January 2014 - Page 2 of 2 - View from the Front Porch

8 01, 2014

It’s Letter Writing Week

By judythemorgan|2017-01-08T19:26:22-06:00January 8th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

That’s right. January 8th through 14th is the official week for letter writing.

My friend Janie Carver clued me with her blog.

Then Edie Melson listed Letter Writing Week in her January holidays blog.

The intent of the week long observation is to

W-R-I-T-E a letter

with a pencil, chalk, marker, crayon or ink pen

not with your fingers on a keyboard or a touch screen.

That means you dig out some of that ancient stationery you’ve been meaning to pitch, grab a writing instrument and put words on the page.

No word-processed message.

No email message.

No text message.

No typewriter. (Do people even use those anymore?)

Not a clever card even if you add a personal message.

I suggest a thank you for a Christmas gift, a hello to an aging friend or relative, a note of gratitude, or reconnecting with someone you haven’t seen in a while.

As a collector of vintage postcards, I find the handwritten notes on the cards dating back to the early 1900s touching.

pcard 1-f

Don’t you wonder who Dear “old girl” is?

Especially since he signed the card Brian and family.

No doubt these parents were thrilled to receive this postcard from their son Ralph.

Think what a treasure you’ll create when you participate in letter writing week.

I guarantee you’ll put a smile on someone’s face.

Now go write a letter.

Bye, bye 2013!

By judythemorgan|2014-01-06T06:00:03-06:00January 6th, 2014|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

2013 is gone.

2014 is six days old.

A new year signals the time for goals, resolutions, and predictions.

I’m a goal setter. Last year I shared a blog about how I set my yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily SMART goals. You can check out my method specifics here.

This year I’ve read several great blogs with ideas for how to be successful in 2014.

Milestones for Success by Joan Reeves
Konrath’s Resolutions For Writers by Joe Konrath
10 Easy Writing Resolutions for 2014 by K.M. Weiland
New Year’s Resolutions? What Is Real Change? by Bob Mayer

After reading Joe Bunting’s If You Want to Have a Great 2014, Spend an Hour Doing This, I knew the topic for my first blog of 2014.

AARs (After Action Review) are already a major component of my goal-setting method so following Bunting’s advice works well for me. Click here if you aren’t sure what an AAR is.

So without further ado, here is my 2013 in review (with AARs):

Writing: My second novel, Love in the Morning Calm released in November. For a list of all my books on Amazon, click here.

AAR for novel writing: It’s taking too long to get the stories out there! I need to write faster.

I wrote 143 blog posts, which drew 6,400 views and 96 followers. According to WordPress, my blog visitors came from 113 countries.

AAR for blog writing: Thank you, blog readers for stopping by now and then.

Travel: My husband and I traveled to Ireland with a tour. The idea was to research my book set in Ireland that will coming out this year. Traveling with twenty-six other delightful people does not leave much time for writing research.

AAR on overseas travel tours: Guess we’ll have to plan another trip.

Not exactly travel, but major locales change. We sold our Houston, Texas, home of thirty-three years and moved to our summer home in Colorado.

AAR on our move: Loving it!

Around the house: Life has been crazy since our move with projects! We remodeled our little cabin and added a garage, which is still not complete.

AAR on home improvement projects: Patience, patience, patience.

Life in General: We survived the June 2013wildfire in the Rio Grande National Forest. We are so thankful. So many lost homes and lives in Colorado wildfires last year.

My dear sweet aunt, a shining light in my life, went to heaven to join her husband, her parents, and her sister. Her passing brought home the reality of mortality and established me as the oldest living relative on my maternal side. Now that’s a sobering thought!

AAR on life: Cherish every moment!

Whether you choose to end the old year by setting goals or making resolutions or reviewing your accomplishments, I wish you a 2014 filled with success and happiness.

Thanks for starting your New Year with me.

YOUR TURN: So how was your 2013?

To celebrate 2014, I’m offering a free copy of Love in the Morning copy to one lucky commenter.