Anticipation - and I love my job

It has been one of the most exciting (and fastest) weeks ever over at BlogFrog headquarters.  We have some huge things coming that we are going to start teasing about tomorrow and then launch next week.  We can't wait.... but we will.  

You know you love you're job when you are excited to go first thing in the morning and you look at the clock and can't believe it's 5:30 already!  

Phyllis Clark Banks: 1924 - 2010

I remember visiting a friends house and being shocked because his grandma was actually stern with him.  She wasn't really mean, but I thought that grandparents only lived to spoil their grandkids!

So it was with Phyllis.  Phyllis grew up when hamburgers and milkshakes cost a dime and the movies set you back a nickel.  For each of our (the grandkids) birthdays she would give us more money than growing up her Dad would make in a week!

Her last year of high school, she and her High School sweetheart, Willis, sat listening to the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor.  A few short years later Willis would be battling on the front lines in France.

Great story: One day she received a letter from Willis' parents.  I'm sure she was terrified, fearing the worst as he was still on the front lines, but inside she found an engagement ring.  His parents said they sent it at Willis' request.  She wrote him back and said yes.  When he got the letter he was really surprised, he knew nothing about the ring!  He had casually mentioned to his folks he wished he had given Phyllis a ring before he left, and his parents decided to take matters into their own hands!

We grew up very close to Grandma and I got to know her and Grandpa pretty well.  As grandpa got older, when I was a teenager, I got to be their official "yard caretaker".  I'd do everything from cut the grass and trim the trees (grandpa always let me use the chainsaw) to pay their bills for them.  After I was done I was always given a fudge-sickle from the freezer, and a soda from the fridge, which I would eat while we would talk in the front room.        

We'll miss you Grandma, you're the best!

       Phyllis Clark Banks 1924 - 2010 and Halle

Nominated for President

I just had to post this BlogFrog discussion where I was nominated for the 2012 presidential ticket:

http://theblogfrog.com/1067950/forum/15079/2012-presidential-ticket.html

Holly (my business partner) was on the ticket as well!

Scary thought....

It's a friend thing

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget." - Anonymous

One thing I've been amazed with while creating BlogFrog is watching people forge friendships, completely online.  In our communities, I've read things like "I never thought I would find a group that understands me" and "I never thought I could be open with anyone until I found this community."  Reading these things really makes you feel good about what you are building.

This past week we launched a huge update to BlogFrog: the ability to find and follow your friends.  We're not talking about your IRL (online speak for in-real-life) friends, but the friends you are going to make as you start interacting with the readers of your favorite blog.

When you see someone you might like in a community - just click their picture and up pops their profile:

Want to see all the neat stuff they are doing?  Just click the big giant "Follow" button (seriously you can't miss it).  Now all their updates (whether it's replying to a discussion in a community or posting on their blog) will show up when you click your friends tab at the top of the page.

We launched this feature on Tuesday last week and the first day over 5000 friends were made.  We can't wait to see what the coming weeks bring!

Now that Blake's crawling...

Don't you think it's time to put him to work?  Introducing, THE BABY MOP:

How cool is this?