Walking Again

A week ago today I decided to start walking again. I thought that tweeting about my decision and progress might help hold me accountable, so everyday I tweeted how long I walked. Then I got to thinking, that's a bit boring for tweets, and also sometimes I wanted to say more than what could be said in a tweet, so I started thinking about blogging my progress. So, here I am.

It's been a long time since I even visited my blog. My first thought when I logged in is that it is in desperate need of a makeover, but I have no idea how to go about doing a blog makeover from an iPad so that's not going to happen any time soon.  I almost let that stop me from blogging now, thinking I should do the makeover first but I seriously don't know when I'll be able to do a makeover and I didn't want to delay starting to blog, so here goes.

I recently became aware that some of my friends and acquaintances in my community, where I've been living now for almost two years, are runners. I don't know if they've been runners for years or if they just recently started. I learned about their running when some of them tweeted about it. That's what got me thinking about it again.

Back in January 2009 I actually started a blog, called Couch Potatoes to Road Runners http://couchpotatoestoroadrunners.blogspot.ca/ , as a basis for a challenge between some family and friends. In the first post on that blog http://couchpotatoestoroadrunners.blogspot.ca/2009/01/how-this-blog-came-about.html I shared that years before a friend had told me about a walk/run program that she enjoyed and I had tried it for a while and loved it, but didn't keep it up. I thought that getting some family and friends to join me in the challenge in 2009 might help me stick to it, but that didn't work either. In a post on May 11, 2009 http://couchpotatoestoroadrunners.blogspot.ca/2009/05/faithful-in-training-but-not-in.html I shared how I was disappointed in the lack of participation of others and I wrote my last post on that blog May 31,2009. At that time I was still faithfully training and had worked my way up to being able to run for 25 minutes straight without feeling winded. I was pretty proud of that but I think the training petered out shortly after that. 

I did try to start to train to run again once or twice after that but then I finally just gave up. I even tried just walking, but I didn't stick to that either. 

Reading about others close to me running sparked my interest again. I am certainly in no shape to run right now and I seriously don't know if I will work up to that or not.  For now I am content with just walking.  We'll see what happens as time goes on.

NaBloPoMo November 2 - live anywhere

Friday, November 2, 2012
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

We just moved into our new house in a new community just a little over a year ago and I honestly have no desire to live anywhere else. I finally feel settled.

NaBloPoMo - favorite quote

It's November 1st - the first day of NaNoWriMo and also the first day of NaBloPoMo for this month.  I've been thinking about NaNoWriMo for a while now but I completely forgot about NaBloPoMo until today.

I would really like to do NaNoWriMo but I really don't have the time or set up for it. I did make a start today but it just made me realize how truly impossible it is with my present situation. I may, however, continue to plod along.  We'll see.

Rediscovering NaBloPoMo today gave me some hope when I thought all hope was gone. It gave me a new goal to shoot for, one that I think is a little more doable. These will be far from perfect. There will likely be many spelling and grammar mistakes and much fluff with little substance.  I do this simply for me right now and it's important that I just do it without striving for perfection.  I'm hoping it will help me in many ways. So, here I start.

Thursday, November 1, 2012
Tell us your favourite quotation and why.

I think my favourite quotation is actually a Bible verse - "thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee", from Isaiah 26:3. This verse is my lifeline in every difficulty and struggle that comes my way. The faster I remember to stop and get my mind back on God and to trust Him, the faster I get back my peace back.

My First Book Launch

Well, it wasn't actually my book launch, as I have never written a book, but it was the first book launch that I ever attended. I'm hoping it won't be the last.

I was excited when my dad pointed out to me that one of the people that attended my church in my new community was none other than Newfoundland author, Nellie Strowbridge. I had read her books Catherine Snow and The Newfoundland Tongue and I took advantage of the first opportunity I got to let her know that I was a fan. I was thrilled to get to chat with her about her past books and ones she is working on.  I was really excited when I received an invitation from her publisher saying that she had requested I be sent an invitation to attend the launch of her new book, Maiden From the Sea.

I asked her permission to tape the launch and post it to my blog. She graciously agreed.  It's taken me a few days to get it ready to post.  I had taped it with my phone and needed to edit it before posting it. There were people coughing and moving about and chatting during parts of the taping and I wanted to get rid of that stuff.  I had never edited a video before and didn't have a video editing program and the only thing I had to work on was my phone.  I downloaded IMovie and googled help to learn how to use it and I finally got it done.

Here is the video I put together with clips from the book launch that I attended in Deer Lake May 19.

Yard Tour Part 2

Last post I took you on a tour of our front yard and one side of the house.  This time we'll tour the other side of the house and the backyard.  It really is not an exciting tour at all right now because there is nothing there yet but it will be fun to watch the yard change over the years.  This part of the tour takes place in two videos because I ran out of space on my phone on the first video.  The second video is a little frustrating for two reasons - the wind plays havoc with the sound at times and Anna interrupts often.  Oh well, this is simply for my benefit really so I'm not too worried about it.

Side Yard



Backyard

Come Tour My Yard

We moved into a new house on totally undeveloped property back in August of 2011.  I have some pictures somewhere of what it was like then.  I'll try to find those and post them later. We still haven't done much at all to the property, other than cut down the forest of tall grasses in the back yard.  We do want to develop it but it will not happen quickly.  I've been on a Dave Ramsey kick for a while now and Sheldon is playing along somewhat so it is my hope that we will only make improvements to the property as we can pay cash for it.  We've had a few "discussions" about that so we'll see what happens.

Anyway, I decided that I would like to do a kind of video documentary of what we do with the property over the years so I taped the first part of that today.  This video takes you on a tour of our front yard and along one side of the house. Not much to see there yet but here's what it looks like now.

Gardening With Anna Episode 3: May 7th Update on Plants

Chilly outside but things ares growing inside

Our egg cartons are full of growth!  I have to figure out how to get pictures from my phone on here.  We have been amazed to watch our onions and sweet peas grow.

I started measuring the growth of some of the bulbs because I was so shocked by it.  It's been growing about an inch every 24 hours.  So much fun to watch!  I think the Yellow Onion Bulbs are doing a little better than the Spanish Onion bulbs but they are both doing good.

Our sweet peas and green onions seeds took a while to catch up put the sweet peas are as tall as the onions now.  I need to thin out the green onion seed plants.  The seeds were so tiny we dropped loads in each compartment of the egg carton.  It's funny to see.

Hopefully I'll figure out how to get a picture up or else do another video to show the growth soon.  Fun times!

Our Visit to the Greenhouse and Garden Store

This is a totally unedited video of our visit to the Greenhouse and Garden Store in Little Rapids. Anna was doing great until she found a lady bug. Doing the video was her idea but then she lost all interest in the video when she found the lady bug. We will definitely be going back there again, probably a few times throughout the summer to see the development of the gardens.
 

Greenhouse and Garden Store in Little Rapids!

I am so excited!  I just discovered that I have gardening help close by! I have been combing the web for gardening info and I just discovered that there is a Greenhouse and Garden Store very close by!

Check out the Greenhouse and Garden Store website. The title on their opening page tells me this is the place for me - "A Green Haven for Amateurs and Pros".  I fit into the first category. I was hoping to find some workshops scheduled soon but there aren't any posted for this season yet, just some info about past workshop, which looked great.  There's also a note on that page about a newsletter so I signed up for that right away. I wish they had links to their past articles on their gardening tips page so I didn't have to wait for the first newsletter to start learning from them.

Also check out the Greenhouse and Garden Store Blog. The description here says that they have demonstration gardens that you can walk around in for ideas.  We will definitely be visiting there soon, and maybe we'll do a short video while we're there.

The Greenhouse and Garden Store Facebook page seems to be the place for up-to-date information so of course, I've like that too.

It appears the only thing that is missing is a Twitter account, but maybe I just haven't discovered that yet.

There just might be a nice garden in my yard yet!

Gardening with Anna Episode 1

Maybe a garden finally?

We moved to a new house in a new community at the end of last summer.  Our house came with much more land than our old house so I’m hoping to finally be able to have a real garden!
One thing though, there is absolutely no landscaping done to the land.  I’ve been trying to decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.  It’s a good thing in that it’s an open slate for us to do with as we please, but it’s a bad thing in that it needs so much work to do anything with it. 
I am, however, determined to do something with it. It will be a slow gradual process and I’m hoping to document the progress here on my blog, so hopefully there will be new life breathed into this dead blog.
I am a real green horn at this but I am determined to learn.  I recently discovered a site that I’m hoping will help me with that.  GrowVeg.com has lots of information about growing vegetables and also has a garden planning program that allows you to draw up a plan for your garden.  It seems like a really neat program.  I’ve signed up for the free trail and have started a garden plan.  I’ll share more about that in a future post.
I’d love to find a program like GrowVeg for flower and shrub gardening.  There are some flowers and trees included in the GrowVeg site but not enough to plan a nice flower garden. 
I’d also love to connect with other gardeners from my province and my specific community area so that I can learn from them.  They are the people that can be a real help because they know what works for here.
That’s what’s on my mind presently.

A Challenge for you for 2012 - Commit to spending more time reading the Bible in 2012

I'd like to challenge YOU to commit to spending more time reading the Bible in 2012.  


I presented the same challenge January the 1st 2011.  I also offered a side challenge to commit to reading the Bible through, not necessarily all the way through in 2011, but however long it took.  Did you take up either challenge?  If so, how did you fair in meeting your challenge?  Are you still working on that goal?  If you struggled or gave up, don't knock yourself out for it.  Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get to it again.  You don't have to start right from the beginning again if you don't want to.  Start where you left off and keep going from there.


Last year I shared that in the past my kids and I have used a chart, something like this one http://www.matthewweathers.com/year2006/images/Bible_Reading_Record.pdf to help us work towards the goal of reading the Bible through.  Print it out, fold it and tuck it into your Bible and mark of the chapters as you read them.  No requirement to read a certain amount or in a certain order, just mark of each chapter as you read it.  You'll be able to see at a glance if there is something you haven't read yet and need to make a special effort to read.  You'll feel so proud of yourself when you finally have all the chapters marked off, even if it does take you years to do it.  :)


If you have an Iphone, Ipad, or just about any other smart phone or tablet you can download an app to help you track your Bible reading.  My favorite app is the YouVersion Bible app.  You can access the Bible in a number of different versions and you can also access a number of different Bible reading plans.  I like to use the Whole Bible plans because they actually take you through the whole Bible.  When you choose a plan to follow you are given a portion of scripture to read each day and as you finish each portion and click to proceed to the next portion the app checks off the portions you have read.  You can easily go slower or faster than suggested by simply reading more or less.


If all you have is a computer or laptop, you can also use YouVersion at http://www.youversion.com/.


If you are interested in learning more about how to use the appor site, I'd be glad to help with any questions you might have.  If you'd like someone to challenge you or hold you accountable to keeping going, I'd be happy to pray for you and encourage you.  I would love to help you get into the Word of God.


Since doing the Bible in 90 Days Challenge the summer of 2010, Bible reading has become even more of a normal part of my life than it was before.  I had been reading small portions of the Bible most every day before that but doing the challenge helped me realize that I could actually fit in reading bigger portions of the Bible every day.  I became so used to doing that that I continued reading bigger portions of the Bible in 2011 and actually made my way all the way through the Bible 3 times in 2011.  I did most of my Bible reading on my Iphone using the YouVersion Bible app following Bible reading plans available in the app. I went through the Bible In 90 Days Plan first, but it took me a little more than 90 Days to complete it.  I then did the Chronological Reading Plan, which was set up to be done in a year but I read more than one days allotted reading each day and completed it in about 4 months.  Then I did the Historical Reading Plan and did the same thing.  I've started following the Life Journal Reading Plan for the beginning of this year.


I sure hope you will commit to spending more time reading your Bible in 2012.  It is something that will change your live forever.

Trying out an iPad

My sister is visiting and I'm trying out her iPad. I like it!

Teacher Tipster

Came across a really neat site today - TeacherTipster.com. Great ideas explained with videos and sometimes including printables.  Here are some of my favourite:

Parts of a Story Song Video - Parts of a Story Poster

The Clock Song -  Clock Song Poster - Set The Clock Sheet (to be kept in a sheet protector so that it can be written on and whipped clean to use again and again

Lots  more videos with fun tips on the TeacherTipster Videos page and lots of great fun printables on the TeacherTipster Printables pages

As the TeacherTipster is a grade one teacher and Anna is presently working on grade one goals I intend to make good use of this site.

Grey Hair and Hair Colouring

Why do people stress so much about the colour of their hair?

I am getting more and more grey hair, but I don't care.  I never did care, but I've cared even less since the day, many moons ago, when my first girl told me that she liked the sparkling hairs that I had.  I didn't have many at all at that point but I loved how she described them.  Then I found this verse Proverbs 16:31 "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory".  I intend to wear my crown proudly when I finally receive it.  :)

I have never died my hair, and I don't think I ever will.  My hair is quite dark, but I see more and more light hairs showing up all the time.  It does not cause me one bit of stress.  My hair always has been and always will be it's natural colour. I have never understood why anyone would want to change their hair colour.  I've always been of the opinion that God knows best in that department and I'm not going to mess with it.

So, while others may sit around and lament about the grey hairs showing up, or their roots showing through, I rest easy and take things as they come.

My Baby is Reading!

She turns 6 this month and she's already a pretty confident reader.  I love it!  I've really enjoyed watching her learn.  I feel blessed that I have the privilege of homeschooling her and watching her learn.

How did she learn?  We didn't follow a structured reading program but instead we took advantage of all kinds of different things that came our way.

We read together lots. And lots.  We made regular visits to the library to stock up on books.  We read all different kinds of books. Sometimes I'd point out the words as I read.  If there were repeated phrases I would encourage Anna to help me "read" those repeated phrases.  Sometimes we'd read picture books with just a word or two a page and Anna would practice "reading" them after we'd read them together a few times.  I was always quick to help her if she forgot a word.

Anna loved playing on Starfall.com.  I let her wonder around the site as much as she wanted and she became more aware of the sounds of letters.  We printed off some of the booklets for some of the stories on the site and she practiced "reading" them after we had read them with the computer and on our own lots.

Gradually I watched her grow more interested in words and she would point out words that she recognized.  I decided it was time for her to try reading a Young Readers Bible that we had in our shelves.  Each story was 6 pages long with a few sentences on each page.  I'd read her a story one day and the next day she'd read that story to me, with me quickly supplying any word that she didn't immediately recognize.  I had to help her less and less as we worked our way through her special Bible.  She actually finished reading the whole book this month and she is so proud of herself.

All the while we continued to read lots of different books together.  As I noticed that she was gaining more confidence and recognizing more words I started making sure that some of the library books we brought home were ones that she could easily learn to read on her own - some picture books with a few words per page, some easy readers, etc.  I always read a book to her at least once before I asked her to read it to me and I was always quick to supply any word that she didn't immediately recognize.  She didn't realize it but she was reading more and more on her own and needing less and less help.

When she was really comfortable with a book I encouraged her to read to her dad and her older siblings, to show how good she could read and also to share some of the fun books we were reading.  This helped build her confidence even more.

She finally realized she could read one weekend when we had friends over and she came running out of the room exclaiming to us that she had just read a book to her friend in her room.  Her friend, who's a couple of years younger than her, was pretty proud of her too.  It was so fun to see her exclaim that she could read!  She'd been reading for quite a while, but she didn't realize it until then.

I've been keeping a list of library books that she's learned to read on her own and she now has over 20 books on that list.

What a joy to have been able to witness this accomplishment in her life!

How Do Homeschool Graduates Fare?

That's what's been on my mind lately. Part of the reason it's been on my mind so much is because I've been reading glowing reports from homeschooling friends on Facebook.  Homeschooling friends from right here in my province.

One friend just attended a convocation service where her child received a Master's of History degree.  Another friend just attended her child's White Coat ceremony, celebrating acceptance into med school.  Another friend reported that her child received a $1000 scholarship from his college.

These children were all homeschooled right here in my province.

Just like public school graduates, not all the homeschooled graduates traveled the academic route.  One homeschooled graduate has traveled the world on modeling contracts.  Another has traveled the world on music related contracts.  Another is a professional fire fighter.

All these children are from different homeschooling families in my province.

I'd say homeschool graduates, for the most part, fare just fine.

Of course, like public school graduates, there are those that have their struggles.  After all, homeschooled graduates are humans, just like public school graduates.

Resuscitation Attempt

It's been a while...a long, long while.  I was starting to wonder if there would ever be life here again, but, inspired by Alex's NaBloPoMo post I am making a resuscitation attempt, I guess we'll see how successful it is.

While I haven't posted in a while, I have written many posts in my head, most of them offering reasons, excuses, contributing factors for the lack of posts.  There are many factors.  We finally moved in August.  We had been anticipating the move since November and it finally happened in August.  I felt like my life was kind of in limbo from November to August waiting for the move to happen.  August was taken up with packing and moving finally.  In the process, my laptop crashed again and this time my attempts at reviving it failed.  I was so busy with moving that I didn't really have much time to think about it but when we finally settled in our new place I started to miss my laptop.  I finally got a desk top set up but I don't like the set up.  It's very uncomfortable so I spend as little time as possible at it.  Those are some of the reasons for my absence.

I really started thinking about blogging, and writing in general, again as November approached.  Like Alex, I have participated in NaNoWriMo in the past and I was hoping to do it again this year but the horrible set up for computing was keeping me from committing.  Still, I couldn't quite give up on the thought.  When I read Alex's post I decided to follow her example and skip NaNoWriMo this year but to give the NaBloPoMo a try, sort of.  I've only quickly perused the NaBloPoMo site and from what I can gather they give you a daily prompt to post about.  I doubt I will be using the daily prompts, though I may from time to time.  My goal is simply to try to get back into the habit of blogging by posting every day during the month.

So, let's see what happens with this resuscitation attempt.  Let's see if I can bring life back into this blog.

The Secret of the Old Swing Bridge by Ian Wilson

Even though I don't presently have any 8-12 year olds in my house, I jumped at the chance to receive a copy of The Secret of the Old Swing Bridge by Ian Wilson to review. A drawing factor for me was the fact that the author is Canadian and I love to promote Canadian authors. I also have an almost 6 year old and have shared books with her before that were geared towards older children.

When I got the book I decided it was probably a bit too much for my almost 6 year old right now but I will probably share it with her in a few years time.  I decided to read through it myself at this time, but I have to admit that I struggled with getting through the book.  I found it a little tedious at times.  I don't know if an 8-12 year old would have the same reaction or not.

There were some parts of the book that I did really like - like the fact that one of the main characters is from a homeschooling family.  That was a nice surprise.  I don't remember being told that before I read the book but it definitely made me more interested in the book.  There are few books that I have found that have a homeschool connection.

I also loved that the boys and their dad developed a scale model of part of the railway system.  We have a friend that is into model trains and I thought that he might be interested in sharing this book with his boy when he gets a little older.  I think it's a great way to encourage learning and the development of father-child relationships.

Along with having a Canadian author, this book also has a Canadian setting.  It is set in Ontario and is sprinkled with bits of Canadian history, especially surrounding the CNR.  I don't really know much about the CNR so I'm not sure how much of the details in the book are true and how much are fictional, but it has sparked my interest to learn more about it and to include it in my child's learning in the future.