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Archive for the ‘Books I Love’ Category

Becoming a Simple Minimalist: Past decluttering and a new plan of attack!

Posted in Books I Love, De-cluttering, Family, tagged , , , on August 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

It’s happening AGAIN. I’m finding myself fuming and pouting because I am picking up my family’s crap AGAIN. We have too much stuff AGAIN. I spent most of 2011 working through and posting about my decluttering challenge. Click on the links to read how I did it:

It’s only been four years since I learned (and taught) about decluttering and minimalism. It’s only been one year since we decluttered to move to our current home. It’s not like I’ve forgotten how to do it, so maybe I needed new inspiration to do it again. Don’t we all need that now and then?

Enter my friend, Penelope Hoyt.

She’s written several books on the topic as well as homemaking, homeschooling, organizing and prepping. I started with her book, The Simple Minimalist, and I’m still working my way through her stuff. She has lots of great tips including defining minimalism for yourself (Hint: It looks a little different for each person) and pursuing a simple, peaceful lifestyle free from emotional and mentally draining clutter. She encouraged me by reminding me WHY I want to live simply – so I have more time, energy, and resources to live life with the people I love.

Sadly, she lives too far away to grab a cup of Chai and pick her brain, so I spent last week reading several of her books. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you can read most of them for free, but her prices are amazing even without KU. Here’s a partial list of the books I read:

Minimalism Made Easy: What It Really Takes to Live with Less It was a nice surprise when I discovered I already had this on my Kindle before we even met. 😉

Going Green: 25 Recipes to Save Your House and Your Life

Natural Living

Downsizing Made Easy: How to Simplify Your House for a Quicker Sale

101 Things to Teach Your Kids This Year

Her Minimalist Hacks series was great too. I decided to stop reading for now and start minimizing! When I thanked her for inspiring me, she responded by giving me a few tips. The most important one is this: Buy big black trash bags. You are more likely to get rid of things when you’re not staring at them, possibly having second thoughts.

I read and got inspired again. I formed a plan. I talked to my family and they all jumped on board the crazy purging train I’m conducting. Woot! Woot! This is Nowell Purging Week, and today was Day 1. Benny posted this on Facebook today:

purge

Hey! I needed a staging area.This is what happens when you have kids hauling everything up and down stairs. They dump it wherever. Hmmm…seems to me that’s what got us into this mess. Bringing too much stuff into our home contributed as well, I suppose. It’s okay. We’re punching the reset button.

Here’s my basic plan of attack:

Monday: Pete’s room and our bookshelves. DONE and DONE!

  • 7 boxes of homeschooling curriculum (not mine, I was storing them)
  • 7 boxes of books – mostly mine
  • 3 bags of stuffed animals, clothes, and shoes (plus a few GIANT stuffed animals)
  • 2 bags of misc. toys and stuff
  • 1 big bag of trash

Tuesday: Max’s room. Dear God, please help me control my tongue and attitude, and have someone bring me Chai.

Wednesday: After I get home from work – The bathrooms and hall closets.

Thursday: Zoe’s room and the living room/dining room. She’s been cleaning, so it will be easier than riding herd on helping the boys.

Friday: The kitchen and the laundry room.

Saturday: Finish up our bedroom, which is where I began before officially starting this purge.

Sunday: A much-needed day of rest! 😉

I’ll let you know how the week goes by updating this post with how much stuff we haul away.

I’ll be back with more thoughts on this and how we can avoid a repeat of this process next year, but in the meantime, visit Penelope at her blog, The Nerdy Survivalist, buy her books on Amazon, then go declutter something!

You can do it!

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Sacred Margins, an Apology, and Christmas Letters

Posted in Books I Love, Drawing Challenge, Guest Blogger, Promoting Friends, Writing, tagged , , on November 14, 2012| 2 Comments »

My friends Trevor, Chris, and Allen invited me to guest blog over at Sacred Margins today. I wrote about making a difference in my post, Greeting Cards and Bubbles.

“The guys” as I affectionately call them, are not only some of Benny’s best friends, but a talented band of brothers with a gift for exploring themes of faith. Their Sacred Margins site was born out of walking through life together and long talks about rest, space, and the desire to explore the deep connections between spirituality and technology. I am so honored they invited me to be part of the discussion!

I need to apologize to my friend Don. Not only because I never finished his 30 day drawing challenge, but because I’m not going to. I’ve had to give myself permission to move on. It was a great challenge – he rocked it out – but me? Not so much.

I did learn that I can draw more than stick figures. I also learned that drawing is work for me, and not the fun kind. Give me a lump of clay and I’ll be content to make whatever you want me to, but my brain does not see pictures on a flat surface in a way that is easily reproducible for me. I’m going to stick to word art for a while.

I have enough challenging things in my life now to take on any more. For instance, I decided not to join my many friends taking the NANOWRIMO challenge this month, but I am working on my time travel novel. That is fun for me, and there’s no pressure to have it completed by a certain day. I definitely work better on a deadline, but this is play, not work. It’s still challenging, but in a good way.

Have you read my story yet? The one published in Time Traveling Coffers? It’s not too late to get it at a discounted rate.

https://www.createspace.com/4021532

(Save 25% by using coupon code 9HW5GHYR when you order by 11/31/12)

I’m also trying to write our end of the year letter to our SEVENS family and friends without making it sound like a Christmas letter. It would be much easier if I had been writing quarterly letters like I had planned to do. I’m lucky they’re a forgiving bunch and they love me.

Be honest. How do you feel about Christmas letters?

Love them? Dread them? Hate them?

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Time Traveling Coffers: My first published fiction story

Posted in Big Announcements, Books I Love, Joy in the Journey, Promoting Friends, Writing, tagged , , , , , on October 23, 2012| 5 Comments »

I write fiction.

Now there’s a phrase I didn’t think would ever pass my lips. I’ve dreamed about writing a bestselling novel, but what writer hasn’t? I even went as far as outlining a novel at a workshop I attended a few years ago, but it was only to appease the speaker. I filed it under “writing misc.” and forgot about it. I have spent the past few years whining about not having enough time to blog, and working on piddly projects here and there. Until a few months ago.

I know this lady in my writer’s group who is always sharing opportunities for contests, anthologies, conferences, and such. She’s a writer/editor and probably submits more than anyone else I know. One day she cornered me and asked when I was going to write a story for her. With a polite smile, I kindly told her that I don’t write fiction. We chatted for a few minutes and I finally admitted that the time travel anthology she was working on intrigued me, and I did have an idea for a short story based on something that has puzzled me most of my life. I shared my idea and she said, “Write that!” So I did. Sort of. A few weeks after the deadline, I found out my story was accepted. I went to work on my edits and resubmitted my story. I was thrilled when it was also chosen as the 2nd story in the book!

From the intro:

What makes this collection unique is that an object must directly or indirectly be responsible for the [time travel] journey. The approach taken by all twelve writers is both as different and as diverse as the authors themselves. Several are from other countries. Several are brand new. Several are already published…it is family friendly. The editor wanted parents to be comfortable allowing their child or teenager to read these stories without fear of offensive language or sexual content. That being said, sit back and enjoy a trip through time via odd devices. It will be well worth the journey.

Time Traveling Coffers (WolfSinger Publications) released last week just in time for Mile Hi Con here in Denver. Last Sunday I joined my editor, publisher, and a few of my fellow authors in a reading, panel discussion, and book signing. We had a small but gracious audience and I received lots of encouragement and advice. I couldn’t cram all the story details into my limited 6,000 word count for the anthology, so I saved  a lot of it for the novel I’m writing. I hope others love my idea as much as I do.

Now that you know the story behind the story, here’s how you can buy it!

Print Edition is priced at $12.95
Ebook is priced at $5.99

Here is the link for Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Time-Traveling-Coffers-Dana-Bell/dp/1936099373/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350073188&sr=8-1&keywords=Time+Traveling+Coffers

 

Smashwords offers all available e-book formats.

(Save 50% by using coupon code WB94A when you order by 10/31/12)

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/243987

 

This is the link for create space:

(Save 25% by using coupon code 9HW5GHYR when you order by 11/31/12)

https://www.createspace.com/4021532

 

I also have limited e-book copies I can offer for anyone who would like to read and review the book on their blog. Email me if you’re interested.

 

I didn’t get to do this in the book, so special thanks to:

Dana Bell for asking me to write outside of my box, and accepting my first story.

Benny Nowell and Karen Stonecypher for thinking through the plot with me and being my head cheerleaders.

Paula Moldenhauer, Kordee Rose, and Don Hillson for their invaluable critiques of my SFD, asking me the hard questions, and keeping me encouraged and on track.

Will Rees, and Max, Zoe, and Pete Nowell. I was glad my kids were as excited about my story as I was. 🙂

 

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30 Day Drawing Challenge~Day 13: Comic

Posted in Books I Love, Creativity, Drawing Challenge, Humor, Just for fun, Movies, Promoting Friends, tagged , , , on August 19, 2012| 5 Comments »

This one was a little unclear. Don and I discussed whether or not this challenge meant our favorite comic book character, favorite comic/comedian, or that we had to make one up ourselves. I needed a good laugh, so I chose door #3. To honor the release of The Hunger Games on DVD this week, here’s a bit of bad drawing and even worse poetry. You’re welcome. (Click on the pic to enlarge.)

I think my kids have dropped out of the challenge.

Go give some blog love to my friends over at:

Expatriatism,  Free To Be Too Much, and GirlyGeeky

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30 Day Drawing Challenge~Day 6: Favorite Book Character

Posted in Books I Love, Creativity, Drawing Challenge, Just for fun, Promoting Friends, tagged , , on August 12, 2012| 3 Comments »

This whole “favorite” business is beginning to get on my nerves. Like choosing best friends, I have a favorite in each book genre. Choosing just one is a small form of torture. AND it can’t be a book that’s been turned into a movie? You might as well tie my hands behind my back then tell me to draw. Most of my beloved favorites have interpretations on the big screen already. Not fair. (Okay enough with the whining, Niki!)

Tris Pryor is the heroine in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. She sold the movie rights to Summit Entertainment, so there’s a possibility that I may someday sit in a darkened theater watching Tris come to life. Right now, there are no pictures of her, just a description from the novel. While she is not my very favorite book character, I like her a lot, and she is the closest I can come to cramming myself into the criteria of the challenge. I also thought about drawing Four, the other main character (love him), but I find guys harder to draw.

“I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring. When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot..I sneak a look at my reflection when she isn’t paying attention–not for the sake of vanity, but out of curiosity…I see a narrow face, wide, round eyes, and a long, thin nose–I still look like a little girl, though sometime in the last few months I turned sixteen.” ~Chapter 1, Divergent

Divergent is the first book in a great young adult dystopian trilogy. Insurgent, released this summer, and the final book will be out sometime in 2013. Can’t wait.

Who is your favorite book character?

Want to see who my fellow challengers chose?

Don at Expatriatism

Zoe at Welcome to Zoe’s World

Max at The Hero Chronicles

Freebie at Free To Be Too Much

Girl at GirlyGeeky

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