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FREE Download – Genesis For Absolute Beginners

December 29, 2011 · by · 21 Comments
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For the past year I’ve been using the Genesis Framework plus the Lifestyle Child Theme, and now I’m excited to share that StudioPress has released a FREE PDF guide called Genesis For Absolute Beginners that explains exactly how to install and set up the Genesis framework for WordPress, plus child themes to make your blog or website look amazing, run smoothly, get found in search results, and more!

Genesis for Beginners StudioPress

Here’s an excerpt from Genesis For Absolute Beginners:

Think of Genesis (the framework) as your car, including the engine, the transmission and the thousands of parts that make it run. The dozens of child theme designs from Studiopress are the paint job that make your car so damn hot. You pick the color, the stripes, and an airbrushed coyote howling at the desert moon (if that’s your thing). Here’s where the car analogy breaks down a bit: the really cool thing about using child themes is the ability to change the “paint job” of your site in minutes, without trashing the underlying engine that powers your site. Whether you’re building a new site, or revamping a classic, child themes allow you the freedom to re-invent yourself without ever touching the critical code underneath.

Once you’ve read through the Genesis For Absolute Beginners guide, head over to StudioPress.com to get started with Genesis. You’ll find 44 child themes to give your blog or website the “paint job” you’re looking for. And if you need help, just register for the StudioPress forums and post your question. I’ve gotten TONS of help tweaking my blogs there.

So what are you waiting for? Go download your FREE Genesis Guide for Beginners!

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Nathan’s 13th birthday cake

December 23, 2011 · by · 15 Comments
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Nathan turned 13 on Wednesday. We celebrated by letting him invite his friend Cole to come to dinner with us and spend the night. Which is why I have no photos from the entire night except for one of the cake, because Nathan and Cole never stopped moving once the entire night. Or talking. Or picking on each other.  Or talking.

Dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse was really good, then we came home and had the cake, which I bought at Meijer. Chocolate cake with whipped chocolate frosting, YUM. Plus I bought Breyer’s natural vanilla to go on the side.

So, yeah. That happened.

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Guest Article – 5 Fun Birthday Invitation Cards for Girls

December 20, 2011 · by · 15 Comments
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When planning a birthday party for a girl—whether for your niece, your daughter, or a friend—one of the most important first steps you should take is selecting invitations. The right birthday invitation cards can be used to create the perfect party theme before you even start putting up decorations. They can also be used to give your guests special instructions about presents, dress, or directions and serve as a visible reminder of the upcoming event.

If you need some a kick start to your birthday invitation creativity, here are some awesome ideas that you can customize and adapt to your party.

1. Princess – What girl doesn’t love being treated like a princess? If you are holding a princess-
themed or dress up party, a princess design for the invitations can make a big impression. Crowns, tiaras, dragons, and knights in shining armor are all appropriate for this type of party. Your guests will be overjoyed to receive one of these cards.
2. Slumber party – If you are hosting a slumber party, a great way to design the invitations is with
the sleepover in mind. Think of pillows, counting sheep, nail polish, and face masks, and make sure that the card includes some of these motifs. If you plan on camping in the backyard, for example, be sure to include a tent or a campfire on your card to get your guests excited. Be sure to include whether you would like your guests to provide their own sleeping bags and pillows.
3. Favorite characters – Find out whether the birthday girl has a favorite cartoon character or a
toy and include that on your invitation. Not only is this a fun way to include some of the guest of honor’s personality on the card, it is helpful for guests to know what kind of things the guest of honor likes when purchasing gifts.
4. Cute animals – Animals are a perennial party favorite for girls, and for good reason. Animal
invitations are a good idea for kids who love pets and other animals: dogs, cats, horses, monkeys, and even animals. This idea is also perfect if you plan on holding your party at a zoo, farm, animal reserve, or other location with animals.
5. Party activities – If you are holding the party at a specific location, like a birthday at the beach, or if you plan to have a special event, like a magician, you can use that as inspiration for your birthday invitation cards. Your guests will get a good idea for the fun that is in store.

Get creative and design cards that work for you. Your guests will be excited to receive them, and your party will be a success.

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Filed Under: Shopping · Tagged: ,

Maximum Holiday Stress Has Been Reached

December 14, 2011 · by · 31 Comments
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The holidays stress me out. They have for as long as I’ve been a Mom.  This year has been even more stressful than usual, I think because I’m creating a lot of stress for myself due to my complete lack of ability to organize. Organize what?, you ask? EVERYTHING. I am the most unorganized person in my entire family.  Which is probably why no one EVER says “let’s get together at Elizabeth’s house”.

When I say that my New Year’s Resolution is to get organized, I MEAN IT. I can’t go on living this way. My family can’t go on with me living this way.  I have no system in place for organizing my blogging, my household responsibilities, my emails, my life in general!  And now it’s the holidays, Christmas is in 11 days, I haven’t even ordered Christmas cards let alone started gathering the addresses, I haven’t wrapped a single present, it’s just all a big mess.

 

In fact, Chris and the kids decorated the tree, a job I usually love, while I sat on the couch deleting emails. There’s a tub sitting here in the living room full of my snowman collection that I haven’t even unpacked.  Kaitlyn needs a book for her class gift exchange tomorrow that I haven’t even bought, and Nathan has a band concert tonight.

I know what tools I could use to accomplish all of this. I have paper calendars, online calendars, a huge dry erase board in the kitchen. I have a family willing to help me with anything I ask, which makes me so grateful. But they can only help me if I know WHAT I need help with, you know?

Also? It’s been 6 1/2 years that I’ve been writing this blog, and I think it’s time for me to make a change. I started out writing about everything that was happening to us on pretty much a daily basis, and then it became more professional, and now I think it’s time to get it back to being personal.

I guess I’ve been worried that if I was “real”, I would lose the advertisers and the brand campaigns and what have you. But the thing is, I want people who read this blog to know who I really am, faults and all. The truth is, I’m foul-mouthed and snarky and critical.  I care about politics and education and gay marriage and drug laws. I’ve been reading Entertainment Weekly for 20 years and know a ridiculous amount of trivia about TV shows and movie stars. But I don’t write about any of that!

So, that’s my real New Year’s Resolution – get organized and get systems in place so that this time next year I’m ENJOYING the holidays instead of stressing out about them. Can you relate? Are you feeling it too? Tell me in a comment that it’s not just me!

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Filed Under: Welcome to my Life · Tagged: , ,

Gift Card Weekend and $25 Applebee’s Gift Card Giveaway

December 12, 2011 · by · 9 Comments
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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gift Card Weekend for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

applebees_giftcard.jpg

Love giving gift cards to your friends and family, or buying them for yourself for the holidays? I’ve got info on how you can enter to win one of hundreds of gift cards from Gift Card Weekend, and also when to spend those gift cards so they are worth even more!

Gift Card Weekend takes place the weekend of January 6 – January 8, 2012. During that weekend, gift cards bought from participating retailers are worth even more, with special offers you’ll only find on the Gift Card Weekend website.  So, buy gift cards as gifts now, encourage the recipients to hold off spending them until Gift Card Weekend, and your gift to them will be worth even more!

Participating stores and restaurants:

  • JC Penney
  • Regal Cinema
  • Subway
  • Sephora
  • Applebee’s
  • Bass Pro Shops
  • Adidas
  • Buca di Beppo
  • Lowe’s
  • Spa Finder
  • Marriot
  • Giant Eagle

The week of December 10-18, the giveaway is for a $25 Applebee’s gift card. All you need to do to be entered in all the giveaways is like Gift Card Weekend on Facebook! Invite your Facebook friends to enter, and you can receive an extra chance to win for every ‘like’ you influence.

Visit Sponsor's Site

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Wordless Wednesday – Our Christmas Card Photo

December 7, 2011 · by · 27 Comments
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Wordless Wednesday Photo Christmas Card

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It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas Here

December 6, 2011 · by · 16 Comments
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We went out this weekend and bought a Christmas tree. We went to Horrock’s as usual. It was cold and windy, but sadly, the snow melted as fast as it came last week.  Chris picked out a seven foot tree and he and the boys tied it to the van’s luggage rack.

I think Kaitlyn has my Christmas spirit, she’s been in an exceptionally good mood lately. Even if she is bouncing around like Tigger half the time.

Nathan asked to buy a hat on our way through Horrock’s to the tree lot, and then while Chris finished up with the tree, he and Ryan had one of their inside-joke conversations. I love how close they are.  I just love them in general :)

Once the tree warmed up and the branches relaxed, we realized it’s a LOT bigger around then we thought, and it has a big gap in the branches near the bottom on one side. That side will just get turned towards the corner, and we’ll do the best we can with our ornaments. I think it’s going to take every ornament we have to fill it!

Having the tree up is what really makes it feel like Christmas. That and the lights Chris put up one evening after dinner while I was out running an errand, he wanted to surprise me.  Kaitlyn asked why we don’t have multicolored lights. I don’t know, I just like the way the white ones look. They make the house look warmer.  I wanted to do colored net lights on the shrubs, but with seven shrubs and lights $9 a box, it just wasn’t in the budget this year.  No big deal.

Have you put up your tree yet? Any interesting tree-related stories you want to share in the comments?

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Filed Under: I love the Holidays · Tagged: , , ,

5 Sure Wins for Family Holiday Gifts (Guest Post)

December 2, 2011 · by · 34 Comments
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Last year’s holiday fad of Snuggies and singing Elmos has passed, and it is already time to start prepping for this year’s holiday season. Many of the hot 2010 gifts are still sizzling hot at the end of 2011. There are plenty of As Seen On TV gifts that will leave your family with a lackluster empty feeling. Getting a gift that the whole family loves is tough. Dad isn’t in high school football shape anymore and can’t twist for Twister. Mom is too busy worrying about the in-laws coming over to sit down and play Monopoly. The kids don’t know how to play Gin Rummy or Canasta. Here’s a list of sure-fire gifts that will please at least one member of the family!

Xbox Kinect or Wii: The XBox 360 has always been a hot item since its release in 2005 and the same with the Nintendo Wii, the first motion detecting video game. I have good news about both, the Wii is at an all time low price of $149 and you don’t need to go out and re-buy a brand new XBox, you just to buy the Kinect, which will also set you back $149. The great thing about these motion sensor games is that they are easy to play and you can decide how much effort you want to put into the game. The parental generations don’t need to know how to ‘pwn noobs’ with the traditional XBox controllers since with the Kinect, you use your own hands and feet to kick, punch and throw.

HD Projector: Is it tough to round up all the kids for a movie night out? Then bring the movie theater experience home. Gone are the days that theater style projectors are only for the 1%, these are priced just about as much as an iPad and can hook up to every accessory you have. So stay in the pjs, make some popcorn and fire up that projector and enjoy the movie!

iPad 2: Another rollover hot item from 2010, but this year it is the iPad 2. This is a great family tool because Dad can play Tiger Woods golf, Mom can attack the pigs with Angry Birds and the kids can slice away on Fruit Ninja. On vacation leave the laptop at home and just bring the iPad, filled with Yelp!, Google Maps and hundreds of thousands of apps for whatever need you might have. The 10 hour battery will keep your long road trips powered and you don’t have to worry about plugging it in every night. The iPad is equipped with parental controls, so don’t worry about Jr. exploring any sites he shouldn’t be. Are you looking to save a few bucks? You can still buy the original iPad from Apple for a discounted price.

Sporting Event/ Concert Tickets: We aren’t talking about Disney on Ice or the circus. Take your kids to the local professional football, baseball or whatever sport they will enjoy. Nothing is better than having your kids jacked up on cotton candy and soda, while you enjoy an over priced beer and root on your favorite team. Sports are not your thing? Then check out a classic rock artist on tour and your kids will thank you when they get older. Rock greats like Bruce Springsteen can still put on a heck of a show that your kids will even enjoy.

Keurig Coffee Makers: One sentence can sell this coffee maker. Coffee in less than a minute. What makes this a great family gift is the fact that it doesn’t just brew only coffee. It also makes hot chocolate (a kids’ favorite!), both hot and iced tea and even the seemly unnecessary decaf coffee are all within the capabilities of the Keurig. Every coffee flavor you can imagine from Pumpkin Spice to Peppermint and even the traditional offerings from Starbucks are available in K-Cups that pop right into the Keurig for a fresh cup tailored to each person.

This isn’t the end all of lists, but is a great jumping off point. Maybe you need some gifts for mom? Then check out these beauty gift ideas. Do you have a great family gift that went over well last season? Please share all your ideas below in the comments.

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It’s Okay To Wish Me A Merry Christmas

December 1, 2011 · by · 23 Comments
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Christmas in the post-War United States

Image via Wikipedia

It’s okay to wish me a Merry Christmas. You don’t have to say Happy Holidays, unless you want to.

I’m not religious, but I sing Christmas carols and have a Nativity I put out at Christmas. For me, Christmas is about traditions. My parents gave me the Nativity they had been putting out for years, when they decided to upgrade to a fancier one. I love it.

I’m a huge geek about Christmas. We went to Walmart last night, which was decorated from top to bottom, and after we walked in, I let out a huge sigh and said, to no one in particular, I love Christmas.

I love garland and lights, I love driving by houses at night that are all lit up. I love Christmas commercials – the one for Folgers, where the guy comes home from the Army and his sister says “you’re my present this year”? Chokes me up every time.

I LOVE Christmas music, I’ve had the radio in the van tuned to the all Christmas music station since before Thanksgiving. I love Christmas movies, and have a stack of them I watch over and over.

I love the plush singing snowmen that Hallmark sells every year. I love the Peppermint Stick ice cream that Quality Dairy only sells at Christmas.

I completely understand people of other faiths feeling left out this time of year, and I never want to offend anyone, so in my emails and other social media communication, I stick to Happy Holidays, just to be safe.

So go ahead and say Merry Christmas to me, or Happy Holidays, or Happy Chrismakwanzukkah, or Happy Festivus (the holiday for the rest of us!), whatever you’d like.  As long as we are all Merry and Happy this time of year, I’m good.

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