Once Upon a Time, I Was a Blogger...

First of all, yes...I'm still alive.

And it's 2010...how on earth did THAT happen?

I'm sure there's no one still checking in here since I seem to have disappeared, but I'm posting anyway. I really miss all my blog friends!

I quit calling myself a blogger quite some time ago, since you have to actually, you know, um...BLOG to be considered a blogger! I really don't know exactly what happened. Life, I suppose.

I kind of lost interest for a while. I've mentioned before that Facebook kind of took over my life...that's a big part. But I really just didn't feel like I had much to say, which probably sounds insane for most people who know me! And even when I did have something to say, I just didn't feel like messing with it.

So, it's a new year, and here I am with a post after seven months. Does this mean I'll be come a "real" blogger again? I'm not really sure. I'd love to say yes, but we'll just see where this goes. We'll see if I get my desire back.

A lot has happened in seven months. CJ turned 15 and Ruthi turned 5. That just blows my mind on so many levels. And there have been lots of small things, but I'm not even going to begin to go into them. I'm not going to try to play too much catch up. I'm just going to pick up where I am! If I try too hard to catch up, it will feel like a chore, and I KNOW I won't keep this up. So I'm going to make it as easy on myself as possible.

One thing I really miss about blogging is the accountability I had going on being involved in the carnivals and such. I can't remember the last time I actually planned a menu or "tackled" something with great gusto just so I could say I did it! So I'm hoping that stepping back in to the blogosphere will help me with that.

I am going to start by listing a few goals I have. These are not in any way New Year's Resolutions...they aren't even long term goals. I have a few things specifically that I want to accomplish in January. So I will list them here, and if I get back on track with this blog thing, I will post my progress. I may even play around and add them to my sidebar and cross them off as I go.

These goals are not big things, just a few things I need/want to get done around here.

January Goals

• Paint and hang Ruthi's shelves (this one has been on my list for an embarrassingly long time!)
• Paint Ruthi's window (this one too!)
• Organize two drawers in scrapbook area (these are two specific drawers that have gotten out of hand)
• Stock freezer with quick meals and baked goods
• Work on wall "gallery" project for living room
• Create items and get my Etsy shop going again
• Start blogging again!

And that's all for now. I really hope that putting it here will help motivate me more. And I hope to "see" some of my long-lost blog friends again soon! Guess I also need to go get caught up on some blog reading!!!

Oh - and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Happy Blogaversary!

To me!! Today marks two years since I started blogging! It doesn't seem like that long - sheesh! Maybe if I were a good blogger who blogged more often, it would seem like longer.

Hmmm...I wonder if I'll manage to blog more in the next two years than I did in these two? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Anyway, that is all for now!

Burn Out

I think that's what I have. Just a little blogging burn out!

I will never again commit to a month of blogging every day! I thought it would be easier than this.

But some days I really just don't feel like blogging, or don't have anything to blog about. This is one of those days.

I'm tired, and I really don't know why. But I'm not exactly sleepy, so I'm sitting here, but with not much worth blogging about.

So I'm blogging about not blogging. Blogging about nothing.

Too bad I'm not Jerry Seinfeld. At least his 'show about nothing' made him lots of money!

I won't be making any mone blogging about nothing.

So I'm glad tomorrow is the last day of November. Then I may just take a few days off from blogging. And get back to only blogging when I feel like it - no pressure!

And too bad there's not a contest on seeing how many times you can use the word 'blogging' in a post. I just might be a contender!

OK, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

Happy blogging to all, and to all a blog-night!

I'm Warm and Fuzzy!

Apparently!

I just got a Friday Fuzzy from Stacey at The Truest Thing.

On Friday's, she picks a few blogs to mention on her blog and gives them a warm fuzzy. And today I got one! How sweet is that? I feel very honored to have been "noticed"!

And since before today, I didn't "know" Stacey, I look forward to reading her blog and getting to know her.

So Thanks Stacey!

And The Winner Is.....

First, I just have to say WOW!! I'm still blown away that 214 people signed up for my giveaway! WOW! I had NO IDEA that many people would be interested....Thank you!!

And, for any of you checking back, please be sure to check out my craft blog to see some other things I make.

As I said, I'm trying to get this going as a buisness, and I'm still working out the details. My goal is to be doing custom orders for all types of cards and/or invitations for all occasions. If you are interested in a set of monogrammed cards like the ones I'm giving away (many styles and colors available), please leave me a comment or send me an email! I'll be posting more samples on my craft blog in the coming weeks and days.

Thank you to ALL who signed up, and now to why you came...

The winner is.....commenter #204 - Christine!! I used the random number generator to pick the winner.

Congratulations Christine! Send me an email with your address info. and which letter you'd like on your monogrammed cards, and I'll get them out to you early next week!

So, What do you Think?

The changes are made! At least the big ones anyway. I may still tweak things here and there.

I have to say THANK YOU LINDA of RS DESIGNS for my new header. I am so very pleased with it! Not to mention she was so incredibly helpful with the rest - answering my gazillion-and-one questions! She was so pleasant to work with.

If you are looking for a new look, I HIGHLY recommend her! She's awesome!

The very few of you who have me in your bloglines or google reader should have noticed by now that my blog name changed - hope I didn't confuse you and you wonder what happened! That happened to me when I blog in my bloglines changed - I couldn't figure out at first who the new name belonged to. Hopefully you all are smarter than me!

And for those even fewer of you that have me in your blogroll, would you mind changing your link to match my new name? I'd really appreciate it!

So, what do you think of the new look? I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. I really wanted something a little more unique and a shorter, catchier name! I think I achieved that.

I used colors from the owl image to choose the colors for my blog. If you don't know about colr.org, you should check it out. You download an image of your choice and it will pull the colors from it and give you the color codes. So cool! It was a lot of fun to play with.

Anyway, I'm glad to get out of the cookie-cutter template (although my actual template is still a fairly common one), and have something a little different, that hopefully stands out a little more. You know, a little more memorable!

Feel free to give me any suggestions to make this even better - I'm love constructive criticism - well, as long as you're nice!

Almost Time!

I just saw a preview of my new header, and she's making one change on it and it will be ready!! WOOOOOO!

All will be revealed either later today or tomorrow. I'm excited about my makeover!

Changes have begun....

Can you tell? lol!

Please bear with me - I'm trying to figure all this stuff out. HTML can be quite confusing - especially for my brain!

I've gotten my template change, and I'm playing with the colors. This is the color scheme I'm going for, but I'm still trying to work some bugs out, and things may still shift some.

There are a couple things I cant' figure out how to get changed to the right colors, so I'm still boggling my mind here!

My new header is being worked on, and when it is ready, I will reveal the new name of my blog.

I thought I'd go ahead and at least get you used to the colors first, without the name change so you won't think you've arrived at the wrong place!

This is definitely an adventure for me...thanks for tagging along!

Stay tuned!

Somebody Likes Me! 2 Somebodies, actually!

Ok, seems like there are all sorts of "awards" that go around the blogoshpere. I see them all the time.

But let me tell you, I NEVER imagined any one of these awards would ever end up on my blog.

BUT, in the past few days, I received an award from not one, but TWO fellow bloggers! Talk about shock! And a little giddy-ness that, someone um, actually likes my lil' ol' blog!

This is the award:


Never, would I have imagined that anyone thought I rock!

I was reading a post by Trista at The Pumkin Patch. She said she had received this award now needed to give it to some other bloggers. I was reading her list - BooMama, Big Mama, Musings of a Housewife - all blogs that I read and totally deserve a rocking award. And then I saw me listed!

After I picked myself off the floor and got back in my chair - I read it again to be sure. Honestly, I was completely shocked, I mean - I knew Trista reads my blog, but to be listed among the likes of these amazingly witty and funny ladies? Who'da thunk it? (As Trista would say!)

But I am honored to receive the award and that Trista likes to read my ramblings that much!

Then, today, I was reading over at Debi's blog and SHE likes me too! Enough to give me the same award! So, I guess this means I have a couple of "fans"! How cool is that?

I am honored ladies!

So, now I'm supposed to bestow this grand award on some bloggers who I think rock.

Naturally, I'd give the award to both Trista and Debi, since I think they rock (and not only because they think I do!), but I don't think that's exactly how you are supposed to do this!
I also think BooMama, Big Mama and Musings of a Housewife rock, but I'll try to go with bloggers who haven't already received the award!

So, in no particular order:

Barb, at A Chelsea Morning - oh my, where do I begin? I felt an instant connection with Barb. She lives in one of the most beautiful states in the country (Colorado), and is well, simply amazing! She's a wonderful christian lady who shares her life with all of us, and she shares the most amazing recipes - complete with step-by-step pictures. She is so down-to-earth, talented, funny, inspirational, and I could go on and on. I can't help but smile and cry (often at the same time) when I read her blog. If you've never been to her place - go now! You won't regret it! She totally Rocks!

Karen, at Growing in Grace - such an inspirational woman! Another fantastic Christian lady, who, by the way is expecting another little blessing soon! I love to read the day-to-day stuff, but oh my can she write some stuff that makes me think! I so wish I had that gift, but as I've been told, I'm just not that deep. So I have to read what people like Karen write to get me to think beyond the surface. Yeah, she totally rocks!

Jan, at Making Scrapbooks - Jan is a fellow Georgian, Homeschooler and Scrapbooker - so we have just a bit in common! She does what I hope to eventually be doing - actually making money doing what I love! She has been quite successful. She is a TLC consultant (A director, actually - I think that's the correct title!) and is "way up there" in the company. I actually signed under her ages ago, but we won't talk about how I'm doing! She is super-talented and super-nice! I know we'd get along great IRL - we have lots in common, and she loves to have fun - and I loved talking to here on the phone! She seems to manage everything beautifully - at least from where I'm sitting! I'd love to be as organized and fun as she is. I think she totally rocks!

I could go on, as there are so many blogs I enjoy, but I'll leave some for everyone else! And of course, the two that 'awarded' me totally rock too!!

It's Time for Change.....

...I've got to rearrange!!!

Are you singing in your best squeaky Peter Brady voice now? lol.

I am ready for a blog change. I want something that's not so boring! I also want a new name. And I've picked a new name. That was actually the easy part - and it wasn't that easy!

Now I need a new look - a makeover! However, at the moment, I really don't have the extra money to shell out for someone to design it for me. Which means, I need to figure out how to do it myself. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Scary!

I've found a couple places that offer some free designs, but if you know of any, please send them my way!

This will probably take me a little bit of time, as I've never done this before. And it took me a while just to learn the ins and outs of doing this blog, and I still don't have it all figured out.

So, there may be a few changes here and there until I get it done. And I don't know how long it will take. Hopefully I won't mess things up - at least not too bad. So if you do stop by and things are a bit wonky, bear with me. I'm hoping that before long I'll have a much prettier blog!

Let the games makeover begin!!!