Website Design

Some websites are just more interesting or more fun than others.  And then there are websites that can just be too much.  There's music in the background, pop ups, and a trail of sprinkles or sparkles to mark where your mouse is moving.  Too much.  I've never really thought about how those websites were created... the background of making them... web design... until I needed one.  And it didn't take me long to realize I needed a professional.

It's like you are meeting someone for the first time.  Do you want to look nice, sharp... like a person you would want to do business with?  Or do you want to look like a slob?  Do you want to be able to answer their questions and give them a clear picture of who you are?  Or do you appear doubtful and offer up answers that may give the wrong impression of what you represent?

In today's world a website says it all.  Sadly, people very often meet businesses, travel destinations, products, and even people for the first time via the internet.  And although I do not agree with this... it is a fact.  And personally... I want to give out an impression that I have an organized, functional business that is integrated with all the social media out there.  And by the time I try and learn only a part of this... new things will come along and I am learning all over again.

Why not get someone who does this for a living and knows what they're doing?  When I want a car, I don't try and build one.  Right?

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

website design

Inspiring

I just got done reading an article about a man who was hit head on by a drunk driver.  His wife, their unborn baby, a son, and a daughter were all killed.  He and one other son survived and he had on son who was not in the car.  Yes, there is dui salt lake city.  His story is about forgiveness.

The driver of the car was a teenage boy.  He survived.  There was no one else in his car.  So the innocent family just out and about enjoying life were called to suffer.  I could go on and on about this tragedy, but that is not the message from this incredible man who is surviving with his two sons.

He says that the moment he realized that his wife and two children were gone he heard a voice tell him to "Let it go".  If he didn't forgive, he would be tortured with not only the burden of loss, but also the burden of anger, resentment, and other feelings that would not help him in this most difficult time.  Instead he chose to even help the teenager who so obviously will have to live with the pain and guilt that I can not even begin to imagine.  The man has befriended the teenagers family who also live with sorrow.

A lesson to be taken in by all of us.  If only the world could forgive more and react or counteract less.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Working From Home

I have mentioned many times the kindness of the owner of the company where I work.  He has done everything he can to make it possible for me to work from home.  The greatest thing he has done is put our entire company on Laserfiche.

You've heard of transcribing documents?  I can not emphasis the importance of transcription.  The whole country should be transcribing every important document into searchable digital documents.  Transcription from coast to coast!  Transcription from New York to transcription Seattle.

Just take one example... you need the document you received in the mail from an business where you had made a purchase.  They are informing you that there is a recall, and you need to bring this letter into this place of business and they will tell you what needs to be done... but without the letter... no go.

Mail is like socks.  You open it and look at it... but mysteriously pieces disappear.  Right?  Mail can end up anywhere.  But if that document was transcribed into a digital document, all you have to do is find your computer.

And this is what my boss has done.  He has taken every document our company has received, or produced made them all digital.  Now I can do my job for every branch throughout the whole U.S. right from the comfort of my own home.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

What To Do With Mom?

My kids are always talking about what they are going to do with Mom when my youngest moves out.  It cracks me up.  I have a daughter in NYC and a daughter in Arkansas, and the rest in Utah.  What to do with Mom?

New York would kill me.  Walking all around, up and down the subway stairs, carrying my groceries each and everyday... but then again... maybe not.  The exercise would do me good.  And the food is incredible.  It could work.

My daughter in Arkansas I truly love... but I have made it abundantly clear that it wouldn't matter which one of my kids was in Arkansas... I don't want to live there.  I've tried to guide them to Missouri (I have family there.) and Oregon (I've heard the crime rate is low.) and I've even told them to look for Homes for Sale in Albuquerque NM.  Just not Arkansas.

When it all comes down to it... although Utah is not my first choice... I need to be near the Huntsman Cancer Hospital.  And I love the idea of living in the walk out basement of my daughter's home.  She will have two little girls by the time I get there and I couldn't be more excited!

Let's have Mom play with grandbabies.  That's what we'll do with Mom.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Dedicated Server

I know we are all at the mercy of computers.  I accept this most frustrating fact.  My personal computer can drive me to the brink of blood curdling screams.  My work computer... not so much.  I have come to find that the difference is between a shared server versus a dedicated server.

My personal computer, which is shared web hosting, offers very little in the way of bandwidth, and disk space.  This shared server is a good option when you don't expect a lot of traffic and you don't need to store media files such as audio, video, animations, etc..  Try working this way with teenagers and iTunes, Facebook, Videos, etc...  It does not work.

But when I go to work, we have a dedicated server and it is pure heaven.  This option gives you 100% control over the sites and servers.  Sure you need someone 100% dedicated to maintain it... and we do... and I love him.  He has incredible tech knowledge and can fix problems immediately.  This gives all of us at my company full control, secure data exchange, and it's fast!

I know I was taught to share.  I spent a great deal of time instilling this into my children.  I hate to admit, but when it comes to a shared server versus a dedicated server.  I vote don't share.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Modest Swimsuits

Everyone knows my daughter and I just got back from a wonderful California vacation.  My daughter loves Marilyn Monroe and we stayed at a hotel where Marilyn lived so many years ago.  We had seen pictures of Marilyn in various areas in the hotel and numerous pictures of her by the pool.  Our goal was to recreate these photos with my daughter "playing Marilyn".  I knew in the past, modest swimsuits were hard to come by.

I can remember when my oldest four daughters were all teenagers (at the same time) and we went shopping for bathing suits.  What a frustrating event that always was!  String bikini bottoms.  Bikinis tops with the tiniest rectangle of fabric to cover the essentials.  Bikinis and more bikinis.  And when you did find a one piece it was not "one" piece.  It had holes or was cut shamelessly low either in the front or back.  When did this become attractive?

In Marilyn's day women looked like women.  They had curves... curves that separated them from the boys.  And you didn't show it all.  You wore clothes that left something to the imagination.  Marilyn's bathing suit in the pictures we wanted to recreate was one piece, and completely covered everything.  It looked kind of like it wrapped and all the fabric was scrunched to the one side.  It was extremely attractive and very flattering... and modest.

I am happy to say that this time I had a lovely selection of modest bathing suits.  One piece bathing suits that covered front and back.... and even with straps.  It was a difficult choice but we found one in black with small white polka dots and the style was Marilyn.

And while we were in California whether at the pool or the beach... someone always came up and asked my daughter where she got that suit.  This is what women want and what men find attractive.  A modest bathing suit.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Catalina

Your memory is a funny thing.  My memory is even more funny.  For some unknown reason, I remembered a family trip to Catalina Island.  I was 19 and in the middle of chemo for treatment against lymphoma cancer.  My parents must have thought I needed a break.  I did.  And staying in Catalina Island Hotels in their quaint little town was perfect.

Catalina Island is just off the coast of southern California.  It is very small... maybe 20 miles by 10 miles tops.  It is full of rich history involving smugglers, miners, and hunters... but this is not what draws people there.  It is the culture, the ambiance of this small island.

Everything is clean, white... very tropical looking.  Hotels line the beach.  Shops everywhere... and they are the cute little boutique like shops that are unique and fun to browse.

We rode in a glass bottom boat, snorkeled, rode bikes along the coastline, and just lied on the beach.  The food was great and we couldn't have had a better time.  It is a wonderful memory that I am glad came back to me yesterday... again for no seen reason.

I need to go back there and take my family.  It's just the perfect little vacation.  Catalina.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.