Happy Mother's Day Mamas!

Photo Credit:
https://www.facebook.com/klovemornings?fref=photo

I love you, mom!

You are the best.

Even though you might not

 understand my depression

and you say that you just 

don't know how to help me, 

I still truly appreciate your

unconditional love <3!

Photo Credit:  Original Origin Unknown

Just a Reminder Why I Write

I am baacckkkk!

Well, it looks like I have officially 

found my blogging voice again,

(thank goodness, I was starting to worry).

I am so sorry that I left it to 

the side to get old, stale, and dusty.

Fear no more, I still have my purpose,

a purpose I have had all along, 

not forgotten, just misplaced.

My purpose in life is to write, 

to blog, to be heard.

Baby, I was born to do this!

Therefore I must blog!

Hello 2014!

I am ready for you!

 

Copyright and Blogging, WTH?!?

Copyright and blogging is confusing as hell.

Am I right?

Can someone please use simpler, easy to understand

explanations of the law, especially the "breaking it"part?

Is that too much to ask??

Everything I thought I knew 

(and very little, just the basics)

about copyrights and infringements 

was apparently and unintentionally all wrong.

Okay, maybe it is just me, maybe ignorance is bliss, but not after 
you unintentionally commit copyright infringement.

This happened to me last night on my other blog.

I promised myself and the person I wronged 

that I would not write another post until I researched

and gained more knowledge on the laws of blogging

and copyright so I can save myself the future 

embarrassment and maybe jail time.

I think I can honestly say that what I did was 

by no means to intentionally break any laws.

I do know that ignorance and lack of knowledge

is no excuse for what I did.  

Back in my mind, maybe I knew I wasn't supposed to 

copy someones post and put it on my blog.

But, in my defense, I credited the author three times on

the post and never once played it off like it was mine.

I gave credit where credit was due.

Don't get me wrong, I understand how 

important copyright is and that it is definitely 

something that needs to be in place, but I am only human

and humans make dumb mistakes even unknowingly.

Luckily, the author, as freaked out as she was, said please 

when asking me to take down the post.

So of course I immediately took it down when I got the 

email before 8:00am Eastern Time.  

Now, here is what I thought I knew:
**Always give credit where credit is due
**Always link posts and articles back to author and site
  **Always let the author know that their post,
article, informational stuff, etc. was used by sending 
them a link to my post and thanking them
**Never use anyone's personal family/friends 
photos on my blog because, well, 
they are personal and private.
**Use a disclaimer that states that I do not 
own the pictures I am just sharing them but always
cite the source, site, and owner if known. 

While all that above may not be in compliance 
with the copyright laws as i know them now,
 it is what I thought to be true to the 
best of my knowledge before last night.

What I know now:
**Assume Nothing!
**Each person can set their own rules on
 copyright according to their needs as they see fit.
**Seek out and find if a blog has a copyright policy
and abide by it before embarking on "sharing"
**All pictures are owned by someone, somewhere.  
Must credit and provide source on all pictures. 
Or you assume that you are breaking the law
 and someone can sue you for using their pictures. 

Now be aware that everything I said about pictures 

means that liability is still an issue. Copyright
 is violated if you have never gotten permission 
from the owner to use them regardless 

if you cited the name, site, and source of picture. 

This goes for creative commons, public domains, and so on.

**According to Copyright.gov, fair use "The distinction between 
what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will 
not always be clear or easily defined. There is no specific 
number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken 
without permission. Acknowledging the source of the 
copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission."

**Only use snippets or excerpts from another author's work.

Do not duplicate (or copy and paste like I did) someone's 

full post, article, information piece, etc. 

Always share the link back to their post 

and credit them on your posts.

**Assume something is copyrighted until proven otherwise

Okay, how's all this sound?
Am I close to understanding copyrights?

I promise to never make the mistake again that I made last night.

Blogger and Author Roni Loren's
wants to tell everyone what happened to her when 
she randomly copied a picture from the Internet 
and posted it on her blog.


Bloggers Beware: You CAN Get Sued For 

Using Pics on Your Blog - My Story

More than just blogging

Day 12 of the 30 Day Blog-a-Day Challenge

Day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge

So, I just figured something out.  

Sometimes, okay most of the time, 

I just sit down at the computer and 

blog about whatever comes to my mind.

Sometimes I research articles, 

sometimes I look online for a topic to write about.

But mostly, I just write, post, and blog from my mind.

So, yes I write to find out what I didn't know I knew (Robert Frost).

For me, writing is more than just blogging, it is a chance to unleash my mind.

It is a chance to look inside my deep, dark soul.  

I am letting parts of me out for the first time.

Sometimes what I blog about is distressing, sometimes upbeat, 

sometimes down right real.

But I am more than my diagnosis.
I am a deep, interesting, beautiful on the inside person.

I love with all my heart, care with all my being, forgive easily but never forget.

I am grateful for hope inside my soul that keeps me going day after day, 

no matter how bad things may seem for me.

This is why writing for me is so much more than just blogging.

It is now a keen part of my soul.
One thing I do know for sure, it is what 

I was meant to do!

So I am here to stay, Haters!

To my supporters, I promise to always be me and keep it real!

Never a dull moment at Being Positive with a Depressive Soul, that's for sure!

Thanks everyone!

Much Love to All!

 

The A Ha! Moments of a Sad, :Lonely Blogger

'

Day 6 of the 31 Day Blog-a-Day Challenge 

1.  Actually finding the right quote that explains simply yet 
 exactly how you feel in the darkness 
in the depths of your soul.

2.  And then having the feeling of pure excitement set in 
and out blurts "Hey, I have to blog this."
Now that is Blog Love!

3.  Finally after a year of blogging, 
it  hit me that I still have my very own blog.
I can still actually post and blog about whatever I felt like.
I had really found my voice and it wanted to write.
**Freedom**

4.  I am now so delighted that I finally found a hobby that

 I actually enjoy so much that I stuck with it this long.

Blogging has definitely filled a void in my life. 

It has given me confidence to succeed at something.

It is all good, I got this!!

5. Lastly but gratefully, I have found a lot of totally cool, 

very awesome bloggers and blogs. The blogging process and all that goes with it keeps me very busy and that my friends is a good thing.

Too Stressed to Sleep Like Me?!?

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Luckily, I came across a great post

  from Saffron Lallem of Saffy Style. 

She gives some tips on getting the

 rest you need when you are too stressed to sleep.

 How to Get to Sleep If You are Stressed

- Keep a notebook by your bed to scribble down ideas or those last minute worries. Often I think of something late at night and by the morning I have forgotten.

- Don't use anything with a screen when trying to fall asleep. 

No mobiles, laptops or TVs will help you fall asleep. This is because they have a backlight which stimulates your eyes. Reading a book under light just bright enough to read in is fine.

- Don't start reading a novel before bed.
It will get your mind wrapped up in the story if you stop halfway through. It's best to read poems or short stories.

- Relax.
If you try really hard to fall asleep, you won't because you are concentrating too hard. Instead clear your mind and think of happy thoughts.

- Think nice things.
For two reasons think of nice things:
1. It's easier to fall asleep with happy thoughts instead of bad ones churning through your head.

2. If you suffer from nightmares, you may have better dreams if you are not thinking of things that worry you.

Thank you Saffron@SaffyStyle for these great tips. I cannot wait to try some out!  I have not slept in years due to my illnesses.  If nothing else these tips will help quiet my chaotic mind.

Disclaimer: The tips in this post are not mine. I did not pass them off as my own nor did I ever intend to do so. I give all credit where credit is due to Saffron Lallem and in by doing so I have a total of 4 links back to her blog post and her google+ account.  I posted her tips with her permission. The picture is from the Facebook.  The owner is unknown.

Blog Challenge Day 3

http://delectablydawn.com/blog-a-day-challenge-blog-hop/

Today is the 3rd day of the 30 Day Blog Challenge!

I found this little goodie on the Facebook page Fight Like a Girl Club

I will never give up the fight.  

Depression will not defeat me.

I am a survivor.  I will be okay.

I am strong enough to live this life I was given.

You better believe that I will make every 

moment count to the very end.

Am I really up for another blogging challenge?

http://delectablydawn.com/blog-a-day-challenge-blog-hop/

Thanks to Jackie@thenonmarthamomma for letting me
join the 30 Day Blog Challenge (I am only a day late) and to
Dawn@delectablydawn for coming up with the idea of the
one blog a day challenge. There are no topics to follow and no
 rules for the challenge.  Just blog once a day from June
24 to July 23, 2013. This is just a fun way to get in the habit of
blogging everyday. And what better way to get everyone in the mood
for a blog challenge is to have a blog hop to go with it! 

Let the fun begin!

If you would care to join us, just link your blog to the Blog Hop,
grab a badge for your blog, follow the blog hops rules,
 and then let Jackie@thenonmarthamomma know so she
can add your blog to her list that she will put after
every blog challenge post. This in turn will help all the
bloggers to gain more exposure, increase their blog
 traffic, and gain new followers.

I will be making at least one post a day for
30 days from June 24 to July 23, 2013 for your reading pleasure.
Since I am a day behind, I am counting this post as
two posts, if no one minds.  Of course, everyone is fine with it.
This challenge is meant to be fun and lighthearted,
right, just nod and say yes. Besides I did double up on this post by
blogging about the challenge and the blog hop.
How's that for being efficient (ok, lazy)?!?

Now, I did my very first blog challenge back in April. 

Let me tell you, it was hard but I am so proud of myself for finishing
the whole challenge and making it to the end.
I never finish what I start, 

so I was shocked on how disciplined I was. 

I have never been so proud of myself.  I rocked!

Then the next two challenges I started ended miserably.  

I started them and what do you know, I couldn't finish them.
I couldn't stay focused, couldn't concentrate.
Damn you depression and chronic fatigue!

But now I am back and ready to try it again!
Can she do it folks?!?  Only time will tell.

Challenge Accepted!

Two Awards in one week, Wow! Speechless

**Thanks to Lana@aMomaholic and

Marty@MartysThoughtsonLifeandMoney 

for being such kind and nice bloggers and

nominating me for two Liebster Awards this

past week.  I am utterly honored and shocked

that someone likes me, really, really likes

me and my blog LOL  Thanks again!**

A small history on the the Liebster Blog Award.  It is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. “Liebster” is German for “favorite”. This award is the “favorite blog award”. You have to nominate 5-11 bloggers with less than 200 readers.

To accept the nomination, I have to complete the tasks below:

• Link back to the blog that nominated you,
• Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers,
• Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator,
• Share 11 random facts about yourself,
• Create 11 questions for your nominees, and
• Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them.

**Random Facts About Me**

1.  I am a Leo
2.  I have 6 tattoos
3.  I have a female miniature Vietnamese potbellied pig named Waffles
4.  I will be 43 next month and have never been married (yet, still hoping for love, but seem to be looking in all the wrong places LOL)
5.  I am totally addicted to Diet Mountain Dew
6.  All I want for my birthday is some home made peanut butter fudge
7.  I have been car less for a whole month and I can't stand it!
8.  I want to move as soon as I can, time for a change
9.  I love the show Breaking Bad and cannot wait for August to come.  The final episodes will be shown.
10.  I love the color pink and brown together
11.  I just adore my blogs, like they are a part of me.  I guess it is like having two more children LOL

Here are my questions from Lana@aMomaholic

1. What profession are you in?  I am an Administrative Services Assistant for a private non-profit community action agency.

2. Do you love your job?  I don't love it, but I like it and I am glad that I still have a job due to funding cuts (been there 12 years, but nobody is safe).

3. Do you have kids?  I have one daughter, she will be 17 next month

4. What is your favorite time of day and why?  Of course 4:30 pm on Friday afternoons.  I work Monday through Friday and live for the weekends LOL

5. Where would you rather be right now? On vacation,somewhere, anywhere other than here in Indiana...It has been a long while since I have had a real vacation, can't you tell LOL

6. If you could change one thing about your house what would it be?  That I owned it and that I could add on, it is only about 950 square feet, very small, but we rent so I was only dreaming :)

7. Do you have pets?  We are not supposed to have pets but we have a female Vietnamese potbellied black pig named Waffles.  She is a star now, has her own facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/WafflesThePiggy)

8. Why do you blog?  I have always wanted to write and be heard.  Blogging has been a dream come true.  I blog to stay sane, to help others, and to win these awards.  They make me feel important and feel accepted in the blogosphere.

9. If you had to do the same one thing each day for the rest of your life what would that one thing be?  I don't know, I wanted to say eat chocolate but that is for the next question.  I guess it would be to be active all the time.  Chronic Fatigue and excessive day time sleepiness doesn't let me be active very often.

10. If you had to eat the same food everyday (one food) what would it be?  Chocolate and Donuts, without the weight gain of course.

11. Ocean or land?  I love the ocean, the sand, the sound, the peacefulness but I only get in up to my knees LOL not much of a swimmer.

And Now Here are the Questions from Marty@Marty'sThoughtsonLifeandMoney

1. Why did you start blogging?  I wanted to fulfill my dream to write and be heard, to make a difference in someones life no matter how small the difference is.
2. What is your favorite thing to blog about?  Me, of course, and my wildly chaotic,  extremely stressful, yet lonely life LOL

  3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?  Some place that I haven't been before, like California or England, Australia.  I need a vacation LOL
4. How do you handle a stressful day?  Wow, right up my alley, sometimes I cry, sometimes I sleep, and sometimes I blog about it.
5. What's your favorite quote?  "Be patient my soul, thou has suffered worse than this."--Homer

6. What projects are you working on right now?   I am working toward finding a car and finding a place to live all the while waiting for a miracle.Just surviving each day. 

7. On average how much time a week do you spend blogging or doing blog related activities? 
Not as much as I would like.  Usually very tired, due to chronic fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness caused by sleep apnea.   I try to spend as much time online as I can on the weekends with just minimal posting during the week.

8. Who is the most important person in your life?  I guess that would be my daughter, she is my reason to live.  

9. What do you do to monetize your blog?  I put up adds on my blog.  I put adds for websites and if someone clicks on it and signs up I get a teeny percentage.  I need to take the time to read more on your blog because I am not real sure of all the ways I can make money.

10. What's your greatest achievement?  After having my daughter and getting my Associate Degree, I would say making the decision to become a blogger.  Best thing I could have ever done for me :)

11. What advice would you give a new blogger?  Don't hesitate, jump right in, learn everything you can.  Be patient, it will take time to learn all about blogging.  I have been blogging over a year and still have a lot to learn.  But I am in a comfortable place in the blogosphere.  The first step is finding your voice and then the rest will come eagerly to you.  Blogging should be something you enjoy.  It is something that is yours to do with what you see fit.  If it isn't working out for you, find something else that brings you more joy.

Okay, I have answered all my questions, so I now have to name my nominees and post my questions that I want them to answer.  Phew, It is tough being an award nominee, but somebody has to do it. Well I decided to do some looking around the blogosphere in search of new blogs for me to entertain me and came across these great ladies and their awesome blogs :)

My nominees are:

Michiko@theressometingaboutmichiko

Melissa@howtolivehappilyeverafter(inspiteofgrimmreality)

Monica@self-proclaimedfunnygirl

Ida@secondchancesgirl

Jeannine@scatteredvenus


Here are my questions that are to be answered by my award nominees:

1.  Why did you decide to become a blogger?

2.  What do you do for fun?

3.  If you weren't blogging, what would you be doing?

4.  Chocolate or Peanut Butter?

5.  Capris or shorts?

6.  Do you have any advice for other bloggers?

7.  Black or white?

8.  What do you do to relieve stress?

9.  Do you use your blog to make money?

10.  Do you have any children?

11.  Favorite song?

Congratulations Ladies!

Nominees, if you accept my award nomination, just follow the way I did it on my post! 
Just something fun to do.  You get to find and get to
 know new and awesome blogs and bloggers.

Thanks again Lana and Marty!  You guys are awesome! Much <3 strong="">

Free Blogging Class, Yes I Said Free!!!

Sign Up For The Free 4-Week Online Blogging Class!

Heads Up: This offer ends June 30th!

Blogelina is once again offering her very popular 4-week blogging class — for FREE! This online class will be held in July 2013.

If you sign up for this free class, here’s what you’ll get:

**A class manual – packed with 60 pages of information that will help take the overwhelming out of starting your own blog
**4 weekly online class sessions where you can ask your questions and get personalized feedback
**A FREE year of web hosting.
**Blueprints, step-by-step tutorials, networking with other bloggers - Everything you need to grow your blog.

Save yourself a lot of time, trouble, and money – learn from my own experiences what to do and not to do.

Go here to sign up for the FREE 4-week blogging class.

Check this out!

 

Zoe @rewritten has finally given her acceptance speech to the Best Moment Blogging Award that I nominated her for and it is a hoot!  Awesome Entertainment! 

You will love it!  GO NOW!  You won't be sorry!  I promise!  I wouldn't lead you astray!

 

http://rewritten-redo.blogspot.com/2013/06/here-are-rules-for-best-moment-award.html

 

 

         

June 2013 Photo a Day Challenge

Well, I managed to find a blogging challenge
for the month of June. It is a photo a day challenge.
It is already day 3, I got this!

http://www.theidearoom.net/2013/05/june-photo-a-day-challenge-2013.html

I love color, 

all colors! 
But I have to 

say that the color
 pink is one of my favorites.

                   Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Jamie on Pinterest

     

  

Source: laurenconrad.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Pink will always be one 
of my favorites. The color 
pink 

makes me feel pretty and that makes me fabulous on the inside!

Color Your World!

Disclaimer:  Most of the pics I will post will be from the Internet, Pinterest, Facebook, and where ever else I can find photos to use.  If I know who to credit the photo to then I will credit the author.  All photos from the Internet are not my own and I am not the original owner. Some of the photos may have ownership already stamped on it.