Tutorial Series: WordPress for Beginners – Pages, Menus and Widgets

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If you’re a complete beginner on the WordPress platform and you need some help, you’ve come to the right place.  We’re in the middle of our WordPress for Beginners series, and we will be touching on the subject of pages, drop down menus and widgets for your blog’s sidebar. These are the other topics we’ve [...]

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Tutorial Series: WordPress for Beginners – Categories and Tags and Hyperlinks, Oh MY!

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If you are just joining us in this series, you may want to check out our introductory post on this Beginner’s WordPress tutorial series and our previous video tutorial on creating and publishing a WordPress post. This post will be just a brief overview of categories, tags and hyperlinks… Categories vs Tags Both categories and tags [...]

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Five Minute Shower

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Do you remember what it was like before kids?  A recent comment from a single friend got me reminiscing about the way things used to be.  She had dropped in to say hello and I asked if she would mind watching the kids so I could run take a shower.  Alone.  Without interruptions.  She laughingly [...]

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Halloween: The Green Way

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It’s October – My favorite time of year!  Coming off one of the hottest summers in Texas history, you better believe that the cooler temperatures (well – low 90′s) is a nice reprieve from the 70+ days of 100 degree temperatures. Although we don’t get the nice change of colors in the leaves like other [...]

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Career or Kids? Why I chose my kids over “my” life

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I think I lost a friend.  I don’t know how, but I’m pretty sure she’s not my friend anymore.  And, I think she’s not my friend because I have made the decision to put my kids above my career. We all make decisions in life, some big and some small, and we make them everyday.  [...]

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Stewardship, Part 3

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In this third post on stewardship, I want to talk about our responsibilities to the earth. Remember the definition of stewardship? The conducting, managing or caring of something, especially the careful management of something entrusted into one’s care. The earth is ours. It belongs to all people and has been given to us for the [...]

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WordPress for Beginners Tutorial: Posts (Part 1)

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In my introductory post on this beginner’s WordPress tutorial series, I told you that the next topic would be on publishing your posts.  And it is, but I had to divide it into two parts because it was getting rather long.  Let’s skip ahead for a bit and assume you have everything set up on [...]

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Need a Media Kit or Quick Sheet?

SAMPLE QUICK SHEET

I have had numerous email requests to see our Media Kit and Quick Sheet and where we got them done.  To to tell you the truth I did it myself. What is a Media Kit?  Generally speaking in blog terms, a Media Kit is a multi-paginated, all-encompassing collection of your blog’s statistics and specific demographics. [...]

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Tutorial Series: WordPress Basics for Beginners (Intro)

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Every once in a while I receive an email or comment, or I notice someone on one of the groups or forums to which I belong asking simple questions about WordPress.  It seems like many Blogger bloggers are afraid to make the switch because of the unknown platform of WordPress.  Instead of being intimidated by [...]

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Stewardship, Part 2

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If you want to be a good Christian, citizen, role model to your children, or just respect the people and family around you, this topic should be important to you. For a Christian, stewardship should be the overflow of our relationship to God. In this post, I want to discuss the time management aspect of [...]

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Feet First: DIY Foot Spa

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By Marisa Belger for Green Goes Simple Elevate Been on your feet all day? The easiest way to start pampering them is to stop using them. Find a comfortable seat and elevate your feet to relieve aching and swelling. Soak Fill a large basin — a big mixing bowl works well — with enough warm [...]

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A Noble Woman (Stewardship, part I)

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I am learning to be more honest with myself. This means that I have to take a hard look at my life, actions and attitudes and realize that I struggle. I struggle with selfishness, pride, laziness and self-dislike, to name a few. In the next two to three posts, I am going to talk about [...]

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Mommy-me Time Activities That Don’t Cost an Arm and a Leg

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I recently read an article by stay-at-home mom who was told that she must have a lot of time for herself since she stays home and that  ” you don’t do much all day, do you?”.  I’m sure most stay-at-home moms at one point or another has heard this statement and by golly, I bet [...]

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How to Hold a Garage Sale (or Not!)

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Holding a garage sale may seem like an overwhelming task, but with some forethought, hard work and preparation, it can be a nice way to make some money and get rid of stuff.  Here are some tidbits of advice from someone who has already done three and is planning a fourth this summer! PLANNING Choose [...]

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Happy Birthday, America!

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I read this on the church bulletin this weekend and thought it was perfect for the day… Growing up in Virginia I learned lots of history because so much of our nation’s history has roots in Virginia.  One of the things that I always admired and was humbled by is the great number of wealthy [...]

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Red, White & Blue Yogurt Parfait

red white and blue yogurt parfait

This yogurt parfait is an easy to make, good-for-you treat. Make it fun by serving in clear glasses or bowls. It’s extra-impressive in taller, or uniquely shaped dishes! All you need are blueberries, strawberries and plain (or vanilla, if you must) yogurt. Wash the fruit, cut strawberries into bite sized pieces and layer with yogurt. [...]

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New Uses for Old Things: Household Odds and Ends

By Marisa Belger for Green Goes Simple As a busy, penny-wise, green-minded mama, I’m on an ever-present mission to find new uses for things that may otherwise end up as trash. Faced with a growing pile of paperless rolls left over from paper towels and toilet tissue, used dryer sheets, and empty laundry-detergent bottles, I [...]

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An Eco-Friendly 4th of July Celebration

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  This weekend is the celebration of the Independence Day of the United States of America.  Celebrations are planned with family and friends and you wonder, how can I make it just a little more environmentally friendly? Here are some quick tips: Have a Daytime Party It’s a simple concept, but one that many don’t [...]

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Surprising Ways to Save Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sqRvUzqDCE”

By Dana Courtney for Green Goes Simple Get Two Dishes for the Price of One When boiling a pot of water for pasta, place a steamer basket filled with veggies on top. You’re making steam, anyway, so why not use it to steam vegetables for a side dish? You’ll reduce the amount of water used [...]

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A Very Happy Father’s Day

father and his newborn daughter, a couple of hours old

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads who have changed numerous dirty diapers, played tickle monster too many times to even count, worked arduously on our honey-do projects around the house and yard, washed our cheerio-ridden minivans, chauffeured kids to and from playdates/practice/dance class/dates, pretended worked in the garage with all your manly power tools we women [...]

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How to Slash Your Electricity Bill This Summer

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By Amy Levin-Epstein for Green Goes Simple Using less electricity at home is a win-win: You reduce your environmental impact and your monthly bill. But it can be especially hard to cut back on your energy usage during the dog days of summer, when tongue-wagging temps make you want to blast your AC. Try following [...]

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To Save a Life

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“Smart choices for the whole family” . Here are a few movies that I think all teens should watch.  They teach some pretty great lessons that I think almost every teen struggles with (or has a friend that does).  I am only recommending these movies for teens and above because the first two have a [...]

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Death: The Forbidden, But Incredibly Important Topic

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I am at a stage in life when I am losing grandparents and some of my older friends. Many of my parent’s peers are getting sick and dying. I even have friends my age that are getting sick and dying. It stinks. But a couple of recent experiences have encouraged me to share what I [...]

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DIY Travel Desk

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I jumped at the chance to guest blog at A Nation of Moms because who doesn’t love the topics they cover, the principles they stand for and the great giveaways they host. Choosing what to write about actually wasn’t too complicated because Valerie asked for something crafty. Easy peasy! Or so I thought. I’m so [...]

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Oncologist’s Office-Perspective on Motherhood

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Our family had an experience a few months ago that changed us. Enough time has passed that I can share. In November, at a doctor’s appointment I had my blood taken. The quick results came back with a problem. Anemia. Anemia is a lack of iron. Iron helps your body take in oxygen. You need [...]

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Making Sense of Your Dollars

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We all know how work can follow us home. As a finance director, making sense of my family’s finances was the last thing I wanted to do, but given my career choice, there were some obvious advantages. Here are the tips that have stuck with me and are top of mind right now: #1 Automate: [...]

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Scheduling without a schedule

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I am a planner by nature.  Growing up (and even until I had kids) I had schedules and lists, and even lists for my lists.  I spent hours just organizing my days, weeks, months, to-do lists, and so forth.  Anything that could be written in list format was. And then some. After having kids I [...]

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Dating Your Spouse? Something to Talk About.

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Remember when you were dating your husband, before you got married, and you promised each other that kids, and life, and work, and being tired would NEVER get in the way of the two of you dating? Remember those conversations? I do. And although we try really hard to hold true to those early promises, [...]

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My So-Called Teenage Years

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High School.  Do you remember those days?  Unfortunately, I was reminded of “those days” a couple of weekends ago when watching a movie.  Not that I have any great insight to offer or that it really matters in the grand scheme of things, but just for fun, I thought I would briefly talk about my [...]

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Wonder WAHMs: 7 Reasons Why Work-at-Home Moms are Today’s Superheroes

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By Hemily Lang who also writes about paralegal certification and ways to earn your social worker degree. 1. Telepathy WAHMs seem to possess the incredible ability to read the minds of others, especially when these minds belong to their own children. If a child is lying or needs something without voicing that, a WAHM seems [...]

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