Tag Archives: oil

Real Oilfield Wives and more new blogs!

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It’s been awhile since I’ve given you my recommendations for new blogs to check out here on Areavoices. But three new blogs have crossed my path and I felt compelled to share them.

The first is called Real Oilfield Wives. This blog is just getting started but it’s based on an already popular website, Realoilfieldwives.com. It’s written by two women whose husbands work in the oil and gas industry. Melissa and Christy know the life of an oilfield wife isn’t always easy.

They describe in the about section of their site:

“We all know how lonely this life can be… long nights, days on end with no adult conversation, holding down the fort on our own for weeks at a time. Even though sometimes it’s nice to have all that ‘free time’, getting back into a groove together after so long isn’t always fun! Really, it kind of sucks.

So, welcome to ROW. We whipped up this site as a supportive community where women can find advice, friends, support, and maybe a good online sale tip every now and then!”

We’re thrilled that they’ll be sharing just some of their thoughts on our platform and with Forum Communication readers. Please welcome them!

 

The other two blogs that caught my eye are:

Inner Focus: Melissa Schaff calls her blog, “humorous and insightful messages based on my spiritual, emotional and energetic journey.” She’s a great writer and her blog is attracting a lot of fans already.

Also, be sure to check out our newest faith blog. Unitarian Universalist Church of Fargo Moorhead.

 

Look where I found some quirky and fun cakes – Areavoices Digest #86

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What is this a picture of? It’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, right? Wrong. Look again.
It’s actually a peanut butter and jelly sandwich CAKE. How absolutely cute is this? I stumbled across this on Facebook and I proceeded to put in on my Pinterest board (where, let’s be honest, good recipes go to gather dust. As much as I love them, I seldom commit to making them. But I think I have to try this one!)

I noticed that the recipe came from Shannon over at North Dakota Kitchen.  Check out the recipe: http://www.northdakotakitchen.net/2012/08/peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich-cake.html

I started thinking how great it would be to share Shannon’s very clever recipes with Areavoices and readers of Forum Communications papers.  Shannon agreed to start an Areavoices blog. Yay! I think you’ll love her fun recipes like Cookie Monster cupcakes or Cracked Egg Cupcakes (I’m doing those for Easter. What a hoot!) But she also has more mainstream recipes that look plain yummy.

We’re happy to have her North Dakota Vintage Kitchen on Areavoices. It’s the first of my recommended blogs of the week.

North Dakota Vintage Kitchen
Vintagenorthdakotakitchen.areavoices.com
A vintage collector’s love of home, family and food.

Fresh Mojo
freshmojo.areavoices.com
Kristina Pranke recently moved to Dickinson, North Dakota from the Twin Cities. Her blog
addresses what life is really like in Western North Dakota during the oil boom.

Prairie Fare
prairiefare.areavoices.com
Garden-to-table information to help you grow, store and prepare food at home from NDSU Extension specialist Julie Garden-Robinson

Courts Plus
courtsplus.areavoices.com
Committed to the wellness of the community we serve.

Oscar-Zero
oscarzero.areavoices.com
News about the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site.

Check out what these ten year olds are doing on Areavoices! – Areavoices Digest #84

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I just love this idea! Matt and Graham are two ten year olds who love baseball. This summer they’re setting out on a six day six game six city baseball tour with their dads and they’re taking Areavoices with them. They’ve set up a blog to journal their adventures. It’s something we’ve seen a couple of times this summer. Remember the Nasello’s. They’re blogging as they travel through the state of North Dakota this summer.

This is such a great way to preserve the memories of your trip. Not only can your friends and family see what you’re doing, it’s a good way for you to look back years from now. Easier, than trying to find the time to put photos in a scrapbook or album. (I’m pretty sure I still have photos from a 1978 trip to Medora in an old Red Owl grocery bag lying around somewhere.)

Anyway, have fun Matt and Graham!

Check out all of our recommended blogs this week!

Matt and Graham’s Baseball Tour
mattandgrahamsbaseballtour.areavoices.com
Matt & Graham, two 10-year-olds are going on 6 day 6 game in 6 city baseball tour with their dads.

The Bakken Mama
bakkenmama.areavoices.com
“Bakken Mama” grew up an Army brat, but now she finds herself in the midst of the Oil Boom of North Dakota with her husband and five children. These are her adventures.

Sharehouse
sharehouse.areavoices.com
“We provide compassionate and innovative chemical dependency treatment services for those in need.”

Rape and Abuse Crisis Center
raccfm.areavoices.com
Brand new to blogging, The Rape and Abuse Crisis Center is a non-profit agency which provides advocacy, counseling and education.

Travel Mode
modetravelagency.areavoices.com
My life as a travel agent.

More from the Oil Boom, Junkfest and a Little Something for Teachers – Areavoices Digest #83

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I’m really excited about this week’s list of recommended Areavoices blogs. I’m excited to welcome news from Black Gold Boom,  a multimedia project exploring the oil boom in western North Dakota. Stories air on Prairie Public and are produced by Todd Melby. This blog is a supplement to their existing website www.blackgoldboom.com and should provide a peek at life inside the boom.

 

Cassie, Missy and Lynette call themselves “girls who love junk” so they created Junkfest (the event and the blog). “Now held at the Foster County Fairgrounds in Carrington, ND, the annual Autumn Junk Fest has become a festive gathering of Trash Talkers and Treasure Seekers!  You’ll find tons of refurbished and repurposed treasures for your home and garden.  JunkFest also hosts the best and fastest growing Flea Market in these parts!” Sounds like fun!

Back in April of 2009,  a self-proclaimed, “crazy 8th grade Language Arts teacher from St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin” came up with an idea to create a place for teachers to share their professionalism and passion for teaching. We Teach We Learn is the result.

Here are all of this week’s list of blogs you might want to check out!

Black Gold Boom
blackgoldboom.areavoices.com
How Oil Changed North Dakota.

Life in the Patch
patchlife.areavoices.com
A Forum Communications blog documenting the good, the bad, the ugly and the pretty in oil-rich Western North Dakota.

We Teach We Learn
weteachwelearn.areavoices.com
A place for teachers (and others interested in education) to share their professionalism and passion for teaching and learning.

Family and Living
family.areavoices.com
Your source for family-centered content, for all stages of your life.

Junkfest
junkfest.areavoices.com
Restoring elegance to roadside finds.

Areavoices Digest #76 – Running, Minnesota Vikings, and Season-Ending TV

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I decided for this week’s list of recommended blogs, I’d go with the real HOT TOPICS. What’s making news? What’s the buzz? What are you talking about around the water cooler?

At my office, it’s been a lot of chatter about the upcoming Fargo Marathon, which attracts 20 thousand runners from around the nation. We’re also talking about the newly-passed Viking stadium. And TV talk is always big:  “Who’s going to win American Idol or Dancing with the Stars?”

That being said these Areavoices blogs hit on those topics. Check them out! And if you’re interested in writing your own blog, don’t forget to drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you: tracy.briggs@fccinteractive.com

Fargo Marathon
http://fargomarathon.areavoices.com
The official blog of the Fargo Marathon written by race director Mark Knutson. This year’s race is expected to attract 20,000 runners from all over the United States.

Addicted to Running
runningspud.areavoices.com
Running enthusiast Steve Wagner talks about training, nutrition and more.

On TV
http://ontv.areavoices.com
TV talk from a TV lover. On TV covers the buzz from primetime and beyond.

Life in the Patch
http://patchlife.areavoices.com
“Life in the Patch” is a Forum Communications blog documenting the good, the bad, the ugly and the pretty in oil-rich Western North Dakota.

Minnesota Sports Shorts
http://louiestgeorge.areavoices.com
An overview of Minnesota’s often vexing sports scene with Duluth News Tribune copy editor Louie St. George III.

Areavoices Digest #75 – What’s life really like in the Oil Patch?

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We’ve seen the news stories and read the reports from the oil boom in Western North Dakota.  They paint a vivid picture of both the good and bad that come with an economic boom and population explosion. But what is life really like there for the people who live there now and have lived there for generations We wanted to find out. Introducing: Life in the Patch, one of the newest Areavoices blogs. It’s a community blog that allows contributors to weigh in with their stories from boomtown and beyond. If you’d like to be a contributor to this blog, just email Shane Mercer at smercer@forumcomm.com. Or if you’d like to start your own blog just let me know.

There is so much to say out in Western North Dakota. Are you the one to share it? It’s easy and we’re all waiting!

In the meantime, check out all of our recommended blogs of the week.

Life in the Patch
http://patchlife.areavoices.com
“Life in the Patch” is a Forum Communications blog documenting the good, the bad, the ugly and the pretty in oil-rich Western North Dakota.

Reel Quickies
http;//reelquickie.areavoices.com
Laurel is a popular movie blogger who not only reviews the latest movies (The Avengers) but gets her
readers involved through interactive movie quizzes.

Reggie Tales
http://reggietales.areavoices.com
Have you ever wondered about life behind the camera in a TV newsroom? Chris Regimbal, WDAZ-TV News
Director, takes you there in his blog.

Minnesota – More to Explore
http://exploreminnesota.areavoices.com
A must-see blog for anyone visiting or living in Minnesota.

Ag at Large by Mikkel Pates
http://ag-at-large.areavoices.com
Mikkel Pates is a highly respected and longtime agricultural journalist.
His blog adds depth and details to the stories he writes for Ag Week and The Grand Forks Herald.

Areavoices Digest #70 – A song that might drive WDAY’s Weather Guys Crazy!

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Okay, technically “Fargo’s First Radio” isn’t turning 90 until May 22nd, but I’m a firm believer in celebrating milestones as long as possible.

But perhaps more than that, the station’s anniversary is worth mentioning today because of something the fine folks at ‘DAY just started doing. They’re helping us relive history. (I mentioned last week how the Duluth News Tribune is celebrating history in it’s Attic blog, now WDAY is following suit). The station has uncovered some classic old radio clips from the past century – with the voices of Ken Kennedy, Jack Dunn and more. (Trivia: Did you know WDAY radio personality Ken Kennedy discovered singing great Peggy Lee, the former Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, ND?) What’s even more fun is hearing the old game shows and commercials. Now you can hear these clips from the Golden era of radio on the WDAY Radio Blog.

I have to point out one clip in particular. It’s from a live weather report in 1946. What stands out to me is the weather jingle sung by Lynn Abbott. It is vintage. Really cheesy. But delightful. I’m sure the jingle stopped airing in the 1940′s or 50′s, but it never really went away. I remember a couple of years ago when I worked for WDAY, the studio production crew would pipe this old jingle into the studio as the meteorologists were prepping their forecast. While I think they all appreciated the walk down memory lane, I think it might have driven them a little nuts too. Now you can listen to that song on the WDAY radio blog.

The WDAY radio blog will be sharing these clips with us through the spring and even summer. Please feel free to leave your comments and memories in the comments section of their blog.

Now here is the WDAY radio blog along with the rest of the recommended blogs of the week:

WDAY Radio
http://wdayradio.areavoices.com
Fargo’s first radio celebrates its 90th birthday by uncovering some rare audio and video clips from radio’s golden era.

Marilyn Hagerty
http://marilynhagerty.areavoices.com
Grand Forks own media darling. The 85-year-old retired Herald columnist has captured the nation’s attention with her
restaurant reviews. What started with a review of The Olive Garden is now taking Marilyn around the world!

Oil Patch Dispatch
http://oilpatchdispatch.areavoices.com
Forum Communications reporter Amy Dalrymple brings us news from the oil boom in western North Dakota.

Chew the Fat
http://mpfitness.areavoices.com
A health and fitness blog designed with you in mind.

Real Money
http://realmoney.areavoices.com
Advice from The Village Financial Resource Center as we hit the heart of tax season.

Wanted: Bloggers for “The Patch Today”

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You might have seen the news today. Forum Communications is launching a new website.

According to the Forum Communications Company blog,

“Thepatchtoday.com, which can be found at the Internet address of the same name, will serve as a general news website to the geographic area in western North Dakota and Eastern Montana that is collectively known as “The Oil Patch,” or “The Patch” for short. The site also aims to keep the residents of that quickly growing section of the country informed about local and state news, features, sports and entertainment. And finally, the site will delve deeply into reporting regarding the burgeoning oil industry that is centered in the region, thanks to new technology that has made tapping into The Bakken Oil Formation possible, company executives said.”

Read the full blog post.

To make the site even more valuable to readers in The Patch and around the world, we want to invite members of the community to participate by writing an Areavoices blog that could appear on The Patch Today.

We’d love to hear from those working in the oil industry as well as people living in communities in western North Dakota and eastern Montana. Schools, clubs, organizations, businesses, and individuals can share their news by starting their own Areavoices blog. It is absolutely FREE and provides a great way to share news and information.

Areavoices blogs are featured in our 36 news websites across North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin and are part of a network which reaches about 2 million readers a month. Our readership is growing by leaps and bounds every day (even before Marilyn Hagerty Mania!).

Sometimes, Areavoices blog content is  published in some of our paper’s print editions. Something we call “Reverse publishing.”

If you’d like to learn more about Areavoices blogging, you can watch any of the videos from this blog. There are overviews, tutorials and testimonials. I also have a section of “Frequently Asked Questions” you might want to read. And of course, you can email me with your questions: tracy.briggs@fccinteractive.com.

We’d love to bring more Areavoices bloggers to The Patch!