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Issue 4

November 2007

New Site!

I wanted to change the site up a bit, and I've spent the last 2 weeks+ focusing any extra time I could to this site. So you're wondering, what's new?

• The colors—aren’t they pretty?  I’ve grown fond of them as I have worked on the site. J
• The top menu bar instead of the main menu being on the left.  I like this better, because now the site can have:
• Left side menus that are specific to the particular section of the site (i.e., “marriage”)
• The STORE—It’s an Amazon store, meaning everything you purchase is actually through Amazon, at Amazon’s amazing prices, and with Amazon’s super saver shipping on most products.  I have hand selected every single item that is listed in  the store & have put everything in categories that matter most to moms.  Books-Baby stuff, gift ideas & more!  Take a peek!
• Less clicking, no empty pages.  I had high hopes when I originally created Serious Moms—I created a lot of pages, hoping to fill them in with content. I recently realized how many pages my viewers (you!) were clicking on and finding blank.  I’ve deleted blank pages and condensed the small ones when it made sense.  I’m not a fan of a lot of clicking, or a lot of scrolling—so it’s a balancing act, but I think I did ok. J
• Quicklinks….Read more below!

Thanksgiving:

It's tomorrow, are you ready? Do you know what you're making? Check out my Thanksgiving Preparations page for some great recipes! If you'd like to teach your kids about the holiday, I've got a page for that too. And if you're wondering what to do with the Thanksgiving Leftovers, take a peek at the newest page on the site for some fun ideas!

What's a Quicklinks Page?

In short, it is a page on Serious Moms that I can design for you with your favorite links, a Yahoo search box, a Bible Gateway search box, and an Amazon search box. It is FREE! I have had my very own home page for a while now and have really enjoyed the convenience of clicking on the links I use often (rather than searching for them again or sorting through my favorites list).  I wanted to make a page like this available to others who might want one.  Check out my page to get an idea of what yours could look like.  Also see the main Quicklinks page for details & instructions on how to get your page!

CHRISTMAS

It's coming sooner than you think! There are many different Christmas pages on Serious Moms! Start with the main one and go from there. One of my most popular pages (#4 on Yahoo!) is currently the Stocking Stuffers Idea Page.  Also, my friend Celina has some great thoughts about giving on her blog and I have posted links to those specific posts on Serious Moms. Take a look!

Why No Newsletter since March 2006?

Good question! I'm glad you asked! Lots of reasons, really! We moved at the end of March 2006 and spent much time painting, setting up house, etc.  We adopted a baby girl this summer (our precious Ruby!), so life with 4 kids (6 and under) keeps me busy! And really, I feel like over the last year+, God's been teaching me a lot, and I needed to take a break from writing.  I just needed to learn and figure out what I really stood for. I've deleted some of my old Serious Moms articles that I felt were too harsh--too black & white in areas that God might not be so black and white.  When you write a book, at least people can see your thought process from start to finish.  When you post a website, people see glimpses...and if God has taught me a new way to think about a particular subject, how do I show that on a website without looking like a hypocrite or confusing people about what I really stand for? I had to figure all of that out...So that's the answer! My heart has been drawn towards this site though--I have SO been wanting to write, and add more resources and topics. YOU have all been such an encouragement to me, as I have received e-mail after e-mail of people wanting to subscribe to this newsletter & telling me that this site has blessed them.  THANK YOU!

Some of My Favorite Links:

• Pandora-I've been using this site daily. Type in an artist, a song, or an album and it will play music in that genre. Don't like a song? Vote "no" and skip to the next one. I love it! This is a free service!

• Recipezaar-Another site I use daily. The best search engine for recipes I've found--don't have milk? "Sift" the "ingredients" and tell it that you don't want any recipes with milk in them. What a powerful tool! This is also FREE! You can sign up to be a member to save multiple "cookbooks" & view it ad free for $20 per year.

• I'd like to create some pages about Christmas gifts-fun wrapping ideas, and also a "homemade gifts" page. 

• The Menu Planning page continues to be one of the most popular pages on Serious Moms, so I recently created a cheap 2 week menu and will be posting that soon.

I hope this finds you all well!  Have a great Thanksgiving!

Blessings to all!

www.SeriousMoms.com

p.s. Feel free to pass this newsletter along to anyone who you think might be blessed by it!