Happy 101.....

Jessica @ Chasing After Fireflies just gave me this sweet award!!!!! She also has a fabulous blog. You should check it out!!!!!

Here are the rules:
1. List 10 things that make you happy.
2. List the top 10 bloggers/blogs that brighten your day.

My 10 Happy Things:

1. Jesus

2. The Golden Girls 

3. Diet Coke

4. Chocolate

5. Sunshiny and cool days fall or spring weather that I can spend outside

6. A good book

7. Playing games or watching movies with friends

8. Blogging

9. Alone time.....any time, any where, doing anything.....I love being alone, reflecting, and relaxing

10. Starbucks

My 10 Happy Blogs: 

1. Ocean Dreams

2. Hanging By a Thread

3. Memoirs of a Munchkin Mommy

4. A Day in the Life

5. Simply*Southern

6. Inside BruCrew Life

7. Peterson St Louis

8. I Love You More Than Carrots

9. Live.Love.Laugh.

10. ReJOYce!

*These blogs were selected in random order as I love each and everyone of you and your blogs. 

Good Read

From Drop Box

Sometimes I have trouble slowing down and being still long enough

to really hear what God is saying to me. I also have also had times I 

thought I was hearing from God, but after the situation played out it 

was obvious it wasn't God. Well I read a book recently that speaks 

to just these type of issues. It is Joyce Meyer's How To Hear From God.I love Joyce. She is an amazing woman of God. She is also a 

great author. The book really gives guidance on how God talks to us and ways to make sure we are listening. I highly recommend this

book.

What are reading?

Do you have a special thing that you do to hear from God?

~Until the WHOLE world hears.....

What do Jesus and KORN have in common?

Brian Head Welch

I wanted to share this video with you. I use to love KORN and Brian Head Welch was my favorite. 
Now I am not a KORN fan but I am a Brian Welch fan. He has an amazing story. He is a living
testimony of the power the Jesus Christ can have in our lives. I also share a commonality with 
Brian. I will share on that later. I just find such inspiration in this message. I hope you do too.





Until the WHOLE world hears,

Contemplating a New Design

So I know I just found this new blog design, and I really like it. It really fits my personality. And I am working on a custom header for it. (I have never done one so it is taking some time) But I digress. I was just looking at my blog, and I believe that it may be hard for my readers to read with the red back drop. Some of you may read in a reader. I know I do a lot of the time.  So I don't really know what to do. Find a new one? Keep this one?

What do you think?

Christmas Survey

So I am giving into the sensationalism and participating in this getting to know me Christmas survey. Truthfully I love surveys. 


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? 
Mostly wrapping paper but some items fit better in a gift bag. My bags and paper always go together though. They must stick within theme.

2. Real tree or artificial? 
Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree?
Day after Thanksgiving

4. Do you like eggnog?
I've never tried it so I'm not sure. But since they are high in calories I am glad I'm missing out.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? 
Hum....I got so much good stuff. I always loved my Cabbage Patch dolls.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? 
I have the baby Jesus from one I had in college, but I have a gorgeous one picked out.

7. Hardest person to buy for? 
My sister. She has lots and wants nothing.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Step mom- she loves cute pj's

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? 
Mail

10. Favorite Christmas movie? 
I love lots of Christmas Movies. My most favorite is The Christmas Story

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? 
Usually I don't start till after Thanksgiving. I am such a procrastinator, but this year I started in September or October.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? -
 Christmas fudge and finger foods at parties

13. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree?
I like to alternate

14. Favorite Christmas song?
Again I love a lot of Christmas songs. I guess The Christmas Song is my favorite.

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas? 
This year I am staying at home because I live with my dad and my mom is coming to me.

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
 Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixion, Commet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph (No I didn't look them up)

17. Angel on tree top or star?
Ribbon and feathers

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? 
Christmas morning. I have been trying to talk my parents into letting me open 1 present on Christmas Eve for 27 years. So far no go.

19. The most annoying thing about this time of year?
The crowded stores and weight gain.

20. What I love most about Christmas
The magic of the season, family, memories, Jesus. There is so much to love. 

Christmas Blogs Could Have Been

I know I have mentioned it, but it is worth repeating. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! It is my favorite time of year. I just love the magic of it all. I look forward to the traditions and seasonal events- i.e.
ABC Family's 25 Day's of Christmas. I always try to catch as much of it as I can and I watched a lot last weekend. I was thinking in hind sight that Cary's 25 days of Christmas would be a wonderful theme for Christmas blogging. Maybe next year. But since I didn't get a chance to start it on 
the 1st of December I decided to give you a little glimpse of what could be involved in the big event next year. :)


N Sync Merry Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas songs. Enjoy!!!

Hello All,

I know it must always seem that I am catching you up. Between being really busy and being devoid of anything to talk about for the past week, I guess I am. But I am happy to announce that I am over my funk. I had a fun weekend, hung out with friends, and got some rest.

It was a weekend full of friends and movies. Saturday and Sunday there was a Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family. So of course I watched it. I also watched some other really great movies.

From Drop Box

Saved was a silly funny. My friend loves it.

From Drop Box

Loved this movie.

From Drop Box

I also loved this one. It was the 1st Tyler Perry movie I saw.

From Drop Box

The 3D animation was awesome. The movie was weird and kind of creepy but in a good way. I probably wouldn't take small kids to see it though.

I also started back to my internship today. I am working on my masters in counseling graduating in may. My internship is at a Psychiatric hospital on the adolescent floor. I have been on a break from my internship for about 3 months due to some rule changes about comprehensive exams. It was too long of a break, and I am so glad to be back. I got thrown right in again. It was great.

So I think I am pretty much caught up. I promise to try harder. :)

Still NO Change

I would like to be reporting to you that in the last two days in which I have been absent my mood has had a vast improvement. But sadly I cannot. And to make it worse I had my first arrangement returned today. I work at a florist. My boss which is also my step mom loved it, so I'm not worried about that. It just stinks when someone criticizes something you work so hard at. I thought it was good. Oh well you win some and you lose some.

As for my mood- I am not really in a bad mood anymore. I am just blah and tired.

From Drop Box

So I am sitting at work watching Christmas stuff on youtube to try to better my mood. I found a clip that

made me laugh so I decided to share it with you. I just love The Christmas Story.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Mine is full of fun stuff. I am sure my mood will be improving as soon

as 5:00 rolls around.

Blah Blah Blah

So I am in a really funky mood, and I don't know why. I can't think of anything to write about. I don't even want or need to complain. I can't even find the energy to read what is going on with y'all today. I must be tired. But I don't want to leave you with nothing so I am going to share with you an interesting article I came across.

Top Ten Blog Mistakes

(Click the link to read the article by Michael Hyatt)

• Mistake #1: You don’t post enough. Hobby bloggers may go weeks between posts. But frequency is what separates the men from the boys. You cannot build solid traffic without frequent posts. I have seen time and time again (via Google Analytics) that there is a direct correlation between frequency and traffic. The more I post—within reason—the greater my traffic.
• Mistake #2: You post too much. Yes, this is possible, too. I don’t need to hear from anyone more than once a day—unless it is a group blog or a news site. You would do better to focus on writing one really great post a day rather than several mediocre ones. The trick is to find your frequency sweet spot. For me, it is four to five posts a week.
• Mistake #3: Your post is too long. Seth Godin is the master of the short, pithy post. His are usually in the 200–400 word range. I shoot for less than 500 words. But I often post 750 words and sometimes more. You can get away with this if your posts are “scannable”—that is, you make use of subheads, lists, and other devices that keep people moving through your content. If a post starts getting too long, consider breaking it up into several posts.
• Mistake #4: You don’t invite engagement. When I talk about “engagement,” I am referring to a combination of page views, reader comments, and social media mentions. Postrank.com is a great tool for measuring this kind of engagement. The posts that generate the most engagement for me are those that are controversial, transparent (especially about failure), and open-ended. This is why I try to end every post with a question.
• Mistake #5: You don’t participate in the conversation. When bloggers don’t participate in conversation by commenting on their own posts and responding to their readers, it is like hosting a party at your home, making a brief appearance, and then disappearing. In any other context, this behavior would be perceived as rude or odd. The same is true in blogging. People want to have a conversation—with YOU.
• Mistake #6: You don’t make your content accessible. Since I am in the publishing business, I often get asked if I think people are reading less. The simple answer is “No.” In fact, I think they are reading more than ever. But they are reading differently. Readers have shorter attention spans. They are scanning content, looking for items that interest them. When you use subheads, lists of bullets or numbers, it draws readers in by making your content accessible. Shorter paragraphs also help.
• Mistake #7: You don’t create catchy headlines. According toBrian Clark, who runs the must-read site, CopyBlogger, “on average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.” This means your headlines are the most important thing you write. Fortunately, Brian has an entire series of posts called “How to Write Magnetic Headlines.” I suggest you read everypost.
• Mistake #8: Your first paragraph is weak. This is critical. Assuming that you have written a great headline, people will next read your first paragraph. You must use this paragraph to pull them into the rest of your blog post. Start with a story, a promise, or a startling fact. The idea is to grab their attention and hang onto it. Many bloggers spend too much time trying to setup the post or provide context. Just get to the point.
• Mistake #9: Your post is off-brand. I have often been guilty of this one. If you are a hobby blogger, you can get away with the occasional post that strays from your primary message or brand. But if you are trying to build traffic, you need to find an editorial focus and stick to it. A tighter focus leads to higher traffic. This is why I have tried to narrow my own focus to three areas: leadership, social media, and publishing. If I want to write on something else (e.g., fitness), I do so through one of these three lenses.
• Mistake #10: Your post is about YOU. Unless you are a mega-celebrity, readers don’t care about you. Not really. They care aboutthemselves. They want to know what’s in it for THEM. Your personal stories can be a doorway to that, but in the end, the best posts are about your readers’ needs, fears, problems, or concerns. Always ask, “What’s the take-away for my reader?”

There are other mistakes, too; I doubt this list is exhaustive. But I think I have covered the major ones. If you can avoid these, you will be well on your way to increasing your traffic and growing your audience.

What do you think? Good or not? I am not sure about #10. I like hearing about what you are doing. I hope you all have a wonderful night. I am going to get some rest and catch up on my blog reading tomorrow. 

All I want for Christmas

I am so glad it is Christmas time. It is my favorite time of year. I love the cold weather, the end of a year, the family & friends, general happiness in the air. I love that this time of year was born out of celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior. I love to think of Jesus as an infant, so sweet and innocent. I bet he was a good baby. I love the magic of this time of year--Santa, elfs, reindeer, and snowmen. The movies are all about imagination and make-believe. I love IMAGINATION and MAKE-BELIEVE. I still read Harry Potter, watch cartoons, and color. It is just part of who I am. This time of the year makes me remember when life was innocent and non-complicated. Those were the days. So here is to the Christmas season.

The older I get the harder it is come up with a "Christmas list" for my families. It was so easy when I was younger. I usually ask for things I need, but since I moved back home I don't need that much. So here are just a few things I came up with.

I love this movie. So powerful to me.

Another movie I love. (Minus the sex)

The next in the series for me.

From Drop Box

Love these boots.

That's it. So what is on your Christmas list?