I just got home from our vacation this afternoon. I noticed a tag from Tamara Wilson on What did You Accomplish?

I figure this will be a kind of fun post, and a great way to get back into the swing of things.

Tamara has asked 4 questions and then tagged 5 blogs, mine being one.

Here are the questions:

What did you accomplish?

Did anything not go as expected?

What was the highlight of your week?

Did anything exciting happen you did not expect?

1. What did you accomplish? - Not a whole lot of anything. I’ve been on vacation to a hot springs in the Canadian Rockies with my two boys and another family. I guess we accomplished the goal of showing the kids a good time, as well as some much needed relaxation time before the busy holiday season shifts into swift.
2. Did anything not go as expected? - No, not really. We got a cold snap this week and so it wasn’t as much fun for the kids to play outside. Besides that it was all good.
3. What was the highlight of your week? Two things really. The youngest boy of the other family just idolizes my oldest son. It gave us great pleasure to watch them laugh, giggle and play (kids laughing always fills my heart with joy). The other believe it or not was getting home today. I was really feeling like there was too much going on to be away for a week.
4. Did anything exciting happen you did not expect? Nope. We saw a lot of wild life and that’s always cool. Wild turkeys would come right up on our deck every morning looking for a free breakfast handout. There is a herd of mountain sheep that live right near the condo and they would come walking through on occasion. It’s cool to be that close to nature. But they weren’t unexpected, this is an annual vacation.

So all in all it’s good to go, but even better to get home. I hope to accomplish a heck of a lot more this next week.

I’m going to tag:

Kris - Cell phone/Mobile Advertising

Lori - Women and Weight

Living by Learning

Amanda - All about the Green

Peter - pete13

I’m tagging blogs that I’ve never tagged before. Participating in meme’s is a great way to get some links to your site. It’s also great networking. I’ve seen these bloggers on Home with Heather this past week, and wanted to ’share the love’.

Of course with any meme, you want to link to the originating blog (Tamara), the blog the tagged you (me) and then tag 5 new bloggers. And if I didn’t tag you, but you want to play along, let me know in the comment section below and I’ll link to you

Expect the Best,

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This morning when I looked in my Bloglines to find out what I wanted to post for my Friday list of Favorites, I discovered that I had over 800 new posts to go through. I hadn’t checked my reader in a few days, and those posts can really pile up. Wow that’s a lot of reading and scanning to do in a short time.

I enjoy keeping up with many different blogs and bloggers. Some have some really helpful information to share, and I find that as I do more networking and commenting on other blogs that list is continuing to grow.

It was hard this morning to pick just five articles that I thought would bring some value to you, and that I wanted to share.

FTR - Jack Humphrey posted ” Meet a 14 Year Old Boy Who Blogs Better Than You“. That really caught my attention. This kid is doing amazing things, and then Jack put it to his readers to go out and kick ass. If this 14 year old kid can do it… BTW it is a great blog, you should go look.

Copyblogger had a guest post by Dean Rieck “The Yogi Berra School of Persuasive Writing”. This articles has some really great “yogisms”. Dean has translated them into clear english for us regular folk.

Heather over at Girls Who Network posted a great article, “Prince Charming Isn’t Coming”. I love this article. So many women who have been divorced, or never married for that matter, sit around waiting for a man to come in and make it better. Heather’s article is about making it good for yourself, getting the skills and becoming financially capable. Then if prince charming DOES end up showing up, you’ll be ready for it. Great Read.

Caroline Middlebrook is a blogger that I just have added to my Bloglines this week. She is doing some amazing things with her blog, and has stories posted all over the blogosphere about it. One of the articles she wrote this week that was of interest to me was “The Importance of Flexible Goals”. Caroline like many of us has a dream of becoming her own boss, and to that end has already left her full time day job. This article talks about how her goals for earning an online income have had to be adjusted along the way. I found it very interesting and so true for many of us, we need to be flexible.

As always, my friend Monika from The Writer’s Manifesto has put out some more great information this week. Her post, “18 Tips to Become a Productive Blogger”, has some helpful tips in it. You should go read it.
There it is, some interesting weekend reading for you.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Expect the Best,

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This week, I’m trying to make my focus more on women in business, mom bloggers that kind of thing. We all face such unique challenges when trying to run a home and a business and be there for our families.

So here are some really great articles that I’ve stumbled upon this week, take a look at them. You might also want to show them a bit of networking love.

Want Your Own Crystal Ball Heather has a relatively new blog, but she is kicking out some great content. I love the whole idea of her website, Girls Who Network. Helping women create the life and business they love.

Three Thought Thursday - Staying Motivated to Work Your Business is a great article by Alice Seba. It is easier to stay motivated when you don’t feel overwhelmed.

We Adopted Multi-Racial Teen Boys Last September is an article that is very touching and actually close to home for me with the work I do with kids. Give it a read, stop by and say hey.

Turning Scary Movies Into Scary Blogs - Though it fitting for the holiday and it made me smile…

A Commercial You’ll Never Forget - OMG, that is hilarious.  Course I would probably just turn around and walk the other way.  Stand a few isles over and wait it out.

Alright, there you have it.  Two to motivate, two to make you smile and one I just really think everyone needs to read.  And all from a great group of mom/women entrepreneurs.

Happy Friday Everyone…

Expect the Best,

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I found some really great writing this week while I was cruising around. Here are some of my top picks for the week:

Why Direct Response Blogging is The Answer - This is a great article talking about the different currencies of blogging and how social proof should be one of the biggest priorities of any blogger.

Secret Ingredient in Your Business -  In this piece Terry Dean is talking about the importance of letting your personality shine through in your writing.  Building your brand.

How to Get Lost in Cyberspace - Simply a fun read.  Have you been to hotmale.com Sarah?

This weeks Blogging Tip - Keeping it Simple - A very good reminder, thanks Christy

The 4 Sites I Reference While Blogging - Lynn always has such great tips.  I love how she can write about things that are simple, but still get people thinking and talking about it.  What windows do you have open when you’re blogging?

These are just some of the articles I found really interesting and helpful this week.  What about you?  Anything that really helped you and you’d like to share?

Expect the Best,

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Link building is something that every blogger should be concerned with.  It should be a regular item on your to-do list.

Sharing traffic with other sites is a great way to get first time visitors to your blog.  Just last week, I had a guest blogger on Home with Heather.  It was great because some of his readers came to check out my blog, and I’m sure some of you went to check out his.

More Links = More Traffic

That’s simple but as you gain in link popularity, you also gain authority for your blog and are seen as an expert in what you do.  The more links you have, the more links you will get and this is a very natural process.  As you are seen as an expert in your niche, other sites and blogs will just link to you - often.  I will very often link to sites that are “authority sites” because the information is relevant and useful.

On to the list…

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Going through my reader this week, some of the articles that I really enjoyed reading were:

How Unique are You - Monika Mundell at Blogging Web 2.0. This is a brand new blog that she and JV partner Terry Didcott have put together. It looks like a great place to check out. And if you’re interested in checking out how it feels to be a contributor on another blog, this would be a great place to start.

Top 10 Tips to taking Your Passion, Action for a Profitable Business - Heather Juma has started a weekly feature and did a guest post at Empower Women now. This is going to be something you want to keep you’re eyes on. Both Ponn and Heather rock, very inspirational and awesome tips for getting started.

RSS Subscriptions - The Ultimate Resource List - MarcoRichter.net - Check this out. It is an awesome resource list if you are wanting to learn visitors into subscribers.

Love Conquers All - Internet Marketing Mind - Another excellent article by YC on how to get through the hard times. It’s all about loving what you do, doing it with a passion, and enjoying the process.

These are some great reads and you should make sure to check them out.

Expect the Best,

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I read many other blogs on a daily basis. These are some of the articles that I really enjoyed this week, and wanted to share with you.

Honest Business - Internet Business Coaching by Terry Dean

Is Making Money Online Really for You? - Internet Marketing Mind

The Balancing Act of Blogging - ShaunLow.com - Blogging to Success

Blogging - Is it for You - The Writers Manifesto

7 Things I Hope Will Make it Easier and More Fun - Smart Wealthy Rich

Stop Being a Failure and Start Failing - Ian Fernando - Failure to Success

Does Passion Equal Profitability? - Empower Women Now

Re-Energize Your Blogging Spirit - Susan Suarez - Online Journey to Creating a Successful Site

Ten Blog Posts That Guarantee Stumbles - DW Web Solutions

This week, it’s all about building a better blog, and building a better business.

What qualities do you need to possess, how much time will it take, how do you take care of yourself to avoid blogger burnout and blogger block. These posts provide some great food for thought. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Do you have a post that you’d like to share? Something that gave you inspiration this week? Let me know about in the comments below.

Expect the Best,

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