SITS is a wonderful group of women bloggers. They offer blogging tips and advice, and feature women bloggers to help them gain exposure. It was interesting to read my SITSmas card from last year.

What a year it’s been for us! Moving from a house to an apartment, from Texas to New Jersey.

All of our Christmas decorations are in storage, so I made everything on our tree. There are some great tutorials here, here and here. This was my first year having a real Christmas tree. I’m not sure that it’s any better than an artificial one. Sorry! I know a lot of people think there’s nothing like a real tree.

We’re experiencing a real winter, although we haven’t had snow, yet. Every morning this week when I’ve taken Henry for his walk, the pond at our apartment complex has been frozen.

This year was another difficult one for us, but there were so many blessings. We thank God for continuing to provide David with free Humira, employment, a church here in Jersey, and trips back home to our family and friends in Dallas.

My hopes for the new year are:

*Zero arthritis pain for David
*A new rheumatologist to help him achieve zero pain
*A very drama free year. 2010 was a rough year for our whole family.
*To finish my novel and get it published
*A job for David back in Texas
*Children. I don’t know when we’ll be healthy enough to have children, but David and I would be very happy if it happened for us this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

A Young Wife

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• Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
• Home for Christmas in Texas
• Psoriatic Arthritis Took the Day Off and We Went to Atlantic City

Today is Day 3 of the SITS Girls Back to Blogging event. Thank you to the event sponsors Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath and Florida Builder Appliances. Today’s assignment is to republish a post with a title you are particularly proud of.

I thought about this one, My Post Apocalyptic Plan is Ruined, but I actually like this one more.

Psoriatic Arthritis Took the Day Off and We Went to Atlantic City

Okay, so Psoriatic Arthritis didn’t really take a day off. David still had some arthritis pain. But he had a good day recently, and we went to Atlantic City.

It was so nice to get out of the house and do something fun! We walked around the boardwalk and some of the upscale shops. We didn’t buy anything except some saltwater taffy, but it was fun to look.

In other news, we are under a tropical storm warning thanks to Hurricane Earl. We got a notice from the apartment complex management, and then a call from our renter’s insurance company giving us advice about how to prepare. Having lived in Dallas all my life, I’ve never experienced a tropical storm or hurricane. I stocked up on non-perishable gluten free dairy free items such as peanut butter, canned fruit and rice noodle bowls, although I’m not sure if the noodle bowls will do us any good if we lose power since they’re prepared with hot water. Trying to pack an emergency kit for someone with dietary restrictions is hard!

It was such a blessing to have that good day and to be able to do something fun! Of course, Hurricane Earl turned out to be very mild for us. Barely any rain, and the power was out for just a few moments. In an ironic twist, another hurricane blew up from the gulf into Dallas days later and caused a lot of flooding.

I talked to the acupuncturist about what we could pack in an emergency kit that would meet David’s dietary restrictions. First, he said, “You do what you have to in an emergency.” I love that he has common sense. He also said he and his wife bought a small propane stove they use when the power is out, so maybe David and I will invest in one of those as well.

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• Psoriatic Arthritis Took a Day Off and We Went to Atlantic City
• SITS Day!
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I’ve been writing a lot lately, but I’m afraid it hasn’t been here. I’ve been writing articles for Associated Content like this one on How to Get Your Husband to Watch Eclipse With You. My methods work. David actually offered to go with me to one of the June 29 showings of Twilight, New Moon and then Eclipse at midnight.

I’ve also been writing a novel. It’s really strange. I’ve had several ideas for stories that I thought were much better and easier to write than this one, but this is the farthest I’ve ever come with a story. Hopefully I can find an agent and/or publisher once I get it finished.

If you are a writer, I highly recommend you read The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner. Shout out to Maegan for recommending it to me. After I read it I called my husband and my mother and said, “I’m not OCD! I’m not a worry wart! I’m just a tortured writer!”

So, I’m sorry I’m not blogging as often as I used to, but I must write what I can, and right now all that’s coming out is this crazy novel!

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Click here to see more great Works for Me Wednesday Tips.

Different bloggers have different goals for their blogs. Some want to earn money, some want to become popular and some just want to share pictures and stories of their kids with their family.

The best blogging advice I have is to treat blogging like a job. I love blogging. It’s a really fun “job”. Here are a few things that work for me.

*Decide how much time you want to devote to your blog. In my opinion, this time should include time spent promoting your blog on Twitter, Facebook, answering emails, etc. Do you want to blog every day? Once a week? Whatever you decide, be consistent. Readers appreciate knowing how often you post.

*Network. Just like any other job, you need to network. Create a Twitter account. Comment on blogs you like. Participate in Blog Carnivals like Works for Me Wednesday and The 730/365 Declutter Challenge. Join groups like SITS. You’ll meet interesting people and you’ll get a lot of new traffic this way.

*Finally, just like any other job, you need continuing education. Seek advice. Learn about new things, such as My Blog Spark or Google Alerts.

That’s what works for me! Hope it works for you, too.

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