Simply Dawn

20,000+ Lifetime PageViews

I am so excited!  I pulled up my blog’s dashboard today and read that Simply Dawn has 20,067 lifetime pageviews!

769 comments.

586 posts.

Now, for some people this isn’t too big a deal, but for me it’s pretty stinkin’ awesome!  And do you know what makes it awesome?  You all!  You that come out here and read my blog and leave me the much coveted comments!  I wish I knew how to track the Facebook readers and their comments and pageviews.

Regardless of how you access this blog, you guys rock and I just thought you should know!

It’s the little things in life that brighten my day.

Thanks guys!

Lovies,DJ

Twitter & Other News

So, I signed up for twitter today.  I have three tweets.  I am following 6 tweeting folks and have no followers.  I didn't think I would ever sign up for twitter because it was just another social media thing to keep up with, but I got an email from Tomoson.com today that made me want to try.  From what I read, this Tomoson is beta, and is a meet up for people with products to review and for bloggers who want to do reviews.  I like the book review thing (oh, and there will be one tomorrow on Letters from Sweetwater), so I thought why not try other products.  Eh, we will see what will actually come of it.  Once the name gets out and such...but who knows, it could be fun.

In other news, today I am celebrating a momentous occasion!  My mending pile is done!  Kaput!  Finito (is that the right spelling??)  Anyhow, since David set up my little sewing nook, and said it was a "go".  I set up my machine and have been clearing out my pile.  Part of it is to make way for some things I would like to sew up to put in my Etsy shop.  Yep, I have one...just don't have anything in it...yet.  The other part is so I can get back to work on a quilt for my bed that I started...last year!  I know, I know!  I still haven't finished the 5 year quilt yet, but in time, it will all be accomplished.  And really wouldn't the "10 year quilt" be a much more fun moniker to pass around!

Well, other than that, it is getting kids ready for school and getting back to routine.  Trying to make it through the 6 hour headache afternoon sickness without complaining and...and...and...

well, it's just busy, but I hope with the possibility of more structured time will come more opportunities to post.  If not, then you won't be surprised, because by now you are used to my flightiness and yet somehow you still love me! 

Lovies!

Blog News

Starting today I plan to get my pictures from last year posted on the blog.  I have been wanting to do this for a while now.  Hopefully this will go off pretty easily and you will just get a few here and there, instead of 40 at once.  Some folks have Flashback Fridays along this line, but what you will see is a whole year of flashbacks for whatever day that I have pictures…well, that’s the plan anyway, you know how life can interrupt.  Keep in mind though that some day, I will be reposting them to their appropriate dates so that in the off chance I ever get around to turning this blog into a coffee table book, these posts are in the spot I want them for editing…make sense???

Anyway, hope that you enjoy!  Oh! Yes, this does mean that I am actually going try to post current pics more often so we don’t have to do this again next year!

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What This Momma’s Been Up To

Today I am kickin’ it poolside…it’s a breezy sunny day and the temp is about 60 up here on the deck.  The cottonwoods are blooming (achoo!) and the plums and pears have lost thier blossoms.  The kids are running about the yard, finally able to use thier outdoor voices with reckless abandon.  The twins have been waiting for this for a while, but today they recieved thier reward…they finally pooped on the potty without starting in their pants so outside we go!

Well, I figured it was time for an update…

- I am still waiting on the memorial information for my grandfather so I can write up a post…I know my cousins are super busy, so I will keep waiting patiently

- you read above about the pooping on the potty…that is call for celebration!  Are you happy dancing with me???

- my laptop is still working…almost everything is updated and I seem to be able to blog…although a 20” monitor sounds so enticing right now…I need to work on that godliness with contentment thing!  Thank you Lord for a working laptop, I choose to be content!  Amen.

- my bible study is still behind, but I finally came up with a schedule that I think I can make work…I am thinking of doing early (painfully so) morning bible study time and then get on with the day…Sarah Mae has a 5:16 club I am thinking of joining…you know I really think that starting my day with devotions is the key to freeing up my day

- I am working on an interview post about a very dear friend of mine

- I am in a creative slump right now and am hoping that a couple of things will free me up, one of which is going scrapbooking with friends next friday at Creative Escapes…and a little something I will post about in my next post.

That’s about it!  So there is definitely more to come this weekend…

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Windows Live Writer

Okay folks, I am in love with this software!  It is a fabulous blog editor from Microsoft!  During the installation, it links up to your blog and then you are good to go.  You even have the capability to set up multiple blog accounts.  It supports most blog service providers – Typepad, Blogger and WordPress.  My buddy blogger (who has a private site, or I would link to her) did a post on this yesterday and she is welcome to comment on the fantasticness of Live Writer.

I switched to Live Writer because I wasn’t happy with the time it took to upload pictures using the Typepad interface.  It took forever!  Plus the fact that when I did get the picture uploaded, I had a heck of a time trying to format it the way I wanted within the text.  The problem was even more troublesome when I was trying to add more than one picture to the post, and I would end up with pictures in odd places and the text was all messed up.  OK, so can you tell that I wasn’t happy with it????  So I started researching an update to Office 2007, but the cost was just too much and I didn’t really need any updates to the features I had, EXCEPT that Word 2007 allows you to blog from it and synchronizes it all automatically.

What was a girl to do?

So, I was watching this teleseminar over at Everything Typepad when I heard them mention Live Writer.  So I sat on it for a while, and then when my laptop died, during the resuscitation I decided to try installing the Live Writer, and it went on without a hitch.

Not only can you use Live Writer to edit posts, but it also allows for creation and editing of pages. If I knew how to capture the screen I would.  There is a button that links to the comment list for the blog you are working on as well as a button that links to the design editor for your blog.  You can save drafts(on your laptop or on your blog interface) and there is a list of recently posted items.  You can quickly and easily insert a Hyperlink, Picture, Photo Album, Table, Map, Tags (I need to look into that more), Video, or plug-ins.  You can set your categories and even the publish date, if you are able to do that with your regular blog interface.  You can edit, preview and work with the source code.

It is sooooooo easy and quick!  If you try the Live Writer software, please let me know what you think!

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What This Momma Has Been Up To

Hey all, just a little update today!  Hope all is well in your neck of the woods -- we're supposed to get up to 60 degrees today and the sun is shining.  Yep!  It looks to be a great day!

• You will be seeing some changes around here soon.  Remember that I started the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog challenge at the beginning of the month?  Well, I am hopelessly behind -- and that is actually okay.  The big deal with this is that I am going to be changing the look of the blog and trying to be more consistent.  Plus!  I got accepted by BlogHer Ad Network for advertising, and will be adding that content!  I am excited about this because it is an opportunity for the blog to potentially pay for itself!
• I will probably be bagging the Memory Verse Monday and putting a link to the Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest site, somewhere on my main page.  I tend to get more from that and if there is something we are memorizing I can still share it.
• Back at the end of February, I began to address my weight and then at the beginning of the month, I went back to the beginning of that process.  I was 215 pounds...did you notice the was????  Well, this morning the scale glorious showed that I am now 211 pounds!  Happy day!  I am so thankful this is starting to work!
• I got to go shopping with a friend on Friday and we bought some cute things for me...instead of the normal t-shirts, I got a few dress shirts, a couple of sweaters that were 90% off, and some cute flip flops.  I haven't done anything like this in a long time, and it was nice to have a second opinion so I could begin breaking out of my frumpy shell.
• I am still mulling over the notes from the Loving Well ladies retreat that our church had.  I am glad I was able to post Sarah's poem, You Are the One.  Next I would like to share what I learned.
• Last, I am getting ready for a garage sale, that will hopefully provide some Ikea and Container Store (yep, I read your post April) money.

That's about it!  I am off to do some homeschool work with the kidlets and then hopefully a walk!  Hope that you have a blessed day!

Lovies, DJ

Quick Bloggy Love

As part of the 31DBBB Challenge, I have made a couple of new bloggin buddies.  I don't have a lot of time, but I wanted to introduce you quickly with the hopes of getting in depth later...for now:

Check out just how a mom of sixteen does it over at Call Me Crazy who was even sweet enough to give me a little bloggy love with this post.

Check out our down under Mum connection over at Squiggle Mum and check out her A Week With Playdough.

Last, check out Sarah Mae over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee and her wonderful help on Talking to Your Children About Sex series.

These ladies are awesome and I am really looking forward to getting to know them better and hope you will too!

Lovies,DJ

Mission Statement

I don’t know about you, but as an at home mom I feel a lot of pressure to “do something” with myself.  I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, but am I really being called to do “all” things?

 

What about the things I would like to do someday, like…

   Go back to school?

   Write a book?

   Be a missionary?

   Be “the nose” for my friend’s winery that she will start someday?

   Be VERY involved in women’s ministries?

   Open a home for young women with crisis pregnancies?

   Start a quilting business?

   Be in a musical?

 

What about the things I would like to do right now, like…

   Get this blog organized?

   Get my house organized?

   Sew for my daughters?

   Have friends over more often?

   Visit friends more often?

   Go out on a *gasp* date, or several, with my man?

   Get in shape?

   Drop a few, okay several, dress sizes?

 

We aren’t called to be superwomen, but keepers of the home, in whatever form that God calls you to.  For me, that looks like homeschooling some of my children while sending some to a public school, volunteering for a project here or there at church but most of my focus is here in the home.  With 5 children at home all day, the only way I can do anything outside of my home (and sometimes inside my home) is if someone watches, or at the very least assists me in watching, my children…hence the title of this post.  Funny thing is that it is my burden to raise my own children and not have someone else do it, however competent and loving they may be (don’t send me angry email if God is calling you to something else, it’s all about me right now, so don’t be offended).  I also have a hubby who likes a more reserved life…but we’re working on that.  So all those things on my like-to-do lists, will have to wait…for now anyway.

 

Someday, I won’t need someone to watch my kids.  If I have done my job right, and with a LOT of help from the Lord, they will be self sufficient and what a bittersweet moment that will be…until then my mission statement is…

 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…as long as somebody watches my kids!

 

That’s the focus of this blog from here on out.

 

Lovies, DJ!

31 Days to Building a Better Blog -- Day 1

Well, there were some technical difficulties for the creator of the 31DBBB, but today we are beginning this endeavor with at least another 9,199 participants.  How exciting!

Anyhow, there was a preassignment of installing an analytics software and that is done.  The other preassignment was to perform a SWOT analysis.  I haven't completed this yet, but hope to tonight.

My assignment for today is to write an elevator pitch which I hope to complete tonight as well.

I will keep you posted if I get these done tonight.  If you are interested in participating, you can sign up here.  Let me know if you do so we can keep up with each other's progress.

Have a great day!  Lovies,DJ

Today

For the first time in a long time, schoolwork is done before 10:00a.m. - WONDERS TRULY WILL NEVER CEASE!

In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, I am going to post a few blogs that have been sitting in my draft box for a while. They are pictures from this summer and hopefully over the next few weeks, I will get that part of the blog caught up.  My hope is that if I get that caught up, baby step by baby step, then I will feel more free to stop procrastinating and just blog.

Plus...I have a few things to put out on the storefront widget I will be adding, hopefully this weekend.  Just a simple offering of items made while cleaning out my stash that may work for gifts for your family and friends.

This anyhow, is my plan...

Alright, lets git 'r did!

Lovies,DJ