River of Thoughts

Christine Royse Niles — Changing the world one word at a time

A New Gift For You

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The Down and Dirty Video

Wait!! Before you run and cover your children’s eyes and report me to the Internet Police for indecency and general depravity (which, if you didn’t do from the Piecaken post last week, I just don’t see why you would try it now), hear me out! Earlier this week, I joined Frank Fontana on his podcast: The Down and Dirty with Frank Fontana. You might remember Frank from HGTV’s Design on a Dime; now Frank hosts a weekly podcast where he shares design secrets and generally has a lot of fun with a wide variety of guests…like me!  So click on the […]

Killer Tribes

Today, I am hitting the road with my old friend Lisa Thompson (simplifiedsaving.com & nickelsndimes.com). Wait, that came out wrong. Lisa isn’t old.  But she is my friend.  And has been for a while. We spent five weeks together in Ukraine.  That will either make you friends for life or it will…well…it made us friends for life!  And that trip taught both of us about blogging for the first time. Tomorrow is the inaugural Killer Tribes Conference, and my heart is filled with joy at all the amazing online blogger friends I will finally get to meet in person. Bryan Allain has an […]

Down and Dirty

You may or may not know this, but I can be pretty handy with a set of tools.  Not every DIY project has turned to gold, though, and today I get to tell the world about one or two of them. And you, you lucky dog, you have the opportunity to support me in my podcast debut as a DIY Disasters guest on Down and Dirty with Frank Fontana! Blogging mentor and Chief Killer Tribesman Brian Allain was a guest on Frank’s show about a month ago, and last week he led Frank’s team to my doorstep as if my blog was a […]

Building A Life Out Of Words

Welcome to a special Tuesday edition at River of Thoughts!   I recently had the honor of reading an advance copy of Shawn Smucker’s new book Building a Life Out of Words. Shawn’s dream, like mine, is writing.  In 2009, Shawn went all-in to follow that dream, and now he’s sharing his story of the difficult by rewarding transition to full-time writer. Shawn’s story applies to anyone looking to make more out of their life. So often, we believe that to follow our bliss, to chase our dream of creating art or opening a dress shop or breeding hedgehogs, we must quit […]

Shakin’ It Up

    I’m shaking up the schedule this week…Stay tuned for a special Tuesday edition of River of Thoughts! …and pass the ice cream, please?   Photo credit:  Jamieanne (Creative Commons)