Welcome to the Nature Blog!

Hey everyone! Welcome back to the blog! I know it's been a while, but I am excited about writing again. As you can see, I have changed the template (the look) of the blog. Unfortunately, this change caused a couple of bugs. Please bear with me as I sort through these errors, and try to ignore the strange double blog posting below.

I haven't written here or about four months. To be honest, I was quite confused as to which direction to take this blog. I have felt like I had really lost my focus (or more accurately, never really found a focus in the first place.)

Well, after much soul searching and praying, I have decided on a more clear focus for the Life in the Woods blog. This is the plan! It may change a bit as we go along, but this is the main thrust of it.

A picture of the road going down to the lake,
featuring a stream formed from the still-melting snow. 

The Life in the Woods blog will be about my adventures with nature, featuring beautiful photos and an encouragement taken from nature. I will also have a part where I encourage you, the reader, to get into nature a little more, using studies, quotes and examples to show how spending more time outdoors is beneficial and life-changing.

I want to post just once a week, and will try to post on the same day of the week every week, but I am not sure which day of the week it will be, yet.  Once I decide, I will save my posting for that one day, and try to follow my format the best I can. I look forward to having more of a structure, and I hope you enjoy it, too! I won't be posting as much about my adventures in the house, but focusing on spending time in nature.

Why the change? Well, I wanted to share something I am very passionate about, with you. I have always loved spending time outdoors. A walk in nature helps me think and lifts my spirits. I love my walks, and want to share some of the encouragement I find in them, and also some of the beauty I see, through my photographs.

Moving here to our home in the woods was specifically to be closer to nature and God's creation. It has always been my dream to live somewhere so close to nature, and I want to share my greatest joy with you. I hope you find it inspiring!

And lastly, I want to share quotes, studies and facts about spending time in nature, as well as facts about specific topics of woodland living, so that my blog can be both educational, as well as inspiring. As a teacher, I love to share knowledge with people. 

I hope you like the revised structure of the blog. I will be writing a new post with the new format some time this week, so you can see what I am talking about.

In the meantime, have a wonderful week and God Bless!



Love Sharilee.

Hey thanks so much for reading. I would love to hear your comments and input in the space below.

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Enter the Blog Giveaway!

Our woodstove, nice and cozy! 

Hey everyone! I hope you are having a good week. It has been cold here in this corner of the world. Our ground is covered with about 2 inches of snow and we are settling into winter life. 

We are getting used to our woodstove, our very own version of the "Yule Log" here in our house! This year, we have decided to use wood heat exclusively, except if we need to be away for any extended period of time. The picture above is from our woodstove. I had to open the door to get a good shot, because the door really needs to be cleaned off. 

I am so excited about today's news. Welcome to the first ever Life in the Woods giveaway! This contest is open to any residents of the United States or Canada. 

This is me being excited about the giveaway! 

So, here is how the contest is going to work. For the next two weeks (until December 8th, 2014) you can earn entries to the contest by any of the following actions:

1. Commenting on any post on the blog. To prevent spamming, each comment must be a minimum of 10 words, and make sense. Each eligible comment will win you one entry to the contest. I look forward to reading your interesting. funny, insightful comments! 

2. Signing up for regular e-mail updates, for the blog. Every sign up will receive two entries to the contest. The sign-up link is here: Sign up to Life in the Woods

3. Completing a survey about this blog. The link is here, or you can simply complete the survey below. Every survey completed will receive two entries to the contest. 

Anyone who has already signed up for e-mail or FeedBurner updates, prior to the contest, will automatically receive two entries. All entries will be entered in a draw (in my husband's hat) and I will ask my gorgeous husband to choose two entries from all entries received. 

First prize is a package that contains: 
A 2015 calendar and a Red LuxeLeather journal:

The second prize is a Red LuxeLeather journal:

Giveaway items will be mailed to winners, within ten days of the end of the contest, as long as I have been able to get an address from the winner. If I am not able to contact a winner after one month, the prize will be withdrawn, and another name will be chosen. 

Okay, a little more about the giveaway items. 

First, the 2015 wall calendar. It features twelve different glorious photographs from the Wisconsin Northwoods area. If you are a nature lover, you will definitely love this calendar. It is nice and roomy, great for writing down all of your appointments. 

Secondly, the journal. This journal is so sweet. It looks like a leather journal, and is very soft and flexible. It features details like a ribbon marker to remember your page and an inspiring Scripture verse at the bottom of every page. On the cover is an excerpt of my favourite verses: Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you."

 If you haven't answered the survey yet, you can fill it out, right in the form below. And just for fun, how is the weather in your part of the world? Tell us your story! 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page. or to receive posts by e-mail, join here

Big Changes to this Blog -- I Imported!

I want to announce a big change to this blog. I have now imported three of my mini-blogs into this Sharilee Shares blog. Formerly, I had this blog set up solely for writing but have now combined it to be about writing, teaching, reading and worshipping. I have deleted my three other blogs called, "Sharilee Shares Teaching," "Sharilee Shares Reading" and "Prayers to my LORD." All of the posts (there were just a few) have now been integrated into this blog.

This blog is more inclusive of all of my interests. I have always felt a call between teaching and writing. I am still teaching, with the tutoring I am doing. At the same time, I am writing as much as I can. So why not merge my interests together? I have also included my personal worship blog into this one. And my book review site came in, too. I may include some book reviews on here from time to time.

I have several reasons for doing this. The main one is that I really don't have time to keep up all these little blogs. I still have more blogs out there, too. I am not sure which ones I will keep but I do know that this is the first step towards simplifying my online presence.

Image by Wonderlane on Flickr.com

About Starting Over

This is me.

Well, I am going to change the purpose of this blog slightly. This is a new blog, and I have been trying to figure out the best things to write about. As you know, so far, I have just been writing about writing itself.

Upon reflection, however, I have decided to open this blog to make it broader. What will I write about? I will still be sharing, but rather sharing of my journey of life: what I learn, what I see. It's too confining for me to write only about writing, so I desire to open it up, and include other topics, too. So, all that was just a warning. We are leaving the "write only about one thing zone!" Beware!


So, let's leave that zone, and talk about starting over. I remember saying to one of my friends one time, "I just wished I could start over."

She then said, "yeah, me too, but you can't."

Well, I found her answer kind of depressing, but she was right, in a way. We can't really start over, without carrying over the consequences of what we did the day before. It will be there. It has become reality.


Let's say, for example, we want to lose weight (something I am trying to do right now). We cannot simply start over, and then all the weight is gone. We live with the choices we made in the days and years before, and if those choices led to weight gain, we are stuck with the consequences.


What we can do, however, is to do differently today. Or tomorrow. Even if we messed up again today, by eating a big amount of junk, we can "start over" tomorrow. And we can forgive ourselves for the mess, and start eating healthy.


And that applies to everything in life. Even if we got into an unfortunate job; if we married an non-compatible person, or we neglected to spend time with our kids, we can do differently today, or tomorrow. We can start looking for a different job, we can find ways to connect with our spouse, we can go throw a football around with our boy.


The Scriptures say that "his ... mercies are new every morning." Lamentations 3:22-23


God gives us new mercy every morning, and we can either take advantage of it, or keep bemoaning the terrible choices we made yesterday. There is always hope, as long as we are alive!


For more on my weight loss journey, see my blog, 100togo.
For more on my faith walk, see my blog, Prayers to my LORD.

Met Someone in the Blog World!

Well, I met someone in Blog World! And I am really thrilled. She writes a blog called, "Try Try Again," and she, too, has about 100 lbs or so to lose, like me.

She is also interested in education (studying to be a teacher), is a newlywed like me, and loves drama, like me. I started this blog just for my own personal journal, but also secretly hoped to find a kindred spirit. 

Well, the LORD has answered my desire with someone who lives in a different country than me, but is so close via the blogger program. She even mentioned me in her blog, and it was cool! As someone brand new to blogging, I feel excited. Here is the link:

http://melissavenableweightloss.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-friend.html

I can't tell you how encouraging it is to talk to someone who understands and gets what I am going through. Sometimes that is what we need most of all ...  fellowship in our journey ... not lectures and not quick answers, but fellowship. And I thank God for this. Hallelujah, He is my provider!