Want to Help Me Think Outside the Box?

I want to keep this blog "fresh"--new, exciting, and interesting to my readers. So here's where I need your help: what is it that you would like to see here on "Seasons of Humility" that's "outside the box"?

Now, I'm guessing from what I know of those of you who leave comments that most of my readers love books, writing, and movies. (Feel free to correct me if you don't feel that way!) What would you think of some of the following post series?

• Behind the Scenes: Spreading the Word--Interviews with the people who put together and run Christian book review programs.

• Operation: Let's Get Published!--Join me on my journey to publication. Learn about the little steps I'm taking, the advice I'm receiving from my author/blogger friends, and the failures/successes I'm making along the way.

• Movie Night--Let's open up that movie cabinet and pop in some old favorites. We can get some good girl talk going on why it is we love those endearing chick flicks.
  

These are just a few possibilities. I would love to hear which of these appeals to you most! Or tell us what else you might like to see here. I'd appreciate some help climbing out of this box! ;)

If you don't generally comment but still like to read my blog, it would be awesome if you could pitch in today just so I could get an idea of what interests you! Thanks so much!

(The picture is of me at the aquarium in Galveston, Texas--I'm not really trapped in a box/cage. No Ambers were harmed in the making of this post.)

Launch of a New Post Series

In the tradition of Country magazine, Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives hosted by Guy Fieri, and the "Love Finds You" Christian fiction book series, "Seasons of Humility" brings you Sightseeing by the Seasons (working title). With this new post series, readers will have the opportunity to tour across America, visiting the back-roads and out-of-the-way places you've always wanted to travel to or won't want to miss in future journeys. Each business featured will be seasonal--like orchards and farms for the fall, Christmas shops for the winter, etc. So please join me in celebrating the seasons and supporting those unique small town business we love!

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What do you think? Above is the culmination of my latest brainstorming with my wonderful dad. It has been so much fun running ideas by him and talking about where this new feature could go!

Now I'm asking you, my faithful readers, what you think of the idea. Does it sound appealing to you? Would you be willing to help me in the future by letting me know what places you would like to see featured (and helping me get in contact with the owners in order to do an interview)? We're talking about anything from road-side stands to Bed and Breakfasts to small town stores. I'm so excited about the possibility of taking a continuous road-trip with all of you! This would not necessarily be a weekly feature--it would be a surprise as to when each new place would be featured (depending on participation, etc.).

Let me know what you think! I really value your opinions! If you don't have time to leave a comment, feel free to simply vote on the poll in the sidebar. Thank you!

Pondering Possibilities for Posts

Don't you just love that alliteration? ;) That phrase is just a fancy way of saying that I've been thinking about my weekly schedule.

I'm so excited about "Mondays for the Military"! It is my hope that this feature is only going to keep on growing, and that we might have the privilege of meeting more military men and women and showing our gratitude to them.

As for "Sundays by the Sea," I love the process of writing these posts. It's such a blessing to be able to consider this part of God's creation and be inspired by it. I hope you are finding these posts to be comforting and encouraging!

"Fall Fridays" have just started, but I'm looking forward to talking about all the wonderful parts of autumn with you. It will be nice to discuss fall and its corresponding season of humility. I'm thinking that it will be a great way to relax (and it might prove to be a good opportunity to sip some hot chocolate or tea while dwelling on God's provision!).

All three of these weekly post themes thrill me! I'm looking forward to writing the posts and reading your comments.

But did you notice that I haven't mentioned "True Love Tuesdays"? For some reason, I haven't really developed any passion for those posts. I have enjoyed writing them, but I feel that it's starting to get repetitive. (Not that I've written enough of them to really know for sure!)

So . . . which would be better: coming up with a new weekly themed day or revamping the one I already have? Or should I just stick with the three I mentioned above and leave the other days for reviews and random thoughts?

I confess that I'm personally torn over this. When I first proposed the idea of "True Love Tuesdays," it seemed to be a popular choice. However, at the moment I'm not really passionate about it (whereas I am pretty passionate about the other themes).

So what do you suggest? Do you have any ideas for where "True Love Tuesdays" could go? Or do you have any thoughts on what could take its place?

"True Love Tuesdays" want to know: "Should I stay or should I go?"

A Change in Seasons and Blog Awards!

First of all, I'm sure you have all seen the new blog design. I love being able to change backgrounds and color schemes, as well as the header picture. (Thank you once again to Ashley for the suggestion of changing my blog design each new season!) Which leads me to a question: do you like the new blog design? Is there too much empty space, making it hard to read?

On Wednesday (which I believe is the first day of fall!) I'll do a full post to welcome the new season. In that post, I'll give you an explanation of the connections between the header picture and the new season (like I did with the summer mountain picture). I'll also tell you more about an addition to the blog schedule and some upcoming events. Be sure and stop by!

Now, I was pleasantly surprised when Gina from Hott Books passed on two blog awards to me yesterday! Gina is my newest follower, and I'm so touched by her interest in and support of my blog. Thank you so much, Gina!

Here are the two blog awards:


I guess the "rules" now are to tell you five things about myself. ;) So here they are:

1. I am a night owl. Hence, the reason I'm working on my blog design and posting in the wee hours of the morning. ;)
2. I just started helping out at the AWANA program at a local church. I never did AWANA when I was younger, but I really loved helping the "Sparks" (kindergarten through 2nd grade) this past Sunday, and I'm excited about this next year! To think that I get to do something like this for church service credit at Corban University--fun stuff!
3. I hate mashed potatoes. Really. True, I haven't tried them in a long time, but I won't go near them anymore.
4. I'm really enjoying my Petrine Epistles class this semester! This class is devoted to studying First and Second Peter in the Bible. I had the same professor last fall for Bible Study Methods, and he's very knowledgeable. I think many of my classes are opening my mind a lot this semester, which can be difficult but rewarding.
5. I have a rather large TBR stack just waiting for me right now! ;) Oh boy, do I have a lot of reading to do--which is wonderful, even if it is a bit time-consuming!

I'm going to pass the Versatile Blogger award on to:

• Carman at A Sequence of Continuous Delights
• Ashley at After All....... Tomorrow is Another Day

I'm going to pass the Honest Scrap award on to:

• Bluerose at Bluerose's Heart
• Katy and Kait at Book Ponderings
• Julia at Dark Glass Ponderings

Ladies, you all have such beautiful, creative blogs! Thank you for encouraging, entertaining, giving to, and inspiring your readers!

Readers, be sure and check out these blogs if you haven't already!

P.S. I apologize for skipping "True Love Tuesday" this week. I got a little carried away with blog designs, blog awards, etc. ;)

Winners and New Blog Ideas!

Gifts are a special part of Christmas-time, so for the last official day of "Christmas in July" I am thrilled to announce the winners of three different giveaways! =)

Quick Note: For Julie Lessman's giveaway, those who didn't leave an e-mail address (if I did not already know the e-mail address of the person) were not entered in the drawing. I apologize if I didn't make it more clear, but I'll try to clarify more in the future. As for the other drawings, I'm getting kind of confused on who wants to be entered or not, so in future drawings I'll try to remember to only enter those who say they want to be entered and leave their e-mail addresses. Again, I'm so sorry for the confusion! Also, I used Random.org's List Randomizer when picking the winners for these drawings.




The winner of her choice of one of Julie Lessman's books is . . .

Bekka!








The winner of the "Christmas in July" Giveaway is . . .

Julia!







The winner of my 100th Post Giveaway is . . .

Bluerose!





Congratulations to all of the winners! Be looking for my e-mail and please respond ASAP! Thank you! And to those of you who didn't win these giveaways, be sure and check in often--you never know when there will be another one. =)

Thank you so much to all of you for your comments and for visiting my blog! The post with Julie Lessman's interview garnered the most comments I've ever had on one post! I'm so grateful for your enthusiasm.

Now, for the other part of this post! I've been thinking a lot about having my own weekly posts (ones that are repeated every week according to the theme of that day). So I've come up with a list of potential ideas that I would love to hear your thoughts on!

Below I will describe each of the possibilities, and then I would greatly appreciate it if you would pick your top three favorites and let me know in the comments section. I'll probably end up using three or four of these, and I'll make a final decision within the next couple of weeks. I will take the your comments into consideration when making my choice. =)

CHOICES:

Sundays by the Sea: The ocean is a beautiful and mysterious part of God's creation, and I have been blessed to live close to the Pacific Ocean my whole life. For "Sundays by the Sea" I would post devotional thoughts inspired by the sea, drawing from my own experiences and from movies/books which are set on the sea.

True Love Tuesdays: This is for the romantic at heart! On "True Love Tuesdays" we would discuss examples of true love from books, movies, and real life. This would also be an opportunity to share romantic quotes,along with recommendations for clean romantic books and movies.

Winter Wednesdays: To go along with the title and purpose of this blog, "Winter Wednesdays" would be an opportunity to share encouraging thoughts with each other for those times when we're in the winter of our "Seasons of Humility." We all could use some support and comfort for the hard times, as well as reminders of God's sovereignty and plan for our lives.

Travel Thursdays: This would be an opportunity to share where we've traveled in real life, or where we've traveled through the pages of a book. There's much to learn about different places in this vast world, so "Travel Thursdays" would be a fun way to find out more about those places!

Furry Friends Fridays: Many of us are the proud owners of adorable pets! "Furry Friends Fridays" would be days set aside to share fun anecdotes about our four-legged friends. And while I'm at college, I'll either be able to share about the creatures I see on the nature trail or elsewhere on campus, or I could share some of my cute memories of my own pets (from the past and the present!).

Sharing a Smile Saturdays: I've actually implemented this one several times already, so I can continue this if everybody likes it! "Sharing a Smile Saturdays" are meant to make you laugh or at least smile, and the posts can be about jokes, funny college stories, or practically anything that's smile-worthy!

OK, you've seen the choices! (And yes, I realize there wasn't one for Monday. I didn't come up with anything clever for Mondays, so I guess those days will be reserved for reviews or rest!) And I should also say that these posts will only be for those weeks that are not already themed weeks. (For example, I would not do these weekly-themed posts for the "Reading Retreats" Week or the "End of Summer Bash.")

*New update: This morning I went to a MOAA (Military Officers Association of America) meeting at our local Coast Guard station, and I was blessed to have my dad share the videos I had put together from our experiences at Washington D.C. I am so grateful for the United States military, and it was while I was in the car a while after the meeting that an idea came to me. The one day I hadn't come up with a theme for was Monday--and I have a strong desire within me to honor the military in some way. So I'm going to have Mondays for the Military: a day set aside to pray for and in some way remember the U.S. military and the sacrifices they make. This day will not be an option to vote on because I want to implement it no matter what. =) But please feel free to express your ideas on the other options!*

I thank you again for taking the time to look through this and share your thoughts! Have a wonderful weekend!