Happy New Year

I´d like to wish all Night Clicks visitors, fellow bloggers, friends and EC Droppers a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!
I wish 2010 brings you all the best. For me, the best is good health, peace of mind and love. Keep smiling!
The countdown will start soon...Ready to party?
I am!
See you soon :)

Image: a2zindianews

My Christmas

Hello everyone. Hope you´re all having good holidays & a peaceful time now that 2010 is approaching. I´ve been offline for a few days...As usual, due to my home-chores, my job and Christmas celebration.
Surprisingly, I had three days off in a row (23, 24, 25) and I used them to go shopping with my daughter, spent quality time with her, had plenty rest and now I´m back to my usual chores.
I spent Christmas eve alone with Nina, my dear furfriend. My daughter went to S. mother´s home and I spent a good part of the night cooking traditional Portuguese Christmas sweets. I had dinner alone, watched a bit of TV, including a wonderful Christmas Circus and Concert and went to bed very late, around 6.00 am.
I also spent most of 25th at home alone. It was the first year I spent Christmas alone...but in compensation my daughter will be with me for New Year´s celebration. I won´t lie, it wasn´t easy to be all alone (specially because I wasn´t used to it) but we had arranged things this way since late May. I always keep my word and my daughter enjoys spending Christmas eve with her cousins. Next year, she´ll be with me for Christmas and with S. for New Year.
I received a few presents, specially from me to myself, lol. After all, it wasn´t that bad because despite being alone I had fun. Well, I always do, don´t I?
I had planned to blog but instead I cooked Christmas sweets. This way, time passed even faster. When I noticed it was already 25th morning. The cold and all the rain outside made my flat even more cosy.
Since kid, and because my family is very small, I always enjoyed New Year more than Christmas.
Today, I started preparing my New Year´s celebration. I will be cooking again and I´d like to go downtown to see the fireworks and a concert. A simple plan to welcome 2010.
And you? Are you ready for New Year´s celebration?

Website Goals

As 2010 is approaching, many of us are making plans for the new year. One of my biggest goals for next year´s is related to finances. I´d like to reduce my overall expenses and my online work load as well. One of my priorities for 2010 is to keep my domains and maintain their expenses. When my web hosting plans reach renewal time, I´ll have to decide which provider I should go for.
Early next year, I have to make a decision weather I keep my domains and my current web hosting provider. Before deciding which plan I will buy, I´ll sure visit a web hosting directory. A web hosting directory will provide me all information I need to make the best decision. In this type of website I can check all features each provider offers and compare plan´s prices.
Making price comparison is important for a frugal blogger like me but also for any webmaster trying to stick to a budget, even when looking for the best dedicated server provider or vps hosting. Prices are important but each plan´s feature, such as reliability and technical support, needs to be consider when choosing a web hosting provider. For example, for me, it´s important to check space, bandwidth and up-time. I want to be sure my websites have enough capability to receive an unexpected number of visitors in a given day. It´s so frustrating to visit a website and getting a message such as "bandwidth exceeded". So, up-time, space and technical support are some of the features I consider important in any web hosting plan.
In a web hosting directory such as Webhostinggeeks I can read other users reviews, rates and check all cheap plans that come with free domains included. I can also verify each provider´s plan´s features to make sure I´m buying exactly what I need to smoothly run my websites. Always prefer quality and be sure to read the small letters in any contract.
Unlimited bandwidth can be purely marketing so my advice is: Read articles and all information provided by web hosting directories before choosing your plan. This way you can make sure you will get what you have bought.
I expect to have a good blogging year, although I know in advance that I won´t have time to write as much as I´d like to. As far as content is concerned, I won´t make major changes in any of my websites but I´ll sure dedicate more time to my Personal Finances blog. I´ll write a goal´s post for each of my online endeavors.

Merry Christmas

I´d like to wish all Night Clicks visitors, followers and fellow bloggers:
Merry Christmas!
In Portuguese: Feliz Natal
Health, Peace & Love to all.

Image: Wesley Almeida

Blogger Status: Home For Christmas

Hello everyone. I haven´t posted anything this week because I´ve been doing night shifts and when I arrive home I´m to tired to blog. Because of my night shifts, I already skipped a couple Music Mondays, shhh...
Today is my day off and I was supposed to work tomorrow, 24th, but our government gave the day off to all public institution´s workers. Thanks Mr. Prime Minister!
This way, I´ll have three days off in a row and I´ll spend Christmas at home. This is the first year I´ll be spending Christmas alone. My daughter is going to her father´s family dinner and I´ll stay home...so I´ll probably be online working on my blogs. It´s a good way to feel less lonely.
The winter arrived here with lots of rain and cold wind. In the past three days it has been raining almost non stop. The best place to be is at home. Ohhh...if only I had a fireplace...once I don´t have one, at night, I turn on my oil heater.
See you later :)

How I´ve Been Spending My Online Time

First of all, I´d like to wish a good weekend to all Night Clicks visitors. This Saturday, I worked a morning shift and I´ll have Sunday off. My daughter just started Christmas school vacations and, in the next weeks, I´ll divide my time between my job, my home and my close family.

Now, I´ll carry on with today´s post tittle:

With only a few daily hours to be online and a bunch of blogs to run, it´s not easy to put in practice time management skills I have learned in my course.
In the past months, I´ve been skipping many online tasks I used to do and even declining opportunities to earn money. The main reason is not my full time job but because I find interesting articles and websites to read and I don´t impose myself any time limits.
I´ve been spending my online time mostly reading instead of writing content and investing time on my blogs. I´m not blocked, tired or anything like that. In fact, I always have topics to talk about... I think I´m in a sort of reading & learning phase.
My interest in Personal Finances isn´t new, it´s one of my favorite blogging topics. Lately, when I´m online, I spend a lot of time reading Personal Finances and Personal Development websites and blogs. If I had keep only one of my blogs, I would choose Mizé Journey, my "recent" personal finances journal blog.
Besides dropping ECs, reading the news, other blogs and doing a few opportunities, I haven´t been doing much more. I enjoy this flexible online routine and maybe soon I´ll give up some of my blogging endeavors.
And you? How do you spend your time online?

Webhosting Plans

If you´re looking for a web hosting plan that suits your needs, you can visit a webhosting directory such as Webhostingrating to check the best deals.
Webhostingrating is a useful website that lists up-to-date information of all major web hosting providers on the market. In this website you can read other user´s reviews, check the best offers, find limited discount coupons and learn about web hosting awards.
Webhostingrating also provides various articles that cover the basics of website hosting. If you have a blog, you can also check which is the best blog hosting plan.
When choosing a web hosting provider you should consider different aspects such as reliability, uptime, space provided, technical & customer support available, price and quality offered by each company.
There are so many web hosting providers on the market that the best way to find the ideal service is to compare the features each company has to offer before deciding which one to choose.
In general, webhosting providers offer better prices in annual or bi-annual plans so if you´re new to these topics you´d better do your homework and read about different companies´ services before committing to any long term plan.

What I´m Up To

Hello everyone.
Now that my vacations are over, I´m back to my normal chores. My first home improvement project finished last weekend. Both balconies have now new floor tiles and were both painted. I spent a good part of Monday and Tuesday cleaning and yesterday I went back to my job, I did a night shift.
Now, to complete my balconies renovation, I´d like to buy blinds or curtains. One of my balconies is headed south and in summer it gets very hot there. I don´t have any blinds in this balcony and all my flat´s rooms get very hot too.
My next home improvement project is renovating my kitchen. I´m not sure when I´ll be able to do it, it all depends on how much it will cost. My intention is to replace the kitchen floor, all cabinet´s doors and paint the ceiling. In the next months, I´ll be looking for quotes and checking prices.
My online chores are a bit behind, I wanted to change one of my blog´s layout and update my food blog but didn´t have enough time to do everything. My vacations passed so fast...
Well, now that I´m back to work maybe I can do the things I left behind in my days off. See you later :)

Web Hosting Directory

If you´re a webmaster looking to set up your own website or blog, you´ll need a domain name and a reliable web hosting provider.
There are many companies offering webhosting services and each one provides different features and packages. Plus, there´s so many information available on the Internet that choosing one company can be a hard task. The best way to chose a reliable webhosting services is by comparing what each company offers.
If you check a web hosting directory such as Webhostinggeeks you´ll find plenty information about the best companies on the market. This website provides reviews, ratings and comparison charts which include prices and the different features each company has to offer. This website rates and reviews webhosting providers since 2004.
If you´re a newbie, in Webhostinggeek you can find many articles that contain useful information about webhosting and related topics such as control panels, security issues and domain names. Reading different articles from various resources is a good way to learn the basics before deciding what to do.

Blogger Status: Back Home

Hello everyone. I´m back home. I had an awesome weekend in my hometown and now I´m back to my "normal" routine. My vacations end today. Later tonight, I´ll be doing a night shift.
The balconies floor replacement project is completed but I still have a lot of cleaning to do. I´m very happy with the final result. My balconies look much bigger now and not only because they´re empty but thanks to the light color tiles I picked.
Lately, I´ve been waking up very early without alarm clock. By night I´m already tired and that´s the main reason why I´ve been doing less "night owl" blogging. Maybe I´m getting better from my usual insomnia. Right now, it´s only half past midnight and I´m so sleepy that I won´t do anything else online. I´m off to bed.
See you soon :)

I´m Going To My Hometown For The Weekend

Time passes really fast, specially now that winter days are shorter. At 5.30 pm it´s already night and it´s so cold outside that all I want after that hour is to be home, cosy and warm. My vacations are ending, next Wednesday I´ll start my crazy schedules again.
This weekend, I won´t be online because I´m going to my hometown., a 300 Km drive.
Once I´ll be working in Christmas, and I also don´t know when my next vacations will be, I decided to visit my mother and I´m taking my daughter with me.
Oh...how I miss my hometown! I miss it´s typical sea smell, the people, the shops, the food...and specially my friends. I won´t have time to visit them all in only one weekend but if I´ll be happy if I meet just a few.
I´ll leave later today, after picking my daughter from school, and I expect to be back next Sunday afternoon. So, this weekend I won´t be making any drops, commenting and updating my blogs. I´ll try to catch up when I get back.
A good weekend to all. See you :)

My Blogging Earnings & Websites I Use

I just reached another Adsense payment which I will receive next February.
Since PPP has become Inpostlinks, my earnings trough this source diminished. On the other hand, I´ve been qualifying for more opportunities trough Social Spark. Maybe this increase is due to Christmas season, I can´t tell for sure. I will need to wait more time to reach the new minimum payout, which now is 50.00.
There´s another website that has been sending me offers, SEO Blog Reviews. I first read about this website trough Rachel´s Blog "Turnonepoundintoonemillion" but once the site is so simple I thought it could be another scam. I decided to signup and after a week or so I received the first offer. The good thing about this site is they pay in advance, you don´t need to wait 30 days to get your money. First you get paid, and after you write the post. They send offers only trough e-mail and you can accept or deny these offers.
Last month, I received a couple direct opportunities trough Sponsoredreviews. I like this website because they´ve been around for a long time, they pay after 15 days and have plenty advertisers.
Another website that offered me a few opportunities was Blogsvertise .
I´ve also joined "Microworkers", a website in which you can earn a few extra bucks by doing different micro jobs, although I haven´t done much there yet.
In sum, my November online earnings weren´t as good as previous months but I can´t complain much because I haven´t been actively looking for opportunities. The only thing I can complain is the current dollar exchange rate. In the past months, it has been so low that I´m keeping my earnings a bit longer so I don´t lose money with the currency conversion.
If you know any other good websites for blog monetizing, please let me know. More earning resources are always welcome.
See you soon :)

How I´m Spending My Vacations

I started my ten days vacation in December 1st and I will only be back to work next 16th. Luckily, my vacations include two national holidays that don´t count for the ten days period, December 1st and 8th, so I´ll enjoy over two weeks.
My first week is already gone. I had plenty rest and carried out some of my home organizing projects. My first target was to get rid of all the clutter in my daughter´s room, a long wanted goal which I happily finished today. During this week I also did some shopping, paid bills, started cleaning my balcony and asked one quote for the new floor, a home improvement project I´ve been dreaming of.
I received an email from my University informing me that I could now request my final certificate so I went there to make the formal request and pay for it. Revisiting my University brought back so many good memories... I will never forget the good times I spent there.
Last Friday, was another important day for me. I signed the plot´s selling documents and received a bank cheque with my share of the money. Sadly, this was the end of our plot´s story but it also represents a fresh start for my countryhome dream. As we say in Portugal "When a doors gets closed, God opens a window".
Basically, this is what I´ve accomplished this week besides my normal daily activities (cooking, cleaning, shopping, doing laundry, ironing, taking my daughter to school, picking her up, etc). I also had some very nice dinners with my daughter and bought a Christmas tree that we will decorate today.
Today, at 3.00 pm, we will watch a musical theater play: "Peter Pan". We received free tickets from the company that my ex works for. Every year, they offer all worker´s children Christmas gifts. They also offered my daughter a "Fnac" 25.00 Euros gift card. Fnac is a national store which sells electronics, technology, books, CDs, DVDs and toys. My daughter is thrilled with this present. She keeps asking me when will we go to Fnac, located in Algarve´s Shopping in Albufeira, 30 Km from where we live.
This Christmas, I will only be offering a couple presents so I don´t have much shopping to do.
These are my goals for next week:

~ Organize my kitchen pantry
~ Pay bills and go to the bank (2 different ones)
~ Finish cleaning the balcony
~ Paint bathroom ceiling
~ Organizing my books and the boxes in which I keep copies.

Let´s see if I can accomplish everything on this list, plus my online chores. I hope so because I don´t know when my next vacations will be.
Next weekend I´m going to make a 350 km car drive (each way). Me and M. are going to visit my my mother which lives in my hometown. I´d also like to go to Lisbon, our capital. I´m planning on leaving Friday after dinner and I will only be back Sunday night.
I won´t take Nina with us in this trip so I´ll have to ask a friend to come by my flat to feed her. I could never leave Nina here a whole weekend by herself. To me, our furfriend Nina is like a young child.
Well, this is all for today. See you soon :)

Pearl Jewelry: A Timeless Beautiful Gift

When I got married, I had to go trough all the necessary arrangements for a traditional Christian marriage. Choosing the right weeding dress, combining accessories and party arrangements were the most challenging. I had no experience in doing big parties so I needed all the help and advice I could get.
For the church ceremony I picked a pearl colored traditional wedding dress and to combine with it I used a Pearl Earring and Pearl Necklace set that my mother offered me. I wanted to have a more classic look and I think I was looking very sophisticated. I still have the pearl jewelry I was wearing that day and now I use it on special occasions. Every time I wear my pearl set I always remember that special date of my life.
I also remember I was nervous the whole time, one of my biggest fears was not having enough food for everyone I had invited. It´s not easy to throw a 250 guests wedding party but in the end it all went well.
Pearl Jewelry is classic, it´s not expensive and can be combined with many different style clothes. Pearl Jewelry can be a good Christmas present idea for your loved one because it´s a fashionable and timeless gift. If you´d like to buy genuine Japanese Akoya saltwater and freshwater pearl jewelry you can now do it online by visiting PearlNecklaceCenter.com. This website provides a wide pearl jewelry collection, including earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Most items offered by this shop are combined with 14K gold.
Pearlnecklacecenter online shop has a lowest price guarantee, their pearls are evaluated by a IGI graduate Gemologist and they offer free shipping worldwide on all items. If you´re thinking about offering a special gift to your loved one, visit their website and check out their prices.

Back Online & Friendship Award

Hello everyone! Long time no seen...and no updates here in Night Clicks. I didn´t make any updates for a week but, for me, it seems like a very long time.
After taking antibiotics for five days, my daughter is feeling much better now. She had to miss school for a few days but in Wednesday she no longer had fever and went back to her normal routines, TG!
With H1N1 spreading in a few local schools, any child with fever and flu symptoms has to stay home.

I´d like to thank my friends Marly, Mariuca and Allena for the "get well wishes" to my daughter. Thanks girls! You´re wonderful friends! Even so far away, you think and care about me.

Some time ago, Allena, from "The Eyes of the Beholder" passed me this friendship award:



I´d like to pass it to Mariuca and Marly as a way to express my gratitude for caring about me and my daughter and also to the following friends:

~ Metz, from "Empty Streets": Hope everything is well with you.

~ Liza, from "Mommy´s Little Corner": Thanks so much for the rose postcard you sent me!

~ Rebecca, from "Freaky Frugality": For being a friend and also for making great "Find the Kitty" posts that always put a smile in our faces (mine & my daughter´s).

~ Laura, from "Move to Portugal": I know your blog is "award free" but I´d like to thank your continued friendship. It will be a huge pleasure to meet you again next time you come to Algarve! I´ll be cooking dinner for us :)

And this list could go on... but once Mariuca recently bestowed me an awards collection, I´ll have to make another "Award Gala" just for them :)
See you soon :)