Looking at the website Lifeasmom.com, it’s clear that the site is focused on tips, ideas and stories targeted at women. The blog site is called Lifeasmom.com so I would assume that the women they are targeting are mothers. It’s also clear that they are targeting mothers of all ages as the ideas and stories can apply to women of every age.

This is the homepage of Lifeasmom.com taken from Lifeasmom.com

The layout catches the eye and the use of contrasting colors is a great idea. The bright yellow works to make the words and overall layout pop, while the dull blue offsets it nicely. It gives the user a sense of calm and happiness at the same time. Color is very important. As far as the overall layout is concerned, I thought it was very well done. The posts on the left hand side flow nicely and aren’t at all cluttered. The right side has information about connecting with them on Facebook, Twitter, etc. However, this is where the few negatives pop up.  There are a few ads scattered here, and they clutter things up a bit. The content also runs out about halfway down the page leaving a lot of empty unused space.

The content is interesting and covers a lot ground. Just by looking at the first few blog posts, I could tell that the stories are varied and useful. There was a very neat story on different uses of fall produce, which I’m sure mothers will love. The other story featured is about living in California. It was an interesting article that read well and had a very specific tone that was pretty obviously directed towards moms.

1. I would have would be a post expanding on the living in California story. I might even suggest a fifty-part piece on why living in each state is ideal for different people.

2. I would give tips on how to deal with kids as they go through different age groups. I know it’s difficult when you’re a parent to have your loving child all of a sudden turn into a rebellious teen so maybe a few how to deal posts would be good.

3. I know crafts and hobbies are really exploding on sites like Pinterest right now so something along those lines would be good to have as a regular post. A craft a day, or a craft a week, something simple would be cool.

Well I would say Pinterest is sort of a competitor as it targets women and mothers especially. They have a lot more variety and users so that is something Lifeasmom might work on. Another site is essentialbaby.com. This site focuses more on mothers who have newborns. I really like the tabs and less cluttered space on this site, which is something Lifeasmom could learn from. Last is motherhood.com. This site seems to focus more on shopping needs, but its something that Lifeasmom could look into adding. I think it would grow the site.

Benson Hall and “The Element” Progress Update

Webhawk News

By Ben Holzhueter

2:01

Benson Hall and “The Element” have had several updates recently, construction wise.

Benson Hall and ‘The Element’ Construction

Liberal Education and America’s Promise is putting on a showcase at UW-Whitewater today to celebrate leap day.

Director of Academic Assessment Greg Cook is coordinating the event.

“Today is mainly a showcase for the LEAP work that’s been happening on our campus over the past couple of years,” Cook said. “We’ve had just a lot of terrific work with LEAP all around campus.”

Cook said that LEAP has been around since 2005 and it was designed to improve learning and teaching at the school.

“We’ve been trying to use LEAP pretty thoroughly around campus with all of our departments, not only in academic affairs but in student affairs,” Cook said. “All of this is for the benefit of student learning. That’s the point.”

According to Cook, there will be 51 posters on display showcasing how LEAP has been implemented around campus as well as 9 sessions explaining different parts of it.

There are also several representatives from other campuses giving demonstrations about how LEAP has affected their universities, and one of them is from the University of Wisconsin Colleges.

The University of Wisconsin Colleges is made up of all the two-year universities in the state and Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Lisa Seale said she was excited to be here giving a presentation.

“We’ll be going over liberal arts assessment in the university colleges and how it ties in with LEAP,” Seale said. “I’m always thinking about students and how I can help them and LEAP is one of those ways.”

UW-Whitewater Advisor Christine Kutz will be assisting in the presentation, and she had a distinct way of describing LEAP and its benefits.

“LEAP is the pill and it’s a really good pill and the students are the dogs,” Kutz said. “If you put that pill in a marsh mellow or a hot dog, and feed it to the dog, they’re never going to know that they’ve been given those skills. It’s basically giving them something beneficial without them even knowing.”

The main event for LEAP today is the national webinar they will be co-hosting at 2:30 p.m.

It will broadcast to 77 other schools across the nation, and Cook said he thinks it will be a great way to share UW-Whitewater’s work with LEAP throughout the country.

“They’ll be a panel of employers talking about what employers want to see in college graduates,” Cook said. “They’ll discuss what kind of knowledge and skill areas are most important today and going into the future so that our students are better prepared for the changing world.”

The LEAP event kicked off at 9:30 a.m. and will run until 4:30 p.m. in various rooms at the University Center.

Commuters to UW-Whitewater have it tough these days. Briana Ruesch knows just how difficult the life is.

“I’ve been commuting for the past three years now, and it’s gotten more difficult to continue to commute each year,” Ruesch said. “Gas prices never seem to drop and trying to find a parking spot is awful.”

Although it might make more sense to get an apartment or a dorm on campus, she chooses to commute for several reasons. The main one is her fear of another horrible roommate.

“I attended UW-Eau Claire for their first year in college and my roommate was just odd,” Ruesch said. “She never did anything, and always stayed in the room. It was so weird having friends over because she never wanted to interact, and it was just awkward. I couldn’t make any connection with her.”

Ruesch transferred to Madison Area Technical College for a year before again transferring to UW-Whitewater. It was at M.A.T.C. that she lost her interest in her original major.

“I wanted to be a nurse, but I took chemistry and got a D,” said Ruesch. “It was so embarrassing and so difficult that I knew I needed a change. I love working with kids, and after I took my first psychology class at M.A.T.C., I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”

Ruesch said she’s enjoyed the switch to a major in communication sciences and disorders a lot more than nursing. She said it’s “exactly what I was meant to do.”

Along with attending UW-Whitewater, Ruesch also works full time. She has been at the same job since she turned 16.

“When I first started at Piggly Wiggly, I remember I was so scared of everyone there,” Ruesch said. No one ever wanted to talk to me, and the people in-charge weren’t very friendly. Now as one of the head people, I am always helping the new workers out and just make myself open to anyone who wants to come and talk.”

Ruesch said she has always had a fondness of driving and will continue to commute until she graduates. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any issues with it.

“I remember when I was 16, gas was only like $1.87 a gallon,” Ruesch said. “Now it’s always almost $4. It’s only been six years, and the price has doubled. I don’t even want to imagine what’s it’s going to be like in another six years. It’s just ridiculous.”

To make sure she doesn’t run out of money, Ruesch has had to cut back on several hobbies. She said number one on the list was shopping.

“It was really hard at first,” Ruesch said. “I wanted to go shopping and I was broke! It really sucked, but I’ve learned how to manage my money better. Commuting and budgeting are the two things I seem to do most these days.”

Hello this is my first post for this blog, and i really don’t know what to talk about. I woke up really early and am pretty tired, but other than that i guess you can check out my two new articles on the Royal Purple website royalpurplenews. The other one isn’t up yet but check this one out!