The Marriage of Blogging

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“The Marriage of Blogging”

I read an interesting post the other day on Steven Sanders.com that related blogging to marriage and I wondered  how is blogging like marriage?

I was thinking of my own marriage and trying to relate it to blogging (as I do with most topics).  I can relate just about anything to blogging.  I know, it has been said before, intervention, addiction, blah, blah, blah, yeah, whatever.

Anyway, how is blogging similar to marriage? There are a few characteristics that should be the same.

• They both should be something you are passionate about.

Life is too short to be less than passionate about anything you spend your time on.  If it doesn’t make your heart do a little flip then it must be a chore.  We all have chores but do we all have passion?

I am happy to say I have passion in both my blog and my marriage.

• I look forward to seeing my husband every morning and every night.  I still have the butterflies in my belly when he comes through the door after work or when he calls me just to say hi.
• I wake up looking forward to my blog.  I get excited when I have a good traffic day.  I love to write and interact with my readers.

• They both should be filled with Love and Laughter!

Love and laughter are as essential as food and water.  I can’t imagine a marriage or a blog without them!  If you can’t or don’t love or laugh, what’s the point?

• Love certainly goes without saying although I hear it and say it several times a day.  More importantly I see it and show it every single day.
• And laughter!  I don’t know how I would get through some days without all the laughter.  My husband and I have an amazing connection with our humor.  We think we’re funny anyway, I am not so sure about what others think but that’s okay.
• I love my blog!  I look forward to working and playing on the site every day, several times a day.  I hope readers look forward to stopping by, commenting and interacting in the community of BloggerNewbie.
• I know I have gotten a few laughs from my site and I think a few readers have gotten a few laughs as well.

• They both should  be Damn Interesting!

There are some not so interesting “duties” in our day to day lives that are obligations and responsibilities. In the areas of your life that you are able to choose your joy, don’t you think they should be interesting?  Actually, damn interesting!

• Don’t you think your marriage should be “damn interesting”?  Again, I am lucky to say that there is rarely a dull moment with my husband.  As with anything worth working for, you get out what you put in.  We choose to keep our relationship interesting.
• My blog is “damn interesting” to me!  I hope it is interesting enough for my readers to keep people coming back.  I like to mix things up a bit hoping it is keeping things interesting.  Your blog is what you make it.

I am sure there are plenty of other characteristics that are similar in marriages and blogs.  What do you find similar?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth
in the individuals and in the way they express their love…”
~ Pearl Buck
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Popularity: 34% [?]

In Order To Succeed

Monday Motivation!”

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
~ Bill Cosby

I read this quote earlier this week and have given it a lot of thought.

Success is simple. You just have to want it.  Really want it. When you want something and focus on your goal, and take action towards your goal, you will have success.  Well, that sounds simple.  I can do that.

If success is so simple then why doesn’t everyone have success?

That dreaded 4-letter word. Fear is an emotion that all people have as a defense in response to potential danger.  The problem arises when potential danger is misjudged. A small amount of fear can be helpful.  It can keep you focused.

However, excessive fear can be crippling.  If your fear is out of control or unrealistic, it can escalate to a point where it affects your day to day living. Fear is no longer effective if we are constantly afraid of events that haven’t even happened yet.

Has fear stopped you from obtaining success?  What are you afraid of?  Is your fear realistic?  Have you analyzed your fears?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

Popularity: 15% [?]

Paid Reviews – Yes or No?

“Question of the Week? Vote in our Poll!”

Paid Reviews – Yes or No?
What do you think of a blogger writing paid reviews?

I recently signed up for PayPerPost.com and have written a few paid reviews.  PayPerPost connects advertisers with writers.   I always check out and review the product, service or website before I accept the offer.  Not all post opportunities are accepted.

Are paid reviews acceptable if the reader is aware the post is a paid review?  Are they sometimes helpful or just annoying?

All of the posts that I wrote for paid reviews are categorized under “Reviews”.  Is that enough disclosure?

Are paid reviews different from affiliate marketing?  Do you think a paid review of a product or service is dishonest simply because the writer is getting paid?  Do you think that makes the writer unethical?

What do you really think about paid reviews?  Do you like them, tolerate them, find them useful, would you write a review yourself.

What do you think?  I value your opinion.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious…”
~ George Bernard Shaw

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Spring Break?

“Spring Break?”

It is almost the end of January and people are starting to get cabin fever. My in-laws have a winter home in Florida and I wanted to pay them a surprise visit in early February! I am sure they would love to see us drop in. I just want to sit on their porch and watch the sun set.

Is it time for Spring Break already? I can’t believe people are preparing for their adventure as we speak. Well most every college kid and even high school kid is looking forward to spring break vacations.

My nieces and nephews are jumping out of their skins talking about their spring break plans. I told them I found a website where they able to book package deals geared towards college and high school spring break vacations!

Turns out I will not be sitting on my in-laws porch watching the sun set. Will you be getting a break soon?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“The true way to render ourselves happy
is to love our work and find in it our pleasure….”
~ Francoise de MottevilleR
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Popularity: 8% [?]

Changing Hosts? Step by Step How to.. Step 1 of 4

“Changing Hosts? Step by Step How to..”

I changed hosts recently and learned my “how to” the hard way.   I was down for about 5 days.  I couldn’t believe it and with every passing day all I could think was - You’ve gotta be kidding me!

Why is it so difficult to explain in detail, step by step instructions to complete any blog task?  Most “how to” articles are in detail and therefore somewhat lengthy.  This will be valuable information to the novice computer geek at some point so make sure you bookmark on Delicious so you don’t lose it.  If you don’t have an account with Delicious, how do you stay organized?

Okay, lets get started.

Why do you want to change hosts?  Capacity, speed, cost, technical support?

I wasn’t able to use a feature in wordpress for publishing posts at a future date and was told in the help forums that it was my host company that was not compatible. Turns out – not the case.  But changing hosts was oh so much fun!

Their are 4 crucial steps to accomplish a successful host change.  Today, we will discuss Step One.

The first step in changing hosts is to actually choose a new host.  When I was searching for a new host I asked around in the social networks for guidance. For each time or each person that I asked for recommendations, I received as many different answers. So no real help there.

I decided I would have to research the information and make the best informed decision.  I googled the top ten web hosting companies and came up with the following list.   I then compared each plan each company offered. You can click on the following graphic to view each of the top ten.  This list is as of January 3, 2009.

There are a few technical issues you need to consider when changing hosts.   As with all industries there are certain terms you need to be familiar with.  You should understand the following terminology before choosing a host.

Bandwidth or Data Transfer: Many web hosting companies offer unlimited data transfer.  Some have a monthly limit.  A server transfers data (graphics, text, audio/video files) to a user’s web browser.  Web sites that get a lot of page views would need a larger volume for data transfer or bandwidth.  Of the top ten hosting companies, only two have a limit on the bandwidth.  3000 GB being the least amount – still a good amount of page views. Approximatley 40,000 page views = 1 GB of data transfer.

Shared Web hosting: Most common type of web hosting.  Most new bloggers will be looking for shared web hosting. The most reasonable cost as multiple sites are hosted or share space on a single server.  Each site owner has a specific amount of resources  allocated on the one server.

Dedicated Hosting: The opposite of Shared Web hosting.   Each site owner has their own server.  They have a considerable amount of availability of resources for more disk space, more data transfer and are able to host more websites.  Dedicated hosting costs more and is usually for larger sites that have more specific needs.

Storage Space (Disk Space): The amount of storage space you need depends on what type of website you have.  If you have a large amount of images, HTML files – web pages, audio or video files or graphics, you will need a greater amount of storage space.

Now we know the technical issues to look for.  Do you need a dedicated server or can you use the shared hosting plan?  Will the company be able to supply you with the data transfer you desire?  Will your website require a large amount of space? You need to make a decision based on your needs.   Different websites fall into different categories.  Most new bloggers will start out with shared web hosting.

What else do you want to consider? Customer service is critical.  Do they offer 24/7 customer service via email, live chat and a toll free number?

Choosing the Host is Step No. 1 and very important.  Step No. 2 is crucial and we will discuss a few technical issues.  It will be so much fun.  FTP, PHP and backup will be your new best friends.

Any questions or concerns about Step No. 1?  Anything to add?  Any Suggestions?  Speak up!

Make sure to stop back next week for Step No. 2 of 4 in your changing hosts journey.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“It is not so important to know everything
as to appreciate what we learn…”

- Hannah More
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Popularity: 32% [?]

Great Birthday Party Ideas!

“Great Birthday Party Ideas!”

It’s time to Celebrate!  My grandson’s 2nd birthday is Friday, the 23rd.  He spent his first birthday in the hospital fighting for his life.  He spent all of his “firsts” in the hospital.  But that has all changed and now the celebration begins!  This will be a super special day giving a  little more than we usually do on the everyday special days.

His celebration will be a fantasy birthday party!    We have been planning Drake’s party for months.  He is so excited and has no idea why.  We ask him how old he is going to be and he puts up four fingers while saying “2″.  He’s 2 alright, too smart.

I got a lot of great birthday party ideas from celebrations.com.

Cards:

You know you need invitations but most people forget thank you cards.  You will find ideas here.

Decorations:

They have decorations and themes you have never even thought of.

Activities:

They even have a section for activities and crafts.  I can never think of ideas to occupy 15 or 20 little rugrats!

Cakes:

If they have cake ideas, they have the recipe for the cake which matches the theme!

Don’t forget:

Always forgetting some little detail?  Not anymore.  Celebrations.com has a number of checklists so you won’t leave out anyone or anything.

Celebrations.com has budget packages that you can choose from.  This website is a must link or bookmark for anyone with party plans in mind.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“The purpose of life is a life of purpose….”

~ Robert Byrne

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Change Your Thoughts

Monday Motivation!”

“Change your thoughts and you change your world…”
~ Norman Vincent Peale

If you reflect on this quote with a little attention you will realize the significance of these words.

Some days and some circumstances make it a little difficult to change your thoughts but if you want to then you will. Everyone has had “one of those” starts to the day.  You get out of bed, stub your toe, drop everything you pick up, you know the kind of morning that sets the tone for the day.

It doesn’t have to set the tone for the day.  Sit down for a minute.  Collect yourself.  Take a deep breath and ask yourself  “do I really want my whole day to be like this?”  You can have a good day if you want to have a good day. You might need a few minutes to convince yourself that today is going to be a good day, but you can do it!   And it is never too late.

If you notice half way through the day that it is not quite going the way you would like, change your thoughts and you will change your world. It works everytime for everyone.

Try it today.  Be aware of your thoughts, don’t encourage negative feelings, focus on happy!  You control your thoughts.  Nothing or no-one is in control of you but you.  Finally!  Doesn’t it feel good?  You and you alone are responsible for who you are and what you are.

Change your thoughts and you will change your world.

What do you think?  Have you tried this concept?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

Popularity: 24% [?]

Who’s Calling?

“Who’s Calling?”

Do you have any relatives in the military? My little brother was stationed in the Philippines years back and I can still remember paying those phone bills. I talked to him for 15 minutes one time and the phone charge was $75.00! I couldn’t believe it. I really missed him but I had to limit the calls to him at once a month. That isn’t very much for him when he is away from all of his family and friends.

We learned our lesson from that journey!

My oldest daughter was in the air force a few years ago and we always sent her a calling card so she could call her mamma! Turns out she called all of her friends with the calling card then either didn’t call me or called me collect. I was able to send her two a month, one marked Mom and one marked everyone else!

If you are looking for inexpensive calling cards, check out get me calling cards.com for great rates!

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient…”
~ Aristotle
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Popularity: 8% [?]

Are You Ready For Some FOOTBALL?

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

Can’t you just hear the tune?  Can you see Hank?  Hank Williams, Jr. that is, for those of you who don’t know him or don’t know that he is the artist behind that well-known song.   The only thing I know about football is the players wear nice outfits.

My husband is very fond of football.  Whenever there is a football game on television I know where to find Dave!  I decided it was time I became more aware of exactly what football is all about.

My husband is a big fan of comcast.net sports.  He lives on that website for all his sports news, videos, scores, picks, etc.  I found comcast.net a great resource to learn everything and anything about football.

They have a section for preseason, season and postseason schedules so you can keep up with who’s playing when and where!   Comcast keeps you up to date during the series with standings and statistics.  They have a great forum section.  Even a thread for “ladies only”.

Comcast’s website gets even a newbie like me excited about football.  I spent hours on the site looking around.  It is easy to get around and the look is seamless.

My husband is very pleased and somewhat amused at my new found love of football.

Comcast.net is definitely the place for the sports fan.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“Winning may not be everything,
but losing has little to recommend it…”

~ Dianne Feinstein

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Does Blogging Cause You To Lose Sleep?

“Does Blogging Cause You To Lose Sleep?”

Do you obsess about your blog?  Does it keep you up at night?  Do you toss and turn wishing you were at your computer?

Or …

Is it your mattress?  My husband says it’s blogging that keeps me up at night but I’m thinking it’s my bed!  I am in the shopping mood and I have good reason.

The mattress we have is about 8 years old.  Bed and Mattress experts say you should replace your mattress after 10 years.  Close enough.

I went surfing for ideas.  I found this site with a tremendous choice of beds and mattresses.  Great prices too.  The prices were not in American dollars but I translated and they have better deals.

Once I showed my husband the selection of  beds for children he was more interested. He found one that was shaped like a back hoe which they called the digger. That’s what I call the backhoe too!  Isn’t that the cutest bed you have ever seen?  I’m thinking my grandson is getting a bed before we do.

How well do you sleep? Does it matter what a bed looks like?

What do you think?  Do you think I need a new bed or I need help with blogging?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

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“For two people in a marriage to live together day after day
is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked …”
~ Bill Cosby
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Popularity: 20% [?]

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