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I know you’re probably dizzy from all of the changes that have been made to RJC lately. I know. I’m sorry. Here’s the deal: I had major growing pains. After several years blogging I was getting cabin fever. I knew something wasn’t right, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I sought the advice of bloggers I admire and I researched online for hours – just trying to find out why I didn’t feel like RJC was ‘right’ yet. After four years you’d think I’d have it all worked out, right? Yeah…no.
The dilemma was that I didn’t want to be either a review blogger OR a voice blogger; I wanted both. Cake and eating it too, all that jazz. Everywhere I looked and asked, the answer was ‘Make your blog appealing!’ Of course, I didn’t know exactly what that meant, so I searched around for answers. BLING baby, BLING! Bright colors, cute cartoons, put your kids at the top and make everyone look. It seems to work for so many successful bloggers, so I tried it. I tried so hard. If you’ve been here even once before then you know how often this site has changed over the past 4 months. I had cute. I had cutting edge. I had whimsical. I had stark plain black and white and everything in between. Magazine style, blog style and styles I don’t even think they have a name for yet. Banner ribbons, photo sidebar, Pinterest widgets, cute arrows around my search bar…
ENOUGH.
Your blog is supposed to reflect who YOU are. Guess what….I’m not cute. I’m not crafty or very domestic, even on my best day. I can be whimsical and silly, but that’s usually when I’m tired. So what am I? I’m an armchair pundit, a tech geek, a zombie fan. (note how those things do NOT go with cartoon clouds and ribbon banners – at least not in my world) I’m rather clean cut, but I do like a dash of color. I write, raise my kids and drink way too much coffee. I don’t want to sell you on the graphics and then leave you flat with the words. That’s totally opposite of my goal. So, here we are: straight forward and yet, there are my symbols right there: words, kids, coffee. A very basic version of me.
I write. Sometimes it’s about a product, sometimes it’s a rant and sometimes it’s just words that have to be removed from my head and put somewhere else. Now I feel like I can do that without trying to fit into a specific theme of what a proper “mom blogger” should be. If you like what I post, you’ll come back. If you don’t like what I post, a fancy header isn’t going to change that.
As a bonus, I can now visit my site without feeling like I’m going to upchuck rainbows and glitter. Hopefully that’s a perk for you as well.
Thanks for hanging in there with me.
I’m going to be redoing my website in the next couple of months too. I don’t like the layout of my site, and haven’t for a very long time. Now that Del has quit working outside the home again, I’ll have more time and his web design knowledge to help me get it where I want it. I’m going to be playing on my other website that I never should have really bought first though.
I LOVE this look and from what you’ve just stated it’s going to suit you well.
I have loved ALL of your designs.
Your site looks great. I am a zombie fan too!