Where to Start

I have no clue where to even begin. I can’t believe I have been so bad at blogging our family stuff. I have no real excuses, but the fact that I have been blogging like a mad woman over at My Soul Delighteth probably has something to do with it.

That and the fact that I was teaching our co-op preschool every few weeks, coaching soccer, and teaching a toddler Mommy and Me piano class every Monday. Life got busy.

And I like to read. Reading = I don’t do anything else.

Lately I’ve been reading BYU Devotionals, Women’s Conference talks, General Conference, blog articles, etc and I get a little … consumed. I have been blogging a little bit about all the things I have been studying, but most of the thoughts are still either in my head or in my little composition notebook that I carry around. Writing out my thoughts has always helped me process them.

I have pretty much nothing to do tomorrow so I am going to make a goal to do some marathon blogging on the family blog. I was going to do that a while ago but I got distracted.

If you don’t follow the front page you should so you can get updates, since when I blog past events I usually back date them so they show up in the right order on the blog. I will post on the front page when I actually post the old post, and I’ll link to it so you don’t have to go find it.

Get ready for a Rowley Family Marathon! Woohoo!

Haiku… no… Hiatus

I took a long break
There was no time for writing
But I am back now

We got sick.

Then we got better.

Then my family came for Christmas.

Then we got sick again.

And during all that we had a situation with a friend that we had to deal with.

Then Russ left for a Chinese course.

The situation is taken care of (well, it’s out of our hands now).

And we’re getting better. Hopefully. That or we’re just passing the “sicky bugs” back around again. Let’s hope it’s the former.

I’ve been drinking lots of garlic syrup (dice a few cloves of garlic, soak it in a cup of apple cider vinegar for 24 hours, strain, store in a – glass – container in the fridge. Take a few tablespoons each day. I’ve been taking 6-10 tablespoons a day. I WANT TO GET BETTER, DANG IT!)

I’ve been watching lots of Psych. The kids have been watching lots of Wonder Pets, Backyardigans, and Yo Gabba Gabba. Thank you, Netflix. I am sorry your stock has dropped drastically. You are a great service, but you made some really dumb business mistakes. Just sayin’.

I plan on doing a lot more blogging – I moved my computer to the basement/family room/play room, so I can blog while the kids play! Okay, I know, I should probably be playing with them… but I have been alone with the kids – mostly sick – for the past two weeks almost… and it is MAKING ME CRAZY.

I love my kids, really, I do – but… I need my husband. A lot.

I posted on some of the other blogs, too, so go check those out.

A Mother Heart

I love these guys. So much.

I got stranded in Wyoming last night,
and I didn’t see these precious faces until this evening.
I just couldn’t get enough of them!
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There’s something really special about being a mother. Something that makes me love it.

You know what else I love?

Watching complete strangers being awesome parents.

Today at Kohls’ I walked by a young couple with a little one or two year old boy in the mother’s arms crying. The father got close to the little boy’s face, and in the sweetest voice said, “I know that’s really fun to play like that, but you can’t ___.”
(I think the blank was something about being in a crowded store and running away from mom and dad being dangerous – I was mostly out of earshot by the time he got to that part)

I just loved that the dad was so in tune with his kid – the kid did think that running around the busy store was fun! But he also needed to understand how dangerous it can be not to obey mom and dad, and not to stay near them. Overhearing that exchange in the store lit up my face. Seriously. I smiled for almost a minute afterwards. I see too many moms and dads dragging their kids around public places, snipping at them, saying mean things to their kids, or even spanking them in the middle of the store (sometimes I am guilty of this behavior – not so much the spanking part, but definitely being impatient with my kids in public places). The way this father spoke to his son was so sweet, so loving, so tender. I’m sure that little boy had no doubt in his mind that his daddy loves him and that all his daddy wanted was to keep his little boy safe.

What a great dad.

I’m married to a guy like that.

He’s a great dad.

Great dads make great kids.

That’s why my kids are fabulous.

Blogging Marathon

Okay – Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, and I am still a blogging slacker. But in a desperate attempt to get at least somewhat caught up before the holidays, I am going to spend the next 30 minutes while my bread is rising doing some intense blogging. Hopefully I’ll be able to type out some descriptions to go with my pictures, but I’m not promising any great spelling or punctuation, just to give you a heads up.
By the way, in an effort to keep our events in some kind of chronological order, I am back-dating the posts. However the front page will have links to the posts, so if you follow the front page you shouldn’t miss anything. So head on over there to get the links to the posts I will be posting today.
My goals for today (these will be links if I am successfull!)
-Puerto Rico
-Denver
-Ward Campout
-Park City
-a few random pictures here and here
-liberty park with the Wilde child and his mama
-a new restaurant we found
And I think that will be it for today. Then tomorrow I hope to get the rest of my pictures organized and then published.
Wish me luck!

Lightbulbs

I had an epiphany the other day. Let me catch you up on a few things, first.

Things have been crazy here. Sometimes good crazy, sometimes bad crazy. I feel like I’m always writing that on here – my life is crazy. Well, it is.

And I have been struggling a lot with feeling like I am doing a much as possible in the day. Most days I get to bedtime and I wonder where on earth the day went, and how on earth I didn’t get the laundry done, the dishes washed, and the bathrooms spotless. Because I stay home all day, and don’t have any obligations outside of my family, I feel like I should be able to be super mom at home – super spotless house, great meals cooked, clean laundry folded and put away, not to mention spending hours playing with my children, reading to them, and going places with them.

Well, here was my epiphany. There are not that many hours in a day, and when most of them are punctuated by unexpected messes, potty accidents, and children fighting, they seem to get used up a lot faster.

I have always tried not to have too high of expectations for a clean house and home cooked meals because two small, very high energy children (if you know my kids, you know what I mean – touch touch touch touch, fight fight fight, talk talk talk talk talk, sound effects sound effects sound effects… it never ends. Seriously) make doing all that very hard, and I don’t want to spend my children’s entire childhood cleaning the house. I’d rather play with them, and the other stuff can wait. Sure I can teach them to clean with me – but honestly, that doesn’t really get stuff any cleaner because they make a bigger mess than they fix. But like I said, I’d rather do things with them and have a little bit dirty house because “babies don’t keep.”

  Back to my epiphany (that was only part of it) – I went though in my head what my day looks like. I wake up around 5:30 or 6 (on good mornings – i.e., when Russ hasn’t kept me up all night watching TV shows or movies or talking), so that I can have a few hours (usually only one) to myself to prepare for the day – I usually spend this time reading the scriptures and writing on my scripture blog. Then the kids wake up and I feed them breakfast around 7:30 or 8. By 9am I have cleaned up breakfast, and have the kids dressed and ready for the day. Then around noon, we eat lunch, then we read together and I put the kids down for naps around 2pm. By the time Joseline wakes up (and Vincente, if he even napped) we eat dinner, and then it’s time for bed. So, If you look at things this way, the only time I have to do much of anything is in the morning, for about 3 hours. Sure I have nap time, and I do a few things, but I don’t really like to spend my kids’ down time doing things I could do when they are awake, like cleaning. I prefer to do things I can’t do when they are awake – like reading a good book, writing, or taking a quick nap, myself.

Sure, things will change as my children (and our family) grow, but right now this is how it is, and I think that if I can keep realistic expectations – that is, be okay with only having essentially 3 hours in the day to get things done, then I should be fine. In fact, the reason I’ve been doing so much better the past several days is because I have been okay with it, and I’ve been planning my days better to take advantage of those few hours. And I’m much happier.

When I am feeling down for not keeping the house spotless, my dad reminds me of this poem:

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

(“Song for a Fifth Child” by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton, Ladies’ Home Journal October 1985)

There is Sunshine in My Soul

For those of you who might not remember, or don’t know, my oldest brother passed away last August after a 9 month battle with cancer.

Shortly after he passed, me and the kids moved half way across the country to be closer to Russ while he was attending some training for his job. Then, a month later when he graduated from that school, we moved back to Utah. The next several weeks were a struggle and a commotion – we were trying to get into our house, get Russ a job, get financing arranged for the house, and the list goes on. Then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the new year hit, and I didn’t have two seconds to sit down and really process everything.

Russ left for some more job training a few weeks ago, and as I got into a rhythm with the kids, all the grief hit me.

It happened on Sunday at Stake Conference as a sweet lady behind us held Joseline, Vincente colored quietly, and I was alone with my thoughts for the first time in months. I wanted to cry and cry and cry, but sobbing loudly in the middle of Stake Conference would probably not be appropriate, so I tried to contain it, and managed with only a few tears. On Monday, I was so depressed I could barely move. I didn’t want to do anything but sit and cry – but I knew that I couldn’t cry in front of the kids – not the way I needed to – and I didn’t really want to be crying alone. So I held it in.

On Tuesday we went to spend the night at my in-laws house. It was actually perfect. I was still kind of in a funk the whole time, but my mother in law and little brothers took care of the kids, loved on them, kissed their boo boos, and fed them while I just kind of stewed. Then on Tuesday night, after everyone was in bed, I decided to write a little in my journal. I was able to work through a lot of my grief – writing in my journal is usually very therapeutic for me, and this time was no exception. I won’t share with you everything that I wrote, but I think that one of the things that I ache for the most is the relationship that I might have been able to have with my brother if he was still alive.

Well, Wednesday morning and afternoon I was still in a bit of a funk, but by the evening, I was feeling better, and last night I went to bed for the first time in months without feeling as if I wouldn’t really care if I didn’t wake up the next morning. I was ready for the next day last night when my head hit the pillow – even though I was going to bed late (after midnight). My husband, and maybe other people who know me, know that without a full 8 hours of sleep, I’m pretty grouchy in the morning and don’t want to get out of bed. But even with a late night (and a lonely one at that!) I was still anxious to get up with my alarm clock and start the morning off right!

Then yesterday there was some sunshine, and today has been sunny all day long – that probably has a lot to do with it as well. But I feel renewed, now that I got a lot of that grief out.

It’s not all over – the healing is not done – but it has finally started, after nearly 5 months. And it will continue until I see my brother again after this life. But at least I’m not standing still, knee deep in sorrow. Sure, I’m still knee deep in it – but I’m walking toward dry land. I can see it off there in the distance and I know that if I just keep moving (talking about him and the hurt inside) I will get to that dry land, and he’ll be there, and I might get a second chance with him.

Monday Musings... on Saturday

It’s been a while! I have been meaning to post a few things on the blog – what we’ve been up to lately – but the being “up to” has taken up all our time, which leaves not much for blogging!

Today I have a training class for getting our foster care license. My awesome sister Christy and her husband are coming over to hang out with the kids while I’m gone, since Russ is at some more job training for about two weeks. Hopefully I will be more on the ball this next week (not to mention not having a husband, so I’ll probably have a lot of time to spare...) so I’ll post Christmas pictures and get more regular again.

My goal this year is also to print the last 3 years of blogging into blog books. I will probably print one for each year. When I started posting pictures, that was the idea – that I would print the blog to make a journal/scrapbook... mostly because while I used to LOVE scrapbooking, being a mom has kind of taken up most of my time. I may even add in entries from some of my other blogs – combine them into one big book.

My other goal is to get all of our family videos (all the clips I took over the past several years) organized and edited and put on to DVDs so we can have easily-watchable family videos.

It’s going to be a year of personal history for me. Personal and family history. Preserving today’s memories and experiences for our kids.

Above are the gingerbread houses we made with some friends before Christmas. I will be posting about that over on Child’s Play. I will also be posting a tutorial for Borax snowflakes over there.

Feel free to check out my scripture study blog for my thoughts on October 2010 General Conference – my topic of study right now. Also, here is an interesting blog post (from someone else’s blog) about President Packer’s talk from General Conference.

Other than that, we’re just hanging out. I’ve got lots of Christmas pictures to post, and thoughts about that – and I need to post our Christmas traditions somewhere for next year (along with my thoughts about how to make next year a little more... smooth sailing, and help us remember the reason for the season).

And, to end on a happy note – a picture of Joseline (taken by Vince)

PofE – When I Write

Okay, I did great in September. Remember this goal? Well, I accomplished that.

But unfortunately, the habit still wasn’t formed, and as soon as the move/house buying/life got in the way, the writing basically stopped.

So, before I move on to another habit, I really want to get this one formed. We closed on our house today (finally) and Russ finally has his job all sorted out, so I think I should get back into the swing of things soon. It’s been tough.

It’s finding that new normal again.

New Goal for November: write every day this month (well, all the days left – meaning from the 5th to the 30th).

A title-less post... I don’t think this has ever happened. I usually have something concise to name my posts – but not this one. There’s just too much to put into one title.

I feel like we kind of dropped off the grid – and we sort of did. But we’re coming back full force!

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately – we didn’t get to listen to Saturday’s general conference because we were driving during both sessions (AND Priesthood) so I’ve been listening to conference, reading stuff, feeling like I need to be better (no I don’t feel like I’m a failure – in fact, I feel like we are doing pretty well – but that’s exactly when we should probably be doing more).

This sentence from the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet has been on my mind:

Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way.

President Boyd K. Packer’s talk, along with the Human Rights Campaign’s response and the Church’s re-response (?) have weighed heavy on my heart and mind. And some family situations don’t make it any lighter.

Getting our house in order again hasn’t taken nearly as long as I thought it might, and working side by side with Russ (this is pretty much the FIRST home we’ve moved in to together – he’s always been training or working when we have moved) has been fabulous. Our marriage is great. Our children are beautiful and fun, as usual. We have two great dogs that love us and are well behaved and give us an added sense of security. Russ has a secure job doing something he loves. I have a job that lets me work whenever I want (or not at all, if I don’t want to – I haven’t logged a single hour of tutoring since Russ got back from FTX in Arizona... going on 1 month! Thankfully we don’t need the income... it just goes toward our snowball).

I haven’t taken many pictures of the kids because our house has been such a disaster, and I haven’t sat down at the computer in weeks because we only got the internet on Tuesday.

I will try to resume our normal posting schedule next week (Monday Musings, Wednesday Wanderings, Friday Goals, and posts of “this life” on the other days).  Monday Musings will probably include my thoughts on President Packer’s talk. Wednesday Wanderings will take us to Gardner Village here in our new “hometown” and Friday Goals will probably revisit the journal writing (I did really well... then life/the move happened).

There will be lots of pictures, too. I promise! And videos like this one:

PofE – “We write according to our prophecies”

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

~2 Nephi 25:26

A few weeks ago, I posted about my goal to write in my journal more often. Really, it was a goal to have a habit changed by the end of September. The habit change was to write in my journal every day.

Here’s my progress:

The week of Aug 29-Sept 4, my goal was to write in my journal twice. I wrote in my journal once.

The week of Sept 5-11, my goal was to write in my journal four times. I wrote in my journal three times.

The week of Sept 12-18, my goal was to write in my journal five times. As of Sept 17, I have written in my journal three times. If I write tonight and tomorrow, I’ll make my five days.

Next week my goal is to write in my journal six times. I think I can handle that.

This morning for scripture study I studied that scripture at the top (2 Nephi 25:26) - you can find it on my scripture study blog.

What Has Been

I was getting all my photos off of my iPhone in preparation for an update (which I still haven’t been able to get to work... darn iTunes...) and I realized that I haven’t been blogging in a while, but life has still been going on.

I want to post all of the pictures all at once, but that would be a blog post with too many pictures. So, I’m going to give you some highlights, and then tomorrow after church while the kids are napping (cross your fingers) I’ll try to wade through everything... whoa. It’s a LOT of stuff....

some sewing of aprons 

playing in buckets full of water

this sweet face (and another one just like it)

a lot of free play

  outside free play!

and so much of this

it makes me want to lay down and do nothing right this minute

But you’ll get it all in blogged form with nice layouts and full narratives starting tomorrow. I’ll probably “program” them to post for my Tues/Thurs “this life” posts so you don’t get overwhelmed.

Also, Wednesday Wanderings comes back this week with a review of the Sierra Vista Public Library! (story time on Tuesday mornings! Hooah! And I also found out that the post has a Family Fitness Center – so we’ll be checking that out on Monday – and it will probably make an appearance on the blog next Wednesday).

It’s good to be back in full swing – getting used to another new normal (it feels like my normal changes each day... of course, the only constant thing is change, so that makes sense!)

PofE – Line Upon Line

I think that maybe I was expecting too much of myself when I made my first Pursuit of Excellence Goal.

Mosiah 4:27 says:

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

The phrases “line upon line” and “precept upon precept” are found countless times through the scriptures. It’s as if Heavenly Father is trying to tell us something!

Now, first of all, most of my “goals” are not really goals – they are habit changes. There will be no “end” – I won’t exactly “acheive” something – it’s more like I’ll be getting to a point where I have changed my habits for the better.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Simple Mom, and she wrote about the kaizen method of habit change. It has that “line upon line” feel to it, and I think I will give it a try.

So, since I keep failing miserably in achieving my goal of writing in my journal daily, I am going to make a goal that by the end of September (by September 30) I will be writing in my journal daily.

My steps will be this:

1. The week of August 29-Sept 4, I will write in my journal two days.

2. The week of Sept 5-11, I will write in my journal four days.

3. The week of Sept 12-18, I will write in my journal five days.

4. The week of Sept 19-25, I will write in my journal six days.

5. The week of Sept 26-Oct 2, I will write in my journal seven days.

So, by the end of September I will be writing in my journal daily. This feels like a more manageable way to change my habits and develop newer, better habits – by moving “line upon line.”

PofE – Try, Try Again

So, Goal #1 was a total fail.

It’s been a long week.

Full of emotion and stuff. Probably the perfect time to be journaling. But, you know... I’d rather be talking to my hubby.

In order to make Goal #1 not a complete failure (and to redeem myself), I will repeat Goal #1 this week. Even if my life is horrible and the sky is falling, I will write in my journal this week. Will will will.

And start my personal history.

 

The prologue will start like this:

“There was a mother who felt like a complete and utter failure. Every day of her life.”

Hopefully the ending will be happy.

 

PS – Remember to enter the GIVEAWAY!!

PPS – I love when you comment on my blog. Really. Feel free to comment whenever you like!

I read all of them, and try to respond most of the time!!

So please, tell me what you think of me – and don’t sugar coat it ;)

Monday Musings -- “Os pequeninos deixai vir a mim”

“Pois, é teu Pai e muito te-ama”

This is a line from the Portuguese translation of the song, “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” from the LDS Children’s Songbook,

(in English)

(em Português)

I have always loved this song – in English, of course – and it was one of the first songs from the Children’s Songbook that I learned to play. When we made the decision to raise our children bilingual, we realized that we were going to need the resources to teach them the gospel both in English and in Portuguese. So we bought scriptures (including the Book of Mormon stories, and recently the Old Testament stories), manuals, and the Children’s Songbook (and CDs!) in Portuguese. We read the scriptures as a family in Portuguese, and we have family home evening, and family prayer, and sing songs as a family all in Portuguese.

I absolutely love the Children’s Songs. I was raised to have a deep love for music, and for the gospel, and the music in the Children’s Songbook are just ingrained in me! They come to mind all the time when I am studying the principles of the gospel. They are a perfect simple introduction to the gospel, and the music is so sweet and beautiful, I just feel warm all over when I play and sing these songs.

When music is translated into another language, the basic underlying meaning of the music is preserved (as much as possible), but the words and expressions can be vastly different.

For example, this words of this song (My Heavenly Father Loves Me) read:

Pray, He is there, Speak, He is listening,

You are His child, His love now surrounds you.

He hears your prayers, He loves the children.

Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven.

Whereas the Portuguese translation reads:

Sim, perto está. Sim, Ele te ovre.

(Yes, He is near. Yes, He is listening to you).

Pois, é teu Pai e muito te-ama

(For he is your Father and he loves you very much.)

Com terno amor, ama as crianças,

(With tender love, He loves the children)

Pois delas é o reino, o reino do céu.

(For such is the kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven)

I think the Portuguese expression is much more beautiful than the English translation that I just wrote there, but I just love that the words in the Portuguese translation say “He loves you very much.” The words “His love now surrounds you” are very poetic and beautiful – but I am a fan of simple and direct. You can’t get more simple than “He loves you very much.” This is the testimony that I have – that Heavenly Father loves me very much and it is the testimony I want to share with everyone, especially my own children: é muito te-ama.

Please let that piece of truth touch your heart. Because it is true:

é muito te-ama.

(if you’re wondering – I use Windows Live Writer to write my blog,

and downloaded this MP3 Player Plugin for Writer to embed the mp3’s in this post)

In the Pursuit of Excellence – Starting Simple

I have been in serious need of goal-setting-reaching. Really. It’s been bad. Back in high school it was the Young Women’s personal progress program. I want to go through the program with Joseline when she turns twelve, and I’ll probably do the Faith in God program with Vincente (and then again with Joseline – and any other of our children who participate in the program). But until my kids are old enough to participate in their own goal setting programs, I needed something to get me there.

I can’t be stagnate in my own personal progression. Living the gospel is not checking things off a list. Just because we’re saying our personal prayers doesn’t not mean we get to check that off the list. We need to be consistently praying – improving our prayers – and using our prayers to more perfectly align our will with the Father’s.

I looked all over the Church’s website for a online version or pdf version of the Pursuit of Excellence pamphlet – to no avail. But my mom was finally able to locate a copy for me, so I’ve been off and running!

For  a little accountability, I’m going to start this Friday Pursuit of Excellence (PofE) posts. I’m going to focus on one goal each week, just to make things simple.

This week I will be focusing on a Spiritual Challenge – specifically, keeping a journal.

This week I will write in my journal every day. I also want to start recording my personal history. I know, I know – I’m too young to write a personal history! Never! You’re never too young to begin.

At one of our Relief Society meetings they handed out notebooks and a list of things to write about to start your personal history. I’ll just be following that list, and I’ll post it next week, along with an update of how things are going, and possibly a PDF version of the Pursuit of Excellence pamphlet, should you want to follow suit!

So there is it – journal keeping is my first goal! (I used to be really good at it – having kids has made it a lot harder).

Monday Musings –- Seven Brides

This past week has been crazy. It went something like this:

Piano lessons, tutoring, rolled ankles, lack of running/exercise = cranky mamãe, making homemade pizza and pizza cookie = happy mamãe, swimming lessons (in which Vincente nearly drowns – but that’s another post), bachelorette parties (in which there is no drinking, but lots of laughter and conversation with a bunch of really smart ladies – a vet, a lawyer, a business owner, and an accountant. Whoa.), wedding preparations, wedding ceremony and reception, and finally a day of rest.

I attended the wedding of Megann Hamlin (now Edwards) on Saturday (picture at left with Jannae – one of the bridesmaids, and hopefully a soon-to-be bride ;) ) – the last of three weddings for this summer – phew!

I feel really blessed to have been able to attend so many weddings this summer! I have been thinking about my own marriage, and the beautiful covenants that I made that day.

I am so grateful for my knowledge and testimony of eternal families, and of the blessings of making covenants in the Lord’s temples. I found myself feeling very grateful for the covenants that Russ and I made in the house of the Lord. And wanting to live those covenants better and more fully. There is an earnest desire in me to live the gospel – a burning that guides my actions, and brings me to my knees when I come up short.

And I am so grateful for the atonement – the love of Christ and God – that allows me to be better than I was before. Sunday was a much needed day of rest for me.  I love the chance to reflect and be taught by the Spirit.

I posted some more motherhood thoughts over on my scripture blog. About the story of Ammon and motherhood.

I am going to post a “Monday Musings” post each Monday – just my thoughts, maybe a few pictures, and hopefully some of my testimony – because I need to share it more often.

This week I will be posting lots of pictures from our fun activities last week – and we’ll be visiting the puppies so I’ll probably write an entire post about them.

And don’t forget to check out my first ever giveaway – going on now!

How was your week? Does Sunday refresh you like it refreshes me? (I can’t live without Sunday!) What blessings are you grateful for?

 

 

 

 

Facelift #3... and a button!

I think it’s #3, anyway. I’ve changed this blog around so many times I can’t even remember. But I think I have found a look that I really like. I hope I can keep it when/if I switch to self-hosting and WordPress and stuff (just to give you a glimpse as to what is coming up in our blogging life!).

I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with readership if I remove myself from blogger and start my own website/blog. Russ and I have been tossing around ideas for a math website that I may start in the near future... nothing’s become reality yet, but I have been toying with some ideas.

I also want to start a family website – due mostly to the fact that our server, gilgamesh, has not been up and running in the past few years, and that’s annoying, since that has been where I have hosted our family photos in the past. I don’t feel good about giving them to Facebook (you never know when they’ll decide that your photos are their property to do with as they please...) And none of the free options out there have nearly enough space. So eventually we’ll probably start paying for a family website. It’ll be good. I’m also probably going to consolidate back into the one blog (this one) since I don’t really want to make money off of my healthy living blog, or my gardening blog. I’ll probably leave My Soul Delighteth as it’s own blog for now. I like having something that is purely my spiritual reflections.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new look of the blog – oh yeah, and don’t forget to grab a button!!:

<a href="http://rowleypoly.blogspot.com/"
target="_blank" title="The Present">
<img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_enTqG9B6DwE/TEp_amy_ZpI/AAAAAAAAQEg/Eu7a7Y6PaBg/button.jpg"
alt="The Present - Button" /></a>

How to Read a Blog

Okay, so once upon a time, I had a blogroll on the side of my blog (actually, I still have it… it just serves a different purpose now). I got kind of sick of clicking on each individual blog and reading new posts on each separate webpage.

Sure, Chrome makes pretty fast work of it, but still… I’m not THAT excited to go to everyone’s blog (except to comment – and I still try to comment on folk’s blogs! I’ve been slacking lately, sorries).

Well, then I discovered a RSS feed and what is known as a “RSS Feed Reader.” I happen to use Google reader just because I don’t like having to log in to a bunch of different accounts, so I tend to keep everything kind of centralized with Google. It’s just more convenient. Also, when I was “adding” the blogs I read, I could add most of them by clicking a button that said something to the effect of “add blogs I’m following.” Which was fantabulous, since I was following most of the public blogs on my “blogroll.”

So now my blogroll’s role (ha ha) is mainly to show my readers what other blogs I’m reading. If the blog has a button, I’ve listed the button. If not, it just gets a linky.

So there you have it. That, my friends, is how blog reading should be done. I especially like using the iPhone layout of Google reader. That is my favorite, because it’s super clean – you know, nothing extra, just the posts. You can even add feeds right there.

Now, go set yourself up with an RSS Feed Reader and start enjoying your friends’ blogs! (and all those other blogs you know you spend your time reading! ;) )

A Note: Amy (in the comments) reminded me that private blogs do not have an RSS feed. You can solve that problem by creating a "front page" for your blog - see mine here.

Basically here is how you create a "front page" for your private blog:

1.) Create a blog for your front page. If the name of your private blog is "http://myblog.blogspot.com" your frontpage could be named something like "http://myblogfrontpage.blogspot.com" but it doesn't really matter.

2.) Every time you post a new post on your private blog, make a post on your "front page" that links to the post on your private blog. For an example - say you wrote a post entitled "My Blog Post" on your private blog. On your public "front page" you could make a post entitled the same "My Blog Post" where the body of the post is "Here is a link to my most recent post _(insert link here) " (you can be more creative with your front page posts - you can see examples of mine here).

3.) It's most convenient if you use a blog writer (I use Windows Live Writer - my absolute favorite, and I've tried a few of them - the free ones, anyway) because, at least with Live Writer, you can post the same post to several different blogs, so I just post it to my private blog, then switch it over to my public blog and take out all the text and pictures (sometimes I leave the first line of the blog post, if it doesn't have anything too personal and if it describes the post adequately). You could probably set this up pretty easily using email, too (maybe I'll address that in another post someday).

So there you have it - how to make your own feed for a public blog. So if you have a friend who only has a private blog, tell them how to make a front page so you can get a feed!! I hope any of my readers is satisfied with me providing a public feed (I also upload my feed to Facebook, and you could probably upload it to twitter, too, if you're a twittterer)

What’s Up, Doc?

I am going to design a header for our Family History website! I’ve already been thinking about all kinds of cool things to do. It’s going to be fun.

Word on the street is that we’re also going to have a blog on the website! That will be fun, too.

I’ve been tutoring more for tutor.com. You should check it out.

They’re hiring right now in the following subjects:

· Math Subjects
o Algebra 2
o Geometry
o Trigonometry
o Calculus
o Statistics
· Science Subjects
o Earth Science
o Biology
o Chemistry
o Physics
· Humanities
o English and essay writing tutors who can tutor on Sundays and between the hours of midnight and 3:00 AM Eastern time

It takes a little while to complete the application process (you have to take some subject tests, submit a background check, etc). If you have any questions, let me know. I like it.

I have also been running, doing yoga (Namaste!), and doing a crazy workout in the morning (Basic Training style workout – it’s pretty intense, and Danielle is like a Drill Sergeant. Whoa.)

Trying to keep up with my goals and stuff. I was a little lazy today, but I did take the kids to the pool (oh yeah, we go to the pool pretty much every day except Sunday – for obvious reasons – and Monday, because it’s closed). And I took (and passed) the test to tutor Geometry at Tutor.com. I’m going to take the Algebra, Trig, and Physics tests next. Hopefully I can keep up all my math skills. I still want to start teaching next fall. *crossing my fingers!*

So yeah, that’s basically what’s up around here. Just keeping my head above water and trying to swim to the other side. Hopefully getting a tan and building some endurance (physical as well as spiritual) on the way...

...see you on the other side.

Food Safety

I wrote a little blurb over on my healthy living blog about food safety. Sparked by the yucky Capri Sun mold issue on Facebook. Yuck mold.