New Site (sort-of) Up and Running!

Last night, Micah and I finally figured out how to load the blog portion of my new website. But then I discovered that the blog template I had already modified within blogger wouldn't work when hosted elsewhere (apparently, all the new automatic template "layout functions" in blogger are only available to blogs actually hosted by blogger! Aack.) So I stayed up late last night editing the html of another template manually. Oh well...good practice, right?:o)

The site's not perfect yet, but it's launched, and I'm ready to get back into blogging! Come visit me: www.simplyhomemaking.com/blog

I'm excited! *Updated*

I've been working on my new site, and I'm really happy with it! Can't wait to unveil it in the next day or two. I prefer to stay simple with my website layouts, so it's not anything really fancy...but I MADE IT ALL BY MYSELF(!) so please excuse my amateur enthusiasm:o)

EDT: Well...because of problems setting up the hosting, it may take a couple more days than expected to have it up and running:o( They originally told us it could be as many as ten days, but I'm hoping it won't be that long! *sigh*

Announcement!

Quoting from a post I made on our other website, Frugal Living Journal...

Sometimes you begin something and realize that it's turned out to be more of a challenge than you expected. At least that's what's happened with Micah and I and our online ventures!

After some discussion over the past couple of days, we've decided that Micah needs to preserve his time for focusing on his income-earning businesses/job. I, on the other hand, need to be able to streamline my online ventures. With all I have to keep me busy at home and other writing projects I want to be able to do, I really don't have the time to spend on multiple online projects right now...at least of the kind that require consistent creativity and originality!

We've decided that I will combine my two websites (this one and my personal blog) into a new website/blog, which will center largely on homemaking and domesticity, with emphases on creativity, beauty and frugality. I'll still share all about our attempts at living frugally and the things we learn doing so, but--considering the other emphases I mentioned--you may find the new site to have a decidedly more feminine approach. (I actually tried to restrain much of that while writing for this site, in an effort to keep things more "gender-neutral";o)

So that's the deal! I've learned that I can't spread myself too thin...better to have one (hopefully) decent site than multiple mediocre ones:o)

Unfolding Moments began two years ago as a sort of personal journal/place to write about my interests. Largely, I think I began it as a way to connect with other ladies who were doing what I wanted to do but couldn't at the time! (Be a full-time homemaker/work from home.) It was almost a survival technique...a way to live vicariously:o)

Now that I can live out my dream, I really want to focus in on doing that well. I want my new site to focus on all the aspects of living out my chosen career (As my site, it will probably very much reflect my own personal "homemaking flavor"! I think there many flavors, so many opportunities for sites to express them!:o) I want to celebrate the opportunities for personal and creative growth that homemaking can provide, as well as the opportunities to give of ourselves to our families and others. I also hope to encourage other women with the same dreams that they can get there too...the same way I was encouraged:o) I know I could probably just keep writing here on Unfolding Moments, but I really think I'd like a fresh start. (However, I do plan to transfer my favorite posts over to the new site:o)

So, the plan is to leave this site open for a bit, while I get the new one going. I'll let you know all the info. when I do!

Well...

I decided to follow Mrs. B's example and delete my last post. I guess there's too much trash out there to be able to safely google some names (Sorry, Trixie!:o( )

Random Facts About Me

Mary Ann tagged me for this meme! (Yeah...it was kind of a while ago, but I AM finally getting to it!:op )

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I took ballet lessons for about eight years when I was little, but now cannot dance worth anything! (Oh well...at least it was a lot of fun for me then:o)

2. I like bananas, but I cannot eat them (unless they are mashed up like in banana bread, or cut into very small pieces like in a fruit salad). It's something about the texture. It makes me gag. (Lovely, I know!)

3. I remember when I bought my first car, gas only cost about 89-95 CENTS PER GALLON! (It wasn't even THAT long ago!) I really miss those days!

4. My first job (besides babysitting) was as a cashier at a small, local family-owned grocery store when I was 17. The family was proud of their German heritage. Every October, they had "Oktoberfest", when they would discount all the sausage and sauerkraut and play polka music non-stop. They made all the girl employees wear embarrassing (for me at the time:o) frilly German apron costumes, but the guys had it slightly better with just feathered hats!

5. I've taken a tour of the British parliament building, but never been to any of the DC governmental sites. I've been to London several times, but never to NYC. I'm looking forward to touring OUR OWN COUNTRY'S famous landmarks someday!

6. My ancestors first came to America in the 1600s, and some of them fought against the British in the American revolution. I'm a complete European mutt (Scottish, English, Irish, French, Dutch, etc.), with a little bit of Jewish thrown in.

7. My current favorite Starbucks drink is a Green Tea Frappuccino without whip. Just had one tonight! Mmmm.

I know this one has been going around the blogosphere for a while, so I don't know who's already done it! If you haven't yet and you want to...consider yourself tagged! And let me know if you do so I can come read it!:o)

My weekend reading recommendation

From a new-to-me blog I've been enjoying very much:

Sara does a wonderful job condensing Proverbs 31 into its key points, and then shares practical down-to-earth encouragement for those of us striving to live these verses! This is a long read, but I highly recommend it when you get a few moments.

I think my poor little blog needs a fresh post

I'm still around, as some of you know who have been following our other site, Frugal Living Journal! I'm just taking to heart the encouragement I received a while back that I shouldn't feel pressed to post something just to be posting. Perhaps a little bit too much to heart! :op

Since only posting every two weeks is kind of ridiculous, I suppose I need to become inspired a bit more often. It's either that or reevaluate continuing to post on this blog at all...but at this point in time I'm not ready to give it up! I enjoy having a place to write about anything I want...something that our topical website doesn't provide. So I hope you'll forgive me for the neglectfulness that unfortunately surfaces from time to time when life becomes busy. Please know that I always appreciate your readership and comments, even when I fail to respond to them in a timely manner! And for my part, I will try to become--at least a little bit--more timely:o)

Lately, I've been dividing much of my time between home projects (cleaning, cooking, organizing, etc.) and "frugal research." Yes...when you publish a frugality website, you must do research! But much of what I'm doing is stuff I would probably be doing anyway, site or no site. I'm researching and seeking to implement new ways to manage our resources better, and getting to share them with others is an added benefit! And yet, there's never enough time to do all I would like to in this area, as in so many others. Is life always this way? Too short and too full to accomplish my never-ending list of aspirations? Again, I marvel at the idea that homemakers could ever be bored.

Discussing this with Micah recently, he asked: "How did we do all this stuff when you were working full time?" I reminded him, "we didn't!" We rarely had home-cooked meals on weeknights, excepting eggs or spaghetti. We spent weekends (partially) cleaning the house and completing other projects and errands, which was frustrating since both of us just wanted to rest and have some fun time together! And forget a simplified, frugal lifestyle, or any type of serious organization. We were doing good just to get bills paid on time!

That was then, and I am so thankful for now...though I'm amazed at the way time just continues to slip through my fingers. Bored? Never! Could I please just get my time to stand still for even one day?

How do you moms do it, adding children into the mix? Despite the fact that mothering is about as time-consuming as you can get, I hope that God sees fit to give me that challenging privilege someday:o)