Bloggiesta Spring 2018 - Finish Line

To Do:

• Life blog drafts March, April ✓
• Craft blog drafts March, April ✓
• Upload craft photos to Pinterest ✓
• Formulate TBR lists for April, May, and June ✓
• Fix author archives
• Fix title archives
• Check broken links
• Create headers for reoccurring topics ✓
• Update my potential blog posts file
• Check all my pages for relevancy/format ✓
• Create a photos page
• Curate a library books list for April, May, and June
• Draft check-in posts, seasonal posts ✓
• Look up upcoming Top Ten Tuesday topics ✓
• Look up upcoming readathons ✓
• Check TBR Pile page ✓
• Check Perpetual Reading Challenges page ✓

My to do list was quite ambitious considering how my week was anticipated to go. So, I'm going to say that what I did get done this week is great! I took care of a ton of those little behind the scenes tasks. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bloggiesta Spring 2018 - Update #2

To Do:

• Life blog drafts March, April ✓
• Craft blog drafts March, April ✓
• Upload craft photos to Pinterest
• Formulate TBR lists for April, May, and June
• Fix author archives
• Fix title archives
• Check broken links
• Create headers for reoccurring topics -- I created headers for my reading challenge check-ins, 52 weeks, videos, and odds and ends. The life blog ones are done. I'm toying with making a few for my craft blog, so keeping this goal open right now. 
• Update my potential blog posts file
• Check all my pages for relevancy/format ✓
• Create a photos page
• Curate a library books list for April, May, and June
• Draft check-in posts, seasonal posts ✓
• Look up upcoming Top Ten Tuesday topics ✓
• Look up upcoming readathons 
• Check TBR Pile page ✓
• Check Perpetual Reading Challenges page ✓

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bloggiesta Spring 2018 - Update #1

To Do:

• Life blog drafts March, April ✓
• Craft blog drafts March, April
• Upload craft photos to Pinterest
• Formulate TBR lists for April, May, and June
• Fix author archives
• Fix title archives
• Check broken links
• Create headers for reoccurring topics -- I created headers for my reading challenge check-ins, 52 weeks, videos, and odds and ends. The life blog ones are done. I'm toying with making a few for my craft blog, so keeping this goal open right now. 
• Update my potential blog posts file
• Check all my pages for relevancy/format
• Create a photos page
• Curate a library books list for April, May, and June
• Draft check-in posts, seasonal posts
• Look up upcoming Top Ten Tuesday topics
• Look up upcoming readathons 
• Check TBR Pile page
• Check Perpetual Reading Challenges page

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bloggiesta Spring 2018

I haven't done a Bloggiesta for a few years, but my blog is in need of some serious TLC. Mostly it's behind the scenes tasks, but I thought I would actually sign up for this one and tackle my to-do list.

To Do:

• Life blog drafts March, April
• Craft blog drafts March, April
• Upload craft photos to Pinterest
• Formulate TBR lists for April, May, and June
• Fix author archives
• Fix title archives
• Check broken links
• Create headers for reoccurring topics
• Update my potential blog posts file
• Check all my pages for relevancy/format
• Create a photos page
• Curate a library books list for April, May, and June
• Draft check-in posts, seasonal posts
• Look up upcoming Top Ten Tuesday topics
• Look up upcoming readathons 
• Check TBR Pile page
• Check Perpetual Reading Challenges page

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bloggiesta 2015 Update #3

What I did today:

• Prep/draft Sunday Sunset posts through 2015 -- Done
• Prep/draft Fashion Friday posts through 2015 -- Done. Outfits have been created. Drafts are finished, but they are close...
• Blog-Tember post Day 22
• Create Fall into Books Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post -- all set for me to start reading next week
• Record/trash/write random drafts (here and at craft blog) -- None at the craft blog (woohoo!), 20 here pared down from 76. I got rid of a ton of old useless drafts, moved some to scheduled posts, and kept only a few that I will probably finish in the next two months.
• Prep/draft Thursday posts through 2015 -- Ready to be completed

Wow! I am so excited to have such a successful Bloggiesta! I accomplished a majority of my goals and fixed some things that have been bothering me. I feel like I am in a much better position for the least few months of 2015. And the leftover goals will be put onto my to-do list for the next month.

Goals List:

1. Finish the rest of my Blog-Tember posts (Day 22, 28, 29, 30)
2. Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
3. Update TBR Pile page
4. Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
5. Start 2016 TBR list; prep draft page
6. Start 2016 TBR jar
7. Tweak About Me page – here and at craft blog
8. Update Blogs I Love page — double check Bloglovin’
9. Update Current Book Wish List (forgot that I got rid of this page...)
10. Prep/draft Music Monday posts through 2015
11. Prep/draft Fashion Friday posts through 2015
12. Prep/draft TTT posts through 2015
13. Prep/draft Thursday posts through 2015
14. Prep/draft Sunday Sunset posts through 2015
15. Create Fall into Books Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
16. Record/trash/write random drafts — here and at craft blog
17. Add Holiday Catalog to sidebar
18. Prep/draft SU News posts through 2015
19. Prep/draft Sunday Haul posts through 2015
20. Update Other Crafty People (double check Bloglovin’)
21. Update/layout Day Zero Projects for rest of 2015
22. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
23. Check any broken links
24. Create a watermark for pictures
25. Prep review drafts for rest of 2015 scheduled reading
26. Plan out October SSINK projects
27. Plan out craft projects for rest of 2015
28. Update upcoming classes page
29. Plan out/post craft classes through 2015 (meetup)
30. Update chalkboard calendar for October
31. Update Evernote calendars
32. Create Evernote calendars for 2016
33. Added: Update perpetual spreadsheet

Bloggiesta 2015 Update #2

What I did today:

• Update chalkboard calendar for October -- easy peasy
• Create Evernote calendars for 2016 -- Took me a few minutes, but I have my 2016 calendar prepped
• Update Evernote calendars -- Synced with blogs and planner
• Prep/draft Sunday Haul posts through 2015
• Prep/draft SU News posts through 2015 -- Another easy but time consuming task
• Prep/draft TTT posts through 2015 -- Not every topic strikes my fancy, but I did prep the topics that I like.
• Prep/draft Music Monday posts through 2015 -- Another day completed!

Goals List:

1. Finish the rest of my Blog-Tember posts (Day 22, 28, 29, 30)
2. Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
3. Update TBR Pile page
4. Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
5. Start 2016 TBR list; prep draft page
6. Start 2016 TBR jar
7. Tweak About Me page – here and at craft blog
8. Update Blogs I Love page — double check Bloglovin’
9. Update Current Book Wish List (forgot that I got rid of this page...)
10. Prep/draft Music Monday posts through 2015
11. Prep/draft Fashion Friday posts through 2015
12. Prep/draft TTT posts through 2015
13. Prep/draft Thursday posts through 2015
14. Prep/draft Sunday Sunset posts through 2015
15. Create Fall into Books Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
16. Record/trash/write random drafts — here and at craft blog
17. Add Holiday Catalog to sidebar
18. Prep/draft SU News posts through 2015
19. Prep/draft Sunday Haul posts through 2015
20. Update Other Crafty People (double check Bloglovin’)
21. Update/layout Day Zero Projects for rest of 2015
22. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
23. Check any broken links
24. Create a watermark for pictures
25. Prep review drafts for rest of 2015 scheduled reading
26. Plan out October SSINK projects
27. Plan out craft projects for rest of 2015
28. Update upcoming classes page
29. Plan out/post craft classes through 2015 (meetup)
30. Update chalkboard calendar for October
31. Update Evernote calendars
32. Create Evernote calendars for 2016
33. Added: Update perpetual spreadsheet

Bloggiesta 2015 Update #1

What I did today:

• Fix any gaps in Reviews pages -- Cleaned them up. Looks much nicer now.
• Added: Updated Perpetual spreadsheet
• Update Music Monday spreadsheet -- Somehow I haven't done this for over a year... Holy cow! Took about 15 minutes and got this updated.
• Update TBR Pile page -- So many books on this page, but I did get this updated.
• Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
• Start 2016 TBR list; prep draft page -- I didn't start my TBR list, but I did get my reading challenge page drafted with my perpetual challenges and a few that I know I will be doing next year (picture books, new authors, mount tbr)
• Update Blogs I Love page (double check Bloglovin) -- Holy cow that was a big task. So thankful that it is now done. Plus, I weeded out probably 30 nonactive blogs
• Update Other Crafty People (double check Bloglovin’) -- Thankfully I could do this along with the task above
• Update upcoming classes page -- A lot of copy and pasting, but the page is updated through October
• Add Holiday Catalog to sidebar -- Done
• Check any broken links -- Done

Goals List:

1. Finish the rest of my Blog-Tember posts (Day 22, 28, 29, 30)
2. Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
3. Update TBR Pile page
4. Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
5. Start 2016 TBR list; prep draft page
6. Start 2016 TBR jar
7. Tweak About Me page – here and at craft blog
8. Update Blogs I Love page — double check Bloglovin’
9. Update Current Book Wish List (forgot that I got rid of this page...)
10. Prep/draft Music Monday posts through 2015
11. Prep/draft Fashion Friday posts through 2015
12. Prep/draft TTT posts through 2015
13. Prep/draft Thursday posts through 2015
14. Prep/draft Sunday Sunset posts through 2015
15. Create Fall into Books Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
16. Record/trash/write random drafts — here and at craft blog
17. Add Holiday Catalog to sidebar
18. Prep/draft SU News posts through 2015
19. Prep/draft Sunday Haul posts through 2015
20. Update Other Crafty People (double check Bloglovin’)
21. Update/layout Day Zero Projects for rest of 2015
22. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
23. Check any broken links
24. Create a watermark for pictures
25. Prep review drafts for rest of 2015 scheduled reading
26. Plan out October SSINK projects
27. Plan out craft projects for rest of 2015
28. Update upcoming classes page
29. Plan out/post craft classes through 2015 (meetup)
30. Update chalkboard calendar for October
31. Update Evernote calendars
32. Create Evernote calendars for 2016
33. Added: Update perpetual spreadsheet

Bloggiesta 2015 Goals Post

I'm joining this year to help organize all those nagging blogging tasks. I've been attempting to create my master to-do list. It's a bit long, but I guess that's the point. I need to have a large wish list of tasks to finish out.  Here's what I have so far:

1. Finish the rest of my Blog-Tember posts (Day 18, 22, 28, 29, 30)
2. Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
3. Update TBR Pile page
4. Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
5. Start 2016 TBR list; prep draft page
6. Start 2016 TBR jar
7. Tweak About Me page – here and at craft blog
8. Update Blogs I Love page — double check Bloglovin’
9. Update Current Book Wish List
10. Prep/draft Music Monday posts through 2015
11. Prep/draft Fashion Friday posts through 2015
12. Prep/draft TTT posts through 2015
13. Prep/draft Thursday posts through 2015
14. Prep/draft Sunday Sunset posts through 2015
15. Create Fall into Books Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
16. Record/trash/write random drafts — here and at craft blog
17. Add Holiday Catalog to sidebar
18. Prep/draft SU News posts through 2015
19. Prep/draft Sunday Haul posts through 2015
20. Update Other Crafty People — double check Bloglovin’
21. Update/layout Day Zero Projects for rest of 2015
22. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
23. Check any broken links
24. Create a watermark for pictures
25. Prep review drafts for rest of 2014 scheduled reading
26. Plan out October SSINK projects
27. Plan out craft projects for rest of 2015
28. Update upcoming classes page
29. Plan out/post craft classes through 2015 (meetup)
30. Update chalkboard calendar for October
31. Update Evernote calendars
32. Create Evernote calendars for 2016

Bloggiesta Finishline

Overall I ended up accomplishing a ton this long weekend.  I didn't finish everything, but I never expected to finish my entire list. I plan on continuing to work on finishing this list during the last weeks of September. We'll see how it goes.

My goals and progress:

• Write review of Fingersmith and any other books I finish this week
• Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
• Update TBR Pile page
• Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
• Start 2015 TBR list; prep draft page
• Tweak About Me page – here and at craft blog
• Update Blogs I Love page — double check Bloglovin’
• Update Current Book Wish List
• Prep review drafts for rest of 2014 scheduled reading
• Prep/write 5 Music Monday posts
• Prep/write 5 Fashion Friday posts
• Prep/write 2 TTT posts
• Prep/write 5 Thursday posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Sunset posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days Challenges posts
• Start new Day Zero Project draft
• Create FrightFall Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
• Record/trash/write random drafts — here and at craft blog
• Update Other Crafty People — double check Bloglovin’
• Add Holiday catalog to sidebar
• Add any outstanding craft projects to Pinterest
• Prep/write 5 Basic Technique posts
• Prep/write 5 Essential Products posts
• Prep/write 2 Project Life posts
• Prep/write 2 New Discoveries posts
• Prep/write 5 SU News posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Haul posts -- wrote 1
• Prep/write October 30 Days of Cards posts
• Added — Create a watermark for pictures

Bloggiesta Day 3

My goals and progress:

• Write review of Fingersmith and any other books I finish this week
• Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
• Update TBR Pile page
• Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
• Start 2015 TBR list; prep draft page
• Tweak About Me page – here and at craft blog
• Update Blogs I Love page — double check Bloglovin’
• Update Current Book Wish List
• Prep review drafts for rest of 2014 scheduled reading
• Prep/write 5 Music Monday posts
• Prep/write 5 Fashion Friday posts
• Prep/write 2 TTT posts
• Prep/write 5 Thursday posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Sunset posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days Challenges posts
• Start new Day Zero Project draft
• Create FrightFall Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
• Record/trash/write random drafts — here and at craft blog
• Update Other Crafty People — double check Bloglovin’
• Add Holiday catalog to sidebar
• Add any outstanding craft projects to Pinterest
• Prep/write 5 Basic Technique posts
• Prep/write 5 Essential Products posts
• Prep/write 2 Project Life posts
• Prep/write 2 New Discoveries posts
• Prep/write 5 SU News posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Haul posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days of Cards posts
• Added — Create a watermark for pictures

Bloggiesta Day 2

My goals and progress:

• Write review of Fingersmith and any other books I finish this week
• Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
• Update TBR Pile page
• Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
• Start 2015 TBR list; prep draft page
• Tweak About Me page – here and at craft blog
• Update Blogs I Love page — double check Bloglovin’
• Update Current Book Wish List
• Prep review drafts for rest of 2014 scheduled reading
• Prep/write 5 Music Monday posts
• Prep/write 5 Fashion Friday posts
• Prep/write 2 TTT posts
• Prep/write 5 Thursday posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Sunset posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days Challenges posts
• Start new Day Zero Project draft
• Create FrightFall Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
• Record/trash/write random drafts — here and at craft blog
• Update Other Crafty People — double check Bloglovin’
• Add Holiday catalog to sidebar
• Add any outstanding craft projects to Pinterest
• Prep/write 5 Basic Technique posts
• Prep/write 5 Essential Products posts
• Prep/write 2 Project Life posts
• Prep/write 2 New Discoveries posts
• Prep/write 5 SU News posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Haul posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days of Cards posts
• Added — Create a watermark for pictures

Bloggiesta Day 1

My goals and progress:

• Write review of Fingersmith and any other books I finish this week
• Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
• Update TBR Pile page
• Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
• Start 2015 TBR list; prep draft page
• Tweak About Me page - here and at craft blog
• Update Blogs I Love page -- double check Bloglovin'
• Update Current Book Wish List
• Prep review drafts for rest of 2014 scheduled reading
• Prep/write 5 Music Monday posts
• Prep/write 5 Fashion Friday posts
• Prep/write 2 TTT posts
• Prep/write 5 Thursday posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Sunset posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days Challenges posts
• Start new Day Zero Project draft
• Create FrightFall Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
• Record/trash/write random drafts -- here and at craft blog
• Update Other Crafty People -- double check Bloglovin'
• Add Holiday catalog to sidebar
• Add any outstanding craft projects to Pinterest
• Prep/write 5 Basic Technique posts
• Prep/write 5 Essential Products posts
• Prep/write 2 Project Life posts
• Prep/write 2 New Discoveries posts
• Prep/write 5 SU News posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Haul posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days of Cards posts
• Added -- Create a watermark for pictures

It's Bloggiesta Time!

It's that time again. Time to set away from the fun of reading and crafting and time to fix all those little things that have been bugging me for months.  It's time to buckle down and spend a few days getting my blogs in order.  Yep, that's right, I said blogs.  Did you know that I have two blogs?  I do.  This one here is my personal blog full of book reviews, movies, music, life updates, and everything else.  My other blog is specifically for crafting.  You can find a link to it on the sidebar: The Craft Sea.  For Bloggiesta, I have separate tasks for each blog, but for brevity's sake, I'll only be posting about them here.  My goal list is huge, but I imagine that this will be a running to-do list for the next month.  I just want to knock as much off that I can this weekend.

My goals:

• Write review of Fingersmith and any other books I finish this week
• Update reading challenges totals on blog, in notebook, and for RC Update #3 post
• Update TBR Pile page
• Fix any gaps in Reviews pages
• Start 2015 TBR list; prep draft page
• Tweak About Me page - here and at craft blog
• Update Blogs I Love page -- double check Bloglovin'
• Update Current Book Wish List
• Prep review drafts for rest of 2014 scheduled reading
• Prep/write 5 Music Monday posts
• Prep/write 5 Fashion Friday posts
• Prep/write 2 TTT posts
• Prep/write 5 Thursday posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Sunset posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days Challenges posts
• Start new Day Zero Project draft
• Create FrightFall Readathon TBR pile, update posts, goal post
• Record/trash/write random drafts -- here and at craft blog
• Update Other Crafty People -- double check Bloglovin'
• Add Holiday catalog to sidebar
• Add any outstanding craft projects to Pinterest
• Prep/write 5 Basic Technique posts
• Prep/write 5 Essential Products posts
• Prep/write 2 Project Life posts
• Prep/write 2 New Discoveries posts
• Prep/write 5 SU News posts
• Prep/write 5 Sunday Haul posts
• Prep/write October 30 Days of Cards posts

Bloggiesta Day #3

Completed today:

• Make review templates for books in TBR piles -- I added all the books that I plan on reading through the rest of 2013.  Not a huge amount of book review templates, but a few to get ready to read and review.

Look back at my large goals list:

1. Clean up various pages (About; Quotes; Blogs; Review Policy; Thankfuls; RCs)
2. Check any broken links
3. Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts
4. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
5. Prep templates/posts through December
6. Update Day Zero Project (page and actual website)
7. Clean out Bloglovin'
8. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
9. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
10. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
11. Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews
12. Update Movies spreadsheet
13. List/organize 2014 TBR
14. Update TBR spreadsheets
15. Fix formats on selected old blog posts
16. Digital Decluttering Challenge from Books A True Story (added)
17. Add book summaries to older posts(added)

Obviously I didn't finish all my tasks, but I made some serious progress.  I plan on keeping with my goals list throughout this next week.

Bloggiesta Day #2

What I Did Today:

• Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts -- Many many images later, I am finished with this task.
• Fix formats on selected old blog posts -- With the transition last December and the transition to a new hosting site this past month, some of my posts are formatting strangely.  I thought I would clean these up.  They were mostly old posts, but I still want to get them clean looking.
• Digital Decluttering Challenge
• Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews -- Mainly I had just a few series to update
• Add book summaries to older posts -- I didn't start consistently adding book summaries to my reviews before 2012.  So, I thought while I was fixing formats, pictures, and series, I should add some of those missing summaries.

Challenges:

• Digital Decluttering from Books A True Story: Goal #2 Declutter by deleting at least 10 files you no longer need. -- Taking a look at my downloads folder, I have 143 items listed.  Most of those were book and movie covers that I downloaded to upload to my blog.  Obviously they are aren't needed.  Once I sorted through the mess, I got down to deleting...  and found myself with 22 remaining files.  I deleted 121 files from my downloads folder.  Woohoo!  I love cleaning (at least digitally cleaning).

Remaining goals list:

1. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
2. Prep templates/posts through December
3. Clean out Bloglovin'
4. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
5. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
6. List/organize 2014 TBR
7. Update TBR spreadsheets

Bloggiesta Day #1

What I Did Today:

• Update Movies spreadsheet -- I finished listing all the movies I've reviewed on my blog plus the date.  I want to make sure that I don't start duplicating movies in the future.
• Update Music Monday spreadsheet -- Completely up to date with artist, song, and date. I really need to update this weekly, but I find it's more like quarterly.  As long as I don't repeat too many songs, I'm okay with it.
• Check any broken links -- Done.  I only had 4 since the last time I checked.  I'll have to replace a few pictures, but I'll get to that later during Bloggiesta.
• Clean up various pages -- 101 Songs (updated as of today); 101 Quotes (updated and finished); About Me (updated to be more current, added favorite books); Blogs I Love (deleted a few and those with broken links); Current Book Wish List (deleted some I've read this past year); Thankfuls (deleted as it felt really tired and boring, possible replacement coming in 2014)
• Update Day Zero Project (page and actual website) -- I've officially finished 33 of my 100 tasks.  I don't think I'll completely finish my list, but I've made a huge dent.  Plus, I updated all the progress bars and pages.
• Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts -- I'm not completely done with this task, but I've started and got a chunk under my belt.

Remaining goals list:

1. Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts
2. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
3. Prep templates/posts through December
4. Clean out Bloglovin'
5. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
6. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
7. Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews
8. List/organize 2014 TBR
9. Update TBR spreadsheets
10. Fix formats on selected old blog posts

Bloggiesta -- Round 2

My second Bloggiesta.  I have a huge list of tasks to get my blog ready for the inevitable interruptions that a baby brings.  So, mainly back-end changes, but they are things I've been meaning to do for the last few months.

Goals list:

1. Clean up various pages (About; Quotes; Blogs; Review Policy; Thankfuls; RCs)
2. Check any broken links
3. Reinsert missing pictures on past blog posts
4. Update tags for old posts and drafts/scheduled
5. Prep templates/posts through December
6. Update Day Zero Project (page and actual website)
7. Clean out Bloglovin'
8. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
9. Prep 2014 feature ideas -- write templates, samples, create badges, etc
10. Update Music Monday spreadsheet
11. Update series to book reviews with links to my reviews
12. Update Movies spreadsheet
13. List/organize 2014 TBR
14. Update TBR spreadsheets
15. Fix formats on selected old blog posts

Bloggiesta Day #3 Update -- It's Over!

What I did today:

• Cleaned out my Google Reader -- I had over 700 posts to get through.  I skimmed through many posts and cleaned out some of the subscriptions.  I feel so much cleaner.
• Prepped quote wednesday/top ten tuesday posts for next six months -- Well, it's half down.  I have the templates ready and scheduled through March.  Now I just need to add the content.

Unfortunately I didn't get everything on my list completed.  But I think I made some great headway on my goals.  10/14 done!  I plan on continuing with my goals throughout this next week.  Overall I didn't really engage in mini challenges or connect with other bloggers, but I did like the opportunity to focus on my blog.

My goal list (even if it's a bit ambitious):

1. Clean up various pages (About; Quotes; Blogs; Review Policy; Thankfuls; RCs) √
2. Clean up right hand column √
3. Prep templates/posts through December
4. Recheck reading challenge spreadsheet/update posts and right column √
5. Update Day Zero Project (page and actual website) √
6. Clean out GoogleReader √
7. Connect with other bloggers
8. Make review templates for books in TBR piles
9. Get books prepped for giveaway (October 5th...)
10. Prep quote wednesday/top ten tuesday posts for next six months √
11. Update Music Monday spreadsheet √
12. Add series to book reviews with links to my reviews √
13. Transfer over paper TBR list to spreadsheet √
14. Add TBR spreadsheets to GR shelves √

Bloggiesta Day #2 Update

What I did today: After the crazy progress that was yesterday, I figured today would include a slump.  But I did finish writing my HP reviews last night and started reading Persuasion.

• Updated Blogs I Love page -- This was a chore.  First I had to go through my Google Reader subscriptions to get rid of the nonactive blogs and non interesting to me anymore blogs.  My total went from 399 to 325!  Then I had to organize those blog subscriptions into categories.  Finally I added them into my Blogs I Love page.  This is a task that I have really been putting off for months.  It feels great to get it checked off the list.

Bloggiesta Day #1 Update

What I did today:

• Updated my Music Monday spreadsheet -- So I don't repeat songs, I'm trying to keep track.  Once I finish  my 101 favorites list, I want to highlight some artists/songs that I haven't featured yet.
• Transferred paper TBR to spreadsheet -- Now I have my entire crazy ass long TBR list in a spreadsheet that's easily organizable.  That was quite a project, but I'm glad it's all done.
• Added TBR spreadsheets to GR shelves -- Well, this is mostly done.  I got most of the likely TBR books in GR and ready to be added to the currently reading shelf.
• Cleaned up the right hand column -- Updated a few of the percentages and challenges (especially the perpetual challenges).
• Recheck the reading challenge spreadsheet/update posts and right column -- Everything should be updated and ready.
• Updated most of the pages: About, Inspirational quotes, review policy, thankfuls, reading challenges.  I also deleted the projects I love page as it was hopelessly outdated.  I still need to update the Blogs I Love.
• Updated DZP -- Finished updating the page on my blog and the projects site.
• Added series to book reviews with links to my reviews -- This took awhile, but I finally finished.  Now I just have to remember doing this for future reviews.

I am amazed that I got through this many points today.  Granted they were probably the easiest and quickest points on the master list.  Now on to the harder/more involved points.  I decided to add some of my mini challenges to my update posts to make them easier.

Organization and Scheduling Posts from On a Book Bender

After some tinkering and tryouts, I think I've finally landed on a weekly blog schedule:

• Monday -- Music Monday
• Tuesday -- Top Ten Tuesday
• Wednesday -- Quote Wednesday
• Thursday -- Thankful Thursday (sometimes)
• Friday -- *open*
• Saturday -- *open*
• Sunday -- Sunday Salon

Reviews get posted whenever I finish them.  Life posts and random nonsense get posted whenever, but I love to use some of those to fill in the open Friday and Saturday slots.  This has helped me keep myself on track.  I don't ever have a week where nothing is posted.  I like the stability of a weekly routine.

I learned a while back that I needed to keep a running calendar for all my posts.  While I do like using digital calendars for appointments, classes, etc, I can't use them for blog posts.  For those, I actually write out the days of the month in a notebook.  Then I add all drafts/routine posts.  When a draft is in WP, it gets one half of an X.  When I finish a post, it gets the full X.  At a glane I can see what I've done and what I need to finish.  It also helps me space out nonroutine posts instead of accidentally bunching three posts on one day.  I've also added templates for my routine posts.  I have templates for:

• Book reviews
• Monthly wrap-up posts
• Top Ten Tuesday posts
• Music Mondays
• Sunday Salon

These have helped me so much stay consistent.  I love organization, when I can keep on top of everything...