Oct 10, 2014 |
Five Things Friday at Frankly, My Dear…
I love blogging. I love sharing my little bits and pieces of the world with you. And I love reading other blogs, too.
Today’s Five Things Friday is about some of my favorite blogs.
1. To start with, today I’m the featured guest blogger over at Things They Can’t Say.
So click on the badge to read how I’m not ready to be an empty-nester. It was a hard post for me to write, because I wanted to get it just right. I’m still not sure anyone else will cry when they read it, but maybe if Dot reads it, she’ll understand just how hard it is to let go sometimes.
Lily Don’t Blog
2. Lily Don’t Blog. A few days ago, my friend “Lily” had something to say about a pretty horrific news story. After I shared it on What’s the Word? Wednesday, she told me she had a whole lot more to say. So we set up a blog for her. Now and then I’ll cross-link, but you may just want to follow her on your own. She’s going to get real, sometimes, and other times fly with the fire-breathing dragons. You won’t want to miss her adventures.
Aaron D. Gansky
3. Aaron Gansky. He was the first guest blogger on my redux of What’s the Word? Wednesdays. He’s my writing mentor. And he’s teaching me about Magic: The Gathering. If you follow either of us on Facebook or twitter, you’ll often see #gameongansky as our way of keeping each other accountable in the writing world. His blog has all his social media links, Firsts in Fiction podcasts, and some amazing advice on how to be a better writer.
Blog Buddies ~Molly & Jenn
4. BlogHer. This is sort of a cheater item, because while I love the BlogHer website, it’s what led me to so many other great bloggers like Jennifer at …so this is love…, Winnie at Winnie’s Inky Fingers and Larissa at Papa Is a Preacher. It’s hard to choose just five blogs to tell you about, but if you love blog writing and reading, I highly recommend BlogHer as your go-to reference.
5. Alton Gansky, not to be confused with Aaron, above. Al’s blog and website are just as useful as his son’s but for other reasons. Al is the director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference that I’ve mentioned before. His blog contains useful writing tips as well as Conference updates. Plus, he’s published over forty titles. He’s worth paying attention to.
And those are my Five Things Friday for today. Happy blogging!
And Frankly, My Dear . . . that’s all she wrote!
You may also enjoy reading:
FIVE THINGS FRIDAY: Peacocks
FIVE THINGS FRIDAY: #DoingTheWriteThing
“What’s the Word?” Wednesday: Why Lily Couldn’t Sleep Last Night
Meet the Gilmans
Sep 27, 2012 |
…so this is love… is one of my favorite Blogs. She’s also on twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. We connect a lot.
We connected through BlogHer’s NaBloPoMo over a year ago. Since then, I’ve followed her touching stories of being a child therapist, her struggles with infertility, and her amazing adventures in life. Right now, she’s in the middle of a cross-country journey with her husband Casey, her mom Sandy, and their two dogs.
And yesterday, she drove through my part of the world. How awesome is that?! I may live in a little nowheresville-type place, but it’s on the direct connect from L.A. to Vegas. When I heard Jenn would be driving by, I insisted they detour off the freeway and we meet up for coffee!
Being calm and subdued as usual.
It was just like meeting up with an old friend. There was no awkwardness, no debilitating silence. Just a great hour spent with a great friend and her family.
Blog Family: Sandy (mom), Casey (husband), Jenn
We started by mixing up our Starbuck’s. At the appointed time, we both texted each other, “Here”, only to find “here” was about five miles apart. I quickly drove to their location and entered the store. I recognized them immediately, which was a great comfort. I was nervous there might be the pretense of a public persona vs. private, and I wasn’t sure which I’d be encountering.
On my way there, I thought to myself, “I should have warned her I’m a hugger.” But there was no need. I stepped in to the ‘Bucks and there they were. She rose immediately and embraced me like a long-lost friend. Hugs, handshakes, and how-do-you-do’s all around, and we sat down with our lattes and started talking.
There was no “get to know you” chatter. No deep questions. We already know so much. We’re connected nine ways to Sunday. Meeting in person was just the icing on the cake.
New Old Friends
What’s better than wonderful? Terrific? Heartfelt? When they left, there were hugs all around, and I felt a little sad. I was mentally scheming of ways to follow them to Las Vegas. Now that would be a fun pin in the map!
I loved hearing about their trip so far. Favorite moments? Too many to mention. Plans gone awry? They go with the flow. Expectations? Exceeded. Adventures? By the Bucket Load.
I love living vicariously through her posts: the visits to places I’ve been (The Henry Ford Museum). Photos of places I’ve yet to see (Hershey, PA). But my favorite so far is The Story of Road Warrior.
Abundant with photos, her Blog documents the little moments in her life as well as the big ones. Today she posted on Instagram: her dog Skeeter was checking out a picture of us on Facebook. Not to be outdone, Little Cat is now on Instagram, checking out Skeeter, checking out us.
Stalker
Because we do things thoroughly, me and Jenn. That’s why she’s such a great friend. And I’m pretty sure this meet-up was just the first drop in the bucket.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 19, 2012
Just in case you missed them, here’s a rundown of recent important posts. Just click on each link for more information:
The Unemployment Cookbook Giveaway
Mojo Book Review and a GIVEAWAY: “Carmen of the Golden Coast”
“Give Us This Day…”: How I learned to feel secure with what I have.
Meal Memo in a Jar: A new way to plan meals for a month.
Inspired by Jenn of “…so this is love…”, I’m thinking up different ideas for a link up: A theme that I can make a blog badge for and have other bloggers share and post their themed stories along with. It’s a great way to see what other bloggers are talking about. I especially love Jenn’s “Kid Quotes Friday”. If you haven’t checked them out, you really should. Each Friday she posts the best Kid Quotes of the week; and she’s a Social Worker, so she’s got lots of great material.
I’m just not sure what my link-up theme should be. Recipes are overdone (no pun intended, but there it is anyway). Maybe weekly writing prompts like favorite family memories. Or just a venue for others to share what’s on their minds. What do you think?
Well, I’m off to the Dollar Movies and dry some fruits, in between reading and writing of course! Have a good day, whatever you’re doing!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Nov 25, 2011
I “met” Jenn from …so this is love… through BlogHer and NaBloPoMo. I love her writing style. I love her stories. I love that she loves my blog back. It’s a mutual admiration society between the two of us.
A few days ago, she posted this great little essay she titled “Free Falling”. With her permission, I’m sharing it with you because, well, because it’s just worth sharing.
*** *** ***
The other day, I took a kid that I work with to the playground.
I promptly challenged him to a swinging contest.
As my legs started pumping, and I gained speed and height, I begin to feel that feeling.
The one just as you are swinging high. The wind is blowing through your hair making your cheeks red and your eyes water. And you stop for a split second before you come back down. The drop in your stomach. The lump in your throat. The pulsing of your heartbeat, felt in your brain. The silmultaneous feeling of excitement and dread.
The feeling that you are about to plummet. The wondering if anyone will be there to catch you, if the chains on the swing will hold you. The excitement of the unknown. The free fall. The leap.
I remember days when I was younger. The leaps I took off of the swing from that very moment, at the highest point – pretending that I could fly. The forward rolls into space, perfecting the landing.
I am far too adult to try such a thing now. Fear has replaced much of that adventurous spirit. Some would say common sense, but I believe it’s mostly fear. Because of all those times when I fell perfecting the landing, both literally from swings and figuratively from other life experiences – they have left me cautious about much of the world around me.
But those times when I landed perfectly? The times when I closed my eyes and jumped, believing that I would be okay? They stand out in my mind, my heart, my soul. They are the most important times.
They were so worth facing the fear, letting go, and free falling in the unknown. I need to do more of that.
As for the swinging contest? I let him win.
*** *** ***
Click here to check out her blog. Sometimes her husband posts too. Their stories are real, honest, heartfelt. Sometimes fun, sometimes deep. Always worth reading!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
