Ramblings-n-Writings » Uncategorized

My Song from 2009

Kara_S — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:34:28 +0000

Note: This post should have automatically posted on 1/5/10 but for some reason auto scheduling didn’t work. The gremlins must be at work again…sigh.

So many things happened in my personal life during 2009, and those events drew me even closer to God and relying on Him for grace, strength, and peace. People seem to think that I should be hurting and a mess after my divorce. So not true. Initially I was for the first few weeks, but I realized that God didn’t want that for me. I was to turn to Him, cast all my cares on Him, and move on. When I reached that point in late July, things slowly began to fall in place and my heart was overflowing with peace.

As I look back at how far I’ve come and how things have changed in the last six months, I know everything happened for a purpose and none of it was a mistake. It was all part of God’s perfect plan. I was recently reminded of a song (I believe it was written by Mac and Beth Lynch.)

My life I give to you oh Lord use me I pray
May I glorify Your precious name in all I do and say
Let me trust You in the valley dark as well as in the light
Knowing You will always lead me
Your will is always right

I know God makes no mistakes
He leads in every path I take
Along the way that’s leading me to home
Though at times my heart would break
There’s a purpose in every change He makes
So that others would see my life and know
That God makes no mistakes

And when some day in heav’n above I see His dear face
May I then be counted faithful as a runner in this race
But now I’m trusting in the Savior to show me the way
In His righteousness He guides me as I seek to please Him day by day

I’ve tried to live each day reflecting the peace in my heart, and I know it baffles people. But God didn’t make a mistake in giving me those events to live through. I wouldn’t trade a single one of them, no matter how emotionally or physically painful, for a million dollars. They’ve made me a better and stronger person, one who is looking forward to what will unfold in 2010.

Getting Back to Normal

Kara_S — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:33:36 +0000

So, after a few attempts at making some background changes to my blog and it turning into a royal disaster, I think I’m back online. I’m hoping the gremlins stay away this time, and I can worry about what to write and post rather than what isn’t functioning properly.

Quite a bit has happened in the past few weeks, so I’ll post some short updates over the next few days. In the meantime, I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

I’ve been tagged

Kara_S — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:45:00 +0000

Meshellyn, one of my new bloggy friends at The Attitude of My Heart, tagged me for this meme. Since it’s blog party week, the answers will help you get to know me better. Enjoy!

What I was doing 10 years ago: I was finishing up my senior year in college. I was working about 10-15 hours a week at the University switchboard, taking about 15 credit hours in classes, working with the English authors at BJPress about 16 hours a week as part of my internship, and trying to figure out what to do after college. Wow! That makes me tired just reading all of that!

5 Things on my To Do List today:
1) Two hours of tutoring. 2) Discuss and plan with my DH our new house location. 3) Do a load or two of laundry. 4) Remember our 2:30 appt with the SSI lady from Social Security (pointless conversation b/c I know we aren’t qualified). 5) Prepare dinner – venison and mashed potatoes. And visit the garden because it is a beautiful, sunny day!

Snacks I Enjoy:
Ice cream, anything chocolate and peanut butter, grapes, mandarin oranges, pretzels and sour cream

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire: Hmmmm…Definitely go on a long vacation with my DH, give our parents plenty of money for their retirement since they took such awesome care of us growing up, continue doing whatever it is that made me a billionaire, visit exotic places, donate to charity and ministries, help needy families who are between a rock and a hard place because of circumstances but have the ability and willingness to make a better life if they had the means

3 of my Bad Habits: Bad habits? What are those? LOL! Seriously, reading a book from front to back in one or two sittings, procrastinating, disorganization (although this really comes from living in a house with only one closet and a dysfunctional one at that).

5 places I have lived: Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, West Virginia – I think Pa. qualifies twice because I moved back after living in Fla. for 3 years. Otherwise, I’ve only lived in 4 states, but I have lived in different locations in those states so…..

5 Jobs I have had: switchboard operator, public relations manager, high school English teacher, advertisement designer and copywriter for a newspaper, online English tutor

So, that’s a little bit of who I am. I’m going to tag a few old and a few new blog friends – Dovey, To Know Him, Cyndi, Teresa, and Sheila.

If you want to participate and I didn’t tag you, just leave a comment so others can find you!

Are You Partying?

Kara_S — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:29:00 +0000

I know I have some regular bloggy friends stopping by and wanted to point you in the direction of the Ultimate Blog Party 2008. The party is for women bloggers and the Mr Linky has 1,210 blogs listed!!! Yep, you read that right – 1,210 blogs in Mr. Linky.

I’m not sure how to go about looking at them all but I took a little time today to visit a few of those who visited me. Wow! I came across some great sites – a fellow NaNoWriMo participants, a professional photographer who also shares her grandmother’s diary and more! I can’t wait to visit some other sites but for now some housecleaning is calling my name…Sigh.

And if you get caught up in visiting others at the party, don’t forget to stop back here! Click here to read my party post if you haven’t already.

Know & Tell #2

Kara_S — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 03:05:00 +0000

It’s Friday again and a new week of Know & Tell hosted by To Know Him. Here’s this week’s questions…

Question 1: I have been blogging for a year this month, so my question is what made you start your blog? I originally started blogging because I have friends in various states who were interested in pictures and tidbits from our lives. Then I discovered my niche and began focusing on conglomerate of writing, frugality and organic living.

Question 2: Do you speak another language? If so, why or how did you learn it? In elementary school, a teacher offered after-school German classes and in college I took four semesters of German; however, I know I couldn’t carry a conversation now! I wish I would have kept it up because I would love to try translation work. I chose German because I liked the language better than Spanish. I thought Spanish was too easy to learn.

Question 3: Morning person, or night owl (or somewhere in between)? Definitely night owl with a strong distaste of mornings

Question 4: Do you exercise on a regular basis? Not really, especially in winter. But in summer, we take occasional walks and I spend a lot of time gardening.

Bonus Questions
Question 5: If money were not an object what is one thing you would like to do for another person? If money were no object, I would love to give someone who is struggling to make ends meet a large sum of money to help him/her through the rough times.

Question 6: What is one of your favorite attributes of our Lord God? His endless care for us

Question 7: Have you ever thought about adoption or foster care? I don’t think I could handle foster care. The thought of caring for a child and then potentially having to give the child up is too distressing. Adoption – I have two nieces and two nephews that are adopted, so yes, adoption has been thought about.

Welcome Ultimate Blog Party 2008 Visitors!!!

Kara_S — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Today starts the week-long Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom!!!!!! I’d like to give a special shout-out to all my new visitors! In honor of the party, I’m going to tell you a little about me and my blog!

10 Things about Ramblings-n-Writings and its owner…

I started blogging in September after coming across some very intriguing blogs and realizing I could do this too! I didn’t seriously start blogging until late January and am now anticipating my 100th post this month!!! (This is post 82, I think.)
The name of my blog explains what you will find on a regular basis – random writings on random topics.
However, in light of #2, the actual focus of my blog is on the ‘writing’ part. I want to encourage writers out there and provide tools and resources that help them. But don’t worry, even if you aren’t a writer, you will enjoy the book reviews, blog suggestions, and money saving ideas.
I try to write three focused posts a week: Monday Musings, Writing Wednesday, and Friday Featurettes. Monday Musings is a random collection of thoughts, Writing Wednesday focuses on my writing bloggy friends and things that may help them, and Friday Featurettes may be about beneficial blog additions, books or just about anything that can be featured.
I frequently participate in memes, especially ones hosted over at Money Saving Mom, but haven’t started my own yet. I am contemplating a Writing Wednesday meme so if you have suggestions…
My DH and I live in a very rural area (closest town is 25 miles away) on a working farm with cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, and ducks. I enjoy posting occasional photos of farm animals for all of the city dwellers to enjoy. I also ramble about organic and frugal living sometimes.
When I’m not blogging, I work as an online English tutor as well as a freelance editor and graphic designer. English, publishing and editing are three of my favorite passions in life!!!
Our lives are filled with cats, dogs and fish. Yes, the cats enjoy the fish tank and occasionally try to dip a paw when no one is looking.
My DH and I are Christians, attend church as often as possible, and seek ways to help others. DH suffers with a rare pain disease, RSD (or CRPS), in his knee. Because of his disability and both of us being at home, we are able to spend the majority of our time together.
My blog is an affiliate of Christian Book Distributors so if you are looking for some awesome deals on books, Bibles, CDs, DVDs and small gift items, click on the CBD link to the right!!!

Again, welcome to my blog! I love comments so let me know you were here and add suggestions for things you might like to read about! To go to the Ultimate Blog Party, click the UBP 2008 button on the right – it’s the hot pink one so you can’t miss it.

Works For Me Wednesday: Food Question

Kara_S — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:41:00 +0000

Today is Works For Me Wednesday: Backwards Edition over at Rocks in My Dryer. Typically, bloggers offer advice on things that work for them. However, in Backwards Edition, bloggers ask questions to get readers’ help. Here’s my question:

How long does food keep in the refrigerator? I’m thinking of things like store-bought salad dressing, homemade potato salad, lunchmeat, sour cream once it is open, vegetables, leftover cooked vegetables, etc. Also, what is the recommended length of time food keeps in the freezer?

I know there are rules out there for how long things should be kept or how soon they should be eaten after making. I know that vacuum-sealed food keeps longer in the freezer, but what about make-ahead dishes, homemade pizza dough etc? Can pasta be frozen?

Two Free Magazine Subscriptions

Kara_S — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:54:00 +0000

A few days ago, Crystal posted a link on her blog for a free 12-month subscription to Focus on the Family magazine. While I am familiar with Focus on the Family, I am not familiar with the magazine and really can’t vouch for the contents. According to the subscription form, Focus publishes 5 different magazines: General Adult Audience Version, Parents, Single Parents, Couples, Midlife & Beyond. All 5 versions are available for free subscriptions, and it appears you can subscribe to more than one at a time.

Seeing Crystal’s link reminded me of another magazine some of you may be interested in: Dr. Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries Magazine. (At the bottom of the page is the “Subscribe to Our Free Magazine” button.) I’ve been receiving this particular magazine for about a year now and look forward to finding it in the mailbox each month. Each magazine consists of theme-related articles as well as a devotional for each day of the month. If you’d like a preview of the magazine before subscribing, there is an article sample link where you can read some of this month’s articles. Also on the left side is a link for writer’s guidelines if you are interested in submitting articles.

Know & Tell Friday #1

Kara_S — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:06:00 +0000

I came across the Know & Tell Friday meme at To Know Him (a blog I came across surfing through other blogs). Each Friday, Know & Tell asks questions for participants to answer on their blogs. Some questions are lighthearted, and others are more challenging, causing us to look a little deeper. So, here goes my first Know & Tell…

Question 1: I can’t bear the sound of _____. Plastic snack bags (like chip or pretzel bags) crinkling while I’m sleeping because someone is having a snack
Question 2: I would love to time-travel back to _____. Civil War era, Victorian England
Question 3: Shop alone, shop with mom, or shop with friends? Mainly shop alone although I haven’t shopped with my mom in forever
Question 4: Worst movie ever? I don’t remember the name of the movie, but it’s about two people who go deep sea diving but get left behind in the middle of the ocean with sharks. It was based on a true story and I’m sure it was traumatic for them, but the movie was awful and boring.
Question 5: Have you ever had your heart broken (by the opposite sex…not by a family member or close friend)? Who hasn’t?
Bonus Questions
Question 6: In what area of your life have you felt the most judged (by others or even self condemnation)? Hmmm…
Question 7 (related to #6): Are you now free from that judgment, and how did you get free if you are? Once I figure out #6, I’ll let you know
Question 8: What is one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or other ministers) this year? Definitely faithfully praying

For more Know & Tell Fridays, click here.

Making Your Home a Haven Challenge

Kara_S — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:46:00 +0000

Crystal at Biblical Womanhood has been posting weekly challenges to make our homes a haven mainly through organization and not putting off those things that we tend to ignore. This week’s challenge was to organize a drawer. I contemplated what drawer I could organize, but we really don’t have that many drawers in our home unless you count the ones in the dresser and those are fairly neat. Then, I went to get some garlic powder today and I realized I found the perfect drawer to organize! Whenever we’re cooking and need spices, I’m reminded of a treasure hunt as we dig for the correct container. Here’s the “before” photo…

Scary, isn’t it? In about 5 minutes, I had everything organized as well as found one container with an expiration date of almost a year ago. Oops! That container went in the trash, and I also marked the calendar to check the dates again in about three months because some other spices expire soon. At first I attempted to organize everything alphabetically, but then certain containers wouldn’t fit under others so I did it as close to alphabetical as I could with the more popular spices in front. Isn’t the organized version much better?

For more organization ideas, visit Biblical Womanhood and the Making a Home a Haven challenge.