Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

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A Blog Bites the Dust

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Beware, I’m on a bit of a soap box in this one.

So I did it.  I sold my Melr*se Pl*ce blog (it’s not a bad word, just don’t want search engines picking it up).  I sold it to an online friend and I know it will be well taken care of.  But yesterday when I took it out of my stat site, it honestly made me choke up a bit.  It was like giving a well cared for treasure away.  I guess I’ve put more effort and energy into it than I thought.

The thing is once the ads came out recently, they were too racy for me. It’s in very poor taste considering it’s on a network geared toward teenage girls.  “Tuesdays are the new Hump Day” or “Menage A TUES” are just examples.  Have fun explaining that one to your 13 year old.  The main character is “try-sexual” because she’ll try anything with anyone and another character is literally a prostitute on the side.  The latest ad says “Lauren’s on call and it’s not at the hospital”.  Hopefully the ads are going a bit over the edge and the show will handle the subjects more appropriately.  But I doubt it. 

I’m no saint when it comes to TV watching but I guess I just didn’t feel comfortable being a part of the promotion of that. I do put a lot of effort into my blogs and since it’s not something I feel 100% about, I just can’t justify the time and effort.  The thing is I’m giving up a source of blog income as it was finally making a profit after about 6 months and I expect it only to go up, way up, in fact.  I still can’t say it didn’t hurt a bit to give it up.  But I know deep down I’m doing the right thing for me.

Sooo…I have some time to blog about something else now…watch out!

BlogHop ’09 #bloghop09

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I just returned from vacation literally hours ago but I couldn’t NOT participate in BlogHop 09. BusyDad begged me to go to BlogHer (ok, he did mention once or twice I should go. work with me, here) but I went back and forth and then when I finally pushed the button to go, it was all sold out. So a few minutes without BusyDad and all the other great bloggers and hundreds of dollars saved later, here I am on BlogHop 09. I can’t wait to find new blogging friends! And now, what you came here for…a little about me…

I’m 31 years old (just as of last week).  I have two girls Emma (6) and Lexi (4).  I have a wonderful husband of 11 years (in a few weeks) that is a State Trooper for South Carolina, where we live.  I work from home part-time as a computer programmer for a large bank.  That’s the basics I guess.  Other fun stuff:

  • I love and started this blog over 7 years ago.
  • I’m addicted to Twitter.  Follow me @amyjbennett.  I usually follow back.
  • I love my iPhone.  I am on it constantly.  Just a few minutes ago I downloaded a Period Tracker app.  Yep, there’s an app for that.
  • I finished writing my first book last month.  My sister still hasn’t read it.  My husband says he probably won’t ever read it.  Three people have read it all and liked it ok.  One is my mother though, so I’m not sure if she counts.
  • I’m a Christian.  I try to live it and sometimes you’ll see me blog about it.
  • I love TV.  During the fall I have 9 or 10 shows I watch.  There are a few I blog about. Here are my favorites: One Tree Hill, American Idol, Grey’s Anatomy, LOST, Bachelorette/Bachelor, Gossip Girl.  I used to watch House, Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, 24 and Survivor but I had to cut back.
  • I own 3 other entertainment blogs.  One Tree Hill Blog, I Heart Danny Gokey and Melrose Place Blog.  They take a lot of time but I love them.
  • We live near both our parents and spend a lot of time with them.  Read: I let them cook for us as much as possible 😉

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That probably covers most of me. I hope you found something to connect with and I can’t wait to HOP over to your blog.  Leave a comment and I’ll come find you!

Link Round-Up

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Here are a few things that I’ve been liking lately:

Aaron Ivey, formerly of SPUR58 (which I saw at youth camp a few years back) has a new album out as of yesterday.  It’s amazing.  Go buy it now.  It went to #1 on the Christian chart today in iTunes.

Michael Johns (whose site is run by a great friend), a former American Idol contestant also has a new album out this week.  He really should have been born in the 70s.  I don’t puffy heart every song but there are a few really great songs on there.  There were enough songs that I puffy-hearted to buy the whole album.

ListenToYouTube.com is a great site to turn any YouTube video to an MP3.  Before you think I’m pirating songs, I’m NOT.  I paid good money for the albums above on iTunes.

Picnik.com allows you to edit pictures online.

Jing lets you take a screen capture and upload it online.  Very simple if you’ve ever tried to do it the old Alt-Print Screen way.  If that doesn’t make sense to you, just skip this one.

MinistrySoFabulous.com Another Amy over there.  I always look forward to her posts even though we are not in the same place in life at all except that we minister to students.

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com My newest daily laugh.

CardboardLove.com Pretty sure I’ve blogged about it before.  I know I’ve twittered about it before but it just makes me happy.  I pretend Scott would do this every day.

This one comes with an R rating for language but MonsterApathy.com is really funny to me.

That should keep you busy.  Enjoy 🙂

DisneyFamily.com Travel Kit Giveaway

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DisneyFamilyLogo

Emma and Lexi have already learned the art of “Are we there yet?” on a trip.  And it usually starts about five miles away from the house.   I’m really excited to be a part of MomGenerations.com and DisneyFamily.com to give away an “On the Road With Family.com” kit to one lucky reader! The kit promises to keep children comfortably entertained during car or plane trips this summer and will put an end to the dreaded “Are we there yet?” question.  Hallelujah!

The travel kit includes a plush kid size travel pillow, a copy of Dr. Seuss’s There’s a Map in My Lap, a travel game kit, notepad and pen and adorable tote bag (a $30 value).

On the Road with Family.com

Also, make sure to visit DisneyFamily.com Travel to help with all your vacation planning needs as the site provides a unique resource for parents providing a combination of expert reviews, parent recommendations, and age-appropriate points of interest for family-friendly destinations on any budget.

One of the many great features on the site is a list of “Cities on a Shoestring” where parents can find inexpensive or free activities to do in cities around the country. The site also includes tips for hassle free air travel, videos of popular family destinations, and safety travel tips.

To win, please share your favorite family vacation destination spot in a comment; a winner will be chosen at random.

For an bonus entry tweet the following text:

Win a Disney Travel Kit for kids from @amyjbennett at http://www.amyjbennett.com/?p=4515

The contest will run until Wednesday July 1st.  Good luck!

Melrose Place Blog

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When my blogging slows down, especially during a One Tree Hill hiatus, please be assured I am off in some Internet corner creating another web site.  Please call me with urgency and convince me to STOP WHAT I’M DOING.

In this case, no one stopped me in time.  I’m getting a head start on the new Melrose Place remake.  The casting isn’t even complete yet but it’s much easier to do a few posts than try to catch up last minute.

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