New Look!

You know what is so exciting?  Opening your blog and instantly getting a smile on your face each and every time you look at it!

My new design has been live for about a week now, and I absolutely LOVE it!  

In the past I have either done the design myself (which is a complete #painintheHTML), or paid a small amount for a pre-made design.  

When I bought my domain name, I decided now was the time for the switch.  I wanted to go into my second year of YouTube with a completely streamlined look.  Happily A Housewife is now me, pretty much anywhere you look.  

I really wanted to not only have my blog look more professionally done, but also carry that over to my other social media platforms.

That is where Erika comes in.  Her name is spot on, as The Fairy Blogmother, she completely transformed my space into everything I never new I always wanted.

I heard of The Fairy Blogmother through one of my favorite blog reads, Elizabeth from Teaching Sam and Scout.  I absolutely love her blog, her real life, no sugar coating approach, and of course her appreciation for a good hashtag!  

Erika made the change easy.  I am a very particular person, but also very indecisive.  I spent so much time downloading fonts to only write out "Happily A Housewife" in them to see how it looked!

I love how it turned out (if you couldn't tell already!) and still cannot believe how fast it was done and over!  I had the first idea to change it up just a few short weeks ago, and here we are now done.

So head over to The Fairy Blogmother and check out her portfolio.  

Thanks Again Erika!

Lots Going on!

So, I have lots to share today!  In case you haven't noticed yet, look at the amazing new blog design.  I am so excited about have the design translate from my blog to YouTube and also Facebook and Twitter.  So admire now, and lots more details coming soon on that!

Also, today I am over on Britni's Blog, Play Party Pin to share an end of the school year teacher gift idea!  It is bright, fun, and simple to put together.  So make sure you head over there and check it out!

Over the next few days I will be tweaking the About Me, and FAQ sections of the blog, and playing around with the new space, so bare with me!  My About Me section has photos of the kids from literally years age, man they grow so fast!  Updates are needed!

If you are Play Party Pin Readers stopping by, WELCOME!  Below I have linked a few of my most popular posts if you want to take a look!

2013 End Of The Year Teacher Gift

10 Time Management Tips For Busy Moms

Updated Home Management Binder

Busy Box Organization

Kid Bedroom Organization

A Big Thanks!!

I am not a big "numbers" person when it comes to my blog/social media.  I don't work with companies that are looking at pagviews or followers, y'all are not just a number to me.  If I do a giveaway or review, it is because I really do love the product and want to share it with you.  

With that said.... the past few months have been awesome.  As my baby (JD) was turning 1, I was torn at where I wanted the blog to go.  I started blogging back in 2007 on Xanga (which you can't even access anymore) to purely document my 1st pregnancy.  I "met" so many wonderful girls, some of which I still keep in touch with today.  

Ever since my blog has been simply that, our lives.  I wanted to do something more.  So I started throwing in some organization, planning, recipes.  Then I discovered the world of YouTube.  Sure I had searched on YouTube for reviews on strollers, or how to do this or that.... but I never really thought about those people making the videos.  

I started my channel last May, and WOW, I can even explain how great the past 11 months on there have been.  For those of you that don't know, my 1 year in college was spent in front and behind a camera, working in sports.  It has been something I have always wanted to do, but simply thought that since I was a housewife for life, with a hardworking husband in that field, that it would never happen.  It is a hobby/passion of mine, and I am loving it!

I recently just got my first "paycheck" from the ads that run on my blog and channel, and believe me it IS NOT about the money at all,  but it felt good.  

So thank you all so much for following along and contributing in the comments, on Instagram, Twitter.... It really means so much!

Now that said, Facebook basically sucks now and y'all won't be seeing my post on your timeline as much based on the new algorithms, or so I am told..... so please take a minute to follow in some other way.  Whether it be your favorite blog reader (I use BlogLovin) Twitter (I will get better on there, promise!), Instagram (where I will start sharing when a new post is up or video is live)  I would really appreciate it!  

 

How Linky Parties Can Grow Your Blog

I don't talk much about the actual business of blogging, pretty much because I have no clue how to have a successful blog, I don't blog for the money, and I know I am probably doing a million things "wrong". 

Today though, I do want to talk about Link-ups, Blog Hops, Link Parties.... whatever you want to call them.  These are a great tool for any blog to get noticed and grow your readership.  It is a free, easy way to get your posts noticed, pinned, talked about.  

Joining in on these link-ups, there are a few things to remember. 

1.  Make sure you are putting quality posts out.  No they don't have to be perfect, but if I have learned ANYTHING about blogging, it is that photos do all the talking.  Having photos on your posts will get you noticed.

2.  Pick your best posts to showcase.  I try to have 1 post a week that I really try to use for link-ups, features, and promoting.  The most popular typically are my organizing posts, recipes, printables.  Something that will help out others.  Some people love seeing/reading about my kids, but this is not the place for that.

3.  Have a "pinnable" image.  If anyone likes your ideas/crafts/recipes, they are going to want to pin it to not only remember it for later, but also to share it with their followers.  Adding an image to a post to solely act as the pinnacle image is such a good idea.  It is also a good idea (but also time consuming) to go back through and add in images to old post, you know those ones you wrote before Pinterest existed, as well.

4.  Be Kind.  As my 4 year old reminds me daily, Sharing Is Caring.  If participating in a Link-Up, be considerate and try to take the time to follow the blog, link them on your own blog, comment on the post, and share on social media.  Also visit at least a handful of the other blogs participating and comment on their posts.

I have created a new tab at the top of my blog, to show some of my favorite places to link up throughout the week.  If you have a link up you would like me to add, just email me at happilyahousewife@gmail.com and I will put it on my list.

Ultimately, the purpose of these Link-ups are to have fun and interact with other bloggers.  I hope you  can use my list as a go to when trying to find new ways to share your favorite posts.   

Five On Friday!

I am so excited to be doing this weeks Five On Friday from my parent's home in SC!  While it isn't hot and beachy here in January, it is still a nice break from home.  So, YAY for long weekends where the kids get tons of attention from grandparents :)

{Man I can't wait to come back in the summer}

1.  This week Matthew has spent a total of ZERO hours at school.  Yes we got some snow, and yea it has been cold, but it amazes me how quick the school are to cancel where we live.  Today he was supposed to have a two hour delay, but we have had this trip planned for awhile so....yep, no school this week.  

2.  I had to become pretty creative when trying to occupy the kids in the house all week long.  I thought sleeping in and laying around being lazy was a good idea, but no.... not for them.  The biggest hit was my masterpiece tent.  {hint: using a fitted sheet along a couch or even over chairs is a great idea!}

3.  This week was all about toy organization.  I showed off my playroom, craft spot, and busy boxes.  I *may* have our dress up clothes and bedroom toys up today too, but with traveling I'm just not sure!

4.  I feel like I have really hit a groove with my blog, and while it is really exciting, and I LOVE it, I am also finding myself looking up ways to get more views, how to get people to subscribe.... all the things I used to sweat I didn't care about.  Of course you want people to read, but I don't want to become consumed by it.  Any other bloggers go through this?  How do you find the balance of wanting to grow, but also nor letting it take over?  

5.  Lastly, I have been working really hard at compiling a list of my favorite blogs, to put in a tab on my header, and also listing out Link Parties for each day of the week.  I would LOVE if you would comment your blog if you host a Link Party so it can be added to the list.  I am trying to put together a post AND make the Tab live next week at some time!  

Ok, I am off to enjoy the weekend here is the not warm, but also not cold SC.  Hope y'all (that's what they say down here, right!) have a great weekend!

{This photo is from August 2013 here in SC, Joshua was just 7 Months Old}

Finding Balance

 We had the best 5 days over Thanksgiving.  The kids had off school, Matt had off work, and I took a step away from most social media and the blog.  It was nice.  We had a great time preparing for Thanksgiving, enjoying the day with family, then shopping, decorating, and more shopping.

And then, Monday arrived.  I had a ton of housework to catch up on, and although the decorating was complete, there was a lot of clean up from that.  I felt bad I had neglected my blog.  I realized that during the holidays, there is a lot to be done, things I love doing, but still a lot.  I should never feel guilty for not posting on the blog because I am instead spending time with my family, relaxing, and just taking a break.  

So, over the next few weeks, I am going to KISS (keep it simple stupid).  I want to document the holiday season, especially being Joshua's first, I want to stay on the momentum I have of posting pretty much every week day.  I just am shifting the content for a bit.  

Most likely it will be less organization (just for this month), and projects.  More about family.  Because that is what the holidays are all about.

Taking the time to still capture and share moment, but not missing them in the process.

My thoughts about Pinterest.

Let me start off by say I L.O.V.E. me some Pinterest, and when joining last June, not even knowing what it was, I never imagined I would enjoy it so much.  The things I have learned from that site are amazing, and the (little traffic) my blog gets, Pinterest is a huge source of that.

There has been a lot of controversy around the legality of the site, and many people are angry about their images being posted.  This is the article that I first read about the situation, and then continued to investigate from there.  I would never want to get into legal trouble for anything I am doing online.

There are also many questions around Pinterest's Terms of Use.  I was starting to contemplate (gasp) deleting my account, but then read a follow up article on the same blog, found here and I am feeling more confident in my decision to keep my account.  This blogger actually spoke with the founder Ben Silbermann, and got some reassurance that she needed to keep her own account.  Pinterest also wrote a blog post 2/20 reassuring it users.

There are a few things I am going to do over the weekend and I would encourage others to do as well....

1.  I am going to go through my pins and delete anything that is no linked back to the ORIGINAL source.  I have gone through some pins and it goes to a site that isn't the original pin, but a pin of a pin (if that makes any sense.)

2.  This seems to be mostly and issue with photographers getting angry that copyrighted material has been pinned, so those are going to be deleted (I don't have many of those to begin with)

3.  I am going to stop doing my Pinspirational Friday, because I have seen that someone had pinned from my blog a pin that I had used and not my actual photo.

This is going to be a VERY long process and it is going to be very tedious as I am going to be making sure all my pins are legit.  But I will feel much better about it in the future.

Speaking of the future, I think that from now on I am only going to re-pin if I have checked the link back first.  Sometimes I don't have the time to do this (or am on my phone where it is an annoyance), so for that situation I will like the pin, and then re-pin once I check the link.

As for my photos, as long as they are linked back to me pin away!  It is great exposure, and a wonderful way to share ideas.  

Oh and you can follow all my boards HERE!

I am by no means qualified to give any actual advice about this subject, they are just opinions I have, and nothing more! 
 

Too Much at A Time.

Do you ever overextend yourself and then just break down because there is just too much going on at one time.  Yea, that is me right about now.  It isn't even anything extra, it is just my attempt at trying to do it all (the normal housewife stuff) perfectly. 

My name is Samantha, and I am a perfectionist.

I hate how if I am excelling at one area something else slips away.  Lately I have done a really good job of really sitting and playing "with" my kids, starting to teach my son how to read, and not saying not now when Lilly wants me to read 800 books a day.  With that comes dirty floors, and laundry that needs attention it is not getting. 

Finding balance is so difficult. 

Blogging is also something that I am trying to be perfect at, when there really is no such thing as the perfect blog.  I came into this new blog wanted to keep it fun, not worrying about followers and comments and pageviews.  But I find myself making this more stressful than it should be.  I am beating myself up over the fact that my blog isn't really focused on something in particular. 

I am sitting here thinking about the fact that my fridge needs cleaned, laundry needs done, my floors haven't been mopping in longer than I'd like to admit.....but me, I am off to the bookstore (something Matthew asked to do weeks ago, and we haven't done yet) to read, play trains, and do storytime, because I am so stressed I wouldn't know where to start.

But honestly my floors REALLY need some attention as well.

As for the blog.... I am so overwhelmed I don't know what to do.  I am so inspired (lately by amazing local bloggers) but am not sure where my blog fits.  There are so many things I love to do, that I wouldn' t know what to focus on even if I wanted to. 

Perfect isn't possible, and it wouldn't be that fun anyway, right!


 

Feed Me Friday - Featured Blogger

I was very excited to learn I was going to be the featured blogger on the Feed Me Friday Blog Hop! "Hopping" is such a great way to get the word out about your blog, and gain new readers. So be sure to take a minute and link up!


  <center><a href="http://naptimeismytime.com/category/feed-me-friday"><img src="http://naptimeismytime.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/FeedMeFriday.jpg" /></a></center> Welcome to Feed Me Friday Blog Hop, hosted by Oh So Savvy Mom and Nap Time is My Time! Feed Me Friday is a Blog Hop to help you meet new bloggers and build your e-mail subscription.  Want to be a part of Feed Me Friday?  Just follow these simple rules:

- Add your blog link to the linky

- Subscribe by email and follow via GFC the two hostesses (Oh So Savvy Mom and Nap Time is My Time and the Featured Blog of the Week.  Make sure to leave us a comment and we will return the favor.  Visit as many blogs on the list as you can.  If you like the blog subscribe to their email (feel free to follow on GFC too, if you want)

- Leave them a comment with your blog link so they know you are subscribing from Feed Me Friday.  Be sure to confirm your subscription!  Subscribing back is not mandatory, but it is recommended.  It is a great way to build blogging relationships.

Since this is an email subscription blog hop, your blog must have a place for people to subscribe to your email.  If there isn’t an email subscribe option, your link will be removed from the linky. Every Friday we will put up a new Feed Me Friday linky, so be sure to stop by and add your blog.  Each week we will choose one participant from the previous week’s blog hop to be the Featured Blog of the Week. Please be sure to check your spam folders, you don't want to miss out! This week's featured blogger is...


Follow along with Samantha through her every day encounters as she experiences all of life's challenges, annoyances and rewards as a happy housewife and stay-at-home mother of two.