Break...

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I've always wanted to say that!

I won! I won! I won!

I won a giveaway over at Annette Lyon's blog The Lyon's Tale as part of her four year blogging anniversary celebration.

I won a copy of Alma the Younger, by H. B. Moore!!!

Thank you, Annette!

(Soon I will have to post about the other giveaways ((yes, plural!)) that I have won.)

Yippee!

Bloggiversary

This is my one year bloggiversary.

Happy Bloggiversary,
Happy Bloggiversary,
Happy Bloggiversary,
Happy Bloggiversary!

When I was thinking about what real bloggers do on their bloggiversaries, it came to me that they did give-aways for their readers. And after I was done laughing, I got up off of the floor and went about my day.

Yea for me!

100th Post

In honor of my 100th post, I will do the four things meme. Because I can never talk about myself enough!

Four jobs I’ve had
1. Cashier (A & W, Fashion Fabrics, Ranch Shops)
2. Girl Scout camp cook
3. Telephone solicitor
4. Teacher

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Casa Blanca
2. Chariots of Fire
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. While You Were Sleeping

Four places I’ve lived
1. Pocatello, Idaho
2. Logan, Utah
3. Spearfish, South Dakota
4. Carson, Washington

Four TV shows I love (Well, love may be a bit strong of a word. Let's say "really enjoy")
1. The Mentalist
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. The Amazing Race
4. Survivor

Four places I’ve vacationed
1. Honolulu
2. Disneyland
3. Manhattan
4. Traverse City

Four of my favorite foods
1. Tacos
2. Macaroni and Cheese
3. Chicken Brocolli Casserole
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies

Four blogs I read religiously
1. Say La Vee
2. cJane
3. Scribbit
4. Like Mother, Like Daughter

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Home
2. At my sister's house
3. Somewhere warm and sunny
4. In Wyoming

TaDa!

Bloggers

Blogger I would most like to be like:
Blackbird at Say La Vee

Blogger whose posts I most look forward to:
(Auntie) Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Bloggers I miss:
Meredith at Like Merchant Ships
Katie at Happily Average

Blogger who makes me laugh every time:
Amy at The Lawsons did Dallas

Most informative blogger:
Annette at The Lyon's Tale

Blogger with the most interesting ideas:
Lara at The Lazy Organizer

There are others, many others, but that is all for today.

Re-entry

In an attempt to start blogging again, I have decided to try to write something every day, even if it is just about the weather.

How many people do you know who have said, my grandmother kept a little diary, and every day she wrote about the weather. I've heard it a few times.

So, just for the record, we have had one of the wettest Octobers on record, and it has not hit 70 at any time this month, which is also unusual, I hear. At least it hasn't snowed!!! I also heard on the weather report this morning that we have only had two total hours of sunshine in the last 2 weeks but we are supposed to get some this afternoon. Yippee!

Autumn is my favorite season, and it has still been spectacular in spite of all of the clouds and rain.

Well, there you go! I'm baaaack!

Five Blogs

And now, an attempt to return to regular blogging activity. This is a post I had in the works way back when, that I finally finished.


For today's Friday Five, I am stealing an old topic from an un-named blog which has good Friday Fives on occasion, but I can't really recommend otherwise. I'm sure it could be found if someone really wanted to. I'm probably breaking all kinds of bloggy rules here, but there you go. I'm a rebel.

The topic is five blogs you visit regularly and why you like them.

I'm not going to include family and friend blogs here because none of them know I blog, as of yet, and I don't want to make the connection. I will list what I call "public" blogs. Not sure I can limit it to five though.

1. Like Merchant Ships.This is the blog that made me fall in love with blogs. And it is through this blog that I found almost all of the other blogs I love. When I found it, I went back to the beginning and read every single post. The photography is beautiful, the writing is entertaining, and the subject matter is helpful and down to earth. I love reading about her projects and challenges and especially about her decorating. I also enjoy reading about the challenges of cooking for a diabetic husband because I have one, as well. She is my imaginary friend.

2. cjane. This is a very entertaining blog. And she lives in the same city where my daughter goes to college, 1600 miles away from me, so I feel a certain connection. Courtney (I can call her by her real name because if I knew her, we would so be friends...in my imagination) is a great writer. She can really turn a phrase. It is artistic writing. And she has great photos and lots of spice. Don't let that angel on the header fool you. She can bring the snark.

3. Like Mother, Like Daughter.This is a beautiful blog with gorgeous pictures and genuine wisdom. It is a family blog (and I want to be adopted. Maybe a distant cousin?) It is a little glimpse into a home in a different place and culture than mine but there is so much to learn here. Great values, sound advice, and a lot of love is what I see when I visit.

4. Happily Average. This is a great frugality blog about getting good shopping deals and using those skills to help others. The blog has a nice clean look and is happy. She has a very cheerful outlook and is encouraging to all who read. I really appreciate the emphasis she puts on helping others and being a responsible citizen. She has encouraged me to do better in this regard.

5. Say La Vee. I saw this blog listed at another blog I follow, and I read it a couple of times, but I was not going to put it on my list. It was not a blog I was going to read on a regular basis. It was not the "kind of blog" I was going to read. (I don't know. Sometimes I am just kind of dense that way.) But then I kept finding myself drawn back to it and find it very entertaining. This is someone who lives in a different part of the country than I do, experiences a different culture, and has a different perspective. I get the impression that we have somewhat similar jobs, but on opposite ends of the spectrum. Great writing, great eye for detail, and overall a great read.

See, I knew I couldn't limit it to five:

6. The Extraordinary Ordinary. This is another blog, that when I started reading blogs, I wasn't going to read. I wasn't going to read a lot of mommy blogs about people's cute little kidlets. Well, she's a mommy and she sometimes writes about her kids, but her blog is way more than that. It's not a cutesie "scrapbook" blog. The thing that keeps me reading is the quality of her writing. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it has become a part of me...She is wise and honest and enlightening. She is another one of my imaginary friends.

Blogging Tricks

In an effort to jumpstart this blog, I think I will start to do some of the day-of-the-week themed posts like Ten on Tuesday, Friday Five, and Wonky Wednesday. (I may have just made that last one up.) I know there are dozens of these but I'm not sure what they are called or what the rules are, if they have rules. I have noticed that some of them are supposed to be linked back to the host site. I need to do some research and figure it all out. Do you have to belong to a group to do these or do you just elbow your way right in or what?

Then, of course, there are memes. Are there places to find them? Can you make up your own?

To answer these burning questions, I did some research at The Daily Meme. I guess those day-of-the-week themed posts are memes. Who knew?