More changes made to the website:

• Header Image: The header image now rotates between 14 different pictures which have either been taken by me or by my family members (my Mother and cousin, to be specific). They range from the beach to the woods – and there’s even an “Easter Egg” in there (it’s a non-New Jersey picture). Extra points if you can figure out what the picture is of, specifically.
• Streamlining: I’ve streamlined some of the key portions of each entry. For example, the comments and categories links are now located underneath the title of the post on both the front page and the individual post pages. Plus, I’ve reduced the amount of advertisements on both the front page and individual pages. Finally, some of the additional links and clickable images on the sidebars have been removed.
• Widen: The basic structure of the blog has been widened by 24 pixels. Yes, you can admit that you wouldn’t have figured that out if I didn’t say it!
• Reorganization: Some of the items posted on the sidebars have been reorganized. I’ve dissolved the “My Friends” link category on the left sidebar and moved around the “Random Quotes” widget to the top of the right sidebar. I’m probably still going to move some things around and delete some excess on the sidebars in the coming days.
• Other Changes: With all of these changes, I obviously have had to make a bunch of back round changes to the “bones” of the blog. I did some other minor changes like reorganizing how the “Contribute to JerseySmarts.com” blurb looks at the end of each post (see below) and changed the text that used to say “Read the rest of this entry” to now read “Finish reading this entry.” That may change yet again, though. Also, I lightened the background color on the left sidebar and darkened the background color of the right sidebar. I’m sure you picked up on that, though (*sarcasm*).

There will likely be even more changes coming, so stay tuned!

Also, you’ll notice that the sharing buttons at the bottom of each post are now gone and have been replaced on the individual entry pages with a bar above each post allowing you the option to share the page to a variety of sites, print the page, subscribe to our RSS feed, or share the specific page with your Facebook friends. I think that some people will find this feature very useful. Anyway, I’m always interested in more of your ideas and comments about how to make the blog better, so please let me know if you have any thoughts!

Aside from the television and an extended warranty plan I also picked up the items needed to mount the TV to the wall, a new DS game (which is interesting because I really don’t have time to play the thing these days), a bunch of new books from Barnes & Noble (thanks to a gift card from my older brother), a new luxury sheet set, new pillows for my bed, a new carry-on piece of luggage and travel kit, and some minor pieces of clothing. For what it’s worth, all of my cost cutting and budgeting over the last few years allowed me to purchase these items with no concern about long-term financial burden.

So…over the past few days I’ve done my part to help kick the economy in the ass!

In the mean time, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!