Bernier-isms & Random Thoughts

Framed Collection of Sophia's Paintings

2012-01-26T11:19:00.003-06:00

I finally went to Michaels and bought a shopping cart's worth of frames and mats. I needed to get my Europe paintings (both oil & water color) framed and hung out in the open, instead of lurking in the closet like they have been since I moved into this town home.

Well, after a couple nights of putting those together and trying to figure out where on earth to hang them (some are still waiting patiently...), I realized I had some other artwork I'd accumulated but never displayed: a few water color paintings Sophia painted for me way back when.

They're just fun, abstract, throw-some-colors-onto-paper paintings but after I framed three of them and hung them together, they look like a collection I paid money for at an art gallery. So says the proud auntie :)

You might think I got this idea from Pinterest (my newest and most favorite of all social media endeavors), but that's not true. I'm not sure where I got the idea, but I know I've been hanging on to her paintings for a couple years and just hadn't gotten around to framing them until now. I'm glad I did.

While at first it might sound mean, about the only place I have left to hang things is in our enclosed stairwell...but I'm liking the look they give to the uber-white, plain-slate space and I'm looking forward to putting up more in the staircase – of course, I might need Clint's help since I could barely reach the hammer up to get the top frame in place :)

I told my sister that one of her daughters had framed artwork hanging in my house, but it'd be nice to have the other daughter represented, as well.

"Have her paint me something," I said, to which she replied, "Will do. She's into drawing ooglie-eyed monsters with boogers." My response: "Okay then. We'll put HER collection in Clint's bathroom!"

Happy National Peanut Butter Day

2012-01-24T13:52:00.004-06:00

I know, I know...I don't "believe" in National Days. Or do I? It seems that maybe I'm changing, since I celebrated with a s'moretini on National S'mores Day and Granny Bernier's spaghetti on National Spaghetti Day.

It was brought to my attention at lunch that today is National Peanut Butter Day. I love peanut butter, but I'm not head-over-heels for it or anything. I'll consume the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup sitting at my desk in honor but I don't know that I'm inclined to go much farther in celebration.

However, for those of you gung-ho about National Peanut Butter Day, here's a little ol' recipe for peanut butter pretzel bites that I noticed on Pinterest today if it strikes your fancy to bake something special.

On second thought, maybe I'll give Zada a peanut butter kong in honor of this special day. She'll like that...she, unlike me, is gaga for peanut butter.

Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

2012-01-23T10:05:00.001-06:00

My friend's been making her own liquid laundry soap for a couple years – at first I thought this was weird, then I realized just how exorbitantly priced commercial laundry detergent is and thought, "she's on to something" – but it seemed like such a long process to make it that I never got into it.

While home this weekend, my mom shocked me by showing me HER new laundry soap: a homemade, easy and quick, do-it-yourself powder that takes only minutes to make.

DIY Laundry Soap

Recipe Ingredients:

3 bars Fels-Naptha soap
1 ½ cups washing soda
1 ½ cups 20 Mule Team Borax

How To Make Detergent:

Grate the soap with a cheese or hand grater
Mix all ingredients thoroughly
Store in covered container

To Use in Laundry:

Use 2 tablespoons per normal load of laundry; 3 TBLS for heavily-soiled loads
Note: this laundry soap will not make many suds
Safe to use in High Efficiency (HE) washers
When using this laundry detergent, you might find it's necessary to use less fabric softener (or none at all)
Make sure to stir the powdered detergent thoroughly before each use to ensure you're getting all three ingredients in each scoop

I used this wonderful, homemade laundry detergent for a few loads of laundry and everything came out smelling clean, fresh and was very soft (even the laundry items I line-dried). I will now be making my own laundry soap from here on out!Now to get The Husband on board...

How Google+ is Affecting Search Results

2012-01-13T11:08:00.002-06:00

The latest buzz the last couple of days on the search scene is all about Google+ and how it's affecting search results. Danny Sullivan did some research and wrote up a nice article about how Google's definitely pushing Google+ in the SERPs.

I decided to run my own little experiment this morning, just to see what I could see. At first I merely compared results from searches performed when I was logged in to Google versus not.

First up: searching for myself ("Sarah Bernier Danks"). This one is interesting because I had JUST been messing around with my Google+ profile, so I figured that's why it was suddenly showing up front and center (it hadn't before), and without me even getting more than "sarah b" typed into the search bar...

And here's without me being signed in (notice I had to type in my full name here):

Then I decided to type in a co-worker's name – well, I guess he's a friend...whatever – while signed in. Interesting that although I'm searching for someone ELSE, my own Google+ profile is the second result, just because I mentioned him:

(Thanks for the picture, Dennis :)

Here's without being signed in (and I'm out of the picture):

Okay, that's interesting enough but I wanted to try more general searches, so I tried "actors" while signed in:

And then once more without being signed in...hmmm, same thing:

This got me to thinking, why are THOSE actors showing up (and why are Britney & Snoop showing up for "music")? Here's a (slightly) less "famous" search:

Interesting how Rand's Google+ profile is showing up right in the suggestions. So I thought, maybe that's not a fair comparison, since Rand is huge in the search marketing/online world. Let's go back to celebrities.

I did a search for, well, you know...and here's what I got:

Obviously, I reasoned, he's not on Google+, since that result's not showing up like it does for Rand Fishkin...I mean, Rob has to be AT LEAST as popular as Randfish, does he not? But, upon further searching, here he is, alive and well on Google+:

I got the same results for Brad Pitt and Charlize Theron – nothing showed up in searches for them, either, even though both have Google+ profiles. What the hell, Google? Why're you picking and choosing who "gets" to have their Google+ profile show up in your suggestions?

Breathe. Relax. Try another search ("Minneapolis ad agencies") while signed in:

While it's fun to see ThinkSEM (a really great search marketing company based right here in the Twin Cities) show up for this search, is it the most relevant, considering the context in which ThinkSEM deals with ad agencies, versus actually BEING an ad agency?

So here's my SERP without being signed into Google:

I'm finally getting to a point that'll hit closer to home with those of us who like to call ourselves Search Engine Marketers...what'll this do to the amount of time (in the near future since this has all started happening) we'll have to spend on the phone and in meetings with clients patiently explaining (and re-explaining) WHY we – the experts they're paying for optimization – can't control the SERPs and "how come at home I'm showing up NUMBER ONE and at work I'm NOT??" Or whatever else they're going to come up with whilst they continually while away the hours Googling themselves...

Only time will tell if Google will continue to "get away" with promoting Google+...and what affect it'll have on the way we search and optimize moving forward.

A Lovely Way to Spend a Cold Minnesota Evening

2012-01-11T19:02:00.003-06:00

With The Husband out at an event, it's just me and the dog this evening...I had to cut my walk short because, damn it was cold out! I know it's all "relative," considering the winter we had last year, but still. Unbelievable.

So now while the wind whistles outside I'm in comfy clothes, the dog's fed and happily snoozing and I, well I think it's time for a little "me time" -- some wine, a nice fire and a tasty, heaping plate of chorizo nachos.

Hiking with Dogs in the Country

2012-01-07T10:04:00.003-06:00

While up at Mom & Dad's for the Christmas weekend I took the dogs out every day for a couple hours...it's so lovely walking through woods and fields with nary a sidewalk in sight :) I get my daily exercise, the dogs love it and I get to pretend I'm a country girl again.

I used to bring my SLR with me on these walks, but it's so bulky and I'm always afraid of ruining it (sometimes I end up on trail-less land, clambering over/under/through brush, etc.), so I started slipping my new point-and-shoot into my pocket. Clint got it for me as a birthday present – in September – and I have yet to read the instruction manual, which is more than likely the reason why I haven't mastered its settings.

I say that because we sometimes fight about where the focal point should be and whether or not to use flash. I guess I could go ahead and read up on how to use it...

Regardless, it comes with me always in my purse (you never know when you'll need a camera) and of course while hiking in the country with the dogs. Zada is a pretty poser but Tesa...well, Tesa does some really weird stuff that's fun to catch on card (I can't say "film" anymore, although that makes more sense to me).

Unfortunately, while I had the camera with me I didn't have a free hand to capture her weirdest moment that weekend: diving head-first down a hole in the hay bales to chase after a stick. She's gamey and will do just about anything, but she didn't quite think her endeavor through...I just happened to be close enough to grab her tail as she kept falling and then got stuck. My sister and I hauled her out and she was fine, but it still would've been a funny picture (the mental one we have is hilarious).

Other than that, it was mostly a lot of tramping around in the woods, across fields, along the river, on lonely trails connecting backwoods plots of land, and in the horse pasture (to check the fence line).

This winter has been mild – for Minnesota – and there was barely any snow on the ground (not much more than a dusting), with temps in the 20s and 30s...perfect for hiking (in my country-girl opinion).

Hogan, Tesa and Zada were my constant companions while outside and I think they loved the walks as much as I did. While there wasn't open water for them to drink (like there was on the river over Thanksgiving weekend), they got bitefuls of snow here and there.

One of the things about these dogs – well, Tesa & Zada, anyway...Hogan's 10 years old, after all – is that no matter how long they've been out running around, they're always ready to go. If you're putting on your boots, they're whining at the door, excited to head outside again.

And if all the humans are inside, poor Zada resigns herself to lying on the porch (with an ever-ready stick at her disposal), waiting patiently for someone to come out and play :)

National Spaghetti Day

2012-01-05T19:17:00.003-06:00

Evidently yesterday was National Spaghetti Day. I know it's true 'cause I read it on Facebook. Then I confirmed said fact by checking on The Google and Wikipedia stated that January 4th is, indeed, a day of national celebration in honor of spaghetti.

Now, I'm not a fan of National Insert Whatever-the-hell Here Days (hang on, I guess I sort of celebrated National S'mores Day by drinking a delicious s'moretini), but I AM a fan of food. Especially pasta. In true I'm-justifying-this style, I opted to make spaghetti – okay, okay, I used linguine noodles but let's not split angel hairs – in order to give the day its due.

Of course, one cannot have any type of Italian food without consuming wine to complement it, and since this was a red sauce I opted for (of course) a Pinot noir. Bogle's, to be exact. Quite tasty.

I'm sure you're wondering what I put in my spaghetti sauce. I shall divulge (and confess) that it's a knock-off of Granny Bernier's recipe she learned from the Italian woman ("Mrs. Palermo") she lived next to when my dad was young (this was in Chicago, I believe).

The real recipe calls for tomatoes and onions grown in one's garden to start the sauce; my family sort of skips that old-school stuff and begins with a plain tomato sauce for a base (Mom prefers Old World Style Ragú, which is what I also use).

After that one needs to add the following ingredients:

onions,
garlic,
Worcestershire (pronounced "woostah" in Massachusetts) sauce,
oregano,
some sort of hot sauce (Mom uses Tabasco; I use Sriracha or chili paste),
a hefty splash of red wine (that's my addition),
pepper (I think that's my addition, too) and
Italian sausage (browned).

Now, the ORIGINAL Granny recipe calls for mild Italian sausage links cut into "coins" and browned before being added to the sauce...since I'm a rebel I totally get the HOT Italian sausage (ground). I mean, who's got time to cut evenly-sliced coins, anyway? I'm sorry, Granny.

After all these yummy ingredients are in the pot, it's best to let them simmer – so the flavors can "marry," as some chefs are wont to say – for at least an hour.

I put this meaty sauce over wheat noodles, serve it with some yummy garlic bread and pair it with a nice red wine (again, most often it's a Pinot noir...mainly because that's our favorite kind). After finishing that meal, it's mostly lying back on the couch watching TV because there's not much else one can do with a fully distended tummy.

Bon appetit, pasta lovers...I hope your National Spaghetti Day was as delicious as ours!

Naughty Zada

2012-01-01T09:56:00.001-06:00

In five days I'll have had Zada for five years. Kind of hard to believe that much time has gone by and she's THAT old...

Since the day I brought her home, we've definitely had some ups and downs but overall I think she's a great dog. Other than a few idiosyncratic tendencies, she's a well-behaved, friendly dog and I love her to pieces.

Let me preface the following tale with some back-story: I grew up in a family of large dogs (mainly German shepherds, though recently my parents have decided they're more partial to Goldens). We lived in the country so our dogs were always indoor/outdoor and while they spent the evenings in the house, they were never, ever...EVER...allowed on the furniture. That's just not the way we Berniers roll.

Imagine Clint's and my surprise, then, when today we rang in 2012 with quite the surprise: Zada evidently spent the night on our guest bed downstairs!!!

I can honestly say this dog has never been on the furniture – she's never been invited up, she's never tried to get on it, and if she HAD managed a sneak foray onto the couch we'd have known instantly (she sheds year-round and leaves a plethora of guard hairs wherever she may roam).

However, the evidence is there, plain as day...I might not've cleaned recently, but I keep a neat house and the guest room is always ready to go at a moment's notice: tidy, with clean sheets and a very wrinkle- and – until recently – dog hair-free bedspread. Not so much now.

I WILL say that after Clint and I got back from our December trip to Puerto Vallarta, I noticed a LOT of hair on that same bed and called my cousin (who'd watched both Zada & Tesa) in a panic, gasping out, "were the dogs up on your bed?!" She said that no, definitely not, but she HAD kicked her covers to the floor and not made her bed, and the dogs had lain on the bedding while it was on the floor.

I did believe that story, since Tesa does exactly that every time Mom makes the bed back home (as soon as the old sheets come off, Mom says Tesa's right there to nest in there and take a nap). That seems to have been the prelude to full-blown doggy naughtiness since Zada now assumes this bed – which is a futon and therefore much closer to dog-level than our own bed – is there for her snoozing gratification.

I'm NOT happy about this turn of events but other than catching her in the act (unlikely) all I can do to deter her is close the door to that bedroom, which has almost always been her favorite to hang out in (on the floor, of course).

While I was in there taking the evidence – I mean, pictures – she wandered in after me and when she passed by The Spot, she got very close and gave it a nice long sniff...probably thinking, "I can't wait until bedtime tonight!" I gave her an admonition – "No, don't you DARE" – and she lowered her ears and kinda slunk off...I think she knows she was naughty.

What do YOU think?

Pre-Thanksgiving Get-Together at AuntC's

2011-12-30T09:21:00.002-06:00

This year the holiday rotation was Danks Thanksgiving and Bernier Christmas. Since Clint and I would miss out on hanging with the Berniers at Coon Lake, AuntC decided to get most of us together for a pre-Thanksgiving feast at her house.

She'd bought a bunch of different kinds of bratwurst – one of which was Gummy-bear flavored – in some Hugo meat market, so we had a sort of indoor picnic with brats, salads, appetizers and decorative, edible penguins that Sophia & Michael made.

While I don't like black olives (therefore didn't try this delicacy), the little penguins were quite the hit. (P.S. I'm still trying to learn how in hell to use my new point-and-shoot camera Clint got me for my birthday. I figured if I made this shot artfully whimsical no one would heed the fact it's not in focus :)

After gorging on delicious brats, we headed out into the wonderfully-warm November weather to enjoy some fresh air. After playing on AuntC's new fountain (now dry for the winter season), walking around and through her gardens and running about, the girls – Sophia, Charlotte and a new friend – decided it was time to go to a nearby park.

(A note about the fountain: Sophia and the little friend were clambering around and over all the rocks and of course Charlotte (the youngest of the trio) wanted to do all that, too...but she bit off more than she could theoretically chew when she got to the highest point – where her big sister had just been sitting – and then looked down. Panic ensued until Amy came to the rescue.)

We walked through the woods, down a lonely little country road and to the park, which consisted of a swing set, jungle gym, teeter totters and a balance beam.

Sophia gravitated right to that balance beam and wow'd us with her really good sense of balance. We could have a gymnast in our midst...

After seeing how much fun Charlotte and her little friend were having on the seesaw deal, Amy and I decided to try it out for ourselves. We didn't QUITE fit but fun was had nonetheless ;)

While BB and Mocha had to stay on leash, Zada got to run around with her ever-present stick, which I threw (repeatedly) for her into the nearby soccer field. Of course, at one point all of the little girls (ahem, me included) decided to have a foot-race across said field. Takes more out of you than you'd think after a big meal.

It had started to get a bit cooler and the girls were getting tired so we gathered them all up and headed back to AuntC's...of course, since we had three dogs and three little girls, each one got to walk their own dog and felt pretty important about being on a "dog walk."

We wandered back through the massive back yard and lingered before finally bundling up into our cars to head home...it was a very fun afternoon and I'm glad we got to see everyone.

It's always a good time at AuntC's...I look forward to the next time we can hang out there :)

Mom & Tesa Go To Agility Class

2011-12-28T20:57:00.000-06:00

Last summer Mom and I headed over to a family friend's house to partake of their homemade agility equipment and see if the dogs (Tesa & Zada) liked it. As it turned out, my German shepherd wasn't too impressed with the concept but the golden retriever absolutely loved it.

I've noticed when I'm home and have the dogs out for a hike in the woods that Tesa is a gamey little Golden – she'll go through, over, under, or even UP anything if she thinks there's any type of gain for her (i.e., lovely smells, food, etc.). She even followed me out onto a felled tree once and got about 10 feet off the ground before she realized "now how do I get down?"

That being said, I was super-excited that Mom decided to enroll in an agility class this fall so she and Tesa could learn what it's all about.

Although she had to miss the last couple of classes (drat, SOMEONE had to go hold down the beach in Puerto Vallarta), she and Tesa had a ball and learned a lot. I even got to attend one of their classes over the long Thanksgiving weekend I spent up North.

The agility facility at Hunts Point is beautiful – very new – and they had all the equipment needed to turn a dog into an agility champ: jumps (including the tire jump), A frame, dogwalk, tunnel, chute, teeter totter, weave poles and of course, the pause table.

Tesa's only trepidation came when she was introduced to the teeter totter – she wasn't QUITE sure she liked the fact that it moved when she did – but I have no doubt with practice she'll master it like she did everything else. I kept thinking how GAMEY she is that she'll try or do anything (especially if there's a treat involved) without fear.

Zada, on the other hand, would've been cowering in the corner the entire time just listening to all the noise in the facility and freaking out at all the weird goings-on. Tesa didn't even flinch at any sudden noises and barely gave the other dogs (there were about 8 total) a passing glance. It was refreshing to be with a dog in that type of environment that was confident enough to just do her thing and have fun in spite of all the commotion.

Mom had obviously practiced a bit with Tesa for class and while they weren't perfect at all the obstacles, they were pretty darn good! The night I went I helped Mom work on the "touch" at the end of the A frame, dogwalk and (eventually) teeter totter: when a dog is actually competing in an agility course, their back feet need to touch the yellow paint at the bottom/end of those obstacles. It's very important to teach the dogs early on that when they hit that portion of the obstacle, they're to pause before moving on; they can't jump over it or they'll lose points.

Tesa caught on very quickly with Mom using my method...I told Mom, "when her front feet hit the floor (and her back feet are still on the obstacle), tell her touch, then shove treats in her face for a few moments and then release her, so she knows there's a REASON to pause there."

After a couple times of this, I had Mom start lengthening the time between treats so Tesa would know it was because she wasn't moving that she was being treated...Eventually, of course, Mom will have to wean Tesa off the treats completely but this was a great way to teach her that when she hits the end of those obstacles she needs to wait with her back feet touching until she's released.

It was super-fun to watch Mom & her bouncy golden retriever bopping around the agility course, having fun and learning together. It made me just a touch jealous that I don't have a dog that's interested in agility...I wanted to jump in there and start running through the course with Tesa!

Hopefully Mom & Tesa continue practicing and maybe they'll even get interested in competition some day :)

October Trip to Duluth

2011-12-01T20:25:00.001-06:00

Clint and I wanted to take a fall trip again this year (two years ago we went to Duluth; last year it was Grand Marais) but finding a free weekend to go anywhere this fall proved difficult for us until October. Originally he thought he wanted to take me on a scenic photography tour in south-western Minnesota, but we weren't sure about the fall colors that late in the season so we opted to head up to Duluth again.

Through some obscure connections we were able to not only procure a room at the Fitgers Hotel on short notice; it was a lakeside room AND we got it for a discount. Bonus.

We drove up Friday afternoon – after my cut & color with LaRae at Hair Matters – with surprisingly little traffic. It was a gorgeous drive with the setting sun illuminating all the colors on the trees. We got to the port city in record time and after trying to figure out the parking situation at Fitgers (evidently valet parking is complimentary so we didn't have to park the truck after the initial attempt) and checking in, we were ready to decide where to eat.

What we forgot is that in spite of Duluth being the 4th largest city in Minnesota, there really aren't that many restaurants from which to choose. Since it was already 7pm and we were starving, we decided not to fuss around and just walked over to the Pickwick. There was a 20-minute wait but the food (clam chowder and steaks) was really tasty and our waiter was pretty good, too.

The next morning we awoke in our hot hotel room and Clint made me hotel coffee while I watched the sun come up over the lake. After a quick breakfast-snack in the hotel we were ready to start our morning of hiking. We jumped in the truck and started up the scenic highway along Lake Superior, with no specific plans other than stopping whenever and wherever to hike around.

On one of our stops we saw a couple fishing and just happened to walk by when the guy pulled about a 10-pound fish (of some type I can't remember) out of the water. That was neat. After a few more stops, we ended up in Two Harbors. We stayed there for over an hour, walking by the lake and climbing around on the rocks. It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy morning...perfect for hiking.

After moseying back down to Duluth, it was time to think about lunch. We hoofed it on down the lake walk to Canal Park and decided on Little Angie's for some tacos and salsa con queso. Refueled and ready to be tourists again, we decided to head into the Great Lakes Aquarium to see the fishes and other aquatic life.

Give us a break – sure we've been there once before, but we were born and raised in Minnesota and it's not only fun to see all the wildlife, it's nice to contribute to the wildlife community. Or whatever it is that place does with the exorbitant entrance fees...

When we were all fished out we walked back to Fitger's and promptly took a nap. Since I was drugged up on antihistamines my nap might've been SLIGHTLY longer than Clint's (ahem...about 3 hours. Mine; not his).

Upon waking up and getting ready we were in another dinner quandary: Saturday night and no reservations in a town with little variety for restaurants. We ended up at Blackwoods and had a fairly decent meal in the bar. After that, it was obviously time to head back to the hotel and watch some TV before drifting off to sleep (again).

The next morning we woke up, packed and started our journey back to the Twin Cities...it was a short trip but fun and we had great weather. Maybe next time we'll take that scenic byway vacation, but I always love heading back to Duluth :)

Miss Becky's Halloween Haven in Robbinsdale, MN

2011-11-01T10:50:00.002-05:00

When my sister and her family moved to their house on Islemount Place in Robbinsdale a few years ago, they had no idea they'd be living next door to a local Halloween legend. "Miss Becky," as she's fondly called by my nieces (and the rest of my family, come to think of it), loves Halloween. In fact, it's her favorite holiday.

"It's the one time where it's a community event and everyone is out participating," she says in her interview with Channel 12 News. She spends the entire day turning her corner lot into Robbinsdale's Halloween Haven for the evening. Two tunnels mark the entrances to her yard, where the kids can meander through and see every single one of her decorations. And it's not just for the kids – the adults get into it, too.

My brother-in-law told Channel 12, "It puts a smile on my face." And why wouldn't it? My nieces think it's pretty cool to not only live next to Miss Becky's Halloween extravaganza (which comes with certain bragging rights among the neighborhood kids); they get to help test it out before the evening's trick-or-treaters arrive.

It's not the same set-up process every year, either. Starting out in 2003 with her first Halloween blow-up decoration, she's now amassed 48 of these decorations – and she's still adding.

Sounds like a lot of work to get all those decorations out of storage, set up all the cords and strategically place each decoration for best possible viewing...but with upwards of 200 kids each year tromping through her yard, she thinks it's well worth it.

But if you want to see this special corner in Robbinsdale, you'd better get there on the eve of Halloween – it's a one-night-only event. Miss it this time? Says Miss Becky, "You have to wait 'til next year!"

Skye Blue Waters

2011-09-22T09:53:00.001-05:00

I've been a dog- and horse-lover my entire life. I don't ever remember a time when I didn't have SOME animal to love and call my own. Having a pet (or more than one!) is a joy in life I could not live without. It comes with great responsibility – and there comes a time in every pet owner's life when a decision must be made. The biggest responsibility of all: deciding when it's time to let go.

When you reach that point, it's best not to dwell on the here-and-now; rather it's a great time to remember all the happiness and good times brought about by none other than this sweet pet you've loved for so long.

Of course, I say this tongue-in-cheek since I still haven't been able to bring myself to edit the photos from the final portrait session of my family's 27-year-old mare, Joy...and she was put down in May. All in due time :)

So it was with bittersweet emotion I journeyed to a family member's house to take some final portraits of their beloved 13-year-old yellow lab, Skye. She was sound of mind – and still absolutely 100% obsessed with softballs – but her poor little body just couldn't keep up anymore.

We alternated heading outside to shoot photos with watching the Vikings – this family is as obsessed about sports as their hunting dog was about chasing balls. It was a gorgeous, warm dog-day of summer...perfect for a little family photo shoot.

It was great to see her in such good spirits, and she posed beautifully for my camera (although she couldn't wait for the breaks in between shots so she could chew on her baseball!). Between Skye's utter devotion to treats; Zada's incessant begging for someone, ANYONE, to throw the ball for HER; and the antics of various family and friends on scene, it was a fun afternoon.

Although this wasn't even my dog, she had become part of my extended family – of course, why wouldn't she? – and has been in front of my camera on numerous occasions (in fact, it was a last-minute entry of her that took first place, grand champion AND sweepstakes at the Crow Wing County Fair photography competition in 2010).

From the feedback I've heard so far, I think I captured the true "essence" of Skye – her sweet nature, her undying love of baseballs, her proclivity for crossing her legs in a lady-like fashion, her ability to con a hug (or a snack!) from anyone she came into contact with just by the look on her face.

Skye Blue Waters, you were SUCH a good girl, and gave your family a lot of love over the years. You will be truly missed :)

Refrigerator Pickles

2011-09-01T19:31:00.001-05:00

I think it's only been about two years since I was introduced to refrigerator pickles by our family friend, who brought them on a horseback riding/camping weekend (I fell in love).

Now I just expect she'll not only make them every year, but give me at LEAST two jars' worth. I've always been a pickle fan but fridge pickles have become my ultimate favorite. I tend to hoard them and not really share...good thing The Hubby doesn't really like pickles.

This summer was no different – I expected her to bring them on our weekend in August of camping at Pillager with horses/food/perhaps some beer – and she delivered yet again. This time I got two jars at once, so I was pretty pumped.

Then – wonder of all wonders – my friend made them for the first time this summer (she gets a TON of fruits and veggies from her CSA every week) and evidently had enough to bring into the office and share...ANOTHER jar of homemade, beautiful pickles à la refrigerator. Plus, hers are different from our family friend's, so it's not as if I have three identical pickle jars in the fridge. Not that it'd really matter anyway, I guess...

So my friend's pickles are more sweet than dill, and while I'm not normally a fan of non-dill pickles, these are incredibly tasty and they were just so beautiful I almost didn't want to open them and start gorging. Had to take a few shots just to preserve the memory :)

I think I've just decided my new favorite thing: friends who're great in the kitchen. Thank you for sharing, friends :)

PS: It seems I'm not the only one enamored with refrigerator pickles. Just on a whim I decided to look them up but didn't even get to type in "pickles" before The Google knew for what I was searching:

Silking Stage

2011-08-24T19:41:00.000-05:00

It's (nearly) official – I could very possibly be a mama! My lovely corn (Zea Mays) is in the R1 stage of corn growth. That's right, we have silk.

According to this handy information about corn growth stages I found, the VT stage (tasseling) is quickly followed by the appearance of corn silk (silking) which is part of the pollination process.

Hopefully some of the pollen found its way to the ovule. This is the part which evidently turns into a kernel...or, if not fertilized, it all just goes away.

Fingers crossed :)

Smoretini Recipe

2011-08-23T20:22:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, in honor of National S'mores Day (August 10th), my friendly neighbor came over to give me an interesting recipe: a martini made to taste like a S'more. A "smoretini," if you will. (And I think you WILL.)

The weekend after that, he had me over to his patio to sample a pitcher of said s'moretinis he'd made to celebrate just that occasion (albeit a tad late, at that point). Now, I don't drink martinis. In fact, I don't even drink liquor (read: booze; not wine or beer). Okay, one of my signature drinks is a Bloody Mary, but that's different.

Anyway. So we sat on his patio and sipped smoretinis in the warm aftermath of a summer's day. Correction: he sucked down 3 (that I know of); I had ONE smoretini. I took one sip and thought, "hello, I'm drunk."

While definitely tasty, I think the recipe he was using – he followed it exactly – could use more Chocolate Liqueur (it didn't QUITE taste like a S'more):

S'moretini Recipe

1 64-ounce pitcher
32 ounces vodka
16 ounces Chocolate Liqueur
1 sleeve of graham crackers (as needed)
1 jar marshmallow creme (Marshmallow Fluff)
1 bag miniature marshmallows (he used full-size)
1 bag wooden skewers
16 martini glasses (less, if you're re-using as we did :)

Pour vodka and chocolate liqueur into pitcher and stir. Refrigerate for several hours (until very cold). Crush graham crackers and place onto a flat plate.

Rim martini glasses with marshmallow creme. Dip glasses into graham cracker crumbs (just as you would for margarita glasses).

Place marshmallows on skewers and toast over an open flame. Pour 3 ounces of cold drink mixture into each prepared glass and serve with toasted marshmallow for garnish.

Enjoy in moderation --- they're strong!

Not that it "goes" with a s'moretini drink, but if you're looking for another recipe, try the one I made for National Spaghetti Day!

Lettuce Wrap Tacos

2011-08-14T09:39:00.004-05:00

This summer my friend decided to join a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture). Little did she know her fridge would be inundated with lettuce. After snarfing more salads than she could count, she started asking around at work for think-outside-the-box lettuce recipes. I promptly replied with "lettuce wraps" – be nice, I'm not very inventive in the kitchen.

To my credit, I DID suggest using tuna fish salad, egg salad, etc. in said lettuce wraps. I guess that would make them "lettuce sandwiches" more so than wraps, but whatever.

She must've thought I was a prime suspect – I mean, candidate – to try out my own recipes because she came into work a few days later bearing a gift of lettuce. Suddenly, I was the one wondering what to do with all these leafy greens.

I decided to put my idea into action one night when I had the house to myself (read: no husband to feed) and leftover taco fixings. Since I was too lazy to fry up some shells (that's right, I flash-fry corn tortillas 'cause it's SO YUMMY and that's what Mom always did) I figured I could use my new supply of lettuce leaves.

It was delish – and unbelievably light – albeit a tad messy.

The other night, I once again found myself alone for dinner with leftover taco ingredients. This time, instead of the deep green, large lettuce from my friend's CSA, all I had on hand was iceberg lettuce (which we all know is basically worthless unless you're thirsty). While not chock-full of nutrients, it was much easier to eat my healthy tacos out of these conveniently bowl-shaped leaves. Plus the iceberg gave the tacos a nice, crisp crunch the other leaves didn't.

I think next on the list is actually finding a lettuce wrap recipe (somewhat akin to P.F. Chang's) and do it up all the way. We'll see. For now, I'm pleased I "found" a very healthy variety of tacos...at least when Clint's gone, anyway :)

Me, a Squirrel and Zea Mays

2011-08-14T08:24:00.006-05:00

So my neighbor feeds the local St. Paul wildlife in his back yard. Since his town home – a corner unit – is on the extreme end of the lot and abuts the woods, it's somewhat peaceful back there. I don't know how long he's been feeding but he's acquired quite the menagerie. He has a couple of bird feeders there, plus two flat feed pans on the ground (heaven forbid his animals eat off the dirt). In the bird feeders he puts a couple varieties of bird seed and on the pans it's feed corn.

I think the main reason for the corn is the deer, but other fauna partake in the tasty meals: turkeys (we're down to only 3 this year, from the gang-like rafter of 31 we had two years ago), rabbits, ducks (they wait on his roof and quack at him until he puts the food out), and of course, squirrels. Always the squirrels.

For those of you who've never paid attention, the grey squirrel has only 5 life activities hard-wired into its pea-sized brain:

Eat
Sleep
Breed
Store food for winter
Scrabble about and run in front of traffic

When food is plentiful – as it is here in our neck of the (city) woods – squirrels have ample time to cache enough to see them through winter. Now, it turns out squirrels are quite resourceful and sneaky when it comes to hiding their food. It seems these "scatter-hoarders" can have up to "several thousand caches each season." Holy cats.

Originally (until I just checked at Wikipedia – the source of all trustworthy online data) I thought the mature ones cached food in their "dreys" while the young, immature squirrels were the ones digging holes everywhere on the lawn for hiding acorns, corn, etc. Not so.

Which brings us to the point: since the neighbor puts corn out every day, and squirrels love corn, AND they hide their food in thousands of places...obviously the lawns around our town home complex are riddled with squirrel caches. Many of these containing – you guessed it – corn seeds.

What happens when you bury a seed and it receives plenty of water? Why, it grows, of course. Now, the lawn service does a wonderful job of keeping the grounds looking very neat, but they're only out once a week and the tiny little corn shoots keep popping up – everywhere – in the grass.

One morning while out with Zada, I noticed a couple little 4-inch corn shoots waving gently in the breeze. Cursing the squirrels I ripped out said shoots (including their little roots) and walked back towards the house. I'm not sure if I meant to throw them away or what, but as I got to the door I realized "now what do I do with them?"

As I pondered this (this all took place in about 2.4 seconds) I was gazing at the big, empty flower pot leftover from last summer (I'd used it for one of my spruce tips arrangements this winter) on the front stoop. All of a sudden, unable to quash life, I dug a quick little hole and tossed in the minuscule shoots.

That was sometime in June. It's now mid-August, and my corn is flourishing. I'm not sure how the squirrel I stole from feels, but I'm loving my little crop. At first – since it was sort of a joke – I didn't really water the pot or take much notice. That quickly changed when the stalks started shooting up over the plant growing in the pot in front of it.

Now I water the corn first – before all my other plants – and check its progress daily. The latest development: TASSELS! I feel like a proud mama.

After all, I sort of adopted Zea (from a squirrel, no less), and he's doing so well...how can I help but feel pride?

What's that? Yes, I've named my corn. "Zea Mays," of course. What else?

I'll be excited to see the next step – evidently called "silking" – and whether or not my lovely corn will develop corn cobs.

Auntie Sarah/Sophia Day #3: A Visit to Como Conservatory

2011-08-12T09:49:00.003-05:00

This past Monday was Sophia's 3rd Summer Day With Auntie Sarah. Michael brought her over at 8:30am – accompanied by her bike, helmet and camera – and our day started.

I had a few things to finish up before we could start out on our destination: a trip to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory (also known as just "Como Conservatory") to photograph the flowers. Since Clint and I live less than 4 miles from the Conservatory (as the crow flies, anyway), I figured the day would be a snap. We'd get there early (it opens at 10am) and beat the rush. Even on a Monday, I knew it'd be busy.

Well, it didn't take long to realize that Michael had forgotten to leave Sophia's booster car seat dealy – which meant until he could come all the way back across the city and leave it we were stuck at Casa de Danks (he was waiting for the cable guy). I improvised by bringing out the Play Doh, which is a great time-consumer. I watered the plants, picked up a bit, and tried to get Sophia's camera battery door open...of course the batteries were dead.

After the novelty of the Doh wore off, I figured it was time for a glamour shoot. I put some "make-up" – blush, lip gloss and just a tad of my favorite hair product: whip – on Sophia and asked her to strike some poses. Per usual, she happily obliged me. While only (already???) 6 years old, I've caught some of the most "grown-up" expressions on this kid's face. It amazes me. (Good luck with that, Amy, when she turns 16! Gonna be a heart-breaker.)

By the time Michael made it back over, it was already mid-morning...while he ended up getting the stubborn kids' camera to open, I realized I didn't have any batteries in the house – we'd have to make a stop at Target. At that point, it was easier to just let her use my old point-and-shoot camera (it had served me well in the past, although it's time to start looking for a replacement, poor thing) but THAT needed juice, too.

We headed off to Target, and by the time that was done it was lunchtime. I'd originally planned on heading to Como first, followed by lunch, but we were both hungry (and neither one of us is pleasant with low blood sugar). We headed to Keys Café to sit on the brightly-colored "bar" chairs and had a tasty lunch (beer cheese soup and tuna fish sandwich for me; mini corndogs, fries and applesauce for her).

Satiated and ready to photograph the flora, we made our way to the Como grounds...where it took me 15 minutes of driving around (and around) to FINALLY find the last parking spot. We had to walk quite a ways to get to the buildings and Sophia only needed to be carried for a few minutes :)

When we finally got in, I was worried that we only had ~1 hour before I'd need to bundle her back to my place (to pick up her bike) and we'd have to head back to her house. However, with a 6-year-old – even one interested in taking pictures of all the flowers – an hour turned out to be the perfect amount of time.

She wasn't interested in seeing the Bonsai Room, but we did hit the Fern Room, the North Garden, the Sunken Garden and Tropical Encounters. Last – but certainly not least – she wanted to play in the room designated for kids where they can learn while they play.

When it was time to go home, there were no tears...but that didn't deter me. I'm already planning what our next Auntie Sarah/Sophia Day will entail!

Auntie Sarah/Sophia Day #2: The Sleepover

2011-07-18T08:47:00.007-05:00

A week ago this morning I dragged myself out of bed after a night of fitful sleep. Clint had already let the dog out so I tiptoed into the kitchen to get my coffee. Sipping it groggily, I contemplated stealing downstairs to sit at the computer – but I dared not. I opted instead to slink back into my room to grab my book, and made my way stealthily to the upstairs couch to read for a while.

Why all the clandestine creeping? Was I hungover? Sort of...Sophia was still sleeping in the guest bedroom downstairs and I wanted to keep it that way. It had been her first sleepover at our house and while overall it was successful (i.e., everyone lived and everyone – especially Clint – got some sleep), it was somewhat of a very long night.

The night preceding bedtime went well: she played with Play Doh at the counter while I made tacos, then we watched Toy Story 3 (my first time seeing it...I had to hide my tear-streaked, snotty cry-face from her because I BAWLED at the end!) and got ready for bed. That's when it got interesting.

First of all, Sophia's at the "what's that strange noise" stage, evidently. Plus being in a strange bed at a strange house...not to mention the omnipresent trains that rumble by not even a quarter mile away; she came upstairs to ask me about all sorts of noises many times before I turned out my light. Each time I sent her back down with a logical explanation.

But at 11pm, I couldn't turn her away – the lightning was flashing like paparazzi cameras and the thunder was crack-boom-banging away. I myself don't like thunderstorms, so I completely understand this kid's fear of them...with Clint snoring away obliviously next to me I invited Sophia up onto my side of the bed, where she promptly curled up next to me into the smallest possible ball a skinny 6-year-old can make.

I tried to get some sleep but of course with a little body twitching, twisting and curling around under my arm it was more a case of staying comfortable. After dozing in and out for a few hours, I woke to see the storm had finally abated...it was time for Sophia to crawl back into her own bed. I led her downstairs and tucked her in – the addition of a teddy bear and a small lamp on inside the room aided in calming her – and finally fell back into my own bed, exhausted, for a few more hours of shut-eye.

Let me say here now: I wasn't mad or annoyed with her, poor thing...I was just a WEE bit tired from my own night of restless, broken sleep and needed some coffee and a little quiet time that morning :) After a little while she did come up and wanted to cuddle a bit...soon it was time for breakfast, playing with her camera and then we had to get started with our real plans: a day at the beach with the Van Tassels!

We donned our suits, I packed up a picnic lunch (PBJ sammiches, raspberries, rice krispy bars and juice), got sunblock and towels, grabbed my camera and we were off to the Lake Elmo Park Reserve. I'd never been to a man-made "lake" before so it was quite interesting to see a sandy bottom, the odd water bug and then drains and filters.

We had a great time! The day was hot, a tad humid and the sun was shining; all 3 girls played in the water, built lagoons and had numerous foot races. Christine and I had our fair share of entertainment – watching the cute girls and also doing quite a bit of chit-chatting. At the end of the afternoon we bundled up and left, a tad sun-burned but tired and happy.

Michael was waiting for us when we drove up to the town home; Sophia's big eyes filled with tears at the prospect of having to leave. It was at once sad and cute: she SO didn't want the day to end; it was a good feeling I'd been successful at yet another Auntie Sarah/Sophia day!

First-Ever Auntie Sarah/Sophia Day

2011-07-02T09:33:00.004-05:00

Earlier this spring my sister approached me and said she had a handful of Mondays on which Sophia didn't have "camp" (whatever that means) and would I be willing to hang out with her for one of them?

I immediately said I'd take them all – so we marked our calendars and I dubbed them Auntie Sarah/Sophia Days – while secretly wondering in the back of my mind, "what does one DO with a 6-year-old all day long?"

Well, I'll tell you. The first-ever (long-awaited) occurrence of Auntie Sarah/Sophia Day #1 was this past Monday, and here's how it all went down...

Michael brought Sophia over around 9am, accompanied by her car booster seat, bike, helmet, sweatshirt (just in case), the plate I'd left at their house from the grill-out (Michael's graduation party!) and a sticky note that said "DEXTER DVDs!"

After waving Michael off to the car – greedily clutching 4 seasons' worth of Dexter – it was time to start our day. She promptly showed me how she'd lost her second tooth the night before and then asks me, "what're we going to do today, Auntie Sarah?" I had a general, vague idea of how things (I thought) would go down, but of course the weather wasn't looking too promising so I was hastily revising ideas on the fly.

First and foremost, we had to head to the grocery store (Clint and I are sort of day-to-day shoppers so we had no kid-friendly food in the house), with Sophia helping to carry the basket and preening for the checkout lady. We got back and she helped put things away and then it was, "now what?"

I'd planned on driving over to Lake Como for a walk/bike ride, but the ominous clouds quelled that idea so I said we should probably hang out near the house just in case. We ended up cutting a bunch of flowers off my potted plants, choosing vases, arranging them and then deciding where in the house to place them all. Then she thought it was time for a snack so I got out some pretzels and milk, which evidently was the perfect combo because she said she likes dipping the pretzels IN the milk.

After that it was time to get out the sidewalk chalk and get to work decorating the front stoop. She kept looking up at the clouds saying, "but what if it rains? That cloud is darker than the last one...if it rains can I watch a movie?" I had to put the kibosh on this line of questioning and re-focus her efforts on the task at hand. I think we did a pretty good job with our artwork and afterword it turned into a game of getting-from-one-side-of-the-sidewalk-to-the-other-without-touching-the-chalk-lines. Lots of jumping, pirouetting, and chalky feet :)

It was STILL cloudy at that point so I said she could choose some fingernail polish and I'd paint her nails. She settled on using all 9 colors I had and wanted each nail a different color, so I set up shop outside on the deck and went to work. The sun ended up coming out and helped dry all the little colorful nails.

It was almost lunch time at this point so I told her she could color for a bit and then I began preparing lunch: grilled cheese sammiches (mozarella for her; pepperjack for me), pasta salad, pickles and a drink (Gatorade for me; milk for her). For dessert she was pumped to devour a yummy ice cream bar.

Since the weather was gorgeous at this point, she was excited to head to the park – I bundled her, the bike and myself into the car and zipped over to Lake McCarrons where her first observation was, "you said there wasn't a playground here, Auntie Sarah, but there IS." Oops. Guess I don't pay much attention. So she played around on the jungle gym for a while, and then wanted to go put her feet in the water (she didn't have a swimsuit plus it was so windy it was just a bit cool). Then it was being pushed on the swing for a while and right back in the water. She ended up getting all her clothes wet – how could I tell her not to have fun and splash around? – but at that point we were at the end of our day, anyway. All played out, we headed back to my house to get the rest of her stuff and I gave her a t-shirt of mine to wear so she wasn't sopping wet.

We got in the car and headed over to Robbinsdale, her chattering away in the backseat and me still trying to keep up with all the "guess whats." After hanging out with her all day, then standing in the chilly wind, I began to feel nice and comfortable in the sun streaming through the windshield and all of a sudden it hit me: I was exhausted.

I began yawning and couldn't stop. Sophia asks from the backseat, "why do you keep yawning?" I replied, "well, I guess I'm tired from today's activities." There was silence while she contemplated this for a few seconds, then she pipes up, "my mom never yawns."

Too defeated to think of a proper response, I merely smiled and thought, "yeah, but your mom's USED to this!"

Arriving at her house, it was off to tell her dad all that we'd done that day and then I said my goodbyes and headed back home. Amy said for the next few days it was "Auntie Sarah this," and "Auntie Sarah that"!

It was a VERY fun day, and she's a great kid...but I sure need to build up my kid stamina for the next edition: a Sophia Sleepover!

Rain Is Good For Growing Things

2011-06-26T10:10:00.007-05:00

If the human body is 70% water, then surely the plants in my little "garden" are approaching humanly grace on account of all the rain Minnesota's been receiving this spring and summer.

You might remember my foray into gardening last summer – my first, true attempt at keeping plants alive – and how excited I was that I not only had pretty flowers to look at, but also fresh basil to use in Clint's favorite chicken recipe.

Well, THIS summer I've stepped up my game.

Not only do I have more plants and variety, but I actually put all of them – except the monster on the front stoop and the hanging baskets – into their own cute pots (some of which I found on a recent antiquing trip with The Girls). I brought over the cute little shelves residing at the Mini-crapolis house to use as supports for all my cute, new plants, but after a few days' worth of rain the pots were so heavy I had to remove most of them. No biggie. I still think it looks cute.

So, what do I have in my little garden this year? Clint of course got me a couple of huge "ready-made" pots that I like – those are mostly petunias, mixed in with some other cutesie stuff (threw away the little name tags :). I even have the very popular and (this year) brand-new black velvet petunia. They're very pretty and actually look like velvet! But the rain we've had tends to mush them a bit and beware – they "bleed" a dark purple and will stain your hands when wet.

I also have geraniums (those haven't been doing very well this year), daisies (spreading like crazy), vining black-eyed susan, calibrachoa (in orange! they're so cute), a couple different varieties of coleus, red-leaf lettuce (donated by my good friend from her garden), basil, cilantro and chives. Whew. I might not be very diligent with dead-heading this year, but in spite of that most everything is thriving...in fact, I'm thinking I'll have to split some off and add more pots because they're doing so well they might start cannibalizing everything. It's a good problem to have :)

Another good way to "stem" the flow of growth – especially with leggy petunias – is to chop them back and create little flower arrangements. It's fun to cut the different flowers and throw them into cute vases for around the house.

And of course there are the herbs that need to be used in cooking! Last year I put my 2 little basil plants into dainty pots that I then placed on the windowsill inside. While they grew and were healthy, they just didn't yield enough growth to use very often. I also tried a pot's worth of oregano but I just didn't like that one as much.

This year, all herbs are outside and are not only thriving, I can barely keep up with the production! Again, a good problem to have. My 4 basil plants look like they're on steroids; I've cut back my chives and cilantro at least 3 times already and they just keep coming. It's fun to have my own little "herb garden" for once!

I'd say this year I'm measurably better with my plants – with a lot of help from Ma Nature – and am enjoying the ambience they impart to the deck. (Just this past weekend Mom and I sat out there with our morning coffee and chatted...it smelled nice, looked lovely and is as close to a real garden as I can get in a town home.)

PS: Let it be known that Blogger was NOT playing nicely with my images. Not my best work in organizing photos on this blog.

An April Weekend Up North

2011-06-15T15:32:00.000-05:00

At the end of April I headed up North to Mission Narrows for a weekend of family time. My sister's brood went, too, so it was a full house. While we were slightly miffed Ma Nature decided to dump snow on us yet again, we didn't let it bother us. The kids bundled up in snow/rain gear and we waded out anyway.

We didn't mind the cold and snow the first day...of course we ate great comfort food – Mom never disappoints – and cozied up to the cheery fire. There might've been a couple movies watched and a few card games played.

We walked out to the barn to visit the horses and give them a few treats and the girls stomped around in the slushy snow while the dogs chased sticks.

The next day was warmer and sunny, so we headed back out to see the horses and Amy took the kids for a few spins in the arena on Ben. After that it was time for a little trail ride – Amy & Sophia rode Ben while I acted as "guide" by walking in front. Mom & Charlotte met us on their Gator ride, so everyone got to get out on the trail. (Zada put on twice as many miles as the other dogs, running between the horseback faction and the Gator faction.)

After being outside in the fresh, chilly air we wandered back inside for snacks and then spent the afternoon playing Legos...well, you know, Amy and I weren't playing; we were helping the girls with assembly. Even Mom got in on the action :)

After that it was time to put on some make-up and do glamour shots for the girls – Charlotte's a TAD harder to photograph since she's always moving but I think both girls enjoyed getting their pictures taken!

By Sunday afternoon it was finally warm, sunny and all the snow was gone...but everyone else had to head back to the Cities.

I stayed behind and enjoyed a nice "photography walk" around the property with the dogs – my ever-present companions. From snow and cold to warm, spring sunshine; from bustling noise to quiet solitude, it was a very fun-filled family weekend.

Puerto Vallarta 2011 Part Deux

2011-06-15T10:51:00.005-05:00

I realize we're mid-way through June and I'm just now deciding to talk about Clint's and my trip to Puerto Vallarta...in March. I dunno, time just flies as you get older and I've had quite a busy spring. Plus it's a dreary, rainy, extremely soggy day in Minnesota. Why not pine for the sun and sand?

This year it was just the two of us – not like PV 2010 with Penny & John – since they couldn't go. They say they're on board for next year, though! We had such a blast with them it's a trip that must be repeated. Anyway, this year we had QUITE the fiasco getting to PV. Turned out we needed a vacation from going on vacation. Once again it was wheels-up at 6:05am. Not a huge deal, except when the cab we requested never showed up. I ended up having to wake up my cousin (dog-sitting for Zada) and ask her to drive us to the airport at o-dark-hundred (4:30). Then it turned out every single person on our plane had to get frisked and have their carry-on checked. Every. Single. Person.

We were late getting through security so I didn't get breakfast – I figured I'd hold out for our first-class food...and a mimosa – but then they started boarding everyone on the plane and we find out there's no first class. After we paid for it, of course. So we're crammed into teeny-tiny seats (always a pleasure for Clint) and had to purchase our soggy, greasy breakfast "sandwiches." We were not pleased.

When the wheels touched down we breathed a sigh of relief – we were finally on vacation! But not quite. The taxi we rode in had some problem with a rear wheel – like, it was coming off – so the cabby had to pull over on the side of a highway, run somewhere to get tools and then come back and fix the wheel. Meanwhile we're roasting inside a cab with no A/C on the side of a Mexican freeway.

Get to Plaza Dorada – FINALLY, we think, we're here, we're safe, we're ready to RELAX! We squeeze into the elevator, head up to #406, open it up...and someone else's stuff is everywhere. Evidently we got there so early (because of the new lift-off time) the previous renters weren't checked out yet! Scrambling out of the condo we head back downstairs, at a loss as to what to do. We ended up leaving our carry-on in the lobby, changed in the pool bathrooms and headed over to Coco Tropical where Juan instantly brought us chairs, an umbrella, and – most importantly – cold beers. We might've proceeded to tie one on that afternoon (well, technically morning at that point)...but it was well deserved.

Enough of the negative. The rest of our trip was fun, relaxing, and of course beautiful. We went to Yelapa twice (even running into a "buddy" I'd met on my February trip), walked around a lot, soaked up the sun (and Pacifico), and ate very well.

Since last year we went zip-lining, we decided to try something new this year, too: sea kayaking. I'm not much of a kayaker (I'd only done it one time, in Greece) and Clint and I only ever canoed together once (in high winds...that was interesting!). But, we jumped in and gave it a whirl – it was even fun once I got over being RIGHT on the water and asked Clint NOT to continually hum the Jaws theme. Of course then I saw some gal on a stand-up kayak WAY farther out than we were...I quickly deduced if anyone was going to get eaten by a shark it'd HAVE to be her. Right?

One day while strolling on the Malecón we saw a new bar – an Irish pub, no less! – called Murphy's. We stopped in to quench our thirst and instantly became BFF with the owners. That might've become our favorite hang-out (other than Coco Tropical, which wins only because it's right on the beach near the condo) that week.

They have a great joint right on the ocean with fantastic views, TVs and great drinks. Clint tried their signature drink – the Irish Car Bomb – and their delicious Cielo Rojo became my favorite. It's a great bar and I hope we see them when we return (whenever that may be).

After a week of fun in the sun we headed home...already planning when we'll return to lovely Puerto Vallarta.

Daddy Longlegs Are NOT Spiders

2011-05-06T09:46:00.001-05:00

Contrary to popular belief, "daddy longlegs" (technically called harvestmen) aren't spiders. They live in the same kingdom (Animal), phylum (Arthropoda) and class (Arachnida) as spiders, but they branch out at order (Araneae for spiders; Opiliones for daddy longlegs).

They certainly LOOK like spiders – one tends to get kicked out of the Arachnid party if one doesn't possess 8 legs – but don't be fooled. While I'll kill any spider that crosses my path, if I happen across a daddy longlegs I'll let it be (if it's outside) or gently capture and release (if it's in the house). So there you go. Solid proof daddy longlegs are NOT spiders. Of course, there are a lot of other technical reasons they differ from spiders (like they don't spin silk and aren't venomous)...but let's not get carried away.

This random post and clarification research – that is, research performed to ensure I actually knew what I was talking about, to double-check the whole phylum-class-order thing and some other stuff – brought to you by Answers.com and Wikipedia (read more about harvestmen).

I Would Like to Blog Today, But...

2011-04-28T11:02:00.000-05:00

Why is it that blogging "inspiration" always strikes when

I have other things to do that need to get done – namely, work.
I don't have access to my images. Blogs are so much better – IMO – with pictures to accompany/augment/complete them.
I'm at work. This differs from #1, believe me. Yet it also relates to #2.

Today, only #s 2 and 3 apply, but still. I'd really rather be blogging.

Don't Cry For Me, Yelapa...

2011-04-07T22:41:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow will have been a week since we've been back from our wonderful vacation...so, true to form, I'm not over Puerto Vallarta yet. Or Yelapa either, for that matter.

Just a few images I took in Yelapa -- the first time we went -- this past go-round that I like...

*Sigh*

Yelapa, we shall see each other again...this year, I hope :)

Not All Things End As They Start

2011-03-20T09:22:00.000-05:00

Not all things necessarily end up as they began. Take a work week, for example: it begins with a Monday – and who on earth likes those? – and ends with Friday. Everyone loves Friday.

Or how about March in Minnesota? The saying is "in like a lion, out like a lamb." Or vice versa, as we born-and-raised Minnesotans know. And it's generally true that the month never ends like it begins. Especially this March.

First of all, we got a butt-ton of snow this winter (ps: that's MUCH more than a mere metric ton) and we still had it all coming into the beginning of this month. The past week has changed that, however – the warm(er) weather and now sluicing rains are melting that icky snow right before our eyes. So that's good. I'm done with winter.

And then there's the ever-increasing temperature...I believe we've been in the 50s (above!) several times in the past week. This is a joyous time. And this week is the best of all – right now, it's Sunday, cool and rainy. But, the upcoming forecast is VERY promising. In fact, there's going to be a drastic upswing in the temperature! Take a look...

Sunday–Wednesday's Forecast:

And Thursday–next Sunday's Forecast:

So you see, things can change drastically from the way they've started and end up being...well, something entirely different. And that's okay. In fact, it's great.

Can't wait 'til Thursday!

Sometimes It's Good to Go Back

2011-03-18T09:54:00.001-05:00

I've heard people say, "if only I could go back and do that over..." but I try to live without regrets. In fact, historically I've always looked forward to the future and what it holds instead of dwelling on all the has-beens in the past.

I couldn't WAIT to get out of high school and into college. After a couple years of that, I couldn't wait to get out of college and into the real world...but what I realized (after some maturity) was that I was looking so forward to what could/might come that I wasn't really living in the moment to enjoy it for what it was. Not that I regret that – that was then and, as I'm so fond of saying, "it is what it is."

Older, more mature and possibly a tad wiser, these days I'm still excited and curious about what the future holds, but I'm also living in – and enjoying – the "now." AND I can still look back on the ago and think all the things I've done, seen and experienced have made me who I am today.

While we might not be able to physically go back in time – or leap ahead into the future, for that matter – we CAN reflect back on what's happened. Not to worry about regrets or wish we could do it over, but just to enjoy it for what it was and perhaps even re-remember some other things.

For me, photography has always been my favorite way to preserve memories – I'm not great with remembering details, as many of my old friends can attest :) – and every once in a while I like to go back and re-live the snapshots I've taken the past year.

This morning while doing just that I came across a shot I took on a whim last year. I'd forgotten all about it – it was tucked away in a folder from the summer months – and realized I'd never so much as edited it.

It was after a day of horse showing in Aitkin, Minnesota and we were driving home trying to beat the threatening storm clouds. As I came around a turn in the road I saw this vista: a field of sunflowers set against a backdrop of ominous, slate-blue clouds.

I pulled over, grabbed my camera, zipped across the road and started shooting. The lighting was less than ideal but it was beautiful anyway. I'm so glad I decided to take a stroll through my (recent) past and re-remember this lovely scene.

I look forward to driving past this field again next summer – we'll most likely be attending the same horse show this year – and see what this field of sunflowers has in store for me! After all, I have a new camera now and could even take the time to try out some different lenses...

But, I won't spend any more time thinking about that. After all, it's several months away and I have the here and now to live :)

Girls' Week in Puerto Vallarta (v.2011)

2011-03-06T09:24:00.003-06:00

It's been a little over a week since Phoebe and I returned from yet another stint – this time for a week – in sunny, warm Puerto Vallarta. This year's Girls' Week included Mom, Aunt Lynne and us. Well, and technically Dad, since we arrived on Thursday and he didn't head home 'til Saturday. We were extremely excited for our second trist together, especially since our short little trip last year only whet our appetite for more.

We caught the earliest flight down there – they've changed the wheels-up time from 7:05 to o-six-hundred – so by 11:30am we were on the beach and ordering our first drink from Juan at Coco Tropical. Since we both got up at 2:30am (yes, there is such a time) to leave for the airport by 3:30 (thanks to my wonderful husband for waking up enough to drive us there!), we were ready to relax, read and take a nap. Of course, there was also a considerable amount of chit-chat.

The week was same-ol'-same-ol': power-walks in the morning followed by coffee and chatting on the balcony; walking around old-town PV 'til about noonish, then on to the beach for afternoons filled with chatting, napping, drinking and reading; up to the condo for showers and the oh-so-stressful decision ("Where are we going to eat tonight?"); finally a stroll along the Malecón for dessert. Go to bed, rinse, repeat. Hello, vacation.

Of course, don't get me wrong – there was nothing hum-drum about this trip. You'd think, with how many times I've been to PV, I'd eventually get sick of it. Nope. On the contrary! I find somewhere or something new every time I'm there. Case in point this trip: there's a catwalk at Los Arbolitos. Who knew? An old family friend took Phoebe and I up there to show us our first night...I was at first surprised it was even there (Dad never ONCE mentioned that in all the times I've been there), but then I was even more surprised at the view. You know, looking over the rooftops and trees of PV, seeing a few shimmery stars poking through the cloud cover, the extremely good-looking man (wearing only underoos) walking in front of his window (backlit against the soft amber glow of candlelight) and then very sexily putting on a pair of jeans. Whoa.

Anyway. I digress.

Then there was the day of hanging out with Dad. Phoebe and I had a BLAST! We ate breakfast at Tizoc's (Roberto – my very own personal waiter and a spry 74 years old – was extremely happy to see me there without Clint) and then followed Dad on a shopping spree. He needed to get silver bracelets for some of his nurses so we went to the silver shop on the Malecón. Upon paying for our finds, Dad and I ended up yakking with the store owner (en español, claro) and then all of a sudden he's pulling out old black-and-white photos of the area from the '20s and '30s. SUPER-cool! We got a little history lesson and made a new BFF.

After that it was on to the hardware store: my new, favorite place to shop in PV. Dad needed some random tools (axe heads or something?) and Phoebe was delighted to find authentic, real McCoy tortilla presses. She got one of those, we both got juicers, I got cool wooden spoons (and a pair of shoelaces – why not?)...I ended up heading back a different day for cool clay pots. It's a veritable pu pu platter of cool Mexican stuff.

Oh, and then there was our "Photography Walk-about." Phoebe and I decided to grab our cameras and head off the beaten path to see what kind of photo opps we could find. Well, we took photos and then we got a little farther off the beaten path than we'd expected...as in, we were on a dirty, dusty dirt road heading in the wrong direction. I sort of knew where we were and where we needed to be – problem was, we couldn't GET there due to the fences on either side of the road.

Finally, after traversing an ancient "bridge," deciding not to rescue the neglected skinny stallion, and fording the icy cold water of the Rio Cuale in our bare (and I might add, sore) feet, we ended up at last on the correct side of the river. From there it was just a hop, skip, and a jumpy 10 minutes past some rather shady-looking natives until we finally saw another gringo and then we ended up on a sidewalk that led us right back...to the hardware store. It was a sight for sore eyes!

Our trip to Yelapa was fun (of course), too. We saw dolphins in the boat on the way there, and whales in the bay once we got back from our waterfall tour. We also got to see a bunch of people paragliding over the bay (different than parasailing in that eventually they disconnect from the boat and free-fly) and met a couple of colorful, typical Yelapa-type squatters. There was a poem, some pictures and a hasty fare-thee-well getting into the boat to head back to PV.

We relaxed, we sunbathed, we enjoyed great food, we laughed.

All in all, another great trip to my favorite home-away-from-home: Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta, How I Miss Thee

2011-03-05T22:02:00.000-06:00

It takes me as long as I was on vacation to get over NOT being on vacation anymore. And Mexico, I'm just not quite over you yet...

A Remembrance of Fall

2011-01-16T09:37:00.000-06:00

As the snowfall continues - and continues and continues - it's very much winter here in Minnesota. However, yesterday I set myself to a task that brought a little bit of fall color into the house.

This past autumn, I gathered pretty leaves. Yup, just like when we were kids. I wrapped them lovingly in paper towels, placed them in hardcover books and let them dry. I realize they didn't have to sit quite as long as they did; it was a matter of clearing an afternoon to carry out my idea: arranging them in picture frames.

It was very simple. (The original idea was to place three frames with leaves above our headboard, but I didn't acquire quite enough leaves so I filled one frame and then used a few leftover leaves in my picture coasters.)

Supplies:

Picture frame(s)
Pre-cut mat(s)
Super glue

Using the cardboard "backing" that came with the picture frame (purchased at Michaels), I started arranging and gluing the leaves into place. When the glue was dry, I put the mat into place and voila.

For the coasters, I purchased a set of "photo" coasters and went through the same process as with the frame. They're colorful, simple and look great – plus the pressed leaves last a long time.

I think it turned out quite well...and since this past fall was one of the most beautiful I've seen (and experienced; we had a LOT of great horseback riding!), I'm loving my lovely fall leaf art!

Zada Four Years Ago

2011-01-06T22:01:00.003-06:00

I just realized while brushing my teeth that four years ago to this very day, I brought home a very hyper (but scared), 4-month-old German shepherd puppy.

At this time on that night I was completely overwhelmed, tired and entirely unaware of what I'd be getting myself into...pretty sure she was thinking the exact same thing! But after a few blind-leading-the-blind episodes, we fell into a routine and have never looked back. Well, except for right now :)

I'm so glad I have my lovely Zada -- happy 4th anniversary, buddy, dorky as it may sound :)

PS: The head massages still work :)

All-Flash Websites Still Not Okay

2010-12-01T10:37:00.000-06:00

Even though Google's announced they're even better at indexing Flash (SWF) content, don't get all excited and build a website all in flash because "it'll look cool, and Google can read all the content now!" For real. If you care ANYTHING about measuring the success – perceived or otherwise – of your online marketing efforts, an all-flash site isn't the way to go. At least, not yet.

Let's step back for a minute. "Hang on a tick," you say..."hasn't Google been able to penetrate Flash files for a couple years now?" Actually, yes – since the beginning of July 2008, Google's been working on being able to read and index Flash files, even updating last year to being able to index external content loaded from other files and associating it with the "parent" SWF file.

All this is awesome! Google continues to move right along and improve...but should you be building websites entirely in Flash because of this? I don't know....but my guess is probably not.

Here's why: even with this heightened ability to read/index SWF content, will a website built entirely in Flash still appear as one page? Currently, that's the case. Sure, The Google can read and index your Flash content. BUT, a site built in Flash registers as a single web page. "So?" you might scoff. Well, again, if you're interested in tracking any sort of data on your pretty little site, you MIGHT want to re-think Flash.

Check it out:

This is all the data Google can (as of this morning) gather for a website built entirely in Flash, which consists of 6 or 7 "pages" – to a human – but only 1 to Google. Visitors can enter, click around, and see different content, but Google perceives each visitor as hitting "only" the home page...since, technically, no other "page" exists (look at the address bar when viewing an all-Flash site; you'll see what I mean).

Maybe this newest advancement in reading SWF/Flash content will prove me wrong. But, maybe it's a glitch they haven't worked out yet...or might not ever be able to.

So, while a Flash website can look "really cool," "innovative" and "cutting edge," is it worth anything if you're looking to measure its success with analytics???

Answer: nope.

Horseback Riding Lessons in Pequot Lakes

2010-11-20T14:28:00.002-06:00

I grew up around horses, have always loved them, and started (seriously) horseback riding at the age of 7. Throughout all my years of trail riding, practicing for horse shows (mostly 4-H) and just horsin' around, Maxine has been there. She's not just a friend; "Max" is family. But that aside, she's also a damn good horse woman, and she's finally giving riding lessons again.

Horseback Riding Instruction
Maxine gives lessons to horseback riders of all ages at Lonesome Dove Training Center in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. While the fundamentals of horseback riding she teaches aren't discipline-specific, she can focus with any rider on their desired discipline: western, hunt seat, saddle seat, show hack, even driving.

Whether you're an adult looking to step up your horse show game or learn a new discipline, or you have a young child deliriously in love with horses, you should be taking horseback riding lessons from Maxine Luger Gallett. She has an innate sense of how to train riders to work along with their horses. She has over 30 years' experience showing horses, schooling riders in equitation, and showing horses in multiple disciplines; she can take any horse and rider combo and turn them into a well-rounded pair.

Maxine Has Schooled Many Horseback Riders Over The Years
Over the years she's garnered quite a following of loyal protégés.

While I didn't take as many lessons from her as I'd have liked over the years (by the time I hit my "stride" with showing, she wasn't giving lessons), I've learned a lot from her and I did pretty well with my little 4-H horse over the years. I mean, if you count winning a trip to the State 4-H Horse Show every year I was eligible (and placing down there, too :); placing highly in local shows and even winning some open classes against "big-shot" trainers, then yes, I think I did pretty well. Of course, that was way back in high school and college. Now I pretty much just trail ride, but I'm still learning – every time I see Max, I learn SOMETHING new!

My sister (Amy Bernier Satterfield), on the other hand, took lessons with Max for years – and not just for 4-H competitions, she went to the Class A Arabian shows – and under her tutelage not only became a beautiful equestrian (first in hunt seat, followed by saddle seat and western) but also a great trainer. She finished her National Show Horse ("Ben") and turned him into a winning machine. Her recent accomplishments include attending and placing at WSCA horse shows against some extremely tough competition in hunt seat pleasure. In fact, for the Arabian Unplugged 2010 show circuit, she was the "runaway" English Hunt Seat High Point Champion. That's quite an accomplishment!

Another of Max's students, Stacy Ennenga Stricker, has gone on to become quite the horse woman. She also trains horses – she's working on finishing two of them this year – and has an affinity for Parelli training. To watch her working with her horses is truly amazing.

Maxine's own daughter, Tasha, is following in her mother's footsteps, showing her pinto (Tío) in 4-H, at open shows (including WSCA), and participating in drill team.

Max's latest students are young girls (my niece included) in various stages of learning to ride. She teaches them the basics of riding, but she also gives them confidence. One of them – the 11-year-old daughter of my friend – won her walk-trot class at the 4-H County Fair Horse Show this past summer. She's gung-ho, excited about her lessons, and is shaping into a great little rider under Maxine's tutelage! And so the list goes on.

Horseback Riding Lesson Details
So, after singing a few of her many accolades, here's the scoop on taking lessons with Max:

All lessons are given at Lonesome Dove Training Center, owned and maintained by the Haffs.

Pricing: Using a Lesson Horse
If a rider uses an on-site lesson horse, the pricing is $65.00 for an hour of riding instruction. This hour does NOT include catching the horse, grooming or tacking up. Each rider receives a full hour's worth of riding and schooling. $5.00 of this fee is for the use of the arena (since Maxine doesn't own the facility); another $10.00 is for the use of the lesson horse.

If only a half-hour session is desired, the charge is $40.00 (with the use of a lesson horse).

Pricing: Bringing Your Own Horse
If a rider chooses to bring his/her own horse, lesson pricing is $55.00 for an hour of riding instruction; $30.00 for a half-hour session. Again, the time to groom your horse and saddle up is not included in the lesson time.

Of course, if you have a young child who wants to learn these things – how to properly groom and tack a horse – I'm sure she can accommodate, since these are also important aspects of riding!

Also, discounted rates are available for lessons with 2 riders – of approximately the same knowledge level – but talk to Max to discuss details.

Contact Maxine

To get started on your way to becoming a better equestrian – or to enroll your daughter/son – you can email Max at lugerltd@hotmail.com or call her at (218) 562-4754.

If you take lessons from Max, I guarantee you'll not only learn how to become a better rider and how to work with your horse; you'll have a lot of fun, too!

Metaphorically Speaking?

2010-11-10T09:47:00.000-06:00

Today while I was getting ready for work a thought hit me which I must expound on here.

I have a walk-through bathroom. I believe the technical term is a Jack & Jill bathroom. It's pretty stupid...I mean, a bathroom with two doors I have to shut before – well, you know. Anyway, while I like having all the openness and light, I'm not a fan of the layout.

In order to get to my linen closet – in which I store linens (weird), medicine, hair products and other necessities I use every day – I have to close one of the bathroom doors. This bothers me.

I don't WANT to close one door to open another one. It's irritating.

Which got me to thinking: is that a metaphor for my life?

I Chopped My Hair Again

2010-10-30T07:52:00.001-05:00

Hey, the celebrities are all doing it – lopping off all their locks – plus I needed a change. This is yet another part of the cycle I've been in since college of growing my hair out; getting sick of it and whacking it off in one swell foop; letting it grow out long again...

So, to document this latest foray into pixie land (okay, it's not a true pixie but for me it's so short I just call it that) I have the "before" and "after" proof ...

Here's me sitting in the chair while the hairdresser (LaRae from Hair Matters) mixes the highlight stuff:

Now, while some of you might be thinking the orangey-yellowy cast to my hair might be caused from the lighting in the salon, it's not. That was actually the color of my hair after a summer's worth of being outside on weekends in the sun. Not very flattering. The word which comes to mind is "sallow."

After a couple hours' worth of transformation (and having shown her pictures of cute Meg Ryan 'dos I liked), here's the result:

Is she good or WHAT?! Everyone should go to LaRae!

Okay, for real – here's the finished product:

I can make it look messier – sorry, Meggier – than she did at the salon. It's SO fun, and QUICK! No more blow-drying my locks for 10 minutes (or more) every morning. I might even start getting to work early because of this :)

Thank you, LaRae, for my cute new 'do!

*Meg Ryan image borrowed from this site.

Hey, Behr – I Need Your Advice for a Paint Color!

2010-10-20T15:09:00.003-05:00

Alright, all you Behr Paint users: I need advice on a paint color. Namely, a shade/hue of blue. This is sort of a continuation of our Town Home Makeover Project (which I have yet to document here but soon shall) and partially a result of me buying a really cool piece of art.

Enter said piece of art into the house and the consequence: needing to paint. First of all, the entire downstairs living room is white. All walls. Plus the carpet's beige. MLEH. While I never in a million years thought I'd EVER willingly paint "beige" in a house, I did choose Toasted Wheat for the upstairs living room/kitchen and then I accented with red...some orange...etc. I'm kind of a fan of the "neutral" base colors with accents.

Anyway. My idea for this room – our downstairs living room – is a combination of browns (again, carpet's beige; couch/chair/ottoman are dark brown) and blue with orange accents. I just love orange. In addition to red, it's probably the color I can't do without. SO. With that color palette (mostly) chosen, now what do I do with all these nooks n crannies in this room? Paint just one wall? Paint all of it? Bleck...I don't even want to think of painting all of it. My idea is to ONLY paint the wall on which the new art will reside.

Here's the new art – it's a bigun, measuring ~42" tall by ~65" wide – which is to go behind the couch:

Cool, huh? I found this gem in the Lazy Turtle while antiquing with my friend in Anoka a couple weekends ago. So you can see it's the perfect wall art for me – it has neat horses in it, it's historical (Clint loves Egyptian history), plus it has the colors I want for that room – BUT since it'd be going on a white wall something needs to change. I can't do white-on-white.

Here's the room in question last Christmas (hence the lights; no I haven't started decorating already):

First and foremost: yes, I got rid of the pillows on the couch – except the orange one, of course – so no advice needed there.

Secondly, as you can see the room has a LOT of extra surface area on the south side (fireplace, TV nook, stairs) so painting that wall would probably do me in.

Thirdly – and this is a biggie – I'm considering ONLY painting the north wall (behind the couch) with some shade of blue. Thoughts? Suggestions? Am I crazy??

C'mon, Behr...help a gal out!

Hey, Idiot, Press "Enter"

2010-10-19T13:00:00.004-05:00

Boy, Google Instant sure has the world in a tizzy. From "I don't want to be shown a SERP without hitting 'Enter'" to "Why don't they censor Google Images like they censor Web searches?" C'mon, people, admit it...Google has more (perceived) power over you than you a) realize and/or b) will admit.

Upon reading Danny Sullivan's article about G is for Girls Breast Feeding Each Other I saw the video Max Goldberg – some random stand-up guy – did in which he spouts off about how Google's censoring the entire Interwebz and not allowing searches on certain words. He's actually kinda funny, but he's either trying to stir up a hornet's nest or he's an idiot. If he truly thinks Google won't allow him to search certain words, he might need a lesson in how The Google works.

So, here's a quick tutorial on how to MAX-imize your SERP (PS, buddy, that means Search Engine Results Page)*:

Step 1: If you don't have a Google toolbar, then type google.com into your address bar (if you don't know these terms, I can't help you). This should get you to something that looks like this:

Step 2: Type in a word – ANY WORD – to start searching.

Okay...here's a better example:

Here's the neat thing with Google nowadays – it'll not only suggest results (without having to hit "enter" on your keyboard or even the "Search" button...which is SOOOOO 2004); it displays them REAL-TIME! Sweet! However, that might not work for all searches, which brings us to...

Step 3: If your search is "censored" from Google Instant – meaning Google doesn't want to automagically display results for certain, shall we say, sensitive keywords – you're still able to research that material. Hang onto your hats, folks, I'm going to tell you how to get around the "massive, unforgivable censorship" imposed on us by The Google.

Ready???

PRESS ENTER.

That's right, I've have single-handedly found the way around Google's censorship. If Google doesn't want you to see Instant results, you hafta hit your 'enter' key. Whew. I'm gonna call it a day.

Of course, maybe I WANT to see "blacklisted" results without having to hit "enter" – define lazy – and that's what this whole thing is all about. Then you'd think They would let Us define this by setting our filters.

BUT, what about shared and/or public computers? Poses a rather delicate situation...one which I think Google is – overall – handling very well.

But I digress. So, to recap, it's as easy as 1, 2, 3 to search on Google. For those of you who REALLY can't figure it out – like Max Goldburp – here's another, quicker, live tutorial. I.e., let me Google "lesbians" for you, idiot.

*Disclaimer: I'm not a teacher nor do I have any special ed type of background, so results when utilizing this tutorial may vary based on the IQ of individual searchers.

Crosby & Aitkin Team Up To Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2010-10-13T10:03:00.000-05:00

This video brings a tear to my eye – not just because it's well done; it also hits closer to home. As in, 14 miles from home...I didn't grow up in Crosby, Minnesota, but I did attend kindergarten through my senior year of high school there.

I was a tried-and-true Ranger fan, hell bent on hating the Gobblers (from the not-very-far-away neighboring town of Aitkin). I realize high school sports rivalry doesn't extend into the health care system, but it was still touching to see the two rival towns unite in this awesome video in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Some familiar faces in here, and also a great message. Not just for women – and men! – to be aware of breast cancer and its risks, but that a whole community is supporting a cause and spreading awareness.

Well done, Crosby and Aitkin! (Not to mention the videographers :)

Dear Jill Whalen...You Actually ARE A Fool!

2010-09-23T11:53:00.001-05:00

...Or, I Really Thought That By 2010 Jill Whalen Would Figure It Out
Back in 2005 when I serendipitously fell into the SEO world, the company at which I worked invited Jill Whalen to come and talk. Since I was literally about 2 days into my role I had no clue who this chick was or what was going on. I really couldn't tell you what she talked about but I DO remember thinking it was neat that a writer also knew search optimization. Never woulda figured her for a whiner.

That was 5 years ago and boy, has the world of search marketing sure changed. Which is okay – it's a dynamic environment, after all. The point is, if you truly call yourself a "Search Marketer" you need to move right along with the times and keep up on new advancements.

I'm not going to say I'm up-to-date on everything; I do know that optimization tactics and paid search marketing have drastically changed since '05: for the better, I might add. It's only ever ANY search engine's objective to return the most relevant results to its users...otherwise said users will ditch search engine A for search engine B.

Whether anyone likes it or not, The Search Engine is Google and while the others (yes, there are others) strive to keep up, Google sets the bar for search engine capabilities. And, do you know what? If you don't like it, then get the hell offline. To be honest, if you don't like rules and regulations, you shouldn't be a marketer at all. It's the same with traditional marketing, people.

Are we, as SEOs, trying to please Google when we take on a website or PPC client? Hell no. We're following protocol – as any marketer does in ANY discipline, such as PR, media planning, etc. – and applying our knowledge to create a marketing campaign which will positively affect ROI.

Enter purported SEOs who bitch about Google's RULES and how they don't WANNA be a marketer beholden to an online conglomerate. Does the whiny tone come through? It should...just like in Jill Whalen's little passive-aggressive rant about how she looks like a fool all because of Google.

She whines and cries about how Google condones link buying, keyword-stuffing, doorway sites and "crappy articles" submitted to bullshit networks full of – you guessed it – other crappy articles. She also claims to have been telling people for a decade that "the way to be found in Google is to have one, great, all-encompassing website." See, and here I thought the more niched the content, the better chance it had of competing.

According to her, Google "single-handedly created the entire link-building and link-buying industries" and that "Link building is the most distasteful, horrible act to have to perform for a website." No one's asking you to do anything you don't want to do here, Jill ('cause no always means no)...if you don't want to acquire credible, relevant, topical links for your clients' websites, then DON'T. If you don't want to create websites around targeted, descriptive, relevant content, don't.

There are a lot of other accusations in her rant, all of which accuse Google of showing only spammy sites in their SERPs. Once more, I don't quite know what she's talking about, but this I do know:

Sounds like someone's pissed off that the websites she creates aren't ranking #1 in Google. Somewhat reminiscent of what people complained about 5 years ago. Might have to move with the times, Jilly-girl, and read up on some advancements. If you're a true SEO, then you KNOW online marketing changes. Just sayin'.

This isn't the first time we've seen her head on a tirade about something which actually isn't true. It seems she likes to take words and ideas and twist them to make people (or search engines) look evil, like she did here.

Also, I'd like to add I truly enjoyed how you bash, bash and beat the dead horse and then, at the end, with a casual addition of a "P.S.S." (no clue what that means, I think she meant it as a post postscript, but I'm only guessing) she adds this little nugget: "(Google) You're still way better than the other search engines!"

So, a search engine which you say returns ONLY spam and makes you look like a fool is way better than anything else you'd use to find content online? Yikes. Define: FOOL.

*Also...did you notice how, even though she HATES link building, by writing something controversial she garnered a link (albeit from my rinky-dink, personal blog)? Yes, I do realize I offered it up; I merely wanted to make a point :)

Google Suggests Instant Search

2010-09-08T12:30:00.001-05:00

Remember when we first saw Google Suggest?

I thought it was annoying. Then I got used to it and didn't heed the – what I considered to be – random suggestions.

Then I not only started paying attention, I started USING said suggestions. Wow, Google really knows what I'm searching for! Thanks, Google :)

It didn't take long at all to start implementing keywords – whether for a site optimization or PPC campaign – based on Google's suggestions. Hey, if Google's suggesting it, you have to figure a) SOMEONE'S searching for it, and/or b) someone's going to click on that suggestion because Google suggested it.

Of course, it was also funny to search for the neatest, most hilarious suggestions for random stuff...

Well, there's a new type of suggest now. This morning Google announced their faster-than-the-speed-of-type search, Google Instant. Not only does Google suggest what you should TYPE, they're suggesting what you should click...before you even finish typing. That's right, as you type, your SERP changes in real-time. You don't even need to finish typing – or hit "return" – in order to access your results.

A picture doesn't do it justice; you really need to experience it to get the full effect. Hint: you have to be signed in and thus far it's only worked for me in Chrome.

The question is: what will this do to search? What will it do to all those egomaniacal crazies out there who want to rank for generic terms? Will they now insist on ranking for letters???

Google Thinks Sexuality is Important

2010-09-03T10:42:00.001-05:00

We all know Google shows sitelinks for the cool kid sites – i.e., reputable websites – but the question here isn't "how do they determine which sites get sitelinks in their rich snippets?" Rather the question is, "how does Google determine which links get placed into the sitelinks snippet?"

From the horse's mouth – none other than Mr. Google himself – we learn that "we (Google) show sitelinks whenever we think that they might be especially helpful for someone...the way we compute that is algorithmic." See the full video here.

Interesting. Normally, with consumer sites, say West Photo, we'll see sitelinks such as "Rental List," "Promotions," etc:

While that's all well and good, yesterday I happened to stumble across an interesting rich snippet for the Yahoo Directory...it seems Google thinks sexuality is not only "helpful," they think it's ESPECIALLY helpful:

Go, Google!

What'll be interesting to see is whether or not Yahoo decides to change that (by utilizing Webmaster Tools). If not, then go Yahoo!

Has anyone else run across other interesting sitelinks?

Zada's Journey Continues

2010-08-19T16:19:00.001-05:00

I'm that geek who goes back and re-reads old blog posts from time to time and in doing so today I came across my first day with Zada – also a long day of "firsts" for her. She'd never done a lot of things a dog owner sort of takes for granted when they bring a new puppy home...things like wearing a collar, walking on a leash (keep in mind she was 4 months old when I got her), going for a car ride, being used to meeting new dogs and seeing new places, etc.

Reading through my emotions of that day I'm definitely glad we've progressed to where we are now. Namely, I have a nearly-4-year-old German shepherd I can mostly trust around new dogs and kids and who motivates me to get out for walks. When I pick up her collar, she comes to me and puts her nose up so I can slip it on. I grab her leash out of the closet and she knows we're heading outside for an uber-fun walk (any walk is a fun walk for her). She rides in the car like a champ – she never threw up again after that first day – and is calm, doesn't whine or get excited and waits until I tell her she can jump out.

She waits at doors for me to tell her it's okay to go out (or come in). I never realized how NICE it is to have a polite dog until I see everyone else's dog rushing headlong through doors. I don't have to worry about her taking off to chase squirrels, rabbits, ducks or turkeys, though I do have to watch her around deer and cats. I can walk her off leash and trust she'll stick around (unless, again, there are deer...but we're working on that!).

She's been – knock on wood – healthy, with no major illnesses or surgeries (save for her spay and having to get her leg stitched up when she sliced it open 3 years ago). I did recently put her on glucosamine because historically she's been sore after a ton of exercise. She hasn't displayed that for a while (pre-glucosamine) so might not be an issue.

I get compliments all the time on what a good dog she is...and while she's not perfect, she IS such a great dog and I'm thankful – in spite of a few quirks – I have her. Here's to the time you've already given and those years left yet to give!

A Horsey Weekend

2010-08-19T09:48:00.001-05:00

A couple weekends ago I made the sojourn up North to hang out at the parents' Ranch n Spa. Not only to relax...I had a few items on the agenda: I had to enter my photography at the Crow Wing County Fair; a family friend wanted me to take pictures of her daughter and her horse; and my mother and family friends were riding in a horse show in Aitkin.

Needless to say it was a busy – and very fun-filled – few days. It was also very photography-focused. I always bring my DSLR when I go up there, but I don't think it's ever gotten quite the use it did on that trip: I ended up shooting over 1,500 images. Normally I don't get those types of numbers unless I'm shooting a wedding or on vacation.

It all started with the cloudy, slightly-foggy morning photo shoot of a girl and her horse (a 30-year-old horse, I might add). Since animals aren't always super-cooperative – though old, this horse is still somewhat naughty and wasn't willing to stand still – and I needed to catch the "poses" quickly, I cheated and threw the camera into the sports mode setting. *Sigh* Yes, for a portrait-type photo shoot I did this. But, it was a slightly cloudy day (and with my 24-105 f/4, that wasn't ideal), the horse was moving around and I wanted to be able to continuous-fire.

Turns out it was a good setting for that particular situation. No time to manually set up f-stop and aperture for each image. Partly the reason I took so many shots, since of course I was trigger-happy. Got some good ones, and our friend is happy so that's all that matters.

The day after that I went ahead and kept right on shooting – for the majority of the day, anyway – in my cheater sports setting since I was at a horse show. Again, lots of shots snapped in order to get the good ones (in this case, it's so much about framing, lighting, etc. as it is about how the horse looks). I ended up shooting more video of the classes than images, and none of the shots were great, in my opinion. But, the weather was (mostly) good, ribbons were won and fun was had.

After getting back from the show it was time to head into Brainerd to enter my photography at the fairgrounds. Evidently the judges liked me, my photos did well again this year :)

When I got home from that it was only natural to head out to our own horse pasture and continue shooting. Sometimes a horse of your own standing in a field evokes more of an emotional response than anything else...again, while not exceptional shots they're my family's horses and I just like the shots.

That weekend kick-started my picture-taking gene. Since then I've been pretty focused with not only shooting more but also wading back into the plethora of stock I have and editing older images. I don't think I could re-create that weekend if I tried...but I'm glad I got the chance to get to blend two of my great loves – horses and photography.

Thanks to the horses for posing for the camera :)

Victory 44

2010-08-12T17:09:00.005-05:00

I lived in North Minneapolis for 4 years and never knew about Victory 44. Maybe it's new or maybe I was too scared to venture out. Regardless, I've recently experienced this cool little place and I must say the experience was a surprise.

For that neighborhood the cuisine is shockingly cosmopolitan. My friend and I sat on the patio – which is cuter than the inside and according to our waiter, dog-friendly – and sipped our cold, adult beverages while said waiter explained their chalkboard menu (including how to say "charcuterie").

Since their plates are all small and we wanted so many items, we ended up ordering quite the parade of wonderful food. To accompany my waiter-advertised white wine and my friend's cocktail, we dined upon the following:

Bacon fries (these were tasty, big french fries with crumbled cheese; we didn't notice any bacon)
Scotch egg - absolutely to DIE for if you like scotch eggs!
Charcuterie - their "meat and cheese tray" which is actually a lovely concoction of head cheese, liverwurst, paté and pickled veggies and overall yumminess.
Seared scallops - extremely tasty.
Dessert - a 2-part, delectable, sinful, utterly fantastic display of art which we also ate. FABULOUS.

We did spend a nice little sum of coin – although they're small plates the prices add up when you eat as many of them as we did – the quality of the food was definitely worth the price.

I'm thinking I'd love to head back sometime and try more menu items (and also the dessert...it'd be silly not to) and maybe I'll even bring the dog!

A Fun Summer Weekend

2010-06-29T16:01:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was pretty relaxing and fun. The weather was nice – some storms passed through a couple evenings but no damage for us – and I got quite a bit done. Here's a random account of how it all went down:

Among other things, together we watched our dog-in-law for a day; ate grilled steaks, tilapia and catfish and watched a couple movies.

I finally got around to planting my (3) hanging baskets (with wave petunias and verbena) along with transferring my 2 little basil plants to their respective brightly-colored pots (from Michaels, $2.50 each!). Although they're probably sad they no longer get to sit out on the deck with all the other plants, they now grace the window sill in the living room and look very cheery. I'm going to have to come up with some more good recipes that use basil!

Also I had to cut back one of my already-potted plants...it was getting out of hand so I had fresh-cut flowers. Turns out I'm going to have to overhaul it, it's way too "leggy" so I'll have many more vases to fill after chopping it back.

Zada got to hang out at the dog park for a total of about 2.5 hours this weekend, which I'm sure she thought was fun. Judging by all the running, chasing and tongue-lolling I'm only guessing she had a good time. By the amount of time she CRASHED after her 2 sessions I'm thinking she got enough exercise, too :)

Speaking of the dog, I finally got around to hanging all the pictures in the living room/dining room. FINALLY. It was somewhat of a daunting task to start for the mere fact I'm a tad OCD so if I were to hang pictures and they weren't perfect it'd bug me to no end. Turns out I hung all 16 images in hardly no time. And they're straight. And perfectly spaced. AND level!

Started working out again – even though it was "just" with the Best of Gilad – and it's kicked my a$$. Didn't realize how out-of-shape I am!

I got to see my nieces, too. Headed over there one afternoon for lunch, chats, nail-painting and bubble-blowing. Good times. Niece #1 asked me to paint all her nails - each hand and foot a different color, of course. Thought I did pretty well.

Did quite a bit of reading. I'm almost done with The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson's 2nd book. It's a good 'un. I only bought the first 2; wanted to wait 'til the 3rd came out in paperback, but I'm thinking I might not be able to wait that long.

All in all, a pleasant weekend!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

2010-06-23T09:30:00.001-05:00

Early in May my aunt contacted me and asked if I'd like to go to a Saints game. More specifically, the "bring your dog to the ballpark" game, otherwise known as a 'Saint Paul Saints Dog Day.' I figured it'd be fun and a good socializing opportunity for Zada. Plus there'd be beer. Oh, and baseball.

Since the Saints play near where we live, it wasn't a long trip. Which is good, because I'd had 'one of those days' and was running behind, and stressed out for whatever reason. Upon calling my aunt to tell her I'd be late, she informed me she'd signed me up for some sort of contest. Great.

Upon arriving, I found my aunt and we proceeded to the tail-waggin' tailgating party in the parking lot. She has some friends who'd organized a little get-together complete with chips, hot dogs, dogs on leashes and – of course – beer.

While the majority of the dogs at this particular party were bite-sized, there were a few big dogs for Zada to meet and play with, including a wilder-than-wild husky mix and a Bernese mountain dog. Of course, my aunt had also brought along one of her dogs (BB) so we had a full line-up.

After heading over for a free hot dog (included with our ticket!) and our complimentary photo (stolen from Facebook, hopefully the photog doesn't mind) it was time to head into the game. We got a little distracted waiting in line for our free soda (I chose beer) because these weird characters kept marching by. My aunt decided she wanted a portrait of the two dogs with an Elvis-type character; Zada looked skeptical of the whole thing.

I was wondering where we'd be sitting at this ballpark, since bleachers aren't very dog-friendly. Evidently we ended up in the wrong section, but no one seemed to care and after settling the dogs we sat down to watch some baseball. Zada – in true cowardly shepherd fashion – hid underneath me and didn't emerge the entire time.

Of course, to go along with my beer I had to buy mini-donuts. The dog in front of us in the stands got a donut treat from the vendor and for each time I reached into my own bag for a donut that dog bored holes through me. Cute lab named 'Fin.' (I think) There was surprisingly less barking than I'd thought with a bunch of dogs in attendance. Maybe like mine they were mostly just overwhelmed with the experience. (That and the fact I spilled a bunch of beer on her.)

Wouldn't you know I hadn't bothered to check the weather and it started to rain. Both my aunt and I put on our free ball caps but after a while the rain just wouldn't let up – thank goodness she'd brought ponchos! Only my beer got to share mine; my aunt tucked BB into hers so he stayed warm and dry the entire game.

After the 6th inning we had to head down to the gate for our "contest" which ended up being "Best of Breed" or something. It was fun, but I really didn't take it too seriously since a gal in a huge pig costume was the judge. Either way, BB won and my uncle won't ever let me live THAT one down :)

All in all, it was a fun time and I think I'd go back again on Saints Dog Day – hopefully it won't rain the next time, though. There's nothing QUITE like riding home in a car reeking of wet, beer-stained dog. Try to explain THAT one to the cops.

PS: There was actually baseball at the park, too :)

Look Who's Keeping Plants Alive

2010-06-22T11:24:00.006-05:00

Even though I grew up in the country, I've never gardened. You might think growing up country doesn't necessarily equal gardening skills, but MOST people have some sort of garden – whether it's for flowers or vegetables – but my mother hated it so I never learned it. Wait, I take that back – one year in high school I DID attempt a veggie garden of squash and green beans. It wasn't pretty.

Throughout my years living alone in apartments, I'd try every once in a while to purchase a potted plant for some living thing to share my space...alas, I was never able to keep any of them alive. I even killed cacti. Yes, that's right. More than once.

When I moved into my very own house, I got somewhat excited to try to plant around the house...I didn't get to it until the year before I moved out (Clint was nice enough to put in bricks to make little gardens for me!), and still it was only transplanted hostas. Thing is, the majority of them that I planted (~30 or so) lived! That was a boost.

Now we live in a town home, and the point is moot. I mean, it's already landscaped. BUT, you can buy pots. Then, you can buy flowers. Then you mix them together, and you can put them on your deck. It's crazy.

Last summer, I decided to purchase one of those ready-made pots from the Cub "nursery" (geraniums = hardy) and figured I could start there. Thing is, my problem is watering. I was never really sure how much to water a plant. Evidently I did "okay" last summer, because the hardy geranium lasted almost 'til the end of the season.

This year is different. I got talked into buying some plants from my cousin-in-law's kids for Boy Scouts. Figured I could buy a pot and plant them. Not really sure what I bought, and of course they're nothing like I thought. Still haven't potted them, but they ARE still alive...

Clint even bought me two already-potted plants (he thought I could uproot them and re-plant in a different pot, but I like them as is). My friend then gave me 3 hanging baskets which I plan on planting this week. Thing is, all these plants are STILL alive. It's quite amazing. No, for real. They're ALIVE.

And there's more. For the hanging baskets we made a trip to Linder's for flowers which are hanging-basket friendly, and while there I got an idea to buy some basil (which I use in a chicken dish Clint likes). Evidently that's a pretty popular herb, since the store only had 2 little plants left. Of course one of them was extremely wilted and looked like it was on its last roots. Wouldn't you know, not only did it perk up, it's GROWN! AND...I used the leaves from those little plants in making dinner last night. What a feeling.

While I wouldn't call myself a green thumb (Clint's had to remind me to water the flowers and has also pitched in from time to time...plus all the rain we've had has helped :), I think I'm well on my way to being able to keep plants alive and healthy. So what if I don't even have a watering can (I use a beer pitcher that says "Clint's Tavern" on it), I think I'm well on my way to being let off my plant probation.

Who knows? Next year I might even up the ante.

Random Boring Facts

2010-06-08T15:59:00.003-05:00

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

Nope. My mom scoured the birth announcements in the paper in the 6-month prelude before my birth, watching for which names were most popular (then she wouldn't choose them). She picked what ended up being THE single most popular girl's name for approximately 2 decades.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

I might've cried a bit last night while watching a chick flick. Hence, I watch them rarely.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

My lovely handwriting went quickly downhill when I entered college and was forced to write notes in double-time during lectures. However, I think it's recovering enough to say "yes."

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

I'd have to say pastrami.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

It's a good question. I'm not sure. It would depend on the "another person" personality. There are definitely some that do NOT click with me.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?

Psh, hell no.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

Unless I was abducted by aliens, yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

NO. However, evidently I would go zip-lining, which I thought I'd never do, either...

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?

If I'm interested in eating cereal, I like Reese's Peanut Butter Crunch or Fruit Loops.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

Depends on the 'shoe.' My riding boots – definitely untie. My walking shoes – nope. Too many ons/offs in a week for that.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

Physically? Not really. Emotionally? Sometimes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

Vanilla. Yup. I'm that girl.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Upon first SEEING them: how they carry themselves. Upon first HEARING them: if they have a sense of humor.

15. RED OR PINK?

Red. Hence the mongo red walls in our home.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?

Fear of failure.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

My girlfriends who moved away. All of the good ones seem to leave my life...wonder what that says about me?

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

Brown.

20.WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?

(2) mini 100 Grand bars (for dessert).

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

The Twilight soundtrack. You heard me.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?

Burnt Sienna

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?

Sweaty horse; leather (preferably combined on those); cool, crisp fall days; freshly-mown grass; the smell my skin gives off right when I start to sweat in the sun; the ocean

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

Clint

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

Horse racing, football

27. HAIR COLOR?

Dirty-dishwater blonde

28. EYE COLOR?

Green

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

Nope. Haven't gone there. I DO wear glasses which started out in college as just-for-reading, then progressed to need-to-see-the-lecture-board, then oops-I-need-to-wear-these-while-night-driving and now it's pretty much all the time.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?

Other than steak? PASTA!

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Dramas. Or epics.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?

It's Complicated. Actually really cute. And made me cry (see #2)

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?

Marooney-red, orange, gold, tan & cream

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?

Fall

35. HUGS OR KISSES?

Yes please.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?

Mom's Bonnie Butter Cake!

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

"All Things Wise and Wonderful," by James Herriot.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Mouse pad? Who has those anymore?

42. FAVORITE SOUNDS?

Horses eating hay; loons (any call); wind through white pine boughs; waves (whether lake or ocean)

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?

Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

Corfu Island, Greece

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

I don't consider any of them 'special.' Just thankful for what I can do.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Brainerd, MN

Walk For Animals 2010 Minnesota

2010-05-31T09:36:00.000-05:00

Thirty days ago I headed over to Golden Valley to participate in the "biggest animal walk in the nation" – the Animal Humane Society's Walk for Animals. This was the 7th time I've raised money and walked the 5-mile course since I moved to the Twin Cities in the fall of 2002.

Of course, in the beginning I had to borrow other dogs to take with me, not having my own – most notoriously my sister's dog, Hogan – but now of course for the past few years I've taken my German shepherd, Zada. It's the one time a year I figure it's okay to "dress her up" in a bandana, dorky as I think that looks normally.

The walk officially starts at the Golden Valley Humane Society and snakes north up Theo Wirth Parkway to a big park-like clearing where they set up some snack booths and they have a frisbee area. After enjoying refreshments and entertainment, people then walk the 2.5 miles back down to the shelter. I do it differently, of course.

Since my sister used to live right on the course – near the half-way point – I found it much easier to drive to her place, pick up Hogan (a blue heeler), throw on his backpack with my money, chapstick, some water, etc. and then run down to the humane society. There I'd donate the money, throw my 'prizes' (a t-shirt, bandana, whatever) into Hogan's backpack, then run back.

I no longer run, but I still find it much more convenient to avoid the parking disaster and all the crowds by doing the course 'backwards,' and of course now it's my tradition. I even still park in front of my sister's old house...wonder if the gal who owns it now thinks it's odd. Oh well.

One might think a 5-mile walk would wear a dog out, but not Zada. While she does go home and crash, it's mostly from the stimulation of seeing SO MANY dogs, people, and smelling the lovely myriad of scents throughout the day that does it. She takes it all in stride, meeting tons of dogs and standing calmly under the petting hands of any German shepherd fans we run across.

When we hit the end of the course (everyone else's half-way point) I like to sit and watch the frisbee dogs. Zada will chill and watch, but she does whine from time to time, as if to say, "how come THEY get to run after things, and I don't?"

Then we headed over to my sister's place so I could see my nieces (and pilfer a bit of lunch) and Charlie decided she liked my new hat (courtesy of all the nice donations I received!). After all that, it was time to head home for a big ol' nap!

Springtime Sights

2010-05-30T10:44:00.000-05:00

I went home to Mission Narrows a few weekends ago. I decided to take my SLR with me on a woodsy walk one afternoon. Here are a few of the sights I saw...

My mom's lilac bush was in splendid form. No butterflies this time, though...

Birch bark always fascinates me. Lots of texture.

This fox parent surprised us - she was most likely heading out to hunt and had left her 2 kits behind (one of which Zada flushed from the woods).

The crab apple trees were in full bloom. These blossoms are from the tree over the grave of our pony, Chico.

A shot of Ole through the crab apple blossoms. I think he was only posing because he thought Mom was bringing him grain. A pretty boy nonetheless.

2010 Puerto Vallarta Trip 2

2010-04-29T23:08:00.008-05:00

My tan is already fading. Despite the unseasonably warm April we're having – which means t-shirts and even tank tops being worn to worship our slightly-watery Minnesota sun – my lovely Puerto Vallarta bronzed glaze is, alas, slip-sliding away.

In my opinion, 7 days in PV is never long enough...but it WAS a fun week! Penny, John, Clint and I basked in the sun, swam in the ocean, ate great food, drank our fair share of margaritas and laughed an awful lot. In spite of also getting sick – yup, all four of us – I'd say this definitely makes my elite list of favorite trips down there.

The First Day
Clint & I arrived at the PV airport almost 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Coupled with our first-class tickets (upgraded at the airport, so much cheaper than it sounds) and being on the first flight of the day in PVR, we zipped right through (even surprised all the vendors) and in less than 5 minutes were in a cab, on our way to the condo. Since Penny & John wouldn't be arriving for another 3 hours at least, we headed right to the beach and proceeded to tie one on.

This led to me entirely missing the time frame for meeting those two out in front of the condo, but they made it just the same and promptly joined us in our revelry. The rest of the day was given over to margaritas, Piña coladas, sun and salt water. Of course, some of us were more aware of the strong tropical sun than others and didn't burn...but there's always one wise guy (ahem, CLINT). Said wise guy was approximately fluorescent pink for the next 3 days.

Yelapa
Even though we'd all been there before, all were in agreement we wanted to head to Yelapa at least once during the week, if not twice. We planned the first trip on Monday (2 days after arriving) and by Thursday we were back.

For those of you who've never been to Yelapa, it's best described as...well, Shangri-La. While definitely a third-world town, the utter peace, laid-back atmosphere and sheer beauty of Yelapa give it the air of an expensive, exclusive resort.

When you first round the corner of the small bay in which it's nestled – while you can get to Yelapa by road, the main way to travel there is still water taxi – you're struck by the simplicity of it. The pier to the south gives direct access to the town itself: houses and stores built right into the hillside jungle. The north-side pier sits at the end of the row of palapas denoting the hotel's rooms. In between the two piers lies the pristine crescent-shaped, white-sanded beach with a few restaurants lazily vying for vacationing patrons.

Of course the first trip we took the "tour" up through the town to visit the waterfall (woefully small this time of year, but still bigger than normal; they received a lot of rain this winter). While we didn't have a human guide this year, we did manage to pick up a smaller local willing to escort us to and from. (In fact, he was so enamored with us we had to drop him off at the end of our jaunt, since he showed no signs of abandoning us.)

Speaking of dogs, Penny & I definitely got our "fix" that day, since in addition to our Yo Quiero Tour Guide, we were also adopted by two friendly beach-bum dogs who decided we were not only worth hanging out with, but protecting. Yes. A pregnant – we think – female and a male puppy decided to bark incessantly at anyone who came too close to our little beach camp. Quite cute.

Our second trip was strictly for relaxation – the boat dropped us off at 10:30, and we didn't move from our claimed plot of beach until the 4pm taxi back to PV.

No walking to the waterfall, no parasailing, no pictures taken with Peter the Iguana. Of course, his owner did head into the bar for a refreshment and left him lying in the sand quite near us so we had to steal a few portraits.

It was lovely day: virtually no vendors, hardly any gringos, flowing margaritas, high-end guacamole and a picture-perfect ocean for cooling off. And of course, each others' company :)

Zip-Lining
Much to the chagrin of our parents, we decided to go zip-lining – commonly referred to down there as a "canopy tour" – over the set of the movie "Predator" in Mismaloya. In order to obtain said tickets, we agreed to sit in on a "75-minute presentation of a new hotel." I.e., a timeshare pitch. But, with a free breakfast and FREE zipping tickets, who cared? Ah, but that's a whole 'nother story...PLUS, the entire cab ride to the place, John, Penny & I played "slug bug" ("Das Auto" style, i.e., "red one!" SMACK), much to the chagrin of Clint (in the front seat) and I'm sure, the cab driver. Note to self: Do NOT engage in a game of slug bug in Mexico unless you're fully prepared to be bruised and battered.

I digress. Since John and I are both afraid of heights (my fear is really of falling; heights obviously heighten that phobia...yes, pun intended) we were each wondering how exactly that would pan out. On our bus ride into the jungle, I learned the two kids – aged 10 and 13 – seated in front of us were not only a) going zip-lining and b) not afraid of it, but c) they'd both gone two years previously. That sealed it: if an EIGHT-YEAR-OLD could zip-line and return later for a sequel, then by God, I was going and that was that.

So zip we did. Our "tour" was a total of 12 zip-lines. The first three were 'easy,' to break us in and let us practice braking, etc. Then the fourth was the longest – at a ¼ mile long and I-don't-know-how-many-scary-feet over the Mismaloya river, it was quite a shock. I might've screamed something along the lines of "HOLY SH*T!" as I careened overhead at 50 miles per hour. Hey, at least I didn't pee.

We all did really well. It was super-fun, exciting, and the crew we had was entertaining and had a great sense of humor. It was fun watching Penny nearly jump out of her skin each time the "Predator" launched out of the jungle at her! Equally – if not more – funny was watching Clint get fitted for his large helmet (the rest of us had "normal" ones; when Clint got his turn to get fitted the gal exclaimed in Spanish, "whoa, we need a big one for you!"). That of course got us joking about our equipment (and war paint, for which John and I opted) and of course I had to do the whole, "does this harness make my butt look big???" joke. Good times.

A fun experience, and definitely worth the "Mexican Massage" bus ride it took to get there. Plus we stopped at a tequila factory – Tequila Don Crispin – on the way back, so that eased the aches and pains of the day.

Exercise
Every morning when I'm in Puerto Vallarta, I rise before the sun (technically it's 'Pacific time,' being on the west coast, though the actual time doesn't differ from Central) and eagerly await the dawn so I can journey out for my morning beach-walk along the Malecón. Historically (i.e., beginning on my first trip, when I was 11) I'd RUN that route...but let's be honest. I haven't run for years so now I power-walk.

In the last few years, I've discovered/decided I want to add the PV Stairs to my regimen. What's the big deal? After walking north until the end/start of the Malecón (the "boardwalk") and walking back to the condo, I continue south of the pier, walk through the sand and end up (after approximately 40 minutes) at The Stairs.

The Stairs are a common workout site in Old Town PV, with Mexicans and US-ians alike gathering to trek the bajillion steps up to the street and then tredge all the way back down to the beach to rinse-and-repeat. I've never counted the steps, but since it takes me at least a couple minutes to reach the top, going two-at-a-time, I'm thinking there are a LOT of steps. Definitely a good workout when coupled with almost an hour of walking – especially at Olympian pace, and through sand, too – when one plans to spend the rest of the day copping a squat on the beach with a constant drink in attendance. Oh, and lots of guacamole, too.

Sightseeing

We didn't "go sightseeing," per se, but we did see a lot of sights. (And sites, technically.) From the death-defying heights of zip-lining and the gorgeous colors of the sarongs to the loading of appliances into a wave-washed boat and colorful seaside sunsets, we experienced a lot of visual stimulation.

No matter how many times I've been to Puerto Vallarta, each setting of the sun is unique. I've always been a sunset-lover, and having grown up on a lake I'm "used" to seeing the sun set across the water. But here, with the ocean so vast and the slightest change in cloud cover painting a different picture, I find myself craning to see every last vestige of every sunset I can. Our last night didn't disappoint :)

The Last Night
It's always hard leaving Puerto Vallarta. No matter how many times I've been there, or how long I've been there (last year we were there for a total of 2 weeks for our weddingmoon), I always feel a pang of sadness for having to leave it all behind. Our last night there, Clint & I went to Marazul for dinner and were graced with not only a great meal but a gorgeous sunset. A great ending to a great vacation.

Naymz Account Reinstated

2010-04-25T13:46:00.001-05:00

"Welcome Sarah."

Such a simple greeting, yet sweeter words were ne'er seen (this morning, anyway). For those of you not in the know, the other day I found myself mysteriously sans Naymz Account. Without warning.

One minute I was neck-deep in keyword research at work, the next instant my husband was asking me why I didn't want to be part of his reputation network on Naymz anymore. (Jokingly he asked, "are you trying to divorce me or something?") That's right. Through no fault of my own (I later found out), I found myself instantly and completely Naymz-less.

What is Naymz, anyway?, you might ask. Well, you might ask that if you a) know nothing about what's going on online; b) don't know anything about online networking; c) don't work in the SEM/web industry or d) all of the above. (Or e) you're my sister. Which technically would also be d.)

Anyway. Naymz is an online networking and reputation management service. Much like LinkedIn, it's of a professional nature (not air-your-dirty-laundry-everywhere like Facebook) and has become quite the authority with search engines. I.e., for a proper name search, someone's Naymz profile is much more likely to come up first (or at least at the top) in SERPs over any other social media profile. (Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule; my own Naymz account has historically been the first result for my own name search.)

The point is, Naymz.com is a free service (with an upgrade to Premium if one so chooses) wherein a person can list previous and current jobs, resume, qualities/talents, links to related sites (i.e., blogs, managed sites, etc.) and even even endorsements from colleagues.

Of course, upon figuring out my lovely account – complete with endorsements/references, lots of contacts, and complete professional information – was, indeed, AWOL, I panicked and filled out a frantic plea to the Naymz customer support to please reinstate my account (and also what I could do in the future to avoid this very problem.)

Within 24 hours, those handy Naymz folks had indeed brought back my account – albeit missing a lot of information – and offered up an explanation as to what happened. It seemed some OTHER Sarah Bernier (they said it was "someone with a similar name as you") wanted a Naymz account deleted, and proper steps weren't taken to ensure WHICH account was actually being terminated. Of course, they apologized profusely and said with "over 2 million profiles, this is the first time something like this has happened in our 4 years of business..."

They also were gracious enough to offer me some comps for the mistake, which I gladly took. While it wasn't a big deal to have to fill in my employment history again, it IS a bummer to have to start all over with my network. I also had to bite the bullet and ask my references if they'd be willing to re-reference me! But, all's well that ends well and at least I've got my Naymz account back.

A heartfelt 'thanks' to the Naymz tech team for helping me out so quickly and fingers crossed it doesn't happen again...though I highly doubt it will. Live and learn!

Oh What's In A Naymz Profile

2010-04-21T15:35:00.007-05:00

My husband thought I divorced him today. Via social media.

Okay, not really, but he DID ask me earlier if I deleted my Naymz account. Of course I responded with an emphatic "NO" and then replied, "but why do you ask?"

Says he, "well, I got an email notifying me you're no longer one of my contacts."

WTH? Surprised but not concerned, I quickly Googled my name – sure as shootin', there's my Naymz profile, #1 in results per usual.

To further pacify my inner flutterings, I decided to click through to see my profile. Imagine my utter consternation when, instead of my profile, I received this page:

Starting to panic, I hastily attempt to login, only to find out this sad little (big) fact:

(And yes, I have the correct login information.)

I ask of you, Naymz: WHAT. THE. HELL. I receive profile views all the time, and while I don't necessarily log in all the time (no information has changed recently) I'm very aware of how my profile performs and am (was?) quite fond of you, Naymz. What'm I now, Naymz-less? I'm hoping your support team responds extremely quickly to my hastily-composed, dripping-with-emotion email about how on earth to get my Naymz account back up and running.

The bigger mystery is how did this even happen? It seems the only way to delete an account is to log in, select "My Account," then "Edit," then choose to delete the entire account. Since I never had any wish to do this (and haven't been logged in for a while) I know it wasn't me.

Which begs the question – am I being punished for not having logged in within a certain time frame??? Or, more likely – did some OTHER Sarah Bernier attempt to login and inadvertently deleted MY account? Which seems odd, since the accounts are attached to emails. Either way. I'm NOT happy.

Oh, Naymz, I'm begging you. Please reinstate my lovely profile.

ASAP.

***Addendum***

Never underestimate the power of a blog. Especially when said blog happens to be run by Google. Obsessed by the loss of one of my social media limbs, and still trying to find out WHY my Naymz profile would get deleted without my consent, in my researching I ran across this SERP:

HOWEVER, it more than likely won't remain there. Just ONE MORE REASON not to worry about rankings, people. It's (somewhat) out of your hands. The sooner you learn that, the quicker we all can get along with our lives.

I still want Naymz to reinstate my profile, however.

Pre-Vacation Rush

2010-04-09T08:18:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow morning at this time, The Hubby and I will be comfortably ensconced within our faux-leather seats on a Sun Country flight to Puerto Vallarta. *Sigh* Until we head to bed tonight, tho'...it's an all-out effort to make sure everything's done before leaving.

Now, some of you might be thinking, "but wait, didn't you just go down there?" Indeed I did. The 2010 PV Trip #1 was short but fun. My friend and I zipped down for a long weekend to 'crash' at the condo during my mom's "Girls' Week." Pretty fun, especially since it was said friend's first time to a tropical beach. Quite the experience!

This trip, however, will be less supervised. I.e., no parental units will be onsite. For this trip – 2010 PV Trip #2 – it'll be Clint, his sister, her husband, and I for an entire week of sun, beach, relaxation and in all probability more than Dos Equis.

It'll actually be a working vacation for Clint and I. Him because of work he'll be doing for ThinkSEM clientele; me because my mom wants new photos for the condo website – she had some painting done and updated the décor of a couple rooms – and she also wants video footage to show prospective renters. So, a valid reason to bring down not only our new HD video camera but also some fun lenses for my SLR.

Anyway, while we're both scrambling around today trying to get everything in its place before the vacation, we know tomorrow all worries will melt away...nothing says "relaxation" like comfy flip-flops on the feet, hot sun on your shoulders and a cold drink in each hand!

If Tweren't for Bon Jovi I'd be in Mexico

2010-04-06T21:35:00.000-05:00

Yes, you heard me right. If JBJ didn't exist, I'd be sipping Mexican coffee on the beach with the sand between my toes RIGHT NOW. For those of you 'not in the know,' Mexican coffee is the ultimate after-dinner-drink-and-a-show: as witnessed by The Husband for the first time in this dazzling display. Okay, so it's a bit dark, but the highlights are definitely visible. That's also the end of the 'show.'

But I digress.

When we originally planned our late-but-better-than-never year anniversary, The Hubby and I decided on this week for our Puerto Vallarta vacation. Thing is, I sort of forgot about that in my excitement to buy my sister's birthday gift – (2) tickets to Jon Bon Jovi. That's right. This will be our third time seeing JBJ perform, and it's becoming somewhat of a tradition for us. Hey, at least it gives us the chance to head out together (no kids, no husbands, just sisters!) and drink some brewskies while watching our favorite 80s-and-beyond singer. And, this time said sister won't be pregnant. Hence, I won't have to worry about rushing her to the ER every time Jovi shakes his heinie onstage. Whew.

The point? It's my life, and it's now or ever. What I mean is, if it were up to me, I'd lay my hands all over Jon (I'd be livin' on a prayer). Well, metaphorically speaking. If I meant it for real, that'd mean they'd want me dead or alive. 'Cause, love ain't nothing but a four-letter word, even tho' I'm shot through the heart and it's only a two-story town.

Long story short? If there were no such person as Jon Bon Jovi, I'd be sitting on a Mexican beach right now. Sigh. Lesson? Never say die, baby.

The Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

2010-04-01T14:16:00.002-05:00

An African or European swallow, you might ask? I don't know – and in this case, Google didn't deign to offer the choice. But that's okay. I remain a faithful service to Them. It. Whatever.

This year for April Fools' Day, Google not only changed their name to "Topeka," they're also offering search times in 'geek speak,' which I found out from @mattcutts. Intrigued, slightly bored and trying to keep my mind off the gorgeous day happening beyond reach outside the nearest window, I started Googling random (or maybe, not so random) things to determine the reach of the geekiness. Here are a few of my results:

I happen to work for an ad agency in Minneapolis. I also wanted to see if the7-pack would show up (which it obviously didn't...tho' it did last week):

For this year's family Easter lunch, I was promoted from bread rolls. Now I have to find a good recipe for:

Guess which book series I became absolutely consumed with? Guess which movie I just saw last night and contributed to my supreme crush on a vampire? (Sigh. Don't worry, The Husband knows.):

I just tried this one out for kicks:

This one was partially triggered because Matt's the reason I started looking into this. Also, in his tweet he said his results were 1-10 out of 600,000 (for his name). Yet ANOTHER reason not to worry about rankings, positioning in SERPs, etc. etc. etc. – results may vary! (Notice the number of results for my search were 602,000. Of course, the only stat you need for analytics tracking is hits, anyway):

Since Clint and I run our own PPC advertising company, I figured this was a good search:

The boss had just said he was ordering lunch for the office:

I sip herbal green tea at work all day long and needed a refill. PS: This one's my favorite as I'm a HUGE fan of Monty Python & the Holy Grail:

Ever the dog lover, I'm always up for learning new tricks. Dog training tricks, that is. Plus, I wrote my dog trainer's ads...:

My ADD took me to thinking about our upcoming trip to Puerto Vallarta (where we'll stay at my parents' beachfront condo):

Thinking of the trip got me to thinking about my passport...so I typed in "can i get a passport" and Google so nicely suggested this search:

In case you live under a rock, it's April Fools' Day:

This was an actual, real search. Yes, I'm actually looking for where on earth to find one of these stores. Only because my niece wants a basket for her bike and my sister found the winner. At Kmart:

Thus ends my random searching experiment. I think there were a few more geeky time definers but these were the main ones I found.

Oh, Google, you do keep it fun.

New Bedroom Furniture

2010-03-27T12:28:00.002-05:00

It's official: we're grown-ups. While this doesn't mean we have to ACT grown-up, at least we're now operating under the visual pretense.

Yesterday two guys came at 8:25am and set up our new king-sized bed frame, a full dresser, two night stands, a coffee table and two end tables in less than an hour. Definitely worth the $89.00 delivery/set-up charge!

We're extremely pleased with not only the furniture but the way it transformed our room. Please see changes as they've occurred since I moved in:

Bedroom #1. Jungle-meets-leprechaun green on the walls. Sparse (non-matching) furniture.

Bedroom #2. Warm, mellow, inviting wall color meets new comforter. Still no matching furniture. Only 1 picture on the wall.

Bedroom #3. Almost-final product. New (matching!) bedroom furniture adds to overall look and feel. Adults definitely sleep here.

The dresser is larger than the old one (which my parents bought for me when I was 10) so I love that. Also, Clint even gained some drawer space since our nightstands each have 3 large drawers. Bonus. Last thing I need to do for this bedroom to be complete is order three black-and-white prints to hang above the headboard.

Feels good to have good-looking – matching – bedroom furniture!

Our Wedding Gifts Are Almost Here

2010-03-25T19:14:00.003-05:00

I'm very excited. Our wedding gift from The Parents arrives tomorrow*.

For the first time in my life – since I was 10, anyway, which really doesn't count – I'm going to have grown-up, matching bedroom furniture. We, sorry, WE will have grown-up bedroom furniture. Granted, it's only from Slumberland (let's be honest, while I love Snottery Barn, ain't no way I'm paying those inflated prices) but I think it's a set that suits us nicely. Better than the hodge-podge, bare-bones bedroom we have now...

Called the Diego Collection, it's a great blend – IMO – of modern-meets-classic furniture style. We both love dark wood (it's darker than in the picture), it matches our bedroom color scheme, and it was the right price, which always works well.

My parents gave us the bed frame – headboard, footboard & side rails – which is exciting since we won't have to stub our toes anymore on the cheapy metal frame throne our king currently sits upon. They also chipped in for the delivery charge, meaning we don't have to carry, haul, assemble, sweat, chip nails or in any way stress ourselves about set-up. Nice. Thumbs-up to Ma & Pa.

Since my ma-in-law was along for the ride, she ended up getting us the two nightstands AND the mirror to sit atop the dresser. I told her that was way too much, but she insisted. Sheesh. In-laws :)

Since at that point we were all set to have damn near the whole set I splurged and got the dresser, too...okay, not really since it was the slightly-scratched floor version but still. One cannot have a mostly-completed bedroom set, now can she? They. We. US**.

All in all, with discounts, sale prices and some haggling, we pretty much stole this furniture from the Slumberland Clearance Center in St. Louis Park. And I'm fine with that. I'll of course have to document the "After Meets Before" once it's all set up (by the furniture people, no less) so there'll be a sequel to this post.

*Let it be known here that while we're just now receiving our wedding gifts from our parents, they weren't the ones stalling. No, no, the onus is on us for this one. It's just taken us this long to decide a) matching bedroom furniture would be nice to have and b) which set we'd like to have.

**Please know that I DID talk this over with The Hubby before settling on this; also I called him from the store to ask if he wanted a picture before I gave the go-ahead to our very nice sales lady. He's extremely open and trusting of my judgment, style, etc. so I was thinking "we/us" while in the store.

A Very Web 2.0 Day

2010-03-24T20:50:00.005-05:00

It all started with Google Analytics being down this morning. When what you do for a living revolves around Google, any time there's a 'glitch' the world just...stops spinning. Thankfully, whatever was going down behind-the-scenes at GA was fixed so the Earth is again rotating.

That being said, I had all intentions of working hard today – setting up goals for a new client, checking a new Adwords campaign's traffic, not leaving 'til 7pm*, etc. – until I was locked out of the entire GA dashboard. With no other billable client work to do, I waded into the Web 2.0 world.

With my sights originally set on blogging, I of course kept veering off-track and heading to Twitter – the ultimate resource in up-to-date info when something's amiss – and somehow remembered a video I needed to upload to YouTube for my mom. Had a few issues with the format and this and that, but finally was able to open it in Picasa to edit the length and upload it. From there, I of course had to write a blog post about said clip – a video demonstrating an exercise to get a horse to use its hind end correctly – and then tell Mom it was finally posted (we shot it last summer).

Still keeping a wary eye on my Twitter feed and the latest results on Google regarding the Analytics problem, I moseyed to Facebook to see if any of those friends were saying anything about it. Of course they weren't (different crowd) so I played around with my mom's blog some more – cleaning up labels and whatnot – and then my phone rang.

My sister doesn't usually call me at work – she prefers Google Talk – and when she said, "I have a really random question to ask," I settled in for a weird conversation. To my utter shock she says, "so, Twitter...how does it work?" I about had a heart attack (she's very anti-Twitter/Facebook/blogging and anything "social media") until she clarified, "don't worry, I'm not on it." Whew.

Turns out I was the phone support for her boss, who was trying to learn about tweeting. Pretty sure I inundated my sister's brain with some very odd-sounding jargon for a non-Web-2.0-savvy person. Still laughing to myself about the conversation, I zipped to my co-worker's office to relay the story and she floors me with her own news: she started her first blog.

What's the world coming to? Everyone's jumping on the social media bandwagon, which is great. I suppose I shouldn't think it's a big deal – even my AUNTS and mother-in-law are on Facebook!

Anyway, so my friend's blog is going to be about gardening – she gave it the cutest name, Gardening Plots – and it was evidently fathered...sorry, Ma Nature...MOTHERED by none other than our short-but-fun trip to Puerto Vallarta last month. Of course, spending almost a week in a tropical, sunny environment where the bougainvillea is blooming in the middle of winter would get any gardener hankering to get her hands soiled. In this case, it also spawned the birth of an online presence. Welcome to the blogosphere!

As I sit here finishing this up (and sipping whole-heartedly on my Bells 2-Hearted IPA) I can't help but think...what a very Web 2.0 day!

*Yes, I WAS at work until almost 7pm. Central time, that is.

Another Trip to Puerto Vallarta

2010-03-12T11:35:00.001-06:00

While I always love visiting my vacation-away-from-home, Puerto Vallarta, I especially love to go along with someone who's never been there before. It's always a treat to see someone see it for the first time and "re-live" it through his/her eyes.

This past month I got the privilege of heading down with my friend and co-worker, whom I shall call "Phoebe." Not only had she never been to Mexico, she'd never stayed anywhere tropical. Oh, what fun to see her reactions! Thankfully, she loves Mexican food - REAL Mexican food - so she was in seventh heaven. (Enter home-made guacamole at our restaurant table; Phoebe's face lights up like a flashlight and from there it was love at first bite.)

Speaking of guacamole - I don't even LIKE it. Never have. Despise it. BUT, I'll eat it down in Puerto Vallarta. Probably 'cause it's SO incredibly good. Fresh. Tasty. Made-right-at-your-table. It's beyond good - it's a damn drug. Especially when it's from Los Arbolitos. But I digress...

So we spent ~4½ days down there, checking out the market in the mornings, lying in the sun during the hottest part of the day, heading out to my family's favorite restaurants in the evenings. Of course, we only got to choose from 4 restaurants. We actually took a recommendation from our Canadian friends (eh?) and tried somewhere new. I had an EXCELLENT dinner of coconut shrimp at Lindo Mar (coincidentally right next to one of our sunset favorites, El Set). Delish.

Alas, all good things must come to an end; with slightly burned skin and heavy feet we made our way back safely to Minneapolis. We're already looking forward to next year's trip :)

Living Room Wall Photos

2010-02-04T11:50:00.004-06:00

I'm finally getting down to the dirty job of picking and ordering what prints will grace our living and dining room walls. Yes, I've lived here for over a year and this is just NOW happening. Why, you ask? Well, because it's always been a huge deal for me to choose my own images for my own house. Don't know why.

My mom and sister have more of my photography displayed in their homes - and my sister even has my photos all over her office - than I do here. Sigh. Time to bite the bullet.

The most difficult part was what kind of images to display...places Clint and I have been? Our favorite things? The dog? Random shots which are my favorite? All of the above?

He of course is so "whatev" about the whole process, "just pick ones you think will look good" is his advice. So what I've settled upon is a 3-step process of filling up the 3 walls.

Wall #1: images from Puerto Vallarta, where we got married
Wall #2: images from the Oregon coast (our very first vacation and a favorite place)
Wall #3: the dog

All the shots will have a macro-type feel, be 12x12 and black and white (lots of colors already throughout the house). Of course...the main reason I'm writing this is to kickstart myself into motion and actually ORDER them. Readdyyyyyyy GO.

No, for real.

Dog Obedience Trainer

2010-01-27T17:14:00.004-06:00

Since getting a dog – my lovely German shepherd, Zada – 3 years ago, I find a lot of my dog training explanations start with "My dog trainer..." It's somewhat like having a shrink and all your sentences begin with "My shrink says..."

Without further ado:

My dog trainer, Linda Brodzik, is also a friend. Since I first started taking her obedience classes, I've been harrassing her about getting a new website. Ok, so because it's something I'm passionate about – building and optimizing sites – she took it well and finally took us (ThinkSEM, that is) up on the offer.

Her new site is now up and running, and she even (for some unknown reason) allowed me – and Zada, too! – a place of honor on the home page. It's probably my best self-portrait, and a lot harder than you might think to set up a camera on timer and execute a perfect at-attention-heel at just the right moment. Zada, as always, took it in stride (literally) and was a little star.

But I'm not digressing; I was able to set up my camera and shoot an image of my dog heeling at attention (with only 3 tries, I might add, to get the right look and feel) because I've taken Linda's obedience classes and know how to work with my dog.

So many times dog owners will take their puppies through a cursory obedience program but they fail to continue working with their dogs. It's not that you always have to be enrolled in classes; rather, once you have the core fundamentals it's important to keep working on not only your dog's (as well as your own) abilities, but also your relationship together.

Dogs who trust their owners – and vice versa – are the ones who "obey commands" and are "obedient." Case in point: I walk Zada off-leash every day, in unfenced areas near my home. I also do this up at my parents' place in the country. I'm not afraid she'll run off or get lost. Why? I trust her to not only stay close (she IS a German shepherd and VERY loyal, after all), but to come to me when I ask her to. She in turn trusts that I'll allow her to wander, sniff, explore, run and in general, do fun doggy things and she knows when I call her, nothing bad will happen.

Of course, this isn't just about being able to trust your dog off-leash. On-leash, Zada exhibits good behavior, too – no pulling or lunging and she remains in tune with where I'm going and need her to go – again, because I've worked with her and apply Linda's reinforcement methods.

So there it is. If you want to have that type of relationship with your dog – i.e., be able to enjoy an urban walk with your dog on-leash or a hike through the wilderness and your dog running free – then I'd highly suggest you sign up for Linda's next obedience class. I can only take so much of the credit for my well-behaved, well-mannered German shepherd...the rest goes to Linda, for teaching me HOW to do it!

Forgive Me, Blog, for I Have Sinned...

2010-01-18T10:59:00.004-06:00

...it's been over a month since my last post.

Where does the time go???

A quick look at some things which have happened since I blogged back in 2009:

The house got mostly painted - just 2 more walls to go! Aaah, a grown-up look at last :)
I bought Bon Jovi tickets for my sister's birthday...we're totally going to out-do our last JBJ concert (in April of '08).
I moved into a new office at work. Bigger. With a view of a window. Me likey.
Also at said office I moved down to three days a week. Me REALLY likey.
I've seen Avatar in 3D. Twice. Once in the normal theater and the other in the IMAX. Both phenomenal.
My friend had a baby. While this weirds me out, I'm very happy for her!
I have planned two - that's right, TWO - trips to Puerto Vallarta for this winter. Very pumped about that. Of course I'll be staying at the parents' condo both times. I can already see my flip-flop-clad feet slapping up the red tile stairs...
I started cooking REAL meals somewhere in the midst of all this. Found out, I'm a pretty good cook. Who knew? I mean, I haven't even poisoned, killed or otherwise maimed The Husband yet.

There's a lot more, I'm sure, but those stick out in my mind. Coming soon: choosing black & white images from my repertoire for our living room.

Here Kitty Kitty

2009-12-08T11:23:00.004-06:00

Yesterday while I was making fun of my friend's cat (she's very cool with that, and I'm not overly mean about it) I got to thinking about an extremely weird and ironic thing.

But first, a little background. I grew up in the country with lots of acreage and horses. Naturally, we had dogs - German shepherds - who were indoor pets but also went along on the trail with us when we were horseback riding. To keep mice and other rodents out of the horse's grain, we had a barn cat.

So, in essence, at the Bernier Ranch -

dog's job = be a companion for humans
cat's job = keep mice/rodents out of horse feed

Since I grew up that way, I'm a firm believer in the same now (i.e., cats were never made to be indoor pets; dogs have evolved to be man's companion). Since I exist in the 'dog-lover' faction, I find it fascinating some people insist on keeping cats as pets. One familiar argument against cats is they can't be trained*, so what's the point of having one?

Here's the ironic/weird occurrence, though:

Have you ever noticed that, while many dog owners struggle to train a dog to come (their own lovable companions, no less), you can pretty much get ANY cat in the entire world to come to you merely by using a high-pitched voice and saying "here, kitty kitty kitty kitty!"

Think about it. What cat DOESN'T come to you when you call like that??? I've done it in México, Spain, Italy and possibly some other European country. Still works. Inherent training which transcends all languages. Now THAT'S fascinating. I betcha there's at least 90% of the dog-owning population out there wishes it were THAT easy to train recall in their dog :)

*Keep in mind, I certainly don't feel that way; I've just heard other fellow dog-lovers say that. I actually believe ANY animal can be trained. I actually trained my goldfish. Yup. Pretty simple. He used to freak out whenever I'd turn on his tank light. Just zip all over, then skulk in the back corner and not come out. Now, when I turn on the light, he rises to the top of the tank to greet me. Who knew?

Wanna know how I did it????

Too bad. That's my business.

Matthew Howd: Graphic Designer

2009-12-03T14:04:00.006-06:00

An erstwhile co-worker and also a creative director (and all-around good guy), Matt Howd offers high-level freelance graphic design services. Just from looking at a few of the client samples on his website, you get an instant feel for his style of designing logos, collateral and identities which artistically describe each client.

While not historically a web designer, he did create his own site! Not bad for a beginner, Matt, not bad at all. Who knows, maybe he can design your next site...or, if you need:

to brand or re-brand your company,
a new logo (or a re-design of the old one),
trade show collateral,
direct mailers,
catalog design (and photographic direction),
sell sheets,
product packaging designs,
or any other type of graphic design work -

contact Howd Creative.

Chilly November Morning

2009-11-28T07:19:00.004-06:00

Last weekend when I got up to take the dog for our morning constitutional I decided to bring my SLR. The hoar frost was still out - the sun had only started to peek over the edges of the trees, melting away the eastern-most edges.

The turkeys had already woken up and left their roosts for the day's foraging, so I focused on the frosty leaves, trees, some grass and - as always - Zada.

I'm also still learning PhotoShop - and when I say still learning, I mean the basics - so decided to edit a few of the images from that frosty morning.

It was a beautiful walk and I thoroughly enjoyed being out in the crisp, cool November morning air. Zada loved it, too, though she was a bit confused as to why I was taking such long looks at frost on the leaves.

Guess Who Finally Got PhotoShop?

2009-11-26T10:26:00.009-06:00

Let us give thanks on this day - oh, this day! - in which I not only have PhotoShop (CS3) but have even learned how to use it! Sort of. I'm a quick study but let me tell you, it's no easy thing for me.

I 'went digital' in 2006. Pretty much the only reason was because I was shooting a wedding that summer and I knew it'd be loads easier than film. I got another Canon, so just went ahead and used the editing software that came with my new DSLR - Digital Photo Professional. I thought it was the cat's meow.

A couple years ago, I was introduced to my beloved Picasa, the free Google software which allows you quite a bit of options for image edits. While I watched all my other photo buddies producing amazing results with various versions of PhotoShop, I continued to think of it as the snobby way to do it - plus I abhorred those photographers who digitally enhanced, altered and completely changed their images into something other than photography but continued to pawn them off as such. I would never, EVER be one of THOSE.

Or so I thought. While I still strongly believe that a photograph is worlds apart from a digitally enhanced image (i.e., they shouldn't ever compete in the same category because they're completely separate entities) I can at least appreciate the fact one can do some very cool stuff in PhotoShop.

I have yet to learn any of that, of course. But I've seen examples.

I'll get there eventually. Crazy thing is, a co-worker gave me this handy little '50 Great PhotoShop Tutorials for Clever Beginners' article the other day to 'get me started.' I appreciate he thinks I'm so clever, but honestly, I learned how to create silhouettes and 'modern art' type images before I even figured out how to lighten, sharpen or change the color of an image.

Okay. So I don't totally "get" PhotoShop yet, but I got it. As in, I have it. And that's a start!

Attention! German Government Not Web Savvy

2009-11-24T09:04:00.008-06:00

While catching up on tweets this morning I ran across an interesting article regarding Germany's declaration that Google Analytics is illegal. Was?

Evidently, according to the German government, the use of Google Analytics to track website users' information is a violation of people's rights, since they're not giving their consent to be tracked.

Okay, stop right there, regierungsbeamte, just because you happen to be government officials doesn't mean you know best. Thing is, you don't even have the technical savvy to know that people who use the Internet DO have a choice of whether or not to be tracked.

It's called disabling cookies, FYI. Now, does the average Joe even know a) he's being tracked via cookies or b) that there's an option not to allow cookies in the first place? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I'll venture a guess he doesn't really pay attention, plus there's no danger of sensitive information getting out from the placement of cookies.

Cookies don't work that way - they're placed on a computer for a specific purpose (to track the user as she visits sites on the Web). Specifically, Google Analytics only places 1st-party cookies, so only Google Analytics can 'tap into' the information for that cookie, so to speak. There's a lot more to Google Analytics cookies than meets the eye, but the general lesson here, Germany, is don't "impose fines on companies who use the service to gather detailed stats based on their website visitors’ usage patterns," because they're not doing this "without the explicit consent of those visitors" ... those visitors have the option of not being tracked.

*Image used came from semseoexpert.com.

Recovering Cafeteria Catholic

2009-11-08T14:05:00.002-06:00

Last weekend when I was back home, I learned my family has become Lutheran for the winter - partially because of the new mass times, but also due to a dislike for a new priest. Raised with a (strict) Catholic upbringing, this declaration was nothing short of shocking to hear. Of course, it was less shocking than if I were a devout, mass-going Catholic, versus a recovering "cafeteria Catholic."

Let me explain. It's not that I regret having grown up Catholic - I think spiritualism is extremely important - but let's just say over the years I've come to despise the Church's strict, rigid rules more and more.

Take for instance the case of first communion for Haley Waldman in 2004: diagnosed with celiac disease when she was young, she had to consume a gluten-free wafer at her first communion, which the Church declared as 'unofficial' because the Eucharist contained no wheat. Okay, Catholic church - just because Christ might've had bread with wheat in it at the Last Supper, tell me WHY, if this bread (and wine) gets changed into His body (and the wine into His blood) does it matter AT ALL what the damn stuff is made of? I'm not making it up:

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Transubstantiation means the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the body of Christ and of the whole substance of wine into the substance of his blood."

So that one made me mad. Then there's the issue with the wine - which cannot be non-alcoholic in order to "count" during communion. What about medical issues? Alcoholism? While it's a purely pagan tradition - eating the flesh and blood of a sacrifice - receiving Holy Communion is a very vital part of Catholic parishioners, one in which, if it's denied them, makes a big difference in their faith.

Oh, and don't forget all those Catholic priests who decided - since they're not allowed to get married and thus fulfill normal, healthy sexual urges - that it's okay to molest altar boys. Ish, Catholic church, ISH. FAIL.

Okay, I'm slightly digressing. Anyway, so I don't attend mass regularly anymore (in fact, it's mainly when I'm back home and Christmas Eve) but I grew up with The Guilt so I do feel bad for not attending masses on Sunday. That being said, I'm much more spiritual now than I've ever been.

So I was excited to head to my first Lutheran service since I was in junior high (I slept over at a friend's house and we went to her service a couple times; I was so naive I headed up for communion not knowing I was committing a SIN in the eyes of the Catholic church) and I remember liking it.

Last Sunday was more of an eye-opening experience than I expected. We arrived ~10 minutes before the service started, only to find there was extremely limited seating left. Weird...at our Catholic church, people pretty much don't come until 10 minutes before, and many of them slink up the aisle after the priest, staying low and trying to remain low profile.

As we sat at the very back of the church, perusing the hymnal, my mother and I noticed an odd thing...these parishioners - they were talking and laughing. OUT LOUD. And it was okay. Other church-goers weren't "shushing" them, no one was giving passive-aggressive, dirty looks; it was perfectly acceptable to kick back and chat with your fellow Christians.

When the priest - sorry, pastor - stepped to the front, the talk died down immediately and he started speaking. He said 'good morning,' told a couple jokes, and started into the service - which was very heartfelt. The singing was exceptional, the readings were quick and related, and the sermon was not only well-organized, it had a message. I actually had a take-away. I was hooked.

Feeling much more comfortable with "being Lutheran," my anxiety rose slightly when it came time for communion. Ever the gracious host (no pun intended), the pastor told the congregation "everyone was welcome" to come and receive Holy Communion - even visitors. Wow. No judgment, no restrictions, just "come and receive the Holy Spirit." Thanks, I will.

As Mom and I walked slowly down towards the front of the church to receive our host and wine, I could almost feel the scarlet "C" burning on my forehead. Acting like I'd 'been there, done that,' I took my host from the Eucharistic minister (which she handed me delicately, only having touched a small portion of it), and - per custom at this church - dipped it into the wine, ate it and continued back to my seat, none the worse for having accepted this mighty gift while in a sacrilegious ceremony.

Sacrilegious because, according to the Catholic church, the bread and wine are actually transformed (transubstantiated) into the body and blood of Christ. For Lutherans, they believe these are symbols, not actual flesh and blood. PS: if you're Catholic and do NOT believe you're eating true flesh and drinking real blood, then you're a sinner. Can you say human sacrifice and cannibalism?

So, while I'm not a devout church-goer, I do think I'm going to like this new winter church schedule...the parents seem to like it, too. Which begs the question: will we continue on with Lutheranism come springtime, when the Catholic mass schedule changes again? I have to say my sentiment - I sure hope so.

Tweetdeck & Twitter Lists & Transmuted Google News, Oh My!

2009-11-05T10:26:00.009-06:00

When I first began using Twitter, I'd read tweets and answer "what are you doing?" right from the site. I soon realized that wasn't the "cool" way to go about it, so I got set up with Tweetdeck (the simple and fast way to experience Twitter). I soon had my favorites set up (for both Twitter and Facebook, a nice touch) and while I still head to Twitter to scroll through the 'general' tweets coming in, I now update both sites' status from Tweetdeck.

From the dashboard, I can see at a glance what my favorite people are talking about, as well as get direct messages and see any mentions I've received. Pretty neat.

Now enter Twitter Lists. A couple weeks ago, Twitter rolled out their new function which allows users to create their own lists, add people to it, and other people can even follow your lists (and vice versa). So now not only can you choose who you follow, you can lump them into specific groups so you don't have to scroll through all your "Twitter favorites" on Tweetdeck or - gasp, live on the site - you can just click on a list and voilà, you can read what you want to read.

It's even easy to find any lists you've been added to - and you can choose whether or not to follow those lists.

This is just one of the many ways it's getting easier and easier to pick and choose the content you want to see online. Yesterday, Google stepped up to the plate and offered the creation of custom news. While not a true function of social media, it is a way to customize content - similar to Tweetdeck's favorites and the relatively new Twitter lists.

I played around with this function this morning and created a couple 'newsreels' - reel-time news, perhaps? - even though I don't think I've ever visited Google News.

So why am I trying it? Well...I do subscribe to multiple RSS feeds, and the first thing I do in the morning - coffee in hand - is check out Google Reader. Thing is, I get a lot of articles in there that I don't want to read. Even though I've decided to pull articles from TechCrunch, Mashable, All in One SEO Pipe, etc., the articles contained within those sites aren't always something I want to read.

Now, maybe with a customized Google News section, I can get more relevant articles because I've "made" the news topics relevant to me. So, the big question is: are functions like Twitter Lists and customized Google News going to make RSS feeds obsolete?

Social Search is a FAIL

2009-10-28T13:44:00.003-05:00

In high school, I got grounded. A LOT. Every Friday my friends would say, "hey, Bernier...you grounded this weekend?" To which my reply was, more often than not, yes. So I was used to getting punished by my mom - God love her - but now that I'm a (mostly) grown-up woman, I find it hard to believe I'm being grounded yet again. By Google, evidently.

Four days ago I learned about, opted into and wrote a review of the new Google Social Search ability. Since I'm a typical egotist, I was chagrined to see I wasn't showing up in my own social circle. While most things "Internet" get better with age - as software, search engines and social media roll out, refine and listen to their audiences - I'm more than a bit disappointed that things are even worse for my social searches now than they were earlier in the week.

Google, did Matt Cutts tattle on me, say I was dissatisfied with your shiny new service and now you're punishing me? No...that's not the way the universe works. Still, I find maybe I should've kept my pie-hole corked and not mentioned my disappointment, since now my social circle is eerily absent from my SERPs in social searches. As far as I know and can see, I'm still opted into the experiment, because it does work a little bit. Sometimes.

But let's take a look at how things have changed since Monday.

Monday's search for "SEO" revealed my social circle as my husband and Portland friend in the main SERP; when I delved into the 'Social' tab of my 'Options' I got a few more results from my fellow Twitterers, blog buddies, etc.

Yesterday and today? The results are MUCH different:

Obviously this result is right from my Google Reader subscription. Odd, because that result was absent on Monday. Let's look a bit further - utilizing the 'More Options' screen, I choose 'Social'...the results are scarce, to say the least.

Ok. So maybe "SEO" is too...I don't know, competitive. (Competitive between my social buddies?) So I'll try something I KNOW multiple friends on Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are mentioning: Halloween. After all, we're only 1 day shy of All Hallows' Eve.

It seems none of my online acquaintances are talking about Halloween. Or costumes. But wait, they ARE - I've read several Tweets about those very topics today. So where's my circle, Google? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Now, not only am I not showing up, my friends aren't, either. Boooooooooooooooo. And not in the Halloween, fun, scared-you type of way.

Since this has all changed so drastically for me, I decided to read more on social search - ended up at the Matt Cutts video explaining it within the Googleblog post. In it, he (Matt) states there are a few ways Google taps into a person's social circle: Google profile, Friendfeed and Google Reader.

Well, I do have a Reader account - browse through that every morning. I also have a Google profile. While I don't use Friendfeed, two out of three should garner me SOME results I can live with in regards to social search. But, alas, no. Get thee to thy room, O naughty negative reviewer of Google services.

Why Don't I Show Up in Social Search?

2009-10-26T15:31:00.010-05:00

Today Google officially rolled out its social search function, a way to customize your SERPs to include results from people within your very own network. Pretty neat, considering the vast amount of people we can be linked to and the amount of content to wade through out there in search engine land.

Danny Sullivan has a great post about this, in which I was surprised to learn that a person can show up in their own searches (with the 'social' option). It struck me as odd until I read his explanation of it,

"...my own blog is listed. That makes sense, in a way. I know myself, and I write about Newport Beach a lot."

Intrigued, I instantly opted into the Google Experiment and started searching. I tried an easy test first - "SEO" - since a good number of my friends on Twitter are SEOs. Bingo:

At the bottom of the SERP, my very own results. The dude in the 'stache is a friend...and the second result is my very own husband. Now, why wouldn't Clint's 'result' show up before Chris's, since we share the same last name (therefore, Clint would be more relevant to my search)? Well, that's not the way this social search works - even within "my" social results, they're still ranked based on the traditional Google algorithm, meaning in Google's mind webranking.com is more important than thinksem.com. For now anyway :)

Ever the narcissist, I tried another search, something for which I figured I'd show up for. Something I blog/talk about a lot: my dog. So I chose "german shepherd" and scrolled to the bottom of the page - nada. What? Where am I? Shouldn't I show up in my own social network for something I blog, micro-blog, and talk about often? Hmf. Evidently not.

Okay, different search - "music" - SOMEONE I know must be mentioning something about music. Lo and behold, when I click on my 'Show Options' view and then narrow it down to 'Social,' here's what I see:

Wait, Cities 97? I don't follow Cities 97 on Twitter...oh, wait, but one of my co-workers does. While I certainly respect her choice to support easy listening, I'm personally not interested in that station. Even though it's very relevant to music, I personally have no connection to it so don't think it's a relevant result here.

So, for my last search (in this 'test') I tried something else. I'm connected to several of my co-workers via Facebook and Twitter, so I performed a search for my company's name, expecting to find at least a few co-workers who've mentioned where they work. The only result came from a co-worker who follows ME on Twitter, but I do not follow this person.

Thus far, Google, I don't vote it a total FAIL, but I do have some grievances with how this works. Why am I not showing up for my own "relevant social searches" but people/entities I don't even follow do show up?

Looks like there could be a couple bugs yet to work out with this.

*PS: Yes, I have a Google Profile and had it long before this post.

Find Your Anagram

2009-10-23T10:58:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my buddy, @wtongen, for finding this fun anagram service and passing it along. I've just spent the last 15 minutes scanning through hundreds of anagrams for my name (Sarah B Danks)...here are a few samples:

Ad Shrank Abs
Bad Ash Ranks
Bad Sash Rank
Bard Hank Ass
Bads Has Rank
Dabs Has Rank
Bah Drank Ass
Bah Dark Sans
Bah Ads Ranks
Bahs Ad Ranks
Bah Sad Ranks
Bash Ad Ranks
Bash Sad Rank
Bank Hard Ass
Barks And Ash
Ban Ad Sharks
Ban Sad Shark
Bra Ads Shank
Bass Had Rank
Bhad Ass Rank

An SEO Writer Picks a Fight

2009-10-08T14:20:00.006-05:00

In my Twitterfeed this afternoon, I stumbled upon (yes, pun intended) a Search Engline Land article by Jill Whalen: Is Choosing Search Engines Over Users A Fatal Flaw In SEO? I love the 'question' article title, it's like waving a red cape in front of a Spanish-bred bull: you have to at least click to open and scan.

Immediately I see she's written this article in rebuttal of a @randfish blog post titled Terrible SEO Advice: Focus on Users, Not Engines. Again, a catchy headline since he does touch on that angle, but it's not really what he's actually saying in the post.

In Jill's little back-at-ya attempt at setting the record straight, she spouts off about how Rand's article "could potentially set SEO back at least at decade," in her opinion. Really? Well, Jilly-girl, you might want to actually READ what Rand wrote, instead of just scanning (as so many website users are wont to do), 'cause you didn't even grasp what he said. (Also, might wanna run the ol' document through at least a cursory proofreading process...you ARE a writer, after all.)

Here's what Jill has to say about Mr. Fishkin's advice:

In the article, he apologized to his audience of budding SEOs for having ever told them to do what’s right for their users. In fact, he called putting your users first, “utterly false and tragically misleading.”

If you listen to this advice, your SEO will be fatally flawed from the get-go.

You go, girl. Except...wait...this is what Rand ACTUALLY wrote:

If you've been around the SEO world a while, you've undoubtedly heard the old adage:

"Do what's right for users and engines will reward you with higher rankings"

Along with its peer:

"SEO tactics that focus on engines, rather than users, are manipulative (black/gray hat) and will eventually be discounted or penalized"

In my opinion, both of these statements are utterly false and tragically misleading. In my view, SEO starts with the user (of course), but cannot ignore the incredible importance of search-engine targeted (and specific) tactics.

So let me sum it up for you, Jill: Rand was merely stating that new SEOs deciding to totally adhere to only one of those adages (and therefore utterly ignoring the other) are making a mistake. Your mistake, my dear, was criticizing a much bigger name in the SEO world than you are, without even the proper information.

4-H Dog Show

2009-10-07T17:23:00.012-05:00

September 26th and 27th was the Minnesota State 4-H Dog Show at the Fairgrounds. I went for a portion of both days and watched some agility and obedience classes. Tasha is the daughter of a dear family friend, and while just shy of 17 years old, she's quite the little trainer. Her Aussie, Kiah, is 27 months old and this year they worked together to win a bunch of awards:

blue (award of excellence) in elementary agility
blue in obedience - graduate beginner
blue in obedience - four-dog team
blue in showmanship - open

Now, keep in mind these four classes occurred over a span of 2 days, in the heat of the September sun (well, agility anyway!) and both handler and dog were surrounded by a plethora of people and dogs all weekend.

Until this show, I'd never seen a live agility competition, and it's pretty cool to watch. The dogs have to perform a pattern containing all the requisite obstacles and it's the handler's job to direct them throughout their timed course. They have to leap over jumps, climb an A-frame, scoot through a couple of shoots, and lie still for 5 seconds atop a small table in the middle of the course. Try stopping a running dog in the middle of their excitement, make them lie motionless and tell me how it goes!

In obedience classes, the trainers take their dogs through a series of on- and off-leash steps such as heeling, recall, stand-for-exam and sit- and down-stays. While on leash, the dogs must pace their owners, stop when they stop (and sit down), not pull on the leash and always remain attentive to their handler.

For the off-leash portion, the dog waits in one corner of the arena while the handler moves to the other, and upon recall (the "come" cue) the dog must proceed directly to the handler and sit - straight! - in front of them. They then must also stand for the judge's exam - not sit, not lie down - while their handler moves ~15 feet away.

The final part of the class is the hardest...with 7 other handlers and dogs in the arena, the handler must put his/her dog in a sit- or down-stay and walk ~20 feet away for a timed judging. I was amazed that these 8 dogs didn't MOVE from their positions amongst strange people, sights, sounds and most of all, other dogs in close proximity.

I was super-proud of my family friend - and her dog - and was only a TAD nostalgic and jealous that when I was in 4-H, we didn't have much of a dog program. I've helped Tasha with Kiah's training - just some simple operant conditioning training tips here and there - but the amount of work she's put in is testament to her dedication to dog training. These kids are so lucky - at 16 years of age, they're so much farther than I am in my own training and they'll only get better!

Congrats, Tasha!!!

Great Minnesota Get-Together

2009-09-08T14:38:00.009-05:00

When I was a little girl, there were a couple of times Mom & Dad loaded us kids into the car and we headed down to the Big Cities for a day at the Minnesota State Fair. Since the parental units weren't very familiar with the city streets (not having lived down here for years) we'd always get stuck in the "fair traffic" on Snelling. Somewhat of a damper to our spirits when the big fair tower was in sight but we couldn't get there any other way than stop-and-go.

Now that the hubby and I live approximately 4 miles from the Great Minnesota Get-Together fairgrounds, we've made it our duty to go every year we've been together. While I certainly enjoyed perusing every single square foot of the DNR buildings & Machinery Hill way back in the day 'cause Dad HAD to, and maybe going on a couple rides, I much prefer stopping at the beer booths for crisp, cool Summits, partaking in random food intake and watching all the weirdos come out of the woodwork.

The only footsteps we place on the midway are the ones leading us into and out of the grounds, since we've found a free parking area which is easy for us to access, and is only about a 10-minute walk to get in the gates (behind the parking for the horse trailers). From that entrance, we can easily get to the main booth that sells Summit, so we grab one of those and then proceed to make our wandering way amidst the crowds of French-fry-eaters, food-on-a-stick-enjoyers and all the other random, lovely sightseeing opportunities.

This year while we were waiting for a friend to join up with us, we made our second stop the Scotch Eggs booth (near the green pepper on the side of the horse barn). Though they're not as good as those at the Renaissance Festival, they were mighty tasty - especially with the horse radish sauce!

After joining up with said friend, we proceeded to the back of the grandstand in search of OAR ticket-seekers. There he gave away 2 OAR tickets and interviewed the lucky winner about Brett Favre for his latest endeavor, Brettrodome, while I videotaped (and the hubby went for more beer). When all that was said and done, we realized we had to get back on schedule.

We always have to stop at the Leinies Lodge to give a high-five to the Laurienzos, who work hard all 10 days of the fair to ensure Leinenkuegel lovers have enough brew to quench their fair thirst. That's kitty-corner from the Axel's booth - we love their bull bites - and then we were on our way back towards the Coliseum. We watched the High School Rodeo for a bit, used the lavs and headed back to the Scotch Eggs so our buddy could partake.

Since we've gone numerous times, it must not be "that big of a deal," since this year all we had were Scotch Eggs, cheese curds, beer and cream puffs. Also, other than the Coliseum we didn't go into any of the buildings. Actually, it was kind of nice - we were in and out of there in a little over 2 hours. Until next year...

Como Conservatory

2009-09-02T09:52:00.011-05:00

The end of summer makes me look back on what's happened and which images I've captured along the way...so yet again I'm playing catch-up. This past March I headed to Como Conservatory in St. Paul, MN, 2 hours early for 'artist day.' A few times a year, the Conservatory opens up its doors - for a small fee/donation - to photographers and other artists who wish to use tripods within the gardens.

Normally when I go my hand-held shots are just fine since there's an abundance of light...but it's nice to get in there and use a tripod sometimes for uber-macro shots (I have a converter for my 50mm f/1.8 lens which necessitates the use of a tripod) or to play with long exposures, etc.

While I did use the tripod for a portion of that 2-hour window, mostly I focused on macro shots and using the lighting. It was the busiest I'd ever seen it in there - I think more and more photographers are either a) figuring out they can bring in tripods to these sessions and/or b) eager to get into the gardens before the normal, bustling day-crowds arrive.

Many of my photographer buddies headed to brunch after the 2 hours was up, but a friend of mine met me at 10am and we went through all the gardens (me for a 2nd time, her for the first time ever). The Sunken Garden tends to get the most foot-traffic (at least it seems to be the busiest/hardest to walk around in that garden) but there other beautiful gardens and even little 'nooks' which provide excellent shots.

My favorite image from that day - and one which garnered me a 'Champion' at the Crow Wing County Fair this year (Floral category) - is my fern fiddlehead macro shot. I love the perception of this image...normally when I see fiddlehead pictures, they're focused solely on the fiddlehead or show it/them coming out of the ground, etc. I was walking along a path from one garden to the next and happened to glance down and see this little guy trying to climb out of the parent fern and thought it was a neat perspective. (This shot was taken using my Canon 50mm f/1.8.)

Something I have to constantly remind other people - and sometimes, myself! - is that even though I've already been to a place once or numerous times, there's ALWAYS something new to see through the lens of my camera. It's a matter of taking the time to slowly take in the surroundings and focus on different perspectives.

Every photographer knows that two photographers standing side by side taking a shot of the very same subject will get two very different results. The same is also true for the one photographer revisiting the same subject.

I'm no expert but it took me a long time to grasp the concept of perspective. We can all get into the rut of taking the same 'type' of image, but it's important in photography to look at everything multiple ways and be sure to move your feet when shooting. Look at your subject from a different angle, wait for different lighting, switch lenses, focus on the details, back up and 'get the big picture,' etc.

I did miss the June '09 "artist day" at Como, but will be hopefully heading back for the next time we're allowed to get in and shoot the gardens without (as many!) crowds.

Downtown Minneapolis

2009-08-16T19:08:00.013-05:00

This summer has gone much quicker than any other I've previously lived in my short 30 years. Okay, so that's my excuse for neglecting my blog when there have been so many photo opps the past few months.

In July a friend and I ventured to downtown Minneapolis for a free comedy skit at Brit's, lunch on The Local's patio, and some wandering about looking like tourists during downtime. I've never really acted like a tourist in Minneapolis (or St. Paul, for that matter) so it was fun to have an excuse to be down there with my SLR snapping shots.

While I have no clue of the names of the different buildings (other than the IDS tower), I like shiny, reflective surfaces on big buildings and the lighting was good for it that day. We had great food at The Local - along with good chats - and the show at Brit's was funny and free. Well, what we could hear of it was funny...we were trying to stay cool in the shade so ended up at the back of the audience but a good time was had nonetheless.

I'm especially proud of my shot of The Man. While strolling through a plaza near Brit's, I glanced over and happened to see an old man sitting on a concrete step looking at a waterfall. There were some girls nearby and I had to take 3 or 4 images before I finally got the winner. I did crop the image to look like this, but think it works very well. The judges at the Crow Wing County Fair thought so, too - this shot took 1st in the Black & White Adult (1) category and 'Champion' for the overall category (B&W and color together).

At first glance a sparrow we saw on the ground seemed to be injured, as it turns out I think he was begging for food because he ended up flying off after we didn't deliver. I'm not a huge fan of birds, but that's probably the closest I've ever been to a non-injured wild bird before.

The afternoon's activities were coming to a close and as we were heading back to the car we ran into a 16-year-old girl who was lost. After guiding her to Hard Rock to meet her friends, loath to end the day we decided to head to happy hour.

We chose O'Donovan's and as we were waiting to cross the street, we ran into a couple VERY drunk guys who were looking for a strip club. While we didn't know where the establishment was, we had fun BSing with them and a nice police officer ended up walking them to some other strib club. After sitting down on O'Donovan's patio, we discovered The Seville - the club the guys were looking for - was right next door.

It was a great day - beautiful weather, lots of talking, good food. Hopefully I'll find the time to venture to Minneapolis again this summer to play tourist!

Zada Goes to Work & Happy Hour

2009-08-14T21:24:00.005-05:00

This past Thursday Zada - my German shepherd - had a typical 'working day': she came into the office to hang out with me and afterwards we went to happy hour. Hey, if you're going to work like a dog, there's nothing quite like a cold beer (or in her case, dish of water) to wrap up the day.

When I first got her as a puppy, I knew that living in the cities with a high-energy dog would be a challenge but I also wanted to have a dog that I could take literally anywhere. Since she was young, I've made her tag along with me to numerous places: kickball games, parks, houses of friends and family, dog parks, camping, 5K races, work and even bars.

Believe me, when I first became a dog owner down here I had no idea I'd be bringing my dog to patios to drink beer and eat appetizers - but let me tell you, the idea is not only brilliant, it's become a favorite of mine. But it was always a dream of mine to be able to bring my dog into work with me, and thankfully in my current position as Search Marketing Consultant at Linnihan Foy Advertising, I sometimes get that opportunity.

While some of my other co-workers do bring in their dogs from time to time (one of the bosses regularly brings in our "mascot") I do have to admit none of them get as many compliments or praise as my Zada. Everyone is amazed that she stays in my office with me - the door's always open - and is content to lie in her corner by the window to watch everyone at work or chew on her bone.

When it's time to play, she's got a beat-up small basketball that the colleagues throw down the hall for her. She always obliges in a perfect game of fetch, and has gotten to the point where she'll perform simple cues ("sit" or "down") for my co-workers. She's also starting to OFFER some behaviors in order to get someone to throw the ball for her. I'll be honest and say it's much harder to train people than it is to train dogs! But my co-workers are pretty cool with me telling them what to do where Zada's involved :)

Anyway, one of my lovely colleagues told me earlier this week about a bar she went to that was dog-friendly. Excitedly I asked her which one, where, etc. It's the Nomad Pub near 7 Corners in Minneapolis, and she said not only is their patio dog-friendly, so is the bar itself! Obviously intrigued, I decided it was my next must-go-to destination so Clint, Paul and I headed there for a couple of cold beverages. True to their word, the bar allowed us to march right in, up to the bar, and even offered her a big dish full of ice-cold water.

They don't serve food - obviously there'd be a code violation with the presence of canines in the establishment - but they allow you to bring your own. With a couple deli-type restaurants nearby, I don't see the problem of having a MYRIAD of good beers on tap and your dog at your side.

It wasn't busy but I actually prefer that for the insides of bars at happy hour. Think about it: you get attentive service from your bartender, there aren't a lot of other patrons being loud, and you can actually hear the music playing. While Zada's been to dog-friendly patios several times throughout her 3 years of life, this was her first venture into an actual bar and she was great. Of course, it didn't hurt that some other patrons came up and wanted to pet her and chit-chat about her - she loves people and I call her the "Golden Retriever of Shepherds."

All in all, we had a good day together and we will definitely be heading back to the Nomad Pub for more doggy happy hours!

Floral Images from Mission Narrows

2009-08-13T10:59:00.010-05:00

I didn't make it up to Mom & Dad's at all this summer 'til June, which is odd since normally I try to get up there at least once a month in the summer (starting in May). I'm making up time now, but thought I'd post some pictures I took of the flora around the property and lake.

In the biological sense, according to dictionary.com "floral" means pertaining to or consisting of flowers: floral decoration; of or pertaining to floras or a flora. "Flora" means plants, as distinguished from fauna; the plants of a particular region or period, listed by species and considered as a whole. Interesting.

The reason I'm mentioning this is because I was recently involved in an email debate with a woman from the Crow Wing County Fair board who insisted the "Floral" photography category should only contain images of FLOWERS. According to her, my fern fiddlehead photo shouldn't have been included...guess she wasn't the judge since I ended up taking 'Champion' in that category with the image :)

Anyway. The parents' property is an excellent source of flora-type pictures and even though Mom's not an avid gardener, she still produces some great flowers. The in-ground water sprinkler system - pumped directly from the lake - keeps the majority of the flower beds and plants along the house well watered and healthy.

While the hostas, bleeding hearts and lily close-up are self-explanatory, I'd like to note that the daisies are more special: they are growing wild upon my horse's grave in the pasture. My old boy, Kamell, was put down in the fall of 2006 at 27½ years of age.

My mom purchased him as an untrained 5-year-old, he's my first memory of horseback riding (I must've been 6 or 7, since he was only 6 months younger than I), and I also ended up using him as my 4-H horse for several years. He was a good boy and will be very hard to replace :)