Our New Adventure

We've had nothing else to do the past few months so Mason and I decided to start a new blog together.  Yeah right.  But we did decide to start a new blog.  We're very excited about it and wanted to tell you, our friends and family, first.

A little background about the blog...  The job hunt has been a struggle for Mason.  The economy has hit his industry hard, his experience is very specialized and, despite continued looking, there just aren't many jobs available for which he's qualified.  As he's looked and looked and sent out resumes, he's had some very discouraging days.  Then one day, in a networking meeting he attended, someone mentioned that it's important to do something you enjoy outside of the job hunt to keep you from getting burned out and to help with motivation.  As we talked through the different things Mason could do, blogging came up.  

As you also probably know, I love blogging.  I started this blog when I was just pregnant with Andrew.  I've had a healthy, and also a not-so-healthy at times, addiction to blogging.  I've read quite a few blogs for quite a while and feel I know a bit about them.  I suggested that we
start a blog about something he really enjoys, like photography or gardening.  He wasn't so sure until I showed him some of my favorite blogs and he realized that they are a potential money maker.  Now, we both know that blogs are not huge money makers by any means, or at least the majority of them aren't, but we thought that this new blog would be a good project for him in the interim and a fun hobby for us to do together, and, hey, if it brought in a buck or two, all the better. 

We started talking about topics and finally decided upon homesteading.  It's a dream for both Mason and I so we thought we would blog about our desire to homestead and become more self-sufficient.  Well, one idea led to another, and to another, and finally our focus isn't so much about homesteading anymore.  We still hope to be able to homestead someday but it's more than that.  It's about the type of lifestyle that we want to live, that we're trying to live.  It's about how we want to raise our children, the type of relationship that we want to have with each other and with others. 

Our new blog is A Good and Simple Life: In search of the Good Life through Simplicity, Frugality and Self-sufficiency.  We hope it to be a motivational blog that encourages families to slow down, set proper priorities and enjoy one another and the world around them.  As things seem to be moving faster and faster and people are seeking more and more stuff, we want our family to be moving in the opposite direction.  We know that in many ways this lifestyle will take more effort.  It will take more time to cook from scratch rather than relying on packaged meals... it will take more time to grow a garden than to just buy produce at the store... it will take more effort to play a game after dinner than to plop in front of the TV.  But at the end of this type of busy day, we will be able to feel a sense of accomplishment and contentment rather than the frenzied exhaustion that seems so prevalent around us. 

We're excited and we're having fun.  It's been an interesting experience already.  I'm not quite sure how Mason is feeling but I feel quite rusty at this whole writing thing.  Hopefully once I get those muscles stretched out again it will come a bit easier. 

Mason wrote a beautiful post in honor of Mother's Day.  Head on over and check it out.  Let us know what you think too!!

Happy Mother's Day!! :)