Rewarding my Commenter's; Additional updates

Aynaria 10 Comments

Snoopy-Celebrate-Little-Things

I really enjoy blogging. A few years ago, I took a break from my personal blog. I stayed away for almost two years, and only recently came back to it by creating this site. The past few years I focused on my niche sites, and although they did well. I really missed the blogging communities I was involved with. I enjoy interacting with others, and one of the ways I expressed that was through my personal blog.

One might ask if I enjoyed my old personal blog so much why did I stop writing? The reason was simple, my niche websites took off, and I found myself spending a lot of personal time looking after them. Monetarily, I honestly wasn’t expecting them to do as well as they did. I’m pretty unorthodox in my approach to online monetization. So no,  I don’t follow all the “SEO rules” for creating a successful site that’s main focus is online monetization.

If you’ve been visiting my virtual home for a little while you might have noticed a few changes I’ve made recently. I’m really enjoying them, so I thought I would share them with you too.

Amber Garner

 

  • Twitterlink Comments created by Andy Baily

    • If you’re a Twitter user you might enjoy this recent installation on Celebrate Life. For those not familiar with Twitter, is a social networking and microblogging service enabling users to interact with others using 140 characters or less. If you really what some is saying, why not add them to your Twitter list? You can also include your Twitter information here at Celebrate Life, your Twitter name will appear directly under appear URL information.

    By the way, say hello to Amber. She’s the unsuspecting model I used to show off the WordPress Twitter addon. If you get the chance, please stop by Amber Garner’s blog and say hello. She recently graduated college. Her expertise is in Advertising and Publicity.  Not only did Amber recently complete college, her website is fairly new too, having been created this past June.  Check out Amber’s take on Robert Frost’s popular poem, The Road not Taken. I enjoyed reading how this applied to her life. You can follow her tweets @amberlgarner and even subscribe to Amber’s RSS feed.

  • Keyword Luv by Stephen Cronin

    • I first saw it mentioned on Kim Castleberry’s website. I don’t know why I took so long to install this. Ok, I know why I didn’t install this. With my first personal blog I used to get a ton of spam. I always appreciated the legitimate comments I received, but I disliked when I stepped away from the internet for a while since my return was always greeted with spam linked with keywords upon my return. Uhm, yippee? Sure they all went into the spam folder, but I still disliked weeding through all that mess. I always made a habit to go through my spam in case. A legitimate comment somehow found its way there. Thankfully that rarely happened, but it didn’t stop me from checking.

    If you’re new to social media or simply want to keep up to date with what’s going on, stop by Kim’s site. She has a wealth of information located there. You’ll even find numerous Blogging tutorials too. Kim can be found on Twitter, just look for @AskKim. Snatch Kim’s latestet updates by subscribing to Kim’s RSS feed.

If you’re looking for other ways to reward your commenters check out these five community friendly WordPress Plugins.

Personal note…

I really appreciate people that spend time greeting their visitors, Amber and Kim take the time to respond to the comments left by their visitors. I’ve always liked seeing that since I know they’re reading what their visitor’s comments. At times it’s hard to respond to comments, so for those who do I really appreciate it. Thanks Amber and Kim, it’s appreciated.

WordPress Plugins acting whacky

Let me know how you like the WordPress Plug-ins. Keyword Luv, is my most recent addition. I installed it this morning. Tested it out and it seems to be working fine, however if you do run into any issues please drop me a line via my contact form.

Question: What are some of the ways you reward your vistors? Drop us a note in the comment section.

 

Buddy makes a lifestyle change; health and fitness

Aynaria 22 Comments

Witch stirrin pot; Calorie Counter

 

Recently, a friend asked whether I knew of any free online calorie counters. She’s decided to make a radical change to her life. Her reasoning was simple although she looked healthy she knew she wasn’t where she could be health wise.

I’ve got to admit; I was surprised when she told me the news. I’m not one to preach health and nutrition. You can turn people off if you’re constantly in their face about their eating habits and why they need to make a change, you know? I figure the best approach is to live by example.

I am excited that she’s finally making changes into her lifestyle. One of the biggest things holding my buddy back was time. Just like myself, she stays extremely busy and she didn’t feel she had the time to add exercise into her schedule.

However, when she sat down she realized that she could add it into her life she just needed to make changes to her personal time. Once she got that under control she was ready to make the move and shake up her lifestyle. I’m happy for that she’s making the change, and it will be nice to work out with her now and again too.

But back to calorie counters, I really don’t use calorie counters, I pretty much know the calories that are in the whole foods I consume. When I became interested in nutrition, I made a habit to look up everything just so I could take a peek at the foods nutritional value.

Over the years,  I’ve tested out a few of the online calorie counters available so I was able to point my buddy to some of the numerous that are available. I’ve listed a few below.

Free Online Calorie Counters

  • Whole Foods

    • This is definitely my favortie website, and a place I frequent when I’m unsure of a food or just want to clarify nutritional information. It tells you the calories associated with the food item and more imporantly it gives you detailed nutritional information, health benefits, and case studies about the food item. It’s a keeper. You’ll see me link to this site a lot on Celebrate Life.

  • New Calorie Counter

    • With this calore counter you enter a single food item. It will give you the nutritional information available.

  • Calories Count

    • I like the fact that you can add a number of food items you’ve eaten or are planning to eat throughout the day. It gives you a quick overview of the amount of calories you’re consuming.

  • Fit Day

    • If you want to keep tabs on your calories and fitness, FitDay offers both in one place. It’s free to join, you have access to a variety of tools such as the calorie counter, online diary, and forums. A few years ago, I used FitDay since a few people I trained wanted to take a peek at my fitness routine and the types of foods I consumed. If you don’t have a lot of support this might be a good place for you, since you can interact with others that are sharing your fitness or weight loss goals.

If your goal is to lose weight, it takes time. Please don’t get discouraged. It took time to put the weight on, and if you use the natural approach  (focused on changing your eating habits and adding exercise into your routine) shedding those unwanted pounds might take a while. Please try to remember this when you experience some challenging times. I will tell you that having support can make those tough times so much easier. Try to surround yourself with  your own cheerleaders  who’ll congratulate you during your triumphs and encourage you and be help you through your minor setbacks.

There are numerous online calorie/fitness websites available. I’ve only selected a handful. Check them out or search for one that works best for you.

Question: Are there any online calorie counters or fitness journals you use? If so let us know in the comment section.

 

 

Sunday bonding time; Cooking with my daughter

Aynaria 14 Comments

 

Black-Bean-Burger-vegetable-Fried-Rice.08.01.10.jpg

 

Black Bean burger w/vegetable fried rice

As a child, Sunday’s was a day reserved to elaborate meals. For breakfast we could expect to see foods like sausage, bacon, eggs, grits, biscuits, and gravy. My mom usually supplied some type of fresh fruit, and vegetables too. She made everything from scratch, and so our breakfast meals, just like lunches, and dinners were an elaborate affair.

Naturally, my mother prepared Sunday breakfast early, so there’d was plenty of time for all of us to get ready for church. Sunday dinner was usually already in the oven; The aroma of baked turkey, ham, or chicken could be smelled throughout the house along with some type of vegetable dish (usually greens or carrots.) Although our family always ate meals together, Sundays were special since it was our parents day to relax. My brother and I looked forward to Sunday, since it meant we had extra time with our parents.

A lot has changed since my childhood days…

Savory Lentil soup

Savory Lentil Soup

I became Vegetarian in 1992, and switched to a Vegan lifestyle shortly afterwards. I’m what you’d consider a whole food Vegan, which means I eat as close to the natural food source as possible. You won’t find too many processed food items in our household. They simply don’t have the flavor and wholesome goodness of the abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit that are available.

 

Oven roasted vegetables

Oven roasted vegetables

Sundays are still a special day in our home. My seven year old daughter loves to cook, and I let her help me prepare a few of our meals. Even though I’m not making the traditional meals from childhood Sundays are still special for myself and my daughter, since I  let her share in the cooking experience. She also gets to choose some of her favorite foods. Makes sense, since she’s helping prepare them, right? It’s a great time for us to chat about food, nutrition, and whatever else crosses her mind.

The majority of my meals aren’t elaborate (even though I do love cooking) but they are still nutritious, simple, and delicious, and I prepare our meals and have them on the table withing twenty minutes. I love color, so you’ll see me picking a lot of bright and colorful vegetables and fruits in the meals I prepare.

We’re fortunate to have a garden bursting with produce, and so we’re always have a steady supply of fresh vegetables and fruits. Currently we’re getting a lot of eggplants, green onions, tomatoes, collards, kale, cucumbers, squash, blackberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, and figs. It won’t be too long before it’s time to pick the corn, sunflower seeds, grapes, and a few other vegetables that I cannot think of at the moment.

Today my daughter and I are taking it easy. Our meals were prepared yesterday, and so after arriving home from church we needed only to heat our meal. How’s that for convenience?  What was on our vegan menu? Black Bean burgers, vegetable fried rice, savory lentil soup, oven roasted vegetables, with green smoothies and freshly prepared fruit pudding were the choices available. Naturally, we didn’t eat all of that, but the option was there.

Question: How was your day? However, you spent your Sunday, I’m hoping you and your family is have a sparkling day!

 

 

 

 

Lost library book and Ebook readers…

Aynaria 25 Comments

books.07.31.10.jpgI should have known this was going to happen, somehow in the midst of my cleaning I misplaced a library book. I have no clue where it could be, I searched all of my bookshelves, still nothing!

I remember having the book, I’m betting I set it down because I got distracted by something else. I eventually know I’ll stumble upon it, and I’m betting it will be in an odd place. The thing is, I don’t lose things often, so this is really driving me nuts, bah! Gaah!!!

Ebook readers are something I’ve been considering for several months. If I lost that then I’d be in trouble, but I haven’t lost an eletronic device yet.

If you asked me, a few years ago would I purchase an Ebook reader. The answer would have been NO! I want to hold a physical copy of a book in my hands, dang it! However, since I’ve been focusing on minimizing the amount of things I do have I’ve been giving it some serious thought. It simply makes sense. Will I miss my physical books? Yes, but I think I’ll get over it.  When I think of it, I already do a lot of reading on my MacBook Pro, for my clients and on personal time too. So what’s the big deal if I’m reading a book using an electronic device? Hmmm….

An added bonus is that I can also borrow Ebooks from the library. Even the library where I borrow my books, Baltimore County Public Library is offering this feature. How cool is that? Instead of having to physically go to the library I can download the book from my libraries website. When the book is due, it expires off my device.

Amazon-Kindle.07.31.10.jpg

Amazon’s Kindle

I’m thinking I’ll purchase an Ebook reader near (or perhaps a little after the Christmas season.) I’ve tried Amazon’s Kindle. I played with it for a few weeks, and even wrote a review about it on a technology website. Although it did everything it was supposed to do (you know serve as an ebook) I wished it did more. Also, I didn’t like how it looked. Yeah… silly (I know) but there you have it.

iPad-iBook.07.31.10.png

Apple’s iPad

I have been looking at the Apple iPad. With the iPad, I’ll be able to read any ebook available. I do like its looks, and more importantly, I can do more with it too. My daughter is involved in a lot of after-school activities. Mommy is there with her, usually with a book or my MacBook Pro (if I’m working on an urgent project for a client) in tow. It’s definitely not a “ohh shiny” purchase since there are numerous flashy things I do without. When I finally do make the purchase you won’t hear me complaining that the iPad doesn’t work just like a book.

Question: What do you think about the Ebook readers?

Upcoming post; Exercises you can do at home

Aynaria 16 Comments

In the post Getting motivated, What’s your inspiration? I mentioned that you don’t have to go to a gym to good workout. You can get just as good of a workout at home.

exercise-geek.07.29.10.png

Fit Gamer

This above cartoon made me laugh out loud. I titled it “Fit Gamer.” A few of my real life buddies fall into this category. They love video games, so do I. (I just don’t get to play them too often.) Anyway a few of them, aren’t as enthused about exercise like myself, however, they do like the benefits that come along with exercise. To make their workouts more entertaining they have managed to successfully make connections to games. I think they reward each other with in-game items too. It keeps them motivated. I discovered this cartoon earlier today, and naturally I sent it to them.

Yesterday was extremely busy, I had hopes of squeezing in a gym workout, but that wasn’t in the cards and so I worked out at home. I did a combination of cardio exercises and free weight activity. My heart rate increased, and the sweat was flowing, so yes yesterday was a great fitness day. I enjoy listening to music while working out, so I had my iPod on and listened to my “workout music”.

I received a few emails from people, via the Celebrate Life contact form, asking me about the different workouts that can be done at home. Although I had been working on posts that covered home fitness workouts, I had put them aside. However, because of the recent emails. I’ll be working on completing one of those articles by the end of this week.

Question: Leg raises, squat jumps, V situps, and walking lunges are a few of the exercises I do at home. What are some of your favorite workout at home exercises?

Photosource: xkcd

Getting motivated; What's your inspiration?

Aynaria 20 Comments

Flo-Jo.07.28.10.jpgThis week I decided to take a break from my normal gym fitness routine. Which are free weights, with a healthy side of cardiovascular activity. I decided to reverse my routine. Which means I’m doing a heck of a lot of cardio with a side order of free weights. I really enjoy mixing up my gym workout routines, they get boring to me if I’m doing the same thing constantly. I thrive on variety.

Each day this week, I’ve decided to devote around forty-five minutes to an hour of intense cardio routine. Yesterday I landed on the cross trainer, and although I usually just set the ramp on the highest incline (20) and just let it stay there. This time was different, I manually switched between 20 and nine, doing the same with the resistance. Vacillating between one and ten, I ran full speed the entire time. Running top speed is something I always do, but it was nice to add variety to my normal cross trainer workout. I’m definitely feeling a slight soreness in my leg muscles today. I did some things the same such as swapping between running backwards and forwards, and not holding onto the sides. I never hold onto the sides.

The beauty of exercise is that you don’t need to be in the gym to get a good workout. You can exercise at home even if you don’t have workout equipment or fitness tapes. Yeah, yeah I got bold happy there, but I did it for emphasis, mkay? At times, I do get annoyed when people whine about not being able to exercise because they don’t have a gym membership, or they don’t have fitness equipment at home. Please note I never voice this out loud to folks, it’s just something that plays through my head occasionally. I will offer tips on exercises they can do at home.

In my early twenties, I did exactly that (worked out in my home with no gym equipment.) I was living downtown in a small studio apartment. I hadn’t been out of college that long, and a gym membership wasn’t in my budget. I did pick up a few books from the library that showed me the types of exercises I could do at home, all that was required of me was too simply… do them! Imagine that? Motivation can be tough; yeah I know. I’ve been there before, and will be there again in some aspects of my life but you know what, my goals aren’t going to get accomplished sitting on the sidelines of life waiting for someone to do them for me. No, I need to get off my lazy butt, take the initiative, and get out and actively work at achieving my goals.

Do I need motivation to workout? No, not really I haven’t encountered that in years. But, at times I do need motivation in others aspects of my life (more on that later.) Exercise is a habit. Simple as that. It’s been ingrained in my life since I was a young child. In those days, my form of exercise was some type of play. I still do that, since physical play can be a workout. It’s something I’ve instilled in my seven-year old daughter too.

Technology has grown amazingly since I was a kid. People can spend hours, if the let it, glued to a seat with very little physical activity. I don’t let that happen. Those early and extremely active childhood days, carried over into adulthood too and so even if I’m required to be stationary for x amount of hours, you’ll still see me getting up to take breaks simply to move around. I don’t feel right when I don’t workout. You know something health-wise I don’t feel as great either, sitting on the “I’ll workout tomorrow sidelines” while I watch others “just do it” when it comes to physical activity isn’t going to happen for myself. Just remember folks, exercise is only part of it. You need to make healthy food choices too and take care of your mental health also. It’s all connected, surround yourself with positive folks, avoid the negative drama, you don’t need it.

Ok back to motivation…

There are times I do need motivation in other areas…

  • Decluttering my living space.
  • Remembering to actually list the recipe ingredients as I prepare a meal.

    • I create my own recipes; I’m used to not writing down the exact measurements.

  • Working on alternate streams of income.

    • I’m a single mom who works from home. Working from home can take motivation. It’s not for everyone. The great news about working from home is that I can work from anywhere? You want to know the bad news? I can work from anywhere, yes that includes the few vacations I take too.

    median longterm unemployment.07.28.10.png

    Checking out the news can be sobering, unemployment hasn’t been this high, in the United States, in several years. So yes, now it means I’m cutting into my “me time” (not to be confused with time I spend with my daughter) but time that I could be reading, gaming, etc., Some of that has been whittled down as I focus on some of my goals and turning some of those dreams into a reality. I believe I’ve set well thought out goals for myself (followed up with a few mentors/friends that will be brutally honest with me.) I know I’ll be able to accomplish them, in time. I simply have to stay motivated. I set positive mental images in my mind of the things I want to accomplish and steadily work on attaining them, if I stumble. I pick myself up and keep moving forward. It’s the only way I’ll attain the goals I want. Sticking my head in the sand aka putting things off won’t help me since my tasks will still be waiting when I comeback to reality. Since that’s the case, it’s important that I stay focused and keep working on the steps needed to achieve my goals.

In my local gym, I have a few visual sources of inspiration. Two folks that really stand out in my mind. The first is an elderly woman that has cerebral palsy, she uses a walker to help her get around (the walker has gotten smaller over the years) but you know what, she’s still there working out. She’s improved a lot, and she doesn’t mind asking for help if things get a little complicated for her. Guess what, people are more than happy to assist her if/when it’s needed. (I’ve helped few times myself.) She doesn’t ask a lot. The second source of inspiration is a man confined to a wheelchair. I first saw him at the gym about three years ago, I looked at him and thought, I really cannot be whining about how things are “just too hard,” can I? 😉

Speaking of motivation; Bloggers worth reading…

I love being around inspirational folk, we might not be following the same path but I can still be inspired by what they’re doing and keep that as motivation in my own mind when things get challenging. When I think about bloggers there are two that really stand out in my mind.

  1. Waist Whittling Wordsmith

    2. The WaistWhittler is inspiring; she’s taking control of her health and fitness too. Putting yourself out there isn’t always easy, but it can be a motivational tool to keep you honest. I’ve enjoyed watching her progress as she actively works at attaining her goals. She’s a talented writer. I really enjoy reading what she has to say, Check out The Doers, the Dreamers and Me and I’m a Turtle and Goals for the week…

  2. MonkeyBird

    3. I met Maira via a Wordless Wednesday post, as customary I stop by anyone who leaves a comment on my blogs. I find a post that I enjoy and leave a comment. Just like the Waist Whittler, I really didn’t have too look long, since I found numerous posts that I liked. I enjoy how she weaves tidbits of her daily life onto her blog. My Wolf (my Lupus story) and Sorry Lupus You Will Have To Wait were inspirational she was sharing personal aspects of her life with the public (that’s not always easy.)

Many thanks to the both of you, and the many others within my life who continually inspire me to do my best, may we all achieve the goals we’ve set for ourselves.


Florence Griffith Joyner aka Flo Jo; Gone but not forgotten…

PhotoSource: US Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Declutter: Light at the end of the tunnel

Aynaria 7 Comments

Whew… it’s been busy around these parts. Yesterday I tackled the laundry, three loads later and I was finally completed. Since it was, a hot day outside the clothes was able to hang outside to dry. I love the smell of clothes that have been dried on the line. We live in a rural area, so we really don’t have to deal with too much smog, and other odors that can make your line dried clothes smell, well… funky.

The bad part of being busy with the day to day housecleaning, keeping up with my clients (I’m a business owner who works from home), and just hanging out with my daughter meant that I’ve had to push a few “me time” online projects on hold. Like posting here at I’m Celebrate Life, or finally publishing one of my recipes for Black Bean Burgers, trust me, I’ll it them done, just not as soon as I was hoping.

I’m really happy with how things are shaping up with my bedroom. Last week, I tossed clothes in heavy-duty bags and piled them neatly in one corner of my bedroom. This past weekend, I went through the years of clothing I’ve accumulated and put many in my “give away” pile. Some of these outfits I’ve had for twenty years, I do think it’s kind of cool that I can still wear the clothes that I wore at eighteen (size four) but come on now… time to get rid of them! Since I always took care of my belongings (even the items that are twenty years old) they still look nice. You want to know something else? Those clothes never go out of style! I kept around four of my older pieces since I still wear them. Anyway, I hope all the items I’ve gathered find some great new homes.

Children can share too…

My daughter gathered up a several of her toys and told me to give them to children that really needed them. “Mommy, she said, “I know some children really don’t have a lot of toys to play with, I would like to share some of what I have with them. Can you see that they get them?” My reply, “I sure can!” It’s important to teach my daughter to be appreciative of what she does have, and don’t take it for granted. One of the ways I show her the importance is leading by example. I enjoy helping others and actively volunteer for local human and animal organizations.