In Which I Pretend To Be One Of Those Good At Picture Posts Bloggers

(Look, I even centered the text.)

(I KNOW. It's like I don't even know who I am anymore.)

On Saturday, after three soccer games in two hours...

...we decided to bag the housework...

...and head over to Ye Olden Medieval Times Parke...

Otherwise known as the Pleasant Grove Discovery Park

...where we overbundled our protesting baby...

...slid down a few poles...

...and made beautiful music together.

Not yet ready to call it a day, because LOOK:

...we headed over to Highland Glen park, where we did NOT fish (this time)...

...but threw rocks in the river...

...and danced down a trail...

On Sunday we drove down to the Spanish Fork River Park...

...but the park gates were still locked, and we couldn't get in.

Bummer.

We ended up at the Canyon View park in Provo Canyon, where we stopped for a picnic...

...and then went for a walk...

...and climbed up and down a mountain...

(at a Sunday approved pace, of course)

...and, as ever, posed for pictures.

It was a busy weekend, and by the time we got home we were tired

and I will admit to doing a little of this:

and a little of this:

It was a perfect antidote

for our buckets 'o stress

and now, knee-deep in lots of things I would prefer not to be knee-deep in
if I had the choice
(which, it appears, I do NOT)

I keep wishing it was Saturday all over again.

How was your weekend?

PS: The winner of the ring giveaway was Andrea. Congrats! Thanks to Codi and her husband for the fun ring giveaway.


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Did They Like It? Wild West Veteran's Memorial Park, West Jordan, Utah

(Look, I even centered the text.)

(I KNOW. It's like I don't even know who I am anymore.)

On Saturday, after three soccer games in two hours...

...we decided to bag the housework...

...and head over to Ye Olden Medieval Times Parke...

Otherwise known as the Pleasant Grove Discovery Park

...where we overbundled our protesting baby...

...slid down a few poles...

...and made beautiful music together.

Not yet ready to call it a day, because LOOK:

...we headed over to Highland Glen park, where we did NOT fish (this time)...

...but threw rocks in the river...

...and danced down a trail...

On Sunday we drove down to the Spanish Fork River Park...

...but the park gates were still locked, and we couldn't get in.

Bummer.

We ended up at the Canyon View park in Provo Canyon, where we stopped for a picnic...

...and then went for a walk...

...and climbed up and down a mountain...

(at a Sunday approved pace, of course)

...and, as ever, posed for pictures.

It was a busy weekend, and by the time we got home we were tired

and I will admit to doing a little of this:

and a little of this:

It was a perfect antidote

for our buckets 'o stress

and now, knee-deep in lots of things I would prefer not to be knee-deep in
if I had the choice
(which, it appears, I do NOT)

I keep wishing it was Saturday all over again.

How was your weekend?

PS: The winner of the ring giveaway was Andrea. Congrats! Thanks to Codi and her husband for the fun ring giveaway.


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I Now Present: Tragic Things That Have Happened To My Hair

I was writing a post about My Weight Loss Journey Through The Years, but kept getting distracted by MY HAIR MY HAIR THE HUMANITY!

This is from my sophmore year of high school. I'm the one on the lower left who looks about 10 years old.  I'd chopped my hair from waist length to this - this - this - whatever this is right here.

I LOVED IT.

(See my friend on the right there?  She had naturally curly hair and OH how I envied it.  (Although looking at this picture, I'm not sure why. She looks completely insane.)

Next followed several years of longer hair with sticky-uppy bangs but unfortunately I can't find that photo album.  Rest assured that my hair was a fine testament to the combined power of Aquanet and a blow dryer.

I then went with The Bob for a while before switching enthusiastically to The Mushroom (aka The Salad Bowl).

This is one of my engagement photos. I believe it is probably the most literal interpretation of The Salad Bowl that has ever been seen - before or since. (I am not entirely sure WHY we are standing in a tree, and YET THE FACT REMAINS.  We are standing in a tree. Our photographer was a GENIUS.)  

Here's another one. Love how I'm rockin' the white sport socks and black shoes. (I have always been incredibly stylish, tis true.)

Here's a snapshot from my wedding day.  Notice the wedding veil comb thingy sticking out from my veil?  In every single picture taken that day, the clip is prominently featured.  I don't know why someone didn't tuck the dang thing in already. But I suppose it is sort of apt, considering my penchant for walking around with tags hanging off of my clothing, zippers undone, and mismatched shoes.  It would've been sort of fraudulent to appear totally together in my wedding pictures, don't you think?

I should note that it didn't even occur to me that I should have someone do my hair or make-up for me on My Special Day.  I just woke up an hour before we were supposed to be there, brushed it a few times and figured - hey - it would be covered up by my veil anyway. (See?  You see the many levels of fashion and beauty obliviousness we're talking about here?) 

The mushroom cut in Technicolor.  I'm not sure why I thought this was attractive.  I look like a thirteen year old boy.  (As does my husband.)

I like to call this one Vampires Having Fun With Barrettes.

(Good grief.  I am practically translucent.)

I have bajillions more, but I think have reached my Traumatic Hair Disclosure Limit for the day.

Have I helped you to feel better about yourself today?  Comparatively at least?  I HOPE SO.

And now I will go, but before I do, I will leave you with this uncomfortable little gem from last year.

I like to call it THE RETURN OF THE MUSHROOM.

ALL HAIL.

(You're welcome.)

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How To Look Like You Know What You're Doing On Twitter

(This is the second installment in my new series Sometimes on Wednesdays I Like To Talk About Blogging.  Except I'm not actually talking about blogging this time.)(LASH ME WITH NOODLES) 

(Part 1, This Is Me, Taking Back All Of That Stuff I Said About Twitter, can be found here.)

(Oh, and if you're on Twitter, feel free to leave your twitter name in the comments so we can all follow each other.)

If you decide to Tweet...

So you've decided to tweet, you have an account, and you understand the basics (put an "@" before someone's twitter name to talk directly to them, put a "d " before someone's twitter name to send them a private (direct) message, and start your tweet with "RT" to re-post something someone else has already said.).  

Now what?

First, upload a picture
There is nothing worse than talking back and forth with the Evil Faceless Bluebird icon.  I'm sure you are a very nice person underneath your pastel birdy mask, but HOW DO WE KNOW?  You could be a serial killer or a robot.  Make yourself seem more like a person and less like a spam-bot by uploading a profile picture so that others have a smiling face to remember you by, instead of the default twitter bluebird pic. And make sure your twitter handle is something that makes sense in conjunction with your blog name/handle, and is something easy to remember, not just 42TWEETIE9388.

Follow a bunch of people
If the point of Twitter is to network and connect with other bloggers (and your mileage may vary on that point), then you need people to connect WITH, including brand spanking new bloggers who you'd like to get to know.

Not sure who to follow?  Find someone you like on Twitter, and check out who THEY follow.  Some of them have whole lists of people you can follow, like "funny bloggers" or "clever tweeps."

Oh, and by the way - you don't have to know someone to follow them. If someone is on Twitter and they're not protecting their tweets from non-approved followers, then they expect (and often even hope) that people will follow them and respond to their tweets.

Use hashtags when appropriate
If you're tweeting about a particular topic, you can include a hashtag (#) to make sure your tweet is seen by people who share your interests and who might be searching for related items.

For example, when I tweet a giveaway, I include the hashtag #giveaway, and subsequently, any Twitter user who searches for "giveaway" will see my tweet. You don't have to use hashtags every time (I rarely do), but when it's appropriate, using a hashtag will make sure interested eyes see your tweets. You can also use hashtags to find people who are interested in the same things you are (like #LOST or #ROLLERBLADING or #HORRIBLEWAYSTODIE) and follow them. 

Hashtags are also used in Twitter "parties" - where scads of people "meet" at a particular time to tweet about a particular subject, using a specific hashtag.  I tried my first party last night, and frankly, it was sort of like a bad high school flashback - the room was full of people I didn't know, nobody talked to me, and I had no idea what to say to get invested in the conversation. AWKWARD.  (But I probably need to try it again once or twice before calling it.)


Do As I Say, Not As I Do...

I may or may not have broken each and every one of these guidelines at various points in my very short Twitter career.  And some of them I still ignore. Sue me.

Don't use Twitter exclusively to spam people with your personal links
I made this mistake at first, only jumping on Twitter to post links to my latest post or links to my giveaways, and the result was a collective yawn. Nobody cared. 

It's like walking into a stranger's living room and announcing that you'd like to read them a little something from your blog. If you're a virtual stranger, the reception will probably be extremely awkward silence and/or the twitter equivalent of a police escort - UNFOLLOW. But if your followers see you now and then, if they're used to seeing your smiling face, used to seeing you participate, have seen a few thoughtful/useful/silly tweets from you in the past - well then sure, they might take a look at your blog link.

Be sure to occasionally RT other people's tweets, and to tweet other people's blog content
If you are using Twitter solely to self-promote, people catch on pretty quick.  Twitter is a community, so contribute to the community as a whole and not just to yourself - by retweeting items you think are of value. 

Try not to monopolize the conversation...
(...she said, blushing.) Sometimes I get on twitter and my friends are there, and I start jabbering away, tweety-tweet-tweet.  I forget that not everyone who follows me wants to see The Sue Show complete with 500 Tweets O' Nonsense, all in a 60 second period, so that it is impossible to see anything else in their tweet stream. I may be chortling to myself on my end of the keyboard, but other people - maybe not so much.

Sometimes those conversations are best taken to DM (direct message - a way to privately tweet back and forth).  I also try to remember to use a DM when all I have to say in my reply is something that doesn't really stand alone as a tweet, like "thanks!"

(Oh, and by the way, you can only Direct Message people who are following you. Try not to be offended if you find out they aren't. Sometimes they don't even realize they aren't following you, especially if you've just been chatting.) 

Some people frown on using Twitter as a chat room
Not ME, but Some People. Those folks would probably also tell you to TRY not to tweet something in pieces - first 140 characters of your thought, next 140 characters of your thought.  They feel each thought/tweet should be stand-alone and separate, so that someone doesn't have to scroll back through the entire conversation to understand what you're talking about. Personally? I think These People should probably relax.

Keep in mind that it isn't email
People don't always read every tweet sent in their direction, and people don't respond to every tweet.  YOU don’t have to read every tweet. If I tweet at someone and they don't respond, I just assume they're not online.  Or they're online but otherwise occupied. No biggie. If I really need to talk to them, I send them an email.  Twitter isn't like with blogs, where there is all of this assumed reciprocal commenting obligation. Jump on Twitter when you feel like it, and jump OFF Twitter when you feel like it. No need to say "Good night Twitter."  Although many of us (yes, that includes me) just CANNOT HELP OURSELVES. See?

Lastly...
No one asked me to write this, no one paid me to write this. Twitter is my shiny new toy, so I feel like bringing it out for Show and Tell, even though I'm still learning to use it.  That said, I don't particularly care if you use Twitter or not (other than being happy to have new tweeps). Use Twitter, don't use Twitter - that's your deal - so please, no comments about whether or not I've convinced you.  I'm not trying to convince you.  I'm writing this mostly because I wish someone would've pulled ME aside a few months ago, and really explained Twitter to me back when I was all Scoffity McScofferson.

I often hear people explain Twitter by saying it's for giving status updates that are too short for your blog, and sure, that's a possible use, but that is NOT THE POINT OF TWITTER.  Twitter is a great networking tool. People talk on Twitter.  People plan things on Twitter.  People get introduced to each other on Twitter. It's starting to heavily influence what goes on in the blog world - it's even starting to replace comments (someone posts a link to their post, people on Twitter read it and they respond ON TWITTER).

Put simply, I'll quote Gigamom: "If you're not tweeting, you're missing half the conversation."  Whether or not you care about that? Is totally up to you.

OK more experienced Twitter friends - what did I leave out?  

PS:  Don't forget to leave your Twitter name in the comments, if you have one, so that I (and others) can follow you.  Mine is @suelikestoblog
PPS:  My blogroll is temporarily down but will be up again in a few days, all re-jiggered-like.

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