A Two-Second Post

I’ve been flying around this week feeling like a headless chicken, if I’m honest. I pulled all the outgrown clothes and baby items down from the attic this afternoon and have an absolute mess in my living room. Hopefully pricing and tagging won’t take too long and I can get this stuff to the consignment drop-off SOON.

I just wanted to say (and remind myself) that I KNOW I still haven’t made all the return visits from the delurker day, and I WILL get to it eventually. In-laws are coming next week for the final stage of the kitchen renovation (countertops came in this week!) and with this kids’ sale and some other things going on, it’s just a little bit crazy right now. Bear with me!

Here’s your chance

to say hi!

(And like Steph said, I also promise you a return visit, if you have a blog.)

10 on the 10th

Except it’s the 11th.

My good bloggy-turned-real-life friend Mer does a little 10 on the 10th carnival and I have never participated but I always mean to. (Thought that counts?)  I’m just going to do a (really) random list of current things (mostly) about me…

1. In her post, she mentioned unplugging from the computer on Sundays; they limit their kids’ screen time and thought not being online would be a good way to set a good example for their kids.  I took that as inspiration and kept my laptop completely closed all day yesterday (it’s sort of like a personal tithe on time).  Hence the 10 on the 11th for me.  ;)  I think I’m going to keep doing that, unplugging completely on Sundays. (Even though it was hard.)

2. The last several days of last week I was on a complete organizing FRENZY.  I have no idea how I got that much motivation but I just rode with it.  (Could have something to do with the success of the laundry sorter.)

On Friday sweet Ellen came to play with the kids so I could run some errands w/out them and I picked up several container-ish things to help me in my organizing quest.  Like these little wire mesh boxes that now reside on the desk in the kitchen:

That used to be a huge messy pile of papers and other crap items that inevitably got tossed there.

3. Notice that fruity wallpaper? It’s about to get ripped out. I’ve restrained myself from not starting another huge project until the bathroom is finished but it should be done very soon (maybe even today). Next on my list is to paint several of the kitchen cabinet doors, replace all the knobs/pulls, and replace the wallpaper with paint.

We’ll also replace the countertops sometime in the near future to match the paint. I’m SO excited about this — the kitchen was sort of the last frontier in our house that we’ve never actually liked but never made our own. (I’ve painted every other room this whole house through.)

4. Since it’s been so very cold recently, every time we go out I’ve been bundling the kids up and the girls have been wearing their scarves.  Drew asked me where his was.  (Uh…)  So, not wanting to neglect my only son, I let him pick out some yarn and I’m making him one, too.  He picked blue (no surprise).

5. Andy has started singing regularly with our church choir.  (He sang with them for their Christmas concert and decided to continue.)  What this means for me is, that we have to get there VERY VERY EARLY on Sunday mornings.  And if you know us, that is high near impossible, especially with a nursing baby thrown into the mix.  I told my friend Gretchen yesterday that this choir thing just might kill us. (Keep in mind that Andy gets home from work Saturday nights usually in the wee hours of Sunday morning.)

6. I’m nearing the point where I’m starting to think about/get inspired to start losing the baby weight and recover from the holidays. (I said I’m thinking about it. Ahem.)

7. Drew started school back again today. I’m SO relieved to be starting our schedule again. We were getting increasingly stir-crazy being home for days on end without daily structure and things to do/places to go. It’s been too cold to be outside for any length of time and the kids’ energy in our tiny house was about to drive me a little batty.

8. Whatever the problem with our dryer was, it must have been something to do with the thermostat. Because now it’s MUCH hotter and ALL our clothes are shrinking. (Which doesn’t help ANYthing.)

9. I just bought a new double stroller. We ran our old one INTO THE GROUND. I figured since I just had a new baby, we’ll be using it for the forseeable future. It handles so, so much nicer than the other one. And doesn’t creak, which is nice.

10. This was where I got stuck and asked Andy for help… he said “you can say you have a little problem with a caffeine addiction” – AMEN. Don’t plan on changing THAT anytime soon. (Dreaming of Starbucks…)

We also ran out of half n’ half yesterday. Conveniently we did still have some heavy whipping cream which got me through this morning (hey, I was desperate) but that SURE doesn’t help with #6 above.

Happy Monday!

2009, Blog Redux Style

(Really this is supposed to be the first line of the first post of every month. I’m being lazy and just giving the titles.)

January
Happy 2009! (Don’t waste your time on that one.)

February
Busy Week Ahead (And also? She did start blogging.)

March
It’s Monday – time for a meme (i.e. old school blogging).

April
Madeline, The Storyteller. The end of this (”Adelaide can be… the crab”) still makes me howl.

May
Six Children Five and Under is too much for two mommies in Costco. And now we’d have seven, six and under. Still too many.

June
A Very Full Sunday. Oh my word, Adelaide, so cute.

July
Ready for the 4th, Part II. More Adelaide cuteness, patriotic style.

August
I’m here, I’m here.

September
Hair Flowers.

October
One of the easiest desserts ever. Now I’m hungry.

November
Day 3 (of Arianna’s life).

December
Where We Are (DPP Day 1). The bathroom project that is still unfinished (don’t laugh).

Fashionably late to the party

I haven’t done a link-up post in forever but I feel almost obligated to write this one since I know both Jo-Lynne and Robin in person and it would be all kinds of rude to ignore these lovely ladies and their fun bloggy party. (And Robin just lives down the proverbial street.)

(More or less.)

So… I’m Moriah, I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now and am a happy wife and mother of 3.5 kids (I’m due in the fall). My oldest will be going to half-day kindergarten this year and I’m very excited for him learning to read since it’s one of my favorite things.

(I also love shoes, shopping, blogging, meeting friends, hanging out with my hubby, watching movies, good coffee, and traveling.)

(And parentheses, apparently.)

I grew up moving all over the place with a military-career dad but have lived in the South for last ten-ish years (minus a one-year fling outside of Philly). I stay at home with my kids and occasionally even do the laundry. I contribute bi-monthly to Jo-Lynne’s fashion and beauty blog, Chic Critique.

We are Reformed Christians and are as involved in our church as much as having three little people will allow. (Let’s just say I’m fond of the Wednesday-night nursery.)

I like to stay busy and take my kids to do fun things. (I also spend way too much time on the computer.) I blog about my life as a mother of almost-four, my fun sewing projects, food occasionally, and my love of hairbows.

Hope you’ll stick around, I love new bloggy friends!

Cute as a button

Isn’t this cute?

My little salt shakers would be quite honored to come live in your sidebar. (Just copy the html code in the white box.)

Thanks again, Jackie!!

In Real Life

One thing I love about the blogosphere is getting to meet online friends in real life. While I was at Dolly’s, Trina from Fabulously Frugalicious was able to come over and spend Saturday afternoon with us.

Ruthie (age 5) took our picture. I cropped out a lot. (She was at tummy level, can you blame me?) And I would just like to note that Trina is wearing heels and we were wearing flip-flops. So there is a little discrepancy in height (and yes, I’m totally making myself feel better).

We had a great time hanging out and gabbing — I knew it wouldn’t be awkward (and it wasn’t AT ALL). Even the kids all played well together:

If you have a chance to go to a bloggy meet-up, DO IT!!!

My decision to switch (I know, finally!)

Several of you have asked me why I decided to switch to self-hosted WordPress. If you were one of those people, well, today is your lucky day!

There were a few major reasons, and then several little ones (icing on the cake) and I’ll get to both. But I need to state up front, if you are a beginning blogger and have no idea what CSS or FTPing is, stick with the training wheels of Blogger.com for now. It is the easiest and most beginner-friendly platform. I was (mostly) happy with it while I was there.

(Except, yes, you can shell out $150+ to have someone switch everything over for you and show you around your new and improved blog. I did not have the money to do that and so I did everything myself. Trust me, it’s INVOLVED. Shout out to Lisa, who helped me with a few tweaks.)

The first major reason was my pesky blog address. It used to be www.pleasepassthesalt1(dot)com. That “1” was a detail that people would have to remember. I wanted to drop it, but pleasepassthesalt(dot)com is unavailable, and has been as long as I’ve been blogging.

The next best option was pleasepassthesalt.net, which I’ve actually owned for over a year but couldn’t use it on Blogger. So there was a time-sensitive issue with my domain name (or “web address” or “URL”) and I decided to take the plunge and have it transferred, so I could actually use it. I can now tell a stranger pleasepassthesalt(dot)net and they can easily remember it. Or at least that’s what I hope.

The second major reason was the clunky photo uploads into Blogger. I HATED how when you upload a photo, it would automatically go to the very top of the post, even if you wanted it down under some text. And if you uploaded more than one photo, they’d usually be all out of order and I’d have to cut and paste several times. WordPress inserts photos how and where you want them. (I was running out of free storage on Blogger anyway, so there’s that (although yes, you can code them in from places like Photobucket OR purchase more storage space from Google).)

After I began writing for Chic Critique, which is run on WordPress, I began to notice how much better the photo uploading system is. There’s also a media gallery where all photos, videos, etc. are stored in a central location (instead of solely within individual posts on Blogger). You can also add or edit photo titles and descriptions. Oh! And you can edit or resize photos, even after they are in the post — no having to delete and start over.

The third big reason was the WordPress Preview feature. LOVE. On Blogger you can ‘preview’ a post but it’s within the posting box and you really don’t know where the text is actually going to fall within a published post. The WordPress preview loads a separate page of the WHOLE BLOG and it looks like a fully-published post. I can see EXACTLY what my words and photos are going to look like.

Now that I’ve been here a little while, I would also say the Dashboard is more streamlined and functional, once I got used to it. I can see recent comments, quick edit posts, add in sidebar links and all that kind of stuff very easily without having to click around much. Drafts also have their own little space.

I like that WordPress lists my permalink to a post, even in draft. Handy. WP gives you details like the word count for your posts. The Categories (like ‘labels’ in Blogger) are also a little easier to apply.

More technically speaking, I like that I can have static pages (i.e. the links under my About section right there to the top right) and WordPress also has thousands of plugins that make the platform even more customizable and functional. You simply have more control with absolutely everything. And it’s MINE. I host myself, Google doesn’t.

(Which brings me to another thought; there IS a difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. WordPress.com is another free platform that uses the WordPress software (but you’ll have wordpress.com in your URL and you have to purchase an upgrade in order to customize your stylesheet, etc). It is hosted (not by the blogger). WordPress.org is where self-hosters download the software to use on their 3rd party server and it’s an open source. However, you also have to pay for the hosting whereas Blogger and WordPress.com are free.)

A good explanation of the difference is here. I chose BlueHost for my server and downloaded WordPress.org onto my server. Then I chose a customizable theme on the internet, downloaded it to my computer, uploaded it to my server, and then made it look like my blog is supposed to look. (It’s a little bit more difficult than that, but I’m sure I’ve bored everyone to tears by now anyway.)

So basically, WordPress is better, more powerful software (“industry standard”), you have total control and ownership, more room to grow and way more options. BUT AGAIN, unless you’re wanting to take your blog to the next level and willing to pay someone to help you make the switch (or are committed to teaching yourself how to do it), I’d recommend sticking with Blogger. Especially if you’re just starting out with this thing they call blogging.

Winner

Okay, so I totally forgot to do this yesterday.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

47

Timestamp: 2009-04-04 15:01:27 UTC

Commenter 47 was Karen! Congratulations, girl!

What I learned this week

When you decide to change your URL to make your domain name a little more streamlined, make sure your old address does not expire for a VERY LONG TIME (and thus stop redirecting your traffic).

Otherwise, you’ll leave well over a hundred readers and countless links stranded in cyberspace, up a creek and without a paddle.  Yes, I learned this little nugget firsthand.

And also?  That sometimes Motherhood kicks my rear.

To read what others have learned this week, click back to WILTW.

Resorting to Bribery

When Emily (chatting at the sky) changed her URL, she hosted a giveaway for her readers who had updated their links/subscriptions and I told her I just might have to use her idea – because it was GENIUS.

So. Here is how to win a $20 giftcard (she used Target, but I think I’ll let this winner choose, although who doesn’t love Target?):

1) Leave a comment telling me that you updated my link in your sidebar/blogroll/whatever to www.pleasepassthesalt.net. (Or you can link to me now for the very first time; it doesn’t matter.) But it MUST be my current link to win. (And yes, I’ll check.)

2) Leave a comment telling me that you updated your subscription to my current address (www.pleasepassthesalt.net) or feed (http://feeds2.feedburner.com/PleasePassTheSalt) in your feedreader of choice. You do not have to have a blog, just be subscribed – and you know, it’s free! You can also enter by subscribing now for the very first time.

3) I’ll allow an extra entry by your posting about this giveaway on your own blog to help me spread the word. Just leave a separate comment with the permalink to your post (not your main blog) saying you posted about this giveaway. And I’ll be indebted to you forever.

(Or at least until I give away the gift card. Then we’re even.)

So basically, you could have up to three entries! (And make sure they are all separate comments.) Doesn’t matter if you haven’t commented here in a while or never have – perfect day to de-lurk, don’t you think?!

I’ll leave this open all week and choose a random winner on Friday.

Did we all make it?

Welcome to my new bloggy home!  PLEASE let me know that all my trouble has not been in vain and that you are HERE! If you were subscribed to me by my feedburner feed, you shouldn’t need to change anything.

(That would be http://feeds2.feedburner.com/PleasePassTheSalt, just fyi.)

PLEASE also update your sidebar links and blogrolls – all you have to do is change the “1.com” to “.net”…

I’ve still got a few sidebar kinks to work through, so bear with me a little, but hopefully all the major legwork is finished and we can get on with the program.

Thanks!!

Teacher, teacher! Pick me, pick me!

If you’ve been around the blogosphere for any time at all, you’ve most likely heard of the She Speaks conference put on every year by Proverbs 31 Ministries.

It’s basically a writing and speaking conference for Christian…you guessed it, female writers and speakers! Last year they added a blogging track as well and we happened to be moving across several states at the time and going just wasn’t an option then.

After attending both Blissdom ’08 and Blissdom ’09, I know firsthand the value of going to a blogging conference where information, resources, and expertise are right at my very fingertips. But what is more, those friendships formed and renewed – well, no one can put a price on that.

She Speaks for me has always been a that-would-be-so-great-but-I-just-can’t-afford-it item on a wish list. Until today.

Jo-Lynne, who is my designer of choice and whom I had a BLAST with at Blissdom, AND is speaking at She Speaks, casually mentioned in her post today that Lysa TerKeurst and Proverbs 31 Ministries are offering one scholarship worth the cost of registration for the conference this year.

So, wala! Welcome to my entry post. I want to go because there is always room for improvement with everything we do, this side of heaven. Blogging just happens to be my current outlet. I want to go because I want to hang out with Jo-Lynne and Emily again and whoever else I met at Blissdom that will also be there. I want to meet the fabulous Lysa, and hear Boomama and THE Big Mama talk about all things blogging.

But this conference in particular? THIS is where blogging intersects with Christian ministry and faith-sharing — admittedly something I don’t do very often. (Maybe this conference will teach me to be more bold?)

Andy had mentioned a while back maybe we could try for me to go but the fact of the matter is, we still can’t justify the cost. At least this way, I’d get to go without a hit to our checkbook. And all Andy has to do is survive the weekend with three small kids and a new puppy.

No biggie.

A resource list for beginning bloggers

I have several IRL (in real life) friends who have started blogging in the past couple of months. This list is for them. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, only a helpful one.

Both Blogging Basics 101 and Problogger are invaluable for easy-to-understand information, both for the technical and communal sides of blogging. If you’re looking for something specific, use their search boxes and chances are you’ll find it.

A real life friend, Jennifer (Playgroups Are No Place For Children)’s blog tips. Read them all. Seriously.

(One of the tabs is “Developing Your Brand.” One piece of bloggy advice I hear over and over and over is to find your unique blogging voice and to stay true to it. There is only one you, capitalize on it! You should also develop a posting rhythm (don’t post every day and then stop posting for three months). Your voice, rhythm, and design look are all parts of your BRAND. The salt shakers in my header? Part of my brand.)

Jo-Lynne’s tips on increasing comments. And let me just underline one of her points — please, please make it easy for your readers to leave a comment. Those stupid word verification boxes are on my last nerve. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given up without commenting after getting the letters wrong the first (couple of) time(s).

(Go in your Blogger dashboard, hit the Settings tab, hit the Comments tab, scroll down to “show word verification for comments” and make sure it says ‘no.’ Also, be sure your email address is entered in the comment notification email box below that so that you will be emailed when you get a comment. This is crucial for possible comments left on older posts that you might otherwise miss.)

(Also, in your edit profile tab, you should have checked “show my email address.” This way not only can people reply to your comments left on their blogs, but it also links an email address to your blog. If you’re worried about security, create a free email account just for your blog that doesn’t use information like your first and last name.)

And my best advice on increasing your comments? Leave tons of comments everywhere you go. My perfect example of this is my friend, Mer. She comments on nearly all of my posts. So I comment on nearly all of her posts. We MET because she left that first comment, over a year and a half ago now. “Give and you shall receive.” Oh, and also, be patient.

Velveteen Mind’s thoughts on blogging within her Blissdom recap. I love her thoughts on blog design. There are billions of blogs. The average web surfer looks at a blog for about 4 seconds, and if you have a standard dummy template, the fact of the matter is you’re not going to stop anyone in their tracks. Your design/template is your proverbial book cover. Make it appealing.

And finally, Blogger Buster’s Complete List of Blogger Tutorials and Tips for New Bloggers.

Back to Normal

As you can see, yes, I’ve changed back over to my normal color scheme now that Christmas and Valentine’s Day are over. I almost forgot what this looked like, didn’t you? (And, if you’ve stumbled across my blog sometime since December, THIS is normal. Hope we can still be friends.)

Andy’s got Drew and Madeline at the waterfall (”waffle”), so I’ve got a few minutes to jot down a couple of kid stories and phrases that have been bouncing around in my head this past week. (My mom always tells me to write these things down so I won’t forget. This happens to be the place where I write things down.)

Drew came home from preschool one day two weeks ago with the bottom half of a pint-sized juice carton filled with wet dirt. The teacher mentioned something about giving it a ‘haircut’ when it grew:

He’s lovingly trimmed it twice. It’s the little things.

My sisters have been baking cupcakes in our kitchen recently and one of the times Drew ate at least three cupcakes and probably just as many cookies (I only noticed after the fact). So I wasn’t surprised when his tummy started hurting and he literally bounced off the walls.

The next morning he said, “Mommy, remember last night when I ate too much sugar and it hurt my heart?” He was VERY concerned about sugar intake for the next, oh, half hour.

The morning I was leaving for Blissdom, I went in to get Adelaide out of her bed (a miracle, really, since usually she climbs out of the crib herself) and found her stripped down naked, diaper and all. She had apparently SPENT THE NIGHT THAT WAY.

Every last shred of bedding, blanket, and stuffed animal was SOAKED. I went in to check on her a few nights later and sure enough, she had taken her jammies and diaper off AGAIN. What am I supposed to do, tape her clothes on??

At least she hasn’t pooped in the tub in a while.

The Swag Bag

I would be totally remiss in talking about how fantastic Blissdom ‘09 was without giving credit where credit is due. The conference was put on by Blissfully Domestic and the One2One Network and they did a fabulous job.

The Sponsors:

The Lands’ End bag (pictured at top) was chock full o’ goodies, including CD’s, books, candy, Little Debbie treats, a reusable Walmart shopping bag, gift and ticket certificates, coupons, and a free pair of Crocs. (Or at least a code to order said free pair of Crocs.) I ordered these:

Aren’t they cute?

Thanks again to Fussypants and Barbara Jones for all your hard work!

In Living Color

LIKE FLAT STANLEY. BUT NOT.

Jessica (Live Beautiful) and me. I met her at Blissdom ‘08 and was so glad to be able to spend time with her again.

Me with Jenny (Mommin It Up!) – my sweet table buddy from Blissdom ‘08.

Beth (I Should Be Folding Laundry) and me. This photo is actually from her camera and I love it.

Me with Jo-Lynne (Musings of a Housewife), who I feel like I’ve known forever. We also spent a lot of time with Sarah (Genesis Moments) and how do I not have a photo??!!!

Me and Colleen (Mommy Always Wins), another Blissdom ‘08 buddy.

Robin (Pensieve) and me. (We’re going out for coffee SOON, right?!)

Tsh (Simple Mom) and me. (Met her also at Blissdom ‘08.)

Jennifer (Playgroups Are No Place For Children) and me. Blissdom ‘08 turned online friend who I like to pester with questions.

Ashley (Mrs. 007) and me. If you know me in real life you know how her blog name tickles me so.

Me and Emily (chatting at the sky). I want her camera. And she’s as cute as a button.

Megan (Velveteen Mind) and me, take two. (You don’t want to see the first one, trust me.)

Amanda (Oh Amanda) and me. I caught her for a photo on the way out and I’m so glad I did.

(Just a word. No, I did not stalk any of these women for a photo op, lest you think I’m some crazy person.)

(Another word. There were so many other fabulous friends there who I didn’t snag a photo with and it makes me sad.)

(But it gives me room for improvement at Blissdom ‘10.)

Blissdom

(Bear with me as I sort through and mentally process all that I saw/heard/ learned at the conference this weekend. If you are wondering about something specific, feel free to ask your conference-related questions in the comments.)

If you are interested in blogging as a craft (meaning you want to be read by more than your mother and your best friend), I highly encourage you to attend a quality blogging conference if you possibly can. The people you meet, the relationships you build, and the information you glean will be invaluable. I cannot recommend the experience highly enough.

(Although no, I wouldn’t sell my right arm for it.)

The full schedule can be found here, but because I know some of you are interested in the specific panels I went to, here’s a brief list:

Day 1:

Sesson 1) Content/Readership (Maven track)

Sesson 2) Social Media/Marketing (Maven track)

Next was the kick-off cocktail party, followed by a PJ party. (I hung out with Kristen (We Are THAT Family) a little bit over pizza (while the movie was blaring at us)… and no, I did not wear my pajamas), and then talked for a bit with Jo-Lynne (Musings of a Housewife), Shannon (Rocks in my Dryer), and Amy (Mom Advice) until I could not keep my eyes open any longer.)

And THIS was calling my name:

Day 2:

Session 1) Writing with Passion – Finding your voice (Apprentice track)

Here’s a photo of the writing panel (the lighting was awful, but this gives you a feel for the set-up):

Session 2) Maximizing Relationships: PR, Marketing, Brands and Ad Agencies (Maven)

Lunch. (Funny story. I sat next to Chilihead (Don’t Try This At Home) but just realized I never even told her my name. Oops. Can we say social faux pas?)

Session 3) Branding: You, your blog, your business (Maven)

Session 4) Book Deals – The Inside Story (Maven) BUT I had meant to go to Success Blogging on the apprentice track. Oops again.

Next we had a special performance by Chris Mann. (I admit, I was completely skeptical. But really his performance was upbeat and actually a lot fun.)

(Still, my husband’s cuter and can sing, too.)

Keynote with Jen Lancaster:

Again skeptical, again pleasantly surprised. I was going to stay longer at the closing party but really needed to get home.

Farewell, Hotel Preston (until next year):

(More photos tomorrow!)