• Something I Will Never Do

    Posted on February 1, 2012 by Maidenfine 1 Comment

    This is going to be quick, since I still have tons to do so that I can start getting real posts up here. But I just entered a giveaway that had a rafflecopter dealie where you got entries by Liking different blogs on Facebook. Now I have seen these on multiple giveaways. Usually the first entry is a comment regarding what’s being given away, then there are extra entries for liking the Blogger’s Facebook page and the company’s page that’s providing the giveaway. And then sometimes there are extra entries for tweeting about it or posting on Facebook or your blog about it. So, 6 entries or so, per person, possible.

    This one was hosted by multiple blogs and I am not exaggerating when I say that there were at least 30 different blogs to Like on Facebook. And you got an extra 25 entries if you Liked them all. Which I did, because I wanted the prize. But you know what, in a couple weeks when that drawing is over, I’m going to go back through my Likes on Facebook and get rid of most of those. And frankly, by the end of it, I was tempted to go back and unlike them all immediately and forfeit my entries into the giveaway. Because it annoyed me.

    And when you think about it, even if every one of those blogs got 50 new Likes because of that giveaway, how many of those Likes do you think are legitimate? And sure, most people won’t go through the trouble of weeding through their Likes to get rid of them, but honestly, I’m annoyed at every single last one of those bloggers. So I’m going to. And even if I don’t, my Like isn’t legitimate. It’s a lie that I clicked just to try to win a prize.

    So I promise, right here, right now, that I will never participate in something like that. I want to earn every last Like that I get. And I never want someone who participates in a giveaway on my site to be annoyed or irritated by the time they’re done.

    If I one day decide to give entries for something other than comments (which I haven’t done so far), I will go the small route. A Like for me, a Like for the company, and maybe a tweet or Facebook post. I will never encourage people to mass-Like other blogs, companies, products, or anything.

    That is my promise to you, my reader.

    This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • Hurray!

    Posted on January 24, 2012 by Maidenfine Comment

    FireworksNo longer will visitors to www.maidenfine.com see a “Coming Soon” message from GoDaddy. I have figured out how to get a website put up there. So now, they’ll see something fairly similar to what we have here. And that means that I’m done with all the absolutely basic “Putting it up” stuff. My well-trusted friend told me my site is plain, so there’s plenty of tweaking that can be done. But it’s there. And that’s way more than half the battle. And that means that now, I can present to you this week’s goals.

    1. Type up the half-dozen blog posts I’ve handwritten and get them scheduled.

    2. Write at least 3 more posts for the days after the ones I’ve already written.

    3. Finish reading the book I’m supposed to review (last November).

    4. Bask in a job well done, since this may be my only chance to bask for a while. Now that the “setting up” is done, that means the “consistent writing” work will begin.

     

    This entry was posted in Reading, Website, Writing and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • Working On It

    Posted on January 12, 2012 by Maidenfine Comment

    So, the blog is moved. And I’ve fixed the background (well enough, for now). So now, all I have to do is move the other pages from my webs.com website, over to the new domain. I’m hoping that I can work on that and still get some posts going up here. My goal next week is at least one post. I’d like to get three of them up. I’ve been writing like crazy, so I probably have six of them that I just need to type up, find a picture for and get set up. So we’ll see how productive my weekend is.

    Other things I’ve been working on:

    *One of my goals for the new year is to start getting up at 7am and writing before the kids get up. So far, out of 12 days in the year, I’ve gotten up I think three of them. 25% success rate. I’m working on it.

    *I’m the VBS Director at my church! This is super-exciting to me because I love VBS and it’s one of our biggest outreaches at the church. We host our VBS during Spring Break when most parents have to scramble for child care or leave their kids home alone. We have people at the church from 6 or 7 am until 6 or so in the evening so parents don’t have to worry about what their kids are doing during the break. This year, Spring Break is March 19-23, so I’m getting started recruiting volunteers and working on promotion stuff. This is the part I really love (I’m a little wishy-washy when it comes to enjoying other people’s kids).

    *This Sunday, I start a new Sunday School class at our church. I’m going to be teaching 3rd and 4th graders, which will be super nice. Before now, we had K-3 and 4-6 as our split, but the gap in learning levels is pretty big there. So I’m popping into the middle to help out with that. And I”m super excited about the curriculum. It’s one that I’ve wished I could afford to buy for my home because their materials are just awesome. www.biblestudyguide.com (This is not an affiliate link.)

    *Memorization! One of the blogs that I follow (and I’ll try to figure out which one, but they all come to my email so I sort of read them without taking the time to separate them mentally) is participating, with her church, in an attempt at memorizing the book of Colossians. They have materials that you can download and print out if you want to try it too. If you’re interested, drop a line in the comments and I’ll track down the link for you.

    *Getting back on the FlyLady bandwagon. I’m going back through the Baby Steps (and not allowing myself to skip any this time) while also going slowly through 31 Days to Clean. There’s a group on Facebook that is stretching 31 Days to Clean over 3 months. So I’m hoping that’ll make it so I can keep up. (Also not an affiliate link.)

    This entry was posted in 31 Days To Clean, Church, God, Randomness, Resolutions, Website, Writing. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Success. . . sort of.

    Posted on January 6, 2012 by Maidenfine 3 Comments

    The pretty version is still there for me to work from, at least.

    I got the hosting set up. I got the domain set up. I got WordPress installed. I got the old site exported and then imported. So everything is here. As long as everything doesn’t include the theme that I was using and the header that I absolutely loved. Or even the font that I had. So really, when I say everything is here, I just mean all my old posts.

    But bear with me. I will be getting all the colors and things back the way I like them very soon. There are only so many hours in a day though, and I’ve been writing up a storm, along with trying to work on some non-blog-related goals. So it might take until the end of next week. In the meantime, enjoy the header that seems to be rotating through multiple pictures (or I have a really terrible memory from one hour to the next) and the white everywhere. I’ll be fixing it soon.

    This entry was posted in Randomness, Resolutions, Website, Writing. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

    Posted on January 2, 2012 by Maidenfine Comment

    In the last month, I quit my job, had a year of free hosting basically fall in my lap, and bought a domain name on sale. Which means I’m moving! Sort of. I’ve already begun the work of setting up wordpress on my new domain. If I can figure out how to get all the posts from here to there, I’ll do that. If not, I’ll just start fresh there and leave my previous content here. But either way, things are going to be different. I’m still in the midst of figuring out how all this stuff works, but once I have things under control, you’ll be seeing a lot more of me around. And I couldn’t be happier.

    This entry was posted in Writing. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Things I Love About . . . My Pastor

    Posted on October 26, 2011 by Maidenfine 1 Comment

    After losing most of this post to the random resets of my phone, it took a while to have the motivation to get back to it. But we’re running out of Pastor Appreciation Month for me to get it done in. So here we go.

    My church got a new pastor in June or July, and I have to say, there is plenty that I love about him. On with the list.

    1. Missionary: Our pastor and his wife were missionaries in Russia and Europe for the last 20 years. This gives them a unique perspective on everything we do. It also means that they have practical ideas for our church’s missions. Because they’ve done it, they know how simple it can be, and they pass that ease on to us.

    2. Stage Fright: Yes, our pastor suffers from stage fright. His hands shake and his mouth gets dry and sometimes he loses his voice and has to pause. Which might sound like a bad thing, but it’s something I love about him. He could never be a pastor on his own power. But the fact that he gets up in front of the congregation every Sunday and teaches us something new is a testament to the power of God. He always makes it through.

    3. Dyslexia: Along the same lines as the stage fright, our pastor is dyslexic. And I find it empowering to know that dyslexia hasn’t stopped him from earning several degrees, and doesn’t keep him from reading the Bible, along with multiple commentaries and devotionals. If he can do it, all us normal people don’t have much excuse.

    4. Passion: Pastors are supposed to be passionate. I understand that.  But his passion feels different. Many pastors, when they get passionate about their sermon, they get loud. The start to maybe yell a little. But not our pastor. When he gets passionate about the Word of God, he gets quiet. And you can hear the tears in his voice. He gets all choked up about God and it’s something I appreciate in him. There are so many things that God has done for me that get me all choked up. It’s gratifying to know that I’m not the only one.

    5. His wife: Pastors rarely come on their own. They always bring a second person. Their wife. And no matter how much you love a pastor, if their wife rubs you the wrong way, he won’t stick around long. Luckily, this isn’t so with our current pastor. His wife is the sweetest, most good-natured person I’ve met. She is so incredibly supportive of him. And she’s very friendly with everyone else. I admire her as a role model for other wives in the church (especially since I sometimes struggle in the being supportive category).

     

    I’m pretty sure my original list was up to six before I lost it, and I hadn’t gotten to his wife yet. But for me, once things are written down, they are erased from my head in order to free up room. So I can’t remember what the others were.

    If this list makes you curious and you live in the Topeka area, please come visit our church.

    Seaman Baptist Church

    2015 NW Buchanan

    Topeka, KS

    Sunday school starts at 9:30 Sunday morning. Worship starts at 10:45.

    This entry was posted in Church, God and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • Family Dinners

    Posted on October 18, 2011 by Maidenfine Comment

    We moved into our new home almost a year ago. When we did that, we made a change in our lifestyle that I’d been trying to initiate for a long time before that. We started eating at the table together.

    This was a particularly difficult change to make in our old place because of how things were set up and because we didn’t use the kitchen table for so long, it became a place to set things down. A clutter hot spot of massive proportions. And no matter how often I attempted to clear it so that we could eat there, I never cleared enough space. Until we moved and I was able to take everything off of it, throw half of it away, and find new homes for the rest. Thus, for the last year, we’ve been sitting down to family dinners at the table. With the TV off, and usually no phones.

    Sunday night, we reached what I consider to be the payoff. We had just finished praying and were enjoying a little conversation about Jesus while we ate our pizza. We were talking about how God took Jesus up to Heaven. Then Elisebeth stated that Jesus lives in our hearts. It was a proud moment, but it only lasted a moment, because it was followed by an impromptu Yo Gabba Gabba moment.

    “And in our tummy, yummy, yummy.”

    Needless to say, my husband and I laughed our heads off at that. I almost choked on my milk, and I don’t even remember if we corrected her. I think my husband did, since I was busy coughing and couldn’t talk.

    Not much later, Nathan discovered comedy. He was looking to either side of his high chair (I think maybe looking for the cat) and we laughed. Then he began whipping his head from side to side in order to make us laugh, over and over again.

    And as we were all laughing and eating together, I just thought, “These are the moments that eating at the dinner table was made for.”

    We have a lot of frustrating moments at dinner, too. But the amazing moments of family togetherness are worth so much more., it’s hard to remember the bad times.

    This entry was posted in God, Randomness and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • I Hate My Phone. . . but I Love Other Things

    Posted on October 12, 2011 by Maidenfine Comment

    I downloaded the WordPress app on my phone, thinking, “Hey, if I can write posts anywhere, anytime, I might actually post more than once a week (if that).”

    So far, not much luck. And the post that I had written 2/3 of the way on my phone? The one I was planning to finish up and post today?

    Well, my phone likes to randomly restart itself. So that post was lost. The casualty of the phone that I am beginning to believe is out to get me. At least it still wakes me up when I need to be somewhere early.

    So, something to look forward to. I decided that pessimism is bad for me and the best way to combat it is to write posts about things I love. More specifically, the things I love about specific topics. To start with, I’m going to talk about the things I love about my pastor, since it’s Pastor Appreciation Month. Then, even though the show is over, I’m going to talk about the things I love about Born to Dance. After that, I’m not sure. Maybe the things I love about NaNoWriMo, since I’m sure we’ll be there by then.

    This entry was posted in Randomness and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • God Dreams Bigger

    Posted on October 3, 2011 by Maidenfine 1 Comment

    When I was in high school I did a project: Where will you be in ten years? In mine, I expected to be in Seattle, preferably somewhere near the Wizards of the Coast building. I would have a Masters in English and I would be teaching, whenever I wasn’t busy writing my science fiction and fantasy novels. I would not be married, or have kids. In my scenario, I probably wouldn’t even be dating. I always figured I’d turn into a cat lady.

    Now, it’s been 12 years and I can say, I wasn’t even close. I still live in Topeka. I never finished college at all, much less with a Masters. And I write, but I definitely haven’t made a career of it yet. But I think God was dreaming way bigger than I was. Because I have two amazing, adorable children, and a husband that I love beyond reason and I feel a purpose in my life that wouldn’t have been there if I’d ended up on the West coast all alone.

    I wouldn’t have my amazing family. Or the friends that feel so much like family. Or the in-laws that feel like friends. And I might have achieved my writing dream, but maybe not. I didn’t make much progress on finishing a novel before I got married. So I probably would have been a teacher, wishing I could write.

    And how much of a drag would that have been? Instead of the awesome life, full of blessings, that God gave me instead.

    This entry was posted in God and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • 30 Days of PreWriting. . . It's Here!

    Posted on October 1, 2011 by Maidenfine Comment

    I’m barely squeaking in before my bedtime (yes, I go to bed early these days), but I got it done. There were a few points in the day where I was worried, but I even managed to take the kids to the library and get some grocery shopping done. So I think I had a pretty darn productive day.

    I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not to charge for the PDF version, so for right now, it’s free. If and when I decide to charge for it, it’ll probably only be a dollar. But if you want it, why wait until you have to pay for it? As soon as I find the article I saw about formatting things for Kindle, I’ll have a Kindle version and that I will charge for. Again, probably only a dollar, but because it requires extra knowledge and work on my part, I don’t feel any qualms about charging for it.

    What’s in the PDF that’s not on my blog? Several new links, several replaced links that were dead, a much better system of organization, and a bit less focus on NaNoWriMo. Basicaly, I ended up almost rewriting the whole thing. Which is why I was thinking about charging for it. It’ll at least be free for a week, since as of right now, I don’t have a system in place for charging for it anyway. So download it, read it, love it, and be prepared for an awesome NaNoWriMo.

    UPDATE 12/18/2011:

    This book is now available for the Kindle. You can purchase it here, or, if you’re a member of Kindle Select, it is available to borrow (or will be within the next 48 hours). Currently the price shows as 2.99, but I just lowered it, so as soon as they finish the review, it’ll be .99.

    This entry was posted in 30 Days of Prewriting, NaNoWriMo, Writing and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.


  • Homemakers Challenge
  • I review for BookSneeze®

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Meta

  • dinamic_sidebar 4 none

©2012 Finding Mommy, Finding God Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)  Raindrops Theme