2013 A Look Back

I have really enjoyed reading many of the year in review posts many bloggers posted the last few days.  I enjoyed the so much I thought I should do my own.

January 2013

I started blogging again after a year and a half away. I just wrote about why I like my job and why I like country music.  It was a small start, but it was a start.



February 2013

In February I picked up some steam on the blog cycle and wrote about why The Bachelor caused me to lose some friends and dug down deep when I wrote about all the things that make me cry.



March 2013

In March I realized how important it was to add photos to your posts.  I wrote about having a teenager live in my house and my total shock that I was able to keep Glen Coco alive since September.



April 2013

I shared some of the Lies I Tell On Facebook and wrote about people's cell phone use and the way it was killing my soul.



May 2013

In May I wrote about the Lies I Tell My Students and about how excited I was for my new job opportunity, if only I could go back to those days.



June 2013

In June I took a lovely two week vacation to Hawaii and I discovered the secret to the Bachelorette and her powers over men and their style.



July 2013

In July I went back to work and pretty much became a celebrity in China and I pretty much became a middle age man and took up golf.



August 2013

During the summer I became a grown up and bought a house and was an extra in a Lifetime movie.  I actually saw myself!  The movie is called A Country Christmas, check it out.

[caption id="attachment_332" align="aligncenter" width="480"] At the shoot being awesome![/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_371" align="aligncenter" width="640"] There I am! Well at least the side of my head! I was on TV for a full three seconds![/caption]

September 2013

In September I ran into a guy I really liked on a mission trip, I looked hot he did not. I also realized that my baking skills are too good and drive the men away.



October 2013

The month of Penny, I helped my friend get engaged, and I decide that when a guy stops calling you it is because he died.



November 2013

The month of my birth!  I met Lee Brice for my birthday and Miley tried to ruin my life.



December 2013

I really got into the blogging spirit and wrote about things this blogger has yet to say and what I love about blogging. I also wrote about the perils of being a dog mom and the need for a support group.



Happy New Year to you all!  Here's to 2014 being the best yet!

2013 - Favorite Blogs To Sponsor

Today I am sharing some tips I learned this year from sponsoring some blogs.  I have sponsored about 10 blogs this year and I will share my best experiences, what made sponsoring that blog successful, and what to look for in a blog to sponsor.  I have sponsored some blogs and had some very negative experiences which I will not be sharing here.  I try to keep things positive and I really want this post to be about the good things bloggers are doing.  I am more than happy to share my whole sponsoring experience with you through email if you want to know about a particular blog I did not list here. Things I looked for when I was looking for blogs to sponsor:1. Do I like the blog?  What is the point in giving this blogger your money if you do not like their content?  I know you can gain some readers but they probably will not readers that are engaged in your writing.  Like likes like (that was a lot of like).  If a reader likes a blog you like the chances of them liking your blog are greatly increased. 2. Do they post on a regular basis?No it is not necessary to post every single day of the week.  However, if they post on a regular basis that is only good for you.  For example if a blogger writes fresh, original content five days a week that is five time a regular reader will read the blog.  If a blogger only posts 2 or 3 times a week…. you can figure out the rest. 3. How do they promote themselves?This may seem weird because you want them to promote you, but really you want to know if they are good at promotion.  Do they use twitter to post their links and engage with other blogger?  Are they super into Pinterest?  Is Facebook their jam Are they off the grid and cool like that.  Pay attention to their social media behavior.  If a blogger uses Pinterest exclusively and you do not even have an account, your partnership would not be as dynamic as if you had the same social media savvy. 4. Can I afford it?Really though sponsoring and trying to grow your blog is expensive.  I set a limit for myself of $20 a month when I first started to sponsor blogs. This meant about one blog a month.  I am slowly making a little money now through blogging and might make more one day.  If that comes I can invest more into advertising myself.  Until then about $25 a month is my limit.  Until your blog becomes a real source of income I think it is important to budget, focus on writing quality posts, and trying to make new blog friends. 5. Is there a special on ad space?Half of the blogs I sponsored I used a promo code that they offered in a post or on twitter.  I am sure that if you looked at my list and know how much each ad costs you will know that I could have spent way more than $25 a month.  NOPE!  I am all about bargain shopping. 6. Do I trust them?Really though this is huge.  You are giving over your money and trusting them to promote your blog, give your money to another person if they win a giveaway you sponsored, and their name will be attached to your name (for a week or so).  If you do not get the sense that they are someone you would give a $20 bill to in real life for the love of Dumbeldore, keep your money! 7. Do I get more than a sidebar ad?I am just going to say what everyone says to themselves, sidebar ads don't work!  As I look through my stats, it is a rare day that traffic comes just from a sidebar ad.  Maybe my buttons are ugly, or they have cooties, but whatever the reason they are not working for me.  If you can write something, have someone write for you, give you some space on a post it is a trillion times more effective than a sidebar button. (That is an official stat from the census bureau).Life of BonLove the way she does her sponsor post.  She write about you and your blog and what she likes about it (at least she did when I was on the blog).  I felt like this was extra helpful because her readers trust her and are likely to read something she believes in.   This is the post she wrote the month I sponsored her.  I from her blog I gained as many followers from this intro as I did on the giveaway day.  Bonnie has a great reputation and her readers are loyal to her.  Life of Bon is a great one to sponsor. The Daily TayTaylor's was the first blog I sponsored. I just started small and got myself a sidebar ad.  Later in the year I did her Saturday Takeover. It gave me some great traffic and readers.  It also is the second thing that comes up when you google search my blog, after my actual blog of course.  Clearly, Taylor has a great following and even a Saturday post will get you traffic. Helene In BetweenOK so my favorite blog I sponsored was Helene in Between.  My sidebar ad on her blog actually was clicked many times a day.  I gained so many followers because of my post on her blog and the giveaway she hosted.  Even more than that though I believe Helene is a good person, she has got this blog thing down to an art.  She comments on every post you write while you are sponsoring her blog.  She emails you to let you know how to make your blog better.  It seems like she really cares about you and the success of your blog and her blog.  I can not say enough nice things about her. Really go sponsor her already! Kym at Travel BabblesWho doesn't love Kym!  She is so real and honest in her posts and she hockey is a huge part of her life, which I love.  She is so sweet to her sponsors.  She encourages interaction amongst them on Facebook and will tweet links of posts she likes.  I totally missed the email she sent asking for information on the giveaway last month. I emailed her about it and she was willing to add me to this month's giveaway.  She is kind and understanding and will help you. Nadine at Back East BlondeI like the way Nadie adds your spotlight at the end of her post, it looks nice and clean.  Here was my spotlight on here blog. I appreciated that she emailed  me in advance to tell me when she would post my spotlight.  She also wrote to see if it was OK to move the post date because she did not feel like what she was going to write was dynamic enough. I appreciated that she wanted to write a good post on a day that she would have a sponsor.Postcards from RachelRachel, actually will promote your posts on Twitter.  She makes her sponsor spotlights look very pretty and nice.  You can tell she is invested in the look of her blog and wants her sponsors to be highlighted in the best possible way.  Check out my post on her blog, I really love that it is on a gift guide for guys.  She is quick to reply to emails and a delight to work with. Life According to Kenz and Whispering Sweet NothingsThese ladies are both extremely sweet and professional.  The best thing they offered for me was their group giveaways.  I gained a lot of new followers and they were quality readers because they followed these two blogs. Button Swap MustsYes, above I said that buttons don't work anymore, and I stand by that.  I will say though that it has been good for me to network more and make some new blog friends.  The ladies below are engaged in their blog and will read your blog too.  They all have great content and are genuinely wonderful ladies. Pretty In PinkThe Grand Adventure of MeMer in America Livin It Up As Hey UPThat is all I have for you today, which was actually a lot more than I anticipated.  Do you have a blog that you loved sponsoring?  Share you experiences below I am looking for some good ones for 2014!  I should also say that if you want to sponsor So Much Sunshine you should go to my new sponsor page. Sponsor spotlights are free to the first two months of 2014.  Be sure to enter promocode: SUNSHINE.  Thanks for reading and for those of you who have already sponsored So Much Sunshine! 

Top Ten Concert Encounters

Yesterday I wrote about all the concerts I went to in 2013, which you can read here if you missed it.  It really did not seem like that many concerts, but when I looked at my post it was a lot.

I am not sure if you are the concert going type, is there a concert going type?  Probably not.  But I have encountered some of the most interesting people at concerts this year.  I am not sure if it is like this at every concert, or if it is just country music, or southern California.  Whatever the case, I have some stories to tell you!  So lets just dive in.  I present to you the top ten concert goer encounters of 2013.

10. The homophobic 50-year-old man standing next to me at Billy Currington at Angel Stadium.  There was a precious young man on the other side of me that was line dancing like a fool during the whole concert.  He was adorable and I wanted to be his friend.  The man next to me however, kept yelling terrible things to him and calling him names.  It was sad and horrible.  You sir are a jerk and no one likes you.

9.  The boy who was line dancing like a dancing fool at Billy Currington.  Even when jerks were yelling mean things at you. you kept dancing and shaking your hips like a Shakira song.  I commend you for being joyful no matter the circumstance.

8. The lady at Kip Moore that was "engaged" to his lead guitar player.  There were so many holes in her story it was like swiss cheese.  She claimed "Hey Pretty Girl" was inspired by her love for her man.  She also showed us photos of her with all the stars in Vegas for some award show.  The photos were just blurred images of the bands walking by here.  "Here I am with The Band Perry." then we saw a blurry photo of a girl with crazy curly hair running away.

7. Everyone at Stagecoach.  OK but really, Stagecoach is crazy. Men running around in speedos and cowboy hats with bud light labels pasted on them.  Girls wearing a bikini top of the American flag and bikini bottoms of the Confederate flag.  I am not sure it was the extreme desert heat or the copious amounts of beer that people consume at this concert, but y;all need to get your act together!

6. Hobbit at Chase Rice.  Although, almost every girl would totally go for a guy who poured half his bud light all over her and then announced loud enough for her to hear that he really just, "wants to get laid tonight," this girl has standards.  I know that you were 6 feet tall but this girl is 5'10 and you were a good 5 inches shorter. Too bad you were gross!

5. Our new friends from Fresno California.  Before Luke Bryan this summer we found  table and sat down and made some new friends.  They were actually nice ladies from a farm in Fresno.  They taught us the ways of the farm and FFA (Future Farmers of America).  I loved them because they were so different from us.  Apparently the hottest men ever played football in high school and were in FFA. That is all you need to be hot there.

4. The couples.  Oh my the couples at concerts are a mess.  Making out, fighting, leaving for an hour and returning after doing who knows what, taking 123129423798476238964 selflies in front of me while I am trying to look at Lee Brice.

3. Smoky Joe.  So while I was at Zac Brown Band this year in Hollywood there was a little man in a sweater vest who was sitting next to me.  He would leave for like 20 minutes, come back, call a friend and hold up his phone so his friend could hear the band and just hang up without saying anything, and smoke a ton of pot.  I am not kidding this guy was nuts about pot.  I know because he kept holding his arm up next to my face to call all his friends.  Smoky Joe, please take a shower and leave the drugs at home.

2. Girl who was mad that we wouldn't flirt with her boyfriend.  Again at Zac Brown Band, but with the people on the other side of us.  This guy ran over when the band started to play his favorite song and wanted to high-five us.  It was awkward because his girlfriend just gave us the stink eye. We didn't high-five him because she looked crazy.  Then she was mad at us for not high giving her boyfriend.  She kept yelling at us and almost tried to fight us.  It was weird and she was drunk.  We were sober and just watched the couple of the year leave.  They are a prime example of the #4 we encountered.

1. Michigan Hat Guy.  Really this list should have been called Michigan hat guy because he totally inspired me to write this post.  While at Kenny Chesney and Eric Church this summer there was a young man wearing a Michigan hat and drinking Bud-light with Lime.  He was on the prowl for a lady and tried to go home with anyone who looked like a lady.  He talked to us for a few minutes then moved on to the girls right next to him.  Every time we looked over he was making a new friend.  I am not sure he realized there was any music happening or that in order to procure a girlfriend you can't keep taking to other girls.  Whatever his story was he was a legend.  I tip my hat to you Michigan hat man.  You keep doing you and looking for your lady.  I have a feeling you will be much more successful at a Michigan game, but what do I know?



 

Honorable mention goes to the drunk man at Kip Moore.  Not only did you spill your beer on my head, gross, you also elbowed me in the head and then tried to "get with that."  Sorry my head is very important to me and you tried to damage it.  Also, you kept asking Kip Moore to kiss you so I am not sure you even like girls.

Let's raise  our huge Bud LIght with Lime and toast to 2013 and the amazing people I met at concerts.  Here's hoping 2014 provides even more entertainment, but from a greater distance.

Top Concerts 2013

I just love this time of year! Yes Christmas is great I love the week between Christmas and New Years. I love to look back on my year and reflect on where I have come from and where I would like to go in the new year. In fact my personal journals are full of entries from December 26-January 3 or so.

This week I am looking back at app things music relates. 2013 was the year of music for me and I wouldn't have it any other way. Below are links and photos from each of the concerts I went to this year. Enjoy and click the links for something to so in all your leisure time.

StagecoachKip MooreTim Mc GrawKenny Chesney and Eric Church Luke Bryan Zac Brown Band  Lee Brice Chase Rice