Don't Think I've Left

...because I haven't!

Yes, I know I've been quite sporadic in my posts (though my awesome guest bloggers certainly made up for it!), and rather distant in my replies & upkeep recently. I'm finally starting to get into a routine here at college, and so for now at least, the phase of guest bloggers and absent Melody is ended. :)

Hopefully I will get a post up soon about how college is treating me and some of the amazing things I've been learning. For now I will just say - God is so good to me through it all! As long as I stay disciplined and focused on Him, He leads my path and guards my way so clearly it's amazing.

I do want to ask you - what questions do you have for me regarding college life? It can be about anything: how the food is, when I get to bed (well.... maybe we'll skip that question), what piano pieces I'm learning... anything you're curious about!

I also want to ask you - how do you all like the new comment system? I really want to know your honest answers, since obviously y'all are the ones using it (or you should be... hint hint). ;) Is it awkward... not as nice... better... or what? Why I originally decided to switch was because I wanted to have a way for people who aren't on blogger to comment. But I'm not so sure if it's worth the switch. So please let me know what you all think!

Also, my blogoversary is in 3 days! I'm really surprised it has come up so quickly - and that my blog has come so far in such a short amount of time! I'm still cooking up what to do for that, so stay tuned. :)

I love you all bunches and am so glad you read my blog. May you all have a blessed day, and be filled to all fullness with Christ.

I hope you didn't feel abandoned...

My family went camping this last weekend, so what with all the packing and getting things done and everything, I kind of forgot about you all on the blog world. (I'm weely weely sorry! Please forgive me!) Hopefully you all didn't feel too abandoned. ;)

I had a great time camping, though! We went with at least nine other families that we are friends with from our homeschool co-op, and it really was so much fun. I had a great time hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in awhile, playing some killer soccer, baseball and ultimate frisbee, getting tan (haha - more like burn!), tubing down the river, playing card games, roasting smores, singing campfire songs and playing guitar, and laughing my head off! I could do a whole post about the awesome time I had - but I'll just say, I had a blast.

So there's a ton of things I need to catch up on with you all! First in the order of business: Ten Top Tips! Here they are (with the votes in parentheses).

1. Visit and comment often on blogs you follow. (22)

2. Don't become someone else on blogger, be yourself! (20)

3. Make sure your blog is easy to read (20)

4. Be patient and do the work to keep your blog maintained and get the word out (20)

5. Proof-read and review blog posts (15)

6. Use big photos for photoblogs (15)

7. Visit and follow blogs with similar interests to yours to get more readers (15)

8. Plan and think carefully about ideas before going ahead (14)

9. Know your audience and the goal of the blog (13)

10. Keep sidebar organized (not too many widgets/buttons)

I'm glad so many people participated in Three Top Tips, and I hope it was helpful to you all! I know I learned a number of helpful tips. ;)

Also, I plan on posting my answers to your questions from this post tomorrow. I'm really enjoying writing out my answers to them, and I want to extend the invitation one more time: if there's anything you'd like to know about me, or just any questions at all that you have for me, please comment and ask away! I would love more questions to answer. :D

Next, I would like to direct your attention to this lovely blog button over here:






Like it? Yes, I finally have a button for my photography blog! I also changed up the layout and design of the blog some, so I would love for you to go over there and check it out! Don't forget to become a follower if you like the pictures! :D

Another thing I'd like to mention is that I'm going to be entering Cornet Crazie's writing contest. Y'all should consider yourself lucky (or blessed) to be able to read one of my short stories (I don't usually post my longer works so no one steals them). Right now I've got to figure out just what story to enter, and then I'll post it! The contest ends on the 16th, so head on over there and enter before it's too late. :)

Alrighty - well that is that! Is that enough information for you to take in at once? ;)

"I could not believe my eyes..."

"... 'cause 10 times 10 followers, lit up my screen as I fell out of my chair. They fill my sidebar space, leave comments everywhere - you'd think me rude but I would just stand and STARE."

Hehe alright, I'll stop with the Owl City parodying. ;) Did ya guess it?

I really couldn't believe it.  When I got on my blog today, my eyes got wide as I looked at the followers gadget. It couldn't be - 100 followers? I did stand and stare. 100 followers. I never thought I'd see the day!

I love every single one of you guys. I mean it. I know I've been a little lax in replying to your comments recently (I'm sorry!), but I value each and every one of you! You guys are what makes blogging exciting for me. :)

Since I'd like to do something to celebrate, I thought I would do the thing where you all can ask me any questions you want, and I'll answer them all in one big post. Sound like fun?

I do ask that you make the questions meaningful, not just asking about random things - though I am okay with answering things like "What's your favorite color?". So please comment on this post with as many questions for me as you'd like! I will probably make a post with my answers sometime this upcoming weekend, so you've got plenty of time.

Also, don't forget about Three Top Tips! The poll is up on my sidebar with all of the tips (I consolidated a few that were very similar). I also decided to go with TEN "Tip-Top" Tips instead of twelve. The poll will be open until Thursday, so please vote! Thank-you! :D

Come Share Your Three Top Tips!

So here it is! From today (Thursday) to Sunday, Three Top Tips is on! Post a blog post with your three top tips, and link up so we all can benefit from your wisdom. :)

 Please feel free to use the button in your posts (and post it on your sidebar)!

I've got to say - at first it was really hard for me to come up with three tips, but then I started thinking about design, post content, blogging etiquette... and then I was overloaded with so many that I could hardly narrow it down! But I finally did. I went with more of tips on how you present yourself & your blog to others.  

Please don't feel that you have to do the same. There's so many aspects of blogging - and I hope to get as wide a variety of tips as I can! 

Tip #1: Think, plan and review. 

One of the biggest sources of frustration to a blogger and to his or her readers, is when the blogger gets a really good idea but then nothing (or very little) comes of it. Often this comes from the blogger just throwing the idea out there without thinking it through a bit first and coming up with the best way to approach it.

For example, when I first thought of this "Three Top Tips" idea, I almost mentioned it in this post. Then I thought about it a bit and realized that wasn't the best way to introduce it. I needed to write a separate post about it so you all would really be interested! 

Something else that goes along with this is proofreading. Make sure you read over your post a couple of times before you publish it! I know sometimes this feels like a waste of time, but it really makes you sound much more knowledgeable and mature. :)

Tip #2: {for photography blogs} Big photos are the best! 

If you didn't know, I have a photography blog called A Rose in God's Garden Photography. When I was setting it up I did a lot of research (because, if you couldn't tell, I really like to put my best foot forward). One of the things I found on all the photography blogs that I liked was that they had nice big photos in their posts. This really makes the blog stand out, because obviously people are there to see the photos! 

It's really quite simple how to put up big photos. You just have to make your post area wide enough to accomodate the size of the photos, then when you upload them make them "extra-large". They won't look right on the post creator, but when you preview them they should be just right.

I'm sure there's other ways to do this too, and I would love suggestions/tips if you all have them! After all, I'm still learning too. ;) 

Tip #3: Know your audience & what you want to do with your blog. 

This is probably the tip I learned through the most trial and error. When I was first starting out, I had absolutely no idea how to do a blog. I also didn't really define the reason why I was blogging - I suppose at that time it was just because it was a cool thing to do. :P I was writing quality stuff (like this post and this one), but no one commented on them and I was getting discouraged (and I probably only had about 10 followers in all). 

Then in January of this year, I decided that my blog needed a new focus. I decided to focus more on my readers (actually reply to their comments!), and invite more people to come along for the ride. I started networking with other bloggers, and training myself in all the different things that make a blog successful (like figuring out feedburner... etc). Now I'm almost at 100 followers (200 if you count my feed burner subscribers)!

So all that to say: if you haven't already, it really is a good idea to determine your audience and the goal of your blog. Is it just a place for you to jot down your thoughts? (Which means that followers/commenters aren't as important.) Or do you want to share your work with others? (Which means you want to network and get the word out.)

Alrighty, so there you have it. My three top tips.

What are yours?

Three Top Tips

You know how you can tell which bloggers are "just starting out", and which have been around for quite a while? Well I was thinking, what if there was a way for the more established bloggers to help out the newbies? I know we all want to build a better blog, whether it's attracting more followers or subscribers, figuring out when (and what) to blog about, knowing all the ins and outs of designing, or even just knowing how to do a bit of html. I'm not saying I'm a professional or anything, but there are some tips I've found about blogging that I'd like to be able to share with other bloggers. I'm sure you've found some as well.
So - introducing:

Three Top Tips is just like what it sounds like: an event for you to post the three most beneficial tips you have come across in your blogging journey. A way for you to give a little something, and hopefully pick up a little something too.

Here's how it will work. The event will be held on July 1st through the 4th. On the 1st, I will post my three top tips, with a linky list for you to link to. Any time from July 1st to July 4th you can create a post of your own three top tips, and then add it to the list. On Monday (July 5th), I will put up a poll on my sidebar for people to vote for the Twelve "Tip-Top" Tips out of all the tips entered. (Don't you just love that tongue twister?)


Here are the Official Rules:

1. Anyone can participate. :) As long as you can come up with three things that have benefited you in your blogging journey, you are welcome to join in! Please don't feel intimidated by the long-time bloggers or bloggers who have several hundred followers or whatever else may intimidate you. It doesn't matter how long you have been blogging or how many followers you have - you have tips to share! And besides, who knows how many bloggers might benefit from what you've learned?

2. Make sure that your tips are not just preferences. For example, a good tip would be: "Don't have the background of your posts be a similar or conflicting color with the color of your words." A preference would be more like "A three-column blog looks nicer than a two-column blog." 

3. If your tips are specific for a certain kind of blog, that is great as well! Just please make sure to state that next to the tip. (i.e. Tip #1 [for photography blog] )

4. Please only post three tips! I know it's hard to narrow things down, but I did pick the number three for a reason (and no - the reason wasn't just for alliteration). This way you have to think carefully and only post your very best tips. Some ideas for you are to pick the three things that were the most helpful to you when starting, or maybe the three things you learned that radically changed the way you blog or the amount of followers you received.


I would love to have a lot of participation in this so we can get a wide range of tips and tricks. So please, spread the word! Take my button and put it on your sidebar, post about it, tell all your friends, tell all your neighbors.... well, maybe not that radical, but you catch my drift. ;) And be sure to tell all the newbie bloggers you know (online or in real life). I really want this event to be an encouragement and help to them.

I hope you all enjoy this event, and I look forward to seeing all of your insights on July 1st!