My Beautiful Chaos » Web/Tech http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com My wonderful, chaotic life Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:35:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 We’re up…I think http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2008/01/03/were-upi-think/ http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2008/01/03/were-upi-think/#comments Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:20:57 +0000 April http://aprilgroves.com/beautifulchaos/2008/01/03/were-upi-think/ The holidays were amazing!
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  • My sister had my niece 7 weeks early. All are fine, but Phylisa is still in the hospital. She should come home soon. Ain’t she pretty!
  • Both of my babies decided to get matching pairs of double ear infections.
  • Babies also decided to get mommy and daddy sick too.
  • My website crashed – hard

Notice that none of these situations were ones I could control. We all know how much I love that (insert sarcasm here).

At any rate, I think we are all back up and running. I had to reload some of the comments that I still had on file. However, some of them between December 21st and now are gone forever. It could be worse – yesterday, they were ALL gone. However, there was a great conversation going on about the education video posted. That’s gone. That’s disappointing.

I do know that I am not the only one. Kris Berg had the same issue. I feel your pain honey!

I also know that once again, the phenom Chris Cree showed up and showed out. I didn’t even have to ask for help – he offered. Then he held class and educated all of us. There is great information here…go check it out!

So, onward and upward…and if we could continue brainstorming about that education video, that would be great!

 *Update – guess what I found in my email…some of the comments for the video post!!  I am re inputing them  now!!

]]> http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2008/01/03/were-upi-think/feed/ 4 Not yet ready to return to our regularly scheduled programming http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2008/01/02/not-yet-ready-to-return-to-our-regularly-scheduled-programming/ http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2008/01/02/not-yet-ready-to-return-to-our-regularly-scheduled-programming/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:12:07 +0000 April http://aprilgroves.com/beautifulchaos/2008/01/02/not-yet-ready-to-return-to-our-regularly-scheduled-programming/ So, the idea was that I would lay low for the holidays. It was the holidays, after all. Add to that some sick kids and a cold myself, seemed like the perfect time for some time off. Then, when the New Year rang in, so would I. Back to work and back to the web.

Then my website went crazy. Serve fell down and skinned it’s knee, email took a vacation, and the “Cannot connect to this site” was my front page. BlueHost worked on it and it should’ve been good to go. Except, all the comments on My Beautiful Chaos are gone. All of them. Now, BlueHost can see them – they are in the database. That’s promising. But…

  • I haven’t changed anything on the backend of the blog
  • I use the same theme here as I do on Making Life Work for You and there aren’t these problems over there
  • I tried to use a default theme and I deactivated all the plugins…same problems.
  • I am running an older version of WordPress and I am scared to death to update it. I don’t think my theme supports the new version and I really don’t want to change my theme. Maybe I will have to bite the bullet

At any rate…please forgive the mess while I abuse my friendship with Chris Cree and he helps me figure this out. If you have any suggestions, the new comments still work, please feel free to leave them.

BTW – Happy New Year and GO DAWGS!

]]> http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2008/01/02/not-yet-ready-to-return-to-our-regularly-scheduled-programming/feed/ 3 High Five http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/08/22/high-five/ http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/08/22/high-five/#comments Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:40:13 +0000 April http://aprilgroves.com/beautifulchaos/2007/08/22/high-five/ Dewayne Melancon over at Genuine Curosity has tagged me with a “5 sites you use at work” after he had been tagged by Ariane.

Like Dewayne, I am not sure if these are “top” – meaning, it is very possible that you could say, “Well what about…” and I would rethink.

But, these are five that I visit on a daily basis…some may not seem industry related, but they are April related.  I am a firm believer that when I am better, smarter, faster – my clients benefit. So here we go…

1) 21Online – Century 21 has a resource for it’s agents that I love.  Lots of training, insight, tools, and materials. (This is an agent only site. Consumers will find Century21.com far more helpful)

2) Managing with Aloha Coaching – My virtual coach.  Rosa helps me get my mind right and untangle the mess.

3) Think Positive –  Kirsten is my virtual encourager.  She enables me to take deep breaths, pull my shoulders back, and step into the flow of intention.

4) MapQuest – Almost always gets me to where I need to go.

5) Constant Contact - Best customer contact tool I have found.  They make Turn Around Tuesday easy.

Now I am getting selfish.  The five folks tagged are those who I admire and can’t wait to see their answers so I can use them!

Rosa Say
Phil Gerbyshak
Realtor Genius
Kris Berg
Jay Thompson

]]> http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/08/22/high-five/feed/ 4 The random, sometimes absent ";" http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/06/14/the-random-sometimes-absent/ http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/06/14/the-random-sometimes-absent/#comments Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:12:43 +0000 April http://aprilgroves.com/beautifulchaos/2007/06/14/the-random-sometimes-absent/ I don’t know what I would do without my laptop.  It is my lifeline to running my home, business, and education. I use it for everything. My husband is surprised that I cannot control it with my mind yet.

Well, I can’t. In fact, I am using the keyboard right now and it is harder than it used to be.

The multitasker that I am refuses to have an unproductive lunch.  I am eating with a client, affiliate, new contact, friend, or somebody.  If my lunch hour is free, I am eating at my desk.

Hence, the salmon in the keyboard.

This ever so slight sliver of fish fell from the fork into the slit between the “p” and the “;” No problem – I was a tech in the Navy.  This is easy stuff.  However, I had underestimated the difference between the rugged construction of aircraft and my laptop.

Pop off the “;” pop off the “p” remove the fish, reassemble.  No problem. Until the little plastic bracket thingy (yes, that’s the technical term) on the “;” snaps in two. Dangit.

After a bit of manipulation, the “;” is now back in it’s place – sort of. Sometimes it jiggles loose and is cattywhompus on my keyboard and I have to readjust it. My spell checker and backspace key are working overtime as little “;” show up randomly when I am typing. Until I actually need it, that is. Then the darn little thing has to be coaxed into working.

There are many laptops, but this one is mine.

]]> http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/06/14/the-random-sometimes-absent/feed/ 1 Master of my own Domain – Part 3 http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/30/master-of-my-own-domain-part-3/ http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/30/master-of-my-own-domain-part-3/#comments Wed, 30 May 2007 15:34:02 +0000 April http://aprilgroves.com/beautifulchaos/2007/05/30/master-of-my-own-domain-part-3/ I can hardly believe it!  I must admit, I thought this whole transfer business would be harder.  I did not expect SEI to be so quick and hassle free in transferring my domain into my name.  I mean, I knew they should – but it really was seamless.

Then the guys over at BlueHost were fantastic. Helpful and nice.  I love that. They made sure I understood what the first couple of steps should be and I was off.

However, I am running into a bit of “be careful what you ask for…” WordPress is easy enough, but I need more than a blog – I need a webpage. So, I am using Adobe Contribute for my desktop editing.  But, this is the first time I have used it for from scratch creation.  Whew! I finally called it a night at about 1:30 this morning. I am not close to finished, but I am excited about the progress. 

So, I had better get back to it!

]]> http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/30/master-of-my-own-domain-part-3/feed/ 2 Master of my own Domain – Part 2 http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/29/master-of-my-own-domain-part-2/ http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/29/master-of-my-own-domain-part-2/#comments Tue, 29 May 2007 10:44:38 +0000 April http://aprilgroves.com/beautifulchaos/2007/05/29/master-of-my-own-domain-part-2/ So far, so good.  Wasn’t sure what to expect in the realm of speediness since it is the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend.  But, believe it or not, I had reply emails in my inbox by 9:30!  The guys over at SEI have always been on the ball.  They have been great to work with and I am glad they were my first interaction with working on a website.Right now I am just waiting on them to approve the domain registration transfer that I requested.  Doug over at Network Solutions was phenomenal in helping me with that.  The domain, while it is mine, is registered under another guy’s name over at SEI.  But, as I understand it, they are taking care of it.

So close…I am itching with anticipation!  The learning curve is sharp…but, man, it’s a great education!

]]> http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/29/master-of-my-own-domain-part-2/feed/ 0 Master of my own Domain – Part 1 http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/27/master-of-my-own-domain-part-1/ http://www.mybeautifulchaos.com/2007/05/27/master-of-my-own-domain-part-1/#comments Sun, 27 May 2007 10:45:55 +0000 April http://aprilgroves.com/beautifulchaos/2007/05/27/master-of-my-own-domain-part-1/ For those of you who just stumbled across this blog, I am a real estate agent. In my market, there are quite a few of us – and we’re good.  Some of us are real good. So, when clients are choosing which Realtor they want to work with, they really can find somebody that suits them.  It’s kinda like dating – there is somebody out there for everybody, you just got to get to know them.  The “get to know them” part is where it gets tricky. How do you do that? Well, it is my personal opinion that the internet is the best way. Many people, whether it is gift shopping, information gathering, dating, searching for real estate, or a multitude of other things, accomplish these tasks at midnight, in their pajamas, on the internet – or at 4 in the morning over coffee, in my case.  Therefore, when I got into the business full time, I knew the first marketing dollar to be spent was not on cute calendars, refrigerator magnets, or property flyers – it was on a webpage.

So, that’s what I did and www.aprilgroves.com was born. It is a nice site, considering it was my first shot. But, it is database driven with templates and limited customization. Some time after, I discovered blogging existed on a larger scale than what I had seen on the myspace pages.  I wanted one of those too, and Making Life Work for You was created. I also started the Musings of Beautiful Chaos. This was a necessary step as I am completely aware of my inability to always write about Making Life Work for You type topics.  Sometimes I want to talk about my family, my friends, and other personal type stuff. Readers of the professional blog are more than welcome on the personal one – in fact, I love that they get to know me in a deeper way – but, they shouldn’t be forced to rummage through my kids’ latest activity to get to what they really want to know about termites and home buying.

Now, I think I have outgrown my template site. I am computer savvy, thanks to the United States Navy, I have am currently managing a domain, thanks to the WBA, and I have great friends and associates (Chris, Lisa, Christina, Athol, Jonathan, Pat and others I am sure I am leaving out) that have been very supportive on this journey and are packed full of great expertise.

Now, here I am. It’s 4 A.M. on a Sunday morning. I have a plan. Who knows how it will turn out, but it will be one heck of a ride.   

  • I just put in a request to transfer my domain from its current home to BlueHost. Why BlueHost? Because their prices are competitive, their services complete, and WordPress likes them (see next bullet).    
  • I am going to transfer my blogs to WordPress. Why WordPress? Because Chris likes them. Really, that’s the only reason. His wife, Gorgeous (that’s how he refers to her – love it!), is one of my great friends and an awesome business woman. I trust her unconditionally. Chris is a phenom blogger and a real nice guy – his recommendation is all I need.    
  • I have to design a new website. While the domain name is mine, the templates are not, so I am sure the current hosters will strip it before they transfer it. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.    

That’s all I know for right now.  After all, it is 4 o’clock Sunday morning on Memorial Day weekend… I have done all I can do – just have to wait for everybody else to get back to work.

Until next time…

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