Blogging tip

So I know some of you won't be interested in this post at all, but for those of you that have recently started blogging or are thinking about starting a blog, I thought I'd share a nifty new website I just came across and show everyone how to use it to edit the title of your blog.  Or for those of you that aren't interested in blogging, it's still a neat way to get access to some new fonts.

Here is how I created this new header:

1. Go to http://www.dafont.com/
2. Click one of the font types listed at the top (i.e., caligraphy, handwritten)
3. You can preview what all the fonts look for a certain word or phrase by typing it in the custom preview.  You can edit the size of the font displayed and the numbers displayed using the filters at the top
4. Once you've found a font you like, click download
5. Save the file (I saved it to the desktop to easily find it later)
6. Right click on the zip file on your desktop, then click "extract all"
7. Specify the location you want to extract the file to (or leave it on the default) and click "extract"
8. Once the file has been extracted, right click on the file then click "install."  These instructions may be slightly different if you are not using Microsoft Vista.  Click here for details.
9. When you open Microsoft Word the name of your font will automatically be included in the dropdown box
10. Experiment with the font until you've found the one you like, it's the right size, and it's the right color.  Make a screen print of the font
11. Save the file as an image
12. Open blogger, click on "design", then click on the "edit" button in the header section
13. Browse for the image, upload, and save
14. Click on "preview" to see what the new header looks like in your blog
15. Play around until you find something you like.  If you get stuck, post a comment and I'd be happy to help

Here's a little video I made using screen-cast-o-matic showing how I completed these steps.  By the way, screen-cast-o-matic is a pretty nifty tool in and of itself.  It's a web-based (and free!) way to record what you're doing on your computer screen.  Once you've recorded the video its super easy to automatically upload your videos to YouTube. 



If you liked this post, you may want to check out this post where I explain why I think everyone should have a blog, and how to use shabby chic blogger templates to customize your blog background.  Happy blogging everyone :)

Thank you anonymous donor

This Sunday Kevin's sister and brother-in-law offered us an impromptu invitation to go check out Lauritzen Gardens with their family.  His sister mentioned something about Christmas stuff and trains and since neither Kevin or I had been there before, it was free admission, it was close to downtown, and a good chance to visit with the family, it was the perfect invitation.  We spent about 15 minutes digging out gloves, hats, and scarfs, etc., assuming that since it was called Lauritzen Gardens that this little adventure would entail... well, gardens.  When we arrived, we were excited to instead find a nice warm building full of plants and model train sets.

Kevin's nieces and nephews were freaking adorable as usual.  I just loved the little headband that little baby J. had in in her hair!

My favorite part was as the neat wooden model buildings of historic sites around Omaha.  Here's the Woodmen building and Central High School (my dad went to high school there back in the day).

Thank you Mr. (or Mrs!) Anonymous donor who paid for all of Omaha's free admission into Lauritzen Gardens every Sunday in December.  We had a lovely time.

Oh and I hope you guys like the new look of the blog.  I decided I wanted a change from the teal and yellow.  Do you guys like the change?  Hate it?  I'll post something in the next day or two explaining how I created the new blog header.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday.

Hair Styles of Christmas Past

Kevin prefers long hair and I'm lazy when it comes to getting my hair cut, which means my hair has gotten progressively longer since we met in early 2008.  Today I have the longest hair I've ever had in my life.  I've started getting sort of an itch for a change, so I thought I'd look at some of the hairstyles from the past... here goes the hair style flash back!

2010:  Long!

2009: Medium-ish with bangs

2007-2008:  Medium with and without bangs

2006: Short!

And just for fun... 1993 

Let's just say my mom's hair dresser skills left a little to be desired.  Love ya mom :)

Anybody have a vote?  What about a hair dresser recommendation in Omaha?

P.S. - Kevin looked at the computer when I was putting the pictures together, and was like "Weirdo, why are you making a collage of yourself?"  Ha!

Pre-baby bucket list

  

Most people that know me well, know that I love to plan.  I was planning for college when I was a freshman in high school; I vigorously planned myself through college and ended up finishing my undergraduate degree unexpectedly early; I bought my first house before I was out of college; I diligently obsessively planned our wedding and honeymoon; and would you expect anything less, but I'm already planning the next big phase in our lives:  babies!  Don't get too excited yet mom and dad.... keep reading :)  This time, I'm determined to not rush into the next phase but to to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the present.  I know this is extremely sappy, but I'm so very much in love with my husband Kevin, and want to just enjoy our time as newlyweds.  And I know he's going to make a fabulous dad one day, but it doesn't need to be tomorrow, or next month, or even next year.

So in that light, we've created a pre-baby bucket list of all of the things we hope to accomplish before we tackle our next big adventure.  I say hope, because sometimes life takes some unexpected twists, and by no means would our lives be devastated if a baby came earlier than expected, but I'd love, love, love it if we could make it through this list first.

So here it goes, my pre-baby bucket list!

1.  Visit two foreign countries.  Mexico and Canada don’t count.  Maybe somewhere like Istanbul, Turkey and South Africa??

2.  Take a cooking class together.

3.  Go on a vacation with our friends... maybe to go watch the Nebraska Cornhuskers play in the Big 12 Championship or heck, maybe even at the National Championship (we can hope right)? 

4.  Go camping, sleep in a tent, and build our own fire.

5.  Get in the habit of praying together often and out-loud.

6.  Pay off Kevin’s car and my MBA loan and save at least $2,000 dollars to spend on baby stuff.

7.  Get in the habit of keeping my bathroom and closet clean.

8.  Get good at yoga.

9.  Be the maid of honor in Emily’s wedding.

10.  Have 15 sleepovers with our nieces and nephews (and my little brother Jonah!) and spoil them rotten (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen)

11.  Finish our MBA’s and throw a huge party to celebrate.

12.  Do something nice for our parents, like… really nice (Kevin's parents, My parents).

13.  Take up photography.

14.  Get a fish and keep it alive for a year.

15.  Get a tattoo  : )

So there you have it - 15 things to accomplish!  Am I completely crazy or does anyone else have a pre-baby bucket list?

Big 12 championship!

All the stars lined up last weekend and both Kevin and I had to travel for work to the Dallas area (I spent last week in Fort Worth, and Kevin is in Shreveport, Louisiana this week).  We were able both able to extend our work trips to meet over the weekend in Arlington, Texas and got to go to the Big 12 Championship game over the weekend.  Thank you Union Pacific!  Our good friends the Trout's from Minneapolis joined us and we also met up with a bunch of other friends that came down for the game.  It was an awesome day until the very last minute of the game... Good guys lost, Bad guys won!  Huskers 20; Oklahoma 23.

Even though we lost, it was a great trip.  The weather was beautiful, we had a great day with friends, and the stadium was absolutely incredible.  Trivia fact:  The Cowboy's Stadium is the largest dome in the world with the biggest HD television in the world.  Doesn't it sort of look like one huge space ship just landed right in the middle of Texas?

Please forgive my obnoxious sunglasses in all these pictures.  The finest the gas station had to offer! 

And of course, I brought the flip along for the ride.  Friday at the piano bar, Saturday at the game.


Big 12 Game from Amanda Kohler on Vimeo.