New blog address

I've changed this blog address!  No longer is it rachelnkellar.blogspot.com

It is now rachelkellar.blogspot.com.  See how that 'n' is gone? clever!

With my twitter as @rachelkellar

and my Pinterest www.pinterest.com/rachelkellar I had to keep the branding going.

I'm trying to using blogging as another stream of income (as soon as Google Adsense let's me place ads on this blog).  So I'm educating myself on blogging protocol. 

Rule #1 brand brand brand!!

I'll share with you the steps along the way, but you might want to update your google readers so you don't lose the updates to this blog.

Don't forget to check out my other blog: www.highheelsandgrits.blogspot.com for all the country bumpkin's

UPDATE: 30 before 30

6mths after my first 30 before 30 post....let's see how I've done:

1. Pay off all loans except Sallie Mae (the big one)
2. Marry man of my dreams
3. Become a director in USANA
4. Travel to Europe
5. Vacation with best friends!
6. Run a half marathon (yikes!) but after reading this: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/26/27-marathons/?cp=23 I'm not going to do it publicly.... That will probably help it happen!
7. Grow an herb garden
8. Complete wedding planner certification
9. Make a dress from scratch
10. Lose 35 lbs (if I can do #6 i can probably do this)
11. Begin a blogging habit
12. Have multiple streams of income
13. Get a mammogram (mom got breast cancer at 40) Had this done on March 15th and she found 2 benign 'potatoes' so I'll need a mammogram at age 30 for sure.
14. Get dogs UTD on shots
15. Get a big dog!! (bullmastiff!)
16. umm finish this list (30 things is alot! with only 4 years to do it! ay!)
17. Become a CMP
18. Make multiple pins from pinterest https://pinterest.com/rachelkellar/completed-pins/ 
19. Remember friends' birthdays and send card in mail!
20. Throw really great party for each friend (birthday, baby shower, bridal shower, whatev the reason) <-- I tried this this year, but it didn't work out as well as I would hope.  It's an ongoing goal21. Help mom on her dental practice website: http://www.drpaticiakellardds.com/ SEO, Google Analytics
22. Travel to NYC with sisters
23. Restrict eating habit - mainly vegetables, pasta, rice and fish. Honey=sweets
24. Get my fashion sense back - ay! suits suck
25. Be grateful that I have time and effort to volunteer (I'm giving, not receiving acts of service)
26. Help someone who is unemployed find a job
27. Make spiked eggnog
28. Eat crock pot meals 2 weeks each month (save time and money)
29. Get business name registered
30. Be determined

I'd say I've done 4.5 of the 30 things. 
With 4 years until age 30 I'll need to do 7.5 a year.
I'm more than halfway there!!!

How's your life goal list going?

Living Life to the Fullest and completing goals along the way!

-Rachel

Favorite Bloggers Part 2

Time for another set of bloggers I adore.  These are 4 home decor and home renovation ladies.

Website

Holly reblogs from fellow bloggers.  I love that because it helps me find new blogs and new inspiration!

Holly does do alot of crafts on her own as well.  Like turning pallet boards into ART! 




Another blogger:

Click image to visit website

This chick is intense.  She has TONS of posts, tons of sponsors and she shares other bloggers through 'link parties'.  

From this

To this!!

Seriously, check out her blog you'll be inspired for your home and your blog!




One more with alot of sponsors:

 I found Anna through Pinterest.  She posts about house cleaning with simple and natural products.  She also has great organizing ideas.  

  

 I look forward to trying out her ideas when I have a house of my own!  But first - the Move!!


Last blogger for today, 

Another chick with alot of sponsors and great ideas.  Sarah is pretty funny because she'll take pictures of herself completing a project and she'll be so embarrassed because she has no make up on.  But really - who would wear make up when sanding and painting?!  However, I can totally relate so I like her.  

From this

To this

Of course, I hope you continue reading my blog but I do hope you visit the blogs of these fabulous women!  Enjoy!!




Next time I'll share with you my favorite style blogs!

Living Life to the fullest, one inspiring blog at a time!

My Favorite Bloggers

Time to share with you a few of my favorite blogs!!

Melissa from 320 Sycamore shares her AMAZING home renovations
Seriously, check out her Kitchen redo! 

Michelle at The Vintage Apple is a elementary school teacher
in a low income school district and while her day is worse
than I could ever imagine (think of re-living those years in elementary school where everyone hates you) she seems to find the silver lining in her day!
She also just got married and has an amazing husband and a doggy!
My kind of lady!

I love Jamie's blog title because I'm pretty sure it has to do with a beautiful song I hear at tons of weddings.  Jamie puts tons of Pinteresting images up every Wednesday. I love the dresses she shares!  Also, because I love her blog design I revised my blog (once again) thanks to her designer!  It's really simple!

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Another blogger named Michelle...Has a beautiful family, a loving husband and is having some issues fitting in with her neighborhood stay at home mothers. 
She does alot of pinning also!

I might need to make this into a page on my blog....I have a TON of other favorites including some personal friends of mine!  Stay tuned!

Live Life to the Fullest....one inspiring blog at a time!

-Rachel

On the first day....

This was the beginning of a recent blog draft:
"So I am going to write. Maybe here, maybe there, maybe everywhere. For now, all I know is that my brain needs space, and this is the only way I know how to give it what it needs..."

That was 2010 me, overwhelmed and stressed; looking for an outlet in friends, family, the blogesphere....thinking writing was the only way I could vent.

And then came January 1, 2011.  The first day of the new year.  The first day of my new outlook on life.  The first day of the new decisions I will make everyday.  My decisions to not eat processed food.  My decisions to take part in stretching and cardio everyday.  Whether it be hot yoga and a dog walk or yoga in my bedroom and a 3 mile run.  My decision to calculate my finances daily.  The decision to live a healthy lifestyle and prevent reasons to vent.

1/1/11 was my day one.  It was my decision starter.  When's yours?

Living life to the fullest by living a full life

Why I love Bloggers

Today I caught up on some blogs.  It is amazing how relevant the blogs I follow are to my current life situation. 

A few examples:

Can You See the Future? written by a dear friend and mini-San Antonio celebrity, Nan Palmero
I love that Nan chose to share these words of inspiration with us.  I find myself encouraging others and was recently told by a friend: "I miss you, you inspire me to be a better version of myself".  I love Nan's title for this blog because while relationships (friends, family or business) are built on the past it is more important to build them FOR the future.  Please visit Nan's article and be inspired!!

Pumpkin Beer - warning, article title is a teaser!  This is written by another San Antonio friend, Choco Valdez.  It was nice to read that he and I share similar views about trying new things.  His main point is as follows: "Now, when someone asks me to try something new, like pumpkin beer, ... I jump at the chance to go because I know I will meet/see someone interesting, or get to experience something different."  I've written a blog about this point and it's nice to see that a) someone else feels the same way I do and b) I have people in my life who value the same things I do.  (kinda proves I'm not crazy)

I am a runner written by a woman I only know from Social Media outlets but she is a woman I find relating to on many different levels.  We have a mutual friends, she works at my past University, loves cooking and eating food and is a active member of my past San Antonio social media life.   This blog was an amazing read for me!  If you're a struggling runner like me, considering reading this blog and relating to her struggles and inspiration!

If you enjoy these reads please consider following my friends' blogs!

Being Nice is Good Business

I just finished reading and commenting on this Nice Guy Blog. I also re-tweeted it so that others could read along. But now I must continue the discussion in my head. Cara Stewart with Remarx Media left the following comment for Peter:


"Peter, after reading this post, I don’t know whether to cry, cheer or break something. You’re right on. I’m nice. And female. Which translates into “she must be weak.”... I always take the first call, meet for that cup of coffee and share a piece of advice that could prove useful to someone. I participate in my community. I trust employees, clients, friends and relationships. Until I no longer do because they’ve proven that they’ve crossed that line; they confuse nice with weak and take advantage or worse...."

I didn't even think of it from a female point of view! But this is extremely valid - it's difficult being a female in the work place vs. being a man. Women can be portrayed many different ways in the work place. A few examples:
a) the 100% complete b*tch - as a woman I am not afraid to say this person does exist
b) the woman having a bad day and people still call her the B word - again, sad but true
or
c) the really nice girl who gets walked all over (and quietly hides her fangs)
Most of the men I've worked with show off their 'fangs' weekly and not to benefit the company, just to make sure everyone knows they are the ones with the bigger fangs. *Note: this is not the case in my current working environment - for those of you who know the men in my workplace, you know they are the nicest guys...and my boss is a woman.

A while back a friend of mine commented on my tweets. He said it was like an extremely happy cheerleader was typing them - overly excited, overly happy, borderline annoying cheerleader. I don't consider myself overly happy - I am happy, but I do see the negative in the world. This person is not a very positive person to begin with. He obviously wasn't reading into my tweets or clicking on the links I Re-Tweet. He would see my avatar pop up, put the high pitched cheerleader voice in his head and portray me in that way he felt fit.
This person is actually a personal friend of mine who I haven't seen in 2+ years. We reconnected on twitter, but we haven't physically seen each other in a while. We've both changed during our absence. He's been traveling the world and I've established myself as a career woman. He might remember me as this overly optimistic person (and heck- I'd love to be that girl again too) but as Peter says in his blog: Nice people have fangs too.

Like I mentioned earlier being a woman with fangs can come across in different ways than a man with fangs. Men are the "hunters" who are out there "killing" for profit. While in some cases it's the women who comforts the client and builds a true B2C relationship. I'm going along with Peter and Cara, I'm going to be the nice person I genuinely am. That's the way I want to do business. I will love my job and my clients better if I am acting as my true self and being true and nice is good for business.

When it rains it pours

When it rains, it pours....

As I take the time to read blogs written by my collages and comrades I realize while some blogs are direct and instumental to a certain industry (tech reviews, wedding trend forcasts, etc) many have an underlying philosophical message.

I read one from a self-proclaimed Blackberry addict/enforcer.  His underlying message was to ask for what you want.  If you don't ask, you'll never know what you can't have...

Another "professional" blogger discussed social media in 2010.  The saying "It's not personal, it's business" doesn't pertain to the buisness world anymore.  Today business is extremely personal and on many different levels.  People are putting themselves out there on blogs and they are tweeting what they are doing at every moment because they want you to know!  They want you to know them - they want your product to work for them.  These same people read blogs and their "tweeps" tweets because they want to know you too.  Some people even want you to know where they have been throughout the city all day...

My last blog example: a mother of 5, who I shouldn't be able to relate to at this point in my life, is blogging every day about her children, her past and her future.  I just finished reading her 4th of "100 days of blogging" and I'm excited to read about her journey.  Her thoughts could be any woman's thoughts and  I am any woman.

Just because someone talks doesn't mean everyone must listen

Social Media can be a treasure or spam.

Today a self proclaimed "Social Media Mogal" was chosen as a feature blogger on MySA.com I respect MySA.com and the collection of bloggers it showcases. However, this blogger did not live up to the MySA collection. I follow this blogger on twitter and was ecstatic that her first blog was about twitter....but what a disappointment! Her blog had no purpose, no relevance and was complete spam. On twitter she uses 140 characters to rant and rave about herself and her fellow event professionals. She finally got the floor to speak more of her mind on the event industry and how using twitter benefits the industry and she fell flat on her face.

If anything, her blog taught me that just because people talk, write or blog doesn't mean I need to listen, read or subscribe.





 

I read a blog today

Actually I read blogs everyday.  When people tweet a link (and a description I may be interested in) I usually click that link and spend at least 3 minutes on that website.  I feel if someone is going to take the time to tweet that it better be important to them and if it is - it may be important to me.  I also Re-Tweet interesting and informative links.  I actually know what I'm RTing....I don't just RT what my friends tweet.  I'm a beliver in Social Networking

I also subscribe to blogs on my google Reader.  Some blogs are beneficial but ALOT leave me wanting more.  Specifically I want the answer to one of my questions. 

I guess I'm starting this blog in hope that my questions will be answered.