Saturday Linkage

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I’ve been a off and on reader of (in)courage for a couple of years but just subscribed a couple of weeks ago. I’m so glad I did because if I hadn’t I would have missed Give God Your Art.

I don’t think I can do one of these posts without including something on blogging or another form of social media. Case in point: 50 Tips to Battle Writer’s Block Parts One and Two from Blogging with Amy.

I normally save recipe links for Cookin’ Mimi but this week’s round up post is a themed one and this Easy Peasy Chocolate Torte from Money Saving Mom looks too good to not share.

March Goals Progress

 

 

This is the first week goal check in for March and so far I’m plugging away at them. This month has already been hectic and it has barely began.

Fill in the food blog’s editorial calendar:

I’ve made some progress on this. I’m trying to come up with the most time efficient way of doing it. I had grand ideas of filling it out for the year but I think I’ll worry about from now to July.

Making goodies for a birthday party:

This has been changed a little. The party will most likely be midweek and the cupcakes would have to travel 50 miles or so before they even made it to the party. I decided to go with plain store bought cupcakes purchased in the town the party will be and I will just make the decorations for the tops. It would be a lot easier to keep a small container of chocolate Legos from melting than it would two dozen cupcakes if it turns off warm here in Alabama. I still plan on making the marshmallow pops and cookies though.

Reading through Proverbs:

I have managed to keep up with my reading. A couple of times I will admit was on the Bible app on my phone, very close to bed time but, as of writing this post, I am right on time with my reading.

Have you made any goals this month? How are you doing on working toward them?

 

 

 

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Ten of My Favorite Songs to Listen to While Cleaning

 

One of my favorite ways to make cleaning a little more pleasant is to listen to music. I find music with some energy to it makes the time go by a bit faster. Songs will be linked to a non-affiliate Amazon MP3 page.

1. Gasoline and Matches- Michael Grimm featuring Ann Wilson. I was excited when he won America’s Got Talent a couple of seasons ago and this song off his major label debut album is one of my favorites to sing along to while washing dishes.

2.New Orleans- Roomful of Blues. This is a find thanks to Pandora Radio. I really enjoy the horns section on this song.

3.Take a Chance on Me- Abba.  I am not ashamed to admit I am a big Abba fan.

4.Knock on Wood- Seal For some reason I can picture this song being used for a Cha-Cha-Cha on Dancing with the Stars.

5.Come on Little Angel-The Belmonts Most music I really like is older than me.

6.Gimme Three Steps-Lynyrd Skynyrd.  I big fat puffy heart Southern Rock.

7.Waterloo-Abba Another fun sing a long.

8.Cry to Me- Huey Lewis and the News. One of my favorite 80s bands does a 60s soul classic, that is awesomeness.

9. Rockin' Pneumonia And the Boogie Woogie Flu- Johnny Rivers. Probably one of my all time across the board favorite songs.

10.Ruby Baby-Dion. After hearing this song for the first time I can see why Jason Mraz was chosen to play Dion on American Dreams.

I could probably fill at least two more top ten lists when it comes to favorite songs for cleaning but I am stopping for now. Don’t be shocked if parts two and three show up in the future.

Linked to Top Ten Tuesday

A Little Housekeeping

If you have visited before you may notice things look a bit different around here.

I’ve done a bit of spiffing up on the old blog. Some things were to make a cleaner look and one very big change was out of necessity. I have changed the commenting system from Intense Debate to Disqus. I was having problems with comments not showing up and I’m not the only one who has been having problems. I was able to export all the Blogger comments to Disqus but haven’t been able to transfer ones from Intense Debate. That means I have lost a ton of comments. I’ll keep working and hopefully can get everything figured out.

I have also installed share buttons so any posts you like can be shared with others.

March Goals

 

 

I am joining in once again with the 3 in 30 group where I choose 3 goals to conquer in 30 days. For March I have decided to go with concrete, once I’m done I’m done goals. One of these won’t be happening until the end of the month but that is okay.

Fill in my food blog’s editorial calendar

I already have the general themes for the year sketched out in a Word document I just need to fill out my calendar with what goes where and when.

Make goodies for a birthday party

I am making cupcakes, marshmallow pops, and cookies for a 5th birthday this month. I am excited about this.

Read one chapter of Proverbs a day.

Wisdom is a very good thing and we could all use a bit more.

 

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Ten Awesome Posts About Social Media and Blogging

Posts about social media and blogging can be found all over the place. It can be pretty overwhelming, if  like me, you aren’t especially tech savvy.  I am sharing ten awesome posts about blogging and social media written for “normal people”.

1. How *I* Write a Blog Post This is a ten post series from OhAmanda.com that covers her blogging process from editing to promoting. Love the concise, easy to understand chunks of information.
   
2. The Ultimate List of Pinterest Tips Blogging with Amy is my go to blog for the newest and greatest social media and blogging tips.
   
3. How to Customize what You See on Facebook. I am using lists on Facebook but this post on SavvyBlogging.Net showed me that I am not using them to their fullest potential.
   
4. I know many bloggers are lamenting the loss of Picnik. I’ve only used it a handful of times but I use two of the three editing programs {Photoscape and Paint.NET) mentioned in Photography Tips from One Tightwad to Another
   
5. To go along with the last post Southern Hospitality shared a tutorial on how to edit your photos using Photoscape
   
6. The Info You Need on the Top of Your Blog from Meet Penny. Yes, Yes, and Yes with her observations.
   
7. Blogging Productivity Tip: Find Images in Bulk Another great tip from Blogging with Amy. If you don’t subscribe to it already you really should.
   
8. How to Become a Twitter Ninja in Less than 30 Minutes a Day. Twitter is probably where I have the most difficulty with engagement.
   
9. How to Add Filters to Gmail. This is probably my biggest email timesaver because I can find a much needed email much faster in its own folder than the abyss known as my inbox.
   
10. How to Make Money Blogging. This 11 part series from Money Saving Mom covers a ton of ways you can use your blog to make money.

This post is linked up to Top Ten Tuesday

What are your favorite blog and social media tips for “normal people?”

Photo source for button :Enter Button by Petr Kratochvil

Pinned It Tuesday {August 16}

Highlighting some of my favorite Pinterest pins from this week.

Source: thiscrazyblessedlife.blogspot.com via Micha on Pinterest

Love this bag using a clearance t-shirt.

Source: homemakerinheels.com via Micha on Pinterest

Change the colors to orange and blue and add a tiger and this wreath would have a place of honor on my front door all football season long.

Source: busilyspinningmomma.blogspot.com via Micha on Pinterest

Refashioning a long sleeved tee into a lovely ruffled one.

Source: cluckclucksew.com via Micha on Pinterest

Love these pillows. I’m thinking about digging my machine out of the closet to make some of these.

Now it’s your turn to share what you’ve Pinned this week There are just a few basic guidelines to follow: