Summer's Over and We're Back to Blogging!

Aaand, we’re back!

I’m hoping we still have people ready and waiting to read our blog.  We know it’s been awhile since we’ve posted, and we’re grateful to those of you who are checking back in to find us.

Our summer has been amazing!  Taking time off blogging meant we were able to be fully present with our children as they were off from school, and to take vacations without having to worry about having posts ready to go.  That did wonders for us personally as well as for our families.  It really was exactly what we needed.

This summer, I (Valerie) spent a whole lot of time staying cool in the pool.

There were lots of water park visits, summer movies, and just down time at home.

We got to go to Oregon to visit family, watch my hubby run his first half marathon (woo-hoo!) and visit the Oregon Coast (a first for me!)

My little Phoenicians were freezing in the 60-ish degree weather.

Then I had the amazing opportunity to go to our church’s Girls Camp as the camp director.  We had a ball- and even though I tried to act like I was 16 again, my body sure couldn’t keep up with those energetic girls! Can you find me?  My mom says I look like one of the girls.  She's just being nice :)

 

Laura spent her summer exploring the great campsites of Colorado.

There was lots of pool time for her family, too.

And there was a HUGE family reunion in Monticello, Utah at the end of the summer.  What a blast!

Both of us were  glad to have some time to focus on our brother, who underwent brain surgery.  His doctors found a tumor that needed to be removed, but it was an answer to our prayers that it turned on to be benign (non-cancerous).  Now he’s got a great Darth-Vader style scar to show off!  I was going to show it to you but my daughter thinks it is too gross. (Sorry, Kev!)

And now, school has started, life is returning to its school-year routine, and we want to get back on this blogging train.  You’re going to (hopefully) notice a different feel here at Occasionally Crafty.  While we both missed crafting and blogging, we knew we were at a point where we either had to make some changes or give it up entirely.  We came away with a whole new vision for our blog, and we’re really excited to share it with you!

Gone are the days of a set schedule.  You’re not going to find us posting religiously on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  We want to stay true to our tagline- “Living Life and Crafting When We Can”.  So you’re going to see a bit more of our lives and personality, in addition to our fun crafty projects.

We’ll be bringing back “Three Things Thursday” (for you old-timers who may remember when I used to do that).  But instead of featuring three different blogs, we’ll be talking about three things that are important to us that week.  They may be silly and fun.  They may be craft-related.  They may be serious.  Laura and I are going to take turns, so you’ll definitely get to learn a bit more about each of us and what makes us the crafters we are.

 Don’t worry- we’ll still be crafting and sharing our creations with you!  However, we are opting out of the race to see who can post seasonal projects first, and instead post whatever we've done, whenever we've done it.  It may be a party we've put together, a gift we made, a handout we made for church, or a home décor project we created.  We want to make things we really want and use- not just create in order to have something to blog about.

Another change: you aren't going to see too many sponsored posts.  We've decided that making money from this blog isn't our goal.  It's a hobby for us- not a business.  If we share a product with you, it’s because we really love it and would or do use it ourselves.  Ditto with advertisers in our sidebar.  If they’re there, it’s because we think YOU would love them.

We want blogging to be fun for us, and we want you to enjoy visiting with us.  We want you to know us more as friends and people who are just like you.  If you’re here just for the crafts, we understand.  But we hope you’ll take time to read our thoughts, learn a little about our lives, and share yours with us too. 

Thanks for taking this ride with us- we’ve missed you!  

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