Beth Rhodes's Blog

Motherhood is a lonely venture. Even knowing that there are thousands of moms out there, the fact remains. No one has exactly my personality or is married to my husband or has my children. No one is Me.

None of us can 100% relate to the mother next door.

And right now, it seems like people are happy for the moment when they get what they want, and that moment is quickly followed by another round of negotiating and bargaining. With little spurts of contrariness thrown in for good measure.

No one gets it. No one can really understand what it’s like. Not the husband when he is angry because you are short-tempered. Or the kids when you finally say, “I’m taking off for a couple hours. I need a break.”

And you think a break, a ladies night out or trip to the coffee shop, is going to fix it, but it’s really just that you wanted him to say, “I love you anyway, you crazy broad.”

Last week, I posted a short video on Instagram. It mentioned a mug I have that I’ve had for years, which my husband and I “earned” through buying and smoking cigarettes. And then I spent a few days thinking about how much stuff we might still have. And I started digging. And this is what I found!!

The Mug:

The Ski Jacket: [for all those healthy, smoking skiers!]

The Cookbook: [has really good recipes, though!]

T-shirt

T-shirt

NOT PICTURED!

Red Corduroy Pullover: [MIA but probably in a bin somewhere!]

Ashtrays: more than one!!

And this is where I get to say… Don’t Smoke! It’s not like having that stupid credit card, just to earn money. It’s worse because you might actually die from cancer. You might think we stopped smoking because we turned health conscious. No. In about 2005, taxes on cigarettes shot the price of cigarettes from a mere 2-3 dollars to over 4 dollars. Yo. We were already poor and that was just a bit too ridiculous, even for us. As a matter of fact, Matt said, when this pack is gone, that’s it—no more. But then he found a half smoked pack in his truck…so he finished that one as well. :D It wasn’t until 6 years later that being healthy became a good idea. haha. It’s true though!! And my husband started it with his decision to join the military. [I followed suit a few…okay several…years later.]

Now we’re both glad we don’t smoke.

Somedays I find myself scrolling through Facebook…and occasionally, I find myself chuckling and laughing or even a bit mesmerized. For a wee bit this afternoon that happened to me. So I think I will show you a few things that caught my eye as I wasted….several minutes [or more]…scrolling through social media.

This one made me laugh because I still recite the prayer I learned in 2nd grade…and only this year was I told that most adults don’t…they pray spontaneously, heartfelt offerings of apology, remorse, and change. LOL Well, not sure this is what they want, but I may try it.

Without being directly political, this one makes an interesting point. Why IS the government shut down?

Hey…wait a minute!!

I shared this with my workout group. Sometimes, that medal is worth it!!

Speaking of the workout group… this image from 2017 that came up on social media today made me very grateful for 2018 and how I changed my life around. Sometimes we need that reminder. Not me so much…. but it is a funny thing to realize and know that no one who meets me right now will understand who I am. They might think I’ve always been a workout nutball. #dontforgetthepast

Um, helloooo!! This is amazing book inspiration. I love every part of this…the famous brother, the pilot, the shadow he lives in. How do you really feel about this? Are you close? How can I make you suffer?

So many truths. I think sometimes we experience these all at once. From both sides!! :D

I hope you enjoyed this third edition of #SaturdaySeven.

Read something!! Get off Facebook! And have a great weekend.

Beth

I had an all day workshop to attend today, so here I am… after serving Little Caesar’s to the family for dinner, sitting down to post my Saturday Seven.

When attending training [of any kind], SEVEN thing you’ll learn:

You might have a low tolerance for extra talking.

You’ve become cynical in your old age!

Laughing makes the time go by more quickly.

Coffee [or caffeine] is a must…

But go easy on the liquids because bathroom breaks only come occasionally.

Sharing experiences and life makes a group grow fonder.

YOU WILL EAT THE CHOCOLATES SPREAD OUT ON THE TABLE BEFORE YOU!!

If you’ve ever been to a conference or workshop, you know what I’m talking about, right? If you stop in to visit, let me know something you’ve learned while attending a workshop.

My kids start school this week, and I’m excited to get back into a routine. The Christmas break went too fast, but the kids are ready and quite bored! It’s a beautiful thing.

I’m looking forward to getting some writing done this week.

With Love,

Beth

If you visit the webpage, you’ll see this graphic on my books’ pages. If you visit my blog, you would have seen this graphic [with different words!] now gracing my header space. Don’t you love it?

Click the image on the book you want to buy, and you will be linked to the Books2Read page for that book, where every retailer and link is available for you to purchase from. No third party sellers, just you and Apple Books or Barnes and Noble… And I still have links to Amazon as well, so if you’re sitting pretty with Amazon, click the Amazon button!

It’s a new year.

I’ve picked my first new book and it is the Michelle Obama book. Perhaps I’ll come back and share a bit of my thoughts on it when I’m done. :)

I’m guessing life is about to get back into full swing… the routines and busyness of life.

Enjoy it!

Beth

Ever since Y2K [and for those of you too young to remember, think end of days. At the time, I lived in a small town in Ohio, and people were storing up toilet paper, canned goods, guns and ammo.

Every year since then, I have a moment before the new year where my imagination runs away from me, and I think, “Maybe it will happen this year.”

What if Y2K was the red herring?

What if computer systems everywhere shut down, imploded, or…decoded…or whatever it was they were likely to do when the calendar rolled over to 2000, THIS YEAR? In a way, my brain is giving me a nudge to live every day to the fullest. If this is my last day able to access the world through my computer…what would I do?

Ration Insulin: [maybe I need to turn my auto-reorder back on and start stocking up!]

Go find me a typewriter.

Stock up on pencil and paper and those little pencil sharpeners.

Send out an email to all my loved ones…

Take all of the survey and Games that I usually avoid. Yes, I’m curious…but I usually just don’t have time and I know, practically, it’s a waste of my time.

Collect addresses from friends who I’ve never met: you never know when the end of the world will create an opportunity to travel the country—by what little gas you have left and then by foot or bike! #lifetothefullest #VegasBaby

Pull out that 100 year old coffee grinder, clean it, and sharpen those blades!

First ever #SaturdaySeven!! Getting a jump on the new year and wanting to keep up with blogging. Don’t hold me to it just yet… but it’s a start. If you want to join me, use the hashtag #SaturdaySeven. Leave me a link, and I’ll come visit your blog. #oldschoolblogging #whenbloggingwassocialmedia

Enriched my personal life.

I spent more time on me. You all know that story, so I won’t be long on it.

Yesterday, my cousin asked me to recommend some books. And it happens every now and then, and usually my own personal rules are, Don’t Do It!! But he wanted it for his grandma…and seriously, you don’t say no to grandma…ya know?

So, I thought for a little bit, did a little research based on authors I know and love.

…and realized, I don’t read enough anymore to make recommendations.

Have I read a new release in the last few years? No.

Do I know any new authors since 1999? Aside from small press authors online, No.

Have I recommended a book recently that was published in this century? Not really.

I think maybe it’s time for me to focus on READING this year. Even my favorites are writing things I haven’t read…

That is all.

Happy Reading!!

I would like to change my blog’s name and just call it The Balance. Mostly because it seems to hang in the balance!! But also because I feel, in this blog, I’m always searching for balance. The drive to write, the need for faith, the necessity for health,…it all becomes a balancing act, you know?

Part of me wants to become that crazy lady who exercises all the time…just going from gym to running to boxing to running and back to the gym, etc. I could blog about exercise and health and food and my discoveries…

Or I could blog about my faith and why it’s so important to me. And how I believe it’s supposed to be apparent and a part of every aspect of my life. But is it? I don’t know…

How can I write about it all? Do I reflect my real life in my characters? Is that enough? Or do I need to write a bit of nonfiction as well in order to satisfy all the parts of my life that want to have a say?

If there’s an answer, I don’t know what it is.

I have no focus. Writing book Five of my Hawk Elite Security Series has been like pulling teeth—not the 8 year old’s wiggly teeth, either. haha. However, that being said, I press on. I’m not one to be so spontaneous or impulsive that I think quitting is a good idea. I look ahead to change. I plan for the next move. I think about what I want, what God wants, and how to mesh those two.

My work is one of my greatest joys. I love my characters and watching them become amazing people. I love seeing them overcome adversity, find love and hope, and fulfill their dreams. These are the things God wants for us.

Life is hard to balance. So what?

Tomorrow is a new day.

And tomorrow I move: forward, backward, sideways…always choosing, always discerning, always trying to do what’s right. :) That’s my life…

Hanging in the Balance yet Firmly rooted in Purpose.

Most of the times I hear a term like "an insider", I'm reading the back cover of a thriller novel or hearing that deep voice of the movie trailer announcer. So my brain started processing the term anew when I heard it this week about CSM Bolyard and his death in Afghanistan.

In case you're curious, there's a weird balance maintained by military families during a time as trying as this. Morbid curiosity is a no-go...yet, we are all thinking about it. Why did it happen? How? Who of our friends are affected by such a horrible loss? 

I watch my friends cry.

I hug them, knowing their life will never be the same...because they have lost a friend, a husband, a colleague.

But I don't cry out there. I didn't know this hero. I have only heard about him secondhand or read about him online, like every one else. My tears come later, and they are for the greater loss that our country experiences every time we lose a member of our Armed Forces. They are for my husband who will be deployed again. For the Gold Star families who have already started rebuilding and moving on. 

The more I hear about CSM Bolyard... that he was 42, getting ready to retire, a family man...a true United States hero...

Killed by an insider. 

After reading that and thinking on it for a day, I finally asked my husband, "What does that mean? He was killed by one of our own?" Isn't that what insider means? Do I even want to know?

It means that someone, who our troops were there to help and train, came in and gave us the middle finger. [those aren't my husband's words; they are mine] CSM Bolyard is the 154th person killed by an insider attack since 2007.

I stared at my husband for a second and then asked, "Why are we even over there?" I know what this means now. It means that none of our soldiers are safe, ever. What 'friendly' will be the next to turn? In what month? At which Base? How can I let you go, knowing you might not come back?

"Politics." His words. "We train them. We give them arms; they take them and give them to ISIS." They don't understand the world like we do, with peace as an ending solution. They want us all dead.

"So, why are we over there?" I ask again. And he shrugs. He too struggles to understand such hate. Are we protecting innocence and freedom? Are we fighting the injustice of the world? For him, the answers are simpler. He serves his country; he demands a better life for his home and for the world. He wants women to be respected. He wants children to be loved. He wants the elderly to be honored. In every culture. And he wants peace... 

For me, the answers are wrapped up in emotions and turmoil and more questions. And tears. For my sister Army spouse, who suffers the loss. For our country, who has lost its focus and finds value in Political Correctness instead of Truth. 

And it makes me think about Truth. The truth of knowing our world will never see peace until we surrender to the God who created us all. Until every man, woman, and child knows the salvation of the cross, our world will suffer from sin.

And all we can do is get up in the morning and love one another. Be the light in a dark world. Share the burden of our loved ones. And pray. 

For Peace. For Change. For Life. 

Sending prayers for the Bolyard family. Timothy Bolyard, you and your family are in my calendar, and we will never forget. Rest in Peace.

With Love,

Well, I'm totally excited that SquareSpace has a new Campaign Feature. I've been using Mailchimp a long time, and after the permissions debacle of 2018, I'm just fed up with how much they are limiting my ability to put out meaningful content. When I want to. There is always a fluctuation in the newsletter part of the business. People join because they want a freebie, or maybe they sign up during a party in hopes of winning a prize. A month or so down the road, they'll unsubscribe. 

With every newsletter I put out, I gain a few and lose a few subscribers. And when I lose subscribers, Mailchimp tags that as a negative, or spam. No one likes losing subscribers, but it happens. Even I unsubscribe at times, especially when I'm just not interested in the topic anymore. 

I'm curious to see how the new feature over here develops. I've already had a great conversation with a Squarespace Rep about the feature and what I would want/need...like being able to send out a "thank you" after someone subscribes. And with the thank you, a copy of a digital book. It's in the works!  This stretches my brain and makes me think of alternative means of reaching my readers. Never a bad thing!! 

I'm 100% impressed with SquareSpace. I've been with them for a few years [or more?]. My sister recommended them to me. And I have not been sorry...not even one little time. Not even a smidge. Customer service and their reps are worth their weight in gold... and if one happens to be really skinny, maybe worth more than their weight in gold. 

Oh!! The SALE!! Right, so I created a campaign that I will send out tomorrow morning. And I put the entire Hawk Elite Security Series on sale. So, if you haven't, subscribe to my newsletter [this includes the list from Mailchimp, so if you signed up over there, you are signed up over here]. And then run over to Amazon and grab Strike Back for FREE and books two, three, and four for only $.99....or you could gift them! :D