Small Victories Sunday Linky {13} – The One With Spring 2014 Bloggiesta

Welcome to our Small Victories Sunday Linky!

This weekly post will recap for you the reading, cooking, health and personal goals I have been working towards this week and the achievements I’ve made both big and small. Each small victory brings me closer to achieving my personal goals for 2014. Focusing on my small victories has helped me gain a healthier and more positive attitude as I juggle my 3 boys and the physical impairment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (a chronic and incurable illness). I thought Sunday would be a perfect day to reflect on the week that passed and look forward to the week ahead. Please join me by linking up to 3 of your favorite family-friendly posts! Ways you can follow me: Subscribe / Facebook / Google + / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

This Week’s Co-Host:

Farah from High Heels and Training Wheels. Farah is a mom of 2 young boys and endures lupus, another autoimmune disease. She blogs about her journey through motherhood and lupus with honesty, eloquence and humor. She’s earned the Featured Blogger award for previous linkup posts. Help me welcome Farah to our linkup! Ways to follow Farah: Subscribe / Facebook / Google + / Pinterest/ Twitter

Recap of Last Week:

We had 59 great posts linked up last week for Small Victories Sunday Linky {12} – The One With the Tasty Food . Thanks to each and every one of you! Some of my favorite posts were:

• Link #11: Domain of the Mad Mommy’s Crock Pot Carne Asada Steak Dip – she had me at crock pot and carne asada.
• Link # 22: Chaos and Kiddos’ Shutterbugs: Quick Tips to Better Photos – cause my kids are goofy and fast when they want to evade the camera.
• Link # 26: Girl XOXO’s How to Find the Most Popular Posts on Your Blog Using Google Analytics

This Week’s Featured Blogger:

I’m happy to announce, the Featured Blogger this week for most number of clicks from the party, is from last week’s co-host, Fit Triangle Mom for her post “Where Do You Find Strength?”. Congrats Rachel, be sure to grab the Featured Blogger button to display on your blog and thanks for supporting our linky and being such a supportive and fantastic co-host for the last two weeks. Make sure to visit my co-host Farah, to see who she featured!

My Weekly Recap and Next Week’s Goals:

READING:

I FINISHED HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE! Yea, I’m just a little excited that I finished the 796 page book, the longest book I have read to date. Also, my favorite in the HP series so far. Already, I am ready to dive into the Order of the Phoenix but first we gotta meet to discuss this one.

I also finished reading Easy SEO for Bloggers by Steph Calvert of Hearts and Laserbeams. I had won this during a Biannual Blogathon event awhile ago and finally read it. Honestly, I don’t know why it took me so long, perhaps because SEO scares me and I easily get lost reading technical articles. However, this book was clear, concise and easy to understand. I will have to buy the newer version because Google changed the Keyword Tool they use since the original version I had was published. It’s only $1.99 on her site so I think it will be worth the investment.

I also started reading What Nora Knew by Linda Yellin. It’s funny so far and a lighthearted read. Good for late nights blogging this week!

COOKING:

It was a busy week, so I went light on the cooking but stuck to my menu plan pretty well. Unfortunately, no pictures to share with you today. I’ll have to catch up next time.

• Italian Sausage Breakfast Casserole from Key Ingredient
• Baked Spaghetti from Taste of Home
• Oatmeal
• Greek yogurt parfaits
• Bagels with cream cheese
• Frozen pizza

Next week’s menu plan includes:

• Banana Crepes
• Cream of Wheat
• Salsa Verde Chicken with Arroz con Gandules
• Dinner with friends 🙂
• Other easy things. I’m going to focus more on other things next week! Give myself a break from cooking.

BLOGGING:

Last week:

• Co-Hosted the Ultimate Linky’s Pinterest Party-March 24, 2014
• Spring 2014 Bloggiesta Goals and Accomplishments – one of my favorite blogging events where participants work Thursday-Sunday on improving their blog and tackling our blog to-do lists.
• 50 Bookish Things to do Before I die – a Book Bucket List Update
• Throwback Thursday Linkup {4} – link up an old post to give it a second share, comment and pin…still open so link up!

Next week’s blogging plan:

• Co-hosting both Monday Pinterest Party and Throwback Thursday so get your pins and old posts ready!
• I’ll be working behind the scenes on some of my Bloggiesta blog to-do tasks/mini-challenges I didn’t get to finish.
• Accomplishments of March Goals and overview of April Goals – has the month gone by already?

THANKFUL FOR SMALL VICTORIES:

• Zucchini Summer awarded me a Versatile Blogger Award. I love and appreciate receiving these awards from fellow bloggers. I enjoy getting to know them better. Thanks Tammy!
• I defrosted the freezer in the kitchen. It started leaking again, it’s 11 years old – wonder how much longer it will last us. Fingers crossed.
• The kids and I have been reading a lot together this week. They’ve enjoyed helping me scan books we read into Goodreads. We’ve read 90 books so far towards my goal of reading 1,000 books with them. See my Goodreads 1,000 kids books shelf to see what we’ve read so far. Our last book was everything you ever wanted to know about garbage truck mechanics…TMI and my middle son rated it a 1-star.
• We spent a great unexpected day with friends. Always great to catch up!
• By ordering a 30-day supply instead of 90-day supply of my medicine, I saved $98. Go figure my insurance would rather cover the smaller dose for a medicine I have been on for years.

Now It’s Your Turn to Share Your Favorite Posts and Small Victories!

Linky Rules:

• I’d appreciate if you grabbed my Small Victories Sunday button and place it in your sidebar or the post you are linking up.
• Share up to 3 of your favorite family-friendly blog posts you want to share. Enter your link below and let’s celebrate our small victories together!
• Visit as many of the other participants as you can and cheer them on. Please visit at least 2 others for every link you enter.
• By linking up, you are giving me permission to share your post on my social media pages to let others know of your awesomeness too!
• By linking up, you are giving me permission to email you notifications when the linky is open. You can unsubscribe to emails at any time.
• Stop by our Small Victories Sunday Linky Board on Pinterest and like and repin the posts to your boards.
• Spread the word! The more you share about the linky, the more visitors you will get to your content too.
• Need inspiration? Click here for Small Victories writing prompts, but the sky is the limit.
• Interested in Co-hosting? Send me an email at tanya{at}momssmallvictories{dot}com.

See my Blog Hops and Linky Parties page for where I like to link up.