July 01, 2013

A Challenge, An Intro & A Count

You may have noticed a new banner over there to the right....right under my profile....touting the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  The UBC, as I will be calling it from now on to save wear and tear on my fingers and keyboard, is a month-long challenge/blog hop that takes place once every quarter and goes along with the changes you are seeing and will continue to see around here.

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I've heard of the UBC before, but this is the first time I've signed up to participate.  It's not going to be easy since I'm heading to Tennessee for four days next week and then will be on vacation July 20 - 27.  I'm not sure that WiFi will be available in either location, so I will be doing my best to get posts written before hand and schedule them to post in my absence.  Scheduling posts has never gone well here on Blogger.  Actually, it's never gone at all.  I've tried.  The posts never got published.  That brings me to the big change...

In the near future A Life Lived Well will be moving to Wordpress.  My sweet and very talented blog friend, Beth (you really should pay her a visit...she is a fabulous writer), who, by the way, designed my blog's present look, is working on a new look and the switch.  She understands and LIKES all that technical stuff that makes my eyes go crossed and my head spin.  As soon as we (mostly she) get it ready you'll be directed over there.  It's pretty exciting stuff.  The blog's going to have its own domain name and everything! (That means it's going to be a dot.com....I didn't know, either.)

With all the changes going on and new visitors coming in from the UBC, I thought I'd take a minute to tell you a little bit about me and who I am.  I apologize if you're one of my handful of loyal readers who already knows me well.

Let's start with the obvious....

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My name is Stacy.  It's nice to meet you.  I work as a school bus driver, which explains all the free time I have to play with my blog during the summer.  I've been married to Tim, a project superintendent for a commercial construction company, for 28 years (29 in November).  We have two adult children.  Our son, Matt, is 26, married, and has two children of his own.  Megan, our daughter, is 24 days from turning 21.  She is still living at home with us, though by living at home, I mean we see her as she passes through on her way out and on her way in to bed.

I'm not so sure I want to keep doing the bus driving thing and I'm keeping my eyes open this summer in case anything else pops up.  It's a tough sell.  I may not enjoy the constant driving (especially on winter roads) but it does pay well for a part-time job, I don't have to work nights, weekends or holidays, and I do have the whole summer off.

My Christian faith is probably the next thing you should know about me.  I do often write posts about Christian issues and everything else I try to run through that filter.  I do try to avoid being preachy in the regular stuff and well, if the flat-out Christian posts aren't your cup of tea, you can always skip those.

Maybe I should just sum it up by saying I'm probably a liberal's worst nightmare.  I am conservative, a Bible-believing Christian, I LOVE THIS COUNTRY, I'm pro-gun rights, anti-abortion, and no (let's just get this out and over with), I don't support gay marriage.  I believe our government is out of control and is selling us down the river at a frightening speed.

This is NOT me!
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Now, before you put me in a category (redneck, racist, wacko, Bible-thumper....am I getting warm?) take the time to get to know me.  What you will find is someone who loves God....and therefore tries to practice that love thy neighbor thing.  I believe it's more than possible to love and get along with someone without compromising my values.  I try to avoid getting on my soapbox too much on here and when I do, I welcome thoughtful discussion from all points of view and promise you I will not continue to beat a dead horse.  I know that on some things we just have to agree to disagree.

Okay, we've gone over the big (and scary) stuff.  What else can I tell you?  I'm a bookaholic.  I currently have 5 bookcases filled to overflowing with books, a NOOK that is filling up rapidly, and there are still piles of books all over the place.  I like to cook (but not to clean up the mess), travel, walk along the beach, swing on a porch swing, write, garden, and listen to country music.  I don't drink coffee, but have to have a Coke in the morning.  Flea markets, auctions, yard, and garage sales excite me!  I like to live with color (my living room is painted pumpkin orange!).  I am NOT a domestic goddess, so don't expect to find housekeeping tips.

Bottom line....I'm human, I make mistakes, and I'm trying to figure this life out.

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I join in a little thing around here on Mondays called Multitudes on Monday with Ann Voskamp, author of the best-selling book One Thousand Gifts.  It's all about being grateful for the things in our lives...the big and the small.  It's about finding God's blessings in everything.  Even the bad times.  So, every Monday you will find me counting.

131.  Meeting friends for breakfast on a Sunday morning.

132.  Having exactly what is needed, when there doesn't seem to be any way possible.

133.  A life leisurely enough to allow for blogging.

134.  Friends with skills and a willingness to help.

135.  An older gentleman at the garden center who told of losing his wife 14 months ago and shared the story of their 65 years together.

136.  A husband who shares my dreams.

137.  Summer rain drumming on the roof.

138.  The curious little dog who likes to play, play, play!  And the big dog that likes to sleep, sleep, sleep!

139.  The lush, green-ness after the rain.

140.  A husband who may not have to work on July 4 after all.


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8 comments:

Michelle Liew said...

HI Stacy, my name is Michelle Liew of Muses from the Deep at http://www.gettingliteral.com and I am glad to know you. Thanks for sharing a little about yourself and I wish you all the best in the UBC!

Stacy said...

Thank you, Michelle!

Cathy Yerges said...

Stacy, thanks for the introduction. Great idea for the start of the blog challenge. I look forward to following you and seeing the changes on your blog.

Don Purdum said...

Thank you for the well thought out introduction. I love your passion and look forward to learning from you and with you over the next month!

Stacy said...

Thanks, Don! I'll try to live up to that. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, One Thousand Gifts is an AWESOME book!! Did you know they have an app??? I love it, I don't use it NEARLY as much as I should, but I do love it. It's nice to "meet" you!

bookworm said...

Good luck with the UBC and good luck in your move to Wordpress. I'll be curious to see how your move goes. I've thought about leaving Blogger now and again - I'm fortunate in that (so far) the scheduling process has worked OK for me. You've taken on the challenge in a challenging month for you and I like that. Thank you for visiting my blog.

Marianne (Mare) Baker Ball said...

I think I've followed you for a year or more. I'll be watching how the switch goes as well, b/c I want to make some changes too. We are sisters in Christ I believe!

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