Meranda2100's Blog

Breaking all my rules!!!

2012-05-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

I changed my mind. I have broken every rule I set for myself. You know what? They are my rules...so that is ok. The strangest thing about this is that I have found this to be so profound. I was the one who took upon me my 30 articles in 30 days challenge but then I let it rule my life. It was a challenge, not life or death.

The worst part is, I have been living every day for so many years, as if every choice I made, even the little tiny ones like what to throw away, was a life or death decision. You know what? I could go on and on about why I do this (and if you know me personally, you know that I do go on and on and on, forever), but I don't stop.

So I decided to stop.

I will die someday. That is a fact. Yet, I know without of shadow of a doubt that death is not the end of my spirit or my eternal journey. I am not dead today. So it is about time to live.

To do all the things I want to do.

I have spent the last 18 years trying to become the next internet millionaire. (Too bad that Mark Zuckerburg beat me to it :)...Facebook is a darn good idea). It is not going to happen, today :).

So today, May 10th 2012, what is important? My son. He is now 16 and the most awesome thing in the world.

16 years ago when I became a mother at 17, I had no idea that my life would turn out like this. It was not how I planned, but you know what? Even though I don't have a million dollars, my own house, or any of the dreams I wanted at 17, now at 33, when I look into my son's eyes and I see my greatest treasure on earth,
I feel like a billionaire.

For all of you teenage Moms out there who feel like you can't make it or that it is not worth it, or that you can't walk down the halls of your high school one more time without feel less than anyone else, don't feel less. You are worth it.

You are a Mom, and try to imagine you life 20 years from now. If you are ever alone, don't give up. Never give up.

I have learned that the only rules I have to follow are mine. I am only accountable to my self if I break them, and since I love myself, it is ok.

Happiness comes from within.

Check out a cool blog that I like..

2012-05-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

I know I didn't post yesterday....no excuses..keep forgetting. Decided going to just keep posting and trying. I am also going to take the focus off me for today.

This is a cool blog that I follow and I would like to have you guys check it out. I am all about style, but I prefer those who follow their own sense of style, and especially those who have a bit of wisdom to back it up :)

Here is the link to Advanced Style. Wonderful pictures well worth the click...

have an awesome night :)

Not posting yesterday...ahhh!!! Getting lost in life a great book and Dancing With the Stars...

2012-05-01T14:31:00.002-07:00

I have often heard that it only takes 21 days to either break or form a new habit. This seems so easy. Just 21 days. As the last 3 months have proven for me, 21 days is almost an eternity.

I did post everyday from last Tuesday till Sunday...only 6 days in a row. It did seem like an eternity. I did say I would celebrate my successes-so yeah! :) Great from me...6 days in a row posting is a great accomplishment.

Now to yesterday, I did remind myself to post when I woke up, but I did not feel well. I help take care of my disabled sister and she had three seizures the day before. She was not able to go to her day program and I helped her during the day. I kept trying to get my self motivated, still didn't feel well at all, and then I got lost in Dancing with the Stars, season 14. I am so impressed with this season. I have watched every season, and I feel that all the stars on this season are great dancers. It has been hard to vote, because they have all been my favorites! That is really the first time a cast has been so great for me.

Then more of life happened..I got lost in another great book...then a 12:00 am this morning..I thought: "Oh, no, I forgot to post!" I felt horrible. I have wanted to just delete my blog many times in the last 4 months. When I almost lost it, I freaked out, but then when I kept making promises that I did not or could not keep, I felt even more miserable.

Then I thought about the post I wrote on Sunday. My own road to perfection. I also thought about attitude and this year's resolution. To persevere no matter what. I will continue to post. Every day. If or should I say when I make a mistake or life gets in the way, I will explain it, deal with it, learn from, and then let it go. Start again with my goal. It is harder to see life optimistically than pessimistically (in my case) but much more rewarding and motivating.

Happy Tuesday :)

Sundays and My Quest for Perfection

2012-04-29T22:02:00.005-07:00

Sundays have been a holy day for me for as long as I could remember. I have wanted to keep it holy and sacred and have almost driven my self to obsession in my pursuit to not "break" the sabbath and not to break the commandment given by the Lord to his people.

Needless to say I have broken the commandment, I have sinned, and I have felt the guilt of all of my fallen expectations for myself, daily. I have had goal to be perfect for as long as I can remember. In the King James version of the Bible scripture that comes to my mind most often is Matt. 5:48. "Be ye therefore perfect" is the part of the verse that both motivates me and troubles me.

I was able to have a great visit with one of my oldest and best friend's on Friday night. In a discussion about perfection, she shared an article she had recently read in the BYU quarterly magazine. This article was entitled: "Seeking Perfection without Being a Perfectionist" by Janet S. Scharman. I loved the whole article, but was impressed by the last two paragraphs especially. I will copy them below:

" 'Peace be unto thy soul' (D&C 121:7) is an important message for us to remember. We are living in a day of harsh competition and unreasonably high competition coming from many directions. Inherent in the message is one of wisdom to not run faster than we have strength (see D&C 10:4). It is good to have plans, goal, and high expectations for ourselves. But when we experience tears, exhaustion, and feelings of depression, it may mean that we are self-imposing unrighteous expectations.

As we come to accept that perfection is a developmental process, something we learn 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little' (2 Nephi 28:30), we can let go of guilt trips and over-complication of our lives. We can better understand the truly wondrous gift of the Atonement which as Elder Bruce C. Hafen (BA '66) has said, is not to erase our mistakes, but to provide a way for us to 'learn from our mistakes without being condemned by them' "

(D&C is shortened for the Doctrine and Covenants and Nephi is a part of the Book of Mormon. Both are scriptures I know to be true and can be accessed at the Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints Web Site-Search the Scriptures section of the site. I encourage you to keep an open mind and read these scriptures for yourself. Then, pray to God and ask if they are true. He will tell you for yourself. I also completely support everyone is their own faith, and even if they do not believe in a deity, in their lives at all. I hope we can all find happiness in this life, and I know that we all have our own minds, hearts, and free wills).

This article has helped me realize that I can still continue my quest for perfection, but I do not have to beat myself up,each time I fall way far away from my goal. I can also listen to my feelings, and when I am stressed, and depressed, I know I am doing too much, or the wrong things in my life.

Life is about joy, and it is more than okay to take time to enjoy each day that I am given in this life. Each day is precious and I am grateful for each one. To quote my dear mother who always said, "live life to the fullest."
That I plan on doing..I wish the same for all of you and best of luck on all of your own quests...whatever they may be for :)....

Translation Widget successful..problems with template...

2012-04-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

I was able to attach a Goggle Translation widget (a small amount of code that is embedded in my web site code that transmits to goggle translate each time the drop box language is changed, then goggle translate changes all the English text on my blog to the closest translation to the language chosen by the user in the drop box). Now Goggle Translate will do its best to translate as accurately as possible, but there may be some errors in the translation, and there may not be a translation for what I am saying into the selected language.

The biggest problem I am having though, is that I cannot get the drop box to appear in the newest blogger template that I like called: dynamic views. I changed it to a new template, but am still researching how and if it is possible to have the widget appear with the new template!! I hope so..

Suggestions are always welcome...please use the translate widget and read my blog in your language, all over the world :)....

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:) :).!!

Happy Friday :)!!

2012-04-27T23:00:00.002-07:00

Wishing all of you a happy Friday :)!! There are people all over the world that the day is not Friday, or is called something else or that this may not be this your weekend (even if your are in the U.S. or do have Friday as the day of week), in that case...happy day_______ (you fill in the appropriate name.)

This has gotten me thinking...and I am going to work on seeing how I can have my blog have the option to be translated in to the language of the current user's choice...that will be my project for this weekend.

To all of you....happy ____Day...and a wonderful night (or the reverse for all of you on the southern hemisphere :)!!!!)

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Thursdays, Discussions, and the power of Language

2012-04-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

What has kept me from posting on Thursdays has always been school at Ashford University- Online Campus. Mainly the responses to the discussion questions that are due on Thursdays. I wait till the last minute and spend most of the day working on my responses. I decided that I would post one those responses here for my blog and ask how powerful do you think language is?

According to Elgin (2000), “It is all too easy to underestimate the power of language . . . because almost every human being knows and uses one or more languages, we have let that miracle be trivialized . . . we forget, or are unaware of, the power that language has over our minds and our lives; we use that power ourselves as casually as we use the electric power in our homes, with scarcely a thought given to its potential to help or harm. We make major decisions about language on the most flimsy and trivial—and often entirely mistaken—grounds.” This is too true. I have often wondered about how important language is and been dismayed at my own lack of understanding and misuse of it.

Fairclough (1989, 1997) was keenly aware of how powerful language is and also how important the meaning of what is not being said, but what is implied, by language the language used is. Fairclough built his Critical Language Analysis or CLA on Foucoult’s study of the use of language by those in power (Diaz-Rico & Weed, 2010, p. 306). When I think of Foucoult’s study I am reminded of a favorite musical I love: My Fair Lady, which is based on a play by Shaw (1916), entitled Pygmalion. I

n this play an English gentleman (a professor of language) makes a wager with another English gentleman (also a linguistic scholar but in the military as a trade) that he can change a common flower girl’s speech and turn her into a lady. Eliza (the flower girl) wants to change her circumstances and wants to be lady in a flower shop. As the show progresses, she endures Professor Higgins and does indeed change her speech, become a lady, but falls in love with the professor. As a turn of fate, the professor (a confirmed bachelor and mean man) falls in love with her too, against his better judgment.

The reason that this story reminds me of Foucoult and Faircloughs’ theories of language is that according to Diaz-Rico and Weed, Foucoult theorized that those in power used language to “repress, dominate, and disempower certain social groups” and that “conversely certain social groups have appropriated, or acquired language practices that mimic those in power and thus shaped power to their own ends” (2010, p. 306).

Professor Higgins recognized the power of language and that the way a person spoke determined their social status. He also used this to his own ends and because he wanted to win the wager. Eliza also realized the power of language and “appropriated” the language of those in power.She eventually did use language to shape power to fit her needs, but after a difficult trials, and heartbreak.

Building on this metaphor, Fairclough “conceives of discourse as a nested set of boxes: first, the text itself that constitutes the message; second, the institutional influence on the message; and third, the social/cultural influence on the message. Any text, whether spoken or written, has features at these three levels” (Diaz & Reed, 2010, p. 306).

A classic line from the movie is a language exercise that Professor Higgins is trying to teach Eliza: “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.” With Eliza original accent she pronounces rain, Spain and plain as raain, with an unusual emphasis on the /a/ in the words making them sound as if they were long /a/s or even a short /o/. She is made to practice this lesson over and over.

At first she hears no problems with the phrase. The text is gibberish to her and conveys a sense of frustration, annoyance, and overall bewilderment. The professor also uses the text to assert his authority, education, and arrogance. There is a definite institutional influence for the text as is intended to both teach Eliza the “correct” pronunciation of the words. Yet, the words are a puzzle if one deciphers their meaning, because there is literally rain in all parts of the country of Spain, giving Eliza something to think about and to even feel more confused about.

The social/ cultural meaning of the text is also both confusing and obvious. When Eliza first said the words, it is apparent her social class. As the movie progresses though she is able to change her accent and pronounce the phrase as the Professor has taught her and as an English lady would. In fact there is scene following her success where she, the professor and the colonel start singing a song and dancing together. When Professor Higgins and Eliza first dance together, this is the first moment that she falls in love with him. “The rain in

Spain

…” phrase takes on a whole new cultural/social and hidden meaning to the text after that night.

References

Díaz-Rico, L. T., & Weed, K. Z. (2010). Crosscultural, language, and academic development
handbook: A complete K-12 reference guide (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. New York: Longman.

Fairclough, N. (1997). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Reading, MA: Addison-

Wesley

Elgin, S. (2000). The language imperative. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.

Shaw, G. (1912). Pygmalion. New York, NY: Brentano's Press.

IRS rant...and many unanswered questions..

2012-04-25T18:42:00.000-07:00

Now do not get me wrong, I am not against paying taxes. I do like the roads, the government programs for all sorts of things, what I don't like is spending 45 minutes on hold for IRS customer service because my taxes have been rejected 3 times for e-filing by the IRS and then the customer service agent explains that unless I owe the IRS a payment there is no fine for filing my taxes passed the April 17, 2012 deadline! (I did not know that did you?)

This makes me so angry because I have been so stressed for the last week and half, for no reason!!! :(
Then when I actually do get my taxes e-filed for the fourth time, I spent 4 hours trying to understand the tax code. Taxes should be easier to understand. I even have an A.A. in accounting and have taken a tax course (with an 'A'), and I remember what my tax teacher explained that tax law changes every year. That most tax professionals spend 6 months out of the year preparing and learning for next years tax season.

Now I am not claiming to be an expert or a tax professional by what about people who cannot afford tax fees and want to do things themselves? Maybe I am part of a dying breed, but even if I did have a large salary, I would still like to do things for myself and understand what, how, and why things work.

What do you guys think? I would appreciate any comments, even if you think I am completely wrong. What is your side of the debate?

Taxes easy? Pay someone who knows what they are doing? Do it yourself?

As a side note, I usually do not wait until last day taxes are due so I know that influenced my stress and anxiety this year....:(:(

Day 30 and my own 30 day challenge

2012-04-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

It is day 30 in my second time of trying to write 30 articles in 30 days. I did not finish my 30 in 30 challenge, in fact I only published 6 articles and became completely discouraged.

I started this blog for me originally. Then, I got caught up in the idea of being able to make money online. I have had trouble keeping a job from the moment I had my first job. Mostly for the reason that I have good days and I have bad days. I deleted all of my posts about my bi-polar disorder about any of mental illness struggles. I also deleted almost all of my posts about my church and my feelings about my religion. Those two things take up a huge part of my life.

I thought that I could change the format of my blog to create a separate section for each topic on my blog. I was not able to do that. I have had a problem with following through with anything that is difficult. When I try to change things in my life, I try to change everything all in one day. Then, I get overwhelmed, realize I can't change everything at once, or don't finish everything on my to do list, and then start beating my self up. Then I get depressed for several days, don't do anything, and inevitably the process starts all over again.

My mother has given me good advice focus on 1 thing at one time. I always want to do so many things at once, just doing one thing does not seem productive enough. As I look back on my blog posts I have not ever posted in my blog everyday in one month, ever since I started. On good days, bad days, school days, Sundays, I always come up with an excuse why I did not.

My 30 day challenge is to post every day. That is the only rule. I can post about anything thing I want, include a link or not, picture or not, morning, afternoon, evening, late at night. I am going to focus on this goal and only this goal. On May 24th I am going to give myself my own little party to celebrate my achievement. I will also celebrate each time I blog (if I feel like it). If I am having a bad day, I am going to talk about it, and not ignore it.

I hope that if anyone is reading this my blog anymore that they will feel free to share whatever they feel too.

New Site and having troubles with Word Press

2012-04-11T22:42:00.001-07:00

I freaked out after losing my website and then my laptop is acting up too!! Ahhh...
but I am not giving up! I have been writing articles, I have written 3 and have 2 more in draft form but I have not submitted any for publishing, because I have wanted to really get my site back up and running. (Those will be submitted by the end of the week though)

I then spent some real time thinking...what exactly is Meranda2100 Web Design about? My old site was build by me, but was built over 3 years ago and was out of date. Since then the web has changed so much. I set up my site wanting to become a web designer, but once I started actually building pages for other people, I found that I did not know enough about how to build a modern site that would actually bring in traffic, and be user friendly.

Also, I felt as though I had no experience so for the two sites (that I actually tried to build for other people) I did not charge. Soon the projects took more and more time, and I found that I was not equipped, I bit off more than I could chew, I did not have the correct amount to even charge for my time, and the worst thing was that I was trying to help two dear friends of mine, and I felt as though I destroyed our friendships. I even offered to build a page for another friend and then did not honor my request. I did ruin that friendship.

That is the way to run a business or even to be a good person. (I am so sorry to those people and am working on how to make it up to them, I don't know if I ever can, but I am going to try :))

I also gave up...story of that year, but not this year!!

So, this time I am going to set up several websites for myself. I want to be qualified, and set up a portfolio of websites that actually have made a profit, that are user-friendly and that have no kinks, before I even try to set up my business.Now, I am going to set up content that is up to date and that is dedicated to one topic at a time.

My first test site is in a blog format (the one I thought I was most familiar with until I started learning Word Press...totally different from Blogger...it will take time to learn...:0) and I would appreciate what you think so check it out Kindle Review and let me know in comments below:

30 in 30..round 2...also losing my main website :(

2012-03-28T22:38:00.001-07:00

It is day 3 of second round of my 30 in 30 challenge. I am happy to report I am right on schedule..

I have published 3 new articles in the past three days :)...
check out my newest article...Preparing for an Interview

On a mad, sad, and frustrating note, my main website: www.meranda2100.hostei.com has been taken down by Google. Some other web developer put maleware and spyware on their site, so Google took down all 3000 sites that had the sub domain .hostei.

So....I am very grateful that I kept backups if all my files of my website on my hard drive. I am going to be purchasing a registered domain name in the next few days. Once the site is updated, rebuilt and up and running again, I will post a link.

On a great note my author rank at Street Articles is now 93!! My tribe is up to 21. Another great shout out to the awesome writers and readers in my tribe ;) :) :)!!

Have an great night!!

Any suggestions for pictures on my new site or in my blog?
Let me know...

Awesome Arrticle..motivational quote of the day..

2012-03-27T04:57:00.001-07:00

Motivational Quote of the day: "No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."H.Keller (From Tony Robbins-for those that follow me on twitter- I retweeted it...so strange sounding the retweeting??..but loved the quote..more of my trying to tweet on twitter...)

Also this great motivational article on on my life and blogging page

Nightmares, better for you than you think.

2012-03-27T04:28:00.001-07:00

I have been doing a lot of research about dreams for my article writing. I have often been plagued with nightmares. I am one of those people other people love to scare. I am so jumpy that often my family scares me even when they are not trying to.

My nightmares are no exception. I found myself dreading going to sleep. So many night (and days) I have been afraid to fall asleep. When I did, I would often find myself running from something horrible monster in forest. Or falling from great height.

For so many years I ran from my nightmares. Now I use them to figure out what is wrong with my "waking" life. In general I hate change. Now I understand why so many of my dreams contained death and death imagery. Many dream interpreters explain that death dreams are about change and anxiety of change in our lives. I completely relate with that! Do you?

To read more please check out the following links:

Nightmares-my latest article published

All about Sleep and Dreams-my updated page

New Pages

2012-03-27T01:33:00.004-07:00

I set up the different pages so that my posts could be categorized. As of yet, I have not found a way to move my old posts to the new pages. I will continue to research if it possible to move the old posts. Going forward, I will post on the new pages and always provide a link on the home page to the new post. I will also post links, images, and any other information I feel would be of use under those categories as it becomes available.

New Pages

Mistakes are not failures...quitting is...

2012-03-22T17:23:00.001-07:00

I have not posted or written any articles in the last 5 days because I have come down with a horrible flu. Sore throat...earache...the works. Needless to say, I am way behind in my challenge. I also feel that I missed the point of the challenge. It was not to write a bunch of articles all at the end of the thirty days...

Good things from this challenge:

I did write 13 articles! 12 were published on Street Articles.com! (As of today)
I have 12 people in my tribe! I am following 23 awesome writers!
Going from author rank of 946 to 153! (on street articles.com)
I began to tweet!
I researched more about keywords than ever before!
I joined 3 new affiliate programs and rejoined amazon's affiliate network-had change of heart once I did more research.

Negatives of the challenge:

Not finishing 30 articles in 30 days :( :(
Not writing at least 1 article per day, leaving it all for the end or trying to write 3-4 articles in one day.
Not following Kyle's tips in the e-mails sent.
Not taking into account: life, school, the possibility of getting really sick, family commitments

March 25th I start again with the 30 in 30 challenge-this is for me. I am going to repeat the cycle until I am successful. My new years resolution was to preserve no matter what! One of my followers explained that mistakes are not failures...quitting is. I am not going to quit. I am also going to use every mistake as a learning experience.

I went back to my previous template. I prefer it. Hope you guys do too. Never give up....for all of you suffering in any way..hope that you feel better and are healed soon.

Day 24 in my Challenge....

2012-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, I heard something interesting on Dr. Phil yesterday...he said "if you want to know how a person will do in the future, look at how and what they did in the past." (paraphrasing) I of course became angry. First, because it was the old adage, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, or a leopard can change his spots. Second, because that is what I have been telling myself for years.

Each time I make a mistake... I think: see you have always done this, you did this yesterday, 10 years ago, you will always do this. You will never change, you cannot change, just give up.

It is possible to change. It starts with changing your thoughts, accepting failures as learning experiences, and not giving up!

(There is an awesome article by Ai Hoon on accepting failure. I found it a few hours after this initial post, but needed to include the link. It is soo inspiring!)

I WILL write 30 articles in 30 days...my deadline is next Saturday at 10:00 pm. I have written 10! 20 to go!!

What I found the most challenging about the challenge was that on each of the days of the challenge Kyle from Street Articles sent me an e-mail. This e-mail included awesome tips and strategies to increase traffic, grow readership and so much more. The challenge came when there was usually 5 or more tasks to do besides just write an article.Completing these tasks took time. Also, I still had my usual school commitment, family obligations, and the inevitable unexpected emergencies.

I am going to start the challenge again on March 25th. I will write articles and do more of the daily tasks that I did not get to. I know that it is hard to change, but you don't have to always be the same person you always were. It is possible to grow. It is possible to overcome and rid yourself of harmful habits. All things are possible, you are only limited by your own thoughts and attitude!

Day 24..bring on the challenge :) Happy possibilities to all of you :)

please check out my latest article: Precious Memories

A Simple Meditation Routine to Help You Sleep Better- Article # 9- rejected # 1 in my challenge....

2012-03-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

I have tried to submit this article to street articles over 5 times. I have edited it over and over. I have gotten soo frustrated! I keep getting rejected! Oh well, I said at the beginning of the challenge that those articles that were rejected I would publish here. On to article to new articles....let me know what you guys think of this one...:)

Meditation has always fascinated me. I have wanted to know more about it for a long time. About a 3 months ago I researched meditation. During my search, I found lots of websites, books, and information about mediation. I tried a simple meditation technique. Immediately, I felt more relaxed. Since then, I have began to meditate almost every day. In fact, on the days I do not mediate, I find I am not as centered, more frustrated, and it is harder to fall asleep.
I will outline a simple meditation technique that has been helpful for me. To begin meditating:

I sit on either on soft chair, on my bed, or the floor. (I usually sit with my legs crossed but you can choose to sit however is comfortable for you.)
I turn off the TV and put my cell phone on silent. I listen to music I find peaceful, soothing, and not distracting. Often, I do not listen to any music. I try to make my house as quiet as possible.
I also make sure I am wearing comfortable clothing.

I close my eyes and concentrate my thoughts on either: one word, one phrase, one image (such as a candle flame or large tree).
As I concentrate on just one thought so many others flood my mind at once.(This is the beauty of and mental exercise of meditation.)
I push all other thoughts out of my mind except the first thought. My mind begins to quiet.
Each time a different thought or image comes into my mind, I push them out slowly, returning to the first thought.
As I continue to focus on the first thought and push others from my brain, I breathe deeply in and out. My mind becomes completely quiet, more focused, and my body is comfortably relaxed.
I usually meditate for at least 10 minutes and no more than 30. (The amount of time you choose to meditate is up to you.)
I find that the best time to meditate is either in the morning or afternoon. I also find that it is not best to meditate when I am about to go to sleep, or am really tired. (The first few times I meditated, I found myself falling asleep because I was so relaxed, this is okay when you first start. As you continue, you should not let yourself fall asleep. Training your mind is the purpose of meditation, so it will become easier to stay awake as you become more experienced with your routine.)

How does meditation aid in my sleep if I do not use it before I fall asleep? My days go smoother. I am able to learn to live in the moment. I am more aware of my thoughts and how to control them. I relax quicker, I am able to dismiss negative thoughts, and I am less stressed. I am living in the moment. I have more over control what dreams I want to have and have less nightmares.
Is meditation for you? Yes. I know it will help you feel more centered, live more in the moment, and help with your stress. Peaceful sessions of mediation ahead and as ever sweet dreams!

How can you be happy no matter what? Even when affiliate marketing??

2012-03-08T14:34:00.002-08:00

Do you believe that you are responsible for your own happiness? Do you believe you cause your own stress? Do you feel you control your own destiny? Do you believe in destiny?

For a long time I felt that everything was predetermined. That everything happened for a reason and that my destiny was fixed. I felt if I was having a bad day, it was because I was supposed to. I had better just suffer though it and figure out what life lesson I should be learning.

Now don't get me wrong, mistakes, bad days, and suffering can teach you some awesome life lessons. Yet, somehow I felt that happiness should be a daily occurrence and not constant futile pursuit.

I had a major break through a few years ago when I read an awesome book by Richard Carlson entitled:
You Can Be Happy No Matter What: Five Principles for Keeping Life in Perspective. This book helped me to learn that I am the thinker of my own thoughts.

I create my own happiness, I control how I react to others, and how I react to all things in my life. I also learned how to dismiss my own thought static. I wrote an article on this for Street Articles, it is currently pending publication. I will post the link when it is published.

My most recent article was just published and I hope you will check it out: how to live in the moment...

Happiness no matter what..especially while you are affiliate marketing....:):)..thanks again to my faithful and new readers..you keep me going!

Day 15 falling behind..but will catch UP!!

2012-03-07T22:41:00.001-08:00

Wow...I have fallen behind. I got caught up with school, birthdays, and life. I will meet the 30 in 30 challenge though, and am so excited about my tribe on Street Articles. On the site you can follow people and people can follow you! I have now have 6 people in my Tribe!! I am currently following 11 people and there are some really great articles. Many new articles published each day.

I found this article very helpful and suggest it to all of you, especially fellow students:
Memorizing Tips

I am not giving up on my challenge, have written 3 new articles, and have ideas for so many more. As they are published I will link them. Shout out to all of you in my tribe, and a great big thanks to all of you who read my blog!!

Day 7: Six articles published....

2012-02-29T23:16:00.003-08:00

I am right on track for my 30 in 30 challenge. I know have six articles published:

check out my four most recent ones:

Are We in Control of Our Dreams?

Changing Your Sleep Pattern

Ways to fall Asleep Faster

Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

Also I have began to tweet :) not nearly comfortable yet, but getting a little experience.

check me out at:

Meranda2100 on Twitter :)

More tomorrow....sweet dreams and thank sooo much for reading my blog!!!

Day 6: Success I am published!! (On Street Articles)

2012-02-28T00:49:00.001-08:00

My two articles have been published.

You can view article one: Does it matter if you sleep during the day?

Article two: Can you sleep too much?

I am excited!! I have found that my 30 in 30 challenge needs to be modified though. At least, I cannot write one article per day. On Sundays I do not want to work (for religious reasons). On Mondays, I have all of my work for my Master's classes due. This usually means at least one large paper and several other small assignments.

So, I am still bound and determined to write (at least) 30 articles in 30 days, so I am going to double up the article count on any other day besides Sunday and Monday.

I have also been updating my social networking status. Facebook I am on, and Linked In. Currently I do not tweet :). I will be learning the art of twitter.

    Any suggestions? Any funny tweets you have tweeted or heard of lately?

I will be posting more about my thoughts on Once Upon a Time soon.

    If you have missed any of the episodes check them out here!!

               Happy early Tuesday...and if any of you read my sleep articles, yes I am working on my sleep pattern...it is just not working as expected...more to follow up in article 3...

Day 3- 2 articles submitted...status: pending

2012-02-25T20:47:00.004-08:00

My article submitted last night was rejected. I posted a reference (like when I write papers for school) and the site support stated that they would not post articles with references. This of course threw me for a loop, but I edited the articles, removed the reference, made sure it was all my own original content, and resubmitted for approval.

I also wrote my 2nd article on sleep and submitted it. I also checked out the site's terms and conditions, and I do have rights over the work, but the site will not take the article down if it is posted somewhere else. If I it is still rejected again, I am going to post it here. If it is accepted, I will post the link for all of you to view....

Tomorrow is Sunday, I wish you all a sweet day of rest.

Day 2- Article 1- Sleep...

2012-02-24T23:54:00.003-08:00

Well, I am cutting it close...but I did get my first article completed for my 30 in 30 challenge. I found writing the article more difficult than I thought. Oh well, it is still in pending status, and it the site accepts it I will post a link. The cool part about the site is that I do not have give over my rights to them and can post my article somewhere else. I am going to read the t&c's of the site more carefully tomorrow, to make sure I am right, and if so...I will post it here too.

I have learned a lot about sleep...and wish all of you sweet dreams! Unfortunately, I have trouble sleeping at night, which is partly what the article is about...so I will be up for awhile..

Probably working on tomorrow's challenge article.

Also, more affiliate stuff, school, and something fun...

     What are you guys up to?
     Any one else have trouble sleeping?

              Comments are always welcome...and will be answered!

                                            :):)

Learning about keywords...

2012-02-23T21:50:00.002-08:00

Day 1 is off to a bang...

I did search a bunch of key words to decide what to write 30 articles about and also to decide where to place affiliate links.

I found some great words under so many categories.

Kyle (one of the founders from Wealthy Affiliate) said in a training email and e-book, you could find keywords about anything...

I thought no way, not: sleep, TV, food, music...

I was soo wrong.

I found so many searches about all of them. What floored me the most was how many I found about:

    Sleep!!!

    I will post the stats tomorrow....

   As well the my first article on...you guessed it...sleep....
   Sweet dreams :)...ZZZZZZZZs

30 in 30 Challenge...

2012-02-22T22:44:00.002-08:00

So yesterday I explained some of my history in affiliate marketing and as well the purpose of my blog.
For all of you that read to the end of my the post and checked out the links (you rocked!! and are sooo cool) and if you watched you understand how powerful our own inner voice can be. You can still check these videos out by reading my last post:

  here-and click the links at the bottom

I have learned from these videos, books I have read, and other great lectures: "that life is not linear; it's organic. We create our lives symbiotically as we explore our talents in relation to the circumstances they help to create for us" -Robinson (2010).

Each day we choose what to do and how to spend our time. Each day we create our own world. (Now I am not saying that there are no outside influences, but ultimately we choose how to react to those as well).

Okay... to make a long story short..I have joined site called Street Articles that is associated with an awesome affiliate program and site: Wealthy Affiliate. In fact, of all the affiliate sites and programs I have researched, promoted, and joined over the last 3 years, Wealthy Affiliate is the best. The biggest reason I say this is because Kyle and Carson (the sites founders) started the site in 2005, and have learned by trial and error just like me. The biggest difference between them and me, they have worked and invested in their site (an other affiliate marketers, authors, web designers, and anyone else who wants to needs help online) everyday since.

So what is the 30 in 30 challenge- well you know that I am cheap and always trying to find a way to make money online with out investing any- (well that is how I used to think) and I got an email from Street Articles about a 30 day challenge. Basically write 30 articles in 30 days, learn how to grow your traffic, and become a successful online marketer. All for free. Well, I did join today, and have decided to also put in time each day, blogging my progress, and affiliate marketing. I am going to make a commitment to have the business I want.

Over the next 30 days, I am going to be expanding how I market online. I will be doing more with social media, creating new websites and new blogs, writing articles and blog posts each day (I will post Sundays, but will not work if I can help it- I have dedicated the day to the Lord) and expand.

I hope you will join me on my journey and will let me know what you think....

                       Happy Marketing....:):)

as promised links to videos 3 and 4...your reward for reading...can really change your life if you watch!!

How to follow through-part 3

How to follow through-part 4

Reference:
Robinson K. (2010). Bring on the revolution! Retrieved from,
                 http://blog.ted.com/2010/05/24/bring_on_the_re/

Please check out my post: New Year's Resolution that contains links and information about this lecture and Sir Ken Robinson's previous awesome, ground breaking lecture!!