Mommy Hood (Motherhood) and Step Parenting at it’s very best in a blended family!
Hi there, I'm Nicole. I have many titles, but for the purposes of this
blog, I am a mom of five. I am also a freelance writer by profession, as
well as a Close To My Heart (CTMH) Consultant. My hobbies include scrapbooking,
photography, stamping, reading and writing.
Mom. Step-Mom. Future Wife. Christian. Blended Family. 34. SAHM. WAHM.
Writer. Scrapbooker. Bookworm. Creative. Playful at heart. Midwest girl.
Loves scrapbooking, photography, horseback riding, words, animals, and walks
in nature. Hates spiders, cleaning and messes. Ironic eh?
If you need to contact me for any reason, please email me at simplywriting
(at) gmail (dot) com.
Thirteen recent/random websites I have enjoyed lately.
1. 5 Minutes for Mom - This site rocks and I visit often. It makes me feel good about myself and I love reading the daily blogs. If you are interested in a possible job with them, be sure and visit this link and apply.
2. The Daily Dish - a daily recipe AND article dedicated to helping parents feed their families for less.
3. Horse Riding Game - a highly addictive game (even if you aren’t a horseback rider) that our trainer sent us. Too fun!
4. Mighty Optical Illusions - an awesome site that has all kinds of optical illusions. Our favorites are the sidewalk/street art. (see 3D Chalk Drawings)
5. The Archive of Misheard Lyrics - I don’t know why we love this one so much but we can sit and giggle for an hour or more looking through the lyrics. Some we can totally relate to.
6. Think Geek - Great website full of geeky toys. I just love this site.
7. Blog Writers - Imagine why I would like this site? Be sure and watch the video at the bottom of the front page. So funny!
8. CuppacinJoe - I love this guys blog, all about….coffee!! Yum!
9. The Lazy Organizer - This chick is cool, funny and motivational. I love the fact that she knows what a real person is like and makes organizing easier because of it.
10. I’m an Organizing Junkie - Another awesome organizing website. I just love her blog template and it makes me motivated to do things. Plus she runs menu plan Monday which I plan to start participating in. We are changing our eating habits and this will be an awesome way to incorporate that (and be held accountable!)
12. Simple and Delicious - Put out by Taste of Home. I just bought two magazine style cookbooks from them THIS WEEK! We’ve tried several things out of them and YUMMY!!!
13. Be Centsable - Want to learn to save money on food and other items. Here ya go!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
Most of you know I am a random surfer. I have a bunch of websites and blogs that I visit regularly, but for the most part I tend to surf a lot. Always on the lookout for new material, funny items and things to blog about. Yeah… just me.
I did a random search for something the other day and came across a web directory free of charge. While it had absolutely nothing to do with what I was looking for, I spent about an hour surfing through many of the websites linked to on this site. I also took the time to submit one of my sites.
It is a really nicely done directory too, and this is coming from someone who regularly submits to directories, surfs through them and reviews them as well. My thoughts on this web directory is that it is really clean and attractive. Very easy to navigate through, which is a really nice thing, since many of today’s web directory’s are a mess. In addition, while it isn’t jam packed with sites, the information is displayed in accurate categories, and browsing for whatever topic you are looking for, is as simple as clicking a link.
Something else I immediately noticed was how simple it is to get your own site included into this free directory. They have a blurb about how to do it on the bottom of each page that you access, and it seems relatively painless. Not to mention that they have a nice page rank still that was not affected by the most recent google page rank drop. (two of my sites were affected and made me mad!).
By far this is a great web directory and you should definitely check it out and be sure and submit your own site.
I’ve always been fascinated by Mood Rings, even though they mean a whole lot of nothing. This little blurb made me giggle though…
My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods. We’ve discovered that when I’m in a good mood, it turns green and when I’m in a bad mood, it leaves a big f**kin’ red mark on his forehead. Maybe next time he’ll buy me a diamond.
When I was a little girl, I can remember that I would often sit in the corner of my grandparents family room and just stare at the large grandfather clock in the corner. The whole concept of the chains and the swinging pendulum were mesmerizing to me as a child.
When I got old enough to actually own one on my own, I really didn’t have the room for some of the more traditional grandfather clocks. They are actually quite large and very bulky and heavy. So I settled for a small replica of a full-size clock; one that sat one my mantle above my fireplace.
With the fact that it is almost Mother’s Day, and I would like a practical, Useful Mother’s Day Gift , and the fact that we are doing some major remodeling in our home, I thought it would be cool to get a new clock for our soon-to-be-updated family room. It would be a great gift - don’t you think? *hint* *hint*, honey.
Looking around both in stores and on the Internet, there seems to be a wide variety of choices, but I really think I am more drawn to the more moderngrandfather clock(s) of today. There are such a wide variety of different shapes and sizes and styles, which to me makes it something I could pass along to my children someday and it would still be a beautiful trendy piece. I particularly like the Howard Miller Mercer Grandfather Clocks. They seem to have that look that I am talking about. The versatile it ‘goes in any room’ look.
It truly amazes me the different looks you can get in a grandfather clock, and the fact that they compliment your areas and you don’t have to go with an antique theme just to get one to coordinate. So, the photograph of the clock to the right depicts exactly the type I would love to have.
I guess it’s obvious that… I am a writer and that’s how I make my living. I have taken typing tests in the past; as a writer I tend to actually care how fast I type and with how many errors.
I found this on someone’s blog (sorry I cannot actually remember who, sorry). It was interesting to me.
I took the test twice. The first time I tended to type a bit slower (careful for errors), and I only typed 72 words for minute. So I figured I’d step it up a pace and see if I could get it any faster. Well….
Just out of curiosity…does anyone know how you know you’d actually be good at this? Does one just sit down one day staring at a slinky and think ”Hey I can do that too - I’d make a great Human Slinky!”. *sigh* People are strange.
In 2001, total meat consumption (red meat, poultry, and fish) amounted to 194 pounds per person, 16 pounds above the level in 1970. Each American consumed an average of 21 pounds less red meat (mostly less beef) than in 1970, 34 pounds more poultry, and 3.4 pounds more fish.
Yikes. I think that information alone is enough to get me to quit eating so much red meat. I have really tried to cut down. I am so interested in eating healthier and losing weight, but its so hard to say goodbye to some of my favorite foods, and for that - it becomes a will power thing.
I am however, down about ten pounds and am very happy with that. I know with Spring here (and the activeness of Summer rapidly approaching) I’ll drop even more. But knowing all that creepy info about red meat makes me sick. I really had no idea that I might have eaten an average of a calf in one year. UGH!
Did you know that Missouri’s state instrument is a friggen’ fiddle? What the heck? Anyway - enjoy some more useless facts. OH and I also learned something cool about St. Louis. If you know what Imo’s is (and you would if you lived/visited/stayed in St. Louis for any period of time) you’ll find this kinda cool. Did you know the reason why Imo’s pizza is square is because Ed Imo (the founder) used to lay tile and was always cutting tile into squares so apparently it carried over into his pizza. Interesting odd fact!
Missouri is known as the “Show Me State”.
The ‘Show Me State’ expression may have began in 1899 when Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver stated, “I’m from Missouri and you’ve got to show me.”
The first successful parachute jump to be made from a moving airplane was made by Captain Berry at St. Louis, in 1912.
The most destructive tornado on record occurred in Annapolis. In 3 hours, it tore through the town on March 18, 1925 leaving a 980-foot wide trail of demolished buildings, uprooted trees, and overturned cars. It left 823 people dead and almost 3,000 injured.
At the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, Richard Blechyden, served tea with ice and invented iced tea.
Also, at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, the ice cream cone was invented. An ice cream vendor ran out of cups and asked a waffle vendor to help by rolling up waffles to hold ice cream.
Missouri ties with Tennessee as the most neighborly state in the union, bordered by 8 states.
The state animal is the Mule.
St. Louis; is also called, “The Gateway to the West” and “Home of the Blues”.
Warsaw holds the state record for the low temperature of -40 degrees on February 13, 1905.
Warsaw holds the state record for the high temperature recorded, 118 degrees on July 14, 1954.
State bird—native Bluebird March 30, 1927
State insect—honey bee July 3, 1985
Mozarkite was adopted as the official state rock on July 21, 1967, by the 74th General Assembly.
On July 21, 1967, the mineral galena was adopted as the official mineral of Missouri.
The crinoid became the state’s official fossil on June 16, 1989, after a group of Lee’s Summit school students worked through the legislative process to promote it as a state symbol.
On June 20, 1955, the flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida L.) became Missouri’s official tree.
The “Missouri Waltz” became the state song under an act adopted by the General Assembly on June 30, 1949
The present Capitol completed in 1917 and occupied the following year is the third Capitol in Jefferson City and the sixth in Missouri history. The first seat of state government was housed in the Mansion House, Third and Vine Streets, St. Louis; the second was in the Missouri Hotel, Maine and Morgan Streets, also in St. Louis. St. Charles was designated as temporary capital of the state in 1821 and remained the seat of government until 1826 when Jefferson City became the permanent capital city.
The first Capitol in Jefferson City burned in 1837 and a second structure completed in 1840 burned when the dome was struck by lightning on February 5, 1911.
Kansas City has more miles of boulevards than Paris and more fountains than any city except Rome.
Kansas City has more miles of freeway per capita than any metro area with more than 1 million residents.
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial consists of the Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and St. Louis’ Old Courthouse. During a nationwide competition in 1947-48, architect Eero Saarinen’s inspired design for a 630-foot stainless steel arch was chosen as a perfect monument to the spirit of the western pioneers. Construction of the Arch began in 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965. The Arch has foundations sunken 60 feet into the ground, and is built to withstand earthquakes and high winds. It sways up to one inch in a 20 mph wind, and is built to sway up to 18 inches.
Saint Louis University received a formal charter from the state of Missouri in 1832, making it the oldest University west of the Mississippi.
In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented at St. Joseph, Missouri, was the first self-rising flour for pancakes and the first ready-mix food ever to be introduced commercially.
The tallest man in documented medical history was Robert Pershing Wadlow from St. Louis. He was 8 feet, 11.1 inches tall
Creve Coeur’s name means broken heart in French, comes from nearby Creve Coeur Lake. Legend has it that an Indian princess fell in love with a French fur trapper, but the love was not returned. According to the story, she then leapt from a ledge overlooking Creve Coeur Lake; the lake then formed itself into a broken heart.
The most powerful earthquake to strike the United States occurred in 1811, centered in New Madrid, Missouri. The quake shook more than one million square miles, and was felt as far as 1,000 miles away.
Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, Missouri is the largest beer producing plant in the nation.
During Abraham Lincoln’s campaign for the presidency, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat named Valentine Tapley from Pike County, Missouri, swore that he would never shave again if Abe were elected. Tapley kept his word and his chin whiskers went unshorn from November 1860 until he died in 1910, attaining a length of twelve feet six inches.
President Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, May 8, 1884.
The first train of the Atlantic-Pacific Railway, which became the St.Louis-San Francisco Railway, or “Frisco,” arrived in 1870.
Callaway County was organized on November 25, 1820 and named for Captain James Callaway who was killed in a fight with Indians near Loutre Creek.
Missouri was named after a tribe called Missouri Indians; meaning “town of the large canoes”
Situated within a day’s drive of 50% of the U.S. population, Branson and the Tri-Lakes area serves up to 65,000 visitors daily. Branson has been a “rubber tire” destination with the vast majority of tourists arriving by vehicles, RVs and tour buses. Branson has also become one of America’s top motor coach vacation destinations with an estimated 4,000 buses arriving each year.
Charleston holds the Dogwood-Azalea Festival annually on the 3rd weekend of April. “Charleston becomes a blooming wonderland.”
Jefferson City, Missouri, the state’s capital, was named for Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States.
Missouri’s oldest community, Saint Genevieve, was founded as early as 1735.
In 1812 Missouri was organized as a territory and later admitted the 24th state of the Union on August 10, 1821.
In 1865 Missouri became the first slave state to free its slaves.
Hermann, Missouri is a storybook German village with a rich wine-making and riverboat history that is proudly displayed in area museums. Built in 1836 as the “New Fatherland” for German settlers, the town has achieved national recognition because of its quality wines and distinctive heritage.
Auguste Chouteau founded Saint Louis in 1764.
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, writer of Little House on the Prairie grew up in Missouri.
“Madonna of the Trail” monument in Lexington tells the story of the brave women who helped conquer the west and is one of 12 placed in every state crossed by the National Old Trails Road, the route of early settlers from Maryland to California.
Soybeans bring in the most cash for Missourians as a crop.
Missouri Day is the third Wednesday in October.
On Sucker Day in Nixa, Missouri, school closes officially and the little town swells to a throng of 15,000 hungry folks. All craving a taste of the much maligned but delicious bottom dweller fish loathed by almost everyone else.
Point of highest elevation: Taum Sauk Mountain, 540 meters (1,772 feet)
I guess it’s obvious that… I am a writer and that’s how I make my living. I have taken typing tests in the past; as a writer I tend to actually care how fast I type and with how many errors.
I found this on someone’s blog (sorry I cannot actually remember who, sorry). It was interesting to me.
I took the test twice. The first time I tended to type a bit slower (careful for errors), and I only typed 72 words for minute. So I figured I’d step it up a pace and see if I could get it any faster. Well….
When I was a little girl, I can remember that I would often sit in the corner of my grandparents family room and just stare at the large grandfather clock in the corner. The whole concept of the chains and the swinging pendulum were mesmerizing to me as a child.
