A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

blogging challenge

20 Days of Chill: Beautiful Places (Day 2)

If you look around, you will find beauty. It could be in your back yard or thousands of miles away. It could be in your country or in some place you never expected to be.

But it’s all around.

Ignore the world and the state its in. Be it the political atmosphere, personal ideologies, or whatever else – just look around. Find the beauty.

These are the places or items that can make you smile – hopefully on a regular basis. We all know the world is a crazy place, so we need to find the good. That often starts with the beauty.

So look around. See what is near you. See what is afar. Find the beauty. It’s well worth it.

The image at the top of this post is from a trip I took this past fall where I was in Banff, Alberta. Absolutely amazing.

This post is part of the 2020 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! 

20 Days of Chill: 2020 Day 2

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

20 Days of Chill: A new decade (Day 1)

And just like that, a new decade has started.

Remember the Y2K worry? That when the calendars flipped to January 1, 2000, the world’s computers would come crashing to the ground?

Now, it’s 2020.

I honestly don’t know what to write here … should I think about goals and challenges? Resolutions? Where I want to be for the next decade?

20 days of chill 2020

When 2030 comes around, I’ll be more than 50 years old. That’s kind of crazy to think about. But let’s not get that far ahead … it’s only 2020.

This is my sixth decade on earth. That’s also kind of crazy to think about.

So being born in the 1970s, I’ve lived in:

  • Six decades
  • Two centuries
  • Two millenniums

I’m going to assume most of those who are taking part in this challenge are in the same boat. I’m also probably sure that there’s other things we’ve lived through that I can’t figure out.

In the end, it’s yet another year on this planet. And it’s also the start of another 20 Days of Chill Challenge.

The decade is new. Make it a great one!

Below is the linkup for Day 1. If you took part, put your link in and check out other people’s submissions!

This post is part of the 2020 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the link if you’d like to see others or join in. You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Photo Blogging Challenge (December 2019): Jingle all the Way

And just like that … 2019 will be no more.

This year has really moved. We’ve had some great photos and challenges and thanks to you all for keeping it going. Here’s to it making it through another year coming up!

Each year we’ve done this challenge, December is basically the same — with a different name. This year is no different!

I truly love the holiday season. Christmas is a major time for fun and other things in my world. I also usually take some time off from work to try and recharge and relax a little. This year was no different as I had the chance to go to the shore and just kind of chill. I always like seeing the lights and hearing the sounds of the season. It’s the best time of year. We even had a white Christmas, which is awesome.

So let’s get to the challenge! Five photos for Jingle all the Way!

Here are my five!

1. Holiday eats

Who loves all the goodies around the holidays? In our family, homemade caramels goes back generations. This year, I did some of these … as eventually somebody will have to take it over!

recipe photo
Bonus image!

2. Jingle bells?

Cameron’s birthday is in December. And his party… featured him hiding in a ball pit.

3. Christmas truck

One of the towns near us does a competition with lights … this guy always tends to win. Pretty impressive stuff. Loved this though.

4. Open it up!

Had to have one of these photos, right?

5. And finally …

I’ve wanted to go to the shore this time of year for a while and I had the chance to this year. This was one of the spots in the main town. So nice!

And there are my five for the month!

If you took part in this month’s challenge, make sure to link up below.

And for those of you who participated, make sure you try and get to other people’s blogs and comment (here, too!).

Let’s continue to grow this challenge and have a strong community. Come back and check out the others who link later on, too! NOTE: I set up a Facebook group for those who participate in the challenge and are interested. I’ll post any announcements there and hopefully it can be a place where things are discussed and some interaction etc. You can access it here.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

20 Days of Chill: It’s Back

There was really no chance I was going to give up on the 20 Days of Chill Challenge, It’s *usually* a fun challenge to take part in, so we’ll see how this year’s goes.

Below, you will see dates and themes. The challenge is simple – take the theme, write a post, come back and link up and visit others. Usually we have a lot of fun. I’m not sure how many people will take part, but hey – let’s give it a go once again.

20 Days of Chill logo

There’s not really any rules. I don’t expect you to write some 5,000-word manuscript, nor does it matter that you only write 10 words.. Write what you need to write. Your post, your thoughts, your style.

Participate as much as you want – or don’t want. If you do every other day, so be it. Your challenge.

I’m attempting to write ahead of time so the posts will go up at about 9 a.m. EST each day. Sometimes my blog decides 9 can be 9:30 or 10 or something like that. Linkups stay live for about five days.

Remember, this is a bit of a creative writing thing. Use the themes/prompts as you see fit.

Without further adieu, here are the dates and themes:

  • Thursday, January 2: A new decade
  • Friday, January 3: Beautiful places
  • Monday, January 6: Is that chicken?
  • Tuesday, January 7: Show me the way
  • Wednesday, January 8: Naps
  • Thursday, January 9:  Snow
  • Friday, January 10: Fri-Yay
  • Monday, January 13: Social media
  • Tuesday, January 14: Cheddar
  • Wednesday, January 15: Dream on
  • Thursday, January 16: Popcorn
  • Friday, January 17: Snapshot
  • Monday, January 20: Last meal
  • Tuesday, January 21: Battle of the phones 
  • Wednesday, January 22: Sign it in ink
  • Thursday, January 23: Spam
  • Friday, January 24: May I take your order?
  • Monday, January 27: A cocktail, if you will
  • Tuesday, January 28: Bring me to you
  • Wednesday, January 29: Oh, thank goodness!

Please feel free to pass the link to this challenge page along to other bloggers. It’s always a fun little challenge to begin the year, and usually there are some laughs as well. Hope to see you be part of it!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Photo Blogging Challenge: December 2019’s theme is …

And so we’ve reached December.

As I get older, I wonder if the years sometimes go on speed-dial. You blink and the summer is here. Then Christmas. Then the spring. Then the fall. All in different years. Alas, we do what we do, right?

PBC logo

So, off we go with another month in this little challenge. And if you have been with us for any amount of time, you probably have a good idea of this month’s overall theme. While the “theme” itself will be a change of a name, it’s all involving this time of year.

It’s the time of the year to hopefully spread some cheer, be happy and get into the holiday spirit! I know I’ve gotten into the holiday spirit myself, and am looking forward to the month ahead.

Here’s wishing everybody an amazing holiday season. I wish you and yours the best!

Before we get to this month’s theme, let’s do our monthly “group” challenges:

Challenge 1: Tell others about this photo blogging challenge and get some friends to come join us.  Let’s see if we can get people interested in the challenge again.

Challenge 2: Make friends with your camera and see what you can come up with. Have fun!

Challenge 3 is at the end of this post (the theme!).

Before this, here’s some housekeeping items. For those who might be new to the challenge, here’s how it works.

  • See the theme (first day of the month);
  • Take photos throughout the month (don’t use old ones!);
  • Select five photos and create a blog post;
  • Come back here and link up on the final day of the month;
  • Use the official hashtag — #Photoblogchal — on social media posts;
  • Hopefully go visit and comment on other blogs.

That’s it. There’s no rules on equipment or anything else. Blog posts can be short and to the point, or in-depth. Interpret the themes as you see fit.

The one big rule?

Have fun!

This month’s theme? Jingle All the Way? This is a pretty broad stroke, so hopefully you can have fun with it and find some great images!! Please make sure your blog post publishes Tuesday, December 31. Then come back here and link up.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

There is also a Facebook group for those who are interested.

If you would like to visit the history of the challenge, which started in 2013, please go to the Photo Blogging Challenge page for more!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!