SashAroundTheClock

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Make WordPress Yours!

This week’s post is a guest post courtesy of High Caliber Code‘s, Jonathan Magee. He is a contract programmer and web developer, who I am lucky to have as my personal web admin and husband. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and Jonathan will lend his sage advice.

WordPress is the most widely used “content management system” or CMS for websites, holding a whopping 48% of the market share. According to BuiltWith (a usage statistic site) as of August 2015 there are over 16.3 million sites using WordPress. They show that as being 5% of the entire internet!

Generally CMSs are thought of as running blog type websites, but they can also be used to run e-commerce sites, build professional portfolios, etc. What you can do on a CMS based site is really only limited by your imagination.

WordPress.com offers free hosting services, and while it does include a handful of useful features, there are several things you just can’t do. Amongst these, one of the most handy, is the ability to customize your site. Their free sites allow you to change the way your site looks by picking one of the themes they have pre-loaded, but you can not upload other themes and you can not make customizations beyond what is included within a theme’s options.

In order to be able to truly make your site your own, you need to either sign up for their Premium version ($99 per year) or move to a different hosting company (there are many different options out there, and most of the larger hosts, like Dreamhost, Bluehost, and HostGator, offer the convenience of “one click installs” to get a WordPress site up and running). With very little work, either of these paths opens up several new features for you. One of the most popular that people are looking for is to have their own domain name like sasharoundtheclock.com versus having wordpress in the url, like sasharoundtheclock.wordpress.com. While that is a great feature, I’d like to spend a little more time talking about how they also give you the ability to fully customize your site!

Once you have the full customization ability, a little knowledge of CSS (or hiring the services of somebody who does) goes a long way. For those who feel comfortable messing around with it themselves, we are going to take a look at how to add something simple, yet oh so visually impactful. Borders! Adding a border around an image makes it stand out but also smooths the transition and stops it from feeling like it’s just floating on the page.

In your WordPress admin panel, click on Appearance -> Editor. Then on the right hand side of the page, find your css file.
StyleEditor

If you are using a theme, there is more than likely already a section in the file for the styles of an image. If so, find it, if not add it.

I would recommend adding something like this:
img {
border: 5px solid #ED702B;
}
.noborder {
border: none;
}
(you can use a site like this to pick which color you want)

The first part creates a border automatically around all images on your site (this specifically is solid thin and orange, which is what we set up for Sasha’s site), while the second part gives you the ability to easily remove the border for those times where you just don’t want it (built in border or non-standard shaped image). To use it, you just have to add the noborder name to the class list of the image. Follow these simple steps to do that – After adding the image to your post, click the image, click edit, expand the advanced options section, and then type noborder into the Image CSS Class box.
noborder

There you have it. With just a couple minutes of work, you can make your website just a little more you!
This is just one example of the multitude of things you can do once you have graduated beyond the free sites offered by WordPress.com.

This post has been cross posted on the High Caliber Code site at http://www.highcalibercode.com/2015/08/18/make-wordpress-yours/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey Sausage & Apple Skillet

Today is Foodie Friday, a link up hosted by some great ladies, which you can find out more about here. Apparently, this is National Apple week, which has inspired me to share a recipe I created years ago that uses apple and apple cider! The picture isn’t exactly the most amazing ever, but the meal was delicious! The recipe for the skillet is below. It’s pictured with quinoa (make as directed on the box!) and a very simple puree, which I made by microwaving equal parts rutabaga and butternut squash (peeled and cubed). Then, smash or puree in a food processor. Then add a bit of honey, salt, and all spice, pretty much all to taste.

You can easily cut the recipe in half for a great meal for one or double the recipe to feed a family or have easy left overs!

Overall, a delicious meal!
 

Turkey Sausage and Apple Skillet
2015-08-14 08:24:31
Serves 2
Delicious, healthy, gluten free, paleo skillet ! pictured with quinoa and butternut squash/rutabaga puree
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355 calories
25 g
74 g
20 g
20 g
2 g
322 g
1301 g
19 g
0 g
11 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
322g
Servings
2
Amount Per Serving
Calories 355
Calories from Fat 183
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 20g
31%
Saturated Fat 2g
10%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 10g
Cholesterol 74mg
25%
Sodium 1301mg
54%
Total Carbohydrates 25g
8%
Dietary Fiber 3g
12%
Sugars 19g
Protein 20g
Vitamin A
1%
Vitamin C
12%
Calcium
4%
Iron
8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Does this look wrong?
Ingredients
  1. 4 turkey brats
  2. 1 granny smith apple, cubed
  3. 1 small onion, sliced
  4. 1/2 jug of apple cider
  5. 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Pour the apple cider into a pot.
  2. Add the Turkey Brats, and cook completely (appr 10 minutes).
  3. Once the brats are cooked, remove from the pot and cut into small rounds.
  4. Heat a small skillet with the coconut oil. Add the brat rounds, the apple, and the onion. Sautee until the brats have a nice brown cook, and the apples and onions are tender.
By Sasha Magee
beta
calories
355
fat
20g
protein
20g
carbs
25g
more
SashAroundTheClock http://www.sasharoundtheclock.com/

You Can Tuesday: Be Inspired with Pinterest!

Here’s a confession – I almost didn’t write a You Can, Tuesday! post today. I’ve had dental work done on Friday and Monday and have been feeling sort of blah and mopey. I have a few great topics I am working on, but they weren’t perfect and I was being incredibly self-critical. 

So I was just going to… Not. 

Instead, I was working on inspiring myself, and created an inspiration quote board on Pinterest to try to shake off my funk. Then, I was trying to explain to a friend of mine what I was doing, and realized two things:

1. Not everyone understands Pinterest

2. My inspiration board is pretty darn inspiring. 

So today’s You Can, Tuesday! post is three fold. I want to share a few inspirational quotes and my Pinterest board in case anyone wants to be inspired or encouraged by it, then I am going to do a quick overview on getting started on Pinterest so you can start your own board (feel free to share yours in the comments if you have one or create one, because I could use all the encouragement I can get!), and also share a few places that make it easy to generate your own quotes to share! 

Part I: My Inspiration Board on Pinterest

 Follow Sasha Magee’s board Inspiration on Pinterest.

Part II: Getting Started on Pinterest

Okay, so I have assumed for the most part that you are familiar with Pinterest, but in case you’re not, let’s start with an overview of what it is. Pinterest, essentially, is like online, shareable bulletin boards. You “pin” things you want to look at or read to the bulletin board. You can create as many bulletin boards as you like on a range of topics!  For example, when my family was planning our trip to Australia, my sister created a bulletin board where we pinned links and pictures to anything and everything I found that was an idea for the trip, including places to eat, and things to see!

Follow Alysha Noorani’s board Australia – 2015 on Pinterest.

If you check out that board, you’ll see that its a group board, meaning that multiple people can pin to the board. In this case, my sister and I both wanted to be able to pin to the board so we could share ideas. Pretty cool, huh ?

I don’t find the navigation on Pinterest to be 100% intuitive, so here is a screenshot, and I’ll walk you through the basic navigation, as well as how to start your own Inspiration board! First, here is a screen shot of my Pinterest homepage. 

pinterest

1. In the top left corner is the Pinterest icon. When you click it, you get to your Pinterest homepage. Which you would think would be all of your boards, but, that would be wrong! Pinterest aims to be a social media tool, so your homepage will be filled with pins that you or your friends have pinned, or that Pinterest thinks is related to things you’ve pinned recently. More about that later. To the right of the orange number 1 above, is the search bar. This is where you can quickly type “cute curly hair cuts”  or “ways to use burlap” or “kale” and find whatever you are looking for! 

2. To the left of the orange 2, there is a drop down where you can toggle between looking at your home page or looking at other categories, such as “Popular” or “Art.” I literally have never used this until today. And probably won’t. To the right of the 2 is a button that has my name on it. When I click there, I get to all of my Pinterest boards. See the next picture for more on this. 

3. This is the Pinterest notification section. If you click this button, a new menu will pop up with three tabs. The first tab, “News” is a list of what your Pinterest friends are doing. Tab 2, “You,” shows you when people repin your stuff or follow you or your boards.  Tab 3, “Messages,” shows you when your Pinterest friends have sent you messages or sent you pins. 

4. As I mentioned above, Pinterest aims to bring a social aspect to saving all of your links. I’ve blurred out the names, but you can see that Pinterest is recommending me to invite Facebook friends who aren’t on Pinterest (or aren’t connected through their Facebook) in the top window, and recommending that I follow Facebook friends who are on Pinterest. 

5. Underneath each pin showing up on my homepage is a little explanation of why it is showing up. The pin the left of the number five is something I’ve recently pinned, so it has my name and the board it is pinned on. It could have a friend’s name and their board name.  The pin to the right doesn’t have a name. Instead it says “picked for you.”  Pinterest recognizes that I’ve been searching for DIY things, and recommends that pin for me. It’s sometimes useful and sometimes creepy. 

pinterest2Once you click on your name from number 2, then you see this view. You can see the top breaks out my social media stats, and under that you can see each of my boards.  In the top left is the “Create New Board” space, so you can click there to create a new board. 

pinterest3

So, let’s create an inspiration board together!  When you click the “Create New Board” space, you will get a menu like this that pops up. First thing, name your board. I’ve named mine “Inspiration.” Next, write a quick description of what is going in your board. Third, give your board a category. I called mine “quotes” since I anticipate largely pinning quotes to this board. I did not turn on a map for this board, a feature that I have not yet found useful for any of my boards, so readers, if you’ve used this feature, please chime in!  Next, I did not make my board secret. You can make a board secret if you don’t want your friends to see it. Maybe you are planning a surprise party and don’t want anyone to know about it yet. That would be a great time to make your board secret. Finally, I’ve not added any collaborators, but you can, as Alysha did with the Australia Board.  Then click create, and voila, you are ready to pin! 

You can pin things in a number of ways. The easiest is to search for things in the search bar in Pinterest. The second way is to click on the board you want to add a pin to, click the “Add pin” space, and copy and paste a link of what you want to pin in. Third way, is when you are surfing the net and and the website owner has set it up so a “Pin It” button appears over the picture. For example, on one of my favorite sites, I Waste So Much Time, at the bottom of each picture is a “Pin It!” button. Finally, you can add a pin it button to your browser, which you can read more about here, if you’re interested:  Pin It Button. 

Part III: Making Your Own Images (Simply)

That’s all well and good, but what if you have an awesome idea for a quote or image and it doesn’t exist yet?? Then what? Well a simple place to start is Be Happy Quote Generator. It might not be as fancy, but it is quick, easy to use, and looks nice. You can easily change the font, colors, and alignment and create a great quote in seconds. Here’s one I made that fits today’s theme! 

quote1

 

You can also give PicMonkey a try!  You have a lot more options, but the there are two drawbacks. First, it is a pretty sophisticated, web-based tool that is free. So, necessarily that means it has ads, and sometimes runs really slow as the ads run. It also slows down everything else I’m working on. It is also way less intuitive to use, but like I said, you can make prettier pictures. Like this one :

HTquote

 

I hope this post has inspired you in some way – by introducing you to Pinterest or creating your own pictures, or sharing some inspirational quotes with you! 

Do you have an inspirational board on Pinterest?

Have you written an inspirational post recently? 

What do you use to create images for your blog?

How do you motivate yourself when you’re in a funk?

Feel free to share blog posts or pinterest boards in the link up or comments! 

Do you have something encouraging to share this week? Grab a badge, share in the link up and remember, you CAN!

YCTButton

 

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sasharoundtheclock

these tiny humans 🥰 these tiny humans 🥰
Hello, 35! I’m ready for ya! Hello, 35! I’m ready for ya!
Had so much fun making this for wreath! Are wreat Had so much fun making this for wreath! 
Are wreaths a part of your holiday decor? 

@daytonmomcollective #diy #virtualclass #crafts
Kiddo’s first real snowman. And his second. Whic Kiddo’s first real snowman. And his second. Which was made exclusively for him to destroy. See the body in the background? 😆
Pain Perdu. Lost Bread. In France, pain perdu is Pain Perdu. Lost Bread. 
In France, pain perdu is a way to use bread that otherwise would have gone stale. Here, at Chez Magee, we’ve made a commitment to buy less food and eat what we have. This morning, I had two slices of stale bread that had been pulled out to make bread crumbs but we didn’t need as many slices as we pulled out; bread that otherwise would have been thrown away. I had a pear. I had ginger beer left over from thanksgiving mocktails and Chardonnay that we made pasta primavera with. Neither of us liked the Chardonnay enough to drink it on its own; another ingredient that would have been tossed. 

So I present my delicious Eggnog Pain Perdu with Ginger Chardonnay Pears.

French toast was made with stale bread, soaked in a solution of almond milk egg nog, eggs, and a scoop of vegan protein powder.
Pear cooked in Chardonnay and ginger beer, then removed once tender and the liquid reduced into a syrup.

#food #holidayfood #omnomnom #frenchtoast #painperdu
Baby girl’s first Thanksgiving. I’m so thankf Baby girl’s first Thanksgiving. 
I’m so thankful for all of the blessings we’ve experienced this year that have helped offset the terribleness that has been 2020.
Daily affirmations for my kids. Let’s be real, Daily affirmations for my kids.  Let’s be real, 2020 has been freaking hard. The adults have felt stressed and irritable. My big kid has had to go through so much change ( good and bad), and he only sort of understands what’s going on. The one thing I can do is affirm for him that his place in my heart and life has constancy. Even on hard, sad, or disappointing days. Even on days when I’ve had to apologize for yelling when it wasn’t called for. Even when I can’t say when he’ll get to go back to school or play with friends again. Even when. 
Do you have any daily affirmations for yourself or your kids? 
#affirmations #kids #momlife
#tbt Love this picture of hubs and big kid when h #tbt 
Love this picture of hubs and big kid when he was four months old. Fun fact, I bought this matching set for the first Father’s Day we ever celebrated, while I was still pregnant.
My short term disability for having abdominal surg My short term disability for having abdominal surgery (aka a c-section) ended yesterday, and I go back to work today! The good thing about working from home is that the coffee never sucks 😉 I have a new coffee nook set up that is both visually and deliciously appealing. I love how cute and cozy it looks! What would be in your ideal coffee station? 
#workfromhome #coffee #homeoffice #momlife
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