Follow me on Bloglovin'

Like many others, I am very sad that Google is closing it's Reader service. I've used Reader for years on my home computer, laptop, and phone without any issues.  ::sigh::

I've decided to move over to Bloglovin' and so far I'm happy with the clean interface.   If you're in the process of moving your subscriptions somewhere, I'd recommend it.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin.

 

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links- see my policy here.

Recent Reads: Bloggers Boot Camp

I have been blogging for years, so I wasn't sure what I'd gain from reading  Bloggers Boot Camp: Learning How to Build, Write, and Run a Successful Blog by Charlie White.   After all, I have no intention of making my blog into a career, so what did I need to learn?

It turns out, this is one of the best books I've read lately.  Mr. White not only explains the basics of how to blog, but why.   He shows you how to grow your readership, find a niche for yourself, and yes, even explore some avenues of making money with your blog.   

This is not the kind of book you can sit down and read in an evening- it's more along the lines of a business textbook.  However, the information inside is well worth the reading time.

Disclaimer: My copy of this book was provided by Amazon in return for posting my honest review on their site.  I was not required to share it here on my blog, but I also chose to do so because I thought my readers might also enjoy this book!

..................................... This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links. You can read my policy here. I always provide my honest opinions.

Find me on Facebook

Even with my limited online time recently, I've still found time to check in on Facebook almost daily, so I figured that it's about time that I get a page up and running for the blog.    I'd love it if you'd stop by and LIKE my Tiny Blessings page on Facebook!

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links.  You can read my policy here. I always provide my honest opinions.

Bloggers to Pay License Fee

Can you believe THIS?  In Philadelphia, personal bloggers are being forced to pay $300 to the city for a license fee for their "business" license.   I understand paying taxes on any income, but seriously, most personal bloggers only make a few dollars (if that) per year from ads and links.  These aren't professional bloggers or big-names who rake in the ad revenue- one lady said she's made maybe $50 in the last three years online.  This is crazy!!

Protecting Your Children's Photos Online

Online privacy is a big issue.  As a blogger, I like to share things about my family.  As a cop's wife, I want to maintain our privacy.  As someone who knows for a fact that someone was hunting for our family online, I'm probably a little more careful that most.  Blogging is a fine balancing act for me-- sharing details without sharing enough that someone could identify us without a lot more work. 

I don't use photos of my kids here.  Period.  There are many times when I've considered it, or when I've wanted to share an especially cute shot, but I don't, because I know what can happen. 

Today, I read yet another story about a mom's photos of her child being stolen and used on a commercial site.  This particular site wasn't "adult" in nature, but if you read through the comments, you'll find that some are.  Ugh.  This isn't the first time I've read about this, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

If you do post photos of your kids, please, at minimum, use a watermark.  You can use any photo editing software to simply write your name across the photo, or, you can easily create a nice watermark using a free program. 

You can also add "no right click" coding to your blog, which blocks people from being able to copy your stuff easily.  (More advanced computer folks can get around the code.)  You can find details on that here.

What do you think?  Do you feel safe in sharing personal photos?

It's Not You, It's Me

If you read my blog in a feed reader, you're going to notice some wonky things with the post dates tonight.  I've had some half finished posts sitting here, and when finished tonight, they published under the dates on which they were originally meant to post... make sense?  LOL.  We'll now return to your regularly scheduled programming.  :)

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links.  You can read my policy here. I always provide my honest opinions.

Look what I won!

If you participated in the Ultimate Blog Party this month, then you know there were tons of blogs to visit and giveaways to enter.   I was blessed to win this prize from Simply Serve, and it couldn't be more perfect, as my kids have really been wanting one of these Topsy Turvy tomato planters.  (My kids LOVE tomatoes!)  The other fun things will be put to good use, as well. 

Thanks to Simply Serve for this great prize!

This post may contain  affiliate links.  You can read my policy here.

Tweeting

Ok, the Ultimate Blog Party (see my post here)  inspired me to start playing with Twitter again.... and now I think I finally "get it"! LOL!  I've had my account forever, but until I started following specific hashtags and getting into conversations, I never really saw what was so great about it.   In the last couple of days, though, I've met some great new people and had a lot of fun trying to keep up with the flurry of posts. 

What about you... do you tweet?   You can follow me @AmyMCGS.  Leave your twitter name in the comments and I'll follow you back!

2010 Ultimate Blog Party

Welcome!  If you're stopping by for the first time from the Ultimate Blog Party, please come on in and make yourself at home! (And if this isn't your first visit, well, you know we're very casual around here-- so you should come on in, too!)

If you came to my home in real life, I'd direct you over to my kitchen island to grab a snack.  See... over there... go ahead and help yourself to some of my broccoli dip or my ranch cheese ball.     If you want to stick around for supper, you're more than welcome-- we'll be having my world famous chicken enchiladas, my family's favorite bean dip, chips, and fresh veggies.

As for this blog, well... I write about all kinds of things:

• The majority of my posts relate to frugal deals,  thrift store finds, coupons, etc. 
• I read a lot, and lately I've been doing a lot of sponsored  book reviews for various companies.   
• I like to share my craft projects, though lately I haven't had a lot of crafting time.  I created a Sunday meme for scrapbookers & paper crafters ~ Sunday Scrappin' ~ and these last several months my wonderful co-host, Bailey's Granny, has taken over the hosting duties. 
• From time to time you'll find political and religious posts here-- those topics aren't off-limits in my home, so they're not off-limits in my blog, either.   I'm a ProLifer, moderately conservative (somewhere between Republican and Libertarian), not in favor of the Obamacare bill that was recently forced on us, a big fan of Sarah Palin.... and I enjoy a lively debate on any of these topics.  However, I do tend to tone things down on this blog, as I find these discussions are much better in person.   ;)

The #1 search that brings people to my blog is my post from 2007 about how to clean your dishwasher and clear up cloudy glassware.  It's not really my secret, it's something I learned from The Queen of Clean... but apparently it's a pretty common problem, because I have visitors every. single. day. who read that post.

If I can be serious for just a moment.... and I can... let me tell you  a little something about Juvenile Diabetes.  My seven year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes (so-called Juvenile Diabetes because it's usually diagnosed in childhood) when she was five.  If you take nothing else away from this party stop, let it be this: Type I Diabetes is very different from Type II, which is the type of Diabetes you usually hear about.   Type I Diabetes was NOT caused by anything she ate, and she will not "outgrow" her daily need for insulin- in fact, those insulin injections are keeping her alive.  And, because she needs insulin after every meal, she can eat anything she wants... so please don't judge when you see her eating an occasional treat like any other kid.  Sorry for the serious tone, but I like to take any opportunity I have to help educate others about this rotten disease.   It's a part of daily life around here, so I can't ignore it, even for a party. 

Back to the party...

If I look familiar, you might have seen me hanging out online somewhere- posting my recipes at RecipeZaar, at the Children with Diabetes forums, or on a variety of other forums.  I'm known as AmyMCGS pretty much everywhere online. 

I have a Twitter account, but I don't really tweet much... I don't think I quite have gotten the hang of that just yet.  Maybe you'd like to help me out and tell me what you enjoy about Twitter in the comments section?  Edited 4/11: OK, since the UBP started I've been playing around on Twitter a lot more, following #ubp10 posts, and I think I'm starting to "get it"!  :)  I'm adding a lot of new UBP friends to my follow list!

So... I know you have other parties to visit.   It's nice to have you visit, and I hope you'll come back again.  If you're like me, party-hopping today, you're probably finding lots of interesting new-to-you blogs, so you'll want to subscribe to my feed so that you don't lose your way back here.  Happy party hopping!

P.S.  If you're not familiar with the Ultimate Blog Party, go check it out-- there are lots of prizes to win just for participating!   I'd love to win the Be My Guest certificate ($250 value), which  is a 2 night stay for a family of four at any Hilton Garden Inn-- that would mean that my family would get to take a little mini vacation this year.  Of course, I'd also be happy with the Your Shape Wii game, the Hobo clutch bag, the Amazon or Target gift cards... or really, any of the other great prizes that are up for grabs! :)

Comments

I hadn't had any comments at all for a couple of weeks now, and Forgetfulone just let me know why (thank you)... apparently my comment box wasn't working right.   I think I've fixed it now.  I had changed some settings  when I was getting hit with tons of spam comments (literally several times a day)... and apparently something I changed caused the problem.  It appears the comment form is working now, though-- so feel free to leave me a note!  :)

IComLeavWe

International Comment Leaving Week is November 21-28. Don't all bloggers enjoy a little comment love? :)

It's easy to participate by signing up HERE. Then, each day during the week, leave 5 comments on other blogs, and follow/comment on one comment that's been left on your blog. (That means that you'd be leaving six comments per day all week long.) It's easy, fun, and a great way to discover some new-to-you blogs that are out there.

Go here for more details and to sign up!

New Feature: Shared Items

I've been doing some decluttering and organizing around the blog today... you'll notice some new buttons and such. If you're reading via a feed reader, I apologize... you're probably getting some old posts bumped up as new as I edit and reorganize!

I also added a new widget with my "shared Google reader items". That means that when I find great bargain posts elsewhere, I'll add them to my list for you to see. At the moment that widget is in the sidebar (it's green and white)... but it may move, subject to my reorganizing whims. ;) Hopefully you'll find those posts as useful as I have!

This bloggy meeting will come to order...

... and there are two issues to discuss on our agenda this morning:

~ First, if you've stopped by from Works for Me Wednesday, hello! My post for today is one I actually published on Saturday- Homemade Hand Lotion. It definitely worked for me, so I thought it was worth linking it up with WFMW!

~Second, is anyone else having trouble with the pictures within my blog posts? I see the whole photos when I view my blog through my reader, but when I visit my actual blog, many of the photos are only partially showing up. I'm not sure if that's something to do with my computer or if others are seeing that, too--?? More importantly, does anyone know what's causing this or how to fix it?

Meeting adjourned. Whose turn was it to bring the donuts? ;)

Disappearing Entries

If you're following me in a reader I apologize for the multiple disappearing entries ... it seems that the scheduled posting feature on Blogger isn't working right now for anything with a 2009 date. I'll try again later!

Do you Facebook?

So, are you Facebooking yet? I never thought I'd be so into it- at first I thought it was mainly just for high school kids. I had an account for a while which I mainly used to keep up with my youngest two sisters. But suddenly, within the last month, about ten of my high school friends have suddenly joined up, and now we're all having a good time reminiscing and sharing photos. Without Facebook, I'd never know where some of my old friends are now... I've learned some happy news about babies and great jobs, and some sad news about classmates we've lost. All in all, it's been a lot of fun.


I've noticed several other bloggers mentioning Facebook lately. So, I'm wondering.... do YOU Facebook?

P.S. Just FYI, on Facebook I'll mostly only "friend" people I know, or at least used to know, in real life. That significantly reduces my paranoia about sharing family photos and all my real-world contact info... I'm sure you understand!

If you have a few seconds...

... would you mind voting on my poll above? In the midst of all that is happening in my life, I'd like to know what to focus on here in the bloggy portion of my world. I receive lots of hits for various search terms, with the most popular one being a WFMW post a while back on how to clean your dishwasher and clear up cloudy glasses. My question is, why do you come here... and what would you like to see more of?

Genius? Go figure...

Movie Reviews

I Heart Your Blog award

Forgetfulone kindly awarded me this "I heart your blog" award last week. It's always nice to feel appreciated! :)

I'm supposed to pass the award on to seven blogs that I enjoy. I'm going to bend the rules a little, though, and pass it on over on my Sunday Scrappin' blog to all the talented ladies who participate in my weekly meme- I enjoy reading their blogs each week and seeing their amazing creations. So hop on over there to meet the talented ladies to whom I am passing along this award!

Locked Out... a conspiracy?

I've been locked out of both Blogger and my email over the last few days. I fixed the email issue (my virus program acts up periodically and won't allow ANY emails through), and I'm still not sure what was going on with Blogger. I couldn't access my own account, nor read some other Blogger blogs. But, just when I was starting to develop a huge conspiracy theory, everything is working again this morning... maybe they're trying to throw me off the trail? (Or maybe I shouldn't watch SciFi movies before bed? LOL) ;)

A little shout-out for a blogger...

.... who will be appearing on Rachael Ray's talk show today. You all know Stephanie, from one of my favorite cooking blogs, "A Year of Crockpotting", right? Well, it seems that her project has gotten her recognized and she'll be appearing on the Rachael Ray show today. Check it out on Rachael Ray's site! :)