Blogging Themes: thinking ahead

Yesterday as I was getting ready for my day and thinking about blogging, I had a brainwave.  I'd been thinking about blogging schedules, and planning certain recurring topics for certain days...but obviously I often have trouble sticking with a definite blogging schedule. 😉 So the thought that occurred to me was that I could plan overarching themes by month.  Not that all of my posts that month will necessarily relate to the theme (although they might), but it will give me something to think about and focus on...maybe help me as I look for inspiration here and there, too. 

Being me, I'm not thinking super far ahead, but here's a rough idea of what I'm going to aim for over the next several months:

• September: Back to School
• October: Let's Go Outside/Nature Study
• November: Give Thanks
• December: Christmas (of course 😊)
• January: Heart & Home (focus on goals & habits for both)

Looking at this list, thinking about things I could write about...well, it has me pretty excited, actually!  I also hope to link to some other bloggers along the way who inspire me in these areas.  I hope you'll come along for the ride!

Under Construction!

Yes indeed, if you notice some changes in the layout & design of the blog, you can see that I'm working on a new look for spring/summer!  Right now I need to get some work and school done around here, but hopefully later today I'll be able to get the blog header enlarged to the right size.  In the meantime...this is the look I'm going for, but with all the red part covered up (eventually).  😊

EDIT: Ooooo, I think I just about have it how I want it now!  May play around with the header more at some point, but for now it's passable.  And I'm totally LOVING the new look!  I love how I can change things up quickly with help from The Cutest Blog on the Block.  I was sad when the former blog design website I used was no longer available; I had my favorite background ever from them, but at least I have been able to find some other fun options for the seasons!

A fresh start...

First of all, happy new year!!

Second of all...to the maybe three people who might still check my poor, neglected blog, hello!  Obviously my grandiose plans of regular posting went out the window (again) once we started back to school in the fall.  Maybe someday I will come to accept that I simply cannot do all. the. things! ;)  In the meantime...here we are at the start of a new year, and of course that brings with it new goals and plans of how I will (maybe?) make time to post little snippets now and then.  I miss it. 

I've been working on goals for this year, but only in my head so far.  Tomorrow I hope to make time to sit down with pen and paper, and actually write some down.  And then, copy them here to make them "public" (again, to the handful of readers who may be here, ha!). 

Our new year is off to a good start.  Today we did a bunch of post-holiday/pre-having-company housecleaning!  Jim even dragged the big ladder inside and vacuumed the ceiling fans and beams and other dusty spots around the walls/ceilings for me...what a HUGE blessing that was!!  It's been bugging me for a while, but I can't reach our high ceilings without a ladder, so it's one of those things we only get to once a year (or less).  So even though the *whole* house isn't completely sparkling, just looking up at those dust-free fans makes me smile!

In the afternoon we had friends over for a playdate/supper, and it was nice to catch up with them.  Even though we live in the same town, we don't get to visit often due to our different work/school schedules, so I was glad this time opened up.  It was a nice way to start 2018!

Over the past month, I participated in a photo-a-day challenge on Instagram, which was so much fun.  I actually *completed* the challenge, too, which kind of surprised me and made me think that maybe, just maybe, I could be successful at regular posting on my blog again, somehow.  (Although it's a lot faster to throw up a quick picture and post on IG or FB than to take time to write something with a little more substance.  Ah, the love-hate relationship with social media!!)  Anyway, we'll see what happens, but for now I'm just happy I had a few minutes to chatter here.  I hope your new year is off to a good start!

Finally!

Okay, I think NOW I have the new look of the blog how I want it.  It took some fiddling to get the header right, but I'm pretty happy with it!  I found this background that I love more than the barn one that I tried yesterday.  It's just right for the look I want at the moment.  I wanted to brighten up the page, and this background is perfect with the picture I chose of the kids!!!  I love how the girls' clothing in the picture coordinates with the banner colors (totally unplanned!) and how the white peeling paint siding of the background matches the white siding of the camp behind the kids.  That camp, which belonged to my grandparents (and was their first home!) is right next door to our house, so it also works perfectly with the theme of my blog. :)  Which makes me happy!

I had to change the blog template to a different one to make a larger header work.  I'm not quite as fond of the page look, but it's not that much different and I think having a bigger header is a good trade-off.

It may sound strange, but messing with my blog design has inspired me to post more.  Maybe having a fresh new look was just the nudge I needed. :)  Now to see if I can attract some of my previous readers (or some new ones)!!

A little construction

I got a little carried away this evening and changed up my blog design and header a bit!  I felt like it was time to freshen things up.  I'd love to hear opinions...anyone?  I'm not totally sure if I'll stick with this change for a while or not, but it was fun to play around with it. :)

10 Years of Blogging

Ten years ago today, I typed my first little post in this space, titled "Something new."  Boy, how long ago that seems!  At the time, we had only one child...hence the "samsmommy" blog address.  Sam had just turned one, and we lived in a tiny little trailer while we were building our house. It's funny to think how much has changed in that time...we've added more kids, accumulated a lot more stuff, finally switched to high speed internet (which should make blogging a whole lot easier, but somehow I post even less than ever before).  We've changed in some ways, stayed the same in others.  We've been part of a really big church and now part of a small church.  We've built new friendships and said goodbye to other friends who moved away.  We've gone from the baby and toddler years into the school years, and now back to the baby years again!  I've tried to chronicle the bits and pieces of our life, and though I've missed some things along the way, I feel like we have a pretty good family journal of the past ten years.  I've written here at least once every month except for last November, the month Ari was born.  Not sure how I missed that one, but it was probably because I posted about everything on my pregnancy blog.

I had no idea back then that I was writing on "Pi Day" (3.14).  Today all my math nerd friends have been posting about it on Facebook (apparently today is the ultimate Pi Day that only happens once a lifetime . . . 3.14.15.  Not being a very Mathy person myself , I really do not "get" this, but it's still cool that it happens to fall on my blogaversary!

It's fun to think back on the different looks my blog has had over the years.  I started with a Blogger lighthouse template and have switched things up quite a few times, trying to make it more personal as I've learned a little bit about editing, making headers and buttons, etc.  I still have a lot to learn, but not as much time to play around with things as I would like!

I had really hoped to do some kind of a giveaway to celebrate this fun milestone . . . but of course I didn't plan ahead enough, so I'm not doing one right now.  I'd still like to do one this summer sometime and count it for the 10 year celebration anyway. :)

I'm really thankful I discovered blogging all those years ago.  It was the "new" thing then, and there weren't too many that I followed.  Now it's a well-established part of the internet, and there are way too many good ones to choose from!  Writing here has been a good outlet for me, it's helped me journal and preserve some memories, and while I may not have become a better writer, at least I know I've continued writing (something I love) almost every month.  I may not have achieved my dream of writing a book or doing anything "big," but I get to share things with others and have even met some new friends this way!  And reconnected with some old friends too, which is just so cool. :)

So anyway, I just didn't want to let this day slip by unnoticed, and I wanted to say thanks to all of you who read here!  Even if nobody read my thoughts, I would want to record some memories for our family . . . but knowing people read my ramblings makes blogging even more fun. :)  And if you're reading this and have a minute to comment--even if you're a lurker who's never commented before--I would love to hear from you, just a quick note to let me know who you are and how you found my blog, or anything else you'd like to say!  Thanks to all who have joined me here over the past ten years, and I'm looking forward to continuing the journey for the next ten and beyond!

Back to blogging!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted anything in this little space!  I had these big dreams of posting daily in December . . . well, as you can obviously see, that was a little bit of a far-fetched dream. ;)  But, I've missed sharing our lives, and I NEED to get back to this place where I can have a bit of a creative outlet and a place to record the ordinary moments of our lives.  And of course, share pictures of our sweet Ari!!  So, I'm determined to get back to blogging, hopefully posting at least once a week.  For this week though, I have a big goal of posting one book review each day till I am caught up.  I have (I think) 4 books that I need to post reviews for.  Just finished writing the first one, so I will put that up after I post this.

Can you believe our baby girl is FIVE weeks old now?!!!  Unbelievable.  She is soooo sweet.  The picture above was taken at 4 weeks old.  I have lots more pictures to share, even have a whole post full of them started, but I want to add some chatter to that one too, so I will wait a bit to publish it.  But I thought you all might like to see at least one pic!  She is growing and changing so much already, and I can't wait till she starts smiling (I think it will be soon :)).  I am going to keep this post short, but just wanted to let everyone know that we are all still alive and doing great!  Just so busy, and when I'm at the computer I usually have my hands full of baby. :)  I'm hoping that this will be the first of many catch-up posts and lots of chatter.  Stay tuned for book reviews and hopefully some more random posts soon!

Experiments in social media

Okay, so I am a little scared to post this, to be honest.  Mostly scared that I will fail and not follow through with my plan!  But I figure I have a better chance of success if I "put it out there" for some accountability.  So here's the thing: I struggle with balancing my online time, plain and simple.  And I check Facebook waaaaay too much.  It's so easy to get sucked into the swirling vortex of social media and before I know it, the day is flying by and I wonder why I didn't get much done!  I want to form some new habits over this summer.  More intentional time with the kids, more reading time, more housework time (okay, maybe I don't *want* to do that, but it is a need! :)), more time grabbing onto life and not wondering where it went.  So I'm trying an experiment.  For now, I'm going to take this experiment just a week at a time.  I don't want to start out with a big, huge goal for the whole summer and then beat myself up when I fail in the first week or something.

So here is the plan:

• No Facebook or Feedly (my new substitute for Google Reader, which I like a lot better!) until Friday.  Get it?  They all start with "F"--so it's easy to remember. :)
• Pinterest may only be checked once a day--after the kids are in bed, or before they are awake.
• Money Saving Mom (one of my favorite blogs) may be checked once a day, same with any personal friends' blogs--especially the friend who is due to have a baby soon. :)

I think this is enough to concentrate on for the first week.  Next week, I may add in parameters for email time, etc., and after that comes our vacation, which will probably be a whole different plan.  The main thing is, I'm going to focus on taking control of my social media time this summer.  I will let you know the results of my first experiment week after it's over. :)

**I still plan to post in my own blog this week--hopefully more than normal, since I will not be wasting time on Facebook or browsing everyone else's blogs. :)

Roses just because

Last night my sweet guy surprised me with this gorgeous bouquet--not for any particular occasion, but "just because." I was so surprised, and they add such a sweet burst of color on our table at an otherwise rather ugly time of year!

It occurred to me later that yesterday happened to be my "blogaversary"--the day I hit seven years of writing in this little space. I never remember to keep track of that, but I went back and checked, and sure enough--there it was, March 14. So much has changed in those seven years . . . then, we had a 1 year old and lived in a tiny little trailer. Our house was far from finished. Homeschooling was still just a distant thought. Julia and Josiah weren't even born or thought of! Here we are, seven years down the road, with three precious souls in our care, all moved into our own home (which still isn't finished--but a lot closer than it was then! :)), keeping busy with school and all kinds of stuff. Our church has changed, things in our extended family have changed, our marriage has been through harder times than I imagined and has grown and become more beautiful as a result. We have changed. I'm thankful for this place to chronicle the journey.

Someday I hope to use one of those companies that turns a blog into a book or books. It would be fun to have a book made for each year of the blog, maybe. That way it would be easier to look back and enjoy our family history over these years. Thanks to all the friends, old and new, who read here and have followed along with our story! And I think it is kinda cool that Jim just happened to spontaneously bring me roses on March 14, even though he (and I) never thought of it being a milestone of any kind. :)

Retreat time!!!

Later today I am heading off for a ladies' retreat at the Wilds of New England. I went last year and had a wonderful time, so I'm really looking forward to this year!! And I'm praying that all the kids manage to avoid catastrophe and trips to the ER . . . :)

Also, I wanted to let you all know that a couple of my good friends have just started blogging!

• Mrs. Smith and I have been "email friends" for more than 10 years now, although we have never met in person. We met "by chance" (but I know it was actually not by chance, but orchestrated by God!) in an Anne of Green Gables forum, and found we had a lot in common. It has been so neat to stay in touch over the years, and I'm thrilled that she is now blogging at Sweet Tea and Simplicity!!!
• 1HappyWife is a sweet friend from even further back--we went to high school together! We got back in touch when my mom saw her at a church event and told her about my blog. She and her family even got to visit us a couple summers ago, which was really cool! I was very excited when I found out she had started her own blog too--you can check it out at Our Little Corner.

I hope some of you will get a chance to visit both of these ladies over at their blogs and say hi!

And now . . . back to packing and getting things in order for Jim to be able to take over for the weekend! :)

1,000+!!!

1,002!!!

Oops! I had been intending to watch closely and see when I hit 1000 posts here, and I just tonight realized that yesterday's post was #1001!!! My grand plan was to do a giveaway when I hit 1000. But alas . . . now I am past that and I have nothing ready to give away! Well. I will just have to remedy that asap. :) I won't make any promises, but you can hopefully look for a giveaway sometime within the next month . . . in honor of reaching this milestone. It's also cool that 1000 posts closely coincides with my 6 year blogaversary--which just happened to be yesterday (another fact I didn't realize until today :)).

And yes, I realize that compared to a lot of bloggers, 1000 is not a lot of posts. :) However, it seems like a big number to me . . . I guess I am a chatterbox (at least on the blog!).