Purple Prose:
HAPPY

Well, friends. I made it home from my adventure in one piece. It was touch and go for a while. It's really NOT fun being lost in Nashville. I was caught alternating between cursing like a sailor and praying like a saint.. SO I decided that wasn't doing any good, and cut out the cursing. And a miracle happened! I was supposed to be looking for 'Frankin Pike'. I got turned around somehow and ended up back on the interstate (nice!). Anyway, I was freaking out, turned on the first road I saw because I was going to turn back at the redlight at the top of the ramp... ONLY the ramp didn't stop at the redlight. It just kept on going. SO (freaking more and praying like the dickens), I went on and decided to turn around again at the next road to take me back to the road I missed, to take me back to the interstate, to take me back to the road I made the wrong turn on (I know, makes a LOT of sense lOL). Anyway, as I started to turn I looked up and saw the road sign 'Franklin Pike'. I almost cried from happiness. And turns out it was the right road and the right direction!! I found the place easily after that. I could have kissed the ground when I got there though LOL.

Now, the meeting was an autism training for SPED teachers. It was interesting... after the first hour when I couldn't stop looking at other people's hair color and wondering how ugly mine really was. Finally I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, decided I didn't look half bad, and went back. I focused the rest of the time.

The end of the day was very interesting... since I had absolutely no idea how to get home. But I love trying to get home from Nashville without directions. This is going to sound corny probably, but it makes me think of my Daddy and smile. My Daddy didn't talk a lot, but he did give good advise. One of those was that when getting home from anywhere, always go toward Knoxville. I kept thinking that over and over, which would have been wonderful, if the first crossroads I came too weren't "Nashville" and "Huntsville". I prayed, chose Nashville (deciding I'd rather stay in Nashville that go all the way to Huntsville. It turned out to be the right way and after getting off of several interstates (I-65, 24, 440, and 40), I ended up home... finally. It was actually really fun coming home. Going, not so much.

**I think I've mentioned this before, but I don't feel nearly as confident or attractive with this new hair. I feel awkward and self conscious... very self conscious. I"m going to try to dull it. I can't take it much longer.

Ok, off to relax with the family. Watch some Dancing with the Stars (I'm rooting for the Olympic man to go this week). It's not wrong to have a SMALL crush on an 18 year old is it... Cody Linley is adorable! He's definitely my favorite to watch this season. Makes me feel like a dirty old woman LOL

Today is a real treat :) I have Marsha Ward here today to talk a little about herself, how she writes, why she writes, and if she's a pantser or a planner... How did you become interested in the Civil War?
Author Robert Newton Peck once said that every historical writer has their favorite war. While his was the French and Indian War, mine turned out to be the Civil War. I don’t know what sparked my passion for it. It could have been reading some of historian Bruce Catton’s work, or Gone With the Wind, during high school. My interest certainly did not stem from a personal or family issue, since none of my relatives fought on either side. If they had, they’ve have been Union soldiers, and my characters fought for the South.
That said, my current novels actually have post-Civil War settings, dealing with the aftermath of that great struggle, so they fit more in the classification of Western Migration novels, or Settling of the West.
Very cool. Tell us about your novels.
The Man from Shenandoahbegins as Carl Owen returns from the Civil War to find the family farm destroyed, his favorite brother dead, food scarce, and his father determined to leave the Shenandoah Valley to build a cattle empire in Colorado Territory. Crossing the continent, Carl falls in love with his brother's fiancée while set to wed another girl, but he might lose everything if the murderous outlaw Berto Acosta has his way. Carl battles a band of outlaws, a prairie fire, blizzards, a trackless waterless desert, and his own brother-all for the hand of feisty Ellen Bates.
Ride to Ratoncontinues from there: after losing the heart of his fiancée to his brother, James Owen leaves home to make a new life for himself. The turbulent world of post-Civil War Colorado Territoryis fraught with danger and prejudice that increase his bitter loneliness as personal setbacks threaten to break him. Then James's journey brings him into contact with another wayfarer, beautiful young Amparo Garcés, who has come from Santa Fe to Colorado to marry a stranger. Through a twist of fate, their futures are changed forever when their lives are merged in a marriage of convenience. James and Amparo undertake a hazardous horseback trek over Raton Passto Santa Fe, battling their personal demons, a challenging language barrier, and winter's raging storms.
My third novel, Trail of Storms, goes back to tell the tale of a peripheral character from the first novel. Jessie Bingham and her family flee post-Civil War Virginia after her sister suffers a brutal attack, and together endure a perilous trek to New Mexico Territory. When she hears her former sweetheart, James Owen, has taken a wife, Jessie accepts Ned Heizer’s marriage proposal on the condition they wait until journey’s end to wed. But then Jessie encounters James again... and he isn’t married now!
Spinster’s Follyis the fourth book in the series, and tells Marie Owen’s story. Marie lives in a land that is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors. Her desire to get married before she winds up a spinster propels her into making hasty decisions that drive her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers.
Wow, all of those books sound like they would be great reads. How much research was necessary to make your books so historically believable and where did you conduct most of your research? Did you visit the locations where you set your novels?
I read 150 books to research my first novel. Some I bought, but most came from the library. Over the years that I’ve been writing the series, I have been able to do some on-the-ground research, and I recently took a trip back East to visit Civil War battlefields and other areas in preparation to write my next book. I’ve also been amassing books on the Civil War in the last year. Lots of books!
In the earlier years, I conducted several interviews with people familiar with the areas I wanted to learn about. Photographs were also helpful, as were the state guides produced as WPA projects during the Great Depression. I’ve found several very good online sources for research on my later books.
Are you a pantser or a planner when you write?
I definitely write by the seat of my pants, once I have an idea for a story and know who my characters will be. I’m doing more planning now than I used to, though, so I don’t spend way too much time rewriting. However, I’ll never again write a complete synopsis early-on. That doesn’t work for me, because my brain then thinks I’ve already written the book.
While I’m writing, I make various charts and spreadsheets to help me analyze the number of occurrances of different points-of-view, and events within scenes. This helps the revision process goes faster.
I now use a great writing software program called yWriter5, which allows me to focus on one scene at a time. This is important, so that I don’t become daunted by the vastness of the project. A huge upside to using it is that the software is free!
I'm a writer too, so I like to ask other writers. 'What's your writing schedule like?'
Very fragmented. I’m easily distracted, but when I’m white-hot in the initial draft, I can write for up to eight hours, broken up by short breaks. This is only possible because I live alone.
I wish I had a better schedule. Almost every writer I know wishes the same thing!

I know I do lol... actually, I wish my fingers and eyelids kept up with my brain lol. Have you held a "day job" in addition to your writing?
Yes. Through the years I mothered my children, and then worked as a journalist, an educator, and in a retail store. I’ve also volunteered with several organizations, doing websites, newsletters, and a multitude of other chores.

Something I'm always curious about... How do you promote your books?
I have a website and a couple of blogs, I’m active on Facebook and other social media venues, and I’m always looking for ways to let people know I’m an author, such as giving talks and networking with various groups. I find that word of mouth from enthusiastic readers drives the most sales, though.

Advice to anyone contemplating writing a Civil War novel?
Do thorough research, keep accessible notes, then let the fingers loose.

Finally, How would you like to be remembered?
As a kind person who could write a little.
Thank you so much, Marsha, for being on my blog today... and HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!!!!!

~*~*~*~*~

(I love that book cover!!)
What exactly is Spinster's Folly? Marie Owen yearns for a loving husband, but Colorado Territory is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors, so a future of spinsterhood seems more likely than wedded bliss. Her best friend says cowboy Bill Henry is a likely candidate, but Marie knows her class-conscious father would not allow such a pairing. When she challenges her father to find her a suitable husband before she becomes a spinster, he arranges a match with a neighbor's son. Then Marie discovers Tom Morgan would be an unloving, abusive mate and his mother holds a grudge against the Owen family. Marie's mounting despair at the prospect of being trapped in such a dismal marriage drives her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers. This fourth book in the Owen Family Saga is infused with potent heart and intense grit.

Marsha Ward is an award-winning writer and editor who has published over 900 pieces of work, including three previous novels in the Owen Family Saga, numerous newspaper articles, and sections in books on the craft of writing. She is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, and American Night Writers Association. Born a while ago in the sleepy little town of Phoenix, Arizona, Marsha grew up with chickens, citrus trees, and lots of room to roam. She began telling stories at a very early age, regaling neighborhood chums with her tales as they snacked on her homemade sugar cookies and drank cold milk. Visiting her cousins on their ranch and listening to her father's stories of homesteading in Old Mexico and in the Tucson area reinforced Marsha's love of 19th Century Western history. After many years in the big city, Marsha now makes her home in a tiny hamlet under Central Arizona's magnificent Mogollon Rim. When she is not writing, she loves to spoil her grandchildren, travel, give talks, meet readers, and sign books. Here are links to my author pages at Smashwords and Amazon: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/marshaward
http://www.amazon.com/Marsha-Ward/e/B003RB9P9Q/ And links to my Social Media sites: Website: http://marshaward.com
Author Blog: http://marshaward.blogspot.com
Character Blog: http://charactersinmarshashead.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormarshaward
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarshaWard Online Book Release Event at Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/333393153425853/

Today's letter in the A to Z challenge at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ is...

R is for Rejection.
We talked yesterday about how if you send query letters then you will (more than likely) get a few rejections. Rejections aren't fun (how dare they not like something you worked so hard on!), but they are part of it. You get sad, you move on, and you keep sending them out. Simple as that...
But if it's not *that* simple for you, I've found a site that has the number of rejections famous authors have gotten over the years. The link is: Wavy Lines. Go visit because I'm not going to write them all...
I found out that:
Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling): Rejected 12 times
Mary Higgins Clark: Rejected 40 times
A Time to Kill (John Grisham): Rejected by 15 publishers and 30 agents
Twilight (Stephenie Meyer): Rejected by 9 agents and 5 no responses (which equal no)
Carrie (Stephen King): Rejected 30 times
SO, the point is for you (and for me). Rejection doesn't equal bad or give up. It means to keep going and find someone who does love it-- if not, write something else and keep going :)
That said...
WELCOME TO THE VERY FIRST FAITH-FICTION FRIDAY!!!!
*Balloons... confetti... streamers!!!*
Because I'm sure this will cause some confusion, I'm going to give you the deets below.
1. I will post a picture.
2. You will get inspired by the picture and write a 100 word (give or take) story (either fiction or non-fiction OR devotional).
3. You will post your story in the comments section of this blog below.
4. You can post your blog on the link-up after you've added a story to comments.
5. Somewhere on your blog, put the Faith-fiction Friday button.
6. Since this is new, I'm asking, begging, pleading, kissing your feet, to please spread the word about this. I'd love for this to be a great place for people to read and write Christian fiction (believe me, there aren't many places on the internet that have it).
If you have any questions, just ask. Like I said, I'd love for this to just be fun-- but it won't be fun for me (or anyone else) if no one participates (I'm paranoid that I'm going to check back after work and there be no comments or links up... )
Anyway...
Here is today's picture:

Here are my results of this week's quest... yes, I actually did it :) I enlisted the help of my girls... actually turned off the tv (I KNOW! It was strange without PBS kids for 2 hours)... and we cleaned. And had a GREAT TIME. I'm going to miss this when they get older and cleaning isn't as fun for them. Oh well... no sadness today... Ok.

Here is how our morning went...

THIS...

Is what their closet looked like. This is what he has honestly looked like for years. I haven't hung clothes in there... well, in about 4 years when the clothes rod fell and I just never put it back up (lazy much!). Their clothes are all in another room (dresses anyway). And this closet just ended up being a catch all for... well... everything. You can see there are 3 backpacks (2 are mine from about 9 years ago and 1 from my oldest daughter, our christmas tree (yes, our Christmas tree is a 4 foot, white, pre-lit tree... Don't judge), a carseat, some big toys, a train set (my grandfathers), just a jumbled mess of messiness.

Not a room fitting 2 little ladies.

And a waste of space. Nothing was being played with. Just being a big, messy, unusable eyesore.

Finally, with the girls help we got...

This..
.
.

And

This..

ACTUAL dresses hanging from their ACTUAL closet.

I could do a happy dance...

And kick myself for not doing it sooner (sorry girls).

I know the walls aren't all that. I'll get to them someday. Maybe cleaning them up will be one of NEXT years Quests (because I KNOW you all are looking forward to next year ;))

Here is the final product (or at least, how I'm leaving it today..)

I think there is a big difference. I can't store the train or the tree anywhere else because I just don't have the space. I have another closet that I 'may' try to put them in later, but for right now, they are fitting ok in there. I know it's not 'perfect', but at least it's usuable.

However, today's confession is that... my kid have a lot of stuff. I didn't get a good before picture of their room previously, but lets say that we haven't been tidying it as we should this summer. It wasn't 'messy', just full of stuff. It's the catch all for all of my kids toys.

Here is an example of how much stuff they have in there...

(Um... no. Those toys aren't normally on their beds lol. I had the ladies put them on their beds so the baby could be in the room and not eat any of them. Those blocks there were what she played with.)

They have a LOT Of stuff.

I gave them 3 choices on all of it... keep, toss, yard sale.

And here are our results...

Much better :)

HOWEVER, I'd be a big liar if I didn't show you the reverse of this shot.

That's all of their stuff that we didn't want to give away or sell. I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. I mean... Hmmmmmmm... Any ideas from you awesomely organized Mamas?

So, there you have it :) The end of week 6 for me. YOU still have until Saturday to get your closet finished. Remember, you can pick which ever closet you want. This closet has been my nemesis all summer lol.

OH, and I just remembered that I said "Cleaning Was FUN!" And I meant it. My ladies had the best time playing with the toys that hadn't seen the light of day in years.

Especially...

We found this in the 'non used' closet. Now, to you and me this might look like some little baby toy. Not to my oldest 2 ladies. THEY decided it was a rocket ship. So all 4 of us (the baby included) spent a good hunk of time flying in outer space. We zipped. We zagged. We ducked (the 11 month old thought we were all silly doing that... ). We whirled. And my oldest daughter went all Dora on us because we had to listen and match the correct instrument to the correct sound... so the mole aliens wouldn't get us. (THANKFULLY, we knew what a drum, a trumpet, and a guitar sounded like! Shew!)

They have already made plans for our return trip tomorrow. I can't wait.

So, there you have it, ladies. Cleaning IS fun... especially when you find a really cool rocketship in your closet.

Much Love,

Kelly

(Linked with: The High-Heeled Housewife--Homemaking Link-Up

My 5 year old, Katie, loves Jesus. She loves him with her whole heart... even if she doesn't fully understand everything (really who does?). She 'tries' to understand (which makes it hard for ole Mama who is having to turn into a Biblical Scholar to answer all of her questions... but that's ok because I'd rather she ask me and to KNOW about Jesus than to NOT know).

Anyway, Katie always tries to be a good girl. She tries to take care of her little sisters. She is the typical oldest child who does too much for others.

But she is as sweet as can be.

Last Thursday, Katie came up to me and said, "Mama, I asked Jesus to come live in my heart. And he said yes."

Well, to be honest. I didn't know what to do. I was ELATED that my baby girl had thought enough to ask Jesus into her heart, but I was worried that she was so young that maybe she didn't know what she was doing, etc. I decided to encourage her, and to let her decide when/if she needed to be baptized (She's just 5 after all... but that is another story).

But I told her that I was so happy that she did that... and that she had to take care of Jesus now that he live in her heart...

And that is when, I think, this story took a wrong turn... (uh oh... anyone see foreshadowing????)

A few days later, my girls were play fighting. They are 18 months apart and sometimes they wrestle... laughing the whole time. I usually allow it for a while until they get too wound up. Apparently, I let it go a BIT too long that day.

Chloe, my 4 year old, hit Katie...

In...

The...

Chest!

OH MY WORD!

TEARS... BIG HUGE TEARS filled that girls face as she ran to me yelling, "CHLOE HIT ME! She broket my heart! She BROKET Jesus. And Jesus Ran AWAY!"

It was one of those mom moments that isn't funny... but telling it back later makes you chuckle.

I hugged her... she was REALLY distraught. She kept saying, "She broket my heart! She broket my heart! And Jesus ran away!"

I finally got he to calm down enough for her to listen to me. I wiped her tears away and said, "Katie. Jesus loves you. And even if Chloe 'broket' your heart in tiny pieces, Jesus would never want to leave. He would stay with you even if he could leave because he loves you that much."

Well, that seemed to satisfy her. She wiped her tears and went off to play.

And then, of course, I started thinking about us. How many times have WE thought we 'broket our heart and Jesus ran away'? But guess what, ladies? Jesus loves us. He would never want to leave us. He would stay with you even if he could leave... because he loves you that much!

As for Katie, well, she told me later that her heart had been fixed and now Jesus had a nice home in there again... at least until her sister breaks it again...

Much Love,

Kelly

My friend Jennifer has a blog called Imitation by Design It is an awesome blog, and I'm not just saying that lol. It really is a great place. It has recipes, encouragement... and a little thing called "Meaningful Mondays"

I LOVE Meaningful Mondays! If she doesn't write it... I ask where it is lol. It's where she writes a devotional or something meaningful (hence the name). She has a real gift for this.

Now...

I've told her that she should do a Linkytool to her Meaningful Mondays so others can get in on the action. I'm not sure if she will or not... BUT I decided that I was going to do it anyway. We all need some uplifting. We all need some sort of encouragement. We all need something to think about. We ALL need something meaningful to read (What? You mean that 'In Style' I just read wasn't 'meaningful'? Um.. no. Informative thought it may have been... NOT meaningful... ")

I don't know if I'll do this every Monday, but I did want to make mention to you all about her site and what her Meaningful Mondays are :)
************************************
Here is my contribution to "Meaningful Mondays"...

Positive or Negative????

Have you ever been around a negative person?

Of course you have. We ALL have. You know those people who are NEVER happy. They could win $2 million dollars and still not be satisfied because they'd have to count it (ok, not REALLY, but you know what I mean).

The people who have been blessed by God and don't realize it.

The people who see the glass as half empty.

The people who when get good news, see only the problems that come with it.

The people who fuss in the grocery store because things didn't go their way.

Oh yes... we have ALL seen these people or been around them.

And how do they make us feel?

If you are around a negative person, you feel... negative.

Oh you didn't start off feeling that way. You WERE happy. JOYFUL even. You were excited about (insert something here... ). You were all smiles for miles.

And then...

You met them...

You talked to them...

You had a conversation with THEM...

And what happened?

You tried... you did... You TRIED to stay happy.

You worked hard to keep that positive attitude.

But their negativity... it just crushed you. It got into your mind and stole your joy. Do you know people like that???? How does it make you feel to be around them.

Oh...

Wait...

Proof-reading here...

OH, I wrote that wrong...

Let me go back...

Sorry about that...

Back to the top...

If Someone is around a negative person, they feel... negative.

Oh you (THEY) didn't start off feeling that way. You (THEY)WERE happy. JOYFUL even. You (THEY) were excited about (insert something here... ). You They were all smiles for miles.



And then...


You met them...



You talked to them...



You had a conversation with THEM...




And what happened?



You They tried... you They did... You They TRIED to stay happy.



You They worked hard to keep that positive attitude.



But their YOUR negativity... it just crushed you THEM. It got into your THEIR mind and stole your THEIR joy.

There...

Wow, proof reading that sure didn't make me feel very good.

We ALL know what it's like to be around negative people. It's, quite frankly, annoying. And it DOES steal OUR joy.

BUT what if WE are that negative person? What if WE steal OTHERS joy?

Whoa!

I don't want to steal joy... I want to give it.

I don't want to steal happiness... I want to give it.

I don't want to make someone sad... I want them to be happy.

I don't want to SOW negativity... I want to be positive not only for myself for others.

It's easy to recognize people who have a negative attitude, but can we say the same when the mirror is looking on us?

I admit that I'm not always the most positive person.. and I admit that when I'm around a negative person that I can easily turn that way. I need to pray about keeping a positive attitude. The world has enough negatives. Imagine if some positives came though?

That's NOT saying that we shouldn't talk to people when we are sad and down. The worst thing you can do is bottle it up. However, its good not to make a habit out of it. Look for the positives in life to counterbalance the negatives. A simple joy... a simple laugh can be a positive experience.

Much Love,

Kelly :)

Ah... the Lord works in mysterious ways.

We've all heard it, but sometimes He smacks us right up side the head with it! Those are the fun times... well if you count oral surgery 'fun', but I guess you need to know the beginning of the story.

Yesterday, I had surgery to remove my 4 wisdom teeth. Now, I only got 2 out because one of them was worse than the doctor thought and I only had 20% left on my knock out meds so I have to go back and do it all again... oh joy. Naw... it worked out for the best. I won't be as scared the next time, and I'll have time for this one side to heal before I have to have it done again. AND I can chew on that side of my mouth which is awesome since I'm STARVING...

BUT, that has nothing to do with my Brag on God Friday. I know... you are wanting me to get to it.

I had the surgery Wednesday... TUESDAY I WASN'T going to! I had talked myself out if it. I sent my sister (my poor sister) lots of texts explaining all of this too her. I was too busy to be 'out of commission' for as long as I thought I was going to be (that's my 3rd out of 3 posts about what I learned in the dentists chair... stay tuned... dun... dun... dun!). I told her I should wait until my kids got older... I told her lots of things. I was a bit freaked.

And my sister... my poor sister... gave me this advice, "Do what you always say do. Pray about it."

WELL, whollop ole Kelly upside the head!

To be fair, I HAD prayed about it. I had prayed about it in great length, but it was all about how *I* didn't *WANT* to have it done and all the reasons why. I was trying to make Him see things MY way (and yeah, we all know how well THAT goes!).

So, finally, right before I went to bed, I had this thought. My alarm clock doens't work all the time. I have to set my phone alarm as a back up during the school year because my alarm clock isn't reliable (can you see where my wheels were rolling??) In my great wisdom, I DIDN'T set my phone alarm... only my unreliable alarm clock.

Before I shut my eyes for the night, I prayed, "God, I'm leaving this all up to you. If you wake me up in time tomorrow, I'll go get the surgery. If not, I won't." And I went to sleep.

Now, I know you aren't supposed to test God, but it was all I could think to do at the time. I was giving God the choice...because if it was up to me, I was running for the hills!

I have 3 small kids (the reasons, I kept telling myself, as to WHY I shouldn't have the surgery). My kids are 5, 4 and 11 months. They are VERY good sleepers. They go to bed at 7 pm and wake no earlier than 6:30 am. EVERY DAY...

5:45 am... Me, sleeping peacefully because I KNOW I'm not going to have to go have surgery...

Then I hear it..

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Yeap, the baby woke up 1 hr and 15 minutes earlier than she usually does. I went in, got her, and asked her if an angel had kissed her awake (she just laughed and smiled and gooed lol). So I fixed her a bottle and, defeatedly, went to take a shower to get ready for my surgery.

God works in mysterious ways.

The baby slept until 7 am today. She hasn't woken up earlier than 6:45 all summer.. yet 'somehow' (yeah I know how) she woke up on the exact same day I needed her too... I prayed for it.

Of course, I had to laugh. I thanked God for the 'sign' and I had my surgery.

That's not the only thing I have to 'brag on God' on this week!

God has answered so many of my prayers! More than I could ever even dream of for one week. He answered some of them I had for my husband, my sisters, and my daughter. My 5 year old told me today that she asked Jesus to come live in her heart :) I'm not entirely sure she knows what that means, but I DO know that her and her sister were playing today and she was telling her sister how to get Jesus into HER heart. Some kids play Barbies.. my kids play church. I'm ok with that :) (they play restaurant too lol).

It has been a really big week of blessings at my house. I learned that the spot that the doctor was 'pretty sure' was cancer... wasn't. I braved oral surgery. The hubs and I had a big, long, awesome heart to heart. My kids know about Jesus.

And I'm not saying all of this to brag about MY family. We are nothing special (well, we are special to ME, but we aren't special in any big sense... we blend really well). But God has just been right with us this week (as every week, but I guess I'm just seeing it more now). I truly, truly thank him for all he's done!

I have another blog. It's called http://www.365daysofbiblicalencouragement.blogspot.com/. Its only been up for 5 days. God has blessed me so much writing that. If it was only *me* reading it, it would be a blessing, but I'm so grateful that others are reading it and being blessed.

Much love and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Kelly

**Before I tell you my happy dance news, I'd LOVE if you'd click over and read this week's story at Faith Filled Fiction. Stacey has done a great job writing it! I know you will be blessed.

~*~

Last night, I made my first $0.24 as a writer!

This morning, I made my first $0.48!

I wrote the Ruth Bible Study for the Women's Ministry at church. I put it on Smashwords for free download, but I had some wonderful friends who said they didn't want it for free... they wanted to BUY it (awesome friends!).

So, I put it on createspace...

And now it's on Amazon!

Ignore the fact that it has Mrs. Kelly Martin as the author (it grates my nerves, but my husband thinks it's sweet ;)).

A five part Bible Study on the book of Ruth. This humorous and heartfelt study brings the verses to life and shows how love and respect can change the world. If you are interested in learning more or are interested in buying it, please click HERE. You can also download the free eBook version by clicking the link on the sidebar :)
*If you're wondering about the other books... 'Crossing the Deep' is still being queried to agents and publishers. If it doesn't get picked up, it's ok. I'll work on it and probably self-publish it (now that I kinda know how).
*I'm 44,000 thousand words into my second book. (Thanks campnanowrimo! :)) It reminds me of "The OC meets God"... I'll probably finish it up this week, then do edits. The PLAN is to not rush edits like I did the first book and do it right the first few times.
Both are Young Adult/Christian books which are REALLY hard to sell to agents/publishers, but that's ok. If they are meant to be published, they will be. I just love writing them.
Much Love,
Kelly
Linked with: Women Living Well Wednesday

This week, we are tackling baseboards. I'm actually pretty excited about this one. Now, I'm not getting all crazy and moving furniture.. but I am going to do all of my rooms. My baseboard really need it!

There will probably not be any pics (I don't know, I might take a few... who knows)

I hope you go on this Quest with me!

This should be our 'easy' week... Quest #6 (if it stays the same as I plan) will be the doozie!

Good luck... and PLEASE do this with me (I can beg with the best of them). Motivation and encouragment are very much key when trying to reach any goal. We have 4 more quests after this... WE CAN DO IT!!!

Much love... Happy Cleaning!!!!
Kelly

Sunday is Father's Day. To celebrate, I'm going to talk a bit about my husband.

What? What?! You have a husband?

Yes, Dear Reader. *I* have a husband. I don't talk about him much because, well, I kinda told him I wouldn't (long story)... but I DID tell him I was doing this, and he was ok about it. Who doesn't like be bragged on sometimes?

Anyway, I thought I'd get all of my husband's awesomeness out in one post... well... the majority of his awesomeness. I could probably think of more if given the opportunity.

Backstory: The hubs (Brandon) and I have been married for 8 years. We dated a grand total of 2 months before we tied the knot... so, yeah-- we knew so much about each other going into this.

Over the past 8 years, we have had to figure each other out... what makes the other person tick... learn how to live with each other's faults (me more than him... Ok, so *maybe* I had some faults along the way myself... *maybe*).

AND we have 3 little ladies! (2 of which are TOTAL Daddy's girls... Apparently they don't realize that Mama carried and birthed them... but whatever, right... hehe)

We have a nice routine now... well, sometimes it's nice. It's hard. We don't work the same shift so it does get lonely at times... I'm not going to lie. But we try to make it work as best we can. Some days its only a brief kiss and a 5 minute conversation. I truly admire military families who don't even have that daily.

I've thought how best to descrive his awesomeness. I didn't want to get all mushy because we aren't mushy people. So then I decided that ye ole 'Top 5 List' would be the best way to go.

So...

Without further ado...

The Top 5 Reasons My Husband Rocks

1. He cleans out the mouse traps.
Wait!!! Whoa! Stop the train, Nelly-Bell. You mean to tell me 'That's' your number ONE? What about because you love him... or what about how the awesomeness of his being a father? Mouse traps are your number ONE???? (See how cleaverly I can read your mind... )

Well... yes... THAT is my number one and there is a very good reason why... ALL of that other stuff, the love, the awesomeness of being a father... THAT is a given. I wouldn't have married him if Ididn't love him (no shotguns were required... ). I wouldn't have had a baby with him if I hadn't thought he would be a good father...

And I wouldn't have had 2 more if he wasn't one.

All of those things are 'givens'. My top 5 are things he does that make me appreciate him more...

WHICH leads us back to He cleans out mouse traps.
I hate mice... I hate mice with a fiery passion. I'm not entirely sure if I'd rather see a dead mouse or a live mouse. All mice pretty much freak me out... Thankfully, the hubs takes care of those rather nasty creatures (sorry nasty creatures for putting you in the company of mice... I'm sure mice have their purpose.. just not in my house!). So score one for the husband!

2. He holds my hand when I'm scared...
Even when its a scary movie... in which case he might laugh at me while he's doing it, but it's the thought that counts, right???

3. Sometimes he says the right thing--- and I don't even have to tell him what it is.
I feel bad for my husband at times. I'll be upset over something and honestly I won't know why I'm upset and he doesn't either. But he does try to listen. He's not perfect of course--but he does try to make me feel better. Can't ask for much more than that.

4.He loves to cook--- and is much better at it than I am.
I'm not a cook. I've never been able to cook well... I can cook tolerable (ie, it's edible). But my husband is a terrific cook. That man can throw something together that you think would be nasty (or I would), but it's really really good when he's finished. My kids have a treat when Daddy cooks. I know he would more if he had the time. Time is a fleeting thing sometimes.

5. He is really good at decorating.
Ok, that one kinda irks me.. only because I'm SO jealous of it! I wish I could just look at something and 'make it work'.

In preparing this post, I asked my ladies why their daddy rocked.

They said:

The 5 year old: "Because he plays monster with us!"

The 4 year old: "Because he is happy."

The 11 month old can't talk (well she can, but... you know what I mean), but she is a TOTAL Daddy's girl--Never saw a girl's eyes light up so much when she saw her Daddy like E's (thanks kid... )

There are many other reasons why he rocks... like he knows exactly how to kiss me and make me swoon--even after 8 years.
... like how much he loves God--even if his work keeps him from church sometimes.
... like how sometimes he stays awake over 24 hours to do something with us.

You get the idea.

So, that's it. Now you know there is an actual "Mr." in this home, and that he's a pretty special guy.

Much love-- and don't forget Quest #4 is due tomorrow!!! :)

Kelly (aka... 'The Mrs.')

(P.S. I'm entering this into the "My Husband Rocks" writing contest linked above, however, I had already thought about writing something like this for a while. I just needed a bit of... what is that word????? Ah... MOTIVATION

"Brag on God" Friday is a link-up with http://www.beholdingglory.com/ where you write something Awesome about God. Well... that sounds easy, doesn't it? lol

And it is... Well it's Easy to THINK Of things that God has done awesome this week... and every week.

But when I started trying to actually write it down, it wouldn't come out for some reason. I tried to write this last night... and I got nowhere... not that I couldn't think of a million things to write about... but because I couldn't write it down (writers block I guess... )

Anyway, I'm glad I didn't end up posting what I was *trying* to write last night, because while taking a shower this morning, I found the exact words I wanted to say this morning... yeah, I was happy! :)

I was taking a shower and thought, "God, I know you do all of this stuff for me... every second... every day... but I can't find the words." And the thought popped in my head, "Well, you got up this morning, didn't you?"

ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD the ball started rolling lol.

I'd like my first official "Brag On God Friday" to be about His just letting me wake up this morning. He didn't have too. There is no rule that says, "Kelly MUST wake up every day until she is 100 when she will die in her sleep." Nope... not written in any book I've ever read. So the sheer fact that I can sit here and type this... is a big God brag.

Then once I started thinking about that... the ball just got rolling.

Another thing that I've talked about this week that I've done is called S.O.A.P (Click the link next to this post). You pray, find a scripture, observe what it means, apply it to your life, and pray. It's really really REALLY neat! Honestly, its so cool how God can talk to you... with words over 2000 years old!

I won't be posting all of my 'SOAP' writings because I think they are personal, however I will type out one or two scriptures I used. Some of you know what I've been thinking about this week (Um... Spud is one of the top things lol... No you aren't the only one that thinks its weird that I named the 'mole' lol). There are others, and the verses that I found this week go either directly to that or other things that I want/am thinking about.

James 4:2--You desire and do not have, so you murder, you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. (Yeap, that wholloped me right upside ye ole head!)

Matthew 21:22-- And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall recieve. (If I pray, and don't believe it... what good does it do?)

Luke 1:37-- For nothing is impossible with God. (That's where the Big and Small posts came from)

Proverbs 3:6-- Seek the Lord in all you do and He will show you which path to take.

Luke 2:36-- Anna, a prophet, was also in the Temple. (Anna had 2 things against her... well 2 things we'd consider NOW DAYS against her. 1. she was old. 2. she was a woman. God can use old, young, men, AND women to spread His word. Somehow I needed to know that this week.)

There are MANY many more (I've kinda been on a SOAP binge this week lol).

THE POINT IS: My 'Brag on God' today is that 1. He let me wake up. 2. He let my kids wake up. 3. He gave me these verses when I REALLY needed them the most. The Bible is huge, but 'somehow' (well *I* know how, but you get the idea) those popped out when I needed them the most.

**Remember, Our bathrooms are due tomorrow! I got one closet finished... gotta work on the other... I WILL get it finished by tomorrow though! HUZZAH!**

Much love!!!!

Kelly

Yesterday, I blogged about how no problem is too small for God. Today, I want to talk about Part 2 of that...

Ready????

No PRAISE is too SMALL for God.

Last night, the Ladies and I were reading our devotional, and in it, we were told to thank God for everything we have. So we closed our eyes and took turns saying, "Thank you God for... "

Now, my ladies are small so the things *we* were thankful for are
*tomatoes
*carrots
*our house
*dishwasher (I added that lol)
*the baby
*pets
and
*our family

I can just imagine God smiling as those 2 little girls had their little eyes closed thanking him for all of those seemingly small things. It's good to praise and thank him for the big things... but it's also good to take time to think about the seemingly small ones.

At church Sunday during the praise part, the baby raised her hand to the sky and jibbered something. Now, *I* don't know if she knew what she was doing or saying. She might have just been imitating what she was seeing others do... but even if she was... I believe God appreciates the effort.

Imagine yourself.

It feels good when you boss says something awesome to you! That is a really good report. You have lots of happy parents (I'm a teacher... happy parents make me happy :) ). You are doing a great job.

BUT...

It also feels good when our peers take time to say something nice... so of the small things that make your day. You look so pretty today. I love that shirt. Your smile is just brightening up the room.

Big or Small, praise makes us as humans feel good.

There is no praise too small for God either. The only praise NOT small enough is not taking the time or effort to do it.

Much Love,

Kelly

This Friday, I'm linking up with Gypsy Mama for 5 Minute Friday. It's simple. She posts a topic, and you write for 5 minutes (with no edits... eek).

Today's topic is: Path

GO

I've been thinking a lot this week on the paths of our lives and how we end up on the right one. In Proverbs, it says God will move our feet to the right path (paraphrasing of course, since it would take the entire 5 minutes to find it... )

But what if (it's been one of those What If weeks) we have no idea what path God wants us on. What if we *think* we know, but then we just don't.

I've known people who have had one path, then a tragic event happens and their lives are thrown on a totally different trajectory. But maybe that was the plan all along. Maybe they (and I) have to go through times of doubts to get us in a place we need to be.

To tell you the truth, my path to becoming a Special Education teacher wasn't a very conventional one, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

And I'm sure it will be that way with other paths. If it's supposed to be, it will be. :)

I'm sitting here looking at the 'Footprints in the sand' bookmark that I gave the winners of the Bible in 90 Days. There are 2 sets of footprints in the sand: 2 paths. Then suddenly there is one path, because Jesus took over and carried 'me'. That's how I feel. Jesus and I are walking along the beach, but soon, there will only be one set of footprints because he will carry me where I need to go.

He will you too, friend. I've read a lot of posts this week on not giving up (must be a theme, or it's just me seeing it... ). If you don't know your path, you will find it. If you need help, Jesus will carry you.

STOP

I promise I will post 'happy' stuff next week :) It's been a learning week for me (and that's ok.)

Have a great weekend!

Much Love,

~*~Kelly~*~

LINKED WITH:

and

Who needs some motivation today!

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Oh my gosh!

I've used this picture before and I'll use it again.

Today, I just didn't want to do anything. I'll be quite honest with you. The only thing I wanted to do is sit on the computer and 'Google' (do the kids still say that? Or is it 'bing' now? Whatever, you get the idea.. I wanted to browse the World Wide Web for information)

I had every excuse in the book for not wanting to do anything, of course.
Spud got evicted today (well partly evicted. Doc ended up doing a shave biopsy instead of a punch. IF it is cancer, I have to go back in 2 weeks and have this all done again with a punch biopsy... Yip to the eee. I'll take a few extra prayers in that department if you happen to think of it. I really don't want that done again. Have I mentioned before that I'm a big baby when it comes to pain????)

When you don't want to do something, what motivates you to do it? One of my biggest motivations is this blog. This is my accountibility. I don't want to be a hyprocrit and say something here that I don't do. I haven't missed one night of my cleaning list since I started this... and I don't plan too (Unless I'm just really sick... or not home.) I don't say that to brag... I say that to hopefully encourage you. "What Would Kelly Clean?" after all lol...

Another thing I have learned is that even if *I* don't feel well (both physically and spiritually), I can open my Bible and find something to motivate me. Yesterday, I found something called SOAP.

SOAP stands for:
Scripture
Observation
Application
Prayer

I encourage each of you to visit that site and see what SOAP is all about. I've done five or six scriptures last night and today using it and it REALLY lets you see what the Bible says to you and has FOR you... So far, it has really motivated me!

Scriptures motivate me. This one from Luke motivated me today. Luke 8:15--And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good hearted people. Who hear God's Word, cling to it, and patiently produce huge harvests (I'm more of a 'I want it now' type of person... ) That scripture motives me to keep blogging.

On top of accountibality and scriptures, my other motivation is pride. Ok, I know it's a deadly sin and all, but I don't think it's horrible to feel proud in yourself (as LONG as it doesn't go overboard... Pride comes before the fall after all). I do feel proud when I'm not feeling well and I DO complete my chores... and I DO blog... and I DO read my Bible. I feel accomplishment I guess more than pride. Yeah, accomplishment is a MUCH better word. Feeling good about yourself is an awesome motivation. We all need it!

So, again I ask... what is your motivation? What makes you want to do... well anything? What makes you want to clean? To read blogs? To tell people about God? To be a happy homemaker? To take pictures? Whatever it is... what is your motivation? You have to know... because sometimes you forget what it is. Motivation is a sneaky little snake. Sometimes slithers away when you need it the most.

You don't have to tell me. It's personal and it's yours. It's just something good to know for those rainy days when not completing your 'to do list' seems oh so appealing...

Sorry this has been all over the place. This is like the 3rd draft of this particual blog post. I can't seem to get my thoughts in the order I want... Spud is starting to hurt though and I'm going to have to publish this like it is... flaws and all (imagine that).

Much love, happy cleaning, and find out what motivates you... for days when you aren't really that motivated.

Kelly

For the record, yes I completed my "To Do" List tonight :) Huzzah! I found some motivation...

I tell ya... the girls' little devotional book is at it again... If you didn't read it before, we are reading the 365 Very Veggie Devos for Kids that I talked about here before bed every night. Some of them, I think, are hitting me more than them lol. Maybe I'm just older, and they mean more to me. Or maybe God marked this book 50% off (so the ole stingy Mama would buy it) for a reason... hmmmmmm...

Tonight's devotional is about Thinking Before you Speak...

OH MAN!

I am trying so hard with this one. I promise I am. I've gotten to the point where I say, "Now, I know I shouldn't be saying this... but... " I had a Sunday School teacher tell us once that it was always what was AFTER the 'but' that people truly meant. You've been around people (I'm SURE you have if you live in the South) who say, "Oh, bless their heart, but that girl is as loose as a goose!" If you take the 'disclaimer' out of "Bless her heart" well, it's not the best sentence in the world, is it?

My big one, like I said, is "Now, I know I shouldn't be saying this... but... "

Well, foot, if I KNOW I'm not supposed to be saying it.. then why say it? (Because I'm human and my mouth likes to jabber lol)

Did your Mama ever say "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Yeah...

Yet something else to work on...

Now, I have to admit, I got kinda discouraged about that. Something *else* to be thinking about. Don't gossip, say nice words, let my actions speak more than my words... that's a LOT to think about, and that's not even the half of what we are 'supposed' to do... but God knows I'm not perfect (Thank goodness!). He knows that I make mistakes. He knows that as much as I try, my mouth jabbers sometimes before I can stop it (I really need to take more time before I speak sometimes.. probably would keep me out of some situations... ). The great thing about God is that you can just ask for forgiveness... and if you are saved, then you get it (or as my kids say, "God's happy again.")

Sorry, I've been posting so much lately. I have a lot going on here lately (well, a lot for me), and when I'm a bit nervous, I ramble (but the good thing about blogging is that I have the backspace to keep me from saying too much lol)

On that note, much love, happy cleaning, and think before you speak... or blog... or facebook... or twitter... And if when you mess up, ask for forgiveness. (Ok, today's little kiddy devo divine 'beating' wasn't as bad as some of the others lol)

Kelly

P.S. if you want you can buy the little 365 Very Veggie Devos for Kids book (that likes to whack me upside my spiritual head) here. It really is a good little book.

(Ok, so I had to use http://thesaurus.com/ to find a synonym for chaos that started with a B lol... I'll admit it ;) )

So, hope you have rested from Quest #3. I really enjoyed that one, and I'm looking forward to this one.

Our Quest this week is working on our bathrooms. The goal is to:
*Organize our cabinets
*Throw old cosmetics away
*Throw old cleaning products away.
*Organize our towel closets (that will be my big one!!!)
*And throw away all old magazines we don't want any more

As Rosie the Rivitor says... "We can do it!!!!"

Good luck and happy cleaning!!!!!

Much love,

Kelly

You can enter to win a free advanced review copy of my new book, THE DECEPTION OF DEVIN MILLER! Just click HERE...
****Two things before you read this post: Do you know the story of the Little Red Hen... and do you know who Benedict Cumberbatch (BBCs Sherlock) is... Read on... ;)

**** Do you know the story of the 'Little Red Hen'? It is an old fable. I tried to find the original writer but couldn't (if you have any idea, leave a comment.)

The basic story (and I'll have a very special reading of it at the end of this post... by a very famous... um... villain/detective *hint* ) is that this little red hen is going to make some bread. She has to plant the wheat, gather the wheat, turn it into flour, and bake it.

Along the way, she asks her friends for help. The rat, the cat, and the dog all say no...

Except...

When the Little Red Hen asks if they want to eat it. They all jump up and go in for supper. And do you know what she tells them? NO! Because they haven't done any of the work.

So... how does this relate to being a Mama and a Writer? When I first started writing, the husband wasn't very happy about it. To him, it was a hobby-- like his fishing-- and it was taking a lot of time... which it was. A LOT of time (now it takes longer bc of social media lol)
He was happy when I got my first book contract. He was proud when the book came out.
When I started writing the second book... wow. He wasn't thrilled. He thought this was a one hit thing, I suppose. He thought one book a year would be great. I had to explain for any writer now days to get their name out, you have to write 3-4 books a year-- which is daunting with 3 small kids and a full time job.
Finally, when people started actually buying the book and people started talking to him about it, he got very excited! He loved my writing and has made every effort since then to 'give me time' to write.
It took a year of unhappiness (on that front), but now he's one of my most vocal supporters.
He wasn't there for the planting, harvesting, or cooking-- but he's there for the final product. Unlike the Little Red Hen, I'm just happy he's on board now :)
If you are trying to write and there is someone not exactly with you, I understand. But it will pass. My husband is very excited about my self-publishing my 3rd book! I NEVER thought he would be. People surprise you! Okay... great. That hits writing, but what about being a Mama? For months, I took my oldest 2 girls to tumbling practice. Toward the latter, my sister came with me. The husband took them a few times, but mainly, it was me. I definitely paid the tuition (though my mother did pay for the recital).
The point is, I was there 95% of the time. I did most of the leg work when it came to getting them to and from tumbling.
On the day of the recital, everyone was there. My 2 year old started acting like a sleepy, cranky 2 year old and I had to take her out. Guess who didn't get to sit in her seat and 'eat the bread' of watching her girls' recital?
Yup...
We, as Mamas, get the not so pleasant jobs at times. We get the cleaning up the messes, the arguing, the crying when we brush their hair-- but the others get the 'reward' (the bread at the end of the story)
Should we get bitter about it? Well, no... doesn't mean we don't sometimes though. It's human.
What about you? Do you have some Little Red Hen moments in your life? Did they (like my husband) turn around and become one of your biggest supporters? And JUST IN CASE you don't know the story of the Little Red Hen-- and just if you are having a bad day-- here is Benedict Cumberbatch (star of BBCs Sherlock and Star Trek: Into Darkness) reading... The Little Red Hen (Proceed to fangirl now if you must ;) ) (from youtube)

Read to the end of this post to enter to win one of 5 Advanced Review Copies (ARCs) for DEVIN MILLER :)
Friends, I'm very excited to announce my 3rd book, THE DECEPTION OF DEVIN MILLER, will be released in ebook and paperback (from Amazon) on July 23rd, 2013!!!!

There will be several events leading up to the release (I love 'events' ;) ) The first is the cover reveal and the chance to win one of 5 ARCs :)

But first, I want to show you the awesome cover! I have to say, I'm in love with it :) Laura Heritage outdid herself!

Ready?

So... what do you think? What the book is about... One month ago, seventeen year old Devin Miller wrecked while intoxicated—or so she’s told by the very aggravated blue-eyed boy when she wakes up from a coma. The only thing Devin remembers is the darkness holding her down and the voices-- some happy, some upset, and one very agitated. She can't remember her name, her age, where she lives, or who in the world the blue-eyed boy is. But he knows who she is, and against her better judgment, she offers to pay him for his memories so she can trick the ones closest to her into thinking she's fine. That is her first mistake.
When Devin gets home, things start to spin out of control. People she doesn't know keep talking to her. Trey--the blue -eyed boy-- doesn't show up like he's supposed too. And the police want to talk to her about her involvement in car accident. Plus she keeps seeing flashes of the crash, but none of them make sense. What would a red plastic cup have to do with anything? And why doesn't she have any feelings for her 'boyfriend', Cooper?
Facing DUI charges for a wreck she can't recall, Devin struggles to remember exactly what happened the night of the crash: something the real driver wants her to keep buried.
Now, it's you chance to win. Check out the Rafflecopter and GOOD LUCK!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you have read this blog in the past, you know that I absolutely LOVE my homemaking binder. (Mine looks a bit different now. I guess I need to do a new photoshoot with it in its current glory lol).

I had never heard of a "homemaking binder" until one day I was watching youtube for coupon binders and this video showed up under suggestions. I watched. I loved. I made myself one lol. It really is a handy little thing. I keep my daily chores, daily to do, weekly to do, monthly to do (because I have to write something down at least 3 times to remember it lol), my meal planning, my bills, school stuff, and some personal things I've added. I use the Bills section, daily section, and calendar section the most. If you don't have one, you really should make one :) They are really handy (I have made 2 pages you can use for yours.. look under the Free Printables at the top of this page.)

Other binder templates I love are at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ actually there isn't much at moneysavingmom that I don't like!!!

http://clutterbug.me/ has some really cute organizational pages too.

Anyway, I saw this next tip on youtube and I can't for the life of me remember which video I saw it on (sorry). However, I've started using it and love it.

I usually get Parenting magazines every month and sometimes some recipe books... ALWAYS the "All You" Magazine from Wal-mart (coupons!! :) ). Anyway, the point is what you can do to make your binder more "You" and more inspirational is to tear out magazine pages that either inspire you, have recipes you love/want to try, have parenting ideas that you want to remember, etc. I have several pages in my binder now. I have a few parenting ones, one or two relationship pages... one page I have is my dream kitchen lol You tear them out of your favorite magazines, place them in sheet protectors, and throw them in your binder. It really does add a very nice personal touch.

You get the idea. I've also seen inspirational notebooks used alongside homemaking binders if you don't want to put them together. It 'can' start looking cluttered after awhile (I don't care. I like all of my things together in one notebook.)

It also cuts down on magazine piles when you tear out what you find important and throw the rest away. I've went through this week and purged lots of old magazines (yes, I had Life & Style s from 2007 lol.).

Anyway, that is your tip today. Make your binder something you WANT to look at... not something you HAVE to look out. Just like cleaning.. make it something you WANT to do... not something you HAVE to do. WHO wants to HAVE to do something?... I *have* to go to the dentist tomorrow... what fun is that??? I CHOOSE to clean up tonight because I quite enjoy a non-cluttered house (well I assume I do.. I haven't completely decluttered yet lol)

So, there is your tip. I hope it helps you out. Remember... tomorrow is Friday. The big Korraling Kitchen Klutter reveal... I hope some of you have joined me on this Quest. It took me all of an hour and a half (of course.. I made my kids help ;) ) and I really like the results... you be the judge tomorrow.

Much love... Happy cleaning... and Cheerful Chores.

Kelly

OH THIS is going to be good lol...

Gossip.

Anyone here a gossip?????

Oh noooooooooooooooooo...

Not us...

Nope...

Nada...

Ok, I admit (I admit things a lot) I love listening to gossip. And it's not just normal gossip, it's celebrity gossip magazines. It's msn.com. It's the yahoo gossip section. Heck, its even Facebook, Twitter...

Gossip is EVERYWHERE. Checkout lines at Wal-mart (did you know that Leo and Blake Lively are dating??? I KNOW!), on T.V. (Inside Edition is all about the Gossip), even the news. They don't call it gossip per sa, but I'm sure some respectible news media reported about Arnold's new love child (and if you know what that means, you are as guilty as me lol).

I was flipping though the Bible tonight and came across this... Proverbs 11:13: A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a convidence.

Proverbs 25:23: As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue can cause anger.

(Side note: The next verse says, "It's better to live alone in the corner of an attic, than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home." The Real Housewives of Jerusalem popped into my mind lol... but I digress ;) Basically, if you are going to clean... at least be happy about it! I wasn't happy about it for years.. I finally got my happy on lol)

Back on track now... sorry...

The point is... we have to watch our tongue. When it goes flapping, I... er... we get in trouble. And watch our ears... if someone is talking, don't take every opportunity to listen in. Gossip is the easiest thing to fall into because it feels (to us) like the most innocent. "I'm not hurting anybody." Yeah, because none of us have ever been on the receiving end of gossip about us... doesn't feel very good does it?

Ah, those 'life lessons'... sometimes they are killjoys lol.. Necessary none-the-less...

Much Love,

Kelly

*I wanted to thank all of you who voted for this blog at circle of moms (button to the right). I really appreciate it. I want this blog to be inspirational, fun, and helpful. I hope you feel it is :)

*ALSO, don't forget about our Third Summer Quest :) It's due Friday. I'm really looking forward to talking about it. It was seriously like those American Picker guys when they go through other people's stuff. Who knew I'd find.. well, you'll just have to read Friday to find out (dun duh dun).

Seriously, though, thanks so much for taking the time to read. If you like what you see, please favorite it or push the follow button to the right. And happy cleaning!!!!