Blogging — We are THAT Family

And Then My Blog Turned Five Years Old {Party!}

8:57 am Bykristen

UPDATE: Congratulations Donna Livingston you are the lucky winner!

In the 8th grade, my Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Abernathy, a heavy, somewhat grumpy teacher, peered over her glasses and told me (without smiling) that I was a good writer. It took just those few words of encouragement for me to decide I wanted to grow up and be a writer someday. She was my favorite teacher–not so much for what she taught me, but for simply believing in me when I didn’t really believe in myself.

Eventually, my love for writing (many rejected manuscripts, critique groups and writer’s conferences later) morphed into blogging when I was 34 years old.

Today this space turns five years old. 5. That’s half a decade.

And the best part of blogging isn’t a platform or occasional free stuff, it’s you, the reader. Because an unread blog is just a diary. But when you take the time to laugh, cry and dream with me, we change the world, my friends.

What I’m trying to say is, I love you. We make a great team. Let’s do another 5 years, shall we?

In honor of you, I’m giving this WATF Reader Appreciation “Basket” to one blessed reader. Your comment entry: Tell me why you read here.

Basket contents:

Mercy House t-shirt

Dayspring Ever Grateful – Memo Board with Easel

Book: Don’t Make Me Come Up There

Show Off Arts: Love is Fun Size Canvas

His & Hers “My Husband/Wife Rocks Shirts” by Union28

The Vintage Pearl Peas in a Pod Necklace (up to 5 peas)

Valued $200

NOW SOLD OUT

AND, SUPER BIG, AMAZING DEAL in honor of 5 years, Dayspring is offering one of my top favorite items for ONLY $5<———insane price!

Ever Grateful – Memo Board with Easel for only $5!

It’s valued at $34.99 and makes a fantastic gift. {Christmas is coming!} There is no limit on how many you can purchase (while supplies last) and shipping does apply, but you get FREE shipping for spending $50 or more. So, basically, you can knock off ten people on your Christmas list for $50 and get a value of $349.90. Amazing, huh? This deal expires Oct.15 , but supplies won’t last long. Use code at checkout: WATFmemo

Don’t forget to leave a comment for the basket and then grab this deal. I just ordered 5 for $25. Merry Christmas to all the teachers in my life!

*Dayspring Affiliate links

Happy birthday to us.

Filed UnderBlogging, My Life 317 Comments

Welcome Home

7:31 pm Bykristen

Well. I did it.

I moved my blog to WordPress! (Actually, Darcy of Graphically Designing, a highly qualified friend o mine did all the work with some behind-the-scenes kudos to Lisa Boyd. I just ate bonbons).

And bless her heart because did you know that moving 50 THOUSAND comments over is not an easy task? It’s is also made more difficult when the blog writer has uploaded every picture for over two years in the largest format. Oops. But let’s not talk about all my faults. Let’s focus on my new workspace.

I’m still learning the ropes, but I can already say, I love it here! Poke around and make yourself at home while I work out the bugs and update the links. Visit Darcy over at Graphically Designing, too.

My real life friends over at Eleven2 are hosting my blog. (Up until a month ago, I thought a host was someone who wears an apron. It’s a wonder I have a blog, y’all. Seriously, low tech over here). Anywho, they are an amazing homegrown business with AWESOME customer service, great attitudes and cool widgets. Okay, I made up the widget part, but it sounded high tech, didn’t it?

In honor of my switcheroo, Eleven2 is offering YOU a free month of hosting on any of their accounts. Just enter this code at checkout: wearethatfamily

It expires: Never.

xoxo

Filed UnderBlogging 38 Comments

BlogHer Conference 2009

12:01 am Bykristen

I will be leaving my family on the last day of Family Camp early tomorrow morning.

And thanks to UPrinting, my BlogHer Conference sponsor, I’m flying to Chicago.

I’ve never been. It’s one of my many firsts.

And I’m totally nervous.

(I’m freaked out about the enormous blogging conference and getting lost on the “L” (whatever that is. I just know my hubby told me six 6 SIX people died in Chicago yesterday, so I better be careful.))

I love the opportunities that blogging has opened up for me. Thanks UPrinting for taking a chance on me.

I feel like a grown up.

And like a wall flower at the junior high dance.

But I’m wearing these shoes.

And I have a stash of Hello Kitty band aids for the inevitable blisters.

So, seriously, how bad can it be?

Okay, for this introvert, it can be bad! And that’s why I’m stashing my two dear friends in my hotel room with me. (Thanks girls, for going with me!!)

You can follow my anxious Tweets here.

(This is the gathering of thousands of bloggers…do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments and I’ll try to get a twitpic of the back of their head! Because wallflowers don’t ask for photographs!)

Filed UnderBlogging, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

When Blogging Turns Ugly

10:00 am Bykristen

I like to hang out on Twitter.

It’s a nice place to get to know people more intimately in this huge blog world.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of tweets about ugly blogging. Mom bloggers bad-mouthing other Mom bloggers.

I’m hardly in the know, but I think it has something to do with intertwining product reviews, PR pitches and free trips in with family stories instead of posting those items on a separate review blog of sorts.

Or maybe it’s about so-and-so having a bigger house and driving a nicer car. That’s what the moms on the school porch talk about.

And then again, it could be about you-know-who at recess taking my best friend from me. That’s what my 9 year old daughter complains about.

Frankly, I think it’s the age-old girl problem.

It probably won’t go away.

I’ve talked about being an extrovert on my blog and an introvert in real life. But sometimes in this blogworld, I feel disconnected. I feel like an island.

I’m usually the last to learn of such matters. I like to stay out of blog conflict. I don’t know the details. I don’t know the names. And I don’t want to. It’s not that I don’t have an opinion either way. I do. I clearly welcome PR pitches (hello, Chick Fil A, we need to talk about unlimited sweet tea). I’m extremely selective and you won’t see a lot of it here.

Because that’s not why I blog.

(But if that is why you blog, then wear those shoes proudly).

It’s important to me to maintain who I am. I can’t pretend to write about something I don’t care about.

And that’s really the point I’m getting at, why do you blog?

Define that for yourself. I’m finding that even though I’m open to marketing that fits me, the amount of offers and enticements and distractions grow everyday. And that’s why it’s important for me to remember that if it’s just me and my keyboard (like it was a year and a half ago), I do this for me. I want to be proud of what I contribute to the blogworld.

So whatever you decide to be, be your best. And give other bloggers (and neighbors with bigger things and girls on the playground) a chance to be themselves. We are all unique. Every blog is different.

But please remember that every word you publish is making an impact. The good and the bad.

And the ugly.

Filed UnderBlogging, Uncategorized 60 Comments

My BlogHer Sponsor {Giveaway}

10:00 pm Bykristen

*Update* Congrats to The Halbert Home! You won!

I’m going to Chicago!

In July.

For BlogHer (the blogging conference).

We’ll talk about my nerves and fears and ohmygosh Ican’tbelieve I’mdoingthis feelings later.

But first, I’d like you to meet the people making it possible.

I owe all my fear and excitement to UPrinting, my BlogHer sponsor!

This company has really impressed me. (They also flatter me since I’m their first blogger to sponsor for a conference).

They have set themselves apart by becoming a friend to Mom blogs. They understand the needs of bloggers and are reaching out to them in an unprecedented way!

You can apply for their blog sponsorship program they recently created! There’s free products (have you seen what they made me?), giveaways, discounts, conference sponsorships and advertising for your blog.