Share Your Blog 2!

I haven't made a post about any of the blog swaps I have been in lately. Yep, I'm still doing those fabulous blog swaps on Swap-bot. So far, I have done three in the past month or two. After completing my last blog swap on April 18th, I decided to create a blog group - Blogaholics. My hopes for this group is for members to gain exposure for their blogs as well as find topics to post about. Maybe this group will help me blog more consistently. No more going two years without a post! 

The swap I'm about to do reviews for is titled: Share Your Blog 2! This post is so overdue, sorry guys! The deal is we are required to write a review about our five partners blogs using 100 words or more. Ugh.....yeah I can do that, I always have a lot to say :)

First up: Swap-bot user: Mag                Blog: Maggiemark

I was drawn in by her post Beautiful Surprises. There are gorgeous pictures of samples she has received from this company called Vanity Trove Beautiful Surprises. Unfortunately, I can't receive these boxes in the United States they are only available in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The boxes are sure worth the $25 a month to a someone like me that loves the pampering type items. However, I probably could just put together my own box an be just as happy. The next item that grabbed my attention on her blog was a post titled Normal No More. Listed within this post are 10 ways to expand your perspective on life. Mag is challenging herself to broaden her horizons and look at life differently. Mag feels if these are done she will make a life worth living, a life she will love, and not a life she will regret. She is using her blog as a platform to document her thoughts, words and feelings. This is a blog that I will keep my eye on being that I too am trying to create a life I can be proud of. Interested In Mag's blog? Visit her, leave a comment, and maybe follow her at: Maggiemark

Second: Swap-bot user: Bandeau              Blog: FireLight Gleam's Blog

This blog talks about and reveals some of Bandeau's work of art. I must say I was very impressed with her work and how detailed it is. I would love to have her draw a piece for me to hang inside of my dream house one day. Maybe a Shera / Wonderwoman type character ;) My I mean, her name would be MiMi because that's what my son calls me. She would be a homemaker by day with a Catwoman type personae by night! Hey - a girl can dream can't she... I'm would love to see Bandeau's art work displayed in a comic book fashion. I bet it would be so popular. She also talks about crosplaying, which I had to look up. She shares another talent she has by displaying pictures of stuffies she make to go along with the characters she is portraying. There are a few recipes posted and that is a definite plus for me! This picture was also displayed in a post. For some reason it reminds me of the movie "Indian in the cupboard."
 Do I need to repeat again that Bandeau is talented. If you would like to check out her work for yourself click on the link that follows, don't forget to leave a comment, and maybe follow her too: FireLight Gleam's Blog!

My third review is for Swap-bot user: Lefroggy         Blog: Lefroggy
The first thing that grabs your attention on this blog is the gorgeous colors!!! I love colors and flowers so I was instantly drawn in to read something. Next would be the beautiful pictures. She doesn't just post pictures but words and stories about them. I hate it when I'm looking at only pictures, it always leave me wondering where was the picture taken, why was it taken, and/or if there is a meaning behind it.

This picture is from a post titled Comic. Lefroggy drew this picture for a friend that is working on a comic book or strip. Hopefully, there will be a link to view the comic or even purchase when the two are done. Lefroggy states she will be drawing the pictures for the comic. I love the detail in this picture it's so life like. Kind of like a 3d cartoon. There is a post - Brave within this blog that really touched me. In this post Lefroggy talks about her hopes and expectations for her daughter. I really loved it because I feel the same way about my son. Every mother wants the best for their child but the most important thing we can do is allow them to be themselves without judgement. As that child's mother we should be proud of them no matter what, offer advice, accept their mistakes and hope they learn from them, and be there for that child no matter what. If you would like to read a few posts from Lefroggy you may view her blog here: Lefroggy .

The fourth blog I visited was by Swap-bot user: Diem  Blog: Incoherent ramblings of a distracted artist

Diem is another artist and her blog is full of beautiful artwork!!! Man, you would think that these three I have viewed so far would have a display in an art museum or something. I'm so jealous ;) Diem takes her sketchbook with her the majority of the times and the pictures she create are awesome. This was a sketch of a street performer and look she even captured the crowd. This is from Some images from my "out and about" sketchbook if you wanted to take a look at more. There are lots of other sketches just as good! I must admit what really took my breathe was the video of her first animation. I would like to congratulate Diem on her success!! I have seen the process it takes to create a clay animation and you did a great job. If anyone is interested in viewing the video check out the post A Hard Rains gonna Fall which is also the title of the video. To check out more fantastic work from this artist visit: Incoherent ramblings of a distracted artist remember to leave comments and possibly follow :)

My last Swap-bot partner was: Basykes             Blog: Airy Periflage

Basykes uses this blog as a journal and blogs about her daily life, which is very exciting. I lead a very busy life but exciting.....no! This blog is updated almost everyday. Some of the pictures included are so breath taking like this one for instance 

 I soo want this!!! You all know PURPLE is my favorite color in any shade and on any object. I could see this in my dream house w/o the little blue objects hanging from it of course. The next beautiful picture was a chair from Linde Lane where they attended a party. I have to find a place like this near I love the nice setting, the atmosphere seems calm, and the food looks delicious. If your interested in viewing more pictures and reading more about Linde Lane view Basykes post Five Stars out of Five . Another post I liked was Somai . It is a very heartfelt story about sponsoring kids less fortunate. Baskyes talks about the child that she's a correspondence sponsor for. But what's so touching is the story that was told in the newspaper that she has written about at the beginning of the post. This makes me sad because when I was 18 I began sponsoring two kids through the WorldVision. I listened to my friends as they told me my money was not going to the children. So I stopped because I really didn't know for sure what the deal was. I really enjoyed receiving the letters and the gifts they sent during holidays. The gifts wasn't much but it was the thought that counted. To see the wonderful miracle that was the outcome of a sponsorship head over to Airy Persiflage and read the post Somai .

Well, I really enjoyed reading all of my partners blogs. I will definitely be revisiting all of them again :)

Good Night!

~Bella~

The Baby-sitter's Club by Ann M. Martin

This week, I checked out one of the infamous Baby-sitter's Club movies from my local library. It brought back so many wonderful memories of reading the books when I was younger. Hence, I have added another item to my Bucket list and my DayZero account. Yep, you guessed it! I'm going to read the entire collection all over again and blog about each book. My first step was to check to see what information I could find on the net. Oh my was there a lot!!!

The Baby-sitter's Club has their own page within Scholastic :) This made my job super easy!! My second step was to find a list of all of the books in the series. Not, only did I find a list but it was printable. A printable list will make this process so much easier. The list is five pages long!! Why? because there were multiple series, I'm not sure if I ever read any of the others or not. A few of the titles sounded familiar. I'm not sure if I will read anything other than the original series. The other series of the Baby-sitter's Club are: The Baby-sitter's Club Super Specials (12), Baby- sitter's Club Friends Forever (12), Baby-sitter's Club Friends Forever Super Specials (2), The Baby-sitter's Club Mysteries (36), The Baby-sitter's Club Mysteries Super (4), Baby-sitter's Little Sister (76), Baby-sitter's Little Sister Specials (6), as well as seven other don't miss titles. Just incase you haven't guessed and are wondering what the numbers are beside the series title, it's the number of books in that series.

Old vs. New

As, stated I'm not sure if I will read all of the other series or not. My goal is to read all 131 books in the initial Baby-sitter's Club series. I have placed a hold on the very first book in the series: "Kristy's Great Idea". My local library has it and it's available, so my book will be waiting for me Tuesday when I get there :) I think I will get the prequel - wait is that what you just read? Yes, there's a newer version of the old classics that now include technology, new up to date wording - no more thong but flip flops instead, the book characters have cell phones, and no more walkmans. These new books made their entrance back in April of 2010. To finish what I was stating I want to read the prequel version to see how much has changed in the books. Maybe I could post about the differences in the two books. The "NEW" Baby-sitter's Club has a totally different website from the original. I decided to print a book list from the new series as well.

First Book In New Collection

~Bella~

Spring Semester Over - Break Time



online class

Well, the dreaded first semester is over!!! I can say I did it! I stayed and completed the first of four semesters. Yep, it feels good to check this semester off my list :) This Spring semester was my hardest and it's finally over. I met some amazing people and truly learned a lot. I have created tons of lesson plans and I'm excited about putting them to use. I have a new outlook on young children because I have a better understanding about them. I think what I loved best about all of the classes was the fact they taught the development of children in a lot of different areas, why children react the way they do, the best ways to nurture a child, ways you could help change a child's feelings about themselves, and some great ways to help children learn certain subjects. I especially loved learning about genetics and biological features in my Child's Growth and Development class. I noticed there were more things that I"m interested in than I thought. I never really thought about genetics until it came up in our lessons. It"s a very interesting topic. I also found out that I have strong feelings toward literacy in young children. The thought has even crossed my mind about becoming a reading teacher. At the beginning of the semester my instructor stated that only a few of us would make it to the end of the semester. I thought to my self why would a teacher say a thing like that. Why? Because it was the truth!!

Almost every chair in my Creative Activities class was full. My last day in class there were only 8 of us. We all talked about how we couldn't believe everyone dropped the class or dropped all together. But, hey you never know something beyond their means could have forced them to withdraw. My Math and Science class was always small to start with. On the first day there were 6 of us, on the last day of class there was only 5. A classmate of mine stated in one of her online class there was a crowd in the discussion forums at the beginning of the semester. Later there was only two, but after week 5 she was the only one in the forums. I told her I was very proud of her for continuing her lessons. She could have quit because no one was there with her or the teacher could have dropped the class for lack of students. Like I said in my last post we have some wonderful instructors watching over us. They really want us to make it! Things like this motivates me even more to complete my program.  I took my last final exam yesterday. My final grades are not in right now. Last glance I took, I still had two B's and two A's. Whatever, my final grades are I will be totally proud of them as well as myself because I stood through the trails of going back to college. I would like to say that all of my hardship is over. I'm only going to plan for success, hope for the best, and deal with the worst if it tries to visit me!

Online class

Summer semester begins May 21, 2012 and I'm so excited. I will be at school until 6:00 pm. Yes, I have some very long days ahead of me!! The great part is I only have class on Mondays and Wednesdays. I can do my homework during my three hour break, blog, write letters, do coupon stuff, whatever my heart chooses. I know I will definitely put more effort into doing my work as soon as I can. I really got burned out quick during the past semester and pushed my work off to the last minute. There were times when I didn't even want to look at the computer. I realize now that if I get all of my work out of the way I can really get some rest. Next semester I am aiming to have all A's!! But, until Summer semester begins I'M FREE and I'm going to get me some well deserved rest :)

 Through out the semester I completed some assignments that made me define why I choose this career field and made me relive fond childhood memories. I will be posting a few of those assignments I feel they are worth sharing. They may also give you a better feel of the type of person I am as well. Well, until next time..........