A Letter to the Younger Me

Our Back to School Back to Blogging task this week is to contribute to the idea bank, which is shaping up to be an awesome resource for curing writer's block.  The second part of our task is to pick an idea to write about.  After going through the list, I found one that caught my attention.  Write a letter to your younger self... reminds me of that Brad Paisley song, Letter to Me.  Ooh, there is so much I wish I had known so here goes!

Dear Me,

If I know me, which I do, I would never have followed any of this advice but it would've been nice to have in the back of my mind.

There is life after high school and you will not remain friends with any of those people.  Dad is right when he says that your lucky if you have one true friend in your entire life... you've already found her so don't sweat the small stuff.

Quit smoking now because it gets harder as you get older and your future husband hates.  Speaking of your future husband, you don't know him yet so go ahead and dump that loser your dater.  You'll meet him on some crazy trip to upstate New York... one of those where you go knowing you have hardly any money in your pocket and get too drunk to drive home.  He'll not only buy you drinks but make sure you get home safely so don't listen to anyone who tells you that you find a nice guy at a bar.  He'll also tell you he's going to marry you one day.  You won't believe him but he's right.

Quit being so mean.  One day, someone you were mean to that you don't even recognize will look down her nose at you as though she is better than you.  That's ok, but she won't hire your sister for a job and your sister will make sure she reminds you every chance she gets how mean you were.  I say were because you will change and be nicer (or at least keep your comments to yourself, where they belong).

Speaking of siblings, if one them asks you to borrow books on elephants from the library... DON'T DO IT!  They'll get lost and you'll forget about them.  10 years later (yes, it will take 10 years for you to graduate college) you'll finally complete your coursework and after auditing your account these library books will come to haunt you.

Give your mom a break.  She's never going to discipline anyone nor will she ever pay her bills on time.  She WILL love all of you more than you could ever imagine was possible, that is until you have your own daughter.  She will always be the strongest person you have ever met and face cancer with sarcasm and laughter.  Take it easy on her, help her with housework, quit complaining about things you just don't understand, and don't get mad at her when she doesn't stay in the museum or want to walk around DC. Yes, she'll always be frustrating but in a funny sort of way!  Finally, please make her go for a mammogram!

There will come a time when you realize that family means more to you than any friends could.  Your dad will be the first person you call when you need advice, want to cry, or just need to vent.  Your extended family... aunts, uncles, cousins, long lost relatives... will stand by your side through your toughest years.  Treat them well and visit them often.  As mom will tell you one day, "lean on them, they'll help you."  She's right, so appreciate them from now.

There is so much more that I wish to tell you but truthfully, the mistakes you will make are what make you become the person you are meant to be.  As you grow, you'll meet people who inspire you and remind you how good you have it.  Nothing really gets easier but it does get different so keep moving forward.

Love,
Me

P.S.  The winning numbers for the Maryland Mega Millions on Sept 21, 2010 is 03, 20, 43, 47, 57 and the bonus is 26.  

Um, You Blog? YES, I DO!

Last night I was updating my blog using some of the pointers from Back to School Back to Blogging.  I realized that I didn't have a section on my blog that told my new readers about me, which is one of the first places I look on other people's blogs.  I knew I needed to create one and to start I took a look at my first post to see how I originally introduced myself.  Back then I had no idea people actually dedicated a whole page for that sort of thing.  Back then I had no idea what a blog was or that so many people had one.

As I read that original blog post, I realized how much my reason for blogging has changed.  It started as a way to raise awareness and in hopes of becoming an official blogger for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day  for a Cure but it has become so much more.  I wasn't selected to be the official blogger but I found something that I love to do.  I'm not the type of person who has lots of hobbies.  Most of my hobbies last for only a short time and then I get bored.

Blogging has yet to get boring and I blog about so much more than just about breast cancer and healing after losing my mom.  Honestly, I blog very little about those things lately... well, my mom pops up a lot but usually not in a depressing sort of way.  It's given me an outlet and as a stay at home mom I needed one... desperately!  It's given me a way to connect with others, learn from them, laugh with them, and be inspired by them.

Most importantly, it's given me something to do that is just for me.  People outside of the blogging world often look at me strange when I tell them I blog and there first question, "is about what?"  My answer is always... "about me, about life, about anything I want."

My blog is my baby.  I designed it, I nurture it, and I love watching it grow!

One of the writing prompts over at Mama Kat's this week is to answer the question:  What does blogging mean to you?  What purpose does it serve you and how have you benefited?  Simply put, blogging means 'me time'.  'Me time' makes me happy and less stressed.  A happy and less stressed me is a benefit to EVERYONE!

Please don't think less of me... I have to ask because I am desperate!

Since I already mention the Susan G. Komen 3 Day, I figured I would throw in a shameless request here.  If anyone is interested in donating to this amazing organization, please click the widget on my side bar or click here.  In order to do this walk, I need to raise $2300 and my fundraisers were completely unsuccessful.  I am about $1200 short and if I don't raise enough money my poor cousin will be walking the 60 miles by herself (she's fundraising rock star!).

Blogger Plug In

One of the things that excites me the most about blogging is all that there is to learn, from html coding to how to be a better writer.  That's why when I heard about the Back to School Back to Blogging challenge hosted by GiGi at Kludgy Mom, I jumped on the opportunity!

This weeks task was to take a look at the zillions of widgets and plug ins available to the various blogging platforms and find one that is somewhat unknown but really helpful.  This task was harder then I thought it would be because there are so many available.  I finally found one that I think would be a great fit for me and would actually help enhance my posts.

Zemanta is a plug in that analyzes your post while your typing. When you're working in Blogger (it is also available for Wordpress) a box shows up on the right hand side of the post your working on.  Once your done with your post, or as your typing, you can click the update button and pictures, articles and links relevant to your post will come up so you can choose what would like to include in your post.

I used this post to test this new plug in and have to admit that I was a little let down.  I thought it would bring up Kludgy Mom's website but it didn't.  However, it did give me a lot of articles related to Zemanta which was helpful.  It also provided links to some of the keywords in my post (blogging, html, etc) but most of those links were for Wikipedia.

The plug in is supposed to be able to review your old posts and give you recommendations of posts that are similar to the one your writing so you can link back.  However, when I went to register my blog address it didn't complete automatically.  The same thing happened when I registered my Twitter account.  

I had really high hopes for this plug in and so far it has not met my expectations but I'm going to use it for a little longer to see how it is once my blog address and twitter update.  I'll test it on my next few posts and then I'll provide an update as to whether I think this plug in is helpful.  For now, if your on Blogger and want to know more about this plug in, click here.

“If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius” Larry Leissner

I just took a big step over the weekend.  I was scared and unsure and had thought about it for a while but Kludgy Mom gave me the nudge I needed.  Are you ready for it?

I signed up for TWITTER!  Yup, I have entered into the world of hashtags and must admit I'm still quite confused.  Kludgy Mom is hosting a blogging challenge and one of the requirements was to sign up for Twitter.  I was actually so afraid of Twitter that I almost backed out of the challenge!  However, after reading her 'how to' guide, I felt a little (just a wee little bit) more confident and went for it.

So, are any of my bloggy friends also Tweeps? (I hope that's the right term, feel free to correct me!)  If so, follow me @lifeunfiltrd.

And does anyone have any advice on how to keep all of this stuff straight? Between my personal Facebook, email, my blog, taking part in different communities, and now Twitter I am slightly overwhelmed!

My next step is a Facebook fan page!  Watch out now!!!

Oh, and don't forget to enter my give away for 20 5x7 Shutterfly cards!

Check Me Out!

Woo Hoo!  I got a make over!  First, let me say that I give all of the sites that offer layouts and headers for free lots of credit because this new look took me forever!  I actually purchased the image for my header and button but used this confusing, time consuming, annoying AWESOME program called GIMP to change all of the colors.  I would love to show you the original image but I saved over it and can not figure out how to download the raw image again.  OOPS!

Aside from the long process of fine tuning the header and button, I had to figure out how to actually apply everything to my blog.  Did I ever tell you that I was a little ADD in school?  Well, not exactly ADD but more uninterested in certain classes.  Computer class was one of those classes.  It was early in the morning, the lights were dim and the professor was super boring.  Needless to say, I begged someone to complete my final for which happened to be designing a webpage.  If only I had known then that HTML coding was important!

So, this whole blogging experience has been a real challenge to me and there have been a few sites that have really helped me along the way.  If your interested in creating some custom layouts, headers or buttons check these sites first. If they can't help you then they will at least give you a great jumping off point.

• The Cutest Blog on the Block - This site offers a great selection of designs but also gives a ton of tips and tricks to do some of your own customizing.
• Manic Mother - As much as I loved the Cutest Blog on the Block, I found this tutorial on creating a blog button much easier to follow.
• GIMP - Here's the link to the photo editor I used.  I didn't want to make the commitment to photoshop and this is a free program.  It works pretty well but it gets glitchy sometimes... not sure if the glitches are program errors or user error though!  It's kind of hard to get the hang of but the results are worth it!
• Blogger Tips and Tricks - This site explained how to center the titles of posts... something that was driving me crazy!

So what does everyone think?  Is it easy to read?  Do the colors work together?  Do you like/not like?  I'd really love some feedback!