Launched At Last!

That’s right, my blog is finally up and running! Transferring over all of my posts from Meal Train proved to be more complicated and time consuming than I had anticipated, but it’s DONE! There are still some changes that need to happen (i.e. making sure each post has a featured picture, adding tags, some other cosmetic changes I want to make, etc.), but it feels good to officially move off of Meal Train. I will likely still put my next few posts on Meal Train as well to help make the transition, but then it’ll be 100% on the blog.

Another thing I wanted to mention was getting emails notifying people when I have written a new blog post. There is a way for me to move over the email addresses of people who are currently receiving emails for Meal Train updates, and I have gone back and forth if my doing so would be helpful or intrusive. After thinking about it and getting opinions from other people, I’ve decided that it would probably be simpler if I do move over those subscribers, especially because it is very easy to unsubscribe if someone doesn’t want to receive those email notifications. But, if you are not currently receiving emails through Meal Train and would like to know when I post, please sign up! (Seriously, help abate this loneliness here! There’s a sort of reassurance or comfort that comes from feeling like people actually hear you when you write or say something. And I have genuinely come to treasure my “Meal Train family.”) It’s really easy, along the top of the home page there is a place to put in your name and email address. And while I know that my self worth is not based off of things like Facebook likes or number of subscribers, I’m not above admitting that I do hope to eventually get a lot of subscribers. Stay tuned, because I have big plans for this blog!

So what is my new blog address? You can find me at

www.stillbeingsmelted.com

For those who have been following this blog for a bit, you know that each year I like to choose a word to represent what I want to focus on for the next year. My word for 2021 was “smelting.” With the year starting with Kendall about to receive his bone marrow transplant, and the many following challenges we were anticipating, it certainly felt like it was going to be a smelting type of year. While I didn’t know that we would lose Kendall less than three months later, I did know that there were some hard trials ahead for our family. And recognizing how much I had already learned and grown in the previous four months, I did have hope that we could end the year, no matter what it entailed, even further refined. So yes, smelting seemed appropriate. (I’ll reflect on how I think I lived up to my word of “embrace” during 2022 in a post at the end of the year.)

But this title for my blog seemed to fit, because there is no question that I am continuing to be stretched, and I know that I am becoming a better, more “pure” version of myself, even if the process can often feel painful. I’m in this for the long game, and I’m looking ahead to a life full of smelting experiences. Everyone has trials, that’s life. But mine aren’t going to break me or set me back permanently. I honestly welcome progress and growth that I will continue to make, the things I still have to (get to) learn. I’m grateful for my life, as it is and how it is going to be.

Back to the blog, though. I do want to apologize for the onslaught of blog posts there will likely be in the next week or two. I’ve hesitated posting anything on Meal Train the past few weeks when I was so close to having this blog up and running. But that means that I have an awful lot of updating to do, and quite a few posts I’ve already “written out” in my head that are itching to get out. And one of the things I am the most excited about, people can leave comments now!!!! You know that I’m all about back and forth interactions with people, so writing, posting, and not being able to get feedback on Meal Train did feel lopsided and even lonely at times. I hope to “hear” from people soon!

P.S. And for your viewing pleasure, here is a recent picture of our family, including my “grandson” Jeremy, the robot baby my daughter needed to bring home and take care of for one of her classes. (My youngest objects to my referring to him as “the creepy robot baby,” and she took very seriously her new role of “aunt” while he was in our home. Haha!) Guys, he woke up 10+ times each night! My real babies didn’t wake me up that many times, sheesh. Even so, we couldn’t resist getting a picture of the “whole family” while we had the chance. Can’t say we were especially sorry to see him go, though, despite that meaning I was relegated back to “only a parent” status with his leaving. I’m perfectly fine with still having a few years before I was even close to becoming a grandma, thanks!