by Sarah | Aug 19, 2012 | Photography, Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Weekly Winners
My camera went a little bit of everywhere this week with me. Sometimes we stayed at home, other times we went far. My camera helped me dive into the past…and catch a glimpse of my future.
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XS.
1. Forest
A man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots, whose flower and fruitage is the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’t hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
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2. Morning Light
Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue. ~Henry James
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Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. ~Abraham Lincoln
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3. Touch
With the ‘touch’ prompt I wanted to compare…some people like to touch a page, others like to touch a screen – as long as we read, should it matter? (And yeah, the book on the Nook is my book due out in Feb. 2013, I couldn’t resist)
A room without books is like a body without a soul. ~Marcus Tullius Cicero
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If I could always read, I should never feel the want of company. ~Lord Byron
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4. Newspaper
Another bit of fun. I went with old newspapers…one from the day I was born in Buffalo (my dad saved it)…and a newspaper and magazines from man going to the moon (also from my dad).
If newspapers are useful in overthrowing tyrants, it is only to establish a tyranny of their own. ~James Fenimore Cooper
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Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. ~Thomas Jefferson
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5. Coffee or Tea
Bring me a bowl of coffee before I turn into a goat. ~Johann Sebastian Bach
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All well-regulated families set apart an hour every morning for tea and bread and butter. ~Joseph Addison
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Since I’m addicted to quotes w/ my images I’ve started to link to the Sunday Citar over at Fresh Mommy Blog w/ my photo posts every Sunday. It’s a great way to combine two of my loves 🙂
You can find more pictures over at my flickr account.
Scavenger Hunt Sunday is run by the beautiful Ashley. Head on over to see more Hunters.
by Sarah | Aug 17, 2012 | All About Home, All About Me, All of Us
[flickr id=”7665964374″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]I became an official SAHM right after my hysterectomy almost 6 years ago. That’s 9 months after Kennedy was born, 6 months before her CF diagnosis. 6 years.
These days I’ve become more WAHM than SAHM…not that I’m raking in the dough, but between my writing and all of the activities and opportunities this blog is drawing in for me – I’m always doing something (even when that something involves sitting on my arse and typing away at the computer for hours on end).
The problem I’ve had since I became a SAHM is that there’s always been someone under foot. I adore my kids, I love my husband – but I have trouble focusing and getting anything done when there’s people under foot.
Basically what I’m trying to say is my house was a clusterf***-aw, you know – of clutter. We are pack rats, and we have a small house. That equates to more clutter than I care to share. Usually about once or twice a year I do a massive overhaul and things are gorgeous for a while…but then real life climbs in and it’s a pit again.
These days things are running a bit more smoothly.
Three kids – all of them in all day school.
From 8-2:30 I am unimpeded.
I’m still adjusting to the schedule and figuring out how to plan out my day better…but the clutter is lessening. I had my massive house purging last month which got me started off on the right foot. There’s still plenty to be done…but things are getting done.
I can work – blog, edit, write – and clean and still have time left over to just enjoy the quiet…or run an errand without panicking that I only have a couple hours to get it done in.
Plus? Oh, the wonderful plus?
I have more patience with my kids. Granted I’m still not Glinda the Good Witch all the time….plenty of the Wicked Witch creeps in…but I’m getting better, calmer, and enjoying my time with them more.
You know what they say…absence makes the heart grow fonder…and the mommy saner.
by Sarah | Aug 16, 2012 | Books, Changing Tracks, Critters, Writing, writing tips
While I’m blissed out at having an empty house during the days now (post on that soon)…it’s also leaving me to face everything I need to do all at once. That often leads to me getting overwhelmed when face with sheer numbers of responsibilities.
Key among all my ‘to-do’s these days, layered in with cleaning and sewing and shopping and blogging and fixing my social media outlets and more cleaning, is editing.
Editing Changing Tracks to make it shiney before it goes to my editor who will help make it bright as the sun.
Editing and Critiquing my crit-groups work.
Writing my short(er) novel.
Reading/using/doing-more-editing-based-on notes from those critting my stuff.
Did I mention I’m overwhelmed?
And a little buried under?
Thankfully I’ve found EditMinion that helps me do side by side with my chapters. It’s in beta version, but if he adds some more areas to the editor it’ll be just about perfect. The other online-editor I’d been using you had to click for each area and it didn’t let you do side by side, just pulled out the relevant sentences. With the minion I can get on my hubby’s computer and split screen minion vs. manuscript and just hit everything that needs hit.
Talk about a time saver. I have a wonderful critter helping me out with line edits – but this gives me one more layer to tackle before I send my baby off.
Now if I could just find those extra 10 hours in the day to get everything else I need to do.
Do you know where those hours can be found?
by Sarah | Aug 13, 2012 | All About Denver, All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Clever Girls, The Teenager
School starts tomorrow for my kids. We did the school supply lists provided by the teachers. Pencils, pens, notebooks & more. Spent hours in the store fighting the crowd of other parents and realizing that the store was sold out of quite a few needed items. In the end, headaches abounded and we headed home.
Of course, that only got us the necessities the SCHOOL declared necessary.
I still had three kids to make happy. What makes kids happy for school? Getting all the clothes considered ‘cool’. The most important requirement for a new school year.
Which I find hilarious considering at Christmas they all sneer at the ‘clothing box’ shaped presents. What is it about the new school year that makes buying clothes more than acceptable when any other time you dare to buy clothes you’re the devil?
Ah well, my favorite part about shopping for clothes that we don’t have to fight the stores. The teenager doesn’t want me to ‘help’ him shop for nothing, my girls are chaos in a store and I know their sizes.
Online I can find great deals, clothes on clearance that have been wiped out at the stores (believe me I’ve tried).
I can get ‘cool’ clothes for my kids that they pick out (like the “Awesome” shirt above – tailor made for the teens level of attitude and confidence…and the adorable dress over here -> that fits with my girls obsession with dresses, both at Old Navy).
So easy, convenient and doesn’t waste my gas driving into town for a stress filled afternoon of attempting to shop with a teen and two girls – one of whom gets over-stimulated in our backyard and is oh-so-fun when we get to crowded stores.
My kids are happy. I’m far less stressed, and saved a few bucks.
No wonder I’m addicted to the internets 😉
*~*~*
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
by Sarah | Aug 12, 2012 | Photography, Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Weekly Winners
This coming week my kids go back to school – all 3 in school all day long. At that point I hope to return to full capability to get the Scavenger Hunt items in new and different ways. This week I’ve been too busy, and so I decided to use the prompts to find some favorites in my archives.
All taken w/ Canon Rebel XS, XTi, or Droid phone.
1. Mobile (as in phone)
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. ~Buddha
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2. Hanging by a Thread
Fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is scarcely perceptible. ~Virginia Woolf
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3. Collage
Colors, like features, follow the changes of emotions. ~Pablo Picasso
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4. Always Look On the Bright Side
Just living is not enough…One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~Hans Christian Andersen
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5. Home
Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
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You can find more pictures over at my flickr account.
Scavenger Hunt Sunday is run by the beautiful Ashley. Head on over to see more Hunters.
