Life's News

A Trip To Shipshewana Indiana

2009-05-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to go to is Shipshewana Indiana. We usually try to take the trip at least once or twice a year. I really enjoy the atmosphere, food, and the fun things to do in Shipshewana.

There are a few things we do every time we go.

Have a homemade pretzel at Jo Jo's pretzels.
The kids ride the carousel at the top of the Mercantile building.

A couple other favorites are the bulk food store, and Yoders. Both are great places to locate hard to find food and other items you don't see every day.

One of my favorite trips was a visit to a working Amish farm in a Shipshewana buggy tour. We saw how a working dairy farm was operated, and visited the farm's beautiful gardens, and the kids had fun checking out all the animals.

They also have an Amish-Mennonite museum, a water park, and some of the most delicious home cooked meals ever. I was just there a few weeks ago, but I'm already ready to go back again.

I've Been Missing In Action

2009-04-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've been missing in action at this blog for quite a while now. I'm going to try to start stopping by and updating this blog once in a while. I'm not promising anything real regular, but you know maybe more often than once a year.

I've been up to quite a bit since I've been here last, blogging and writing my heart out.

If you want more regular updates you can follow me at Twitter, check out my Squidoo profile, or friend me on Facebook.

I'll be back with more later!

Have You Tried Pandora Radio?

2007-10-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Pandora Radio. I actually discovered it almost a year ago when I was writing an article on internet radio stations. Pandora became the favorite of the internet radio stations I checked out, I ended up making the entire article about Pandora.

At Pandora just plug in the artist, or type of music you want to hear, and Pandora creates a custom play list based on your artist. It's a great way to hear new songs you normally wouldn't hear.

I enjoy listing to Pandora while I'm working. I'm posting about this today, because it is one of many websites listed in the Bzzagent Frogpond.

Visit Pandora Radio

Blog Talk Gossip

2007-09-23T19:18:00.001-07:00

I just joined a new Yahoo! group for bloggers, called Blog Top Gossip. The group is geared toward bloggers who would like to interact with other bloggers. I would like to say I've been a great participator, but I've been a much better lurker.

If you have a blogging question, or you're just not sure how to do something, just ask the group. Often someone else has had the same problem, and may be able to help you resolve your issue. I get the messages in digest form, and I really enjoy reading them. If you decide to check it out for yourself tell 'em Linette sent you!

Preschool Projects Writer

2007-09-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

I’m really excited to be the new Preschool Projects writer at PreschoolRock.com. One of my first articles is about Simple Card Clips. With the holidays coming up I thought this would be a fun family project. Check out the article and the rest of the site, if you have preschoolers, or if you’re still a preschooler at heart.

Check Your Google Page Rank

2007-09-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

I'm addicted to checking stats, so I thought I'd help feed other's stats checking addiction too by posting this here. If you have a website, blog or squidoo lens I bet you can't help but plug your URL in to check your page rank.


	PageRank Lookup Tool © SEO Chat™ URLs Separated by newline (100 max) Enter Captcha To Continue To prevent spamming, please enter in the numbers and letters in the box below Report Problem with Tool.

Summer Squidtern

2007-08-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

I've been interning for Squidoo this summer, and part of that internship is to keep a blog of the great lenses I find, so check out the Squidoo Fun Blog for cool lenses, and the latest happenings at and around Squidoo.

Here's the latest Squidhappenings:
If your looking for Squidoo lens ideas check out Fresh Squid for a daily list of topic ideas. If you make a lens of something on the list don't forget to submit it to the Plexo list for that day.

Squidoo's making a commercial, and we need your help. The Squidmercial will be a user generated video project, so check out the rules for submission at the Squidmercial Lens, submit your best lens, and claim your ten seconds of fame.

Check Out The Very Short List

2007-08-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

As I said in yesterdays post I'm a Bzzagent, for BzzAgent.com, as a Bzzagent I’ve recently had the opportunity to to check out a new website called the Very Short List.

Very short list will email you what they call a daily "gem." It's a daily email with a post about an interesting, but under discovered book, movie, or TV program. As a blogger I'm always looking for what may be up and coming, or interesting to my readers. I like to stay on top of what's happening in the entertainment industry. I think the daily posts will be interesting to read.

The New TV Guide

2007-08-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

I am a Bzzagent, for BzzAgent.com, as a Bzzagent I’ve recently had the opportunity to have a free subscription to the newly formatted TV Guide magazine. I have to say I was very impressed. I remember the old format, it had a few articles, and was mostly TV schedules. The new expanded version is full of great stories about the hottest shows, the latest premieres, and celebrity news.

The new larger format is easier to hold, and easier to read. If you still buy TV guide primarily for the TV schedule, it’s still in there, with more details about your favorite shows.

TV guides also recently revamped their website, TVGuide.com, with more scoops on celebrities, and the latest updates on what’s happening in the TV world. Check out their breaking news, spotlights, and get the latest TV show listings all online.

Don’t forget to check out the new TV Guide channel on your local cable station. They have some great new shows. I’m a huge American Idol fan so one of my favorite TV Guide channel shows is Idol Chat, with former American Idol, Kimberly Caldwell. Idol Chat should be back when American Idol returns this fall, keep an eye out for it.

If you’re looking for reality news (I’m a reality junkie, so I’m always looking for the latest news), check out Kimberly Caldwell’s other show Reality Chat. In Reality Chat Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez host a weekly talk show with all the latest Reality TV news.

TV Guide channel has their own new reality hit America’s Next Producer. Several want to be producers are putting their creative skills to the test, and one will win the ultimate producer prize package, with $100,000 cash, a production office in Hollywood, and a first look deal with TV Guide Network. Check out more information on America’s Next Producer here.

Missing Children

2007-07-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

I published this post in my Squidoo It All Blog, but I thought any exposure on this subject would be a bonus, so I'm posting it here too.

Lensmaster Writertiff runs Squidoo contests from time to time. She sets a time to start building your lens. You set up your lens, and try to be at the top of the heap at the end of the contest. The contests have had varying themes. The latest contest is for a super cause.

Tiffany asked lensmasters to set up a list on a missing child or children, here is the original post in her Social Marketing 101 Blog. Here are the lensmasters, and lenses in the challenge. Please take a look, you never know when the information may help a child you know, or if you may pass one of these children on the street.

Missing Child in Canada - 1 of 60,000 a
Year
Cherie Mahan
Missing Children In Ohio My lens
Help Find These Missing Children From Tennessee
Help Find 7- Year Old Leanna Susan Marie Warner
Aaron Michell Anderson
Utah Missing Children - Acacia Bishop
Help Children Who Don't Seem to Have a Prayer
What every parent needs to know about keeping your child safe! - My Fave, Sadiepal has put together an excellent resource here.

Leave a comment, or a rating while you’re visiting, and cheer the participants on in this noble cause!

Here are some other great Missing Children Lenses:
Missing Children in South Africa
Help Find 17-Year Old Missing Child Tan
Jing Chen

Great Forums and Networking Places

2007-06-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

I want to share some of my favorite forums, and networking spots with everyone. Many people who work from home crave some type of outside contact during the day. Message boards can be an excellent outlet for this. You can post a message about whatever your thoughts are at the moment, and reply to other peoples messages if you want to join their conversation. Here is a list of some of my favorite forums.

I have a hard time taking a break sometimes to join the conversation, but one way you can justify it is, add a link to your website, or blog in your signature (if you have one). Then you can say you are doing promotion every time you post! Most forums have a spot where you can add your signature, and most don't mind if you have links in your signature. As long as you are contributing to the conversation, and not spamming! You may want to check the forums policy if you are unsure if links are acceptable.

My favorite forums:

A Unique & Exclusive Forum Where Professional Bloggers Share Their Secrets!
**Mom Gadget is my favorite, I've learned quite a bit there, and everyone is super friendly!

Writing for Profits- Interesting info if you're a writer.

WAHM forum- A great place to start if you're looking for work at home info, or just getting started working from home.

WPLH (Work Place Like Home) Forum- You have to sign up to get access, not as much info as WAHM, but still full of info.

Do You Gather?

2007-06-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

If you don't you should. It's a great social networking site. A little overwhelming at first, but there is so much great stuff there. You could spend days checking it out, and still find more great stuff. It's like Myspace, but with more ways to interact, and you can earn points toward gift cards, or cash just for posting content, comments, photos, or interacting with others.

There are tons of great groups with more information to explore.

Gather -Keep informed on Gather.com! Content ranges from politics to cooking, and we earn Gather Points or cash for using the site! It's an excellent place for networking, and you can share some of your blogs, or websites in your profile, or write an article, post a photo, and link it back to your site. View my content here (I'm barkely):
barkely.gather.com

Social networking is a great way to meet new people and promote your sites, and get your name out there. Become an expert in your chosen topic, the go to person for more information.

Building networks and friends = building readers and fans.

Stop by and say hi, or send me a friend request, I love to meet new people.

I Squidoo, Do You?

2007-06-05T11:42:00.001-07:00

I love to Squidoo, check out some of my Squidoo lenses:
Are You Ready For Big Brother 8? - I am. I love Big Brother, even though every year I say I will never watch it again. I will be giving everyone the scoop this year, so check in for regular updates, video clips, and who's blogging about Big Brother.

Top 10 Julia Roberts Movies I love Julia Roberts, it was hard to narrow it down to ten, but check out the favorites.

Top 10 Animated Children’s Movies - Check out the Top 10 Children's movies of all time, with official websites, and video clips.

Do You Stumble?

2007-05-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

I love Stumbleupon, both for submitting my web content, and finding ideas for more content. I can Stumble for an hour and not even realize it, there are so many fascinating sites there.

Not familiar with Stumbleupon?
It's a great place to discover new sites that others think are good enough to submit. You can submit your own favorites, and check out everyone elses. It is a great place to see what is hot, and what is not. I start Stumbling, then it gets my brain rolling around in my head. I usually jot down several ideas while I'm Stumbling along.

Here's my Stumbleupon page. Stop by and say hi!

Here are some great things I found there today, posts by other bloggers:

How To Become a Genius- Are you a genius? If not find out how to become one here.

26 Internet Marketing How To’s for Every Level of Experience -This is so interesting, she talks about Stumbleupon in this entry, and Squidoo, I love Squidoo! She also talks about how to get started with Wordpress. This is an excellent resource for bloggers, I added it to my Affiliate Marketing for Writers and Bloggers lens at Squidoo as a resource link.

The Benefits of Rising Early and How To Do It- This one caught my eye, because getting up early is my goal for the summer. My son will be out of school next week, and I am hoping to stay in the habit of getting up early while he sleeps in. I do my best writing in the AM. At night I just can't think. I tend to procrastinate in the evenings, and check my e-mail, check my favorite forums, etc. So I need to go to bed early and start fresh in the mornings.

Essential Keystrokes - I am working on setting up a Wordpress blog, so anything to do with Wordpress grabs my eye. Woohoo, I need that Amazon plugin, now to get it working on my blog...

See what I mean about getting lost at Stumbleupon, here is another great post...
101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger- What do all the successful bloggers do? Hmmm.

Ok I need to get back to work now. No more Stumbling for me today!

Lean Mean 13 to be Released June 19th!

2007-05-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

Janet's latest novel Lean Mean Thirteen will be released June 19th. Pre- order it now from Amazon.

Check out the first chapters at Janet's official site.

What are Stephanie and LuLu up to this time? Will she catch the bad guy? Will she catch Ranger or Morelli? I can't wait to find out!

I fell in love with Janet's Stephanie Plum series about eight years ago. I belonged to a book club, and we decided to read One for the Money as one of our monthly selections. It was great! There was excitement, murder, mystery, humor, and romance all wrapped up in one book. I was hooked, I had to go on to the next one. I laughed out loud all the way through Two for the Dough, my husband thought I was nuts (he may be right, who knows?). By now he's used to it, any time I pick up one of Janet's novels, I chuckle all the way through.

If you have never read anything by Janet Evanovich, pick up one of her novels, you won't stop until you have read them all.

Mother's Day Crafts

2007-05-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a great last minute Mother's Day Craft idea? Check out The Holiday Blogger. She is hosting a Mother's Day craft blog carnival. There are several craft ideas from several different bloggers featured. Grab your kids and get started, there are some simple, fun ideas listed here. My son made me the paper flowers, and they are beautiful.

How I Write-By Janet Evanovich

2007-05-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

I love to write, and I have a novel I have been working on slowly but surely. I was thrilled when Janet published How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author. It is a fun and interesting look into her writing style, and the knowledge she has about the publishing industry. And of course she makes it interesting with exerpts from her books to describe her points throughout.

I read it from cover to cover as soon as I got it, it's an easy, fun read. She also includes some great resources, and websites to get more information.

Paper Flowers for Mother's Day

2007-05-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

I have a really simple, really beautiful pattern to make your own roses for Mother’s Day. Check out the photo.

What you will need:
Thin wire, 8-12” long
Glue
3-6 different brightly colored sheets of tissue paper

Cut the tissue paper into different size rectangles, 8 inches x 4 inches, 6 inches x 4 inches, and 4 inches x 4 inches. Duplicate the layers until you have 4-6 layers per flower. Make each rectangle a different color, or make some the same, think about how you would like the finished product to look. Trim the ends into petal shapes, with rounded or spikey tips. Don't cut the sides, only the ends. The straight sides will disappear when you gather the flowers in the wire. Check out the photos for detail.

Lay the largest rectangle on the bottom, center the 6 x 4 rectangle on top of the larger rectangle. Then center the smallest square on top. You can layer two or three of each size if you want a thicker flower. Gather the center, and put a small amount of glue on the gather. Wrap the wire around the center to secure, then use the wire as a stem. You can wrap the wire with florist tape if desired, or make leaves out of construction paper. Fluff the "petals” of your flower.

These make great Mother’s Day gifts, give them to mothers, aunts, grandmothers, the nice neighbor lady, or any other special lady in your life. This is a great project to do with children. Make your own brightly colored bouquet this Mother’s Day. Have fun and enjoy the day.

My Online Hangouts

2007-04-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

I have several places I hang out online:
Technorati Profile
My Space
My Hubpages
Fanpop (I'm Barkely here)
Gather (Barkely here too)

Please stop by and say hi!

About Me

2007-04-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hello world! This is my latest blog where I can chat about whatever I am currently in the mood to chat about. I have a couple other blogs set up about specific subjects, such as The Virtual Garden, but I wanted a place where I could post whatever comes to mind.
To find out more about me and what my interests are check out my About Me Lens at Squidoo.
I also have another new blog called Kids Fun Reviewed, which will be my spot to review the fun things we can do with our children. Including movies, games, music, and books. As of this posting date I am still getting this blog up and running, so have some patience with me.
When all is running smoothly I will be blogging about the three things I love in life, gardening, children, and dogs. I hope you enjoy what I have to say.