Blogger Inspiration

As you may have noticed, I've been writing a lot more lately!  I was so lucky to have been invited to an incredible "Lunch and Learn" event last week and it reignited my passion!  Hosted by Heather of Diary of a First Time Mom and The Motherhood, it felt so fabulous to escape from "the toddler zone" and have a grown up afternoon.

I was so incredibly impressed with the bloggers who were brought together for this afternoon of learning and fun,  We enjoyed a lovely lunch, and met together to share our writing experiences.  I was so humbled to realize that many of these women have been blogging for years, have made true life changing impacts on their readers, have made incredible partnerships, and many write every.single.day.

And while I felt like the blogging baby in the room, I remind myself that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  I hope you'll follow along as I begin my steps - day by day to bring My Tales with Two to a level that will bring you coming back for more!  I can't guarantee daily posts quite yet, but I can promise things will be much more regular around here!

Check out Heather's post at Diary of a First Time Mom to find out more about all of the amazing Pittsburgh Bloggers that were brought together, and see pictures from the event!

What topics would you like to see My Tales with Two cover?  Do you have a motherhood or twin challenge your curious how we managed?  I'd love to hear your ideas!


And as always, we hope you'll consider voting for us at Top Baby Blogs linked below!
  

Lazy Blogger

I have to admit - I'm a lazy blogger.  And I just wanted to write a post to justify and beg forgiveness.   'Cause ya know - I have a reason.  So here are my excuses for my recent absence in the blogosphere - some are definitely better than others.
- I have twins - this is the ultimate excuse.
- Brayden's Torticollis has been taking up lots of time with PT, Doctors Appointments and Stretching
- I've been making an effort to see the important people in my life a little more often,  I have seen every one of the people in my bridal party this past month, even though 50% of them live out of state.
- We've been traveling quite a bit, to Baltimore for Preakness, and will be going to Albany this weekend for Dan's cousin's wedding.
- I FINALLY pulled the trigger and bought an awesome camera (Canon T2i) and can't wait until tomorrow when it arrives.  I've been full of research.
- I'm struggling a bit with the babies in my frustration in my inability to soothe them simultaneously.  The stress is getting to me!
- Dan's computer was broken for a bit, so he was using mine whenever it was free.
- I've been trying to research my ancestry, and learn how to make hairbows.  I have more way more interests in new hobbies than I'll ever have time for.

Reasons why I will continue to be absent:
- I've signed up to take a photography class one night a week.
- We'll be having new challenges as the babies become more mobile, and I attempt to start making babyfood.  Oh the new stages we'll enjoy!

I know, excuses excuses.  My mom says "you can't do it all Heather" but boy will I always try.  Someday I'll get really serious about my blog.   In the meantime, I'm glad it's here, waiting to listen about my success and struggles, and all the celebrations along the way.

Don't forget to vote for us every day!

Oh Make Me Over

I've been spending more time in the world of blog-land, and am so jealous of all of the super lovely (professional, put-together, appealing) blogs out there and figured "I'm computer savvy - how hard could it be?"  After a week of obsessively scouring vector graphic databases, reviewing blogger tutorial forums, and struggling with HTML caos, I've decided it's pretty tough.

I'm such a perfectionist, and have an addictive personality when it comes to overcoming a challenge.  It's an asset when it means being committed to success (which explains why my twins are still getting breast milk despite two months of challenges), but that drive is also detrimental when it becomes an inability to "leave well enough alone."  My blogging goals aren't to monetize and make tons of cash, nor do I expect to be a famous blogging celebrity someday.  I don't even have the ego that needs fed by having 1000 subscribers.  I just like to reflect, and think that recording my thoughts through this journey will be fun to look back on.  It might entertain family and friends, or encourage another twin mom in her journey.  So I have no need to spend our limited budget on a blog designer.

I have done my little blog make-over myself.  And while it's certainly not perfect, I wanted to provide credit where credit is due.  I did find it pretty difficult to find the information I needed to get the job done.  Most tutorials I found were either so basic (as in "here's how to start a new post with blogger") or so advanced that there were completely unhelpful.  The few places that were helpful were amazing though, so perhaps these links will help someone else who finds themselves in the same predicament I did.

Banner and Widget Title Graphics: http://dryicons.com/free-graphics/category/frames-banners/
Customized myself in Adobe Illustrator (boy did I learn a thing or two playing around!)

Social Media Icons: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/04/24-free-exclusive-vector-icons-handy/ found http://bestdesignoptions.com/?p=13779
Created the matching Pinterest Icon since that wasn't included in the set.  Not too bad if I do say so myself!

Coding, Spacing, Etc: http://www.projectalicia.com/2011/01/idiots-guide-to-adding-social-media.html
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=5ec0a6e5c8b8c95f&hl=en
http://www.geekytricks.com/2011/08/how-to-increase-or-reduce-space-between-widgets.html

Still a few little tweaks I can make, but hoping I can let go of my perfection obsession long enough to enjoy my accomplishment in the meantime.