Ten Questions

Jyl over at And So It Goes nominated me to answer these 10 questions on my blog.  Since I am trying to get back into blogging on a more regular basis, I thought I would oblige :)

1) How did you decide on your blog name?

I started this blog back in 2004, and I think I was at a loss of what to call it.  So because it is my thoughts on day to day things, I went with Angie's 2 Cents.  Not the most exciting name, but it seems to work.

2) How has blogging enhanced your life?

I have gotten pretty slack with writing posts over the last few years.  I was quite diligent in my first few years.  But I think once social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram took off, I really stopped blogging.  It takes more thought and effort and especially with Fiona, I have less time to sit down at the computer, so most of my online posts are done on my phone.  And typing a blog on my phone does not sound like fun. 

To answer the question....haha....I appreciate this blog, as a sort of a journal of the last 11 years of my life.  I like to go back and read old posts to see what I was up to 5 or 8 years ago, etc.  I also think it is interesting how many people I have met through blogs.  Not specifically my own blog, but I had a friend who blogged, and her brother blogged, so I followed a couple of the people he had linked in his blog, and some people that they had linked in their blogs.  So from my one friend, I have connected with a number of people at least online or on Facebook.  It can be an awfully small world.

3) What tip would you offer new bloggers?

I am not sure.  Write about what you know and what you enjoy.

4)  What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I have to agree with Jyl on the Netflix.  These days, once the baby is in bed, and I am avoiding doing the productive things I should be doing, I can be found with my feet up watching Doctor Who. 

5)  What are you reading now?

I started reading The Rosie Project by Graeme C. Simsion when I was in Swift Current at the end of July.  It was quite interesting, but I haven't picked it back up since I got home.  I should spend more time reading, and less time watching Doctor Who!  Haha

6)  What are 3 things you can't live without?

Family/friends, lip balm and pizza 

7)  What season is easiest to dress for?  And what is your favorite season?

I am such a lazy dresser....when you work at home, and you're a new mom, most of my clothes look the same all year round, haha!  I think my favorite season is late summer/early fall.  When it is still nice enough to be outside without a heavy jacket but cool enough that you at least need a sweater.  I love the leaves changing and the smells of fall. 

8) What would you love to get paid to do now?

I have just been thinking lately about going back to school.  When I think back to the jobs I have done over the years, one that I enjoyed was working in a lab where we tested soil samples for different minerals and elements.  I just enjoyed working in a lab setting.  I think once Fiona is in school I may go back to school to get some training and then I could work in a lab, maybe.

9)  What is your favorite place to visit?

I have not done a lot of traveling in my life, but if I could revisit one place tomorrow, I would choose Vandusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver.  It was beautiful and quiet.  One of my favorite stops on that trip.

10)  Have you ever done anything that has taken you out of your comfort zone?  If so, what?

The one thing that comes to mind is speaking in front of our church.  Any time I have spoken in front of a group of people it is outside my comfort zone.  A few years ago our church did a series on marriage.  Each week the pastor had a couple from the church get up and share a personal experience based on the theme for the week.  I am pretty sure when he asked us to share it was about serving each other.  It was pretty scary when we first got up there, but we had some good things to share and a lot of people approached us after the service to tell us how much they appreciated what we had shared.

 

I was looking at my blog statistics and for some reason, one of the key words that someone searched that brought them to my page was 'turkey named angie'.  Uh....ooooookay.....haha!  I tried searching that, and after looking through 2 or 3 pages of Google search results I didn't see my blog.  Weird!

1000th post!

Seven years and five months later....I am still blogging.  Somedays I wonder why I have a blog.  I think that blogs are in some ways becoming a thing of the past.  People would much rather communicate via Facebook or Twitter.  I don't mind keeping a blog, but sometimes I feel like I don't have much worth saying.  Is my life really that interesting that people will keep coming back to read what I have to say?  I know I am not a great writer but I guess I have set out to just share my thoughts and the happenings in my life, and that is what I have done.

I am getting a little excited.  Why, you ask?  Tomorrow we will bid farewell to Jay's van.  It is the van that he had when we first met and it has served us well.  After some frustrating concerns about the pneumatic suspension over the last year or so, we decided it was time to think about getting a new van.  The new vans do not have pneumatic suspension, and generally seem to have a better set up that is less likely to run into these problems.

When we started to look at getting a new van, we were under the impression that we would trade the existing van in, as there is not much of a market for modified vehicles.  However, after going to Golden Mobility to check out new modified vehicle to see what was out there, Jason ran into a man and his wife who were in the market for a used modified van.  In the last two weeks they have been in communication and have come to an agreement of a price that is substantially more than Golden Mobility would be willing to offer for trade in.  The only catch is that Jay will be without independent transportation for up to three weeks (hopefully not longer...).  Golden Mobility is willing to lend us a loaner van that I can use to drive Jay around, but it is not something he can drive on his own.  At least he is not stuck with no ability to leave the house for three weeks.

I think the thing about the new van that I am most excited about is the ability for both of us to drive it.  They are able to make the driver/passenger seats interchangeable.  So if we go on a longer road trip, we can share the driving duties.  Or if we go somehwere picturesque, I can drive and Jay can be a passenger and take photos.  I am also really excited about the amount of cargo space in the back.  In the current van, the spare tire and a box with the compressor/valves/etc for the pneumatic suspension take up at least half of the space behind the back seat.  I think traveling will be quite pleasant in the new van.  Can't wait :)  

Redecorating

I am not much of a home decor sort of person.  I love pretty decorated houses, but I just don't have an eye for those things.  However, I decided after five or more years of the same old blog template that it was time for something new!  Ta da!  I thought it was kind of fun :)

You can still find all the same blog links along the right hand side, and if you scroll down the page, just below that is my twitter feed.  Down at the VERY bottom of the page I also added a counter to keep track of how many visitors I have each month.

Feel free to browse around and enjoy your visit :)

Comments are back!

Thanks to my brilliant husband, my comments are back! I still have lost my Haloscan comments, but I am glad to have my comments back! Thanks Jason :)

Google Analytics

I was looking at my report tonight for the last month and thought it was pretty cool that I have had visitors here from Malaysia, Australia, France, Great Britain, the USA and Canada. Sometimes I wonder if anyone reads this space. I know I read a lot of blogs and I don't always leave comments, but I do often comment, and people wonder where I came from, and who I am. Sometimes I randomly follow links from other people's blogs until I come across something worth reading. Or occasionally I read an interesting comment on someone else's blog and follow the links that way. I had over 600 visits to this site in the last month. I am not sure exactly how many of those visits were me, or if it takes that stuff into account. I would imagine it does. I think I am getting close to 700 posts, and in January it'll be FIVE years since I started blogging. I know that this blog is not the most exciting blog to read, however, I find it quite interesting to randomly pick an archive link and see what I was up to in a certain month of the last four or five years.