Happy 2015 and a Big Welcome Back to Rue and Her New Blog 'An Old-Fashioned World'!

Happy 2015!  I took a break from blogging over the holidays because I had to get my youngest son, Marc, off to Ballyvaughn, Ireland for his study abroad semester at the Burren College of Art.  After his flight from Chicago was cancelled and rescheduled due to snow storms and his luggage was lost, Marc finally arrived safely in Ballyvaughn on January 9th.  To his surprise and ours, Marc is the only 'lad', as they say in Ireland, out of the class of 25 students.  He has mixed feelings about this state of affairs, but I am confident he will manage.  According to Burren, the girls are doting on him.  Anyway, he is in Ireland through April to focus on building his portfolio.  Hopefully he will not be too distracted by all the attention!  Here are a couple of his early pieces. 

'Bad Teeth', original was a gift to Bunker Roy and is at Barefoot College Dental Clinic in Rajasthan, India.

'Josephine', portrait of a young girl for a family in Paris.

Enough about Marc and his art studies.  What I am really excited to tell you about is the return of one of my favorite bloggers, Rue, to blogland!  Several years ago Rue had a blog called 'Rue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Life.'' 

Rue's blog button from 'Rue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Life'

Rue left blogging for a bit, but has now returned with a new blog 'An Old Fashioned World.' I just love Rue's perspective on life and blogging!  Rue is one of my role models for gracefully navigating the blogosphere, which can be a surprisingly nasty place. 

Last year the New York Times did a good job covering the dark side of blogging in 'When Blogging Becomes a Slog' which highlighted 'Young House Love', the outrageously popular blog by the Petersiks, a husband-and-wife team.  After the birth of their second child, the Petersiks apologized for not writing their regular Thursday post and asked readers how they felt about shorter posts.  Many replies, some from loyal readers, voiced concern about fewer posts and more giveaways.   One blunt comment criticized the Petersiks for using their children as an excuse because the blog makes big bucks.  Although most comments were positive, the couple felt they were letting readers down and stopped blogging in September of 2014 to explore other career options. 

The article pointed out several challenges with full-time blogging, including the Catch-22 of using sponsored content to earn money, but losing readers because they don't trust sponsored posts.  The constant demand for new content is also very stressful.  And turning a hobby into a career usually sucks the joy out of it.

Why do I bring all this up?  Because now you know the reasons I will never be a full-time blogger and also why I have so much admiration and respect for Rue!

Until next time,

Genevieve

P.S.  Melissa Michaels at the 'Inspired Room' is the only full time blogger I know who has successfully managed both blogging and a family.  She is AWESOME!  Definitely check out her blog and her upcoming book!