Raising Men is going through some changes - both at home & on the blog.

Hello. Exciting day, exciting times. Things are looking a bit wobbly over here lately. That's because my amazing development team - Joomper is busy switching us over to the wonderful world of Wordpress. This is a very grown-up blog move for me, and I'm a leeeetle bit scared (terrified) because I am sooo used to Blogger, but I need all those nice things like self-hosting, a profesh domain, SEO etc but I won't bore you with those unromantic, technical bits. I use Joomper for all my blog, website and general life advice things. Werner and Hugh are BRILLIANT (and super nice guys too)

I have a new illustrator, Heidel Dedekind from Heidekind. She is the most wonderful, best, fresh and talented South African Illustrator that I've worked with recently and I luuuurve her. Look at how beautiful her work is? Doesn't it just make you want to fill your entire home with beautiful art or whip out a piece of paper and draw a stick man? (this is as far as my artistic talents go I'm afraid) LOOK!

So my new header is obviously the most beautiful thing that you've ever seen in your life, right? I love everything about it. There was a bit of back and forth with Graeme because he doesn't actually know how big his nose is. Every time we sent a picture of Graeme it got a bit bigger, but in the end she agreed to give him a 'pretend' nose. 

Mostly I like how the new header depicts all of us. Lately we're always on the go, not just with travel but everything else too. New opportunities, challenges, growth, new business ventures and our lifestyle in general. While my content will be the same, I'll have a whole other section for family travel soon. We're passionate about the outdoors and new experiences. We really love getting out the house and seeing what's around the next corner. It's a serious case of curiosity, if anything. 

 

We're ticking some boxes and shuffling things about in the background. As soon as the new blog is ready you'll be directed in the right direction, right? Hugh? Eeeek! This might be my last post from Blogspot and I'm a bit weepy about it. I started here back in 2009 with Post Natal Depression, a glass of wine and a colicky newborn. Wasn't that just a thousand suns away?

Thank you to my most magnificent sponsors. I don't think that readers realize how much goes in to blogging. The equipment, editing software, developers, designers, domains, hosting, SEO analysts, meta data, illustrators, and the TIME... all the glorious time. I would not be able to afford my blog if it wasn't for the sponsors. More brands should open up to supporting consumer journalists (which is the fancy probably made up name for a blogger)

We'll get everything sorted in the background and soon you'll have a prettier, more organized Raising Men with better navigation, and you'll be able to comment without the fullofnonsense-ness from Blogger. I might come galloping back here with my tail between my legs, but as I always say to my little boys at the gates of the unknown: "Just be brave and always try, otherwise you'll never know if there was even anything to be scared of!"

Heidekind's beautiful workspace