A drive through Southern Illinois!

I've made no bones about telling people for years that our grand plan for retirement is to head south.  South as in likely Florida where the sun shines most all the time and there's a plethora of golf courses to accommodate my husband's golfing obsession.

But as I traveled across rural Southern Illinois into Indiana yesterday for a visit to the city I grew up in, I realized there's parts of the Midwestern landscape that I will miss seeing when we move someday.

I thought for today, I'd just take you along for a pictorial ride through Southern Illinois.

Starting off point...Edwardsville, Illinois and one of its water towers.  In fact, water towers with city names' on them are pretty common in the Midwest.

Once you get on Interstate 64 heading east, the scenery is mainly farms and flat land.

 

                                                          LOTS of farms and flat land!

But it's always sad to see when the land floods.  And this year we've had more than our share of rain!

 It really is a peaceful drive though when you get off the interstate and take the state routes.

 Of course, it always helps to have a travel buddy! 

                                                         Although she'd rather make short trips around town where she can put her head out the window ;)

At last we make it home as the sun is setting!

Yes, Southern Illinois is pretty, but as my fortune cookie at lunch reminded me.....Florida is right around the corner!

Seeing my hometown through a different lens

Today I took off at dawn to make a round trip excursion to the city in Indiana that I grew up in.  I was making the trip to pick up some mementos that my mother wanted to give to my sister and me because she's sold her Indiana home to move permanently to her Florida home.

Seeing my mother's home nearly empty in preparation for leaving our hometown, I couldn't help but think about my own escape 26 years ago.  Well, that's what I thought it was....an escape from the "small town" of Evansville, Indiana.

I was a college graduate, just married and I was ready to get the heck out of this small town, go to the big city and really experience life.

I laughed today as I thought about how small Evansville seemed to me back then because Evansville is anything but a small town.  It is the third largest city in the state of Indiana - behind only Indianapolis and Gary.

It has a little over 110,000 people who live in the actual city and over 350,000 people live in its metropolitan area.

It has five public high schools, two private catholic schools and at least two other very large public high schools just outside of the city/county limits.  It also boasts a state university (the University of Southern Indiana) and a private college (University of Evansville).

In comparison, the "city" I live in now has about 25,000 residents whose children feed into ONE high school.  There's about 700,000 people who live within the entire metro-east area of St. Louis.  Metro-east is an area that includes all the small cities and towns located on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River across from St. Louis, Missouri.

So Evansville is roughly half the size of metro-east St. Louis.  Yet, at the tender age of 21, I felt like Evansville was too small and suffocating me.  That seems so comical to me now.

Ironically our daughter, who is now 23, feels that St. Louis - not living in Metro East - is too small for her, and she would like to move to Dallas! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?

I have to wonder though....at this rate, will my great grand children be able to find a city in the world that is big enough for them?!

Five Fabulous Friday Finds

I thought that on Friday's during WordCount's 2013 Blogathon (except when I'm on vacation), I'd pass around the love and highlight five blogs from blogathon participants that I found interesting during the week.

First is Susan Wilson's blog, Ripple Spillers. Susan wrote a humorous blog this week during the theme day's "What's your favorite apps," but she spun it a little differently and wrote about five apps she wish someone would invent.  I got a kick out of it, and I think you will too!

I originally clicked on Jane Rollin's link to her blog "Get the Health Care You Deserve" because she posted about migraine headaches which I get occasionally.  I missed the June 5 webinar she was highlighting in her blog, but I also read her June 5 post about food-drug interactions - a subject that I think is important whether you or your loved ones take medication.  Thanks for the info Jane!

I always love a contest so when I read Van Waffle's post on Facebook that he was having a contest, I had to check it out.  Waffle's blog "Speed River Journal" features a contest he's having until June 19.  All you need to do to enter is respond to a question.  Intriguing huh?

I had heard of Virtual Assistants (VA), but I must admit that I knew nothing about them until Jan Udlock became one and began blogging about the industry.  During the Blogathon, Jan plans to cover various topics about VAs, but she also blogs about social media.  Be sure to check out Jan's blog to learn more.

If you're an avid reader and enjoy the Young Adult genre, you must check out Katy Manck's Books Ya Love.  She reviews and recommends great books that are off the beaten path rather than on the bestseller list.

And...just a reminder that it's National Doughnut Day which means that many bakeries are giving away a free doughnut today.  Dunkin' Doughnuts is offering a free doughnut with any drink purchase.  I already got mine!!!  Now THAT's a fabulous way to start a Friday!

To post or not post - THAT is the question!

Here it is nearly 2:30 in the afternoon and I'm on my fourth blog post of the day.  Sounds like I'm really ahead of the game, doesn't it.  Sigh, if only that were the case. The truth is that I've written four blog posts that I don't think I want to post.  Indecision has struck yet again!

While some writers may struggle with writer's block, I have a problem that's much worse - indecision as to what to post.  I know, I know.  You're probably thinking, "What?  Seriously, just post something."  Believe me.  I've had that same conversation with myself, but the reality is that I'm indecisive about posting something that I may have "writer's posting remorse" about later.

Obviously the recent posts that I've written have a possible controversial tone to them which makes me question whether or not I should post them.  Part of me thinks, "Well hello, that's what blogging is all about."  But that little angel sitting on my other shoulder is saying, "Is this seriously a topic you want to post on a public forum?  One that the world can see." 

Part of my concern comes from something I learned about electronic media from a very interesting presentation I attended at a middle school here locally in April.  The school district was having guest speakers for its Celebrate Sober week of activities, and the U.S. District Attorney for our area spoke to the students telling them that he runs the area's cyber crime task force.  

He warned the students to be mindful of what they post online stating, "Once you put it on the internet, it truly is there forever.  You may delete it, delete it, delete it, but it is out there, and we can find it, and we do find it."

He emphasized to the students that what they say on the internet - on Twitter, Facebook, whatever - is basically the equivalent of posting it to the world and that he didn't know any employer who didn't do an internet check before hiring an employee to see what they have posted online.

Now, yes, of course, I knew that posting anything online is out there for the world to see for the most part, but I guess it really hit home hearing it put in those terms from a U.S. District Attorney.  Not that I intend to post anything that I think would EVER be criminal, but his comments about employers did make me stop and think.  

Am I posting anything that a future employer may consider too controversial?  Or does one of my posts stereotype me?  Am I setting myself up to be eliminated from future potential job opportunities because I state an opinion on my blog that may not be the same beliefs of a potential future employer?

So, that's what's been mulling around my brain today which has caused me to be completely stuck in indecision.  Perhaps my larger problem is that my blog focuses on "my views" other than a particular topic - like travel or entertainment - which I feel wouldn't create this dilemna, but until I figure out some specific passion to blog about, I'm pretty much stuck with this one so I need to figure this out.

Has anyone else had reservations in posting on their blogs?  Surely I'm not alone?

5 Apps amore!

 I have an iPhone and an iPad but both are Apple's smallest storage version of each which is why I'm very discerning about which and how many apps I download to my devices.  But there's a few I use all the time and simply adore  Here's my favorite five...well six...and all of these are available in both iOS and Android platforms.

Google Maps - Do I really have to elaborate on this one? It has guided me countless times to many destinations. And its traffic feature is priceless if you live in a metropolitan area or are visiting one.  To me this is a "must have" app!

Flashlight - If you're approaching 50 and you need to hold anything written at arm's length to read it, you'll appreciate why I love Flashlight.  I can't tell you how many times I've used the Flashlight app in a restaurant because there wasn't enough light to read the menu or the bill.  Or how about on those nights when you come home and realize you didn't leave the front porch light on?  Flashlight is there to make the world brighter!


Urban Spoon - Anyone who likes to explore eating at different restaurants will love this app.  I use this app every time we are out and looking for a new restaurant to give a try.   The beauty of Urban Spoon is that it rates restaurants from user reviews and ratings given. Search for a restaurant by name, browse restaurants close to your current location using the "nearby" feature, search by specific cuisine or if you're really adventurous, use the shake feature and the app brings up random restaurants.  My personal feeling is that if the restaurant has an 80% rating or higher, it's worth checking out.  Be sure to read the comments from viewers on the actual restaurant's Urban Spoon page because past customers often offer recommendations on menu items.


Scramble Free with Friends- If you haven't found this Zynga app yet, all I can say is "addictive." If you like the game board Scrabble, you'll love this too.  Play with your friends, a random opponent the game matches to your skill level, or play with one of your Facebook friends.  Be sure to use the power-ups because they will automatically regenerate. HINT: you can select the same power-up twice.  I use the free Freeze and then use one of my power-ups for an extra Freeze...sneaky, I know.  But I still rarely beat my sister.  She's so darn competitive!


Santafy Me - This one you may not have heard about since it was made by some very creative St. Louis developers, but it's purely, a silly, fun, free app that will produce lots of laughs at Christmas time.

Santafy Me allows you take a photo directly from the app or select a photo from you photo library and add silly Christmas themed objects to your photo.  The free options that come with the app include fun items like reindeer antlers, Santa beard, an elf hat, a Christmas present, a Rudolph nose and a Santa hat to name a few.  If you become addicted, bundles of other objects can be purchased for 99 cents each.

A St. Louis digital marketing company called Integrity made the Santafy Me app.  The folks at Integrity design websites and mobile apps but also specialize in traffic generation and social media strategy.  These guys (the owners are two males but gals work there too) are incredibly witty...just check out their website or blog and you'll see what I mean.  By the way, I highly recommend Integrity if you're looking to hire a digital marketing company.

App Gratis - I can't write about favorite apps without mentioning App Gratis.  This little gem features a new app every day and offers the app discounted to usually free or a minimal cost like 99 cents to $2 for that one day.  I have my App Gratis app set up to email me daily notifications of each day's app so that I can read about them and determine if I want to download one in iTunes to give it a try.  There's typically one app offered for iPhone and iPad each day. The App Gratis Android app was recently added to Google Play for Android users.

App Gratis had some kind of falling out with Apple back in April so if you don't already have this app on your iPhone, you won't find it in the iTunes store.  You'll need to visit App Gratis' website via your phone to check out the daily featured apps, but there's a link on the website to download the app if you're interested in it.  Otherwise just remember the name of the app and go to the iTunes store on your phone to search and download it.

 If you're curious about what happened between App Gratis and Apple, you can read App Gratis' version of the story on its blog.

Holy Cow! Don't underestimate that your blog CAN reach a huge audience!

You've had 6,700 views in 2012!!!  "Holy Cow" was all I could think when I read this in my WordPress 2012 Annual Report of TheRedFlufferNutter, another blog I started in 2011. How is that even possible? I only posted two new posts in 2012 and it has only 13 posts in total.

I began TheRedFlufferNutter after my first year, 2011, in WordCount's Blogathon.  I started it for two primary reasons: 

1. I was psyched to have just bought a car that I truly wanted rather than bought a car that fit our family's needs as I had done in the past.
2. I wanted to learn about Word Press

So I jumped into Word Press and began TheRedFlufferNutter posting about the performance and features of my 2012 Ford Focus. It was a new model in the U.S. at that time so I was learning about it and sharing my experiences.

I posted VERY sporadically - more during the first year of ownership.  This past year (2012) I only posted twice with new issues I was experiencing. TWICE!

I run my blogs through an email address that I don't check frequently because quite honestly I have four email accounts (one being for my REAL job) that I manage daily which requires an enormous amount of time. So you can imagine my surprise when I checked into my blog's email account in January and saw the following in my Word Press report:

Holy cow!! I couldn't even believe the amount of views - 6,700!!! To put that into perspective, I have only 4,775 total views on this blog which is my primary blog for blogathon that has been in existence a month longer than TheRedFluffterNutter.  

What I've surmised from this information is a few  things:

1. Brand names have a huge following-I think the Ford name is a big part of the draw
2. People are definitely out doing research online - there's no other reason for them to find this blog
3. iPod is apparently a hot key word

I had no idea I could reach this large of an audience from blogging about my car of all things. Just proof that the internet is a powerful communication tool! And something as simple as a blog about a car has enormous potential to reach people.

WordCount Blogathon Year Three - Here we go again!

When I saw that the 2013 Blogathon had been moved to June, my initial thought was, “Well, I won’t be participating this year.  I've got too much going on!”  But that’s my initial thought every year.

I first joined in the world of blogging when I more like, belly-flopped, into the Blogathon in 2011.  Completely by chance running across Michelle Rafter's WordCount blog and learning of the Blogathon, I literally made my first blog the week before the Blogathon began so that I could sign up and give it a try.  I struggled through all 30 days of posts that first year immersing every brain cell into learning how to use social media.  

I can’t begin to tell you how much I learned in 2011 which prompted me to jump right into the Blogathon in 2012  - even though my initial thoughts to year two were, “Are you nuts?  You’re remodeling two bathrooms AND going on vacation in May.”  But that didn’t stop me.  Nope.  I plowed ahead and posted all 30 days last year too.

This year we have vacation planned yet again during Blogathon 2013. In order to convince myself to push “submit” and sign up, I actually went through a "pro/con" list in my head.  The "con" list was pretty simple - making time for it.  The “pro” list was a bit longer:

1. I’m a news reporter by day where I have to remain completely unbiased.  At times my head feels like it will explode because I can’t write about my own thoughts on issues.  Therefore, I like having a blog as an avenue to express my opinions.  Whether or not I’ll do that, I don’t know, but I like knowing I have that outlet.
2. It’s a great place to learn – about technology, social media, and myself.  And you can never learn enough, I think.
3. It’s a great support system.  The people I’ve met through blogathon are incredible.
4.  It pushes me to “write short” which is important coming from a world where I’m encouraged to write long stories.

So, that’s my story.  I’ll be posting random ramblings here for the next 30 days.