Reminiscing on the Party

The cake has been eaten, wrapping paper and ribbons are scattered all over the floor and the balloons are deflated, sure signs of a good party! The part is, since it’s a virtual party no one is stuck on clean-up duty!

We hope you all we’re as touched and inspired by our Birthday Party link up at Hyacynth’s. If you’re in need of a good read, there are 40 (FORTY) of them over there, it was so much fun to see the ones everyone posted!

Did you miss a coffee date this week? We sat down and shared a cup with some of the members of our community. If you haven’t met Ginny, Allison, Patty, Lucy, Suzannah, Jade, or Lenae yet be sure to pull up a chair and a steaming (or iced!) cup of coffee and get to meet some very inspiring women!

We do have one final gift as we wrap up this week-long celebration, the winner of our favorite things was Ginny! Congratulations! Will be in touch to get your items to you!

Our writers weren’t just partying last week they were out and about as always spreading their words across the internet!

Sarah’s most recent post at the Joplin Globe is about parent detectives and getting to the bottom of sibling fighting.

Melissa is the guest writer at Diaper Diaries Marriage Unwrapped series talking about the effects of miscarriage on her marriage, you might be surprised by what it did.

Hyacynth did a rundown of some of the best Father’s day gifts over at CBS local (don’t worry if you didn’t buy any of them, there is always birthday’s and Christmas!)

If you’re in a dinner rut don’t miss Melissa’s Update Dinner Challenge series, it’s full of recipes and ratings on how they fare with the pickiest of picky eaters!

Summer vacation filled with whining, crying, and begging of “what’s next?” keep an eye on Sarah’s Simple Summer Schemes series. She’s offering up fun and easy things to do to keep the kids entertained.

Now the party is done and it’s time to get back to work! Don’t miss this week’s Simple Moments, Bigger picture over at Melissa’s. We can’t wait to read them!

 

Birthday Week Celebration Coffee Date with Robin

In celebration of the Bigger Picture Blogs community turning one year old Thursday, June 23, we’re featuring a few friends who have made the journey of this past year so sweet and so memorable. If you want depth, these ladies have it. And once a connection is made, they are loyal friends. Won’t you grab a cup of tea or coffe, say hello, introduce yourself and stay awhile as celebrate the very best part of our community!?

Don’t forget to stop by the birthday party we threw Thursday at Undercover Mother. Many of our favorite Bigger Picture Moments  from the past year are linked there — don’t miss reading some of the best moments of the year!

Coffee Date: Robin of Diet Coke on the Rawks

Twitter: RBearClaw

With her witty sense of humor and thoughtful, compassionate nature, Robin’s personality is inviting and welcoming. And it reflects in all of her web interactions — from her writing to her tweets to her emails, Robin’s personable, genuine character shines through. She writes honestly about the hilarity and hardships of parenting, marriage, sobriety and her faith in Jesus, continually sharing glimpses of the bigger picture in life.

Robin lives with her husband, two sweet kiddos and Barkley the dog in Southern California. We are estatic she agreed to share her words here today, as she has been a consistant, important voice in our community.

“Motherhood is challenging. 

Of course I knew it would be from what people told me and what I could gather watching my parents and other parents around me.  But I had no idea how challenging and rewarding until I became a mother 7 years ago. 

Motherhood took on a whole new level when I became sober from alcohol a year and a half ago. You wouldn’t have known I had a problem by looking at me or my life, but it was controlling me from the inside, riddling me with guilt and robbing me of my joy.

After the remnant cloud of alcohol lifted and I started to live life, REALLY live it, well, that’s when I stumbled across Bigger Picture Blogs. The group of writers and submitted posts provided insight to beauty I hadn’t taken the time to look at before.  Flowers were not only colorful, but miraculous creations from the Creator. Children’s laughs were not only infectious; they were memories to hold onto forever in print. Tantrums were no longer viewed as ruining my day, they were viewed as something other mothers went through and understood, too. And I learned to embrace them for what they are, and turn them into growth moments worth cherishing. 

But I didn’t just gain reading material to help me along in this parenting gig, or to see the beauty in this Created life…I gained friends I can count on and go to for advice and help. Friends and Sisters who are there in email, phone or comments to support in any way possible. Personal and confidential questions were not off limits, they were welcomed with open arms. 

Now that I am sober, the cravings have disappeared and life is bright and clear, I have taken to writing in my own space more and looking through the camera lens differently. And I owe a lot of that to BPB, for setting such a genuine example of creativity, passion and love.

 Happy birthday to BPB….you make this world a brighter place.”

Birthday Week Celebration Coffee Date with Allison

In celebration of the Bigger Picture Blogs community turning one year old Thursday, June 23, we’re featuring a few friends who have made the journey of this past year so sweet and so memorable. If you want depth, these ladies have it. And once a connection is made, they are loyal friends. Won’t you grab a cup of tea or coffe, say hello, introduce yourself and stay awhile as celebrate the very best part of our community!?

Don’t forget to stop by the birthday party we threw Thursday at Undercover Mother. Many of our favorite Bigger Picture Moments  from the past year are linked there — don’t miss reading some of the best moments of the year!

Coffee Date: Allison of Alli N Son

Twitter: @Alli_n_son

We’re glad to welcome Allison, better known ’round these here Internet parts as Alli,  into our space today; she’s been a long-time friend here in the blogosphere, who has drawn us into her world time and again with her humorous, honest writing and her scrumptious desert recipes at her Sweet-Tooth Friday link up. Allison loves photography, cooking, creating and keeping her world in order down to eating the same colored M&Ms together, as she’s admittedly, slightly OCD. Alas, we love her no matter how she eats her M&Ms because we’re positive if she were eating them in person, she’d share.

Alli  hails from Wisconsin where she lives with her husband and small son; they are only weeks away from adding a baby brother to their nest.

What the Bigger Picture Blogs community means to Alli:

“Simple moments. It’s a concept that’s so, well, simple it’s often over looked.

Every day life has a way of overwhelming us all. It doesn’t matter if you have kids or not. If you are a working mom, a stay at home mom or a work at home mom. We all have burdens that we carry every day. Those things in life that take on a personality of their own, weigh us down and make us blind to the beauty of every day life.

If we aren’t careful, these burdens can take over our life. It’s oh so easy to let that happen. Because often in life the hard times seem to out weigh the beauty.

This is what I love best about the Bigger Picture community. Just by participating in the community, I’m forced to slow down just a little and to look for those every day moments that are so special. So simple that they often get lost if you aren’t paying attention. Slowing down isn’t something that I’m good at, I tend to move at full speed ahead, so any little reminder to just take life as it comes, is welcome.

Even though my involvement over the last few months has been scattered at best, thanks to my energy-zapping pregnancy, I still keep in mind what this community is about. On the hardest days, when my son is being a typical 3-year-old, difficult, demanding and disagreeable, I take a step back, take a deep breath {probably have a piece of chocolate} and look at this little boy, who I adore with all of my heart. I think of the funny faces he made over breakfast, or how his eyes light up when he learns something new, or his small body late at night, so peaceful in sleep. These are the moments that power me through the toughest of days. These simple moments.

Reading the simple moments that other bloggers in the community share each week has been inspiring as well. What better way is there to find special moments in your life, than by reading what is important to others? It’s a gentle reminder to find those moments in places you never thought to look.

Happy birthday to Bigger Picture Moments and all of the truly amazing writers who host each weeks’ Simple Moments, and those writers who contribute their moments.”