What A Day...

First, my sincere apologies to anyone who received that strange email from my hotmail account. It never touched my inbox, just grabbed my entire address book & emailed you all. I have no idea if it was a virus, a scam or both. At any rate, I cannot access my hotmail account. Please change my email to one of the following: juliesteed@mac.com or steedjulie@ymail.com

Next, what weird weather. It finally rained last night. I thought I would never pull myself out of the bed this morning. Between daylight savings and the rain, it was a challenge. When I finally ventured out, I realized that the mountains were COVERED in snow. The moisture is a welcome change, but the weather is just going nuts out here.

Our camping trip also involved weird weather. It was warm-ish when we arrived Friday afternoon & sitting around the campfire was perfect Friday night. Saturday got colder and colder and ended in a rather significant snow shower. By the time we packed up camp on Sunday, it was warming up again! The girls and Derick did enjoy some fishing, though it was too chilly to stay out long. I got lots of writing done and we all enjoyed playing Uno & other games in the camper. I am so glad I finally got to go...I haven't been camping since the fall. UGH.

I got very sad when we drove home Sunday. I realized that we don't have another summer here in the beautiful NM mountains. I will miss it so much. We worked so hard to get here & now our time is over. I hear that there is some nice camping in KS and MO, so I am interested to see what that will be like.

If you are reading this post without pictures, check back soon. I made lots of camping pictures & I am going to download a few here in a bit.

I am starting a new writing class on Wednesday! An impulse decision to start it now, but a class I have been thinking about for a long time. I am excited to take my writing to the next level, as this class should help me do. Still no book on the horizon, but it is always stewing in the back of my mind! I am doing my best to work my way up the ladder like my writing instructor advises, so for now I will be sticking with magazines! I hope that you will see my byline in more obvious places this next year. I am shocked by the progress I have made since I started this last year & I hope that working steadily towards my goals will eventually land me where I want to be. It is hard for me to take my time and not try to do everything all at once! As always, I am a mommy and wife first, so it is slow going sometimes. Irritatingly slow at times!!! Sorry about all of those exclamation points...

I do want to say thank you to each of you that read, commented on and supported my article in Southern Living. That has been a really fun experience and your support means a lot!

Until next time...