The Newest Daly Blogger

Most of you know that Owen struggles with writing…more specifically, getting what is in his head down onto a piece of paper without going through some serious angst.

Well today we started a blog for him to express his thoughts. He really enjoyed designing his blog page and writing his first post. When you view Owen’s blog you should know that the words and thoughts are all his. Mom just helped with the editing (punctuation and spelling). You can subscribe to his blog to learn more about his “observations”.

Also, I am trying Windows Live Writer to for this post so if things look a little funny, I apologize as it is very new to me.

And lastly, here is a picture simply because I wanted to learn how to insert some photos on Windows Live.

Best,

Jen

These are a Few of My Favorite Things, Part 2

In continuation of my salute to The Sound of Music, here are some more of my favorite things...

With the rising cost of healthcare in our country and the lack of faith that we have in the healthcare system, we decided to join Samaritan Ministries. It is not insurance but believers sharing in healthcare costs. We have only been on the program for 4 months but what I enjoy most about it is receiving a list of those who need prayer, of those who have experienced both joy and loss. Each month we send our money to someone different along with a note of encouragement. It's refreshing. And to know that our money is not going towards the termination of a new life puts a new spin on healthcare. We get to send money in to support fellow believers as opposed to having to send it in so we are "covered".

Pinterest is a new favorite things. I am pretty slow on the uptake of new trends. Shockingly, I do not have a twitter account. Gasp! Pinterest is one of those new trends that I have been slow to understand. In fact to be truthful I still don't completely understand it. First, I had to "wait" for an invitation to join and then when I was "invited" (I just love quotation marks...they are so fun) anyway, once I was "invited" I still could not (cannot) figure out how to log in since I guess I have to use my facebook account? So confusing. Well I just use the app on my phone to link to a website that's get me what I need so it is still in fact a good resourceful tool....I think! Perhaps it's just another time waster?

Oh and confessional time. I use to think it was pronounced "Pee - interest" only to find out it is "PIN-terest. Oh embarrassing!

One of my favorite website's for finding new and fun educational material and games is Timberdoodle. It's one of the few catalogs I allow to be mailed to me. They have a fun blog as well with really great ideas for homeschoolers like us! It's worth a peak.

Every summer I head to a homeschool convention to fill my toolbox with new ideas and encouragement. At the 2011 convention JM Cremps was one of the vendors. It was at that moment that I was so glad that my boys were not there with me. They had the coolest all boy-stuff! All BOY!

My One word was introduced to me by my friend Krista at her annual cookie exchange. They have some very encouraging stories of how using just one word throughout the year can bring a new spin to choosing new year's resolutions that are generally so hard to keep. I like the idea of just one word.
This was my favorite of the videos they share online...



My One Word - Mark Loudermilk from PC3 on Vimeo.


My one word this year is "Studied".

If you know me at all, you know I love genealogy. Ancestry.com is one of my favorite family research sites. My Uncle and Grandmother have done amazing amounts of research on my mother's side of my family. My Dad's brother...Uncle Bubba...has done a lot of research for my dad's side of the family. When I married Ben, I felt so sad for him that he had such a small family and knew very little about family history that I resolved myself to help him (and his family) know more. So I have spent the better part of 10 years doing research for his family. And I must say his tree has not been an easy one to research. The Daly name is Irish and many of the Irish records were burned or destroyed in the early 1900's. In all there are 3 or 4 mysteries yet to be solved that one day I hope to make sense of in sort of a Sherlock Holmes type fashion. Perhaps it will be the makings of a great book one day?

My great-grandmother, Edith, loved to write stories, especially family history stories. She was a researcher. I guess I get it honest! She loved to type up letters written by family members. She would make books to give to all the children and grandchildren. These are books that I treasure the most. She writes of her parents meeting in the disaster of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. What a love story that must have been.


Do you need your family history researched? Ask me, I'd love to help!


One of my most recent finds is the Kindle app for the iPhone and iPad. In general, I love to read real books and not on a screen. However, one thing I find quite nice about the Kindle app is that I can read it in bed at night and it is lit up for me. This is a good thing for night-time reading. Another benefit to having the app on your phone is that you can link it to your Amazon.com account and dowload tons of free books. Did someone say free?


You guys by now know that I am a huge fan of Ann Voskamp's blog. And her book as well.

Well, now there is an iphone app that you can log your own 1000 gifts on. I love this! At my fingertips. No excuse not to see the thanks!

I still have lots of other "favorite things" so I reserve the right to post a part III and maybe even a part IV if I am feeling particularly saucy!

What are some of your favorite things?

Jen

One Example

I know there are many examples of how not to waste your life. This is just one that left me speechless.




This is a quote from her book...

"This is what my loving Father taught me every day of the last year, this beauty in the process. That while a healed and whole family is a marvelous thing to behold, the process that got us there is where He was most glorified and where He drew us to Himself. That a wound all healed and covered with smooth new skin is not nearly as wonderful as the relationship that was built while I bandaged that wound everyday for 8 months and cried tears and laughed stories of my Savior. That dreams die and plans change and seasons end, but He is not done yet. He sees the seeds that come with all the endings and He is faithful to turn them into harvest, into beauty."

I think she has wisdom beyond her years.

Be a blessing,
Jen