Checking in!

I haven't been posting as much lately because I've been busy with my Marketing Certificate coursework.  It's loads of fun and super interesting and I can't wait to put what I've learned into action and share it with you all.

We've also been having little adventures around town, like we do, including Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival.  We even saw the Village People! (They're a good time.)

Good Things Happen to Those Who Hustle

I have BIG NEWS!  So, as I alluded to a couple of weeks ago, I've had something big in the works for a new educational opportunity.  Well, as of yesterday, I'm working on a graduate certificate in Marketing through Cornell's School of Business!  I'm ridiculously excited.  I've been searching for the right educational fit for me for awhile and I can't wait to learn more about the how and why of marketing, not just tips and tricks.

ANYWAY, because of this awesome opportunity, I won't have quite as much time to blog for the next few months because I'll be HUSTLING.  I'm planning on still posting at least once a week, so keep an eye out!

Cross stitch pattern PDF from SatsumaStreet on Etsy (I love her work)

All the best!

-Robin

It's Tuesday: Encouragement for the Week

So, like most bloggers, I normally have a few posts already written and scheduled to be published.  Alas, not today.  We went on a much needed mini-vacation/staycation to Orlando, about 45 minutes from home.  Obviously, life is stressful and it was wonderful to have a couple of days to relax and focus on each other.  

We got back into town last night and now I'm hustling to make up for lost time.  My grandmother needs my help today, so I'll be back to the blog later on today with my usual Travel Tuesday post.  

I thought I'd quickly share a verse that I've been meditating on this past week or so, as I try to find my way and work towards my goals...

I'll be back with more later!  Happy Tuesday!

-Robin

What I've accomplished this week

I have a tendency a lot of times to feel like I haven't accomplished much, no matter what I actually did do.  I know that isn't *always* true though, haha, so I'm compiling a list of what I've actually gotten done in the past few weeks.  Makes me feel a little better about myself and I think it will actually be a pretty good resource.  So here goes...!

I have my own domain name! Finally!

I've been super long overdue to get a custom domain name for a while now, but I was intent on getting other priorities taken care of first, like the new site design and getting established on Instagram.  However, it was becoming increasingly obvious that I couldn't put it off anymore, so I was super excited to see the new Google Domains.  There are pros and cons to it (see below), but it's the right option for where I'm at right now with blogging, so I went with it!  And now I'm *drumroll please*.... robinandrosedesign.com!  

Pros and Cons to the new Google Domains

Pros: 

It was really easy to do.  Just go to domains.google.com and search for available domain names.  Find the one you like and add it to your cart!  

I'm still on Blogger, so the transition for me was seamless.  I just chose to forward it to my blog.  I've heard that other hosting sites like godaddy.com can be a hassle (haven't tried myself), so I really appreciated the ease of setup.

I get a custom email address!  I thought this was really cool.  You can now email me at robin@robinandrosedesign.com, easy peasy!  Just set it up to forward to an existing email address, log in to that email to confirm, and you're good to go!

It was really affordable.  Most domain names are $12 for the year.  I like that I only have to pay once a year and it's a really great price as well.  The prices are based on predicted popularity (I think), so some domains are a little more expensive.

Cons:

I didn't quite realize this until we had finished, but the domain name just forwards to your blog.  What that means is someone can input your domain name to get to your site, but once they get there, it will still say "blogspot" or whatever in the web address.  I'm still playing with it, but it looks like it also still shows up as blogspot when I post links on Google + and that sort of thing.  

It may not be a long term solution.  I'm not exactly sure of the mechanics of the forwarding I mentioned above, but that's probably not going to be something that's workable long term.  I'm planning on getting off blogger and doing another redesign of the site next year if the blog continues to grow.

It's still in beta.  It's a new program and may change and evolve in the coming months.  

New Year, New Look

I can't believe it's 2015 already!  We had a great Christmas, but I'm ready to get back into the swing of things and start working towards new goals for the new year.  As I mentioned briefly last week, it took most of December to get a new look for the blog, but while it may have taken a little longer than I originally hoped, I'm super excited that it is debuting for the new year.

My goals for the new year mostly focus around continuing to grow the blog, especially through better, more targeted use of social media.  I even had the crazy idea of (finally) going back to grad school to get an MBA in Marketing, so I can learn to do this the really, really legit way and maybe be able to help other small businesses along the way.  We'll see, haha.

It's been almost exactly a year since I officially debuted my blog on Facebook with a feature of a wedding that I'd worked on.  I've come along away since then, but there's still a ton of room to grow. I'm excited for lots of new content this year, including more Shop Local features, more Florida Day Trips (super excited for that one, the research is fun!), more How To projects, and as always, lots of wedding and home fun.  

So to start the new year out with some new content, in addition to the new look, I give you... house photos!  We've worked really hard to learn how to use our new camera and while we're still not pros, we've gotten a lot better.  I still have a lot more to take, but here are some of the living room!

I'm happy to have some photos that could actually pass as 'afters'... there are still some 'befores' and 'durings'  on my house tour page.

Happy New Year!  Anyone else have any goals (maybe instead of resolutions per se) for the new year?

-Robin

The irony of being a new blogger

Blogging can be weird.  If you're writing about a particular subject matter (decorating/cooking/beauty/whatever else you can think of), you want to at least kind of seem like an authority.  No one's going to want to read your blog if you have no idea what you're talking about.  The ironic thing is that most of us in the hoards of eager new bloggers have no idea what we're doing.  So we're constantly trying to research and learn to do it better and for the most part, there's always a huge learning curve.

I'm certainly no different.  I've been struggling for a year with the look of my blog.  As a designer myself, I thought that I could make the blog look good on my own, without outside help.  I'm no graphic designer though and I realized that that was not the case.  I eventually realized that blog templates are readily available, especially on my old standby, Etsy.  (I don't know why it sometimes takes me so long to find stuff like this, but I digress...)  So I enlisted the help of Leanne from Brand Me Beautiful to help me get a new look.  

With the craziness of the holidays and a hospital stay on her part (yikes), it wasn't quite the quick fix that I thought it would be, but it's all up and running now and I'm so excited to finally have a nice looking blog.

Check back in the new year for lots of new content on my pretty new blog!

Under Construction

If you've visited the blog in the last few days, you've probably noticed that things are looking a little wonky.  I just got an awesome new template (and I'm pretty excited about it), but we're still working out some formatting issues.  I'll be back up and running with an awesome new look soon!

Bloglovin'!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I just discovered the website Bloglovin!  It allows you to follow all of your favorite blogs all in one place, with an easy to view layout.  I'm just getting started, but it looks like it will be helpful for discovering new blogs, something I'm always trying to do!

Check out my new profile