Karmen Smith

the NEW SITE & a QUILT GIVEAWAY!!!!!

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It’s here. The day has come.

The decisions.  Ideas.  Arranging.  Designing.  Rearranging.  Done. Done. and Done.

To say, I’m THRILLED! ELATED! DELIGHTED! TICKLED… would be an understatement because

THE WEBSITE IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m turning virtual cartwheels and biting my nails.  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!

Here’s the deal:  Look over the new site.  Click on all the clickables.  Note the sidebar. The sliding header. Leave any suggestions or questions you have as well as issues should they occur.

Our hope is to have a user-friendly site that inspires!

What you will find here: REAL Life.  REAL Stories.  REAL Faith

WHAT’S NEW??

The #PrayBig SHOP! 

YES!!! YOU CAN SHOP #PrayBig ONLINE!!  (CLICK on the SHOP tab/link at the top of the of the page!)

All of the #PrayBig products are now a click away from being yours!  Because “When You PRAY BIG Things Happen” Right?  My hope and prayer are for God to use these tools to grow and strengthen His kingdom!  I hope as you purchase the #PrayBig tools that you will remember to #PrayBig and ask God to use you where YOU are with what you have to honor Him!

O-MY-GAWSH! I’m just so stinkin’ excited!!  Obviously, with this many feelings, I can’t think of words so I’m going to GIVEAWAY some STUFF to clear my head and by STUFF I mean a QUILT!!!!!

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Yes, another quilt!  This time last year I gave away a quilt my precious mother had quilted.  It was beautiful and ended up in the perfect home.  A woman who had lost her home and all of her precious quilts in a house fire.

This year’s hand-stitched-made-with-love-quilt is from my aunt, Susan.  She is my mother’s sister and a gifted quilter as well!

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HOW TO ENTER:  (the more ways you enter, the better your chance TO WIN!)

  1. Enter your EMAIL at the top (under my name)
  2. SHARE this POST on FACEBOOK
  3. Like @blessingsbrnyrd on Instagram
  4. Tag some friends on Instagram
  5. Like Blessings Beyond the Barnyard on Facebook (look for the matching header & pictures)

WINNER will be announced March 31st!

Lastly, you’ll notice the Speaking tab.  It has been my privilege recently to come and speak to so many of your groups!  You’ve been gracious, welcoming and kind! I have spoken to others of you about coming to speak.  The CONTACT page will make planning that event much easier.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Please note:  Because summer in the South is made for rest and baling hay, (if that sounds like an oxymoron it’s because it is) June and July are going to be off the table except for our favorite camp!  Speaking of our favorite camp…NOTICE the picture of the two, cute kids kayaking on the right of the page.  That’s one of our boys and his buddy at PONDEROSA BIBLE CAMP!  CLICK HERE or the cute picture to REGISTER your kids for SUMMER CAMP!  Your children will thank you!

Now, I’m wishing you and yours a terrific Tuesday while I’m going to go take some deep breaths outside and pray about you reading this post because when you #PrayBig things happen!

much love,
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a NEW SITE & a bit of wisdom from a moron

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Y’all, the NEW SITE is almost done and by almost I mean like ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m excited and use lots of ALL CAPS as well as inappropriate punctuation when I GET EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soon we will be bidding farewell to the too-long-gosh-there-are-so-many-letters-did-I-spell-it correctly- blessingsbeyondthebarnyard dot com.  Which, by the way, is a name that will always be special to me because a near and dear from the school where I taught suggested it because she said our blessings extend far beyond our barnyard.  She was right, then and now.

The teacher in me thinks it is imperative to learn as you go.  One of the primary lessons blessingsbeyondthebarnyard has taught me is that there are too many letters.  I have learned from this experience and decided it best to simplify.  So for the love of sanity and simplification, the name of the NEW SITE is…………….

www.karmensmith.com

That’s Karmen spelled with a K, not a C, which will be tricky for some.  I know because autocorrect tries to persuade me all-the-live-long-day.  She says Karmen should be spelled with a C, and then I ignore her because I am Karmen with a K, for just shy of 39 years and have thus learned to introduce myself as, “HI, I’m Karmen Smith.  Karmen with a K.”

I feel confident the blessingsbeyondthebarnyard family will be able to handle this transition because:

  1. You’re a bright bunch
  2. There are fewer letters in karmensmith dot com
  3. Lest you forget and decide to type in blessingsbeyondthebarnyard out of habit or because of your love for lots of letters we are going to link you automatically to the NEW SITE

Speaking of the NEW SITE or, in this case, SITE(S) yes, plural.  Our feed store site is almost done as well!!! P.S. with lots of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A bit of wisdom because we are friends- {never launch two NEW SITES at the same time.  Only a moron would do that.}

Speaking of NEW SITES…Here are a few things you can expect to find at karmensmith.com…..

  • a fresh look
  • new pictures compliments of Rachel Clarke Photography (follow her.  Her art is intoxicating)
  • a sliding header (my favorite part)
  • User-friendly contact page
  • easy navigation, NEW social media buttons (<–buttons?  tabs?) and more……………….did I mention the store ??????????????
  • WHAT??????????!!!!!!!!!YES!!!!!!an  ONLINE STORE !!!!!!!!  because we want #PrayBig readily available to you and your tribe!

There’s more to share, but I have to stop because I want you to be surprised because surprises and NEW SITES are exciting!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday because it’s midweek post-SPRING FORWARD and the world is sleepy and in desperate need of a nap but who’s got time for a nap!

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(Hi, I’m Karmen with a K)

P.S. HEY LOCALS-make plans to drop the Southern Home & Family Show in Rainsville, Alabama this SUNDAY, March 20th from 11-2pm  I will be at the Agribusiness Center chatting with friends about the #PrayBig Journal and will have other #PrayBig goodies available as well.  Hope to see you there!

Exciting, Mundane & Scary things you may need to know

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Hello Dears,

There is much to share with you!  Exciting things, mundane things, farm things, scary things and upcoming things like:

  • When I got to the airport three and a half hours early last week (yes your read that correctly..early=me) to pick up a friend from the airport and then my phone died in an area of Atlanta where no one should go without a phone or a friend.
  • Our first house guest.  There should, and will likely be a post written about our last few days because the fact that one of our kids asked, “Momma, what will she smell like?”  is surely a sign that we are raising weird kids or that we should invite more people outside the family circle to visit the farm more often.
  •  How I am considering investing in a selfie stick because meeting and encouraging so many of you in your places is so refreshing and should be better documented!
  •  The preciousness of new piglets on the farm is well, simply precious.
  • How much #boymoms need LOVE longer days with more minutes OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • How much fun and how funny are your comments on the #adventuresoftuckandjake Instagram & Facebook!  Maybe you’re right? Maybe we should consider a YouTube channel for all of the adventurers out there!  Leave your vote in comments.
  • The BRAND NEW HOME for the blog is almost ready, and it’s so lovely because of the AMAZING web designers and photographer who are so good at what they do and I CAN.NOT.WAIT.TO SHARE. IT. WITH YOU —>SOON!
  • Speaking of exciting things and EXCLAMATION MARKS.  My sweet friend, Ann shared this space with her sister, Kathy who shared this space with her people, which in turn grew this space of over 100+ people in 24 hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which may not mean much to you but to me..well I cried and then I thanked the Lord and cried some more because kindness is contagious.
  • You know what else is contagious?  Laughter.  Our precious friend, Bethani has started a vlog.  She is adorable inside and out. This particular vlog, however, is not adorable.   It was terrible.  I ran short of breath and almost died.  Thank you, Bethani (except not really) for documenting such hysteria.

  • Speaking of hysteria! Did I mention the BLOG is well on the way to the NEW WEBSITE (yes it’s worth repeating) because I’m going to GIVEAWAY another HANDMADE QUILT!! — You must STAY TUNED!
  • Wrestling season is upon us and for #boymoms it is much more intense than it probably should be, but there is just so much man-handling, so much sweat and so many tears. It’s hard to deal. #forreal
  • The ground is warming with plants, and seeds are arriving daily at Fort Payne Feed & Garden.  Get your ground ready and then come and see us!
  • #PrayBig is spreading and growing because of YOU and we are so grateful I may burst…
  • Meet my new friend, Tiffany Castleberry.  You can find her, and a bunch more of her friends at stuffandthingsblog.com She and I had a delightful conversation on a recent podcast.  We’d love for you to LISTEN and tell us what you think.
  • Where I’m going to be, how much we would like to meet you and LOVE for you to make plans to attend:
     

  • Liberty Hill in Collinsville, AL  -Thursday, March 10th @6
  • Northeast Alabama Home & Garden Show -Sunday, March 20th (11-2)
  • Nazareth in Rainsville, AL -Tuesday, March 22 @ 6
  • First Baptist Church, “One Nation Under God”- Fort Payne, AL -April 18th @6

Have a fabulous day! May it be productive and peaceful or, at least, kinda-sorta something like that.

Much love,
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