Poll: Best domain name

Ok - I have gotten some feedback and ideas for domain names. Now I ask you to rate them and see what you like best.  They each have a letter, so you don't have to type the wor or phrase out, just put the letter and then rank it please. (1=it sicks, up to #5, which=you love it).  Here goes:
A.www.StefySayssSo.com
B.www.Crossroads.com
C.www.prisms and shards
                              D.www.Half the battle is believing.com
                              E.www.themanyfacesof stephanie
                              F.www.StefyspeaksOut.com
                              G.www.thelionesswithin.com
                              F.www.velvetsteel.com
So -those are the ones I will try to chose from, realizing that a ".com" may have to be something else if the name is taken. You don't have to "grade" them all if you don't want to.
I like the first one because I am a little bossy, plus it would give the readers the idea that I will blog on a variety of subjects, which I will, as well as creating catagories for in my header.
The many faces of Stephanie is my husband's - because he says he never knows which Stefy is coming home, depending on if it was a good day or not. (lol)
The linoess one -well I am a Leo and I love that photo where the kitty stares into a mirror and sees a lion - proving there is more inside us than we realize.
Velvet steel is an old saying from years ago -a group of women (myself included) were all going to nursing school tohether and we formed a clique named velvet steel -same basic principle as the lioness: women are perceived as softer, but usually contain a solid steel core. It is what gets us thru life's curveballs.
So, please take a moment to think and give me your opinion and grade. I am eagerly awaiting your responses....... Thank you for taking time to share this experienc and this journey with me.
Stefy
   

Confessions of a procrasinator

Ok, I admit it - I procrasinate. Whether it's the dishes, laundry, now schoolwork, the "it" task does not seem to matter. For years I told myself that I work better under pressure, so that was just my particular M.O. -
What a bunch of balony! Going back to school online has taught me that this trait is NOT to my benefit. Last Friday, I took my mom for a procedure at the hospital and while I handwrote my paper, I still had to type it, include citations, etc. and reply to 2 other students' posts, by midnight!
3 guesses as to when I hit send (and the first 2 don't count)...yup-just minutes before midnight.
I am learning though and hopefully I will turn this confession into a congrats when I turn in assignments early.  One day at a time and all that. Sounds good anyway.
Do you procrasinate? With what and do you know why? I know I am not alone out here in last minute land!

Mired in indecision

Ok-I need some help (no comments from those who know me well enough to be smart A**es and tell me you already knew that)! Josh from WSL has inspired me to switch me newbie blog from Blogger to Wordpress. I feel my site needs this upgrade.  The HELP ME part stems from an overabundance of choices: domain name, theme design, too many topics for one single niche...

So - I am asking for help from any who read this post. This decision was reinforced by a comment Heather made on Josh's birthday post, which made me feel like A FOR REAL BLOGGER: She said"I love Stephanie Smith and her blog..." I am humbled by this praise.

I chose my blog title because I am at a crossroads in my life. Working with my father has put me at a point where I dread going to work and now although I am going back to school, a solution is not in the immediate future. As I have learned from blogs like WSL and positively present, any movement or choice will make me feel more in control  and therefore happier. Half the battle is believing was a call to action for myself -to believe that despite past mistakes, I CAN have the future I once dreamt of.

I started writing articles for E-How, then decided blogging would be fun, but I did not really have a niche- like most of you, there are many faces I wear, so how to decide.....Nursing is my passion, but I love to read, ride my Harley, do fundraisers, give people info on pets, since I am a devoted dog owner...I mean, the list is long.

I am thinking of trying to create a site that has catagoties; like: nursing, pets, books, bikers, etc.

That way there is alittle bit of all of me and it will be less random than what I have been doing.

My questions are:1) domain name? At E how I used the nom de plume of Stefyspeak - it's a throwback to catch phrases, words or gestures that my family dubs uniquely "Stefy" - so maybe Stefyspeaksout.com? Mom calls me Nurse Stephie, but it's not all nursing so... I like "half the battle is believing", but it is a little long.  See what I mean? Decisions...decisions!

2.) Template sites versus puchasing a specially designed one -keep in mind HTML is a foreign language I don't speak...YET!

3.) Can I tranfer the posts on this to Word press?

       I am not looking to make big bucks on my blog, I want a community. Josh at World's Strongest Librarian has created that and every time I go there I feel engaged and heard, which inspires me to participate.

The problem with theses changes is that I can't decide- so I call out to you, my friends, my readers - for YOUR thoughts.......I need you, together we can make this a place to come and be ourselves - the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny!

I can't wait to hear what you have to say! Yes- that is me - a story for another time...

Smell it…Fear it:

 Our sense of smell is an automatic memory trigger, more so than almost any other sense.


“People recall smells with a 65% accuracy after a year, while the visual recall of photos sinks to about 50% after only three months.”(Sense of Smell.org)

“Our odor memories frequently have strong emotional qualities and are associated with the good or bad experiences in which they occurred. Olfaction is handled by the same part of the brain (the limbic system) that handles memories and emotions…Very often we cannot put a name to these odors yet they have a strong emotive association even if they cannot be specifically identified.” (http://www.senseofsmell.org/funfacts)

The Smell

It is actually not the antiseptic smell that bothers me (I am a nurse after all…), but rather my sense of a combination that is a bizarre mix of: “bubblegum-ish” flavor in the air from the nitrous, as well as certain unidentifiable dental aromas. Ok, so hard to define. It has improved though…at least now the waiting area doesn’t make me nauseous.

I have an excellent dentist that is very caring and sympathetic to my phobia as well as my extremely sensitive teeth. Nonetheless, once I sit in that chair, my heart pounds, my palms get cold and sweaty and I dread the sound of the drill.

The Fear

My phobia has an origin – well, several in fact. Combine a multitude of uncaring military dentists, with one in particular, who slapped me because I wouldn’t sit still for the second shot to my gums. Yes it was many moons ago and yes my dad almost got kicked out of the Air Force for that one! Nobody hits his little girl. So, here I am at age 37 and yet that smell gets me every time! It has improved, but I was in the chair just 2 days ago for 2 crowns and I was shaking like a leaf!

What smells trigger a fear for you? And if you are wondering why I picked smells that evoke fear, rather than warm fuzzies…well, because : 1) I want you to have to think and the good stuff is always easier to come up with and 2) I really am curious. So please share – maybe we can help each other work through some of them!

The Upside Of Idleness:By Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian

Meet Josh Hanagarne, author of a very awesome blog: http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/ . I am officially hooked. He has proven to be a person with tremendous willpower, a super "give it your all" attitude, as well as a sense of humor that I truly appreciate! 
He put the call out for guest post topics a while ago and I gave him the topic of being idle. I had just finished a post on it, but knowing how hardworking Josh is, I was curious to see where he would go with a topic that is rather foreign to what I know of him and I was not disappointed.
Read on, I promise you will love this post and you might even learn a thing or two. Thanks Josh! You rock! 
Here is his guest post:

The Upside Of Idleness:By Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian

Stephanie asked me if it is possible for me to be idle. This might sound like an odd question. After all, is anyone truly incapable of lying down on the couch all day? Is there anyone who doesn’t occasionally get sucked into the Internet for longer than they had planned?

There’s a reason she asked me this question, however. Most people who know me have the perception that I’m a very hard worker. I write a successful blog and I write something every day. I guest post on other blogs nearly as often as I write my own.
I work 40-50 hours a week as a librarian and I have a 19-month old maniac running around my house like a little tornado. I also do serious weight training for about 90 minutes every day.

So—this can give the impression that 1) I’m very ambitious; 2) I can’t be idle; 3) I’m a workaholic; 4) I’m the ultimate multi-tasker.

Self-Defense
Unfortunately, none of those things are true. I work as hard as I do because I’m afraid of what will happen to me if I stop moving. You see, I have a very extreme case of Tourette’s Syndrome. Without going into it too much, I will just explain that Tourette’s makes people do two sorts of things:


1. It makes them move and twitch involuntarily
2. They make noises involuntarily


In my extreme case, the movements are often hitting myself, scratching at my eyes, grinding my teeth, tossing my head around, etc. Good stuff.
My vocalizations are usually screams, grunts, hoots, hollers, yowls, barks…I never know.
The only thing that helps is to distract myself.

Sharks, Distractions, And The Top Of The Food Chain

Do you know what happens to a shark if it stops swimming? They can’t breathe. It’s an interesting joke: this terrifying animal at the top of the food chain couldn’t sit still if it wanted to. They never get to take a break, so they spend all their time hunting, killing, and being efficient.


That’s me, except that instead of roaming the oceans and biting surfers, I work. By work, I don’t mean my job, necessarily. There’s that, but there’s also playing with my son, spending time with my wife, writing the blog, weight training, playing the guitar.
In order for these things to distract me effectively, I have to commit to them 100% or my tics overtake me.


This means that when I play, I play. Same for work, strength training, writing, reading, laughing, loving, and living. I can’t stop moving or I’ll hurt myself. But this doesn’t mean I can’t be idle. It just means that when I waste time, I have to waste it like it’s never been wasted before.


Everything I do requires extreme focus, including being idle.


Stephanie, does this answer your question anywhere in there? At times there is nothing I’d like more than to just sit still and slobber while I stare at the wall. But it’s not going to happen.


But the efforts I am forced to expend have made me very good at several things. That’s fun. It’s a good tradeoff. I’m no workaholic and I’m certainly not frightening or powerful like a shark. But in my own endeavors, I usually do wind up at the top of the food chain.

But it’s not by design. Just self-defense.
Josh Hanagarne
                    Get Stronger, Get Smarter, Live Better…Every Day
About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6’8”, old-time strongman training, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.
Josh-yes you did answer my question...beautifully. I tend to be an all or nothing type of person, so I can relate, however, you have inspired me by taking what you cannot change and turning it into various tools to be used to better your life. You are also too modest by far! :) Thanks for sharing!

Home is...

I am an avid reader of the magazine called "Real Simple" and this month's feature question was:"What does home mean to you?"
There were an amazing array of answers from "the sound of a husband's key in the lock at the end of the day" to "total acceptance".

These answers led me to think about it for myself and here is a list of things that mean home to me:  
1.  Acceptance
2. Leaving the world at all its stressors at the door
3. Finding refuge in the arms of the man who knows ALL of me...and loves me anyway
4. My favorite ratty sleepshirt5. Sleeping in

6. A place to be myself; happy or sad, mad or glad
7. My sweet 16 year old Jack Russell, snuggled up to nap with Mommy
8. A cold Mountain Dew presented to me in bed
9. Dancing with my love, -creating moment when all is right with my world.
10. The smell that is my mom's perfume, there is no smell like it and no matter where I am, that smell reminds me of home.
Well, those are some of mine...

What things mean home to you? 

We all need a hug

I happened upon a website today: http://www.gagirl.com/hugs/hug.html and the passage below hit me in the heart, so I am sharing it with you:
"Hugging is good medicine. It transfers energy, and gives the person hugged an emotional boost. You need four hugs a day for survival, eight for maintenance, and twelve for growth. A hug makes you feel good. The skin is the largest organ we have and it needs a great deal of care. A hug can cover a lot of skin and gives the message that you care. It is also a form of communication. It can say things you don't have words for. The nicest thing about a hug is that you usually can't give one without getting one." (Author Unknown )

There have actually been studies done that prove that hugs make you grow. Seriously, Duke University did a study showing that premature babies who were hugged instead of left in the incubators had a consistenly higher growth rate that those who were missing that physical contact. Of course, most parents know this already, but sadly it seems that as we grow into adulthood, some people seem to "outgrow" their hugging tendency.  Some people are more "touchy-feely" than others, but we can all use a hug!
Who have you hugged today? :)