I've been slightly absent...

I realize that I have not posted here in a few months. But that's not because I've been lazy or anything! I decided at the end of last year to stretch my wings and learn something new. My husband is an amazing website designer/coder, and I wanted to help him with his work. So this gal has been learning a little CSS and HTML and all that good stuff!

I wanted to switch to Wordpress anyway, so it seemed like a good time to take the plunge and do it. (Attention all bloggers reading: Wordpress is ten time better than Blogger once you figure out what you're doing!) I also needed to clear my head and decided what I was really going to blog about. So I grabbed a free template and went to work making it my own. Can I just say that I am so proud of myself for learning something new. I never thought I'd learn something like web design, and it is tough! But it is so worth it and so much fun. Shout out to my amazingly patient husband for walking me through.

It took a while to build the site, and I have been posting over there for a little bit while tweaking things. I told a couple of close friends about it who've been able to give great feedback. The site is still being adjusted while I finish things up, and I'm trying to make more time to post over there. All that being said, I'd love to have you all join me on this new journey of webdesign and blogging.

It is named "Moments on our Journey" from the song by Chris Machen. The song is a favorite of mine. And really, that's what blogging is to me: sharing moments on my journey with you, my readers. I'd love for you to share your moments with me on Twitter or by commenting whether you live in Minnesota, Canada, South Africa or North Carolina! (Yes, I have readers from all of those places and more!)

Love you all!!

Please change your bookmarks and feed readers to: http://www.momentsonourjourney.com

Busy, Crazy Life

I took a couple week blogging break because my life was just too busy to try to squeeze in a blog post (or two or three) every day.  I thought life would settle down after a bit, but it hasn't.  A taste of life right now: working 30+ hours a week, youth staff at our church, playing for the Christmas cantata- as well as many other piano responsibilities at church, Andrew is taking 6 hours of grad classes and working 40+ hours a week, required school and church services (10 nights of them in one month), teaching piano to 3 new students, and cooking, laundry, cleaning, and everything else that comes along with life.  It's great, and I love it, but something had to give and it was le blog.

September is jam-packed, and October doesn't look much better right now.  November and December seem to be pretty empty (comparatively), but I shouldn't speak too fast.

Normal blogging will resume...soon.  I have some ideas of how to make it work- it's just a matter of seeing if my crazy life will let me do it!  Leaving you with a picture that Andrew and I took on our walk (yes, trying to find time for those!) last week (points if you can guess where we took it)...

Giveaway Day! -- Back to School Giveaways!

If you haven't ever visited the informative and inspiring blog- Balancing Beauty and Bedlam- you should definitely take a gander this week.  Jen is giving away Bissell steam cleaners, $150 Staples gift cards, Acer laptops, and more.  Take 5 minutes and enter to win a couple- who knows....you might win something!  Enjoy!

Friday Links

Here are some great links that I found while surfing the web this week:

• For the home-improvers: Young House Love is honestly my favorite blog to read- John and Sherry have a millions great tips about remolding, decorating, and life in general.  Check out this post that will help you figure out how much that next home project is going to cost.
  
• For the moms of toddlers: Julie Fink at Journal for Women is a pastor’s wife who has a lovely website.  This week she wrote a wonderful post about getting and keeping toddlers on a schedule.
  
• For the moms of any kids: Check out Saving Naturally’s article about how to keep clothing costs down.
  
• For families: Make the end of summer special with Balancing Beauty and Bedlam’s great ideas.
  
• For those who need to appreciate what they have (don’t we all?): Ashleigh at Heart and Home is the wife a man who is serving his country oversees right now.  It’s his second deployment in the Middle East, and this post made me cry and appreciate every second that I have with my husband.

**Necessary Disclaimer: This blogger does not necessarily agree philosophically, morally, theologically, mentally, or otherwise with above websites. I just found some great links and I’m passing them on.  This concludes the mandatory  public service announcement……

May this weekend find you outside and enjoying the waning days of summertime!

Friday Links

Here are some great links that I found while surfing the web this week:

• Some great tips on stain removal without using a million chemicals from Stephanie at Keeper of the Home.
  
• Stephanie’s other blog- Saving Naturally gave a great heads-up on a Mrs. Meyers sale.  I love Mrs. Meyers cleaning products and I’m trying to find a retailer here in NC.
  
• Gretchen at Little Pink House wrote a touching piece about motherhood.
  
• Rachel at the Small Notebook blog is talking about budget balance and grocery spending- something I’m still trying to get the hang of!
  
• And last, but not least, the ever-techie Lifehacker brings us a great app for iPhones and Androids: store all those annoying store keychain cards on your phone (and then watch the cashier’s face as you use it in your backwoods CVS- now that is funny.)

**Necessary Disclaimer: This blogger does not necessarily agree philosophically, morally, theologically, mentally, or otherwise with above websites. I just found some great links and I’m passing them on.  This concludes the mandatory  public service announcement……

I hope this weekend finds you relaxing and enjoying wonderful weather!

The Best Laid Plans....

Blogging through college was more a journal of my life than anything with a purpose.  This time around- especially since I have less time on my hands- I hope to have more purpose.

Therefore, drum-roll please....my attempt at a blogging schedule:

Mondays: Capturing the Moment (Because a picture is worth a thousand words)
Tuesdays: Tip of the Day (Because sometimes everybody needs a good idea) and Momentary Favorites (Because I love these things so much I just have to share)
Wednesdays: Quiet Moments (Because our hectic days need some quiet moments with God)
Thursdays: Giveaway Day! (Because everyone likes to know about free stuff on other websites)
Fridays: Days of Other People's Lives (Because reading other blogs is more fascinating than reading this one)
Saturdays: Momentary Thoughts (Because reading about my random life is interesting...right...)

I'll throw in a few random series like wedding and honeymoon recaps, as well as keep you informed on what is happening in our humble abode as I get around to it (because every now and then we all need something to spice up our life).

Now to see if my best laid plans actually come to pass...