My New Fishies

I found this cute addition to my blog. Check out my fish in the sidebar. They will follow your mouse, and if you click in the box you will leave food for them. I like it ')

My domain, my website, my blog

I have a domain name. I have a website. I have a blog. Now if I could just get them all together in the same place. *sigh* Yes, I'm still working on that one. In the meantime, I have looked through thousands of blogs. I have picked a few things I do and do not want for my blog. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get everything I want on the very first try, but having my wants will be beneficial. These are just a few of my thoughts about it.

1- I want a the writing on one side, and everything else on the other. Many bloggers have columns down BOTH sides of their blog. To me, this is distracting. I wouldn't mind having two columns on the same side and the writing on the other, but I don't want my writing to be surrounded.

2- I want it to load quickly. Even if I have a lot on my page, I don't want it to take forever to load. I am annoyed when I have limited time, want to read a blog, and I have to waste time waiting for it to load.

3- I want patriotism on there. I am proud to be American. I plan on showing it.

4- I want the writing to reach almost all the way to the edge of the page. I don't want huge gaps between the edge of the page, and my writing. I want to make the best use of the space, and reading my blog simple.

5- I want heading, comments, dates, and categories easy to identify and easy to read.

6- I want a widget (or something similar) to display recent comments. I appreciate when people leave comments on my blog, and I would like them to be properly recognized for doing so. "Thanks to XXX and XXX for posting comments"

7- I want to be able to write a post, and have it posted at a later day or time. I get really into writing sometimes, and go through ruts at other times. This would help me space out my writing a little better and be more consistent.

8- I want to be able to password protect some posts. Sometimes I want to share some things with certain people but not with others. I would like to be able to password protect some posts with a different password for each one.

9- I DON'T want a verification thingie. Although I understand the purpose of them, I get so annoyed with them. And I may even need it in the future when my blog gets even bigger. But for now, no way, man.

10- I want the smilies from Poetic Frog. She opened them up to the public. I was *thrilled* when she did this, because they are adorable. And drawn by her, which makes them even more special.

11- I want a subscribe to comments button. I love when blogs I frequent have this feature, and I want to offer it to my readers as well.

12- I want the text in FULL. I want it too look good.

13- I want it to auto send out the link when I update. Or all the links for that day at the end of the day.

Go Elizabeth Go!

(((Image has been removed)))

Elizabeth, author of her four blogs: Table 4 Five, Mom Reviews, Mom Cooks, and Getting My Blog On; and my dear and wonderful friend, is going to BlogHer! At least, we are working on getting her there. She's done the research, she's made a name for herself, and she's got the motivation, drive, and excitement. Now all she needs is funds.

Elizabeth has been a good friend of mine since I first started blogging. She has been there for me for countless moods, various templates, hundreds of posts, and plenty of holidays. We are even planning to get together for lunch when I fly out to MI in a few months.

Soooo let's get her there! Have you ever wanted something real badly and you knew it would be really good for you? This is one of those things. For me, it's like my desire to go to college. I love learning, being around people that I can relate with, and cramming as much knowledge as I can into my brain. I remember last year how much *I* learned from *her* after she came back- and I wasn't even there! I've donated some funds to Elizabeth to get her to BlogHer.

What's in it for you? Oh, well. Not only do have the honor of posting that cute Blast Off button on your own website, but she will do a personal campaign for you. Whether it be your business, your blog, or whatever, she'll work with you. She is the master at marketing and has a huge reader base. Whatever you want, she can make it happen. (Within reason, please consult Elizabeth for details. And don't go telling her I said she's your slave or anything. She's a smart cookie.)


Check out this post to find out how to show your support.

Good luck, Elizabeth!

I WILL get this

I'm working on changing my template. I found one I like, and I'm working on the code. And I keep getting some stupid error! I've emailed the lady that created the template, and she's already responded with the fix. Now when I try it, I get a blogger error.

I refuse to give up on this. It's this type of thing that has hung me up in the past and made me frustrated to the point of quitting. Well, this time, it can kiss my code. (Ha ha, I stole that from Katy.) I am NOT giving up this time. I am going to get it.

And when I'm done, I'm going to show off my completely awesome new layout (with gratitude to M for helping me, of course). So there!

~~~ Later that day ~~~

I'm still working on it. I think the problem is that there is a missing closing tag. Unfortunately, since it is missing, I'm not sure if I am right or not. But, I'm still not giving up.


~~~ Later that night ~~~

Finally! Well, I couldn't get it myself. But after several emails back and forth and an incredible amount of help on Madeline's part, it's installed and working. Madeline, you are amazing, thank you so much. And to everyone else, I *highly* recommend her work. As you can see it's wonderful, AND she does custom designs.

Made by Madeline

More great contests

I think I need to simply do a weekly post with all the great contests I've entered. I've already won two contests, and I'm enjoying the friendships that I'm making in the process.

The first one is a $100 Land's End gift card. Take a quick survey and you are entered to win.

The ones are from the wonderful and generous Elizabeth at Mom Reviews.

A bucket of cleaning supplies from CLR. This includes the orginal CLR, the Bath & Kitchen, and the septic treatment. This contest ends December 20 @ 9:00 am.

Now these I was looking at for my step-daughters for Christmas. It's ENZOology, and it seems completely cool. If you enter by December 22 @ 9:00 am, you could win Season One. That's something I would enjoy just to learn about it.

Then there's this little guy. Isn't he cute. I know, the contest is over, but I still wanted to right about it because look how cute she and Joobles are sitting there?

Last but not least, we have a contest from 5 Minutes for Giveaways. I have always wanted to try an electric toothbrush, and she is giving away an Oral B Electric Toothbrush. Not too shabby for a contest!

And a special thanks to Nicole at SAHM Reviews for this valuable link. You better believe I will be visiting it (and the rest of her blog!) frequently.

What do you think?

I'm loving this new blog template. I was ready for something Christmas-y, but I wanted something classy. Isn't this great? I got it from Pyzam (the link is in the sidebar). It was a pain in the butt to install, though. It was just the code, so I had to do the coding for it and then re-do all my widgets, instead of simply uploading a file to do it like most of them normally are. But now that it's done, I love it. I re-did a lot of my widgets, too. And I'm going to go through all my links. I'm learning that this stuff is not as hard as it once was for me, and that I can do it when I put my mind to it.

I've been tagged

My good friend Bobbie has tagged me to tell 7 things about myself, so here you are:

1. I love apple juice, and I could drink a quart a day by myself.
   
2. I am afraid of dogs, so I am volunteering at two different animal shelter organizations to help me overcome my fear. (Yes, it's working!)
3. I am completely addicted to Animal Planet.
4. I have hated Christmas for the last eight years, but I am looking forward to it this year because I have a wonderful husband to share it with.
5. My favorites are yellow, stars, stripes, sharp shapes, and bright colors.
   
6. I am getting better and better at a lot of online abilities, and I have been asked by three different organizations in the last week to help with getting their online site started and maintained.
   
7. My husband and I already have the names of our first daughter and first son picked out, and almost have our second son and second daughter picked.

(((I'm emailing the people that I'm tagging so that I don't have to post their names online.)))

I wanna win

Holy cow, Elizabeth is going crazy. Have you seen how many different contests she is doing right now?

She is giving World of Grain cookies away on Mom Cooks where you could win some of their great cookies. (Ends on December 7, 2008)

She is helping with Kohl's 25 Days of Deals on Table4Five where you could win a $25 gift card to Kohl's. (Ends Tuesday December 9, 2008 at 9:00 AM EST)


She is giving away the Hannah Montana DVD game on Table4Five.

And also on Table4Five you could win this OMGosh-so-stinkin-cute Jellycat Plush Toy AND help her win a shopping spree. (Ends Tomorrow!)

It's like one of those contests for a full house full of furniture and all you have to do is put your name in the box. I am in heaven. I am in contest heaven. And with all of this that has going on, I totally have a chance to win something awesome. Thanks Elizabeth!

Happy Birthday!

I would like to wish a warm and happy birthday to . . .

Inside Mini's Corner

My protected blog. It's my journal blog. There are several faithful readers of the blog, and some email members. I've been writing there for one whole year! I know there will be many more to come.



PS Happy Thanksgiving, too!

Highway Robbery

I know this post was written a while ago, but I still love it. I had to share it with you.

The Evolution of Highway Robbery

Thanks Angela!

Team Hess

I love blogging. But more than that, I love meeting completely awesome people and becoming great friends with them. And then learning that they also love blogging!

Say hello to Team Hess. Greg and Lera are new friends of Selo and I. Greg and Selo work together, and we went over to their house Friday night for dinner. (It was fantastic! Lera is a great cook!) We immediately hit it off. As Selo and Greg were in his office playing around on the base, Lera and I were in the front room talking all the wonderful books on her bookshelf.

And here is their blog. Team Hess They both right in it, so you will get updates from both. Plus, you've got to check out this awesome post, written by Greg himself. Go Palmer!

Greg and Selo are going to start a band- and Palmer will probably join as soon as he can hold the guitar- while Lera and I curl up with some books. It's a friendship made in heaven.

So, when are you guys coming to our house for dinner???


PS Anyone in the market for english saddles?

Another Good Mark for The Blair Switch Project.

As I am going through my weekly routine of catching up on blogs, I stopped longer than usual at The Blair Switch Project. I love reading this blog. Intelligent, good writing, and plenty of thought goes in his posts. He is an excellent writer, and I enjoy it immensely.

Take his post about Ties. What a good point he makes! As we see customer service slipping away, I have to wonder what causes it. And I must admit, dress code is a big one. They say you can hear when someone has a smile on their face. Look better, act better, they say. Well, once again, thanks to Nathan, I agree all over again.

Now, moving on, check out what he wrote about PC Laptops. Not what I expected when I heard the title. But, once again, he makes a very good point.

Normally, I get my 'good reads' from books. However, The Blair Switch Project is enough to make me put my book down, and spend ample time at the computer.

Enough Duckies?

I love my duckie theme, but I am thinking it might be time to change. I want something with more of a patriotic or red/white/blue look to it. I was going to keep the duckies until I moved my blog over, and now that it won't happen as soon as I'd planned (not surprising) I will be making some changes here. Probably. Like I said, I'm still thinking about it. Why not though? The duckies are cute, but it's probably time to change things up. What do you think?

Friendship Award- Thanks Meliss!

Melissa gave me the Friendship Award. And I'll tell you what, I consider the friendship I have with Melissa an award in itself. She is wonderful!

Melissa writes several blogs

• Teaching Children A website that has great activities and tips for having fun and teaching kids.
• The Online Recipe Box A website that has fantastic recipes

And last but not least, my favorite

• Melissa's Place Which is her more personal blog, contests, reviews, and all else blog worthy.

Thanks Melissa, for this award. You are a great friend.

Now, I would like to award it to some of my own wonderful friends. In no particular order, I would like to announce: Mendifae, Katie, Bobbie, Beka, and Tim. Thank you all for being such great bloggers, and some of my dearest friends. We may have become friends via the internet, but I know that I could call each one of you up and talk, just because- and I think I have! I love you all.

Blogger or Wordpress

Thanks to Elizabeth, at Table 4 Five, I've been given some good news. I CAN keep blogger as my platform for my new blog. I don't have to use wordpress.

I like the way blogger is set up better. However, WP has some features that I like, too.

(BTW, I did hear from Lizz. Misti said she gave Lizz the message and Lizz said she would email me what I need to have my duckie template on WP.)

Now, I get to decide if I want to use blogger or use wordpress.

Blogger

• what I am used to.


• already set up.


• I like the layout that blogger has set up.

Wordpress

• millions of templates


• password protect individual posts


• millions of plugins


• so many people are familiar with, I know I could get help when I have a problem

So, what do you think? Which platform do you prefer? Have you used both? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this, since I am undecided of where to go from here.

For The Love of The Blog

I'm frustrated. Again.

I've been working on my new website. I finally installed wordpress on it, and I installed a template. I was talking to my friend Bobbie yesterday and she asked why I didn't put the duckie template that was made for me on there. I told her I was trying to learn how to edit them myself, and I was editing a different one so I didn't mess up my duckie one.

Today, I gave up. I wanted my duckie one on there. So I go into my Blogger blog that has the duckies on it (this one, obviously) and try to figure out how to get it so I can install it on my new blog. And I have no idea.

I tried to email Lizz to see if she would email me the file I need to install it. Easy, right? Smart, right? Go directly to the source, right? No. My emails keep coming back to me. (I'm beginning to wonder if she has me blocked. . . but I'm too frustrated to worry about that right now.) So I try IMing Misti, because she is living with them still. And she doesn't answer either.


So, now what? How do I get this template, the adorable duckie one behind these very words, and get it on my new blog? How how how?

Awe, Thank you Elizabeth

Look at this award she just gave.

View Table4Five here

What a completely sweet friend you are. I have valued you as a friend since the very day I met you. Cheesy, yes, but so true.

Your blog is a source of information. It is honest, reliable, interesting, and pleasing to look at!

Your friendship, your advice, your support, your love. You have made a difference in my life.

And I love you for it.

Happy Birthday Marini Family: Blog

What a fun day- my good friend Tim is having a party. An online birthday party, that is!

His blog, Marini Family: Blog, has turned one year old today. Congratulations! Your hard work and dedication has paid off.

Tim has some stats on his birthday post. One of the stats listed was his most visited post. How interesting that it was something I had thought about myself.

So join the party, check out the post, and leave your thoughts behind. Have a blast!

Picture Blog

I love my phone. All the pics I've taken lately have been with my phone.

I know, I've turned my blog into a picture blog. I'm enjoying it. And no, they aren't the best pics in the work.

But they are from my phone. And I'm loving this.

I Have Found My Host, Now What?

I have finally decided on who I will be going through for web hosting. It took me a while, and many talks with many people. But it's been decided, and I feel good about my decision.

So now that I know who I am going through, what do I do? Who do I contact? What do I need to know?