Finding my groove

I was looking through some of my old posts today and I happened upon one from my earlier days with the Examiner - where I was having a massive anxiety attack in written form, basically. I felt like that post needed a follow up since I've begun to find my own groove since then.

At the end of that piece I stated I would take a break from the forums for awhile since it was only breeding anxiety for me. I did take a break and only occasionally wander in there to make sure I'm not missing any important updates, words of wisdom, etc. In the mean time, I found another place to go filled with fellow Examiner writers. It's a Facebook group and the premise of the page is no whining and a place where we can share ideas and post our articles to use as another source of promotion. In short, I found the place to be for me. The atmosphere in this group is overwhelmingly supportive and I've had the privilege of learning from people who are really making this work - let me tell you, they work their behinds off. I am in awe over the volume of articles they get written in a day for several topics. Good, quality articles at that. In addition to those seasoned Examiner writers, I've "met" newbies like me who are also finding their way; other moms writing similar topics to mine, yet we take different approaches to how we run our pages.

The panic post stemmed from somebody's wondering if Examiner was a detriment to a person's writing career and from watching the success of some of the people I've met via the Facebook page prove the ponderments I raised, right. (Yes, that was definite Becca speak, you should probably get used to it). It is about the quality of writing a person does. In the word Abby and I share so sassily these days, "du-uh!" So here I am at four, nearing on five months of writing for Examiner and I definitely feel like I'm finding my groove. Surely I wish I could magically find some way to expand my readership, but I know it's not something that happens overnight. When I think of where I was when I started and the only page views I was rocking were ones from my family to where I am now...Vast improvement! Still, there's room for lots of growth and finding the stories that really bring the readers, but I have to recognize that the stories I write that bring in the most numbers aren't pieces that are going to get written every day. Meanwhile, in between those definite hits, I've just got to keep plugging along, doing my thing.

Not knowing who actually reads this, I'm still going to send out a thank you to Examiner for allowing me this opportunity to write about a topic I love, to my fellow Examiners who have made me feel oddly at home in a group of people I've never even had the chance to meet face-to-face, and finally to my faithful readers I have earned to this point - I love your comments and appreciate your stopping by my page and checking out my work.

• Becca's Examiner Page

Raising awareness for Dyslexia

My most recent Examiner article finally fulfills the promise to cover some of the many areas/issues awareness is being raised for this month. One down, two to go, nothing like waiting until the end of the month. However, if you know me at all, you know I am a horrible, horrible procrastinator. There should be consequences for a procrastinator like me, but it seems I do my best work when it gets down to go time. For instance, I think it was my last year of college, we had an entire semester to get the paper done for one of my core classes and I had been "working" on an idea s l o w l y putting the pieces together throughout the semester, when the day before it was due I decided I wanted to shift the focus of the thesis entirely. I'm pretty sure I stayed up all night, got the research done, wrote the paper, and e-mailed it at the last possible second. 100%. See what I mean? That's just not motivation to getting things going earlier.

Talk about diving off topic, though! The latest Examiner piece I have to offer you talks about dyslexia. It gives you a brief overview of what dyslexia means and some of the signs you can look for in your child, but it also connects you to some resources. One website I've found over the course of researching various topics is my new personal go to site for nearly everything. This site is phenomenal - and here's why: This site gives you information if you're a parent researching, it provides information for kids and teens in ways that relate to them. It's completely helpful. The kid sections don't sound as though they're talking down, rather they put it into terms a kid can understand. But to get linked up to this website, you'll have to head over to the article. I know, I'm mean, right? But you'll survive, so let's stop dilly-dallying and get you the link:

• Reading it right: Dyslexia Awareness Month

Guest spot

This posting will be a short one. I just wanted to share that I did a "guest spot" on Mary's Hurricane Riley & his Big Brother Rex blog today. As I've previously written, Mary is partaking in the 31 for 21 Challenge where she is posting something to her blog each day during the month of October. Remember October is also Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

I'd love it if you took the time and stopped by my first ever guest blogging spot. You'll find an interview I did with my sister in response to Mary's first ever Friendship Friday edition.

A friendship that shares everything - Christine's story - 31 for 21 day 22

All things Halloween

Here we are at less than two weeks away from Halloween and I finally decided perhaps it was time that I acknowledged that in my writing. I'm just not a big fan. Even when I was a kid...I remember when I was really small being excited about my costume, but even when I was still in Elementary School, my favorite part of Halloween was being at home, with my mom, handing out the candy to all of the trick-or-treaters. My parents would take out the screen/glass in the screen door and I thought that was complete and utter fabulousness. Then, as I do now, enjoyed seeing what other people would wear, but I could take it or leave it.

Alas, I am far from being in the majority on this one so it seemed intelligent to get some Halloween articles out there. Let me tell you a little bit about the two articles I'll be linking you to today. The first Halloween article I have for you details a list of events offered in the Billings area on the 29th - 31st of this month. In that article you'll also find a list of the various maizes and pumpkin patches in the area.

The second Halloween article I have to offer you talks Halloween safety. I genuinely did not want to put out yet another Halloween safety article, as they are in an abundance right now, so I tried to mix it up a bit. You've got the same ol' safety tips (I'm pretty sure I probably didn't break any new ground), but there are things there that I hadn't necessarily thought of, simply because I am not yet the mother of an older child. I also link you to some safety quizzes in this article. One is specifically for the kids to take and it's pretty awesome. I had my sister take it with her youngest (who is four) and having my sister read to her, but her (my niece) clicking through and choosing her answers worked just fine. Older kids will enjoy it too. I mean, I'm a 29-year-old kid and I enjoyed it. So hopefully I succeeded in bringing something a little different to the table with this piece.

Happy reading and Happy Halloween!

• Halloween activities for Billings families
• Staying safe this Halloween

And the verdict is...

As I shared yesterday, I had an interview today to discuss becoming a freelance writer for a local magazine. I also talked about how incredible my family is; let me start there...

My parents offered to have Abby while I went on the interview and upon arriving at my parents' house, the first words out of my mom's mouth were about how beautiful and professional I looked. Given that I had waffled over what to wear to this interview over coffee, these were words I needed to hear - even if they were coming from my very biased mother. The look on my dad's face as they sent me off on words of encouragement? Pure pride. Not too shabby of a send off, but still my nerves were jangling, but then...Getting in my car I saw I had a voice mail from my sister. As I drove down the road, listening to her message, I was wrapped in her words of encouragement and love. That was just what I needed - it was the icing on my encouragement cake. Not only that, but I'm doing a better job of letting God in on these things. It's clear things go better when I don't leave Him sitting on the sidelines. After my sister's message my nerves settled and I kept hearing her words over in my head and I went into this not only feeling good, but confidant.

Get to it already, you say? Well why don't you just call me the latest freelance writer for Simply Family magazine! I am thrilled beyond all reasonable belief. I love, love, love this magazine! Truly. It's that perfect fit to where I'm at in my life right now. My first article is supposed to be in the January edition - here's to the next step!

Could it be...Progress?

For whatever reason  I haven't really put my latest writing news "out there" yet, as I don't know exactly where it's going to go. However, as I was purusing my writings on here, I thought about how this blog is supposed to chronicle my journey as I work to find my way in this world of "being a writer." So, you're hearing it here first.

Tomorrow morning I have a meeting with the founder of a local magazine to discuss the possibility of me doing some writing for them. I'm insanely excited about this, but I really have no idea how this is going to turn out. I guess I didn't want to jinx it by talking about it too much, but felt it was only fair to put this out there, here.

As I'm writing this, I'm reflecting on the awesomeness that is my family. I'm thinking about what a phenomenal group of people they are - and how completely blessed I am that the individuals my siblings married are just as essential to this family as our original five. I couldn't have possibly asked for a more loving, supportive family. As I mentioned in my last post, my mom worked really hard to ensure that our family became an unshakable unit. While I don't claim to have the same kind of relationship with my brother that I do my sister; our love and loyalty are fierce. I know no matter what, these people have my back, and at the end of the day...That's not such a bad thing to have.

What on earth does this have to do with tomorrow? Well, first, without my sister and her friend, tomorrow might never have come to fruition. They both talked up my writing to this individual and they (the whole fam) are as excited about this as I am. I know this, I also know no matter the outcome, they'll continue to be my biggest fans and cheering me on each step of the way. I'll let you know how it goes. Think good thoughts for me!

10 Random Things

Following the lead of Mary (Hurricane Riley & his Big Brother Rex) in her 10th of 31 post for 21 today, I'm going to give you something completely random in the land of random writings with a list of 10 random things about me. Go ahead, hop on board and post your own 10 for 10.

1. I will willingly and happily re-read books again and again. I have probably read The Lovely Bones, Summer Sisters, and A Thin Dark Line more than a dozen times a piece. 
2. There are two words I have to say to my husband before he goes to work. 
3. And there are three words my volleyball girls are forbidden from ever saying. 
4. I would not have claimed to be a superstitious person, but the two previous statements clearly speak otherwise.
5. I cannot fathom not having a family who is your everything. Given that today is also my mom's birthday, I'll take this opportunity to give her a shameless plug. My 'original' family is not large - nor do my parents come from large families. We were the original five and both my parents - but especially my mom made every effort to ensure that our family of five became an unbreakable unit. She is unshakable in a crisis. 
6. Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too by Shel Silverstein is one of my absolute favorite pieces of written work. I LOVE to read it out loud. It's silly, it's fast, it's insanely fun. 
7. I still remember the day my husband became someone not who I couldn't live without, but the person whom I didn't want to live without. 
8. I am oddly addicted to Hannah Montana. This is a big one that I'm sharing and if I could whisper in writing, I so totally would.
9. I genuinely fear sending Abby off to school. I don't want to be apart from her everyday for all that time (I know, "Cut the cord mom!"). I'm terrified I won't arm her with the tools that will enable to stand strong against poor choices and people with vastly different values. I know how mean kids can be - I know important lessons have to be learned, but...
10. I love that my nieces and nephews envelope Abby into their lives as if she's one of their own siblings, since she's always going to be an only...Unless God and I stop being on the same page in this matter.

There you go, 10 things about me. Now hurry, there's not a lot of time left in 10/10/10. Eh, you won't hurt my feelings if you do it tomorrow. Leave us a comment with your link if you do!

Family Night: What's your favorite?

This week I posted/published the first in my first ever weekly series. The premise of this weekly feature is centered around providing ideas for family night. Whether the family night occurs on Wednesday night (so designated years ago when "Church Night" got banned out of the school's verbiage - kids are suppose to come home with considerably lighter backpacks on "Family Night." So whether your family rocks a family night during the week or on the weekend, this column is here to provide ideas.

As we know, miss Abby is a fabulous 3-year-old, but she doesn't always stick to a whole game (I've come to the conclusion if we attempt to make it too obviously a learning experience instead of just "fun" she'll bail on us). My sister often comments that she better get on board pretty soon because Bryan and I are BIG fans of playing games. We tend towards card games, but put any kind of game in front of us and we're a happy couple. Should you be invited into our home for dinner, it's almost a guarantee you will be drawn into some kind of game.

For a look at our first set of suggestions, head on over to my Examiner page. But first let's talk about where you come in...I'm sure your family has special activities you've done or do to make the most of your family night. I want to include ideas outside of my own perspective, so if you've got an activity that you'd like to see featured in one of these weekly columns, send 'em my way! You can e-mail me, leave a comment below (or on the article itself), or find me on Facebook.

Family Night: What are your plans?

Enjoy your family!

Just curious, have you found ways to raise awareness for any of the many areas awareness is being raised for this October?

October is a month of raising awareness

Not only is October a month for raising awareness for Down syndrome, but for many others as well. A recent Examiner article of mine explores all the various issues awareness is being raised for during the month of October.

When I got the list I noticed there were some topics I had recently covered. This particular article is my "hub article" so to speak, which provides brief information (in some cases) about that particular subject, links to articles already completed on the topic, or the promise for articles to come. I'm blown away at all the pertinent issues being addressed this autumn month.

To take a peek at all that's happening this month, you'll, of course, be directed over to my Examiner page for all that informative goodness. Be sure to keep checking back throughout the month, or hey, subscribe to my Examiner articles so you can be sure you won't miss a thing.

Learn more about what's happening this month: October is a month of bringing awareness

October is National Down syndrome Awareness Month

Did you know that October is National Down syndrome Awareness Month? (I'm thinking the title should have provided a clue, but...) Perhaps you remember the Kibbes? A Spokane family whose youngest child has Down syndrome. I did a series of articles on their family back in July.

Mary has a blog of her own, which she started writing in 2008 in order to participate in the "31 for 21" challenge. So with the first day of October nearly over as I write this, she has posted 1 of 31 for 21 today.
I love this and look forward to reading her posts each day. For my part, I told her I'd comment every day on her posts. What can you do to
raise awareness? Take to your Twitter accounts, Facebook, blog, whatever and spread the word. Even today there are many misconceptions about individuals with Down syndrome. In the course of the research I did for their story I found this quote:



“The most important fact to know about individuals with Down syndrome is that they are more like others than they are different.”
--National Association for Down syndrome

I dare you to learn more about Riley and even for a moment question the wisdom of that quote. To me, it says it all.

Haven't had a chance to Meet the Kibbes? Simply mosey down the page just a bit for the links to their articles. Also, check out Mary's blog. Perhaps she'll leave us a comment sharing some of her favorite blogs who are also participating in the 31 for 21 challenge.

Part 1: Meet the Kibbes
Part 2: Learning about Down syndrome
Part 3: Resources for children with Down syndrome
Part 4: Just a boy and his big brother Rex
Part 5: Looking forward
Mary's Blog: Hurricane Riley & his Big Brother Rex

Moments that take your breath away

Parenting. Like any relationship the parent-child relationship has its highs and lows. There are days when I feel like a complete and utter failure. Then there are days where we’re clicking and it’s perfection. And of course there are the in-between-kind-of-days. Regardless what kind of day it is, she is my everything and my heart feels ready to burst with love more often than not.

You might know that Abby is three-years-old. It’s such a short time for someone to be in your life yet so profoundly impact you, isn't it? When in truth, from the first moment I felt her move in my belly, I was hers.

My pregnancy was not easy, but still I loved having her with me all the time. I spent a lot of time talking to her when she was in my belly. The day I found out she had stopped growing and she would be coming earlier than expected, it was truly my first mommy moment. I remember driving home following that appointment alternating between talking to her and God. Reassurance for her and me and begging God to take care of this life I could no longer imagine being without.

But I digress…This week I’ve been very aware of the best part of my day, which is what spurred this post. My absolute favorite part of the day, one of the best parts of being a mama, is the end of the day last kiss before I go to bed. Often when I sneak into her room and lay the softest of kisses on her beautiful cheek, a smile will briefly flit across her lips.

Earlier this week we shared a similar moment and I swear- it felt as though my heart would burst into a million pieces. As I neared her bed, the floor creaked a little and it drew her every so slightly out of her sleep. Reaching her bedside, she automatically reached out her hand for me to hold. She murmured a few things as she hovered between that deep sleep and slight wakefulness, but wouldn’t release my hand. Her face was completely relaxed and more “baby looking” than I’d seen it look in a long time. I whispered equally unintelligible things to her as I knelt by her bedside, holding her hand, stroking her face for I don’t know how long, watching her sleep before I finally left her side. It’s moments like that, where everything is right in our world and it’s just us, that take my breath away and make all my shortcomings a little more bearable.

What are your favorite parenting moments?