Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...I Hope!

I have been away too long.  I've been down & out in Beverly Hills....minus the Beverly Hills.  

I love my blog.  I love my own little space where I can rant, rave, and just be me.  

Only problem is I haven't felt like I can be myself in this space.  I have felt betrayed and frankly, violated.  

Someone has been using my words against me.  Innocent words that are common to most people have been twisted and turned and used to hurt me.  I haven't felt safe to speak my mind or speak at all.

But now I've decided that I'm over it all.  This is MY space.  These are MY words.  I haven't said or done anything wrong.  I am not hurtful or mean.  And I refuse to let anyone hurt me anymore.

So I'm back baby!!! 


Alexis

My 1 Year Anniversary ~ Giveaway

I can't believe it's been a year!  Time REALLY flies when you're having fun!


I look back to my very first post and how much my little blog has evolved and I am amazed.


I began this little space as a place to vent out my frustrations of being a full time mom of two VERY ACTIVE boys, a full time teacher to 20+ talkative and interesting first graders, and full time wife to an ever traveling husband.  Mix in my need to manage it all and my own personal needs, and you have The Exhausted Mom. 










Throughout this year of blogging, I have attended many events geared toward bloggers and 2 wonderful conferences.  I have managed to meet so many interesting people who also blog and who are parents....needless to say they are also EXHAUSTED.  I have had so much fun doing this!


I must thank my two friends who "pressured" me into this world.  Caroline at Smarty Pants Mama and Leticia at Tech Savvy Mama.  They were already in the world of blogging and told me how fun it was.  I was skeptical and thought "how can I do one more thing?"

Then on June 1, 2011, I sat down and wrote.  It was more like a diary then, but then I found more of a voice and learned a lot.  And here we are one year later. 


I love this space and hope you do too.


In honor of this momentous occasion, I would like to give YOU a present!  Enter to win a $25 Target Visa Gift Card. 
(My favorite store: Tar-jay!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway





Alexis

Happy Valentine's Day

Showing some blogger love on Valentine's Day!

Hug someone you care about today and  

every day!

Alexis

My Alter Ego

I have an alter ego.  No, I'm not a super hero.  I'm apparently a little crazy.  

I've started a new blog...The Teacher In Me.

This blog is my way to create a forum for sharing ideas and strategies to help teachers and students.  I look forward to other educators and parents using this platform as a “real life” way to gain and give information from simple ideas to teach your child at home to more complex thoughts on the educational world today.  I hope it can also be a way for others to reflect and vent on the ins and outs of teaching children.

Stop on by and show some love for The Teacher In Me. 

Alexis

Can I Really Work and Blog??

*disclaimer:  all you "seasoned" bloggers, this is old news to you...this is for the other "newbies" out there!

School hasn't even officially started yet (at least not with students) and I'm already stressed about how to maintain my new obsession while trying to educate children!  Not to mention that Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter are blocked at my school.  I can only use my iPhone for so long...it's just too small.  What's a girl to do when trying to grow a following and reach the world?


After voicing my concerns to Smarty Pants Mama and my sister, they gave me advice on the vast world of social networking and how to "do it all." 


Since I can't blog while at work (and I LOVE making lists), I plan out my posts for the week.  I found blogging calendar form at Living Locurto.  It's cute and useful!  I print a few at a time because I like to see the future.


Then I designate one night to pushing out 3-4 posts.  The night changes depending on after school activities, what's good on TV, and whether or not my husband is home.  How do I do that?  One way is to create posts using a word document and then posting them to the blog later.  But my preferred way is by writing the posts on my platform and scheduling when the post will be live.  This has saved me A LOT of time!

This was going well for me while I was home.  I could tweet and share on Facebook all day in between activities with my kids.  This way all of my followers could see my new posts.  But now that I'm back at work all day, how would anyone know that I wrote a new post?

That's where Smarty Pants Mama came in.  She let me in on a little secret.  (I don't think it's a secret to the rest of you, but for me it was HUGE!)  Since I use TweetDeck while tweeting, I can schedule my tweets as well!  WOO HOO!  I love to plan ahead... It's especially useful for my Sundays when I'm usually away from the computer all day.
If you choose to do this on TweetDeck, keep in mind that the time is military time.

I know I have a lot more to learn, but hey, it's only been 2 months...

Do you have any more planning or time saving techniques when blogging? Please share!
 
Alexis