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.

Taco Bell Mexican Pizza Copycat Recipe

You know I love Mexican pizza; I've blogged about it a couple of times. Mr. Incredible loves Taco Bell's mexican pizza. While following a Google search that led to this site, I found the recipe for that pizza. Thank you, CopyKat Recipes!

Outback Steakhouse

Well, I didn't realize it had been month since I last posted here. During that time, Mr. Incredible and I celebrated our eighth anniversary, I began homeschooling our girls, and I celebrated my 30th birthday. It has certainly been a busy month!

We always eat out to celebrate our anniversary. This year, we decided we would finally try Outback Steakhouse. Mr. Incredible had been wanting to try that restaurant for years. We ordered the blooming onion appetizer and two entrees. While we were waiting for our appetizer, the wait staff brought us a wooden cutting block with a small loaf of brown bread, a scoop of butter in a cup, and a knife. The bread was pretty good.

The Blooming Onion ($6.50) was a bit dark, probably from the grease that it was fried in being in need of a change, but the taste was good - the slightly spicy breading paired well with a spicy dipping sauce.

Our entrees (Alice Springs Chicken and Cyclone Pasta) were rather boring - nothing really special. We didn't feel that the food we received was worth the ridiculous price we paid for it. At $12 and $13 apiece, our entrees were nearly the cheapest ones on the menu! We did end up taking a little bit home, but we still felt the food was overpriced.

Another minus: there was an open bar in the center of the restaurant. That made us distinctly uncomfortable.

Summary:

• Atmosphere: 6/10
• Taste: 8/10
• Portion size: 8/10
• Price: 6/10

We both agreed we would not eat at Outback Steakhouse again.

Designing Problems!

Okay, this is going to be a big-time rant! I am so aggravated and annoyed right now I could scream.

I am a self-employed blog designer who works mainly with images - creating headers and such. I love my job/work/whatever you want to call it. However, my ambition is to create websites and blogs, so I am always eager to take on a new challenge. So far, I have been able to conquer the new platforms I have faced: TypePad, HomeSchool Blogger, free WordPress (like rsdesigns.wordpress.com), hosted WordPress (like designsbyrs.com), and, of course, Blogger - I have worked with all of these platforms. Successfully, I might add. A couple of them took me several hours to figure out, but I did figure them out. Right now, I am working on not one but two(!) projects on new platforms: yahoo.com and GoDaddy.com, and I am about to tear my hair out!

Yahoo.com is giving me the most problems right now. It seems as though they do not want you to find the template HTML/PHP. They certainly don't make it easy! If I can just gain access to that, I think the hard part will be over.

GoDaddy.com is presenting a different problem: I'm having to install WordPress, and as it turns out, GoDaddy.com is rather notorious for being difficult when it comes to installing WordPress. Of course!

I am determined to figure these problems out, but I thought I'd rant for a second. Alright ... you may return to your normal lives. Thanks for listening to a frustrated artist. *grin*