After Christmas Clearance

I love to shop the after Christmas clearance. The day after Christmas I went to Wal-Mart. I picked up some hairbrush/hairbow kits for the shoeboxes that I put together each year for Samaritan's Purse. I also bought some bath toy kits and other small things such as lipgloss. I like to use these throughout the year for my kid's birthdays, Easter presents, etc.

Today I was at Target and they already have their stuff marked 75% off. I was able to get a star for my tree for $5 rather than $20. I also purchased a jewelry box for $7.50. I wanted a jewelry box for Christmas, but couldn't justify paying $60-80 for one. This one wasn't that expensive and it's not exactly what I wanted, but the price was right. It will last me for many more years. When I get tired of it, I can always pass it down to my daughter or sell it at a yard sale for $5. :)

Rave: Chick-Fil-A

I was out shopping today and decided to stop at Chick-Fil-A. I rarely stop there because of the prices. I'm too much of a tightwad to spend $5 on fast food when I know I can get a sit down meal for the same.

Anyway, I decided to splurge on the Chick-Fil-A meal. I drove up to the drive thru and could not believe the line. It was wrapped completely around the store. My van was almost blocking the exit of the drive thru. As I pulled around, I saw a man standing on the sidewalk talking to customers in their cars. I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

Eventually, the man came to my van. He asked me if I knew what I wanted to order. I told him I did. He placed my order over his headset, told me my total, took my money, and in just a few moments another man came outside with my food and condiments. The man delivering the food was dressed nicely and did not appear to be in uniform. I'm guessing he was the owner.

I was in and out of Chick-Fil-A in a flash. When I drove up I was certain it was going to take 20 minutes to get my food. The people serving were very polite and when I left the man wished me a "Merry Christmas". It was a great experience.

Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans are a money-saving addition to a room: using the fan during both winter and summer can lower your heating and cooling costs, and a ceiling fan that also has a light fixture means that you will more than likely not need to purchase additional light fixtures for that room.

We have had ceiling fans in nearly every room in both of the homes we have purchased. (We've only ever owned one home at a time.) In the first home we purchased, almost all of the fans needed to be replaced, and we found nice Hunter fans on clearance. They served us well, being both attractive and functional.

Our current home had no ceiling fan or light fixture in the living room, which we found rather odd. We ended up purchasing two nice standing floor lamps for $10 apiece, and they have solved our lighting problems. We still have not installed a ceiling fan, and we really need to do that. No-name or Casablanca fans, it really doesn't matter to me what brand we buy. I just want a decent and sturdy fan at a cheap price.

How often do you use your ceiling fans?

Attractions in Vienna and Germany

I've talked about Austrian attractions, including the famous Hofburg museum. There is so much to see and explore in this area of the world. It's nice to know that if I ever do get to travel to this region, there are plenty of Wien hotels from which to choose.

If you travel to Vienna, you might as well take the extra time to visit famous German cities, including Munich and Berlin. Berlin attractions include the Pergamon Museum, Brandenburge Gates, and more. Lodging is easily found at one of the many hotels in Berlin.

Travel in Munich should include stops at Marienplatz and the Olympic village. (How great would it feel to stand where your Olympic favorite/s stood?) End your day's journey with a good night's sleep at one of the hotels in Muenchen.

Other Germany attractions to view include the Bavarian Alps, Leipzig, and Lubeck. I love skiing and would be thrilled to get a chance to ski in the Alps. There are a wide variety of hotels in Deutschland (Germany), and I am sure that finding affordable lodging would not present any difficulty.

Have you ever been to Vienna or Germany? What was your favorite part of your trip?

Search Engine Optimization

So you've started a blog. Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for people to stop by, right? Wrong! This blogosphere in which you now "reside" is a vast domain, and many little blogs languish without ever being discovered. You have to help people find you.

There are several ways to do this, and I recommend using a combination of methods.

• Visit other blogs and leave relevant comments. (To have a friend you must first be a friend, right?) Whatever you do, please do not go around leaving irrelevant or, worse yet, spam comments. That is a good way to get people mad at you in a hurry. Do make sure you enter your blog's URL in the appropriate box so people can find you.
• Participate - in forums, memes, carnivals, and contests. These are great traffic builders.
• Optimize your blog for search engine visibility. Common Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices include making keywords bold, writing succinct titles stating what the post content will discuss, adding meta tags and keywords to your template code, and submitting your blog to web directories.

The first two tips are easy to implement. The third one is a bit harder. There is quite a bit to learn about SEO, and some people prefer to accept the services of experts in the field. SEO companies increase your search engine visibility when you take advantage of their submission services or other SEO services. Many companies offer their own blog or podcast, where you can glean SEO ideas.

No matter which of my tips you choose to implement, making changes to your blogging practice will certainly only help your blog. What are your favorite traffic boosting tips?

Spot Shot Carpet Stain Remover

photo courtesy of Spot Shot's website

You do know that I only recommend products I use and like, right? Trust me, I have used Spot Shot Carpet Stain Remover quite often! I found it through a recommendation in How the Queen Cleans Everything by Linda Cobb (The Queen of Clean). The cleaner is available at Wal-Mart and costs less than $4.

So why do I love this cleaner? Yesterday was a prime example. My two year old daughter, Baby Bear, got into the chest freezer I had forgotten to lock. Unbeknownst to me, she got out a quart bag of frozen blueberries and took them into our living room, where she proceeded to dump them onto our beige carpet. When I found the mess, I carefully picked up all the blueberries, but since they had already thawed, multitudes of round purple dots adorned our floor.

I was really freaking out at this point because even though I love Spot Shot, I didn't think that it would work well on blueberry stains, and I didn't have any Clorox(r) Oxi Magic, nor could I pour boiling water on the stains - two methods recommended for removing berry stains. I decided to at least try Spot Shot.

As soon as I sprayed the stains, they turned blue instead of reddish purple. Before I could even blot the stains, they had faded so that I had to feel for wet spots in order to blot my carpet. Whew! Crisis averted!

So... I highly recommend Spot Shot. Using this as my carpet spotter of choice saved my day yesterday!

Author Jan Karon

I love to read. My favorite books include (but are not limited to) classics by authors as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and J. R. R. Tolkien. I also enjoy well-written Christian fiction, but that isn't always easy to find.

I was very happy when I received a special assignment to review Booksfree.com on my personal blog, The Porch Light. The assignment came with the added bonus of trying out their service. I had heard good reviews of Jan Karon's Mitford series and decided to order them.

Her books were as good as I had heard. The characters are engaging, the writing has substance (not fluff), and the story itself is entertaining. In fact, I found myself laughing out loud many times. I did not find any curse words or inappropriate intimacy in either of the two books I read.

The only problem is that now that I have read the first two books in the series, I am eager to read the other seven, but I have yet to make it to the library to check them out. Actually, I'm not even sure where the library is, and we have lived here nearly two years. How sad is that?!

If you have not yet read Jan Karon's books, I highly recommend them.