B: Blogging's Beginnings #AtoZChallenge

I haven't blogged on a Saturday in a long time! Technically I guess I'm still not really blogging on a Saturday, since this one will be written ahead of time and scheduled, but you know what I mean!

Yesterday I talked about myself. I hope you survived reading it! Today, I wanted to go through a brief history of my blogging. Since my theme is "Back to Basics" and I'm working to remind myself of all the things I love about blogging, I thought it appropriate.

I started this blog in December of 2007. Frances was four and Henry was 6 months old. At the time, I worked at a day care/preschool. I had two hours per day of naptime to monitor and needed something to do after my lesson plans were written and my supplies prepared. My laptop became my ever-present companion because I could see it without disturbing the sleepers in my room. With that laptop, I began reading other blogs and commenting on them. It wasn't long before I decided to jump in feet first and try out blogging for myself.

In the beginning, I only shared things with my parents, but then I began to type my URL into the comment forms in the hopes that other bloggers would visit me. I joined a few linkups and participated in some challenges. I got to know a few people and had some blogs that were daily visits for me.

After a while I was reading about more and more people who were making money from blogging and I wondered if I could do the same. We were in a place where money was always tight and I thought that if I could bring in some extra on the side, things might be a little easier.

I worked harder to post more often and to post about things I thought other people would be interested in. In the beginning I tried too hard and wore myself out. I felt like I was not always being myself. I decided that wasn't for me. However, I had enjoyed working hard and posting more often so I stuck with that. For about two years I posted every day Monday-Friday!

I've done all the design here on my own. I don't think that's bragging, by the way. There are probably easier ways to do most things, but I've enjoyed the research and learning HTML and basic coding. And I think I've gotten better.

One of my original headers. Kinda pixel-y, right?

Another header from about 4 years ago.

Recently I've cut way back. Part of that is because I like blogging about my kids, but they don't always like being written about, so I hold back on some things. I've also tried to spend less time online at home. With a full-time job, that doesn't leave much other time for writing.

These days I mostly write to give myself an outlet. I have a good tribe of friends who visit and comment regularly, and I visit them as well. I enjoy the interaction and once in a while I write something that resonates with people and I enjoy hearing that. It's also a great history of our family and the things we've done over the years.

So here we are: I'm challenging myself to post every day but Sunday for a whole month. In order for that to work out, I know I'll be pre-writing and scheduling a number of posts. I'll still be checking in and responding to comments though. To me that's an important part of this whole process.

Blogging has been quite a journey for me. There have been times when I've thought about giving it up. Then I look back on all I've written and it makes me sad to say good-bye. There are always changes and stages in life and I've found blogging to be that way too. I'm hoping this month give me the opportunity to write more without stressing so much.

Do you blog? Why did you start? Or why haven't you?

Blogging A to Z in April

I started this blog back in December of 2007. That seems like such a long time ago to me! Since then, I've blogged in different ways and for different reasons. Most of the time blogging has made me happy, but there are times that it has upset me or stressed me out. There have been stretches where I've blogged every day during the week and some stretches where I only blogged once a month.

Lately, I've gotten out of the habit of blogging and being active within the blogging community. I miss it. I want to get back into better habits, but I didn't really know how. Then I read something about the April challenge of Blogging from A to Z and my mind started working.

I've seen friends participate in the challenge before and I've always felt like it wouldn't work for me. I had too many other obligations dictating my content and I didn't want to add in another. Well, since I've been in a writing slump lately, I thought maybe it would be a good time to check it out. I messaged a friend who had done it before and she filled me in with what she knew. It sounded even more appealing when I learned that there isn't really a right way to do this challenge. There aren't any hard and fast rules!

In a very positive use of peer pressure, I told Lydia that I'd do it if she would and we both agreed! Now I've got someone to help keep me accountable, and a partial list of blog topics to go with for the month of April. You didn't really expect me to have it all planned out before I jumped in feet first, did you? If so, you obviously don't know me very well!

My theme for the month will be "back to basics." I want to go back to the reasons I started blogging in the first place. I want to remind myself of all the ways it brings me joy. And I want to push myself to write without worrying about who reads it. It feels good to set a challenge for myself. I hope you'll enjoy it as well.

Throwback...Tuesday? {#TuesdayTen}

I've been blogging for almost 7 and a half years. Where and how I started are very different from where and how I blog now, but the "why" has stayed pretty consistent. I started out because I thought I had something to say that people might want to hear. At the time, my mom was my target audience. I got tired of trying to upload so many pictures to email her every day. And sometimes I just didn't have time to verbally tell her the stories of her grandchildren, so I started writing them down.

My audience has since expanded. There are people I've never met who come by for a read. Some of them comment every day, some of them never say a thing. There are lots of people in between those two extremes.

First Ten Blog Posts

When I started I had no interest in Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Today I have account on all three that get used for varying amounts of time. In looking back I see that it took me three months to write ten posts. Today ten posts usually takes about two weeks.  Those first ten posts only had a handful of views, probably mostly from me on different computers and from my parents and brothers. Comments were unheard of. 

10 Most Recent Posts

For #TuesdayTen today, we're looking back at our first ten blog posts. From way back when we had little baby blogs and (some of us) had no idea what we were doing. There is a lot of back and forth in the blogging world about whether you should delete old posts from your blog. That's a decision that every blogger has to make for him/herself, but I live squarely in the camp of "no." My old posts are an early form of diary entries for me. I re-read them and I can remember where we were and what we were doing at times in the distant past. My old posts are a part of me and I will not get rid of them.

My First Ten Blog Posts

1. The very first one is creatively named "I made a blog!" If you need things spelled out, it's about me...making a blog!
2. The second, also creatively named post, is "Christmas pic of the kids" It obviously contains a Christmas photo of my two (at the time) children. It was posted less than 30 minutes after the first one. Apparently I didn't know how to edit!
   
3. Next came a Christmas Eve post about our plans to go Mass on Christmas Eve and then wrap presents. This is riveting stuff, y'all!
4. I took a breather from all that hard-core blogging and then two days after Christmas I posted about being free from stress after the big holiday was over. Honestly, I still feel that way. The best part of the Christmas season is after we've opened presents and can just enjoy the season for what it is.
5.  I think my fifth post was the first one where I took an idea from another blog I had seen and posted a recap of our year. "Goodbye 2007" is poorly formatted and lacking pictures, but it does have a pretty good summary of what happened to our family that year.
6. If I remember correctly, the next post was something I backdated, so it shouldn't really fall here, but I'll mention it anyway.  I think my brother had mentioned something about me always talking about my kids, my mom and dad, Ken, etc. and never mentioning him. So I posted this one to prove that I had, indeed mentioned him! I have two other posts I've backdated. Mostly because I wanted a place to publish and share something online without it showing up at the top of my blog.
7. Next I posted a TMI post about everyone in the house being sick. This is one instance where I'm glad I didn't have any pictures posted!
8. In early March of 2008, I posted about a dream I had had the night before. This one post comes to mind often, even today. I love going back to re-read it and feel the sensations it evokes. A brief, one paragraph note about my grandmother that holds such good memories.
9. To round out the list of my first ten blog posts, are two posts about sleep. It seems that even back then I had a real love/love relationship with sleep! First I posted about how glorious it feels to sleep through the night.
10. Then a week later, I posted essentially the same thing!

One of my very first blog headers!

At this point, I'm hoping my regular readers will see how much I've grown as a blogger since those early days. I can't imagine anyone (except my mom) getting hooked on posts like those and sticking around. But it's still a part of my history and the history of my family, so they'll stay there. 

Just for fun, leave a link to your first blog post in the comments. Or make a list of ten and link it up here!

An InLinkz Link-up

RULES:
1) Link up a post, old or new, pertaining to the TuesdayTen topic for this week and add our TuesdayTen button to your post or sidebar.
2) Please do not link up contests, product reviews, or sponsored posts. Links not pertaining to the topic will be removed at the hosts' discretion.
3) Visit your hosts and follow them on social media.
4) Visit as many other linked posts as you can and show those bloggers some love by commenting and/or sharing.
5) By linking up you agree to be subscribed to our #TuesdayTen mailing list. Emails are only sent once a week and you can unsubscribe at any time. If you would like to be added to the mailing list without linking up, click here.

Come link up again next Tuesday, Mar 3- (Unique Names Day) If you could change your name, 10 possibilities you might choose & Why

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.thelieberfamily.com” title="The Liebers" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b552/lspoon1/19cef8c1-afb5-4c38-b3bd-5f09bd4d4937_zps0e6fb14d.png" alt="The Liebers" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Post Number 1000!

Whew! This is an exciting week! If you haven't already seen it, make sure you check out yesterday's post to enter for your chance to win $100 worth of gift cards. Today is exciting because what you are reading right now is the 1000th post I've written here! I started blogging seven years ago over Christmas break. Back then I had only had two kids and I was not very consistent about writing. Around two years ago, I decided to take my writing more seriously and work harder on this blog. Things got much more fun then! I've made tons of new friends who I keep in touch with regularly through posts and social media. I honestly can't believe what a great outlet this has been for me. I've got a great record of our life, as well as friendships I wouldn't have had otherwise.

Blogging can be complicated sometimes. There are a lot of things to think about: post topics, promotion, social media stats, etc. There have been a few times when I've have started to get really stressed about all the pressures that come come along with maintaining an online presence. Those are the times that I make myself take a step back and re-evaluate what I'm doing. If it's not fun, I don't want to be here. That's one of the reasons I took a long break over the recent holidays. I didn't necessarily plan it, but when I realized that I hadn't posted in a while, I decided to just let it go and not worry about it.

Now I'm back again and ready to kick off 2015. As I said yesterday, I've got lots of goals to accomplish this year. Some are personal and some are blogging-related. I'm excited for all that 2015 has to offer me! I hope you'll stick around and we can travel it together!

As a side note, one of my blogging goals is to increase my social media following. If you aren't already following me, I'll put those links here so you can get to them easier.


And don't forget to go enter our #TuesdayTen birthday giveaway!

This post is also part of Lisa's One Word Blog Challenge. Each week she provides three words and bloggers are encouraged to choose one to work into a post. This week the words are: again, complicated, and believe. I'm an overachiever, so of course I included all three this week. Can you find them?

#TuesdayTen: Blogging Bucket List

We're getting close to the end of the year. It feels like everything is started this frantic run towards the end of December. It starts gradually and picks up the pace as it goes. I tend to get stressed out around this time, as I'm sure lots of people do. There's something about considering the end of the year that makes people go crazy!

I like to try and make as many lists as possible around now. I have lists to keep track of my lists. I even had a co-worker ask me if I had enough sticky notes on my desk the other day. I've removed a few and added a few more since then. It's a never ending cycle!

One list that I haven't accomplished much on, though is my bucket list. I guess that's not a terrible thing, since a bucket list is traditionally a collection of things you'd like to do before you die, and I don't have plans to die any time soon. But I still have a list, and every once in a while, I think about things I can add to it. My whole bucket list can be found here, but today, just for fun, I thought I'd write my Blogging Bucket List.

1. Write a post that goes completely viral
2. Be quoted or used as a reference in a national news story
3. Go to a blogging conference
4. Meet a whole bunch of my blogging friends in person
5. Get paid enough to dig us out of debt
6. Be featured in a book (DONE! The Mother of All Meltdowns )
7. Get to 500 "likes" on my Facebook page (help, please!)
8. Make friends and get to know people from all over the world (DONE!)
9. Find my childhood best friend through my blog connections (please read!)
10. Posting 1000 posts (should happen sometime in December actually!) This is post #975

How about you? Do you have a holiday bucket list? Or a blog bucket list? Or even a lifetime bucket list? Share it with me in the comments or write up your own post and link it up here!

An InLinkz Link-up

#TuesdayTen rules and such are here. Please read them if you've never participated before.

Also, we are putting together a giveaway for our first birthday in January. You can purchase a link for only $5 and get lots of social media exposure. Click here for more information!

Tips for Organizing Evergreen Content

I've been blogging for almost seven years now and in that time I've learned a few things. My focus has changed slightly and my audience has grown. There are things that I wrote way back in the beginning that are best not looked at closely now. Some people advise going back and cleaning up old posts so that they meet current standards. I prefer to think of them as part of my blog's time capsule. I'm not ashamed of posts I wrote way back when. On the other hand, I would not necessarily promote them in order to get a new set of eyes on them.

Some blog posts (mine or otherwise) have a short shelf-life. Posts about giveaways (especially monetary giveaways with no product review attached) are like that. Not that I'm qualified to write one, but a post about fashion is relevant for a much shorter amount of time than others might be.  Certain posts, by their nature, are time-sensitive. They serve a purpose for a certain time and then their usefulness drops off. There is nothing wrong with those kinds of posts. A political post, pointing out the pros and cons of a certain candidate is highly applicable--during that election year. That's the kind of post that lots of people should read! After the election, however, its relevance dwindles.

There are some posts, however, that have real staying power. Posts that you could read tomorrow, next week, next month, or even next year and still glean pertinent information from. These posts are considered evergreen because, like an evergreen tree, they stay alive all year round.

I've written posts that would be considered evergreen. I get hits on them out of the blue when someone does a Google search or finds a pin on Pinterest referencing that page. There are certain times of the year that I can expect older posts to start popping up in my analytics again. And up until recently, I have been pretty passive about this whole process.

However, I believe that there is a way to be much more purposeful about promoting evergreen content so that things I've written in the past can come back out of the archives and dance in the light again! It just takes some organization.

First sort your evergreen posts from the rest

Not everything you write needs to be evergreen. It's perfectly fine to write a piece on fashion, politics, celebrity news, etc. Lots of people read those kinds of posts. They can bring in great traffic and if you have a steady source of new information then you should have regular readers coming back all the time.

A post that is evergreen, however, can be written once and promoted indefinitely. They usually fall into these categories:

• recipes (seasonal recipes as well as more year-round recipes)
• craft projects (usually tied to a holiday or time of year)
• holidays (think Halloween, Christmas, Father's Day, etc)
• calendar-related observances (back to school time, going to the beach)
• parenting issues (new baby advice, surviving the toddler years, how to talk to you teen about...)
• weather occurrences (hurricane preparedness, fire safety, snowbound survival tips for families)

Organize your evergreen content

Depending on a number of factors including your blogging platform and your personality, you'll need to find a way to organize these posts so that you can find them quickly when you need them. You can use tags or labels embedded in your post to help you, as well as a spreadsheet or notebook with tabs.
Think about how your reader would use the information you have: Is its relevance related to a certain month? A certain holiday? A certain news-worthy event? 

My recipe tab organized in Excel

Promote and cross promote your content

Once you've got your posts organized, you need to remember to use them. When you plan out your blogging calendar for the month, take some time to look back at other things you've written that are still relevant for this time period. You can refer to them in new posts, but you can also call attention to them individually.  In October, you can begin to promote your posts about Halloween, fall-themed recipes, or breast cancer awareness. The first cold, rainy day of October is a good time to Tweet out a link to your "rainy-day activities" post.

Even if you write the post with spring thunderstorms in mind, it can still be relevant in the fall. I wrote a post called DIY Sugar Scrub in May close to Mother's Day, but it works equally well for a Christmas gift or an end of the year teacher gift. Think outside the box with how useful your archives can be!

• Spring weather and fall weather can be very similar in many ways, so food and recipe ideas can go in either season
• Vacation posts work well for the summer, but lots of families travel (or entertain guests) over the winter holidays
• Lots of handmade Christmas gifts work just as well at Mother's Day, Father's Day or the end of the school year.

Some of your readers may have been around since the very beginning, but you are also gaining new readers all the time, as well as new followers on various social media platforms.  Plus, with the way Facebook presents information to readers, there's a good chance that many of your followers will not have read a specific post from last year. Go ahead and re-pin it, share it on Twitter or Facebook and bring in a new audience for a seasoned post!

What are your strategies for bring new life to old posts? Do you have good luck with highlighting blasts from the past?

Versatile Blogger Award

Blogging has lots of fun awards and honors that are passed around.  Some are silly, some are funny, some pull your heartstrings.  I've been given a few, and recently my friend Lydia at Cluttered Genius awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award. Lydia and I met through SITS and she is a regular entry on my "list of blogs to visit."

In my roles as mother, wife, sister, friend and resident short person, I do indeed have many different uses, chiefly among them:

• arm rest for people taller than me (i.e. everyone but children)
• tissue for wayward tears and boogers (from the kids, guys!)
• sounding board for rants and questions from friends

In looking at the definition I am pleased to note that the first definition is simply "able to do many different things" and NOT  "able to do many different things well."  That would be an entirely different award...and not one meant for me!

I often see people talk about niches in regards to blogging and I have never felt like I fit into one.  I blog about lots of different things because that's what my life is about: many different things. I am not particularly gifted at any one thing, but I have experience with a variety of subjects.  It used to worry me, but it doesn't anymore. Maybe that's because I'm versatile.

 

In order to accept this award I am supposed to:

• Create a post to thank the person who nominated me and link back to their blog.
• Nominate 15 other bloggers that deserve this award. Link back to their blogs. Notify them to let them know of the nomination.
• Share 7 little known facts about yourself.

7 Little Known Facts About Me

1. My shoe size, underwear size, and pants size are all the same.  I won't give out a number, though, because a lady has to have some secrets.
2. I have a serious issue with throwing things away. One reason my house gets so cluttered is that I worry that I'll throw away something that's still useful. I just recycled 12 peanut butter jars with lids yesterday because I finally gave up on finding something to do with them!
3. I run empty containers through the dishwasher before recycling them.
4. I still have boxes in my basement from when we moved 11 years ago. We probably don't need that stuff, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them...yet.
5. I dislike spending money.  I don't do much shopping online or in stores. I even find it difficult to spend money at work, and that's part of my job.
6. I used to have a pet rat named Nicodemus. He was a classroom pet and a lot of the parents freaked out!
7. I only wash my hair once a week. I haven't gone completely "no poo" but I've cut way back and I think my hair looks and feels healthier for it.

 15 Versatile Bloggers

1. Echo at Domain of the Mad Mommy
2. Amber at Airing My Dirty Laundry
3. Katie at Pick Any Two
4. Lisa at The Golden Spoons
5. Herchel at Scruggbug Corner
6. Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie
7. Eli at Coach Daddy
8. Kim at Day with K-T
9. Rea at REAlity Bites
10. Megan at The Walker Fireside Chats
11. Janine at Confessions of a Mommyholic
12. Crystal at Mommifried
13. Chris at The Mom Cafe
14. Katy at Experienced Bad Mom
15. Christy at Uplifting Families

Image Mapping Made Easy

When it comes to blogging, your images and links can be a very important part of the success of your post.  One issue that I've comes across is making sure that my images look the way I want them to, especially when it comes to multiple images in one place.

I have designed the images on this blog myself, including the ads and social media icons on the sidebars. However, I've always been less than satisfied with the alignment in some of the images. Especially the images I use in our #TuesdayTen meme.

Originally I had created an HTML table with the images and links in them, but the design looks different on different blogs and made our meme look less than consistent.  I wanted to fix the issue, but I wasn't completely sure how to go about it. A few Google searches later and I stumbled upon image mapping.

Essentially, image mapping creates coordinated for different parts of your image so that you can have multiple hyperlinks in one image. This means that I can create one image (as opposed to a table with multiple images) that links to different places. Now the images always line up correctly because they are all part of the same master image.

Would you like to learn how to do this yourself?

Follow along here:

Design your image

The first step is to design your image. I find that PicMonkey.com works well for this with their collage option.  However you can also use Photoshop or Canva.com.  When you design your image, you can align all the pieces so that they look exactly the way you want them and lock them together in one image.  ***Make sure that you design your image the exact size that you want it to be when you use it.**  (You cannot re-size a mapped image without losing the coordinates that are mapped on to it.)  Save this image to your favorite image hosting site and get the URL for your image.

Upload your image to be mapped

Once you have the image created just the way you want it, you will need to map the image to insert the links.  Go to Image-Maps.com and insert the URL for your image.  This site will upload your image and get it ready to be mapped.

Map your image

Once you have gotten your image uploaded, it is time to start mapping. Right click (or control + click on a Mac) to find the menu,

select the area you want mapped,

and type in the URL that area should link to.  If you want your link to open in a new window, click the events tab and select "_blank" in the drop down menu under "Target."

Repeat this for each section that you want mapped. The red areas are areas that have been mapped. In this example, the entire image has been mapped.

Get your mapped html

Once you've mapped the entire image the way you want it, get the code.

 I like to save it as a .txt file so that it doesn't somehow get formatted by another, more advanced word processing application.  Check to make sure that the image address in your map is your own personally hosted image.

You can have Image-Maps.com host your images, but you'll have to pay a subscription fee to them to keep them active. The other benefit of a subscription is that they will save your maps in case you ever need to go back and change something.  

Impress the world with your multiply-linked images!

Now that you've got the html, you can insert it into your blogging editor the same way you would normally insert html code.  You can move the images around in your post, but remember, you can't resize it without losing your links. If you've got any questions, let me know.  I've had fun making image maps for the #TuesdayTen hosts and a few other things on my blog.  If you like some help, just email me!

I've Been Tagged!

Becka from Probably Crafting tagged me in this random meme and since I've been overwhelmed at work, I thought know was a good time to answer. Here is the list of completely random questions I was given!

1. Are you named after someone? 
I am named after a nursing student my mom had in Afghanistan.  In addition, my middle name comes from my dad's favorite sister, Anne.  Please note that she is his only sister, but that has never made her any less his favorite.  For the record, my best friend Tara has always been known as my dad's favorite daughter. We're just weird that way.

2. When was the last time you cried? 
I'm not sure...I think I cried to let out some frustrations a few weeks ago.  I don't cry all that often.  Usually it's reading sweet stories online or something like that.

3. Do you have kiddos? 
I've got three of them.  They're kinda cute, dontcha think??

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend to yourself? 
I think I am generally a pretty nice person; easy to get along with.  I like me. I think I'd like to be friends with myself.

 5. Do you have a guilty pleasure? 
Hmmmm....Does sneaking candy out of my kids' Easter baskets count?  Because I don't do that, I was just checking...for a friend.

6. Do you like your handwriting? 
I don't think my handwriting is anything terrible special, but it's legible.  I like it well enough. I even hand wrote a whole post and posted it for national Handwriting Day. Check it out here.

7. What’s your favorite cereal? 
I like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I used to really like Froot Loops, but either I got old, or they changed the recipe, because it just doesn't taste as good anymore.

8. What’s the first thing you notice about people? 
This probably sounds dumb, but being a short person myself, I think the first thing I notice about people is how tall they are.   

9. What is your eye color? 
My eyes are a very dark brown.  I remember in science class back in middle school we used to play with the lights and look at each other's pupils. People always complained they couldn't see mine because my eyes are so dark.

10. Scary movie or happy endings? 
Both. I like scary movies when I'm in the mood for them, but I also like sappy, happy movies too.  The only think I'll say is that I'm horrible at picking out movies to watch.  Ken is in charge of that at our house.

11. Favorite TV show? 
I think I'll answer this with a lovely piece of artwork that Frances created for me. :)
I'd have to add Castle at this point, but I wasn't as obsessed when she drew this.

12. Summer or Winter? 
 Really? Do I even need to answer this question??  SUMMER!!!

13. Hugs or Kisses? 
The chocolates? I prefer kisses. I'm not really a white chocolate fan.

14. What’s the furthest you've ever been from home? 
I've been to Alaska a few times to visit my mom's family. I love it there and I hope to go back some day.

15. Do you have any special talents? 
I can touch my nose with my tongue. Does that count??

16. Where were you born? 
In a hospital.  In Austin, Texas. Surrounded by my mother's friends and boss.  (She was an OB nurse.)

17. What are your hobbies? 
Blogging, reading, sleeping. I knit and sew occasionally when I have the time.

18. Do you have any pets? 
I have a very annoying cat named Oscar.

19. Favorite movie? 
Princess Bride

20. What color is your car? 
Burgundy.  Just like my mom's.  No really...just like my mom's.

21. What do you want to be when you grow up? 
TALLER!! LOL!

And now I get to tag five friends...
How about:
Amber from Airing My Dirty Laundry
Erin at Homemade Happenings
Karmen at Chairs From the Curb
Jodi at The Noise of Boys
and Deserae, who will likely kill me for tagging her!

The Meta Post: Writing About Writing

Happy Easter Monday!  We had a super full weekend with lots of fun and family.  Sunday was Easter, of course, but it was also my parents' 46th wedding anniversary.  We met up with them for lunch along with my brothers, my brother's wife and my father in law.  It was a nice day to celebrate family together. We also threw in a birthday celebration for Benjamin since we were all together anyway. He's a bit confused because he knows his birthday isn't actually until next week, but he enjoyed getting presents!

Today I have been invited to participate in a Blog Author Tour with some fellow bloggers who are discussing their writing process.  Sometimes it seems odd to call myself an author, even though I've got an author profile on Amazon.com and a real live book out there with my name on it !  And then as I was thinking about this post, I thought you might be impressed with first book I wrote; way back in 3rd grade!

I've enjoyed reading and writing since I was very young.  My father was a librarian, so I grew up surrounded by books.  As a kid I was usually in the middle of at least two books (so when I got in trouble and my mom took my book from me, I always had a backup!) I feel like I've always got posts and half stories floating around in my head. Maybe a third of what I think about writing actually makes it to the page. 

I'm so glad Lisa invited me to take part in this tour to be able to tell you a little more about my process.

1. What am I working on?
Right now I am working on a post about my writing process. I'm also working on getting the kids to go to sleep so I can go put Easter baskets together! As for the rest of my writing, I'm actually not working on much with actual writing. I have a few posts swimming about in my head that I need to get started on. I had been more organized, but then I got swamped at work with...work, and I got behind.

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?
I guess to answer this question, I'd have to know my genre. I guess you can call me a Mommy Blogger. As my mother points out, I used to write a lot more about my kids. Then I started doing more planning, reviews, and blog hops, and I don't seem to write about them as much. I still have a distinct mommy-vibe here, because that's what I am. Everything I think, do, write, comes from that perspective.

I think one thing that makes me feel different from a lot of other Mommy Bloggers is that I work full time outside the home. I'm not home with my kids during the day to make projects with them. I don't homeschool them. My two oldest are in school and the youngest is in day care, so we spend much of our days apart. I am juggling work, school activities, doctor's appointments, and various other things. I am fortunate to have a job I love that allows for flexibility for me to still be involved with the kids' schooling, as well as the down-time to write and interact with other bloggers during the day.

3. Why do I write what I write?
I write because my husband gets tired of listening to all my random thoughts throughout the day. KIDDING! (Sort of) I started this blog because I absolutely refused to get on facebook and it was hard emailing loads of pictures to my mom all the time. Originally I was writing down our day to day stuff so she could read it. For a long time that's all I had here. Then I took a step out and joined a blogging community and started finding interactions. Working full time and parenting alone on the weekends doesn't leave me a lot of time for friends and adult interaction and I started getting that from my blog. I've made some really great friends out of it, and even though we've never met face to face, I still feel very connected to them.

Also, before I started my own blog, I used to read lots of others. I enjoyed learning about other people and other families. It is interesting to me to see how other families do thing, whether they be similar to or very different from how I do things.  It's a nice dose of perspective when other moms are dealing with the same type of things I'm dealing with and it's just fascinating to see how other people live!

4. How does my writing process work?
I have a planner that I usually sketch out my month in.  I try to plan a month at a time, but then things get crossed out and rescheduled and moved around.  I like being able to be flexible within the structure of a planner.

On Tuesdays, Lisa and I host #TuesdayTen which is a fun collaboration between two of us who were already doing a similar thing on our own.  Lisa and I met through the MOAM book, and I have had a blast getting to know her better through working with her on #TuesdayTen. 
Fridays, I have been doing #AskAwayFriday and pairing up with new bloggers every week. That leaves me Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday for other posts.  It seems less overwhelming when I point out to myself that there are two structured days and three non-structured days a week. 

I made the goal to blog every day during the week two years ago.  I've missed a few times, but otherwise I've kept it up pretty reliably. Sometimes I think about pulling back to 3 or 4 days a week, but I think 5 days fits my personality better. 

I am constantly "writing" things in my head. That's when it's helpful to have things planned out ahead of time. I can think about them and get my thoughts organized so I'm ready when I have the chance to write.  Sometimes I write at work when I have down time.  That's also where I do most of my photo editing and graphic designing. 

At home I have an iPad to work with, which is nice because it's very small and portable, but it doesn't allow me to edit or create photos or graphics very well.  When I'm home, I blog on the couch after the kids have gone to bed, or while I'm sitting in their room waiting for them to go to sleep.

I like staying a day or two ahead of myself, but lately that's not been happening. Work and home have both been crazy busy the past week and a half and I feel behind on everything. I'm hoping to get caught up and back on track this week.

For a fun bit of trivia about my blog, you might like hearing that most of my scheduled posts go live at 6:23 AM.  My wedding anniversary is June 23, so those numbers are special to me.  I honor them with my posts by scheduling at that time.

The Blog Author Tour continues next week, April 28th with Lydia from Cluttered Genius and Crystal from Mommifried.  Both are women I have worked with lots in the past.  Lydia has written a children's book that Frances and I reviewed, and Crystal is the brains and muscle behind the whole Mother Of All Meltdowns project.  I can't wait to hear more about their writing processes!

The Liebster Award!

Trish, from Everyday Trish, recently awarded me the highly sought after, and coveted blogging award...The Liebester! After I thanked all the little people, I read her post and discovered some more about it.

The Liebster Award is a way to recognize other bloggers and give shout outs to your favorite writers. It is, of course, an honor to have been nominated. Plus, it's just plain fun! In order to accept the award properly, I have a few rules to follow:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their site. (Done!)
2. Answer the 11 questions they picked out for you. (See below)
3. Pick 11 blogs with 200 or fewer followers to nominate for the award. Don't forget to let them know you nominated them.
4. Think up 11 awesome questions for them to answer on their own blog. (Well, I don't know about awesome, but I'll do what I can!)

Thanks again to Trish for sharing the love with me! And now, on to her questions:

1. Why did you start your blog?
I started my blog as an easy way to share pictures and stories with my mom. This was before I was on Facebook, and my mom had limited computing skills. (You should see her now!!)

2. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? If you don’t like ice cream, please explain what’s wrong with you.
I like ice scream just fine, thank you! My favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip!

3. What do you like most about yourself?
I like my willingness to help out other people. I serve on the board of a local non-profit and I've had a really good time help them raise money and getting the word out about who they are and what they do.

4. What’s your favorite season, and why?
I'm a 100% summer girl! I like it hot and sunny. You can go outside and spend time instead of being cooped up in the house. Catching fireflies, sleeping in a sunbeam, staying out late; those ar all summer things I love doing!

5. If you could go to one place in the whole world, where would it be?
I would go to New Zealand/Australia. I've just always thought the area looks beautiful in pictures.

6. What’s the most delicious thing you know how to make?
Lately, I have been on this stir-fry kick and I think it is pretty delicious. I don't really have a recipe, I just cook up some beef or chicken, throw in a few veggies, add some soy sauce and a big glob of peanut butter! Yum!!

7. If you could be any animal for a day, what would you be and why?
I'd be a cat. Then I could sleep all day and only get up to amble over to the food dish and nibble on something yummy (to a cat, presumably!) Then I'd go find something to throw up on...wait! No, I'd skip that part of being a cat.

8. What’s your favorite book?
I have so many favorites, it's really hard to choose. I actually listed quite a few of them yesterday!

9. What states/countries have you lived in?
I was born in Texas and lived there til I was 7 or 8, I think. Then we moved to Virginia and I"m still here.

10. If you had a choice between leaving your hair exactly the way it looks when you get out of bed OR putting makeup on for the day, what would you choose?
Well, I don't really wear a lot of makeup, so I'd be fine skipping that as long as I could still put on my face lotion so my face doesn't feel so dry.

11. What’s your least favorite chore around the house?
SO MANY CHOICES!!! I think my ultimate least favorite would be laundry, I just feel like no matter how much I do, it's still there!


I am nominating the following people:
1. Herchel at Scruggbug Corner
2. Marcia at Blogitudes
3. NJ at A Cookie Before Dinner
4. Eli at Coach Daddy 
5. Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie
6. Karmen at Chairs from the Curb
7. Dakota at Chimera Road
8. Abbey at Surviving our Blessings
9. Nicole at Semper Fi Family
10. Danielle at Martini's and Minivans
11. Chris at The Mom Cafe

And I am asking them the following questions:

1. What is the funniest thing that has happened to you in the past week?
2. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
3. Do you speak another language? If so, which? If not, what language would you like to learn?
4. In high school were you into sorts, band, choir, art, or something else?
5. If you were going to write a memoir, what would you call it?
6. When you snack do you go for sweet, salty, fruity, or crunchy?
7. List three songs at the top of your playlist lately.
8. Which of your parents do you think you are most like and why?
9. If you could become a character on a TV show for a week, who would you choose to be.
10. What is your favorite blog post that you've written?
11. Tell us something interesting going on in your life right now.