Posted in Blogging about Blogging

We had an opportunity yesterday for four of the OWOA (One Weigh Or Another) group members to get together and here are some pics.  From left to right - me, Kellie, Blest, Debs...


Here are just Debs and me...  she is here from London, UK - a long trip for a short visit.  ;)

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Considering that very soon all I will have time and energy to do is be online then I need to take an official blogging break for a week or so.  I have a wedding cake and some bread baking for customers to do as well as an upcoming bake-off and a few more tests.  We also have school and lots of piano practice this week with a coming competition next weekend.  I will try to post on my hysterfiles as needed and check in with my MySpace for a few minutes a day for those I am in touch with over there (plus I will be listening to my playlist over there while I work in the kitchen some).  Maybe a picture or two will show up from time to time, too. 

E-mail me if you like, too!  (((HUG)))

~Love to you all!!!

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

I know... like I need another blog, right?  I just know that I don't want this one to become so incredibly cluttered that no one wants to read anymore.  I also don't want to impose my emotional issues on everyone here about personal stuff that is going on right now that may be touchy for some of  you.  I have a foodie blog, a reading blog and a gardening blog besides this one.  I am considering just moving all the gardening stuff back here when I do find time to write about it.  I am neglecting that blog very much.  I will keep the foodie blog and the reading blog but I added another blog yesterday for my new journey that God is taking me on.  I call it the Hyster Files and it is my countdown, pre-op preparation and post-op thoughts for the impending surgery.  My journey might be helpful to someone else so I cannot ignore that fact.  I know not everyone wants to read that stuff here so here is your opportunity to head over and read if you like and skip it if you like, too.  The blog can be found here...

The Hyster Files

So, join me if you like and skip it if you like - either way I will always love you gals and appreciate you for all the prayer lifted for me at this time. 

Love to you all!!!

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

This is NOT to say that I will NOT be posting in the coming weeks.  It is, however, necessary that I NOT use my computer online until I get a new one.  I will have access to Dan's but only for about an hour a day to check e-mail and make a post when time permits.  My virus protection runs out and we are not renewing it on this computer because, well.... you saw the screen..... it is broken.  I don't want to pay for virus protection on a computer I will be replacing soon.  I also do NOT want a virus of ANY kind.  I will be playing it safe...  So, this will be a good time for me to shut it off and get something else done as well as limit my time and make it productive when I can get on.  You can e-mail me and I will respond as soon as I see it and you can leave comments and if you have bloglines you can sub so you will know when I update.  I just wanted all my "groups" and other contacts to know that I won't be checking in for weigh-ins, chitchat and the like.  I have until Wednesday until this goes into effect.  Thanks for understanding and for reading! 

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Amy  at Knight's Acre has blessed me with two little graphics for my blog and a huge compliment!  Thanks for the Rockin Girl Blogger award and the Nice Matters award!!!  Wow!!!!!  I will display the graphics proudly and pass along the love to a few of my most favorites, too.  Too bad I cannot give it to Amy because she would SO be on both lists for me, too!!!


1. One goes to a new blogger - my personal friend It'sMe who makes going to church fun and is not afraid to hang out in her PJS and eat chocolate when the opportunity strikes!!!

2. Cheri at Kudzu and Koolaid because I have always, ALWAYS adored her!!!

3. Dana at ThinkPink - 10 year survivor of breast cancer and the one who shares a brain with me on most days!!! LOL I love you Dana!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Angela (AGK) - who left us in a manner of speaking in the blogosphere for a higher calling and has returned on a mission. I have loved her writing for years and her photography is TO DIE for!!!

5. ...and a posthumous award goes to my dearest Soul Sis Natalie who was a Rockin' Girl Blogger who's words live on through her father at NattieRoseWrites




I have to choose 7 for this one so let me think about it a bit because I don't want to duplicate from above and spread the love a bit more that way... 

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

has his own blog now... Stay tuned for some really cool Scouting stuff!

Bass Dude  (or SwimScout as we affectionately call him!)

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

I am so honored and blessed to announce to you that I have been chosen the Featured Blogger of the Week by Homeschool Blogger.com for the next 7 days!!!  I am so tickled!!!!! 

I want to say thank you so much for this honor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Now, I hope this does not mean I have to be profound and inspiring over the coming week.    I am not sure I can live up to that right now...  LOL 

You can take a look at the post if you like HERE.  Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

I found this report to be very interesting.  Thought you might, too...

A 33 page .pdf document called A Portrait of the Internet's New Storytellers.   I saw myself in there a great deal.  It is a bit on the analytical report side but very interesting to see why bloggers are bloggers.  Hope you enjoy! 

I will be back later with a book review... 

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

This is the last day of the NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month).  I got to the end and have made 34 posts in the past 30 days counting today's post.  I only missed a few days posting while I was away for Thanksgiving but made up for it with a few extra posts along the way.  Today has been a bit of a resting day for me so I have taken some downtime and this is it for today.  I am going to bed in a few minutes loaded with sudafed and cough medicine.  I am feeling better but still having trouble sleeping because the coughing starts when I lay down.  I will be around tomorrow and have a few things to write and share.  Thanks for reading all month and I hope you enjoyed your time here with me.  I know I enjoyed writing and reading the comments along the way.  *raises glass of apple cider* Here's to another great month of blogging together in December! 

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

    No, not Thanksgiving!!!  (even though I am really, really, REALLY looking forward to spending it with my parents for the first time in eons!!!)  I am talking about that tradition I have embarked upon each year for three years in a row called NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month).  I have come close on two occasions but for this year I am tossing that aside for a more reachable goal for the month of November. 

Many of you know that culinary school is consuming any extra brain power in my head and I don't have room for a novel right now.  My thoughts are actually working on cookbooks more these days.    ...but there is no NACOBOWRIMO (National Cookbook Writing Month - though I could start one...   naaaaaaaaaaa....)

So instead I am engaging in the challenge to write a post on this blog EVERY DAY for the entire month of November.  There is a group for that, too...  called NABLOPOMO (National Blog Posting Month).  You can join in this,  if you are so inclined.  The deadline, though, is by 11:59pm tonight and you HAVE TO POST TODAY.  So, you can go to the link and let Fussy know you are interested and then put up one of the graphic and get started.

So, I am gearing up to write each and every day this month.  I am exercising my fingers to strengthen them for the challenge and this is POST #1 on the journey to 30+ consecutive posts.  Stay tuned... 

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Well, we have blogged on blogging for 7 days.  The challenge has been fun.  Thanks, Carol, for this wonderful opportunity.  There have been some really well thought out posts by many wonderful bloggers along the way.  I have enjoyed reading each one of them.  I have, yet again, been slack in commenting.    I apologize for that - I am a work in progress and I thank you for putting up with me.  I also still have two TAGS to complete but for this final day I will merely say that I have enjoyed my experience to blog alongside such great ladies.  I feel blessed to know each of you.  I have been blessed to read each of you. 

This week has done something else for me that I never dreamed it would.  It has inspired me to blog better.  It has spurred me on to a new challenge in the blogging realm.  Topic blogging is something I really enjoy.  I never dreamed I would but I have.  I don't mean Memes and lists.  I mean really taking a look at what I love and what God is teaching me and then writing about it.  I look around me and see all of these bloggers that have a niche and a focus and realize that I just have not had that consistency.  I have talked about myself for far too long.  I know blogging is about sharing MY life but it can be about so much more.  The day to day stuff that gets me labelled as a Mommy Blogger is fine but I want to be so much more.  I want a niche.  I am now being far too honest with you all in saying this but I want to leave a mark, somehow, in this world of blogging.  It doesn't have to move the earth.  I don't have to win any prizes or awards.  I merely has to leave something positive.  Blest has the goal of not being boring.  She has a goal.  I don't even have a goal at this point.  So, officially, my goal is now that I want to make a difference... to someone... along the way (and also not be boring while doing it ;) ).  I want to edify the Kingdom in some way through what I write.  I want to make this little corner of the world a brighter spot for those who stop by.  That being said I am changing my approach.  You can still read about life from time to time and see pictures of all my precious ones but instead of the daily grind, it will be what God is teaching and how He is working in my life.  Growth is where I want to focus.  I want to share that I am moving forward and I am not the same person I was yesterday because God is real and working in me.  I can share that because that is what I know.  I don't know how He is working in you but if I share what He is doing in my life maybe that can help someone else where they are.  No complaining... no griping... no criticizing... just edifying.  That is the goal of this blog. 

May God richly bless you this day and throughout the weekend.  Have a wonderful Lord's Day.  See you Monday...

I will leave you with a real life friend's address.  She just started blogging this week and I want to introduce you to her.  She is a real Titus 2 woman for me and many other women and her name is Grammy Sue.  She is a professional writer.  She is a FANTABULOUS Bible study teacher.  She is an excellent wife, mother and grandmother - an excellent wife she is (Proverbs 31 Woman)!!!  Please pay her a visit and say hello.  I know you will love her as much as I do!!! 

Welcome to the Blogosphere Sue!!!!!

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Today on the Blogging about Blogging Circuit there are two very good lists that I believe are beneficial to bloggers everywhere.  You can check them out...

She Lives - New Blogger Tips

CheekyMama - 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Bloggers

Other Good Stuff:

I attended my first Italian Cooking Class last night.  It was so much fun!!!  I am going to love that time each week.  I came home after class last night and Dan told me to go ahead and order a new pasta maker.  So, I did!!!  I cannot wait for it to arrive.  I also get to buy a NEW chef's knife.  My old one is so dull. 

Gotta run...  Got baseball and swimming tonight.  We are in two separate places with kiddos today.  See you tomorrow

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

I have been blogging long enough to have some favorites.  Today I am linking to ten of those for anyone that wishes to read them.  Read what you are interested in, all of them or none of them.  They are just here for anyone interested.  I have all of my posts private at Xanga but took these few public for you guys and a few are at my old Blogspot.  I need to just move them over here at some point but you know how it is to take time to do that.  Maybe later...

Here are some of my favorites I will call...

Oldies But Goodies

Confessions of a Recovering Potty Mouth

A Little Taste of My Passion for Food and Friendship

Confessions of an Imperfect Mommy

A Little About Bible Translations

Top 50 Favorite Movies

Some Thoughts On Creation (not all of them just some answers to questions I was asked)

Any Given Day in My Home

Thoughts on Attachment Parenting

Ten Things I Can Do While Breastfeeding a Baby

The Rocks Analogy - I have referred to this on a few occasions so now you know what I am talking about...  LOL

I am going to eventually get a Favorites or Best Of... section up on the right hand side

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

I have made the trip to the grocery store for the stash of fresh fruits and veggies for the week and beyond.  I bought more vitamin supplements and got some days of the week pill containers for both Dan and me.  I have reviewed some crucial information from the DASH Diet for Hypertension and am making up some new menu plans for us.  Dan is down about all of this again but is feeling better today (translation - no headache).  Thanks so much for all of your prayers and comments - they mean so very much to us.  :)  (((HUG)))  I also ordered a few book recommendations you guys gave me and will share all titles when they get here. 

Around the WEB today you might be interested in...

Boys Week at Semicolon - she is sharing some great info and resources this week if you have boys or if you just have kids.  She is always sharing wonderful stuff!!!

Don't forget the Seven Days of Blogging about Blogging at Carol's She Lives.

Girl Talk had a GREAT post today!!!  Excellent advise for many of us to take to heart... ;)  (I was convicted!)

Can I just say I LOVE RANDI'S BLOG!!!!!  She shares so many great things you just need to go check her out...

5MinutesforMom is offering a great service.  I am now listed here and you can be too...  Go check it out!!!

Joyful Mother shared a neat link you might be interested in.  It is called W.Bloggar.  Afterall, it IS all about the blog!!!  LOL

If you have not met my twin you must.  We are online twins and living very similar lives across the country from each other.  I just think she is DABOMB and you ought to meet her if you have not already!!!  Her name is Dana and she is a ten year breast cancer survivor among a bazillion other wonderful things about her - I LURVE HER!!!!!

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Not sure where I am going with this one yet so hang on.  It could be a bumpy ride...

Over the three years I have been blogging I have plunged into some interesting areas.  Some were good and some not so good.  I won't bore you with the details of the not-so-good.  Some of you were there when I chose to leave Xanga and you know why - that is all that needs to be said.  :)

I have moved around a few times over the years and tried to stay with the free blog sites.  I am currently wondering if the grass might be greener if I paid for a blog with lots of bells and whistles but I really like it here.  They have free blogging, archives, templates that are nice and I know how to edit my html so I can manage all of that on my own.  I think one of the features here that I like is the fact that I have very little spam and they block cursing.  I prefer that.  So, I am here...

Other choices that have come up over the years are issues like quizzes, Memes and Tagging.  I really just have let quizzes go.  They are not for me.  Oh, I enjoy seeing some of the fun stuff there is but I have stopped taking them because, frankly, I just no time to sit and do them.  For reasons I mentioned on Sunday - like my Mom being a big reason why I blog - I do not do Memes very much.  They are good for passing around and sharing with other bloggers but my Mom does not come here to read those things.  For her it is ALL ABOUT THE GRANDBABIES!!!  LOL  ...as it should be... ;)  If you TAG me and I see that you have I will do the TAGS.  I rather enjoy TAGS.  There are very few TAGS I have not done and that was for the simple reason that they were for link attention and not for fun. 

My reading has changed over the years, too.  I have let many of my first reads go - another thing about leaving Xanga was losing touch with some.  Many of the blogs that were online three years ago are no longer in use or I have just moved on.  Some blogs, quite honestly, were too cliquish for me.  I did not fit their theological requirements.  ;)  The reads I have now are primarily women.  They are primarily Christian but not limited to that.  I have other interests such as books and crochet and I read some of those I have picked up along the way.  I read many homeschooling and mommy blogs.  For my closest blogging friends I will leave comments on a regular basis.  So many of us hang out on a forum together and talk there, too.  Occasionally, we get snail mail cards and lovely greetings from each other, too.  Oh, and I can just drive to Blestwithsons house.  LOL  ;) 

I do read a few men but RARELY, IF EVER, comment on them.  I am and have been convicted that if I am online I will limit myself to reading and corresponding with women.  I have had a few men e-mail with kudos to something I said and mainly in regard to ministry but I politely say thank you and cut contact after the thanks e-mail because I just do not feel it would be appropriate to spark online relationships with men.  So, I am not a snob just a faithful wife and mother.  My husband is my best friend and I intend on never giving impression otherwise. 

I have deleted a few comments along the way.  Some were spam and some were just mean but that has been few and far between.  I have banned one reader but have been blessed not to have to do that more than once.  I do answer comments most of the time.  I also plan to answer some but then forget to come back and do that.  If you have ever been "ignored" by me please know it was NOT on purpose.  :)  I really do love my readers and especially my commenters (cause I get to know you guys)!!!

I have had to set some limits on my online time over the years and there have been times when I have taken a hiatus from the computer and blogging.  I have tried to set myself on a posting schedule.  That has not been successful, I am sad to report.  My brain has never worked on a topic schedule very well.  Things just come up that I would rather write about.  I do keep a few topics in a file to write about when I feel I am ready to do that so you eventually see that stuff.  Right now I am working on one about Amish life and what we can learn from them.  I think you will enjoy that one.  I know I am enjoying working on it.  :)  I also have some things I have not finished.  I did not forget I have not finished the Virtuous Values or the Bread Baking series.  I am merely in the process of being spanked over #10 so it has not been finished yet and with the bread I am still working out recipes and an outline that I can really put together some good information with.  It will get done.  I have also made a choice to do book reviews for Active Christian Media.  I really enjoy reading and writing the reviews.  I only wish I had more hours in my day to read all that I want to read.  They will eventually get caught up (one bite at a time, one bite at a time, one bite at a time...).

I have often wondered if I should have some rules here.  Rules are such a bummer sometimes.  I have thought about deleting comments that do not leave their name or a link but then some of my regular readers sometime forget to leave it on accident.  I have also thought about posting privately on some things but have chosen to just write those things on my laptop and file them instead of bothering to put them here privately.  I did make a conscious decision to put my picture up and let you know who I am.  I figured that if I did EVER get published you would know anyway and there is something about secrecy  and withholding a name that is a bit off-putting to many. 

The most important thing I have made a choice about in regard to blogging is being real.  I just think it doesn't do anyone any good for you to think I am or for me to portray my life as perfect because it is SO NOT!!!!!  ROFLOL  If you never see the bumps and bruises how will you ever know I came out of the battlefield.  I am not hidden away in some glass house up on a hill.  I am in the trenches with you and I think you need to know that.  I know I need to know you are. 

Again, thanks so much for reading!!!!!

So, there you have it - what goes on in my brain to cause some choices I have made along the way. 

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

There once was a little band of girlfriends.  Ok, so there is still a little band of girlfriends.  LOL  They share with each other and they prayd with each other.  They play together and raise their children together.  They celebrate birthdays and new babies.  They share perimenopause and miscarriages and then menopause and the blessings of later life.  They meet one another in person when they can.  They share movies and music and food and just about anything else you can think of.  They live life together.  They blog together.  They read about each others lives daily.  They love each other.  They are bonded together.  They came together to mourn the loss of a beloved sister just over a year ago.  They would have never had this if it were not for the blogging world.  That is what Women at Home is to me.  They are my sisters.  They are safe and trustworthy.  I have met several of them in real life and many I will not meet until we step foot in heaven.  One of us is already there with Jesus and she is waiting patiently for the rest of us to join her.  We miss her but we have that hope of being together again.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE MY W@H SISTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are other friends here online, too.  We have forged friendships here.  Our bond is most often Christ and being mommies and homeschoolers.  Some of them are fellow pastor's or ministry wives.  Some are mommies of four children like me.  One is my longest online friend and she has 8 children.  I so want to sit and sip tea with these ladies.  We live parallel lives and have children that are going through many of the same things.  We encourage each other.  We study the Bible together.  We read books together.  We chat together, and e-mail one another.  Some of us have exchanged snail mail addresses and our children have penpals with some of the other moms children.  We KNOW each other!!!  We trust each other!!!!!  We do that because God has given us a safe place to be with each other.  Don't ask me how but He brings us together when we need each other the most. 

One very special friend is a darling little (and I do mean LITTLE) mommy of four boys that moved here back in October.  If it were not for blogging we would, quite possibly, never have touched base.  We are now IRL friends and I LOVE HER!!!!! 

Yes, blogging has blessed my life in this very positive way!!!

Posted in Blogging about Blogging

Carol at She-Lives has challenged us to Blog about Blogging over the next week.  I am taking that challenge, not really sure where it will take me.  I think the most logical place to start is the beginning, so here we go...

Begin at the Bloggining

It all began on March 14, 2003.  I opened an account at Xanga and began the process of keeping a regular blog.  I had tried another outlet just prior to that but the account is gone and I do not have any of the posts from that.  I still have all of my Xanga, Blogger, opened a few topical blogs like bookblogs, recipeblogs, writerblogs and now, I have this Homeschoolblogger record of my life online.  I find one is about all I can handle so it is all here for now.  I started for reasons that are not grandiose and spectacular.  I had no plans to start a world changing blog.  I never intended to dazzle or amaze anyone with my writing.  It has really never been about the traffic but that is fun to watch, too.  I started blogging for my Mom.  She reads it every day.  She keeps up with the grandbabies and checks out our pictures.  She has only commented one time in the past three years but I get phone calls and e-mails when she reads something she wants to talk about.  It gives her a connection to us and I love that since we are so far away.  Hi MOM!!!  *waving and excited that we are coming to see you soon!!!*

In the process of beginning to blog I have met many wonderful friends online.  Many of them have become sisters - you know who you are!!!  I have regular readers that I know and love and some that I do not know.  Some comment and some read anonymously.  I have said some profound things once or twice, maybe?  For the most part, I am not a world shaking writer.  I am a mommy and a wife.  I am a typical homeschooler who struggles with the daily grind of teaching and cleaning and cooking and schedules.  During the last three years I have always tried to be conscious of my words.  I realize that I have a responsibility to represent Christ in the most positive way possible.  I have tried not to be negative and critical.  I also realize that I am human and am totally capable of making mistakes along the way.  I am sure that everyone that has ever read my blog may not like me or may not have liked something I have said and that is fine. 

As I am firmly into my fourth year of blogging I do have my audience more on my mind than I did when I started.  I realize there are other homeschoolers reading and other moms reading.  I think more about sharing things that would encourage and embrace those people.  I pray that I say things that are of benefit for building the Kingdom and not tearing down anyone or anything. 

I am not about politics.  I am not about making everyone think I am so wonderful or intellegent - because, frankly, I am not all that.  I am a wife and mother doing what I feel is right for my family and those around me and sometimes I am just winging it and learning from my mistakes.  The more I learn, the more I realize how much I truly do not know.  I am sappy and overly serious sometimes.  I am not always able to spot a joke when I see one and my friends sometimes have to tell me, "Leann, that was a joke".  Ok, so the blond brain might have something to do with that.  ;)  My grammar is not perfect and my posts won't be published in any major magazines for my worldly insight.  I don't blog and edit for publication.  I write to express myself.  It is often what is going on in my life at that moment or thoughts I have as I go through things.  What I am is real.  What you see is what I am.  I am a bit insecure.  I am fully busy.  I really do love using my hands to create.  I do not always love homeschooling but I know I am called to do it.  My house is really that messy.  I still watch too much television and hang out online more than I should.  I love my husband.  I love my children even though I do not always like their behavior.  I am in love with God and so truly grateful that grace and salvation is what God offers me.  I am imperfect and flawed and I accept that.  I am grateful that I am forgiven and adopted into the family of God.  I am on the narrow path with my eyes sometimes looking to the wide path and wishing.  Then God reminds me that the narrow path is really what is best for me so I sigh and agree and then keep walking and trusting.  I am daily humbled with new mercies offered every morning. 

I am a blogger.  I enjoy what I do here.  It is a wonderful outlet and a fabulous avenue for communicating and sharing with those I call friends and family.  If I do not know you yet I just hope you change that.  There is nothing to be afraid of with this little pastor's wife from Texas.  I do not bite.  ;)  Please take a moment to introduce yourself and if you have a blog I would love to visit you, too. 

Thanks so much for reading!!!

Posted in Blogging about Blogging