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Friday, September 19, 2014

Why I Will Keep Posting, No Matter How Sporadically

Just so you know, I haven't forgotten about you!

Also I actually do know the difference between the days of the week.

I intended to post on Sundays, and that worked out initially but then Sundays got busy. Then Mondays flew by. Then I started posting on Tuesdays semi-regularly. Then a couple of weeks went by plus I've been trying to figure out how to homeschool AND homekeep plus (same as pretty much everyone all around the country) we've been dealing with cooties.

So! My new plan is to chill out on exactly which day I end up squeezing in enough time to write here and just continue to aim for posting once a week.

I'm not stressed about it anymore (strange but true) which is cool.

But it's very important to me that I keep posting because very often I give up on things after a while, and I'm determined not to give up on this.

Now, unfortunately, I've been working on some of those Before & After type projects lately... but without taking Before pictures. Oops. And I keep realizing that I've forgotten to take Before pictures while I'm in the middle of doing the project, at which point I've already made so much progress that it wouldn't make sense to take a picture right then. Sooo... maybe I'll just come up with another category, such as, "Mostly Homey Content" and use it to provide a peek into my home without the Before & After-ness. That could be cool.

Anyway, my face is congested + my baby is teething and nearly-walking + my sons don't think they need naps = I'm pretty sleepy, so this is the part where I wrap up.


What do you think about the idea of Before & After posts of projects I do? What about Mostly Homey Content posts? What other kinds of things are you interested in me writing about? I'd love to hear from you!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Back to school, but without the "back"

Hello! Sorry that I forgot about you guys, again... the long holiday weekend has messed me up a little, so another Sunday came & went without me remembering to post! My home is quiet right now, and not in that sinister, "oh crumbs, where are they and what are they up to?" kind of way. I think I'm the only one awake in the house! So I'm taking a few moments to share pictures of my two oldest blondies.

This is my biggest boy! He's 5, his favorite color is green, and he loves doing color by number activity pages.



This is my smaller (but still pretty big!) boy! He's 3, his favorite color is blue, and he loves coloring in mommy's notebooks with a pen.




Technically, we haven't even sat down to DO any school today... and I'm not sure if we will, either. Probably I'll have them do some worksheets or coloring pages while I make dinner, or something. But, that's the beauty of the fact that almost any activity can be a learning one! Especially at their ages.


Do any of you homeschool, and did you begin when your children were little like mine currently are? Even if you're not homeschooling, do you have little ones starting school this year? This is definitely a whole new adventure, and I'd love to hear from you!


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Tired, Vol I

Hi. Last week was pretty tiring/crazy/busy, and honestly it wasn't until 2am on Monday that I even realized... I'd completely forgotten to post here. This week is similar so far, even though it's only Tuesday.

For instance? We had the carpet cleaning service here today before 10:30am.

So now, I pretty much just want to be sleeping.

I know some days/weeks will be like this, and I'm grateful for the timeliness of the sermon at church on Sunday (regarding storms in life) -- it was definitely helpful and encouraging.

Time to go wrangle my three blondies, now. Maybe they'll even take naps, today.


How do you respond to life's storms? Especially when they seem to be brought on by your children? What do you do to stay strong, positive, and hopeful? I'd love to hear from you!

Sunday, August 17, 2014

"Doing it Yourself" with help from The Internet

So, it seems like pretty much everything these days is either store bought or "DIY." I'm pretty sure things were the same way a few decades ago, but that doing it yourself was the norm. It seems that much of our society is going back to homemade/cooked/sewn/baked/painted/built/etc. and while I view DIY-ing as a very trendy thing, I also think it's a very cool thing.

Plus with the help of the internet (specifically Pinterest, of course!) nearly anyone can learn about and then make just about anything. You can customize a dresser, put in a handy-dandy drawer organizer made from Bristol board (the Canadian word for poster board), then make your own underwear to load it up with.

Not into home projects? No biggie. Maybe you'd like to find a fun craft to do with children!

No kids to craft with? All good, you're SURE to have someone in your home who eats food and when it comes to recipes the internet has got you covered, smothered, peppered, and then some.

If I ever get around to taking pictures in my home maybe I'll share some of my own "DIY" projects with you! Another thing I'm thinking about doing for this blog is a series of Before and After -- anything from projects to basic housework to food prep and more.


Do you use the internet to find inspiration, ideas, recipes, directions, and how-to's? What source or site is your favorite? I'd love to hear from you!

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Gotta Start Somewhere

Did you know that when I was a kid I could barely keep a diary or journal because it was SO HARD to maintain perfection in my writing?

I was probably around 11 years old, and had it in my head that if the story of my life was ever going to get published like Laura Ingalls Wilder then it had better be good material. That means perfect. PER. FECT. That means, I didn't understand the concept of rough drafts, polishing, a team of editors, the unlikelihood of my life being so incredible that I had a nine book autobiographical series, or cutting myself some slack.

It was rough. I worried what people would think when they looked at my handwriting, and I hoped that it would be legible enough for the book people to be able to read it correctly. You know, in case they discovered my diaries post mortem. Because really, how many 11 year olds worry about their after-death fame??

At least one did. In the 90's. It was me.

Did you know that when I was teenager I had a blog for a while, and was sooo preoccupied with, somehow, having a super-awesome blog that tons of people would read and subscribe to and comment on and instead of just writing things that I thought or stuff that I felt, it was really just a big popularity contest for me? Because as we all know trying to win a popularity contest on the internet is about as positive and meaningful as winning an argument on the internet.

I didn't know that, then, though. So that was pretty rough, too.

So now I'm beginning this blog, and I'm happy to say that I've learned a few things about how to approach writing. I know that most of the time I approach a blank page feeling like I "don't have anything to say" but then manage to fill the page. I know that if I focus on expressing myself truly and genuinely, instead of with any attempt at a facade, writing is more relaxing because I'm not worrying about what people might think and therefore am not concerned with my "image." I also know that what I write doesn't have to be perfect, doesn't need to attract a publisher, and isn't about internet fame.

Letting go of those kind of hangups is good. It's freeing. And it certainly beats the unhappiness that always comes from perfectionism!


Have you ever worried about your writing being "good enough" in any of these ways? Do you have other ways that you can relate? I'd love to hear from you!