From the outside, I’ll admit, my life looks as simple as they come. I’m a small-town girl who grew up, briefly left, and wound up right back where I started. I live a whole three blocks away from my parents and the house where I grew up. I rarely get on a plane, take a trip or experience the adventures thatothers crave. Heck, I rarely get out of my town and visit the mall. But this life that I live – this small-town, simple life – is the one that I’ve chosen. Like those before and around me, I decided that settling in a small town wasn’t settling at all. Every day I wake up and choose community over independence, peace of mind over the unknown, and family roots over spread wings.I’m happy with my choice.

In this town, my husband and I are raising our two precious girls. And they, truly, are what make this life a dream. Eden is four, Selah is almost two, and being a Mommy is the greatest adventure I’ve ever had. I go to bed each night exhausted, sure I can’t do it again, but wake up the next morning excited to try. Because there’s no job in the world I’d rather have than loving and training my two gifts from God. They take my simple life and give it more purpose than the highest seat of the corporate ladder. Each day in this job has eternal implications. So my aim is to work heartily, as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23).

My greatest desire is to pass a legacy of faith down to my children. Like my parents and grandparents, I want them to know the height and depth of the love of Christ. I want them to believe we were created for a purpose and that that is to glorify an all-powerful God. And I want them to realize that even the simplest of lives hold great meaning and value. Because our worth isn’t found in where we live, how much money we have, or what positions we hold. Our worth is found in Who holds us.

I started blogging four years ago on a whim. I liked to write and I had a cute baby so it seemed like the thing to do. But blogging has become, for me, both a creative and a spiritual outlet. My blog is a place where I vent, I build community, and I hope to encourage other women. I try to give readers a glimpse into an imperfect family that, on the street, they may think is neatly packaged with a bow. It thrills me to hear from other women (and men) that they feel more “normal” after reading my blog. None of us are bright and shiny all the time, so why try to fake it?

I am so excited to spend this month with you here at Arkansas Women Bloggers. This group of women exemplifies communityin every sense of the word. So let’s become friends, shall we? Give me a like or a follow and then don’t be shy. I’d love it if we could encourage each other.

Written by Brittany Little, Miss November 2013

These past few months have been crazy. We sold our house in five days and were out in less than a month. I loved that house, but it was the right decision and the right buyer. As the matter of fact, while I was attending AWBU this year, I left my husband to pack us and move us with movers. I know I should really win wife of the year! I hired two men and a truck, but asked that they send an extra man so I wouldn’t feel so bad while I was catching up with all my blogger friends. We couldn’t find an apartment immediately so we moved into my parents’ house. All of our “stuff” is crammed into three storage units. We are still here two months later and at the beginning stages of building our next house.

Isn’t it funny how you can have a whole house full of stuff, and have condensed your so-called necessities into basically a bedroom. I honestly think I packed more stuff for a week at the beach then what I have here with me. I used to like to go shopping at places like TJ Maxx, Target, Home Goods more frequent then I would like to admit. Now when I shop, I don’t buy anything because I don’t have anywhere to put it. Literally. I also have learned something that I wouldn’t trade for anything during this process. Instead of me buying the cutest accessory I think I have to have to make my house more homey, I realize I don’t. When we moved all the stuff out of our house, I looked around that empty house and realized one thing. It was just a plain house underneath all the stuff. It was kind of raw to think that after you take all the stuff away, it was a house just like down the street my neighbor lived in. We had so many great memories in that house, but it wasn’t the house that made the memories. It was all the people and the love in that house. The more stuff you buy isn’t going to make your house any more your home. Your home is wherever you decide to make it and whom to make it with.

I used to have this verse below hanging on a wooden sign in my kitchen. It was a daily reminder that God has given us such great things and way more than we could ever imagine. I hope you look at your own life and find gratitude in the small things.

By Brittany Little of Ramblings of a Little Wife

Hi, I am so very thankful that I was chosen to be November Blogger of the Month. I love that I was chosen with such a great topic for the month, Gratitude. My name is Brittany Little and I blog over at www.ramblingsofalittlewife.com
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I live in Northwest Arkansas and absolutely love it. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. I grew up in a small town, and then moved to Fayetteville to attend the U of A for college. I graduated with a Finance & Banking degree. I always joke that I crunch numbers during the day, and blog at night. Really I do about 99.9% of my blogging at night. Okay, maybe later at night than I should.

I met my husband, Denver, ten years ago. We married on the most gorgeous white beach in Destin, FL, five years later. He owns an Allstate Agency in Springdale and I am truly in “good hands” with him! I don’t think I would be the blogger I am today if it wasn’t for his support and encouragement. He is also a pro at prompting me to take pictures of our meals and trips for my blog.

We don’t have any children YET, but I am sure we will one day soon. We love being married and the best part about not having kids yet, is we are free to travel and see fabulous places.

I love to cook and hope you check out my recipes. I promise I don’t ever post a recipe unless I love it! I also love to read, DIY projects, and spend time with our friends and family. Those are the exact same things I blog about!

I am so excited that I was chosen to be the blogger of the month and I can’t wait to talk about Gratitude. We all have so many things to be thankful for each day.

Please check me out and I would love it if you followed me!

#BLOGPHOBIA 2
Written by Delta Moxie, ARWB Blogger of the Month October 2013

It’s Kelly Jo, ARWB Miss October, from Delta Moxie and I’m sharing my thoughts in a series of posts I’ve titled #BLOGPHOBIA as I serve out my term as Arkansas Women Blogger’s Miss October. Part of my goal is to provide information about fears and phobias and at the same time share my perspective.

In my twenties, I had a job where I spoke frequently on the radio, on television and in front of live audiences. I was more nervous in front of live audiences and it was obvious. My palms and feet would be wet with sweat, my hands, eyelids and lips trembled, my mind wondered, and above all, my voice would shake and crack.

The fear of public speaking is called glossophobia.

I recognized I had a fear and it was affecting my performance. I would have speeches perfectly typed all in upper case, be prepared and still would find myself skipping parts of my prepared presentation so I could escape the podium pronto. I wouldn’t volunteer for speaking engagements, but the opportunities were part of my job description. Specifically, I didn’t want to avoid public speaking because I believed I had something important to say.

I’ve never told anyone what I’m about to share but I’m sharing it because it may help someone. During my anxiety driven glossophobia, I scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist. He listened to my experiences and prescribed behavioral strategies as well as a beta blocker (it’s a blood pressure medication that has been shown off-label to help people with stage fright) to help with the symptoms I described. I was instructed to take the pill 30 minutes before I had to address an audience. The medication worked to keep my autonomic responses in better control and I used it several times as a tool to train my body and emotions to react differently. Preparation, affirmations, and breathing exercises were also tools I used.

My current job doesn’t require me to speak to large groups (small groups are no problem) as often, but there are times when I speak up in a large group and I recognize a glimpse of those old feelings. However, as I’ve aged and gained more experience, my confidence has increased.

I can’t recall who it was that spoke at Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged recently, but she came off stage and told me “I imagined you and this whole group naked.” She made me laugh. I would have never imagined her having a fear of public speaking, she was flawless and provided inspiring words and wisdom. It’s a sense of comfort to know I’m not alone.

As we named and discussed real fears and phobias in the first #BLOGPHOBIA installment, let’s delve into the next step of what’s next once a phobia is recognized.

According to NAMI, ask yourself these questions when you recognize a fear:

• Is this fear disabling?
• Do you recognize that your fear is excessive and unreasonable?
• Do you avoid particular situations and places because of your phobia?
• Does it interfere with your normal routine or cause distress?
• Have you experienced this phobia or fear for six months?

Do you already have a checklist of questions you ask yourself when a fear appears? How do you approach a fear?

Share your #BLOGPHOBIA either in the comments or submit a post to Julie for Arkansas Women Bloggers.

Who was that speaker that said they pictured us naked? Too funny. Was it Heather or Jacqueline?

by Miss October Kellee Mayfield, Delta Moxie

October is the month of all things scary, spooky and phobic. Arkansas Women Bloggers’ theme this month is Phobias.

Ask my husband or my daughter and they’ll tell you I have some fears. Report a spider is creeping on me and I will immediately go into a high-stepping, arm-flailing, full-glass-of-iced-tea throwing fool as I hyper focus on removing that eight-legged creature from my personal space.

Spiders are scary to me. Heck, social media and blogging were (and are) scary to me.

I didn’t throw ice tea on anyone in my social media circles…yet, but I was scared of strangers following me on twitter and Instagram. Was it a form of social phobia? Whatever my hesitation was…it was real to me. I’m over that now.

According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), phobias are “a specific fear with an irrational anxiety” and “15 – 20 percent of people experience symptoms of specific phobias over the course of their life.”

If you suffer from a phobia, the DSM-V categorizes it in the five following subtypes:

• Fear of animals
• Fear of natural environment
• Fear of blood/injection/injury
• Fear of situations
• Other fears

Those five categories are quite encompassing. If we were to experience phobias as bloggers, our subtype would more than likely be the fear of situations or other fears.

When I began blogging I had a desire to be anonymous. I had a fear of what people would think. What fun is that?

Here are some phobias we may experience as bloggers:

Grammarphobia = the fear of using poor grammar. (The bloggy police are going to give me a ticket for using that preposition at the end of a sentence…or are they? I can not confirm this is a true phobia but there is a very informative blog.)

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophopia = the fear of long words (that has got to be a joke)

Ideaphobia = the fear of ideas

Logizomechanophobia = fear of computers

Scriptophobia = fear of writing in public (for all the coffee-shop-blog writers as well as real-time twitter and Facebook status updaters…you’ve beat Scriptophobia!)

Verbophobia = fear of words (don’t fear words…they’ll come to you.)

Nomophobia = fear of being out of mobile phone contact (is this the same as the fear of not having wifi? If it is…this is a real fear for me.)

Atelophobia = a fear of imperfection (your imperfections are perfect)

Typophobia* = fear of posting a blog with a typo (Blogging’s a beautiful thing, because you can correct your typos any time {night or day} and then go on with your bad self!)

And for my random fear of the day that has nothing to do with blogging is Omphalophobia = the fear of navels (yes, that is the fear of belly buttons). Why in the world would someone fear this? If you have this fear, tell me about it. I realize it is a real fear. Maybe you know something I don’t know about belly buttons. Do tell because mine is with me 24/7.

Of course there is the Phobophobia. Yes, that is the fear of having a phobia of fear. Now that is scary.

I had a fear of writing this post. That’s called blogpostaphobia*.

As a blogger, do you find yourself fearing something specific? How does a fear manifest for you? Do you experience symptoms such as rapid heart rate, sweating, trembling, worry, or syncope (feeling faint)?

What other blogging/social media phobias would you create and add to the list? Tell us your #BLOGPHOBIA .

*denotes these are fake phobia names. All other phobias were gathered from NAMI or Oxford Dictionaries Blog.

I am extremely honored to be Arkansas Women Bloggers October Blogger of the Month. Thank you!

I’m Kelly Jo from Delta Moxie where I share my life living in rural Arkansas. My real name is Kellee Mayfield. When my husband and I moved to Lake Village (very southeast Arkansas) six years ago, I began playing tennis for the first time in my life. People started calling me Kelly Jo while I was on the courts and off. It stuck (especially in my tennis circle).

We have a precocious, creative seven-year-old daughter who is saving her money for an RV. A fancy one. When I point out smaller RV’s she quickly says, “No. She has her sights on a big rock star tour bus. So maybe in the future I’ll be driving her and her RV around until she’s old enough to get her driver’s license.

Until then, I spend many of my days in operating rooms, cath labs or doctors’ offices working as a contract clinical specialist for a medical device company. It’s fast-paced, challenging and very fulfilling. It makes me feel good.

My blog, Delta Moxie, is a cumulation of what it’s like to live in the Mississippi Delta and southeast Arkansas…well, at least from my perspective. I am fortunate enough to travel and explore this area with my job. Lake Village is like a bedroom community for Greenville, Miss. My husband, the man with no personal social media accounts, really loves my blog and is my biggest fan. He insists people go follow Delta Moxie, like the Facebook Fan Page and follow me on twitter. That’s some true love, right there.

I recently joined Mississippi Women Bloggers, as well, because I spend a lot of time in Mississippi. I cross over the Mississippi River most days and somedays, several times a day. (Y’all, the Mississippi River is amazing!) Like many of the children in Lake Village, our daughter attends school in Greenville. You’ll see Lake Village people (I call citizens of Lake Village, “Lake Village People”) at the Greenville Walmart, Greenville dry cleaners, Greenville Toyota dealership, and eating at the original Doe’s Eat Place, you know…in Greenville. It’s a good 30 minute-one-way trip to Greenville. Lake Village is rural and Greenville is less rural. (There is no Starbucks within 90 miles…and that’s okay.)

To tell you more about me, I’m passionate about painting (art, although I’m getting good at painting walls), eating whole-nutrient-dense food, writing, blogging, hating mosquitos, hoarding reusable shopping bags, Netflix, the Mississippi River, traveling and the Delta.

A big virtual hug goes to Arkansas Women Bloggers for the support and community this group of women provides. I’ve gone from knowing zero to October Blogger of the Month. Your content and monthly challenges are invaluable. (If you are a woman and blog in Arkansas, you need to join.)

When you are in your part of the state, you can find me at DeltaMoxie.com or at:
Facebook Delta Moxie
Twitter @deltamoxie
Instagram delta moxie
Tumblr: delta moxie (I have six followers, you could be the seventh!)

In the midsts of this season’s spooking and everything scary, ARWB’s October theme is Phobias. I experienced a phobia in the spring involving a Texas bridge I will call unreasonably tall.

So begin thinking about phobias.

Welcome to October!

by Lela Davidson, Arkansas Women Bloggers Miss September 2013

Back to school means back to volunteering, right? Okay, that might sound odd coming from the One Who Was Blacklisted.

I’ve never been much of a school volunteer, but that’s not to say I haven’t felt the tug of the tempera paint masterpieces and artisan-quality cupcake making. Each year as school starts I savor a brief moment when I actually believe things might be different. I might make it to those booster club meetings. I might sign up to cook chili this year. I might show up to craft centerpieces out of foam and glitter.

Or not.

I do my part in other ways. I have served at-risk girls and troubled teens. I have made the local library a better place and improved shelters for children whose parents, in my opinion, are a complete waste of skin. I have a long history of volunteer work and I’d like to be able to continue it. However, lately I’m feeling extra conflicted.

On the one hand there are literally not enough hours in the day to succeed at my new job, feed my family, keep the sink grime at bay, and also take care of the business of serving on a non-profit board.

On the other hand, I honestly believe that many hands make short work of any project. My hands are certainly able.

On the one hand I’m a cranky woman of a certain age who would rather spend write a check and be done with it than go through the effort of putting on a fundraiser only to be disappointed with the turnout or surprised when said fundraiser does not actually raise funds. (And to be horribly honest, I’d rather spend my free evenings writing or drinking boxed wine on the driveway than spending precious creative energy on promoting the 43rd gala of the year.)

On the other hand, I understand deeply the power of working together for a cause, no matter the cause, and no matter the results. I have made most of my very best friends in the Junior League. (Go ahead, mock if you must, because you just don’t get it.) I know that it’s not the dollars raised, but the process that matters. Volunteering is more about the bonds and connections and implicit value of a job well done.

Sure, on the that hand.

On the other hand: So. Much. Work. And now with my new actual work, the one that provides income for me to care for my own little community of four, I’m having a tough time balancing.

On the one hand, there is a fine line between my healthy over-achieving tendencies and straight up overwhelm. I might need a 12-step program.

On the other hand, there are really only two steps:

#1 – Monitor my calendar every single day.

#2 – Don’t say yes to ANYTHING I don’t want to do, or want to do but don’t have time or energy to do.

There was a time I needed volunteering in order to maintain some order in my life. It filled the space left behind when I stopped working out in the world with other people. I may have fooled myself into thinking I was volunteering for different reasons than I really was. Truth is I needed volunteer work to fill spots on my calendar, to give me networks of other adults, and to make me feel accomplished in a way that changing diapers cannot do.

Life is challenging enough right now. It’s time for me to change direction. I’m not leaving, but switching onto the worker bee track. I no longer need to plan and organize and lead in my volunteer life. I need to do those things at home and at work. Someone else take the leadership role and I’ll be your worker bee. Tell me what to do. I’ll show up with a smile and my able hands.

And if you need a spreadsheet, I’m your girl.

How do you give back? And how do you balance giving to the greater good with all your close-to-home commitments?

Written by Lela Davidson of After the Bubbly, ARWB Miss September 2013
Back to School (and Work) Supplies I Cannot Live Without

Last month brought back to school for the kids, and back to work for me. After years of working from home, I decided to rejoin the world of people who actually put on pants and go to an office. Every day. It’s been an adjustment. How am I coping with all the change? Here are my go-to supplies for this new season of life:

Green Smoothie

I try to start every morning with my green smoothie, at least every weekday morning. My health tonic may be all placebo effect, but I swear the pureed lettuce, spinach, apple, pear, and banana give me energy and erase the sins of stuffed crust pizza and creme brulee. (Not that I eat those things together. That would be gross.) There is comfort, too, in the ritual of making the smoothie. As with making coffee, I enjoy the rhythm of chopping the greens, coring the fruit, and blending in the right order to get the desired murky consistency. Especially in this time of extreme change, I’m finding the routine soothing. And then there’s the whole one-less-decision to make in my day. That helps, too.

Hyper-Organized Bag

I adopted a new handbag organization system over the summer. I’d like to say I invented it but I’m not quite that delusional. I did, however, come up with a system that works for me, and all my crap. Gone are the days of searching for something in my bag. Now I know where my lipgloss is, always have a pen when I need it, and I can switch from bag to bag without sorting through bottom-of-purse debris and linty gum. My family teased me relentlessly about my “system” when I started to part things out into handy zippered pouches. Maybe because I spoke incessantly about said “system” for several weeks and beamed every time I eyed my organized bag. They have stopped mocking me. Maybe because now we [almost] always get out of the house on time.

Go-To Apps

I’m not an early adopter. Ask anyone. I didn’t get a cell phone until they were smart. Netflix is new at our house. I held out as long as I could on skinny jeans. When it comes to technology I’d rather someone else figure it out and then walk me through it like a 5-year-old. But I’m starting to use more apps. I can’t live without my yoga podcasts. CamScanner is an absolute revolution in scanning docs. And since I’ve recently bought a new home that needs some decor and landscaping love, I’m mildly obsessed with Houzz. And then there’s VolunteerSpot, the free online sign-up organizer that can help anyone plan a party or craft a carpool schedule that works. (Even someone who’s been blacklisted from the PTA.)

eMeals

Hands down the best decision I’ve made in years was subscribing to eMeals. Food is very important to our family, not even so much the food part, but the sitting down together for dinner as often as possible part. I started my job the same day as the kids started school, which was great timing, but also an abrupt change to our collective schedule. I did not want our family to become regulars at the drive through or the pizza buffet. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) I opted for the crockpot plan on eMeals. After dinner I assemble the next day’s meal, put it in the fridge overnight, and start the crockpot in the morning. Voila. Dinner on the table (or at least in the pot) when I get home.

Yoga Mat

The lowest of the low tech provides the most benefit. I’ve been trying for years to cultivate a home yoga practice. I don’t want to jinx it, but I feel like I’m finally getting there. Twenty minutes is all it really takes IF I put them in consistently. Every day is best. On the days I really don’t want to practice, the mat seems to reward me the most—with relief from pain, with peace of mind, with flexibility–mental, emotional, and physical. No fancy studio required. Just me and my mat and my phone. (Okay, so there’s a bit of tech involved. I use Yoga Download.) I can do anything for twenty minutes and I’m betting you can, too.

So, now you know my must-have supplies. What are yours?