oh this is great!  I (most whole-heartedly) welcome comments and contructive criticism - please!

(I have two...do you mind visiting both and letting me know about both?)

www.sweetjeanette.com

www.realwomeneat.com

Thanks so much!  I'm off to yours now...

Hi Jeanette, 

I visited both of your blogs!

On www.sweetjeanette.com I think it is about cooking and crafts.  It is a little difficult to read as the the two side bars were competing with each other and the middle.  The contrast of print and background was also difficult on the side bars.  The middle background was alright.  It may be because I am a guy, but it was a little over decorated for me with the frills and such.

On www.realwomeneat.com I really enjoyed it and I like the theme checking out new restaurants and recipes too.  It sounds like fun. What an excuse to have to go eat out !   Before long I was reading your blog and forgot about critiquing because it has a clean look and is inviting, and i was in it before I knew it.  So it wins for me out of the two.

I don't know how you do it with two blogs I have enough trying to keep up with one!  Overall I say you have done some nice work!

Jim

Thanks so much Jim.   That was some great advice!   I appreciate it all.   I've wondered about the "competing" things before.   Thanks so much!

Great Jeanette!  Were you going to review mine?

Wow!  I would LOVE some help! Thanks in advance!

Hi Bonita, I visited your blog and I really like it, it looks clean an easy to follow.  I was compelled to read your blog so that is a good thing and I enjoyed reading about your son Jesse.  Congrats to him and his "team." It was quite an accomplishment perseverance pays off.  There is some good scripture that will back that up!

I liked the side bar it was not over done and easy to follow and nicely separated from the post.

I was and still am a little confused by the name, I was thinking it was an old outdated blog of a reunion or an old goal for last year.  Maybe if there was a short description it would help a new reader.    

Thanks for sharing and please check out the other blogs here!

Thank you Jim! I agree about the title!  I wanted to help  tired moms of younger children feel that they could still make a difference, and I guess I thought that we would be raptured in 2009....or maybe I was just tired :), but I'm praying about a new title!!!! Thanks again!  Bonita

The idea of this string was to read and evaluate each others blog.  

Please don't forget to help me too.  

As I stated above, you should be looking at two or three.  I was not looking to be a rating service!

I am a fairly new blogger so these are the things that just jump out at me from a new blogger and readers perspective. 

Jim....I have visited your blog several times and I think the main thing that sticks out at me is the sidebar.  I am so used to reading left to right that it throws me off a bit.

Jeanette..I visited Real Women Eat and am think it looks pretty good!  I am definitely going to try the smothered enchilidas soon too!

Lynn, the New Bloggers are sometimes the best evaluators!  Just because it is without predetermined ideas on "how a blog should look" and when you are new at navigating you are looking for ease of navigation!  

Thanks for the comments and looking at other blogs.   

When I visited your blog I was thinking it hadn't finished downloading yet because the screen was white.   I am even double checking it now just to make sure, because where I am, we have slow internet.  I think  a little color will warm up the page and maybe play with the header a little with a contrasting color, it is really good to see that you can add to it because so much of the time a lot of us have a tendency to add too much and we need to reduce the over decorated blog.  But it does look clean without clutter so you can find the posts to read!  I enjoyed your story on the phone calls!