Glad I discovered this community, and look forward to joining others as a blog-buddy. Feel free to visit and join me @ http://af12.webs.com/ A profile membership takes less than a minute, and feel free to point a link back to your own website, so others may venture over and visit with you. Thanks/Much appreciated guys. If anyone needs a comment or two, please don't hesitate to ask, and I'll do my best to add meaningful comments as oppose to a generic "nice post". I'm here to help and be helped in this exciting world of blogging. Peace...

We have a choice in how we live our lives and treat each other. Life and business is so much more enjoyable with happiness on your side! Promise Yourself Happiness!

The Optimist Creed ~Christian D. Larson~

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel like there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give give a smile to ever living creature you meet. To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, and too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds. To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

Just think…if we are focused on doing the right thing, improving ourselves and helping others, how much happiness can be spread and in turn how much will be brought back to your own life and business success. You know the old saying of “what goes around comes around”, I find this very true.

I am blessed and take great pride in being associated with a people that follow the fundamental basics of helping others. Actually, it was a team member that shared this creed with me... I challenge you to strive daily to promise yourself to wake up with a smile and find someone you can help in your personal or professional life, with no expectations of getting anything in return.

 I would love thoughts, comments.

Amy

http://amyhauer.com/

www.TeamUp4Moms.com

 

  

 

If you have been visiting blogs for a while, you may have noticed a button commonly refered to as the Google Friend Connect button.

 

It looks something like this: The button has changed slightly since this pic, but it works the same way.

Basically, you would put the button on your site. When people visit, they can "follow" you by the push of a button. When someone follows you, your blog will be listed at the bottom of the followers profile page (in blogger) with any other blogs the person is following. With a click of the mouse button on your link, all of your most recent updates are shown.

When you visit other sites that have a Google Friend Connect button, you can follow THEM, thus your picture (which is a link to your blog info) is on their site. Their blog is listed on your profile page so it is easily accessible.

So is it necessary to have? When I did a blog post on my "mom blog" asking what makes a good blog, many people said they liked the button.

Because there are so many blogs out there, it's nice to have a way to keep track of all your faves. High numbers of followers could mean the blog is a good read and the author is well liked by readers. The more followers, the more people that may stumble onto your blog.

But can these numbers be deceiving? Yes, they can be.

Because becoming a follower is often a stipulation to enter contests and give-aways, many people follow that ordinarily may not. But it is something that most bloggers look for when visiting a blog. And if you don't have it, once they click that big X and close out, your blog may be lost to them forever. If they follow, your link will forever be available for all to see on their blog.

And you definitely want them to return... ...over and over again!

 

    

 

What will your life be like when you’ve achieved your most deeply-held dreams? Let’s take a look at how you can start living your dreams this very day.

Do you have a dream, a vision of the life you wish to live?
How specific is that dream?
How clear is that vision?
How do you intend to reach it?
What obstacles stand in your way?
Are your fears holding you back or are you using them to move you forward?

Your fears can actually lead you to success.  Fear is an intense emotion.  But that doesn’t mean it has to control you, or even stop you.  Fear can prepare you and push you forward just as strongly as it can hold you back.  Fear heightens your awareness and increases ...Continue Reading  Rea

 

 

While you run around feeling overwhelmed, trying so hard to take care of everyone and everything! Staying up late to pay the bills, and feeling stretched between relationships at home and spending time with your aging parents, working and carpooling kids!   All the while, feeling unappreciated and then that gut wrenching bitterness that starts to build, because... Continue Reading...  Cont

 

AmyHauer.com

 

Have you ever seen a blog title or headline SOOO good, you just had to push that link and read the authors post? Have you ever gotten there ...and bounced right back out? If you are like me, one thing that will cause you to leave a blog is this:

Readability!

Rather, Un-Readability!

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Check this out..can you read it?

Here is a blog post with no white space. How do you like it? is it easy to read? I hope so because I really, really want you to stay on my blog and read all of my posts. Will you do that? How was your Christmas? Ours was fine except for poor Uncle Albert having a little too much Christmas Cheer. He got a bit confused and beat up Santa. He thought Santa was a burglar! poor Santa was so stunned, he could barely get back into his sleigh. So did you get everything you wanted? I got a new digital camera, which is what I am using to take this picture of this endless sentence. Can you see now why I am writing a post such as this? Read below and you will find out why paragraphs that drag on and on and on are very hard on the eye's. In fact in about 2 seconds, I'm clicking off of this blog. It is too hard for my poor over-40 eyes. So how are you doing? Are you still reading? Gee, I hope so....I love my visitors!

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

How did you do? Probably not too well!

People are busy, especially bloggers. A blogger is always learning, and most read tons of other blogs daily. They are most likely self-educated speed readers. If your blog isn’t an easy read, they are going to leave FAST! One of the things that many new bloggers may not think about is White Space.

White space is the area between paragraphs, created by hitting the space bar to create a break, and by adding graphics or headlines. Visitors make a decision within a nano-second if they are staying to read more or getting the heck out of there. As they do a quick scan of your post, they are taking in the headlines and any words that may jump out.

Is it worth their time? If it’s not an easy read, NO!

Trying to read a 2,000 word post without a break in the text is taxing on the eyes. Most people will not hang around to read a post like that.

So what if your blog needs a little white space? How do you create it?

Headlines!

Headlines are a great way to create some white space and to let your readers know at a glance what your post is about.

In Wordpress write your headline. Highlight it, then pick which headline you would like from the drop down menu (just under the B, A, ABC buttons in edit mode.) The text should now be a headline. You may want to code it yourself to get into practice (you may need to know this on some sites where you will promote your blog).

Don’t let this intimidate you- it’s really quite easy! Go to your HTML editor. In WordPress, it is right next to the “visual” tab on your post (while in edit mode). Click on that. In Blogger, the tab is to the left of the compose tab on your post (while in edit mode).

Place the appropriate HTML tags in and wallah! You have a headline. Below are the HTML tags for headlines. You would put a

< >

BEFORE your sentence.  At the end, you would put the same tag, but close it with a . An example would be:

 

 

This is an

 

headline

 

This is an

 

 

headline

 

This is an

 

headline

 

This is an

 

headline

This is a headline using the B (bold) button Now go find that headline, add your tags and check it out. If it doesn’t look like a headline or if everything is large after that, double check your code. Make sure you ended the code with the / before the h#.

Add a graphic/picture

According to a survey I conducted, readers really like pictures. Of course a mom blog is going to have different pictures than a business blog. They will probably have more pictures as well. To add a picture in Blogger, click the picture icon (next to LINK) and pick where you want to get your picture from. I use pictures saved to my computer. In WordPress, the add image icon is right next to Upload/Insert.

Paragraph breaks

This is by far the easiest to do. To separate paragraphs or a sentence of text, hit your space bar once or twice.

Use Bullet points or a numbered list

In WordPress, the buttons to use are next to the ABC button. You can do an unordered list:

• like this
• or like the next one,

An ordered list:

1. like this

2. it’s numbered!

Try some of these simple steps to create some white space on your blog.

And PLEASE...NO neon text on a black background! No one will stick around to read it!

Continue to visit other blogs and comment.

And watch your reading audience grow!

Follow me on Twitter!

The moral of the story~ always be considerate of the neighbors.

 

 

http://sketchesbymary.blogspot.com

 

Last evening, a friend called and politely asked me how my day was. “Humm”, I replied. “I feel good. But I didn’t get a thing done today!”

 She laughed and told me about A.A.A.D.D. That is, Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.  She said this is real!

Now don’t laugh. I think this is real, too! But wait! You may think it is triggered when you have kids!  I had some of these symptoms back then, but I should be better now. This is an example of how A.A.A.D.D. manifests itself to me:

I decide to water my tomato plants. As I turn on the hose, I looked over and see that the grand-kids left the ball in the yard.  Oh no!  The dog might pop that.

As I start toward the yard to get it, I notice the dog is chewing on something else.

I decide to go see what it is. It’s a Lego. That belongs in the house. So I pick up the Lego, and take it into the house, where I notice the mail that I got earlier from the mailbox sitting on the table.

I set the Lego on the table, and begin to sift the junk mail out, I notice that the recycle is full, so I decide to take out the recycle.

But then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox, when I take out the recycle anyway, I have some bills that need to go out.

I dig my check book out of my purse, and see that there is only one check left… My extra checks are in my desk in my office, so I go to my desk where I find the cup of coffee I’d been drinking earlier, gone cold. Oh! I could use that coffee!

I’m going to get those checks, but first I decide to warm up that coffee…

As I head toward the kitchen with the coffee, the days dishes collecting in the sink catches my eye – I should put them in the dishwasher.

I put the coffee in the microwave, and turn to discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning! I’m going to need those to write those checks and host the 2pm team webcast!

I decide I better put them on my desk, passing the clock I realize my webcast is coming up in 45 minutes, but first I’m going to clear the sink of dishes.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, turn towards the dishes and suddenly spot the TV remote.  Someone left it on the kitchen table.

This is not good! I know that tonight when hubby wants to watch TV he’ll be looking for the remote, so I decide to put it back where it belongs in the living room, but first I’ll take care of the dishes.

So, I leave the remote on the table, turn to the dishes, when the phone rings. It’s my son in the Army. We chat for a bit, I hang up the phone just in time to grab my glasses, head to my office and host the webcast.

Then, I head back down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.  Remember I have a standing lunch date with my dad and family... run out the door.

Back home I'm met by my son.  He really needs new shoes!  Out the door again, decide to make an extra stop for a much needed upgrade on his cel phone, and back home. 

Then, I get tis call from my friend, and have this realization… At the end of the day:

the tomato plants didn’t get watered

the ball is still in the yard

the Lego is now on the table

the bills didn’t get mailed

there is still only 1 check in my check book

hubby’s not going to find the remote

the dishes are still in the sink and my cup of coffee is still in the microwave!

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing really got done today, I’m baffled because I know I was busy all dang day, and I’m really tired!

I realize I may have, but don’t remember if I took my vitamins, and this could be a serious problem, and I’ll work on it.  The funny thing is to me right now is I’m just so happy I found my glasses so I could blog about it!

Do me a favor! Share this for me, because I don’t think I’m alone here, and I won’t remember if or where I sent this out or not!  Admittedly, this might be A.A.A.D.D !

Don’t laugh – if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!

 

Amy

 

 

 

Making Family Meals Happen

 

I grew up around the dinner table!   It was just a fact known in my childhood that every night, we all had to be home for a family meal.  Afterwards, us kids, would clean up and do the dishes.  My Mom never told us who was doing what for clean up.  She left that up to us to figure out.  Sometimes one would clear the table, the other do the dishes (boy were we happy when Dad installed a dishwasher!), alternating weekly.  Looking back, I’m sure it was good for us to “figure” that out fairly amongst ourselves.    But every evening, Mom made a family meal.  Thus, at the end of a day, I never remember saying, “Mom, what do we have to eat?”

Things were different back then.  For one, there were far more stay-at-home moms.   The only friends I had who’s Moms worked, were single.  Add to that a much simpler... READ MORE

AmyHauer.com  ReRe

Am working on the bath in the man cave today.

Finally to point of putting finishing coat of paint on walls.  Picture this!   I envision a gun-smoke gray.

What am I getting?

Right now it looks like a DELICATE lavender, maybe it will darken a shade as it dries. 

I will never admit I kind'a like it---decided  I will just say Linda picked it for me. 

She says she thinks it puts me in touch with my feminine side (why is she grinning as she leaves the room?   And, What does she mean by THAT?)

I am actually designing this bath with idea it will serve as a potting room for my plants, okay, and a potty room for me.

This should make some interesting blog material if ever I finish!

My darling, Suguarbritches (that's a cat) has a chink in her halo right now.

She insist on staying in this room (even messier and more cluttered than usual) because this is where I am.

Well, she just has to investigate every space she can climb to.

I made the mistake of leaning a ladder near my window shelf for streps which was not secured on one end.

Results, the shelf flipped and my newly potted plants (just 4, thank goodness) ended up on the table under the shelf that holds my printer.  The lid was closed and the vacuum got the mix of the keys (I hope).

Sugarbritches heads for the kitchen door; I cuss and fuss about my plants and that .......cat!

Thirty minute later she, she sneaks back in and finds a shelf on the other side of the room to supervise from.

The way today has started, when it is over, I just might be a whimpering  little old hag sitting in my own little half finished  cave, daring the world to look at me.

I am worried about what effect that lavender paint is going to have.

 

(If you would like to met Sugarbritches check out my "proud papa's" pictures

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1572108826552.2073810.1350456944&l=c947b7ec96)

Jemstep, is a free stock investment advice tool that will provide mutual fund ratings and help you make better financial decisions.

Shop Stumps event supplies store for invitations, tableware, decorations, favors, and banners.  Stumps is your online, event party supply store.

At StarfireDirect.com, you will find a wide variety of quality hearth products, all at amazing prices, with more added all the time.

Shop dazzling, party supplies and party supplies decorations!  ShindigZ, your online party supplies store, sells over 38,000 birthday supplies, theme party supplies, event supplies, and wholesale party decorations.

Buy Evinrude Outboard Parts, Mercury Outboard Parts, and Yamaha Outboard Parts 25% off outboard motor parts, boat motor dealer - Mobile, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana

The web is finally going local. Find out how to put your business right where people expect to find it.