This little blog started in 2008 with just my voice. I added six others a year later—not because I felt like mine wasn’t strong enough, but because I value community. Now, almost four years after Simple Mom’s creation (has it really been that long?), I’m surrounded by a plethora of other amazing, brilliant, wise voices that share their words here.

Why? Because they all know a lot of stuff I don’t. Many of you write me with questions about teenagers. As a mom of three kids ages seven and under, I haven’t got a clue how to answer you—and I’m not going to pretend to. So I’ve invited someone else to do that.

I’ve got money management opinions, but mine isn’t the only one that matters—I want to spread out the voices, the experiences, and the knowledge, so you’re not just hearing from me. I can be wrong, after all.

And it’s a beautiful thing to weave a tapestry of lives into one creation. This place just wouldn’t be the same without heart-felt marriage acumen, health helps we all need to hear, or home, hospitality, and DIY inspiration that’s rooted in the heart.

It’s still my blog, yes. You hear from me about three times per week; these 13 others sprinkle in their words once weekly. And I’m honored and touched that they do.

I thought it’d be fun to introduce the 2012 lineup, but not just do the usual bio. You can read theirs anytime. I asked these fine folk a few other questions instead.

Read on.

Corey Allan

Corey is a professional marriage therapist who also blogs. Personally, he’s a playground for his kids and wife (when the mood strikes). That last part was all him, folks.

Family: Two kids, ages 6 and 4. Married almost 19 years to the love of my life.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• Jesus
• Freud
• King Solomon
• My grandfather
• My Uncle (who was a lifelong missionary)
• My wife

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: I’m humbled by the chance to reach so many people and hopefully help improve marriages around the world.

Beverage of choice: Coffee

Heather Allard

Heather writes about working from home with kids at your skirt hem. She’s the founder of The Mogul Mom, a free daily email for moms who run a business, raise a family, and rock both.

Family: Three children, Hope, age 11; Grace, age 8; and Brendan, age 5, and a 14-year-old dog, The Dude, who has been the fuzzy love of my life since adopting him when he was six months old. I’ve been married to my best friend, Scott, for 17 years.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• My late father, Richard—he died after a fatal fall at my third birthday party and I’d love to spend an evening (or a lifetime) chatting with him.
• Maya Angelou—I love her poetry and her wisdom.
• Oprah Winfrey
• Jerry Seinfeld—hilarious.
• Kris Carr – her book, Crazy Sexy Diet, has changed my life.
• Bob Pittman of Pilot Group—I’d love to chat with him about funding my daily email.

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: The chance to stay home with my three kids every single day of their lives until they go to school AND earn a very handsome income. Every day, I’m in awe of how lucky I am to be able to do what I do from home. BIG gratitude for the Internet.

Beverage of choice: Hands down, red wine. More specifically, Belle Glos “Las Alturas” Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir.

Lisa Byrne

Lisa writes about health and taking care of yourself, and helps depleted moms get their spark back.

Family: Three kids all under the age of 6—boy, girl, boy. Adorable spouse who keeps me laughing and sane through the crazy-making of raising kids. And a 110 pound yellow lab. It’s a nut house most of the time.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• Frida Kahlo
• Diego Rivera
• Mary (the mother of Jesus)
• Joseph (husband of Mary)
• Albert Einstein
• Mileva Marić

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: The relationships with women and mothers all over the world.

Beverage of choice: In the morning—green juice of cucumber, broccoli stems, romaine lettuce and pear. During the day—water. At dinner—red wine.

Katie Clemons

Katie writes about a do-it-yourself approach to life, and believes your story matters. She makes handmade writing prompt books that help you celebrate those stories.

Family: It’s just one German husband and me.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• Jeanette Rankin (first woman in Congress, representing Montana before women could vote in the US)
• Evelyn Cameron (pioneer photographer from 1894 to 1928 in Montana)
• My parents (I think my dad would just die if he could meet Evelyn, and my mom helped me dress up as Jeanette in 5th grade.)
• My grandfathers (they passed away before I knew the power of story)

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: I met my husband online when a friend dared me to create an online profile in college.

Beverage of choice: I love tea for nine months of the year; lemonade the other three. It’s currently below freezing, so I’m sure you can guess what I’m reaching for right now.

Sandy Coughlin

Sandy writes about hospitality and entertaining and is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, lover of people, food, and dinner parties.

Family: Paul, author, speaker, and founder of The Protectors, a values and faith-based solution to adolescent bullying. Elliot, a junior at University of Oregon, pre-med. Garrett, a senior in high school, looking for colleges to study Mandarin and International Business. Abigail, a freshman in high school who plays varsity soccer, and is a violinist on her way to Carnegie Hall to play this March in NYC.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• Mother Teresa
• Paul Coughlin (my husband)
• Alton Brown
• Ree Drummond
• Edith Schaeffer
• Timothy Keller

…Where we’d talk about food, love, and people.

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: Friendships.

Beverage of choice: Water.

Robin Dance

Robin says she does a lot of things—some of which I even does quite well—but none of which include writing a sentence about what she does (follow that?). Sometimes she writes with her head and sometimes she writes with her heart; one you’ll read and the other you’ll feel. Here, she writes about parenting teens.

Family: Married to my college sweetheart and we’ll celebrate our 25th Anniversary this year! Three teens, my favorite 19-year-old, freshman-in-college daughter; two sons, a freshman (14) and a junior (17).
Through the years we’ve had lionhead rabbits, exotic fish, mice, hamsters, snakes…but we’re down to one mature Australian Shepherd. Two of those, btw, were uninvited guests.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party: My ultimate dinner party doesn’t include celebrity or otherwise famous or infamous people; MY ultimate dinner party would be:

• my husband,
• three children,
• and my mom, who lost her battle to cancer when I was nine. To talk with her as an adult, for her to meet her wonderful grandchildren and for them to know her, for her to see I’ve married a man who cherishes me, THAT would be ultimate!

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: The greatest thing I’ve gained from being on the Internet is writing to give voice to children living in poverty when I traveled with Compassion International to Kolkata, India, a trip that continues to affect me from the inside out.

Beverage of choice: My favorite beverage of choice absolutely depends on time of day, who I’m with and what I’m doing.

Kat

Kat speaks, writes, teaches, and takes her kids on dates and cheers from the sidelines, because she wants to be a person that brings out the very best in others. Here, she’ll be writing on the subject of “mentoring”—being and having one. And, she was my roommate in the Philippines. And is painfully funny.

Family: Husband – Jimmy, and two girls and a boy, ages 9,7, and 4. And Alexandra, my 9-year-old’s pet rat—a surprisingly good pet.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• My Mother – because I never knew her, so she’s always my first choice.
• Ann Voskamp – few people have inspired me more than Ann.
• Melanie (from the Big Mama Blog) – because she is brilliantly hilarious.
• C.S. Lewis – ….because he’s C.S. Lewis….
• Amy Grant – because my 12-year-old self would find a Delorean and come to the future just to thank me.
• Jimmy – because it wouldn’t be fun without him.

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: Accountability. Since I write to inspire, I often write about my ideals. Blogging has pushed me to live more closely to those ideals than I ever would have on my own. Blogging has made me a better mother and motherhood has made me a better blogger.

Beverage of choice: A mint mocha madness from Common Grounds Coffee shop near the Baylor University campus. Happiness in a cup.

Charlie Park

Charlie writes about money management, and is an indie web developer and family man. He does his best to keep those two worlds from overlapping.

Family: Sarah and I do our best to wrangle Lucy, Kate, and Frances into/out of bed, school, the car, the dinner table, the playground, the grandparents’, the library, dance class, music class, and church. 1. Everyone arrives, 2. on time, 3. without tears. Pick two.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• Six Jesuses. (Tsh’s note: Jesus Juke! Well, sort-of.)

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: Affirmation. Every once in a while, I’ll get an e-mail from someone who’s seen my work and genuinely appreciates it, and who’s taken the time to write me to let me know. It means a lot.

Beverage of choice: I made up a new drink last week that I’m pretty excited about. You fill a glass halfway with peach soda. Then, you hold a bent spoon over the surface of the soda and slowly fill the rest of the glass with stout (like Guinness), making sure that the stout only slowly pours out onto the spoon, and then onto the surface of the soda (like a black & tan, if you’ve ever had one of those). You end up with a layered drink that tastes delicious.

The night I made it, we had something the girls call a “tiger moon” (a full moon, low in the sky, with bare tree branches crossing in front of it, making it look like a tiger’s fur). So the drink is now called “Tiger Moon.”

Sarah Park

Sarah does more dishes, laundry, and driving around in the car than she would like, but she also gets to live life with her family, in all our glorious chaos. She loves writing poems about it, and once a month, she’ll be sharing these poetic words here on Simple Mom.

Family: I’m married to Charlie (see above), who is enthusiastic, creative, and has a sense of humor that is sometimes wry, sometimes goofy, and usually totally inappropriate. Our first daughter is Lucy, almost 8, who got a lot of her dad’s exuberance. Then we had the twins, Kate and Frances, almost 5, who are very different from one another, but both full of schemes for making their days (and ours) lively and interesting.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party: Gee, just going to a dinner party, with any group of people-who-are-not-preschoolers, sounds grand!

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: I’ve gained a sense of connection. It’s so easy, as a mom at home with little kids, to feel very isolated. Being online has brought me new friends and has given me a sense of not being alone in my struggles.

Beverage of choice: A glass of red wine with friends over a game of Settlers of Catan.

Megan Tietz

Megan spends her days mothering her children, cheering on her husband, writing often, reading sometimes, and cleaning rarely. Here, she shares beautiful and useful words about parenting and motherhood.

Family: I’ve been married to my college sweetheart, Kyle, for over 13 years. We have two daughters: our artistically-inclined scientist Dacey, 7, who is always trying out a new hypothesis, and Aliza Joy, 4, our whirling dervish of sequins and curls.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• Tina Fey
• Will Rogers
• Tim Gunn
• Judy Blume
• Toni Morrison, and
• Zooey Deschanel

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: More than anything, I’ve gained the incredible assurance of community and the comfort of knowing I am not alone in the way I see the world. Through my life online, I’ve had the joy of building a platform for sharing my views on faith, family, and natural living—all ideas that are often a step outside of the mainstream—and I have been incredibly blessed to find so many like-minded friends along the way.

Beverage of choice: C-O-F-F-E-E (no cream, no sugar, extra bold, extra strong, if it’s not too much to ask).

Emily Walker

Emily writes about loving where you live, because it matters. She is a wife and mother who stays sane by drinking coffee, eating jelly beans and going for long runs.

Family: I have been married to my husband Jason for 12 years this year. We have two kids—our daughter Drew, age 7 and our son Eli age almost 5. To add to the craziness we have two dogs—12 and 14 years old. And 7 chickens.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

• Joe Montana
• Nicole Kidman
• Jon Stewart
• Tina Fey
• Anderson Cooper
• Michelle Obama

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: The friendship and insight from others. I never in a million years imagined that I’d find friends when I began blogging. Having a place to share, vent, inspire and learn has been life-changing for me. I have a place to not feel so alone in whatever it is I’m doing and wherever it is I am and that is worth so much.

Beverage of choice: For the responsible me—sparkling water mixed with pomegranate juice. For the kicking back to have a good time on a hot summer day me—Blue Moon.

Nish Weiseth

Nish writes about loving the outdoors and living in it with your family. She also does too much, not enough, and everything in between. And it must be noted—our names rhyme. In case you didn’t notice.

Family: I’m married to my smokin’ hot husband, Erik and we have a little toddler boy named Rowan and two large dogs named Shasta and Ranger. We all live in downtown Salt Lake City.

The six people attending my ultimate dinner party:

I feel like Jesus goes without saying, so I’ll list six others.

• Margaret Thatcher
• J.K. Rowling
• Winston Churchill
• Jon Stewart
• Tina Fey
• Albus Dumbledore (Yeah, I listed a fictional character. Did I just break the rules?)

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: My voice.

Beverage of choice: I have a serious weakness for Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper’s from Sonic. Serious weakness.

Okay, and for funsies, I thought I’d do the questions, too…

Family: It’s me, my husband of 9.5 years, Kyle, and three kids—Tate, almost 7, Reed, 4, and Finn, 19 months. And a really annoying black kitten named Pepper.
The six people attending my ultimate dinner party: It’s ironic that I asked everyone this question, because I usually hate it. Such pressure. Such a chance to forget someone important. Oh well—here they are:

• Paul the Apostle
• C.S. Lewis
• Jane Austen
• J.K. Rowling
• Tim Gunn, and
• Tina Fey (and from the looks of this post, she apparently receives a lot of dinner party invitations)

A big thing I’ve gained by being on the Internet: I kinda want to echo everyone else here. Friendships. Accountability. Connections in the midst of loneliness. A voice. A chance to support my family. I really do thank God for the Internet. Really.

Beverage of choice: Black coffee in the morning, bubbly water with lime all day, and for dinner, red wine. A good ale every now and then.

Okay, now it’s your turn—I’d really like to get to know the readers a bit more! Answer any or all of the questions. Who’s in your family? Which six people are invited to your dinner party? What have you gained from the Internet? And what’s your beverage of choice?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• Meet some really fun people (who also happen to contribute here)
• Adding Background Music at Home for Free
• Summer Week of Giveaways: A Simple Marriage

From my family to yours… May your days be merry and bright.

“Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.” -Washington Irving

“I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.” -Harlan Miller

“Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide-open-heart that thinks of others first.” -George Matthew Adams

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God.” -C.S.Lewis

“He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute.” -Augustine

“Hark the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the new-born king.’ Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!” -Charles Wesley

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• Merry Christmas!
• Merry Christmas!
• 6 Weeks Till Christmas: Create a New Family Tradition

The latest podcast is up! In this episode, I’m talking with my friend Megan Tietz of Sorta Crunchy. We’ve been trying to podcast all throughout the fall, so it was great to finally catch up with each other!

In this episode, Megan and I chat about We talk small houses (and how to deal with tiny closets!), how to handle well-meaning gift givers who pile it on for the kids, and one of our new favorite artists! (Hint: Just take a look at both our headers.) We’d love for you to join us.

So get out your last unwrapped presents and get to work, or just whip up some cocoa and take a break—head here to find the latest episode and all the show notes, or you can head directly to iTunes. (And if you’re so inclined, would you mind leaving a review there if you like the show? It’ll help more people find it.)

Enjoy!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• A Simple Holiday Season (the latest on The Simple Mom Podcast!)
• Major Purge (The latest on The Simple Mom Podcast!)
• A Recovering Good Girl (the latest on The Simple Mom Podcast)

To add some fun into our Home for the Holidays week, we thought we’d ask YOU to share your favorite things about the holidays! On each site, we’ve got a question we’d like you to answer. Share your thoughts here in the comments, and then hop to the other sites to find out what we’d like to know!

Movies are one of my absolute favorite things about the holidays. Cornball or prolific, there aren’t many Christmas flicks I won’t watch.

My favorite? It’s a toss-up. I do love me some Elf, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, and A Christmas Carol (the George C. Scott version is my fave). But if I could only watch one movie this Christmas, it’d have to be It’s a Wonderful Life. Both funny and profound, you can’t help but watch Jimmy Stewart and reflect on the value of your own life. It’s wonderful, indeed.

So that’s my question for you today: What’s your all-time favorite holiday movie?

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts—maybe I’ll find some new movies to watch this year!

After you share your favorite, head to the other sites to answer their questions:

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• Home for the Holidays: What’s your favorite holiday flick?
• What Do You Want To Know?
• Link Love :: the Holiday-for-Falling-Asleep-on-the-Couch-Watching-Football edition

We could do a daily run of giveaways during Home for the Holidays, but instead we wanted to pepper our week by telling you about some organizations doing remarkable things.

I met Maann on another hot, sweaty day near the equator in the Philippines (her house is shown above). Our group of bloggers had been visiting families and communities impacted by Compassion all week, and the stories were, as you might imagine, heart-poundingly emotional.

Here’s how we’d spend our days: We’d leave the hotel soon after breakfast, and ride on bumpy roads via a chandelier bedecked bus, sometimes for an hour or two. Our mornings were spent at one of many development centers, where Compassion was working in a community. We’d have lunch with those volunteers, spend the afternoons visiting families with sponsored children, return to the hotel for a shower and dinner, and get to clacking on our keyboards long into the night. Rinse and repeat.

We were exhausted.

So by day four, we met Maann and some of her friends, and for me, that’s when it all turned around for me in the Philippines.

They grow up, and their lives are forever changed

Maann was 19. Sponsored through Compassion since she was 6, she was now an articulate, peace-filled university student who was in leadership training. Together with her friends, she was leading weekly meetings at a Child Development Center. Her heart was happy. So happy. Filled with hope.

With her three other girlfriends, they pooled their money and sponsored a child. They. Former Compassion sponsored children, now sponsoring children.

It was awesome.

See, the reason that day changed me was because it gave me hope. The previous days were mightily impacting, but seeing six-year-old after six-year-old sleeping on cardboard was getting hard on my heart.

Maann was tangible, living proof that sponsoring a kid works. Now I’m not saying it’s a guarantee that being sponsored throughout childhood results in a well-adjusted adulthood, but I kept hearing stories that it happened. And here was this 19-year-old, showing me in the flesh what Denise, the child I sponsor, might one day become.

Here’s a video taken from my friend and Philippines roomie Kat. On this day, she visited Emily, another child sponsored by Compassion. Emily lives on the water and eats a regular diet of leaf soup.

How you can help this Christmas

1. Give a gift from Compassion’s Christmas catalog

You can give a simple gift of a blanket, chickens, seeds, a cow, or more for Compassion-assisted children and their families. After you make your selection, you can have a card sent to the person you’re honoring through this gift. This is the Christmas present we give to my in-laws each year. $10 will buy a mosquito net. $100 will provide a skilled attendant at a homebirth.

2. Give a Christmas gift to a Compassion child

For $15, you can give one of the 1.2 million Compassion-assisted children a Christmas gift this year. 100 percent of your donation goes towards the gift.

3. Start sponsoring a child

We’ve had a ball sponsoring Denise—Tate and I each write her monthly letters, and it’s a highlight to get a letter back from her. For 38 bucks a month, Tate gets to grow up with another six-year-old girl on the other side of the world. In a few years, we hope to sponsor boys the same age as our boys, too.

It’s hard to know who’s really receiving the gift when you sponsor a child.

There’s a reason behind living simply—it’s so we can help others simply live. Very few people on my Christmas list actually need anything, yet so many around the world need so much. If we all gave just a little, the burden would lighten.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” -Mother Teresa

Learn about the other charities we love:

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• Home for the Holidays: Compassion
• Do you feel guilty? Don’t.
• The Opulent Ability to Give

The latest podcast is up! In this episode, I’m chatting with my good friend, Emily Freeman of Chatting at the Sky. My teammate in the Philippines and fellow writer mama, she and I chat about her recent book release, the reality behind book tours, and some of her favorite photography tips. She’s got great tips for snapping kids for your upcoming holiday cards. (Your own kids, preferably.)

So get started on your dinner prep, or just brew your cup and take a break—head here to find the latest episode and all the show notes, or you can head directly to iTunes. (And if you’re so inclined, would you mind leaving a review there if you like the show? It’ll help more people find it.)

Enjoy!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• A Recovering Good Girl (the latest on The Simple Mom Podcast)
• Major Purge (The latest on The Simple Mom Podcast!)
• Help for Depleted Moms (the latest on The Simple Mom Podcast!)

“God can’t give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.” — C.S. Lewis

May you have peace today.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• We remember
• Interview on The Happiness Project
• Merry Christmas!

In some ways, this summer is flying by. In other ways, it’s just inching along, one day after another after another. It’s mid July already… We’re in the thick of summer.

Nicole, editor of Simple Organic, had her baby in June. Kara, Simple Kids editor, is due any second. Jamie of Simple Homeschool and I have enjoyed a month-long writing break. And Aimée, passionate about summer food that she is, couldn’t relish the thought of taking a break from editing Simple Bites.

My summer more or less started with a trip to the Philippines, blogging for Compassion International.

Photo by Keely Scott

A week later, we moved out of our house in Austin, Texas. We then stayed at my parents for two weeks, then Kyle’s parents for two weeks.

During this time, I took my annual summer writing break. As much as I love writing, I’ve found that my body and mind need a respite from the regular publishing.

Art by Departika

It also seems like I return a better writer. I’m refreshed, at minimum.

Halfway through my break, I “cheated” and attended Evo ’11, where I spoke about getting a book published. If you’re interested, you can find my rough draft notes and presentation here.

As always, I had an amazing time connecting with friends and was inspired and reinvigorated by new ones. I recorded another podcast with Nicole.

I also enjoyed Melissa Michaels screaming in my ear. Alpine Slide. You know how it is.

I returned to Oregon on a Saturday, and the following Friday, we (finally) moved in to our new home here in Bend.

Slowly, slowly, we are unpacking boxes, trying to find the silverware, and acclimating to a new climate. Never in my life have I needed to wear a sweater in the summer.

And throughout the rest of the summer, we’ll continue making this new house of ours into a home. In the next week or two, I’m going to rev back up my writing, and get back to regular podcasting, too.

It’s always a little trepidacious to return to writing after a break, wanting to relish the slower pace of life. I’ve been reminded how passionate I am about living simply, intentionally, and slowly. I love that my writing espouses those ideas — I just need to live that way, too.

Not sure if I’ve said it lately, but I am so unbelievably thankful for all of you. Thank you for reading the ideas on all the simple living blogs, and thank you for sharing your lives with us. I am so unbelievably blessed to run these blogs!

I hope you’ve been enjoying your summer. What has your family been up to?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• A Midsummer’s Check-In
• Weekend Links
• Rest, Reflection, and Renewal

Do you hear that big sigh of relief all the way from Austin? It’s me, relieved and thrilled to finally tell you about the project I’ve been working on some amazing people.

Drum roll please as I pull back the red velvet curtain on… The Simple Mom Podcast. Yep! This blog now has an accompanying podcast. You can now hear me chat weekly with some of your favorite bloggers on a whole variety of things related to — well, all things simple living.

Woo-hoo! (And I don’t woo-hoo! that often, so you better believe I’m excited.)

The Simple Mom Podcast is part of a new podcast network called Homefries, the brainchild of Joy from Joy the Baker and Michael, an Emmy-award winning producer. I’ve admired Joy for a long time now, since we both started our blogs around the same time. And then I’ve gotten to know Michael the past few months, and he is the real deal. The guy knows what he is doing, so the Homefries podcasts are beautifully produced. I wouldn’t do a podcast any other way, so I’m honored to work with them on this new baby.

Click here to jump over to Homefries and watch the promo video:

You might have a few more questions about podcasts. Here you go…

What’s a podcast?

A podcast is more or less an independent Internet radio show. There are tons of podcasts about any and everything. It’s hard to find good podcasts, to be honest — which is a huge reason I’ve waited for a long time to do one until I could partner with the right people who knew what they were doing.

The production of The Simple Mom Podcast takes place in some little magical cave in L.A. (how I picture it in my brain, anyway), so all I have to do is show up to my desk, set up the microphone, and talk with some of my favorite people. We’ve already talked about all sorts of things you’ll probably enjoy hearing, especially if you like this blog — parenting, organizing, food, nature, and more.

This podcast is more laid-back and chatty than how-to. You’ll be privy to conversations with some bloggers you probably already know — it’ll be like pulling up a chair and grabbing a cup of coffee with us. I can’t wait for you to join us!

How do I listen to the podcast?

You can subscribe to them in iTunes — click on the link that says “view in iTunes,” and then click on “Subscribe Free.” You’ll get new podcasts automatically in your iTunes! Perfect for folding laundry, starting dinner, or going on your daily run.

An easy-peasy way to listen to the podcast is right here on the podcast’s page. Simply click on a show you want to hear, and click on the button that looks like this:

This might be a good idea, since in each show, I’ll be sharing ideas and links you’ll want to find. All this will be in the “show notes,” which will all be found on the podcast episode’s page.

What else is there?

Okay, so there are a total of four podcasts in Homefries, of which The Simple Mom Podcast is one. Here’s the lowdown on the rest:

Joy the Baker Podcast is created by Joy, one of the sweetest, friendliest people I’ve met in awhile. She chats with her friend, Tracy. They talk cooking, photography, and all their other myriad interests like blogs, cats, sunflower seeds, and cooking shows. It’s fun!

The Crush Podcast is a podcast about wine. The two hosts, Christina and Whitney, are from two sides of the pond, and they’ll walk and talk you through wine terms and techniques so that you sound like you know what you’re talking about. They’ll give you the dish on food pairings and help you get out of your wine rut (such as mine, where I basically pick whatever’s on sale).

The Table Set Podcast is a podcast about entertaining. Three hosts, Andy, Greg, and Nathan, talk about how to entertain successfully, sharing their thoughts about cocktails, food, and the right setting for parties.

Look for upcoming episodes soon on The Simple Mom Podcast, where I’ll chat about maple syrup and picky eaters with Aimée, and the Philippines with some of my Compassion trip cohorts.

First up, though, are these two podcasts:

• Episode 1: What is Essential? with Jamie Martin
• Episode 2: Spring Yard Sale! with Mandi Ehman

I’d love to hear from you — what do you want to hear me talk about?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• Introducing The Simple Mom Podcast!
• Summer Travel (episode 6 of The Simple Mom Podcast!)
• No Kids Allowed (or, the next Simple Mom Podcast episode is live!)

Are you sick of me yet? I am. If it seems like I’ve got posts all over the place this week, it’s because I do. Some weeks are like that… The writing happens at different times, but there are those odd times when everything goes live all at once.

Anyway — today I’ve got three posts to share with you.

Living Intentionally and With Purpose

The first one is wrapping up my spotlight at Bloom, the book club over at (in)courage (thanks again, ladies!). In this final post, I’ve shared a bit more about my offline life, final thoughts about Organized Simplicity, and a free PDF download of questions for you to use in your own book club! Wan to read the book with other people? Now you’ve got a little conversation guidance.

From the post:

“Organized Simplicity is meant to be a handbook for you to use throughout your life. It’s not an autobiography of how I’ve figured everything out — not by a long shot. It’s a compendium simple truths that are (hopefully) a helpful encouragement as you work towards living intentionally and with purpose.

When we know who we are, we can guiltlessly say ‘no’ to the things God just doesn’t have for us, and say a resounding ‘yes’ to the things He does. It’s very freeing.”

Head here to read the rest, and to download the free book club PDF.

The Great Romance

Then my other, regularly-scheduled (in)courage post is live; this time I’m writing about a dark and stormy (well, maybe not stormy) night in Kosovo, when my future Knight in Shining Armor came to my rescue. True story.

From the post:

“I secretly wanted to marry Kyle the moment I met him. But I never told him this.

About a year after I met him, I was due to pick up my parents from the train station in nearby Macedonia, the bordering country with enough infrastructure to stomach a train schedule. It was a four-hour bus ride from the capital of Kosova to Skopje, where Mom and Dad would be at about 10 p.m.

I can live in a lot of challenging environments. I was used to hearing gunfire from my kitchen window, and knew to watch out for land mines.

But I was nervous about going to Skopje by myself.”

Head here to find out what happened.

A Level Playing Field

Finally, I was honored when my friend and social marketing chica Stephanie Bryant asked me to share my thoughts about content expression. In my case, that happens to be a fancy way of saying “publishing.” From the post:

“This is the beauty of the publishing industry today — almost anyone can do it.

Almost.

In a world where a new blog is born every second, you’ve got to stand out, find your unique angle, and be insanely remarkable (to borrow a word from Seth Godin). You’ve got to work and write, and work and write, and just when you think you can kick up your feet, you’ve got to work and write some more. You also have to love it so much that you’re willing to do it for free.

Publishing isn’t easy.“

Head here to read the rest of my guest post.

Alright, that should get you set for your Saturday morning reading. Check back tomorrow to see if you won one of five FPU memberships, or one of ten copies of Heather Solos’ new book, Home Ec 101!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
• The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
• Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
• Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

© 2008-2012 Simple Living Media, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Simple Mom subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please contact hello@simplemom.net to let us know. Thanks.

• Living Intentionally, Romance, and Content Expression
• No Book Club Today
• Thursdays are Book Club day