Just trying something here...

I have accomplished NOTHING tonight. Call it a lazy Friday night. Well, I did make a delicious dinner of Ham and Split Pea Soup with Spaetzle Dumplings.

Shawn was at work and McKinley is spending the night with a friend, so Kennedy and Reagan and I had plenty with the 12 servings between the three of us.

I personally did my part.

Anyway, I have stumbled upon some great blogs while surfing the night away. I'll share those in a later post. But I have to try this tip that I found to make pictures bigger without using Flickr or Photobucket.

And it looks like it worked! Now, who knows if I'll keep up with it. I do tend to post picture heavy posts and this takes a lot of stinking time.

We.

Shall.

See........

Update on my stalkers:)

Well, if you write it, they will come...or something prolific like that.

Or...if you just add the linky thing in the left column for people to click on, they will click!

I didn't write that post begging for new followers, or because I was worried about no one reading my blog. I really just wrote it because I thought it was interesting. I enjoy that people read my blog but even if it was just a hand full of people I'd still write. This is such a release for me. All the sarcasm and humor that rolls around in my head has to come out somewhere. Why not here??

Okay, okay...but it is exciting to know that there are people who read every day. And I would be lying like a dog if I said I didn't care about comments. I just love to hear what people have to say! Even if it is mean:)

I watched my following go from 6 to 19 in the days following my post about this. I am excited mostly because now I have new friends. And I can stalk them!

I know, I know, I need to stop calling it that.

So to all my new followers, "Hello! And welcome:)"

To those of you who don't have a blogger or google or yahoo or whatever account it takes to comment, "Hello and welcome!"

And to those of you who stopped reading after the first few words...for shame!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go stalk some people!

Followers/Stalkers

So I'm finally figuring out the whole 'follower' thing.

It's taken me a while.

Who isn't surprised by that at all??

When I first discovered I had two followers I was honestly freaked out. I mean, I know that I am not completely anonymous on here, but people I didn't know were following me?!?!

Then I made myself start breathing again and realized that I knew one of them. I had been reading her blog for a while. The other one? A somewhat creepy cartoony picture of a man.

With shaking hands I clicked on his picture.

Imagine my surprise when I realized it was my back up guy (you know, if we're both still single on this date we'll marry each other) I'd met in college. He had found me on Myspace a few years earlier and I'd been fascinated with reading his myspace blog devotions. I kept encouraging him to write a book because he always seemed to mention things that I knew people would be going through. Long before I blogged, he started one.

And there he was, stalking me.

Okay, not really.

By then I had figured out I wasn't being stalked by some mass murderer. My breathing was returning to normal and I went and read all his devotions. He is truly a talented writer. You can find a link to his blog in my sidebar.

Figuring Faith.

Now that following is becoming more commonplace I've noticed blogs that have quite a few. Of my mentors and friends, Kristie has 157, and Jen has 22 but has probably hundreds of subscribers! Cake Wrecks has 3,535!

Me, I have 9.

I couldn't figure out why I didn't have more:(

Not that I think I'm so amazing that I have people waiting on the edge of their computer chair to read my new posts...but because I have statcounter...I know a lot of people do stop by.

It hit me on Sunday...I might be slow, but eventually I'm brilliant!

If I had a place on the blog page to actually click on maybe that would make it easier! I know, brilliance.

So now it's there. Come follow me. Also, that means I can read a little bit about you and I'll feel like I have a new friend.

And if you have a blog, I can stalk you!! Wait, I mean follow you:)

And if you have some time to spare, go visit my followers. Some of them have amazing blogs that will put mine to shame.

But don't leave me!

I'd miss you:)

Well Howdy!

When I used to read other bloggers posts about lurkers I didn't really know what they were talking about. It sounded like they knew someone was stalking them. It kind of worried me. Now that I've discovered statcounter I understand everything. Well, not really everything, but I have reached the tip of the iceberg.

Statcounter is how I found out what people were searching for when they accidentally ended up at my blog. Now I know what they are!

I've recently stumbled across the 'Visitor Paths' area.

(Insert sinister laugh here.)

So now I get to say 'hi' to people I know are reading my blog.


-Claremont, Minnesota-71 visits
*I love Minnesota! Shawn had a great aunt that lived in Fairmont. It was the most beautiful town that had a picturesque lake in the middle of it. The homes were all big, old, and beautiful. I coveted them. Still do.

-Vienna, Virginia-99 visits
*I have to apologize. When I read the name of your town I think sausage. I'm working really hard to think 'Sound of Music' but...sausage. I'm working on it.

-Manchester, New Hampshire-112 visits
*E'llo govnor! That was my British accent. Did it come across in the typing? I need to work on that.

-Frisco City, Alabama-45 visits
*I was just in Alabama! The only town name that I can recall (I was in the car with 5 children after all) was Foley. That's because that's where Lambert's was. I must admit though that I kept saying, "Greenbough, Al-a-bama!!" Anyone know what movie that line comes from??

-Alexandria, Virginia-100 visits
*I have a beautiful cousin names Alexandria. She has always gone by Alex though. It makes me sad. Hope your town is as beautiful as the name.

-OKC, OK-255 visits
*Wow! Wait, that might be me. That's not my town though. Right state. But who else would have come here that often?? Well, maybe Grandma. Hi Grandma!




P.S. Just ran the spell check. Of course it stopped on my British accent part. I figured that. But surprise! It didn't stop on 'picturesque'. Who would have guessed that I would have spelled that right on my first try? Certainly not me!

It's time you knew

I am not the smartest when it comes to technology. I have lost count of how many times I've asked Shawn for advice and when I've explained the problem he's said, "How did that happen?" or "Well I've never heard of that happening before." I would like to say that I have learned from my mistakes and questions but no...I retain nothing. I ask him the same things over and over again.

When I wanted to have a myspace page I set about doing it all by myself. Everything. Well except for the background thing. I just couldn't make it make sense. (Much like this last sentence.) I will say that as soon as he explained it I haven't bothered him at all about it. Maybe I'm techo-savvy after all! Of course, by saying that it makes me less savvy. I'm okay with that.

Now for the world of blogging. I've been challenged but I haven't asked for help. I figured out where the missing saved posts went I published them, finally figured out how to change my template, and even put a picture in my banner that showed up! Before then I'd tried to upload people pictures and would get an elbow or knee. But the elusive thing has been a signature. I want one. I covet them. I've posted comments on other peoples blogs asking how they did it but never got a reply. Sniff-sniff.

Well, tonight I did it. Okay, I found a 'tip blog' and read several posts to do it. Buuuuutttttt when it came to actually putting it in my posts I couldn't make it happen. I read some more, and was just confused more. But, as you'll notice, it's there. I pasted the code all over the place and finally made it to the right place. Don't ask me how though, I've already forgotten. Maybe that's why I never got a reply from other bloggers...they don't remember how they did it!

So here it is. And the best part, I didn't have to ask Shawn!

I hope he's impressed.

We are experiencing technical difficulties.

That's right. I can't get it to work! I am having the hardest time uploading pictures and I can't save anything! I also figured out that there are too many stinking pictures to begin with!! I will spend some quality time tomorrow deciding my new plan of attack.

Stay tuned!

I know you are all trembling with anticipation:c{