A Christmas Guest Post and Giveaway

I'm over at Steph's blog today guest posting about Christmas traditions. Stop by for your chance to win a Target gift card for your last minute shopping needs.

This is my little way of saying thanks to all of you who have visited my blog. May your house be filled with love, peace and joy of the season. Merry Christmas!

The Secret Society Of Bloggers

I just finished reading the book Blog Inc. by Joy Deangdeelert Cho of Oh Joy! I picked it up because I'm always trying to learn something new and I've been fascinated with the business of blogging since my friend Kate (back in 2008) introduced me to the blog formerly known as "my charming kids" (then became "MckMama") and the Pioneer Woman who can now be seen on Food Network.

It seemed to me that a blog was pretty much an online journal slash scrapbook. The notion of being able to journal the goings-on of my family was an appealing idea especially since writing was something I'd been doing both as a hobby and professionally for years. And I could add photos? Awesome, I took photography in college and knew the ins and outs of a darkroom.

But HTML and digital photography? I was a novice. All I had was a PC and a simple digital camera that I had gotten as a Christmas present so I could upload photos to eBay.

Fast forward --> nothing like a few hundred hours of Googling and looking at code to give you a lesson on coding, templates and the inner workings of a blog!

I've gone through some growing pains with blogging. Blogging with friends (City Mom, Country Mom and Gracenotes 95) to the pains of moving (Mommy Moves Again) to staying incognito (Sharing The Wonder) because of nosy employers!

So although it may seem like this blog is a baby (2 years old) I've got plenty of blogging experience behind me. I've gone from a point-and-shoot camera to a Nikon SLR (half paid for by blogging) to leaving my crummy PC to a Macbook Pro and an iPhone. (I was blogging when it was popular to have a music playlist on your blog and Pinterest was just a glimmer in Ben Silbermann's eye.)

But back to Joy's book, I loved that she interviewed other bloggers (very famous ones) and that she gave lots of pointers, because when you start out blogging, it's like a secret society.

I remember wracking my brain wanting to learn how to center links and create blog buttons. I joined every link party, got on all the blogging networks, commented my head off and at times burned myself out. Blogging was work! And it was work I wasn't getting paid for!

Although I am not a "big" blogger, I think I am like many other bloggers out there. I do fine, I've learned a lot. I do think one of the secrets to success in blogging is longevity. Sticky with it is the best lesson you can teach yourself.

Blog because you love to write, blog because you love digital photography, blog because this is your creative outlet or blog because you want to contribute. If your heart is in it, the rest will come.

Here are a few sites and links (that I trust and have been using for years) that might prevent sleepless nights and help newbie bloggers:

1. Need to find the perfect color with automatically generated code? Try Colorpicker
2. Could use some help with HTML specifically for blogging? Go to Blogger Sentral
3. Want a new FREE template for your blog? Here's where I go: BTemplates
4. Do you want meta tags in your blog? Blogger Tricks makes it easy

Anyway, like I said, I've learned a lot about blogging, so if you have any blog related questions I can answer, leave me a comment and I will reply to it, or at least lead you in the right direction!

Happy blogging and welcome to the club! :)

Look Who I'm Writing For!

I'm so excited to announce that I am now a contributing writer for Todays Wisconsin Mama. I will be posting all my DIY projects there. Drop by and leave me a comment letting me know what you think about our master bedroom paint experience!

I'll still be posting recipes, my views on social media and family life here on my blog, so no worries! Also, if there is a DIY project on TodaysMama, I may post extra photos or tips on my personal blog, so keep stopping by! I appreciate all your comments!

A big hello and thank you to the editors at TodaysMama!

Is Profanity Necessary To Be A Top Blogger?

Recently I googled "top mom blogs," because I love to find new blogs, read them and check out their design. I went on a popular site that touted a Top 100 list of mommy bloggers. I noticed something interesting...

At least three of these acclaimed blogs featured a gratuitous amount of profanity.

Wow. Does a good blogger have to throw in a swear word to make her point? Or is this just for shock value?

Hmmm...

This is not a post about SOPA or PIPA, I just wonder if people wonder if some might find this offensive. I have said before that my mother, Husband and kids can read my blog, if I started cursing in it, would I find that appropriate as a role model to my children?

What are your thoughts? Do you care? Does it matter?

Giving Thanks

This morning is the first morning I don't have to get up early, but because of habit, here I am awake at 5:30 am with my cup of coffee next to me. I actually had a chance to read some mommy blogs and was stirred by all the "thankful" blog posts out there. It was really nice to read. :)

I don't know if I ever wrote a thankful post, but I really should. It's been a whirlwind of a year (a move to the lake house, new clients, raising our 3 kids etc.)

Husband and I talk a lot about gratitude, and as we look out our windows, it's hard not to see why.

It took us awhile to find our "home," with several moves under our belt (and we're not in the military) I wondered if we would ever settle down. It's hard to create a haven for your family when you keep thinking "where are we going to next?"

With that being said, I am so thankful for where we are now. We call our home the "lake house." And even though it will take us years to make it into "ours," little by little we are filling this house with the things we love and experiences we hope to cherish.

I hope we are all taking the time this Thanksgiving to share what we're thankful for.

Why Moms Don't Sleep (Much)

This week I made an awesome raspberry vinaigrette, baked homemade brown sugar cupcakes (which will be frosted with a salted-caramel frosting later this week) and decided once in a while, fast food is okay. Every supper can't be a Pinterest supper, right?

Other than that...well, let's just say I've had a busy month. Someone once told me (when I was pregnant with our first child) that I would never sleep again. I do sleep, just not so much. Here's my Instagram overview:

1) Cleaned and organized my craft room (aka the laundry room) 2) Got our eldest daughter ready for Homecoming 3) Bought an iPhone, dumped my dumb phone 4) Learned more about Instagram 5) Made sure our 2 younger kids made it to soccer practices and games on time 6) Oh, they're on the swim team too... three times a week 7) Carved pumpkins, baked pumpkin seeds (an annual tradition) while listing to 'Monster Mash' 8) Baked cupcakes for two October birthdays 9) Redesigned a client's website.

Not pictured: Studying Facebook analytics for a client, merchandising a store, marketing meetings, scrubbing windows, doing laundry, huffing and puffing on a treadmill and coffee time with Husband five times a week at 5:30 am. <3

So on that note:

"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?"

-Henry David Thoreau

It's all good.

When Bloggers Become Haters

So I was reading a blog post about niches, and still adamant that I do not have one, when this post talked about creating a niche on what you're passionate about. I'm passionate about a lot of things, that's my problem!

Now that I've clarified my "niche-lessness," let's be passionate about something that really bugged me last week. I found a hate blog. There's no other name for it. It was a blog dedicated to doling out cynicism and criticism toward a very popular blog that's out there. A blog, in fact, that I read on a daily basis.

:(

You know, I get the freedom of speech thing and the "well, if you put yourself out there..." but really? Does this person actually have that much time on their hands to start (and name and post on) a blog aimed specifically at targeting hatred towards someone else's blog? C'mon.

I mentioned this to my bloggy friend (and IRL friend) Esther last week about this while we sat and watched our kids at soccer practice.

"No!!" she said.
"Can you believe it?!?" I yelped.

That was basically the conversation. We both agreed if we came upon a blog we didn't like, for whatever reason, we just moved on. Kinda like when your surfing the television channels.Click, click.

I've only had one person give it to me in my few years of blogging, thank goodness, otherwise it has been a relatively happy blogging life.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you  think "hate blogs" should be out there? Do you support them? Do you think they're really just harmless? Drop me a comment and let me in on your opinion.

Contagion - Will You Watch It?

Husband and I watch a ton of movies (DVDs, that is) and I recently heard a lot about the new Matt Damon film called "Contagion" which hits theaters today.

I'm not a germaphobe, well just a little, but I'm amazed at the star power in this film! Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, just to name a few...

This morning on the radio, someone who was reviewing the movie said it's definitely not for kids under 13. The main reason being that young children could believe that this pandemic could happen (and who says it couldn't) and then freak out when the kid next to them in class sneezes. Gee whiz.

I guess the reason for all the media hoopla is that this movie, according to the New Yorker, "evokes memories of the bafflement and the sense of outrage and helplessness that greeted the H.I.V. and Ebola viruses, in the nineteen-eighties, and the swine-flu scare a few years back."

So is this your form of entertainment, or will you pass it up? I'll let you know in about six months when "Contagion" is out on DVD!

Really? You Don't Have An SLR?

What's more mundane than clothes pins?

I'm living proof that you don't have to have a fancy-schmancy camera to take great pics.

In fact my Canon point-and-shoot is a hand-me-down from my mom. Not to belittle the power of a Canon, (I happen to still have a manual one that uses film) but if you don't have an SLR, you are capable of taking great pics with great lighting.

The above clothes pins shot was not manipulated at all. I do use a photo editing program (Photoshop Elements) but truth is all you need is good lighting and you can pull off some pretty shots.

I wouldn't compare my pics to those of professionals (or the bloggers with Nikon and Canon SLRs) but I'm pretty proud of photos. In fact blogging made me realize how much I really like photography and how much I  love taking pics of food!

Apple Pie, yummm

Or even those rainy day pics...

I guess even in the blogosphere there can be a feeling of "keeping up with the Joneses," and it really shouldn't be that way. Our blogs are expressions of our creativity! Not how much we spend on gadgets or designers. So enjoy! Love your blog and your little point-and-shoot! :)

Guilty Pleasures

I'm an avid reader. Everyone in our family reads. I prefer books to anything online, probably because most of my reading is done at night after everyone is in bed (hence the reading glasses for my tired eyes.)

That's why I never went online to read The Pioneer Woman's (Ree Drummond) blog posts about her real life love story (swoon.) I sit at the computer enough (oh how I wish for a Macbook!) so when I heard that the book was coming out, I was very excited! I don't know what chapter I'm on, but I'm hooked already.

Reading anything is a guilty pleasure for me so I get all my books at our local library for free. At least the guilt has nothing to do with the cost. Anyone else reading Ree's newest book?

Now, Look Who's Blogging...

My husband (a public high school teacher) started a blog last week. He's writing about a hot topic in our country. He arms himself with knowledge, wielding it like a sword. I never told him to blog about it, but I have encouraged him to make his voice heard.

He is much braver than I am in that respect. He shows no fear in confrontation and I've always admired his gumption to move forward. Sometimes in my overly cautious tendencies, I stalemate, too worried about the "what ifs." Yet worrying is wasteful.

Instead, I mull over decisions humbly. I have never questioned my motives as much as I do now. Because believe it or not, so much of the trouble we encounter seems rooted in selfish motives. I unfortunately speak from experience.

But back to my husband, he is a Wordsmith in my eyes. His prose is poetic, so much so that when he asks me to read his writing, many times I have to re-read a line because there is much to "chew." Jane Austen (one of my favorite authors) would be quite proud.

Talks in our house have involved "doing what is right," and "being informed." But on those same levels, there is an undercurrent of fear (just being honest...) Typical fear of the unknown, common amongst all of us.

And so we do what we can, whether it be wielding that sword, or pen, fighting the good fight...and waiting for the inevitable outcome, whatever that may be.

A Smorgasbord Of Blogs

Photo credit - Zefa

So I was thinking, when I first started blogging with my friend Kate way back in 2008, ('CityMom, CountryMom, A Tale of Two Moms') I swore that I'd be witty and funny. That happened on occasion and I learned that I was a closet techie.

On the next blog, in which I partnered with another friend, ('Gracenotes95') was going to wreak of my faith. That lasted a year, it was a good year though. I learned that I would overtake that blog with my posts and need to have a blog of my own.

The third blog (which shall only be revealed as 'MMA' due to serious privacy issues) was going to be about "transparency," that was the new blogging buzz word (or you might have read "authentic.")

Too much transparency however, taught me that you're life will not be private. (Hello! We're on the internet here. EVERYBODY can read your stuff, do you really want EVERYBODY reading it?) Yes, I do. Okay, not really.

The fourth blog was going to redeem my blogging efforts and show what a good sharer I was ('Share The Wonder'.) Then I did a 360 (within a month) and thought, let's keep it professional and niche-y (just in case your boss is reading.)

But, here's the thing, I can't have a niche, because everything I think about/feel about/am passionate about, is all melded together. Some people (like my husband) might call it whimsical, I call it being unable to compartmentalize. (Or, I am female, this is how it works.)

Writing, photography, random thoughts, recipes, DIY projects, cool techie things, blogging tutorials (ooh, I had lots of those,) are all a massive ball congealed together in my mind. Picture the rubber band ball. That is my brain.

That's why I can't have a niche. No matter how hard I try. And I did. Five times.

The lesson here? That we all blog for different reasons, that if a rubber band ball is what I am in real life (maybe I should change the name of my blog...just kidding.) then my blog is going to reflect that. (I smell transparency.)

If something in my life moves me, then I have to blog about it (oh, faith-> read this post.)

And if I really love taking pictures of food, then gosh darn it, scroll down some more and see my dessert photos!

In the end, to wrap up this plethora of excuses reasons of why I continue to blog, I must quote Descartes and write,

"I think, therefore I am."

Or better yet, I think (too much,) therefore I blog.
 

The New York Times - The Business of Blogging

Photo credit - Amana stock photo.
Everybody and their brother has a blog, right? Which would explain why it's estimated that there are 126 million bloggers out there. For goodness sakes, I mean, even my dog has a blog {insert shameless dog blog plug here.}

So when The New York Times wants to talk about the business of blogging, they go straight to the top, top of the money-making blogs, that is, in their article posted today, "Queen of the Mommy Bloggers," featuring Heather Armstrong of dooce.com.

Once again The New York Times will feed our growing hunger on how significant mommy bloggers have become. Yet, their articles also seem to wreak of disdain for the perks that mommy bloggers are getting from their blogs, whether they're being compensated monetarily or with merchandise. Or better yet, signing a huge book deal.

Let's not stop there, remember The New York Times article from March 12, 2010 entitled "Honey, Don't Bother Mommy. I'm Too Busy Building My Brand?" In that post, we're told that kids are being left to fend for themselves as mommies are glued to their computers in hopes of attaining a free refrigerator. Last I know, I haven't seen any un-diapered toddlers running around loose in my neighborhood!

So at what price do mommy bloggers get respect and monetary perks?

How many blogs that feature misfortunes of motherhood have become the equivalent of what used to be the "water cooler" talks? Find a blogger with a tragic story and you'll find a blog with a high number of visitors. If you're a blogger finding a blog with a mother telling her tale of hard knocks, you'll be sure that "she'll tell two friends, who'll tell two friends and so on..." It's how the mommy blogging community grows!

Mind you, not to say that these "big" bloggers aren't doing their jobs well, some are word smiths in their own right and others offer valuable tutorials, but the article was interested in how much bloggers are banking on afflictions. And how their very personal traumatic experiences can lead to an increase of followers, commentors and possibly even advertisers!

Is this the 15 minutes of fame that any mom wants? Or is it just the web version of how mothers "deal." When stuff goes wrong we like to get together with the girlfriends and process it until we feel better. That need to "vent" is possibly hardwired into the crux of the female population. Now when stuff goes wrong, we just blog about it?

Good question, are we just sharing and commiserating, or are we looking for the next big book deal? Maybe both.

What are your thoughts?