Confessions of a Blogger

Hellooo my little blog! I have felt like I've been away for so long! Sorry about that, that's what the holidays can do to ya. I don't even remember what post I had planned for today, and I have a ton of comments to catch up on! On the brightside, I'm all caught up on my blog readings - although since I was so behind I did some of that in stealth mode.

I also wanted to say WELCOME to all of my new followers and THANK YOU to those who filled out my survey. You can still fill it out here. I would love any feedback!

Anyway, I decided to do something fun today because my house is a wreck and I still have some Christmas festivities to attend to...Thank you Danielle @ A Writer in Love for tagging me!! :)

"Confessions of a Blogger"

1. When did you first start blogging and why?

I started blogging in 2003. My friends had blogs on Xanga and LiveJournal and I wanted to partake. I first used my blog to keep in touch with my friends while I was traveling during the summer after freshman year. I've had various blogs over the years. This one I began in 2009 to start the Warrior Queen movement! 

2. Have you had any past online presence?

Oh yes, I do. You can probably find me all over the web. As I mentioned above, I had a Xanga. I also spent most of my days after I finished homework on a messageboard for dirtbikers. Then I got a Myspace, Facebook, Twitter...etc. I tend to get into new websites and technology early on. You can probably find a couple of weebly's out there from various assignments, as well as a couple of tumblrs. I do update my online resume periodically as well. You can find that here. 

3. When did you become serious about your blog?

I really got serious about my blog this summer. I've always gotten serious and then it would dwindle while I was stuck with school and work, on top of blogging. Now that I only work, I have more time. I used to do weekly Vlogs, which I am attempting to start back up again. 

4. What was your first blog post?

This was my first blog post on this blog. I didn't even include pictures at the time. 

5. What have been your biggest challenges blogging?

My bloggest challenge in blogging is disciplining myself to write regularly. I'm not one who is great at creating habits. I get side tracked and busy doing other things...or spending time on stumble upon. I used to have a difficult time with content, but in the last year that has changed dramatically. With this being my only intellectual outlet (as opposed to when I was drained in school), I have had more, wonderful ideas. I'm looking forward to getting back to some serious topics, as well. 

6. What is the most rewarding thing about blogging?

There are people who read my blog. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO READ MY BLOG! Who want to buy t-shirts and want my wristbands that I got as a Christmas gift TWO years ago! I am so in awe of and in love with all of my readers. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

7. What is the most discouraging thing about blogging?

I think the most discouraging part, for me, is that I wanted the Warrior Queen idea to spread faster. Whenever I tell people about it, they seem excited, but no action has really been taken by me, or them. 

8. What is your lasting inspiration or motivation?

I am forever inspired by the Warrior Queen movement. I am inspired by the feedback I receive and the blogs that I read. 

9. What is your blogging dirty little secret?

I think my blogging dirty secret would be.........that I know how to create the images and do the html for my own site, but I'm too lazy to. I'd rather pay someone than do it. I know this might change. 

10. What is your current goal as a blogger?

I think that my current "big goal" is to get better at blog promotion. I used to do it as a job, so it feels like that - a job. But if I want to get my words out there, I need to do more promoting! I'm going to go over my whole list of blogging goals tomorrow, hopefully. 

11. Have you learned or become passionate about anything through blogging that caught you by surprise? 

I am becoming more passionate about keeping things clean and organized! I take a look at everyone else's beautiful pictures of their homes or how they stay organized and I am starting to feel like less of a hot mess!! 

I hope you enjoyed reading my blogging confessions!  I'm going to tag the following bloggers:
Tori @ A Little Leigh Way Natalie @ All Things Natalie Christa Rachel @ How to Be Rachel  Laura @ Laura in Wonderland Brittany @ Life Changes

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!




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Ten Days of Christmas Tag

Brittney at True Vintage Love tagged me in this Christmas survey! I love Christmas and I love survey's so it's basically perfection! 

1. What do you love the most about Christmas time?

I love that I get to spend time with all of my family all together!! :) It seems like it is the one time a year we all get a chance to get together again.

The women on my mom's side :) 

 I just realized I take a picture with my cousin/namesake every year. I can't ever catch all of the little girls, but I can always get one with her! :)

2008

2009

2010

I can't find any of my pictures from 2011 :( 

2012 - the year Iman asked her to be our flower girl! 

2. Do you celebrate the holiday in style or is Bah-Humbug for you?

I like to think I take a medium fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach. I feel like the holidays always sneak up on me! I always WANT to be in style and have decorations but things always end up semi-decorated

3. Are you leaving anything out for Santa Claus this year so he remembers to leave your presents?

I don't think so :) We don't have any little kids in the house so there's no Santa Claus magic at our house - we don't even have a chimney! But, I love seeing and helping out with all of the littles in my family. One of my cousins is always sure to kick us out by midnight because SANTA IS COMING. 

4. What is the one gift you are most looking forward to GIVING? {It can be to your kids, another family member, etc – remember to be discreet if they read your blog.}

I am super looking forward to giving my momma her gift this year. She doesn't think she's getting anything really, and it's nothing big. It's just special. My mom takes such great care of us and goes above and beyond than what she needs to, I can't wait to be able to pamper her instead. 

5. What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie? 

Love Actually! You can see my post about that here. 

6. What is your all-time favorite Christmas song?

Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses is my all time favorite Christmas song! 

One year for Christmas I actually wrote "I think I'll miss this one this year" on wrapping paper pinned to the back of my "Merry Christmas" shirt. Of course, I can't find the photo now, but that was little outrageous 15 year old me :P

Closely behind is Mariah's All I Want For Christmas is You! 

7. If given the opportunity, would you participate in an “Ugly Sweater” party and what sweater would you wear? Peruse one on the Internet or even if your own closet and show us!

I love Ugly Sweater parties!! Here's me at the one I hosted in 2010 :) 

And here's my dream sweater! (Cats galore!)

Via Pinterest

8. Have you started any Christmas traditions this year that you plan on carrying forward?

We think we are, but then it might be a little difficult to do in coming years. We're going to Vegas for Christmas with my dad. We're going the 22-24 and my dad wants to do it every year. Which would be awesome, except when I have very small children in the future. 

9. It’s Christmas morning… what does it look like outside where you live?

Either sun is shining OR it's raining. We always hope for the rain!! 

10. You just found yourself standing under the mistletoe… who comes up to give you a kiss first?

My one true love! 

I tag: Paulina, Cassi, Noor, Areeba and Amanda!

Can't wait to see your answers!!!


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Christmas is in the Air: Holiday Movies

I got a lot done for the wedding this past week. But I decided to take a little break (since I can't really show you too much of what I finished) and link up with Life with a Side of Coffee and Southern Beauty Guide!  I'm not that big into Holiday movies...my favorite holiday movies are actually watched year round. But, here is a tribute to the love that I love in holiday movies. 

Love Actually

Seriously, I am so in love with this movie. If I'm having a panic attack and you put this movie on, I calm down in just a few minutes. 
The Holiday 

The amount of cute in this movie just astounds me.

What are your favorite Holiday movies? Don't forget to link up! 

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It's my unbirthday!

Hi bloggy blog!

My head is a little foggy for reasons unknown so the words coming out of my mouth / fingers don't make the best sense. Or maybe they do and I just don't think they do. My eye's twitching which doesn't usually happen unless I haven't slept. Which I barely did this past week, but slept 10 hours last night. It makes no sense! I had my first Yoga class today, well Yogalates.

Hi, I love yoga now. That was wonderful. Although maybe that is why I am foggy. Super relaxed. I'm drinking Jasmine Green Tea (#teadrinkersunite) and I have a tutoring interview in a few hours. I'm not so sure that I want to tutor, but I am sticking to my obligations.

My to do list has barely been touched this week. I don't know what's going on! So before I say anything to embarrass myself. Let's do a little 25 by 25 recap considering today is my UNBIRTHDAY!!!!

Aka my half birthday. I love this day. Joe's Crab Shack is even giving me a $7 off coupon for my half birthday. So sweet!

I will hopefully have a productive day after this!

1. Keep my room clean every day. This has been a goal since childhood -__-
2. Create and keep a Bedtime Routine. 
3. Do a 30-day Challenge.
4. Read 25 books. 4 down!
5. Blog 10-15 x a month. Yes!!! This has become easy!
6. Become confident in my design ability. Almost there!! I am definitely more confident!
7. Make healthier eating habits - don't eat take out for 1 month. 
8. Jog 5 miles without stopping.
9. Take my quad up China Wall. This ties in with wanting to go to Glamis more.
10. Donate Blood. This is a big deal as I am afraid of blood / entering the Red Cross buildings
11. Give Chuck some TLC. Most notably - attempt to have $$ to fix exhaust leak, definitely at least replace the Roll Cage Cushion and put in the regular seat belts, detail the inside. Working on it!! 
12. Find something for Iman and I to do together regularly (i.e. cooking class or a team)
13. Wear an "outfit" to work every day for a month. Including accessories and makeup
14. Sell something for WQ OMG I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS!! 
15. Cook dinner every day for 2 weeks
16. Meet a blog friend in real life. Megalin!
17. Organize my stuff in the garage / storage unit.  Organized and storage unit is gone!!
18. Go Paintballing. We have already purchased 2 packages...we just haven't used any.
19. See a meteor shower with Iman
20. Ride in the Great Orange Balloon.
21. Learn to cook on the Weber
22. Decorate a cake.
23. Make a difficult recipe.
24. Send my OSU friends a letter/card once a month.
25. Start to Vlog again.

--------------------------------------------

1. Fourplay  by Jane Moore

2. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

3. The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

4. The White Princess  by Philippa Gregory

Have a wonderful weekend!!

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For every e-book purchased I will receive commission. 

 Creating a Beautiful Little Christmas.

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Here's a little secret about the holidays...

Have you read Sara @ A Plethora of Pondering's letter to December?

I read it the other night as I was being an insomniac and it made me incredibly happy because of how true it is. We all get so stressed out around the holidays, especially to create the perfect holiday and do everything we can! I usually feel slightly shamed because I don't partake in too many normal holiday activities. I like to do things my own way, though so I accept it. And we should totally accept everyone's holiday shenanagins!

Something I have always failed at doing because I am such a hot mess is send holiday cards. Here's the thing: I am a horrible pen pal. You can ask Cassie @ The World View from 2 Teenage Girls. She wrote me a Halloween letter and now another card and I still haven't written back. I suck at it.

The worst part is I usually write it and then fail at sending it. Which is especially silly considering I can now do everything from my house [unlike apartment living]. BUT I digress.

This year I am making holiday cards! Well, writing them at least. It's a slow process and I've got a lot going on. BUT I have addresses this year [from sending Save the Dates] so this is happening. What's more is this cute idea I've seen all over about sending cards to fellow bloggers. COUNT ME IN.

If you'd like to exchange holiday cards fill out this form!

I also am not sure if you noticed that I am discounting my totally awesome ad space this month!!

Alright, I'm away laughing on a fast camel << who knows where that is from?

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For every e-book purchased I will receive commission. 

 Creating a Beautiful Little Christmas.

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Holiday Gift Guide

Well, it's Black Friday and I'm sure many people have been up shopping for hours. Unfortunately, that means that many more people have been working for hours. I refuse to shop on Black Friday because of the years I spent in retail...I respect people's right to not work on a holiday.

So, why not have a little fun with a Holiday Wish List? Not just any Holiday Wish List, but a TWLOHA wishlist!! And a Scentsy Party!!! :)

By now, you probably know that To Write Love On My Arms is my favorite charity group. I've worked with them a few times and often get emails from their publicist because of my Music Magazine job. When Rachel contacted me about doing a TWLOHA gift guide I got super excited. I'm not receiving anything for this post, but I love sharing TWLOHA. :)

I actually like this shade of orange

Love this Men's Zip-Up

I saw this on Instagram and fell in LOVE. 

It comes in a Women's Tank Top, too! 

Aren't these all just the best? When you're out shopping today, don't forget to think about giving someone something more than just a gift. These clothing items are not only a great physical gift, but they give the gift of hope to people who see you wearing them in public. This clothing gives back through donations and showing support to those quietly suffering!


This week, I've teamed up with Vicki @ My Vickilicious Life to host an online Scentsy party for Black Friday! My party will run until Dec 13th. All you have to do is purchase through this link. I'm hoping to have enough in sales, to get the Scents for my wedding covered! If you missed my previous Scentsy post, you can find it here. 

I love this Scentsy Warmer wrap, totally Warrior Queen

I am super excited to hide "Happy Go Lucky" in warmers around the reception room for our wedding. I just want to have a uniform scent!

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For every e-book purchased I will receive commission. 

 Creating a Beautiful Little Christmas.

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Creating a Beautiful Little Christmas

Good morning! Have you started thinking about Christmas? I'm one of those "fly by the seat of your pants" Christmas people. It's not uncommon for me to get gifts on Christmas Eve. Last year, I learned my lesson when my father went into the hospital a few days before Christmas and stayed until New Years Eve. I was so unprepared that I almost didn't finish all of my holiday gift getting and almost missed a party or two.  Luckily, Teri Ahlm from A Beautiful Life has created an e-book called Creating a Beautiful Little Christmas. I just finished it and I loved it! I'm planning on flipping back through it as I begin to feel stressed for the holidays. She's shared this teaser with us:

Staying out of the shopping trap

11/08/2013

This is the first post in a series to help you create a beautiful little Christmas for you and your family this year - and with the black friday ads already being leaked and Oprah's "Favorite Things" all over the news I thought I'd start with a post about shopping during the holiday season.

I saw an article yesterday on how to stay safe on black friday. Meaning how to not get trampled to death at WalMart and how to not get mugged walking from your car to the mall. Merry Christmas! Really?

Quick - grab a piece of paper and a pen. At the top of the paper, write "2012" and draw a line under it. Now try to list the Christmas presents that you bought last year and who they were for. Ready? GO!

Granted, I have a TERRIBLE memory, but I'm embarrassed to say that I could only remember a few things. The gifts that I remember are the ones that I knew were the perfect gifts...a telescope for my oldest son that I spent hours researching to find an affordable one that wasn't junk...a bigger computer monitor for my younger son that is a gamer.

The small things - the "fill-in" gifts that I thought were so important - well let's just say that I could have passed. There's the game that hasn't been played, the tie clip that hasn't been worn... good ideas in theory but not necessary. 

I like the idea of 4 gifts - 1 that they want, 1 that they need, 1 thing to wear and 1 thing to read. It may require a bit of customization for the guys that are in desperate need of clothes (all 3 of them) but overall, I think I'll be better off this year skipping all of those little things and focus on the things that will mean the most.

I know that the research will take a good bit of time, but think of all the time I'll save shopping this year - not to mention the money! And on black friday, I'm sleeping in!

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For every e-book purchased I will receive commission. 

 Creating a Beautiful Little Christmas.

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