Wordpress Users Look Here!

For those of you out there using Wordpress, you need to go visit Eves' new blog. It's called Wordpress Reworked.

Eve is a fellow Postie, not to mention a great web designer! Her site is fairly new, but she has great things in the works. She'll be offering Wordpress theme customization, which includes wordpress blog designs, templates, redesigns and custom headers, just for starters.

If you have been thinking about a new look for your Wordpress blog, you should go and see what Eve has to offer!

She's also holding a drawing this afternoon for a FREE redesign, so hurry on up and get on over there so you can get your name put in the hat!

The NewsRoom

I love News Stories like this!! It reminds me of when we got our cat, Lucky. I was about 5 or 6 at the time. She was in a foster home for our local Humane Society. She had been found wandering around, and was very tiny. Thus they names her "Lucky". The Foster homes' pet cat had just had a litter of Kittens. The Momma took Lucky on as her own, and even became her favorite one! LOL

Much more interesting tho, when it's a dog, nursing kittens!

I found this great site called The News Room. They have TONS (and I mean TONS) of news clips and videos from all over. Looking for that clip you saw, and wanted to share on your blog? They probably have it there!

I had a lot of fun looking at all sorts of clips from the Midwest area. It was fun too, seeing a lot of the news anchors I remember watching when we lived in MN. Funny how they haven't seemed to have aged in 5 years! LOL

Signing up for the service is free, and it was really easy to embed the video right onto the blog.

They also offer an incentive program. You can get paid for putting the clips up, based on how many views they get. They also offer prizes too!

Mostly, I just think it's a fun way to share some interesting news stories with your readers and friends!

Happy Onlineversary to meeeeeeeeeeeeeee

This month marks a HUGE event for yours truly. I have now been online for exactly 1/2 my life.

In May of 1990, I was winding down the senior year of HS. My Dad came home one night with this Zenith (huge by today's standards) Laptop, which he then proceeded to set up on the kitchen table, hook up to our kitchen phone line and connect to something called "Prodigy".

Being a good geeky girl, I was immediately hooked. :)

All this eventually led to my getting my own phone line (only I would be getting my own line to dial in, and not to chat on the phone... LOL) and even better we got a home PC. A Zenith XT, that thing was smokin', let me tell you. CGA monitor and the whole bit! lol

I'll have to see if I can find my picture of it someplace. LOL Of course I think by then we had switched to GEnie, after Prodigy tried ot charge people .25/per email after you hit your monthly quotient (which I'd hit in like a day) LOL Anyone out there remember that? lol

So yeah, it's been 17 years! Yikes. Maybe I need to send out some thank-you's to everyone who's put up with me for this long. hahahaha

Pretty Pathways

Spring has Sprung here! For us that means time to think about yard work. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but it needs to be done. When I was out in the backyard the other day, I noticed that the area on the west side of the house was looking a little bare. Last year, the grass was always shorter in that area, I think because the dogs are always running back and forth and barking at the neighbor kids. lol

I've been trying to think of a way to make that area look a little bit better. I like the idea of putting down some Stepping Stones. I think they'd spruce up that area and help it to look a little less bare. It would make a nice pathway leading to and from the fence gate as well.

When I was looking around over at Online Discount Mart, I saw this great stone that I think my friend Jilley NEEDS to have! She lives on a farm and owns peacock. I think she needs this one! They have a great selection of really unique Stepping Stones. I had a lot of fun browsing around over there!

What does it mean?

I frequently hear the term Search Engine Marketing. Either on the PayPerPost forums or just on various website. I have an idea of what it entails, but I never really looked into it all that throuroughly.

Search Engine Marketing is simply the marketing of one's website through a search engine. This can be through paid search or via search engine optimization. You will often see it abbriviated on the web as SEM.

Apogee Search has a great SEO Glossary. There you will find a great glossary of terms commonly heard, well, seen in the SEM industry.

It's a great little cheat sheet to help you figure out what everyone is talking about when it comes to SEM or even to make it look like you know what you are talking about! LOL

They also have a great blog, with lots of news, info and helpful tips.

Funnest thing, EVER

Holy Cats!

Check out this cute little Box.net Widget I just made!!!


Get your own Box.net widget and share anywhere!

It was a snap to make! You just go to the page, upload 3 of whatever you want... be it a picture, music file, video file or podcast. It was really easy! I uploaded a picture of me, a Ben Taylor song (that I love)and this crazy piano video Eric had emailed me (that you want to watch while the kids are busy elsewhere... LOL)

Box.net offers unlimited bandwidth as well as hosting up to 1gb of files for you, for FREE! You aren't limited to just the three things, either. After you create your widget and put it on your site, all you have to do is click on "upload more files" to add more stuff!

I really like that you can customize it too! You can add a title and select from a few, basic colors.

So go-on, run over there and get one for you site, NOW! All the Cool kids are doing it! :)

A Credit Card to Remember

Why we don't have these here in the US, I don't know.... We have different types of cards, ones you can put your picture on, or your dogs picture on... but none that are a different SHAPE!

Isn't this cute?



Back in 2003 MINT first introduced the Mint credit card in the UK. They offered both a standard looking card and the "MC2" which is the cute looking one up there. :)

They are currently offering UK residents 0% financing on purchases until 1st December 2007, as well as 0% on balance transfers (2.9% fee) until 1st December 2007.

In addition to the typical credit card, MINT also offers a pre-paid gift card. I know that here in the US, pre-paid credit cards are the gift of choice for most teens. Heck, I wouldn't mind a pre-paid card I can use anywhere! Store cards are nice, but then you are committed to finding something you like in one particular store.

The MINT Gift card is available in amounts ranging from £10 to £250, and can be used at most worldwide retailers or wherever Visa Electron is accepted.

Easy Home Security

Here's a neat idea from Laser Shield Systems, Inc. They have created the world’s first "Plug N’ Go" Instant Security System.



This is great for homes, apartments, offices, dorms and vacation homes.

This is also an ideal solution for those Do-it-yourself'rs who would like a home Security System, that is affordable and easy to install.

All you need to install this system is a standard wall outlet and a phone jack. The unit is also Pet Friendly! It come with a unique Pet Shield that instantly snaps into place on the front of the units motion detector. It works by blocking different portions of the motion sensor making it so that your pet is less likely to set off the alarm.

What's great about this system is that it's available at many of your local stores. You can find it at Sears, Home Depot, K Mart to name a few. I love being able to actually go to the store and check something out for myself before buying.

There are many other great features with this system, like the Panic Button, the Instant Learn Feature and The User Call Feature, which allows you to phone into your system while you are away from home. You can even activate the hidden microphone to listen in on babysitters, children, or pets. How cool is that?

So if you have been thinking about getting a security system for you or your college kids or even your elderly parents, this is definitely worth looking into!

What Is beautiful to you?

Belisi asks, "What's Beautiful to You?"

Belisi has launched a new campaign, entitled "What's Beautiful to You?" Peter Belisi has said that there is more to beauty than just glitz and glamour. The most beautiful people he has seen are not models or celebrities, but everyday people, who make the world better. They've launched the "What's Beautiful to You" campaign with the hopes that others agree with his point of view.

My answer to this question? I see beauty everywhere. Beauty is my children. It's the way the care for one another and their friends. It's the frost covered trees, the animals at the zoo. It's the uniqueness of everyone and everything that surrounds me. Beauty isn't just a look, it's a feeling. It's how you feel when your husband looks at you, even when you are in your PJ's. It's how your daughter tells you are the prettiest Momma in the world, when you are frazzled from taking care of a crabby baby all day. Beauty is the everyday things in life that we sometimes take for granted.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Belisi brand, they manufacture beautiful high-end, ties, scarves and handbags.

To compliment this campaign, they will be giving away $100 Belisi gift cards for the best comments left on the Being Belisi blog.

So head on over to their blog, and tell them what is beautiful to you!

Rocking Horses and more!

I spent some time this morning browsing around this great online store called, A Rocking Horse To Love.

We lucked out, in that we found a gorgeous wooden rocking horse when Johanna was a toddler, at a resale shop. She's had countless hours of fun on that horsey. She's even dressed it up and they've had many adventures together.

I'm looking forward to watching Ava have those same experiences.

Personally, I think every child should have a rocking horse to love!

If you are considering buying one for your child, please check them out!

In addition to Rocking Horses they also sell Educational Toys, Ride On Toys and Kids Furniture. They are also having a great February sale, with merchandise up to 25% off!