Happy weekend, friends!

This week I shared the “best of” posts from last year, including my most popular posts and my personal favorites. I’m pleased with the responses I’ve received on my reader survey, but if you haven’t taken yet, I’d love for you to weigh in with your valuable input before I close it down.

Next week, I’ll be talking about results of the survey and what to expect this year on See Jamie Blog. I’m excited; my brain feels like it’s firing on all cylinders again and I’m ready to roll — or write!

“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”
– William Butler Yeats

Enjoyed a coffee chat last weekend with fellow Georgia bloggers Mary, Tricia, and Amy! Tricia and I have met numerous times, but this was the first time I met Mary and Amy. Funny side story: When Mary wondered aloud who would ask a random stranger to take our photo, I told her the introvert way of handling the situation: we’d awkwardly do a selfie and a kind stranger would see us and offer to take a pic for us. It worked, of course: after this selfie, a Starbucks employee offered to take photos with all of our phones.

from around the web:

• Nine different ways to define blogging success :: For my blogger friends, this is a good one. Numbers certainly factor in, but there’s more to it than that.
• How to start a family book club :: Oh, heck yes. I love this idea.
• The 2015 reading challenge :: A fantastic and not-too-hard reading challenge: 12 books in 12 months in 12 different categories.
• A homeschool day-in-the-life series :: Peek into more than a dozen families’ daily homeschool schedules; this series always has a lot of great ideas and the necessary reminder that there is no ONE perfect way to do things.
• Cause of ALS is found :: A team of researchers believe they’ve found the cause of ALS; if this is true, then it’s a giant step towards finding treatment and a cure. For anyone who has personally seen the effects of this disease, this is exciting news. {For those who don’t know, I lost my dad to ALS.}

right here at home:

I’ve been on a cleaning spree. It always happens in January. Partly the whole new year/new start thing, but partly because putting away Christmas stuff gets me on a roll that seems to keep going. Hurray for clean/organized/simplified stuff!

Daisy (the dog formerly known as LacyDog) either stares disdainfully at me during workouts, or tries to join in. She’s my downward dog buddy. #yogahumor {ha!}

Is it just me, or is it hard to get back into the swing of things after weeks off for the holidays? Kathryn eased back into schoolwork this week, and I’m working on a modified not-workbox sort of thing for Scout, with plans to kick that off next week. Also next week, the girls’ enrichment classes start back and we have a field trip planned; a good way to get fully back into our homeschool groove.

*****

I’m linking up with my friends Kris and Mary today, both of whom I can now happily say I’ve actually hugged in real life.

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »