2011 One Little Word Wrap-Up

For the last two years, I've chosen One Little Word to guide me for the year.  As a fan of Ali Edwards, her thoughts on the effects of choosing just one word, resonated with me.  And so I began the process in the last days of 2009, choosing 'Live' for 2010 and 'Grow' for 2011.

As I began reflecting on this last year, I pleasantly discovered that I had accomplished several of my goals and did indeed, Grow in many ways.  Sharing some of the ways I've grown on here at Time Crafted, seems only appropriate since so many of you have given me both inspiration and support.

I began the year taking Ali Edwards' year long One Little Word workshop at Big Picture Classes.  And while it was great to see Andi, Siri, and other familiar, friendly faces, I mostly worked on this offline.

She's repeating the workshop for 2012 and I'm leaning towards signing up again.  It definitely helped me keep 'Grow' close at heart throughout the year.

One night on Twitter, @thienkim urged me to check out The Sketchbook Challenge.  Her enthusiasm was infectious and I was excited to create along.

Creating an art journal always seemed intimidating to me.  It might sound silly, but many creative bloggers and artists I visit, have mad crazy talent and I fretted about not measuring up...until I realized that the goal isn't to 'measure up', but rather to grow, try new things, learn new skills, and improve on what I already do.  So, I did.

After reading the creative writing goodness that Mandy weaves with her words, I wanted to get back into my own creative writing.  I missed it and knew that it had been far too long since I swam with crazy colored words.

I decided to start small and began with a microfiction meme.  It's the shortest of short fiction, written in 140 characters or less, including spaces & punctuation.  Turns out, microfiction is a whole mess o' fun!

Looking at where Mandy was sharing her fiction with, I headed over to The Red Dress Club, which is now Write on Edge, a virtual writing community.

I began writing and sharing my fiction with their Red Writing Hood prompts, as well as some memoir with their RemembeRED prompts.

And then I got brave.  In November, a group of writers within the Write on Edge community participated in NaNoWriMo and I joined in.

I didn't hit the word count, but I'm okay with my results.  If you want to know what I thought was so cool about the whole process, check out my really short post: NaNoWriMo in 8 Sentences.

When Bruna, @beeswithhoney, said she wanted to feature me on her Let's BEE Friends series, I was tickled pink.  And when Sarah, @MamaRiceCake, asked me to write a positive guest post for her, I went Dancing with Rainbows.  Mandy asked me to guest post on Makes Fun and I wrote the low down on The Little Red Bear.

And speaking of writing, one more area I wanted to grow was right here on the blog.  In this case, I wanted to literally grow...more posts, that is.  I didn't set a goal or a specific number to hit; simply that I wanted to post more than I had last year.  And with this post, I'm coming in with 51 more posts than in 2010.  Grow Goal, accomplished.

I spent most of 2010 knowing that I needed wanted needed to upgrade my Point & Shoot camera.  I had squeezed out every ounce I could from it and was itching for a DSLR.  In February last year, it was time to take the leap.  I bought a Nikon D3100 and while I'm still learning how the heck to use it in manual, photography is something I've grown to love since beginning this blogging journey.

2011 became the year of the virtual Book Clubs, starting with Andrea (a sweet Book Fairy) leading one on the SITS Girls site, which is now over on her site Great Thoughts. She selects great books and we wrap our reads up with fun monthly Twitter parties, tweeting with the books' authors, using the hashtag #Gr8Books.  You should join us!

This fall, @thienkim asked me to be a From Left to Write Contributor.  What's wonderfully unique about this book club is that we write posts inspired by the books we read.  As a result I was able to share Who Will Tell Your Story?, as well as a favorite artist of ours, Michel LeRoux.  Another unique bit is that the book selection here really varies, widening my viewpoints, and hopefully, others' too.

This was a looong post, I know.  If you're still here, give yourself a pat on the back, a taste of Nutella, a cuppa java, or an ice cold martini.  Thanks for hanging in there!

The One Little Word, Grow, has taken me on quite a journey this year!  How about you?  Do you chose just one little word to hold near your heart, to guide you, to focus you in your year ahead? 

 

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SITS Book Club: Secret Daughter

Guess who won another book from the Book Fairy?! William Morrow Publishers gave away 25 copies of the current SITS Books Club book, Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda and I was giddy to learn I won!

Andrea, our rockin' awesome (see?! I told you I was outright stealing the phrase! ;>) SITS Book Club leader listed Secret Daughter in her Top Ten Books for 2010 and now that my copy of the book has arrived, I cannot wait to start reading!

In July, we read Exposure and had such a fantastic Twitter party with the author of Exposure, Therese Fowler.  I've read books with other groups of people, but I have to say, getting the chance to ask the person behind the words, the writer, questions, give and get feedback about the book truly trumps all other group reading experiences I've had.

If you're not already participating in the SITS Book Club, I highly recommend that you check it out!  Here is a list of the books we'll be reading for the rest of the year.

Come join us for the Secret Daughter Twitter party with Shilpi Somaya Gowda on September 22nd, from 8-9:00 pm CST.  Use or search the hashtag #SITSBooks to learn more, see who else is reading & join us tweeting on the 22nd.  If you want to find me, tweet me @TimeCrafted!

Autism & GFCF Links Update

In January I updated the Autism & GFCF Links page (just below my header) to include a few of the great autism bloggers and now, half way through the year, it's time to update with a few more resources.

This time, I've added a few allergy free (GF, GFCF, Dairy Free) bloggers & Twitter tweeps where you can click your way to and learn more.  I do hope you'll click on over for some wonderful resources!

Exciting { Exposure }

Opening my email today was uber exciting!  You wanna know why?  I got great news!

Andrea, of Great Thoughts, emailed to let me know that this SITSta won one of the twenty-five copies Random House gave away of the SITS Girls July read, Exposure by Therese Fowler!!!  I literally squealed out loud when I read the uber awesome news!

Andrea called Exposure a "21st century Romeo and Juliet" and says this is her favorite book of 2011.  It's a story of what happens when teens text messages and (inappropriate) photos while dating and the trouble that can follow.  This is such a modern topic and I can't wait to read it.  Definitely swing by her place to read her review!

 

Over the Spring we read The Dressmaker of Khair Khana (which I most definitely recommend reading!) by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and it was such an insightful experience to participate in the #SITSBooks Twitter Party with Gayle herself. To be able to ask the author questions and discuss what we gained from the book was amazing. So, I am very much looking forward to the Twitter Party for Exposure with Therese Fowler, Andrea, and all those great SITStas reading on July 14th!

I hope you'll join us reading and tweeting! I'll be looking for you! :>

What books are on your Summer 2011 reading list? I'm always looking for another great read and hope you'll share!

Disclosure: I play by the FTC's rules;  all book links are affiliate links.  The links to the other great sites are informational and definitely worth the click! :>

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana & SITS

Last month, when I read that SITStas would be reading The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, for the SITSGirls Book Club, I sat straight up, excited and devoured the post.

This book appears to be one that I will love reading.  It is a true story about a woman, living in Afghanistan, under Taliban rule who manages to create a way to support herself and family against numerous odds.

And I finally have my copy in my hands today!  The clock cannot tick fast enough 'til I can start reading it later tonight!  What a perfect way to start our Spring Break here, don't you think?! :>

Obviously, I'm not able to review what I have yet to read, but thankfully, SITSta, Andrea of Great Thoughts has written a review that you can check out to see if this is something you might like.

And guess what?!  It gets even better.  The SITSGirls are having a Book Club Twitter party on May 5th, using the hashtag #SITSBooks and.....wait for it.....the author, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, will be participating.  Now, how cool is that?!  (And if you're not a SITSGirl yet, what are you waiting for? It's a great group of women bloggers! :>)

Okay, if you'll excuse me now, I'm off to try to get the clock to tick tock a little faster (hmmm...usually I'm trying to slow time down, trying to speed it up is a new one for me!).  The fact that my boy has a minimum day, leading into the arrival of Spring Break....finally (!!!), should help.

What are you reading right now?  Are you fan of crisp paper pages to thumb as you read or have you made the switch to an e-reader?

Disclosure:  I purchased The Dressmaker of Khair Khana myself.  All opinions are my own.  And yes, the links to the book are affiliate links.  All other links are informational and great sites!

Friday Evening Fun {at home}

List the menu for your last meal.

Well, I wouldn't necessarily call what we eat on Friday night a meal, but it's dinner!

Friday nights are movie nights for the kidlets.  So, I made them their GFCF pizza (with the appropriate mozzarella Daiya 'cheese' shreds this time) and while Finding Nemo graced our screen, Hubby threw some toppings on a cheese pizza that he picked up at Safeway on his way home.

And I hopped on to Twitter to go where all fun people go on a Friday night, #wineparty! (And no, wine is not required. I don't generally drink it, despite living surrounded by vineyards!)  It's a fabulously fun place to hang on a Friday night when you're home and feel like chatting.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Pizza's done.  I pardoned myself from #wineparty for a few minutes to eat with the family (I *might* have snuck a few tweets in there! Shhh....) and watch a little Finding Nemo (love the jelly fish & sea turtles...Dude!).

Hubby had thrown red onion, bacon, red bell pepper, olives, and chopped artichoke hearts on top of the plain cheese pizza.  (Everything goes better with bacon, artichoke hearts & red onion, don't ya know?! :>)

And yes, after dinner, I went back to #wineparty.  But, my computer is in the living room, mere feet from the kidlets.  When they select a new movie to watch, I'll watch with them, but when they've watched the same movie three weeks in a row, like they did with the uber cute How to Train Your Dragon, a gal's gotta have somewhere to turn!

What does a Friday night look like for you?

Writing along with my friend, Lizz of Am I a Funny Girl? for Saturday Seven again this week!  Stop by and say hello!  :>

Disclosure:  I might break a few "rules" in life, but I follow the FTC's! The movie links are affiliate links.

GFCF Pizza & Movie Night ~ Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Tomorrow is Friday, which means it's Movie Night in our house.  Well, its Movie Night for the kidlets with GFCF (gluten & casein free) pizza, followed by GFCF popcorn and a movie of their mutual choosing (May I stress the word mutual??!!  They are learning the fine art of negotiating while taking on the task of agreeing on a movie to watch!).

But, let's get back to the GFCF pizza!  The first time my boy wanted pizza after we transitioned to GFCF over three years ago, I was dreading it.  I did not want to have to make a pizza crust from scratch and roll it out every time. (Go ahead, call me lazy. Really, it's okay.  On a Friday night, I'll admit it.  I want easy!)

And then I found Amy's Kitchen frozen Rice Crust Spinach Pizza with soy cheese.  The kidlets both really liked the pizza.  However, we also try to stay soy free too, so it wasn't an optimal choice for us.

The hunt was on for an easy to make, inexpensive, gluten, casein (a protein in dairy), soy free pizza for the kidlets' Movie Night.  And then we hit the jackpot when someone suggested we try Udi's Pizza Crusts.  For less than $5 you get two frozen 8oz. pizza crusts.....premade, gluten, casein, soy free crusts!

Before I tried these crusts for the first time I tweeted that I had just picked some up and Heidi, of Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom, suggested I prebake the frozen crust for about seven minutes before loading it up and baking it per Udi's instructions for a toasty crust.  Can I just tell you how much I love Tweeps?!?! They ROCK!! :>

Something else I really love about using these crusts??  Since they are just the crust, we can make pizzas to order!  And while it changes every week, last Friday night's pizza was created with pizza sauce, Daiya vegan 'cheese' (gluten/casein/dairy/soy free cheese that smells like cheese, tastes good and MELTS!)...I was out of the mozzarella style shreds & layered on the cheddar style shreds instead, olives, onions, and yellow bell pepper (which the kidlets gobble like candy!).

My kidlets {heart} their pizzas, I don't have to make a crust from scratch, its healthy, and when they've gobbled their share on a Friday night, there is a movie and popcorn to follow.  And all of that makes for a fun Friday evening in this house!

Do you have Movie Night in your house?  Any traditions surrounding it?  Help me keep the pizza toppings fresh, what do you like atop your savory pizza pie?

 

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Disclosure:  This post was Not sponsored.  We have eaten all of these products many times and enjoy them.  Links have been provided purely for your convenience and information, 'cause I'm a good Mama and all about the sharing! :>

She caught me...I've been tagged!

Through a connection made on Twitter, I've been tagged by Laurie (@mylivingpower) of Living Power and now I'm 'It'!  So, I'm going to channel my kidlet-hood and play tag!

And as 'It', I'm to share seven things you may not know about me...so, here we go!

1)  I love color!  Okay, so that might not have been so much of a surprise, but I love the whole spectrum.  And while the colors that I lean more strongly towards change as the beat of time marches on, I do adore the entire box of Crayolas!

2)  Another love?  Writing.  I have since I was a kidlet.  And after so many years of writing term papers in my college days, I had gotten away from it.  I've missed my old friend and have been having fun, bringing her out, dusting her off and playing.  Blogging, microfiction Mondays, Writer's Workshop, and You have all helped me dive back into that word filled pool!

3)  Animals make me smile....in between sneezes!

4)  The Northern California coastline is a beauty to be breathed in.  When I'm there, the environment literally melts away any stress.  I'm just a puddle of happy goo when I leave....always already looking forward to the next chance to hop on over.

5)  My family are Post-it Note junkies!  Yes, we are beyond addicted to them.  They are everywhere.  You know you are a family with a Post-it problem when your littlest, who is just learning to read now, has been writing notes on them and hanging them in her room for over a year.  Is there a twelve step program for Post-it addiction???  Though, if we went to that, then we'd also need to go to a Learn to Jog your Memory Without Little Colorful Squares of Paper bootcamp!

6)  I was a Girl Scout from 2nd grade (Daisies didn't exist back then) all the way up through high school and registered as an adult Scout for a bit after that.  I was a Girl Scout on both coasts.  I made so many fantastic friends through Girl Scouts and quite a few I'm still friends with today, including my Four Musketeers!

7)  My feet are too big for my height.  Seriously.  No, really.  I wear a size ten shoe and yet, I'm only 5'5".  Everyone I know with feet above a shoe size 9 are all 5'7" and up.  Stay with me here!  There's merit in my theory...really.  I am convinced that the reason I trip over my own feet is because they are simply too big for my height.  A perfectly valid theory....I'm not uncoordinated, just have incorrectly sized feet! ;>:>

And since my seventh bit o' me has digressed to my feet I think its a great time to start tagging some other fantastic people so we can learn more about them!  And since I got tagged via Twitter, I think its only appropriate that I continue to play there.

So, I'm reaching out to tag:

@MinkyMoo who blogs at Dial M for Minky (Moo)
@thienkim who blogs at I'm Not the Nanny and Cup of Creativi-Tea
@libismorgan who blogs at Am I a Funny Girl? and Not Just Thursdays

(Lizz is another one of those old Girl Scout friends!)

@beeswithhoney who blogs at Bees With Honey
@CarriBrown who blogs at Adventures in Mommyhood
@30daysblog who blogs at Thirty Handmade Days
@adventuresgfmom who blogs at Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom

Whether you visit them via Twitter or their blogs, there is a little something for everyone as I've linked up some Mama bloggers, some funny gals, some creative & crafty, a camera loving photo gal, and a gluten free, allergy blogger.  And guess what?!  They are all Oh So Worth the Click! :>

Microfiction Monday #65, but my first time!

I'm writing along with Microfiction Monday at Stony River. Its the shortest of short fiction (140 characters or less, including spaces & punctuation, thank you Twitter! :>) with a photo each week as a springboard.

“Take me to your leader.”

“If I lead, will you fly?”

“Take me to your leader.”

“Okay, I ‘Lead’, so now you fly!”

112 characters (including spaces)

Susan puts the photo up a week ahead of time & the Linky goes up Sunday evening (she's in Ireland), so I'm a little late hopping onto this train tonight.  But, I've wanted to join in for awhile now, so tonight, I'm doing just that!  Come write along! :>

Will you {Indulge} me for a minute??

Generally there's a creative share here, but also those Little Things that Make Me Smile.  And if  you'll {indulge} me for just a minute (pretty please?), I have a little thing that has elicited cheering, shouting, and yes, outright screaming at the box in the room playing the Saints vs. Seahawks playoff game today.

The 12th Man rocked today as it prompted the 107th False Start as the loudest stadium in the League.  That's pretty amazing considering that its an outdoor stadium...its louder than the domes!!!

And while I'm in California, I asked those fantastic Boys in Blue via Twitter, if my screaming still counts and was ensured that it does!

SEAHAWKS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a happy gal & thankful for my Niners loving family & friends (Hubs, son, Jenn, Deb, Siobhan, and Falcons fan, Wayne) who were willing to cheer on the Hawks today! :>:>

Are you cheering any team on during this NFL playoff season?

GFCF Daily {love}

Twitter has proved to be a huge gluten/casein (& other food allergy/sensitivities) free resource!  @GlutenFreeDee is an amazing resource, pulling together information from the #GF, #GFCF, #celiac, #autism, #glutenfree, #gfree hashtags (hashtags are groupings or categories within twitter & its tweets).

The GF/CF Pumpkin Bread I made & blogged last year, was featured in today's #GFCF Daily.  Yay! :>

I also want to take a minute to highly recommend checking out Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom, the creator of the GFCF caramel apple & caramels featured in today's GFCF Daily.  Her site is fantastic and she creates & accommodates for many food allergies.  Some of her dishes (especially older recipes) are just gluten free, but more recently, there are casein & egg free recipes as well.  I found her via Twitter (@adventuresgfmom) and am able to see what she's up to almost daily since I 'Liked' her fan page on Facebook as well.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!  We just finished eating a scratch (including the stock) GFCF chicken, veggie & brown rice soup that Hubby had cooking on the stove all day.  And on a non-GFCF note, I'm looking forward to watching Pioneer Woman's Thanksgiving Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network in an hour as I missed its first airing earlier in the week.  Have you seen it?

Autism Shout Out

Today, people around the globe are participating in Communication Shutdown.  They are trying to highlight the challenges in social communication for those on the autism spectrum by not using their Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets.  I'm going a different route.

I'm a Mama of a kidlet with autism.  My kidlet is smart, sweet, loving, and since I'm his Mom, I'm just going to say it, he's fantastic!  And on the other side of the coin, autism brings us many daily challenges to spur on our patience, creativity, and ability to think outside the box.  Here, I shared more about why I'm not participating.

I am joining others today on Twitter for an Autism Shout Out!  If you would like to join us, please use the tags #AutismShoutOut #TalkAboutAutism and/or #ASDay and of course, when you see these tags, please retweet! :>

There are others who are also blogging about this special day!  If you have written a post in support of the Autism Shoutout, please link up at Sunday's Adventures in Extreme Parenthood.  And please stop by her blog so that you can visit peeps who are writing, tweeting, and facebooking along! :>

Autism will not shut down on November 1st, so I'll still be here too!

On November 1st, there is to be a communication shutdown on social media to raise money & awareness for autism.  Thousands of people and organizations are participating globally. While I think its fantastic that this is a world wide effort and I support increasing awareness, support understanding, support raising funds for research and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), I will not be participating.

I have found a great community of other families living with autism on message boards, Twitter, and Facebook.  Social media has not only become an outlet & avenue of support, but also a great source of information. 

I can understand the link between the communication shutdown of social media and the challenge of social communication for people with autism (and their families).

However, on November 1st, autism will still be here and so will I.

November 1st is a Monday, which means its a school day for us, where we have found numerous challenges to work through.  Verbal or nonverbal, communication is a far harder ballgame than I ever realized, before autism became a part of my family's daily lives.  Verbal language, social language, body language, tone, facial expressions, slang, sarcasm, reciprocal conversation, they all create challenges that require patience, ingenuity, resources, work, and more patience.

So, while I understand the link that is being drawn by shutting down social media communication & autism, I don't understand how that truly spreads the word, information, awareness & understanding.  Everyone else will go on updating their status on Facebook, tweeting, and posting away.  And instead of drawing attention to autism, there will be silence.  And yes, many people with autism live in silence, but to me, that only means we need to speak louder.....not join the silence.

Support your local autism resources.  Personally, I have received encouragement & a great deal of information from both my local chapter of TACA and Matrix Parent Network.  I urge you to seek yours out and learn what you can do to help this growing population of people & families living with autism.

New Friend Fridays

I've had a lot of fun hopping around blogland this week.  Coming across some great new blogs & sites, connecting with new peeps on Twitter (I'm a newbie on Twitter and am surprisingly, enjoying it...come say 'hi'!), gaining inspiration and enjoying a lot of laughter (there are some really funny & witty women out there!).  While doing the blogland dance, I came across a new hop:


 
The Girl Creative and Trendy Treehouse have teamed up for this hop, so click on the button, find some new blogs to enjoy, and meet some new peeps.  I plan to! :>

{Sew} Surprised!

Last week, when I relinquished my Grown Up Card and visited my sweet friend Jenn, she loaned me a quilted bag that she'd sewn to carry home the first three Harry Potter books that she was loaning my son to read.  She loaned it to me.

Fast forward to this last Saturday when three fabby friends who are also Aunties & Uncle to my kidlets came up for a BBQ....Jenn being one of those Aunties.

We had a great time!  Hubby Q'd up some ribs (after they slow roasted in the oven) using our favorite organic GF/CF no sugar added BBQ sauce, I made a delish GF/CF macaroni salad* that I found thanks to a gluten free blogger on Twitter (that little birdie of a site is growing on me!), Jenn made a yummy green salad (with romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, beets, avocado, green onion, and olives), and Monique & Matt brought some garlic bread and a special margarita recipe for the adults. 

We finished off the night with the exhausted kidlets finally in bed, the men, boys, goodness!, men chuckling like they were years younger (that's a nice way to say it, right?! :>) at some YouTube videos and us girls, okay women (somehow that always sounds weird to me when I'm with my friends from my teen years....probably because we've been known to regress when we're together! :>) chatting it up in the living room and checking out Monique's recent scrapbook (she's the one who started me scrapping all those years ago!).

When we were walking our three friends out to their car, apparently, Jenn turned to my Hubby and said, "Shhhhhh!!!!", pointing to her fabby quilted bag that she loaned me last week.  Seriously......loaned it!!

Look at that sweet little pocket on the front!!

Here it is!!  Isn't it cute?!  I think so.

Just as cute from the back.

Oh my goodness!!  That turquoise stitching tickles...such a happy detail!

It gets better.  On the inside there are pockets.  And polkas.

On one side its a full pocket.  And on the other side, she split it vertically.  Not only did she split the whole pocket vertically for divided storage, but she also sewed a higher bottom on one side that is just perfect to slip a cell phone into....now, how genius is that?! :>

And then, THEN, I try to give her this sweetly sewn bag she's made and loaned me to take back home with her.  She just smiles, gives me a hug and says, "You're welcome."

"What?!"  And thinking, no way, I try to give it back to her again.  She's not having any of it.  Jenn tells me that she's been looking for a good home for it.  Apparently, she thinks its happy here in my home.  I know I'm happy to see it smiling at me.  But, I'm even happier to know that it was stitched and sewn by my friend.

Am I a lucky gal, or what?!

What has made you feel lucky lately?

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*  Only adjustments made to make the gluten free recipe casein free as well were to use salami that is not only gluten free, but casein, nitrites, msg, antibiotic, and preservative free (Applegate Farms) and to omit the optional Parmesan cheese.  We also used fresh minced garlic & shallots instead of dried for the dressing.  The whole thing is delish and since we doubled the recipe, we're still enjoying it!