Note Card Party: Wildlife in Winter (Part 2)

Joining in the note card party today with my second round of wildlife saying farewell to winter: 

I had a hard time coming up with some of these captions.  Can you do better?  Feel free to give me your ideas in the comments and visit more note card parties or join in yourself just by posting four pictures that have appeared on your blog that you think would make good note cards.

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"Monday Quiz Meme"

Four Questions For Monday from Acting Balanced.

1. What is your favorite charity to donate to?
2. When was the last time you danced?
3. How do you show someone you care about them?
4. Do you send holiday cards?

And don't forget to add a 5th Question on your own blog so we can answer as we hop around!

My Answers:

1. What is your favorite charity to donate to?
This is a very hard one because there are so many. If I had to pick just one, I think it would be The Jesus Film Project, or Samaritan's Purse, or Covenant House, or AWANA or Best Friends, or Joni and Friends or ASPCA or The City Mission or Boys Town or Children International or The Wounded Warrior Project or Caroline's Kids Pet Rescue, and of course our church--Parma Heights Baptist Church.

2. When was the last time you danced?
Friday, I always do a little Friday happy dance.


3. How do you show someone you care about them?
Send them an encouraging or funny email, give gifts and let them know I'm praying for them.

4. Do you send holiday cards?
Yes. If I don't, I feel guilty. I tried not to one year and ended up giving in and doing it anyhow.

My 5th question this week is ... What is the best part about growing old?
I think having more wisdom and more patience.


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AWW Mondays With My Manny Boy

Manny found a perfect spot, by heater, cozy, and under cover

Find more AWW Monday pictures at Aww Mondays and at Jody's Book Reviews.  Also check out Camera Critters.

So happy the BROWNS beat the Steelers yesterday--the defense was stellar getting 8 turnovers!  This is the first win over the Steelers in a long time!  The Steelers were missing their regular QB and really give this one away, but we'll take it!

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Introducing Our Pets (Vlogging With Mama Kat)

One of Mama Kat's new Vlog prompts this week was to introduce our pets. I could not resist participating in this one! I could talk about my pets all day but have managed to introduce all three (two cats and one dog) in just 6.5 minutes. I realize this is long for a video and you may not want to take the time to watch it so Gerard taped a short and sweet more concise version if you are in a hurry.

Spunky says:  This was not a good time because mom interrupted me when I was enjoying my window time.  Sorry I wssn't more amusing.  If you watch the second one, I am a bit more active.  I have starred in lots of videos that are better than these.

Manny says:  I like both these videos of me.  They both show what a close relationship I have with Karen.  The second one was done at different times because I was hiding and wasn't in the mood.  (The video camera was on while they were looking for me, but they didn't know it so it'll be a good Monday Mischief post!)

Abby says:  Woof, woof!  I sure hope you watch the first one because it shows me in action being a good dog.  The second one was right before bed so I was tired by then.  I did a better job earlier, but the camera wasn't recording so I had to do my part again.



Which one did you like better? I'm not real pleased with either but both are different. In the first, I think you see more of the pets and in the second, you see more of me talking about them. I don't think either of these videos captures how fun our pets really are. I think you can see though how much I love them.

See other Vloggers at Mama Kat's Losin' It.

I considered this to be my best post of the week so linked up with Monday Meet Up at Covered In Grace.  Find more good posts there and prehaps link up one of your own.

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Aww Mondays: A Marine Goose

On one of Abby's morning walks, we discovered this cute goose in the Marine uniform and went back later to get a picture of it.  You just never know what we will find in our neighborhood.

Find more AWW Mondays and at Jodi's Journey.

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

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11 Things About Me and What About You? (meme)

Rebecca at Freaky Frugalite, one of my faithful readers and commenters, tagged me with this 11 Things About Me meme.  I really had to do some thinking so hope someone takes time to at least read it and chooses to keep it going--don't worry, I didn't tag anyone specifically.  I know, I know, I am breaking rule #4 but feel free to consider yourself tagged if you'd like to do this one.

Rules:
# 1 – You must post these rules.
# 2 – You must post 11 things about yourself.
# 3 – You must answer the questions from the tagger (me) AND post 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
# 4 – You must choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post. Let them know they’ve been tagged! Don’t tag back the blog that tagged you.

11 Things About Me (boring old me): 

1. I’ve been married for 13 years—we were in our 40s when we married and neither were married before.
2. I am currently preparing to coach basketball at our church sports camp for the community.
3. I am a morning person, early to bed, early to rise. I enjoy watching the sunrise.
4. I love animals, especially my pets. We have stuffed animals all through our house. My first pet was a brown puppy with white paws and a white tip on its tail named Brownie.  My parents let me pick him out to get me over my fear of dogs.  Wish we could get a family picture with us and all our pets in it.
5. I worked at an insurance company, was a substitute teacher for Jr. High and High School, and a legal secretary for the last 25 years with the same firm.
6. I wish I could bowl and play softball and volleyball as well as I used to when I was younger.  My knees aren't what they used to be and any speed I did have is gone now.
7. I wish I had the experience of playing youth sports but they just weren’t available for girls when I was growing up.
8. I used to keep the stats for the men’s church softball team many years ago and also for the youth group when we played a pickup game once a week during the spring and summer months.
9. I organized our first church bowling league that continued for many years.
10. I only went to one dance in Jr. High which I felt very awkward and out of place at—no more, not even my prom.
11. I enjoyed being a camp counselor at Beulah Beach years ago one or two weeks of the summer--did all ages but my favorite age group was Jr. High.

Here's the 11 Questions Rebecca had for me to answer:

1) What is the best food on a hot summer day?  macaroni salad with tuna fish or salmon in it

2) If you had an extra room in your house, how would you use it?  A closed in sun room would be nice to use for my early morning devotional time.

3) What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?  asparagus

4) What do you remember about your first day of school?  nothing, but I do know I liked riding the bus to and from my early years of elementary school

5) What Olympic sport would you like to try?  the luge, looks like fun and easy!

6) Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? Why?  Sunrises--Can't help but think of God's goodness and thank Him for a bright new day to live for Him.

7) Where is the farthest you have ever traveled?  Michigan, to visit a friend (I didn't drive though, her mother drove me and my sisters up with a loose cat in the car which made me extremely nervous).

8) Have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper?  Yes,a local community paper did a nice interview about writing My Funny Dad, Harry and even took a picture of me holding my cat.  I think I was in when I got my college scholarship too, again the local community paper.

9) What do you miss from your childhood?  Having the whole summer off to just bum around and play all day long.

10) Share a favorite picture of yourself (or, if you don’t want to use a self photo, use any photo you like), and tell us about it.

Elmwood Park After Tennis and Bocce Ball

I like this photo of me because my husband and I are relaxing together by the duck pond after playing tennis and bocce ball at Elmwood Park.  It is such a peaceful time and I liked sitting on the squeaky swing with him.  It's been a long time since we've been there but hopefully we will go again soon!


11) What habit would you like to be able to break?  Chawing gum, just can't chew it quietly.

I'm not going to tag 11 people because that just takes too long (this is taking long enough as it is!)  If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.  All I ask is that you link back here letting people know where you found this and let me know in the comments if you decide to do it.

Now, here are my 11 questions for YOU to answer.

1. What was your best vacation ever?
2. Share a picture of one of your pets and its name, or more if you wish.
3. What is something you especially like about your spouse?
4. What is one of your favorite charities?
5. What games do you enjoy playing?
6. What is your biggest fear or concern at the moment?
7. What is one thing you really plan to do that you have not done?
8. What is your favorite TV show or book and why?
9. What activity or place really makes you happy?
10. What is one dumb thing that you've done?
11. What accomplishment are you most pleased about?

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

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We've Been Tagged So See If We Tagged You

Beth Ann over at It's Just Life tagged me for this and since I had nothing better to post today, I decided to go ahead and do it.

1. Describe yourself in 7 words.
Karen:  Generous, Reader, Christian, Funny, Conscientious, Loving, Organized
Gerard:  Organized, Sports fan, Dog Lover, Hard Worker, Reader, Loner, Cookie Monster

2. What keeps you up at night?
Karen:  My cat, Spunky Doodle, when she crawls under the covers with me.  I just have to pet her!
Gerard:  Bad weather reports for the next day and when his favorite Boston teams lose important games.

3. Who would I like to be?
Karen:  I like being me quite well, but if I HAD to be someone else, I think Peter Pan--I like the idea of never growing up!
Gerard:  Tom Brady (Patriots Quarterback).

4. What am I wearing now?
Karen:  My leopard pajamas, my kitty cat robe, socks and shoes.
Gerard:  My dog lover nightshirt and my snuggie.

5. What scares me? 
Karen:  Bees!
Gerard:  Roller coasters!

6. The best and worst of blogging.
Karen & Gerard:  The best is getting to know lots of nice people and learning a lot from reading other blogs; the worst is that it is so time consuming.

7. The last website I visited.
Karen:  It was Amazon.com to load another library book to my Kindle.
Gerard:  Bostonbonz.com to check it out and found a t-shirt I liked.

8. What is the one thing I would change about myself?
Karen:  I'd like to be more adventurous and not be so afraid to travel to new places.
Gerard:  I wish I were more athletic.

9. Slankets: yes or no? 
Karen and Gerard:  No, I don't even know what a slanket is!

10. Tell us something about the person that tagged you.
Beth Ann collects tea pots and shows a different one on her blog every day.  She also donates 50 cents per legitimate comment on her blog to charities and is a big supporter of KIVA.  She is a very sweet lady who enjoys knitting, reading and traveling.  She has a cat named Buddy.

I am supposed to pass this along to others so I am going to tag some folks. I hope you will visit all of them–they are all wonderful people with great blogs!  I'm tagging these:

I'm Living Proof That God Has a Sense of Humor 

Duck and Wheel With String  

Beaded Tail  

Freaky Frugalite 

For Love or Funny  

Half-Past Kissin' Time
Sher's Creative Space

If you want to do it—please do. If not—no worries!!! I totally understand how time intensive blogging can be . 

(50 cents per legitimate comment goes to Caroline's Kids Pet Rescue for February in honor of cat appreciation month!) Share this:

When I Grow Up (Dare To Share)

This week's prompt over at The Lightening and The Lightening Bug is to share about your dream job, what you wanted to be when you grew up as a child...what you want to be now. Tell us about your dreams and how you're going to make them come true.  (click on the picture above to find more or link up yours)


For me, my dream as a kid was not to have to work but be a stay-at-home mom with nine boys (enough for a baseball team) and a pet for each!   I even made a floor plan of my dream house.  That dream went out the window once I found out what a woman went through to have a child. Forget it!

My next dream job was to be a gym teacher--getting paid for playing all day sounded good to me and having the summers off was also a plus. That dream bit the dust when I discovered I would probably have to teach health and take anatomy.

When I reached 9th grade and took typing, I thought that would be the best job ever! It looked so easy and the teacher got to have the whole summer off. All she taught all day long was typing classes, something of great value that was a very practical skill. (This was before computers entered the world.) I loved the timed speed tests and can still remember her shouting A-S-D-F-J-K-L-Semi.  I loved typing and really felt I could be a good teacher so I went for it.

I actually did do student teaching in some business classes and got certified to teach grades 7-12. I did some substitute teaching but didn't find a full-time teaching job which worked out for the best. I worked some jobs as a temp on my summers off and landed the secretarial job I currently have which has really been a very good fit for me and a wonderful place to work.

What about you? What was your dream job as a kid and are you doing it now?

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Aww Mondays

Aww!

 

 

 

This is the first time I'm participating in Aww Mondays--all you do is post a picture that makes you say Aww.  Link up at Comedy Plus or add one of yours.

Meet Me On Monday

Questions:

1. Did you get any Valentine's Gifts?
Yes, candy from my cats, lunch at Golden Corral and a t-shirt from Dog Town from my dog, Abby.

2. What is your favorite topping on something toasted?
Peanut butter on toast.

3. Do you pick out your outfit the night before?
Usually, yes to save time in the morning.

4. What food item do you absolutely despise?
Sauerkraut, YUCK! My mom was the only one in our family who liked it so only made it once a year for New Year's. I couldn't even stand the smell!

5. Righty or lefty?
Righty.

Go meet some other Bloggers Over 40.

First Line Meme: Overview of My Blogging Year

I thought this idea from Suko's Notebook was a fun way to review the year of my blog so decided to do it. Like she said, after doing it one year, it will probably make me more focused on getting better first lines in my posts. The idea is to just list the first line of the first post for each month.

January 2010: (I did two posts January 1: (1) At the Creative Junkie I came across a post about her trip to San Francisco which shows all the hills.

(2) Have morning devotions in den each morning (which means less blog commenting).

February 2010: I just saw "The Wronged Man" on Lifetime and had to write about it right away.

March 2010: We read a lot of good books this month which made it hard to pick, but here's what we came up with:  Karen's Pick: Intervention by Terri Blackstock is a book about a single mother’s love for her children and the struggle to help her daughter, Emily, get off drugs.

April 2010: 1. Blogging is a big waste of time! (April Fool!)

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The Holiday Tag

(Manny visiting our Nativity last year)

My Reader's Block has tagged everyone who reads her blog post in this little game of Holiday Tag. So, I'll do the same: If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged and fill it out! (Leave a link to yours below.)

1. When do you usually know and feel that it's finally the holidays?
When the church is decorated, I hear Christmas music playing in the stores and restaurants, and we get off work!

2. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Anything my husband wants to give me. Gerard wants a thin warm jacket he can wear as an under jacket. Trouble is I couldn't find exactly the kind he wants.

3. Do you go all out with decorations?
Nope.  See our decorations at Decorating, Bah Humbug!

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A Little About Me Meme from Beaded Tail

This meme is from Beaded Tail. It actually has several sets of questions and then you are supposed to answer them all and add another four, but well, it would just be too long and boring so I'm only answering the ones from Beaded Tail and then adding four of my own.  Feel free to answer them and include a link back. Also, let me know in the comments if you do this so I can come see your answers and questions.

1. If you had the power to fix anything that's wrong with this world, what would it be.

I would remove selfishness from the world completely and replace it with empathy, compassion and a genuine desire to help all living things, thus wiping out poverty, greed, crime, unsportsmanlike behavior and domestic violence and abuse.

2. What's your favorite indulgence?

Pizza! Please don't ask me to give up eating pizza.

3. Describe your perfect day.

Sunny, warm, doing something really fun with my husband, having free time to blog and be with my pets, eating well and getting everything done that I wanted to do.

4. If you could fly off tomorrow to any destination for a week, where would you go and why?

I would decline. I want to stay right here at home with my husband and my pets. I really would not want to leave them for a whole week to go anywhere that I would have to fly to! I think being separated from your family would be the hardest part of being in the military and am so glad I never had immediate family in the armed forces.

Here's four more questions:
1)  When do you feel like being alone?
2)  If you could change one thing about your life right now to make it better, what would it be?
3)  What is your favorite TV show now and what was one you liked way back when?
4)  If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

And for the tagees, don't worry, I won't tag anyone who doesn't want to be tagged so I'll let anyone and everyone who wants to play along to do so. Hope someone does!

Please help us choose a new name for our blog by voting in our poll at the top left sidebar.  Also, have a book giveaway you may want to enter at Grab A Book From Our Stack for "You Already Know How To Be Great" by Alan Fine. The drawing is Thanksgiving Day and there will be five winners!

Meet Me On Monday by Karen

Here's the questions for this meme hosted by Never Growing Old to help our readers get to know us better so sometimes we'll post it on this blog, and sometimes on our book blog.

1. Do you sleep with a night light on?
No, sometimes I even pull the covers over my head!

2. What do you drink with dinner?
The V8 Fusion fruit/vegetable drink.

3. Do you play the lottery? If so, how often?
Neither of us ever played it even once. We have entered office pools for the March Madness brackets and football (but not this season). I enjoy watching football on Sundays much more now that I don't lose my money on it.

4. How often do you go to the grocery store?
Once a week.

5. Would you rather travel back in time 500 years or travel forward 500 years?
Ahead, because I would miss the modern conveniences and technology terribly if I went back in time!

Here's a bonus:  I'm a featured blogger this week over at Naivaze. Check it out to learn more about me.

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Meet Me On Monday by Karen

Here's the questions for this meme hosted by Never Growing Old to help our readers get to know us better so sometimes we'll post it on this blog, and sometimes on our other blog. Today, I put my answers here and Gerard's are over at Grab A Book From Our Stack since we each have some different answers on this one.

1. Do your pants get hung on a hangar or folded?
My dress slacks are hung on a hanger but my jeans are rolled up in my drawer. By rolling them, they don't get creased.

2. If you are stranded on an Island, what 3 things would you need to have with you (not including humans or electronic devices)?
Sleeping bag, matches, bottled water.  Am I practical or what?

3. Where is the farthest you have ever traveled to?
As a kid, I went to see Niagara Falls on the Canadian side but the farthest I've ever traveled as an adult would be to King's Island in Cincinnati, Ohio which was a 4-hour drive.

4. Do you live in a house, trailer or apartment, etc.?
We live in a brick house on a quiet street.

5. What is your most hated household chore?
Cleaning a toilet--fortunately for me, my husband does all our household chores.

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A Pet Blog Hop--Interview Your Pet!

Our dog, Abby Dabby Doo, was in the Sun Post newspaper last Thursday as the featured “Picture Perfect Pet.” She would love for you to read her post about it: “Woo Hoo, I’m A Picture Perfect Pet!” I thought this would make a good blog hop for those bloggers who have great pets like ours.

Just interview your pet and post it using a picture of your wonderful pet with a link back here and come back to link up or just leave a comment.

Pet’s Name
Age
Breed/Type:
Dines on:
Favorite treat:
Occupation:
Favorite pastime:
Best trick:
Shared trait with owner:
Praise from the owner:
If you could change one thing about your pet:

Spunky Doodle
Age 6

Breed/Type: Tuxedo

Dines on: Science Diet – Sensitive Stomach, Greenies—beef

Favorite treat: Tuna Flakes

Occupation: Being cute, loveable, entertaining and modeling for the header at "Grab A Book From Our Stack"

Favorite pastime: Napping in the sun.

Best trick: Hiding where they can’t find me.

Shared trait with owner: Playful and funny

Praise from the owner: Spunky Doodle is our Black Beauty. She’s a charmer, entertainer and just a great cat! She’s so cute! I’m SO glad I brought her into our home!

If you could change one thing about your pet: That she would curl up on my lap instead of running from me when I’m awake.


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I'm A Reader, Are You? (Blog hop)

We are doing our first blog hop on Grab A Book From Our Stack called "My Journey To Reading For Pleasure." Karen asked me to share my journey here and link up over there. We'd love it if you would share how you became an avid reader too and link up.

I love to read! I read anything and everything! If I am in a store, I stop at the magazine rack and browse. If I go into a restaurant and see those newspaper boxes by the door, I'll stop and read as much as I can. We bring along the PLAIN DEALER to Hometown Buffet when we go for breakfast on Saturdays. I take a book to work to read on my breaks and at lunch, then I'll usually read some in the evenings too. I try to read 50 pages a day. I love to browse in bookstores and usually do whenever we go to the mall. I read customer reviews on Amazaon.com to see what other people think about books I consider reading.

I remember walking with my mom to the library every other Saturday as a kid and reading sports books.  I remember the librarian saying "He reads too many sports books and should try something else."  I did and now like non-fiction best.  I enjoy learning about things and events that I've heard about.  I've always been big on reading!  Thanks to Karen, I am on Shelfari.  She posts my stuff there for me so now I can keep track of what I've read.

I sometimes read sitting at the table, in a chair or laying on the couch or the floor.  I can read in any position, at any time of the day and anywhere.  Our cats often join me. During the summer, I like to read on the porch.  What about you?  Where do you like to read and how did you get into it?



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Meet Us On Monday

Here's the questions from last week's meme hosted by Never Growing Old to help our readers get to know us better so sometimes we'll post it on this blog, and sometimes on our book blog.


1.  Have you (only you..not a group) ever won first place in anything?
2.  Are your toes always painted (sorry guys...this question for girls only)?
3.  What color eyes do you have?
4.  Look to your left....what do you see?
5.  Soft cookies or crunchy cookies?

1.  Karen won first place for her green peppers she grew in her garden at her elementary school.  Gerard never won first place in anything as an individual but we did as a team both in bowling and volleyball.

2.  Never paint my toenails because I always wear socks and shoes.

3.  We both have big brown eyes.

4.  To the left is our cat, Manny, right is our cat Spunky Doodle.  They always come when I'm on the computer.

5.  Karen prefers the soft, Gerard prefers the crunchy.  Speaking of cookies, I order four boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  Have you ordered yours yet?
 
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ABC's Meme--(Sunday Stealing)

I liked this ABC's meme and haven't done one for awhile, so here it goes:

A- Advocate for: The homeless, animals.

B- Best Feature: Nails.

C- Could do without: Snow.

D- Dreams and desires: Have a closed in back porch one day again, a fenced in yard, an outdoor play area for my cats, volunteer at an animal shelter or zoo, grow old with Gerard and stay in good health to enjoy retirement in 5-6 years.

E- Essential items: Computer!

F- Favorite past time: Blogging and playing with my cats.

G- Good at: Organizing and helping others.

H- Have never tried: Asparagus, brocoli, cauliflower, beer, smoking, drugs.

I- If I had a million dollars: I'd quit work, give a large chunk to charity and help out people who I know are struggling.

J- Junkie for: Stuffed animals.

K- Kindred spirit: My husband, Gerard.

L- Little known fact: I was fascinated with secret codes as a kid and that's one reason why I wanted to learn shorthand.

M- Memorable moment: Getting engaged on my back porch after playing tennis on a Tuesday evening after work.

N- Never again will I: Pay money to advertise my book, "My Funny Dad, Harry." (See post about this: http://karenzemek.blogspot.com/2008/12/happy-birthday-dad-contest.html)

O- Occasional indulgence: Hometown Buffet or Golden Corral for lunch.

P- Profession: Administrative Assistant (secretary)

Q- Quote: Age is mind over matter. . . if you don't mind, it doesn't matter!

R- Reason to smile: This is the day that the Lord has made and I'm alive to enjoy it!

S- Sorry about: Accidentally stepping on my cat, Manny.

T- Things you are worrying about right now: Where do I go for my next mammogram (I've had them done at 3 different places now) and what doctor should I say ordered it (my primary doctor or my surgeon who is the one who said I need to get one in 6 months).

U- Uninterested in: Politics.

V- Very scared of: Bees and wasps.

W- Worst habits: Humming around people and talking to myself when in a computer war.

Y- Yummiest dessert: Rich chocolate fudge cake with ice cream.

X- X marks my ideal vacation spot: Right at home with my pets and husband.

Z- Zodiac sign: Sagitarias (December 13)

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Five Words That Describe My Blog

At Becca's Buzz I found this easy meme that I thought may be kind of fun to do. Feel free to go to her blog and sign up to participate too. Each wee she puts out a different list to do. This is the first time I'm participating. This week's list is Five Words That Describe My Blog. Here is what I think, hope you agree but if you think of another word, I'd love to hear it (as long as it's not mean).
humorous
fresh
informative
personal
homey