that itâs usually not quite the case. Sure, you have your authors whose primary job is writing. But then you have authors whose lives color outside the lines of words-only. And that, my friends, is the category in which I fall.
Before I go into a monologue about a day in my life, I should perhaps preface with a little self-introduction. I live in rural Mississippi where pine trees grow thicker than cotton and overshadow all of the country roads, letting in only glimmers of sunlight as vehicles speed across dirt roads (yes, you read that correctly: dirt. Look at a satellite image of Mississippi and youâll see red lines creeping across the majority of the map). This is where I live. Oh, not just me. I happen to share my home with eleven other people: my two parents and nine of my eleven siblings (Yes, we are all biological; No, there are not any twins; No, weâre not all teenagers, even though we look like it; Yes, we actually choose to live with our parents still, and we like it; and yes, we were all home-schooled from child #1-12; Oh, and there are eight girls and four boys [to which weâve heard both âPoor guys! So outnumberedâ and âSO many weddings!â Yep, yep!]). For the time being, we have eight adults, three teens, and one under-ten living under the same roof (this is just where God has us all right nowâam I answering all of your questions? đ ). As you can imagine, it makes life pretttty hectic. There is no normal day. So Iâll just choose one: March 19, 2018. For the ease of your reading, Iâll refer to my siblings in age-order (E.g., I would be child #5, and if for some reason, I would refer to myself as âsister #5,â I still mean fifth in lineâhope thatâs not too confusing).
Today, I woke up at 6:20. My goal is 6:00âin fact, I set my alarm for 6:00. Iâve gotten into a pretty good routine, but this past weekend, we were in Louisiana (read: a four-hour drive one-way), and after church on Sunday, my body just needed a little extra rest-time. So much so, that my sister (Rebecca; child #3) had to wake me up because my alarm was annoying her and I wasnât responding to it (whoopsie!). As is my morning routine, I did Scripture memory verses and some Bible reading on my Kindle to get my mind awake and focused. During this time, the sister right under me (Elizabeth; child #6) had already gotten up and was milling around in our dark room to get ready for work.
About 7:00, I rolled out to finish my devotion time at my desk and write down my to-do list for the day (or, as is usually the case, to finish writing down the to-do list I had already begun for today). Elizabeth interrupted me for a brief moment, frantic because she had no clue where her keys were, and it was time to leave (yeah, weâre quite human here ;)). The questions that immediately come to mind in this instance is, âWho had the keys last? Where would they have put them?â (with so many of us, the answers can vary a bit) It didnât take long to find themâin a place that neither of us really knew why they were there.
 8:15, and I slipped on my jacket, plugged in the earbuds, and headed outside for my morning walkâ30 minutes today, because I had time for it. Currently, Iâm listening to Charles Stanleyâs God Has a Plan for Your Life (which has been very good so far). Listening to devotional books/sermons is something that I began to make my walking feel productive not only physically, but also spirituallyâand, like this morning, it often gives me that extra little boost with which to begin my day.
Walking finished, I did my 5-minute exercise program (yes, Iâm a wimpâŠbut better a little than nothing, right? ;)), and took a shower. Now it was about 9:30, and I was finally ready for breakfast (anyone else who canât exercise on any food?). Daddy had already made some of his specialty oatmeal with craisins and pecans, so I plopped some of that in a bowl, added molasses to it, and began my little shuffle of take-a-bite, wash-a-dish, take-a-bite, wash-a-dish (yes, Iâm the kitchen cleaner in our family). Meanwhile, I chatted over the dayâs plans with a couple of my sistersâtoday, it was my 18 and 13-year old sisters (Children #9 and 11). We all agreed that, since Mom had stayed down in Louisiana to help our grandparents (and thus wasnât home to instigate anything), the house needed to be cleaned. Since several of us had separate things to do (my younger sisters: school or other work), we decided to save housecleaning for after lunch.
Sometime in that process, siblings #1, 3 and 8 and Daddy had all left for their work or various appointments, leaving me as oldest and in charge of children #9, 10, 11, and 12 (this is actually the typical arrangement: me and âthe four little girlsââwho arenât so little anymore at ages 18, 15, 13, and 8).
Breakfast done, kitchen cleaned, I headed back upstairs to my domain: my studio. I try to compartmentalize my lists, and do whatâs most important first. For me today, cleaning my studio was top. Not only do I work better in a clean place, but I also teach piano and violin and Tuesdays and Wednesdays (that is, starting tomorrow at 10:00). It was kind of important for this space to be cleaned. Then I got online to do a little book promo (oh look! I was being an author!) and, while I was online, went ahead and did my weekly blog writing update (or perhaps I should say, my almost weeklyâI have skipped a bit lately). In this time, the mail had come and (happy skip!) I got a book in to reviewâSpread Too Thin, by Ellen Miller (definitely a book I could use, if itâs as good as the title promises!). Reading it will have to wait for another day, though.
I had about a half hour until lunch, and used that time to do some lesson prep (recital is coming up, so my students and I are working on song selections for that; I enjoy arranging music, so usually I pull together my own music at their requests). Todayâs list wasnât very long, so I was able to get it finished before lunch (big yay! That was one of the most important things that I had to have done today, so I can be ready for tomorrow).
Sister #11 came upstairs about noon, asking for lunch suggestions (sheâs our lunch-maker). We ended up agreeing on cheesy pasta. Since I eat gluten free, I headed back downstairs to guide her through the process of their pasta (she hadnât done it before) and also make my own lunch (I added spinach and ham to mine). While I was waiting for noodles to boil, I went ahead and began cleaning the laundry room. By the time lunch was ready, the contents of the laundry room were spilled into the kitchen, but I saved that for later. This time, I actually sat down for my meal and ate with sisters #10 and 11.
With lunch finished, we separated into our individual domains and cleaned house. I finished the laundry room and cleaned the kitchen while sister #10 helped in the dining room. Sisters #9 and 11 worked in the bathrooms, their room, and living room. They finished before I did and took some time off, most of them going to read.
About 4:00, Iâm ready to return upstairs, but first put chicken on to boilâŠto figure out what to do with it for supper later. I left a message for the girls to keep an eye on it and head upstairs (now, their break was over and I left them to attack the mountain of clothes to fold while watching a movie). First thing upstairs, I strike out the things Iâve done (for some reason that gives a fantastic sense of accomplishment!). At this point, all that was left was doing some Algebra (Lord willing, Iâm going to college in the fall as an âolderâ student, and since itâs been about ten years, I really want to test out of the intermediate math and do only the one required college Algebra for my associatesâ music degree), fixing my violin bridge (which I have been putting off for a few weeks, as Iâve never shaved down and customized a bridge before *insert a slightly panicked face*), and writing 100 words.
I got a little distracted looking for a new phone case (Iâm thinking about an Otter boxâI really need something âAmanda-proofâ with how many times I drop my phone in a day), then finally put on some music (Ball Brothers, if youâre interested in checking out a new Christian group), and opened my math program. As I was working out the problems, Dad called to see if we needed anything from the store while he was out. My oldest brother (child #2, who is married and lives next door) came in briefly to see if I had a certain headphone adaptor (which, after rummaging through my drawerâbecause I had had it at one pointâdiscovered I have no clue where it is). When one lesson of math was done, I ran downstairs to check on the chicken. It was falling to pieces, so I set it aside to cool, called Daddy to see if he had any supper preferences (he didnât, but since he was out, mentioned picking up ground meat for tacos), playfully fussed at the girls for choosing a movie I would like to watch but donât have time for now, and ran back upstairs to do more math. After another chapter, I switched programs to Scrivener to write my 100-words of the day. Things were going smoothly, so I was able to reach 310 words. It was 6ish by then, so I posted a writing update on Instagram and Facebook (since Iâm trying to keep my followers regularly updatedâŠwhich is working about as well as my regular blog postsâoff and on đ ), then went downstairs to pull together supper with help from sisters #9 and 11.
The evenings are when other family members start trickling in: brother #8, sister #6, sister #3, Daddy, and finally sister #1. Daddy had some outside projects to do, so we ate without him when we were ready, watching brother #7 hone his Rubix Cube speed skills. With supper done, I worked with siblings #9, 11, and 12 to get the kitchen clean again (sibling #10 is coming down with something and was already asleep; weâre praying itâs not another sick virus, as weâve been sick most of the year already!).
By now, itâs 8:00. Iâm upstairs again, polishing up this recap of my day and getting it ready to send off. So, the day isnât quite finished as I donât usually go to bed until 10:00. I never got around to my violin bridge (again) and still have three lessons in math that Iâd like to get done. At the same time, Iâm also ready to do a little relaxing⊠so the options are currently being tossed in the air.
Looking back over this recap, I realize that I have chattered quite a bit! Not every day is quite as full as this oneâlike I said, we live many random days, and no two are alike. And somewhere, in the midst of it all, I still try to make an attempt at being a writer.
About Amanda
Amanda Tero is a homeschool graduate who desires to provide God-honoring, family-friendly reading material. She has enjoyed writing since before ten years old, but it has only been since 2013 that she began seriously pursuing writing again â starting with some short stories that she wrote for her sisters as a gift. Her mom encouraged her to try selling the stories she published, and since then, she has begun actively writing short stories, novellas, and novels. If something she has written draws an individual into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, it is worth it!
âTrust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.â (Proverbs 3:5)
Connect with Amanda
Email: amandaterobooks@gmail.com
Website: http://amandatero.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amandaterobooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandateroauthor/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/amandaruthtero/
Blog: www.withajoyfulnoise.blogspot.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AmandaTero
Thanks so much for letting me “stop by!” đ Thanks for your kinds words and support.