Letters For Lucas

Wonders, Mishaps, Blunders and Joy.. commentary on my life as a mom in the form of letters to my son

Faves

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1. Favorite 2012 Movie: Magic Mike… um, Matthew McConaughot AND Channing Tatum shirtless? Yes, please! (with Argo as a close 2nd)

2. Favorite Album: Away From the World – Dave Matthews Band

3. Favorite Song: Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia

4. Favorite Tweeter: Too many to chose from! My favorite Facebooker is Galit Breen of These Little Waves because she posts engaging and thought provoking questions all the time that I just can’t help but respond to and follow along.

5. Favorite Blog: I read a ton (Farewell Stranger, Four Plus an Angel, Funny or Snot, In These Small Moments, Mommy of a Monster, My Time as Mom, Old Tweener, Reflections of Now, Sluiter Nation, Writing, Wishing, etc.) too hard to pick a favorite.

6. Favorite TV Show: Modern Family

7. Favorite Instagramer: iheartsunnydays, her (?) photos of every day objects and scenes are whimsical, fun and always give me pause.

8. Favorite Moment: 1) Earning my first freelance writing paycheck, 2) adding a puppy to our family, 3) thinking Lucas & I had seen the Space Shuttle Endeavor when it was still an hour away, 4) Todd texting me a picture of him meeting Dave Matthews.

9. Favorite Conference: N/A 🙁

10. Favorite Viral Video: Sesame Street: Share It Maybe



This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Prompt #1 The ladies at MomSmack listed their top 10 faves of 2012 here. Use their list as a template and fill in your own answers! 

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My Best Of 2012

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This time of the year is notorious for lists, round-ups, best ofs and worst ofs and like them or hate them, these lists tell us where we’ve been and show us where we’re going.

While I did launch my freelance writing career, which I am extremely proud of and grateful for, I didn’t write as much (only 125 new posts) on Letters For Lucas in 2012 as I would have liked and when I did, it was because I had to. My words needed to be expressed so that I might in some small way better understand myself, motherhood, my secondary infertility journey, the deaths of my parents, growing older, family dynamics, love, gratitude and the world around me. My favorite posts are the ones I write from the heart, edit like crazy and share with much trepidation.  

Here is a list of my favorite Letters For Lucas posts in 2012. If you missed one or are new to my blog, please catch up and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!

Also, I encourage you to read the 46 incredible letters shared this year for my weekly series, Letters For You. I am so grateful for my guests and appreciate them sharing their touching words here.

My Best of 2012:

January – Ashes To Ashes, where I contemplate what to do with my parents ashes, which still remain in my closet.

February – I’m Still In Shock, an unfortunate and very messy pre potty training incident that still makes me cringe. If nothing else, check this post out for the after photo! 

March – My Body, where I both praise and curse my body for it’s successes and failures. 

April – You Know You’re A Writer When…, an exploration of what it means to be a blogger, writer or both.

May – We Are Enemies, one of the grittiest posts I’ve shared about wanting to meet Infertility in a dark alley and kicking the shit out of it.

June – 40 Things To Do While I’m 40, a list that requires both some revising and additions or at the very least an update post.

July – The Good Stuff, a raw admission that parents are not perfect. 

August – This Time It’s Personal, a recap after a much needed blogging break, complete with photos.

September – Sound Off, where I stopped to listen and shared what I heard.

October – Beach Therapy, Lucas and my husband finally talked me into going camping and I had a blast!

Preserving Family History, with the help of my aunt and uncle, I share a brief history of my father and his family’s hardware store. 

November – For The Love (& Hate) Of Facebook, an ode to my favorite pastime waste of time.

December – Blur, where I describe almost buying my deceased father a Christmas present.

I loved sifting through my blog archives to find my best post(s) for each month of 2012 and I hope you found something that resonated with you.

Wishing all my readers a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2013! May the New Year hold all kinds of wonderful for you and yours. 

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Mommy of a MonsterLinking up with Mommy of a Monster’s Best of 2012: My Favorite Posts of the Year.

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Reflections

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The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. – Thomas Paine

As I took down our Christmas decorations yesterday, I thought about my year. As always, it was full of ups and downs, sweet memories and milestones, moments I wish could have lasted forever and days that I would never want to relive. All I could think is I hope 2012 has more of the same. Well maybe a few more ups than downs.

One of the many reasons I love having a blog is the chronicling of my life, which in large part revolves around my sweet boy, Lucas. Letters For Lucas is a place where I can share my thoughts and receive an abundance of support, no matter what the subject matter.

My 2011 recap would not be complete without mentioning my weekly series, Letters For You, which I launched in September. I am so proud to host this series and I’m constantly overwhelmed by its warm response.

This year, I attended my first two blog conferences and was finally able to meet many of the women that have meant so much to me in the blogging world and am pleased to now call IRL (in real life) friends.

I enjoyed going back and re-reading my 2011 posts and had a lot of fun choosing these photos and my favorites, all that I feel sum up my year.

Click each photo to find my favorite Letters For Lucas post from that month.

Please enjoy and however you choose to ring in the new year, be blessed.

Linking up with some of my favorite bloggers and their awesome, I-wish-I-had- thought-of-that link ups:

Mommy of a Monster

Happy New Year, everyone!

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Remembering The Magic

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Women Online I am bursting I am so excited!! Today I am being featured at The Secret to Success is Support.

I haven’t decorated for the holidays in four years and I’m  explaining why in a special Holiday Memories series The SITS Girls are running.

Come Remember the Magic with me and if you’re new to Letters For Lucas, welcome! I hope you’ll stay a while and engage often.

My blog is my outlet as I muddle through motherhood, grief and loss and the trials and tribulations of living with a toddler, all while working on baby #2. It’s a roller coaster ride! 

For a taste of what I write, please check out some of my favorite posts:

Some Days

Heartbeat

Tell Her

In Her Shoes

Show Me Something I’ve Never Seen Before

The Briefcase

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Bloggy Burn Out & Big News

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Being a blogger is hard work. There’s a lot of self-induced pressure to post something every day. And not just something, but something heartfelt, funny, captivating or relateable.

I currently have 36 drafts.

No joke!

So, I definitely don’t have a lack of ideas or mommyhood topics to write about, I just end up editing and re-editing the same drafts and then get stuck trying to make them work, so there they sit. I suppose it’s the perfectionist in me.

It’s the posts that I hammer out in 10 minutes that are the best received. There’s usually very little thinking involved, they just flow out of me like magic. I love it when that happens.

At any rate, just when I was contemplating taking a few days off and stepping away from my taunting drafts, one of my personal favorite Letters For Lucas posts, The House That Built Me is featured today on the BlogHer Home Page in the Member Section.

For those of you that don’t know, BlogHer is a community and media company created in partnership with women in social media. They also host the world’s largest women’s blogging conference (this year it is taking place in San Diego in March and I bought my ticket last week!). To be featured on their Web site is huge! I am very excited about this and grateful for the opportunity to cast my net and acquire new readers.

Especially with this piece of writing.

This was one of those posts that was so easy to write and came to me very naturally.

I wrote The House That Built Me the morning we moved from our beloved home in San Diego to our new home in Orange County less than a month ago. It was a bittersweet move because of all of the memories and wonderful moments we experienced in our old house.

If you missed this post the first time around, I’d love it if you visited the BlogHer Web site and read it there. Thank you!

As far as my bloggy burn out, I may end up taking some time off.

Oh, shoot, who am I kidding?
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My Greatest Hits

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As 2010 comes to an end and with over 340 blog posts to my credit this year, here are my Top 10 favorite Letters For Lucas posts of the year.

I didn’t pick these because of their popularity or amount of comments/traffic they did or did not receive, but because they were heartfelt, some very difficult to write and because I learned something from each one of these experiences. Thank you for accepting my words and letting me share myself with you.

If you missed any of these posts, check them out and tell me what you think!

In order in which they appeared:

Ink – March 21
I got a very special tattoo while on a girls’ trip in Vegas.

We Did It! – May 19
We survived 85 days of Lucas wearing a Doc Band thanks to the help of a precious baby boy.

I’m Losing It – June 2
Dealing with the challenges of motherhood.

Guilty As Charged – July 6
Mother’s guilt. Enough said.

Miscarried – July 12
A very sad day.

Is This Heaven? – August 5
Time Out at a book store? Yes, please!

Letters For Lucas – August 27
A touching letter from Lucas’ dad on my one year blogoversary.

That’s Not Going To Pay For College – September 2
Photos of Lucas putting everything but coins in our coin bottle.
The Briefcase – October 11
I never realized how powerful an inanimate object could be.

These Are My Confessions – November 11
This is me; the good, the bad and the ugly truth.

And because one of these is technically a guest post written by someone else…

The House That Built Me – December 13
A tearful and loving departure from our first home together.

Thank you for returning to read my words and helping me through this crazy thing called motherhood. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without you some days.

And to all of you new followers, welcome, it’s wonderful to have you.

I wish everyone a truly fulfilling New Year.

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Top 10 Favorite Posts Of The Year

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I wish I could dedicate more time to reading my favorite blogs. For a list of the ones I try to visit as often as I can, go to my Favorite Blogs button on my Home Page.

I didn’t pick these posts/bloggers because they need the traffic or because they are my friends, I picked them because they made me laugh out out loud, shed a tear, nod in agreement or stuck with me for days after the fact. These women inspire me each and every day.

Here are my Top 10 favorite posts of the year, in no particular order:

1. Liquid Gold by Coreen, The Adventures of Captain Fussypants, Little Miss and Caleb the Wonder Dog

2. 30 Things For 30 Years by Morgan, The Little Hen House

3. After The Honeymoon… by Sheri, Old Tweener

4. Goodbye, My Friend (A Letter) by Natalie, Mommy of a Monster

5. A Foreigner In My Own Kitchen by Cheryl, Mommypants

6. That Time In The Public Restroom by Liz, A Belle A Bean & A Chicago Dog

7. 16 & Pregnant by Natalie, My Crazy Busy Life

8. {Guest Post} ~ My Pink Bundle ~ by Tara, Blondie ‘N’ SC

9. Because It Was Grassy And Wanted Wear / But Still… Christmas by Nichole, In These Small Moments

10. When Private Goes Public by Leah, LA ‘n’ LA

And for good measure:

11. A Blogger’s Gifts and the entire Back to School Back to Blogging series by Gigi, Kludgy Mom

If you don’t already follow these gifted and talented women writers, you should! Or at the very least, read these posts for a taste of their magic.

Tune in tomorrow when I share my 2010 Top 10 Letters For Lucas favorites.

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