My blogging friend, Dianna, often uses the phrase “Head down, blinders on” to encourage us to focus on what we have set out to do. I’ve been dutifully applying it this month. If you look at what I’ve posted in June, you’ll see it hasn’t been much. I have been adding content to the forum from time to time. I’ve also kept up with obligations I had for reviews and such. But other than that it’s all been behind the scenes until yesterday when I republished the Prudent & Prepared Homemaker Series. I’ve also been very bad about replying to comments and I apologize for that.

From Cozy to Simple

Part of the work was changing most of the “cozy living” language on my site to “simple living.” Why? It’s just easier to use the term simple living. People can immediately connect with it when they arrive here. I’m still going to talk about cozy living, but using it as a key phrase to build content around wasn’t working. It was making things way more complicated than I wanted them to be moving forward. My desire is to help women improve their life so if I can remove a clunky layer that needs to be explained when they come to my site for the first time, then that’s a good thing.

So this has necessitated redoing a lot of products and posts.

Learning Printables

We’re also still in the process of updating all of my learning printables. Many haven’t been updated in three years which is a long time in printable land. If you’ve purchased things in my shop, be sure to see if they have been updated so you can get the fresh new version. You’ll be able to tell because it will have the stitched ribbon band and logo along the bottom of the cover.

So, for example, if you go to the Reading and Writing section of the shop, you can tell that (at the present moment) Apples, Pumpkins, America, December, Spring, Picnic, etc. have been updated but others we’re still working on. I hope you’ll download the new versions because they really are much improved.

New Website Design

You can see that we’ve installed a completely new WordPress theme. It has streamlined everything behind the scenes and is amazingly simple to use.

I’ve gone around and around on the layout of my site in recent years. What I have always wanted was a magazine type theme because I’ve wanted to build a magazine type site with multiple in-depth categories. However, we could never find a magazine theme that was beautiful and didn’t look overwhelming. There was one blog I found who had something very close to what I wanted, but it had some deal breakers so I kept looking.

I then happened across someone using this theme and That. Was. It. Not only did I like the theme, I liked the way she used it. I’ve looked at many other websites that used the same theme and didn’t like them nearly as well. So we bought the theme and set about to making it my own through some customizing details. I still have quite a few things to clean up, but my goal is July 7 to be all caught up so I can do NEW THINGS. WOO HOO!

Antennae Up

At the same time I’ve been head down, blinkers on I’ve also been (in typical Sallie fashion) what I’m going to call “antennae up”

There were probably fifty posts I could have written this month. So much has been happening in the church and in the world and I’ve been trying to keep up with it all and determine how it all fits together. I’ve gone looking for information and found new podcasts with helpful people. Since a lot of the website and product work I had to do behind the scenes was rather mindless, I could stream podcasts while working. I’ve been sharing some in the forums and will share more below and in the days ahead.

Here are some post topics I could have written (in random order but kind of grouped by big themes). In fact, some of these will still be coming. Some of these are related to current events as well as other topics. There is simply no way to avoid talking about what’s going on in my own life without discussing how it is being impacted by the culture. So I’ll mention them here, but the links will be in the forum because the discussions should take place in there.

Here are the things I’m thinking…

Beth Moore and Women Being Deceived

This section was moved to a separate post: Women Are More Easily Deceived & Thoughts on Beth Moore

Social Media Related

I deleted my Instagram account. I never used it and I’m only one person, but I’m doing what I can to continue to fight Big Tech and censorship.

I try to avoid using CensorTube as much as possible and will watch people on their website or Bitchute if they are on there. I only use Twitter when I need to find a tweet to embed in the forum or a post. I wish more people would quit Facebook, Twitter, etc. and help take them down.

I’m on Parler. I’ve been on there for a year, but didn’t do much. The massive influx of people in the past week leads me to believe that this might be the tipping point. (I wrote about this in the forum.) If you want to be on a social media platform where there is no algorithm blocking what you can see and free speech is allowed, please join. If you believe in the First Amendment, make an account. Make your voice heard even in a small way by supporting something like Parler.

Events in America

My policy of almost never commenting publicly on developing stories has been proven correct multiple times just in this month alone. The first parts are almost always false. Convington, anyone? Smollet, anyone? Now even more of them.

Sororities in the National Panhellenic Conference are now in the process of purging their rituals of “white ideals and perspectives” which is coded critical race theory language for Christian content (Scripture passages, references to Christ, etc.). They have gone full woke and it won’t end well. I got into a lengthy discussion online regarding this and pointed out the slippery slope this opens up. I’ve half written a post about this and am even more convinced of what I said after watching my own Tri Delta initiation ritual this weekend online when they did a virtual initiation. I knew exactly which part they would remove and they did. It emptied the ritual of the most beautiful and meaningful imagery. Most sorority alumnae have no idea their ritual is being dismantled in the name of purging “white ideals and perspectives” as Delta Gamma phrased it. (Post now here: Breaking Our Bonds: Wokeness Will Destroy National Panhellenic Conference Sororities)

A few months ago, Tim Pool did series of videos about millennial women and feminists who are upset that men don’t want to date them, marry them, who feel unfulfilled, etc. I wanted to write a post about it but never got around to it. What we are seeing right now is the result of telling women that they are only fulfilled if they are basically men, if they sleep around, if they buy that sex has no meaning, don’t get married, children are a burden, abortion solves all your problems, etc. We are seeing women who are born with the God-given propensity to nurture who have turned that natural impulse into self-loathing and empathy that is destructive not only to themselves but our entire culture.

Okay, I have to stop and post this. I know it’s kind of all over the place and haphazard but I wanted to connect with everyone today. I could be at this all day with all I’ve been contemplating the past month. LOL!

Lots of work still to do.

Back again soon.