Labels

For some strange reason I have decided to add labels to my blog posts. Mom and dad, that means now you're able to click on a category and see all the posts from that category. It's been fun reminiscing by reading old blog posts. It caused a few of my older posts to get bumped up to today's date, so please ignore that. I'm trying to fix it, but can't figure it out yet.

Cleaning House...Sort of

Ahhhh....

I feel such a sense of relief. I just cleaned up my Google Reader and it is so so so much better! I had way too many blogs on there so if I even missed one day of looking at my Reader, I'd come back the next day with sometimes 200+ new blog posts. Way too many to actually read, so I'd end up just marking most of them as "read" without actually doing any reading. Today I took the time to remove the ones that I haven't been reading recently.

I also started "following" all the blogs in my Reader. When I first started blogging, I think I felt strange following someone's blog who I didn't know. I preferred just to stalk it instead because that's less weird, right?! I fixed all that today, so if I'm a new follower of yours, I've actually been reading your blog for a long time! Going through my Reader also helped me realize some blog addresses had changed, so I was able to fix that and start getting updates on those blogs again. So glad I finally took the time to get all that organized!

Now on to actually clean our real house!

Here's a pic of B because I know I can't make a post as boring as this one and leave off a pic! He loves his Lightning McQueen slippers!

Ultimate Blog Party!

Welcome! I am taking a break from my regular Friday's Fab Five posts to link up with the UBP. Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek into Calton Corner!

Here's my fam:

I am an elementary school teacher, turned stay-at-home-momma of a handsome 13 month old boy! I loved teaching my little rugrats at school, but I am loving teaching my own son even more! My husband, Kyle, is in the Navy. We are both originally from Louisville, KY but have been stationed in Groton, CT for the past almost five years. We own a house in Mystic, CT which is famous for the movie Mystic Pizza!

Even though we are far away from our home-home, CT certainly feels like home to us now. We have great friends and a great church. We are even lucky enough to have some family nearby; my aunt, uncles, and cousins live in Connecticut too!

This blog mainly just serves as a way to document things going on in our lives. Since Brennan was born, it now focuses mainly on him. I just started linking up and doing a Tot School post on Sundays, which has been a lot of fun! I am always on the look out for more fun things to do with Brennan!

Thanks again for visiting! Hope you'll come back again!

ABCs of Me

I saw this idea on Jamie's blog and figured I'd go ahead and do it too! So here are the ABCs of me:

A-Age: 28

B-Bed size: We have a queen size bed and I'm happy with that. If it was bigger I think Kyle would want Ringo to sleep with us!

C-Chore you hate: Folding and putting away laundry

D-Dogs: Just good ole Ringo.

E-Essential start to your day: I don't think I really have one. I usually eat a bowl of cereal and get on the computer to check blogs, email, and Facebook.

F-Favorite color: Purple; has been ever since I was a little girl.

G-Gold or silver: Silver. I used to wear gold jewelry in high school, but not since.

H-Height: 5'6"

I-Instruments you play: None, unless you count the recorder. Ha! I learned to play that in middle school and had to do it again in a college elementary music course and can still play a few things. 

J-Job title: Stay-at-home-mommy!

K-Kids: B-Nugget

L-Live: Mystic, CT - home of Mystic Pizza!

M-Mom's name: Marilyn

N-Nickname: Rach, Rachie, Cougie

O-Overnight hospital stay: Only after giving birth to Brennan.

P-Pet Peeve: People who are late...I think I have fewer pet peeves now that I have a baby and I am lazier than before. :)

Q-Quote from a movie: "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." (I couldn't think of anything else.)

R-Righty or lefty: Righty

S-Sibling(s): a younger sister, Lauren and an older half-sis, Hollie

T-Time you wake up: When Brennan wakes up; usually between 7-8.

U-Underwear: Not really picky, but feel I'm too old for thongs. 

V-Veggies you dislike: Peas, cauliflower, and a bunch of others. 

W-What makes you run late: Having a kiddo definitely makes it harder to get places on time.

X-X-rays you've had: Only ones at the dentist.

Y-Yummy food you make: Probably my current fav is Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole.

Z-Zoo animal: A giraffe, of course!

Moblized!

Kyle and I are currently considering buying iPhones. Any thoughts on the purchase?

I know tons of my friends have them and most of the ones who don't have some sort of smart phone. Many of them use their phones to read blogs.

As I was reading my blogs today, I saw this post from Mom Tried It. It was asking if your blog is mobilized. A blog that is mobilized will show a condensed version on mobile devices. Mom Tried It said this about mobilizing: No need to zoom in.  No long loading time because of sidebar buttons or widgets.  You can still makes comments and read them.  Your site, just simplified.  You click on the arrow next to the post title to read the entire post.  Easy.


And it really was easy! I started to follow her steps:

If you are on Blogger, here is what you do.

• Go to the Beta Dashboard of Blogger Draft, http://draft.blogger.com/
• “Settings” Tab
• “Email & Mobile” Tab
• The very first section is “Mobile Template”.  Click the Yes button. 
• Save the settings at the very bottom.

However, as soon as I got to my dashboard, a screen came up talking about mobilizing, so I just clicked right on that. I clicked "Yes" and previewed what it would like on mobile devices and it was done!

So if you're reading this on your phone, let me know what you think!

The Versatile Blogger

Like many people, I originally started my blog for my friends and family back home. Kyle and I got married on July 8, 2006 and the very next day drove 14.5 hours to Groton, CT so he could start SOBC with the Navy. Being that far away from home meant (and still means) we can't see our family nearly as much as we would like to, so I started the blog as a way to keep them up-do-date.

Fast forward to now and I guess you could say I am addicted. I try to keep my blog pretty up-to-date and have been doing a much better job of it since Brennan was born. But I am certainly addicted to reading blogs. Some are really sad, yet inspirational. Some are uplifting. Some are about fun crafts and activities to do with your kids. Some are just about families. Kyle doesn't understand why I like reading about these people I don't even know (in real life, because I do kinda of feel like I do know them). I can't really explain it either, I just like it.

Anyways...one of my best friends just recently started a blog. Laura, over at Storybook Reality, blogs about life, religion, cooking, and her new handsome son. She was kind enough to award me with a little blogger award.


To accept this award one must:
* link back to the person who gave you the award
*share 7 things about yourself
*pass it along to other blogs you enjoy (it said 15 but i say do what you want!)
*make sure you tell your awardees about the award so they can repost!

Let's see seven {extremely random} things about me....
1. I don't really like hot drinks. People are always talking about their favorite hot drinks during this time of the year and I just really don't think drinks should be hot. I know I'm strange!

2. I have a fear of stairs. I do not like to walk up or down stairs without holding onto the railing. I have really poor balance and I'm extremely afraid I am going to fall down. I HATE bleachers for the same reason.

3. My husband is working late tonight, so right now the baby is taking a little cat nap before bed and I have a frozen pizza in the oven.

4. A new house is being built right next door to us and it seems to be going quickly, but I am ready for it to be done. It is loud (although Brennan seems to be able to sleep through the noise fine) and the work they are doing makes our house shake. I hope we get some really nice neighbors though!

5. I took a long nap today while Brennan napped (shh don't tell anyone).

6. I kind of want to get my hair cut, but it is getting colder, so I'm not sure if this is the time to do it.

7. One of my friends had this "This brand new week is a blessing from God- what are you going to do to glorify Him with it?" posted as her status on Facebook today and I like it.

So now I need to pass the away along to some other bloggy friends. I do read some pretty "famous" blogs, but I wanted to give the award to some of my friends in real life who have great blogs. Hope you enjoy!

The Hoover Family

Notable Music Studio

One Mama's Madness

Snyder Stories

Nurse in Training

That's How I Roll!

I apologize if every single person reading this already knows about this, but I just in case some of you don't, I thought I'd share.

Do you stalk follow several blogs?

Do you have tons of blogs on your blog roll?

Do you go to your blog and check your blog roll to see who has updated their blogs?

If that's how you've been reading your favorite blogs, I think it's time for a change! When you read blogs using your own blog roll, you have to click on the link, that new window opens up, you read the blog, then must close that window to go back to your blog and click the next link.

It isn't difficult, but I learned a little while ago that is also isn't the most efficient way to read blogs.

If you aren't using it already, I highly recommend using Google Reader! It takes a little time to set it up, but I really think it is worth it.

Google Reader allows you to read blogs without visiting their site directly.

(Side note: If you "follow" your favorite blogs through Blogger, this is even easier. When you first log-in Blogger, the screen shows the blogs you follow and there is a link that says "read in Google Reader". Click that and if you log-in using your Google account, you can already read them there.)

Go to reader.google.com and get started today!

Sign in with your regular Google account (or create one). When you log-in, there will be a button in the upper left-hand corner that says, "Add a subscription". You have to click there and add the web addresses (one at a time) of your favorite blogs. I did this by clicking on the blogs on my blog roll and copying and pasting the addresses. Maybe there is a faster way to do it, but I don't know of one yet.

By adding your blogs to Google Reader, you can read all your blogs in one place. You log-in and it shows you the people who have updated their blogs. The blogs appear right in the same window currently open. As you read the blog, it becomes a "read" item instead of an "unread" one.

There are a few downfalls to it that I have found.

• The blogs aren't as pretty because the backgrounds don't show up.
• Some blogs will only show you a preview of their post on Google Reader and you still have to click on the blog name at the top of the window and go to that blog, but that doesn't happen very often.
• Some blog pictures/videos won't appear in Google Reader.
• You will have to go to the blog to leave a comment.

The other nice thing is that you can easily update your blog roll on your blog by importing your Google Reader contacts. Sometimes I will come across new blogs I would like to add to my list. I find that I just add those blogs as a new subscription on Google Reader, then occasionally go to my blog to update my blog roll the way I used to, and choose the "Import from Google Reader" option. This will add any new blogs I have subscribed to using Google Reader. That way my blog roll still stays updated for anyone who looks at it.

Okay, so maybe that is as clear as mud! I hope you try it if you aren't using it already.