Thursday, April 23, 2015

Work--A Job Who chooses they work

Who chooses really the job they have?  Some are experienced so they apply and get it. Some jus apply and are there for many years.  For many, a job is just that.  A job that provides money to pay bills and get what we want or need.  If I had the choice, I would not work at my job now.  I wish I could make money blogging.  Soon, I will though.  I can tell you I do have future payments coming to me.  Then I can say I am making money off the blog. When I am home, I able to spoil my son by making him a good breakfast instead of toast or cereal.  If I was home more, I would more effort into the house maybe.

My job now  is just that, a job, I told someone. I put my eight hours in.  I care for the people that I am working with for they may not have anyone else to care for them.  I am not there to make friends with the coworkers. I would appreciate if they help me with the residents that I need assistance with.

I did apply for a different type of job recently.  The deadline for submitting your resume is not till May 6. I am not getting my hopes up but I can wish can't I.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

My First Blog Conference--LadyBlogger2015

Yesterday, I went to my first blogging conference.  It was great to go somewhere and people know what you are talking about.  We were able to choose what classes we wanted to go to.

The Keynote speaker was Dixie Gillaspie.  She was a very motivating speaker. She spoke to all of us in our hearts at least I believe.  No such thing as can't. Yes, I believe in this. Many bloggers hit resistance with family and friends because they are told they can't make it as a blogger or make money as a blogger.    I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur.  She said the definition is anyone undertakes so I guess I undertake the blog.  The conversation you have with yourself is the most important.
 
The next class I went to was about Photography on the blog.
Compel the Reader to click. Convince the reader to click. Captivate the reader to stay.  Pictures should be story tellers for your blog post.

The next class was about social media.  One must share from your blog post asap.  Share that post on twitter 2-3 times a day then throughout the week then repost in the future on twitter. You are getting different audiences each time.  For instagram, take a picture of the post then share to instagram.

The 10 best practices of business blogging.  One must know what your objective is, who is your audience.  Create a plan for yourself is important.  A blogger must post consistently.  Use original content.  List posts are very popular.  Always remember to promote your posts.  Review your posts and change them a little when sharing them.  The only thing blogging cost you is your time.

How do you get traffic? How do you grow your blog?  We heard about many resources such as hootsuite to share your posts. Mailchimp to send out email subscriptions. Crowdfire or tweepi to manage your twitter account.

I am hoping that I can grow my blog from what I learned at the conference.  I am hoping to go to more blog conferences in the future.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Midwest Weather

I live in the Midwest, near St. Louis.  Weather is very unpredictable.  One day you can be wearing a jacket then the next day it will shorts that some may wear.  It has been raining here that last couple days. We get a lot of tornado watches in the area.  It rained hard this morning. We have a had a break in the rain this afternoon. Severe storms are supposed to coming through again this evening. Our dog hates when there is bad weather.    I have seen a number of pictures on Facebook today about flooded roads.  When I was growing up, I lived in the country.  We had a big back yard with a ditch at the back.  If it rained a fair amount the water would come up into the back yard a ways. Then we could not mow the yard until it dryed up.  The ground is very muddy right now so I don't think we are doing the garden quite yet.

I hope the weather is good for you.  

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Who is the Midwest Lady?

I am a wife and a mother of a teenage son.  I live about 20 minutes or so from St. Louis, MO --in Illinois.  I have another blog I work on and that is called Frugal and Coupon Crazy.  I love finding things to help me save money.  I believe in cooking from scratch.  I am CNA in a nursing home.  I would love to be able to work less hours than I do now and work more at home.  I have a dream to write freelance on the side.  I have written two articles in the paper recently.  I am stuck right now on another one.  The editor says he has some freelance opportunities for paid articles for me in the future.

I am about to start my garden.  I grew up in the country with a garden so it is in my genes to have a garden.  There is something special about home grown vegetables that taste different.

My goal for this blog is for myself to be able to write sort of like journal with writing prompts. I want to be able to share things about the St. Louis area.  This will be about me about being a parent or whatever may be on my mind.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Neighbors--Who are they?

First let me tell how I grew up. I grew up in the country with fields on all sides of our house. There were two houses which had my grandparents and individuals who I later called my grandparents as well.  The other neighbors a ways down the road. If there were no crops you could see their houses.

I hate when we drive through some neighborhoods and see houses so close together that maybe you could see inside their bathroom.

The house my family lives at has a decent back yard. We have lived here for over 10 years. There is an open yard that is part of one of the neighbors behind us.  For many years, we have walked through that yard to walk to another neighbor's house.  We spend a great deal of time at that neighbor's house. My husband drinks beer, we chat about many topics and sit around a fire. I come over there often to share a new recipe I have made.  Recently, the neighbor who has the open yard next to his house has put up a fence.  He put in this fence because he has an expensive dog he wants to keep in the yard.  One of the discussions I heard was that there would a gate at both ends so we could still walk through to the neighbor's house. Well, instead he put a gate which a key lock. The neighbor that lives next to us has a key and the neighbor behind us has a key.  I am a little perturbed with this whole situation.  They say don't trust the kids in keeping it closed so they went with a key lock.  The neighbor that put this fence in knew very well that we walk through there all the time.   Well, now the neighbor's house that we spend so much time at, I won't be going there very often now.  The only way we can get there is to drive there which is only less than block because it is behind us. Or I could walk, which most days I get home from work and I want to stay off my feet.  My husband has been bugging the one neighbor to put a gate in so we can just walk into his yard instead of walking around.

Sometimes people know the neighbors that live around them. Some people do not socialize at all.