Yesterday was Memorial Day. For some people it’s a day best spent in quiet reflection. For some it’s time for family reunion. But for some people, it’s just another day off work. It’s a holiday, it’s a barbecue, it’s a picnic.

For military families, it’s a lot of things. We think about friends, family, coworkers that we’ve lost. We think about our friends that are deployed. We think about how much we have to be grateful for. But we still have fun as well. So here’s the 10 ways I spent my Memorial Day weekend.

1. I spent it with military family…
My husband is Active Duty, and last year he was deployed for Memorial Day. So this year, we got to spend the holiday with our favorite military hero. Which was one of the things we were grateful for this year.

2. I spent it with extended family, who were prior military…
Gunlover’s grandfather served in the US Air Force (Gunlover’s branch) many years ago, and one of Gunlover’s favorite things to do when he visits him, is to see his grandfather’s service photo on the wall.

3. I spent it with non-military family that we don’t see very often…
It was somewhat of a family reunion this weekend…Gunlover’s mom, step-dad & sister were all out there as well.

4. I ate some hamburgers…
With Vidalia sweet onions…mmm mmm mmm.  My mother-in-law made banana pudding (my husbands favorite), and later we cut up a watermelon.

5. And then we came home the next day, and ate more hamburgers…
But our watermelon had gone bad, and when we checked the store, they only had little watermelons, so we made an AWESOME fruit salad of fresh pineapple, kiwi & strawberries.

6. I went swimming…
His grandfather has a swimming pool, which even has a slide. I wasn’t able to use the slide, but the water felt great…it was also an awesome escape from the gnats/flies that are plaguing Georgia right now.

7. We carried on his grandfather’s weekend tradition…
His grandfather is a notorious “treasure hunter”, and the holiday didn’t change that one bit. We hit up a yard sale, and walked around a flea market. Then we came home and perused his personal collections & I came home with a whole stack of records…everything from Waylon Jennings to Sound of Music.

8. I still had homeschooling on the brain…
While walking around the flea market, I found 3 books that are the right level for reading to Jade, and paid very little for them. Awesome!!!!!

9. I learned a new game…
I’ve never played Canasta before. But I gotta tell you, that game can be really addicting!!! I got hooked immediately, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was paired up with his grandfather, and he was paired up with his Mom. Although they conquered in the end, I did pretty well for my first time!

10. I got a new nickname…
So his grandfather has a habit of randomly sticking silly nicknames on family members. I won’t tell what all of them are, but one of the nicknames is “Loopy”. So I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to get a name from him. I think he decided this weekend, that he rather likes me, and informed Gunlover that he didn’t need any more guns, because he’d already married a little firecracker. Then during the game, he decided I should have a nickname with “fire” in it, so I’ve been dubbed “Sapphire.” I think I can live with that.

So, what did you do for Memorial Day? Now that summer is officially here, do you have any awesome plans for it?? If so, you should click the pretty purple square up top, and leave a Top 10 post of your own…and leave me a comment.

I’ve gotten much better about taking my prenatals. I need to get more consistent about it. The same goes for my fluid intake. I’m drinking about 4-5 glasses a day. I just need to go a bit further and take it to the 7-8 a day. Or more.

My workout program is being a bit rearranged right now. I was still trying to occasionally work out with my husband. But according to my doc, my body is not able to handle the higher heart rates for some reason, so I have to keep it lower when I’m working out, otherwise my blood pressure plummets. So I’m trying to go over my workouts and figure out which ones don’ t pump me up too much.

We’ve almost got the schedule worked out. We have our menus figured out, so that helps out dramatically!

I’ve made a little bit of headway on my businesses. And by headway, I mean I got both of them activated again. Oops! But I’m looking at business cards for Beachbody, and I’m getting my house organized, so I can deal with customers for Avon. I’m also getting closer to having the homeschooling stuff worked out. I was going to go full bore with it, meshing the history with the arts/culture of the times, etc. Which is still how I intend to teach them. But at this age (5), I think I’ll go for more of a self directed learning, with some history. She’ll get history through the years, but at this age, she wants to learn about butterflies, and bears, and any random thing that pops in her head. And I’d like to take advantage of that desire to learn. So for now, we’ll combine things.

And here’s what I still need work on:

My entire Spiritual section. How bad is that? The Bible reading, Christian books, and Bible studies, I’m still not going on. Grrr. My husband & I are rearranging our schedule right now. He just got shifted from nights back to days (yay!), so now I’m up at 5:45 or earlier. I’m thinking that time in there, would be PERFECT for getting some Bible reading/study done, and then if I still have time, I can start working on a good book.

I haven’t got a shelf for the kitchen yet. And I still haven’t done Home Sanctuary!! But today’s the 1st of the month, which makes it PERFECT to get started. So I’ll be doing that when I finish with this post..hehe. And then I still need to figure out how we’re rearranging the house. We got our bedroom figured out (we just haven’t implemented it yet), and we’re switching the office & school room. So that’s going to need to be done as well.

Well obviously, keeping up with blogs, is STILL falling by the wayside. I still haven’t written any songs. And we haven’t started much crafting yet. We got paid yesterday, so I’ll have to see if Gunlover will take me to Hobby Lobby.

I’m still not relaxing very well, and I haven’t gotten much further with my reading challenges. Boo!!

Alright, well y’all are either feeling relieved that I’m so darn human, or highly disappointed at my apparent lack of motivation…haha! So please drop me a friendly line, and let me know what you’re thinking right now.

Related articles

• Reboot Camp (spitfiresworld.com)

Well my Mom, (TheCoolMom) & I are at it again. It must be something about the approach of spring, that puts a little extra drive in our hearts. Last year, we had the Pocket Challenge on February 13th. That was all about creating little pockets of beauty & organization. Now, one year & a day later, we’re kicking it up several notches. Last years challenge was about a month long. This years challenge is 10 weeks.

This year, we’ve reached the conclusion that we have lot we’d like to change. This is about the time of year, that you’ve begun to realize which New Years goals, just haven’t been done. Or maybe you have new ones. If you have your own set of changes you’d like to initiate, join us for Reboot Camp.

Reboot Camp starts today (Valentine’s Day), and runs to Easter. As my Mom puts it, it’s from one “love” holiday, to another.

My Mom & I each had different goals, because we have different situations. She has 7 children still at home, and she has to contend with the organizational issues that provides. She also has different creative bents, certain church commitments, and the homeschooling of 5 of those 7 children. I have 1 baby who’s getting all her teeth in at once, and a 5 year old that’s new to school. I’m new to teaching, so I have a learning process myself. I have a husband who may deploy at any time. The military is only required to give 24 hours notice. And last but not least, I’m expecting a child this year. (We don’t know the due date yet.)

Since I like how my Mom broke down her categories, I’m going to swipe them, since they work nicely with my goals as well.

Spiritual

• I’m going to start reading my Bible daily. Unfortunately with all the things on my to-do list, reading my Bible (and sometimes even prayer) have fallen to the wayside on many occasions. I tend to think of it as an “if I have time.” It’s time to reboot my priorities. Instead, I need to start my day with Bible reading & prayer, and I’ll get to the other things “if I have time.”
• I’m going to read some Christian books, that will boost me. I have a lot of spiritual battles that have had to be fought in the last year, and I have several more sneaking around the corner. I need to refresh myself from last years battles, and get empowered for this years battles. So far I’m slated to read Lisa Bevere’s Lioness Arising: Wake Up and Change Your World, Bill Johnson’s The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind: Access to a Life of Miracles, & Kris Vallotton’s Developing a Supernatural Lifestyle: A Practical Guide to a Life of Signs, Wonders, and Miracles.
• I need to dig into one of the numerous Bible studies I have. I have several lovely Bible studies from Beth Moore, but they were among the last things I received from my Grandmother before she passed, and I haven’t wanted to crack them open. But that’s not what she bought them for, and that’s not what she would want. So I’m going to actually start one of them.

Physical

• Be taking my vitamins daily. This was going to be an important addition to my routine, but with the pregnancy, it’s even more vital.
• Be drinking at least 8 glasses of water/juice a day. I’ve already drastically reduced my soda intake (from 4-5 cans a day to 1), but now I need to be replacing all that soda I was drinking, with water & juice. And if I can substitute sweet tea for soda, that will reduce my caloric intake from 100 calories per beverage, to about 35-40. Much better!
• To be working out at least 3x a week. I’d like to try out Zumba, but I’ll have to see how far into the pregnancy I can take that. Once it’s no longer safe, or is too exhausting, I’ll switch to prenatal Pilates.

Household

• Have a schedule worked out that will keep the household running, even if Gunlover’s deployed. The key for me, is finding a schedule locked down enough to keep me from running around like a nut, and laid-back enough to have flexibility for some of the challenges I face.
• Have the house organized, so that things are easily accessible, and the house is both child & pregnant woman friendly. And by pregnant woman friendly, I mean have the furniture arranged so that it’s less likely I’ll catch my big ol’ belly on it. Not that that’s ever happened.
• Be keeping up with Home Sanctuary. I have fallen so far. I haven’t kept up with this, since Bunny arrived last year. Oops.
• I want to get a shelf for one wall of our kitchen. And on that shelf I want to have clearly labeled homemade soup mixes, muffin mixes, bread mixes..whatever.  I want to make cooking easier, when I get further along in this pregnancy.
• I also want to have a cooking schedule set up, so I know the kind of food I’m cooking on what days, so there’s less thought involved. Anyone who’s ever been pregnant knows what it’s like when the preggo fog kicks in.

Creative

• I need to keep up with my blogs!!!
• I need to get crafting again. I used to do crafts back when I lived at home still, but I haven’t done much since I’ve been out on my own, and I miss it. It’s time to teach Jewel how much fun this can be.
• I want to get working on my music again. Gunlover found a notebook of mine with song lyrics in it. He had no idea that I used to write songs, because I haven’t written any songs in probably 5-6 years. He informed me, that needs to change. So I’m going to set aside time for myself to let the music start flowing through me again. I also want re-polish my vocal skills.

Other

• I have 2 businesses. One selling Avon, and the other one selling Beachbody fitness products. I haven’t put the time into either one, that I’d really like to. And consequently, I don’t have as much business as I’d like to. So I need to brainstorm ways to promote my business, even though I stay at home with the kids all day. On that note, would anyone like some makeup or fitness DVD’s?
• I have done almost nothing with my reading challenges, and believe me, I have a lot that I signed up for. I probably bit off more than I can chew again, but I need to at least be trying.
• I need to get more organized with my homeschooling. It’s such a different ballgame from being taught, to actually be doing the teaching. And I’ll admit, it’s been a bit overwhelming. My Mom did such a great job teaching us, and I want to live up to that!
• And lastly, this may seem silly, but I need to have some quality ways for relaxing figured out. I’m a very stress oriented person, which is not what God made us to be. Now that I’m pregnant I really need to learn to take down time, and breathe. This will become doubly important if Gunlover deploys, because it will be all too tempting to just let the stress take over.

Alright, I know you’re inspired, and you’re saying, where do I sign up? Right! I’m so glad you asked. Just click on Reboot Camp and scroll down to the bottom of the post, and leave my Mom a comment to tell her you’re psyched about this challenge. Oh, and if you’d be so kind, leave me a comment too, just so I don’t feel left out.

**I realize in some situations the mother is the military member, and in some situations both parents are the military members. But since I’m drawing from my experience, the military member will be referred to as he/him/Dad.

It’s amazing the things you hear about the military life, from people who don’t live it out. Some people believe nothing changes, and you’re like everyone else. Some people act like you’re part of a weird cult and you don’t live anything like they do. And both sides would be wrong. And both sides would be right.

In some ways things don’t change. Our kids still have school. We still make friends. We pay bills. We go shopping. We attend worship. We raise our children in loving households. And we love our husbands till death do us part.

But somethings are very different. Some of us homeschool our children, but for the ones that don’t, their children will have many schools in their lifetime.

We have different kinds of friends. Some of our friends are temporary, and when we change stations, things won’t ever really be the same. Some of them we’ll have an instant bond with, that distance will never be able to separate. Some of them will be civilians, who may never really understand what we’re going through.

Sometimes we go shopping at the same places you do. Sometimes we go shopping at the commissary. It’s mostly the same, but there are some differences. You have to show military ID. Some of the express lanes are only for those in uniform.

Sometimes we’re raising the kids alone. Imagine living the life of a single mother, but with half of you missing. When you’re married, your spouse is your heart & soul. And when they deploy, part of you goes with them. Some military communities call this being a military widow. I don’t like the term, because I think it’s too grim, but it does explain the effect.

Some branches, and some career fields will be deployed more frequently than others. For the Air Force, our cops (Security Forces) are 6 months on, 6 months off. Can you imagine your husband being gone half of the year? For the Navy, they can be assigned to overseas missions for up to 3 years. They do get 3 years of shore duty after that, but they can still be deployed to the desert during shore duty. And those are usually 1 year assignments.

My husband & I got married in June ’09. We got pregnant in July ’09. October, he left for a 1 year assignment in Asia. We spent our birthdays apart. Valentine’s Day apart. Christmas apart. We spent our first anniversary apart. He came home on mid-tour in time to see our daughter born. And about a week later, he had to leave again. That’s a feeling like no other. Your throat feels like it’s closing up on you…you try to keep the tears from coming. After all you need to stay strong..you’re the temporary head of the household. But you feel like your hearts breaking. You know what you signed on for. You knew this was coming. But that doesn’t make it any easier.

We love our husbands till death do us part. But we know what that means. Death comes without asking anyone’s permission. People get sick. Cars crash. Sometimes, terrorists take down your towers, and the world is never the same. But those things aren’t expected. When your husband deploys, you hang on ever phone call, every email, every communication…just to know he’s okay.

He’ll talk about his buddies, how much the food sucks, and what he’s doing on his next day off. But all you really care is that he’s okay. And all you really want to know, is when he’s coming home. It becomes a mental countdown…10 more months, 4 more months, 3 weeks…etc.

But when they return? You hold them tighter, because you don’t know how long until they leave again. The kisses are sweeter, because you’ve missed them so much. And you enjoy each moment like it’s the last one, because at any moment, it might be. Until they come home again.

Related articles

• The Untold Rules for Military Goodbyes (crazyadventuresinparenting.com)

It’s no secret that I love movies. But the real trick is finding movies that I’ll be just as happy leaving, as I was going in. For me, that eliminates movies with tons of gore, excessive language, or adult content. With those standard, here’s the 10 movies I’m looking forward to this year, along with 5 possibles.

The  10 in order of their release date, along with why I want to see them.

1. The Eagle (February 11)
It’s based on the Rosemary Sutcliff novel The Eagle of the Ninth. It’s historical fiction, which I’m always drawn to. And lastly, it’s starring Channing Tatum, and I’ve enjoyed quite a few of his movies.

2. Jane Eyre (March 11)
If I have to explain why I want to see this, than you just don’t understand. Fans of this genre of literature will understand. I should get my sister Sarcastic Muse (also known as Bookworm) out here, and we could have a girly date.

3. Mars Needs Moms (also March 11)I don’t know if y’all ever read the comic, but the book this is based on was written by the author of Bloom County. It’s the story of a boy who doesn’t appreciate his Mom (what? no way!), until Martians come and take her to be a Mom for them. Then he has to launch into some extreme adventures in order to get her back.

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20)Another one that really requires no explanation. It’s Johnny Depp. Really, does anymore need said? Not enough? Captain. Jack. Sparrow. Arrrrgggghhh.

5. Kung Fu Panda 2 (May 27)
Aha, finally one we can take the kids too! If I had a video of it, I would post my brother laughing hysterically here. My youngest brother giggles non-stop when Po bounces Tai Lung on his belly. It’s actually funnier to watch my brother, than that part of the movie. Bet he’d be a riot to take to the 2nd one too.

6. X-Men: First Class (June 3)
I’ve seen all the X-Men movies, including Wolverine’s movie. So I’m definitely interested in seeing the story of how the X-Men came to be.

7. Cars 2 (June 24)
Another kid-friendly one. In this on the group of goofy cars is headed to a World Grand Prix. And apparently Mater will become involved in international espionage. Lord help us all.

8. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 3)
I just plain enjoy the Transformers movies. I’m interested to see how it goes with Megan Fox having been removed. I don’t think her career was built on her acting chops anyway, so I’m interested to see how well her replacement does.

9. Puss In Boots (November 4)

Yes this will be starring that Puss in Boots. From the Shrek Universe. Who happened to be my absolute favorite character in the movies. So yes, I will be going to see this movie. Those big round eyes had me from the beginning.

10. The Muppets (November 23)
This is a house that loves the Muppets. I grew up watching The Muppets Take Manhatten, and my husbands absolute favorite version of Treasure Island is Muppet’s Treasure Island.
Okay so there’s my list of movies I definitely want to see. Now here’s the list of movies that are on a probationary list until I learn more about them. I know it’s cheating for a Top Ten (sorry Amanda!), but here’s 5 more.

1. Gnomeo & Juliet (February 11)
It’s the story of Romeo & Juliet, done with garden gnomes. Yes, gnomes. I haven’t determined if it will be my-stomach-hurts-from-laughing hilarious, or watching-Barney-for-39-hours-straight mind-numbingly stupid. Has anyone seen advanced screenings of it?

2. Unknown (February 18)
It’s a thriller/suspense starring Liam Neeson. He wakes up from a car accident to discover that his wife doesn’t remember him, and someone else has taken over his identity.

3. Thor (May 6)
I generally enjoy superhero movies, but there’s always the chance that it won’t be that great. So I’m going to wait for more information on it.

4. Mr. Popper’s Penguins (June 17)
Okay my fingers are crossed on this one. I really loved the book when I was in school. And I frequently enjoy Jim Carrey (although he’s getting more hit & miss lately), so I’m hopeful for this movie.

5. Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22)
Again, I usually like superhero movies, but this one I’m not very familiar with. But one reason to see it (and Thor), is that next year The Avengers will be coming out, featuring Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Thor, Captain America and a whole host of other superheroes.
Alright! Now it’s time for you to go get connected to the one & only (or is that oh-nly?) ohAmanda. Make a Top 10 List of your own, and then link it up. Don’t forget to share the love, and visit the other fantastic 10′ers. And leave me a comment telling me what movies you are looking forward to.

Right now, we live in Georgia. His family lives on the Southern half of the East Coast, so they’re not far from us, and we can see them pretty frequently. Then there’s my family. My family lives in Texas. It’s about a 14 hour drive. And that’s without stopping for gas, or bathroom breaks.

I know some people have the TV’s installed in their vehicle but that’s not us. #1 It’s out of our price range, #2 We’ve made a personal decision to limit our daughter’s TV viewing. She get’s obsessed way too easily, and she picks up some bad habits from her viewing. Please don’t write to tell me how much of a lifesaver it is for you. It may be the right decision for you. It’s just not for us.

Since we’ve eliminated that option, here’s what we do to make life easier:

• Pack simple food items…a jar of peanut butter, bread (0r crackers), snack items (can be anything from potato chips to carrot sticks). If you separate the snacks into little baggies, that makes it much easier. We also packed Gerber baby puffs, formula, and baby cereal.
• Pack an ice chest with drinks for the road. For us we packed water, soda, and energy drinks. For the 5 year old, we had water & juice packs. For the baby we had water & apple juice for each kind of bottle we make her.
• Speaking of drinks, limit their drinking. I can’t stress that enough. If you let them guzzle drinks like there’s no tomorrow, you’ll be stopping ever hour, and it will take forever to finish the trip. Obviously don’t dehydrate your children, but you know how much you can appropriately limit.
• Speaking of bathrooms, any stop you make, everyone goes to the bathroom. Period. The absolute only exception we make to this, is if our daughter is soundly sleeping during the night portion of the ride. Generally she sleeps through the night, so we don’t wake her up. But we do have to be aware that if she wakes up for some reason, she will probably need to stop at a bathroom.
• Speaking of stops (okay my last speaking of, I promise!), it doesn’t matter how fast you want to get there, if you get tired stop. It’s not worth your safety, or the safety of your family to push it. Stop and get an energy drink/coffee, get out and stretch your legs, or if you need to pull up to a (well-lit) rest stop & nap, by all means do so.
• Bring along music for the road, cause radio stations won’t always be there. (Unless you have satellite radio of course.) Bring kid-appropriate music for the daytime. At night when they’re asleep, have your preferred driving music on hand. This will vary from person to person. My Dad can drive with classical music all night long. I love classical, but not while driving at night. My husband will listen to everything from the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, to the Plain White T’s.
• Keep your routine as much as you can. If you do meals at a particular time, try and do the meals at the usual time. That will help prevent some kiddo-crankiness. If your kids have naptimes, you can keep naptime on the road. Have pillows and blankets ready for that.
• Have fun items for your kids. For our sanity, we reduce the amount of noisy toys she takes with her. (It’s a small car, don’t hate me.) She takes books, coloring pads & Twistable Crayons (to prevent breaking), and 1 or 2 stuffed animals. We bring teething toys and the most amazing baby toy ever Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Soothe and Glow Seahorse, Pink. Seriously, she’s out in record time with that thing.

Okay, sorry this list has been so long, but here’s a few last minute tips.

• Husbands, if your wife is staying awake to keep you awake, you can’t pull over and ask her to take over driving. Not that Gunlover has ever done that.
• You know your kids. You know what tricks will work with them, that wouldn’t work with our kids. For example, we actually kept the 5 year old quiet & happy for a long time by suggesting that she play the quiet game with her baby (non-talking) sister. And she actually went for it! Again, I don’t expect this to work for all of your kids. But you never know.

What tips & tricks did I forget? Have you done anything on my list? How did it work for you? Leave me some commentary and let me know what you thought.

Related articles

• Family Road-Trip Must-Haves (travelinsurance.org)
• How to Stay Healthy on a Road Trip (everydayhealth.com)
• Healthy Tip: Good Food for Car Travel (wholefoodsmarket.com)

Whew!!! It’s over. And I’m beat. But I feel extremely fulfilled. I edited a few things off of my original list, as I investigated them and found out either a. I didn’t have enough time to do it and everything else, or b. It was something I’ve already done/didn’t need.

So my corrected list, is completely finished. I can’t tell you how proud I am of myself. Just to summarize, here’s what I completed over the last few days.

• I wrote some reviews, that I’ve had muddling in my head, and scheduled them.
• I wrote backup posts for all 3 of my blogs. Whew! That was time consuming. lol
• I conceptualized a series post. I’ve never done that. Wow. So scary!!
• I put out an email to see if see if the sweet lady who requested a guest post from me, would still like me to write it.
• I put out several invitations for guest posts, and received several acceptance emails. Awesome!! I’m going to have guests. Score!
• I cleaned up my tags, which actually weren’t under tags, I had them under categories (oops). So now, all my categories & tags, are squared away on ALL 3 of my blogs. Again, this was very consuming.
• I checked my sidebars, and updated my plugins/badges/etc. Again, on all 3 blogs.
• I now have a consistent theme on all 3 of my blogs, and my Twitter profile.
• I still am not entirely sure what gravatars are used for, but I have one! haha.
• I checked out the Book Blogs Ning, and ProBlogger, and CopyBlogger, and got tons of bloggy inspiration.
• I cleaned out my feed reader, and found out I had blogs in there that don’t exist anymore. Oops!
• I checked out my elevator pitch, and learned about copyrighting my blog.
• I brainstormed blogging topics for all 3 of my blogs, and I helped other bloggers over this weekend.

And I finished the following challenges.

• Bloggiesta is about helping each other out.  Take some time to meet new bloggers while giving a lending hand. – Tasha from Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Books (@heidenkind)
• Do you have a review policy? Do you even need or want one? - Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading (@girlsgonereadin)
• Be brave in your writing and push the limits of what your comfortable with – Pam from MotherReader (@MotherReader)
• Using categories & labels to find what you’re looking for. – Beth from Beth Fish Reads (@BethFishReads)
• Blogging buddies! You should get one! – Amy from My Friend Amy (@myfriendamy) my lovely friend Crayon Wrangler is mine.
• Have you ever had your blog anaylzed? Now’s the chance! – Ruth from Bookish Ruth (@bookishruth) (it couldn’t find me, so I used Blog-Grader instead)

Alright, if you’re going to join me, please click on the picture above, and go link up. If you’re not up for it this year, just leave me some encouraging comments, and maybe I’ll inspire you to join next year!

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• Bloggiesta Party! (spitfiresworld.com)

I’m really excited too be participating in this. I’ve been having issues, lol. I thought I had signed up for this, but it didn’t go through, or I forgot. I forgot it started today, so I’m starting very late. And when I got ready to create this post 20 minutes ago, my entire server was down! This post is going to be on all 3 of my blogs, because my intent is to catch up all of them over this weekend.

Adapted from Maw Books Blog, here’s my list of items that I’ll attempt to complete over this weekend. These are items that do need to be completed, regardless of whether I can finish them this week. But that’s the fun of this, now isn’t it?

• Write reviews for several items, that I’m behind on.
• Write backup posts for all 3 of my blogs.
• Conceptualize a series post for my blog.
• I had a guest post I was supposed to write, and then my daughter was born, and it sadly fell to the wayside. I’m going to contact the lady who requested it, and see if she still wants it, and if she does, apologize profusely & get it done!
• Put out invitations for guest posts.
• I need to clean up my tags. (on all 3 blogs!!! I feel so empowered…hehe)
  
• Analyze my blogs and see if the sidebars need work, and if I need to remove/update/add any plugins. (also on all 3)
  
• Check my networking profiles for consistency in colors, pictures, etc. (I also coordinated my blogs)
  
• Learn about gravatars, and perhaps create one. (still not entirely sure where/when they’re used, but I’ve got one)
  
• Visit the Blogging Tips group on the Book Blogs Ning and find ways to improve my blog.
• Clean out and organize my feed reader and blog subscriptions.
• Check on my elevator pitch, and see if it needs updated.
• Back up your blog.
• Get inspired, read some Problogger/Copyblogger/others posts, and get great ideas on improvements to make.
• Learn how & if to copyright my blog.
• Brainstorm blogging topics.
• Help other bloggers if I can.

I’m also taking on the following mini-challenges:

Bloggiesta is about helping each other out.  Take some time to meet new bloggers while giving a lending hand. – Tasha from Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Books (@heidenkind)

Do you have a review policy? Do you even need or want one? - Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading (@girlsgonereadin)

Be brave in your writing and push the limits of what your comfortable with – Pam from MotherReader (@MotherReader)

Using categories & labels to find what you’re looking for. – Beth from Beth Fish Reads (@BethFishReads)

Blogging buddies! You should get one! – Amy from My Friend Amy (@myfriendamy) my lovely friend Crayon Wrangler is mine.

Have you ever had your blog anaylzed? Now’s the chance! – Ruth from Bookish Ruth (@bookishruth) (it couldn’t find me )

Alright, if you’re going to join me, please click on the picture above, and go link up. If you’re not up for it this year, just leave me some encouraging comments, and maybe I’ll inspire you to join next year!

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Well ladies & gentlemen, it’s that time of year again. The time for us to assess how the last year went, and what we can do to make this year better. I’m breaking my goals down into several categories…professional, blogging, personal & in my walk with God.

Professional
Obtain more customers for Avon & Beachbody.
Recruit more team members for Avon & Beachbody.
Complete medical transcriptions training.
Hone my writing skills.
Set up a virtual wedding consultant business.

Blogging
Post consistently &  frequently on ALL of my blogs.
Become more involved in blogging communities.
Guest post & host guest posts more.
Learn more about SEO.
Create a media kit.
Be more involved on social networks.
Participate on other blogs by commenting/following/etc.

Personal
Work my way up to drinking the recommended amount of water. And in the meantime *said painfully* reducemyMtDewIV. *sigh*
Strengthen my core to prepare for future pregnancies, and reduce/eliminate back pain.
Organize my household so that it doesn’t fall to chaos if I’m having a tired day.
Enjoy the reading challenges I’ve taken on.
Hone & enhance my musical abilities.
Take vitamins! I’m so bad about remembering, but they’re not just essential for me, they’re also essential to my future pregnancies as well.
I need to take better care of myself in general…my skin is always very dry, I never remember to use moisturizer, and my wardrobe looks a little too charity-case right now. (I LOVE Salvation Army..I just don’t want it to look like that’s all I own.)
Take the SAT and/or ACT.

Walk With God
Read my Bible more frequently & consistently.
Pray more often than when something goes wrong.
Do more “looking after the widows & orphans”.
Be involved in my church, rather than just enjoying the service.
Bring things to God, rather than stressing & stewing over them myself.

Well this is the final Pearl Girls Post. I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I’m asking for input from y’all. What Pearls have you encountered? What hard moments in life, have caused something precious to emerge for you? Tell me all about it in the comments. And I hope everyone of you has a very, merry Christmas!

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas! Enjoy these Christmas “Pearls of Wisdom”! Please follow along through Christmas day as each post shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year. AND BEST OF ALL … there’s also a giveaway!!!! Fill out the
quick form at the link located at the bottom of this post to be entered to win a PEARL NECKLACE, BRACELET AND EARRINGS!  Pearls – a tangible reminder of
God’s grace to us all.

Love
by Lauraine Snelling

When asked to write a Christmas message, one of my first thoughts was Do I climb up on my soapbox regarding changing the words in Christmas songs, using only holiday, etc. I thought about it and decided no. After all, they’re only words and what difference does a word make—really make after all?

Then I kept on thinking. If they’re only words… But we as writers know the power of words, as do readers. When the wrong word is used, it jars, while the right word can be most powerful. Take one highly overused and under practiced word—Love. Four letters is all. We toss it around so glibly, saying love ya and luv and love. But think about the power in I love you. Three of the most precious words in our language when put together. Those of us who write romances or books with romance in them, understand the power when one of our characters tells another, I love you. As humans we can never hear that enough or too much.

Christmas is about love. The greatest love story ever told, that of God for us humans, and it never changes. Customs change, politics change, the years change but God’s love never, ever does. At Christmas we are invited to share that love, to give it away, to pass it around. To find wonder again and joy in simple acts of love. We make contact with
people we might never see or talk with through the year. That says I love you. We buy and make gifts to give, we reach out to strangers in need, we try to make sure everyone has a special dinner and every child a present. By giving, we receive.

So, let’s use the power words, but more so, put feet on those words and pass the love around. Let’s look for and find the wonder, the joy and the peace, maybe in small bits and pieces and perhaps in an avalanche of blessings. Make your days brighter with the simple gift of a smile, a kind word, a touch, for every single one that you give away, will
come back to you multiplied. As you give, so shall you receive. Merry Christmas my friends. May we all recognize our blessings—-and let an attitude of gratitude permeate this holiday and every day. With love and joy on this day, Lauraine!

About Lauraine: Lauraine Snelling is the award-winning author of more than sixty books, with sales of over 2 million copies. She also writes for a wide range of magazines, and helps others reach their writing dreams by teaching at writer’s conferences across the country. Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons, and live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a cockatiel named Bidley, and a watchdog Basset named Chewy.

For more information please visit Lauraine’s website: www.laurainesnelling.com.

A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year’s Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog  (http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com) on New Years Day!

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more
information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info

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