The time has come for Bloggiesta hosted by Natasha @ MawBooks! This is one of my most favorite blogging activities. I have looked forward to this since LAST summer when I had JUST started blogging. I participated a little bit in the second Bloggiesta, but with school and boyfriend I wasn't able to participate as much. Now, for the third Bloggiesta, I won't be able to participate that much either.
This is a scheduled post that I wrote on Thursday evening so my tenses may be a bit confusing:
Tomorrow morning at 6am (Friday) I am leaving (or have left) for South Dakota... ugh, you get the picture... I'm picking up my date in Fargo, ND, then heading to Watertown, SD to visit family, before making the final bit of the trip to Sioux Falls, SD. Saturday (the purpose of the trips) I have TWO weddings! One at 2pm and one at 4pm (with any help from God I'll make them both). Then Sunday I'm headed towards home. Are you guys having a hard time keeping up with me and all my weekend plans? I sure am!
Anyway, as a result of this I won't be able to formally participate. But I will have my phone and plan on cheering everyone on via Twitter (@google). I also plan on going through all the posts and commenting as soon as I get back — yes, my GR is going to be PACKED!
After seeing what everyone accomplished I'll spend next week "catching up" and having my own little private Bloggiesta.
So despite being extremely jealous (and feeling slightly left out), I hope everyone has a fantastic time and I can't wait to hear all about it when I get back.
Before I left for my mini-vaca:
I was able to participate in this mini-challenge at Beth Fish Reads as it was posted early! Go Labels!!
I got ALL caught up on my reviews; most notably Before I Fall, Dead Until Dark, Sea, and Hush Hush.
I scheduled a great IMM/BEA Books post for Saturday (tomorrow — again with the tense issue)
I updated my About Me page
I updated my Review Policy as part of Girls Gone Reading's Mini-Challenge.
I made sure that my RSS Feed was legit as part of Puss Reboots Mini-Challenge.
Things I'd like to do when I get back:
Find an official blogging buddy
Finish writing guest posts
Look for Guest Reviews!
If anyone wants to add "Writing a Guest Review for Miss Remmers' Classroom" to their Bloggiesta "To Do List" — please do! I am all out of Guest Reviews and would appreciate any that I could get (as would my students). Check my left side bar to make sure I don't already have a review of your favorite book, if I don't — donate it! It's super easy! Simply email me at google at gmail dot com and copy and paste your review from your own blog. Please include your blog address and direct link to your review. For more information check out My Mission and this post about guest reviews.
It's that time again! Bloggiesta! The first time I really participated was during the first Bloggiesta party and I've attempted to every other time as well, but due to outside factors and plans I was never really able to get anything accomplished. This time around though I've cleared my schedule and I plan on doing nothing else but working on my blog and reading!
Speaking of the blog (did you like that transition): tomorrow Blogelina is officially transferring me from Blogger to Wordpress! I'm super excited (and nervous) about the transition but I'm glad and confident that I have someone to do the hard work for me as I just don't know if I could handle the stress right now. So most of my "to do" list will be centered around figuring out WordPress (as I hope no glitches appear); most of my list, obviously, will be made up tomorrow once I have a better idea of what I need to do. Besides those house keeping things, I have this list:
Create skeleton reviews for at least ten of my next reads
Get caught up on my Pinterest Posts (schedule at least three)
Post March Stats/April Goals
Post Titanic Challenge
Prepare Titanic MiniChallenges/Misc Posts
Watch Titanic and schedule review
Visit at least twenty other participants (add to my Google Reader)
What about you? Are you participating? Really, Bloggiesta is the perfect time to reserve a weekend for blogging (sort of a blog-a-thon rather than a read-a-thon). It's definitely worth it!
Well, this Bloggiesta was an odd one. For the amount of time I was able to put in I thought I got a lot done. But, unfortunately, I was surprised Saturday morning when my internet wouldn't connect. I lounged around ALL day waiting for it to connect (network maintenance at school) and finally, oh at about 10pm, it connects. Well, Boy was about to arrive from Colorado at 10:30 so, needless to say, I was obliged to spend time with him. Then Sunday (after waking up at noon), I had RA training from 2-8pm and then went to karaoke with said Boy.
I wasn't able to devote as much time to Bloggiesta as I wanted. I really would have preferred to spend all day Saturday working on blog related things, but I guess life happens. I'm really sorry, though, that I missed out on two days of Bloggiesta Twittering/fun. For the time I was Bloggiesta-ing, I think I got a lot of difficult projects done, most notably, I changed the colors of Miss Remmers' Review.
This is what else I was able to accomplish:
Wrote a Thank You to CSN Stores for the AWESOME desk organizer!
Wrote my review of said awesome desk organizer!
Scheduled a Book Shelf post! Stay tuned!
Mailed thank you notes
Post about new email address
Updated new Blogger Profile
Mailed books to contest winners
Forwarded Gift Certificate to Campaign Winner
Added a copyright footer to my posts — big thanks to @heidenkind (Heidenkind's Hideaway) for the help!
Expanded how the blog looks in feed reader
Moved my signature in Gmail to the beginning of the quoted reply
Cleaned up the sidebar
Emptied Old Reader
Temporarily finished checking/answering emails in all three email accounts
Emailed agents/publicists about new email address
Added an avatar to Twitter
Went through posts and got rid of anything not worth keeping
Set up an Author Interview
I obviously didn't get done ALL that I had set out to do, but I added some important things and I now have a better list of things I need to work on.
Make a Blogaversary button and link it up in the sidebar
Decide what challenges I'm going to do this year (I know! I'm so behind)
Finish posting all the Guest Reviews sent in from my campaign for reviews
Read through posts to make sure that they are ready to be looked at by perspective employers (every single post) — Make them professional
Look at Reviews for spelling/grammar
Organize Reader (even though I have NO idea how)
Review "New Moon"
Review "A Christmas Carol"
Order bookmarks
Order business cards
Add customized header
Empty Old Reader — Starred Items
Transfer contacts from old to new email address
Add tags/labels to posts
Create a Cheat Sheet
Get rid of "dead" links
Write my Disclosure Statement
Update "Series" (Suggestions on good series?)
Manage Bookmarks (Hot mess! Woa!)
I can't wait for the next Bloggiesta and I hope to continue to work on these housekeeping blog items throughout the next few weeks/months. Thanks to Natasha @Maw Books for putting this on! I feel as though I met SO many great amazing new bloggers. While few, the thing I did accomplish I feel were extremely necessary and I'm quite proud of myself.
Well, I didn't get near what I wanted to get done on Friday. I blame Twitter. I loved talking to everyone and finding out what everyone else was doing. But this still didn't work because I completely neglected Google Reader! Ah!
Today will be my last FULL day of Bloggiesta as my special someone returns from Colorado tonight and tomorrow I have RA Training for most of the day. I hope to get a lot accomplished and I hope that this will keep me occupied while waiting for him to show up (I'm very exciting. It's been a long month).
I also spent a good time this evening trying to figure out if I can afford to go to BEA in May. I've found an awesome roomie (Thanks Sheila!) and can now afford it. So I spent pretty much all of HP and the Half Blood Prince looking up hotels, flights, and fun stuff like that! I'm so excited!
But now for what I want to do on Saturday:
Finish answering/checking emails
Read and comment on posts in Reader
Add Bloggiesta participants to Blog Roll!:)
Create a Cheat Sheet
Get rid of "dead" links
Continue to update "Bloggiesta Twitter List " with new participants
Review Starred Items in OLD reader
Organize Reader
Create my Goals Post for tomorrow!
Write and Schedule my Sunday Salon
Write my Disclosure Statement
Set up Author Interview
"The Color Question"
Post Guest Reviews
Clean Up Sidebars
Update "Series" (Suggestions on good series?)
Review "New Moon"
Review "The Christmas Carol"
Manage Bookmarks (Hot mess! Woa!)
Go through posts and get rid of anything not worth keeping
Officially Bloggiesta 2 doesn't start until tomorrow, but tomorrow I'll be driving back to school (5 hours) plus unpacking and making my dorm room livable again, so while I do have an audio book to begin and Twitter on my phone, I want to get as much as I can accomplished. I am so excited to be taking part in Bloggiesta this time around!
What I want to accomplish:
Make a Blogaversary button and link it up in the sidebar
Decide what challenges I'm going to do this year (I know! I'm so behind)
Finish posting all the Guest Reviews sent in from my campaign for reviews
Read through posts to make sure that they are ready to be looked at by perspective employers (every single post) — Make them professional
Look at Reviews for spelling/grammar
Organize Reader (even though I have NO idea how)
Review "New Moon"
Review "A Christmas Carol"
Order bookmarks
Order business cards
View and comment on at least 100 blogs — I've been selfish lately and lacking this
Redo the colors of Miss Remmers' Review
Add customized header
Post about new email address
Empty Old Reader
Empty Old Reader — Starred Items
Email agents/publicists about new email address
Update new Blogger Profile
Transfer contacts from old to new email address
Add tags to posts
Go through Twitter and get rid of Spambots
Figure out what the heck is wrong with my Twitter picture!
In preparation for the beginning of Bloggiesta on Friday, I've compiled a list of everyone who is participating who has a Twitter account. Now, this list isn't perfect because not everyone has Twitter or I couldn't find it. Furthermore, next time I do this I'll put the direct link to their Twitter page. But because I didn't think about it until I was done, you just have to go your twitter.com page, find people, and search the username.
I've tried to keep up with this list, but if you recently signed Natasha 's Mr. Linky then you may not be on this list. If you aren't and would like to be added, please email me, google (at) gmail (dot) com, your Twitter username and the link to to your blog (like everyone elses) and I will add you immediately. Also, if your Twitter username is listed and you don't want it to be for privacy reasons — please email me and I'll remove it. I don't want to intrude on anyone's privacy by posting their usernames for any one to read. I didn't put up anyone's username that wasn't publicly visible on their blog. If the name wasn't visible — I emailed or commented. But still, if you want your name removed, please let me know.
If you see a mistake (spelling or whatever), again, let me know and I'll fix it.
The whole point to this was so that for the next couple days we can all check each other's updates and get to know each other a bit better (don't forget to use the hashtag #bloggiesta). Also, by posting reviews/blog links to Twitter, we can all see what everyone else is up to, participate in more mini-challenges, and be more of a 'team.' I'm really excited about this — but I completely understand if you want your name removed. I'm excited for Bloggiesta in general, and compiling this list and seeing blogs that are new to me and already connecting with these readers has really 'lit the fire' for Bloggiesta and I hope that you all get the same feeling I did.
Good luck everyone!
1. Rebecca @ The Book Lady's Blog — bookladysblog 2. Miss Remmers — google 3. Deborah (Books, Movies and Chinese Food) — readerbuzz 4. Nicole (Linus's Blanket) — NicoleBo 5. Melanie @ Melanie's Musings — MelanieMFoust 6. Vasilly — 1330v — Vasilly 7. Katie (Read What You Know) — katietweetsya 8. Michelle (Michelle's Masterful Musings) — jmchshannon 9. Chris@ bookarama — Christbookarama 10. Shona's Book Shelves 11. Pam (Bookalicio. us) — bookaliciouspam 12. Suey — SueySays 13. Sandra (Fresh Ink Books) 14. Ann @ Books on the Nightstand — AnnKingman 15. Amanda (The Zen Leaf) — pookasluagh 16. Lindsay — lindzsmile 17. Avis (she reads and reads) 18. Kate (The Neverending Shelf) — neshelf 19. Cindy( cindysloveofbooks) — cindyloveofbook 20. Tracie @ Yule Time Reading — YuleTimeReading 21. Bibliofreak — bibliofreakblog 22. The1stdaughter (There's A Book) — the1stdaughter 23. Florinda/ The 3 R's Blog — florinda_3rs 24. christina (Reading Thru The Night) 25. Laura W 26. Sharla — WinterWrite 27. Tam @ Bailey's and Books — BaileysandBooks 28. Jennifer @ Reading with Tequila — TequilaReader 29. Marquetta (Love To Read For Fun) — Loves2Read4Fun 30. Colleen 31. Michelle (galleysmith) — galleysmith 32. Aarti @ Booklust — aartichapati 33. christine( booktumbling) — booktumbling 34. Shellie (Layers of Thought) — layersofthought 35. melissa @ 1lbr — melissa1lbr 36. Nan (Nan's Corner of the Web 37. Robin of My Two Blessings — My2blessings59 38. Lexie/ Poisoned Rationality — lexilewords 39. Ashley @ Ashley's Library — GirlThatReads 40. Callista (SMS Book Reviews) — callista83 41. Beth F (Beth Fish Reads) — BethFishReads 42. KyleeJ @ Kylee's Journal — KsJournal 43. Kristen (Bookworming in the 21st Century) — bookgoil 44. Stacy's Books – stacybuckeye 45. alisonwonderland (So Many Books, So Little Time) — utahalison 46. Monica (Bibliophilic Book Blog) — bibliophilicboo 47. Helen (Helen Loves Books) — lovesbooks81 48. Emily @What Book is That? — heynocupcake 49. debnance at readerbuzz 50. Susan (Bulging Bookshelves) 51. Susan (Bulging Bookshelves) 52. Grace — bibliophile23 53. Lauren (Reading Comes From Writing) — blondierocket 54. Julie — faithfulgirl 55. Sheila (Journey Through a World of Books) — bookjourney 56. Emma (Booking Through365) — SekritEmuSister 57. Bitsy (Fabula: A Book Blog) 58. Brittany Landgrebe — light_aurora 59. Zee @ Notes from the North — Zommie 60. Karin (Karin's Book Nook) — kperry 61. Karin (The Book Jacket) — thebookjacket 62. Alethea (Read Now Sleep Later) — frootjoos 63. Kathrin (Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic) L3 64. Suzanne (Chick with Books) — ChickwithBooks 65. Ash (English Major's Junk Food) — ashbrux 66. Gnoe's Graasland — graasland 67. Sabrina 68. I Heart Monster 69. Drea (Book Blather) — awaitinserenity 70. nomadreader 71. Patricia — PatriciaAltner 72. Lisa A 73. Sherry at Semicolon 74. tanabata (In Spring it is the Dawn) — tanabata2000 75. Margot (Joyfully Retired) 76. Kim @ Good Clean Reads 77. Tasha B. (Heidenkind's Hideaway) — heidenkind 78. Chelle (Tempting Persephone) — persephonereads 79. Justine (A Bookful of Thoughts) — justeena 80. Jaime (Denim Debutante. com) — denimdebutante 81. The Kool — Aid Mom — thekoolaidmom 82. Liz B (Tea Cozy) — LizB 83. Honey (Coffeespoons) — fantaghiro23 84. Dawn — She is Too Fond of Books — toofondofbooks 85. Mother Reader 86. Jennie from Biblio File 87. Laurel — Rain Snow — laurelrainsnow 88. Alexia561 — alexia561 89. Alison (Alison's Book Marks) 90. Vicki ~ Reading At The Beach — Readatthebeach 91. Sally Hanan — inksnatcher 92. Debbie's World of Books — DebWorldOfBooks 93. Marion (Books & Fiber) — tattoocats 94. Sara (The Hiding Spot) — http://twitter.com/thehidingspot 95. Charlotte 96. Lisa 97. Molly (My Cozy Book Nook) 98. Joyful@ New Horizon Reviews 99. Dana (Rantings of a Bookworm Couch Potato
100. 5 Minutes for Books (Jennifer & team) 101. Meg (A Piece of Evidence) — jbbmegan 102. Sherrie( Just Books) 103. Caridad Pineiro — CaridadPineiro 104. Marci (Serendipitous Readings) 105. Sharon (Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews) — SharonChance 106. Becky 107. Dani (YA All The Way) — Danidlion 108. Erica (The Book Cellar) — thebookcellarx 109. Jen — Devourer of Books 110. Erika (Reading with Momma) 111. Bart's Bookshelf 112. Intense Whisper — intensewhisper 113. Jenn's Bookshelves 114. Gayla 115. Sarah (My World of Books) 116. Amyloves Bud 117. Melissa (Betty and Boo Chronicles)
118. Nicole @ Book — Wyrm — Knits 119. Sue (Books, Books, Magical) — froggyfitz 120. Bea (How Novel!) 121. Julie (My Book Retreat) 122. Kris 123. Joyful@( The Sacrifice — Book Review) 124. melydia — melydia 125. Laura (The Calico Critic) 126. Karey Shane (er, K.S.R. Kingworth)
127. Savvy Verse & Wit — SavvyVerseWit 128. lena 129. cindy 130. Amused (Amused by Books) 131. Gina @ Book Dragon's Lair 132. Marg (Reading Adventures) — MargReads 133. KyleeJ @ Kylee's Journal — KsJournal
