My week was full with a lot of wonderful blessings. One of the biggest things is that first draft of the manuscript for my next book — all 69,000+ words — is DONE! Well, at least the first draft is. 🙂
A book is never truly done until it’s published. And then, once it’s published, there is still a long list of things that you must do to market and sell the books.
But the first draft is off to the beta test group who is reading and critiquing it right now. Then, it’ll be back to another round of edits before I submit it to Thomas Nelson on March 1. Then, it’s another extensive round of edits through their publishing house.
Truthfully, I much prefer edits over crafting the outline and “bones” of the book. In fact, it’s a fun process to see how much better you can make the finished product.
So I’m quite excited to have this much work done already. And I can hardly wait until I can tell you more about the topic. It’s a message that has been years in the making, so I’m really thrilled with how it is coming together.
It was also nice to be home all week this week after a busy few weeks of travel. I spent much of the week catching up on sleep and projects, wearing lounge pants, and hanging out with my family. I love the opportunity I have to travel and speak right now, but I also love being home, too!
Our kids are at such a fun age right now and we’re trying to soak up every minute we have with them. The weather was beautiful this week, so they spent hours outside on their bikes and on the rip stick. They’ve been highly motivated to get all of their school projects finished in a timely manner so they can have more time to play outside.
We also had a playdate with some of Kathrynne and Kaitlynn’s favorite friends. It’s so fun to see them developing close friendships with others — and seeing as I’m an introvert by nature, their more extroverted personalities help ensure that we have lots of social engagements. 🙂
I also did the freezer cooking session — finally. I didn’t get too many pictures of it as I was sort of fitting it around dinner prep and some other things, but this picture is proof that we were busy bees in the kitchen.
Laura says
Just found a ripstick on clearance at Target (for $19) so I picked it up for my son. He is 7 and, based on how much your daughter has enjoyed hers, I thought that he would enjoy it this summer. When I checked the reviews online when I got home, seems to be for older kids (pre-teen and up). Does your daughter have a jr. version (if there is one?) or does she do just fine with the regular size? Thanks so much! Love hearing about your kids as three of my four kids match your kids’ age pretty closely!
suzy says
hi Crystal… love your blog… so interesting and inspiring. You’re truly a super woman. just wondering what do you speak about? can anyone attend your speach meetings?
Crystal says
You can see some of my upcoming speaking engagements here:
https://moneysavingmom.com/speaking-schedule-2
I should be updating that page sometime soon with my topics, too.
Lisa says
I have to admit, last week was a challenging one. I was diagnosed with post-partum depression and our 8-month-old is going through nighttime separation anxiety. Not a fun combination! However, I know that someday I will be able to use these struggles to help and encourage other moms going through similar struggles. I look forward to that. I just kind of wish I was at that point already!
Cheryl says
Hi Lisa
I was diagnosed with postpartum depression when my daughter was 9 months old. That was the start of the journey back to ‘Me’ . It took a while, as I had had it since my previous daughters birth (27 months @diagnosis) but now I’m back.
Hang in there. The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an oncoming train. You will still have bad days, but they will become less and less.
Big cyber hugs.
C
Lisa says
Silas is the cutest kitchen helper I have ever seen. He looks like such a joy!
Amy R says
I have a freezer cooking question….Do you freeze the chicken enchilada casserole before you bake it or after? I’m going to go ahead and make 2. One for tonight and one to go in the freezer.
Crystal says
You could do it either way, but I personally would recommend cooking it first.
Jamie Rohrbaugh says
Congrats on the book! What a huge accomplishment!! Can’t wait to read it!
The Prudent Homemaker says
My children helped my husband clean the inside of our new-to-us van. The floor is vinyl so they scrubbed it with scrub brushes. My husband welded pieces to attch seatbelts to the seats, and he installed seatbelts in it (anything that seats 11 passengers or more is registered as a bus and doesn’t require seatbelts; most of the seatbelts were missing when we bought the van).
I bought 28 pounds of broccoli crowns at .68 a pound on Saturday; I will be blanching them and freezing them this week.
I wrote more about our week here:
http://theprudenthomemakerblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/this-weeks-frugal-accomplishments_10.html
Claire @ A Little Claireification says
Congrats on making it to this point with your book! So exciting and I know that is a lot of work. I just mentioned in my last post that I am going to try to do a freezer cooking day soon. Should be an adventure so we’ll see how much I can get done in one day!
Hope you have a wonderful week!
xo, Claire
Crystal says
I hope your freezer cooking day is a huge success!
michelle says
Had an amazing freezer/cooking session today with my 22yo son and new financee. We put 9 plus dinners in the freezer. In about 4 hrs. Of course, there was much talking, joking, and lots of laughing and story telling. Praise God! Amazing day! Thanks for the constant encouragement.
Crystal says
Go you!
Nancy Bleeke says
Crystal,
My kids are older than yours – the youngest is nearly 17 – and I love my time at home with her as well.
Your comments about the book strike home. My first book, Conversations That Sell, is going to be published next month and the part of the 9 month publishing process I most enjoyed was the editing! Getting great feedback that helped me rework the message made for a better outcome. Now as its about to be printed this week – I wish I could rewrite it even further!
I look forward to your updates and finding out what your new book topic is!
Blessings. Nancy
Crystal says
Congratulations on your first book! That’s a big accomplishment!
Kate@OrganizationforthetypeB says
Kids are so much fun! We have snow here and went sledding with my 6 year old yesterday. It was awesome! I am excited for your next book!
Kate
Kimberly says
Wonderful news about your book! And I’m glad you’re enjoying your kiddos!
I had a productive week at work and at home. At home I even rearranged some furniture, cleaned out the heating vents, changed out some curtains, and cleaned out the coat closet in the kitchen that hasn’t been cleaned out in years, as well as doing some other intensive cleaning (on top of the usual day-t0-day stuff). The best part of my week was that I got to have my sons this weekend, I usually only have them on weekdays, and we got to spend some quality time together and went to my oldest son’s basketball tournament. My sons were also able to got to church with me today and see me get baptized. I’ve been a believer for years, but for some reason never got baptized until today!
Amber says
Yay! Awesome news!! 🙂
Kathy says
Praise God! So glad your sons were a part of it!
Michelle Murphy says
I am so excited about your new book. I can’t wait to read it!
We had a not so exciting week. We are on week 3 of sick little ones. We have had a very sick winter this year. We got the flu 6 times. I miss church the most. Hoping my last child gets BETTER this week so we can deliver our Valentines, together as a family, to the local nursing home.
We have also been working diligently to keep up with school. We have only 8 weeks left until our year is up!
Crystal says
So sorry for all the sickness you’re experiencing. 🙁
That’s exciting that you only have 8 months of school left!
marie says
That’s great news about your next book. My week was unproductive but not by choice. I had surgery on my foot and can’t put any weight on my leg! It’s been so hard with 3 little ones! I either hop,crawl, or use crutches to get around. This was week two, I have 4 more to go and then 3 weeks in a boot(after being in it for 3 months).
But it did help me be able to read a book. I just have to accept that I won’t be doing much.
Kari says
I am truly thankful and encouraged by your blog! you have shown me if i set my mind to it i can get it done even with 2 young boys bouncing off the walls 🙂
Tammy Skipper (@Tammy_Skipper) says
I agree that your kids are at a truly FUN age…we were stationed overseas when our kids were between 5-9 and I told people I thought it was perfect. They were small enough that traveling was less expensive/took less space, but they were old enough to remember it and walk by themselves 🙂 Have a blessed Sunday.
Victoria says
Our week just seemed to fly by without too much getting done. I did however get a lot of goal planning done and a lot of writing done Saturday. I am looking forward to this week. The hubby has the whole week off and we are doing a staycation. We have picked one place to visit each day nearby that we have been wanting to do but never make time for. There will also be special meals planned and a birthday day for my going to be 17 year old son. Yes the years do fly by treasure them.
Shelly says
We had a more relaxed week at our home too this week. I have been working with my so to get his school work done each day. I have been rewarding him with books of his choosing for me to read to him after each difficult task is done. It is working and he seems to be able to focus better when he knows it is just for a certain length of time.
We also did some fun experiments this week for the kids school. Which was fun for all of us. It sounds like your week was full of fun times with the kids too and congratulations on getting the first draft of your book done.