 Here we are, mid-November, and 2012 is working diligently to dash away from us day-by-day, and it just so happens that my New Year's resolution is stalking me.
...Maybe haunting me is a better phrase; regardless it's looming and the clock is ticking.
Normally I'm not one to rock the New Year's resolution - it's always seemed silly if not totally pointless, given that most of them fall by the wayside before January gives way to February. Heck, two weeks in (okay, two days) and you're hearing people bemoan their broken New Year's promise. But this year I thought, I can totally do a writing-related resolution, with the odds in my favor for following through.
...Yeah, totally.
So, in the early days of 2012, I resolved that I would submit at least one article to a national publication. {Crickets chirping} Well, here we are, November 17, 2012, and I can't even tell you the last time I scoped out the writer's guidelines for such a publication. Around mid-year I consoled myself with my complete lack of follow through by submitting a piece to Chicken Soup for the Soul. That's something, right? Yet in my heart of hearts I knew that's not what I was aiming for. I do love a loophole, though...
With just over 40 days left in the year (which is crazy talk, I might add), there's still time, so here's hoping that putting this little tidbit of my fractured resolution out there, follow through will soon be coming my way.
I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, how did your New Year's resolutions fare this year? And if you've got a New Year's resolution that met failure in the most epic of ways, you know we want to hear about it. Ready...Set...Share!
 Here we are, well into the first month of this new year and changes are on the horizon in my land. I am officially the mama of a five-year-old (you already know how I feel about that), which means...Bum bum buuuum! Kindergarten this fall. For me, kindergarten means more than not dissolving into one ginormous, soggy pile at that first kindergarten drop-off...Or, you know, the first week of drop-offs. No, it also marks the time in which I have to make some decisions about my future as a grown up person and not just a mom. No way would I trade these last five years at home with my girl, but now I'm not terribly inclined to return to the work-life I was sure I couldn't give up when I was pregnant with her. Pssh. (Again, can I just say, why does kindergarten have to be a full day?!) But I digress. At the moment it would seem that the perfect solution is almost too perfectly about to be dropped into my lap. A part-time job that would make some of the other hats that I wear flow a little more smoothly, plus still allow me to follow this writing dream. I'm oddly inclined to throw a "Boom Baby!" out there at that. I know, don't say it, I'm special. So it's not writing full-time, but it's a step - hopefully - in the right-ish direction. With that new adventure in the works, I've also got certain writing projects going and processing that I'm excited about further developing. Including with Simply Family Magazine, who last year further developed their website to make it more of a destination place for parents to go to get info on things, as such, Simply Baby, Simply Teen, and Simply Thrifty were born on the site. And I'm a part of that, though I haven't written as much - yet. It's coming, I promise. It's just all part of figuring out the balance/juggling game. So, if you're interested, wander my way, in the land of SFM, where I am known as, Simply Becca. Kinda fun, right? Speaking of Simply Becca if you've got some parenting things that you would love to see covered, please shoot me an email for consideration. Keep an eye out for a tab to develop here for easy access to those works once I really get the ball rolling there. Thanks for taking this ride with me!
 Check out the 'Simply Family' online: click on the photo. I'm excited to share that I got my first cover story with Simply Family magazine! Mine would be the New Beginnings: Surviving the Kindergarten Drop Off. You can check out the magazine online at www.simplyfamilymagazine.com My article begins on page 34 if you're interested in checking it out. Even with the excitement over this being my first article featured on a cover, this is one of my favorite pieces that I've submitted thus far. It's probably a toss up over the article on onlies and this one I'd say. Random ponderment: Is claiming a favorite piece of written work like telling your kids you prefer one over the other? At any rate, an exciting new step in my journey as a freelance writer. Thanks for reading...Stay tuned!
 http://tinyurl.com/3rjzugk Confession: An outdoorsy kind of girl I’m not. Hiking, hunting, camping…I'd really rather pass. Fishing, is good, I can work with fishing. And, so, you ask? Well as I sit here scratching far too many mosquito bites, I'm reflecting on this past weekend when the family went on our annual camping trip. As we were getting things set up – sweltering, with the mosquitoes already beginning their feasting - I think my words were, “This is my idea of hell.” Clearly not a fan.
It’s not that I don’t have fond memories of camping from childhood, I do, but still…I don’t get it. Dirt, bugs, heat, rain, uncomfortable sleeping, daringly eating your meals on a floppy paper plate…Even still, I can recognize that it’s not all bad. So I give you…
5 Reasons Camping Is Not the Worst Thing on Earth:
1. The stars - It’s not like I don’t have a stellar view of the stars in the sky from home, but I’m telling you, there was something awe-inspiring about the clearness and total beauty of those stars this weekend. There is something utterly spectacular about a Montana sky. I guess they don’t call it Big Sky Country for nothing.
2. Watching my kiddo have oodles of fun - I might not be a fan, but my kid did not get the memo. Running amuck with her cousins, finding whole new levels of brave, fishing...She had a blast and all while reminding me that she's so good at letting me know when it's time to let her go to grow.
3. Campfire – I might not actually enjoy s’mores (and no, I don’t consider this a fatal flaw), but I do totally love watching everyone find that fine line of perfectly toasting their ‘mallows to hopelessly burning them beyond anything edible. Plus…What could possibly be better than a rousing game of name that tune around the campfire. Gone are the days of the sing-along, no, now it’s time to bust out the i-pod. Welcome to camping in the 21st century.
4. Mishaps – In our family, it just wouldn’t be any kind of vacation without some kind of something going wrong. One family member suggesting our next year’s camping trip be dubbed: “The Griswold’s family camping trip,” kind of says it all.
5. The bugs…No the dirt…No, no the weather – So none of these things really gets my happy on, but the bugs at least are good for a few funnies. You know…The awesomeness of watching people as they flail about attempting to rid themselves of these pesky, blood-sucking monsters. The bonding that occurs as you take turns fogging each other in an effort to create an impenetrable wall of bug-be-gone. Bugs, in a round about kind of way, can bring the funny, dirt and weather…Not so much.
So no, an outdoorsy girl I’m not (and don’t tell my family I said this), but it’s not the most horrifyingly awful experience to ever be had. That wasn’t much of a glowing recommendation, was it? Baby steps.
And in case my use of "amuck" got this moment in Hocus Pocus stuck in your melon...There ya have it.
 Okay, so it's not the new adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but it is the new adventures of me...This picture is just cuter. Now that August is nearly upon us, I'm thinking it's time to share my latest news in writing land. You might have noticed that in the last month or so I've been focusing primarily on my TV Moms Examiner column and less and less on my Billings Early Childhood/Parenting things. There's a reason for that. Earlier this month I met with the founder of the local magazine I regularly submit articles to and starting in August I'll be taking on a more active role on their website. I'll be doing some blogging about various parenting topics for them, and I'm excited to see where this will take me. This doesn't mean that I'm totally abandoning my Billings Examiner column, but odds are you'll only see the occasional article published there from here on out. I'll of course keep you posted on where and how you can keep up with me on the Simply Family website once everything gets up and running. Also in the land of random, but awesome: in July I had received an e-mail about a scavenger hunt that DoSomething.org was putting on with the suggestion that it might be a good tie-in for my TV Moms column. I definitely agreed and this exchange turned out to be a beautiful God-incidence in the making. Working on an upcoming piece for a magazine, the person who e-mailed me turned out to be the perfect source. She was incredible in answering my questions and it was just all around amazing. When I can let you know a little more about that, I totally will. Until then...Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.
 While I was on vacation, I received the Kreativ Blogger Award from Valerie Owens, who stumbled across my blog during the MomSquawk contest. And then I got sick, and getting to my part of receiving this award and moving it along took longer than I had expected. But a big thank you to Valerie for considering me worthy of your top 10 list, it truly gave my heart the warm fuzzies.
And then it got put off even more because there are two rules to the Kreativ Blogger award: 1) I get to pass along this award along to 10 other bloggers, let them know about it, and they get to carry on the award with a list of their own top 10 bloggers. And 2) You've got to share 10 things about yourself. Well, coming up with 10 blogs that I legitimately read was one major challenge. So, in order to get this thing moving, I kind of adapted the rules a little bit because I didn't want to just pull bloggers out of my hat whose blogs I've never read. That didn't seem quite right...
So, let's get started with my top 6 list of Kreativ Bloggers (they are listed in no particular order), and if you’re not already a fan of these bloggers, clearly I think they're fabulous, so why not hop on board and check them out?
If you’re on the list, I hereby bestow upon you the pleasure of choosing 6 more award-winning blogs! And don't forget to share 6 things about yourself that no one knows. Congrats to these 6 ladies and good luck!- Mary Kibbe ~ Hurricane Riley & his Big Brother Rex ~ Mary is someone who I didn't discover, rather she is one of my sister's best friends, and as such has become sort of a surrogate big sister. Her blog began as an outlet and a way to connect with other families who have children with Down syndrome. Mary has a unique sense of humor that shines through in her posts. She's a little busy with life right now, but I know she'll be sending us a post soon. (I hope...with video. Of Riley...playing soccer...Just a suggestion).
- Lisa Douglas ~ Crazy Adventures in Parenting ~ I actually just recently discovered this blog when I was doing a random Google search on parenting and up popped Lisa's blog. It was her tagline that immediately drew me in: Mom of six. Coffee Welcomed. Sanity Optional. From those words on, I was hooked. Check her out, you will be too.
- Beth ~ Being a Mom. Keeping the Faith, and Funny Stories ~ So Beth is a mama blogger who I "met" through Examiner.com. She's a parenting writer in her own neck of the woods and she has a real way with words. I love that I can feel her faith embedded in everything she writes, even when she's not talking specifically about her faith.
- Jennifer King ~ Spend Less, Shop More ~ Jenn King is another gal I met via the wonderful world of Examiner.com, and if ever there was a goddess of couponing and deal finding, this lady is it. Seriously. She's crazy amazing. You've got to check out her brilliance.
- Tiffany Townsend ~ Elastamom's Excerpts ~ I almost feel silly nominating Tiffany for this award, because to me she's like the rock star of incredible mom blogs. Really and truly. I discovered her via Mary, and you're missing out if you don't check out this mom's humor and strength.
- Rachael Monaco ~ Frugal Living by Rachael ~ Rachael's blog will connect you with incredible recipes and obviously frugal living tips and tricks. Rachael is one incredibly busy writer - she's got multiple titles with Examiner.com and she works incredibly hard fine-tuning the recipes that she shares with her readers.
~ 6 Things About Me ~ - The opening song/credits to the movie Bewitched make me feel slightly nauseous every time I watch it. I watched it repeatedly when I was pregnant and sick and apparently my brain hasn't forgotten that sensation.
- If I'm drinking a bottle of anything and it happens to get shaken after it's been drunk out of...I won't drink anymore of it. I think it ruins the taste. Yes, I know. I'm challenged.
- I'd rather fill my cereal bowl 20 times with bitty bites of cereal and milk, than chance sogginess. Or, you know, forego the milk entirely.
- I feel anxious if I don't have a book with me/near me in some capacity. It is almost physically painful to eat without reading a book. Even if I'm not reading it; I just want to know that it's there.
- Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too by Shel Silverstein is my most favorite poem of all time.
- I don't believe in regrets. Mostly because anytime I look back at something that could be a potential regret, I'm reminded that had I taken a different road I might not have my husband or my daughter. And those two people make any "might have beens" not worth worrying over.
So there you go, six amazing women bloggers to check out and six things you probably could have gone your entire life without knowing about me.
Oh, it's been far too long since I've last checked in here. Shame on me! I feel like I'm treating these pretty pages too much like the many journals and diaries I've started and neglected since my childhood.
But I'm here now with a conversation I recently had with my daughter running through my melon. It was one of those car conversations - you know, the ones where you look in the rearview mirror at your child's face and your heart breaks a little as you see how quickly time is marching on and you realize in the blink of an eye that sweet little face will be that of a teenager.
For whatever reason Abby tells me that being 4 is her favorite number and she isn't much looking forward to turning 5. I'm not entirely sure what it is about 5 that she's not at all looking forward to, but with that we got to talking about all the awesomeness that comes with being 5. You get to go to kindergarten (where there is recess!), you'll learn how to tie your shoes, and 5...Well when you're 5 it's as if you've arrived. Sure, you're no baby at 4, but 5, well 5 is like you've officially made it into the land of the big kids.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm not all that eager for her to turn 5 either. Because she's going to be off to kindergarten (for a whole day! what is that?!), she's going to be well onto the road of being a big kid, and we won't just be an extension of each other anymore...I'm misting just thinking about it! But I'm the mom, so it's my job to put on a happy face and help her to feel brave about what's to come, even if inside I couldn't be feeling any less brave if I tried. She's my only - my baby...I'm already having anxiety over preschool. But I will cheerlead her through every fear and piece of anxiety she has because that's what we do, right?
So after all the woo!hoo! for 5 party subsided, she asked me what my favorite number was (age) and I even had an answer for her. I did like being 5 because I made my first school best friend in kindergarten and she was the bestest friend ever. But after that I really liked being 8. I got a scooter for my eighth birthday, I invented my imaginary friend Betsy that year, it was good times to be had by all.
So what number did you like being best?
 Ahahahahahahahaha! I just love when I get all of three words into a new article and get stuck. So rather than beat my head against the keyboard, I come here to whine about it. (Hence the rolling laughter under our accompanying photograph).
My theory is that if I distract myself by writing about something else entirely, I will magically be inspired by the most perfect words ever.
...Yeah, we'll see how that works out for me. I've already started and abandoned another writing project today - I am on a roll.
While I was on vacation I was awarded with the Kreativ Blogger Award by Valerie Owens. This is genuinely a nice treat - who doesn't love being told they landed on someone's top 10 list? However, once received you have to pass on the love with a top 10 list of your own. I thought I'd sit down and whip that bad boy out in no time at all...Yeah. No. I think I got to #5 on my list before I wimped out, hit save, and tucked it away for later. Not to be forgotten, just...Paused.
So nap time was not so productive today and the daycare kiddos were just picked up, and I should actually be getting ready to head into town for a family dinner, but here I am - procrastinating on all fronts of my life. It's just so me.
I guess I'm not being a horrible whiny mcwhinerson, more just an avoidy mcvoiderson. With that, I think I should call a cease and desist order on all of my procrastinating, go get ready, and know that the words will flow from my fast typing fingers upon my return home tonight. Well, after I've tucked the wee one into bed, that is. Cross your fingers for me. Catch ya on the flip side.
 These horses are the source of a running joke in my family. Between a week of vacation and a week of cruddy crud this little corner of the web has been woefully silent. Unfortunately the cruddy crud has not vacated my body, and I am still hacking away, hence why I'm still up when clearly I should be sleeping. But I think that's another story for another day because today {bum ba da bum da duuuum} I am finally going to share something with you that I have been meaning to write for weeks...Maybe even months. Fitting, I'd say.
Why is it fitting, you ask? Well let me tell you: I have this theory about pregnancy brain. You've heard of it? If not, here's a quick summary. Pregnancy brain occurs in women who are pregnant (shocker, I know); what happens is it seems as though her memory suddenly is not what it once was, her train of thought is constantly getting derailed...
But as I was saying, I have this theory. I don't think the brain ever fully recovers from pregnancy brain, it seems - at least in my case - that there are lingering effects. I have to believe this because I am not that old and there is no other reasonable explanation for thoughts to just vanish into thin air, only to return in the middle of the night where it's akin to tossing it back into a black hole of nothingness. Super.
I'm not alone in this thinking either. I've discussed this with other mothers and they agree - the pregnancy brain doesn't seem to rebound all the way...Kind of like the waistline, come to think of it.
So what does this all mean? I don't really know, just something that's been bouncing around my melon for some time and because this is my little corner of the web, I get to do with it what I wish, so there you go.
In other mindful meanderings, I - and I'm totally not being a smart ankle when I say this - have kind of forgotten where else I was going to go with this. I swear. Non-pregnant-pregnancy brain indeed. Although, in this case I'm perfectly willing to place the blame on lack of sleep and a face that feels like it wants to fall off with each cough.
I can tell you this, though. That vacation I was on? My little family of three traveled to Minnesota with my parents for a week. We went to some Twins games, rocked the Mall of America, and most importantly my beautiful husband finally got to see some truly important things. You know, like Salem Sue, the largest Holstein cow or those horses on the capital building...But no, in all seriousness, I finally got to show him my gramma's house. And even though we couldn't go inside, we got the requisite pictures out front, and that makes my heart happy.
Can I just tell you that my daughter just might be the best traveler ever? I mean, wow, what a champ. Granted I can't imagine traveling that distance without movies, but still she was a rock star. On top of that, little miss cautious went on the Log Chute, which is a big kid ride with a steep drop. No tears, no screams - a completely terrified facial expression, but seriously - Rock. Star.
I know I'm not totally great about letting you know here when new stuff has been published over in Examiner.com land, but as always, I invite you to wander over and see what's been going on that you might love. And hey, if you join my Facebook Fan Page, Parenting, Kid Talk, and TV Moms you'll never miss a step - I always post links there. I hope you'll pop over there anyways, we've been sitting at 45 peeps for some time, and it's time to grow!
Until next time, wishing you lots of love, laughter, and silliness.
~ Billings Early Childhood/Parenting Examiner
~ National TV Moms Examiner
Yesterday was a marvelous day. The girl who I have claimed to be the little sister I've always dreamed of having, graduated college yesterday. Graduations, like baptisms and weddings, always make me a little misty. I'm hopelessly sentimental that way.
However, as speaker after speaker approached the podium, my mind wandered to things other than the event happening before me. I looked at the graduates seated where I sat seven years ago, remembering how I anxiously awaited this piece of paper that would declare me to be set on the right path. Five years of hard work, several changes in majors later, there I was...Following my dream. Right? I wondered if that too was what they were thinking. Maybe. Probably.
So the longer I sat and the longer I watched, my gaze strayed towards those graduates who were to receive their Masters degrees, many having earned degrees in areas I had assumed I would one day be striving towards. Now...I'm not so sure.
I've taken the big step (to me anyways) lately of sharing with my husband that I'd really like to find a way to write full-time when Abby goes to kindergarten. I (we) had always assumed when she went to school I would find my way back to the human services world and do my thing, but now I just don't know. This dream that had long laid dormant is back with a vengeance. Back when I first started writing for Examiner.com (nearly a year now, can you believe it?!) my aunt who is an incredible writer and photographer shared some advice with me about what it takes to make it work.
Thus far, though, I've wrapped myself into the safety of my little writing bubble with my Examiner column and writing for Simply Family, but I know I've got to suck it up and start looking at more things. I've got to get over my fear of NO and just go. The only trouble? I've been saying this for awhile now, and I just keep pansying out. But if I'm going to put this plan into action and show my husband and myself that it's possible to do this, then I'd say a little action is actually required here. Gee, who woulda thunk it? I won't know if I don't try and if I don't try, I'll always wonder.
So here we go, {deep breath} it's time to start figuring out if I can be what I want to be when I grow up.
|
RSS Feed
