Cute Announcement Graphic courtesy of G a b r i e l l e




Icons courtesy of Tabz
















Buttons courtesy of G a b r i e l l e





Icon courtesy of Christina


Carnival Graphic courtesy of Carolyn



And me

Submission Guidelines (The Carnival is for Members of the Blogroll Only)
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 1
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 2
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 3
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 4
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 5
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 6 Dream Theme
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 7 Summer Theme
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 8 Favorite Things Theme
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 9 Blogging Love Theme
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #10
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #11
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #12
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #13 Sept. 11
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #14
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #15 Fall Theme
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #16 New Year's Resolution Review
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #17 Mistakes
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #18 A Fall Feast
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #19 Holidays Made Easier
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #20 Thanksgiving
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #21 Favorite Holiday Recipes
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #22 Laughter
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #23 Christmas
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #24 Looking Back or Forward
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #25
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #26
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #27 What I've Learned From Blogging
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #28
The Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #29 Love Theme
The Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #30
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #31
Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #32 Book Theme

I will put up the poll on Wednesday

So, you will have more time to make your voice be heard :-). I got busy redesigning the Metablog and didn't get around to doing it.

Arrggghhhh!

My greatest fear has been realized! With having four blogs and a test blog I am always concerned that I will post to the wrong blog, I did that this morning. If you saw a post just now talking about a murder mystery book, that was meant for my other blog.

I did mention in that post that I would be putting up a poll in a little while on what will be our theme for Carnival #6. The choices will be what I find in the comment section of the posts. There's still time to submit a suggestion. I will be generating the poll sometime tonight.

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #4

Updated to add: OOPS! It seems that Shalee didn't make it into the Carnival and this time I can't understand why since I remember putting her in it (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). Shalee, I'm sooo sorry! Here it is:

Do you need to join Bloggers Anonymous? Join Shalee at the next BA meeting. Yes, refreshments will be served.

Thank you to all the chicks who sent me a submission. Please let me know if you sent me an entry and it's not here. Please don't forget to link to the Carnival. And as you can see we have a new Carnival graphic. You can email me if you want the code with the link to the Carnival included. And I want to apologize to those who already received the Carnival graphic, I didn't realize how huge the thing was. I've shrunk it by 50% as you can see from the one here.

According to Eileen, "the cowboy mystique, however you define it, is alive and well in Texas! It exists in me, and in anyone who has ever seen the vast reaches of the Southwest and wished they could visit the open range as it was 150 years ago.I long to ride a wild mustang, hair flying behind me, face to the wind; just me, my horse and an incredible sunset." Feed your inner cowgirl at Texas RV Travel.

Brandi feels that every blogging chick should cuddle up to a good book. And as blogging chicks, why not check out a book in the Chick-Lit Genre. Check out Brandi's latest Chick-Lit review on The Secret Life of Becky Miller

Great Day talks about the crazy weekend with her family, surviving encounters with her Mother In Law, Sister in Law and the funny, funny things that kids say. Where do they come up with this stuff?

Lessons from the mat- her yoga mat, that is, has Regina Clare Jane pondering on the value of each pose she does and how sometimes the easiest ones are the most challenging... and just how like losing focus during a yoga practice can be a lot like losing focus during a marriage...

It's Dawn against the world...well the City at least...read about her battle here...

Maritzia reveals a bit of herself in the "If I were…" meme making it's way around the internet.

"Essential" has been the word running through Tess's mind lately.

Kailani of The Pink Diary says, "I Am Blessed"

Jennifer, Snapshot looks at weeds in her garden and her life.

JenLo at Thinks by Me writes a letter to those who benefit from her husband's emergency volunteer efforts.

Polly at Life is a Buffet says it's time to get off the elevator and let go of the baggage. Warning: This post may cause motion sickness.

Robin over at PENSIEVE has been both entertained and challenged by the SBC's decision to pass a resolution essentially prohibiting just about anything to do with alcohol. Read what she and several others had to say about this hot topic and add your Blogging Chicks comments to the conversation.

Self-proclaimed Christian author and literary celebrity Ann Lamott has written a controversial article recounting how she assisted in the suicide of a terminally ill friend. When Katy questions Lamott’s commitment to Christ, she is asked “Do YOU Know Jesus”? Here is her response in the context of the debate over euthanasia.

Beth realized that she no longer wants to take everyone else's opinion on social and political issues. It's become very important to her to educate herself and form her own opinions on what really matters in this life. Ignorance is not an option anymore.

Tricia of Tricia's Musings: When medical tests and the preparation for them go terribly wrong.

Late night adventures with a black masked creature, Tricia needs your helpful advice as to how to take her garden back from these watchful beings.

The top five Sounds of Parenthood Rebecca Grabill did not want to hear today, can be found at her blog, Of Making Many Books. Wishing you all a better day.

Is God looking at your heart, or does He rejoice when you memorize Scripture. Read how Iris feels about memorizing Scripture in her post titled The Matters of the Heart.

Jana reveals what happens when you combine one toad and four boys.

On this holiday weekend Malissa muses about the beauty of America.

Here's what happens when Writer Wife meets Editor Husband!

Michele of Reformed Chicks Blabbing looks at the potential hollowness of education in America.

Cathy of Sunday Morning Coffee is posting a history lesson on a couple of American Revolution heroes.

Please Download Firefox

Ladies, some of you have very beautiful blogs that I know have taken a long time to design. They look stunning...in Internet Explorer but in Firefox? Not so much. This happened to me when I first started messing with the templates. I thought that I did a get job when I added a graphic to the title bar of my blog and I was so pleased with the results until I downloaded Firefox and realized that the graphics was not centered properly. Very annoying and embarassing.

A lot of people use Firefox and so you need to see what they are seeing when they come to your blog. If you don't believe that you have many Firefox readers, go check your stats. More than half my readers this morning use Firefox as their browser.

Firefox is easy to download and install. Just click the graphic to download it. You can still use Internet Explorer but you will really be impressed with how nice Firefox is. It has a lot of great features like searching on the same word in different search engines all within one input box and you can add whatever search engine you want.

It also has tabbed windows. Instead of opening a new window, I can just open a new tab and do all my work within one window. Very cool feature. And there are tons off other features that I haven't had time to explore yet. Go to the link and read about some of the more important ones.

Updated to add: Little Orange Fox made this excellent point in the comments:

If you have dial up like me it cuts load time in half on everything to have firefox! It's like having high speed internet.

Another reason to get it that I forgot to mention, speed. It's a heck of a lot faster than IE.

Carnival #6

You have until this Sunday to leave a comment about the Carnival #6 topic and then I will put it to the vote after that. So far we have a number of good possiblities so keep leaving comments. What topic should we all blog about for Carnival #6?

Introduction: Tracey from Chai Time Blog

My name is Tracey and, like many of us women, wear a multitude of hats. I’m married, have two boys (14 and 10yrs.) who I home schooled from the beginning (but one of them is now in high school). I care for my father who had a stroke in 1998. He lives with us (that should be a whole blog on its own). I am also a seven year breast cancer survivor.

I am the Vice President and Training Director for a ministry organization that serves the disadvantaged (with an emphasis on the mentally ill) and I am currently attending Seminary where I am working toward my Master’s Degree in Biblical Counseling.

I love to write (I have a novel in progress) and garden. After much genealogical research I discovered I have a Jewish background on both sides of my family after spending my whole life inexplicably interested in all things Jewish, and have been a student of Judaism for over fifteen years. This informs my faith in many ways, for example, our family has integrated Jewish observances into our faith and observe the Sabbath (Friday night to Saturday night), Pesach (Passover), Chanukah, and other holidays.

Carnival Graphics -- Thank you, Carolyn!

Hey! We have new graphics that you can use to announce the Carnival each week! They were created for me by a new blogger, who was just added to the blogroll today. Go check our her cute blog (and when you go there you will see why I called it cute -- that's the first thought you have when you look at it, "Isn't this cute"):

Instructional Videos

There are some on the blogroll who don't know that much about the technical side of blogging. For them I've made two videos that I've put on my Life Under the Sun blog. Here is a video on how to post a graphic in Blogger and here is a video on how to create a hyperlink in Blogger (so that you don't have a messy address in your post).

If there is anything else you would like me to demonstrate in Blogger, let me know.

Thank You Everyone and Future Carnivals

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who linked to the Carnival especially those who weren't in it. Please continue to advertise the Carnival because I think it will have a positive affect for the blogroll.

Next week's Carnival and the following week's Carnival will be current postings only but I would like the following week after that (Carnival #6), to be a theme Carnival and I'm going to let you guys pick the theme. What should we blog about? Let me know in the comment section.

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #3

Updated to add: I forgot one! So, sorry to Christina! Here it is:

Christina is inspired and uplifted when she sees the world through the eyes of a fifteen-month old li'l girl.

Please don't forget to link to the Carnival and if you emailed me a entry and you don't see it here let me know and I will post it.

Mary of Owlhaven tells why she Really Oughta Share Next Time...

Ever wonder why motherhood so hard? Shalee, of Shalee’s Diner, thinks she has this mystery solved… until something else changes.

Chi says of her What a Day post, "It is about an incident of animal abuse that sheba, one of my chihuahuas, experienced a few months ago."

Truevyne ruminates with Rumi and her personal struggle with waiting.

Julie over at Another Chance Ranch has a mortifying moment at the golf course.

Of Making Many Books there is not end for writer and mom of three, Rebecca Grabill. The Night of the Evil Gnomes explains everything, or at least why CBA publishers disdain faith-based fantasy.

a rambling blog weighs in on the mental illness stigma.

PENSIEVE discovers the lasting and positive influence her father had (and continues to have) in her life here, in spite of his inperfections; it's an encouragement to all dads who might think they're less than the model father.

Tricia takes on a beast in her very own backyard, and ends up wounded in the ensuing battle. What was she fighting and did she win in the end?

Susan on Imperfect Genius details the humorous lessons she learned during her most recent Vacation Experiences.

The Divas examine the dictates of a would-be feminst queen of the world and decide that women are smart enough to run their own lives.

As a part of Everyday Mommy's challenge to be content with our Everyday Things, Malissa shares her Raggedy Ann collection at Malissa's Merry Go Round.

Lisa at Lil' Duck Duck discusses the disturbing trend of treating children like dogs of late in her article, Treating children like dogs, now, are we?

Over at She Lives, Carol treasures a time she was able to do something to help those facing a disease for which there is no cure. Join her as She Takes a Walk.

Can you build friendships via the Internet? Iris thinks you can. Check
out what she has to say in her post Now Wait a Minute

Jennifer, from Snapshot, writes about her secret desire to be Amish, and her daughter's help around in the house in Pulling Her Weight.

Oprah Is In Town! Oprah and her entire staff is taking Maui by storm! Check out pictures from her Hawaiian Home.

Tracey of Chai Time Blog uses her time out in the garden to ward off the nagging fear about her upcoming mammogram. Being a seven year breast cancer survivor has its ups and downs, however the pictures of her garden just might cheer you up as well.

JenLo writes about discovering menu items that will pass as 'gourmet' for her son's discerning taste buds while convincing her husband and daughter not to turn up their noses at the dish.

Tess treads on dangerous ground ... care to live on the edge?

Michele of Life Under the Sun looks at judgmental hypocrites including herself :-).

Author Tasra Dawson introduces the first lesson in the Liberate Your Creativity workshop for scrapbookers, artists, writers, and all creative or aspiring creative people! Join her as she learns (and teaches) how to break through feelings of fear, frustration, and incompetence.

Cathy at Sunday Morning Coffee is celebrating one year of blogging. It's a year in review.

Cool Blogroll Display

Go check out how Mrs. Lifecruiser displays her blogroll. How cool is that!

Introductions, the Carnival and New Blogs

I will only be posting one or two a week so don't worry if you don't see it right away. I really want to give people a chance to focus on your blog when you take the time to submit an introduction.

Also, to make sure people notice that we have new blogs on the blogroll, I add "**New" to the name. I will leave it there for awhile and then I will take it off (probably in a month).

I didn't get a lot of Carnival submissions this week so you will be near the top if you submit now.

Please, please I'm begging and pleading with you on bended knee and throwing myself on your mercy, please link to the Carnival this Sunday whether you participate or not. And if you are participating, why aren't you linking? Please link to the Carnival so that we have tons of traffic and we do what the Carnival is intended to do, increase traffic to the blogs (this is my intention, it may not be your intention but this is what I'm trying to do, promote the blogs of women who might not be noticed otherwise and to increase exposure to blogs that already have a readership).

BTW, I'm adding a lot of great new blogs, so go and check them out and now that I've labeled them it should be a lot easier to see who is new :-). And if you are a new blog and I forgot to label you, email me and I will do it!

And to show you my dedication to you, I was adding blogs to the blogroll during my vacation to DC this week (what other blog owner does that :-). So, show me some love and link to the Carnival :-).

New Blogging Chick Introduction: Jennifer of Snapshot

I asked for introductions and Jennifer of Snapshot emailed me this:

I'm Jennifer, and I started Snapshot back in March. My first entry tried to put words to some of the reasons why:

"In general, I feel like life is just blurring by, but in the midst of that, there are snapshots. Some may be significant, like my wedding day 13 years ago, or the first time I looked into the faces of the two babies that had grown inside of me for 9 months, but many are just a look at my life.

If I don't capture the snapshots, then hour after hour, day after day, does seem to blur, and many of the precious, funny or sad details might be lost. I guess that's what I'm going to try to capture here. A snapshot of a day, a moment, a feeling. . . . Perhaps by writing them down, they won't get lost in the blur, but will stand on their own."

I have enjoyed blogging more than I ever imagined I would--both writing and connecting to the blog community through reading and commenting on other blogs, and reading comments on mine. I try to post at least five times a week. Most of my posts end up falling into one of these categories:

• reflections on changes I notice (or need) in my own personal life
• observations and journaling about my kids and my marriage
• sharing thoughts about my passions
• studying the Bible and applying it to my life
• reading (for me and my kids)
• cooking
  

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # 2

Updated: For the last two weeks of compiling this list, I feared that I would leave someone off and it happened this week. My apologies to Beth for forgetting to add her link! Here it is:

Beth, speaking of a big carnival site and her own Carnival, says, "And here is the site they go to in order to participate-they enter their information, post, blog url, blog title, post title, trackback, I get an email-post to my blog, so you see how it goes, one big circle. Another way of getting traffic to all the blogs in the blogroll.

This is the link where they submit the info. The Stupid People Carnival should already be highlighted, if not this is the one they choose. Once I post the actual submissions, I ping his site and it all goes from there."

Please don't forget to link to the Carnival whether you are in it or not.

What happens when the characters you create for a novel e-mail you in real life? Suspense author Brandilyn Collins tells how it happened to her--twice. (Part 1 of story)

Tabz at Stupid People Shouldn't Breed, writes a letter to her future self about how to avoid stupidity in the upcoming days.

Lisa at Lil’ Duck Duck wishes for sleep and a new keyboard in this account of her day with the little one.

Kellie over at Mrs. Egg and Her Little Chickies comes clean about her obsession with Home Depot.

Kailani of The Pink Diary submitted a post entitled, Hit By Flying Poop. It's about what happens when you don't do a diaper change fast enough!

HolyMama recalls a flawed, but unforgettable ballet performance.

Beth was given freedom from wondering if her deceased Grandmother would have been proud of her by discovering she had struggled with many of the same things in her life too. No longer was she the perfect saint, she was real, she was human, she was wonderful!

Regina Clare Jane ponders the parallel universe, in which going home and growing up don't necessarily mean the same thing.

Malissa at Malissa's Merry-go-round tackles the challenges of summer in Pool Problems.

Tess is reminded of God’s design in a … paperclip?

Comic Mummy finds blockbuster potential in a morning from hell.

Polly at Life is a Buffet tells us it's time to get out of our comfort zone and get wet. Caution: You'll need an umbrella!

In Dreaming What Ifs... Karmyn R discovers that being an adult can have its advantages - especially while driving the Gorge in the Spring.

Shna of Shna's Crazed Rantings says: "This post just about sums up all my doubts in one nice little self loathing package. Now don't run away screaming just yet, its all in good fun :) This post actually tells a lot about me, it all depends on whether you read it with a positive or negative spin. Hint - read it with a smile on your face, that's how I wrote it :)"

Biker Betty's motorcycle adventure in a Moonlight Run. Betty's a female who loves to ride her own motorcycle and share the fun with others.

Christina bids a sad farewell to her beloved husband as he embarks on his first-ever truck driving odyssey.

Memes circulate throughtout the blogosphere and are a fun and interesting way to get to know people. Catez has posted the best meme ever! You really don't want to miss out on this one - of all the memes that go round this one is very different.

Jennifer, Snapshot looks at how friends impact who she is (becoming).

Maritzia talks about her connection, or disconnection as it were, with the feminine aspects of the divine.

Margalit talks about how your private information, such as your social security number and your mother's maiden name are not only not private, but are available online for anyone willing to search for them through public records at your county courthouse.

Kristied over from Just Venting has something to say about tipping when you go out to eat. Ever wonder what the servers in your favorite restaurants have to deal with everyday? Well, here are some tips and just general information that may make yours and the servers night that much better. And yes, it was after a bad day at work.

The Divas suggest the Dixie Chicks get some remedial American history education.

Suzy says this of her post entitled, Gifts from God, "I wrote it when my son was sick, and I realised how lucky I was that all he had was a tummy bug."

Father's Day is a day to honor our earthly fathers - although we should honor them all 365 days of the year. Iris at Sting my Heart remembers her father and what he meant to her in her entry "Different Thankful Thursday - A Tribute"

Ethel shares special moments with her dad with her readers in a Father's Day post.

Michele of Life Under the Sun looks at the Beautitudes.

Introductions

When I started this blogroll I would write a little introduction to each of the blogs but over time I was overwhelmed by the amount of all the new blogs I added and haven't been able to keep up and even assemble just a list of the blogs (I'm adding them too quickly), so I wanted to allow you guys to opportunity to introduce yourselves. If you want to write an introduction and submit it, I will publish it here on the Metablog.

Comments and Profanity

I didn't realize that the comments were for Blogger members only, I've changed it so that anyone can comment.

I also wanted to let every know that the policy on profanity is what it's been since the beginning of this blogroll and that is I will add blogs to this blogroll that use profanity but I will not add blogs that use it in an excessive amount (this is a subjective criteria that I've tried to explain but can't, you are just going to have to trust me on this one). What I changed was how I said it. Profanity is pervasive in our society and it is used everywhere and by practically everyone. Today people view it as a way of expressing themselves and I would be excluding many fine blogs by limiting this blogroll to only those blogs that don't use profanity.

I hope that this clears up any confusion. I really don't want to spend anymore of my time addressing this issue because I really look at this as a minor point. If you have a problem with this, you can email me and we can talk about it.

150!

We have 150 blogs!! I can't believe how quickly we've grown. That's 150 in 3 months, pretty cool.

I've streamlined the guidelines for joining the blogroll

I'm having more problems with the profanity issue, another blog has left the blogroll and I was accussed of being a censor and dictator. I'm not either, so I streamlined the guidelines to clarify what's up with the blogroll. I'm letting you know because I don't want to be accused of trying to hide something here.

Thank You!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first ever Carnival of the Blogging Chicks! And an extra big thank you for those who linked to the Carnival.

If you are bummed that you forgot or didn't realize that we were having it (I told you guys to check the Metablog for announcements), we will be having another one next week. You can start sending me your submissions now (this Carnival is only open to those on the Blogging Chicks Blogroll). Since so many have expressed an interesting in participating next time, I thought I would allow any type of post again. You can send me anything you want no matter how old, just email me a brief summary of your submission. Now you have an example of what it looks like and the type of things people are posting.

And I will once again put them in the order that I receive them. Last time, that was almost immediately after I posted. You have to be quick to be first! And if you noticed, I was last because I received my own link last :-).

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks # I

Jennifer writes about her wedding anniversary and that finding 'The One' happens when you stick it out during times when you don't feel like staying committed.

Tabz reveals more about her current family situation and dealing with the upcoming holiday - Father's Day.

Karen at Changed by His Love looks at the Cross and what a difference it has made in her life.

Jennifer at Sob'ah My Soul states that her post "is called A Letter To Myself, and as the title suggests, it's a letter that I wrote to my younger self when I reflected on the fact that throughout my adult years I've been unhappy with my body and my appearance. Now that I have the benefit of hindsight I can see how much time I wasted being unhappy with myself. If I could undo just one thing, that would be it."

Mary of Owlhaven explains why her house is Not A Licensed Establishment

In Dreaming What ifs... Karmyn finds that the love of chocolate begins very early in life and can quickly turn into an obsession!

Lisa contemplates the new décor that Lil’ Duck Duck has given to her coffee table, making it a unique piece of art for her living room.

Malissa at Malissa's Merry-Go-Round describes her feelings about her congregations 100+ year old church building.

Carol at She Lives enjoys a nice variety of activities, but doesn’t ever seem to do anything just for her self. Well, maybe there is this one exception.

Cheeriobuttt says this about her post: "I love my family and love to talk about them.They are my joy and my world! Okay so blogging is also my way of "getting out more"! Yes, I am a hermit, but against my own will! You just try dragging six little kids out with you and then trying to have a conversation while making threats to my children, someone screaming in my ear, and someone else emitting scary smells and sounds, and just see how many people want to hang out with you! Yeah, I thought so!"

Biker Betty's 2 part review (here and here) of the United Biker's Run in Colorado Springs, CO. This review includes how it was ran, where they went, and lots of photo's.

Suspense author Brandilyn Collins pens her true tale of woe, complete with a honkin' hole in her nose and murderous thoughts toward a certain doctor.

HolyMama declines a less than tempting offer to appear on television while wearing baby spit up.

Wystful One loved the movie Titanic, the props and costumes were on display! Go check out her pictures.

Ethel admits she has a problem, a candy problem, in her post about eating Skittles.

Over at Allthings2all there is a true story about a bar, a burglary and a stripper - and the difference between theory and practice. Go check out new Blogging Chick, Catez.

Queen Beth has realized that she is nothing without the people she loves. Yet she's beginning to see that she's pretty wonderful all by herself. Discovering who she is has become a journey that's bringing great happiness! Her Majesty's Throne

Paula takes a moment to teach her daughter an important lesson about "things".

Examining life and comparing it to Scripture, Iris thought about were to fit in the blogging world of Christian women who choose to stay home and raise their family. Read her entire post entitled Where do I fit in at Sting My Heart.

The Divas weigh in on the first amendment broughaha over Ann Coulter's book ads.

Mrs. Egg discusses the perils of shopping with two toddlers.

Supermom goes shopping for a dress and a waist to go along with it.

Peach talks about the friendships that are formed via blogging.

Cathy at Sunday Morning Coffee looks at the mother and daughter relationship in a post from July 2005.

Michele at Life Under the Sun, looks at the story of David and Goliath and sees Christ.

Thanks G a b r i e l l e!

Thanks to G a b r i e l l e of - a m e t a m o r p h o s e l f we have some cute buttons:



We are really blessed to have such talented Blogging Chicks!

Linking to the Carnival

Please don't forget to link to the Carnival tomorrow. Even if you didn't participate, please still link to it.

Thanks Tabz!

From Tabz of Stupid People Shouldn't Breed more icons! Aren't they cute!

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks

I thought this was obvious but I guess not, you have to be a member of the Blogging Chicks Blogroll to participate in the Carnival of the Blogging Chicks. This is one of the incentives to join. We are promoting those blogs on the blogroll not chick blogs in general (though I love supporting an promoting chick blogs, so join the blogroll).

Carnival of the Blogging Chicks Submission Guidelines

For those who are new to Carnivals, here is a definition:

...where someone takes the time to find really good blog posts on a given topic, and then puts all those posts together in a blog post called a "carnival".

Our topic is us, these posts will reflect us. What we like, what we blog about, who we are. These things will be reflected in whatever post you choose to submit.

The deadline for submission to the Carnival of the Blogging Chicks will be midnight, Saturday, June 10. Please email me a summary statement of what your post is about. Here is an example of a submission I made to the Christian Carnival:

Michele continues looking at the context of the story of Samson and Delilah by examining the significance of the lion and the honey in Judges 14.

Go here for other examples.

Email me the html code. Make sure that you include in your summary statement a link to the post, not your entire blog.

You can submit anything you want. There are no rules this week regarding the date of your posting but in the future you will only be able to submit recent content (within the week of the last Carnival) and we may have topics occasionally but for the most part this Carnival is about you.

Now, as a special incentive to get those summaries to me early, they will be listed in the order I receive them. And look, I've already received mine, so I'm first! (hehe) No, I'm not going to be that mean, I'm going to refrain from taking first (I'll settle for second :-).

So, what are you waiting for, email me :-).

Also, make sure you post that we are doing this so both your readers and other Blogging Chicks will know to come here on Sunday and read what was submitted.

Updated to add: Ok, you all realized I mean midnight EST, right? We are going by the time in my time zone since I'm the one who is going to try to put this together before she goes to church. I hope to have it up before 9:00AM EST.

Announcement: Tabz

She is looking for a guest blogger. Go here for details.

Posting Problems

I had problems with blogger yesterday and also with the blogroll. Sorry I didn't put up the guidelines yet. I will do so today. After I do, I would appreciate it if you could link to it so that the other Blogging Chicks who don't check the Metablog will find out that they have the opportunity to submit something. I tried to let everyone know but I missed a lot of sites.

Our First Announcement! Ethel's Photo Challenge

Enjoy taking pictures, but not feeling inspired these days? Ethel's Photo Challenge might be just what you need to get you and your camera back in action. Each week, Ethel posts 5 words, phrases or topics on her blog. This is where the fun begins. The goal is to think creatively and get out and take new pictures. At the end of the week, Ethel posts her pictures and links to all the participating blogs. So get out there and enjoy the nice weather and take some pictures!

Updated to add: I fixed the links. Sorry, I should have checked that.

Carnival of Blogging Chicks

One of my plans for the Metablog is to use it as a way to promote your blogs. At first I thought we might use an aggregator but the problem with an aggregator is that you get everything, the good and the bad. The minor post about your sinus infection as well as your more important post about your Samson study (to use my own blog as an example :-). The good stuff can sometimes be buried under the bad stuff. And with so many bloggers, those who post more frequently will bury those who post once a day or once a week.

Doing a Carnival instead allows you to pick the material you want to promote. You have control over what you submit. We will post it here once a week, on Sunday and I will have to receive the posts by Saturday to be included the next day. We will not start this Sunday but the following Sunday.

I will post the guidelines next week. This post was just to introduce the idea and see if there is any interest.

I hope that you will participate and that we can provide those who come here with some interesting content and a nice introduction to the material on your blog. Not only do we get traffic from the Blogging Chicks and the readers of our blogs but from people who click on the "Next Blog" button on Blogger and from those on the Blogger Chicks blogroll and their readers as well. Great potential for increased traffic.

Email Address:

Bloglines

As you can tell I'm back! And I wanted to mention that there are some far-sighted people who have subscribed to our site feed through Bloglines. This is a brilliant idea and I wanted to recommend this to others. This is an easy way to keep up with any announcements that I might make here at the Metablog such as the one that I plan to make later tonight.

Update: The Rule Change

This rule change has made my work soooo much easier, why in the world didn't I think of this before?

Pull Down Menu Colors

Go over to Dani's and check out how the pull down buttons look in white, very sharp!

If you have trouble using the code generator because you're not sure what hexadecimal number to use, go here and it will help you select a color and will give you the hexadecimal number for that color.

Policy Change

I decided to enact a change in how I do the blogroll. Up to this point I have added the blog before I sent out the code, now I will only add the blog after the code is installed.

No Internet Connection!

I'm unable to access the Internet from my home (I'm posting this from the library) for a few days (or whenever it's fixed). I will try to get to the library at least once a day to post (to my blogs) and check my email and comments.

That means no new additions. Email me your url and I will process them in the order that I receive them.

Pull Down Menu

Instead of a scroll bar you could use a pull down menu. You can get the code here.

(Link via Tabz)

Blogroll Change

The blogroll is now sorted alphabetically. I did this because it is impossible for me to go to a particular site and it will only get worse when we add more women.

Code for Everything But the Blogroll

Important update: make sure you take the code that is in your template and put it in place of the words "PUT BLOGROLL TEXT HERE"

Finally! Here is all the code except for the blogroll and if you have any problems, email me (Blogging chicks only, everyone else is on their own :-). Also, check the icon url and make sure that an extra http and this, not-a-real-namespace wasn't added to the url. Take it out if it was.
Icon:

<a href="http://not-a-real-namespace/http://not-a-real-namespace/http://not-a-real-namespace/http://bloggingchicks.blogspot.com/2006/04/blogging-chicks-blogroll.html"><br />Click here to join</a>

Scroll bar:

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Blogging Chicks</h2><div style="OVERFLOW: auto;">PUT BLOGROLL TEXT HERE </div>

Scroll box:

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Blogging Chicks</h2><div style="border: 1px solid #4c4058; width:150px; height:250px; text-align:left; overflow:auto; font-size:10px; font-family:Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight:normal; color:#4c4058; line-height:12px; background-color:#f3ecf4;">PUT BLOGROLL TEXT HERE </div>

Your Announcement Here

I wanted to let everyone know about a new feature I'm starting here at the Metablog (now, you'll see why I've been calling it that :-). Any new feature or an on going feature that you're doing on your blog could be announced here; something unique to you that would be of interest to others.

You write the announcement, put in a link to your blog, make sure you write it in the third person and then email me the html code. Now, for those of you who are new to blogging, pretend like you're going to post something to your blog, when you are done writing go to edit html and copy the html code from there and email it to me.

Help???

Is anyone interested in helping with the welcome messages? I don't have time to do them because I'm too busy adding people and helping install the code :-).

Cute Announcement Graphic

Make sure you point the graphic here.

More icons and an announcement graphic

If you don't like our cute little cranky bird here are some more options:





Take what you want. These were created by Tabz when we were coming up with an icon for the blogroll.

Also,Wystful 1 has an icon that she created.

Also, instead of writing an announcement about the group you could post this:




Isn't cute? This was created by G a b r i e l l e. I love being on a blogroll with creative people.

Update: Let me make this clear

Re-reading this post I realize that I sounded really harsh and I didn't mean to be. I didn't mean to imply that I would take you off without any warning. I would find out why you don't have the blogroll up. I apologize to anyone I alarmed. If you've had problems, I wasn't talking to you anyway. I was talking to the people who never put up the blogroll or who took it down because it was too long. If you've done that and want to be part of the blogroll, you will have to put the blogroll back into your template and then use the scroll bar that I posted.

At this moment no one has the blogroll because blogrolling is not working right now.

Scroll Bars

Here is the code for two different scroll bars:

Aaaaaarrrrgh!!!!!!! Don't use that swear word, swear word code that I posted here. Please email me what type of scroll bar you want and I will send the code until I can figure out how to post swear word html code.

Sometimes you have to use swear words to express your emotions :-).

Hey! Look what I found clicking through the blogroll

OK, so I started checking to make sure everyone has the blogroll up and I found some cool things. Go check out the icon for the Blogging Chicks blogroll over at Created for His Glory, too funny! And check out how the blogroll looks over at Life is a Buffet. I have no idea how she did that, it is too cool.

Let me make this very clear

If your blog is on this blogroll, it has to display the blogroll. If it doesn't your blog will not be on the blogroll. I'm going through the list this week and removing every blog that doesn't have the blogroll on it. Everyone benefits if everyone carries the blogroll. Why should I have a link to your blog, if you are not linking to me? Your ranking in Technorita, google, yahoo, msn search and TLB increases but mine (and when I say mine, I'm including all the other women who are carrying the blogroll) does not. How does that benefit me?

100! Yes, we are there!! WooHoo!

It is my joy to tell you that we've just added our 100th blog today!!!!! Yes, we have 100 blogs on our blogroll and it's all thanks to you guys, you are great. And we did it in only 3 months (can we stand another exclamation point, I think we can :-)!

Drum roll, please. And the winner goes to:

PENSIEVE.

She explains the title of her blog here. Please go over and congratulate her for having the 100th blog in our blogroll. Because of her, we made my goal :-) much earlier.

Now, let's start on 200!

Shout out to Seven New Chicks

Welcome to seven new Blogging Chicks! ETA: I had to correct the count.

Welcome to Leslie from Texas! Check out haply thinking to see what her kids should be on the look out for.

Hi to keltic&swiss from the US! Let her know if you have any book recommendations at I Read So You Don't Have To.

Not only is she moving 3/4 of the world away, she's moved her blog to show she's moving Into Australia.

Welcome to snarkypants Lisa! Gotta love her... she admits that "a clean house is a sign of a broken computer".

Hello to Writer Mom Nan, from Canada. She's already loving the group or is it maybe just Michele's new picture on the sidebar.

Hi to Whispers of the Morning! We may just have to ask her to speak up a bit though.

Welcome to Paula from Altlanta! Check out her stories to "walk by faith" at Paula's Walk.

Please be sure to stop by and say hello to all the new chicks.
TTFN~Pamela Lynn

I Really Hate IE

I was going to blog about something else but I noticed that stupid IE pushed the sidebar down because of the graphic I put in there last night. I'm fixing it. I think I'll just shrink the size of the graphic. Everyone should be using Firefox anyway! The blogs looks so much better with it.

Hey, Blogging Chicks!

If you haven't mentioned the blogroll in a while, now would be a good time to do so. Your readers might not realize that we have close to 100 blogs. You might mention that the 100th blog will get a special award for their blog and a place of honor on our blog.

We Have Slowed Down!

I am so bumming because we are soooooo close to 100 blogs and yet, no new requests today. What's up? I know we have a lot of visitors to this site. What's it going to take to get you to commit? I've got some interesting things planned for the blogroll. You might want to be a part of it. Do you want to have your blog promoted here, on our metablog that gets an average of 74 hits a day (I know that's not a lot but it's growing)? And not just a shout out but you can pick the article that you want us to promote. Got a new feature you want to tell others about, why not do it here?

Come on people, please commit. Don't make me get all used-car-salepersony here!

Shout Out to Two New Blogging Chicks

We're up to 92 now, isn't it awesome!

Dani from MD has a second blog listed now; Dani's Daily Thoughts! Go check out some beautiful poetry that she's posted for Grandma's.

Hello to Seraphim from Cypress! Stop by to check out some of her thoughtful posts at Seraphim's Journal of Muses.

Hi to KP from the US! Check out some posts about her life with her little ones at Basket-Balls & Baby-Dolls.

Please be sure to stop by wand welcome all the new chicks!
TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Go Check Out -a m e t a m o r p h o s e l f

Gabrielle did an excellent job installing the blogroll. It continously scrolls and when you put your cursor over the Blogging Chicks title a little "Click here to join" text box popsup. Very cute. Excellent job!

EEP!

Now, we are at 90!

OOPS!

According to Pamela, I'm off by one, we are only at 89.

Also, go to my blog and check out my blogrolls. I used < style="height:250px; overflow:auto;"> to make all my blogrolls uniform with the style of my linked list. Go check it out. If you use this make sure you include the ending tag < /div> and take out the spaces.

Shout Out to Three More Chicks

OK, this is the last one for a bit... I think I will have caught up with all the additions Michele did last night. (Cool how fast the blogroll is growing, isn't it?)

Hello to Kellie! Take a peak how she spent her mother's day at Mrs. Egg and Her Little Chickies. I have a dumb question (and only in kidding) if she's Mrs. Egg how can she be a blogging chick yet? Sorry, I couldn't help it...

Welcome to Kdubs from the East Coast! Please check out the beautiful artwork her husband did of her at Reflections of a not so Ordinary Mom.

Hi Welshy from the United Kingdom! Check out her new layout background at 威爾士女孩 Green pastures, still waters.

Please be sure to stop by and welcome all the new Blogging Chicks.
TTFN~Pamela Lynn

Shout Out to Four More Chicks

As promised here's another group of welcomes. Please be sure to stop by and welcome all the new Blogging Chicks.

Welcome to Rach from Vancouver Island! Take a peak at her life at Dutch Femka.

Hi to Kristie at Eva Las Vegas! Go see where she recently vacationed, it sounds wonderful!

Hello Michelle from Washington! You have to go see her concert flutist and her little man at Faith, Family & Friends, they are just adorable.

Be sure to wish Marie from Sweden safe travels on her summer sailing at http://www.coolabah.com/ausblog/marie/.

TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Shout Out to Four New Chicks

Morning all! There's about a dozen new chicks that I need to welcome to the Blogging Chicks but I need to just welcome a few at a time today.

Welcome to Gabrielle from Jakarta, Indonesia! Check out her "Quickie" sidebar of stuff about her at -a m e t a m o r p h o s e l f, she has some pretty cool things.

Hey Tasha from South-eastern Michigan. Stop by A Day in the Life of..... and take a peek at some of the pictures of her two precious daughters.

Hi to Pia from NY. At Courting Destiny she discsses subjects dear to her heart, great reading.

Hello Dani from MD. Check out her artwork at Dani3D.com - The Blog.

Please be sure to stop by and welcome all the new chicks!
TTFN~Pamela Lynn

Welcome to Ten New Chicks

Happy Tuesday everyone! Sorry I wasn't able to post these welcomes earlier, I kind of took a break from the computer yesterday. I know there are many more then ten new chicks but for tonight I'm only going to post a few of the welcomes, I'll catch up tomorrow... Thanks Michele for all the work you do to add the blog roll!

Welcome to the youngest (I think?) blogging chick... conservativekat at A Place for Politics.

Check out Bex Life to see what life is like in paradise.

Check out Elle's random conversation at Domesticated Bloggage.

Check out why Kristie's blog has the name Martha's Distraction.

Get a dose of sarcasm from Boodafli in SC at the Peanut Gallery.

Welcome to Tori from The OC! Check out how her day started today at Queen Victoria.

Shna from Prince Edward Island has a cool idea, love her BQotD at Shna's Crazed Rantings.

Welcome to Little Miss Chatterbox! Check out where she went with her American Girls group at The Chatterbox Chronicles.

Little Orange Fox from AlabamaThe Outlaw Republican. Thanks for the shout out to "visit the next big thing in bloggin"!

Check out Margalit's self introduction, pretty cool, at What was I THINKING?

Be sure to stop by and welcome all our new Blogging Chicks!
TTFN~Pamela Lynn

90!!!!

I thought that we would make 100 by summer but at the rate we are going, we will probably make 100 by Friday!

I'm back!

If you want to join, email me but check the rules first (go here).

I'm Gone Until Tuesday

I will not be adding anymore blogs until Tuesday night. If you want to join, email me but you won't hear from me until Tuesday.

To join go here.

Scroll Bar for the Blogroll

I got the above from three different people yesterday: Beth, Pamela Lynn and Killired. Thanks!

Updated to add: I had to take the scroll bar down because I don't want people posting the group until I've accepted them into the group. If you want the scroll bar, email me.

Update on the scroll bars for your blogroll

I will be posting the code later on today for the scroll bars for your blogroll.

To Join

To join the Blogging Chicks go here.

Truth Laid Bear

If everyone on the blogroll was registered with Truth Laid Bear, everyone on the blogroll would be a Flappy Bird! Something to think about. Register here.

70!

We have 70 blogs on the blogroll. I want to hit 100 by the end of summer. When I'm done with finals, the first thing I'm going to do is find and post a way to do scroll boxes. I need them myself because I can't join anymore blogrolls until I get them :-). I've reached critical mass on Reformed Chicks Blabbing.

Welcome to Nine New Blogging Chicks

Wow, our blogroll is growing by leaps and bounds! Awesome! Ten new blogs have been added by Michele! Thanks Michele for all you are doing to update it while in the midst of your studies for your final exams.

Today we welcome nine new Blogging Chicks.

Check out Suzie's, from Boca Raton FL, Assortted Babble. Check out her assorted posts and her News scroll.

Karen from Georgia, has an awesome post on Secrets and marriage, be sure to look for it at Changed by His Love.

Cheerios on My Butt from the southwest US, has some adorable photos of her kids at Children and Cheerios, On the Loose!

Mama C-ta from B’more city has a challenge to go figure out where "Cricket" is, be sure to stop by and guess!

Minnie from TX, can't wait to see some of her Minnie Moments from her hospital stay sounds like she made the best of the experience.

Beckie from New Hope, VA. Be sure to stop by My Fun Side to wish her a happy birthday because it's coming up soon. At My Photo Blog she's sharing some pictures taken with her new present. (Editted to Add) Check out Beckie's third blog to see what she is passionate about.

Nicki from Michigan thinks she a bad mom, go stop by Piled Seven High to help convince her that she isn't.

JenLo from Upstate NY; stop by Thinks By Me to find out what an "oreh" is.

Check out where Umm 'Skandar has been and how it has shaped her life at Umm 'Skandar: One mother's global interests.

Be sure to stop by and give a warm welcome to the new Blogging Chicks!
TTFN~Pamela Lynn

Amazing!

It's amazing how many people come here and yet don't join. What is up with that?

Shout out to Six New Blogging Chicks

Michele has been busy adding more chicks to the group! Isn't it awesome?

Hi to Mia from NY! She has some great graphics for her blog and found an awesome chicks picture for her shout out on Mia: Shaken Not Stirred!

Hello to Susan from Ohio! Her request is "Please dont hangupon me just yet...try me out."

Welcome to another scrapbooker! Karmyn R from Oregon at Dreaming What Ifs.

Hi to Lauren at Created for HIS Glory. Love her honesty about herself, check out some of her title bar items or even her Thursday Thirteen to see what I mean.

Jade from Arizona has two unique looks for her site Jaded Sunburns. They are both pretty cool.

Welcome to Owlhaven! She grew up in a family with 8 children and now she is a home schooling mom of 8 children.

TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Welcome to New Blogging Chicks

Well it looks like it's been a busy weekend. Wanted to give a big welcome to our new Blogging Chicks, I'm sorry it couldn't have been last night, we were very tired after the trip over the weekend.

Hi to Tricia from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She's author of two of our new blogs on the list Tricia's Musings and Odd Planet. Check out her profile on Odd Planet for an interesting birth date.

Hello to Eph2810 from Arizona. Her two blogs are Sting My Heart and My Lighter Side. Check out her new layout, on the Lighter Side, it's very pretty.

Hey to KristieD from Florida. She has a beautiful post about her mom on Just Venting.

Welcome to Natalie from Ottawa! Love the warning sign in the side bar on Said the Girl.

TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Wanted HTML Savvy Chick

I want to post the code for the template here on the blog, I think that would be easier and less error prone. So, I'm looking for a scrollable text box. I found a website that has the code but I don't have time to mess with it. Is anyone who knows what they're doing interested in helping?

Also, I want to make code available for a scrollable box for the blogroll.

If anyone can help me I would be very grateful and you would have my love and affection but not my cash :-).

The Thursday Thirteen Group

Hey, I noticed that the Thursday Thirteen blogroll has a scroll window that they give to their group. Do you think we should make something like that available? We are going to need something real soon, especially if we keep adding sites at the rate we're doing it now. Leave me a comment and let me know.

Need a New Template?

Why use the same template that everyone else is using when you can have one custom designed for you. One of our Blogging Chicks, Beth, does web design. I think she creates great templates and she's cheap. Check out her prices:

Templates*: $15, includes coding and custom images. Additional image packs (link back buttons, anti-pixel and avatar) the pack of 3 an extra $3.
*WordPress Themes AND Installation*: $20, includes coding of template, (or hacking of template if they choose a premade theme they want customized-with original author’s credits in place as well as my modification credit, which is basically what most WordPress themes are) plus uploading via ftp to their site for installation. They must already have a webhost company which supports php/mysql. I’ll set the database up for them-with permission for access to do so. If they want plugins installed and integrated in the blog this is an additional $1 per plugin.

Tags: Web Design, Template

Problem with the Blogroll

I bet that there is a DNS attack on blogrolling.com. That is the site that I use for the blogroll and that is why you don't have us on your blog. Don't touch the code, let's see if this is temporary. I did notice that other blogrolls weren't affected but I went to blogrolling.com and I got a weird error message.

Email Address:

Gmail Problems

I can't access my account. It says, "Not Found Error 404." So, if you want to reach me comment on this post. I'll check in occasionally.

Updated to add: You can email now, I can access my email again. Yoohoo!

Shout Out to Five New Chicks

Hi Again, looks like Michele has been busy adding more people.

Say hello to Killired! She's got tons of fun internet and blog stuff on her blog. Thanks for the daily Sudoku mini puzzle.

Hi to Kim from Hiraeth! Kim has lots of interesting reading/studies and great pictures of her flowering trees at her house.

Welcome to Wystful1 from TX! She has a very pretty lady in green for her header at ...Thanks for the Memories!

Hey there to ribbiticus, she's at the 8th lilypad, faerie lake, enchanted forest. Love the idea of Ubiquitous Quiz Thursday on her Pond Perspective blog.

Go check out the different color styles at Moogie's World. They are really cool.

TTFN
Pamela Lynn

Truth Laid Bear

If every site on this blogroll were registered with Truth Laid Bear, everyone would be a least a Slithering Reptile. Something to think about.

Shout Out to More New Blogging Chicks

Well, in the frenzy of yesterday's new additions to the Blogging Chicks it seems I accidently missed a few of you. Truly sorry about that.

This is my first time posting here as a guest instead of emailing to Michele. Thanks Michele for the invite. Hope I'm doing a good job.

Suzanne from Vancouver Island, Canada has three of our new blogs on the list: at My Family Life her latest post has a video clip of her adorable daughter playing t-ball, at My Temptations she has some wonderful looking recipes and at Purple Pear she is posting about her pregnancy. Maybe one of us could help her out with her latest question there?

Welcome to Lifecrusier ! She has an awesome new name for our group of bloggers... we're in the "chickosphere"! And by the way... I guess I'm now a "blogging chick blogging chick blogging chick". Wow that could get confusing.

Hi to Tracy L from the Panhandle in FL. On her blog, Strong Enough she has an awesome self portrait collage for her introductions to herself.

Lala at LaLa Land Get Your Game Face On has a cool site.

Please be sure to stop by and say hello to all our new chicks!

New Additions to the Blogroll (Guest blogger Pamela Lynn)

Hey all! I'm just trying to help Michele out by introducing several new Blogging Chicks. I'm hoping I won't miss anyone, sorry if I have, please just let me know and I will correct it as soon as I can.

Let's welcome "Supermom" at What Makes a Housewife Desperate?. Her posts are upbeat and mainly about her life and being a mom.

Be sure to stop by TNChick's blog. She poses some interesting questions and she has a cool Photo Hunt. A couple of our other new blogging chicks are part of that blogroll as well... Kelly from Florida at Life as I know It says it best... Blogging Chicks Rock! Say hello to a Spring chicken.... Chilady from Cloudland, Georgia Here is a Blog for Chilady.

Kendra from Winston Salem, NC at Mama K's World is a SAHM and has an adorable cartoon picture of herself.

OK that's all for tonight, I think... I'm starting to get tired... it is after all way past my bedtime at 12:30 am...

TTFN
Pamela Lynn Time Flutters By

Updated to add: OOPS! There are a few sites that are not on this list! Maybe Pamela Lynn could send me another post with the rest.

Many New Additions to the Blogroll

Give people a deadline and see how many join! We have many new sites as you can see, please make everyone feel welcomed by visiting and saying hey! A special "atta-girl" goes out to Pamela Lynn who beat me to some of the blogs! You go, chick!

Google Discussion Group

I am having such a time with this discussion group, that I have given up on it until after finals. By then it might be a Yahoo discussion group. I'll let you know. Later, much later.