Liebster Award

I have been nominated for my first ever blog award!

A while back I was nominated for the liebster award and never got around to passing it on. So first, many, many belated thanks go out to Holly @ Not Done Growing for the nomination.

The Liebster award is given by fellow bloggers to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

So, what is a Liebster anyway?

The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.


And now for the rules:

Each person must post 11 things about themselves

Answer the questions that the nominator set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve nominated to answer.

Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

Go to their page and tell them.

No tag backs!

11 Things About Me

My musical tastes are stuck in the 80s 

I prefer chocolate over fruity treats every time

I like bananas, grapes and cherrys but not banana, grape or cherry flavored candies

I can't stand jello

I love John Hughes movies, when I first moved to the Chicago burbs I would drive by locations from his movies.  Love the internet :)

I have no interest in reality TV, which means I watch a lot of old reruns - Frasier, Friends and Family Ties are among my favorites

I have a tankful of goldfish that are 8 years old, and I look forward to being rid of them

I really want a dog, but want to wait a couple of years til my kids are older

I am convinced I have face blindness even though I passed the online tests (but those pictures were all of celebs)

My Dad worked in One World Trade Center from 1977-1987.  Even though his company moved out long before 9/11, and I didn't lose anyone that day, anytime I see a photo of the skyline with the towers it makes me cry.
 
I would rather bake than cook any day.  My specialty is chocolate chip cookies.

Holly's Questions

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Chocolate Chip - the more chocolate the better.  

What is the best book your have read in the last year?
I've read a few good ones but The House I Loved was probably the best.

You have just won an all-expense-paid vacation to the destination of your choice, where do you want to go?
African safari

What song always makes you happier when you listen to it?
So many it's hard to choose - Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds.  Summertime or It's My Life by Bon Jovi, Everlasting Love by Howard Jones, Hey Mama by Matt Kearney, Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis (cause it means the Hawks scored :)

Are you a going to have a scary or funny jack-o-lantern for Halloween?
Scary - it was a mummy

When the alarm goes off in the morning, do you jump up ready to face the day or hit the snooze button as many times as possible?
Snooze

Do you have any siblings?
1 older sister

Is your bed made right now?
Nope. I only make it if company is coming

How would you spend your time if all of a sudden you have the afternoon free and all to yourself?
Browsing at a book store for new reads, a craft store for inspiration, and then stopping somewhere for a treat (bakery or froyo spot) to read my new book.  

Who is your favorite super hero?
Superman - Cause he can fly

Which is more you:  sneakers or high heels?
Sneakers

My questions - I'm stealing a couple from Holly cause she had good questions

How would you spend your time if all of a sudden you have the afternoon free and all to yourself?


What's the best book you've read in the last year?


Do you drink wine?  If so what's your favorite?  (I'm always looking for new ones)


What was the one of your most memorable meals?  (Either because of the food or the experience)


If you could have one super power what would it be?


How long have you been blogging and why did you start?


What's the first item on your bucket list?


If you won the lottery what would be your first indulgent purchase?  


What was your first job?  


If you could go into outer space, would you?


What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

I have decided to be a rule-breaker with this part. I have been blessed with this award numerous times and every single time, I have a hard time choosing who to give it to. So this time, if you are reading this and you have never been given the Liebster Award, I am giving it to you! If one person takes it or 50, it doesn't matter to me! Anyone who has a blog is making their mark on the world and worthy of the award in my opinion ..... So, if you would like it, it's yours :) Just answer the same questions I had to answer with your 11 random facts and pass it on to 11 more bloggers!

This award officially goes to all the bloggers out there without a Liebster Award and who would like one! 

 

My First Award

I've been a delinquent blogger.  When I first started blogging I wondered how people got all these awards. Then I got one and it's taken me about a month to actually respond.  Anyway, I am finally spreading the bloggy love.  I received the Versatile Blogger Award from Holly over at My Life, as Mommy & Wife 

My first award - Yay!! Thank you, Holly, and so sorry for the delay.

Here are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award: 

1. Add the award to your blog. 

2. Thank the person who presented it to you.  

3. List seven random facts about yourself.  

4. List the rules.  

5. Pass the award onto seven other bloggers.  

6. Inform each blogger they have won by posting a comment on their blog.

My 7 Random Facts:

1. I can't swim and have no desire to learn.

2. My blog pseudonym is the name I used to use for myself when my friend and I
would pretend we were rockstars and sing in our bedrooms.

3. I used to be obsessed with Michael J Fox (until I literally outgrew him).
He's 5'4", I'm 5'6".

4. According to Myers Briggs, I'm an INTJ.
According to an old boss, my work style is passive aggressive.
 Both are right on.

5. I have such a severe fear of spiders, I had to cancel my subscription to National Geographic.
 Those pictures were just too real looking.

6. I don't like coffee but can't get through the day without at least 2 cans of Coke.

7. I love getting rid of things - either donating or throwing away if it can't be used.
Unfortunately for my family, I'm better at purging their stuff than my own.

My 7 Nominees:

The Perfect Compilation Tape
Scattered Squirrel
Nest Your Best
Second Chance To Dream 
My {Not So} Glamourous Life 
Dawn's Disaster 
The Domesticated Princess 

Make sure you stop by their lovely blogs before you leave!!

Chicagoland Moms Blog

Hi there!  I recently signed up to be a contributor to the Chicagoland Moms Blog.  Here's a link to my first post introducing myself.  I'm excited to be part of the team.

Why I love Pinterest

When Pinterest first started I resisted joining.  I was an early Facebook adopter and have since become quite addicted.  I was afraid of a similar time suck from Pinterest.  Friends joined, offered me invites (back when that was still necessary) and I declined.  Finally one day curiosity got the better of me, and I requested an invite from a blogger I followed at the time.  At this point I never admit to my friends I'm on Pinterest.  I use my blogging name and keep it separate.

The first time I went on, I repinned a few things checked out my friends pins (but didn't follow anyone) and followed a few bloggers.  Over time I started using the bookmarklet and actually find that I use that more than repinning.

What it comes down to is that I know myself and my talents and limitations.  There are some beautiful things and delicious recipes on Pinterest that I will never pin because I will never actually attempt them.  It's like Gourmet magazine.  I am intimidated by it, have never bought a copy and would never attempt a recipe from it.  It just seems beyond my abilities and I'm ok with that, because I know there are enough things I am capable of that I don't need to reach for that level.  That's not laziness, that's just knowing myself. 

I like the simple stuff.  I pin recipes from magazines and websites I like, but I don't follow the actual publication.  I don't want to be inundated with ideas, but if I see a recipe that sounds good in my Better Homes and Gardens magazine, instead of ripping it out, I'll find it online and pin it for later.  I also am a little annoyed that corporations are trying to get in on all the social media.  I understand why they do it, they want to make money, but supposedly this was started by some computer geek whose not very techsavvy grandmother wanted to be able to share recipes and knitting patterns with her friends - and don't blame me if that's wrong, I didn't factcheck it, just heard it somewhere and it makes sense.  

When it comes to crafts I stick to easy things I can do with my kids (not for my kids).  If you check out my pins you'll see what I mean.  If I see a cute picture, I'll check out the tutorial.  If I only need to buy one easy inexpensive item to do it, I'll pin it.  If there's a long list of tools I need, forget it.

I have two separate boards for recipes.  One for recipes I want to try and one for recipes that I tried that worked.  When I try something new, I view the recipe on my iPad as I cook.  If it was successful, it gets repinned as a recipe that works and I print it out.  If it didn't work, I delete it. 

The other thing that Pinterest has a ton of is organizing tips.  When I first started reading blogs I found a lot of homemaking sites.  Some had helpful tips once in a while, some made me feel overwhelmed, and some made me feel like a failure.  I no longer follow the blogs but I have pinned a few of the things that I liked and maybe follow that pinner so I can quickly weed through their lastest posts.  As useful as I found one series a blogger did on the multitude of uses of vinegar (and I mean it, I use a bunch of the "recipes" now), it wasn't the type of stuff I wanted to read everyday. 

So to sum up, my Pinterest tips are
1. Follow selectively.  You don't need to follow your friends, if they tried a great new recipe or made a cool new craft they'll probably tell you about it.
2.  If you don't want to follow a blogger constantly but don't want to lose sight of them completely, follow them on Pinterest.  You'll get the highlights and can always check their blog for more stuff if you want. 
3.  Install the bookmarklet on all devices.  Like I said, I get emails from Real Simple and BHG with recipes, if I find one I like I pin it.
4.  Purge your pins on a regular basis. I love that Pinterest tells you when you originally pinned something.  I recently deleted a bunch that I had pinned 8 months ago.  If I haven't it done it by now it's not happening, away you go.  
5.  Have at least one board of things that make you smile.  For me it's cute pictures of animals, pictures of places I have been and have fond memories of, and pictures of places I want to go someday.  Sometimes you just need to go to your happy place, and visuals that I have pinned help me get there. 

And in case you're curious, here are my pins

Blogging

I enjoy blogging but I probably spend a little too much time at it. I wouldn't call it wasted time as it is time I enjoy but I do need to manage my time better at it.

The writing is easy enough as I often do that on an app on my phone, although I can't type as fast as I do on a computer. The time consuming part is links, pictures and layout.  Also with the app I have a hard time adding pictures if there is more than one picture. And there have been a few times where I finished a post that I was happy with but not quite ready to publish and it disappear cause I forgot to save.

Lately I've learned a few tricks. I used to just click and drag and hope that the pictures would fit and line up the way I wanted to (which they usually did not). Now thanks to Picmonkey laying out pictures is so much easier and the captions look so much better.

I used to read most of the blogs I follow on an Feedler on my phone. The only problem is that it would only show the post title and would take a a whole to load especially if there were pictures or links. Also, commenting is really annoying (especially those with word verification).

I used to check it every morning when I wake up. Yesterday we were running late so I didn't get to. Later I got on my computer and despite the fact that my computer takes forever to load, reading the blogs I follow in Google Reader was so much easier. Since it shows the first few sentences of the post and at least one picture if applicable, I can quickly see if it's a post that I'm interested in, and skip the ones I'm not.

Also linking up to blog hops is much easier. Trying to copy and paste URLs from my blog to the link is a pain, and adding images when that's an option is tough too.

Bottom line, my new norm will be to do most of my blogging and blog reading on the computer. Much more efficient, and really the only thing I may be missing out on is being early on a blog hop, but I don't think that really matters that much.

As much as my phone helps me in other ways, it's become my go to device even when it isn't the most efficient. Time to revert to some of the full technology ways of doing things (even if that does mean I won't be quite as active).

Yes I realize this may seem ironic since I just signed up to do a 31 day series of posts, but I also think if I'm more disciplined with my time I'll be more focused and wrote better.

31 Days Series

 

Towards the end of August I stumbled across the 31 Day Series on nesting place.  I haven't joined any of these challenges before but hope this will help get me back on track taking care of a lot of the projects and issues I need to deal with now that I have time to focus on them. You pick a theme that you can write about for 31 days.  It doesn't have to be a challenge but I'm taking it as one.  She offers a couple of blog button templates that you can customize accordingly.  I made this one on Picmonkey.

My plan is to tackle some of the projects and personal issues I want to take care of.  I've spent the last few days coming up with a list of potential posts. The hard part for me will be writing everyday so I'll probably have to write some posts ahead of time.  Along with posts for the series I still plan on my usual style of posts, so it'll be busy, but I'm looking forward to it.
  

Nice Afternoon After a Disappointing (But Productive) Morning

This morning I was all excited to go running as I haven't been since Saturday and had had a good 4 mile run that day, and thought I could do the same today but I woke up to this.

I decided to just shower and get dressed and take the kids to school. As soon as I had dropped off Little Man, the rain stopped and about 15 minutes later the sky looked like this.

I should have just gone but at that point I was already showered and had convinced myself that I should clean instead. So that's what I did. Cleaned the basement and did my best to ignore the beautiful day upstairs. After I was done cleaning I used this tutorial from Organizing Made Fun to create a printable from Picmonkey. It's a great tutorial if you haven't tried it yet. At first I thought her steps seemed so detailed that I would just skip the tutorial and try it on my own. That didn't work, so back to the tutorial and I made a pretty little cleaning checklist. Not sure how easy it is to edit once it's been saved I haven't tried yet

I have other ideas for others, some I may laminate. I want to play with it some more first.

This afternoon I took my daughters to their piano lessons and took Little Man to the Nature Center next to the teachers house. Mother Nature must have felt a little guilty for messing with my morning because we were treated to 3 different types of birds - a family of ducks, a swan, and the tall skinny one on the left I'm guessing is a heron or egret. Usually all we see are Canadian geese and a couple of ducks.

Hopefully I can get a good run in on Friday as Dr. J is on call this weekend, which makes running tough. My kids aren't quite old enough that I can leave all three home alone for any length of time.

I've got a guest post today over at The Grant Life as part of the Labor of Love series Kelley has been doing. Please stop by and take a look around her blog while you're there.  She's got some great recipes, craft ideas and blogging tips.

I'm trying to get back on track after having the in-laws visiting for the past week. Kids are all done with camp now so the next 4 weeks will be a little crazy until school starts again.  I hope to come up with some sort of routine between now and then so we don't all go crazy. 
 

Bloggers Coast to Coast

I recently read about Bloggers Coast to Coast and thought it's a cool idea so decided to spread the word. Shane at Whispering Sweet Nothings is putting together a geographic blog directory.  All you have to do is fill out some basic info about you and your blog and she'll add you to a Google Map.  You can use it to find other bloggers in your area.  Cool idea.

This would have been really helpful when I was planning our road trip last year, could have contacted bloggers for tips about their home turf.  

I have her button on my sidebar so you can check it out there too.

Get Out of Rut Challenge

I've been feeling pretty good about my progress with my weekly projects. Each time I get something organized I feel like a weight has been lifted. I don't adhere to feng shui but I do feel calmer when things are organized and when I have decluttered.

Nothing makes me happier than to get rid of things we no longer need. As much as possible I donate things we no longer need, but even recycling/throwing things out makes me happy.

Having said all that, my appearance doesn't reflect that. While my house is getting organized, quite honestly, most of the time I look like crap. Part of it was guilt about buying new things when we were so deep in debt, but when all my jeans had holes in them, many of my tshirts had stains and my favorite jacket to is falling apart, it is time to action before the fashion police mount an intervention.

I stumbled upon this get out of a rut challenge on the Weekend Blog Walk and figured it was the perfect jump start. I know enough about myself to to know that I'm more likely to follow through with things if I publicize them. So here goes.....

I have two goals for June
1. Make more of an effort with my appearance. Wear an outfit not just clothes. Put on a little makeup and wear some of all the jewelry I have and love.
I tend to dress like a guy, grabbing whatever is clean rather than putting together an outfit. I have all sorts of rationalizations of why I do this - no time, if I'm planning on cleaning, why bother dressing up, etc. But really it comes down to laziness.

2. Get our finances in order. The first 5 months of this year we were in the red. Now we finally have a positive cash flow again. The surplus isn't huge so I still need to be careful about not overspending. Time to start actually using the mint.com account I started ages ago but would neglect as I found it depressing.

Anyone else up for the challenge? It's easy, no rules, just post your challenge to yourself on the Divvy Spot and touch base at the end of the month with your progress.

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

It's probably one of the silliest words around, but I figure now is as good a time as any to take stock of my little slice of the Internet.

In the past year my page has evolved and I've read and followed a ton of other blogs. Some gave me ideas on how to make my blog better, some made me laugh, some gave me inspiration for other aspects of my life (recipes, crafts,etc).

I will probably never be disciplined enough to write everyday or have a schedule for the week. I recently realized that I have been neglecting the original intention of this blog - keeping a true journal I need to include more posts about what we're doing so I don't forget. My memory is horrible, and I don't want to forget the funny, sweet silly moments with my family. I still haven't written anything about my kids' birthdays two weeks ago.

I don't do giveaways and don't think I ever will. Never say never. I haven't done paid reviews and doubt I ever will make any money off of this and that's fine. That's not my goal.

This blog has been therapeutic for me. Sometimes I write things and don't post them publicly. Just the act of writing things down helps. I often find myself (especially when I go to sleep at night) starting to compose stuff in my head. Sometimes it's worth actually writing in the morning. Sometimes not.

In some ways it is my Internet based "command center". I haven't found a good place in my house for one yet, so I keep my project list and recipes here. Part of the reason I write book reviews is so that when someone asks me for a book recommendation, I'll actually be able to remember my opinion of the book.

I am thinking of making some changes to this blog once school lets out and I have more time. It's a learning process but I'm enjoying it.

Screen Free Week - my version

Giving up TV was no big deal for me.  I prefer books to most of the crap on TV at the moment, and was in the middle of 11/22/63 at the beginning of the week and was eager to finish it - review to follow. 

As I was planning what I would do with my evenings once kids were in bed, most of my intended projects were a no go as they included a screen - updating photos online, updating playlists on my husband's iPod now that mine is officially dead, blogging etc.  I ended up reading, sewing a little and cleaning my house with that free time, not so bad.

Giving up my phone was harder, especially since I had to check my inbox for any Screen Free related emails.  Still I tried to only open the pertinent ones, and didn't read any of the blogs I follow and tried to not check Facebook.  I have to admit that even though I moved the FB app icon to the final screen on my phone I did find myself checking it a couple of times a day - but far less than usual. 

So what did I learn?

Email
Most of my emails are crap - no big surprise there.  From Monday to Friday I received 148 emails.
One a day from the Gap even though I can't remember the last time I shopped there, unsubscribe
I get daily emails from Michaels and while I only shop there occasionally I still want those.
I did unsubscribe from quite a few other services, but had technical issues with some I tried.
When all was said and done I had 38 emails that I considered worth saving.  Pretty crazy.  I have disabled the new message notification on my phone, as up until now I feel the need to check every message as they come in - even though most obviously are not worth saving.  I figure if I designate certain times to check my messages, rather than checking throughout the day it'll go much quicker and I won't be wasting as much time checking my phone.  

Blogs
I had 27 blogs that I followed.  Some are the type that post daily others more sporadic.  After a week I had 138 posts to read (or probably 118, one blogger had the unfortunate problem that one of her posts reposted about 20 times).  Of those 118 I have 7 that I kept as I want to comment or print something.  The rest not so interesting.  I've unsubscribed from a couple, but also have moved the icon off the front page of my phone so I won't be as tempted to check for new posts.

Facebook
This has been my worst addiction for a while, and really I don't know why.  I don't play any of the games, but I find I check it compulsively, and post a couple of times a week.  So what difference did it make when I only checked once a day?  Really, none.  The same posts were still there, some interesting, some not so much and most I didn't comment on.  So the moral of the story, move this off my main page and check at a budgeted time just like the emails. 

So now that I've dealt with the trees, what will this do for the forest? Looking back I often found myself checking my phone instead of interacting with other people - my kids, other parents at pickup, etc.  Not good.  If I want to enjoy my kids, and give them the attention they deserve, I need to put the phone down.  If I expect to make any new friends, which I would like to, I need to be approachable, not be attached to my phone. As with any addiction, it won't be easy, especially since there are legitimate reasons to use it, but I definitely have a love/hate relationship with my iPhone

Meet Me On Monday

1. How do you like your eggs? Scrambled with Swiss cheese and ham mixed in
2. Who is the last person you spoke to on the phone? My Mom
3. Do you have a place you keep 'junk' in your home? Unfortunately more than one.  This weeks project is tackling the storage closet

  

4. What is on your 'spring cleaning' list? Organizing every thing.  I made a list of weekly tasks and am slowly working my way through it  Here's the list
5. What blog post have you written recently that you'd like more people to know about? (don't forget to link it up)  MS Study - My mother was diagnosed with MS about 6 years ago and I enrolled in a study to see if there is any genetic/environmental cause for MS.  The post is actually not super recent, but I do still repost it to bloghops occasionally to help get the word out, as they are still looking for volunteers.

Service Provider Sheet

This post is a test of two things. I found a post by Ask Anna showing how to add a document to a blogpost.
Since I'm working on putting together a household binder, I figured I'd use my Repairman Form as a test. It was really easy.
 

Trying Something New Today

I came across Meet Me Monday through the Make My Morning Blog Hop

It's a fun and simple idea, so I figured I'd play along.

1. What is on your bedside table? Alarm Clock, phone, hand cream, a hair elastic and a book (this morning it was Magic Tree House - Abe Lincoln at Last, which my daughter has been bugging me to read).
2. Hardback, Paperback or E-Reader? I prefer paperbacks, but the last two books I read were hardbacks
3. What is your 'go to' drink of choice?  Coke
4. How do you like to spend your birthday?  Quiet day with the family and a nice dinner out, no big party for me.  Don't really like being the center of attention.
5. Finish this sentence - I would never be caught dead in ... leggings or jeggings

Back Up Your Blog

Last week I had one of my shower epiphanies. With 3 kids running around, I don't get much time to myself. My morning shower helps me wake up but also helps me clear my head, and sometimes even gives me the luxury of a couple of extra minutes to think about things other than mentally prioritizing the day's to-do list.

Anyway, back to the epiphany. I started this blog for the convenience of writing on the go, and being able to track things that happen in our family. What if one day through some computer SNAFU it all disappeared? That would totally suck. I wasn't really sure how to back it all up, and then happened upon a blogpost by another blogger who showed how easy it is. Check out this post by this post by A Simply Klassic Home for easy instructions on how to do it.

I just did it with mine. I have it saved on my hard drive now and feel better (I know an external hard drive would be even better but since I don't have one, this will have to do for now.) It was very easy and only took a couple of minutes. So while you're sitting at your computer anyway, take the time to back yours up too.

3 things I discovered this week

1. You can wash cashmere in baby shampoo and cold water. It's certainly gentler than dry cleaning and also better than Woolite. I tried it this week (starting with a couple of my older sweaters) and it works. I put them in a basin to soak for a couple of hours to overnight (if I forgot about them) and laid them to dry on a towel after gently pressing the water out - do not wring or squeeze. Done and done and still nice and soft.

2. Olio board - I love Pinterest for crafts, recipes, home organization stuff, but when it comes to decorating, this is so much better. You create boards of decor stuff by picking based on what other people have pinned or you can search through certain retailers. The best part is that if you click on anything you selected, it takes you to the seller's website and you can buy it!!!!!! Isn't that awesome? I have seen so many things on Pinterest that I like but have no idea where the pinner found them so it doesn't do me any good. Not all retailers are on there yet but Crate and Barrel ( and affiliates) are as well as tons of others. I haven't created any boards yet but look forward to starting.

3. Feeddler RSS - I've been following a bunch of blogs through GFC for a while but honestly rarely read their posts as I don't use a real computer much. I had resisted following new blogs as I knew I'd never find them again to read them. This app let's you access all the posts on your phone. It's perfect. I'm all caught up now (after reading through over 300 ppsts that were waiting for me) I look forward to keeping up with my favorite sites.

I did it!!! I made a button

I've been wanting to make a button for a while but every tutorial I found used some of the applications I use but not all. I wasn't going to pay for new software just for a button. So after piecing together the advice from 3 different sites, I finally have it. I'll admit I don't love the design and will definitely play around with it some more.

I have to work on the coloring of the letters to make it easier to read, but I think it's a good start.




I figure now that I have the whole thing coded correctly, replacing it later with a better picture shouldn't be a big deal right? As a way of thanking the bloggers who helped (and so I can find them again if I have trouble), here are the ones I referenced.

Blogging With Amy - How to Make a Blog Button

Hip Chick's Guide to PMS, Pregnancy, Babies - How to Make a Blog Button

Musings of a Housewife - How to Create a Button Code

I ended up making my button in picnik, uploading it to photobucket, and then entering the code to my sidebar. As hard as I tried I could not get a URL from Picasa web albums, not sure what I was doing wrong.