Justine Pretorious

22Nov 2016 by jpretorious 6 Comments

Happy 1st Anniversary – A Year Of Blogging

Social Media, Tech, Top of Mind, Travel, Websites, Whole 30, WordPress

Happy 1st anniversary to my website!!! I was reminded today through Facebook memories that I had launched this website 1 year ago. Justine Pretorious - Live - Love - Laugh started out as a way for me to get into blogging about a variety of topics. I wanted to really show off my experiences with WordPress, social media, travel, food, and photography. (more…)

11Nov 2016 by jpretorious 23 Comments

Online Relationships – Are They Important?

Random, Social Media, Top of Mind, WordPress

I've always known that social media was a great way to connect to people I already knew. I didn't realize how great it was going to be to meet people I didn't know yet. As you know I moved to Portland about a year and half ago and that's when it really started to happen for me. I volunteered as the Social Media Manager for WordCamp Portland and I have met so many great people because of that one act. It was a stepping stone to really build online relationships through social media. Needless to say I have built friendships that I truly am thankful for. (more…)

05Nov 2016 by jpretorious 2 Comments

Going Rogue From Whole30

Food, Random, Top of Mind, Whole 30

So there's a quote my husband and I learned from the television show Scrubs "Too much ha ha. Pretty soon boo hoo." It's an excellent quote and applies to many situations. It certainly applies to me this past week going rogue from Whole30. My new healthy lifestyle is basically Whole30 meals and once in while I will eat something non compliant. Unfortunately I went rogue and ate several things that I haven't eaten in quite a long time and I paid the price! (more…)

25Oct 2016 by jpretorious 5 Comments

Living Whole30 After The 30 Day Challenge

Food, Random, Top of Mind, Whole 30

I finished my Whole30 challenge on March 30th! I had no idea at the time of my accomplishment how much this challenge had changed my life! I can honestly say that I am eating healthier than I ever have. I wished I had learned all of this so much earlier in life. Living Whole30 after you finish the challenge isn't as hard as you might think it would be. Now I am not saying I never eat anything that is bad for me. I am saying 90% of the time I am choosing to eat Whole30 compliant food. (more…)

18Oct 2016 by jpretorious No Comments

Carol Stephen & Her Take On TweetChats

Social Media, Tech, Top of Mind

About year ago now I was invited to my first tweetchat. I had no idea what one was or what it was going to be like. I am thankful for that invite from Bridget Willard because it's a FANTASTIC resource! I have learned so much from participating in a tweetchat. I have even co-hosted one by providing the topic and questions. It's a great way to build relationships and learn from one another. (more…)

11Oct 2016 by jpretorious 4 Comments

Why Should You Go To WordCamp

Events, Tech, Top of Mind, Websites, WordPress

It's WordCamp season! Fall brings cooler weather, the changing of the leaves, pumpkin spice everything, and WordCamps! I love WordCamp season and wished I had the money and the time to travel to all the WordCamps here in the US and abroad. What Is A WordCamp A WordCamp is a gathering of the WordPress community organized by local volunteers. They bring us together to meet each other in person, learn new ways to use WordPress, and even how to use it as part of your business. It brings all walks of life together usually over a weekend to listen to presenters, network, and sometimes even to contribute. (more…)

04Oct 2016 by jpretorious 2 Comments

Photo Walk: Fall In Portland

Photography, Places, Random, Top of Mind

So you may not know this about me but I love to take photos. I have been a shutter bug off and on through out my life. Fall has arrived in Portland and it is one my favorite times of the year up here. It has inspired me to get out and take photos. Today was not an ideal day to do it but I did it anyway. (more…)

01Oct 2016 by jpretorious 10 Comments

How Did I Get Here

Random, Social Media, Tech, Top of Mind, Uncategorized, Websites, WordPress

It's been a long winding road as an adult to make money and keep my artsy side alive. How did I get here? How It Began I found web development purely by accident. I was working at Sun Microsystems as an administrator. Managing schedules, creating presentations, event planning etc... when my manager challenged me to find something new to add to my skill sets. Luckily for me Sun had lot's of internal classes and at the time the internet had come into play. (more…)

22Sep 2016 by jpretorious 4 Comments

Social Media Can Be Much More

Social Media, Top of Mind, Uncategorized

In today's world most of us are on social media throughout the day sharing selfies, group pictures, videos, and many personal moments. It's great to see friends and family share their moments of happiness but I was reminded today that social media can be much more! (more…)

15Sep 2016 by jpretorious No Comments

Securing A WordPress Website

Tech, Websites, WordPress

Recently I migrated a website from http to https for the first time. What does that mean exactly? It means that I secured the website with an SSL certificate so that anyone that visits the website can safely purchase products online. That's the simple explanation! Securing a WordPress website was a daunting experience. I knew I needed to obtain an SSL certificate but that's all I knew. So, what's a girl to do? Well, this girl is resourceful! I asked for help and I did my research! (more…)