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You're a stay-at-home Mom.
You treasure the privilege of being able to raise your own children and manage your home, but sometimes you wonder if there's something you could do to contribute to the family income. Something that has the potential to earn a full-time wage without a huge start-up cost or sacrificing hours away from the first responsibilities God gave you.
You love to write and crave an outlet to express yourself while making a positive impact in someone else's life. You're passionate about a particular subject and desire to explore it deeper so you can minister to others, learn, and interact with a community of like-minded women.
If any of these sentiments resonate with you, you need to start a blog , and my brand new eBook, Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home | The Ultimate Guide For Christian Mommy Bloggers will show you how to do just that.

Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home The Ultimate Guide For Christian Mommy Bloggers by Jacinda Vandenberg
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Since the first edition of this eBook in 2012, Growing Home has grown ten times in size and now generates a five figure income annually. I’ve encountered many new challenges and opportunities not included in the original version and decided it was time to re-write it all.
I started Growing Home with the purpose of encouraging Christian wives, mothers, and homemakers in their noble calling. More recently, homeschooling has been added to the queue since we officially started home educating our oldest child last year.
Writing has always been a favorite pastime of mine and I loved the idea of interacting with like-minded women all across the globe. I began as every blogger does: with one reader, one Facebook fan, one Pinterest follower who pinned my posts.
A few years later, with God’s extraordinary blessing in spite of myself and an exceptionally supportive, tight-knit blogging network, at the time of this writing, Growing Home is a community of 30,000 readers and is a significant contributor to our family income.

Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home The Ultimate Guide For Christian Mommy Bloggers by Jacinda Vandenberg $7.99
PDF version

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I have nothing to boast about. I couldn’t have imagined it this way, not in my wildest dreams! This is solely the result of the Lord’s blessing on the tools He has given me. He’s responsible for it all and He gets the glory!
The goal of this eBook is to share with you the same principles and techniques that God has used to grow Growing Home, both as a ministry tool and a means of income for our family without taking me away from my first responsibilities as a wife and mother.
What Other People Are Saying: "Jacinda Vandenberg's book is fantastic. Everyone is going to want to read it, even if you already know how to blog and manage your home. Coming soon to a theater near you. Very soon, in fact. January 13th. Don't get popcorn grease on your Kindle." ~ Melinda Martin, Professional Blogger and Virtual Assistant. I hope you find in these pages:

• a vision for purposeful blogging,
• helpful tips to manage both your home and your online presence,
• valuable information that will help supplement your family's income.

Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home The Ultimate Guide For Christian Mommy Bloggers by Jacinda Vandenberg $7.99 PDF version

KINDLE version

Table of Contents
Introduction Part 1 | Creating a Vision and Maintaining A Schedule
To Blog Or Not To Blog? That Is The Question
Setting Priorities
Time-Saving Home Management Tips
This Is My Schedule, And I’m Sticking To It
Efficiently Managing Your Time Online Part 2 | Content and Design Content Is King

• Originality
• Brevity
• Titles
• Engagement
• Readability
• Hyperlinks
• Photos
• Character
• Professionalism
• Inspiration
• Understanding

• Platform
• Simplicity
• Branding
• Color
• Fancy Fonts
• Whitespace
• Centered Gadgets
• Placement
• Comments
• Image Use
• Navigation
• Call to action
• Browsers
• Recommended Blog Designers

• How to Grow Your Blog
• Link Parties
• Commenting
• Following
• Guest Posting
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Google+
• Twitter
• Email Subscriptions
• Community
• Giveaways
• Posting Frequency
• Advertising

• Make Money as a Seller
• Make Money as an Affiliate

• Deciding Your Options and Setting Your Rates
• Do’s
• Don’ts

• Dealing With The Nay-Sayers
• What To Do When Someone Steals Your Content
• Legal Stuff
• Affiliate Links
• Comment Policies
• Copyrights
• Disclosures
• Disclaimers
• Taxes

Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home The Ultimate Guide For Christian Mommy Bloggers by Jacinda Vandenberg $7.99 PDF version

KINDLE version

Praise for Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home:
"One of the most important things that caught my attention in this book is that, she admits, she doesn’t try to do it all. Oh, how I loved this! Finally someone who was real about what actually happens during their day." ~ Shari A. Miller"Growing Your Blog is a worthwhile read if you’ve ever felt like your blogging was taking over your life, whether you are seriously considering monetizing or not. There’ve been many times over the past few months that I’ve felt maybe I just need to quit…after reading this book, I know I just need a better plan. My priorities have been out of whack. I knew it, but I needed a “blueprint” for turning them around." ~ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds"Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home offers a great vision of keeping your focus where it should be, without having letting go of your goal to grow your blog." ~ A Diligent Heart"If your dishes have been known to pile high while you aim to type one more blog post, then this ebook is for you... Priorities. Priorities. Priorities. Come on a journey as she shares her own story, schedules, and tips for Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home. You will be encouraged and inspired by her beautiful simplicity." ~ The Homeschool Village"Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home is going to be a resource I turn to time and again. I am thankful to not have to use Google to find answers to my blogging questions anymore!" ~ Thankful Homemaker"Jacinda’s book is a great introduction to the how-to’s of blogging for business. It’s refreshing to read a take that is from a decidedly Christian viewpoint. I found the details for advertising, ebooks, and affiliates especially helpful. She is very transparent and shares her own advertising and reviewing rates, which is also very helpful." ~ The Sunny Patch"{Jacinda}gives a ton of information of how to blog while balancing home life helping women to keep a wise balance and does it from a Christian perspective. This is hard to find and why I recommend it." ~ A Wise Woman Builds Her Home"What kind of blogger are you, or do you want to become? If you merely blog for the sake of keeping a family journal then this eBook probably won’t benefit you. But, if you want to step it up a notch then it’s definitely for you!" ~ Raising Mighty Arrows
***A special thank-you to my dear husband for proofreading the manuscript, Lindsey and Richele from Crisp Apple for their tremendous job on the design, and Melinda from Helply Helper VA Services for the many late nights and early mornings she spent editing and formatting my mess into something that looks professional!

After several long weeks of writing, I'm thrilled to announce that my new eBook, Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home | The Ultimate Guide for Christian Mommy Bloggers is finally here with a special launch week price!

Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home The Ultimate Guide For Christian Mommy Bloggers by Jacinda Vandenberg
PDF version

KINDLE version

Here's what people are saying about it:
"One of the most important things that caught my attention in this book is that, she admits, she doesn’t try to do it all. Oh, how I loved this! Finally someone who was real about what actually happens during their day." ~ Shari A. Miller"Growing Your Blog is a worthwhile read if you’ve ever felt like your blogging was taking over your life, whether you are seriously considering monetizing or not. There’ve been many times over the past few months that I’ve felt maybe I just need to quit…after reading this book, I know I just need a better plan. My priorities have been out of whack. I knew it, but I needed a “blueprint” for turning them around." ~ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds"Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home offers a great vision of keeping your focus where it should be, without having letting go of your goal to grow your blog." ~ A Diligent Heart"If your dishes have been known to pile high while you aim to type one more blog post, then this ebook is for you... Priorities. Priorities. Priorities. Come on a journey as she shares her own story, schedules, and tips for Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home. You will be encouraged and inspired by her beautiful simplicity." ~ The Homeschool Village"Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home is going to be a resource I turn to time and again. I am thankful to not have to use Google to find answers to my blogging questions anymore!" ~ Thankful Homemaker"Jacinda’s book is a great introduction to the how-to’s of blogging for business. It’s refreshing to read a take that is from a decidedly Christian viewpoint. I found the details for advertising, ebooks, and affiliates especially helpful. She is very transparent and shares her own advertising and reviewing rates, which is also very helpful." ~ The Sunny Patch"{Jacinda}gives a ton of information of how to blog while balancing home life helping women to keep a wise balance and does it from a Christian perspective. This is hard to find and why I recommend it." ~ A Wise Woman Builds Her Home"What kind of blogger are you, or do you want to become? If you merely blog for the sake of keeping a family journal then this eBook probably won’t benefit you. But, if you want to step it up a notch then it’s definitely for you!" ~ Raising Mighty ArrowsYou can read more about it and view the Table of Contents here, or sign up as an affiliate here.

LAUNCH WEEK: $7.99 $3.99 ! Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home The Ultimate Guide For Christian Mommy Bloggers by Jacinda Vandenberg
PDF version

KINDLE version

Welcome to the 129th edition of our weekly homemaking link-up party: Teach Me Tuesdays! Each Tuesday, you're warmly invited to link up anything homemaking related from you own blog and mingle with others who've done the same.

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How have you grown your home this week?
Was it through gardening, preserving, baby-wearing, cooking, crafting, teaching your children, cleaning your house, loving your husband, or perhaps through something else the Lord has been teaching you? Encourage other aspiring Proverbs 31 women by linking up below. Share as many posts as you would like! A link back to Growing Home is greatly appreciated. :-)

If you enjoyed this post, you may wish to follow Growing Home for updates via Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, or have them emailed directly to your inbox.

Today, I want to discuss something simple you can watch for in your writing, and that also has the power to make your writing so much more effective. Today, I want to talk about redundant words.

Let's start with the dictionary's definition of redundant:

re·dun·dant
being in excess; exceeding what is usual or natural.

Now, I want you to look at my simplified definition as I believe it has to do with writing effective blog posts.

re·dun·dant
writing certain words too many times; using certain phrases too many times; repeating an idea too many times.
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When is the best time of day to upload and publish new blog posts? This is a question that readers keep asking me, and the answer is simple... it depends.

Each person's blog is different. Each person's content is different. Each person's audience is different. And, each person's best time to post will be just a little bit different. Some bloggers will do far better posting in the evening than they will in the morning. Other bloggers will see a lot more traffic if they post early in the morning.

Over the past ten months, I have heavily experimented on my best times to post, and I can tell you that there is no exact science to it. I believe there are a few different times of day almost anybody can post to get maximum traffic to their blog, and that each blogger needs to pick a time that works best for them, and for their audience.
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I debated whether or not to include my personal schedule as part of the Keeping A Growing Home Series because really, it probably won't work for anyone else; our circumstances aren't the same. However, several women who are contemplating homeschooling have written and asked to see how it can actually fit into their day in addition to managing the rest of their homemaking responsibilities. I have chosen to include it for the sole purpose of assuring those who sincerely wonder that it can be done.

Below is a summary of a very good day at our house. It often looks nothing like this. Kids get sick or wake up on the "wrong side of the bed" and need more training and correction on some days than others. Interruptions happen. Sometimes it's little stuff like a blender explosion that takes me 30 minutes to mop up. Sometimes it's a bigger deal like the 20 week bed-rest of my last pregnancy.
Schedules and routines are designed to serve you, not the other way around. Learn to be flexible and roll with the punches. It's good to have a vision (Proverbs 29:18) and be intentional about your day, but remember: "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth His steps." Proverbs 16:9God often allows disruptions to teach us life lessons, bring blessings in disguise, remind us of our dependence on Him, and equip us with grace to overcome obstacles greater then our own strength could bear so that His name is ultimately glorified.
If supper doesn't get made, there's a pizzeria down the street; if school doesn't get done, there's always tomorrow; if the laundry doesn't get folded, we can live in wrinkly clothes for a week and no one will care; if I don't write a blog post, there are hundreds of thousands of other ones on the web for people to read.
If I develop a stinky attitude over a few interruptions and storm around miserably because I haven't gotten my way, the whole family suffers and I've just made keeping a growing home appear to be the worst trial a woman can endure.
This is not what I want for my daughters. It's not what I want for you.
So please don't take my schedule too seriously. :) My Daily Schedule 6:30-7:15: wake-up, personal devotions, get dressed, nurse Anna while checking emails. Flag any messages that need a reply.
7:15-7:30: write, schedule or publish blog posts, schedule Facebook and Twitter updates (I can pre-schedule updates on Facebook which are synced to my Twitter account)
7:30-8:15: wake kids up, change diapers, get dressed, have breakfast (smoothie).
8:15-8:40: Bible Time

• Bible Story
• Sing A Psalter
• Recite memory verse
• Pray

• Charity (4) works in her Rod & Staff textbooks at the kitchen table
• Judah (2) plays in the kitchen sink (I fill it up part way with water and give him a few toys) or colors a picture
• Anna (7 months) bounces in the exersaucer
• I start supper prep when Charity has independent work to do

• playtime
• I might throw a load of laundry in the washer and check my emails

• Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons with Charity on the couch
• Judah usually like to sit beside us and sound out the blends too
• Anna goes down for her morning nap

• Read from our weekly selection of books we borrowed from the library or do a craft that involves both kids

• kids play outside in the sandbox
• I throw laundry in the dryer, clean up kitchen, or start working on an odd project like switching out the winter/summer clothes or organizing the pantry

• Charity is allowed a few books in bed (if she's tired enough, she'll fall asleep)
• Judah and Anna nap

• write blog posts, answer emails, reply to advertising inquiries, working on reviews or eBooks, reply to comments, and interact with my Facebook community

Part 1: Keeping A Growing Home | A Management Series for Moms Part 2: Keeping A Growing Home | Know Your Role! Part 3: Keeping A Growing Home | Making Priorities & 15 Good Things I Don't Do Part 4: Keeping A Growing Home | Time-Saving Home Management Tips Part 5: Keeping A Growing Home | My Daily Schedule

If you enjoyed this post, you may wish to follow Growing Home for updates via Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, or have them emailed directly to your inbox. In the interest of full disclosure,some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive a small commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Thank you for your continued support!
Linking to: Raising Homemakers, Deep Roots At Home, Raising Arrows, A Wise Woman.,Walking Redeemed, The Better Mom, The Modest Mom, A Mama's Story, We ARE That Family, Raising Mighty Arrows, Hearts For Home, Frugal Homeschool Family,

I'm joining up with my friend Chari again for Sunday Favorites.
This was one of my early blog posts from December of 2008. I loved my cousin's apartment. She's since moved to the East Coast so it's nice for me to revisit her old place in pictures.

I posted my cousin D's apartment a while back on RMS but I thought some of you might like to see it again. My cousin has been my shopping partner in crime for many years, as well as my best customer for all the furniture pieces that I just couldn't use anymore. She has a darling apartment in a turn of the century building. She wanted to show others on RMS that you don't need to be a home owner to make a home. I think she's done a wonderful job of making this apartment cozy and comfortable! What do y'all think

The secretary, large picture, statue of a woman, gold chairs and sconce were purchased from me. They look much better in D's place though *winks*

This is a view into the large closet that my cousin uses for her bedroom. I found the corner display cabinet for her at a local junk shop. The hooked rug used to reside in my guest room. The crystal candelabra and clock on top of the cabinet I found for her on ebay, and the large portrait of a woman was a gift from me. So if you feel a strong Vanna influence here? Ya know why *winks*

These were roses picked from the back of her apartment. Isn't her bust of a girl darling?!!

We found this french bedside table in a local antique shop. There were actually two of them at the store. I purchased one that sits in my master bedroom and she has hers displayed in her living room. Hers is the more ornate of the two, but mine was a better match for my furniture, so it worked out perfectly! We found the french chairs together many years ago.

I know it's wrong to covet *winks* But I sooo love the blue down filled chair to the left. It is so marshmallow cushy and dreamy!

The gold sofy used to live at my house and the french art deco chandelier was an ebay find for $127!! My hubby put it up for her.

A view to the back of the room.

Her "dreamy" bedroom in a closet.

This little pink cabinet also came from my house. My cousin painted it pink and uses it for her pretties. As you can see, I got her addicted to collecting art nouveau boxes too! *winks*

And this is my cousin D's adorable little dachshund Rocha. She wants to thank you for taking this little tour of her Mommy's apartment! Please come back soon! And bring some dog biscuits with ya OK?

Please stop by Chari's place and check out the other Sunday Favorites! Vanna

I know I said I wasn't going to write on WW4F until I got back from England, but I had a few extra minutes so I thought I'd discuss an interesting phenomenon that I've seen take place since the end of May/beginning of June. It seems that summer has changed my best time to post on Single Dad Laughing in a big way.

One way that I have gauged what time is best for posting is how many of my friends are currently available on Facebook chat. Since I started using this as one of my measurements, 8 AM MST has been just as good a time as any other, and often better than any other time.

The last few weeks though, I haven't been watching it too closely and my traffic has been dropping even though I've been posting at the same time I usually do. I was surprised when I realized this, and so I started looking at different traffic influencers to see where things might be causing the dropping. What was the first thing I noticed?
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Dear Friend Who Doesn't Homeschool,

We've been friends a long time, you and I. You might be a relative, a friend from Church, or my childhood Bestie. Either way, we've shared some great times together and it's an honor to call you my friend.

We're both married and have been blessed with children to raise. We bring each other meals when one of us is sick, share coffee now and then, and hope our kids will grow up being good friends too.

Each of us has had to make an important decision about our children's education. Will they go to public school? Private school? Or will we homeschool them?

We've made different choices. You've chosen to send your children to school and we've chosen to keep them home. Different factors have prompted us to choose different methods of education, but one thing guides us both: we want what's best for our children.

You don't have to explain your reasons to me, but if you want to talk about it, you know I'll gladly listen. I know you made your decision with conviction and out of a sincere desire to do what you believe is best for your child. I don't judge you for not homeschooling. That's not my call.

I just want you to know if you overhear me talking about homeschooling, see me share links on Facebook about homeschooling, or writing on my blog about homeschooling, it's not directed at you or about you.

Homeschooling is a part our life. A huge part. It consumes almost all of my waking hours. It's a lifestyle. Our hours are unreliable; sometimes we're done with the textbooks by 10:00am, sometimes we're still eating breakfast, but we're always learning. I talk about it a lot because it's as normal for us as breathing. Maybe not as natural (I often think I'm not cut out for it), but just as frequent.

So if you're trying to call and I don't pick up, it's not because I don't like you. We're probably in the middle of a Read-aloud, or I've got my hands covered in glue, or I'm trying to explain for the umpteenth time that if Old MacDonald has 1 rooster and 2 pigs, he has 3 animals altogether.

If I can't make it to our Girlfriends Luncheon, it's not because I don't want to be there. I guarantee I want to be munching on egg salad croissants and catching up with the ladies more than teaching math but we might have had a rough couple of days and need to get back on track. Or one of the kids might have swimming lessons. Or I'm having trouble finding a baby-sitter who's willing to watch them all.

I don't write about homeschooling on my blog because I don't want to talk to you about it face-to-face. I figure you'll probably ask me if you're interested and I don't want to annoy you if you're not.

I write about homeschooling to encourage other homeschooling moms and remind us of our vision, because boy, do we need it! We get spiteful comments thrown at us, hurtful letters written to us, and laws passed to restrict us. If our child can't read by the time he's eight and our house looks like a disaster, we begin to question our abilities forget the reasons we started down this journey.

When I say we homeschool because that's what we believe what God is calling our family to do, I'm not suggesting that non-homeschoolers are living in sin or that we're more spiritual than others because we've received a "special" calling. I say it to other homeschool moms because whether or not we feel like homeschooling, if we believe it's a scriptural principle, then not only is it worth doing, but God will also give us the grace to do it.

I also write to those who want to take away the one thing that guides both of our educational decisions: the freedom to choose what we believe is best for our children.

We're a minority group, albeit a growing one. People don't ask other people why they send their children to school; it's the normal thing to do. People ask people who homeschool why they homeschool because it's not the normal thing to do.

Things that aren't normal make people afraid and uncomfortable. No one likes to be uncomfortable or wrestle with things they'd rather ignore, so haters of homeschooling use unfounded accusations they hope will either silence those who promote it or affirm their own ideas about education.

From "real world" arguments, to academic achievement, to socialization and everything else in between, homeschooling holds its own when compared to other educational methods, yet we're getting attacked for doing simply doing what we believe is best for our children - just like everyone else.

I don't expect you to read my posts on homeschooling or "like" the links I share on Facebook. I'm not addressing them to you and tension is not my intention. I write about homeschooling because it's our passion; a home-based, parent-led, method of family discipleship that's worthy of defense and consideration; a freedom to be protected so we, like you, can do what we believe God is calling us to do.

With love,

Looking for more homeschool encouragement? Our new eBook, Homeschooling Day by Day is available for $4.99! It's 40 chapters of realism, practical advice, and plenty of grace from homeschooling Moms on every stage of the journey. You can read the Table of Contents here.

Homeschooling Day By Day: $4.99 40 Chapters (with Discussion Questions)
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If you enjoyed this post, you may wish to follow Growing Home for updates via Google Friend Connect, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, or have them emailed directly to your inbox.
Linking to: Raising Homemakers, Deep Roots At Home, Raising Arrows, A Wise Woman.,Walking Redeemed, The Better Mom, The Modest Mom, A Mama's Story, We ARE That Family, Raising Mighty Arrows, Hearts For Home, Frugal Homeschool Family