A Blogging Award

Posted on December 14, 2013December 14, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Nothing beats the feeling you get when a peer offers you praise. The blogging community as a whole is a great community. There are bloggers that I count as friends even though I have never met them in person. They are the ones that show up everyday in my “Likes” on my blog, even when I know a post wasn’t up to standard.

Now one has included me as one of her nominees for a Blogger Award and I feel grateful and not sure if I’m really worthy. 🙂 But I won’t let a little self doubt stop me. I have been very lucky in the world of blogging. I have been Freshly Pressed twice, and awarded Versatile Blogger once. Now I am honored to add The Liebster Award. Thank you to my Blogger Friend, Patty Ross of http://learnmoreeveryday.wordpress.com/

But to accept the nomination I have to answer a few questions for you so HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS I WAS ASKED TO ANSWER:

1. What’s in a name? Tell me about the name of your blog and what/who inspired it?

The name Dusty Roads came from the dirt roads that surrounded the ” homestead” where I grew up. Whenever the family piled into the car for a road trip a plume of dust would billow behind the car. I added the “around” to imply that I travel around. Sadly progress has reached my old family home and most of the roads are now paved so no more dust plumes.

2. How do you quickly describe your blog to others? You know, the elevator talk for your blog.

Hi, I’m just an everyday person, northing special and I write a blog about my experiences. It’s not heavy reading so if you have time, I hope you’ll check it out.

3. Do you have any tricks or tips that help keep you writing every day/week/whenever? If so, please share some advice.

I worked up to posting daily (or trying to anyway) slowly. I started out trying to post weekly, then built up to 3 times a week, then 5 times and now I try for daily. When I’m planning a trip or just returned I have lots to post and can usually get 30 or more posts out of a trip by keeping the posts short. Little bite sized pieces. Between trips it gets a little harder. I look for inspiration from the news, especially animal news, mini adventures, and the antics of my cats who are forever entertaining.

When I am really at a loss for words I fall back on photos…Wordless Wednesday and Mystery Monday are two themes I sometimes employ.

4. When not blogging, what do you do?

I keep busy, that’s for sure. I search for attractions in my area that I can experience and write about. I love photography and try to get out for photo shoots a couple of times a week (goal for 2014 is a daily “mini-shoot”). I love reading novels and magazines and I have a few blogs I try to keep up with… oh and did I mention that I work full time for a real estate company?

5. One way I try to find balance in my life is to keep a gratitude journal. It keeps me focused on the good around me. How do you maintain balance/sanity in life? Share some advice for the rest of us!

I confess that since my job change in May, I haven’t had a good balance. I’m still adjusting to a 5 day work week instead of 4 days. It’s still 40 hours but somehow it just seems longer when spread out over 5 days. Time in the field with my camera always relaxes and settles me which is why I have a goal for daily mini-shoots starting in 2014. I also keep a journal where I jot down ideas and thoughts good and bad. Once I put something in that journal I can move on. It gives me a clean slate. 🙂

6. What is your favorite or least favorite book, and why?

My favorite book to this day is a child’s book. Although I always liked to read, a book called The Snow Filly, was the book that changed books from something to do to something to experience. I can close my eyes now and see the illustrations and remember the way that book made me feel. I love fiction and now for me to like a book, it has to let me step into it, not just read as an observer. I forget the name of my least favorite book but I can tell you it was about ghosts and legends in Massachusetts. The writing was poor and disjointed and the stories poorly researched. It was work to get through it.

7. What is your favorite or least favorite movie or television show, and why?

I seldom go to the movies. I think the last one I saw in a theater was one of the Star Wars movies. It would be easier for me to give you genres rather than specific movies. I do not like war or horror movies or shows. I love children’s movies, like Disney or Pixar. I also like animal shows. I watch PBS and Animal Planet, Discovery and the Learning Channel. I am sick of reality TV like “Keeping up with the Kardasians” or “Here comes Honey Boo Boo” although I like “Alaska State Troopers” and “Wild Justice” oh and “Swamp Wars” about South Florida.

8. What was your favorite or least favorite birthday present, and why?

Another hard question as I don’t get many birthday presents but I can tell you that one of my most moving birthdays was my 60th. My co-workers celebrated with me for a month! They really embraced that milestone and made me feel very special.

9. What is your favorite or least favorite food, and why?

My food choices change. I love lobster tails…not Maine Lobsters but the tails like you get in Florida. I also love scallops and shrimp. My least favorite would be a toss up between liver and raw oysters.

10. What is your favorite or least favorite animal, and why?

How can an animal lover chose just one? The least favorite is without a doubt, a spider. I have heard that tarantulas make great pets but they are my worse nightmare. As for favorites, I’m kind of known as a cat lady and I do love my kitties, but I also like dogs, big ones, little ones and hamsters and ferrets are cute and funny. I love horses but can’t really have one in a 1 bedroom apartment. I thought about a bird too. I had a parakeet when I was growing up. I’ve had fish tanks and turtles so picking just one is hard.

11. What is your favorite or least favorite anything, and why? You know, keep this mini-series going.

My favorite thing is photography. I love taking photos and trying to improve my skills. I even enjoy the editing process, a big part of digital photography.

My least favorite thing has to be housework. It interferes with everything else I’m trying to get done. If I ever win the lottery the first thing I’ll do is hire a housekeeper! the 2nd thing is to move to a bigger house. I need a separate room for an office instead of the corner of my living room!

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS MY NOMINEES ARE BEING ASKED TO ANSWER:

What’s in a name? Tell me about the name of your blog and what/who inspired it?
How do you quickly describe your blog to others? You know, the elevator talk for your blog.
Do you have any tricks or tips that help keep you writing every day/week/whenever? If so, please share some advice.
When not blogging, what do you do?
Do you tell everyone about your blog or keep it quiet?
How do you build you audience, you know get the word out about your blog?
What is your favorite or least favorite book, and why?
What is your favorite or least favorite movie or television show, and why?
What was your favorite or least favorite birthday present, and why?
What is your favorite or least favorite food, and why?
What is your favorite or least favorite animal, and why?

AND MY NOMINEES ARE: (envelope please) In no special order

http://homesteadramblings.wordpress.com/ For her gentle stories and lovely pictures and for beating me to Alaska 🙂
http://www.jrstjeanphotography.com/ Because he’s a really good friend even outside the blogging community and he takes really NICE PICTURES.
http://phillanoue.com/ Wonderful wildlife photography described with stories and humor.
http://jacksongalaxy.com/ Home of Cat Daddy, the host of “My Cat from Hell” on Animal Planet. Great for cat tips and insights.
http://placesunknown.com/ Great travel photography. He’s been to more states than I have plus overseas
http://toddpack.com/ I love his humor especially when he writes about his children who he has dubbed Thing 1 and Thing 2 from “A Cat in the Hat”. He has really good recipes too.
http://nigelborrington.com/ Yes another photographer, but so inspiring

There are others that I drop in on from time to time but am not currently following. Several that I did follow seem to be gone now 🙁 At least the links aren’t opening. So I’m afraid I don’t have 11 nominees.

PLEASE, VISIT THESE BLOGS TO EXPAND YOUR BLOGGING COMMUNITY.

WE ARE PART OF GREAT COMMUNITY! WE ARE SO LUCKY!

Special thanks again to Pattie Ross of http://learnmoreeveryday.wordpress.com/

Stats

Posted on December 2, 2013December 2, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Yesterday started a new month and as I usually do, I reviewed my stats for the month and check to see how I was doing compared to last year. My goal is to improve the traffic to my blog so as long as my numbers beat the previous year I figure I’m going in the right direction.
One of my favorite stats to check is where my readers have come from. WordPress has not only a list, but a map and I think this is so cool.
This is what the map looks like since I’ve been blogging on WordPress.

Country	Views
United States	47,422
Canada	1,065
United Kingdom	451
Germany	285
France	281
Russian Federation	259
India	209
Australia	179
Italy	134
Netherlands	121
Taiwan	120
Brazil	104
Indonesia	75
Philippines	68
Croatia	68
Greece	67
Finland	65
Republic of Korea	65
Slovakia	65
Spain	64
Mexico	63
Malaysia	62
Bulgaria	59
Argentina	58
Poland	54
Thailand	53
Portugal	51
Sweden	51
Czech Republic	51
Turkey	50
Japan	48
Belgium	46
Switzerland	46
Romania	45
Denmark	40
Pakistan	36
South Africa	35
New Zealand	34
Ireland	34
Israel	32
Hong Kong	32
Hungary	32
Ukraine	31
Singapore	28
Colombia	27
Ecuador	25
Serbia	24
Puerto Rico	24
Chile	23
Trinidad and Tobago	19
Norway	17
United Arab Emirates	16
Lithuania	16
Saudi Arabia	14
Viet Nam	13
Nigeria	13
Austria	13
Egypt	11
Dominican Republic	11
Peru	10
Moldova	10
Kuwait	10
Iceland	9
Qatar	8
Iraq	8
Malta	8
Bangladesh	8
Latvia	8
Costa Rica	7
Slovenia	7
Belarus	7
Venezuela	7
Guatemala	6
Algeria	6
Guam	6
Barbados	6
Georgia	6
Albania	5
Bosnia and Herzegovina	5
Kenya	5
Sri Lanka	4
Bolivia	4
Estonia	4
Jordan	3
Cyprus	3
Jamaica	3
Paraguay	3
Cambodia	3
Oman	2
Tunisia	2
Lebanon	2
Panama	2
Lao People’s Democratic Republic	2
Bahamas	2
Rwanda	1
Cuba	1
China	1
Palestinian Territory, Occupied	1
Guyana	1
Senegal	1
United Republic of Tanzania	1
Mauritania	1
Macao	1
Myanmar	1
Yemen	1
El Salvador	1
Faroe Islands	1
French Guiana	1
Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic	1
Turks and Caicos Islands	1
Luxembourg	1
Syrian Arab Republic	1
Antigua and Barbuda	1
Uruguay	1
Cayman Islands	1
Fiji	1
Uganda	1
Honduras

So , my fellow bloggers, do you check your stats too? Which stat is your favorite?

NaNoWriMo is Here

Posted on November 4, 2013November 4, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Don’t know what it means? Don’t feel bad, I didn’t either. I know it always rolls around in November but I thought it was a challenge to bloggers to post at least one post a day, no restrictions, no minimum, no maximum, just be dedicated enough to post at least once a day.

For a part time blogger that can be tough but the point of the exercise is to create a new habit..or so I thought.

I decided to look it up for once and I found out the NaNoWriMo really stands for National Novel Writing Month! It was started to encourage budding athors to pursue their dream of writing a novel, maybe not the GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL, but who knows what’s locked inside if you never get started.

Now reading novels is more my speed than writing them but that doesn’t mean I don’t embrace the idea of a month in which we make an attempt to post daily. One of the quotes I found says NaNoWriMo is all about writing something you want to write, just for you, without worrying about others sitting in judgment, so it’s an exercise in truly expressing yourself — which means, if you think about it, there really isn’t a way to fail!

Pretty cool idea, huh. I know I try very hard to make my posts interesting. When I don’t have first hand experience I put a lot of research into the subject. Sometimes that takes more time than actually writing the post so when, after all that, no one sees it or reads it, it can get kind of disheartening. I’m sure all of the other bloggers out there feel the same way.

Oh I know, you’re writing for yourself. You don’t care if no one else reads it. Don’t kid yourself. If you really didn’t care you wouldn’t put it out there for everyone to see. You’d have a private diary or journal.

So hop on the band wagon. See if you can post something every day in November, short or long, good or bad, just post something so you can be a part of NaNoWriMo.

Happy Writing!

Welcome Corporalchef!

Posted on July 30, 2013July 30, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I love finding new blogs to follow and it’s especially nice when I know the person behind the name. It makes me feel like I know a celebrity.

Anyway, one of my former co workers from my “old job”, whom I hold in very high esteem for the job he has always done there, has a habit of posting the most delicious, yummy looking things on Facebook. It appears that he is quite a cook.

To everyone’s delight he has decided to share some of his creations on a new blog along with his comments on some of the celebrity chefs that rule the airwaves today. Look at this mouth watering chicken dinner he recently posted.

Want the recipe? It’s on his blog.

Whether you agree with his observations or not you can’t fault his home grown recipes. I expect his blog will generate some lively discussions.

I hope you’ll check out his blog http://corporalchef.com/

If you like what you see let’s pass it on so he can grow his audience. After all, who doesn’t like food. And maybe we can all say we had a hand in helping the Next Celebrity Chef!

The Daily Blog

Posted on November 5, 2012November 5, 2012 by Dusty Roads

I got an email from WordPress the other day. November is blogging month. I forget the actual acronym but the point of the excercise is to post something on your blog every day. Yikes!

Maybe if I didn’t work full-time I could pull that off but somehow I think my entries would become a bit mundane…8:am alarm went off 9am coffee and toast…etc.

They say if you don’t have anything to say post pictures. Ok so here’s a picture. It has nothing to do with anything…I just like the Peanuts Family. 🙂

They suggest you post your stories of going “over the river and through the woods ” for the holidays. That won’t work for me because I work most holidays. Let people with young children have the day off. Those kids won’t be little forever.

So the bottom line is this time of year is hard to find good stuff to post, especially when my theme is “travel related” for the everyday person. So like most everyday people I don’t travel 365 days a year. I get my 2 vacations and some little mini vacations but by this time of year I’m ready for a rest.

This year in addition to working between 40 & 50 hours / week I’m trying, in my spare time, to get the holiday card line together. I’m trying to be sure my local supporters get their photo shoot for their family portraits to go on their 2012 Christmas cards.

It’s not leaving much time for writing so I don’t think I’ll be able to meet the “post -a-day” challenge from WordPress. I’m sure you’d rather have quality over quantity.

Are any of you bloggers that follow me trying to meet that challenge? Let me know. I’d love to know what you think of that goal and if you are able to meet it. Maybe it will help me on those days when I just don’t have anything of substance to share.