Take the hassle out of tough tasks: Make shortcuts to your action steps

A good filing system includes not only the files you need but the action steps, all in one place. Earlier this week, I talked about<a href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2013/01/create-checklists-in-evernote-to-save.html"> recording checklists and action steps</a> in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.evernote.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Evernote">Evernote</a>.<br /><br />But what happens when you go to a folder and don't remember where you put those action steps? I create shortcuts to the evernote notecards for that action step.<br /><br />Wherever you put your checklist, you should link to it so it is bundled with the files that will be used. Here's how. But know this, checklists will save you time, mistakes, and I've found they curb my natural desire to procrastinate hard tasks because I know that it is all in one place.<br /><h2>Step 1: Copy the Note Link</h2><div><i>If you can get a shortcut to anything, websites, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://docs.google.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Google Docs">google docs</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://office.microsoft.com/onenote/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Microsoft OneNote">one note</a>. This process will work in other apps, if you just replace the step 1 with however you copy from that resource. I'm an evernote fangirl, so we're using Evernote.</i></div><div><br /></div>a. Go into Evernote and open the card that you want to link to.<br />b. Click on Note<br />c. Click on Copy Note Link as shown in the graphic.<br /><i>The link is now on your clipboard. Immediately do the next step. If you copy anything else. it will write over this link.</i><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJxSs2P5qLTzWKlz-LlWUjSZ2t6SA3WwWVfAeH6OL8dMt_fmUnFE0dSwUg8wgTSz-5-2U1G0j6prZZhqa6BfPgV0WdXH2uVzBCCg70-r8Csh3-qtlsYLKMkaCs9uAx_HbVGYExI49ELil/s1600/evernote-note-copy-note-link.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJxSs2P5qLTzWKlz-LlWUjSZ2t6SA3WwWVfAeH6OL8dMt_fmUnFE0dSwUg8wgTSz-5-2U1G0j6prZZhqa6BfPgV0WdXH2uVzBCCg70-r8Csh3-qtlsYLKMkaCs9uAx_HbVGYExI49ELil/s400/evernote-note-copy-note-link.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Note --> Copy Note Link </td></tr></tbody></table><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><br /><h2>Step 2: Create a Shortcut in the appropriate folder (PC Instructions)</h2>a. Go to the folder where you want your shortcut<br />b. Right Click and select New and click shortcut with the left click button<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sf3SuJvVxPfSfE5Xojihxv2wnotGeL_rrrvvUpRtTsurzd1qEYFnqUCNj5btkHVhToge0ZkEznCps4oXFNbJmRmdB3_cvzzyrEhwXpKd0a2-FwrvXhDYed5ZT4byi5lQKr0LWHjCsQ-p/s1600/evernote-create-shortcut-step2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sf3SuJvVxPfSfE5Xojihxv2wnotGeL_rrrvvUpRtTsurzd1qEYFnqUCNj5btkHVhToge0ZkEznCps4oXFNbJmRmdB3_cvzzyrEhwXpKd0a2-FwrvXhDYed5ZT4byi5lQKr0LWHjCsQ-p/s400/evernote-create-shortcut-step2a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Right click in the folder --> New --> Shortcut</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />c. Click in the "Type the location of the item" box and press the Ctrl key on your keyboard and the letter "V" at the same time. Click Next.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPMRpMUGiMI1F5R8Ko2sjW8hyphenhyphens9m31aha-iWB-UCyFt-vsEPn4yezdbonNRzs7JD3CFBcCCzrmilCaU0ekEj3_ZrvKL7OZKQwdEhxMCPFBFEBzXkbDgScYSW374JSQG-jO-YPULdcEU0n/s1600/evernote-create-shortcut-step2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPMRpMUGiMI1F5R8Ko2sjW8hyphenhyphens9m31aha-iWB-UCyFt-vsEPn4yezdbonNRzs7JD3CFBcCCzrmilCaU0ekEj3_ZrvKL7OZKQwdEhxMCPFBFEBzXkbDgScYSW374JSQG-jO-YPULdcEU0n/s400/evernote-create-shortcut-step2b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Press the Ctrl key on your keyboard and the V key simultaneously to paste in the link.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />d. Type a name that will make it clear what this routine is. Click Finish.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdExv-dzUgam7msIkczwAF7h7pY8MxVSI-bVQginl3TUCpozZdVpr5vBU-ua3wF2KL1JZf-oNmArRXsfZMtIW3Oyqc_QHBOCXrsCbwMoMs4iEsXiHUHzcgW0pNixNRhRzbtnpXVEIrh9SE/s1600/evernote-create-shortcut-step2c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdExv-dzUgam7msIkczwAF7h7pY8MxVSI-bVQginl3TUCpozZdVpr5vBU-ua3wF2KL1JZf-oNmArRXsfZMtIW3Oyqc_QHBOCXrsCbwMoMs4iEsXiHUHzcgW0pNixNRhRzbtnpXVEIrh9SE/s400/evernote-create-shortcut-step2c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Add a descriptive name</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />e.You now have a nice shortcut to an evernote notecard for the routine.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2XrPQRgUnMAS-FHFeg7U6EuvTlnrzIOxlnw3g-YQ1PDkYlglUCf98AcDIQ9qFPYqg0eiDHPh1BLy_6RXcyeYd-AIkQFJFsHikPJjzF5apDSQuxoQTO2jm-jgBqyKC5aPmGlOn5GMihVY/s1600/evernote-create-shortcuct-step2d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2XrPQRgUnMAS-FHFeg7U6EuvTlnrzIOxlnw3g-YQ1PDkYlglUCf98AcDIQ9qFPYqg0eiDHPh1BLy_6RXcyeYd-AIkQFJFsHikPJjzF5apDSQuxoQTO2jm-jgBqyKC5aPmGlOn5GMihVY/s320/evernote-create-shortcuct-step2d.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>It is now in the folder. You could begin the instructions with a <br />special character to put  it at the front of the folder like a period.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Remember that you can use this for wherever you have the routines. The reason that I like using evernote instead of lots of tiny documents is that within evernote or any notetaking app, you can search and have routines. If you look back at the original card, the tags I use will prompt me for what happens in January and I can lay my hands on it, for example, if I need information or instructions.<br /><br />This is an example of something I do once a year. It took me 2 hours today. I'll be interested next year how much time it takes me when I don't have to dig deep and remember what I did last year.<br /><br /><div class="zemanta-related" style="clear: both; margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><h4 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles</h4><ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0;"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2013/01/create-checklists-in-evernote-to-save.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/137480794_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2013/01/create-checklists-in-evernote-to-save.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Create Checklists in Evernote to Save Time</a></li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/17/dolphin-browser-adds-evernote-clipping-and-one-stop-sharing/" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/138807605_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/17/dolphin-browser-adds-evernote-clipping-and-one-stop-sharing/" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dolphin browser adds Evernote clipping, one-stop sharing and syncing</a></li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cool-ways-to-use-evernote-2013-1" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/138568337_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cool-ways-to-use-evernote-2013-1" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">7 Unusual Ways People Use Evernote</a></li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5973033/how-i-turned-three-years-of-paper-into-a-highly-organized-searchable-document-database-in-two-days" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/136391528_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5973033/how-i-turned-three-years-of-paper-into-a-highly-organized-searchable-document-database-in-two-days" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">How I Turned Three Years of Paper into a Highly Organized, Searchable Document Database in Two Days</a></li></ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=6e910508-12d2-474f-b639-41a7a1f4f692" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

evernote productivity Take the hassle out of tough tasks: Make shortcuts to your action steps

A good filing system includes not only the files you need but the action steps, all in one place. Earlier this week, I talked about recordi...

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the perfect navy paint

I'm on the hunt. (imagine me in fabulous riding boots and a wonderful tweed jacket with my beagle by my side)<br /><br />I've got a piece of furniture begging for a paint job. It's true. It <i>told</i> me it wanted to be painted. In a heavy Scottish accent oddly enough. So it's very possible I misunderstood, but I'm certain he said he wanted to be navy.<br /><br />Happy to oblige Scottish furniture, but the problem is there are no fewer than 10,000 different paint colors claiming to be navy. You may remember I've had <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/10/paint-rug-party-week-3-reveal.html" target="_blank">navy paint problems</a> in the past, so I'm still rather nervous about making another navy pick.<br /><br />There is after all a fine line between "that's a really dark royal blue" and "is that black...or blue". I'm going for "hot damn that is one fine piece of navy furniture!".<br /><br />Something like this...<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctdtqbl-hyalxxKrhJMzV2_BQbyR5XNdJyjbuFVWg4UdKZXUxzu_SPk2YmCRkVv7HYJbYwAPQTovidJgMbxeQEJamsnxVEX7dNn_KxujvPRnxo9JUvm7uuRKOLFEd3DwLkmOKSu-H__uu/s1600/tini-table-iv.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjctdtqbl-hyalxxKrhJMzV2_BQbyR5XNdJyjbuFVWg4UdKZXUxzu_SPk2YmCRkVv7HYJbYwAPQTovidJgMbxeQEJamsnxVEX7dNn_KxujvPRnxo9JUvm7uuRKOLFEd3DwLkmOKSu-H__uu/s640/tini-table-iv.jpeg" width="424" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.oomphonline.com/tini-table-iv.html" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPG_2JxjPXWmBNGsiToVraQ4SIgG0QSQxlbAFT6pd5KIl1ihl6gJrzprgZh-tgJtrIeEAihqhEDdQd9am6WC0A5rY3FaWiBt_B_cEAHFqWQ5RkunkcrCxT3oWUWWwXRc1GamIdHX6k03q/s1600/furniture.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPG_2JxjPXWmBNGsiToVraQ4SIgG0QSQxlbAFT6pd5KIl1ihl6gJrzprgZh-tgJtrIeEAihqhEDdQd9am6WC0A5rY3FaWiBt_B_cEAHFqWQ5RkunkcrCxT3oWUWWwXRc1GamIdHX6k03q/s640/furniture.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.handhhome.com/furniture/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRqbV-YWbuR_48CWwVXJDJfk6OtkK6Ze8YsnuTt1EpuAL-ZAR273_QBD0Ro388gq3upZyETfupZdpbQMX0AqpQ8OvN8SOUQEyU2pZ_uTyc6SGN1VbNfQ4_UO-smyDp_h4NPVeEwPwY5PI/s1600/IMG_7415b.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRqbV-YWbuR_48CWwVXJDJfk6OtkK6Ze8YsnuTt1EpuAL-ZAR273_QBD0Ro388gq3upZyETfupZdpbQMX0AqpQ8OvN8SOUQEyU2pZ_uTyc6SGN1VbNfQ4_UO-smyDp_h4NPVeEwPwY5PI/s640/IMG_7415b.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nattybydesign.com/2013/01/before-and-after-campaign-dresser.html" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7qFtLPC8wWU3iv6fjd5t4y2YV2F4SPZirAziGyhQjwqSCNHsd0N4W2iisDffaDQfgCGP6rBwvyqDaG_Ob9F1y8V-h3vBGHHceFZl-Wtin_TGNMV4sVGwBBD4vX1FwoM4wln3QhRNf-8h/s1600/atlanta-market-jan-039.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7qFtLPC8wWU3iv6fjd5t4y2YV2F4SPZirAziGyhQjwqSCNHsd0N4W2iisDffaDQfgCGP6rBwvyqDaG_Ob9F1y8V-h3vBGHHceFZl-Wtin_TGNMV4sVGwBBD4vX1FwoM4wln3QhRNf-8h/s640/atlanta-market-jan-039.jpeg" width="472" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://laurenleonardinteriors.com/blog/market-recap/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table>So don't hold out on me. Do you have any good navy paint colors in your stash? Please share if you do!<br /><br />Do you have a color you can never seem to get right? Have any talking furniture? For more furniture ideas see my <a href="http://pinterest.com/ladybaum/furniture/" target="_blank">Pinterest board</a>.

the perfect navy paint

I'm on the hunt. (imagine me in fabulous riding boots and a wonderful tweed jacket with my beagle by my side) I've got a piece of fu...

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New Bears coach Marc Trestman

<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://widget.newsinc.com/single.html?WID=1&VID=24239145&freewheel=69016&sitesection=sechicagotribune&w=600&h=400" width="600"></iframe><br /><br /><div class="small" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #292727; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Chicago Tribune sports reporter Dan Pompei on the potential success Marc Trestman could have as head coach of the Bears. (Posted on: Jan. 16, 2013.)</div><span class="toolSet" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #292727; display: inline-block; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: -50px; width: 345px;"><div class="byline" style="color: #333333; float: left; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="byline bordered" style="display: block; font-weight: bold;">By Vaughn McClure</span><span class="titleline" style="display: block; font-weight: bold;">Chicago Tribune reporter</span><div class="date" style="color: #757575; font-family: 'Helevetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 0px;"><span class="timeString" style="display: inline;">2:57 a.m. CST</span><span class="dateTimeSeparator" style="display: inline;">, </span><span class="dateString" style="display: inline;">January 16, 2013</span></div></div><div class="clear" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></span><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #292727; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;"></span><div id="story-body-text" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #292727; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><strong>Marc Trestman</strong><br /><br /><strong>Most recent position:</strong> Montreal Alouettes head coach (CFL)<br /><a alt="" href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-6176916-10804307?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.groupon.com%2Fdeals%2Fgg-leg-massager" id="e5a799a64d904df73d9116bc96af0218" style="background-color: #333333; color: #005495; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Helevetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" title=""><div class="img-bg" style="background-color: white; background-image: url(https://s3.grouponcdn.com/images/site_images/2915/2486/RackMultipart20130110-24305-16pe31m_sidebar.jpg); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: black; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; height: 160px; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; word-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div></a><strong>Age:</strong> 57 (Jan. 15, 1956)<br /><br /><strong>Hometown:</strong> Minneapolis<br /><br /><strong>Years coaching: </strong>27<br /><br /><strong>NFL coaching stops:</strong> Dolphins (2004, QB/AHC); Raiders (2001-03, OC/QB); Cardinals (1998-2000, OC/QB); Lions (1997, QB); 49ers (1995-96 OC/QB); Vikings (1990-91, QB); Browns (1988-89 OC/QB); Buccaneers (1987, QB); Vikings (1985-86, RBs)<br /><br /><strong>What they're saying:</strong> "With us, he was very hands-on. He knew everything that was going on with the offense. He was very detailed-oriented," former Montreal and Bears running back Garrett Wolfe on Trestman.</div>

Marc Trestman New Bears NFL New Bears coach Marc Trestman

Chicago Tribune sports reporter Dan Pompei on the potential success Marc Trestman could have as head coach of the Bears. (Posted on: Jan. 16...

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Manti Te'o: A linebacker, a made-up girlfriend and a national hoax

<br /><div class="cnn_stryathrtmp" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 14px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="cnnByline" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By <strong style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Lateef Mungin and Steve Almasy</strong>, CNN</div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">updated 11:03 PM EST, Thu January 17, 2013</div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="The sports world and the Internet are abuzz as Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o says <a href='http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/sport/manti-teo-controversy/index.html'>he was the victim of a "sick joke"</a> that resulted in the creation of an inspirational story that had him overcoming the death of an online girlfriend at the same time he lost his grandmother. Here, Te'o leaves the field after a 42-14 loss against Alabama in the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game on Monday, January 7, in Miami Gardens, Florida. See more photos of Te'o:" height="360" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130116204635-manti-teo-01-horizontal-gallery.jpg" width="640" /></div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp" style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(CNN)</strong> -- In a little more than three months, Manti Te'o probably will be drafted by an NFL team and sign a multimillion dollar deal.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Before teams sink that much money into players, they have questions.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">With the revelation that the football feel-good story of the year centered on the Notre Dame linebacker's love for a woman who never existed, many people have questions for Te'o -- a lot of questions.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">And as each question in the saga gets answered -- none publicly by Te'o --- it seems another one, or two, or three, crop up.</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><br /><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">For instance, why did Te'o tell reporters before the Heisman Trophy presentation on December 8 that he "lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer," when two days earlier the woman he thought was dead called him on his cellphone?</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Why did he tell a Sports Illustrated reporter in October that Kekua came to one of his games then issue a statement this week that he never met her?</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Who is now behind the one of the Twitter accounts associated with Lennay Kekua, a woman who apparently never lived, let alone died, in September before Te'o, who called her his girlfriend, played one of the biggest games of the young season?</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">A tweet Thursday purportedly from the fictional girlfriend promised she would have a big announcement that would help sort out details of the story, but the tweet was merely a joke about Te'o.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Two other tweets on the page were retweets from the verified account of Te'o.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"@LennayKay I miss you!" a November 6 tweet from Te'o said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">On September 12, Te'o <a href="https://twitter.com/MTeo_5/status/246020457298550784" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">tweeted</a> "@LennayKay you will always be with me wherever I go!"</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">It was unclear Thursday whether the person Te'o tweeted to in September used it again after reports broke of a hoax or whether someone created a new account with the same user name.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The airing of the bizarre story began Wednesday, when sports website Deadspin <a href="http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">published a piece</a> dismissing as a hoax the existence of Te'o's girlfriend -- the one who he said died around the same time as his grandmother while his team marched toward the BCS National Championship Game.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Then Wednesday, the university held a news conference saying Te'o was the victim of a "elaborate hoax." And Te'o, the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/08/sport/heisman/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Heisman Trophy runner-up</a>, released a statement saying he was embarrassed that he was the victim of a "sick joke."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The bizarre developments left many wondering if they, instead of Te'o, were led on.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"Te'o's story that he is completely innocent in this does not really ring true to us," Timothy Burke, co-author of the Deadspin article, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Pete Thamel, the Sports Illustrated writer who published a transcript of his interview with Te'o, said he thinks the star linebacker was duped.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"If he was acting he deserves an Oscar nomination," Thamel said. "The depth and the detail of this scam is mindboggling, but I do think Te'o ... he caught the wave of this story, maybe exaggerated the depths of their relationship a little. But at the end of the day, we need to hear from Manti Te'o."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/sport/football/manti-teo-doubts/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Doubters wonder if Heisman Trophy a factor in hoax</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The </strong><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">h</strong><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">oax</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The story of the girlfriend came to light in September as Notre Dame continued its improbable undefeated season, and Te'o, a relentless tackler, was beginning to emerge as a front-runner for the prestigous Heisman Trophy.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">He led the Fighting Irish, amassing double-digit tackle games and becoming the face of one of the best defenses in the nation.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">In September and October, Te'o told interviewers that his girlfriend and grandmother had died within hours of each other. The girlfriend, a 22-year-old Stanford University student, died of leukemia, he said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The twin losses inspired him to honor them with sterling play on the field, Te'o said. He led his team to a 20-3 routing of Michigan State after he heard the news.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"I miss 'em, but I know that I'll see them again one day," he told ESPN.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">It was indeed a gripping interest story of determination. And the media ran with it.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">No one bothered to seek out Kekua's family until Deadspin, acting on an anonymous e-mail received last week, started poking around.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"What do you do when you first want to know something? You Google it, right?" Burke said on CNN. "And Google searches for 'Lennay Kekua' only showed up articles about her dying, and inspiring Manti Te'o.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"There's no evidence of her existing in any way, other than, you know, after she had allegedly died. And we thought that was a little weird."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Te'o's grandmother died in September, Deadspin said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">But there was no Social Security Administration record of Kekua's death. The Birth and Death Registration Office in Orange County, California, told CNN it had no record of Kekua, nor does the county coroner.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Deadspin called mortuaries and funeral homes in Carson, California, where Kekua was reportedly buried -- but came up empty.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The website sought out the person whose picture had been presented as that of Kekua and tracked her down.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/sport/teo-timeline/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Timeline: How the story unfolded</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">She was alive, didn't have leukemia and had never met Te'o.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"That sort of opened everything up," Burke said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The revelation prompted the Notre Dame athletics director to call a news conference Wednesday. There was no way for Te'o to know the relationship was a hoax because it had been conducted strictly online and on the phone, said director Jack Swarbrick.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph38" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The pair had set up several meetings, including in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up -- but Kekua never showed, Swarbrick said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The university said it did not know how many people were in on the ruse.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph40" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">According to Swarbrick, Te'o received a call from a woman claiming to be his girlfriend on December 6, telling him she was not dead. Those calls continued, but Te'o did not answer, he said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph41" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The Heisman Trophy was awarded two days later, and Te'o made comments about losing relatives to cancer before he finished second in the award voting to quarterback Johnny Manziel of Texas A & M.<i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></i></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph42" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The Stanford University registrar's office told CNN that it has never had a student registered in Kekua's name or using an alternate spelling<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">.</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph43" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"Outside of a few Twitter and Instagram accounts, there's no online evidence that Lennay Kekua ever existed," Deadspin contends. "There was no Lennay Kekua."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph44" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/sport/teo-quotes/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Te'o in his own words</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph45" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Her 'soulful eyes'</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph46" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">So, how did the two fall in love?</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph47" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">According to the South Bend Tribune in Indiana -- the newspaper of Notre Dame's hometown, the two met -- yes, met -- after a football game in Palo Alto, California, in 2009.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph48" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"Their stares got pleasantly tangled, then Manti Te'o extended his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes," the <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Gsq3BkqY4-oJ:articles.southbendtribune.com/2012-10-12/sports/34419536_1_brian-and-ottilia-manti-te-o-irish-head-coach+brian-and-ottilia-manti-te&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">paper gushed</a>. "They could have just as easily brushed past each other and into separate sunsets. Te'o had plenty to preoccupy himself that November weekend in Palo Alto, Calif., back in 2009."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph49" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The article went on to say: "Lennay Kekua was a Stanford student and Cardinal football fan when the two exchanged glances, handshakes and phone numbers that fateful weekend three seasons ago."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph50" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Te'o's father, Brian, was quoted in the article: "They started out as just friends. Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there. But within the last year, they became a couple."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph51" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The newspaper said Wednesday it based Teo's story on information from the linebacker, his family members and coaches -- and moved the story to its archives.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph52" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">But as Thamel reported Thursday, Te'o said they met through a cousin.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph53" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"The only time he didn't speak with confidence was when I asked how they met," <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130117/manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax-quotes/" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">he wrote</a>. I didn't press him, as it was clearly something he didn't want to share. I suspected they may have met online, understood he wouldn't have wanted that public and moved on."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph54" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Media reports indicate the parents never met Kekua.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph55" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/sport/manti-teo-social-media/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Social media jump all over story</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph56" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Te'o tried to clear things up with a statement Wednesday saying he "developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph57" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her," he said in the statement.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph58" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">"To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating," the statement continued. "It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph59" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Te'o didn't meet with the media Thursday as he prepared for an all-star game in Florida.</div></div></div>

Manti Te'o NFL Manti Te'o: A linebacker, a made-up girlfriend and a national hoax

By  Lateef Mungin and Steve Almasy , CNN updated 11:03 PM EST, Thu January 17, 2013 (CNN)  -- In a little more than three months, Manti Te&#...

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‘American Idol’: Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban unveiled

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">By </span><span class="author vcard" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;"><span class="fn"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/lisa-de-moraes/2011/03/01/ABj0TKL_page.html" rel="author" style="color: #0c4790;">Lisa de Moraes</a> From: </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">http://www.washingtonpost.com</a><br /><img src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/tv-column/StandingArt/AI12_NY-Auditions-Day1_0200.rc.jpg?uuid=JB9etGABEeKwWmBVKPa3Eg" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="imgfull" style="float: left; margin: 4px 10px 10px 0px; width: 454px;"><span class="blog_caption" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 14px;">Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson at the New York auditions. (Michael Becker - Fox)</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">“American Idol” is going to bring us it’s A game this season because it took a licking in the ratings last spring.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">History has shown us that an American Idol can do anything, show host Ryan Seacrest says, by way of reminding us “Idol” churns out star — well some seasons anyway — while the other singing shows have yet to cough up a single one.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">To prove his point, we see pawn-shop staffer Phil Phillips perform his hit “Home,” and Carrie Underwood winning things, and Carrie Underwood thanking fans, and Kelly Clarkson winning stuff too.</div><a href="" name="pagebreak" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: underline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;"></span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">You know who else Can Do Anything? Jennifer Hudson! Except, of course, win an “American Idol” competition, which “Idol” is too polite to point out.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">This season we’ve got all new judges – except Randy, who got to stick around when some better idea fell through.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">Keith Urban is the competition’s first country judge – about time. And Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey can fight anywhere – even in the elevator, on the way to the first day of auditions, over a drum majorette hat. Mariah doesn’t think Nicki should be allowed to put her plumed hat on the judges’ desk unless Mariah gets to bring her dog to work.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">Nicki, conversely, doesn’t think Mariah should be allowed to give her hat nasty looks in the elevator.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">They also have a strong disagreement over the finer points of the flick “Mean Girls.” And they’re miles apart on the relative importance of “All I Want for Christmas.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">Mariah finally warns Nicki that if she calls her anything that “starts with a ‘B’ and ends with an ‘itch’ — I rebuke it!”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">“It’s the dawn of a brand new season — together we’ll take the journey that defines a nation,” Seacrest explains.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">When not busy catterwauling, the judges audition some wannabe Idolettes.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px; width: auto;">In addition to the virtually all-new judge panel, “American Idol” unveils another new feature: American Idol Ambush, in which someone who had no intention of auditioning for the show is dragged out of a bar in which they were happily performing, given an “Idol” audition number, slapped in front of the judges and then….rejected!</div>

American Idol news ‘American Idol’: Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban unveiled

By  Lisa de Moraes  From:  http://www.washingtonpost.com Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson at the New York auditions....

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Have you started with a blog yet? It's definitely worth it!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning as I was researching on the Internet the thought struck me that a huge amount of my professional growth over the past few years has come from reading blogs written by teachers. There are so many really fantastic teachers sharing what they do in their classroom with the world and benefiting so many others in the process. I would say that blogs play a very large part in driving the education revolution that is taking place world-wide. The incredible part is that blogs are free to create! So thank you to all those blogger educationists out there!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Useful blogging posts</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have noticed an upsurge in the number of blogs started by educationists. This morning I read about a blogger who has been blogging for ten years, Graham Stanely, and who is celebrating the event with two reflective posts. He calls his posts </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc6600; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 16.796875px;"><a href="http://blog-efl.blogspot.fr/2012/12/reflections-on-ten-years-of-blogging.html" target="_blank">Reflections on ten years blogging - part one</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.796875px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc6600; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 16.796875px;"><a href="http://blog-efl.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/reflections-on-ten-years-blogging-part.html" target="_blank">Reflections on ten years of blogging - part two</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.796875px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In these posts he talks about his journey with blogging with his journey and all he has learned along the way. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.796875px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.796875px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another great post I saw recently on blogging is </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/ultimate-guide-to-use-of-blogs-in.html" target="_blank">The ultimate guide to the use of blogs in teaching</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">posted on the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a comprehensive post which elaborates on the following headings:</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16.796875px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">1- What is Blogging ?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">2- Difference between A Blog and a Website</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">3- Free Blogging Platforms for Teachers and Students</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">4- How to set up a blo</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">5-Things to Pay Heed to when Setting up a Classroom  Blog</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">6- Blogging Tips for Teachers</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">7- Advantages of Blogging in Education</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">8- Ways Teachers Can Use Blogs in their Classrooms</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">9- Examples of Successful Student, Class, and Teacher Blogs</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In face this great infographic below comes from another <a href="http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/teachers-quick-guide-to-blogging.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook" target="_blank">post</a> on the same blog. </span><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://docs.google.com/drawings/pub?id=1fPcZOzqhI4CCptE4xC3Bmk780hawxq6Qjqkc9HFO9W8&w=960&h=400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/teachers-quick-guide-to-blogging.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook" target="_blank">Educational Technology and Mobile Learning</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"> blog</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Edublogs Awards</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edublogs has done a major job in promoting blogging among teachers. Every year they hold the Edublogs Awards which has various interesting categories. A good place to start with any research on blogs is to look at those who were the winners in the <a href="http://edublogawards.com/2012/12/13/and-the-2012-edublog-award-winners-are/" target="_blank">Edublogs Awards for 2012. </a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If one had to list the benefits of blogging I'm sure the list would get into the 100s and more! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is your view on blogging? Have you tried it? You won't regret it. </span><br /><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div>

Blogging Have you started with a blog yet? It's definitely worth it!

Submitted by Fiona Beal This morning as I was researching on the Internet the thought struck me that a huge amount of my professional growth...

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Kobe gets record 15th straight All-Star start

From: <a href="http://www.nba.com/">http://www.nba.com</a><br /><br /><div class="nbaStoryByLine" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: -10px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="nbaStoryByLine" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: -10px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted Jan 17, 2013 8:20 PM</div><div class="nbaStoryText" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">New York (AP) -- </strong>Kobe Bryant has been voted to his NBA-record 15th consecutive All-Star start, leading four Los Angeles players into next month's game.</div><div class="IEContainerRinline" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="IErow" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="266" scrolling="no" src="http://www.nba.com/video/cvp/leaguearticleplayer.html?videoID=/video/channels/allstar/2013/01/18/20130117-allstar-west-starters.nba&width=384&height=216&context=nba&env=nba" style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="384"></iframe></div></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lakers teammate Dwight Howard and the Clippers' Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will join Bryant in the Western Conference lineup for the<a href="http://www.nba.com/allstar/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Feb. 17 game in Houston</a>. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, the MVP of last year's game, rounds out the five.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kevin Garnett held off Chris Bosh in fan balloting, giving the East two Boston Celtics and two Miami Heat players. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will represent the defending champions and receive passes from Rajon Rondo. New York's Carmelo Anthony is the other starter.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryant finished with 1,591,437 votes, edging James by about 7,800 to finish as the leading vote-getter and break a tie with Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West and Karl Malone for the most consecutive starting nods.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The NBA's leading scorer is a four-time MVP of the All-Star game and last year became its career scoring leader.</div><div class="IEContainerRinline" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="IErow" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="266" scrolling="no" src="http://www.nba.com/video/cvp/leaguearticleplayer.html?videoID=/video/channels/allstar/2013/01/18/20130117-allstar-east.nba&width=384&height=216&context=nba&env=nba" style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="384"></iframe></div></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Garnett beat Bosh, who took to Twitter to stump for votes in the final days of balloting, by about 25,000 votes. He tied Bryant and O'Neal for second all-time with his 15th selection behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was elected to 19 games.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It's the second straight year that Los Angeles teams will make up four players. Last year it was Bryant, Paul, Griffin and Andrew Bynum, who was dealt to Philadelphia in part of the deal that sent Howard from Orlando to Los Angeles.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The ballot changed this year, eliminating the center position. Fans were required to vote for three frontcourt players and two guards.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">They picked an interesting mix in the East. Anthony and Garnett exchanged words during a game on Jan. 7 and Anthony was suspended a game by the NBA when he tried to confront Garnett afterward in the tunnel area and by the team bus.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rondo was injured in the playoffs two years ago after getting tangled up with Wade and landing awkwardly on his arm, part of what's become a tense rivalry between the Celtics and Heat.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.4; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reserves will be announced next Thursday. Coaches will vote for seven players in their conferences: two guards, three frontcourt players and two players regardless of position, and can't vote for a player on their own team.</div></div>

NBA news SPORT Kobe gets record 15th straight All-Star start

From:  http://www.nba.com Posted Jan 17, 2013 8:20 PM New York (AP) --  Kobe Bryant has been voted to his NBA-record 15th consecutive All-St...

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Kopali Chocolates Review and Giveaway!

<div style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner is....</span></u></b><br /><b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b><b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beth Johnson Titus!!!</span></u></b><br /><b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b><b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kopali Chocolates </span></u></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ5nzBoRJ8ssrNalgeoWDsgFmHPh5F1iHalfpQDR8yvnsVjZ1k1E43diwEmnBHOoArM0A0opPETmq7DY-NndJ4-g8a3Q4I8aS7L51FrF_EcqYkw1Zwa1B1MiH13vQYloF5BG6kt2tkk8/s1600/Kopali-Painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ5nzBoRJ8ssrNalgeoWDsgFmHPh5F1iHalfpQDR8yvnsVjZ1k1E43diwEmnBHOoArM0A0opPETmq7DY-NndJ4-g8a3Q4I8aS7L51FrF_EcqYkw1Zwa1B1MiH13vQYloF5BG6kt2tkk8/s320/Kopali-Painting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I love about <a href="http://kopali.net/">Kopali Organics</a> is that their foods are organic and healthier for us from fruits to chocolates.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They also support farmers from around the globe.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They use the finest cacao all the way from Peru, can you believe it!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No wonder why they are so good! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To sweeten the chocolate they use panela which is a form of cane juice.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are sold in resealable bags to keep the chocolates fresh.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am a huge fan of chocolates, so when I received these to review I was so excited! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I couldn't wait to try them and see how delicious they were like everyone has been saying.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhccSac-VWupFZ48VsyilWv29RKwVYnspkhROiQ_bv0_G5V4AqlMnyVdlet-FWEUY3YUNzXJ3zCYK6msuTd_Q0BdKnsPgE4K_F6fqo_ZmZqE8NtePURAttN-wVvlLeFdV2x9zmroEi7Q/s1600/Kopali+goodies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhccSac-VWupFZ48VsyilWv29RKwVYnspkhROiQ_bv0_G5V4AqlMnyVdlet-FWEUY3YUNzXJ3zCYK6msuTd_Q0BdKnsPgE4K_F6fqo_ZmZqE8NtePURAttN-wVvlLeFdV2x9zmroEi7Q/s320/Kopali+goodies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In my box I received the cutest Kopali Tank top, Chocolate Covered Espresso beans, Chocolate Covered Bananas and Cacao nibs.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate Covered Banana Bits: </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've heard of chocolate dipped bananas before but not chocolate covered, so to try them I was skeptical at first.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since I do love chocolate and fruit together I figured what the heck I'll give it a try.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am so glad I tried them!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The chocolate is creamy, smooth and delicious.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The banana middle of the chocolates is like a caramel how it melts in your mouth.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can use them in a banana bread, in a trail mix or on top of your favorite ice cream!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Think of a hot fudge sundae with bananas on it and you've got yourself a chocolate covered banana!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What better way to eat chocolate than with coffee right?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are outrageously good!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A robust coffee flavor and the smoothness of the chocolate are amazing together!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cacao Nibs: </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These little bits of chocolates are so good!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their not too sweet and you can add them to your favorite yogurt for a little </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">added crunch and sweetness to your snack!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know, I got your mouth watering from chocolate goodness, Go ahead order some!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You will be amazed at how great they are!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Giveaway!! </u></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.What's your sweet indulgence? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Want an extra entry? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Follow my blog.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3.Then also follow me via Twitter, here. https://twitter.com/kelli_bliss </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. then tweet about the giveaway and make sure you use #Kopalichocolates</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. leave me a link here to your tweet.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One Winner will win an assortment of 6 bags of chocolates and kopali tank top!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Go here to their website.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://kopali.net/">http://kopali.net/</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">or check them out here.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KopaliOrganics">https://www.facebook.com/KopaliOrganics</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">or here.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/kopaliorganics"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://twitter.com/kopaliorganics</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>

Kopali Chocolates Review and Giveaway!

The winner is.... Beth Johnson Titus!!! Kopali Chocolates  What I love about  Kopali Organics  is that their foods are organic and healthier...

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Facebook is Pushy

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />Hola y’all! So my rage has finally settled down and I really couldn’t come up with anything to rant about today. Well, I could have written about Lance Armstrong being the worst person in the world, but that’s pretty played out. Or could have written about how Manti Te’o and I both have imaginary hot Asian girlfriends. Or maybe about how some people will tell me that the fake dead girlfriend was “Polynesian” and that’s not really Asian and blah blah blah, but that’s a lost cause discussion there.<br /><br />So, I’ve turned my attention to Facebook and their new prompts. Have you see these? Facebook is now asking us “How are you feeling, Jason?” or “What’s going on, Jason?” and other stuff like that. It turns out they have rolled out some new prompts and they’re a little …. odd:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-toRNzKKN_HHyBFAvPkRcDVd-oZFQ_iPyBX_zU7rtxDJtZuQXlJNFFR0gL9sUOwI3GjR_RAh_dx9F1ENi2ealmua9iFrAKYk-KuxAgRDJUOfybf_7zorKMTv1aatV6kbm3uiVM0qtB_8/s1600/que+pasa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-toRNzKKN_HHyBFAvPkRcDVd-oZFQ_iPyBX_zU7rtxDJtZuQXlJNFFR0gL9sUOwI3GjR_RAh_dx9F1ENi2ealmua9iFrAKYk-KuxAgRDJUOfybf_7zorKMTv1aatV6kbm3uiVM0qtB_8/s320/que+pasa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EDwdJnnApDyowsaLUJ_s5vuudVxDD8-N3XWgZgJgTewve4AP0S24s_mdWndGgv5W-wNavIvov0khtVYuPymsMwHWKeWNvganWiiKcMTrRn629AiAELRPbCE2udVwIHbPuc8g7hOhUow/s1600/wearing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EDwdJnnApDyowsaLUJ_s5vuudVxDD8-N3XWgZgJgTewve4AP0S24s_mdWndGgv5W-wNavIvov0khtVYuPymsMwHWKeWNvganWiiKcMTrRn629AiAELRPbCE2udVwIHbPuc8g7hOhUow/s320/wearing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrhqRwVI2SVexgpoxWwibQjFukblxCx9wyJvsUTNFI-QYlyggo4Daub-rsJJwhoW4yRvWYOg5DmAxMb86dXi6_H760UmoygviFfnmuloIJabe5AV8wIB77wRxpTdsPy2ovYD-MOoMkjg/s1600/let+dogs+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrhqRwVI2SVexgpoxWwibQjFukblxCx9wyJvsUTNFI-QYlyggo4Daub-rsJJwhoW4yRvWYOg5DmAxMb86dXi6_H760UmoygviFfnmuloIJabe5AV8wIB77wRxpTdsPy2ovYD-MOoMkjg/s320/let+dogs+out.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXeQs9VudTBNuRX3_C2ecDTZkB7XEFMRKMYAUUOwEqrQf3oGR7EcT-PSW-Eqvhj9GFq6iIc4ZPRDxz9R65Jd6Fi1rY5Jcvhb-St-dDCGEN_s25epZd2I_ZT9Oh-IKpBviSodElvRcsAUs/s1600/white+women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXeQs9VudTBNuRX3_C2ecDTZkB7XEFMRKMYAUUOwEqrQf3oGR7EcT-PSW-Eqvhj9GFq6iIc4ZPRDxz9R65Jd6Fi1rY5Jcvhb-St-dDCGEN_s25epZd2I_ZT9Oh-IKpBviSodElvRcsAUs/s320/white+women.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXX5kc5pTRpzRFLusueexNlNnUXcTOgVkpF-fe1PjjlS3Pn6XPtZg-01dW3OEuZcO62-ebps68allX1A41vWLooXmZN6RgUPT6_wpKHlphyphenhyphenK6wXTqK6W-c4v3PabYeOf2FUnpoXjp0ob0/s1600/Knight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXX5kc5pTRpzRFLusueexNlNnUXcTOgVkpF-fe1PjjlS3Pn6XPtZg-01dW3OEuZcO62-ebps68allX1A41vWLooXmZN6RgUPT6_wpKHlphyphenhyphenK6wXTqK6W-c4v3PabYeOf2FUnpoXjp0ob0/s320/Knight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHieizNslT-iwD4b7xmA6clV5V5qiCgVNSWgRVObG7HSe4EtmM9sfTO6ys9SxeyATt6rAi_a1trAhSHJ0mAtxyx3n6NJrCpxC__f5jKBsMFqBYxZvpC-b5YVt-HBwEt9Vk6XKuTtzugFU/s1600/you+drunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHieizNslT-iwD4b7xmA6clV5V5qiCgVNSWgRVObG7HSe4EtmM9sfTO6ys9SxeyATt6rAi_a1trAhSHJ0mAtxyx3n6NJrCpxC__f5jKBsMFqBYxZvpC-b5YVt-HBwEt9Vk6XKuTtzugFU/s320/you+drunk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUDPz9XUd9QkyD9jHXTh1RqQokke7t61iIWz682VW8ebByKE6y9nNcTX7-OS1cRtCHhuOiliHol6Q0fqicPLNw5lUEd8FGh3D9yYlTpQcdi1evezxXGiOBlwFWMGu7aS7_fRMZiuZRQs/s1600/are+we+good.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUDPz9XUd9QkyD9jHXTh1RqQokke7t61iIWz682VW8ebByKE6y9nNcTX7-OS1cRtCHhuOiliHol6Q0fqicPLNw5lUEd8FGh3D9yYlTpQcdi1evezxXGiOBlwFWMGu7aS7_fRMZiuZRQs/s320/are+we+good.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6bQzxfO1qmcckpqIG8B95OqJQGhTf8hjeKLk6Qu7sjuZQsUXvU92qKqyoETMXKgvbJrn9zMfd_oVn5BLd9RmWAmZSGHiATgGU-oBZ7IfIwQH7EQOXfV8GMYza1kcT2Z1a5VJQHSO0VlA/s1600/using+twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6bQzxfO1qmcckpqIG8B95OqJQGhTf8hjeKLk6Qu7sjuZQsUXvU92qKqyoETMXKgvbJrn9zMfd_oVn5BLd9RmWAmZSGHiATgGU-oBZ7IfIwQH7EQOXfV8GMYza1kcT2Z1a5VJQHSO0VlA/s320/using+twitter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotDg5sHvvM_K3dzhrK0jDmX9qRrRObA4X2yyJRWYMfVtx3aTdz2mJTf9rLqjzi7BL4rxd8Z0rdQUzimLA1E-njNgbdZtO_IuF-vhV-dLQrTXw5RFT2FjGWm64LwIYJVthLf9-rD7rBkI/s1600/love+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgotDg5sHvvM_K3dzhrK0jDmX9qRrRObA4X2yyJRWYMfVtx3aTdz2mJTf9rLqjzi7BL4rxd8Z0rdQUzimLA1E-njNgbdZtO_IuF-vhV-dLQrTXw5RFT2FjGWm64LwIYJVthLf9-rD7rBkI/s320/love+me.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfzmrw_PEtMJ0p5Kvq0W4j0VY9hafxnlcHOND4kOIIgCTDS5TNccTFZEJcKaSqmxypizk9kagu0tklAPN-CyyVgbAZ84Fg45k1fxYgvJlN5KwUS67BNSUa7CIcsqL6PrNHWO2F7HQz3yI/s1600/IGNORED.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfzmrw_PEtMJ0p5Kvq0W4j0VY9hafxnlcHOND4kOIIgCTDS5TNccTFZEJcKaSqmxypizk9kagu0tklAPN-CyyVgbAZ84Fg45k1fxYgvJlN5KwUS67BNSUa7CIcsqL6PrNHWO2F7HQz3yI/s320/IGNORED.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />And, I really feel like this is going a bit too far and more than a little too personal.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxSPgimPqch2gMG8qhAl_nmp2-RvuzGHn_GgsjToFA5p1UA26qkMLnMQg6s2zx7peHqj1YCipWHE_0TtlYOzMeBu13KpLvSOumTjfMdGxNRdq_pTsrYmwH3sBxAi1_iTPav3xMbnVPgc/s1600/wang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxSPgimPqch2gMG8qhAl_nmp2-RvuzGHn_GgsjToFA5p1UA26qkMLnMQg6s2zx7peHqj1YCipWHE_0TtlYOzMeBu13KpLvSOumTjfMdGxNRdq_pTsrYmwH3sBxAi1_iTPav3xMbnVPgc/s320/wang.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Damn. I guess Facebook is getting a little clingy and desperate.<br /><br />Jayman<br /><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a><br /><br /></div>

Facebook is Pushy

Hola y’all! So my rage has finally settled down and I really couldn’t come up with anything to rant about today. Well, I could have written ...

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Palmolive Fresh Infusions Lime Basil

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny5IuiUpNWF5Udacs7iHqP_Ml3ogtm5eAY36Gg5gv2rF1Cw8kvudInnEm-C9NLcR-ryamS1upOpgDBGIZ90kJMW8JM6fx7FEqn7e73k_twO5-MfGcofp5DlXh9SIkOs0Mq-B6GqCuItU/s1600/Palmolive+Infusions+Influenster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny5IuiUpNWF5Udacs7iHqP_Ml3ogtm5eAY36Gg5gv2rF1Cw8kvudInnEm-C9NLcR-ryamS1upOpgDBGIZ90kJMW8JM6fx7FEqn7e73k_twO5-MfGcofp5DlXh9SIkOs0Mq-B6GqCuItU/s320/Palmolive+Infusions+Influenster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I received these wonderful dish washing soaps courtesy of Influenster for testing and reviewing purposes. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't you just hate when you notice the caked on food on your pots and pans that just won't come off?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I used Lime Basil Palmolive Fresh Infusions from Influenster the other night and noticed that when I went to wash the dishes after letting them soak a bit that there was absolutely nothing on the pans. I didn't even have to scrape anything off!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qEu2Red0iAwyAiJpSU6cC-_lRdhn4ua9tA3qWYccHytv61uF1BHSzuQxfX-Ft232XaECBTESGnrzEKfLPkEOWld27m66gLijRi9UaFW5Z8l8lzm4-LpZX0mOKCERdn_RD-1Q0uq8J7Q/s1600/lime+basil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qEu2Red0iAwyAiJpSU6cC-_lRdhn4ua9tA3qWYccHytv61uF1BHSzuQxfX-Ft232XaECBTESGnrzEKfLPkEOWld27m66gLijRi9UaFW5Z8l8lzm4-LpZX0mOKCERdn_RD-1Q0uq8J7Q/s320/lime+basil.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It not only got the dishes clean it smelled great too!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am in love with this scent and it's my favorite, because it smells amazing, and cleans the dishes.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2tdKCzv77BAKgw0xKwxirZ8rHFw98MwdWWEpT24zl-0WS4MEmtB3YJ-crnFH6oplAGLkyGp5dSXVX1jdYdyy_nH4bVZOKxzwoBgsav8fMj3J_uDdkzBU8Y5Nd-HQmewihSsiw23dXtA/s1600/lemon+thyme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW2tdKCzv77BAKgw0xKwxirZ8rHFw98MwdWWEpT24zl-0WS4MEmtB3YJ-crnFH6oplAGLkyGp5dSXVX1jdYdyy_nH4bVZOKxzwoBgsav8fMj3J_uDdkzBU8Y5Nd-HQmewihSsiw23dXtA/s320/lemon+thyme.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The scent I shared with my mom was the lemon thyme she thought it smelled great! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Want to try them out?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can find them at your local Wal-Mart!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Palmolive page- </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://bit.ly/VMwX1V">http://bit.ly/VMwX1V</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Review page for Fresh Infusions-</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://bit.ly/101WrXn">http://bit.ly/101WrXn</a></span></div>

Palmolive Fresh Infusions Lime Basil

I received these wonderful dish washing soaps courtesy of Influenster for testing and reviewing purposes.  Don't you just hate when you ...

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Notre Dame: Football Star Manti Te'o Was 'Catfished' in Girlfriend Hoax

<iframe height="221" id="kaltura_player_1358461265" src="http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/1_6suuszl8/uiconf_id/3775332/st_cache/12533?referer=http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax-dead-spin-author-discusses-18236549&autoPlay=false&addThis.playerSize=392x221&freeWheel.siteSectionId=nws_offsite&closedCaptionActive=true&" style="border: 0px solid #ffffff;" width="392">Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.</iframe> <div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px;">Manti Te'o Hoax: Notre Dame Star Allegedly Scammed</span><br /><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span><br /><div class="byline_date" style="float: left; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 490px;"><div class="byline_date_inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 485px;"><div class="byline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">From: http://abcnews.go.com</div><div class="byline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/author/colleen_curry" rel="author" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;">COLLEEN CURRY</a>, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/author/michael_s_james" rel="author" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;">MICHAEL S. JAMES</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/bymsj" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">@bymsj</a>) and <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/author/dan_harris" rel="author" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;">DAN HARRIS</a> (<a href="http://twitter.com/danbharris" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">@danbharris</a>)</div><div class="date" style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px;">Jan. 16, 2013</div></div></div><br /><div id="sponsoredByAd" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; left: 430px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: right; top: 405px;"><span id="sponsoredbylogo1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span id="_fw_container_sponsoredbylogo1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Notre Dame's athletic director and the star of its near-championship football team said the widely-reported death of the star's girlfriend from leukemia during the 2012 football season was apparently a hoax, and the player said he was duped by it as well.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Manti Te'o, who led the Fighting Irish to the BCS championship game this year and finished second for the Heisman Trophy, said in a statement today that he fell in love with a girl online last year who turned out not to be real.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">The university's athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, said it has been investigating the "cruel hoax" since Te'o approached officials in late December to say he believed he had been tricked.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Private investigators hired by the university subsequently monitored online chatter by the alleged perpetrators, Swarbrick said, adding that he was shocked by the "casual cruelty" it revealed.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"They enjoyed the joke," Swarbrick said, comparing the ruse to the popular film "Catfish," in which filmmakers revealed a person at the other end of an online relationship was not who they said they were.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"While we still don't know all of the dimensions of this ... there are certain things that I feel confident we do know," Swarbrick said. "The first is that this was a very elaborate, very sophisticated hoax, perpetrated for reasons we don't understand."</div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_image_feature" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Image]&lid=view[Image]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;"><img alt="PHOTO: Manti Te'o of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up prior to playing against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game, Jan. 7, 2013 in Miami Gardens, Fla." border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/gty_manti_teo_girlfriend_hoax_nt_130116_wg.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5px; padding: 0px;" title="" width="199" /><span class="image_icon" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/icons/image_icon_35x35.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 73px; width: 35px;"></span></a></div><div class="rel_headline" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="photo_credit" style="color: #aaaaaa; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images</div><div class="photo_caption" style="margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="rel_container g_4" id="rel_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 20px 50px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 200px;"><div class="rel_content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="rel_thumb" style="line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="lpos=widget[Left_Rail_Video_1]&lid=view[Video]" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/WNT/abc_wn_harris_130116_wl.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="200" /></a></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"While my grandma passed away and you take, you know, the love of my life [Kekua]. The last thing she said to me was, 'I love you,'" Te'o said at the time, noting that he had talked to Kekua on the phone and by text message until her death.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Now, responding to a story first reported by the sports website Deadspin, Te'o has acknowledged that Kekua never existed. The <a href="http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax" style="color: #336699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial;" target="external">website</a> reported today that there were no records of a woman named Lennay Kekua anywhere.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Te'o denied that he was in on the hoax.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online," Te'o said in a statement released this afternoon. "We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Swarbrick said he expected Te'o to give his version of events at a public event soon, perhaps Thursday, and that he believed Te'o's representatives were planning to disclose the truth next week until today's story broke.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Deadspin reported that the image attached to Kekua's social media profiles, through which the pair interacted, was of another woman who has said she did not even know Te'o or know that her picture was being used. The website reported that it traced the profiles to a California man who is an acquaintance of Te'o and of the woman whose photo was stolen.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating," Te'o said. According to Notre Dame, Te'o and his family came forward to the university with concerns that Te'o had been the victim of a hoax in December 2012."On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te'o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name, Lennay Kekua, apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia," the university said in a statement released today.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"The university immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax," it said. "While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Though the university's statement may have implied that it referred the matter to outside authorities, Swarbrick later said that the university had only hired a private investigator and not notified the NCAA or law enforcement.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"There's no factual predicate for an NCAA violation that we could find," he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"And no, we did not refer this to criminal authorities," he added. "We believe it's the victim's decision to make."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">Te'o is currently preparing for the NFL draft, according to his statement.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"There's a lot of tragedy here, there's a lot of sorrow here," Swarbrick said.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 150px;">"But the thing I am most sad of is--" he added, pausing to apologize and wipe away tears, is "that the single most trusting human being I have ever met will never be able to trust in the same way ever again."</div></div>

Manti Te'o Notre Dame: Football Star Manti Te'o Was 'Catfished' in Girlfriend Hoax

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. Manti Te'o Hoax: Notre Dame Star Allegedly Scammed From: http://abcnews.go.com By ...

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