Random Babblings

Facebook

2009-02-03T19:00:00.001-08:00

The truth is - people do use facebook! I admit, I was a skeptic. I did not want yet another place to update information and another virtual place to keep up with. However, my office mate Genya with Vue Photography and her studio manager Wesleyanne kept telling me to do it. So, half reluctantly, I did. Surprisingly enough though, it has been pretty fun. I have been in touch with some people I have not talked too in ages! I even was able to make a page for my business. So, if you want to look me up you can find me by typing in Sarah Beth Powers, or my business name Sarah Powers Media. If you have not signed up and want to see what the hoopla is about - well you have nothing to loose and it's free.

If you are a business owner, you can make a free business page. You never know who may find you!

I got an iPhone!

2009-01-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

I had to write that title in all caps because it is really awesome! The iPhone has taken me hours to set up properly because I did not use my address book in my computer and such, so had to get my act together and set-up my phone how I wanted it. Let me tell you though, for any of you who have At&t (formerly Cingular) having an iPhone will only cost you $30/month to have web access.

Developers are making widgets for it everyday, so you have a resource of great little programs for your phone at your fingertips. You download them to your phone straight from iTunes.

For anyone with an iPhone (or anyone who is going to run out and buy one) here are my favorite widgets for my business thus far:

#1: SaiSuke
This lets me view and update my Google Calendar right from my phone. It also gives me options on how I view my calendar. I personnally like viewing a list of my events.

#2: MiGhtyDocs
I moved all of my documentation online and use Google Docs. This widget does not let me save or update my documents but I can view them. This is great if I need to review a production script, a contract, or invoice for some reason.

#3: Pandora
Not "really" work related, but I like to work while listening to cool music and Pandora exposes me to all different types of artists - and it's free!

#4: Google Mobile App
You can just speak into your iPhone to do searches. How cool. This is way better than typing it in!

#5: Say Where!
This let's you speak into your phone and say a place and name (like 411) and your phone will find it.

#6: Lose It
OK, I have not used this yet I just downloaded it. But I would like to be in better shape this year, and since I will be doing a lot of shooting on the beach in the spring, I'm hoping "lose it" will help me "lose it." Apparently you can track calories and workouts... not sure yet how great it is, but it looked cool.

That is a quick review thus far. I just got my phone yesterday. For pricing, it cost $199 for the 8 gb phone with a 2 year contract or $299 for the 16gb phone with a 2 year contract. It costs $175 to break the contract if you need too. You have to have the data plan with the phone - which means you will spend an additional $30/month. I have unlimited minutes because I never know how long I will be on the phone for. I had to ask for that, it is $99/month. So, after taxes and all, I will be paying about $150/month for Unlimited calling and Unlimited Internet.

Have a good one!!!

Jeweler for the Day Website is Live!

2008-12-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

Sarah Powers Media had the fantastic opportunity to work with Joshua and Nick at their Design Studio at Creative Gems. Joshua and Nick create artistic, beautiful, and unique jewelry every day and help clients create their own custom jewelry. We were able to spend the day with them and create a virtual Jeweler for the Day program just for their clients.

This site is very different from our others, as in it does train and educate you on the jewelry making process. You will need to turn your speakers on, listen, and don't be afraid to use your mouse, this is one of the most interactive sites we have developed!

Thanks for Jeweler of the Day first goes to Creative Gems for giving us such a wonderful opportunity to build such a fun site! Second goes to Beth Yeselevige for graphic work and still photography of the tour. Next is Alex Dutton who helped me out with some Flash ActionScripting when it got a little hairy!

Along with visiting the virtual Jeweler for the Day site, check out their portfolio site at www.creativegemsinc.com.

Good times in the Pittsburgh Zoo

2008-07-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation in Pennsylvania visiting my family, so I thought it would be fun to take the gang to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Apparently, this zoo is the 3rd most kid friendly zoo (I've just been told this - it may not be accurate)! It was big fun for the 4th of July weekend! Here's some photos of my family!

My bro Mike and his daughter Maggie (Mag Pie) checking out the lions.

Zack has some fun on the log flum and driving the jeep!

I think he's going to be pro soon!

There goes Dylan!

The kidos get to pet a cool snake.

There goes my dad, David, and Morgan.

Davy has his turn.

I think a gator was checking Davy out!

Dylan and Davy in the aquarium tunnel.

I think everyone had enough fun for one day! There goes my sister and Morgan. They are done for the day!

I fly out tomorrow and my sister's family thought they would stay the night in Pittsburgh so I offered up my hotel. I gave them the king bed, big enough for them I was hoping, and took up the hideaway for myself. I am not so sure I'll get much sleep tonight!

We're watching "Total Drama Island" on the Cartoon Network (their version of Survivor), we are currently on the 3rd show in a row - apparently there is a marathon. OK, I admit it, I am diggin' the show!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-06-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

I guess staying busy is a good thing, but wow did we get busy!!! Though we would love to work on your projects, we are only able to take new website clients starting the 3rd week of July. Feel free to call us though so we can meet with you as soon as we get the chance. We want to be sure we can focus the necessary attention each project needs so we give the utmost quality and customer service to our clients. That said, we have been very busy working on some very cool client work and hope to place it on our website. We know we have not done a great job updating our blog because of our schedule- but we'll post some photos soon. Karen (copywriter extraordinaire) and I went to New York City the 3rd week of May to work with some very awesome people there that have the coolest non-profit agency that help kids develop in their early years of education. We'll write about that when we get the chance!

!!! UPDATE !!!

Check out IncludED's new website, videos, logo, and overall company branding!
www.includednyorg.com

Paperless Fax Machine!

2008-04-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

I was speaking to my accountant Ben Golden awhile ago and he forwarded me some information about an online faxing service called Faxmicro. Faxmicro has online fax machine services starting as low as $4.95. The awesome part is that you do not need a fax machine or an extra line! Every aspect of faxing is done through a computer - someone can even send you a fax but you will receive it through email, not through a machine. Here are just some quick points that I copied from their website:

		Receive your faxes in your current Email address
		Fax broadcast; send faxes to multiple recipients
		Print-to-Fax software; fax files directly from the program you used to compose the file
		Online Control Panel; send faxes from any computer with an Internet connection
		Secure transmission and receipt; FaxMicro encryption keeps files confidential

Maybe someone will find this useful for their business!

Sarah

Beware!!!

2008-01-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

I found the video below so disturbing that I just have to share it with anyone that visits my blog. Normally, I have really uplifting posts, or vacation posts, or client raves. This time though, I am going to share a video. Anyone that knows me knows that I love to travel. This will warn you about using the hotel glasses that are in your room. I will tell you that this video will gross you out if you have ever drank out of one.

Hotel Glasses Video

I promise my next post will be better! I just have to make sure people see this thing! It's crazy!

Sarah

The Shrimpboat Restaurant returns to St. Andrews!

2008-01-23T15:12:00.001-08:00

I feel super lucky this week! I had not one, but two clients make the front page of the local paper!!! The Shrimpboat Restaurant made the front page this Sunday (January 13th) and had a fantastic article written about them in the News Herald. I know I am late to post it, but I've been pretty busy! The Shrimpboat Restaurant on Beck Ave has been under construction for quite some time, but is going up quick! It will be home to the Shrimpboat Restaurant, a bar and grill, seafood market, giftshop, sushi bar, and more! I've been working on their website but can give no sneak peeks yet. For now, you can check out the history of the Shrimpboat Restaurant by visiting www.historicalstandrews.com.

If you are driving in Panama City, you can find the Shrimpboat Restaurant under construction by taking Beck Ave into St. Andrews. Obviously, you won't miss it, but just for a reference, it is across the street from Hunts Oyster Bar.

Loren Smith (the original owner's son) also has plans to revitalize the marina and will reclaim it as Smiths' Yacht Basin. In the future the basin will be home to charter boats, fishing tours, and sightseeing excursions. I'm really excited to be apart of this project. If you can a chance, drive by and check it out!

How Great Your Art!

2008-01-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! How Great Your Art made the paper on Monday in the "Local/State" section of the News Herald in Panama City.

For anyone that wants to enjoy a great night out, and maybe try something out of the ordinary, this may be your ticket! On Friday and Saturday nights (weekday nights coming soon), you can enjoy heavy hors douvres catered by Carpe Cuisine and a night of painting with an artist leading the instruction. You do not have to have any artistic ability at all. Your painting will look amazing! You take breaks the whole evening so you can enjoy more drinks, food, and socializing! Then its back to painting to finish your work of art! - Did I mention it's bring your own drinks? Bring your favorite wine, beer, or soda and have a blast!

At the end of the night, you walk away with a painting of your own and the enjoyment of spending time with friends!

I've done it and had a blast. I plan on going again in March with more friends! For more info, visit www.howgreatyourart.com or CALL 850-215-4442 TO RESERVE YOUR EXPERIENCE!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

2008-01-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

Sarah Powers Media attended the Gulf Coast Bridal Faire this year at the Fort Walton Convention Center and had a blast! A big "Thanks" to all the brides, grooms, friends, and family that stopped by and took the time to check out our wedding videos! Some of you even had a seat and just sat and watched - which is the ultimate compliment!

We hope everyone received the information they needed from this bridal show and had as much fun visiting all the many wedding vendors as we did! Again, thanks for visiting us!

Sarah

WAY TO GO LEILA!!!

2007-12-09T16:25:00.001-08:00

Leila Winther - our "Super Helper" - just graduated with her Master's Degree! We all celebrated her big accomplishment with an awesome night out! Now, Leila knew we were all going to party - she just thought it would be on the 17th of November. What she didn't know was her party was really when she got out of work Tuesday November 6th!

She also didn't know what her party was going to entail! Here is her face as she walked out of Gulf Coast Community College to see a Hummer Super Daddy limo (Thanks to 654-limo out of Destin, Florida) waiting for her and her friends!

This ride fit 28 people, we filled it up with 19 - so we'd have party room - and headed off to Destin with Leila's favorite alcoholic beverage at hand!

We had Leila's party and McGuires Irish Pub in their wine cellar.

Janet Marie with Florida Dream Weddings decorated the area for our group and Brenda with Creative Celebrations made her cake.

CONGRATULATIONS LEILA!!!!!!

More from Jackson Hole

2007-12-04T07:27:00.001-08:00

Here is my second group of photos from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Today we are going snowmobiling at Togwotee (sounds like Toga-tee)! Apparently it is the snowmobiling capital of the world - or at least that's what we were told! Here are some photos from yesterday though!

Yesterday we went looking for wild life! Living in Florida, it is not every day you take a road and then read a sign that says "Open Range." Unfortunately, the "Open Range" must be very big, all we saw were these 2 buffalo who graciously stood there by the road so we could snap their photo.

My friend Sharon at the arch of Elk antlers in the middle of town.

Wyoming here we come!

2007-12-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

This winter, an awesome friend of mine gave me a week timeshare that I could use anywhere in the United States. Needless to say, I took my friends up on their offer and flew to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with my best bud. There happens to be internet access at the resort I'm at, so here are some of yesterdays photos! - I don't think the grizzly above was too happy about my kissing skills!

Grand Teton National Park is right outside the town of Jackson. The views are awesome! There are huge mountains behind us but by the afternoon when we took some photos the clouds were covering them.

Across the street from this photo is the Elk National Refuge. I think these are just deer, but maybe they are female Elk... I'm really not sure. I think they are female Elk. The town of Jackson has huge arches of Elk antlers in the center of town. A really cool fact is that Elk actually shed their antlers once a year, so no animal was hurt making the arches.

We actually saw buffalo on the side of the road. Here is my friend Sharon with some buffalo across the street. I asked her to go pet one, but I think she values her life.

This cabin is called the Cunningham Cabin and was built in the 1890's. It has a sod roof and is open for visitors year round.

Sharon and I hiked to the top of this rock. High elevation, mixed with two out of shape hikers from Florida, makes for a difficult hike! But we did it! My camera broke on a hike of Red Rock Canyon last April, my digital camera's display is now busted after this one. At least it takes photos still!

I think Sharon was more excited about reaching the top than I was!

Here is the road we were traveling on. No one around. It is really beautiful out here!

This is the Grand Teton. The Grand Teton is the biggest mountain in the range standing at 13,770 feet. The mountains were named by a French trapper who viewed them from the Idaho side of the range and called them tétons, French slang for "nipples" (presumably referring to the shape of the peaks).

Our first in 5 coyote's we saw during our drive out of town.

I guess the woodland animals are a bit excited about Christmas also!

Gulf Coast Bridal Faire January 13th 2008

2007-11-20T05:42:00.000-08:00

We will be at the Gulf Coast Bridal Faire in January this year! If you would like to meet us and view some of our wedding video productions, please stop by! Here is the Bridal Show's info!

Event: Gulf Coast Bridal Faire
Date: Sunday, January 13, 2007
Time: 1pm - 5pm
Location: Emerald Coast Conference Center
1250 Miracle Strip Parkway SE
Fort Walton, Florida
click here for map
Cost: $10 entrance fee (portion goes to local charities)

If you would like a DVD with some of our wedding video productions, please email us at contact@sarahpowersmedia.com with your name. We'll have a DVD waiting at our table for you!

We hope to see you there!

Sarah

10 to 4 - Mark McHale's New Book!

2007-11-16T12:44:00.000-08:00

I just had the pleasure meeting one of the nicest people! Mark McHale is a football coach that just published a new book about Brett Favre called 10 to 4 you can click on that link to purchase his book from Indigo Publishing.

Mark McHale contacted us to help him add some content to his website to make it more Search Engine Friendly. Of course, Karen Kirchler with Problem Solved Consulting wrote some copy for us, and we created some additional HTML pages for Mark and in a couple weeks, he should be good to go once the search engines index his site.

I got to meet Mark as I sat down and went over all of his site updates and I found that he is just a terrific guy! If you get the chance, visit his site: http://www.markmchalefootball.com/. Mind you, we just updated his site and created extra pages and content. The flash intro on Mark's main site was created by Eli Cloud with Blurstorm.com. We always give credit where credit is due!

Thanks for checking out our Coach McHale's (or should I say "Author Mark McHale's) website! If you get the chance to read his book - check it out!

Sarah Powers

Problem Solved Consulting - they got skillz!

2007-08-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, there is nothing wrong with admitting your shortcomings!!! Mine, personally, is writing. I'm great with concepts and ideas. I can write in 30 second blocks, but give me a long script to write and I bomb out miserably. That is where Problem Solved Consulting comes in. If we have a project and need anything written - for example content for a website, or script for a sales video, we hire them to do it.

I wanted to showcase the latest script they wrote for us for a company based out of Orlando called Tech Hero. To watch the video that was produced with Problem Solved Consulting's scipt, visit: Tech Hero Overview Video.

If your business is in need of writing or business consulting services, you can visit Karen Kirchler and Corinne Coleman's website at Problem Solved Consulting.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

2007-08-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

Leila and I took off to Pennsylvania in July to enjoy the smokies! Our favorite part of the trip was going to Gatlinburg and hooking up with with a tour company to go down the Pigeon River. We had a blast! Unfortunately, I can not find a web link for the outfitter we used... sorry.

Below are some pictures from Gatlinburg. I've been bad about posting because I've been pretty busy, but at least I got these up here for now!

Panama City Weddings Rocks!

2007-06-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

June has been so busy for us! A large part of our business has been through Panama City Weddings. Though we have done many weddings with some fantastic coordinators in our area, Panama City Weddings really deserves their own blog post to show our appreciation! Susan Long is the most detail oriented coordinator you could meet and she truly ensures that each couple has the most enjoyable, no-stress, perfect wedding. We have worked with the Long's for about three years now and enjoy every wedding we have with them. It is just fantastic when your job consists of providing video - on the beach no-less - of someone's important day, and give a hug to the people coordinating it because you love working with them so much! We feel so fortunate!

Here are just a few photos we still have on our computer. We hope you enjoy them! If you know of anyone who wants a relaxing beach wedding, and want a great coordinator to help you on your journey, we highly recommend Panama City Weddings!

- I realize these are our photos, but we only provide videography not photography! We take photos for our couples DVD covers and labels. We would love to recommend some fantastic photographers in the area if you need help finding one! Just email us if you need help at contact@sarahpowersmedia.com.

Panama City Weddings Contact Information:
Toll-free Phone: 866-913-1821
email: info@panamacityweddings.com
www.panamacityweddings.com

Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam

2007-04-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

During my trip last week to NAB, I took a day and went off to Red Rock Canyon. It is about a 45 min drive West from Vegas. I took a trail called Calico Tanks. It was about a 2 hour hike and it was awesome! The photos below show part of the trail I was on. You do 50% boulder/rock climbing and I dropped and broke my camera.

The trail is not long, but because of all the climbing it does take maybe 2 hours. I would not suggest this trail if you have any problems with your ankles or knees - there is a lot of climbing. If you ever go to Vegas, take a day and drive out to Red Rock Canyon and hike a trail. It will be one of your highlights! Make sure to wear good ankle supported shoes if you will be hiking a rocky trail!

There is also Petroglyphs (Native American carvings in rock)...

and Pictographs (Native American painting on rock)...

Before returning home, I did go to Hoover Dam and drove across, parked and walked across. It is a pretty impressive site and certainly will give you a new respect for engineering! Since my camera was broke I had to use my camera phone so the photos are not the best - but here goes!

NAB 2007

2007-04-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Wow. I am absolutely exhausted! I am sitting in McCarren Airport Las Vegas waiting for my Red Eye flight out after attending NAB (National Association of Broadcasters). This airport has free wifi so I figured I'd post some of my NAB picts. This was my first time attending, and it was just awesome! It's held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and it is massive, the Convention Center is 30.5 million square feet! 30.5 Million!!!

I got to go to some really good classes. I even got to attend a class with Walter Murch. He edited Cold Mountain - in which he received an academy award. He has also edited The English Patient, Ghost, Apocalypse Now, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Jarhead, and many others. Anyways, I had a blast! Here is just a couple of NAB snapshots I took!

Here is my latest prompter purchase! I couldn't go to NAB and not spend any money....

I also got to see my dad. He workes up in Williamsport, Pennsylvania for L3 Communications. I got to stay with him at The Paris, and we even caught a Blue Man Group Show - that was absolutely fantastic! I forgot my camera during the Blue Man Group, but here is the last of my shots. I did get to go to Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam today, I'll try to post those photos later this week. It will be good to be home!

New Hampshire - we broke for moose!

2007-04-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

I finally saw my moose!!!!! Everytime I have driven through New England, I kept seeing "Brake for Moose" signs or "Moose next 8 miles" signs. Each time, the signs taunted me, they had me looking through the woods excited that I could see a moose. It never happened. But not on this trip! This trip, I told myself on one particular drive back to the hotel that this was the night I would see my moose. Not only did I see one, but 3!

This trip was a sort of a spur of the moment trip. Leila had spring break off from work and we were supposed to go camping. I got swamped with work so our camping plans got put on hold. So last minute, I went to www.site59.com to see where the cheapest flight from Tallahassee would take us for the weekend. It happened to be Manchester New Hampshire. Anyone that ever wants to book a last minute trip - and not really care where you go - site59 is awesome!

We decided to go skiing in the White Mountains and it was gorgeous! I snowboarded and spent most of my trip on my butt. Leila on the other hand skied, but she's a natural and did great! We went to Loon Mountain ski resort. I think the best part was the restaurant down the road called the "Common Man." Needless to say, we found our favorite restaurant in New Hampshire!

We also went shopping in a town called Conway. It is right near the Maine border. We took the
Kancamagus Scenic Byway to get to Conway and that is when we saw our moose - on the trip back around 5pm.

It was a short weekend trip, so that is about it! I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Groundhog's Day in Punxsutawney!

2007-02-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

I was in Pennsylvania visiting my family who live in the Allegheny Mountains. I've never lived in that area of Pennsylvania so I don't know my way around - let alone what to do in the winter time there. So I'm watching the local news and they are discussing Groundhog's Day which was the next day. That's when I found out the "Groundhog" town was in Pennsylvania and a mere 1 hour from my parents house! Needless to say, we had to go! Here are some trip pictures from February 2nd 2007 Groundhog's Day!

Free website tracking

2007-02-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

This article is for you if:

Your business does not track your website visitors

You are paying for website tracking

You are tracking your visitors but would like more information about your visitors

Now, many of you already know about the website tracking tool I am about to tell you. If you do, you don't need to read further. If you don't - oh baby is it sweet! It is Google Analytics. A free tool Google created to help you track in a very user friendly way - your website's visitors. It takes all but 2 minutes, if that, to sign up. After you have signed up, you will receive an invitation email. You could receive the email right away, or it could take a couple months. It is well worth the wait!

Here is the link:
http://www.google.com/analytics/

Here is a tour of the software as well:
http://www.google.com/analytics/media/report_tour/feature_tour.html

You do not need to download anything. Simply sign up and Google with give you code to copy and paste into your site. Then Whalla (if that is how you spell Whalla!) you are done!

Enjoy!

Sarah

Free blog for your website

2007-01-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

Do you want a nice looking blog for your website? A place where you can update clients on what you're up to, your passions, or even articles that can help them out? Well you can do all of that will Blogger. Blogger is the free blog I use. Keyword there - Free! How awesome is that! Google made blogger for free, all you have to do is create an account and BAM you have a Blog.

The website is www.blogger.com and it can have you up and writing in minutes. You do not have to be tech savy or a programmer to use it either. If you know how to work a word document program you can blog. Better yet, if you are tech savy - or a programmer - it does all the work for you giving your mind a bit of a break!

Enjoy!

Finally, I've posted Las Vegas!

2007-01-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Like I said in my Arizona/Utah post, I was going to post my Vegas photos as soon as I had the opportunity! Well I finally do! I'm at a video conference in Jacksonville, Fl right now for the week and I am sitting downstairs at the Hyatt, enjoying a coffee, and writing on my blog. So finally, here are some photos Leila and I took on our Vegas trip.

If you haven't been to Vegas, I would say it is something to do at least once. If you find you don't like the city, there are plenty of ways to escape with numerous tours leaving Vegas for the Grand Canyon, Valley of Fire, or Hoover Dam! Leila and I decided to escape a bit and we went on an ATV tour through the Valley of Fire. Boy was that AWESOME!!!! 2.5 hours of ATV back trail riding through canyon land, you can't beat it!

Another highlight had to be the Vegas shows! OK, I say shows, but we only went to one... time was not on our side! We did see a fantastic one though, the Cirque du Soleil show of KA. You can check out the show on their website as well, along with the other 4 they have in Vegas.

We also HAD to do the cheesy (or touristy I guess) gondola ride. That's right, we paid a ridiculous amount of money to be serenaded by an singing American acting to be Italian while floating down a river inside a casino on a gondola while fellow tourists watched on.

I have to say though, the "Italian" woman had a WONDERFUL voice, was super nice, and we had a great time!

I almost forgot to mention. The buffets! If you like Golden Coral, you will be in food heaven. If you don't like Golden Coral - you will have a new appreciation for buffets! Our last night in Vegas we went out with style. We went to the buffet at the Bellagio! At $36 a person, this is a splurge but it has EVERYTHING from all you can eat King Crab Legs, Rack of Lamb, Steaks, and Sushi, to the biggest selection of dessert your stomach can hold! You WILL gain no LESS than 10lbs after this! I "should" be ashamed to show the following photos, but what the heck!

Generally, Leila and I are fuddy-duddies, so these photos are tame. Like they say, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!"

Weekend in St. Augustine!

2006-12-25T17:43:00.000-08:00

I went to St. Augustine with Leila last weekend and we had a great time. The whole town has white lights decorating the streets, businesses, and houses from December through January. We stayed at the Hilton by the bay and it was the perfect location to stay.

The fort in St. Augustine - Castillo De San Marcos - is just a two minute walk down the street and the pedestrian zone with shopping and restaurants is a street right behind the hotel.

If you want an idea for a fun weekend out of town, try St. Augustine. With tons of history, shopping, and great restaurants (not to mention pubs), there is something fun for everyone.

Here are some photos from our trip!

Merry Christmas Anthony!

2006-12-24T13:26:00.000-08:00

We have Leila's family over for the holidays! We are having a great time. Leila took her sisters family to Bay Towne Wharf and I took them kayaking on the bay this morning. Unfortunately, Leila's brother-in-law is in the Army and has to work on Christmas. So Anthony, here are some photos of the kids and Christmas wishes!

heller daddio this is Naomi, I just wanted to tell you that i luv u and merry x-mas i wish we could be there but we cant well luv u bye!!

hey baby just wanted to say hi and i miss you. love you see you soon.

frohe weihnachten faja. see u soon, love you, and dont work 2 hard.

Merry Christmas !!! Luv ya n miss ya big /lil man n have a happy Lacheim !!!

Arizona or Bust!

2006-12-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

I recently went to Arizona in October after taking a trip to Vegas (I'll share Vegas photos later). I rented a car from Vegas and headed for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was spectacular. The access road to the North Rim does close in the winter due to weather, so if you go, make sure the road is open before driving.

While driving to the North Rim, I saw a sign for Lake Powell, so after visiting the Grand Canyon, I took off to Lake Powell. I took an awesome tour of Antelope Canyon which is a slot canyon. It is located on a Navajo reservation so you have to go on a tour with a native Navajo person to get there.

The next day I went on a boat tour of Lake Powell and saw the Rainbow Bridge. This is the biggest natural bridge on the planet. It takes a good 3 hours by boat to get there, but the tour that goes offers lunch, tells you the history of the area, and lets you off for 1.5 hours to hike around the bridge.

These are just a couple photos from all of that, in order as I described above. Enjoy!

Better web placement (SEO) tips

2006-12-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

Many people ask me how they can increase their website's placement on the internet. Since I get this question a lot, I thought I'd offer some tips!

1. Content. Web crawlers love lots of content! When they scan your website, they can, in a sense, read about your website through your text. The more text you have that is relevant to your website, the higher a search engine will rate you. Spiders read web pages top to bottom and they put more weight to the words appearing in the first few sentences. Thus, a few well crafted sentences can make it easier for search engines to locate your page.

2. Keywords. Though not all search engines care about keywords, some do. If you don't know what keywords are, go to your website, at the top of your site click on view > view source. If you have Internet Explorer 7, click on the Page icon on the top right hand side, then go to view source. This will open a window with all of your website's code. Near the top you should see something like this: meta name="keywords" content="blah, blah". In the "blah, blah" section, you want about 20 keywords that describe your site. Words you think someone would type into a web browser to find your type of site. If you don't see "meta" information at the top of your site code, ask your web master to add it.

3. Content AND Keywords. Now you have lots of content, and you have some keywords. But you really need to have your keywords in your content. Unless you consider yourself to be a very skilled writer, it’s probably worth your while to invest in the skills of a good copywriter who understands the concept of “search engine optimization.” The money you’ll spend will likely be rewarded with much higher traffic on your site.

4. Description Tag. Like your keywords, the description is sometimes used by search engines to describe your web site. This goes for every page of your website. For example, here is my description on my home page: meta name="description" content="Sarah Powers Media in Panama City Florida provides: video production, wedding videos, event videos, videographer, 2d and 3d graphic design, website design and development and much more."

5. Title tag. This is extremely important. Search engines read these and assume that what text is in your title tag, must be directly relevant to your page. Have your most important keywords in your title tag if you can.

6. Bold Content. All of those important keywords we’re talking about...make sure to bold them, underline them, and italicize them anytime you can. Remember though, keep your site looking good.

7. Graphics. Describe them. When you place a graphic or photo on your site, you can add what is called an "alt" tag. This is where you can place information about your graphic. This gives more content for web crawlers to read. It never hurts to have a keyword or two in there. Here is an example from my site: img src="images/graphics.jpg" alt="graphic art design" I have a graphic on my site, well the graphic is just the hand drawn word "graphics." But since a web crawler can not read my jpg word "graphics" I told the crawler it was "graphic art design."

8. Links. If you link to other quality websites your ratings to up. Mind you, the key word is quality.

9. Update. Search engines know when you last updated your site. If you update your site on a regular basis and even freshen up your content or add new content, your ratings will go up.

10. Submission. Once you are finished, you can submit to the search engines, such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo! for instance. This will not make your ratings go up, but they may visit your site and index it quicker.

Please note, there are TONS of theories on how to get great web placement. There are also many recommendations. I listed just a few tips that I have come across along the way that can help you get going. Enjoy!