Promote Your Blog: Day 3 of #31dbbb

Day 3's assignment is to "promote your blog." Promoting my blog is something I see as based on opportunity...I can't just be like "OK! I'ma promote a post today!" It has to happen naturally. Like if someone posts something incredibly similar to a thing I just wrote, I might link them over. Also, I comment on other blogs a lot, in the hopes that people might click over to me.

All that to say, there isn't really a specific post I can write to meet today's assignment.

HOWEVER.

My organization tendencies demand that I have a post for every day so when people click the label "#31dbbb," they will see 31 posts in numerical order.

ALSO.

I can only assume that other bloggers participating in #31dbbb have had a similar problem. (That is, the problem of not being able to promote themselves in one day. Probably not everyone is as bothered by organization as I am, so not having a post today may or may not be a problem.) So, in order to solve the organization problem for me and the promotion problem for them, I intend to dedicate today's post to promoting the blogs of others!! YAY! (Disclaimer: These are in the order of the alphabet, not favoritism. Tried to do favorites, but I really can't choose!)



First and foremost, Becky Lewis. This incredible woman has spent the last year traveling all over the world to preach the gospel. Her love for The Lord and heart for ministry are written between the lines of every word on this blog. Her stories are phenomenally beautiful and inspiring. I'd encourage you to go start at the beginning and read it like a book. It's worth it.

From Novels to Board Books gets me laughing every time. I thoroughly enjoy every funny anecdote and beautiful story. I especially love that she's a reader like me! She posts about books all the time, and I love it. Can't get enough. The first time I visited her page, I spent like 20 minutes looking at all the books in the header photo, trying to figure out which ones I'd read. (Most of them.) Clearly, we are soul-mates and meant to be BFFs.

I cannot get over the title "I Still Hate Pickles." Never fails to make me smile. Her witty style and wonderful voice make all of her posts, whether funny or serious, thoroughly enjoyable. Plus, she's even commented on some of my posts which totally made my day! By the way, Kirstin, if you happen to be reading this, what is the inspiration for that title anyway? You just have always hated pickles? Or is there a story behind that?

Ice Scream Mama is just all around hilarious. My favorite post by her also happens to, in my opinion, explain her personality better than any other. At least it explains her personality the way I see it. (Go check it out! It's so fun.) Have y'all ever watched Bunheads? Y'know Boo (my favorite character)? Y'know her mom (my second favorite character)? This woman reminds me SO MUCH of her! Just the way she thinks and the way she writes...so fun.

Where do I even start talking about Life With Greyson + Parker? Her writing about her kids with "super powers" is fascinating to me. I think her strongest point is her photography, though the writing is excellent as well. The beautiful pictures and stories have made m fall in love with her two wonderful children. God Bless her and her wonderful family.

You have probably all heard of Momastery, since she's like one of the most famous bloggers ever. She even has a book. And she tours. But I like her, so I'm giving her a shout-out anyway. Her funny posts get me laughing out loud, and the serious ones get me thinking hard, whether or not I agree with them. I agree about half of the time...and that's part of what I like about her! We differ on some things, we agree on others, so either way, it'll get me thinking. That's what I enjoy about her blog.

Last but most certainly NOT least, Victoria Elizabeth Barnes. Her obsession with CraigsList and her tendency to buy junk she doesn't need is thoroughly relate-able as well has hilariously amusing. I am in the process of going through the archives to read her entire blog. That's how much I love it. And y'all, that's true love.

Thank you for your time, and remember to promote your own blog or someone else's today!

What I'm Watching / Enjoying

Kirstin at I Still Hate Pickles shared some videos she and her kids have enjoyed, and asked what her readers have been watching. I just couldn't resist sharing this little gem:



YOU'RE WELCOME.

While sharing this with my mom, I noticed another, similar gem in the sidebar. Indian Thriller. What...



I don't even know where to start.

KILLAH! KILLAH! KILLAH!

I know; it's the greatest thing you've ever seen. No, don't thank me. It's no trouble. Really.

But actually, I took "what have you been watching?" to mean basically, "what have you been enjoying?" So now that I've listed videos, some memes I've been enjoying.

Well, that escalated quickly!

Examples...

Ain't nobody got time fo dat!

Examples...

And things I've been reading:

Victoria Elizabeth Barnes and her mirror

Memorable quotes...

"I have a totally ill-advised fondness for anyone named Rocky."

"Is there any description [of a mirror] that could possibly be more appealing to me than something that looks like a KINGDOM?"

From Novels to Board Books and her debate on what to reveal

Memorable quotes...

"One friend suggested I post pictures but blur his face. Another advised me to wield the black bar, like the magazines do for the fashion nightmares they spot on the streets. Both would make him look like a criminal. (And that’s every mother’s worst fear.)"

"I use my cats’ names for some magazine subscriptions. Seamus (yes, that’s his real name) receives credit cards offers in the mail. And his offers are better mine."

Ice Cream Mama and her driving difficulties

Memorable quotes...

"I am ordering myself a peanut butter and cappuccino covered in chocolate crunchies. Neither my five or eight year-old want anything. Really?"

"'Mommy ran over a parking lot!'"

So that's what I've been watchin / enjoying. Hope you enjoyed it too.

Whovians Annonymous

This morning, while chilling on the sofa, blog surfing and listening to Ed Sheeran (pretty much the best combo ever), I came across this post, and whoa..it's like she wrote my first post, only better. So blogging is my "thing." What's your thing?

Another thing I came across, something that happens to me a little bit too often....this conversation:

"Whoa, said my friend as she read Sammer's comment, "this guy's, like, into it!" I sat there and dreaded the inevitable point of her reading my comment, probably twice the length of his. My mom came over to see what we were talking about..."Oh, honey," she said condescendingly piteously gently and sympathetically, "I don't even have to read what you typed. The fact that you're in this conversation means we need to stage an intervention. It's OK, we're here for you! Admitting you have a problem is the first step." Turning to my friend, "Quick. I'll distract her, you call people."

If only she had seen the later addition to the conversation...because yes, it continued. My next comment? In response to this,

I wrote this:

Yep. I'm a nerd.

Later that afternoon, I went shopping with another friend. We spotted an enourmous Half Price Books store, so of course we ended up going in "just to look around..." and not spend $40.... A couple of my finds:

Careful with your headdesk there, don't hurt yourself! Yeah. These are things. These are MY things, gosh-darn-it, and I am PROUD. My mother, however, is not.

"You have low expectations for these, right?"

"Well, someone told me this series was actually pretty good. And this other one is like a choose-your-own-ending thing."

*tries to suppress uproarious laughter, and fails so bad I think her drink came out her nose*

"A Doctor Who choose-your-own-ending? That's like-- I can't even think of a comparison. But I will. I'll text it to you later. Because books based on TV shows are always bad! And choose-your-own-ending's are bad too!! It's like-- like-- It's like a veggie-burger on a wheat-free bun!!!"

Gotta admit...that was pretty funny. And not far from accurate. Here are some gems from the book:

Of course, my expectations were definitely low on that one. But I'm hoping the other one won't be simply awful! I didn't get this for the literature (which is nonexistent) anyway, I just thought it'd be fun. And it was! I'm planning to go back and try alternate endings as soon as I finish writing! YAY!

Something to look forward to, right? I'm not weird! There's nothing wrong with me. Nothing to be concerned about. I AM NOT AN ANIMAL.

Once more, with feeling!

Last night, I spent like an hour writing seven paragraphs of blog on my iPad. Then I tabbed over to "photos," editing faces out of a pic so I could post it for all you creepers out there to see. But apparently, tabs on a tablet are not the same as tabs on a laptop.

I lost every. last. word. NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

I can't exactly tell you why I feel so incredibly sad about this, since I had questioned seriously whether my seven-paragraph post was even a thing. I guess it was, because I miss it much. In fact, I miss it enough to attempt to try again. So here we go! Once more, with feeling!

Mmk. Everyone in the world went to camp this week. I mean, all my friends. Well, all my church friends. Or...most of my church friends. Y'know, I think accuracy is overrated. I'll just leave it at EVERY HUMAN BEING ON EARTH except me went to camp this week. I was expecting to feel bored the entire week with all my friends gone. Fortunately, this week so far has turned out much more fun than I thought it would!

Monday, my classmates and I (in a dual-credit class at the local community college) (Well, dual credit for me. They're actually in college.) ditched the lab to eat junk food downstairs and chat about everything under the sun. And take silly pics for Instagram.

Yes, this is what I did when I tabbed over last night. Not worth it. Though, random side-note, my moms reaction to this photo: "Katie, all the friends you've made are beautiful. And you need to be careful about that. By comparison, you'll always look best next to ugly people." I'm not sure that I agree, though. When I see a group of attractive guys, if there's one average-looking guy in there, I don't really notice. I just see attractive people. Y'know? And if they're all ugly with one who's ok looking, it's like he just got down-graded and grouped in with the weirdos he hangs out with.

(Disclaimer: I promise I'm not a judgmental jerk, though it might seem so after reading the above paragraph...I just like to exaggerate for comic effect. As does my mother, who wasn't calling me ugly up there; she followed it up with a disclaimer similar to this one.)

Yesterday, we did almost the opposite...we stayed like an hour late in lab to help each other ace every assignment. And my friend in the middle up there (I'm on the right) tried to set me up with a handsome, foreign sounding guy. This game is always equally fun whether or not it succeeds (it didn't).

After arriving home from my lab, I played a couple games of Settlers of Catan with my mom and a friend. We love this game because it's like someone took Monopoly and fixed it! See, I don't know if you've noticed this about Monopoly, but about an hour into any given game, one player clearly has the win in the bag. Yet, you still keep playing for about an eternity and a half. Settlers doesn't end up that way! The win can turn around any minute, faster than you can say "Monopoly sucks." Also, even when your chance of winning has gone to never return, you can still keep busy in the game and have fun. You build roads, buy cards, pick on the winning players, etc. In Monopoly, the only thing left for you to do is slowly go bankrupt.

After receiving a total butt-whooping in two Catan games, I left for Starbucks with my book. See, reading at Starbucks is one of those things that I always enjoy once I'm there, but the thought never sounds appealing. I think a big reason could be the unfriendliness of our employees! Starbucks-peeps should act friendly, right?? Not true where I live. Plus, the parking lot is difficult to get into. So the steps from my house to Starbucks consist of me packing up four enormous books, lugging them into a cramped parking space, receiving coffee after some perfect service-without-a-smile, and then beginning the long, painful process of finding a place to sit. In addition to annoying employees, our Starbucks contains one or two tables too many, giving it a permanent feeling of overcrowded-ness, regardless of how many people sit there at any given time. Two corners consist of four big, comfy chairs. Usually, one chair from each corner remains occupied. Can I totally sit right down across from a complete stranger? Is that a thing? I feel the same conflict about the long table with twelve seats, which usually contains one person and one laptop. Hi, can I sit with you? Or are you really occupying a dozen seats right now? Anyway, I finally popped a squat across from someone in the big-comfy-chair area. And y'know what? Hipster-dude didn't care. I don't think he even noticed. And once I sat down for some reading/blogging, I really enjoyed myself! Mental note.

Of course, I didn't actually get any blogging done yesterday afternoon. I started with reading, and my nose got caught. I couldn't get it out in time to write. London by Edward Rutherfurd has me thoroughly enthralled! I can't recommend it with a clear conscience yet because I'm only 86-pages into the 829-page book, but I'll keep you posted! Maybe write a review when I finish.

And then, last night, I finally sat down to blog. Only I didn't have anything to say. So I read some archives from my mom's old blog, searching for inspiration. In one post, she mentioned that, though she rarely writes them, blogs about simple, daily life are her favorite to read. Is that real? Like, is that a thing? I sure hope so, 'cause I just wrote one, to the tune of seven (Holy cow, now it's NINE!) paragraphs. TWICE! I wrote a non-thing twice. And you've just read to the end! Congratulations! But seriously, what do you think? Is this a thing that I should continue writing? I mean, when I have something to say, I'll obviously say it. But when I don't should I do this? (By "do this," I mean what I just did, which is basically throw-up on the Internet. That's what I've done here.)

PS, I bought this. Your argument is invalid.