Random Thursday: Top 5 Blogs

Please excuse my hiatus! I'm back! And to be honest there is not a real excuse as to why i have not posted! Either way today is the day to be RANDOM!

It's time for Random Thursday! 

The topic today is

I must admit i am really behind in my blog reading... especially since the app i was using just flat out gave up on me! I love reading AND commenting on blogs on my iPad. I have tried several free apps and may have actually found one that i will eventually pay for because it allows me to see each post! And it hasn't flipped out yet! And it lets me comment easily! Woo Hoo for that! 

How do you read your blog roll without sitting in front of a computer all day? 

Do you use an app that works for both reading and commenting? 

Anyway, back to my regularly scheduled programming... here's my top 5!

(Oh and by top 5 blogs i read, i mean the ones i seek out on a daily basis!)

Somewhat Domesticated

You can't blame me for supporting my gal pal! She may not post often, but i think she's pretty swell! 

la, la, love, learn, laugh

Bev is such a great gal! i totally think we would be pals! And i hear she is moving soon... my vote is that she would move back town to sunny SoCal and then maybe we could be friends in real life! 

Goings on in Texas

This girl is so down to earth and i am so blessed to have her as my penpal! i love each post she shares: fashion, experiences, whatever... I love it all! (And i totally get excited to read her letters! Especially since they are usally long!)

Trial By Sapphire

This girl has a great outlook on life and shares so openly on her blog! Lindsey is so encouraging and positive! This helps me to think the same way! 

Lovely Little Things
Jessica has had this great link up that she took a break from and then just started it back up again... it's called Smell the Roses! I has encourages me in so many ways and whether the task is small or big, it gets me out of my comfort zone a bit! Also, I love how Jessica shares her honest struggles with her life. 

These are of course in addition to our lovely hosts! Be sure to check them out! I swear you wont regret it! 

One Month Down!

Ok! I'm back! 

It' not like me to skip more than on e day of blog posts! So needless to say, it has been a busy and stressful week! Thank God for the weekend! I have already enjoyed making my own schedule and attempting to get stuff accomplished at my own pace. One of those things is blog posts! So here it is! 

Yesterday, was 1 full month of blog posts! So I thought I would share a few of my stats and reflections. This will also go along with my favorite blogging tools thus far! 

Busy as a Honey Bee Current Stats:

Followers: 9

Audience: Americans, Russians, and 1 German! :)

Highest # of page views for one post: 68 (it was my post entitled "Link Party: A gift for the baker or cook!")

Page views all time history: 1,076

Published comments: 14

When i entered this place entitled the "blogosphere" by many well seasoned bloggers, /i felt terribly overwhelmed. I felt completely inexperienced and unprepared, but i knew i REALLY wanted to get started. And so I did and here we are! I truly understand what it means to other bloggers to get comments and people to visit your blog. It feels a bit like I suddenly have a voice and at least a small portion of the world cares to read it! In one word, blogging has been .... REWARDING ... thus far. I don't anticipate that it will change. I am highly motivated to get my stats up and am working on some petty cool posts. Time and energy are truly the keys to blogging! One other thing that helps is a memory that remembers to take pictures in my classroom! 

So, in my month of blogging, what has helped me the most? Here are my top 5 items. 

1. My composition book - this is where i plan every little thing that has to do with my blog. I write down websites, blogs to add to my reader, where to find things i like, notes, thoughts, ideas for posts, and even where i write down my blogging schedule for each post. Here's my composition book! 

2. One other thing i have become addicted to is my Blogger Dashboard! This site is great. It shows stats, an overview, lists posts, and helps to really make blogging a little bit easier. I am totally guilty of checking my dashboard often. (Guess i just like to see that people read what I am writing. You can see blogger in the background in the above picture. 

3. Another tool that has helped me is Leelou Blogs. On this site i searched through all the templates and really tried to find one that was not commonly seen and one that also fit my blog and personality. I currently love my little template and think it will suit this blog for a while. Thanks to Leelou Blogs for the help! 

4. Other blogs have truly been an inspiration for me and this little part of the blogging world!. I am often reading blogs and some of my favorites include Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits, The Girl Who Ate Everything, Somewhat Domestiated, Six Sisters Stuff, I'm Mrs. Keller, and The Teacher Wife. All of these blogs are visited daily by little ol' me! I love to read about everyone's adventures and really find many many ideas from these blogs as well as a long list of others! Thanks to all these ladies for the daily musings! 

5. And last but TRULY not least - I LOVE LOVE LOVE PINTEREST! This site ahs really truly helped to inspire me even more. I have found recipes to try and alter to suit my husband and I (we try to make all recipes healthier, or at least I do for us!) I visit this site or my app on the iPad or iPhone everyday! It is terribly addiction and I have fond 1 too many projects that i wish i could complete. I have been inspired and don't know where this website has been! It is just what many crafty people want! If you would like follow me on Pinterest  and check out my boards by clicking below! 

Well, that's it ... Happy One Month to Busy as a Honey Bee! 

Have a great day! 

What do you want to read?

So by now I think you have figured out that I am trying to be a responsible blogger and post daily. So far this has been a fun/overwhelming adventure where I realize I have much to learn. 

There's so much I could cover and  wonder what people want to read. Truly, I would like to avoid meaningless posts. I am aspiring to be like the bloggers that I have followed that have inspired me and kept me wanting to know more and more.  So with that being said, does anyone have anything they would like to know about? A topic you would like me to focus on or even information you would like to learn about that you think I might have even an inkling about? Comments, suggestions, specifics, and general musings are welcome..... Please leave behind a kind comment below!

PS. The picture above is one of my husband (Brandon) and I at the Orange County Fair this summer. They had a refrigerated room that had really awesome ice sculptures. It was fun and QUITE cold! They even offered blankets for people to use. Just thought I would share!