I can say that, as a blogger, I have suffered from writer’s block quite a few times. I often look to what I’m reading and what I’m watching to inspire me to come up with a new post. I like to share recipes with all of you, but I also find myself in a big recipe rut, too. New content for my blog often starts as new content at my dinner table. And after years of looking at the same old cookbooks, I’ve been looking for something else.

One

Thank you all so much for your encouragement and your honesty yesterday. I’m working through this transition and just trying to get myself back to a peaceful place so I can enjoy it! In the interest of full disclosure, I wanted to share that I still have a few obligations to fulfill in the next few weeks and you’ll still see a few Huggies posts every now and then, including one later today. These opportunities help my family and I’m thankful for them.

Two

We are in the midst of Olympic mania around here. I kind of get the impression that Todd just watches to humor me, but I can tell he enjoys watching, too. Maybe not the women’s gymnastics so much, but he does enjoy it.

He especially loved watching Aly Raisman’s parents react to her uneven bar routine the other night. And then we cast Kristen Wiig as Aly Raisman’s mother.

I was so happy for the Fab Five last night! They looked so so happy, especially Jordyn Wieber. The smile that lit up her face during her floor routine was just radiant.

And MacKayla Maroney’s vault? Holy flying teenager, Batman! Incredible!

We were also super excited for Michael Phelps and his record-breaking medal count that he achieved last night. He’s just such a once-in-a-lifetime athlete and he’s been incredible to watch.

Todd has completely tolerated my constant bickering about NBC’s Olympics coverage. They tweet the results and hold back all the coverage for us in the evenings, which I understand, so I’m just staying away from Twitter. Except when NBC finally shows us the events, they take up so much of that coverage time with fluff pieces and awkward interviews.

Three

We’re leaving for vacation on Friday. I really cannot wait. I have lined up some really great ladies to guest blog while I’m away. I’m excited to turn over my little space on the internet to them to share what’s on their hearts.

Four

My Kindle is all set up for our trip. I’m looking forward to having lots of opportunities to read. But with the Olympics going on, I have a feeling we’ll all just be huddled in front of the TV every night on vacation because we refuse to miss a night of Olympic coverage. We just can’t get enough!

Five

Can we go back to 1996 and just watch the gymnastics Olympic Gala again? Anyone remember when the Magnificent Seven did “the macarena?” Classic!

Can we also discuss how crazy it is that the Fab Five is too young to really know what happened in 1996 with the Magnificent Seven unless they watch old VHS tapes (remember those?) or You Tube videos. I feel so old!

Six

Can y’all believe August is here? Where did the summer go? There are kids that are having their first day of school today. This baffles me. Time goes too fast.

A couple of months ago, you may have noticed that my little blog got a new look. My very sweet, dear blogging friend, Marina, from Penny Lane Designs, worked her beautiful magic again on my blog.

Back in December I contacted Marina and started talking to her about my ideas and my vision. I wanted everything to be more organized and user friendly.

I wanted to make things easy for potential advertisers.

I wanted to clean up the design and change out the header photos. And she did it. I was truly blown away with the end results! I didn’t have specific plans for the color scheme, but after looking at lots of paint swatches I came up with a color palette that I thought would be easy on the eyes.

In June, she let me know that she’d installed the new design. After months of brainstorming and Marina working her magic, it was done!

So here is what you can find with the new design:

A new header. 

A scrolling “featured posts” section. I may update these at some point, but these are some of the more “popular posts” on my blog, so I wanted to give readers easy access to those.

I’m using categories! Finally! There’s a little box in the sidebar where you can find the archives, categories, and search feature.

Pretty little buttons for the more popular categories. These are the categories that I use most often or used to use a lot. My “home tour” is in the “from my home” section. All of my posts on faith and family are in the “faith and family” category. And the same goes for recipes, wedding, etc.

Easy ways to connect via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, email, and RSS feed.

You can subscribe to my blog via email if you’d like.

A new “Facebook like” button in the sidebar so we can connect via Facebook.

A sponsor information page. This is very user friendly. If you are interested in sponsoring my blog, you can just click there and the whole thing is very self-explanatory. Cuts down on a lot of email back-and-forth.

So if you’re reading in a Reader, come visit and click around. I’d love to know what you think! I hope it’s easy to use and fun to read.

I’m a 1982 baby. I have lots of friends who are 1982 babies. And we’re all turning 30 this year.

My thirtieth birthday is in November, and when I was asked, “How do you feel about turning 30?”, I could very honestly answer that I was excited.

I’m looking forward to a new decade. The things I experienced in my twenties included college, turning 21, graduating college, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, meeting my husband, getting engaged, planning a wedding, buying a house, and having two babies. It was a big decade.

But somehow it feels weird to still be “sharing” a decade with my 21-year-old self. I’m excited about 30. I’m excited about it because I feel prepared. It’s a good mix of optimism and preparedness. I’m not necessarily the picture of health. But we know so much more these days about the environment and about what we eat. We know the things we can do for ourselves to live longer, healthier lives.

I want to pass these habits onto my children. I want to be a good example. I want to be a healthy mom. When my own mother was diagnosed with melanoma in 2010, I vowed to be even more careful than ever about my time in the sun. I’ve seen the effects it has had on her, and I am determined to protect myself and my children from that kind of hardship.

We have so much information, and we’re about to do things with that information to age well. We can be active. I think 60 is the new 30! Turning 30 is just going to be another day on the calendar, but I feel like I can enter this next decade with hope. I can plan to travel. And play with my children. And create memories and fulfill dreams.

So how do you feel about getting old? I’m optimistic. I’ve learned a lot in my (almost) 30 years. I’ve changed; I’m a different person than I was just 10 years ago. Time helps us and changes us.

I visited GetOld.com and registered on the website so I could read the stories and testimonies of others. Pfizer’s campaign is dedicated to helping people of all ages come together to share their feelings and tips about growing older in a positive, fulfilling way.

Everyone has a different thought that stands out in their mind as they get older. Many people think about their own health. Some think about their kids’ health or their parents’ health. Some think about the legacy they have left on their children.

I imagine there is a good mix of people who feel optimistic and hopeful and then the people who feel regret and worry. For some, getting old means a new day. And for others, getting old means there are only so many days left. But the truth is, getting older means we have another day — hopefully many, many days. But each day is a day where we can live and make the most out of that time we’ve been given.

I’m not old. I’m a long way from it, but I’m ready to take on each new year with a great attitude and a commitment to health. And most of all, a commitment to making memories and enjoying the ride with my family. Share a comment about how the aging process makes you feel, and you will be entered for a chance to win one of three $500 SpaFinder gift cards, courtesy of BlogHer and Pfizer! Entries will be pooled across participating blogs and three winners will be chosen

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