Just... the best day!

Yesterday it rained practically the whole day. The street outside my office was flooding! Usually when it is so dreary, I do not like to be at work. I prefer to be tucked in my bed sleeping or reading a book. But yesterday, it was fine.

It probably helped that my dad called with some news. I knew that he knew I was at work, so I figured he wasn't calling to just waste time, even if it was around his lunch hour. He told me that I had some mail, and he wasn't sure what it was - though it was probably junk mail. I told him to open it, and immediately he started reading this:

When I received the news (over the phone) that I was accepted in to BYU, I cried. When my dad read me this, I was practically jumping out of my chair! I had submitted a story to Women's World, knowing that it was a long shot.

According to the magazine, and several blogs dedicated to romance writers wanting to make a little money on the side, millions of submissions go through Bauer Publishing every year. But I submitted, knowing that I was only putting out a few stamps worth of effort, and then almost forgot about it.

Occasionally, I would think about how I hadn't heard from them. I figured that they probably didn't like it. The story is a little different than most of the stories I have read in the magazine, and they probably didn't want to publish it in their magazine. I submitted in December (on my mom's birthday) and only heard back yesterday! But it was so worth the wait!

The best part, for me - besides the fact that I just made a little extra money and can now be considered a real published author (maybe) - is the little handwritten note at the bottom telling me that the story is "unusual and authentic".

I don't know for sure if they will publish the story, but they are buying it from me so they can publish it whenever they want. They can also edit it as they want.... I'll be interested to see what they do to it. I hope that this is just the beginning of my writing.... and that there will be plenty of stories that get accepted by Woman's World, and maybe a successful novel or two. It might be too much to ask, but while I'm riding this high, I'm going to go with the idea that it is a definite possibility!

I was giddy with the news - I told everyone. Or, I tried to tell everyone... When I told my boss that I had good news, he jumped the gun, asked if I was engaged and then told me he would be sad if my engagement took me away from the office. Once I explained that I was not, in fact, engaged, he got distracted...Oh, well.

I was overwhelmed with the congratulations that I got (even if it was a bit solicited) and so thankful that everyone is as excited for me as I am for myself! It's so nice, so THANK YOU, everyone! This is also probably a good time to mention my gratitude to Suesan and Meghan, who helped edit the story before I submitted it. (You two are the best!)

After work, the rain had stopped and Meghan and I drove up to Salt Lake for dinner and a movie. On the way up, we saw a rainbow, which just added to the magic of the day. The food at La Hacienda is really, really good. And we watched the new version of Jane Eyre at this little Indie theater. I am still not sure how I felt about it.... if anyone wants to watch Jane Eyre, I will recommend the Masterpiece Theater version. It is much better.

From everything else that is going on, it sounds like several of my friends received good news yesterday, too. So it was just such a great day!