Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot September 5

September 4, 2025September 5, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 6 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about it. Please feel free to post new blog posts or old ones you want to bring attention to again.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

It is officially fall here in Pennsylvania! Whoo-hoo! The leaves are changing, the days and nights are cooler, and our school days have started. Little Miss is the only one homeschooling this year so that is an adjustment for me. I’m surviving but miss picking out curriculum for my son…who mainly ignored it for two years anyhow while he was in technical school.
As I’m finishing this post it is raining outside and it is so cozy. I love autumn!

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!

Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household – The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Sue from Women Living Well After 50 started blogging in 2015 and writes about living an active and healthy lifestyle, fashion, book reviews and her podcast and enjoying life as a woman over 50. She invites you to join her living life in full bloom.

We would love to have additional Co-Hosts to share in the creativity and fun! If you think this would be a good fit for you and you like having fun (come on, who doesn’t!) while still being creative, drop one of us an email and someone will get back with you!

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Is This Mutton

A little about Gail: Is This Mutton? Is all about fashion and fun for the over 50s.

We are vital, energetic and fashionable, and blessed with wisdom and experience. We spend the most money of all the demographics on beauty and fashion.

We certainly don’t need click bait articles and newspapers telling us what the over 50s should and should not wear! And we don’t want to wear elasticated skirts, except on Christmas Day.

What we really hate is being represented by pictures of people in their 80s with walking sticks, or described as “grandmothers”, “ageing gracefully” or “silver surfers.” Would these epithets be applied to men over 50 by the media? No.

The title, “Is this Mutton?” refers to a saying in the UK, “mutton dressed as lamb,” usually applied to older women in a derogatory sense. Consequently, women over the age of 40 are made to worry about looking like mutton.

The blog was created by Gail, a woman in London whose background includes journalism and marketing director.

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

I love this dress!

(This is such a fun tour in Wisconsin!)

A post with some good news

Some glowing skin advice in this one

Important things to know about the link-up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

Saturday Afternoon Chat: I don’t like change and changes are coming

August 30, 2025August 30, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 18 Comments

This summer has brought a lot of changes, and I am not a person who adjusts well to changes.

Some of these changes I can’t write about because they aren’t my changes to talk about. One of them I can’t talk about because it hasn’t been made public in our area yet.

I can say that the changes and adjustments have involved employment situations, my aging parents’ health, and my own health.

Some of them are serious and scary, but I’m hopeful that my own health issues are something I can deal with by making even more adjustments to my diet and supplements.

One thing I do know with my health so far is that I do have some autoimmune issues going on. Doctors just aren’t sure which issues yet.

As for my parents, they are getting older and struggling with some issues, including whether they want to stay in their house or not. Their health and age is a big part of that decision.

As Summer draws to an end, though, I am looking forward to some cozy days this fall. I enjoy the weather when it is cooler. I function better physically and mentally on cooler days. I don’t function great on super cold days unless I am inside under a blanket with my warm rice packs.

I’m actually looking forward to those days. I get more writing done for my books in the fall and winter, which is probably why book four of the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries is going so slow.

In the Summer I feel like I have to be busy and do things because “it’s nice out”. This Summer whatever autoimmune condition I had got worse, though, so I couldn’t do that as much as I wanted. The symptoms that go so bad were mainly the exhaustion and achy legs, the dizziness and the anxiety. I learned I have to put more salt on things, drink electrolyte drinks, and simply eat more regular meals. I have this tendency to eat a protein but not add carbs or veggies to it. By the afternoon I feel like a wet noodle.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve cut out gluten, reduced sugar, and added more vegetables, though I’m still not at the level of veggies I should be at.

I’m reaching for grapes or apples instead of chocolate, but still have a square or two of the Aldi brand chocolate, which tastes so much better to me than most of our American brands. I’m taking four supplements — Iron (with B12, b6, and vitamin c), garlic, probiotics, and an elderberry gummy with elderberry, vitamin D, and vitamin C.

I’m noticing small changes. I still don’t have a ton of energy, but I do have a little bit more. My weak legs aren’t quite as weak on some days. My achy legs are a bit less achy. The anxiety was still there and intense at the beginning of this week but by mid-week it had actually faded some and on Thursday when I had a doctor appointment to discuss all his it had actually gone away. Praise the Lord!

Even without knowing what autoimmune issue I have (pretty sure it is thyroid related since I already have hypothyroidism), the diet change is helping immensely.

Shifting gears a little….

Have you ever watched those reunion videos with mothers hugging their sons or grandparents with their grandchildren after not seeing them for a long time? It’s always a surprise and everyone is crying and then I’m crying.

Sometimes I’m crying because it is so sweet and sometimes I am crying because I think about how wonderful it would be to hug my grandmothers or aunts again.

I think about how wonderful that feeling must be for those people and how wonderful it would be to feel the same. I know why the relatives of the soldiers who return are crying so hard. They thought that soldier might not return alive. They don’t say it out loud, but it is tucked there in the back of their mind and then when they are finally holding them in their arms it all breaks loose. They aren’t injured. They aren’t dead. They are here in their arms and all those worries and fears just rush out in that moment.

Shifting gears again…

Did I mention that the weather is cold right now?

Like, for instance, while I am working on this post at 11:30 in the morning it is 61 degrees out! In August!

I know that summer weather isn’t done with us yet, though. Pennsylvania has been known to drop temps in the 80s on us right up until October and sometimes into October so we are going to enjoy these nice cooler temps but not plan on them staying.

I can tell you, though, I am already gearing up for hot cocoa, apple cider, leaves crunching under my feet after they’ve fallen off the trees. The leaves are actually already falling but they are just brown and dead, which makes me nervous that we won’t have pretty fall foliage. We will just have to wait and see but even without it we can have all the fall feelings.

I’m definitely an autumn person. I love the chill in the air, the smell of the leaves, hayrides (or watching others go on them at least), reading books under a blanket on the front porch while colorful leaves fall around me.

I’m not a fan of pumpkin spice anything or Halloween, however. I don’t hate either but they aren’t what I look forward to most. However, I might actually try something with pumpkin spice this year just for fun.

This next week Little Miss and I will be doing school every day after Monday, so while we were easing into it before we are fully immersing ourselves this week.

We are studying Paleontology for science for the first half of the year. In English, we are reading The Good Master and will be tackling parts of speech and sentence diagramming.

In History, we are reading about the early days of our country, but later will begin moving into some more modern history through historical fiction. I’m not sure which book we are reading first but there is a list of them that I am looking forward to.

Math is being studied through CTC Math, an online program out of Australia, for now. Art is going to be fun this year since I purchased Little Miss a huge art set with all types of paint and canvases. I hope we will be able to take a few online classes.

It looks like we might not be joining a co-op this year since the co-op that was local might have dissolved, but I am still looking into that and 4-H classes.

How have you been doing? Have you done anything exciting to finish out your summer if you are in the northern hemisphere? If you are in the southern hemisphere, are you planning anything exciting for your spring?

Let me know in the comments. I love catching up with you all.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 29

August 28, 2025August 28, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 9 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: A World of My Own

A little about Sally: My life is a musical. And during this strange pandemic year, I am feeling more than ever like Alice in (my top 10 favorite movie) the 1951 Disney “Alice in Wonderland,” living in a world of my own. With so much time and attention devoted to my idiosyncratic obsessions and the analysis thereof (because there is no such thing as a good hobby that doesn’t involve building spreadsheets), I realized that the only missing piece was a written narrative.

I thought: “Oh sure, what the world needs now is another middle-aged fat lady blogging about clothing, outfits, capsules, and wardrobes. Not really. But also…maybe yes?” Because on reflection, it’s not as though there are so many of them already. And there certainly is not one that has enough rabbit content!

So here we are!

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

I love this dress and all the way it matches on Amy’s blog!

(This pencil pouch is so cute)

(Love this bathroom makeover from Two chicks and a mom)

I’m not a tuna salad fan but others would love this!

Important things to know about the link up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Sunday Bookends: That bumblebee had it in for me.

August 24, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 17 Comments

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you

Isaiah 46:4 NIV

I need this verse right now. There is a lot going on in my life these days but I’ll write about that in another post someday.

For now, I’ll share that Friday was a weird day. I spent it painting rocks with my daughter in our yard and that ended when a bumble bee took off after me and I mean took off. It had it in for me. It stung me twice in the stomach after climbing down my pants (yes, my pants) and then proceeded to come after me again when I brushed it off, climbing in my shirt under my arm and stinging me again right after it crawled all over my face.

And, yes, it was a bumble bee and not a yellow jacket. It was possessed.

Surprisingly, the stings actually didn’t hurt hardly at all. They were swollen and red and I was convinced I was going to have a reaction because I’m a hypochondriac freak but in the end I was okay.

What sucked was how I was being brave and pushing aside some of my weird physical symptoms I deal with on a daily basis and playing with Little Miss in the yard and this is what happened.

That’s sort of my life story. I’ve always been afraid to fly. One day I probably will, and — well … let’s not even go there, shall we?

The thing is, that little bumblebee was actually cute. When I looked down at my waistband he was peering up over it at me all fluffy and cute. Then I started screaming and he flew off and came back at me full force. Looks can truly be deceiving.

The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady and Carry On, Jeeves.

This week I will be reading But First, Murder by Bee Littlefield and A Nancy Drew Mystery, The Password to Larkspur Lane.

Little Miss and I are reading The Good Master by Karen Seredy and at night we are listening to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, but I’ve either been too tired or can’t hear it well, so I’ve missed the whole story. Luckily it is one of my planned fall reads.

The Husband is reading Hostage by Robert Crais.

The Boy is listening to Red Tide, a Warhammer book.

We got Netflix for a month and only a month. The price for that service is absolutely nuts to me. My daughter wanted to watch KPop Demon Hunters and my husband and I want to watch The Thursday Murder Club.

I did watch Find Me Falling, a movie with Harry Connick Jr. that I had heard about earlier this year. It was okay. It used a trope I totally hate, and there were parts that fell flat to me, but it was heartwarming and that was what I needed.

Last week, I also watched The Long Hot Summer for the Summer of Angela and then several Murder, She Wrote episodes. I was very disappointed in one, though, where Jessica let the murderer go because he was old and a friend, and the victim was a member of the mob.

I also watched another episode of Ludwig.

Tonight, we are watching the new Superman movie because The Husband and The Boy watched it and loved it. Little Miss saw it with them but wasn’t terribly impressed.

This week on the blog I shared:

I’m still plugging away on Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School as well.

Hands Again by BettieGs RA Seasons

The Echo of His Heart: More Than We Are by Grace Filled Moments

Add An Icon to Your Closet by Marsha In the Middle

Croissant Smores Plus Grand Campfire by Our Grand Lives

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

This post is linked up with The Sunday Post at Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, The Sunday Salon with Deb at Readerbuzz, and Book Date: It’s Monday! What are you reading hosted by Kathyrn at The Book Date. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Reading Reality.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find her on Instagram and YouTube.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 22

August 21, 2025August 28, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 11 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Let’s get right to it and introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Color’s For Health

A little about Nancy: Colors 4 Health, the place where colors and a healthy lifestyle intersect. I’m a Health and Lifestyle Writer and Wellness Blogger, and Author of “Colors of Joy: A Woman’s Guide for Self-Discovery, Balance, and Bliss.”

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

this pork centered meal looks amazing!

(A reading update from Thistles and Kiwis)

(A very encouraging post from Bettie)

Blackberry cheesecake. Need I say more?

Important things to know about the link up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 15

August 14, 2025August 14, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 13 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs

A little about Erin’s blog: I try to create a culture of celebration in our home. For life, for the little things, for wonder and for whimsy. I try to find the beauty around us and teach my son Wyatt to find it, and appreciate it and love it as well.

We are a homeschool family, and we love it. We love the freedom it gives us to explore a topic or idea more deeply, and I like that I can adjust our schedule around Wyatt’s other needs. Wyatt has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and his week often has therapy, doctor’s appointments, naps peppered throughout which would make a traditional school schedule difficult. He is also an asynchronous learner, and I love that I can tailor learning to where Wyatt is at that moment.

We have a house full of animals and will probably add more because we like a zoo. We have one cat, Miso, who is a rescue. She is 14 years old and my little floofy girl. We also have one leopard gecko, Luna, a pictus gecko named Harlow, a pacman frog named Freddy, and two crested geckos, Applejack and Oliver. We love all of our little friends!

My husband Billy, Wyatt, and I are all curious, creative, stubborn humans which makes for some fun times around here.

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

I enjoyed this cozy update from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs

(This one about losing weight after 50 was interesting from Inspired Eater)

(Lovely post about not being able to hide from God)

(no photo for this one beause they are protected since they are art)

Great designs from Ink Torrents

Important things to know about the link up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 8

August 7, 2025August 7, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 5 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Our family is still recovering from the effects of a virus that hit us out of nowhere.

Our daughter has been dealing with horrible sinus drainage that has kept her and us awake. We are truly hoping to turn a corner next week. I can’t believe how long the effects lasted for a virus that didn’t even last a week. I think it would all have gone away faster if it hadn’t been for all the sleepless nights that followed it.

The weather has been sort of nice, though, despite the haze from the wildfires in Canada making everything look very dystopian.

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Gluten Free A to Z!

A little about Judee: I am a retired high school teacher, author of the popular cookbook, Easy Plant-Based Soups From Farm To Ladle (which you can purchase below), wife, mother of two and grandma Judee to four adorable grandkids.

I have always loved to cook and entertain.
I post heath conscious plant-based recipes that are also naturally gluten free.

I live a vegan lifestyle with a focus on nutrition, wellness, and personal development. My blog has given me a platform to share and connect with the blogging community. I’m grateful to all of my dedicated readers.

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

Amy’s garden is looking great!

(Love these outfits from Chez Mireille!)

(Love these summer ideas from Our Grand Lives!)

Love these Saturday snippets from Debbie’s blog!

Important things to know about the link up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Sunday Bookends: Summer bug, cooler weather, and … oh. Still reading the same books.

August 3, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 14 Comments

Today is my mom’s 81^st birthday. Sadly, we are probably not going there for dinner because my family is recovering from a summer virus/cold. We are almost all the way over it but we’re making sure we are still not contagious before we go. So, we will celebrate her birthday later this week.

The biggest issue with our illness this week was Little Miss’s cough at night and our being unable to stop it so she, and we, could sleep. We were happy to have some beautiful weather the second half of the week that allowed us to go outside and get some fresh air. During the first part of the week, it was simply too hot to enjoy anything outside.

Fans of Summer have been disappointed this week since we had fall-like temperatures for the last few days but I have been loving it. I would love it even more if Little Miss could kick her cough all the way. I have a feeling that will happen by tomorrow or Tuesday, however.

A couple of quick reminders:

I have a monthly book-related link party if you are interested. You can find the A Good Book and A Cup of Tea link party at the top of my page or here (https://lisahoweler.com/2025/08/02/a-good-book-a-cup-of-tea-monthly-link-party-for-august/) . It is for posts about books that you are reading, have read, book reviews — just anything book-related really. So even posts about book collections, authors etc. etc.

Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are still holding Drop-In Crafternoons once or twice a month.

We will be holding another one in August, but I am not sure when yet.

The Crafternoons are events where we gather on Zoom and craft at our respective homes and chat while we work on various projects. We are calling them drop-in crafternoons because you can drop in and out during the time we are on (usually from about 1 to 3 p.m. EST US time). No need to stay the whole time if you can’t. Come late if you want or leave early.

If you want to join in, email Erin at crackcrumblife@gmail.com and she will add you to the mailing list.

This wasn’t the worst cold/virus/whatever I’ve ever had so I was able to get some reading in, mainly from Dave Barry Isn’t Taking This Sitting Down while I sat up keeping an eye on Little Miss in the middle of the night. I also read quite a bit of The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

I didn’t read any of the 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson this week but I do plan to continue it and finish it. I did read some from Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse and I love it.

Soon I hope to read The Clue of the Broken Blade, a Hardy Boys Mystery, and Password to Larkspur Lane, a Nancy Drew Mystery.

The Boy is listening to Red Tithe by Robbie MacNiven, a Warhammer book.

The Husband is reading something or other but he laid down for a nap because he might be getting the virus next so I will have to ask him later.

Little Miss and I have not started anything new lately but I hope to finish Magical Melons by Carol Ryrie Brink soon. That title was later changed just to Caddie Woodlawn’s Family. I think that’s a good thing because the first title was .. a little weird in modern times.

Last week I watched The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn, a few episodes of Murder She Wrote, an episode of As Time Goes By, a documentary of David Suchet on the Orient Express, and an episode of a new-to-me show called Canal Boat Diaries. I also watched The Court Jester as part of my Summer of Angela series. Next week I will be watching The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find her on Instagram and YouTube.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 1

July 31, 2025July 31, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 7 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

My kids and I came down with a virus over the last couple of weeks and it has not been fun but we are luckily on the mend. The worst part of it was the sore throat and earaches for my son and I and for my daughter the worst was the sore throat and then the sinus drainage that made her cough and kept her up all Wednesday night. And by all I mean ALL.

I’ll be glad when this is over!

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: My Slices of Life

A little about Joanne: I’ve been homeschooling since June of 2012 and that’s when I started my blog. I was new to homeschooling and while I jumped in with both feet and lots of enthusiasm I was feeling overwhelmed and over my head– and I was a teacher by profession!

I have my master’s degree in early childhood education and worked in the public school system as both long term & regular substitutes. Within one year of having all three of my kids attending school full time I realized we were all miserable and with the support of my family we turned to homeschooling.

They all had far more confidence in me than I did.

We live in a state with little to no homeschooling laws & guidelines which I found even scarier at the time. I hoped to use my blog as a way to hold myself accountable for what I was teaching and have found it tremendously helpful over the years to look back and see all that we do manage to cover even when I feel like we aren’t doing any schoolwork for long periods of time.

Over time my blog has evolved to showcase more of me; my interests, crafting ideas, recipes and more. I love that homeschooling my children has allowed us all time to peruse so many other interests– That’s why I had to change the name of my blog!

I used to blog over at Our Unschooling Journey but found more and more of my posts had nothing to do with homeschooling. I changed the name of my blog to Slices of Life since that’s what I felt like I was sharing!

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up each week, Joanne!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

I enjoyed this variety of photos from This Side of the Pond

(Love this combination of clothes by Mummabstylish!)

(So many delicious salads from Honey Bears and Sydney Beans)

Love this blueberry oats recipe from The Copper Table

Important things to know about the link up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.