I’m kind of a hippie.  I tell my Mom it’s her fault.  I mean, she named me April Rose, which sounds like some kind of air freshener.  It’s only a step above Spring Rain in my opinion, so she should have known.

I’ve been a hippie for a long time.  In seventh grade I was wearing bell bottoms and discussing the Vietnam War.  In seventh grade, it was 1997.  I guess you could say I had identity issues, but I related with the lifestyle.  I remember writing in a sixth grade journal that when I grew up I wanted to be comfortable.  A lot of the kids around me would prefer to be rich and successful, but I was searching for equilibrium.

Now I’m an adult, believe or not, and that spirit never left me.  I’ve always considered myself pretty green and natural, but it wasn’t until recent years that I started working on that actively.  In the last few months, I’ve begun to realize that the steps I was taking weren’t nearly enough.  I think I was looking at my actions compared to the actions of some of those around me.  I was doing better than a lot of them so that meant I was doing good enough.  As the natural living / green / whatever-you-want-to-call-it movement has been catching on, I’ve seen a lot of people start taking bigger steps and I’ve realized how small my steps have been.  More people are feeling responsible for the way we treat our environment, our neighbors and our bodies and I want to join them.

I am excited about the changes I’m making in my life and I want to share them with others.  I love reading other people’s blogs and seeing their great ideas.  I want to be able to participate in that community as more than an observer.  I’m so glad that Sarah has asked me to contribute to Simply Sunshine.  I’m excited to share fun crafts, recipes and resources as well as my frustrations and success on pursuing a more natural, sustainable life.

Thanks for sharing the journey with me!

I’ve been doing this far too often, but real life calls. I’m dealing with some personal stuff & nursing a sick kitty, but I’ll return to regular posting soon. In the meantime, spend some time in reflection & listen to the falling rain. See ya later!

Over the weekend, you may have noticed some changes to simplysunshine.net – at times, some very bizarre ones. I hemmed & hawed over several schemes, including a few with the ever popular binder background as well as with the more complicated grassy footer. In the end though, I stuck with my intuitions and stuck with a minimalist theme inspired by an old LiveJournal layout I’ve used in the past.

You’ll also notice that the logo is completely new; I’m rather proud to tell you that I may that little cloud all by myself using nothing by default Photoshop 7.0 brushes – but I’d be lying if I said I was able to do it in one go. I must’ve made at least a dozen clouds before I finally settled upon a shape I really liked.

There’s far less over on the sidebar than they’re used to be – indeed, I did this purposely. I’m tired of the clutter I see on so many other blogs, begging you to click their links in order to make a bit of pocket change. Although I do still have a few Google AdSense ads throughout the pages that make up simplysunshine.net, I realized long ago that I blog because I love sharing what I know, & not because I’m trying to make money. Sure, I’d love to be among those that blog for a living, but if I never reach that point, I hope to continue nonetheless.

That being said, I am going to try something new over here, & that is some local advertising. I know a lot of people who’ve started blogs or crafty shops lately, & I know when I first started out & was looking for some quick & easy (& cheap!) places to advertise, I didn’t find many. I hope to offer what I couldn’t find by offering these rates:

» One week: $5
» One month: $15
» Six months: $60
» One year: $100

If you’re interested, head over to the Advertising page for more information, & shoot me an email!

As you can imagine, I’m not *quite* finished over here. I mentioned last week that I’m a perfectionist of the highest degree, & there are many little things that need tweaking – pages, links, content, etc. I’ll be working on the blog throughout the week, so be sure to let me know what you think of the new design scheme!

I’m working on the design over here today, so if things break for a moment, or look very, very strange, don’t panic! I’m working on it! :)