Two year blogging anniversary & questions

Today is my two year blogging anniversary!  

image via

As promised, I am answering all your questions.  I apologize in advance for the wacky formatting, I can't figure out why there are such wide gaps between each paragraph. 

1)  I would like to know about how you plan (if you do) your posts. Especially the DIY project ones.


I don't plan my posts, really.  I attempt to blog Tuesday through Friday, and any more than that is just gravy.  I try to post non-decor/personal stuff on Fridays, although I reserve the right to post whatever I want whenever I want.  I usually blog at night after the kids go to bed. I set my posts to publish at 3 am, so that East Coast readers can read them with their morning coffee.  

I usually blog about whatever decor stuff happens to be on my mind--stuff I like, stuff I'm looking to do in my own house, whatever DIY project I have going on.  I look at this blog as sort of an online repository of my own life and what I'm interested in.  That occasionally includes my kids, but my interests are wider than just my family, and I am always struggling with the fine line of sharing versus oversharing.    


I really don't plan my DIY or any other decor posts.  If I do a decor project over the weekend, I'll blog about it during the week.  I have a running list of projects I want to get to, and time and money play a large part in how quickly I get to them.  I am not a strict decor blog, churning out projects for the sake of blogging about decor--this blog is my hobby, my way of connecting with the world.  If I do something I love (or hate), I share it.  

 2) Do you do anything different in the summer when the kids are around more?

In prior years, not really.  My oldest child does well with a lot of structure and activity, so I usually have him enrolled in a summer day camp.  Summer is not all that different from the school year.  


This year he is in a year round school, so his summer vacation is only four weeks long, and I haven't figured out what to do for that four weeks. (I should get on that.)  I have a feeling that the month of July will not feature much in the way of house projects.  


3) what does Mr. Trapped think of how you're decorating the house? 


I asked him, and here's what he said: 


I really like the house.  I love the colors and the young casual vibe (especially the living room and the boys room). I also like how you've used color and art to make otherwise formal elements in our bedroom appear more casual and young. 


4) Are you happy with the move to California? Do you see yourself settling down in California?


Ah...if this is asking if I like California, I guess the answer is.... I guess so.  (Damned with faint praise.) California has potential.  I don't hate it.  This is as nice a place to live as anyplace else. 


The weather is nearly always pleasant. This town has a highly rated school system.  The commute for the Mister is 13 minutes, door to door. There's plenty of shopping, its centrally located between two major cities, close to the mountains,and  the beach. 


This town is chock full of mediocre restaurants, but there are some very good restaurants a few towns over.  


Regardless of how I feel about California, we are here for a while.  The Mister landed his dream job, he plans to spend a good long while in this job, and thus, here we are.  I'd say we will be living in this general vicinity (maybe not this particular town, but nearby) for at least 7 to 10 years.   

5) Have you found any neighborhoods in the area you would like to live in? 

Good question!  We have seen a few towns that we are interested in living in.  Essentially our choices come down to two options.  

First is the town we are currently renting in, which has two very strong things going for it--a great commute and an excellent school system.  Cons for our current town include Extremely Expensive Real Estate (this town did not get the memo about the Great Housing Crash of 2008).

Option 2 is a cluster of towns about a half hour away.  These towns generally have housing that is more affordable, lovely town centers, and just seem generally like more interesting places to live.  Unfortunately, the schools systems aren't as good as where we are.  Also, the commutes are generally 40+ minutes.  We are still exploring our options; we haven't made any decisions yet.  

6) Have you made any friends out there? 


I have made acquaintances who may one day turn into friends, but no, I have not made any actual friends yet. People here seem nice, Greg's classmates' parents are nice people, and hopefully eventually we will all have friends here. And then we will buy a house in a different neighborhood and start the whole process all over again.  

Honestly, this is the hardest part of moving.  I am not the most gregarious person in the room, and I am heartily tired of trying to find people I like and want to be friends with, only to move six months after meeting them.  I just want to buy a house, never move again, make some damn friends for the last damn time and be done with it.  I would like for making friends to be a nice option rather than an imperative.  

Rah rah, putting yourself out there and personal growth and all that crap. 

7) What does Mr. Trapped think about the blog?

He says: 

I think the blog is great. I'm very proud of the work you put into it. It's very real and funny. I think you write a lot about stuff everybody deals with but nobody like to air.  It's earnest and refreshing, even if you exaggerate my abilities as a handy man.

8) How do you feel about the blog, 2 years later? Why do you enjoy blogging and how do you stay motivated to keep blogging? 

I'm so glad I started it.  I love the people I've met through it and all of the great blogs I've found from people who've commented.  Its given me a sense of community and feeling connected to others, and an outlet for sharing stuff I like to do.  


As for motivation, I look at the blog as fun hobby. If I want to blog, I blog. If I don't have anything to say, I don't.  I usually have enough stuff floating around in my head to share....its not a chore, because its usually sharing stuff I love.  (My unexpected blog break last week was due to being really really busy and not having enough time to sit down at night and write a post, not a break due to being unmotivated.)  I think that if I were trying to use this blog as a business or if it were my job to write a post a day, I might have a harder time staying motivated. 


On the personal side I try to share my day to day life to keep the family informed. I think of what I would talk to my sisters about if they were sitting at my table.  For me, it is a conversation, not a duty.  I guess motivation is not a problem for me at this time. 

9) What is your favorite DIY project you’ve ever completed?


Ooh, tough one.  I am extremely fond of the blue lionhead dresser.  And my splatter painting.


10) What upcoming projects do you have in mind, and are you especially excited for any of them?


That would be the entire house.  Seriously--every room in the house is livable but unfinished.  I have ideas for every single room, but the budget lags behind the ideas.  


I have to keep reminding myself that this house isn't permanent.  We are not in this house forever, or even probably past two or three years.  I'm trying really hard to make this house attractive and function as we want it to, but not overspend on items that won't be repurposed in another house.  


Case in point, there is a cutout pony wall between the dining room and the living room.  It looks dumb and I hate it.  I'm hunting for a screen to go in that spot to cover it up, and I don't want to spend more than $50 on it.  I have found some truly fabulous screens (you will probably see them in a blog post soon), but they are all $400 or more, and that's way too much to spend on an item I doubt I will need in the next house.  I think that if I could find what I want in my price range I could make it over pretty fabulously.  I just haven't found it yet. 


I should probably put up a list of everything I want to do in this house, room by room.  i see a blog post in my future. 


And there you have it, folks.  Thanks for asking the questions, thanks for coming back and reading what I write, thanks for commenting, and I love you all, invisible internet friends.