A big first step in the direction that I want to go.

My first published book?!

I have just submitted my first actual book to Amazon to be reviewed before it is published to the Kindle platform.

I ended up naming the book "An Ultralight Guide to Hiking and Backpacking Equipment".

I have combed over the final drafts of the book for hours and hours, only to find that I accidentally wrote "... to Backpacking and Hiking Equipment" on the title page. The cover of the book and the Amazon bookshelf both show the correct title, so I am hoping that the title page will not be a problem until I am able to upload a corrected version. I doubt the KDP reviewer will look that closely at the title page, but who knows.

I am thinking that it will not be a big deal, I just wish that I had gotten someone else to edit for me as well. My fiancee did not really have time to read through it, so I just gave it a few days before going back to editing to catch some mistakes.

I think it could be a couple of days before I hear if my book is approved for sale.

A big step.

This is exactly what my next step was when I decided that I was going to choose to be happy. I committed myself to pursuing my interests and living a little life, and step one was to begin dedicating time to producing valuable creative content. I am so glad that I am moving forward. 

Now, obviously, an equipment guide is not something that is going to light the shelves on fire at a book store. The point is that I made it happen, and it is an end product that I have confidence will help a novice hiker. 

I enjoyed the work that went into writing this book, and I am feeling motivated and inspired to continue on with my other projects.

EDIT: Holy smokes, my book just got through review and is now being published. I hadn't even finished writing here before I saw that the book passed review.

The housing situation.

My fiancee and I did, indeed, go and look at apartments in town several days past. Mostly due to my mood at the time, I was very motivated to find a new place to live. After speaking to her about it the next few days, our concerns about renting an apartment resurfaced. 

For one, it really feels like you are just throwing your money into a pit to rent something. I could live in my car and be pretty happy after the months I've spent sleeping on the ground in the woods. 

Second, moving out means leaving mom alone. Yes, I call her mom. My future mother in law is an awesome person, and we all get along really well living here. I can hang out with her in a way that isn't really possible with my fiancee's father and my own parents. She's just glad to spend time with us and genuinely glad to have us here. A few days ago, my future mother in law had gotten home early before my fiancee had to get up for work, and we ended up going fishing at a nearby creek for about an hour. It was cool to just get out and do something like that together. If we moved to an apartment I don't think we would be around to hang out with her as much, and I think we really like how it is now.

Third, it simply makes a lot of financial sense for us to live with a parent right now. My fiancee already has student loan debt and is now going back for more schooling. I think she is looking at doubling her existing debt, and there is a certain amount of stress that comes with for any person. 

Fourth, we are very well located right now for not being in the City proper. My fiancee's commute is reasonable, there are several supermarkets in the general area, and anything else we need is pretty close. 

So it would seem that we are back to a holding pattern on the subject of future accommodations. I am honestly quite relieved that the urgency of getting our own place has subsided. Even more so, I am relieved that my fiancee and I are doing alright. 

That's all for right now, but I hope you are well today. Allergies have been off the charts bad for the last couple of days, and it would be good to know that someone at least isn't getting all beat up by ragweed and whatever the hell else is attacking us.