Blogs for Dummies

Ok, I’m not really trying to call you all “dummies” out there who don’t know much about blogs.  In fact, I initially was pretty unknowledgeable about blogs too, and I’m still learning!  I thought I’d write this post to help you out if you’re trying to “find your way” in the blog world.  I’ll only post what I know, which isn’t a ton, but enough to make it sound like I somewhat know what I’m doing. 😉  This post might be a little monotonous and boring for those of you that know everything there is to know about blogs, but hopefully the others will appreciate it.  Below you will find a list of some facts/tips/advice while reading blogs. (These tips are mostly for those blog-readers who are trying to navigate their way through blogs….not necessarily for those who are trying to write their own blog.)

• Blogs are like journals.  There are blog authors that write about every topic from A to Z.  Some of them are very interesting!
• You can subscribe to blogs!  Yes, just like you subscribe to a magazine, you can also subscribe to a blog.  If you’ve found blogs that you’re interested in reading regularly, I would highly recommend subscribing to their blog.  You can do this through your own blog or by email.  (There’s a tab on the right hand side of my blog that allows you to subscribe to it.)  This means that every time there’s a new post on the blog, you’ll be notified.
• Leave some comments!  Bloggers always appreciate when their readers make comments on their posts.  At the bottom of each post, there should be a link that either says “Leave a Comment” or “9 (or whatever #) comments”.  This is where you click to leave a comment.  All you have to do is leave your name, email address (the blogger is the only one that sees this), and your comment.  I know some of my family members didn’t even know they could leave comments on my blog, so make sure you look for this. 
• Bookmark your favorite blog site.  If you aren’t interested in subscribing to your favorite blog, you can always bookmark it.  Go to the website, hold down “Ctrl” and “D”, click on “Add”, and the site will be bookmarked!  That way it will be easily accessible at the top of your internet window each time you go online. 

I hope these tips will help as you navigate through the blog world!  I know that I, as a blog writer, always appreciate seeing comments from my readers.  I read every single one of them, so make sure you leave questions, thoughts, ideas, anything! 

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Here’s something I thought I’d share that might be a little more exciting for those of you that are already “blog pros”.  We stained the inside of our backyard fence this afternoon!  We’ve been wanting to do this since Cody put up the fence last summer, so to finally get it done is such a relief.  Here’s my hard workin’ painting skills in action!

See the difference??  Ahh it looks SO much better!  We both love the stain color and are very pleased with it.  We rented a paint sprayer which was definitely worth it.  It made it go so much quicker and looks more evenly painted too.  Talk about a good shoulder workout though!  My shoulders were getting pretty tired by the end from going up and down, up and down, up and down…  The fact I was a little sore from my workout this morning probably had something to do with it too. 

Well, I better get going so I can spiffy up the inside of our house and prepare some food for our guests this evening.  Look forward to some photos of our fun evening tomorrow!     

Twelve Days of Christmas

Good morning!  Happy Saturday!  Yay for the weekend!  I have had a great weekend so far, and it’s only Saturday morning.  I love when that happens!  I hope your’s has been a great one so far too.  Last night, Cody and I took it easy and had a laid back evening at home.  Sometimes that’s my favorite thing to do on a Friday evening after the long week…just chill at home.  One of the major highlights of last night was that we went to a little froyo place close to our house called Yogurt Bliss!  Frozen yogurt is one of my favorite treats of all time.  First of all, I LOVE ice cream, so the fact that frozen yogurt is a little healthier and lighter satisfies my ice cream love without overdoing it.  I also love frozen yogurt places because you can make it however you want!  I usually stick to my “regular” favorites, but every once  in awhile I venture out of the usual.  Last night, I got my original favorite:  vanilla froyo with a sprinkle of Butterfinger and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and a small pump of hot fudge…woweee was it delicious!  In my opinion, it’s always delicious, but for whatever reason last night, it just tasted extra good!  Maybe it was because I got mine for free (we had a coupon!), or maybe it was because we hadn’t been out for frozen yogurt for quite awhile, or maybe I just made it extra good this time!  Who knows, but regardless, it was delectable. 

(Thanks to my cell phone, it’s not the most “high quality” photo, but I think you got the idea that I was LOVING my froyo!)

This morning I woke up not feeling my chipper self.  I had a hard time just waking up and I was feeling a little “crampy”…blah.  I was annoyed because I had planned on doing a new workout I received from an old high school friend that is also a personal trainer, and I was really excited to try it out.  I had some breakfast and relaxed a bit, hoping that I’d be able to wake up and snap out of my funk.  Cody left to play football with some guys in the neighborhood, and I was starting to feel a little better, so I got my butt up and dove right into the workout.  It’s called “Twelve Days of Christmas” and whew!  It was a good one!  It’s a great high intensity strength training workout that’s especially great if you’re short on time.  Here it is:

Directions:  Start with 1 repetition of #1, then do 2 reps of #2 and 1 rep of #1, then do 3 reps of #3 and 2 reps of #2 and 1 rep of #1, and continue through all the exercises until you get to #12.  Try to rest as little as possible throughout the whole thing and try to do it as fast as you can.  (I added a link to some of the lesser known exercises.  Click on them to find a picture/description.)

#1 burpee
#2 dumbbell swing (like a kettlebell swing)
#3 bicep curls                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     #4 tricep dips
#5 walking lunge (make it harder by holding weight)
#6 push ups
#7 sit ups
#8 deadlift
#9 shoulder press
#10 woodchops (make it harder by holding weight)
#11 mountain climber (22 climbs total)
#12 step ups (12 on EACH leg)

If you go through this workout once, it should take you about 20-25 minutes.  Today I did it two times through because I wasn’t feeling 100%, but normally I’d probably try to do it three times through.  Make sure you push yourself, but also listen to your body and don’t “over do” it.  I was sweating pretty good by the end.  You can pair it with some extra cardio too if you’re only wanting to do it one time through.  Or time yourself each time you do it and try to beat your time from before.  Be creative!  Let me know if you have questions.  (Thanks for the workout Megan!) 

Cody is home from football now, and we have lots to do today.  We have to prepare for his family to come over for a BBQ tonight, and we need to work on some stuff in the backyard, so I better get to work!