Aaaand We're Back!

Back to blogging, and back to Blogger!

Who knew the month of December would leave me with not a moment to blog!? I envisioned regular updates on all of our Advent activities. Instead I got busy doing the activities {as it should be, after all} and found no time to sit down and write. I did take photos though, and I do intend to share, probably in one longer recap post. Also, I got involved in making a particular Christmas gift and that endeavor took longer than anticipated- as always! The project was well worth the extra time in the end. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

You'll also notice that we're back on Blogger instead of WordPress. I just couldn't get settled and comfortable at WordPress. It felt like living in a hotel- none of your stuff is where you like to keep it, and you can't find what you're looking for. Coming back to Blogger felt like getting back home and putting all my stuff away where it belongs (does that analogy translate for non-type-As?). Maybe it's because I was so used to Blogger, where I originally began blogging. Maybe it's because WP is really not as well designed. I personally find Blogger much easier to use and much more customizable. WordPress had options, but they were all part of the "upgrade," of course meaning that you had to pay to use them. I also like the Blogger mobile app much better. Again, easier to use. And if I'm being totally honest, easier to use = more blogging. It's that simple.

I couldn't help but notice that 2013 has been my least blogged year on record {except for 2007, my first year of blogging}. While that's a little disappointing, I know it's mostly due to a new {and very cute} little somebody who I'm spending my former blogging time with these days, and I'm just fine with that. I'm looking forward to starting 2014 with a few posts including Advent, Christmas, and 2013 recaps :)

Until then, Happy New Year to everyone! We'll be partying family-style... a special dinner {at home}, followed by naps when then kids go to bed so we can stay awake until midnight. Yep. That is our actual plan. Cheers to being old! :D

A Fresh Start

Welcome to the new blog! I hope you like it here and will come visit often :)  This is both a continuation of my previous blog and new direction for it as well. My old posts have all been moved here, but I consider this post a turning point. Moving forward I'd like the blog to be focused on some specific topics- marriage, parenting, health, photography, cooking, DIY projects, homeschooling, and some other stuff in between. I realize that is a wide range of topics, but rather than just sharing our day-to-day happenings in the style of a journal as I did on the old blog, my goal here is to share our stories and experiences, in addition to news articles, photos, links to other related blogs and websites, and possibly some guest posts that are especially relevant to my life as a SAHM, and hopefully to other moms, too. Instead of simply a collection of ramblings about our family, I hope that giving the blog a clearer focus will make it more relatable, useful, and helpful to others. Additionally, if you followed/read the old blog, you probably noticed that I also updated the title from "The Luckiest." I felt that an updated title was appropriate since this is a fresh start, and since I'm in a different stage of my life now than when I first started blogging almost 7 years ago!

I'm really looking forward to this new version of my blog and all the fun things I have in mind to write about. Please stay tuned and check back often. I'm currently working on a post about attachment parenting that I hope to share by the end of the week :)

Thanks for visiting!

A lot to say

I promise, I have a lot to say. There are multiple posts swirling around in my head begging me to get them out to you. Time is the big problem, especially when I get a back-log of posts in my head. Some of them are topics that I know will take some time to organize, articulate, and edit. When I know that in advance it tends to stop me from just sitting down and writing because I feel like I don't have enough time to do it at the moment.

So this is not a real post necessarily, but more of a "preview post" letting you know what is in the works, and letting you know that I'm still here and intend to keep blogging! Here's a quick list of what I've been working on in my head (in no particular order)...

-An update post on C (she's almost 2.5!)
-Frenemies, inspired by a good friend of mine and a topic I've been considering for a very long time
-The Chicago teacher strike. You know how I love current events, though it might not be so current when I get to writing about it
And just to make really sure you keep checking back,
-A big announcement :D

I'm sure that more will pop up between now and when I get all of those written, but for the time being that's what has been on my mind! Don't forget to keep checking back. I hope to get started on those before the end of this week!

Still here

Yes. I am still here on this end. And miraculously you are still here on your end. Wow. And thank you :)

I am still here, though at times barely. As you've noticed there's not much time for blogging. There is a lot going on in our house. When I posted last I was preparing for 3 back-to-back weekends of baby & wedding showers. I made it through the first two, but got sick the Friday before the third one. That was of course the wedding shower for my sister-in-law which I was helping to throw, and definitely the one I was most looking forward to. We had even rescheduled J's surgery (more on that in a second) so that he would be able to stay home with C while I went to the bachelorette party over night. Instead I spent the weekend in bed/the bathroom. No fun at all.

The Monday immediately following that weekend, as in I was barely back on my feet, J had surgery to repair not 1, not 2, but 3 hernias. Ouch. We spent all day Monday, from 6 am - 6pm at the hospital between surgery and recovery. It was a long day. It has been just over a week since then and I have been doing my best to take care of him ever since. He is very limited in what he can do, though he is always one to push himself. He basically has a c-section incision across his lower abdomen, and another that runs from above his belly button, around his belly button and almost down to the other incision. Basically his whole abdomen was cut open.

Between an almost helpless husband and a busy toddler you see how there's just not much time to sit down and compose blog posts. Besides, would you really want updates on post-surgical care? Probably not. He had his follow up appointment with the dr. yesterday and will be home from work for 2 more weeks (this week and next). C and I love having him here, even if he mostly has to rest on the couch.

So that's most of what has been going on. There is more that I will talk about another day. Meanwhile, J should be feeling better and better every day so hopefully we'll be able to get him out of the house for a little fun before he has to go back to work. I'll try to do some more smaller posts focused on C and what's she's doing because she's always doing something cute :)

Just remember, I might not be posting every day, but I'm still here.

Blog Criticism

I'm sure you've noticed that little list there on the left of other blogs I read. One of the blogs on the list is Young House Love that I was referred to by a very good friend of mine a while back. I've been following it ever since I first read it. They're a family so much like my own (Sherry, the wife, and I are the same exact age, we got married the same year, our babies were born just a couple of weeks apart... you get it) and I feel like I can relate to them so well. Their blog is primarily about DIY projects that they do around their house. They're very thrifty and share stories about scoring great items for super cheap in random places. Then they of course give lots of tutorials about how they save cash by DIY-ing most of the stuff they do to their house. Intermixed is also some posting about their family, adventures and trips they take, crafty things, and the every day stuff.

Today they posted about blog criticism and said that a lot of their readers ask how they deal with it. They are always very positive in their writing and responses to comments, but admit that it can be difficult to hear some of the not-so-nice/downright nasty things people have to say from time to time. I decided to share this not only because I write a blog and get comments, or worry that readers are thinking things about me and my writing even if they don't comment, but because I have blogging friends who have struggled with blog criticism. I thought Sherry's advice was spot-on and exactly what I would say to someone who was feeling judged based on their blog. If you don't feel like hopping over to YHL to read the whole post, her four pieces of advice were:

1. It's your blog.

2. Be who you are. That's enough.

3. Try to give the good feedback as much weight as the bad.

4. Do everything with love.

Pretty simple ideas. Some might seem easier said than done. But I would encourage you to read the whole post because she does talk about each one in detail in a very genuine and heartfelt way. I do realize that an important difference between Sherry and my friends/myself is that her audience is primarily strangers and our audiences are primarily people we know. This does give the comments a different weight, especially the not-so-nice ones. I think the principles of what she says can still apply, though. It's not possible to take the sting out of all negative comments, but hopefully this advice can make dealing with them a little easier.

Happy Blogging :)