if you can't say anything nice...move to Boston

[An aside about my post title: I mean it in the most cordial of tones. I own that it did take a while before I embraced the common use of the eff-bomb in ordinary, everyday Massachusetts vernacular. Whereas I once thought Yankees had all the charm of a snake, after two years in residence up yonder, I see their affably blunt manner in a new light. Bostonians say fuck with aplomb, demonstrating at once both their status as a person of the world--a reckon-able force, I daresay--and their passionate candor. The Irish blood shows itself in their heightened color, irresistible sarcasm, and a retributive justice that lends a simple ardor to their storytelling (see also: Bill Burr). When I ponder migrating southbound again, it's surprisingly this aspect of New England life that gives me pause more than any other. I've grown fond of telling it like it is, y'all. And so I wonder, would I be able to speak as bluntly in the honey-dripping, bless-your-heart Deep South? I fear not.]

I feel I owe you some deets after missing another blogging day yesterday. It is complicated, this 31-days-of-posts business. Let's get on with it, shall we? I'll begin by telling you that when I brought the kids home from school today, I stood in the kitchen for five minutes, "making out furiously with a jar of Nutella." I blame Nate, who suggested I might eat more calories now that I am pseudo-training for a triathlon. Thanks, dear.

In my defense of the Nutella binge, allow me mention that winter has finally beaten me into a dazed submission. It started snowing while I was milling about the preschool hallway, and I cried actual tears on my friend's shoulder while she patted my back. Me!, grown woman who does not cry (that would be my Native American name, I think). We are simpatico, these girls and me, and I feel lucky to have some best-good friends who understand the meltdowns of a transplanted southerner WHO JUST WANTS TO FEEL FUCKING WARMTH ON HER SKIN IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK.

This morning (I realize I'm going backward, but that's how stream of consciousness works sometimes) an older lady in my neighborhood was wearing a plastic grocery bag on her hair while walking to her car. So this is still A Thing, this bag-over-the-hairdo thing?!  I'd like to have a serious discussion with you about this sighting. I remember ladies doing this practice when I was a child, but somehow I thought the passage of a few decades would mean the extinction of such a behavior. The fact that it is alive and well means the following scary truth: Daughters of those ladies witnessed their mothers' placement of the bag, laughed at them, and yet. Yet! Somewhere along the line these same women thought "This seems like a good idea" and started doing it too. I would like to go on record now to my future grown children that if I ever start wearing a plastic bag on my head, you have my permission to pull it the rest of the way down. Because, no.

In closing, I present to you a sweet picture of my kids huddling close to each other during the scary part of a movie (Cars, I think? I can't imagine what scared them, haven't sat down to watch it yet). Pay no mind to the clean but unfolded sheets under them on the chair.

p.s. I'm not raising toilets either

Among members of my dad's family, there are some well-known parenting phrases that came from my great grandmother, who had eight children and lived to be 92. It's hard to pick a favorite. When asked how she raised so many children so well, she always replied "With one blind eye and one deaf ear." I love that one because it's basically the only way I've stayed sane since becoming a mom.

The one I've got on my mind this week is "I'm raising children, not furniture." She would say it whenever one of the kids would spill, break, or generally mistreat an object in her home. I love it because it's so true! Whatever angry outburst that I am inclined to have when my kids break something is never worth it compared to the positive and lasting worth of the patience and love I can show them instead.

That's not to say I don't erupt from time to time, like when they combined forces to make the toilet overflow yesterday, just so they could "use the potty fixer thing like Mommy does," and I walked in to find water drowning the floor, the kids, and my humility. La di da, la di da.

I find another use of this phrase--perhaps unintended by Great Grandma--is an internal mantra when I'm pondering whether to play with my kids or clean up. Tonight we voted for playing dominoes at the dining room table instead of doing the dishes. And so, okay, dishes aren't furniture, but the general meaning is the same.

Random assortment of above-the-sink collectibles. Items change weekly but never disappear completely.

The likely reason I've got the phrase on my mind this week is that instead of doing my nightly cleaning and organizing, I've been writing and reading. I have gotten back into the swing of writing every day, even if it's only a paragraph, and I'm immensely enjoying myself. NaBloPoMo (the blogging every day thing) really helps me get the gears turning. Tonight I'm doing more reading than writing, since I am doing my part to vote for The Bloggies. Check it out, but don't say I didn't warn you about the potential for time suckage.

Be well and stay dry,
~J

how to build your blog readership

How I ward off writer's block: Caffeine and sugar. It works!

One of the greatest tips I've learned about writing is that the best way to get over writer's block is to write every day. In that spirit, I'm planning to blog every day in March! I have a few recipes, some ideas that have been bouncing around my mind, and some great guests who are going to join us. I'll start today with a practical post about blogging.

I recently wrote to a friend who is starting to blog for her business with some of my tips for how she can build followers. I realized after finishing the email that I had written a lengthy list of ideas that could also be useful to others.

I seem to have been pretty good at developing a group of followers on my blog (hey you guys!). The Facebook page is another story, but maybe if I do a better job of asking people to like it--I have a hard time doing that--I'll be more successful there. If you're reading this, why not pop over there and say hi or share it with your friends? Thanks!

One of the most important tricks of website traffic is the number of sites that link to you. I find that at first, no one was finding my blog in Google, but now I get followers that way because my search engine hits are so much higher.


Here are a few ways to jumpstart your blog:

1) Join link parties/blog hops. I'm not big on these any more because they are so time-consuming, but I think they are worthwhile when you are just starting to blog. The following link parties (i.e. blog hops) are a few of my favorites:

• Monday: Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania
• Tuesday: Extraordinary Ordinary's Just Write 
• Wednesday: We are That Family's  Works for Me Wednesday draws lots of natural parenting, real food cooking, doula, homeschooling folks
• Thursday: "Your Green Resource" is run by several blogs, but I follow Sorta Crunchy 
• Friday: Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday 

2) Join a "blog carnival," where you write a post on a specific subject that is listed on a single page with a bunch of other bloggers' articles on that topic. Here's a list of natural parenting carnivals.


3) Guest post on another blog in your topic area. Start with local writers, and stick with writers in your metier. My best writing is always on subjects near to my heart. I'm happy to have you post on mine too, just send me your pitch! One way to get guests is to reciprocate and allow them to post on your blog.


4) Quarterly online magazines and group networks are a GREAT way to get followers. I write for "Rhythm of the Home" and "Natural Parents Network."


If you want ads, you need to establish a blog and have a certain number of pageviews first. The second way both to get traffic and to make money is sponsorships. You can pay to "sponsor" another blog, which means you buy a little square ad in the sidebar. Then you can run some on your blog too. You'll see a few in my sidebar over there >>>>>.

Author's Note: This post is part of LHITS DIY Linky.

yours, mine, & ours: best of 2012

Is instant nostalgia a blogger thing or is it a product of my generation? Whatever the reason, I'm enjoying the 2012 recaps I've been reading (see: mermag, local kitchen, Doodles & Jots). And since I did my own recap last year, I thought I'd make a tradition out of it and do another.

the seven year itch

This just in: I have officially been blogging for seven years! Sometimes putting my thoughts out into the world makes me feel like that guy up there (minus the man junk), but mostly blogging is a wonderful part of my life. I am so thankful--and frankly surprised!--to have all of you lovely readers.

happiness feels like this

Hello Readers! Did you miss me? Is that the most narcissistic thing I could ask? Perhaps I should start with: How are you? I hope you are enjoying the spring. I enjoyed my week off of blogging, but I actually missed talking to you more than I thought I would. But I also loved reading the guests posts along with y'all, just like one of the gang. Tell me, had you ever pondered raising rabbits for food previously? And are you thinking about it now? I also already feel more organized after Barb's great tips on creating a routine. Just as soon as I can pry myself from Pinterest, I plan to enact some of them.

What else can I tell you about us? Let's see, Charlie would probably like me to report that I am failing in the "Remember which pasta shape my kids loves most this week" department. You see, pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs is her favorite lunch, one that she would like at every meal and nothing else (except maybe a few peas), thank you very much. And she made what was--in her mind--a very clear move away from the mini bow ties (not the big ones, mind you. What are you thinking?) and toward the direction of the wagon wheels. Yesterday I made a big batch of mini bow ties, and when I put a bowl of them in front of her, she gave me a look which can only be saying "Excuse me, but I'm pretty sure I ordered a bowl of wagon wheels." We have opinions around here, people.

Lucky for her she's cute. Minus the dried snot.

hello new peeps

Hello! This is my first time joining up with the Ultimate Blog Party. I'm a little late to the party, as I just discovered many people sign up at midnight with their posts. These must be the twentysomething bloggers. If you are a veteran reader, you can probably skip this post, unless you'd like to meet moi all over again.

So hi there! Allow myself to introduce...myself. I am an urban homesteader who writes about natural family living. I strive to do more with less. My posts vary from recipes to daily life to parenting, but they all generally originate from my simplicity-focused philosophy on life, aka. my {minimalist manifesto}. You can learn more about me on my {first time here?} page and {about} page. There's even more to learn on my list of {32 things} and my post about {the fam}.

That's a lot about me! But I'd also like to learn about you. I welcome comments, and I hope this blog will become a place that you come to share ideas and learn from each other. I have also begun welcoming guest posts, so if you would like to contribute to the blog, please email me at lonehomeranger [at] gmail [dot]com. I welcome ideas related to real food, do-it-yourself homesteading, and any other topic related to simple and healthy living. I hope to have a page up soon with some guidelines to help you get the most out of contributing a guest post.

Today has become a twosome post kind of day, and depending on when my contributions to other blogs air, it could become a threesome or foursome kind of day. Which is not a bad thing at all!

I'm so glad you're here, and I hope you'll be back soon.
xoxo
~Justine

and the band played on

Progress.

Yesterday I had a day of mixed emotions. Mostly, I was super psyched because I shared my first post with the Carnival of Natural Parenting, a huge step for me in my quest to allow myself to be vulnerable with you in this bloggy space. I got some great feedback (yay!) and was feeling the love. Additionally, I was invited to write guest posts on two of my favorite blogs! And, I'm having my own set of guest posts next week by some lovely writers! But, I also encountered my first snark attack.

sharing is caring: {blogger lessons}

I'm sharing this post because I've been asked my opinion by bloggy friends on some web tools, so I thought I'd blab my thoughts with y'all on what I've been reading and learning about recently. I'll be back tomorrow to dish on some of my inaugural canning lessons (spoiler alert: I broke my jar cherry..and broke a jar!); if blogging isn't your thing, I hope you'll catch me on the flip side. If, however, you are a blogger, I hope you'll find this information useful. On a related note, I also wrote a few tutorials a while back that you might be interested in: How to make a blog button and How to make a social media bar.

A quick disclaimer: I'm sharing what I know as I learn, but if you feel like something I say doesn't jive with your knowhow, please speak up! I hope this blog will be a positive learning space for everyone, including and perhaps most notably me.

simplicity vs. minimalism

Are they the same thing? Which of these titles do you prefer? Perhaps it's best not to ponder that question too much, or risk defeating the purpose of both words. Ah, yes, it's a paradox. Or is it a conundrum?

As I've begun to define my parenting philosophy over the years, I have vacillated between the two terms. A quick search on Pinterest demonstrates there IS a subtle difference between the two.

Simplicity can get you this...

Source: backlessshirt.blogspot.com via Angela on Pinterest

Not what I call simple.

rollin' with my homies

Future surgeon, or future nerd?

Ha! Yeah, I went there with the ridiculous post title. Blame my cocktail (Gosling's black rum, grapefruit juice, ice. Muy delicioso). Who could resist, when the Apartment Therapy blog awards are called "The Homies"? A bunch of fantastic blogs are on these nomination lists, including yours truly on the Best Family Blog list. I recommend settling in and spending some time checking out these links. I've already discovered a great blog called bleubird. I'm late to the party, but what's new on the old frontier?

And hey, while you're on there, why not do a quick clickey-poo vote for my blog? You have to sign up for a free account, but it takes all of a few seconds, and Apartment Therapy is way worth the quick sign in. If you haven't seen their site yet, you're in for a night of some fun surfing. You're welcome!

you found me how, round 2

I have a confession to make. Okay, so it's not a biggie confession, but sometimes it's nice just to get the feelings out there on the table, knowwhatimeanvern? I used to be so paranoid about what I said on the blog, as though the comments I made about running around bra-less would one day be used against me in a job interview or during a bank loan meeting. Or maybe there'd be this stalker who would just love to know all about my trips to the farmer's market. It was a thing, my worrying. Probably silly, but there you have it.

the finish line

Today is the final day of LoHoRaBloPoMo, my month of daily blogging. What a month this has been, both for the blog and for me! I began sharing my blog for the first time to a wider audience than just close friends and family. Put simply, wow. I am humbled by all the attention the blog has received. A very heartfelt thank you for reading!

Combining the 23-day frugal living challenge with my daily blogging turned out to be a great idea because I had a continual source of inspiration when it didn't come from within. This led to some posts that garnered exponentially higher hits than I'm used to getting. As my aunt said, I may have just found my metier. Here are the top five posts in order of popularity...

social media buttons: copy my code for your blog

Today I am sharing how you can make social media buttons (Facebook, Twitter, etc. like you see on the upper right corner of my blog) appear on your blog. Before I could do that, I first had to figure out how to put html code in my blog without it being interpreted as code. Here's where I went to figure that out.

Rather than tell you all the steps I went through to find these pieces of code and what I did to make sure they were in a line and spaced mostly equally, I am sharing the finished product. Be sure to replace my code (i.e. what you see highlighted in red.) with yours in the appropriate locations, or else you'll be sending people to my pages. Not so bad for me, but not so good for you either.

you found me how?!

I got the idea to post about the crazy ways people find my blog via Word Nerd Speaks. This is my first installment, aside from the time I laughed about geese and Tim Geithner, of what I imagine will be a more frequent occurrence of the people who find my blog through strange and sometimes hilarious Google searches. The following are some of the #youfoundmehow searches from this month:

tutorial: design your own blog buttons

A few days ago I would have never thought I'd be sharing my tips on designing anything using a computer. I'm not the most tech-savvy person. If I can do it, so can you! I'm even new to using the techie lingo; up to a few days ago I'd never even used the words banner, button, or badge in this context.

just say no

Find out more about SOPA/PIPA by reading this page. Then contact your members of Congress. Oh, and don't forget to check out the always hilarious The Oatmeal's take on SOPA.

tending my livestock

"Everybody's coming back to take stock of their lives. You know what I say? Leave your livestock alone." -Minnie Driver, Gross Pointe Blank

What's on your New Year's Day agenda? Are you cleaning? Shopping? Enjoying the outdoors? Taking stock of your life in 2011?

same blog, different name

Editor's Note:
I was planning to share this idea later on, but what I just discovered is that when you buy a domain name to go with your blog, it happens RIGHT NOW. No turning back, y'all. And so, here we go!...

Off and on, I've been considering changing what I call the blog for a while. "Aimless digressions" made a lot of sense back in 2005 when I first started blogging. Back then, I often found myself writing rambling tangents about life in my twenties, travel, politics, and our many moves, but there was no common thread to represent the musings. I quite literally aimlessly digressed.

Much has changed since then, namely that I became a mom. Suddenly, I had this crazy fun and incessantly needy human being to care for, and it made for a lot of writing material. Although I still ramble and digress, I think for the most part my posts have taken on a common theme of the trials and successes of a thirty-something parent. More specifically, I often feel that I am forging a new path in parenthood; I am one of the first of my friends and family in our generation to have kids, and similarly I am one of the first I know to quit my job to stay home with my kids for a time.

Thus, we have arrived at my desire to change my name. I suppose I should say change my name again; for those of you who have been following the blog since the beginning (hi Dad!), there was a short time during our England stay where I called the blog something like "Justine & Nate's Adventures in the UK."

Without further ado, I am proud to present the new me: the lone home ranger. The idea for the name blossomed out of a post I wrote back in September, in which I waxed poetic about being a "stay at home mommy." I eschew that title, ditto homemaker and housewife, which has left me feeling nameless.

That post was a bit long-winded, and looking back it appears to be more of a tirade than I had intended. But here's the gist. Calling myself a home ranger feels much more "me," and although I sometimes feel alone, my blog helps me feel there are compadres out there who are also experiencing life's laugh-out-loud ridiculous, happy, crazy moments. My hope for this blog is that it can be a place we can experience these moments together.

So... what do you think? Like my therapist always says, brutal honesty is the only way we are going to get anywhere. Lemme know your thoughts, brutal or otherwise.

Smooches,
J

I'm all analytical and stuff

I took a gander at the list of my blog posts to see which ones get more hits. Here are three things I've learned about my blog readers:

1) No one cares about the farm bill,

2) everyone hates Brussels sprouts, and

3) I need to post more baby stories.

I need to produce more babies to accomplish number three. I'm off to tell Nate my new angle on why we should have another child. My dedication to you, dear readers, is fierce.

Another part of my life that I am prone to (over) analyze is the amount of stuff we own. I do this activity on a regular basis in which I wander around the house, shaking my head at the build-up. The toys, the tschotchkes, the random keys, the remaining lined three-hole-punched paper from grammar school. Where does it come from, this load of absolute crap? As someone who loves to purge, I find it maddening that I still seem to own SO MUCH STUFF.

A tip I learned from my dad about the children's toys is to adopt a three-month toy rotation. This concept is likely self-explanatory, but I will briefly enlighten you on the process. I take a box, gather up a bunch of stuff they don't play with on a daily basis, and cart it down to the basement, where it sits until Vivi asks for it or until she's bored with the toys upstairs. Not rocket science, right?

There is an additional wrinkle to this shell game. If the kids never ask about it in three months, and it's a toy we hate, it goes into the Goodwill box. Sayonara, cat piano. It's been real.

Oh, also, don't let your kids see you boxing up the stuff, or you'll inevitably have a drama on your hands, starring your poor little orphan child who really waaaannnnnts that particular toy even though they haven't played with it in a month.

I had just completed two boxes worth of toy rotation when the mailman came with a special delivery of Nate's childhood stuff, courtesy of his parents' purging. I'm 100% in favor of everyone cutting down on the accumulation of things, so I support their mission. But GAWD it is a bunch o' boxes.

There are some wonderful treasures in the bunch! Do you love old wooden toys as much as I do?

I was thrilled to discover that Nate's Uncle Frank had hand-crafted a giant train set for him, and Vivi was as joyful to receive it as I was to open it. Just in time for the holidays. Train sets create a festive mood, don't they? Check out the perfect little details.

Thanks Uncle Frank!