Journey to a Better Blog - Day 1

Today, I figured out how to make my photos bigger within my posts. I went back through and fixed most of them. Some of them just wouldn't have looked right if i changed them. Some of them came out kind of distorted, but I'm learning. A definite plus! I learned how to do that from here. I also followed a tutorial on how to make my blogger navigation bar a drop down, and I lost it completely! I miss it, so if I can't figure out how to fix it, I might just have to bring it back.

I wonder what new things I will discover tomorrow. It's a mystery to me too!

Quote of the day - Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity. - R. I. Fitzhenry

My Blechy Blog

This is the print screen version of what my blog looks like today. I don't like it...not at all. (except for the window. "Hi, window!")

When I started blogging back in January, I chose this platform because it seemed to be the most user friendly. It really has been super easy to navigate, but I already know, after months of surfing through the blogosphere, that I want more.

I want to be a bigger part of what's going on out there. I want to meet new people, and maybe make some new friends. I want to inspire and be inspired...so cliche...but true just the same. Only problem is, I don't like my blog. It isn't a good representation of me or my business, so I don't share, and that's not what it's all about, right? I need to get over my fears of imperfection and HTML, and start making some dang changes!

Here are the things I am hoping to do in no specific order:

1) change my header
2) figure out how to make my photos larger, and the same width as my posts
3) change the layout of the date and title, and add a line underneath
4) change the comments line, remove the "posted by" line
5) maybe add a signature to the end of my posts
6) make the top bar a drop down
7) categorize my posts...maybe
8) make an "about me" page (maybe some other pages ???)
9) add some fun things to the left side bar
10) add a search bar
11) maybe add a footer

Wow! That was a much bigger list than I thought it was going to be.

I think that should tide me over for a while, and hopefully I'll be happy enough with the changes that I can finally come out of hiding. Don't say I didn't warn you. :-)

Quote of the day - A line is a dot that went for a walk. - Paul Klee

The Window

I have walked past this window everyday for almost three years now, and never really noticed it. How could that be? This window is ten feet from my front door, and looks out on to a little stone patio. I love my neighbor's house. It's old, and quaint, and just my style. I look at their house all the time, and wish that it was mine.

So, how is it that I never noticed this window before? After really SEEING it for the first time, I couldn't NOT see it. My eyes were drawn in that direction every time I walked by, and the dreams continued. I'd imagine myself watering the flowers in the box, soaking in the serenity of the little stone patio, you know, dreamer stuff.

I finally decided to take a picture of it, when nobody was home of course. I didn't want them to think I was some kind of crazy window stalker, which obviously, I am. As I was taking the picture though, the strangest thing happened. The window taught me a lesson, or gave me some insight into myself. I was looking through the lens thinking the usual, "oh, window how I wish you were mine", and then I stopped, and thought...Why can't this window be mine, well maybe not this actual window, but one like it? Why is it that up until that moment, I only saw myself from the outside looking in, and not from the inside looking out?

This window, now, when I walk by and look at it, has become kind of a metaphor for believing in myself. Not only can I have dreams, but I can also make those dreams become a reality. So simple really, and so strange I never noticed it before.

Quote of the day - What matters is not the idea a man holds, but the depth at which he holds it. - Ezra Pound

Ribbit!

This morning with my coffee, I was reading Dear Daisy Cottage. Have you ever read her blog? If not, I'm sure you've been living under a rock, and you should crawl out right now and go read it!...well, after you're finished here. Anyway, a couple of days ago she had a post about childhood memories. Sometimes, I don't know what it is...the way she rights, the music, or maybe just the eye candy, but sometimes she gets me...right in the heart. I found myself getting all sappy and sentimental remembering my childhood...wondering if my kiddos are making the kind of memories that will have them crying in their coffee 30 years from now. I can only hope...

Life can be funny sometimes, never knowing what to expect. Sometimes you get lucky enough to see the answer to your prayers almost immediately, sometimes you have to wait a while. I was still in the process of boo-hooing, when Macy came out on to the porch with something cupped in her dirty, little hands. "Look Mom! A frog!!" Wow! I was a pretty good frog catcher in my day...some of my greatest memories. Thanks for hopping along when you did frog, and answering my prayers. Thanks for helping us make a new memory.

Quote of the day - I'd kiss a frog even if there was no promise of a Prince Charming popping out of it. I love frogs. - Cameron Diaz

Tropical Vacation

Can't you just hear the steel drums playing?

Smell the freshly folded towels!

See the crystal clear, blue water...

Remember to dive down deep, to hide from the paparazzi (that's what my kiddos call me now when they see me pulling out the camera).

Oh, a mother can dream, can't she? We were just hanging out at a local hotel pool today...don't ask. It was kind of relaxing though. I just needed a Pina Colada in hand, while I sat and gazed at the lovely scenery...oh, someday...

*A note about the crystal clear, blue water...my dinosaur of a monitor has bitten the dust, so I can't really see to edit any of my photos...ugh-tastic!

On the drive home, I stopped and took a picture of this strange, little beauty. It had me singing the song from Oklahoma! the rest of the way home. "All the world'll fly in a flurry, when I take you out in the surrey. When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!" Sorry kids, mama's gotta have her fun somehow!

Quote of the day - Composers should write tunes that chauffeurs and errand boys can whistle. - Thomas Beecham