Ringing in the New Year!

Today I will be out of the office, haha, just kidding. Today, I only spent about an hour working, mainly because I am anticipating the arrival of friends for a New Years party.  Tomorrow when all the dust settles and everyone is gone, I will be right back into the grind of finding great new featured bloggers and updating merchants.

I also wanted to remind everyone that if you are submitting stories to any of our 3 writing contests, entries must be submitted by 11:59pm tonight.

I just wanted to take the time to let everyone know that if I will be able to answer any questions, emails, etc. tomorrow or Sunday.  So take the night and enjoy it with friends and family! Happy New Year!

Times Square NY

An Early Start...I Guess

Today started out with our new kitten (insert insanely large smile here), attacking our feet at the foot of the bed while we attempted to sleep. It continued with me taking down all the Christmas decorations and carefully packing them away for next year and cleaning up the clutter around the house.  It didn't stop there, I rearranged the living room, cleaned the kitchen pantry, and made a batch of blue berry muffins (all before noon).  As Remi (our kitten) is sleeping on my lap, I am still wrapped in my pj's beginning to reply to featured bloggers emails and other various tasks.

Remi

As far as Stage of Life goes, I would like to give a shout out to CeeKay, one of our featured bloggers, who has really taken  initiative and dug into blogging for our site. If you would like to check out her blog, go to http://my2centstoo.blogspot.com/ or check out what she is doing on Stage of Life at http://www.stageoflife.com/MemberProfile.aspx?u=b3ce04ab-7d3c-433e-8b9b-7a50e8f556dd

In my five hours of work today, I have scrolled through countless pages of google alerts and I've  noticed a trend, there are a lot of families who use blogs to update other family members by posting pictures. The most of the blogs I have been looking at are majority picture based. Where is all the writing?

This evening, I am attacking that dreaded math test I wrote about yesterday and doing some merchant updates! It's been awhile since I have worked with LinkShare, so let's hope I remember the process.  Also, just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to submit to any of our three writing contests!  You still have time, so be sure to check them out.

I also wanted to take the time to encourage everyone to set goals for the upcoming year.   Stage of Life offers a FREE goal setting worksheet for singles, couples, families, etc.  It's really simple and I love taking some time to set and really think about my goals for next year.  The best part is, once you write them down it's a little harder to ignore them.

Print the goal worksheet at http://www.stageoflife.com/Portals/0/MyLifeRewards/Store/Stage_of_Life_Goal_Setting.pdf

Driving Me Crazy!

Hello all! I hope everyone is enjoying their, hopefully, short holiday week. I on the other hand am bogged down with an online math course that is literally driving me insane.

Please allow me to vent; I HATE MATH!!!!

Ahhh, much better, except I still have a frozen math test to take from Christmas eve, a new exam due tomorrow, and to top it all off, my account has been frozen. Therefore, none of the things that need to get done, can get done.


On a brighter note, we got a new router!!! YAY! Our internet is fast and secure and I couldn't be happier about it.  Now, I can do all the merchant updating I want.  Not to mention, maybe it won't take 15 minutes just to load on blog now, yipee!  I will also be working on finding writing contest pages to display our writing contests on.  Any ideas??

Calling all bloggers! Interested in writing for Stage of Life? 

Please contact me and I can help you become a featured blogger.  

So Ready for Christmas

Oh Wednesday, sometimes I loath you.  Hump day, so close to the weekend, yet so far. Today, was the worst. My home town was a holiday traffic disaster and my cold raging. I started the day by completing my online math course and, well, you guessed it I hate it.  Math just isn't my area of expertise. The day had it's highs and lows, and now here we are at midnight.  I'm sick and grumpy, not even close to in the holiday spirit.

On a lighter note, checking out blogs is still the rocking, and I have continued to luck out in finding some great new bloggers. For the rest of the week, I'm going to be updating merchants, checking out websites to display our writing contests on, and keeping up with me new blogging buddies. 

The holidays are fast approaching, I would like to take the time to wish everyone a Happy Holiday. Please take some time to check out www.stageoflife.com and blog about your holiday experiences. 

Getting a Late Start

After a Friends Christmas Celebration last night, I'm getting a late start on my work for today. One of the great parts of this job is that I get to make my own hours (as long as I make 20 a week). One day last week, I worked from midnight until 2am.

Today, I'm going to work on some writing contest website searching, along with my ongoing new blogger search. I also, have an instructional guide to type up for interns who may follow after me.

Stage of Life released a press release today, please take some time and read about what our site and bloggers are up to at http://www.stageoflife.com/PressCoverageonStageofLife.aspx

UNITED STATES MARINE CORP VETERN WINS HOLIDAY BLOGGING CONTEST FOR TEENS AND STUDENTS

[YORK, PA – StageofLife.com] What are teens and college students most thankful for this holiday season? That's a question StageofLife.com, a blogging and writing resource for teens and students, poised in its latest monthly writing contest.

Over 3,550 students visited StageofLife.com during the month to review the holiday blogging contest page.

From the essay and blog submissions, twelve major themes emerged about where teens and student give the most thanks: 1) Family, 2) Friends, 3) Physical Abilities, 4) Health, 5) Their Pet, 6) Home, 7) School, 8) The Arts / Creativity, 9) God and Spirituality, 10) Opportunity, 11) Nature, and 12) Miscellaneous Topics, which includes giving thanks to things such as “Guardrails,” for saving the lives of reckless teenage drives (and older generations alike).

The winner of the holiday writing contest is a 24-year old freshman who started college as a non-traditional student after completing four years in the United States Marine Corp. With two deployments in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, he offered a unique perspective on where to give gratitude this holiday.

In his essay entitled, “I'm Thankful for Quiet,” he writes,

“There are a lot of things I’m thankful for. I’m grateful to have a lovely wife who supports me and makes my life warm and more meaningful. I’m thankful for real food that is cooked in a real kitchen, running water, a real shower, and a comfortable bed at night. These things I used to take for granted... It is hard to imagine a world without these simple pleasures. For most of us we see a lot of these things as necessities. Yet the places I’ve been to in Iraq and Afghanistan, I didn’t always get these things, and I witnessed other people who didn’t have it as good as we do here. The sad truth of our society is, we don’t realize how good it really is, unless we step away from it into a different world.

Although I’m thankful for these things, there is nothing I am more grateful for than the solitude I feel as I write this (essay). Each morning I have the freedom to wake up and drive to this college. Every morning I get here early, so that I can find a quiet spot in the library where I can challenge and expand my mind in ways other than the ways of war. Here I can sit and read such things as literature or philosophy, and I am able to ponder the ideas of the scholars before me. I am no longer expected to be a warrior. And I am not so sure now what exactly I am called to be from now on, but for now I’ll sit here quietly, soaking up the serenity.

StageofLife.com provided a holiday writing contest summary page along with links to 100 of the student and teen blogger essays .

The current writing contest for college and high school students deals with the topic of “Money.” The writing prompt asks students, “What is your relationship with money? How do you spend (or save) your money...and why?"

The contest submission deadline is Dec. 31, 2010 – Midnight Pacific Time. Mint.com is recommended as a homework resource for the students and KodakGallery.com is providing the monthly prize. StageofLife.com is offering up SWAG and Featured Writer/Blogger status to the next student essay winner.

# # #

About Stage of Life™: StageofLife.com is a free, non-partisan grassroots project with a mission to make the world a better place, one story at a time. By hosting blogs, information and resources for teens, college students, Millennials, Gen Y, Gen X, and Baby Boomer generations, its hope is that cross-generational story telling will weave a network of wisdom from which all can benefit. Specialized content includes free lesson plan ideas and writing prompts for Language Arts teachers, monthly writing contests for high school students and college students, blogging resources, a free national platform for writers to promote their blogs and much more, including My Life Rewards, an area dedicated to providing relevant coupons and discounts exclusively geared towards each stage of life.

If you’d like more information about StageofLife.com or an interview with CEO/Founder, Eric Thiegs, please us the Contact Us form on the website or call 717-650-0699.

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The Beginning of the Week

Here it is already Monday and I have another interested blogger!  I would like to take the time to welcome Lisa to the Stage of Life crew, check out her blog at http://mrsgraf.blogspot.com/.

I would also like to give a shout out to Jessi, another great blogger I stumbled upon this morning who is interested in becoming a featured blogger. If you would like to check her blog out go to
http://imawifenow-jessieszmanda.blogspot.com/

and for another shout, lets put our hands in the air for Mountain Mom, Kristina (another new featured blogger).

In other news, after checking my email, I was directed to a blog by a man named Josh.  I looked into his blog and website (http://www.thecreativitygeneration.com) and found that it similar to Stage of Life, therefore I am trying to develop a relationship with him and have him become a featured blogger for the site.

Today, I also linked the new feature bloggers blogs to this page and just some blogs that I really like.  Take a look and enjoy!

The only sad part about today, is that it feels like there is never enough time in the day.

Late Night

Wow! What a day, but now that it's 1:46am I have a little time to focus on my blog.  When I logged into my email today, to my surprise I had responses from several interested new featured bloggers that I contacted yesterday. So excited!

Within the first week of really buckling down on several new projects, I feel really great about the next month.  Maybe I just got lucky this week, finding these great bloggers, but whatever it is, I hope it keeps up.  I look forward to hearing from and getting to know all these great new bloggers.

If anyone is interested in becoming a featured blogger, please fell free to email me at megan.colyer@stageoflife.com

Oh baby, Productivity

         As I finished finals yesterday, I have embarked on a month of the working world. Boy oh boy,  am I loving it or what.  This blog is so much fun, and it's even more fun checking out others blogs.  I've learned so much from a lot of mothers today, especially when it comes to all the fun gadgets and backgrounds I can add to my blog.

       One extremely successful part of my day was getting one great blogger, Cee Kay, to become a featured blogger for Stage of Life. Want to check out her blog?  Go to http://my2centstoo.blogspot.com/
Lets all give her a warm welcome!

 Today was a super productive day for me, I hope it was for you too.

A Snowy Day Spent Under a Heating Blanket

       Yes folks, it's exactly like it says. This is my day. As my day began to unfold around noon, I  finished organizing my desk and documents, only to get started on my next task.  Since this week is finals week, and I have only one, I am starting on all the new tasks discussed between my boss and I and increasing my hours (wohoo).
       First, on the list "create a blog"......already complete (as of last week).....check.  Well, I have made some seasonal changes to the original blog I created last week, but I think they turned out great.  I'm really hoping for more responses to the poll I created (to the right). This information helps Eric (our CEO) and I figure out what bloggers want to write about. So far this blog is really bringing out my creative side.
       Next, write.  Oi, what a job.  As a professional writing major at Kutztown University my last three years have been nothing but writing  (and I love it).  So this brings me to the now. I am sitting safely under a heating blanket (set on medium), in a recently covered wing back chair, placed ever so comfortably in front of my desk and laptop-- watching the snow fall outside. Today is a good day.
Prior to beginning this blog, I organized all my Stage of Life documents into a binder, giving me a better peace of mind. I'm one of those people. I NEED organization to the things I can control, since the rest of my life is utterly out of control. This way when I start new projects, everything is in order, which just makes things go so much smoother.
      After writing and editing this oh so casual blog, I have some more writing to do. Surprised, I'm not-- this is the life of a writer and a passion of mine. I plan on jumping over to Stage of Life and writing a short essay on what I have been up to lately,  within the College stage (since I am coming to the close of the semester and finals week).
      And finally, the big to do on my list is... I'm looking for new bloggers!  Anyone interested? Anyone need some information about it?  Check out  Stage of Life and help us, change the world one story at a time.

For more information go to my page (at the top) Be a Guest Blogger or email me at megan.colyer@stageoflife.com

OMG!

I just added a new gadget!  It's a poll!  So lets try this out: until 12/31 I am going to ask the question, "What Should be Stage of Life's Next Writing Contest?" Give me some feedback and what should I do for the next poll question?  This is a really cool addition to my blog and I really hope people use it. 

Add-ons and Ideas

Wow!  Sitting at one job working on my other jobs blog!!  Oooops :)

Edited the Writing Contest Info Page by adding links to the three contests on StageofLife.com as well as added a picture from the site. Just added some great new pages and added the majority of the content to them already.  I will be updating the Writing Contest page monthly to update the changing contest topics.  As for the other, they are contain standard info about a few things that Stage of Life offers.

I love playing around with all the different things I can do with this blog and the creative freedom is so overwhelming. Does anyone know how to center pictures on the side panel?  This is all relatively  new to me so any help would be appreciated.

Really hoping to get some great feed back about the page, Stage of Life, and find some new bloggers.  Looking for followers, inspiration, and ideas; please feel free to contact me if you are interested in blogging or just have some ideas for me.

Sunday Funday

Today, I woke up expecting the day to be consumed by the Harry Potter Weekend on Fox Family, however after a great skype convo with my boss, I was given a pretty great task of creating a blog.  Given creative freedom, I took to my task around mid afternoon and have been creating all day.  Not only did I create this blog, but I also updated my Stage of Life Twitter account.  Although my work is far from done on this blog, I am very happy with where I am after a day. 

 I am totally pumped to begin the other worked/projects discussed with my boss today. Is this really work?  It seems pretty fun to me.