This post is a bit of a mixed bag. Here goes.
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Pics
After any frustrating attempts to come up with a pretty cookie like my dear friend Amanda's from I Am Baker, I think I am getting closer to something I am able to live with.
There is still a lot of room for improvement and my photography is wretched...be gentle with me!
I baked these cookies as a thank you to my friend Jen. She was a wonderful source of encouragement to me this week and she is such a blessing. I wanted to do something for her to say thank you.
Mama and Papa bear cookies...
Baby bear cookies...
By this point I was crazy excited that I had a frosting I could work with and cracked open the food colouring to make these...
Pre-beginner level for sure, but I see hope for the future!
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Brags
Arizona Mamma from Our Daze In The Desert awarded me this Circle of Friends Award. I adore this woman - seriously. She is such an encouragement to me and so many others and she is crazy funny.
Thanks buddy!
This next award is from Shmonae at Pink Moss.
You have to check this blog out. Shmonae is so sweet, takes great photos and has six gorgeous daughters. Seriously...that much beauty in the one family? NOT FAIR!
Thanks, Shmonae!
And last but not least... these two awards were given to me by Tania from Larger Family Life
I don't know how Tania does it..she has eight children! Whew! I love her writing style. Check her out!
Thanks Tania!!
While I love to be given awards (who doesn't!?), it's always so hard to decide who to pass them on to. I have so many blogs that I love to read and it's hard to narrow them down. So, I'll do what I usually do... if you are listed on my blogroll, then please take these awards for your blog. If you have ever left me an encouraging comment then please, take these awards for your blogs as well.
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Burning Question
I'm thinking of switching to the Disqus commenting system so that I can interact with my readers/commenters more. But I hate change like no one else on the planet, so I'm dragging my feet.
Do you use Disqus? What do you love about it? Hate about it?
If you are a reader looking to leave a comment, does the Disqus commenting system turn you off? Why?
I love it when I leave a comment for a blogger and I get a personal reply in my email. I want to be able to do that for others who take the time to leave their thoughts.
Please help! All opinions are welcome.
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That's a wrap for me. Jordan's banana bread and magazine have been pitched onto the floor and she is wanting to get down to play.
Have a wonderful day everyone!
A couple of things...first, thanks for the comment you left me! Nice to know I would have such a great option if things were of that persuasion ;)
ReplyDeleteNext, thank you even more for the awesome stuff you said about me here on your blog. Means a lot because you are so earnest.
Loved the cookies. Way better than anything I could do.
About comments, I will leave them for you regardless of the system you use. I will say this though. You could sign up to have all your comments get sent to your email. Then, those (like me) who have their profiles checked to show email, can receive a reply from you straight from your email. It only accounts for about half of the people though. So again, whatever you decide won't change whether I comment. I will :)
love, love the cookies :)
ReplyDeletecan you make one with my name on it too :)
hope you can visit and leave your mark on my blogs :)
my real story
my minute maid
Ok I have to respond to each little section.. bc ... I just do
ReplyDeleteCookies: They look ama.zing! I am so proud girl.. you are getting to be just down right bakerista on me ;)
Awards: Congrats!! You are such a fun and spirited blogger.. i love stopping by each day to see what my buddy kate has been up too! way to go!
Disqus: I have been thinking about doing this too.. I want to be able to respond to people when they ask questions or just thank them for stopping by. I love to check my email and see a sweet little comment in there! The down side is it does take a little longer.. but i would rather it take a little longer and get a response back ya know!?!? pros and cons to both. My prob is I dont know how to do it!! So if you do it be sure and send me some step by step blonde proof instructions ;)
Love ya girlie
Kate. Your cookies look amazing. Seriously. I dont know what you are talking about!! You have great design style and a steady hand and great writing and I think you could be a real pro if you wanted to!
ReplyDeleteTHanks for the awards. When you said they are for everyone I am sure you meant me right? Right????
And I dont use Discus but I personally dislike leaving comments on it. Pain in the butt. But I wouldnt kick it out of bed.
Whatever you want works for me!
Love to you!
Amanda
The cookies look great! and yummy!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the awards!
On disqus, wouldn't we have to go back to that specific blog post to read your response to us? I usually respond to everyone by email unless they don't have their email set up for me to do that. It drives me crazy to write out a big long response and then realize it says noreplycomments! lol Otherwise, I leave a reply to them on my comments, and I hope they come back to see it. They probably don't. Either way, I think you will have the same problem with not getting responses back to them. So basically, I didn't help you out at all here. Or I just confused everyone. :) If you find a better way, let me know.
I used disqus and I love it (from the blogger standpoint) because I can reply through my email. I'm pretty sure when you leave a comment you can elect to get emailed if there is a response. With these regular blogger comments I just have to remember where I commented and go back to check. I'm far too scatterbrained to remember and far too wordy and nosy to stop commenting so much!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about switching to disqus too! Your cookies look so yummy!
ReplyDeleteWow, those cookies look delish! Great job, way above pre-beginner level!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on all your well deserved awards!
I personally don't mind commenting on Disqus, so I say if you want to do it, Go for it! :-)
First of all, I love how you organized your hodge-podge post! Too cute!
ReplyDeleteYour cookies are awesome!Way better than I could probably do. I wanna try working with fondant for a cake. Have you tried that yet?
Congrats on your awards!!! You're right, who doesn't love awards?
As for Disqus, I would still leave a comment whether you changed it or not. I don't understand the difference or what the benefits are, though so I don't know what to tell you. LOL!
Hope you're having a great day, Kate!
WAIT!!!! WHAT?!!! Nuh uh?!!! "I hate disqus" Kate is gonna switch to disqus?! I don't believe it!
ReplyDeleteI want to also! But, it's been a bugger for me to install...we'll see what I can do!
LOVE the cookies. You should send me some now...seriously. Oh yeah, please. :) They look great! :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the awards, you always deserve them!
And I have been thinking about changing too because I like commenting back to people also. I pretty much haven't for the same reason, change is too hard! :) I would for sure keep commenting though and that should put your mind at ease. :)
I love, love, love disqus!! My comments have actually increased since I started using it and it is so much easier to interact with people that do comment!!
ReplyDeleteI hate Disqus! Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have enough to do without answering e-mails all day. I know that this is the way that things are going though, but what with Twitter and all the rest of the stuff going on I'm afraid that I have stopped following some people who have changed to Disqus other than make your followers increase, I think that you may find that you lose them instead.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with blogging in the "Old Fashioned" way?
I don't care for leaving comments on disqus because it's a pain. It wouldn't stop me from commenting if I wanted to but I think I comment a lot less on Mckmama's blog since she switched.
ReplyDeleteGrrr..... I just remembered why I dislike Disqus so much. Mckmama is doing a cute little hat giveaway and so I think, I'm going to enter that giveaway for my daughter who would love the hat. BUT for the umpteenth time I have been blocked from leaving a comment. Why? They don't know it's just a glitch with the system. Sometimes I'm blocked and sometimes I'm not. I don't recommend Disqus at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts on Disqus commenting, everyone!!
ReplyDelete~*~
Arizona Mamma - Just tellin' the truth. I think you're pretty great and I'm glad we met. I hope that someday I can encourage you like you do for me.
RJ's Mama - Thanks! And I was able to visit your blogs the other day :-) Cute pics!
Tyler - Aw thanks girl! I have a LOOOOONG way to go, but I'm having more fun now with the practicing part
Amanda - Look out, I'm going to be some stiff competition for you. In about 50 years. Just sayin.
Stacey - Thanks girl! About Disqus..I'm not sure. I thought I could just click on the comment and email a reply. I don't want to have to make people keep clicking back for a response and make more work for them, you know? Hmm.
Robin - I'm always so excited when you comment on my blog. Just sayin.
Mindi - Maybe I'll wait for you to try it out first and wait to hear what you think ;-)
Cop Mama - Thanks :-) I want to do better, so I'll keep practicing
Amy - no, I haven't ever worked with fondant before. It looks great but I've heard it tastes gross. That's enough for me!
Mama M - hush now, girl ;-)
Laura - one day I'll be happy enough with my cookies to send you some!
B - For real?? I know that as a reader, I like it when I see in my email that you've commented back. That's what I really like about it, knowing that not only did the blogger read what I wrote, but cared enough to reply.I want to be able to do that with my readers, but some people just hate it.
Alice in Wonderland - Thanks for your thoughts. I certainly don't want to lose readers, just be able to interact with them more.
RaD - I use to hate commenting on blogs that used Disqus, but then I started getting replies to my comments and really appreciated it. Oh what to do, what to do??
Thanks for your thoughts on Disqus commenting, everyone!!
ReplyDelete~*~
Arizona Mamma - Just tellin' the truth. I think you're pretty great and I'm glad we met. I hope that someday I can encourage you like you do for me.
RJ's Mama - Thanks! And I was able to visit your blogs the other day :-) Cute pics!
Tyler - Aw thanks girl! I have a LOOOOONG way to go, but I'm having more fun now with the practicing part
Amanda - Look out, I'm going to be some stiff competition for you. In about 50 years. Just sayin.
Stacey - Thanks girl! About Disqus..I'm not sure. I thought I could just click on the comment and email a reply. I don't want to have to make people keep clicking back for a response and make more work for them, you know? Hmm.
Robin - I'm always so excited when you comment on my blog. Just sayin.
Mindi - Maybe I'll wait for you to try it out first and wait to hear what you think ;-)
Cop Mama - Thanks :-) I want to do better, so I'll keep practicing
Amy - no, I haven't ever worked with fondant before. It looks great but I've heard it tastes gross. That's enough for me!
Mama M - hush now, girl ;-)
Laura - one day I'll be happy enough with my cookies to send you some!
B - For real?? I know that as a reader, I like it when I see in my email that you've commented back. That's what I really like about it, knowing that not only did the blogger read what I wrote, but cared enough to reply.I want to be able to do that with my readers, but some people just hate it.
Alice in Wonderland - Thanks for your thoughts. I certainly don't want to lose readers, just be able to interact with them more.
RaD - I use to hate commenting on blogs that used Disqus, but then I started getting replies to my comments and really appreciated it. Oh what to do, what to do??