This is my Wordless Wednesday picture:

Okay most of you guessed it.  This was Christmas Eve when we were acting out the story of Jesus’ birth.  What you don’t see in this picture is the fact that my younger daughter who was playing the sheep kept touching the baby.  We kept saying to her that sheep don’t touch the baby.  She didn’t quite understand that!  This was our first Christmas actually acting out the story and it was very fun!

If you have a story to tell from your Wordless Wednesday post, please share it with us on Tell Me Thursday!

I am continuing my conversation with Debbie Taylor: The Queen Mommy. On Monday I asked Debbie about her experience as a Mom’s Talk Network intern, you can find her answer here at The Queen Mommy’s Cafe. She gave some fabulous insights on blogging and the importance it has been in her life.

Here is Debbie’s question to me:

I want to know what you learned as an intern that you are applying now – but would you also talk about how you found all the Sweepstakes, Contests, and Giveaways online for Mom Giveaways!?!  Did you have experience before with Sweepstakes, Contests and Giveaways?

The internship gave me a confidence in my writing. I have never been confident in my writing and yet have kept journals for years.  Isn’t that funny?!  I like to write but I don’t like to worry about the little things I do wrong!  So I gained a lot of confidence in my writing style.  I also found that I can come up with good ideas for blog posts.  I have always deemed myself as being uncreative. I know that is not a talent of mine but I can think of things to write just as well as the next person.  That also helped with my confidence!

One last thing I learned…

I learned a ton but I will only cover one last thing.  Kelly, taught us a lot about being social and helped us form habits.  I realized that some things that will make a blog successful I am just not willing to do all the time!  Big shocker, right?  I am not willing to spend hours mulling over blogs just to make comments.  Now I am not saying I don’t read a lot of blog posts or leave comments, because I do!  I read a lot of posts but only the posts that actually interest me.  I am a mom of four kids.  I don’t have time looking for posts to comment on, just to be friendly!  So my socializing is great but I have to do it at my own pace and not on a schedule!  I really think that is the great part of the internship, we were given the tools and we could take it or leave it that is up to us!

Mom Giveaways

I had a lot of fun on Mom Giveaways because I am so passionate about sweepstakes!  I love them and have so much fun entering and winning! I started entering sweepstakes on a regular basis, five years ago.  I have stopped and started many times.  When I filled out my internship application I listed that as one of my hobbies.  So I believe Kelly picked me because of this!  Boy am I  glad she did! I was able to share my knowledge on the website about the in’s and out’s of doing sweeps (as us sweepers call it).  To answer your first question about Mom Giveaways.  I didn’t have to find any giveaways and post them.  Anyone can enter their own giveaway to get traffic!  I did do one post with a bunch of giveaways that were all for cash prizes.  That one I did with the help of some online newsletters that I subscribe to.  There are several newsletters out there that find great giveaways and make the hobby really fun!

Okay Debbie here is your next question:

How long have you been blogging?  As a stay-at-home (busy) mom how has it benefited your life?  Okay and one last question: Why did you choose to start blogging?

photo credit: daveeedo6

Okay can you guess what is happening here?

Find out tomorrow on Tell Me Thursday!

I just read a great post that will change my blogging forever.  It is a post by Copyblogger called Why You’re To Qualified and Respectful To Produce Great Content. Pace (the Copyblogger) says you should not qualify or be too respectful or you will sound like you are writing a paper!  That’s me!!  Do you see me waving my hand around?  If you haven’t noticed I am a big perfectionist!  I like to get things right and be nice about it!  Well no more nice Danielle!  Not anymore!

Okay, Okay, I will be nice sometimes!

But seriously,  I am constantly checking my grammar (because mine is not so good) and reviewing what I am saying so that I am not offensive to others.  Well let the real me come out!!  I love using exclamation points!!!  I do because I am very passionate and expressive in real life!  Ask my husband.  So if you don’t want my honest opinion about things then I must say goodbye to you right now.  I must say, I am nice but I have some strong feelings about things.  Some of those strong feelings may rub you the wrong way.  But that is why our country is such a great place to live because we can speak freely and have strong opinions about anything and everything.  Not only that we can have blogs that share those strong opinions.  Sometimes we can even have radio or television shows to share these opinions!

So here is to a new blogging me!

This will be more of the me in real life on my blog.  I am excited.  I feel more free!  I feel liberated in a way.  If I do things wrong I will do them wrong in style!  I would rather, from here on out, be myself and screw up big time then not be me at all.

I have done this often in my life.

In my past I have taken big risks that were really scary.  If I wouldn’t have I wouldn’t have had the blessings I do now!  For instance.  I moved from my home in Washington State to Southern California all by myself.  I knew one person.  I didn’t have a job.  I had a rent payment of $700 and a car payment of $300!  I think about that choice and the me now thinks, the me then was crazy!!  So what came out of it?  I married my husband (of nine years) after six months of being there.  We didn’t know each other beforehand.  I have four beautiful children and a best friend I couldn’t live without!

So from now on I will take those risks again.

I will tell you what is on my mind and be bold about it.  I hope you will stay and find out what happens and how this blog evolves!!

Honestly,

Danielle

PS. Don’t forget to checkout that blog post by Copyblogger!

photo credit: runran