Tag Archive for Alexa

Weekend Wind Down 4/07/2012

Weekend wind down??? Yeah right!! Tell that to the 6 tons of flagstone that the semi-truck dropped off on Friday morning! Phase 1 of our landscape remodeling project was in full effect. For a long time now we’ve wanted to line our gardens with flagstone pavers and fill the beds with slate rock. It took about 8 hours to move it all and get it in place, but in the end it looks great. Fortunately it was exactly the right amount of stone we needed. Unfortunately, my back and hamstrings are killing me!  Here are some more pics:

 

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Weekend Wind Down 3/31/2012

Another exhausting week of work! I’m glad to be finally sleeping in this morning.

The week started off with the actual birthday of our daughter. Unfortunately because we had already celebrated her birthday in the combined party with her brother (and because it fell on a Monday), we gave her her presents and brownies and that was pretty much it. During the school week you’ve still got homework and spelling words to study for even on your birthday.

It was the end of the marking period for our kids – one more to go until Summer Vacation! Both of them did really well on their report cards. And what does every 7 and 9 year old want for getting good grades? – Red Lobster! Yes, they love Red Lobster. It’s been a fascination for them since they were both really small. I know it’s crazy!

My wife and I also watched “Young Adults” with Charlize Theron last night. Although it was okay, the movie wasn’t quite as funny or witty as I hoped it would have been. I was expecting something more like “Up in the Air” (same director). Oh, well! I guess I should have listened to my instincts and rented “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”.

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How to Improve Alexa Ranking and Get Your Score Below 200,000

improve alexa rankingAfter a great deal of effort, I have finally been able to improve Alexa ranking and get a score below 200,000! Chances are if you’re reading this post, then you already realize the relevance of obtaining a low Alexa ranking.

When I first started my blog, I had never even heard of Alexa nor knew anything about its rating system. But as I started networking with other bloggers and recognizing what statistics they felt were important, I realized that having a great Alexa ranking was one of the areas I needed to pay attention to.

Two and a half months ago was the first time I checked my Alexa ranking. It was somewhere north of 2,700,000. “This is going to be impossible” I thought. I felt discouraged.

But yet I stuck to it and achieved success! And there’s no way I could I have done it without the support those who helped me along the way. So in return, I wanted to create this tutorial for anyone who needs help accomplishing the same goal of getting their Alexa ranking as low as possible. If you are relatively new to blogging and are searching for a way to improve your own Alexa ranking, then please read on.

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Weekend Wind Down 3/24/2012

Spring is in the air! Mrs. MMD and I are ready to get to work on the yard and get it looking beautiful as soon as possible. We both thoroughly enjoy landscaping. First on the list is getting the gardens edged and covered with weed-block material. Once that is complete, we’ll be ordering the flagstone retainers and then covering the beds with some dark slate rock. So long dried up, old wood mulch!

The kids are also enjoying the un-seasonably 80 degree weather. Last weekend, we built their basketball hoop (that they got for Christmas) and we’ve used it a few times already. But the really big hit of the warm weather has been the Razor Rip Riders. We cannot get them off those things! One of the bikes has a lever that makes sparks fly out the bottom. How awesome is life when you’re 7 and 9 years old and sparks fly out the bottom of your bike?!

In blog news, my Alexa ranking finally dropped below 200,000 for the first time ever! Although the clouds did not part and a single ray of sunshine did not shine down upon my laptop, it still felt pretty cool to know that I had achieved the goal I set out to accomplish. Thanks to everyone who visited my site and made this happen. In return, I plan to write a “How I get my Alexa below 200K” article shortly for all the new bloggers out there that need some help and inspiration for getting their Alexa ranking down (like I needed). So what’s my new Alexa goal? Get to less than 100,000!

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Weekend Wind Down 3/17/2012

I am loving the warm weather! That and the combination of daylight savings time has made each day nice and enjoyable when I got home from work. It’s great to see everyone outside, the kids playing, and the landscaping starting to bud up.

All-in-all, this winter has been a dream come true for a commuter like me! Almost no snow storms, no ice, and no big delays. With all the snow gone, I’m quickly realizing how TERRIBLE my yard looks and how badly I need to start the projects I had originally planned for the Spring. We’ve got flagstone retaining walls to build, slate rocks to cover all the gardens, and a whole lot of weeding along with weed block material to lay down.

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Weekend Wind Down 3/10/2012

The month of the birthdays continues… Both of our children’s birthdays are in March, so each weekend is usually filled with something relating to them. This week will be their combined birthday party with their friends and cousins. Last week we saw “The Lorax” as part of our son’s presents. The movie was hilarious by the way! The majority of the week was spent with our son fighting off a nasty stomach bug that caused him to have to miss school for a few days. I’m looking forward to a weekend where everyone’s health is back to normal.

As many of you already know from my prior post, the week started off on a good note with the closing of our home refinance! That activity saves us about $100 per month on our budget. Also, the way the schedule worked out, we get to skip one whole month before our next payment is due which means we save on one payment out-of-pocket this year. Unfortunately Mrs. MMD already knows this and is scheming ways to spend it!

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Weekend Wind Down 3/03/2012

What a long and stressful week! Both my wife and I had some pretty hectic schedules these past few days, but it’s all good. This week was also very special because we celebrated our son’s birthday! He’s a great present “getter” because he opens each present as if it’s the best present he’s ever received. Unfortunately I think the week is going to end with Mrs. MMD coming down with a cold.

I’m glad to announce we finally got the estimate back on our house and will be closing on our HARP Refinance soon! We also finished installing our hardwood floors. Both of these will be expanded upon in upcoming posts next week.

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Weekend Wind Down 2/25/2012

Carnivals, Alexa, Google PageRankI am very glad to be home from western NY. This week MMD was on the road away on business for the latter part of the week. My apologies for not being able to post like I regularly do on Friday.

Mrs MMD and I have a lot to do this weekend. Our son turns 7 soon and we still need to buy his birthday presents. We’ve also got our hardwood floor project that we started last weekend to get done now that the last of the boxes we ordered have arrived. Thank you to anyone that selflessly posts “how-to” projects on You Tube. You have no idea how much help you have been!

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Weekend Wind Down 2/18/2012

Carnivals, Alexa, Google PageRankThis has been one of those weeks where it feels like extra days got mixed in there somehow.

Mrs. MMD and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day early on Saturday night by going out to a local comedy club. If anyone is ever stumped on what to give someone as a gift, I highly recommend taking them to a comedy club. As long as you get a good comedian (which most of them are), it’s non-stop laughing for an hour and a half. On the real Valentine’s Day, we celebrated with our kids by having “Love Day” meal (which is a phrase they came up with). It consists of having spaghetti and meat sauce (I believe this is a Lady and the Tramp inspired cuisine).

I’m also happy to report that we booked our annual family vacation. This year is Playa del Carmen!

Unfortunately we never got our house appraisal like we were supposed to. Our refinance officer warned us that sometimes when they say it will take a week, they really mean two.

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Weekend Wind Down 2/11/2012

Carnivals, Alexa, Google PageRankAh, the end of the week. How I look forward to it!

Monday started off with something I’ve both waited for and feared at the same time – getting my home estimated. The estimator came and did whatever magic it is he does. I won’t know what he thinks until at least next week, but I’m hoping its good news for me. Mid-week was also pretty exciting. My daughter had her first slow dance with a boy. Later on at the same dance, my son stole the spotlight with his “break-dance” moves. Mrs MMD had the pictures up on Facebook the second we got home!

Carnivals:

This week, MyMoneyDesign was featured in 3 personal finance carnivals:

Personal Financial Management Articles from Personal Finance Blogs – 2 Articles

Carnival of Retirement – 5th Edition

Planning and Personal Investment Articles this Week – 3 Articles

Please feel free to visit these sites and read all the great posts.

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