Why I Approve Comments

I don't know about you, but I always wondered why bloggers would hold comments for approval. I thought it seemed like a bad idea. What if you forgot to approve them? What if you missed something? It all seemed pretty weird to me. That is until I found myself in a situation where a negative comment was posted and I was not a happy camper about it. Now it completely made sense to me. Today I want to talk about other reasons why approving comments can really be a God send.


The main reason for approving comments would be the obvious reason: To keep negative and hateful comments off of your positive space. This can also help from a full on brawl happening on your blog for the whole world to see. I don't know about you, but that can't be fun for anyone. If your blog is your business or something you do to earn a means of income, keeping it positive and clean is the best way to go.

The next reason I found very helpful is that I DON'T miss any comments anymore. I have to physically approve all of them. To make sure I don't miss them I normally reply to them before I go on to the next. It makes it so much easier and less time consuming for me to get back in touch with everyone.

The last reason I believe helps when approving comments is the ability to have all the info in front of you. You can see all of the negative comments, which includes e-mail address and ip address, so if you want to report it you have it all right there without having to weed through all of your comments to find them. You can also see all of your happy positive comments right in front of you. I don't know about you, but that sure makes my day!

Do you approve your comments? Why or why not? I'd love to hear your comments on this! 





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9/11: We adapt

It’s been 14 years. You know what I’m talking about. The day America changed. The day every person old enough to remember, will remember EXACTLY what it was they were doing when it happened.  For me, I rolled over to snooze my alarm clock like I do every day before work, when I realized there wasn't music playing, but the horrifying sound of people screaming.  This was the sound of people in shock. The sound of chaos that was not understood yet. This was only the sound of the fear after one plane had hit the world trade center.

Was it an accident? How did this happen? There are rules set in place so this wouldn't happen.  I sat glued to the television with my father trying to understand just like the rest of the world. What had happened? Another sound of screaming. It happened again.  What had I just witnessed? This was no accident.  I was scared, but now I had to go to work

I was in my 1st full week of college as a freshman.  I lived 2 hours from this horrible event in a community that is very connected to New York City. I watched people drop to their knees in my local grocery store where I worked when they couldn't reach a loved one. So many emotions came through my line that day. Sadness. Anger. Fear.  I watched local law enforcement race to guard a satellite in my town. I watched the world mourn on TV, on newspaper covers, and right in front of my face.  All walks of life pasted through that grocery store that day. So many emotions happened right in front of this kid on the verge of being an adult.

It didn't stop when I got home. I watched my mom keep a nervous pace when all four of her brothers were missing.  I watched more people mourning for their unborn children who would never know their fathers. I watched my uncle on live TV setting up lights in hope to find more living people. I heard tears of joy when my mom realized it was her brother and that he was safe. I heard more tears of joy when brother # 2 was located saved by the grace of God. His day was supposed to start working in the towers, but a last minute change lead him away from the area. A miracle for sure.

No one could get home. No one could make phone calls. We prayed we would get all the confirmations we needed. We did everything we could to stay sane and not worry about things we did not know. For me and my family, we made it through this day safe. For many it did not work out  that way and I will be forever grateful that we got lucky.

Whole lives changed that day.  America changed that day. The world changed that day.

NYC Today - Adapted - Photo Copyrighted by The Trish List
Today I woke up. I am forever grateful for that. Today more than ever it really hit me that I have lived my whole adult life post- 9/11. Every decision I have made has been in the world where everyone is always on edge. Travelling is stressful. Liquids are dangerous.  At the same time this is considered normal to me now. I expect it. I know what to expect and scary events don’t scare me half as much as they did 14 years ago.  That scares me more. We adapted to expect tragedy.

We always adapt. 

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Lets Talk More

Some days I really dislike how far we have come with social media and the instant messaging means of communication. We sometimes forget to talk to the people around us and have real conversations with words, and expressions, and annunciations. People get offended so much easier when you aren't right there in front of them to explain yourself further. It is making it that much harder for people to talk to each other face to face when there is a screen to hide behind.

I don't know about you, but when things get tough, people are more inclined to go to the internet to vent or write about the things that are bothering them, rather than talk to someone else about it. This is happening more and more within families, close friends, teachers, and spouses. When you spend more time sending e-mails or text messages, we start to lose the personal feeling of a simple conversation. We forget how to talk things out when things are hard.

I have personally experienced this is my own relationships with my close friends and family. We text through a whole conversation and then before you know it someone is upset because something you typed out came across differently then you had intended. Now you are spending more time texting back and forth trying to smooth things over. Now if we had just picked up the phone it could of gone a lot smoother and maybe the hurt feelings would of been avoided.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying I dislike social media and instant messaging for quick messages and keeping in touch with people, but when it comes down to important subjects or catching up, picking up the phone or talking in person is probably the better option.

I am going to start getting the people I love on the phone more. I am going to invite them over to appreciate their company. I am going to ask questions when I feel like I am misunderstanding someone. I want to make it harder to build walls around the important issues because someone's feelings might get hurt. We need to talk to one another. We need to get everything out, even when that means the hard stuff.

What do you think?
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Building Your Brand: Social Media

Do you ever feel like you are in blogging limbo? You know that place where you aren't exactly a new blogger anymore, but you also aren't well enough known yet to have a larger readership? That's where I am at the moment. I feel like I am on the verge of bigger and better things but I need to take a few more steps to completely get there. This is where it gets hard and sometimes confusing. Ever feel like that? After participating in Helene's from Helene in Between "Get Paid to Blog" webinar I have had this constant urge to push myself harder to reach my goals.


After some brainstorming of my own and listening to Helene's topics, I have narrowed down some of the things I want to work on to reach my goals. Listing them here will help me remember them and hopefully inspire some of you to leave feedback of your own. These topics don't have to be just for my blogger readers. You can use these topics to build any business. Today I am going to touch on social media.

Social Media: Any business owner can take advantage of social media as an outlet. We can use it to get our message across, engage with our audience, and gain visibility for new ventures. As bloggers we need all of these things to get our content in front of people. We don't only build an audience of readers, we also build community and professional contacts.

I personally need to work on my blogs Facebook page. I have had the hardest time getting it off the ground, lingering in the 400's for likes. It is the place I struggle the most and wish I could have more visibility. Any suggestions?

I do my best with Twitter and Instagram. I watch my followers grow there which makes me happy. It is a slow steady pace, but I do see it growing. I intend to step up my game this fall and really engage. Instagram is my favorite past time these days and I am working to improve my images so it will become a favorite to view. Not such a bad goal right?

I am working on my Pinterest page. I have had a Pinterest page for 4 years and used to pin like crazy before it became a popular social media outlet. When it started picking up and my feeds got super clogged with advertisements and recommendations I stopped using it. I know that was a mistake as it has become very useful for bloggers. Wedding planning has taken me back to pinning so we will see where that takes me.

Periscope has really grown in the last few months. I have an account but my phone is in desperate need of being updated so I don't do the best with it currently. I do team up from time to time with one of my friends to offer some TV commentary on shows like The Bachelorette which turns into a night of laughs and wine. I will announce the next time we are doing one and hopefully you will all join in!

Over the next few months I am going to work on a business plan for myself. I have decided to take my blog to the next level. I want to make it my own, yet a place where people want to come back and read. Join me in the next few weeks as I talk more about my goals in individual topics like this one. It would be to more overwhelming then it's worth ti post them all at the same time. Social media was a good place to start as it is one of the easiest ways to get your name out there.

How are you utilizing social media to get your name out there? What can you recommend that works for you?



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Wedding Sneak Peaks # 1



Look at this place! What should I do? Is this place where I will say "I do?"


Follow along with me each week as I give you peaks into my wedding planning :)



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