Solidarity Sister Saturday

Hi, I'm Ashley. I blog over at Keeping Up With Ashley and Cody. I'm super excited to be sharing my life with you today! Leave a comment and I'm sure to say hi! 

1. What made you decide to start blogging?

In 2013 my hubby proposed to me. I was so excited that I wanted to share with my family and friends. All in all i started blogging to do just that. Since then though my blog has expanded to more than I could have ever imagined. Now you will find life happenings, reviews, tutorials, and advice. I strive on community so you will meet a lot of awesome bloggers and get to enter in giveaways monthly.

2. Where do you find encouragement and inspiration?

Very tough question. My encouragement comes from those who read my blog, my lovely sponsors who support my blog, and the blogging community. Yes my hubby supports me, too! My inspiration is fueled by those around me including blogs I love to read and Pinterest finds. My family, friends, and church also give me inspiration in topics and ideas. 

3. What is your favourite thing to snack on while you blog?

When getting ready to write a whole bunch of drafts I like to grab a granola bar or cliff bar along with water or tea! You cannot write on an empty tummy! 

4. What blogging accomplishments make you proud?

Most probably would say followers, however I get all excited when I see active comments. I think it is a great example of community and why it is so important to be a blogger and befriend others.

5. What do you have coming up on the blog in October?

I'm really excited for mid-October when I will be launching some Christmas card templates that will be up for sale! I'm super excited to start planning Christmas cards. This is a ritual for me and my hubby going back to our first year dating! You'll want follow my Etsy shop! 

6. What is your favorite season? Why?

My favorite season has to be fall. I love the crisp morning weather and fall rain that Oregon gets. This fall hasn't really rained yet, but the leaves are changing colors and the geese are flying south. The holidays and family time are a must for me and Fall provides just that. The happiness and giggles of Halloween and thanksgiving help bring joy to my life. The coming of winter and Christmsd cards feel my house with love and memories from family members. 

7. What is your favorite drink, alcoholic or non?

I'm a novice wine drinker and am loving the white sweet wines, especially Reisling! 

8. If you could be anything, what career would you choose?

I would continue my path of being a teacher. I happiness I feel when I am teaching or helping children is wonderful. I feel I was put on this world to teach. I'm shaping the future and helping bring hope to the children who seem to be left out or pushed away.  

9. If you had to get a pet, would it be a dog or cat?

I have two kitties and I just love them. They snuggle and enjoy attention, but I'm not worried about leaving over night, because they are litter boxed trained and have food. My hubby wants an English Bulldog but the $$$ is like WOW! One day we will own one, but not while I am in school. :)

10. Why did you enjoy the Solidarity Sisters Program?

I joined the program to meet new bloggers and friends. As I am focused on community I find joining swaps and programs like this help connect me with bloggers around the world and in different niches! 

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Blogtember 2015: Blogging Around The Campfire Guest Post

I am super excited that today for Blogtember's Guest Post prompt my Solidarity Sister, Ashley, is sharing a few of her thoughts about summer camp! The first guest post for 'Blogging Around the Campfire', which some of you might remember me writing about earlier in the spring. If you have your own camp thoughts and experiences and would like to share let me know!

I’m Ashley and I blog over at Keeping Up With Ashley and Cody. I’m so excited to be here on Donna’s space sharing my opinion. I know Donna spent the summer at a camp with a whole bunch of kiddos. Well I did too!

I enjoy running our local youth club’s summer program. I spent endless hours for three months planning and replanning the activities and crafts. I worked hard to get special guests and did tons of shopping sprees. Preparing and running a club is exhausting, but worth every minute. The kids are the focus and priority everyday at the youth club because a summer camp offers many experiences kids don’t get.

Summer camps open up a whole new look on community and friendships. Our camp is a day to day camp meaning that we run 11 hours and then all the kids go home. The plus side of this is that they don’t all get bored and exhausted on each other. We do run into the sibling bickering, even though most of the kids are not siblings. When you are together for 11 hours a day, 5 days a week, and for three months the buttons get pushed. However, this teaches the kids the reality of community and friendships. They learn how to express their opinion nicely, how to remove themselves from conflict, and socialization skills. Our kids also learn how to work as a team, because we strive on community and being one whole body.

Summer camps allow kids to explore arts and crafts. Most of our children either come from parents who work hard but don’t have funds, or just work countless hours. Both of these situations doesn’t always allow the kids to go explore different arts and crafts like pottery and painting. Our camp allows them try different activities because of the guest teachers and our planned activities.

Summer camps provides the kids with structure and a safe place. We run on routines and a planned our calendar. Some kids don’t get the joy of having an organized life or a sense of feeling safe. Our camp provides the kids with teachers and staff members that bring in a welcoming atmosphere. We want the the kids to feel loved and important. We set expectations high, but reachable for each child to grow and prosper into a wonderful adult.

Summer camps are full of fun activities, community, and provide structure. Did you attend a summer camp with your kids this summer? If you have been to a camp, why did you enjoy it so much?

Blogging Goals 2014

Continue posting 20-25 times a month. Everyone has a different "schedule" blogging MWF, M-F, ect. I've discovered the best method for me is not to commit to blogging specific days but just to posting 20- 25 times during each month. The exception is going to be May-August. If I'm at camp this summer I know I won't be able to post multiple times a week. So during those months my goal will be to post 2-3 times a week.

Sponsor 6-8 Blogs over the year. I sponsored my very first blog this month and had such a great experience working with Hayley that I want to do it again! That being said I definitely do not have any sort of budget for blogging, so spending even $10 a month on advertising is out of the question right now. I figure I can budget to buy some advertising every second month.

New Blog Button. My sad little blog button is just that, sad. I used my very limited photo editing skills to whip it up on PicMonkey but when I compare it to others, well...I need a new one. 

Participate in a Giveaway. I'll be honest, I don't like the idea of "buying" followers and I would much rather have two readers that read my posts, comment regularly and who I have connections with than 10000 followers who just pressed follow because they wanted to win something. But I also want to experience everything in the bloggy world and I know it can be a great way to make connections with other bloggers so I figure there isn't any harm in trying it once! 

Write A Sponsored Review Post. I've signed up for quite a few of the blogging review program sites (I am positive that is not the correct term, but I have no idea what it is) like Influenser and BzzAgent but I haven't been offered any freebies or product reviews yet. I have no plans on turning this into a review blog but again, experience everything, try things at least once!

Reach 50 Followers on GFC & Bloglovin'. This is pretty self explanatory. I'm going to keep writing whether I have 5 or 50 followers but it's nice to have readers and the more the merrier! 

Plan. I invested in a 2014 planner specifically for blogging, now I just need to use it. I want to sit down at the beginning of each week and have a rough idea of what I'm going to blog about each day, which link ups I want to participate in ect. I'm not going to force myself to stick to a really tight schedule as far as posts go but I do want to take some of the "last minute-ness" out of blogging. 

*New Layout. This is a lower priority goal because even though I don't LOVE my current layout like I did in the beginning I don't dislike it, I just would like to have something new. Again though, blogging budget is pretty much non-existent so we'll see.

What are your blogging goals this year? Anything I missed?!

If you're curious about how I went about setting these goals head on over to Hayley's blog A Beautiful Exchange where I'm guest posting today!